for bounties and suppressing insurrection of rebellion shall not be questioned. >> that was raised after the civil war. >> brian, thanks very much. more coming up later in "the situation room." that's it for me. thanks very much for watching. "newsroom" continues right now with brooke baldwin. wolf blitzer, thank you. i'll take it from here. great to be with you here. i'm brooke baldwin. count with me, day three of cnn's live coverage of the first government shutdown in 17 years. the dow is sinking, the coast preparing for a hurricane. both sides pulling out posterboards of all things. and one of those men you see there, senate majority leader harry reid, republicans' new public enemy number one has a message for house speaker john

boehner. >> very simple message today for speaker boehner. let the house stop the irresponsible reckless games and just reopen the government. he single-handedly is keeping the government shut. some recent stories have even suggested that the speaker is keeping the government shut down because i hurt his feelings. that's true. i'm sorry i hurt your feelings. >> hearing some chuckles there. from the senate majority leader to the house majority leader, eric cantor. boehner's number two, he's firing back. >> the speaker and i have both said that the republican position is we believe we should fund this government, but we also believe that this should not be any special treatment for anyone. and that is why we believe the right solution to that is to provide for a delay of the individual mandate under the health care law.

>> and we heard from the president of the united states today. he did not mince words about his frustration, speaking from a construction site in maryland. >> there will be no negotiations over this. the american people are not pawns in some political game. you don't get to demand some ransom in exchange for keeping the government running. you don't get to demand ransom in exchange for keeping the economy running. you don't get to demand ransom for doing your most basic job. and if the speaker of the house, john booehner, simply let the bill get on the floor for an up or down vote, every congressman could vote their conscience. the shutdown would end today. as reckless as a government shutdown is, as many people as are being hurt by a government shutdown, an economic shutdown

that results from default would be dramatically worse. in a government shutdown, social security checks still go out on time. in an economic shutdown, if we don't raise the debt ceiling, they don't go out on time. heed the warnings of the chamber of commerce and ceo and commerce and a whole lot of republicans out of congress. they're all saying do not do this. they're all saying to congress, do your job. and the sooner you do your job, the less damage you'll do to our economy and the businesses like this one. so pass a budget, end the government shutdown. pay our bills. prevent an economic shutdown. just vote and end the shutdown and you should do it today. >> the president's message to congress couldn't be clearer. the american people are not your pawns. let me take you to capitol hill to our correspondent there,

athena jones. athena, on the president here, we know we're 48 hours away from barack obama leaving the country. we know they have shortened his trip already. are there any chances this thing will crack before them? what's happening on capitol hill? >> brooke, i wish i could say we know there's going to be a big development, a big step forward before the president departs for asia. that's set for saturday afternoon, as you mentioned. as of right now, it sounds like more of the same. maybe a new day. maybe a new turn of phrase that folks on eerlth siither side ar using,my new examples to show the harm, but the basic argument remains the same. republicans right now are pushing through a series of votes on piecemeal spending bills that would fund the parts of the government they want to fund, for instance, the sound you heard from eric cantor was at a press conference talking about the need for the senate to pass a bill on funding the national institutes of health so children stricken with cancer

can get access to clinical trials. the argument on the senate and democrat side, they want the bill to reopen the doors, allowing the workers to get back to work, and then have negotiations on some of the budget issues. >> thank you, and i mentioned poster board at the top of the otherer. let me loop back to that because republicans, including doctors and nurses, are broadcasting harry reid today, making him a posterboard over a comment the senate majority made to cnn. you saw it first around this time yesterday on this show. each week, hundreds of patients, including kids with cancer are admitted to the clinical trials at the national institutes of health, the nih. but now, as you know, with the government closed, they can't be admitted. so republicans, they want to cherry pick that part and pass a bill to fix that. so our chief congressional correspondent dana bash, she sat there yesterday, and she asked and pressed senator reid about that particular effort, which

did not sit very well with him. here it was. >> if you all talked about children with cancer unable to go to clinical trials, the house is presumably going to pass a bill that funds at least the nih. given what you said, will you at least pass that? and if not, are want you playing the same political games the republicans are? >> listen, senator durbin explained that very well and he did it here, he did it on the floor earlier, as did senator schumer. what right do they have to pick and choose what part of government is going to be funded? it's obvious what's going on here. you talk about reckless and irresponsible, wow. what this is all about is obama care. they are obsessed. i don't know what other word i can use. i don't know what other word i can use. they are obsessed with this obama care thing. it's working now and will continue to work and people will love it even more than they do now by far. so they have no right to pick and choose.

>> but if you can help one child who has cancer, why wouldn't you do it? >> what -- why would we want to do that? i have 1100 people at nellis air force base that are sitting home. they have a few problems of their own. this is -- to have someone of your intelligence suggest such a thing maybe means you're irresponsible. >> i'm just asking. >> dana bash. meantime, republicans are pouncing all over that. take a listen. >> you know, when the president and senate shut down the government tuesday morning, i don't think they realized the impact on things like cancer trials at the nih for children with cancer. but yesterday on the floor of the house, we saw that problem. we passed a bill that will restore funding and make sure that children with cancer are eligible and can be enrolled in trials at the nih. look, i have taken care of many

children with cancer when i was in my medical practice. and as a parent, every parent can appreciate the seriousness of that and the need to solve those kind of problems. that's what we did yesterday. i hope the senate does the same today. >> before coming to washington, being a nurse, i have seen these families. i've seen the looks on their faces when they're given hope. we have taken that hope away. and we need to replace it. and i say to harry reid and the senate, bring this up for a vote. don't take hope away from those families. >> as rene and others had said, these parents are at a critical point. these are clinical trials that somehow have been determined not essential by the nih. this is life-saving stuff here. >> so this whole conversation is about to take another turn. it will happen on this show, stay tuned. senate majority leader harry reid will respond to this at the

top of the hour in an exclusive interview with dana bash, do not miss that. alarm bells, they're going off over a deadline that is now two weeks away, october 17th. we've been talking about this here. that's the day congress has to raise the nation's debt limit or else the country won't be able to pay all its bills. dedpaufault on its obligations. this has never happened before and now the treasury department is warning that defaulting could be, i'm using the treasury's word here, catastrophic, bringing on a financial crisis as bad or worse than what we witnessed in 2008. in this urge nlt report, treasury outlined these possibilities. credit markets could freeze, the dollar could plummet. interest rates could sky rocket. dick miller, political reporter for "time" magazine wrote about this. the headline to me was this, if congress does not raise the debt limit, treasury could see

results worse than the 2008 great recession. that's right? >> exactly. exactly, this is unchartered territory, as you said. nobody knows what would happen if they shut down here. in the shutdown rolls into a default, that really is not clear how long the treasury can sustain the payments beyond october 17th. if the date comes and goes, then unchartered territory. this could be worse than anything we have seen since the great depression, according to the treasury department. 2011, we cost billions and billions of dollars to the economy. it cost according to one estimate $19 billion in the course of ten years just in terms of increased borrowing costs for the government. nobody knows how bad it is, but it won't be close to good. >> we came precariously close in 2011. what did happen as we reported, the s & paaa credit rating was knock eed down. that was a big, big deal. as you look at the interest rates, they're so incredibly

low. practically speaking, what impact did that downgrade have? >> it raised borrowing costs both for the federal government in the shortterm and for all sorts of companies in terms of what they pay to raise money so they can fund investment to borrow for their normal capital expenditures. it had sort of -- it trickled down initially for the federal treasury bills. the interest rate from those rose initially, increasing what the government has to pay in interest on those bonds, and that trickles down to everything from mortgages, you know, if you were to buy a mortgage, usually those are priced based on top of what the prevailing treasury rate is. it hurts everybody. individuals, maybe looking to buy a home, companies looking to raise capital to invest in new factories or launch entire new businesses. >> zeke miller, "time" magazine. once again, that deadline october 17th. meanwhile, the gulf coast from louisiana to florida on hurricane watch. see this? could the federal government

shut down impact disaster response? we'll talk about that. plus, if you have not gotten your flu shot yet, and i'm talking to myself as well, you have to do it now. flu trackers have been sent home because of the shutdown, and the centers for disease control is sending out a big warning today. also, most lawmakers still cashing those paychecks despite the government being closed, and one lawmaker not as all apologizing. you'll hear from him coming up. day three of the government shutdown. you're watching cnn's special live coverage. to prove to you te is the better choice for her, she's agreed to give it up. that's today? [ male announcer ] we'll be with her all day to see how it goes. [ claira ] after the deliveries, i was okay. now the ciabatta is done and the pain is starting again. more pills? seriously? seriously. [ groans ] all these stops to take more pills can be a pain. can i get my aleve back? ♪ for my pain, i want my aleve. [ male announcer ] look for the easy-open red arthritis cap.

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you're history. selsun blue itchy dry scalp. gets to the root of dandruff and hydrates the scalp. selsun blue itchy dry scalp. october is here. flu season is right around the corner, but the national's flu trackers have been sent home during this government shutdown. that means though centers for disease control maps we all rely on to warn you of the flu outbreak headed your way, yeah, that's not being updated right now. the most recent one was posted at the end of the last flu season. and there was a big warning about the shutdown on the cdc website, but the real impact goes beyond the maps and numbers. elizabeth cohen is here. the cdc, just up the road. it's a ghostten. >> they let go of most of their people. so these are the people who are

supposed to be protecting us against disease. >> great, awesome. >> isn't it wonderful? here's the way it works. they track the flu. when they see a big outbreak, they make sure they send a lot of vaccine that way, but they can't do that because they can't track it. now, flu season is not up in full force, thank goodness, but they're gearing up for it. all sorts of ways it will be ha harmful. they're also supposed to be tracking the flu to see if it was well matched. did they match the vaccine well inthey're not going to know if they can't track it. >> so quickly, selfishly because i haven't gotten my vaccine and i'm sure a few other people haven't either, does that affect getting flu shots. >> we're told that's okay. for the most part, they're okay. you can goat up there, they'll give it to you. that's not a problem. the problem more is they can't track where the flu is and what strains are out there. >> something else we're watching as the shutdown continues.

thank you very much wroorb. coming up here, the brewing war within the republican party. we'll debate who has the power right now, who has the ball, as one republican congressman says in a small group has hijacked the party, his words. >> plus cnn ireporters, many of you sounding off on this government shutdown. one who says he doesn't even know this country anymore. we'll share those stories with you next. twins. i didn't see them coming. i have obligations. cute obligations, but obligations. i need to rethink the core of my portfolio.

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you know this. you have seen the polls. they indect that the majority of americans thinks democrats and republicans are acting like, quote, spoiled children as they try to fund the government. house speaker john boehner could be considered the dad who simply cannot control his children. that sentiment is coming from within his own party. i want you to listen to one republican congressman talking about how texas senator ted cruz seems to be the one who is controlling the house. >> basically, i consider myself a solid conservative, but i think what happened with the ted cruz republicans is absolute insanity. we allowed them to hijack our party, and there's any number of people in our party who call themselves moderates, whatever,

who say this is wrong. >> joining me now, ana navarro who is also a republican strategist. nice to see you. before we chat, let me play a little bit more sound from congressman king. take a listen. >> they realize that ted cruz just led the party down a deadend. i said from the start this guy was a fraud, that he was laying out a strategy that had no strategy. this was a dead end he was leading us into. he was saying if we voted to defund obama care in the house and sent it to the senate, that's all we had to do, that the senate was going to cave into that. the president was going to cave into it, and obama care would be defunded. that was false and fraudulent from the start. yet we had 30 or 40 people in our party who believed that, who made promises over the summer they were going to vote that way and they threatened basically to bring the house down if we didn't go ahead and defund obama care. >> ana, i just took notes listening to the sound bites. words like insanity, hijacking, dead end, fraud.

talking about his own party here. what is your party's strategy out of this whole thing? >> well, i think we're looking increasingly dysfunctional. i think what you're hearing from more and more republicans is a frustration with the kind of pressure that senator ted cruz and his friends are -- you know, his followers, are trying to exert on other republicans. when i vote for somebody, i vote for them to exert their conscience and exercise their conscience in voting. what senator ted cruz has been doing is ginning up the base. he's also aligned himself with some organizations that are raising money, that are threatening to primary some incumbent republicans that are making it very, very difficult and trying to pressure people into voting a certain way. i'm no ronald reagan republican. ronald reagan used to bring republicans into the fold and used to grow the republican base through persuasion. through wanting to include them.

not through exclusion. not through threats. i think that's what we've got to get back to as a party. >> so you talk about ted cruz, talk about some of his supporters. but at the same time, it's been indicated through, i don't know how many, a dozen or so other republicans who say, hey, let's put this clean funding bill to a vote today. the president, jay carney both sort of hammering that home. why doesn't john boehner do this? do you not think he should put this vote on the table today? why isn't he? >> i also think that there's nothing wrong with the senate putting up to a vote something like the medical device tax that earlier in the year in a non-binding resolution -- >> hang on. let's go back to the house. let's go back to,because that was my question. why don't they throw that vote down? >> the problem is this. this was a law that was passed not in a bipartisan manner. it was passed by one party. you now have the senate and the house divided between two

parties. and you've got one party, the republican party, who feels they don't have a way to get their agenda through. so they end up using these must-pass bills like the budget as their only leverage. and that's the problem we have, that there is no will in washington to work in a bipartisan way. and i fault both parties. and both leaders. and i fault the white house for that. we as americans need to urge them to come together and stop playing this blame game because in a couple days, in a few more days as this goes on, everybody's going to take the blame for this. >> okay, ana navarro, thank you very much. and make sure you watch "cross fire" tonight, with an appearance by debbie wasserman schultz and rice priebus. they'll be going at it right here on cnn. and ireporters, many of you sending strong messages to washington on this government shutdown.

day three now. want you to hear what this veteran has to say about the country he fought for. >> a 90-year-old world war ii veteran. i don't recognize the country i fought for anymore. >> we will hear from you also, as tropical storm karen barrels toward the gulf coast. could the shutdown impact the disaster response? stay right here with me. i'm angela, and i didn't think i could quit smoking but chantix helped me do it. i told my doctor i think i'm... i'm ready. [ male announcer ] along with support, chantix (varenicline) is proven to help people quit smoking. it reduces the urge to smoke. i knew that i could smoke for the first 7 days. i knew that i wasn't putting nicotine back into my body to try to quit. [ male announcer ] some people had changes in behavior, thinking or mood, hostility, agitation, depressed mood and suicidal thoughts or actions while taking or after stopping chantix. if you notice any of these, stop chantix and call your doctor right away. tell your doctor about any history of mental health problems, which could get worse while taking chantix.

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[knock] no one was at home, but on the kitchen table sat three insurance policies. the first had lots of coverage. the second, only a little. but the third was... just right! bear: hi! yeah, we love visitors. that's why we moved to a secluded house in the middle of the wilderness. just the right coverage at just the right price. coverage checker from progressive. all right, breaking news. we're getting reports here that the u.s. capitol is currently on lockdown. there has been an incident. these are pictures. an incredible police presence swarming. crime tape up. dana bash, our chief congressional kraunltd is joining me on the phone. what is happening? dana bash, are you with me? okay, as we work to get dana,

trying to see if we can tell what streets these are. as you can see, tremendous. i can't tell if these are capitol hill police officers, if these are metropolitan d.c. police officers, but multiple officers, law enforcement. i'm seeing two streams of yellow crime tape here near the 95 sign. ambulance in the bottom right-hand side of your screen as we're trying to find out what exactly is going on, what caused this entire scene to swarm upon the u.s. capitol. all i have right now, and guys get in my ear as soon as you get more information. okay. i'm going to go ahead -- okay. wolf blitzer, are you with me? >> yes, i am. i'm here. can you hear me? >> i can. wolf, tell me what you know. all i know is the capitol is on lockdown. >> we have a statement from u.s. capitol police. it's an important message from

u.s. capitol police. an alert was just sent out to people on capitol hill. shelter in place. gunshots have been reported on capitol hill, it says. requiring staff and all senate office buildings to immediately shelter in place. close, lock, and stay away from external doors and windows. take enunciators, emergency supply kits and escape kits and move to your place, shelter in location, or the inner most part of the office, away from externextern external doors and windows. if you're not near your office, go to the office nearest you and shelter with that office and then check in with your oec. no one will be permitted to enteror exit the building until directed by united states capitol police. staff is advised to monitor the situation further and information will be provided as it becomes available. that's from the capitol hill police. you can see the live pictures coming in. if you take a look at some of the major streets around capitol hill, and we're looking at monitors here, brooke, you can

see that police have basically stopped all traffic around capitol hill right now. we don't have a clue what was going on other than this statement coming in from the u.s. senate, from the u.s. capitol police saying gunshots have been reported on capitol hill requiring staff at all senate buildings to immediately shelter in place. that's why you see this activity going on up on capitol hill right now. we don't know if there are any injuries. we don't know the extent of the gunshots that were fired, but this is an official statement coming in from u.s. capitol police. so people are being told, stay inside your offices, stay in the interior of the buildings and don't start walking around, but we see a lot of emergency personnel, police officers, scurrying over there in the live pictures. we're showing our viewers from capitol hill right now. so it's obviously a serious situation that capitol hill police, d.c. metropolitan police, and others are taking very, very seriously right now. so let's hope for the best.

>> as you have been speaking, i have been checking my e-mails. we're getting bits and pieces of information, and again, as wolf has been reporting, reports of shots fired. specifically, wolf, i'm seeing a report from the washington police spokesman saying reports of multiple gunshots near hart building. that's near the senate side, correct? >> yes, that's the newest of three major senate office buildings. that's on the senate side. so we don't know more than that, but if there were gunshots fired near the senate hart office building, that's a significant, significant development. and you see what's going on over there, you see the emergency personnel. dana bash is up on capitol hill. dana, what do you know? >> hang on one second, wolf. we're getting an emergency update. one second. okay, that was just the latest warning that we're getting over the speakers here in the capitol to shelter in place, which is

what we're doing right now. i should tell you i'm actually sitting with our crew inside the senate majority leader harry reid's office because we were about to do an interview with him. he just popped his head in, harry reid, the senate majority leader, and told us one injury, one injury as far as he knows that has happened as a result of what appeared to be shootings on the west front of the capitol, which is sort of on the other side of where wi ae are. we are facing the west side of the capitol in this office. that's the situation here. shelter in place. the doors are closed in this suite, in harry reid's office. we're listening for, if you can hear the speakers going off with the capitol police telling people here in the capitol what to do, but again, harry reid just poked his head in and said one injury is what he's hearing from capitol police sources. >> dana, so do you expect the majority leader, harry reid, to actually come in there now? it's obviously an awkward time to do a formal sit-down

interview with the senate majority leader? >> you know, to be honest, i think he's trying to figure out what is going on, to make sure everybody is safe, which is completely understandable and we're going to reassess how we're going to go forward as soon as we get more information about what's going on in what appears to be an active situation down the hill from his office. >> was reading to our viewers the statement that came out, this warning. important message, as it's called from the u.s. capitol police. let me reread for viewers tuning in. shelter in place, that's the headline from the u.s. capitol police. gunshots have been reported on capitol hill, requiring staff and all senate office buildings to immediately shelter in place. dana is still with us. she's obviously trying to figure out what's going on as well. then the statement from the u.s. capitol police goes on to say, close, lock, and stay away from external doors and windows. dana, if you could still hear me, you're saying the gunshots

were heard -- maybe brooke knows this better, near the hart senate office building? >> i had an e-mail that said it was near the hart senate office building, but we heard dana reporting and that was from harry reid's office there was one injury and the shots were fired at the west front of the capitol, which when i hear dana, i know she's doing five things at once, what i could intimate is it happened outside, perhaps not inside, but we cannot confirm that yet, whether it was inside or outside, but according to this e-mail from this police spokesperson, there were also reports of people running. people running outside the capitol. tell me once again, eric. okay, let me jump in. athena jones. let's go back to athena jones because she's also one of our correspondents with a crew inside the capitol. athena, if you're with me, tell me what you know. athena, i can hear you. you're live on cnn.

athena, this is brooke. you're live on cnn. tell me what you know. >> hi, brooke. i'm here in the rotunda. we went outside and i was able to see about a dozen police vehicles racing down constitution. that's the road between the office building and the capitol. i saw about a dozen police cars. one was a van. heard shots and saw several, what looked like officers in dark colored uniforms, rushing about two blocks away. we're in lockdown in this building. we're not allowed to leave. no one is allowed to come in until the situation is resolved. you may have already heard -- but there's a shelter in place. >> just let me go back to what you said, heard several shots. did you yourself hear several shots? or an officer you spoke with did? >> no, no, i heard them. we haven't had a chance to go outside and speak with the officer officers on the scene. this is just what i heard and saw when i stepped out on the

balcony off the rotunda here which is a familiar sight, where we do all our live television. stepped out, heard a few shots. don't know if it's fire crackers so we thought, what is it? could it be? and saw all of these police cars rushing down constitution. sirens blaering, lights flashing, and they converged on this one corner about two blocks down. looks like 2nd and constitution. this is not very far from the capitol building itself, and at this point, we're not able to leave the building to investigate more. >> frightening. athena jones, we know the orders. shelter in place. stay safe, stay in close contact with us. wolf, athena jones herself heard those several shots. again, this as we're just reporting this, and this is incredibly fluids as this is happening as we're watching the live pictures unfolding outside

the capitol, still a lot of questions, where the shots are fired, question number one. >> gunshots, not a gunshot, but gunshots have been reported on capitol hill, requiring staff and all senate office buildings to immediately shelter in place. it's senate office building, so it's clearly on the senate side. that important message coming in from u.s. capitol police. one oour photo journalists is on the phone with us. where are you, john? what did you see, what did you hear? >> hi, wolf. i'm on the north side of the russell senate office building. i was initially on the senate side of the capitol. heard the gunshots, saw police cars run, and my intern and i sprinted about two blocks to maybe 50 yards of what we assumed was the shooting location. we could still smell the fresh smell of sulfur gun powder or guns being discharged. we saw police gathering around a

black small vehicle while others arrived. we have some video you'll be able to run shortly of the scene itself. many, many cars. dozens and dozens of cars and emergency vehicles until we were asked to move, actually told to move. we're about two and a half, three blocks away from the shooting location where we originally heard the shots ring out. >> have you seen emergency medical personnel? does it look like there are injuries there based on what you can see? >> we heard some chatter over the police radios. someone's down or shots. i can't confirm who was hit or how many people were hit. but there were people responding. there were emergency vehicles, obviously, arriving. we arrived there much earlier than most of them did. but i would say there are at least two dozen police vehicles and multiple emergency response vehicles arriving on the scene. we're locked down and forced to leave our location, so we can't get much closer than a couple blocks right now. >> does it look from your vantage point, john, and i know

there's limitations, as if it's over, this incident, or is it still a situation in progress? in other words, are they looking for individuals? obviously, it's still a very, very precarious moment. >> i don't see any of that right now. two big senate office buildings between us and the original location, but as you'll see in the video when we return, there was an officer carrying a young child away from the scene, too, so i'm not sure what that was all about. but the video will be live in cue shortly. >> just to be precise, the gunshots were fired near the russell senate office building near the hart senate office building, dirkson? >> right in front of the hart building on constitution. near the intersection of constitution and maryland avenue, behind the supreme court. >> right over there, only like a block away from the united states supreme court. >> that's correct. and as i said, we arrived, shots were being fired. we heard shots being fired as we were running over. you could still smell the

exhaust or the burn of the gun powder after the firing. >> john, do you have any clue how many shots you heard? >> i heard at least a dozen, but you know, we heard -- the colleagues i'm working with near what they call the swamp site by the capitol said wow, that sounds like gunfire. there were a few there. then there were multiple, i would say at least a dozen shots were fired, but i lost count while i was running. >> and everybody is basically now inside, when this u.s. capitol police alert went out entitled shelter in place, they basically want everyone inside, inside as much as possible. let me read it to our viewers once again, close, lock, and stay awa from external doors and windows. take enunciators, emergency supply kits and escape hoods and move to your offices, assigned shelter place location or the inner most part of the office away from external doors or windows. if you're not near your office,

go to the office nearest to you and shelter with that office and then check in with your oec. no one will be permitted to enter or exit the building until directed by u.s. capitol police. staff is advised to monitor the situation. it said further information will be provided as it becomes available. john, you're there. you're on the scene. for viewers right now who are just tuning in, update us on what you personally saw and heard. >> i was on the swamp side of the capitol, the northwest side of the capitol, and we heard what we thought were gunshots. we saw some police officers running. emergency vehicles, police vehicles starting to respond. i grabbed my camera, ran over about two or three blocks, and we heard multiple shots being fired after that. we're about, like i said, two or three blocks from the original position, from the capitol. and we could still smell the sulfur smell of gunshots -- guns that have been fired. and about 50 yards, what seemed

to be the location, police surrounding a vehicle. and they didn't have guns drawn after a point. there were officers running around with weapons drawn, obviously. but then after the lockdown happened, they escorted us away and told us we had to leave and video should be arriving back to you shortly and you'll be able to get more of that once it returns. >> i just want to reiterate what dana bash, our chief congressional correspondent told us a few moments ago. she was getting ready to sit down to a formal interview with harry reid, and she said his people were saying there were reports of one injury, but we don't know more than that right now. we do know that the senate has gone into recess, understandably, under the circumstances. shots fired on capitol hill. athena jones is up on capitol hill. you heard those shots, athena, as well. where are you now? >> right now, i'm in russell rotunda. this is a familiar place. you have seen us do live shots

from here, live interviews from here. i happened to step out on the balcony a few feet from the camera and hurt the shots fired. it sounded to me, i wasn't sure they were shots. they sounded like loud firecrackers. a few in rapid succession. at the same time, the cars were rushing down, police cars. i saw about a dozen rush down constitution and park and congregate at the end, about two blocks away, closer to the supreme court, kind of right now we're across the street from the capitol, so we have constitution dividing us. i saw cars race down and park. at least one was a van-size. several other standard police cruisers and a lot of men in uniform, police in uniform getting out down at the other corner. that's all we have been able to see. we're in locktdown in this russell senate office building. i was trying to get out at one point and someone in the hallway said you're supposed to be sheltering in place. i talked to a police officer who said no one is allowed in, no one is allowed out. they didn't know where this

stood at the moment, wolf. >> no all-clear has been given on the speakers there in the russell senate office building? >> no. >> it's still a lockdown situation? >> that's right. >> clearly, this situation is sun folding even as we speak. i'm looking at these monitors and we can see a lot of police activity. we're here on capitol hill ourselves, and we can hear the sirens going off. there's emergency personnel, police, local police, capitol hill police. obviously, they're deeply concerned about what's going on. john boughtner, one of our photo journalists heard what he says was about a dozen gunshots fired right outside the hart senate office building, that's newest of the three major senate office buildings on capitol hill, and this entire area has now been sealed off by capitol hill police, washington, d.c. metropolitan police. this is a serious situation, clearly, and we have no clue as to what exactly, what exactly

happened. jim acosta is joining us, one of our senior white house correspondents. what are you seeing, what are you hearing? >> i'm on the north lawn of the white house where we typically do our live shots and we're going to do something we don't normally do when we stand here reporting live. if we could just pan over to pennsylvania avenue. wolf, we can show you right now that pennsylvania avenue in front of the white house, which is basically a pedestrian area, wolf, is closed off to the public. you cannot walk up and down pennsylvania avenue. for a brief period, maybe 20 minutes, members of the press here at the white house were told they could not leave the grounds. they were being held back just a few moments ago, they were told you can leave, but you might not be able to get back in easily. you could see the general public, folks who were just coming here to look at the white house, the tourists, they have been pushed back to the other side of pennsylvania avenue. you can hear various sirens and so forth. one thing our photojournalist also saw as they were standing here as all of this was starting to develop, they were seeing

officers here on the grounds of the white house, secret service officers, folks who are here to protect the president react, respond, and start to mobilize. beyond that, nothing more at this point, but that is really the scene from here. as soon as this incident was known about down pennsylvania avenue, down at the capitol, folks really got on a heightened state of alert over here at the white house. >> it's very often they do that, out of an abundance of caution. >> there's a lot of cars, police cars coming down pennsylvania avenue right now with their sirens and light. not something you typically see, so we pan back over there so you can see that. >> they're coming down the pedestrian area where there's usually no vehicular traffic. you see a lot of police traffic outside the white house on pennsylvania avenue? >> that's right, unless there's a motorcade or something like that, wolf, no, you don't typically see something like that. so obviously, heightened state of alert at the white house. they're taking every precaution because of what's happening at the capitol right now, and as soon as we get more, we'll get

back to you. >> the president is inside the white house, i assume right now? >> that is correct. wolf, he had that event earlier this morning out in montgomery county, maryland, but he's back here. the press staff is also here. jay carney gave that briefing just about an hour ago. it's a skeleton crew, as you know. the furloughs affected here just like everywhere else, so they're dealing with a shortened staff. not clear whether or not that's affecting what is going on in terms of the response, but the people who are protecting the president, the secret service, those folks really aren't affected that much by the government shutdown, and that's why you're seeing such a show of force right now inside and outside the gates of the white house, wolf. >> you see people on the ground. they're lying down, trying to protect themselves. you see police and others moving quickly right now. these are pictures, these are live pictures that our viewers are watching. dana bash is up on capitol hill. she had been getting ready to interview the senate mujorde leader harry reid.

where are you, dana? on the senate side of the u.s. capitol? >> i'm in the senate side of the u.s. capitol in senate majority leader's suite. this is where we have been getting updates. we are sheltering in place, just like everybody else in the capitol and really in the senate office buildings as well on the capitol complex, as you have been hearing from our other colleagues. we just saw on somebody's e-mail here, a message from the senate sergeant in arms, reiterating shots had been fired and also saying at this point they do not think anybody in the senate complex is at risk or in danger, but still, just as a precaution, they want all of us to remain sheltered in place. physically, where we are is on the west front of the capitol. and ted barrett, our congressional producer and all our crew here, were poking their heads out the window to see what kind of action was outside. at the beginning, when we first heard this, they were definitely very much not at ease, and now

they're more at ease when i say they, i mean the capitol police officers that are always stationed on the west front of the capitol, so it seems that there's a little bit more of a sense, at least a little more of a sense of relief here, but again, just as a precaution, they're telling all of us who are in the capitol to stay where we are, shelter in place. the one thing i want to reiterate, we were told there, the reports initially, were one injury, one injury as a result of the shots fired. >> we see lawmakers coming back into the u.s. capitol. some of them scurrying, some walking. as you can see right there what's going on. our justice reporter evan perez is telling us the fbi, the federal bureau of investigation has dispatched units to capitol hill right now following reports of the gunshots fired. what they say is near garfield circle, which is on the west front of the u.s. capitol building. not far from the hart senate office building. so you can see what's going on there. dana, i assume they've moved the

majority leader, as you say, into the some sort of more secure part of the u.s. capitol? harry reid? >> you know, we don't know where harry reid is right now. can't confirm where he is at all, so we're not sure about that. one thing i can tell you in terms of move people, deirdre walsh just e-mailed that there are large crowds of people, meaning tour sists on the first floor. they're being moved down the escalators into the capitol visitor center. she reports that people are calm and it's very orderly, but the capitol visitor center which is kind of in the basement underneath the capitol complex is in lockdown as well, not just those of us above and inside the capitol and inside the buildings. >> getting word also that the united states supreme court building, which is literally a block away from the u.s. capitol, from the hart senate office building, that building across the street from the capitol is now closed. no one is allowed to enter or

leave the united states supreme court as well. so you see these pictures coming in on the left part of your screen moments ago. these are pictures, tourists who happen to be visiting capitol hill. and they're being scurried about as well. you see on the right part of your screen, live pictures from capitol hill where police, capitol hill police, washington, d.c. metropolitan police, now we're told units from the fbi, and other law enforcement agencies, they're now on the scene after gunshots were reported on capitol hill. we're told, by john, one of our photojournalists who heard what he thought were about a dozen gunshots near the senate office building, the hart senate office building. we have also been told there's at least one injury, but we don't have more information on that at all. we have reports coming in from all of our reporters on the scene, dana bash is up in the u.s. senate side. athena jones is at the russell senate office building. jim acosta is over at the white

house where they basically shut down pennsylvania avenue. maybe as a precaution outside of the white house as well. and we're trying to get in touch with members get some information. i think we have one congresswoman from hawaii right now, chelsea gabbert joining us. are you there? >> yes, i'm here. >> tell us where you are and what you saw, what you heard. >> i'm here in my office, about to walk out the door when one of my members of my staff came running in and started locking the doors and the windows. her fiance, who is working in the raburn building, had said he had heard some shots fired and saw capitol police running down the street with their weapons pulled. the announcement over the loud speakers came out telling everyone from capitol police to shelter in place, and if outside, to take cover. so we've got most of the team

here in the office across the street from the capitol right now, and folks who are not in the office, everyone is safe and is in a safe place. >> you're on the house side, which is all the way on the other side of the u.s. capitol from the senate side, but what you're saying is that whole area on the house side of the u.s. capitol is shut down as well, is that right, congresswoman? >> it has been shut down. i did not personally hear any of the shots fired, but there are people in some of the other office buildings who said they heard the shots fired themselves when this went down a few minutes ago. so all three house office buildings are completely locked down. we've got folks on the first floor of this building, and everyone is literally sheltering in place. they're not allowed to move upstairs or downstairs, in or out of these buildings. >> what you're saying is people have said to you on the house side, far away from the senate side, from the senate office buildings, including the hart senate office building, they heard gunshots all the way over on the house side, is that right? >> yes, a member of my staff

here, her fiance worked in the raburn building and called her quickly to make sure she was safe and okay. >> how are the folks doing over there in your building, your staff? i know everybody is listening to the advice of u.s. capitol police, the warnings, shelter in place. i assume there's a procedure you have in a situation like this. you go into a saferoom, internally as much as possible, is that right? >> you know, our team is performing as trained and as planned. we are here, locked down in my office. quickly, the staff who were not in the office with us, they were located within just a couple minutes. everyone reporting in and making sure they were okay and they were in a safe place, and of course, checking on our whole delegation and staff as well in the house, the senate. thankfully, everybody is doing okay and they're in a safe place. >> representative tulsy gabbard

of hawaii, thank you very much. we'll stay in close touch with you. you served in the military, right, so you're familiar? >> yes, i'm a military police captain in the army. >> i know that, so i'm sure you're very concerned like all of us right now. if you get more information, congresswoman, please let us know. please give our best wishes to your staff, everybody in the house office buildings as well. deborah feyerick is joining us now. what are you learning? >> what we can tell you is this. according to an intelligence source being briefed on what's going on there near capitol hill, you're looking at that scene there on the right of the screen. if you look at that green sign right there, there is a black car, almost underneath it, well, apparently, according to this source, the car was being chased by police. it was close to the white house when the chase began. and then made its way towards the capitol. the driver tried to get out of the car, and we're being told by this intelligence source that's when the shots were fired. it's not clear whether the

driver was able to get out of the car or what was going on. they don't know what specifically triggered this or they are working on the presumption this was a car chase, but they don't know why it was this person was driving where he was driving. so that's what they're looking at right now. the scene you're seeing, that is the crime scene right there, we're told by this intelligence source, and others are supporting that, that in fact that is the car, and that's what began this, a car chase, wolf. >> a car chase, and you're saying from the white house all the way up towards capitol hill. obviously, a serious situation. hold on for a minute, deb. dana bash is getting more information. she's up in the senate side of the u.s. capitol. she was getting ready to interview the senate majority leader, harry reid. >> we're told that the lockdown, which we have been reporting about, is about to be or in the process of being lifted. meaning people will no longer have to shelter in place. they will be able to leave their offices and leave the building of the capitol and the senate

office buildings and maybe the house office buildings that they have been told to stay in for the past half hour or more. the other thing we're told is that the capitol police are planning to have a news conference very soon, maybe at the top of the hour, to give us more information about exactly what happened, the injuries and who they think the suspects or suspect were in this alleged gunshot and shootings. >> what you're hearing is this lockdown has been lifted for the entire area or just for individual buildings? be a little more precise, dana. i know maybe you can't be more precise, but has the entire lockdown for all of capitol hill been lifted? >> i can't for sure say that the entire lockdown is lifted. i can tell you that from where i am in the senate side, we're told by security forces here and sources here in the senate side that it has been lifted. we have to definitely get back and talk to the house sergeant in arms to confirm that's going on there as well, unless we maybe know from some of our

reporters and producers who are physically on the house side, they might know. on the senate side, we're told the lockdown has been lifted. >> all right, stand by for a moment. jim acosta, our senior white house correspondent is getting more information. we have heard from deborah feyerick there was a car chase beginning near the white house and then moving towards capitol hill. what else are you learning? >> that's right, wolf. we're hearing from secret service officials that this started as some sort of altercation or incident near the white house, at 15th and pennsylvania avenue northwest. as you know, wolf, that's right by the treasury department, just down pennsylvania avenue from where we're standing, to the west. that this person who was involved in this incident at the capitol, it appears, hit a security barrier, trying to get onto pennsylvania every. that's what we think at this point listening to secret service officials. at that point, some sort of pursuit ensued and that individual left this area of washington and started heading

towards the capitol or this chase or incident or whatever started moving towards the capitol, but we do have it confirmed now from the u.s. secret service which is really charged with protecting this whole area, that this incident began down at 15th and pennsylvania avenue, very, very close, just a block from the white house, earlier today. not really sure what the person was trying to do, but it appears that the person was trying to get through the security barriers that keep the cars off pennsylvania avenue, wolf. >> from 15th street, there's a barriers you can't get onto pennsylvania avenue near the u.s. treasury over there, so what you're hearing is that someone tried to go through those barriers? people can walk through those barriers but they can't drive through unless they're obviously authorized to do so. is that what you're hearing, that somebody tried to get through a barrier from 15th street to get closer to the white house? >> that's what we're hearing from a secret service official right now, and just to paint the picture because we can't show you this picture right now, but

at 15th and pennsylvania, back in the old days, you used to be able to drive through here, as you know, and i know because i grew up in this area. now, because of heightened security needs around the white house, at 15th and pennsylvania avenue, there is a series of security barriers that prevent cars from driving onto pennsylvania avenue. those barriers can be raised and lowered by a secret service officer who is inside of a booth at 15th and pennsylvania for traffic that needs to get through. when you saw the cars and motorcycles coming through earlier, that's what they can do. they can raise and lower the barriers. this individual, according to a secret service official, tried to ram through that area, it sounds like, to try to get down here. that's when all of this got sta started, wolf. >> i remember when they closed off that traffic, that vehicular traffic outside the white house in 1995, right after the oklahoma city truck bombing. that's when they shut down traffic. people can walk outside there, but they can't drive outside there. jake tapper is standing by.

you're getting more information as well? >> that's right, wolf. of course, all the normal caveats apply. this is early information. as we know, sometimes early information is not correct. lots of fast-moving parts in this, but that said, a government source tells me that a car was chased from the white house to capitol hill. there on capitol hill, near the hart building, fire was exchanged. gunfire was exchanged. one officer was injured at the capitol, but it's unclear right now the extent of the officer's injuries. that injured officer was medevaced from the scene. so that's what we have right now from one government source. the chase started, apparently, according to this source, at the white house, went to capitol hill, gunfire was exchanged at the hart senate office building, an officer was injured. that officer was medevaced. wolf. >> now we're hearing from multiple sources that the lockdown apparently has been lifted on the house side and the senate side. and that people are beginning

slowly but surely to come back to life as normal, but we don't know the circumstances, and jake makes an excellent point. these early reports very often turn out to be not necessarily 100% precise, but once again, jake, let me let you reiterate, now the top of the hour, what we have been watching now for the last half hour or so at least. gunshots were heard outside the senate, hart senate office building. there are reports of at least one injury, but go ahead, jake, and reiterate what you just told our viewers. >> well, as i said just a few minutes ago, this is a very fast-moving story. and a lot of the information that we get in times like this, even from government sources, official sources, police sources, turns out not to be correct. but that said, the story that we're getting from sources and i got specifically just from one government source a few minutes ago is that there was a chase that started at the white house. that car chase proceeded from

the white house to capitol hill, which i guess is about two miles away. and then outside the senate hart office building, gunfire was exchanged, an officer was wounded. it's unclear right now the extent of that officer's injuries. he was medevaced away from the scene. and that is what we know right now from this event that began just a few minutes ago with the sound of gunfire, many shots, multiple shots outside the senate hart office building. wolf. >> a disturbing situation. apparently, the lockdown has been lifted. just a few moments ago, we did get some eyewitness accounts of what people up on capitol hill saw. watch this. >> feel like it was coming from? >> pretty damn close. we were right there. a block away from it. so i knew that this had to have been something, not even at the capitol building. it had to have been something on the senate side. >> out on the streets? >> yes, definitely out on the

street. it wasn't muffled. it was echoing through the neighborhood. >> did it sound like a gun battle, someone returning fire, two guns? >> when it all started happening, that's what i immediately was thinking, something is going on, obviously. couldn't tell whether there was -- that type of thing where we live and work here and do a service, and you hope that things like this don't happen where people vent or whatever it is, with actions like this today. it's a very sad reflection on times right now. >> last name again please? >> herman. >> all right, so there you heard one eyewitness account. brian todd is up on capitol hill. you're on the phone, brian. where are you? what are you seeing? >> yeah, i'm actually back at my condo in northwest d.c. i was just on capitol hill,

about to cross the street to go to the capitol. >> hold on, hold on a second. i think we got mixed communications there. hold on one second. we're trying to recorrect with brian todd because obviously, he's up on capitol hill. athena jones, are you there as well? can you hear me? athena jones is -- i think she's reporting what we're hearing, a lockdown has been lifted. the all-clear is being shown, at least in the russell senate office building, that's where athena jones was the internal message coming in, at least in the russell senate office building there's an all-clear. lockdown has been lifted. dana bash telling us earlier the lockdown lifted in the senate side where she is. that's all encouraging news right there. but there's still so much that we don't know about what's going

on right now. it's obviously a work in progress. we do know that shots were fired. maybe a dozen. according to john, one of our cnn photojournalists who heard at least a dozen gunshots o outside the hart senate office building, one of three senate buildings. you could hear it on the house side as well, according to tulsi gabbard of hawaii. she said her staff heard those gunshots all the way across capitol hill, if you visited washington, if you have been to capitol hill, it's a pretty large area. the u.s. capitol building in the middle. there's the house side, the senate side, and then separate from that are the office buildings. the house office buildings and then the senate office buildings. these shots were fired on the senate side near the hart senate office building. mike brooks is joining us, one of our cnn law enforcement analysts. where are you, mike, and what are you hearing? >> i'm in the newsroom here in

studio seven in atlanta. and you know, we're looking at this, at this scene right here. you know, that's right near 1st and maryland avenue. constitution avenue, northeast, and if i could show you f we can get this to work. you see the vehicle here right in front of the kiosk. see here is this vehicle? and also, wolf, if you look at the evidence markers, it looks like these, as a former investigator, are possibly where it looks like maybe shell casings were. because this looks like the scene. and moments ago, we saw someone, i saw someone taken away by ambulance from the scene. we saw some u.s. capitol officers there with rubber gloves on, dealing with this car. so definitely this looks like the main crime scene at the end of this chase that we were seeing. >> all right, mike, stand by for a moment because i ione is on capitol hill as well. what are you seeing?

>> we were exactly here, getting ready for another live shot when we heard about four, we're debating here, between four or five shots, coming this direction exactly, heading to the national mall to the east. and basically, to the west, i'm sorry. and basically, in a matter of seconds, we just heard and saw a lot of activity. police activity, and different agencies moving people away. a lot of them were coming out from the exactly the front of the building. the capitol hill this way, and they were moving rapidly this way. in a matter of seconds, most of this area was closed, and the police were pushing us to go to the house side, to the building. they said you need to be safe. we don't know what's going on. intense activity, also, of cars. police activity going the other way. towards the library of congress. and we talked to several people

who were being pushed, some of them were still shaken. one of them told us he saw a police officer, police car, chasing a black car. and the black car had some holes on it. and he doesn't know exactly who started shooting, but the person who was right next to him said she is almost sure she just saw the police trying to stop the vehicle of some sort. they were going around a small plaza in front of the capitol right here. that's basically what we saw and heard from some of the witnesses. it's sort of inconsistent because they're coming from the entrance and basically, they said it was a pursuit and of course a lot of activity going that way. so that's basically what we heard here in the middle of this. i can tell you it was a matter of seconds before the security and police activity was really intense and pushing everybody away, trying to secure the

perimeter, if you will. >> ione from cnn espanol, thank you very much. we have gotten an official statement from u.s. capitol police. the u.s. capitol police have stabilized the incident, occupants may exit their shelter in place location. additional updates will follow. we anticipate a news conference from u.s. capitol police coming up fairly soon. it's now just 11 minutes after 3:00 here on the east coast. but clearly, this is a situation that has caused a lot of nerves to be rattled over the past 45 minutes or so since about a dozen shots, we're told, were fired outside the hart senate office building. i think we've reconnected with brian todd, one of our cnn correspondents. brian, are you there? >> yes, i am, wolf, can you hear me okay? >> yeah, tell us where you are and what you're seeing and hearing. >> well, right now, we're at the corner of c street northeast and delaware avenue northeast. near the capitol. many of the streets around here

are still blocked off, wolf, but we just spoke to a congressman who heard the shots fired, juan vargas of california, he heard the shots fired. he was walking outside of his office on capitol hill. he heard what he described as a pop-pop, and he said he walked a few feet further and then he saw a police officer running toward him. and confronted him and asked him if he was a member of congress. he said, yes, and the officer ordered him to shelter in place. one account from senator juan vargas saying he was fairly close to whatever was going on. he said he heard what he thought was the backfire of a car and didn't think much of it, he said, until he saw a lot of the police activity. we can tell you, again, some of the streets here still blocked off. still a huge police presence obviously on capitol hill, and we're waiting for more word from the capitol hill police, as you mentioned, the news conference should be coming up soon. >> do we know where the news conference is? do you have a clue where the

news conference is going to take place? have microphones been set up? >> we have heard a couple different locations, wolf. i don't want to give anything to be misleading so we're going to find out more in a few minutes. >> good, stand by. brian todd on capitol hill with the latest from there. jim acosta, our senior white house correspondent. are you there? >> i'm here. i hear you, wolf. >> i know you're getting more information about the president right now. what are you learning? >> that's right. white house official telling the press here at the white house that the president was briefed on the reports of gunfire on capitol hill this afternoon. quoting this official here, while white house staff are in touch with law enforcement officials and monitoring the incident, questions about the security posture at the white house complex should be directed to the u.s. secret service. a very basic statement to basically say that the president has been informed of this incident and it does not appear at this point by any stretch, wolf, that the president was in danger at any time. this incident, as we were saying earlier, appears to have gotten

started down pennsylvania avenue at 15th and pennsylvania avenue. sort of in front of the u.s. treasury department. that's about a block from the front north lawn of the white house. and then moved from the white house -- from the treasury department up to the capitol from there. but at least at this point, we can tell you the president has been briefed on this. >> i'm sure he has been. stand by. deb ferric is joining us. what are you learning? >> we're briefed by an intelligence source. apparently a woman who was near the white house, she was driving a car, a black car, which actually you can make out in the frame on the right-hand side of your screen. a black car, just in front of the green sign. that was the car the woman was driving. she was near the white house. we're being told that words were exchanged between her and police when she tried to move away, she hit a police car. the air bag in that car was deployed, and a chase began. the woman was driving very, very quickly. she was running through lights,

we're being told by an intelligence source. she was making her way towards the capitol. at that point, the intelligence source is saying that use of force was authorized. it is not clear whether the car came to a stop or whether the shooting simply began, but shots were fired. the driver of the car, we're now being told, a female, was indeed hit. there was a child in that car. the child was removed from the scene. we're told that police did not know that there was a child inside that car when the use of force was authorized and when those shots were fired. unclear why she got out -- was driving so quickly, why she was racing away after hitting this police car, but the pursuit began, and at some point when the use of force was authorized, shortly thereafter, the shot rang out. we're told the suspect, a woman, was hit. right now, we're trying to confirm the condition, but there

was a child in the car, the child removed from the scene. wolf. >> and we did see some video just a little while ago of a police officer carrying a child. we don't know if that's the child who was in that black car that we see near the top of the screen over there from the live pictures we're showing our viewers up on capitol hill. >> wolf, we are being told that it does appear that the child that was being carried and we should probably shield her face, but we are being told that that was the child who was in the car. >> we just showed our viewers that picture of the police carrying a young child. we'll get more information on that. let me just recap what's going on. we want to welcome our viewers, not only here in the united states but around the world. i'm wolf blitzer here in washington. for nearly an hour now, we've been watching a dramatic scene unfold up on capitol hill. gunshots were heard outside the hart senate office building up on capitol hill. that's one of three senate office buildings. the senate side of the u.s.

capitol, one of our photojournalists reporting at least a dozen gunshots were heard. we are hearing that at least one injury, a police officer, involved. and we're hearing also that this incident apparently started close to the white house. 15th and pennsylvania. that's right outside the white house where this black vehicle with a woman driver was making some suspicious driving maneuvers near the white house, and then she was ordered to stop by police, but she began driving. apparently towards capitol hill. and this incident was ended outside the hart senate office building when police used force, apparently, to stop this black vehicle from continuing any longer. that's all we know. we have no idea about any potential motive or anything that might have been involved in this incident other than gunshots were clearly heard. there's at least one injured police officer on the ground, obviously, taken to a hospital, even as we speak right now.

that's what we know right now. we have no idea what if anything was involved leading up to this incident, but it did start near the white house. we're told by jim acosta, our white house correspondent, the president has been fully briefed on what's going on. we're awaiting a news conference. we expect to be briefed fairly soon by u.s. capitol police. we're told the all-clear has been given up on capitol hill. police had earlier warned everyone to remain inside their offices in the house side and the senate side. no one was allowed to go in or out, but to get inside their offices. but now the lockdown has been lifted and there is an all-clear as far as we know right now. this is an official statement from the u.s. capitol police. the all-clear has been given. the lockdown has been lifted. so that is encouraging. evan perez is joining us right now on the phone. he's our justice reporter. what are you learning, evan? >> wolf, the situation appears to be resolved, according to

federal law enforcement officials. whatever the chase was, which was the original call that the fbi got, and for which they dispatched their capitol response team to the scene, was that there were shots fired near the capitol, near garfield circle. the scene that we're showing has a car there that's been pulled over. as you see, there's a kiosk which is manned 24 hours a day by capitol police. this kiosk, i live right around the corner from there, it's on capitol hill, on maryland avenue, across from there is the supreme court. and the hart senate building and all the senate buildings are sort of behind where the cameras are. and that's where the scene ended. whatever the initial reports, the fears were that caused the lockdown, that there were possibly other shooters or perhaps other suspects, has been resolved. they don't fear that anymore, as athena jones and dana bash have reported. they lifted the lockdown so

people are able to go back to normal. there's a storm of cops now on the scene, and the fbi is now at the scene, helping to lead what we now expect to be whatever the investigation. it's not clear what happened to the suspect, whether the suspect is injured or how it was resolved, but whatever fear there was that there were additional people, they have nwt resolved that. >> not only the all-clear, the lockdown lifted. i'm getting indications also from sources on the house side that the house will formally reconvene at 3:30, in about ten minutes. 3:30 p.m. eastern. they have a lot of business to do in the house and the senate. they went into recess immediately after the lockdown was announced about an hour or so ago. now there's an all-clear and people will slowly but surely get back to business as usual. then they're going to have to investigate exactly what happened when this black vehicle went from near the white house, 15th and pennsylvania, that's right outside the white house,

and drove towards capitol hill, eventually stopped outside the hart senate office building. you're looking at these pictures coming in a while ago on the left part of the screen, you can see the scurrying, the activity. that's outside the hart office building. on the right side, you're looking at live pictures. you can make out under the green sign that says 95, you can make out a black car. that apparently is the vehicle that caused what is going on. we have an eyewitness joining us on the phone. brian johnson. where are you now? where were you, what did you see? >> hi, wolf. i am safe now. i'm back in my condo, but we literally just drove past hart. i'm a lobbyist by day and have friends in town. took the day off. drove past hart, turned left to get in front of the capitol, stopped and got out of the car. when we got out of the car, we saw, looked behind us and saw three police cars rushing by very fast. then we heard shots. it was federal shots, sounded

like anywhere from 6, 7, 8 shots, rapid succession. i looked at my friend, i said those are gunshots. we jumped behind my car and instantly, there were police everywhere after we heard the shots. we heard one loud crash after we heard the shots and then it ended. we waited for about ten minutes and there was no other activity. >> and that was that. we don't know the extent of injuries. we don't know about this woman who was driving this black car from the white house -- near the white house towards capitol hill. there was a child inside. we did see video of police carrying a young child away from the scene. these are all sketchy pieces of information coming in. we're anticipating a news conference from the u.s. capitol police momentarily, we're told, fairly soon, and we'll get the latest information from them. but the all-clear has been given. the lockdown has been lifted. and i'm told that the u.s. house of representatives will go back into session at the bottom of the hour, in a few minutes from now. that's an encouraging sign, but you can see only a little while

ago, there was real concern up on capitol hill, as gunshots were fired. something you don't hear or see every day here in the nation's capitol. brian, anything else you want to share with our viewers before i let you go? >> no, that's it, thanks. >> all right, brian johnson, eyewitness. we're getting some more video, more eyewitness accounts. i think we can hear what they're saying. >> there were about six police cars chasing it. it came up onto the sidewalk. they cornered it, it backed up. it looked like it had either run into another police car or it backed towards police. and they opened fire on it. i heard between seven and ten shots fired. however, the car continued on. police chased it. a few seconds later, there was what sounded like an explosion, but it may have been another accident. i couldn't tell. there were police running everywhere. came out with assault rifles. we were actually in the middle of a government shutdown protest. and it was very scary.

they ran us all up to the top of the steps, then they ran us back down. it was scary. >> so can you say who did the shooting? was it more the police? >> i didn't actually see -- i saw the police pull their guns out. i couldn't tell. i was a bit of a ways away. it most certainly was the police because the guy was driving. i don't want to say it was a guy, but the driver continued on. and it had to be the police doing the shooting. >> so the guy that came in the car didn't shoot first then, it se seems? >> i can't say who fired first, but the volley of shots was consistent with somebody firing a weapon that they would fire a weapon in rapid succession. >> did you see how many people were in the car or what type of car it was? >> i couldn't see how many people. it was a black, late-model car. i don't know what model.

i was actually trying to get out, you know, of the way of potential gunfire. it was scary. i'm just glad nobody was shot. >> thank you. >> so there you have another eyewitness telling us what happened with that black vehicle. that black vehicle, you can see part of it there on the right part of your screen. those are live pictures coming in from outside the hart senate office building up on capitol hill. left part of your screen, you see the video we're feeding in. raw video coming in. some of it is a little shaky, but you totally will understand what's going on. there has been an all-clear that's been lifted. the lockdown -- the release has been all-clear, the lockdown lifted. a while ago, extremely intense situation on the senate side. they could hear shots on the house side as well. one house member, grace, is joining us from new york right now. where are you, congresswoman?

what did you see, what did you hear, what do you know? >> i was on the chamber house floor when everything happened. >> what was -- just tell us how you reacted, what you saw, what were authorities telling you? give us a flavor of what was going on. >> well, we had just finished voting, and we were about to line up to make short speeches, and they suddenly closed down the proceedings and told us to stay inside. a few members who had just walked out of the chambers were ushered back in by the capitol police, and we were just told to stay inside and away from windows. >> you're serving as a first-term member of the house of representatives. you represent a part of queens in the borough, one of the boroughs of new york. did you ever think that this would be happening as a member of the united states congress? this kind of activity? >> well, it's obviously been a very stressful time for everyone here in washington, d.c. and this is the last thing that the country needed, but i'm so

thankful to the capitol police who really made everything run so smoothly. and our prayers are with the one or more that may have been injured. >> so when you were asked to be in shelter, did they take you into a room, a secure room? where did they take you? >> i'm sorry? >> when they took you to -- into a sheltered room, did they take you inside some place in the u.s. capitol? where were you brought? >> they basically told us to stay inside the floor of the chamber. we weren't allowed to leave, and our staff was told to stay inside as well. >> so you were on the floor of the house of representatives when they said shelter in place. you were sheltered in placed on the floor of the house, is that right? >> correct. and there are instant messages from the capitol police via text message, e-mail, and on all the tv screens in the capitol. they did their best to let everyone know what was going on. >> are you okay, congresswoman?

>> i'm very fine, thank you so much. >> okay, good. thank you very much. and good luck to you. good luck to everybody up on capitol hill right now. congresswoman joining us. freshman congresswoman grace meng of new york. fortunately, she's okay. everyone seems to be okay, although there have been injuries, casualties as a result of what's going on. capitol police say an officer injured in the incident was hurt in the crash. they're working two accident locations, we're told, right now. one, if you're familiar with capitol hill, at the corner of first and constitution avenue northwest. that's where the u.s. capitol police officer has been injured in the crash, transported to a local hospital. we're not getting at least for now any further information. second incident at second and maryland avenue northeast. where a non-u.s. capitol police vehicle was being processed. we're not exactly sure what's going on up there, but we do know if you look on the right

part of your screen, those live pictures coming in from the senate side, from the hart senate office building, you see a black vehicle there. that's the vehicle, apparently, that was seen outside the white house, at the corner of 15th and pennsylvania, trying apparently to get through a barricade into a pedestrian area on pennsylvania avenue, no unauthorized vehicles are allowed there, and police stopped it. then the vehicle turned toward capitol hill and went all the way up to the senate side, where police were authorized to use force to stop that vehicle. the vehicle was stopped. gunshots were heard. that vehicle is now there. we don't know the state of the driver. it was a woman, we're told by multiple sources. we do know that a child was inside that vehicle, and you can see police carrying a young child away from the scene. we assume that was the child in the vehicle. there you see it right there. so this is a real tenuous situation. the good news is that the

all-clear has been given. the lockdown has been lifted. and we're standing by to get more information from the u.s. capitol police who will have a news conference. we also know the fbi was brought into the situation, the washington, d.c. metropolitan police were brought in. i assume the bureau of alcohol, tobac tobacco, and firearms, atf, was brought in as well. a scary situation, especially coming only a few weeks after another horrible incident that occurred at the navy yard that's not far away, by the way, from capitol hill, in which a dozen people were shot and killed. many more were injured in that incident. that's only about two miles away from capitol hill. we have more eyewitness accounts of what happened. let's play that. >> what's your name? >> dave jones. >> and your name? >> melinda dockery. >> you were very close. where were you? >> i was on the steps outside the circle. we heard gunshots and saw a car

drive by with bullet holes in it. >> the car had already the bullet holes. >> what kind of car was it? >> a black car. i couldn't tell you. >> being chased by the police, right? >> yeah. >> did you see who was shooting? >> we don't think there was a shooter. we heard somebody tried to run over the police in a car. >> oh, so it was the police that shot at him? that's their version. >> their version? >> the police shot at him because he was driving where he wasn't supposed to be. >> okay. what else did you see around that you can recall? >> not much. we just saw the car. then we went in some bushes and hid. >> the police were very quick to surround us and told us not to move, to hit the concrete and don't move. we could smell the gun powder, so we knew it was very close. then, once, after a few moments, my son got the wit sas about hio

get in the bushes and hide. there were a child and a mother and another visitor in the bushes. >> are you visiting here or are you -- >> we moved here in july. so we're just down here to spend the afternoon. >> well, thank you very much. okay, thanks. >> all right, so there you see one of our cnn espanol correspondents reporting, getting eye witness accounts of what's going on. let me bring in deborah feyerick. what else are you learning? >> just to recap what we're learning from this intelligence source. that is sawoman was driving a black car. she approached a checkpoint by the white house, words were exchanged. and an officer was blocking access. the female driver began to pull away. as this was happening, saw police cars and began driving at full speed away from the white house but in the direction of the capitol. she was running red lights, i'm told by this source, as she was driving towards the capitol.

use of force was authorized. it's unclear whether in fact the black car actually came to a stop, but shots were fired at the vehicle. we're told because police just didn't know who this was or what was going on, and because behavior of the driver was so out of the normal that they began to fire. the driver, the female, was indeed hit. they did not realize there was a child in the car with the woman when they opened fire. the child was removed from the car, but again, told that the driver was indeed hit. wolf, you have to keep in mind, this took about three minutes from start to finish, from the time the sort of altercation happened at the white house checkpoint to the time that those shots were fired. not clear whether in fact the woman had a gun. it appears the shots that were fired came from the police that were in pursuit of this woman, again, not knowing who she was, why she was driving so erratically, why she was running

the red lights, or what the intent was. wolf. >> she was driving from the white house up towards capitol hill on pennsylvania avenue, there's a red light, traffic lights on every corner, literally, if she's running those lights, police are in pursuit, she managed obviously to get all the way to the hart senate office building up on pennsylvania, all the way up on capitol hill, which if she's running all those red lights and just driving fast, would only take a few minutes from the white house all the way up capitol hill, up to the hart senate office building. we're standing by. momentarily, there's supposed to be a news conference. we're going to get official information, i assume, from u.s. capitol police. this is multi-agency. many law enforcement agencies now. you can see the microphones have been set up. i assume we'll hear from capitol police, u.s. capitol police. we'll also hear presumably maybe from the fbi and metropolitan police as well.

reminiscent of what we heard a few weeks ago at the navy yard. go ahead. >> the one thing i want to show our viewers is if you look at the image on the right, there's a green sign. just in front, a little to the left, that's the black car, the vehicle she was driving. it looks like they're beginning to speak, actually, wolf. >> let's listen, see if we can hear them. >> good afternoon. there was a vehicle in the vicinity of the white house that apparently attempted to pass a barricade. that vehicle was attempted to be stopped by secret service, uniformed division. shots were potentially fired. they pursued the vehicle. the vehicle came, struck one of our vehicles here at second and maryland. first here, and ended up at second and maryland northeast where it crashed into one of our barricades. at this time, both scenes are secure. we initially locked down some

buildings in the capitol vicinity. that lockdown has been released. we have no information that this is related to terrorism or is anything other than an isolated incident. we are working, the metropolitan police department is handling the shooting scene. the investigation. and obviously, assisting the secret service and the u.s. capitol police. we are still investigating that. we believe there was a child in the car. and we're still collecting those facts. >> was a police officer shot? >> i don't have condition on the person in the car at this time. >> pardon me? >> different locations of the government, like white house, capitol, in case of the incidents? >> no, this appears to be an isolated incident with just one vehicle involved. there's been coordination between all the agencies i

mentioned including the fbi, so both scenes are under control. [ inaudible questions ] >> i do not have that right now. >> chief, the cession of the injured officer? >> one of our officers was struck in his car. he appears to be conscious and breathing. >> and no officer shot, chief? >> as far as we know, no officer has been shot. >> the driver of the other car was a lady? was a woman? >> we believe so. >> chief, where were shots fired, at the white house and here? >> we're still investigating that. we have multiple scenes so we're still collecting evidence. it all appears to be one incident, but multiple scenes. >> were shots fired at the capitol. >> no, no information that shots were fired. >> what location? >> what i'll do in about half an hour, i'll give you an update. how's that?

>> is the suspect dead? >> i don't have a condition on the suspect. >> i will be back at quarter after 4:00. >> thank you, chief. >> so there you have it, from the u.s. capitol police, the incident is over. the police believe it was an isolated incident. they have no information that could have been related to terrorism. it was one vehicle, one driver. the condition of the driver unknown -- he could not specify the condition of the driver. he did believe a child was in the car. confirming what we had been reporting that the incident started near the white house, 15th and pennsylvania. the driver of this vehicle apparently a woman, driving erratically, shall we say, but very -- in a very suspicious manner, making her way all the way up to the senate side of the capitol. apparently crashing into one area, injuring a police officer.

gunshots were fired. this is what the u.s. capitol police are saying. few details are available, but the u.s. capitol police are continuing to investigate what is clearly, they say, a crime scene. two crime scenes. first, on constitution avenue northwest. that's where one u.s. capitol police officer has been injured in a crash. that police officer has been transferred to a local hospital. no information on the condition of this police officer. but the vehicle apparently stopped not far from the hart senate office building, if you're familiar with capitol hill. second and maryland avenue northeast, that's right nearby u.s. capitol police currently working with law enforcement agencies including the fbi and others on what they call processing the scene. a non-u.s. capitol police vehicle was being processed there as part of the crash. on the right part of the screen, you can see that area, including that black vehicle that was involved in this entire

incident. deb, you just hurt capitol police basically confirming what you had been telling our viewers, but go ahead. what else did you hear? >> you can see actually the two crime scenes on both sides of the screen there. the one on the left, that is the police car that the female driver allegedly hit while she was being pursued by other police vehicles. we were told that the air bag did deploy, so the image we're seeing there on the left of the screen is consistent with what we're being told. on the right-hand of the screen, you see that is the first -- that also is a crime scene. the car, which is sort of behind a barricade, just near that green sign at the top there, that is the car that the female was driving. we're being told by multiple sources that the woman approached a checkpoint that is used to gain access into the white house. words were exchanged, and as the woman began to drive away, she saw a number of police cars and just took off, took off very,

very quickly. and that's what sort of raised the suspicions of everybody, raised the concern that perhaps something was certainly not normal. the police cars began to chase her. she was blowing through different lights. because she was going from the white house to the capitol, use of force was authorized. nobody knew what the motive or the intent was. it's unclear whether the black car, again, on the right of the screen, near the green sign, not clear whether the car came to a stop but shots were fired at the car. we are being told that the woman was hit. the suspect was hit. police not releasing her condition right now. there was a child in the car, but it does not appear that police knew that when they authorized this use of force. and so the child was removed from the car. we saw a child being carried away from the scene. the child looked to be certainly in good condition. she was being carried by a police officer, but right now,

all of this under active investigation as you can see by looking just at those two crime scenes. wolf. >> the whole -- i just want to reiterate to our viewers right now. the incident is over with. the all-clear has been given. the lockdowns have been lifted. the police just saying both of the crime scenes, both of these areas have been in the words of this police officer from the u.s. capitol police, secured. so that is good news. but we don't know the condition of the driver who apparently was shot. we don't know the condition of the police officer who was injured in this crash. we do know that the police officer was taken to a local hospital. we'll probably get more information fairly soon. they did say there would be another news conference coming up fairly soon. we do know that multiple agencies are now involved, not only u.s. capitol police but the greater metropolitan washington, d.c. police are involved, the fbi, i assume the atf, and

others. brian todd is up on capitol hill, watching what's going on. brian, where are you now? >> wolf, at the corner of constitution avenue and first street northwest, where the chief of the capitol hill police, kim dine, just gave a news conference. to reiterate what the police said, to put you through the bullet points of what we know. at 2:18 approximately, a vehicle tried to run through a barricade near the white house. the vehicle confronted by secret service police. there was a chase and the vehicle ended up near here on capitol hill just up the street here, a couple blocks, where there was a collision with a vehicle and a police vehicle. we're told one police officer, at least one police officer was injured in that collision. that police officer now being treated for injuries. as he was walking away, i asked for clarity from the chief. i said do you have the suspect in custody? the chief said, yes, they do, but they do not know the condition of the suspect. you also heard something very key from the chief, if you heard the news conference a moment

ago, saying they're looking into reports, they believe there could have been, could have been a child in the car of the suspect who had confronted secret service police near the white house and then gave chase toward capitol hill here. but there was at least one collision here on capitol hill between the suspect's car and a police vehicle, wolf. there are reports of active -- a second active accident screeene but not clear what that entails. >> you're at first and constitution avenue northwest. that's where the police officer was injured in this crash. we do have some video. i'm going to show to our viewers now, video of this police officer being medevaced, taken aboard this helicopter and brought to a local hospital for treatment. we do not know the condition of the police officer. although we're told by our john king that the police officer's condition is not believed to be life-threatening. let's hope for the very best for this police officer who has been

taken to a local hospital. you see the helicopter there. park police on the scene, getting ready, taking this police officer to a local hospital. we'll find out what hospital this police officer was taken to and get a sense of the condition of this police officer very soon. brian, i missed it at the end. when did the police chief, capitol hill police chief say the next news conference would take place? >> he indected he might be back in a half hour. that was about five minutes ago. hopefully chief dine will come back with more details. this is clearly still a very fluid situation. you mentioned multiple jurisdictions down here. the u.s. capitol police, fbi, washington, d.c. metropolitan police, are all around us as well. so a lot of jurisdictions here. still a very active scene, very fluid scene. they're working information. you heard chief kim dine talk about this. they're still working some details. don't have all the details yet. the condition of the suspect, whether there was a child in the car with that suspect, there

apparently may have been shots fired at some point during or as the chase was coming to a climax. we did talk to a congressman who walked out of his office just as this was unfolding, this is congressman juan vargas from california. he said he came out, he heard what he thought were shots, what he now thinks were shots, but he said at the sounded like the backfiring of a car. he was walking on the street when he heard it, didn't think much of t then he saw a police officer running toward him, looking serious. he confronted him, asked who he was, what he was doing, if he was a member of congress, and the police officer got him inside and told him to shelter in place. that was congressman juan vargas giving us his account. he was in some proximity to the sdent apparently when the accident happened up the street from here or when shots may have been fired, wolf. >> brian, stand by. we've got more video now of this black vehicle that apparently

was involved in this incident as it drove. you can see it right in the middle of your screen right there, from near the white house, 15th and pennsylvania, apparently trying to get in through a barricade, in towards the white house area, stopped by the members of the u.s. secret service uniformed -- secret service, they stopped it, then the driver apparently a woman, made a turn up pennsylvania avenue towards capitol hill. running through traffic lights, getting all the way up to the senate side where it was stopped, apparently gunshots were fired, and that's the vehicle there. you can see it also hit one police -- there was a crash at second and maryland. and also first and constitution where the police officer was injured in that crash. we have representative blake pharynthol of texas joining us right now. congressman, tell us where you were when you -- i don't know if you heard the gunshots or what was going on, but walk us through your personal account of what happened.

>> well, i had just gotten back to my office after our weekly texas republican delegation lunch. and all of the enunciators, the emergency announcement were started, my immediate concern is where is my staff and where is my daughter? my daughter was having lunch with my communications director, megan kronen, and we would send an intern to get a vacuum cleaner because there's no jan torial services during the government shutdown. i was immediately worried about where the rest of the staff was. just about then, my daughter and megan came bursting in the door. they were the second to last people who got let into the canon building before the lockdown. they ran and came in. about 30 seconds later, somebody pounded on the door, and it was our intern with a vacuum cleaner. we let him in. my immediate concern was for the safety of my staff. we all got on the phone. i called my mother and my wife. and the staff all called their families as well. we tweeted everybody was safe, but it was certainly a kind of

scary day. >> that's what we have been hearing from many of your colleagues. frightening when you hear the sirens going off, you hear the advisories from the capitol police, shelter in place, don't leave. get inside some sort of secure room and stay put until word is going on. have you gotten any more information about what may have been involved in this incident? have capitol hill police or others said anything to you, congressman? >> i haven't gotten any inside scoop. i have four televisions in my office. all on a different news channel, and that's pretty much where i'm getting my information. but i tell you, the timing on this was really kind of scary. capitol hill police are at a lower personnel level because of the shutdown, and i can tell you that my office has been getting more emotional calls than we've gotten on any other issue. now, not a whole lot from texas,

but from other area codes, and you know, i was really concerned that this might be something related to what's going on with the government. but the reports now lead me to believe otherwise. >> leads me to believe as well. we did hear from the police chief, the u.s. capitol hill police chief, kim dine, saying it and no, no connection at all to terrorism or anything along those lines. one final question before i let you go. clearly, an incident like this scares everyone up on capitol hill, staffers, workers, members of congress. you think it will propel you guys up there, democrats and republicans, to say you know what, enough is enough, let's get back to work and end this government shutdown? >> listen, i've been advocating to end it as soon as possible anyway. it's unfortunate that this happened but maybe some good will come out of it. >> yeah, let's hope indeed that government shutdown has lasted long enough. everyone's got to get back to

work and some of the other political issues, you guys can work out separately. congressman, thanks very much. blake farenthold of texas. brian todd is getting more witness accounts of what happened. >> reporter: a riveting account from a man who said he saw a car chase down pennsylvania avenue, which is just a couple blocks from us here, down pennsylvania avenue. a car he described as a black sedan, maybe a lexus with tinted windows. the car turned south on third street with five police cars chasing it. according to travis gilbert, that's the account he gave. as he was giving this to my producer, he was quickly taken away by police as a witness to interview. so he witnessed a lot of this unfolding. again, his account, he saw a car chase down pennsylvania avenue presumably from the white house area this way toward the capitol. black sedan, possibly a lexus with tinted windows, turning

south on third street, five police cars chasing it. another witness told us that she heard four or five bangs like gun shots, then a larger bang like a cannon. clearly this was a very scary scene as it played out in the streets between the white house area and this area and just east of here, up the hill on capitol hill. >> what's it like now, where obviously the lockdown has been lifted, there is an all-clear. can you move around freely? are there still areas that have been secured? i assume that's the case. >> reporter: there are still areas that are very heavily secured. there's a heavy police presence here. they are not letting us get really beyond this point on constitution avenue past louisiana avenue just behind me here up the hill. you can see police blocking the streets. as you would imagine, there's a media scrum here. it's harder to move around with the reporters and photographers here. they're impeding us but we're part of it. anyway, the police not letting us past these points south or east of here at this point.

>> hopefully we will get more information on what drove apparently this woman, this woman driver, to drive so dangerously, so recklessly, from near the white house all the way up to capitol hill. we have some more eyewitnesses accounts. let's play some of them. >> there was a black car that came from the direction of pennsylvania avenue. there were about six police cars chasing it. it came up on to the sidewalk. they cornered it, it backed up. it looked like it had either run into another police car or backed towards police and they opened fire on it. i heard between seven and ten shots fired. however, the car continued on. police chased it. a few seconds later there was what sounded like an explosion. >> i was on the steps right outside a little circle and we saw, we heard gun shots, then we saw a car drive by with bullet holes in it. >> the police were very quick to surround us. they told us not to move, to hit the concrete and don't move.

we could smell the gun powder so we knew it was very close. >> very frightening few moments there. it lasted, the lockdown, i'm guessing for at least a half hour, 40 minutes before the lockdown was lifted, the all-clear was given. there are two crime scenes now. first on constitution northwest, if you're familiar with capitol hill. second in maryland avenue northeast. both on the senate side, not very far away from each other. a vehicle crashing into one police vehicle, injuring a police officer who was then medevaced to a local hospital in washington. we don't know the condition of that police officer. we believe it's not life-threatening. we don't know the condition of the driver, believed to be a woman. also, the capitol hill police not relaying that information for us, saying that's still unclear. no condition on the driver. there apparently was a child in the vehicle. we did have some video of a police officer carrying a young child from that black vehicle. deb feyerick has been watching all of this unfold together with

us. deb, the situation has calmed down, obviously, and there are some pictures of the helicopter, the u.s. park police helicopter taking this police officer who was injured in this crash to a local hospital. we hope this police officer is going to be okay. we assume this police officer will be okay. we don't have more information. but what else are you learning now? you see the crime scene there. >> reporter: what we do know is that that police officer, he was driving a car that was hit by the black vehicle that was being driven at extremely high speeds, and one of the reasons that this car chase was taking place is because the driver of the black vehicle simply did not comply with police officers who were trying to get the car to slow down. in fact, the car was going through red lights, was driving somewhat erratically, not slowing down. it's unclear specifically when police began opening fire on the vehicle, whether the car had stopped or whether it hit something and then came to a stop. but we do know that because the

driver was not obeying commands of police or even slowing down, that it was seen as a situation and that's why the police responded as they did. we are also being told that apparently cameras are being pulled from the area of the white house where the initial altercation began. we're told the woman drove up to a white house checkpoint, about 300 yards from the white house. words were exchanged between her and somebody at that checkpoint and then when she went to drive away, realized there were police cars behind her and that's when she took off. so all of this sort of -- nobody understood why she was there, why she was driving so erratically and not obeying what she was told to do which was to stop, and that's why this happened. we're also told that this took about three minutes from start to finish. but cameras are now being pulled to see exactly what that altercation was about and why it ended as it did, wolf. >> there's very, very good

closed circuit tv cameras all around the nation's capitol, whether near the white house or up on capitol hill. so they'll have a lot of video to scrutinize precisely what happened. that video we were showing the viewers just a few seconds ago, that's video of the police officer who was injured in the crash put on that gurney, taken to the helicopter and flown to a local hospital for treatment. there you see the police officer boarding that helicopter, u.s. park police helicopter, to go to a local hospital. i don't know which hospital it was, probably the washington hospital center which is not very far away from capitol hill. but we'll find out fairly soon. we're standing by also for another news conference from capitol hill police, maybe the fbi and others will be involved as well. but this was -- for those who were up on capitol hill, heard the sirens, heard the announcements shelter in place, shelter in place, do not leave your room, do not exit the

buildings, whether the house office buildings or the senate office buildings or the main u.s. capitol building. this was a pretty frightening situation that was unfolding up on capitol hill. and the incident apparently started at 15th and pennsylvania right outside the white house. the secure area, apparently this black vehicle tried to get through that secure area and then when uniformed members of the secret service stopped this driver, the driver just made a u-turn and began driving up on pennsylvania avenue, running red lights all the way up to the senate side of capitol hill, where these altercations took place. we have a little bit more eyewitness sound. let me play it for our viewers. >> can you tell me what did you see? apparently you were very close. where were you? >> i was on the steps right outside a little circle and we saw -- we heard gun shots, then we saw a car drive by with bullet holes in it. >> the car had already the bullet holes. >> yes. >> what kind of car was it? >> it was a black car.

i couldn't tell you what kind. >> it was being chased by the police, right? >> yeah. >> did you see who was shooting? >> no. we actually don't think there was a shooter. we heard that somebody tried to run over the police in a car. >> oh. so it was the police that shot at him. that's their version. >> their version? >> yeah, the police shot at him because he was driving where he wasn't supposed to be. >> okay. okay. what else did you see around that you can recall? >> not much. we just saw the car, then we went into some bushes and hid. >> the police were very quick to surround us and they told us not to move, to hit the concrete and don't move. we could smell the gun powder so we knew it was very close. then once -- after a few moments, my son got the wits about him to get in the bushes to hide and there was a child and a mother and another visitor in the bushes. >> all right. there you have it, eyewitness accounts.

we will stay on top of this story. i'll be back one hour from now in "the situation room." but it was pretty terrifying. at 2:24, when capitol hill police issued an alert shelter in place, gunshots have been reported on capitol hill. jake tapper picks up our coverage in "the lead" right now. welcome to "the lead." i'm jake tapper live from capitol hill, where just minutes ago, there was a dramatic scene. the dust is now just settling after shots were fired very close to where i'm sitting presently. it was chaos as capitol hill police sprung into action and took positions around the dome. tourists and staffers were sent scrambling. people inside the senate, including our elected leaders and cnn reporters and crew, they were ordered to take shelter as this blared from the loud speakers. >> shelter in place. close, lock and move away from doors, windows. if you are outside of an office building, seek cover away from the area.

we're on the opposite -- we have