is we have to work together to get rid of it. i'd like you to put my trauma center out of business. i really would. i would like to not be an expert on gunshots. >> this morning we are learning more about aaron alexis and the shooting at the washington naval yard. we'll put it all together for you and look at what's next in the investigation. also in colorado, the numbers are getting worse. and hopefully today the news flow will get better out of bowl boulder. >> and cool time lapsed video of the entire process that cost about $800 million. this is "way too early". good morning, everybody. a little later we will actually bring and you compilation of eyewitness accounts of what

happened in washington. but first i want to get you updated on the story. this morning we're learning more about how a lone gunman went on a deadly shooting rampage. 12 were killed, 13 if you include the alleged shooter. aaron alexis killed in a shoot-out with officers was a formal naval reservist in texas. he moved to d.c. recently to work as a civilian contractor with a company called the sgerpts. he was reportedly working as a subcontractor on a hewlett-packard project changing out equipment on an intranet site. according to the nbc affiliate in washington, the fbi searched a hotel last night where he had been staying with other contractors. local officials believe he most likely acted alone and that it was not a terrorist act. for much of monday, they scoured the d.c. area for other shooters after surveillance video appeared to show multiple people with guns drawn. but they have come back on doing

that. the shooting started around 8:15 a.m. eastern time. alexis reportedly had legitimate access to the facility as part of his contractor job. law enforcement sources tell nbc news he came on with only a shotgun, but shot a security guard and took the officer's handgun and then somehow acquired an ar 15 style assault rifle. so he didn't come in with the ar 15 according to reports. nbc news correspondent jim miklaszewski says he was on a higher perch as he began shooting at people just beginning their workday. >> reporter: the shooter took a position on the fourth floor overlooking a massive atrium in the center of the building. from there, he reportedly opened fire with an automatic rifle on the breakfast crowd at a food court on the ground floor. and that others on a third floor balcony area. witnesses also report the gunman

confronted a man in the fourth floor corridor and shot him at point blank range. >> law enforcement officials say he bought the shotgun as recently as a week ago in nearby virginia. president obama was briefed about the attack and his remarks addressing the five year anniversary of the financial crisis quickly took a somber turn. >> we poll gapoll gaze for that. those killed range from n. age from 46 to 73. the victims were all civilians and contractor, not active duty military. a witness says arthur daniel spotted a gunman running down the hallway inside building 197. and this is a huge complex.

he and a colleague got into the elevator but was shot in the back and killed. three other people were shot but are expected to survive. among them, d.c. police officer scott williams, a 23 year veteran of the force, who is said to be in good spirits. aaron alexis' family members apologized to those apparently caught in his path. >> this was something that nobody expected to happen. so i just want to let everybody know that whoever got hurt, the families and victims, the alexis family, our hearts go out to you. we apologize for the inconvenience of losing a loved one. we also lost a loved one. >> the navy yard actually back open this morning, but only critical personnel are coming to work. joining us now from the navy yard in washington, wrc's david culver. david, thanks for joining us. just tell us what you can add about aaron alexis. some friends say he was a practicing buddhist and he was

peaceful. we hear about the video game involvement. just give us some details about this man. >> reporter: we are trying to gets a mu gets gets a much information as possible. i'm at the hospital where three of the victims have been transported to. but some of the information coming from the "washington post". one navy official telling the post alexis was discharged in january 2011 for a, quote, pattern of misconduct. and that may be connected to a 2010 incident involving a gun in the state of tooekts. we know he moved from ft. worth to right here in washington. he was hired as an hourly tech employee and was scheduled to begin work right here in washington at the navy yard sometime this month. those who knew alexis describe him as a sweet and rather intelligent person, but it seems he also had apangry streak and that created an arrest record in

recent years. 2004 is when we found he was arresteded in seattle after he alledgedly fired three shots from a glock pistol into the tires of a honda accord that two construction workers had parked in a driveway next to his home. now, his father told detectives that his son had anger management problems that the family believed was associated with ptsd. the father said that his son alexis had been an active participant in rescue attempts of september 11th, 2001. now, alexis' explanation for his behavior was it the construction workers had, quote, mocked and disrespected him and that he had a blackout fueled by anger. he was arrested, but we should mention he was not charged in that incident. do i do want to mention here three of the victims involved in that shooting, one of them a d.c. police officer who was out of surgery this morning. we're told he's recovering. the two other victims were

civilian employees of the navy. both were women. we can tell you two of those three underwent surgery. again, they're recovering and the third person actually shot in the head and the hand, however, despite that head wounds she did not have to undergo surgery. all three expected to survive. back to you. >> david, thank you very much. i do want to add, former roommate of his in texas said he does open a handgun and concealed carry permit. so want to add that. we actually -- usually do something fun on twitter, but we simply want your reaction to this latest tragedy. use the #way too early. we're not asking a specific question. just give us your thoughts and impressions and whatever you would like to say, we will share some of them.

here is some of what president obama said. >> at the moment, republicans in congress don't seem to be focused on how to grow the economy and bill the middle class. i say at the moment because i'm still hoping that a light bulb goes off here. so far their budget ideas revolve primarily around even deeper cuts to education, even deeper cuts that would gut america's scientific research and development, even deeper cuts to america's in-fro infrastructure. are they willing to tank the entire economy just because they can't get their way on this issue? are they really willing to hurt

people just to score political points? >> white house press secretary jay carney says the speech was necessary since congress needs to act to avoid a government shutdown. he says no consideration was given to rescheduling it. we want to get to the latest on colorado where the latest numbers paint a pretty grim picture. this morning eight are confirmed dead. hundreds more remain unaccounted for after a week of tore ron she will rain. in terms of homes, at least 1600 have been completely destroyed. will rain. in terms of homes, at least 1600 have been completely destroyed. 18,000 are damaged to some degree. the damage in terms of space encompasses 4500 square miles. basically the size of the state of connecticut. more search and rescue efforts will get you said way in jund w toll expected to rise. leanne gregg has the latest.

all right the weather expected to be good today. yesterday more than a dozen helicopters made great progress. they were able to rescue hundreds of people and in total 12,000 people have been evacuated so far by the air and in the ground. rescues including a couple that was rescued by two separate peel. the man found clinging to a tree, the force of the water so strong that it ripped his clothing off. the woman was found in the water, his wife, both say they're very lucky to be alive. >> i'm very gratified and encouraged that a lot of what people perceived as the old fema is gone. i think what we see is an agile partner that will look at how do we build it better, less expensively and faster. >> and then he asked me --

excuse me. he asked me are you married. i said yes, i am. he says where is your wife. and i said i think she's lost. the most brave man in the whole world to jump in that water. >> reporter: again today the focus will be on rescuing people who are stranded with no power, no phones and no roads to get out. when the water recedes, officials plan to go back over the flooded areas to do extensive searches. they say there is concern that the death toll could rise. >> thank you very much. what a contrast to the selflessness with dealing with what we're dealing with in d.c.. after nearly two years of being submerged off the coast of italy, salvage crews are raised the wreck of the costa concordia. the 19 hour long operation had been built as the most delicate most expensive salvage operation in history costing close to $800

million. take a look at time lapsed video of the entire process. the massive ship pulled upright by a series of huge jacks and cables. and over the course as i said of the hours, and as the process got along, gravity started to help actually and it went along faster once they got part of the bulking frame out of the water and the water drained out of it. it will remain upright and in place for a few months before being towed away and broken up for scrap metal. because of the tragedy and loss of life, they will not put that ship back into service. captain schettino is expected back in court on september the 23rd. still ahead, a little bit of football. steelers and bengals. big ben had a few big moments, but was it enough to hold off cincinnati. and more from the navy yard in washington, d.c.. we'll hear from some

eyewitnesses on what they saw and how they escaped. that and a check on weather. >> beginning to look as if the self imposed deadline of today was just the thing the three leaders needed to spur them on. there has been an intensive round of negotiations going on. okay, ladies, whenever you're ready.

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and he will skachlcamper all th to the touchdown. bengals never look back and the steelers and ben roethlisberger are 0-2 and they have the bears coming up. they could be 0-3. bengals win 20-10. wild card races heating up. a.l., rangers picking a bad time for a cold streak. they have lost six in a row going into tampa last night. bottom of the fifth, rays broke it open. rb ch rbi single. rays continue to hurt for tooegs. they win 6-2. royals and indians also finding for the wild card. bottom of the sixth. i like triples a lot. i don't know why. everybody goes in. kansas city takes it 7-1. take a look at the a.l. wild card standings. cleveland a half game behind

tampa and texas temperature texas is in real trouble. the os, yanks, royals, still in striking distance. yankees could definitely still do it 2 1/2 back. national league, pirates battling for a division title. hosting san diego, that strikeout. broken up in the seventh, but castro went coast to coast with a one hit shutout. cardinals trying to keep pace in colorado. todd hundley announcing he will retire after the season is over. all rockies except for that great catch from john jay. the rockies win it 6-2. reds looking to solidify their hold on the wild card. this one all cincinnati. reds get the 6-1 win over the

astros. take a look at the nl central. bucs and card, a great shame any of these teams not make the playoffs. the two teams that don't win the division title probably at that time wild card spots unless the nationals can overcome a five game deficit. let's go over to bill karins. yeah, todd hundley in the hall of fame, i don't know. you don't think so? >> not doing it. that's official. it's done. in he's old school. >> do you have a vote? >> no. >> so it doesn't matter. >> no, it doesn't. let's talk a little bit about what we're dealing with. yeah, a little close up of those two. they didn't even know it. >> thanks a lot. >> no problem. i didn't do it. it's t.j.. as far as colorado goes, as far

as we're dealing with devastation there. 30 plus bridges have to be rebuilt. it will be horrendous infrastructure problem throughout all portions of the winter. can't imagine how they will do it. no real rainfall expected over the next 48 hours, so that's good, too. as far as the northeast, heater is on. gloves, hats, jacket for the kids. we're at 36 right now up in vermont. 39 in maine. temperatures this afternoon will be nice, sunny. so we're in a weather pattern where we're getting these cold nights, nice warm afternoons. really no issues the out there today. florida some storms, but overall very quiet out there today. and every missed the little hug that these two had onset, too. >> talking about how to get back at you. >> they don't realize your show is going on. >> they can say what they like. i like having the population in the studio. it's not my show, it's our show. coming up on "morning joe," understanding his motivation. we're learning more about the alleged shooter at the navy yard in d.c.. and now we're trying to figure

out what led to the attack. and up next, straight from the eyewitnesses, what they saw and how they managed to get away. also we want to get your reaction to the tragedy. tweet us using #way too early. you don't have to go political. just give us your thoughts on where we have as a country as it relates to this stuff that happens all too often. you work.

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at the top of the show we talked about the shooting at the naval yard in washington, d.c.. it killed 12 people yesterday. if you want to sound smart today, you can say this was not the first attack at the yard. in 1814, the naval yard was burned by order of u.s. commanders when the british captured washington, d.c.. they wanted to prevent ships and supplies from being seized by enemy troops. in 1983, a puerto rican separatist group ignited a bomb in a computer center, but it did not lead to any injuries. thousands were on site yesterday when aaron alexis allegedly started shooting. we want to share with you some of the dramatic descriptions in the words of the people who witnessed it gunshots straight in a row and then three seconds later, about a total of seven gunshots.

>> i was running and i heard gunshots and holy cow, i don't know -- could have been way above me, but i wasn't stopping to think what was going on. >> we were told to go down towards the on twater from the of the building that we were in and there was a wall and so we had to scale the wall. >> there were two women and myself and they went behind a desk and we were there for a little bit and i didn't hear anything so i said i'm not staying here. then i took off and ran across the building and i heard multiple shots. >> there was an individual who came from the building behind us, was talking to me. basically saying that, hey, i hear there a shooter in your building and i heard two more shots. one of them hit him, he went down in front of me and i took off from there. >> the guy you were with? >> the guy i was talking to. >> got shot. >> correct. >> and what was his situation afterwards? >> he was shot in the head and did not look like he made it, so

i ran from there. >> still ahead, your tweets, reacting to the deadly shooting at the washington navy yard and "morning joe" is just moments away. run, go, go! did he just fumble? "i" formation! "i" formation! we have got to get the three-technique block! i'm not angry. i'm not yellin'. nobody's tackling anybody! we got absolutely... i don't think this was such a good idea. i'm on it. if we can't secure the quarterback center exchange... you're doing a great job, coach. well they're coming along better than i anticipated. very pleased. who told you to take a break? [ male announcer ] want to win your own football fantasy? just tell us. then use your visa card for a chance to win it. just tell us. make my mark i wawith pride.ork. create moments of value. build character through quality. and earn the right to be called a classic. the lands' end no iron dress shirt. starting at 49 dollars.

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earlier we asked you for your reactions to the deadly shooting at the washington navy yard. first from a faithful you viewer, i pray as a country we have the maturity to analyze the navy yard shooting through nonpartisan eyes. jaren says unfortunate tragedy fueled by it disorders expressey violence becoming status quo. and mike henderson, loss of life is by far most tragic. let's honor the fallen by not the starting a blame game, i.e. politics, et cetera, et cetera. so obviously we'll have much more coverage with live reports during "morning joe" as well as discussion about colorado. we do not want to forget about what's going on out there, as well pl "morning joe" starts right now. pl "morning joe" star

right now. .pl "morning joe" sta right now. pl "morning joe" star now. "morning joe" starts right . our society that we as americans have to work to try and eradicate. there's something wrong here when we have these multiple shootings, these multiple injuries, there's something wrong. and the only thing i can say is we have to work together to get rid it. i would like you to put my trauma center out of this mess. i really would. i would like not be an expert on gun shots. that was the chief medical officer crystallizing after we got off the air yesterday. this morning we're learning more details about the lone gunman that went on a deadly shooting