>> leland: fox news alert as we look to nashville, tennessee, where there has been a massive explosion that police now say was intentional. noon eastern, 11:00 a.m. in nashville, we understand the police are going to speak along with the fbi about this explosion, sometime around 1:00 p.m. eastern, noon central time. fbi and atf agents are currently on the scene in nashville. the fbi has the lead of this investigation, and they believe the blast, which was an rv that exploded, was an intentional act. this is christmas morning now and nashville, christmas afternoon in washington, d.c. i'm leland vittert. >> julie: and julie banderas. sandra smith and trace gallagher are off as we continue this

christmas morning explosion in nashville. reportedly it happened at around 6:30 in the morning, first of all. and rv was spotted. it looked suspicious. this morning, a local police of us are elated authorities, he called in the bomb squad, and fortunately caught this before the van or the rv, in fact, exploded. the ten block radius was then closed off around the side of the blast. it got rich edson live in washington with more, with a reactionary. hi, rich, rich. >> hi, julie. it's a major police response in downtown nashville. trying to piece together who was responsible for a massive explosion when an rv blew up there at 6:30 this morning. police say three people went to the hospital, though none in critical condition. witnesses say the explosion shattered glass, knocked down trees, and should buildings, causing smoke and fire visible from across the nashville area. police say they think this is

deliberate. >> the rv exploded at 6:30 this morning. we do believe this to have been an intentional act, significant damage has been done to the infrastructure they are on second north. >> nashville metro police say the fbi and atf are investigating. other law enforcement officials will arrive in the coming days. the department of justice as early this morning the acting attorney general, jeff rosen, directed department resources there. police say they've sealed off downtown, brought in police dogs to make sure there are no other explosives, although they have no indication right now that there are other devices. police say they dispatched officers to the area this morning after a call about gun fire. when they arrived, they say they saw this rv, it looked suspicious, called in the bomb squad. this is right in downtown nashville near bars and restaurants in a very vibrant tourist city. the city says there is dining

there, though restricted to 50% capacity because of the coronavirus. all this now close down downtown, and the investigation is ongoing. back to you, julie. >> julie: thank you so much. leland, i'll hand it to you. >> leland: on the phone with us is tennessee senator marsha blackburn. he appreciate you joining us on christmas morning. i miss him you were anybody when you got the news of this. have you been briefed in any way on this? >> we've been in touch with local, state, and federal authorities, and as you've all reported, they were working on this. it's a tragic situation. we are of course concern for safety and security, and we are grateful for the first responders and law enforcement who found a suspicious, again, cordoning off the area and working to protect people that live in this downtown area.

>> leland: undoubtedly they save so many lives. i'm wondering, ma'am, for those of us who haven't been to downtown nashville, it's a great city. described this area for us. it happened at 6:30 on chris's morning because it's pretty empty, but describe how this would be on any of the night. visit a bar area, are people out? bars and residential? >> you are down around broadway, of course in nashville we have lots of bars and venues, live music venues, you have the country music hall of fame that is within a few blocks of this area, as is the symphony hall, as is the arena, so it is a very busy area. as you said, other times, there is a lot of pedestrian traffic in this area. we are just so grateful for

law enforcement and people that were watching, felt this was suspicious, and are fully aware that they are going to continue this investigation. you're going to hear more from the fbi on the specifics of this later in the day. >> leland: my experience, the fbi is pretty tight-lipped at the beginning of investigations, often unless they need help with something. we appreciate you being with us. i want to play the video, you can either see on your television or get a feel for it. this is a video that was taken by someone who lives there, just minutes after the explosion. we are going to play that for a second and that you hear it. those are undoubtedly the screams of somebody who is injured in this explosion. you can see the car still on fire. it's sad, it's horrifying, i

would suspect that someone did this to your city and state you love so much, it's got to make you awfully upset. >> it is of tremendous concern. you are correct. concern for all of those individuals that live in this area. and concern that they would have been someone who felt the need to do this. as i said, we are going to hear more from the fbi. this is a time when we are so grateful that we have members of our police, that thin blue line that continues to stand between chaos and calm. for the good work that they have done this christmas morning, when this tragedy, this unspeakable, unseemly tragedy, has occurred in downtown nashville. >> leland: really, some incredible decision making and following of instincts by the police officer who was there.

at 6:00 in the morning, had the presence of mind to say, "something feels wrong, we are calling the bomb squad and starting to move people." that takes an awful lot of presence of mind. senator marsha blackburn of tennessee, we appreciate it. if you hear any more, we appreciate you letting us know. thank you. >> thank you. bye-bye, now. >> leland: julie -- >> julie: for more on this, i want to bring in country star and nashville bar owner, john rich. do we have john? >> yes, ma'am. >> julie: hi, john. thank you for talking to us. we really appreciate you coming to kids some local perspective as far as this area. there are restaurants, bars, residential area where people have homes, apartments, and so forth. where is your bar located in relation to the second avenue n commerce? what you know about this area in particular? >> we are on third avenue and broadway, it is literally just a

few buildings from my building is where this explosion happened. this explosion, for anybody that's been to nashville, you're talking about right where the wildhorse saloon is, which is a huge venue. it's a couple of blocks from the ryman auditorium, where the crandall opry started. it is literally dead center of nashville, as you can basically get. a lot of people live there, it's fortunate that, if there's anything fortunate about it, it was that time of morning on christmas when nobody is out and about. i think it's pretty incredible that our police were able to activate that quickly. i will say here locally there's a lot of reports, a lot of posts on social media that you guys might not be picking up on yet, of people who say they are. amounts of gunfire, several different -- >> julie: that turned out not to be gunfire, though. initially the first call to police, that gunshots were

fired, it later turned out that there is not evidence of shots being fired. but there was obviously evidence of a massive explosion. i was in nashville many years back, remember, ironically, right around christmas time, i remember going into a bunch of different shops and looking at christmas themed trinkets and so forth, and i do remember being in this area. a lot of people being out and about. i wasn't there on christmas morning, but on an average morning, let's say, on a holiday even, which you normally see a lot of people out and about on a day like today? it seems it is cooperative for people to head out of the homes today. >> yes, ma'am. you would normally see a lot of people out. it's millions of people a year who come through nashville. it's a heavily pedestrian town, people come here all over the world to the live music. it is a christmas destination with all the great things you have in town. it's a horrific thing to wake up in the morning to open presents with your kids and an explosion

goes up just down the road. it's very frightening and we are all very curious to find out who brought a war zone to nashville. that's what we want to know now. >> julie: nothing would be open at 6:30 in the morning, though. right? >> no, not really. that's probably the only time something wouldn't be open. >> julie: and that is a saving grace, wouldn't you say? your bar obviously was closed. do you know the status of your bar, if it suffered any damage? >> my place did not take any damage. it's called redneck riviera. it's right on third and broad. but there was shrapnel and debris hitting buildings as far as five and six blocks away. whatever they blew it up with, it was significant. >> julie: what do you want to say to your local law enforcement there? they saw an rv at 6:30 in the morning, most people are not at that time on christmas morning. most adults were probably up pretty late last night, so this

morning, you hear about local law enforcement, that happen to see an rv. many of us, as common folk, would not think anything of it. but his sixth sense kicked in, apparently. he called in the bomb squad, they started doing door-to-door checks, and the next thing you know, 30 minutes later the rv cause such discretion, demolishing the entire city block. >> i would say thank god for our police, i would say back the blue, i would say that's why you don't defund the police. you have to have them in situations like this. when they are the only ones keeping watch over the safety of the citizens. god bless metro nashville police department. we've all got their back. >> julie: leland, i mean, what we were talking about earlier, the action of one or more, we don't know how many people were out there as far as police officers, if it was a partner team that decided to elate the bomb squad, but their actions

certainly have spoken volumes this morning. >> leland: well, and it takes a real presence of mind and courage of conviction to do that. you can imagine, it's 6:00 in the morning, all the bomb squad members who are at home sleeping, getting the phone call, "hey, this is real, let's go," there were probably a few grumbles going, "at 6:00 on christmas morning, somebody had the presence of mind to make that decision and make that call. as we look at the video of this area, i'm not sure if you're able to see what we would call the return, but the pictures on the screen, there is a couple of buildings that are hollowed out, essentially, by this explosion where ground zero was. is there any significance to one or the other of the buildings on this block? is there any kind of corporate building or anything else? is it all just sort of bars and restaurants and old apartment buildings in a warehouse district? >> that the great question,

leland. most of those buildings were built in the 1850s. you see those bricks blown out across the street like we are looking at, those are 1850, 1860 bricks. the big red brick building with the explosion went off right in front of it, that is the at&t command central. we have a big building, we caught the bat building, at&t pay below that, right where that explosion happened, is the communications nerve center based in nashville. that's what that building is. >> leland: wow pay was across the street? is a building that appears to be sort of hollowed out. >> there's a lot of bars and restaurants and some that are under construction, there's also apartments going everywhere. like i said, a lot of those for antiques, they are precivil war buildings. the bricks are pretty old, pretty fragile. it is hard to tell, honestly.

that street rolling through there, i have sang on that street, i have played in those bars. i know all the people that live down there. that is our home. >> leland: i can just imagine all the folks who are bar owners on that street feeling like they can't catch a break. even now, the business is destroyed. forget how high the pandemic was, but there's no way to have people on new year's, there's no way to have people eating out on the streets. >> you know, whoever did this obviously did on christmas morning on purpose, to send a message. we want, like everybody else in the country wants, we want to know who did it. we want to know why they did it and who they are. as americans, people hit us like this, they try to push you back and make you afraid to be an american and to live free, and all it does really come into me, is make me want to be louder and a louder patriot, expressed my freedom even more so. i bet most americans feel the same way. i'm glad you guys are covering

it with such detail on fox. much appreciated. >> julie: first of all, let's send the message, don't mess with nashville. there are plenty of cameras to go around. he got the closed circuit cameras. you, as a bar owner, i'm sure you have security cameras up. imagine all these businesses who have these cameras, that's the first thing investigators are going to go to, those cameras. whoever parked at rv, whether it be at 6:30 this morning or maybe they parked it last night and they were able to get out of there before the explosive went off, they are going to be caught on camera, as well. look, you're not dealing with an inexperienced team here. you have a police officer this morning who rang alarms and called in the bomb squad, just basically by simply seeing an rv parked on the side of the road. you've got some excellent law enforcement on top of this. let's just say we can rest assured that nashville will nab this guy with the help of the atf and the fbi. what would you want to say to

anyone who would want to enter nashville? y nashville, why on christmas morning? those are the questions we are wondering this morning. why? >> look at our country right now. there is so much tension, so much pressure. you look at an event like this, you could probably come up with six or seven, or ten, different groups and ideologies out there that could be responsible for something like this. nobody knows. we need to know. like you said, all those cameras up and down broadway, there's as many cameras up and down broadway as there are -- as there are in vegas. i was standing on that stage in vegas one hour before that shooting started, as well. they come after us, their point, i would assume, is to try to show that they are strong or push americans back into their houses and keep us from living free lives and pursuing happiness, but he actually has the opposite effect. it angers us and it makes us

want to walk out there, show that our chest out and go, "by god, we are americans, this is not going to shut us up. we're going to find you and we are going to hold you accountable for what you did." >> julie: all this does is prove americans are strong, john. i'm glad you pointed that out. john rich, thank you so much for talking to us. our condolences to your city, that certainly there will be answers. it's just a matter of time. thank you. by the way, when you look left on your screen, easy left police officers there. there's also explosive detection dog surveying the scene. they are looking for a second possible device. there is no indication of a secondary device at this point, but an earlier guest did mention to us, leland, and it's important to note, while this is unfolding in nashville, every single police department all across the country needs to be especially vigilant right now. thank goodness, this is a single event trade that we don't know all the answers. this is the very, very beginning

of a christmas morning explosion that was intentional. obviously a lot needs to be read into this. >> leland: we also need to be careful about how far we get ahead of ourselves as far as what may or may not have happened and why. we know it was intentional, we don't know what the motives of the person was or why it happened at 6:30 a.m. on christmas morning. much of downtown nashville shut down. you would hope we would get more information from the fbi, who has taken over the lead of this investigation. they've scheduled a press conference now for about 40 minutes from now. noon in nashville, 1:00 p.m. eastern time. we hope to get this update. we understand that, as would be the procedure, the fbi and others reach out across their networks to see if they can't find any other threat information or various leads they would go off of. it was clear from the news conference given by nashville police that they know a little bit more than they are letting on, exactly what happened at second and commerce street and the large explosion that came

from an rv at 6:30 this morning. the camera there in nashville moving around a little bit, we are not really sure what that is. that would be a picture of one of the canine dogs, one of the police canine detection dog that will go around and try to smell for explosives and see if there's any secondary devices, that's what it would be called, in the area. police importantly said they had no indication that there was any secondary devices, but they were trying to make sure of that, as so many investigators are now flooding that zone. we'll be back.

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it's not about the toys or the ornaments but about coming together. santa, santa, you're on mute! just wanted to say thanks. thanks for believing. >> leland: fox news alert as we look alive at nashville, tennessee, downtown very much on lockdown after a massive

explosion in the mean business and restaurant district of downtown nashville. police bomb dogs are now going door-to-door, business-to-business, car to car to see if they are any what they call "secondary devices," other bombs that have not yet gone off. we understand the fbi has taken the lead on this investigation. the bomb exploded just about five hours ago, was inside some type of rv, recreational vehicle parked on the side of the street. the entire block where it was parked has been turned into a charred mess. thankfully nobody killed, a couple people injured, probably because just about half an hour before this explosion there was a 911 call. as we look at the video of the aftermath in the upper right-hand corner of your screen, there was a 911 call, a police officer came to investigate the rv and seemed to think there was something so suspicious that they called out the bomb squad and began moving

people away from the area. there's a number of residential buildings down in this buyer district with old brick buildings that are, in the words of one bar owner, quite fragile down there. the explosion was so strong, it sent debris six blocks away and knocked people out of their beds, two and three blocks away. as we've said, the police there are right now doing a search to see if there's any additional explosive devices. 1:00 p.m. eastern for the fbi to give an update. mark meredith is traveling with the president in west palm beach and we understand this was at least significant enough for those who are traveling with him to brief the president this morning. good morning, mark. >> good morning. leland, that's right. we are waiting to see whether or not president trump will address what's been going on in nashville on camera or if he'll say something on one of his secret platforms, and twitter. right now he's at the trump international golf club, not far from mar-a-lago where he's been since wednesday evening. we have not seen him on campus and he touched down, but as you

mentioned earlier today, he was letting reporters know that the president has been briefed and he is in regular contact getting updates. also wishing the first responders well as they begin their work of investigating what went on. we are also hearing from the department of justice, the acting attorney general has also put out a statement saying that he is offering other resources that he can provide. he also imagined this would be interesting because it's the first time we've really seen this person in this capacity after bill barr, the attorney general, left his post on wednesday, as the president winds down his term in office. we are waiting to see also whether or not the president will be talking about what federal resources are going into all of this. there was nothing that was on the president scheduled today that was indicating he was going to talk, but over the last several years we've gotten used to see him deliver a christmas message, so we are waiting to see whether or not that would pop up on his schedule or not. the white house seeing the present was making calls, holding meetings, but there is nothing indicating we were going to hear from him on what's happened in nashville.

of course, that could change. we are hearing from the members of the tennessee congressional delegation. i know you had senator blackburn on at the top of the error indicating this would be and all of government response as they try to piece together what happened. leland? >> leland: yeah, so many known unknowns. give us perspective on the briefing that we heard, that the president was given. to be have a time on that in terms of -- explosion at 6:30 central time, 7:30 eastern. how long was it before we understood the president was briefed? >> i would say we got the update probably at about four hours after the explosion, around 10:30 here. of course, the president could have been briefed soon after. they didn't give us a tick-tock of what time that happen. with christmas day, it would probably be a skeleton staff are on the president whenever he travels, all over the world, they have an apparatus set up so he can be kept in touch with what's going on not only in washington but all over the

world. the president, though, has been very active on twitter since testing down here in west palm beach. so many other issues we've been following on his christmas vacation. there were a lot of lawmakers upset about what's been going on with the stimulus, whether or not the president was going to sign this or not. leland, we expect that at some point but president would have to address the elephant in the room, with or not the stimulus checks but go out, whether the government would pay for another shutdown or not. it's unclear with the national development sweater that would change anything. leland? >> leland: the past couple of holidays, sometimes the pool that travels with the president comes into a room, sometimes because troops living overseas at this time. something to wash work, mark, standing by in west palm beach talking to his . >> julie: we are awaiting an update from authorities in nashville. they are set to make remarks of the top of the hour.

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don't let another morning go by without asking your doctor about the pill first prescribed for ra more than seven years ago. xeljanz. >> julie: we are following breaking news out of nashville, a large intentional explosion. fbi memphis is taking the lead on this investigation. it started at 6:30 local time when an rv was spotted, reported by local police officer who called in the bomb squad and was able to do safety checks, get people out of there. 30 minutes later, in fact, that rv did explode, right on a main avenue, second avenue india, right in downtown nashville. fortunately only three people were injured, they were taken to local hospitals. no one critically hurt. originally 911 calls were made and there were reports of shots fired. no evidence of shots fired, but

if you hear the screams, those screams on the top right of your screen, cell phone video of people on the ground moments after this explosion in sheer horror of what they just witnessed. thank god no one was killed. joining me now, though, is chris swecker, former fbi assistant director. we do know the fbi of memphis is leading on this investigation. obviously incarnation with the atf, the local nashville police. nashville police, it's interesting to note, did mention earlier in a news conference, and in an hour they'll have another, they have several people they are currently speaking to. they didn't name them persons of interest, they could just be witnesses. would they bring witnesses to the station to speak with? or would they talk to witnesses on the street? how does that work, what's the first step in the fbi investigation here? >> they'll talk to them wherever they can find them. of course they will try to get to an area in a car or somewhere that they can have a one-on-one

conversation, if they are talking to witnesses. if they have a suspect, in all likelihood, they will get them to an fbi facility or the local police department. at this stage, i think probably what the police are doing is interviewing potential witnesses. i am absolutely certain they are attacking that crime scene right now, trying to get a vehicle identification number off of that car or van. >> julie: what does it mean when the fbi gets involved in this sort of investigation? >> the fbi doesn't work routine crimes. i hate to word and use the word "routine." they come in and a bombing situation like this when terrorism is suspected. those are the initial questions here that they are going to answer fairly quickly. is this a lone wolf, is it a domestic incident, is it an

international incident? or is it just a crime? again, i want to minimize it by saying "just a crime," but the first look is to determine if it's an act of terrorism. >> julie: okay, and that's what i suspected. nobody's using the word "terrorism" but this was on domestic soil, and that's where the fbi steps in. they have explosion detection dogs there, looking for a secondary device. there is no indication of the secondary device, but an expert we spoke with earlier did point something out here. there is no coincidence, first of all, that this happened christmas morning. it's a bit odd it happened at the time it did, 6:30 in the morning, not necessarily a time that you would see a ton of foot traffic. an earlier guest, a bar owner, did alert us to that brick building that you see there where the rv was parked in front of. that was an at&t communications center. apparently that is sort of the central hub of communication for

downtown nashville. does that speak anything to you? as someone from the fbi, as being a potential focal point? >> i will say that communication infrastructure has always been on target lists. of course, that's not being ruled out at this point. i have questions about the shots fired call, and it makes me wonder whether someone was trying to lure first responders to the scene and then detonate the bomb. there are quite a few variables here. i call it the fog of war, the initial stages of the investigation. not many details, and many of the details turn out to be inaccurate. >> julie: and it's good not to reveal too many details at first. obviously they need to get through the investigation under wraps before they start sharing that information with the public. we know as we've mentioned, the

fact there's not much to go on other than the fact we know it's intentional, and we know that somebody had some intention of causing widespread harm. what do you make of the fact this happened at 6:30 in the morning, though? if you think of downtown nashville, typically see tens of foot traffic, pedestrians, vehicular, et cetera. at 6:30 in the morning on christmas morning, not so much. >> yeah, that's absolutely right. if someone were looking to maximize casualties, there are plenty of other times in the day that you could choose on christmas day. that is a curious aspect of this case, and i would go back to what i said earlier, the key to this case is the key to any bombing case, having some experience in iraq, if you can get the vehicle identification number very quickly you can track who hunts or owns the vehicle or who loaned the vehicle. i would be willing to stake out that they may have that information already.

>> julie: i believe you're right. i am sure that detail and all of those details will be coming out very slowly so the fbi can get all its facts straight. what would he make about the type of bomb that potentially could have been used it to cause this widespread damage? we heard of people who lived up to 8 miles away, we heard about people living six blocks away that actually felt their apartments or their lofts shake as if there was some sort of earthquake going on. this was a significant bomb. >> yeah, this suggests some type of high explosives. again, i spent some time in iraq doing these types of investigations. crime scenes, forensic investigations of vehicle bombings. a good bond tech can take a look at a creature or the tim crime e and tell you right away whether it was high explosives or something else. dynamite, some other type of explosive device. this sounds like -- it looks to

me like this is high explosives, probably 100 pounds or more of that. that sounds very -- i hate to use the t word, but it sounds a lot like a terrorist act to me at this early stage. as a commentator i can say that. if i were in approximation to the crime scene, of course, i wouldn't say anything. >> julie: of course. we appreciate you saying that, giving some insight from your perspective. chris swecker, thank you for talking to us, especially on christmas morning. for fbi assistant director. thank you. leland? >> leland: perhaps important what chris just said, if he was processing the crime scene, he wouldn't say that. meaning we maybe getting limited information here in about 20 mie update. they've taken over the crime scene in nashville, the fbi, and are beginning to process that. we understand, at least from nashville police, that the 911 call came in sometime a little bit before 6:00 a.m., which gave them about half an hour from when the officer arrived on the

scene two when they started evacuating people around this very popular river club, river district, with bars nigh, night, and buildings dating back to the civil war have been destroyed along this 1-block area in downtown nashville. we'll be right back. we're related to them? we're portuguese? i thought we were hungarian. can you tell me that story again? behind every question is a story waiting to be discovered. this holiday, start the journey with a dna kit from ancestry. t-moat a record pace. itsthe network rney with a dna kit we were the first to bring 5g nationwide. and now that sprint is a part of t-mobile we're turning up the speed.

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some people taking otezla reported weight loss. your doctor should monitor your weight and may stop treatment. upper respiratory tract infection and headache may occur. tell your doctor about your medicines, and if you're pregnant or planning to be. otezla. show more of you. >> julie>> leland: fox news ale, this christmas afternoon in washington, christmas morning still in nashville with the city is on lockdown. you can see live pictures after a large explosion rocked the downtown nightclub entertainment district, it happened in about 6:30 this morning when an rv blew up in that area and leveled an entire block of downtown nashville. now police are going door-to-door, building to building, car to car, to see if there any secondary devices, which would be additional devices planted. either vehicles or something else. it all began with a 911 call at about 6:00 in the morning, about

a suspicious rv. a police officer came to investigate and about half an hour later the bomb squad had been called, but did not inspect the rv. at least that we understand, the rv blew up, hurt a number of people, but didn't kill anybody. undoubtedly the quick thinking of that police officer saved lives, as did the fact that it happened at 6:30 in the morning on christmas. we are waiting for news conference, the fbi's taking over the scene. that should happen about the top of the hour, 15 minutes from now. julie? >> julie: in other news, house speaker nancy pelosi planning a stand-alone vote on monday on president trump's call to boost covid-19 stimulus checks from $600 to $2,000 per recipient. house republicans mean time yesterday blocked the unanimous consent of consent vote on that amendment. g.o.p. lawmakers meantime instead pushing for cutting out some of that pork in the bill. that's what they want to cut.

chad pergram is live on capitol hill, the americans are sitting back and waiting for their checks in the mail. hammack, chad. >> hi, julie. a lot of this opposition from president trump cut members from both side of the island capitol hill off guard. they thought they would universally negotiate this between republicans and democrats, and also with the trump administration here. they thought they were ready to go. there are more than 350 yeas. 92 yeas in the senate. president trump appears to be opposing this bill, the fact they link to the $900 billion covid package with the $1.4 trillion government funding package. here is a republican ken buck, d now. >> it was stacked with pork, it's really unfortunate. we need to help small businesses and help the unemployed. >> the spending the president flagged and what buck refers to was agreed to by white house officials and top republican leaders on capitol hill as they

negotiated the deal. plus, the spending aligns with the president's annual budget request sent to congress earlier this year. if president trump doesn't sign the bill, there could be a government shutdown monday nig night. >> how ironic it would be to shut down the government at a time of pandemic crisis. the very time when government services are needed the most. sign this bill, mr. president. >> on monday night, the house of representatives plans to build on this proposal for $2,000 direct stimulus checks. basically, democrats are daring republicans to vote no and go against the president because they opposed checks of that size. in many cases, checks at all in the initial negotiations of this bill. also on monday night, the house of representatives will move an interim spending bill to try to avoid a government shutdown. julie, the senate does not come back until tuesday. unless they change their schedule, there could be a

government shutdown on monday night. back to you. >> julie: chad pergram, live on capitol hill. thank you very much. leland? >> leland: haven't heard from the president yet today but he has been briefed on the events down in nashville as we take a look at that city, under lockdown. this is video of the aftermath, just after that explosion this morning when an rv blew up. police say it was an intentional act, although with the intent was where the motive behind that intent, we don't know. as we go to break, we will let you listen to the sounds that are chilling, just after the explosion in nashville. an fbi press conference in 10 minutes. >> [sirens] >> [screaming] hows people rememr commercials with nostalgia. so to help you remember that liberty mutual customizes your home insurance, here's one that'll really take you back. it's customized home insurance from liberty mutual! only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪

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>> leland: learning a little bit more about the investigation going on right now in nashville, after a huge explosion rocked the main business entertainment restaurant downtown district there. you can see we are set up for a press conference, from fbi officials who have now taken over the investigation. that is supposed to happen at 1:00 p.m. eastern, noon central, about 6 minutes from now. here's what we know. 6:30 this morning, there was that massive explosion. about half an hour before that,

there had been a 911 call to police. when police got to the rv that was called in as suspicious, they thought something was awry, so they began investigating the area in downtown nashville. you can hear the sounds of the screams coming from people who had been injured in the attack. this is video from just afterwards, big car fires along the street, second avenue in nashville, that parallels the river there. president trump has been briefed and we understand the fbi has taken over the crime scene in the investigation as they begin to search for not only secondary devices to make sure nothing is going to hurt investigators, but also the search for evidence is very much under way at this time. we bring in former u.s. attorney michael moore, federal prosecutor, as well. michael, where does the fbi's involvement come to mean that we have gone beyond something just being intentional to figuring out what the motive is?

or do they call the fbi protective in situations like this? >> you will remember that, during the time -- certainly the time i was serving as u.s. attorney, it was determined by the department one of the greatest threats facing us was from domestic terrorism. at least internally. it's too early to call this terrorism, but i do think that you see indicators, and my first thought -- again, going off of public information, it sounds like a baited trap to me. that someone set the rv there with explosives in it, called in first responders to basically enter somebody or kill somebody. >> leland: a former member of the fbi made a same connection that he heard there was that 911 call. i'm wondering, there is what's happening in nashville, obviously, but there is also what's happening around the

country. it's christmas day, that bomb goes off at 7:30 eastern, how long is it before fbi offices around the country are getting a call of the heads up something has happened? the police department in the cities need to be careful, as well. >> it is immediate. there are processes and information in place, the joint terrorism task force that exists, there is basically a coordinated effort between state, federal, and local law enforcement officers and agencies. often you will see even fbi agents detached and working hand-in-hand with local agencies, and vice versa. i am sure the calls went out immediately. the timing is suspicious, the fact that it was on a holiday suspicious, and certainly what looks to me like a baited trap seems to indicate that this was somebody -- these, as you remember, are probably the greatest acts that can happen. if it turns out -- i do think -- >> leland: i want to be careful, oftentimes we see this

happen before, that things appear to be one way and they are the other. without going down -- >> well, let me say this, i'm not making -- i told you i'm going off of public reporting in your reporting. if, in fact, this is the case, and these factors are lining up to indicate that, then that tells us a lot of additional information. >> leland: i've got to get in one more question before we go to this press conference. so often in these press conferences the fbi walks out and says basically everything out lady known and says, "we are not telling you anything else." how much additional information do they know right now that we don't? because the nashville police originally said there was a suspicious vehicle, the officer investigated it and started moving people back. what was suspicious about the vehicle, and the police wouldn't say. >> that sort of where i was headed when you ask your question. that is a promise you that they

are already looking through cocircuit television, vehicle registration information, cell phone tower, all this information. there is a system and a mechanism in place to begin the investigation, and they are not waiting to do anything one step at a time. they are doing many steps that wants to try and find out what's going on and what happened here. it is common practice and a better investigative method to come out and not talk about what they know yet, let the investigation steps made b, but to build their case they do have an obligation to the public to let them know it's going on, so they're trying to fulfill that, too. they are walking a fine line making sure they don't do anything to compromise the investigation or compromise the case, but -- >> leland: at the same time, you point out protect the public and the rest of law enforcement. we know right now that there are bomb dogs searching buildings

and cars in downtown nashville to make there are no secondary devices. michael moore, former u.s. attorney, we appreciate your time and analysis here. as you rightly point out, they are learning tidbits of facts, and you put this together and obviously the fbi and others have a lot more tidbits than we do. michael, thank you. julie, what struck me that michael said, it is the few things he put together here. intentional act, christmas morning, 6:30 in the morning, phone call ahead of time about a specific mission's vehicle. are beginning to get a picture of it will in downtown nashville, and the heroic acts of law enforcement. >> julie: let me touch on that. the first of all, that 5:30 in the morning 911 call was on shots fired. so they went to the scene, there was no evidence of shots fired. so in 911 call was placed, and an hour later and rv explodes. thanks to a police officer who deemed it suspicious, got people out of there in time, but that

5:30 a.m. 911 call, we are going to be learning a heck of a lot more about who placed that call and why shots were fired allegedly when there was no evidence of such a thing occurring. this investigation continues, the fbi and atf are heading the investigation. we appreciate you watching and continuing coverage now with america's news headquarters. >> fox news alert this morning, a massive explosion rocking nashville on christmas morning, and police say they do not think it was an accident. officials set to hold a news conference any minute now. the blast blackening streets and damaging at least 20 buildings, blowing out windows and forcing folks out of bed in music city. at least three people injured, some say it felt like an earthquake. we are seeing extensive damages in the popular downtown area near broadway. the fbi and atf have joined metro pd on the scene, and police say