google and the world brain america, live from new york city, i'm michael lees with a look at today's top stories. investigators searching a home of the fort hood gunman who killed three people and wounded more nan a dozen others. we are moments away from a live news conference. and we will look into what we know about the shooter and the effects mental illness may have played. plus, another speed bump in the mideast peace process. it is now canceling the release of palestinian prisoners. and reports to create social unrest, funded by the united states.

investigators are serging a home of a gunman, and questioning his wife. as we learn he was in the process of being diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder. the soldier saw psychiatrists last month, but didn't show signs of being a threat to anyone. now the gunman killed three people before taking his own life. 16 oh people were also wounded. injuriesthose injuries are in critical condition, but they are expected to survive. heidi joe castro joins us now, heidi, what do we expect to hear from authorities at today's news conference. >> this conference should take off any moment.

until that is confirmed the command is only alleged. he is the alleged shooter, what we do know is more of his background. he is a 34-year-old army specialist who join add puerto rican national guard in 1999. he is part of an infinry unit, and also a member of the band. according to the u.s. army secretary, lopez joined the army in 2008. now according to fort hood command, lopez did not see combat overseas and he did not sustain injurers. despite that, he self-reported a traumatic brain injury once he got back home. now, the mental health of the shooter has been a tropic of much investigation here. we know that lopez has been treated for depression, for anxiety, and that he was on a

number of drugs and that he was being evaluated for post traumatic stress disorder. this has been a very traumatic experience for the community, because of course in 2009, fort hood colleen suffered the shooting of nadal hassan where 13 people were murdered and community members are still reeling from that experience. >> and now it's happening again. seems like it just shooting -- just happened. you know, and now it is starting all over again. and the people in the neighborhood, and the community, got to go through this all over again. >> and what they went through was yesterday, michael. at helicopter, that's when the shooting began. add misted an add main industritive building. opened fire, got back in,

fired from there, went to another location, and there also fired shots. at that point, him tear police were on the scene, less than 15 minutes later and there outside the parking lot is where a female officer engaged the shooter, we are told that he had his hands raised initially that he reached for a gun, and at that point, shielded fire, and he pointed the gun at his own head. and shot himself killing himself. now as you have heard, that makes the total number four. we know there are three people still in critical condition in the hospital, their community vigils plans and of course, again, just a big shock to two community. what was the attitude of the people you spoke to? well there is somberness,

but there is also a drive to overcome this. we saw in in 2009, the same thing. ins a community that know they have a job to do, their number one mission is to prepare men and women for deployment overseas. they take great pride in their confidence. now the community, the people we spoke to said they learn add lot of lessons that security here on base was boosted and not only that, but security on the bases in the military u.s. military around the world benefited from that. somehow the shooter still slipped through the cracks. >> heidi joe castro, more for you coming up late err here. so far the mill their has released few details. the names and ranks yet to be made public, we do know that seven of the survivors are being treated at the medical center on the possession.

the other nine were taken to a nearby hospital. three of them are still credit cam, but are expected to survival. the rest in good to fair condition. >> we do have nine patients here, three remain in critical condition. we have five others. two of those are fair condition, and the remainder are in good condition. there is a possibility that several of them may discharge from the hospital today, some of those are fortunate to have minor injuries. >> the army says it will release the names of the victims 24 hours after the families have been notified. of course, fort hood is located in call lean texas. about the connection between his city, and one of the nation's largest army posts.

there are many former military, we not only semipa these with these folks we can empathize with them. we have walked in their boots. they are family. military calls and assignment, it is a great place, because of the great community support, but our surrounding cities. >> well, the shooting at fort hood raises new questions about overall security. mike mckaren joins us live, mike, how are officials in washington responding to this shooting? >> well, in the day after, michael, it's been a somber mood here, as officials both political and military, struggling to figure out what happened and perhaps more importantly, why. president obama and michelle obama appeared at a previously scheduled event, about an hour ago, in the capitols east room, they are honors olympians and paraolympians. but both took time to address the tragedy at

fort hood. for his part, president obama praised those who serve, and mourn those who are lost and yet another shooting tragedy at a military base. let's listen. >> these are folks who make such ex-for the record marry sacrifices every day. during the course after a decade of war, mr. of them have been on multiple tours of duty. to see unspeakable violence happen, in a place where her supposed to feel save, home base, is tragic. >> now, michael, here there was another previously scheduled hearing this one with top army officials including the secretary of the army john mccue, who told senators clearly we missed something yesterday, we need to work very hard to understand what that was. michael. >> mike, the shooting isn't just about texas or fort hood, doesn't it

call into question the curl questions on all military bases in. >> it certainly does. and one inning we are hearing today, is the military has a policy where our soldiers and other military personnel have to give over their weapons while they are on base. the logic among some here is that if that ban were -- if that were repealed then tragedies like this could be nipped in the bud much quicker. in other words, if everybody were armed on the base, then the shooter could be confronted. genere is the chief of staff to the army, he also testified alongside john mccure, and one issues here, is the mental health after ten years of war, many of the soldiers and marines and navy who come back from the theaters in iraq and afghanistan, here is what he had to say. >> we do quite significant screening today, but it doesn't mean it is right, and it doesn't mean we can't improve it, we have to constantly evaluate this, this is something with he have to deal with.

nor a very long period of time so we have to make sure we have is the systems in place to do this. >> there was legislation to expand those background checks even the speaker of the house today, the republican endorsing a renewal hoff that legislation. >> live at capitol hill in washington, we are also learning more about the shooter, david chuter joins us live, david, as we mentioned in the army, active, military, a lot of people can't fathom that this would happen again. >> yeah, a lot of information we are getting is coming up there the chain of command, flu the very hearing he was talking about. he has now been joined with other law enforcement officials as

identifying the shooter as evan lopez, we will tell you more about that on the other side of this news conference. >> middle of the night from last night, colonel christopher garner, three core and fort hood public affairs officer. i'd like to introduceluth general mark a millie, commander of u.s. third core and fort hood. and senator john corn hmm. general millie will make some remarks, senator will make some remarks and then they will take questions after that. so please raise your hand, wait to be called on, and then we will take remarks and then move from there. so without further ado, general millie, and senator cornham. >> good afternoon, and our compassion and compassion for all of

those who are injuried in this affair for all our families. will work closely with all of them at this time. i won't repeat the information, but a update, a short update on a shooting incident that happened yesterday. first i want to announce that we have positively identified and we are able to release as next of kin have been notified the alleged shooter, specialist ivan a lopez. he is 34 years old. originally from puerto rico. specialist lopez was assigned to the 49th transportation movement control battalion. the 13th sustainment brigade. and again, his next of kin notification has been complete. we will be publishing later on this afternoon and this evening specialists lopez's releasable service record.

and you can find that on fort hood press center.com. in regards to his medical status, out of respect as you can understand for his family. and the integrity of the investigation, i won't say anything further than the comments i made yesterday. as for the investigation, criminal investigation division of the united states army, continues as the lead investigating agency, and they are right now synchronizing all of the investigative work of the federal, state, local, and army agencies. they are interviews witnesses. i would ask that everyone avoided speculation about the incident, and let the investigation and the invest guy r toes take their course.

many of these soldiers are also witnesses. and i would ask the media with due respect the integrity of the investigation, to try to stay clear of soldiers who may have been witnesses. and as i sated last night, at this point, we have not yet ruled out anything, whatsoever, and we have committed to letting the investigation run it's course, but we have again no indications at this time of any lengths of terrorists organizations of any type, either national, or international. i just returned from scott and white, visiting with our wounded soldiers and i would like to thank publicly the great professional support that we have gotten from the entire medical staff. tremendous effort from all of them, is the great effort that was done here

at darnell. four skilled by the shooter and three vick is times. nine of them are at scott and white currently, and three are at darnell. four of them have already been released. we are planning a memorial ceremony, and we with will keep you advised of when that is to honor our fallen. i would also like to thank the outpouring of support from the central texas community, and the entire state. and from all of our national leadership, within the military, and our civilian leadership at the national level. everyone is chipping in to try to assist any way they can, and i would

recommend that anyone individual wanted to donate support in any manner contact the fort hood p.a.o. that's on the facebook page, and they can point you in the right direction. but a variety of organizations from the u.s.o., the red cross, and a wyatt variety of other organizations are providing assistance right now. and we deeply appreciate their support as well. with that, i will take questions after i turn this over to senator corn nan, but again, i ask that you keep the fallen and the families of the fallen along with the wounded and the families of the wounded in your thoughts and prayers. thank you very much. general, millie thank you for your strong and steady leadership during difficult times both here and the assignment abroad where we last met. i'm back here at fort hood for the second time in about 4 1/2 years. and what i see as a community that has come together there a time of

crisis and heartbreak. and is is pulling together. but this community is no stranger to hardship, and thieveries and met the test each and every time and i know they will do that again. i am here to offer my support to my constituents and certainly to the military leadership as they conduct their investigations in a very deliberate and careful sort of way, not jumping to conclusions, but seeing this thing flu to the very end. as i know they will and we will. i look forward to the briefing i just had with the general, but also having a chance to meet with the first spottedders, the people who showed up, and confronted this crisis, and dealt with it, as professionals. and then i look forward to having a chance to visit some of the wounded.

to help comfort some of the families of those that are fallen. i don't have congress fir makes to that effect. >> [inaudible question]. >> no. he was transferred to fort hood from fort bliss. he was assigned to a unit, he was reclass fied into another mos while he was at fort bliss, he was an instrument, he reclass fied into 88 mike vehicle operator, and he came to fort hooted under that mos.

specialist lopez said he was upset that he was given over 24 hours to attend his mother's funeral, what exactly were the [inaudible] [inaudible question] no

the unit mission was complete at four months. >> [inaudible question]. >> i do not know. >> at this time there's no change in the policy that i'm aware of. we have very strong evidence that he had a medical history, that indicated unstable psychiatric condition. going flu all the records to ensure that that is in fact correct, we believe that to be fundamental underlying cause yeah, 2340 specific incidents

that's correct that i am aware of. >> i am sorry? >> not that i am aware of. >> not that i am aware of. >> correct. >> i'm sorry? >> we do not have that definitively at this point, but we do have strong indications of that. >> i am not sure i

understood the question. >> not a register weapon that's correct. [[inaudible question]]. >> as you know, fort hood is a big installation. we have about 70 or 80,000 folks here that work on a day-to-day bay israeli. there's another 40,000 family members add on to that retirees contractors and others we have a population well over 100,000. it would not be realistic to do a pat down search every day, that would be unrealistic, thank you. >> female m.p. and then come back to your question she clearly

performed her duty exceptionally well, there are others. there were folked inside these buildings that performed very heroic acts in saving others. there's at least one chaplain that shielded and saved other soldiers politic some windows and got them to safety. i think the performance of the medical staff was exceptional. and i have seen a lot of medical staff perform in combat, and the performance here easily rose to those levels of combat standards. so there's a lot of heroism out there. and yes, she did fire her weapon. >> go ahead. >> we with have all the

command information throughout the day-to-day. but all the reports and my personal observations so far, you have an installation that is strong, and resilient. professional soldiers very high percentage of combat veterans here, so the morale is serious, it is professional, and we are going about our duties to take care of the families and move on. >> no indication that he was targeting specific people, i think someone had a -- yes, go ahead. >> [[inaudible question] question]]. >> general mill my's job is to carry out the department of defense, but i'm confident there will be a thorough review, and is the

military will make the best judgement what it needs to happen in order to protect people on base. so i respect general millie's position, i respect the importance of doing that thorough review, to see if there are any gaps or things that need to be corrected in future policy. >> we are going to do a thorough investigation of all the systems to include a medical. i've asked for investigators to come in and help with all of that, make sure there's no gaps or scenes. we do know he was under treatment, so he is in the system, and he was being looked at. >> i think that's too early to tell, i will wait until we get the investigation. whether there's gaps in

that particular system. i do not know that. >> [[inaudible question]]. >> go ahead. yes, she responded to the scene. let me back up, at 16:16 hours yesterday, is the first 9-1-1 call. that call was made by two wounded soldiers who demonstrated heroism and presence of mind to make

a 9-1-1 call, and i have talked to both of them. the shooting began just a few minutes prior to that, and they were able to get that call. she arrived with her vehicle at 1620 hours. she arrived four minutes after that 9-1-1 call. and she began working the scene with other law enforcement that began to show up a short time later, the shooter showed up approached her at approximately 20 feet, and as i described yesterday, put his hands up and went down, and underneath his jacket he pulled out the 45 caliber smith and wes soon, at which dime she saw that, and then engaged him with small arms fire, at which can time then the shooter disa self-inflicted gunshot wound. >> i doubt it based on her rank, but i don't know the answer to that.

>> yes. at this point, i would like to not shed any light on that. let me go other on this side here. that would be real speculation. >> we are looking at all of the factors that you would suspect we are looking at, everything from finance, to medical,

personal relationships, marital issues, family health issues all those things we are looking at all of that. >> did she strike him? >> i don't have the fum autopsy report at this time, so i don't know if there's other wounds or not. other than the self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. i don't have all those roles defined yet. did just what i said he did, he shielded some individuals, took control of the situation, a broke window and got them out to safety. yes, ma'am.

i couldn't hear the question [[inaudible question]] i don't know all the facts. that is being developed by the lead investigators. i don't want to comment on that until i get information on it. >> she was not wounded. i don't know -- we have a local lawyer checking all of that.

>> he went into the 49th transformation unit. >> yes, ma'am. >> he purchased the weapon in march, yes. >> [[inaudible question]

question]]. >> well, mental health issues are the most vexing issues from my perspective in terms of how we identify people that have genuine problems that need to be treated and that they need to be helped with. but at is same time, we have to be very careful and not paint with too broad abrush, and just assume because 4:00 has been in combat they have those issues. we out to identify them the best we can, and get them the pep they need. and this remains to me one of the most vexing but also one of the most urgent issues. two more questions.

>> the discussion about how to appropriately deal with veterans and active duty's mental health is one that's been on going for at least the last 13 years. with special intensity. because of afghanistan, and iraq. but it's not going to abate my senses that it is going to accelerated, and the debate and is the scrutiny in the investigation, will need to heighten and we will need to deal more extensively with it. this is a very challenging issue but one we can't shrink from and we won't. >> one more question from over here, go ahead. one more. there's no indication that he is targeting

specific soldiers. go ahead. >> we do, and we are developing an exact sequence, what building step by step, but i am not prepared to release that, okay, thank you very much. we will do this again tomorrow, thank you. >> that wasluth general mark millie, the chan dent officer as well as texas senator. david chuter is still with me, general millie confirmed what we already knew, that it was ivan lopez, a lot of questions there that he did not answer. i think a lot of people will be seeking but what do we know? well, there's more information that we are getting out of washington before we get that, that i just noticed and that is obviously giving a update on the soldiers that have now been released it is interesting they did report that the gunnages lore was the place where ivan lopez brought his caliber, because that is the same story that

hassan bought his weapon. there has been some information, some confusion about ivan lopez, had only been there for three weeks. that was cleared up because the general said he was transferred from fort bliss. he was not transferred for medical reasons which is one thing that had been hanging in the air. the general said that's because his mission was complete. that may have sparked this, and that it somehow remitted to the medical history. we do know that he is married with a young child, he was under psychiatric care, but had not shown any signs of violence.

said the suspected gunman served four months of duty in iraq three years ago but did not see combat or suffer any wounds. the psycho therapy was more recent. >> ranging from depression to anxiety, to some sleep disturbance, he was prescribe add number of drugs to address those, including ambien. >> other officials say lopez has self-reported a traumatic brain jew. according to the army, lopez started in 2008 as infin tri-men, and later switched to truck driver the job he had in iraq. after serving at another military incitylation.

he had a clean record in terms of his behale, no outstanding bad marks for any kinds of major misbehaviors. this was an experienced soldier, he spent actually nine years in the puerto rico national guard. before coming on active duty, so he is a very experienced soldier. >> police say the suspect's wife is cooperating and trying to help them understand his state of mind. you never know who you live next door to. >> military officials have still not released any clear motive. they say at this point they are trying to piece together the final days and hours before he

snapped. they did point out thatner investigating a results of a verbal altercation that may have triggered something about his psychiatric make up, at least in terms of the doctor whose were treating him. altercation with another soldier on base. on the security of every facility, what were the results of those reports and did they have any effect whatsoever on wednesday's shooting? not really. it would mostly show, and very little tell, right up to the 2009 mass murder at fort hood here, you had military m.p.es on the gates double triple the guards more

funding into that issue, and then it all went back to normal. we with have civil isian contractors and they are the ones that provide the security, and is the initial security for those that want to come on post. every day on military facilities you uh have tens of thousands of people that enter and exit these bases. how flawed is the security? well, you can't check even person that comes on to the system. just as they have come into miami from overseas with our goods and services, we check about 1%, you simply can't do it. that's not the solution to have 15 check points and put more money into that issue, if you want a weapon on post, very easy to do it. as this individual has demonstrated. he didn't have permission, he obviously carried it on post.

>> last year the safe military bases act, which would repeal the ban on military personnel carrying weapons on base. today he issued the following statement. this is the third mass shooting on a military base in five years and it is becaused our train soldiers aren't allowed to carry defensive members. if members of congress are protected they have no right to deny that right to trained soldiers on base. do you believe it is a good idea to arm military personnel while they are on base. >> absolutely. knives the military for 20 years. this ban came about in 1993. and somehow the idea is that guns kill people and guns start wars. and that's simply not true. you make rules for the general principle not for the exceptions. we understand on the highways people get killed with cars you don't get rid of cars.

so we should arm at least our officers our ncos it would cut down on the prohibit, and the number of beam that are killed. just nine months ago we had 12 people killed in washington, d.c. by another gunman. so that's the solution, the solution is to allow our soldiers not to be sitting stucks. somehow when you go on post, those things are prohibiterred and obviously that's the real solution to allow soldiers as they did before 1993 to carry firearms if they are licensed and proper steps are taken to ensure that nobody with mental illnesses is allow to possess a weapon. >> speaking of that, don't you think allowing our servicemen and women would obviously add another layer of security

in that regard regardless of who has the guns. >> obviously it will allow more security. and i bet if you ask anyone on that post that says the generals are say ising well, we can't allow guns on the post. if that general is one of the vick is times and saw that shooter he would very much prefer to have a weapon that he could defend himself. so obviously we need to allow soldiers and it is very bizarre, because these are individuals that are trained to kill. that's the mission of the military, but somehow we can't trust them with weapons. obviously we might have accidents and individuals might engage in untorrent activities but that's the cost of doing business. we save far more lives than we would lose in the long run. >> special amendment special forces thank you so much. >> thank you. president obama made eight priority to improve how the military handles

veterans mental health issues. he signed an executive order mandating active soldiers to be able so see a mental health initialtive within 24 hours of acting for it. ryan we appreciate your time today. what can uh yo tell us about the availedded of treatment there? emergency mental health care is available. it is reenforced they want to hurt themselves or somebody else, may will have the care they need. what i find to be the

greater issue is there's less services available for somebody who has not reached that point yet. that a service member who wants to get into mental healthcare, feels like they are having issued often has to go through 30 days before they can a recommendation to have an evaluation, then they see -- you understand the bureaucracy makes it very difficult for somebody who is struggling to get it under control. >> yes, cutting through red tape can be an issue, but are there are enough mental health workers to handle the magnitude of the requests? >> yeah, that's an excellent question. not only are we looking at the availability, but also is it accessful to the service members. how much stigma is associated with somebody who want withs to go seek help. mental health of our forces. >> you mentioned the stigmal, there's a stigmal towards mental health, even in society.

in our ampled forces is that etch greater as it related to mental illness. >> oh, absolutely. specifically in combat you are dealing with a macho environment, where weakness is noll tolerated whatsoever. so when you are in an environment that encouraging -- a lot of the process of the conditioning is learning how to dehumanize your enemy. if you are looking at a force familiar with those ideas and it is in a world of violence, i can't say i am very surprised. >> spokes american for fortwood said they were awaiting confirmation of a diagnosis, how long does it take for a soldier to get that diagnosis? give us an idea of what that process entailed? is. >> as i mentioned before. primary healthcare is usually taken -- it's a

physicians assistant is your primary provider. you move on from there to get more specific treatment to find out what you need, you are looking at more time. i had some issues when i came back from iraq, and it was very difficult to fete help outside of suicidal tendencies. men fall health continues to be an issue for so many servicemen and women that return from iraq. retired soldier, also involved in mental health outreach, thank you for joining us. another speed bump in the mideast peace process, now castling the release of palestinian prisoners.

out pretty well. layed it who had been there since before 1993 that deadline passed without any move, and that's when we saw cry israeli mode from the u.s. is. carrying the israelis trying to come one a solution that solution went with so far as to consider the release of an american who spied on america for israel. that was a very --

.. . .. .

that is continuing to go east. more snow expected across the great lakes. >> thank you very much so much. also keeping an eye on those storms across the midwest, a look at today's top story. live from new york city, be sure to go to our website if you need more information, aljazeera.com. >> then, immediately after, an america tonight special edition for more inside and analysis. >> why did you decide to go... >> it's extremly important for the western audience

to know why these people keep on fighting... ...it's so seldom you get that access to the other side. >> faultlines: on the front lines with the taliban then an america tonight: special edition only on al jazeera america

this is al jazeera america. fort hood officials have confirmed the name of the shooter, 34-year-old evan lopez from wednesday's shooting. luth general mark millie

made that confirmation earlier, talking to reporters in texas. >> we have positively identified and are able to release the alleged shooter specialist ivan a lopez. he is 34 years old, and we are committed to letting the investigation run it's corporation, but we have no indications at this time of any links to terrorists organizations of any type, either national or international. >> lopez was being treated for mental health issues and was about to be diagnosed with mental health stress disorder. among the newly identified a 13-year-old boy. funerals are set to begin saturday. struck off the coast of northern chili, that was an after shock, and other coastal evaluations are also underway.

two intelligence committee about interrogation tactics of terror suspects. the vote came after during the bush administration. americans that foundf themselves bumping up against implements good news. the limits zoom into the millions get out your checkbooks it is inside story.