yep...doh. [ boy ] slurpably fun and a good source of calcium. dads who get it, get go-gurt. breaking news, a deadly mall shooting right now near baltimore. three people dead. and the shopping center is down as police begin their investigation. we are live with the very latest there. hello to you all. i'm t.j. holmes in today for craig melvin. you are watching msnbc. and this breaking and sad story on this saturday afternoon, tragedy at the mall. we've been covering this story out of columbia, maryland. three people now confirmed dead after gunfire erupted at the mall of columbia. this happened around 11:00 this morning. so we're a couple hours removed from it, but authorities say they do believe the suspected gunman is among the dead. police do not have information

yet on the identity or motive, but they're confident this was a single shooter. there are no other shooters in the mall, they say. meantime, authorities are still trying to secure that mall. >> our s.w.a.t. teams getting a lot of support at the local, state and federal level, frankly, are going through as we are holding this press conference, they are inside continuing to clear that mall to make sure there are no more victims. >> no more victims. police do say however they believe other people may still be in the mall because when the shooting started they just secured themselves and hid so police are still going through and trying to clear that mall. one person who was at the mall at the time joins me on the line now. he's an employee at a chick-fil-a food court at that mall. yuri on the line. i appreciate you taking time out for me. describe where you were and how this all started for you. >> okay.

i was just taking some orders when out of nowhere we heard a random loud noise. like at chic-fil-a, we're used to hearing unusual noises, by the third one we saw people running. that's when our manager rushed us to get in the back. we all barricaded ourselves in the back. >> you said you hear loud noises often, but this kind of continued and you saw people running. but initially you couldn't tell these were gunshots when you heard them? >> no. because we're at the food court. so we're used to hearing people, you know, dropping stuff. or sometimes a chair or table. so the first one and second one was okay, but by the third one and like people screaming and running, that made it really suspicious. >> how did you all get word? you said still it was suspicious and you all went to hide out, if you will. how did you all start to get word a shooting -- these were actually gunshots you were hearing, how did you all know to

stay in place and how did you get word that it was okay to come out? >> okay. so we knew it was a shooting after, you know, five, six, seven, eight shots, you know. and from hearing people running and people jumping over stuff. and i was on my phone also. i was checking twitter. and i saw people tweeting about it. so right then it became obvious. >> youri, we heard police earlier say they work with the mall to do drills. is this something you as an employee of a restaurant there, is this something you all had been talked to about or even participated in as part of a drill? >> well, i'm a fairly new employee, but two months in i don't know if in the past they've done procedures to work with the police. >> and, youri, how are you and your employees? this would rattle anybody. it rattles some of us just to

watch it from afar. tell me how you and your fellow employees are kind of doing right now? i guess here we are a couple hours removed, but still just going through it at the time. >> well, at the time we were all like shaking. i was shaking. i couldn't even text people. my co-workers, they were trying to call people. in the back we had no signal. so everyone was worried. and plus we had some customers back in the back with us. and they had little kids. it was kind of chaotic because we didn't know what was going on. >> youri, how did you get the all-clear? because the police chief told reporters earlier that some people in the mall -- there are still people in the mall, who hid, they secured themselves and may not know what's going on and they're going through and trying to find some of those people. so how did you know that it was okay to come out and that the shooter -- at least according to to police, was no longer a threat? >> so at chic-fil-a, the door

has a window we can see right outside what all is going on. so we could see the s.w.a.t. team actually getting people out of a store across from us. then they came to us. then they made sure we were okay and they told us get out the back. i guess they were sweeping the mall. and they were clearing people from different stores. >> all right. youri felix, heck of an experience for you and people at that mall today. glad you're okay. we know there are three people dead, but potentially this could have been a lot worse with so many people around. glad to hear that you all are okay. again, to our viewers here, i'm getting word here that we have someone on the line with us who we saw at the press conference a short time ago. i believe this is ken ulman, the executive of the county there. this is t.j. holmes, msnbc new york, you got me all right? >> yes. thanks for having me. >> sir, we appreciate you taking

some time out here. we were trying to get some clarity earlier, at least the police chief told us you don't believe there's another shooter inside or outside of that mall, but this also wasn't random. can you give us any more details yet on what happened there? there were reports this was possibly a domestic situation. >> you know, it's really too early to know motives. we'll do another press briefing around 4:00. hopefully we'll be able to provide more details there. but it does appear there were three victims including the shooter at this point. it does not appear to be random in that, you know, we don't think there's any other danger. it's taking a long time because it's a crime scene. and if you can picture a very large mall with multiple department stores, it takes a long time to go through that mall. there are a lot of people sheltering in place. we're going through the tactical teams are going through every inch of the mall just to make sure that everyone is safe.

but at this point it does look like the three victims are the only victims. there are some small injuries, but people are being treated for it at the howard county general hospital. but i want to thank our law enforcement men and women who really rushed into that mall as quickly as they got here. it was a very fast response. i also want to thank everyone who was in the mall for their patience. people did the right thing. they orderly got out of the mall. they sheltered in place. we've also drilled on this with the columbia mall management team and their security folks, our s.w.a.t. team, has drilled with them multiple times. and that was very beneficial in this case. and so that's what we know at this point. >> sir, do you all believe -- or do you have any idea how many might still be in the mall? i know you have to go through and be careful and be sure, but how much of the mall has been covered at this point? because the police chief said you do have people that secured

themselves and may not know that it's okay to come out. >> that is true. so we really don't know how many people are in the mall. if you can imagine the busiest mall you can imagine, we've all been shopping at malls, so 11:15 on a saturday morning the mall was packed. and so both employees at the mall as well as many customers. so we don't really know the numbers at this time. and our detectives and officers are working to interview folks in an orderly fashion. this is, again, a very large active crime scene. >> do you know how long it took from that first 911 call until the first officer arrived on the scene? >> we don't know the exact time, but we know that it was very quickly. patrol officers responded swelz our tactical team, our s.w.a.t. team, who was nearby working on another matter. so it was very quickly. we will have that information at 4:00. >> is this routine these days? it seems, sir, that we have

these shootings, i mean, every other day certainly it seems this year and certainly school shootings as well, but did you all step up? like you said your tactical teams and the mall work on drills, is that something you stepped up in recent years? it at least seemed we had more profile shootings in public places? or is this something that you all just have been doing over time and just continue to do? >> sure. i would say that since columbine, you know, law enforcement around the country and including rtm and howard county have stepped up the active shooter training with both the tactical teams and all officers. it's something we drill with our schools. it's something obviously with newtown and, you know, we can list all the names unfortunately of all the tragedies this country has seen because of gun violence. so this is unfortunately, you know, the way we have to -- you know, law enforcement has to be

trained in frankly this scary world we're now in where people have guns that obviously are out to do harm. so, yes, our tactical team does a lot of training. and, you know, at large gathering places like the mall is one of those where we have trained. so it was very beneficial in this case. >> and last couple of things here, sir. are you able to tell us now -- we were told this was confined to one store, the entire incident and shooting and the victims were found in one store. can you tell us what store that was? >> i cannot confirm the name of the store at this point simply because the victims have not been identified, and their families, you know, haven't been notified. so out of respect for that we are not naming the store. i know there's some discussion about it. i will say this, the conversation about the food court makes some sense because the store was on the second level. and it was near the food court.

and so you can imagine a chaotic scene with hearing gunshots and the sound, you know, reverberating through the closest large gathering place. but it does appear everything happened inside one store at this point, is what we believe. >> last thing, are you able to confirm the sex of the victims? >> we are not able to confirm the age or gender of the victims. >> what about the weapon used? >> not going to confirm the weapon used either. we may have that information at 4:00. >> all right, mr. ulman, we appreciate you taking the time out with us here. i know it's been just a really awful morning for the citizens of your community there and a lot of work for you all to do. >> thank you. thank you for covering it. hopefully we can get to a day in this country where we don't have incidents like this. >> you can say that again. mr. ulman, thank you for your time. we'll be checking in with you again. we're just about 11 minutes past the hour here, 2:00 on the east coast. stay with us, we have more breaking developments coming in on this story. really just a tragic, like he

said, a saturday morning a lot of people going to a mall. it was a packed mall when the shooting erupted, but three dead at the mall of columbia in maryland. we're keeping a close eye also want you to note on egypt. security forces there are breaking up anti-government protests. at least 20 people dead on this the third anniversary of the nation's uprising. it is a busy news day here on msnbc. you stay with us. ereal. ♪ yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah! ♪ we are one, under the sun ♪ under the sun... [ female announcer ] fiber and protein. together as one. introducing new fiber one protein cereal. did you run into traffic? no, just had to stop by the house to grab a few things. you stopped by the house? uh-huh. yea. alright, whenever you get your stuff, run upstairs, get cleaned up for dinner. you leave the house in good shape? yea. yea, of course. ♪ [ sportscaster talking on tv ] last-second field go-- yea, sure ya did. [ male announcer ] introducing at&t digital life. personalized home security and automation. get professionally monitored security for just $29.99 a month.

with limited availability in select markets. ♪ because what you don't know, can in hurt you.urance. what if you didn't know that posting your travel plans online may attract burglars? [woman] off to hawaii! what if you didn't know that as the price of gold rises, so should the coverage on your jewelry? [prospector] ahh! what if you didn't know that kitty litter can help you out of a slippery situation? the more you know, the better you can plan for what's ahead. talk to farmers and get smarter about your insurance.

♪ we are farmers bum - pa - dum, bum - bum - bum - bum♪ her long day of pick ups and drop offs begins with arthritis pain... and a choice. take up to 6 tylenol in a day or just 2 aleve for all day relief. all aboard. ♪

we continue to cover the breaking and tragic story out of columbia, maryland. this just outside of baltimore about 20 minutes south-southwest of baltimore where you do have confirmed three people have been killed. three people dead. and the police are saying one of them they do believe is the gunman. police saying this is no longer an active situation right now. they say they do not believe they have another shooter in the

mall or another shooter outside of the mall and that the shooting was confined to one store at this what's called the mall of columbia. there were a couple of other injuries, people had to go to the hospital. one person had a seizure and another person had a sprained ankle. you can imagine that was in the aftermath and chaos people trying to get out of that mall. but, again, three people are dead. i want to bring in jim cavanaugh who is nbc law enforcement analyst coming to us out of nashville. hello to you. we appreciate you've been on the air with us here for a couple hours now. police for them to say we may still have people in the mall, we're going through, people may have secured themselves, but at the same time we are sure that this is not an active area, we don't have another shooter, that tells us police must be pretty confident of what may have gone down in that store and that gunman, like we said, wasn't a random shooting. they have to have pretty good confidence to have people still in the mall but say we don't have an active shooter. >> that's right, t.j. i think the chief gave us a lot of information really between the lives and then from the

eyewitnesses as well the situation all located in one store, three people dead and police fired no shots. people dead and police fired no shots and no other apparent gunman since 11:00 a.m. murder-suicide, you know, located if one isolated store inside the mall. so tragic loss of life, awful, but maybe at this point contained and not expanding. tactical officers on scene, tactical command set up, orderly evacuation is going forward, lots of law enforcement. and an investigation, you know, to proceed. >> police forces have gotten, frankly, pretty good at this. they've gotten a lot of practice at this and they practice constantly. we hear about shootings in this place or that place, every police department in the country, are they not, are routinely working on what to do

in just a situation like this? >> they are, t.j. it's a great point. i mean, active shooter training really ramped up after columbine. it's been ongoing for the last, you know, ten, 12 years. newtown, even virginia tech put it on more accelerated footing. a lot of good lessons were learned there. we don't learn all the lessons. i think the lessons of virginia tech and the lancaster school shooting need to be taken into account as well by law enforcement because in those cases the shooters actually came and locked the doors with padlocks and, you know, 2 x 4s. first responding patrol officers have to factor that in as well that they may be facing a locked door locked by the shooter. not the case today. no indication of that. but we need to learn as these, you know, disgusting and horrific events unfold, we need to learn to change how law

enforcement responds so we can always do a better job. who's really learning are the citizens, sad to say. look at everybody quickly barricading realizing a shooting may be going on, you know, getting away not standing around. moving quickly, barricading, locking down, that's as effective as the police coming. >> again, you think that's something we have learned now over time? sometimes it sounds like instinct that you hear shooting and you would just try to get away or, you know, find a hiding place. but you think we as a country, citizens, private citizens, are getting better at the response ourselves and that in some way helps the police in their response? >> it does, t.j. look. in the modern era here we have the greatest intelligence service for the citizens anywhere. we have television news. and we have social media. you know what's going on. and you can contact others. and you learn quickly. and that's a survival method to learn quickly. the other thing to do in these situations is to not delay your

response in the oh-no moment, don't think it could be something falling. don't think it was fire crackers. to get past that immediately think it's a gunshot. if it turns out to be a fire cracker or something falling off a palette truck, no harm. but you shouldn't let those seconds tick by wondering what it may be. i wonder what it could be? maybe i should go outside and look and see what it is. that's not the response that you want for quick survival. it is i'm taking action now and respond. the signs will help you act quickly. >> all right, jim cavanaugh. i know we're going to be checking in with you again today. we certainly appreciate it. that's some good advice. we need to take these moments as tragic as they are but learn from them. like you said americans are

unfortunately getting better at it. jim, thanks, we'll talk to you again. again, to our viewers, we're following this breaking situation. new details just about every minute or so. we'll hear from a local lawmaker that represents the area where this mall is located. she's on the ground helping her people. again, three dead at the mall of columbia shooting just outside of baltimore. stay with us. you're watching msnbc. you got the bargain kind?

you need a bunch of those to clean this mess. then i'll use a bunch of them. then how is that a bargain? [ sighs ] no, that's too many -- it's not gonna fit! whoa! cascade kitchen and math counselor. here's a solution. one pac of cascade complete cleans tough food better than six pacs of the bargain brand combined. so you can tackle tough messes the first time. that is more like it. how are you with taxes?

[ laughs ] [ counselor ] and for even more cleaning power, try cascade platinum. [ male announcer ] to truck guys, the truck is everything. and when you put them in charge of making an unbeatable truck, good things happen. this is the ram 1500. the 2014 motor trend truck of the year. ♪ and first ever back-to-back champion. guts. glory. ram. delicious, but say i press a few out flat, add some beef, sloppy joe sauce and cheese, fold it all up and boom! delicious unsloppy joes perfect for a school night. pillsbury grands biscuits. make dinner pop.

the breaking story we have for you today, a tragic one out of columbia, maryland, where three people are dead after a shooting at a mall. this was at the mall of columbia, which is about 20 minutes south-southwest of baltimore. according to police they started getting 911 calls around 11:15 this morning. we're about three hours from that. but those calls came in reported shots being fired at that mall. police arrived on the scene a short time later, and they found three bodies. according to police all three of those bodies were found inside one store. police soon came back out and

said they did not believe that this was an active situation where there may be more shooters. they didn't believe that there were other shooters inside or outside. and they said they do believe this was all confined to one area and not a random shooting. no other injuries to report related to the shooting, however two other people had to be taken to the hospital for other injuries just related to the chaos, as you could imagine, trying to get out of that mall. this was 11:15 on a saturday. yes, it's snowy and cold there, but on a saturday morning you know a lot of us have this routine on saturday mornings and we'll go shopping, we'll go out to the malls. we're told by officials at the mall that in fact the mall was packed and filled with customers. we want to listen in to one of our affiliates in columbia, maryland. and some of the eyewitnesses describe how all this went down when the shots started. >> okay. i was downstairs -- i work in cartoon cuts. i was downstairs getting a tea for my boss.

and all of a sudden i heard it sounded like somebody dropped something off of the top. and all of a sudden i see people fall. three people fall to the ground. i don't know what happened to them. and all i see is people going down to the floor and running. so i grabbed a kid and ran. and went into sears and decided i got to run back to my job. so i ran all the way up to my job and made sure all the kids were safe. we had at least 30 people back there. >> is this on the lower level? >> top level. >> top level? >> top level. >> so they shot down the food court? >> they were shooting -- they were right in between where past sobarro's near great american cookie and next to tutti fruity. they kept shooting and didn't stop. >> so it was multiple shots? >> multiple shots. >> more than one shooter? >> it sounded like more than one. i don't know. i just heard so many shots go off. >> okay. did you see the shooter or

anything like that? >> no. >> what did you see after they fell? >> they didn't move. they didn't move. so when i grabbed the kid, i told the parents i'm running and we left. 911 wouldn't pick up the phone. we tried. >> they wouldn't respond? >> they wouldn't respond. it sounded like it was a busy signal, but there was nothing. >> did you see the police move into the area? >> no. i just saw everybody run. so i ran. >> you were lucky. and you say you are a worker? >> yes. i work at cartoon cuts. we had at least ten little kids in there. between the ages of 2 months to 5 years. >> and what did you do with the kids? you secured the kids in the store? >> we had a back room that was completely secure. you couldn't get through. >> okay. >> we had them huddled so they could stay warm. >> and your name? >> lauren. >> lauren, what's your last

name? >> stapleton. >> okay. can you work here? >> yes. >> now, can we get in contact with you, can i get a number from you? >> 443-766-6693 is my cell phone. >> thank you very much. >> you're welcome. >> you are very brave. your lauren's mom? >> yes. >> thank you. >> thank you both. >> all right, again, we approach the bottom of the hour you can imagine the scene right now outside that mall. we're starting to get some of those eyewitness reports. another eyewitness told us a short time ago he couldn't even text to see what was going on and try to get help because his hands were shaking so badly. i want to bring in mary ka kay segati who is a council member there on the ground where all this is happening. ma'am, thank you for taking time out with us. give us an idea now of what that scene is like. do police believe they have for the most part gotten just about everybody out of that mall? is there really no way to know?

we understand a lot of people are securing themselves in the mall? >> well, it's my understanding as well as yours that people were smart about securing themselves in the mall. the mall had a disaster plan. and i think many people followed it. at this point the police have just recently briefed the press and confirmed there are three people dead, as i'm sure you know. and that they are in process of trying to -- they've gone through the mall once to help people out of the -- to get out of the mall. and they're going back to make sure that there aren't any folks still behind closed doors, you know, sheltering in place, so that everyone will -- who's left in the mall will be helped out and able to return to their homes. >> and, ma'am, can you give us an update, if you've gotten it there because we understood earlier that the only injuries outside of the three people who were found dead in that store was one person had a seizure,

was taken to the hospital, another person had a sprained ankle, but there are other reports of other possible injuries. do you have any other reports? >> i do not have any other reports. >> can you -- >> at this time. >> can you describe for us? many of us know the routines on saturday mornings, a lot of people get up and go to the mall. it's a family place. it's a fun place early in the morning. >> uh-huh. >> so tell me just how popular is this mall in that regard? and even though it's snowing and cold outside, how busy is this mall normally? was it busy on this saturday morning as well? >> well, i can't tell you about this morning since i wasn't there myself, but in fact it is usually busy. and there are many folks who use our mall for morning exercise. so they'll go and they'll walk the mall. there are many that will go and have breakfast. given this happened around

11:15, people were having breakfast or starting for early lunch or beating the crowds. you can ask my constituents and neighbors about the traffic going into the mall on a saturday. it's a very different traffic pattern than many a day because there are many people who do in fact use the columbia mall. >> all right. yes, ma'am, go ahead, finish your point. >> i was simply going to say so i would expect that this would be no different saturday morning than most and that in fact there really were a lot of folks there. just because the other thing about the mall is there are personal services that people do. there's haircutters, there's the eyeglasses store, and then there's the opportunity to, you know, to shop on a saturday when you've worked all week. >> ma'am, have you all had like -- or had anything like this in your community, even scares if you will? but i ask that because we have been hearing from the police chief saying that you all

routinely practice with schools, with the mall and have that relationship to know what to do in this type of situation has this been a time today that it's really come together? this was the real scare, this was a real incident, but is this the first real one where you've gotten a chance to put in place some of those things you've been practicing? >> i would have to say, yes. columbia and howard county is a very active community. and after some of the scares in other parts of the country and also after some of the natural disasters that we've had, we've actually created a very active citizens emergency response plan. so it's not just -- the schools have it, the mall has it because there's always a lot of people here, but other locations have their disaster plans.

and the community itself has a disaster plan about what people are to do if, again, if we have natural disaster or something like this. so we are fairly well versed in trying to anticipate what could happen. and i think that today and certainly what the chief said indicates that folks remembered it, right? and did in fact act as well as they could in a very scary situation. >> all right. we are speaking with council member there in howard county, mary kay sigaty. stay with me, ma'am, i want to reset with our viewers. we're at the bottom of the hour. toipt give you an update of what we've been watching the past couple of hours, a shooting this morning at the mall, three people confirmed dead. reports starting coming in at 11:15 a.m., reports of shots, several calls coming into 9116789 when police got to the scene they did find three people dead.

according to police all three were found in the same store. and police believe this was not a random act. they to believe it was confined to one area. and they do not believe there were any other shooters on the loose or on the loose now inside or outside of that mall. the work continues right now by police to go through that mall. as you can imagine, imagine any large mall you've been in and how many stores, how many closets, how many bathrooms, how many places to hide. well, that's what a lot of people did as soon as the shooting started. many ran, others hid in that mall. police believe it's possible some people could still be hiding in that mall. so police are going through that job now of going through and clearing that entire mall. we are getting reports of no other injuries related to the actual shooting, if you will. there is a report i do have in front of me, frankly. let me correct myself just a bit that howard county general hospital confirming they're treating a victim who suffered a gunshot wound to the foot. we did get an earlier report from the police chief that the only other injuries was that of someone who had a seizure,

someone who sprained an ankle, as you can imagine in the chaos of trying to get out. again, three people dead. police do not believe this was random. believe this was a situation not someone just going in wanting to shoot up the mall. but all three dead were found in that particular store as i continue here with mary ka kay sigaty. how does this shake your community? at some point you're going to have to get back to work. you're going to have to get back to work in that mall. people shopping in that mall. it could certainly be difficult, but still people know this wasn't a random shooting. but this shakes you. this shakes the community. >> absolutely it shakes the community. and it really does make people feel scared for the moment. and it will take, i suspect, a bit of time for our neighbors and the folks who use the mall to look at the mall the same way

as they have before. and certainly the folks who were actually in the mall are -- have had, again, a scare that will change the way they look at the mall and think about going in and out and using it. >> and, ma'am -- >> it's hard to -- it's very difficult in a situation like this when the fragility of life comes right up to meet you. and it rocks you because you believe that you're safe. and of course we all want to believe that we're safe because we want to be able to live a life where safety and the rule of law protects us. and so -- i don't want to say random acts or acts that appear to be random are really the things that are scary. i think -- i'm hopeful that as we hear more about this it will

help people understand what happened and so the unknown will become known. and one of the things that i have learned as a council member and somebody who represents a community is that when people know what's happened and understand what's happened as much as -- as awful as it is, it is -- it goes a long way to calming nerves and to calming the scare. >> you know what, ma'am, i think -- and i know you're trying to probably choose your words carefully there. but i think and let me try to see if this is what you're getting at. we're at a place in our society where it's almost a relief to hear that it wasn't random. we're almost to a point now that when these shootings take place, it's a re -- we have three people dead. that is a tragedy today. but the part that maybe could give some people a little comfort even in this tragedy that happened publicly is that,

okay, this wasn't a situation that we saw out in aurora. okay, this wasn't a situation that we saw at this school or that school or someone just wanted to kill people. and i think that says a lot about where we are now in this country that we were all holding our breath. and i'm sure your officers were the same way to hear that there was a shooting in a mall and your mind automatically goes to the worst. >> and i would say we as humans probably that is in fact how we act. and how we react. and, again, like i said, the more information that we have the better we can understand it and we can understand the kind of impact it would have on each and every one of us in the situation. >> well, mary kay sigaty, certainly appreciate -- >> could i just tell you -- >> go ahead, please. >> it's actually sigaty, not sigaty. >> i apologize that. i wasn't able to get that ahead of time. thank you for the correction. i apologize for saying it

incorrectly. >> don't worry about it. i just would like to correct. >> no worries. i want to make sure i say that name correctly. sorry we had to meet like this. >> indeed. >> i do appreciate you taking the time out with us today, okay? >> all righty. >> all right. we're going to get a quick break in here, but continue to follow the breaking developments out of columbia, maryland. three dead at a mall shooting. t. because what you don't know, can hurt you. what if you didn't know that posting your travel plans online may attract burglars? [woman] off to hawaii! what if you didn't know that as the price of gold rises, so should the coverage on your jewelry? [prospector] ahh! what if you didn't know that kitty litter can help you out of a slippery situation? the more you know, the better you can plan for what's ahead. talk to farmers and get smarter about your insurance. ♪ we are farmers bum - pa - dum, bum - bum - bum - bum♪

♪ ♪ [ female announcer ] with five perfectly sweetened whole grains... you can't help but see the good. good and close. help keep teeth clean and breath fresh. with beneful healthy smile food and snacks. he'll love the crunch of the healthy smile kibbles. you'll love how they help clean. with soft, meaty centers, and teeth cleaning texture, healthy smile snacks help keep a shine on his smile. it's dental that tastes so good. beneful healthy smile food and snacks.

[ male announcer ] what kind of energy is so abundant, it can help provide the power for all this? natural gas. ♪ more than ever before, america's electricity is generated by it. exxonmobil uses advanced visualization and drilling technologies to produce natural gas... powering our lives... while reducing emissions by up to 60%. energy lives here. ♪ to prove to you that aleve is the better choice for him, he's agreed to give it up. that's today? [ male announcer ] we'll be with him all day as he goes back to taking tylenol. i was okay, but after lunch my knee started to hurt again. and now i've got to take more pills. ♪ yup. another pill stop. can i get my aleve back yet? ♪ for my pain, i want my aleve.

♪ [ male announcer ] look for the easy-open red arthritis cap. i heard a bang. and i said, man, that kind of sounds like a gunshot. and then i see people running. and i heard some people screaming. and i heard it again. and it was just, boom, boom, boom. and people just started screaming and running. it was just complete madness. >> one person describing the scene this morning in columbia, maryland, where we do have word that three people are dead after a shooting at what's called the mall of columbia. this is in columbia, maryland, just outside of baltimore. police do believe the gunman is

among the dead. they say this is not an active situation anymore on. on the scene for us now is nbc's kristen welker. hello to you. what can you tell us? >> reporter: well, t.j., this mall remains closed as police continue their investigation. i'll recap the latest that we know at this hour. according to howard county police, this all started at 11:15 a.m. that's when they say they received multiple calls about gunshots fired here at this mall. they responded to the scene to a store on the second floor. and that is where they say they found three dead bodies. now, according to nbc's pete williams, two of the deceased were male, one a female. and it is believed that one of those males was the shooter. sources are also telling nbc news that this appears to be a domestic situation. police won't confirm that at this point in time. they also won't give the name of the store on the second floor. but they say that there are several people who are injured

in this shooting as well including one person who's currently being treated at the hospital for a gunshot wound to the foot. i want to reiterate what you said, t.j., it's an important point, police do not believe that there are any other shooters. however, their investigation continues at this mall. the mall will remain closed through this evening. our team here has been interviewing people who heard the gunshots fire. they say it was a terrifying situation. one store owner says once she heard those gunshots she said she heard about five, she locked the doors of her store, told everyone inside to shelter in place. it was a terrifying, terrifying morning for the folks here at this mall. so that is the very latest, three people dead, two men, one woman. and police continuing their investigation at this point in time they don't have a motive. t.j., back to you. >> kristen welker on the scene for us. kristen, thank you so much. we will check in with you again. >> thanks. >> again, folks, we are not going to go too far away from that story. we do have a development coming in every few minutes.

we'll bring them to you as they come in. there's another story we are following and need to get in right now, the latest out of egypt. a new wave of violence on this third anniversary of a 2011 uprising that ousted hosni mubarak. 23 people have been killed throughout the day, six killed yesterday in bomb explosions. riot police have been clashing with supporters of mubarak's successor, president mohamed morsi, who was removed you may remember from power in a coup last summer. let me bring in nbc news foreign correspondent ahman. what is the latest you're getting about exactly -- we have updated numbers about the deaths, but what is the situation like on the ground right now? >> you have two very different situations unfolding. it really reflects how the country is divided. in tahrir square you have supporters of the military, supporters of the military

installed government that ousted president mohamed morsi. they're coming out in the thousands. and they're calling on the general who heads the military to run for president later this year. and they're showing support for the military and police in what they are describing as their crackdown on the war on terror. but as you see in those pictures there is a very different side also to egypt right now, and that is the supporters of the ousted president and the various groups that call themselves the anti-coup coalition. they're taking to the streets demonstrating against the military and police. and we are seeing the kind of violent crackdown from the police and military against these demonstrators as we saw yesterday and we saw elsewhere. >> so we're not talking about a situation -- again, we hear anniversary and people want to commemorate and some even might want to celebrate what happened three years ago. but demonstrators are on the ground right now with very different but very specific motives. trying to get messages out. and they're from two different sides. that's leading to these clashes. what now? what's next? what happens to the man the head of the military, what does this mean for him today and his potential for being the next president? >> the way he's looked at and

the way he's described it, he hasn't ruled out running for office in egypt. he says if he has a mandate from the people to run, that he would go to seek elected office. and so what we are seeing unfold today is in the eyes of many a mandate for him to run. he and his supporters want to get these people out to show that he is a popular figure and he does have popularity for what he did over the course of the last several months. so there are those that are making the case this is his time to run. and he clearly has left that door open. but at the same time going forward the muslim brotherhood, their supporters and even the more hardline elements of his supporters are still very adamant about demanding that this coup be reversed and that supporters of the ousted president have the sole legitimacy because they were the only party elected into power. right in and out the country's divided and there's no clear cut forward. the military government insists it will continue with parliamentary and presidential elections later this year. >> we will continue to follow this story. thank you so much.

we do continue to follow the breaking developments, yes, you heard about them out of egypt. but we do have a situation still unfolding out of maryland today where three people are dead in a mall shooting. the latest developments when we come back. stay with us, folks. >> we just heard gunshots and this lady came into the store and was tliek e like there's a guy with a gun. and there were several different gunshots. and me and my friend, we just like ran. and we were already in the store and we just ran in the back room. and then like we were like crying and we were just scared out of our minds because like our thought was like we were going to get shot. really? 25 grams of protein. what do we have? all four of us, together? 24. he's low fat too, and has five grams of sugars. i'll believe it when i -- [ both ] oooooh... what's shakin'? oops. [ female announcer ] as you get older, protein is an important part of staying active and strong. ensure high protein... 50% of your daily value of protein. low fat and five grams of sugars.

see? he's a good egg. [ major nutrition ] ensure high protein. ensure. nutrition in charge! we are the thinkers. the job jugglers. the up all-nighters. and the ones who turn ideas into action. we've made our passions our life's work. we strive for the moments where we can say, "i did it!" ♪ we are entrepreneurs who started it all... with a signature. legalzoom has helped start over 1 million businesses,

turning dreamers into business owners. and we're here to help start yours.

our s.w.a.t. teams with a lot of support from agencies throughout the state, at the local, state and federal level frankly, are going through as we are holding this press conference, they are inside continuing to clear that mall to make sure there are no more

victims. >> that's the police chief there in howard county giving an update just a little while ago on the situation in columbia, maryland, where we do have three people dead after a mall shooting earlier today not too long after that mall opened. it's called the mall of columbia, after it opened just a short time, about an hour, hour 15 minutes it had been open, calls came in that there had been shots fired. police arrived and found three people dead. we are getting confirmation now of where this shooting take place. police have been telling us that it was all confined to one store and that all the victims were found in that one store. and we're told it was a zoomies, a skate shop on the upper level is where this happened. police say there were no other victims, they didn't believe, anywhere outside of the mall and that this was not a random shooting. at this point i want to bring in jim cavanaugh, who's an nbc law enforcement analyst, he's joining me from nashville. hello again to you. in the updates and things we have been hearing over the past really hour, again, to our viewers we are getting new

information every couple of minutes. but what have you been able to, i guess, kind of piece together? or from some of the information that you've heard, i talked to a council member there, we're hearing about how the police reacted to this. you were and a lot of people reacted well tweeting folks and i've put out some viewer information and really reacting to how you're saying, hey, if you hear a shot and you think it's a shot, you need to react. don't wait to see if it was really a gunshot. so just give me your thoughts now now that we're kind of taking in more information. >> well, i think from what the police chief said, t.j., and the facts that we know, you know, three people in one store, we may be dealing with a murder-suicide. and the suicide is what could be afoot here, motive yet to be seen certainly. but it's a crisis in the country. a lot of these shootings that we talk about in businesses, workplaces, mass shootings, tend to be cases that involve

suicide. you remember the one we had recently in the paramas mall in new jersey, committed suicide in the back, a tragic case as well. suicide's afoot here. i think we're going to see that. i think we're going to see law enforcement do a search of the residence of the shooter later this afternoon, i think, to uncover what's really going on here. >> is there, jim, for a law enforcement official, they didn't know initially when that call came in, but they're getting calls shots and mall. is there any more of a nightmare scenario just given how malls are constructed? you have a lot of stores, you got a lot of closets, you got stock rooms in the back, you've got bathrooms. besides that a college campus possibly and even schools, are these the nightmare scenarios for trying to when that first call comes in you're thinking, oh, my goodness, this person could be anywhere.

this is just a nightmare scene. >> well, you know, what uniform patrol officers do for america and they're so good at it is they train all the time. and they're training out of response to an active shooter or shooting situation like this, man with a gun, shots fired call. and i've responded to many of those as a uniformed officer as well. and, you know, you're getting your gear, you're getting your shotgun or long gun, you're getting your vest. and you're getting to the situation. much like journalists do, you try and assess it quickly, get to it quickly, stop it quickly. the reaction of the citizens in the mall, today, i think was positive. tragic for the victims, it's so sad, and for their families. but for the people that were able to get away that seem to be reacting quickly, they're having a little delay. they can reduce that delay, as we talked tj, they can reduce it down to no delay. but realizing that is a huge point. we train that in the police.

you don't -- you want those few seconds on your side. that's a shot, now i'm reacting, now i'm going. and they're moving in this world terrorism and shootings, that's the way you need to think. >> and as the law enforcement analyst here, this is a good time to, you know, maybe do some good here and hear from you on we talk about the police doing their drills and practicing for something like this. should we all do the same? not necessarily you're going out to a place and physically do it as a family and you have a plan like that and do a drill, but should we all take a moment -- and this is a time to, you know, what hey, do i know what i'm going to do, do i know who i'm going to call, if the family splits up, do we know how to contact each other? should we all have that plan in place? >> absolutely. look, it's like talking about going to the olympics in sochi. people are going to go because they've trained for it. their families are going to go to watch them. nobody expects them to sit home. i mean, if you sit at home in bed, there could be a house fire. but you don't go to bed without

a smoke detector and a carbon monoxide detector in your house. if you don't have one, you need to go get one today and make sure the batteries work. whether you're out in the world at the mall or sochi, bring your mental smoke detector and mental carbon monoxide detector with you. if you're an employee in the store, you need to practice. >> jim, i'm dpoing to leave it here. i got to get a break in. thank you so much. we'll come back to jim cavanaugh. great information there. we continue to follow this breaking story out of maryland. gunman opened fire in a shopping mall, three dead, latest details from that scene live. you stay with us. ? this is the creamy chicken corn chowder. i mean, look at it. so indulgent. did i tell you i am on the... [ both ] chicken pot pie diet! me too! [ male announcer ] so indulgent, you'll never believe they're light. 100-calorie progresso light soups.

♪ stacy's mom has got it goin' on ♪ ♪ stacy's mom has got it goin' on ♪ ♪ stacy's mom has got it goin' on ♪ [ male announcer ] the beautifully practical and practically beautiful cadillac srx. lease this 2014 cadillac srx for around $319 a month with premium care maintenance included. ♪ [ coughs ] i've got a big date, but my sinuses are acting up. it's time for advil cold and sinus. [ male announcer ] truth is that won't relieve all your symptoms.

hmm? [ male announcer ] new alka seltzer plus-d relieves more symptoms than any other behind the counter liquid gel. thanks for the tip. [ male announcer ] no problem. oh...and hair products. aisle 9. [ inhales deeply ] oh what a relief it is. ♪ so i can't afford to have germy surfaces. but a fresh sheet of bounty duratowel leaves this surface cleaner than a germy dishcloth. and it's clinically proven to be 3 times cleaner. so ditch your dishcloth and switch to bounty duratowel. over the pizza place on chestnut street the modest first floor bedroom in tallinn, estonia and the southbound bus barreling down i-95. ♪ this magic moment it is the story of where every great idea begins. and of those who believed they had the power to do more. dell is honored to be part of some of the world's great stories. that began much the same way ours did. in a little dorm room -- 2713.

♪ this magic moment ♪ ♪ this magic moment with olive garden's plebest 2 for $25 yet choose two melt-in-your mouth entrees like new parmesan crusted chicken or tortellini topped with velvety alfredo 3 full courses of our best 2 for $25 yet, at olive garden! you may be muddling through allergies. try zyrtec-d®. powerful relief of nasal congestion and other allergy symptoms -- all in one pill. zyrtec-d®. at the pharmacy counter. i was in finishline, and i was running down -- i heard gunshots so i ran through the back of the aisles, through the shelves to get through the other side of the thing just for safety. we ran through the halls, we came down the back. and i could hear loud gunshots and seeing baby strollers everywhere going everywhere.

it was a very scary life threatening moment. >> breaking news. a deadly mall shooting. that was a witness you were hearing from there describing when a gunman opened fire inside a maryland shopping center. three people dead. police are working to determine how this all started. certainly looking for a motive as well. we may be getting new information about that. but hello to you all. i'm t.j. holmes. craig melvin is off today. you are watching msnbc. we are covering this breaking news out of columbia, maryland, where we did get confirmation a short time ago that, yes, three people confirmed dead after a gunman opened fire at that mall of columbia, is what it's called. this happened this morning around 11:15 when calls started coming in. police say they believe the suspected gunman is among the dead. police do not have information yet on the identity or motive. they say the shooting does not appear, however, to be random. authorities still trying to secure that scene. they're still evacuating shoppers who fled for safety and who may still be hiding somewhere in that mall. let me bring in nbc's kristen

welker live for us in columbia, maryland. we've been trying to get some information and word about a possible motive. have we gotten any updates about that yet, kristen? >> reporter: well, according to nbc's pete williams, two sources say this was a domestic situation. police will hold a news conference at 4:00 p.m. so we will of course ask them about that. this mall remains closed at this hour while police continue their investigation. i can tell you that we're getting some new information from howard county police at this hour, t.j. they've just tweeted out that they found a gun near the suspected gunman. of course they say he is among the deceased. they also are telling us now where this took place. a store on the second floor here at the mall, it's a skate shop called zumiez. not sure i'm pronouncing that accurately. so i'll spell it, it's z-u-m-i-e-z, again located on the second floor here at the mall in columbia.

i'll just recap what we know at this hour, t.j. it all started at 11:15. that's when howard county police say they received multiple phone calls about gunshots here at the mall. they responded to the mall. they found three people dead in that store on the second floor. and according to pete williams two of the dead are men, one of those men was the shooter it is believed. and then the third victim is a female. police also saying that several people were injured including one person who was shot in the foot. that person currently being treated at a nearby hospital. they are still looking into exactly what the root is, but again, we say sources are telling us that this was a domestic situation. police have yet to confirm that as their investigation continues. that is certainly one of the things they are looking into and trying to confirm. witnesses telling nbc news that this was a terrifying morning. once they heard the shots ring out, they sheltered in place,

employees locked the doors of their store. here's more from one employee who heard this whole thing unfold. >> it sounded to me like three shots and then a pause and then two more shots. is what it sounded like to me. but that was it. >> how many people were in the store with you? >> i think it was about 12 of us. 12 of us. and there were -- there was a young couple with two brand-new babies. so we have like a restroom at the end in the storeroom. and so everybody, as many people as we could fit in there, went in there. then it was three of us out, you know, out in the back room. >> reporter: so, again, police continuing their investigation inside the mall. this mall will remain closed at least through this evening while the investigation continues. and, again, we're expecting to get an update at 4:00 p.m. just to recap the breaking news that we had at the top, t.j., police saying that they did find a gun next to the suspected

gunman. the question, what type of a weapon, those are some of the things that we'll be asking at that news conference which will get underway in just about an hour now. t.j. >> kristen, they don't believe, like you said, not an active situation, not another shooter. they do believe this was confined to that one store, but what are -- or do they still have concerns in trying to secure that mall? >> reporter: it doesn't appear as though they have concerns about that at this hour, t.j. they were pretty clear that they believe the gunman is among the dead. they don't think there's a second shooter. that's an incredibly important point. having said that, as you stated at the top, some people sheltered in place could still be hiding. you can only try to imagine the terror that went through this mall, that went through people's minds. they were out for a saturday just shopping, some of them with family as you heard from that witness there, some of the folks were with young children. so you can only try to imagine how horrifying this morning was for the folks here. so police trying to investigate

and trying to make sure that they contact all of the people who are in fact inside this mall and who did shelter in place and who hid and hid with their families. t.j. >> kristen welker for us on the scene. thank you so much, kristen. >> reporter: absolutely. six minutes past the top of the hour. new york congressman joins me here live in studio. we had you here anticipated a couple other topics to talk about but unfortunately this has taken place. give me your reaction as a guy who represents new york, as a guy who represents this area, to see what they're dpoing through now and what are some of your concerns? >> i'm concerned -- i'm a fellow prosecutor as well. and too many stories like this has been taken place. first, you know, hats off to law enforcement moving in quickly. unfortunately, i think as been indicating on your show, hats off to many individuals who now know how to shelter and what to do. i was listening to the young girl saying we went into the back room and secured ourselves even though they were crying, which is what you have to do. it's a shame that we have to do

in the world in which we live in now. and then, you know, you have to think, again, it's early. people's accessibility to guns, how do they get guns, far too violent a society. we've got to change that. >> do we go to that? because it seems that any time there is a shooting, and maybe rightly so, but some will tell you wrongly so. this isn't a matter of his access to gun. we have no idea how this person got a hold of this gun. it's too early for that. but the conversation immediately goes that direction. and it seems like the two sides, either you're pro gun over here or you like tighter restrictions over here. and we use these to make political points, but we never get anywhere in washington with it. if we couldn't get anywhere when 20 babies were killed at their school, this is one shooting sounds like now sources tell us a domestic situation, is this going to be another one nothing ever happens? >> well, i think we should do is listen to law enforcement. law enforcement gets behind, you

know, we have various groups that come and lobbiests in washington, d.c., well, those that are in charge of protecting us, why don't we listen to them? i think they have an idea of how to keep us safe. you're looking at how they are maneuvering now. and they come and they talk about that. we do need sensible gun control. irrespective of what's taken place today. because i don't want this debate to go in regards to gun control. we don't know. >> we don't know. >> i'm not talking -- i'm just talking about in general now. because as a society it's happening far too often. and we've got to do something about it before something happens. and i just think can you prevent everything from happening? no, you cannot. you cannot. the goal is to try to minimize it. there's going to be a family now, i'm sure from the reports, somebody's going to be mourning the loss of at least two individuals caused by a gunman. >> where will the momentum come from to get something done in washington? and i say momentum because you

got to have something from the people who are -- who will demand something from washington. and like i said after what happened in newtown, we can't get anything done with that, there's several shootings, one in south carolina yesterday, one today, shooting at purdue, we see this kind of thing, what do we need before you guys actually get something out of it? >> well, you said it just now. the people. >> the people. >> the people have to get upset and go to their individual representatives and say we have to have something different. >> why aren't we upset yet? some people aren't upset and people see this debate and say somebody's responsible for that. he was going to get his hands on a gun, and that's an individual who did that. it's not the fault of that gun. >> unfortunately what you find is it happens regionally. so therefore an individual who represents the city of new york, you'll see that they're ready to do something. or an individual that may come from a southern state, they have

a different position. so, you know, what happens in congress you've got to figure out something has to be done. what i was ready to say at least get rid of the automatic weapons or the assault weapons, maybe that's a compromise we can work on moving forward. let's get rid of certain types of bullets. let's make sure there's certain registration because individuals feel they have a right to their gun. so there should be something -- that's what washington is all about, compromise. but unfortunately we haven't even been able to dpet there. and i think that just the senseless deaths that continue to happen whether, you know, it's on a college campus, whether it's in a mall, whether it's just in the streets of new york city, we have to put ourselves in a situation where we at least prevent some lives from being lost. >> some will tell you you can't prevent this because you ban a particular clip, you ban particular ammunition, you ban a particular gun, but should we not start with some of those? and i think that's the thing, as soon as you start talking about any legislation, gun and legislation, then everybody comes out.

we don't start with the thing that we agree on. what is it we agree on? all of us agree on right now? >> that's what i'm saying. if we can't -- there's law enforcement officers in every state of the union, so maybe they should be the ones -- we should just make sure that their voices are heard because they're there to protect us. i don't think that voice is heard loudly and clearly enough. and when we talk about it in washington, i know at least those individuals who generally have my position, what i'm going to do is just not talk about the so-called left wing or liberal democrats position. let's look at what law enforcement position is, not just from new york city but from some place else in the south or the southwest where in fact, you know, we understand people have guns, they hunt, et cetera, but let's look at what their law enforcement officers are saying and maybe we can utilize that and that can bring us together to come up with a piece of legislation that will be sensible, that will not give everybody what they want but will help prevent some of the proliferation of weapons and guns and keep law enforcement

officers and people safer. we're not going to save all lives. we know somebody -- i hear that argument all the time, bad guys are going to find -- i understand that. we can prevent some. maybe we can start changing the culture of what we are beginning to have in this country where having a gun is an accepted culture for anybody to have. >> i think you're right. start with what we agree on. let's start with what we agree on. representative meeks, we appreciate you. again, we mix it up on the topic. we didn't certainly expect this to be taking place. an important conversation to have with a guy who has been a part of this debate for quite some time. good to see you as always. >> good to be with you. >> thank you everybody. we are continuing to stay on this story. a lot of other headlines we're certainly going to get to after the break. again, we're not going too far from what we're seeing there in maryland today with this tragedy today with three dead at a shooting at a mall. stay with us. other headlines we'll bring them to you as well. it's hip-hop.

for cross-country, classical. and for jumps, i need something...special. so i use my citi thankyou visa card for music downloads and earn two times the points... plus a little extra inspiration. [ ♪ music plays ] the citi thankyou preferred visa card. earn two times the points on entertainment and dining out with no annual fee. citi, with you every step of the way. hearty oatmeal, softly baked with a drizzle of cinnamon.

it's a soft take on a morning classic. soft-baked oatmeal squares from nature valley. i have a big meeting when we land, but i am so stuffed up, i can't rest. [ male announcer ] nyquil cold and flu liquid gels don't unstuff your nose. they don't? alka seltzer plus night fights your worst cold symptoms, plus has a decongestant. [ inhales deeply ] oh. what a relief it is. and this park is the inside of your body. see, the special psyllium fiber in metamucil actually gels to trap some carbs to help maintain healthy blood sugar levels. metamucil. 3 amazing benefits in 1 super fiber.

well, quarter past the hour here on this saturday afternoon. we've been following the breaking story out of columbia, maryland, where three people are dead after a shooting at a mall on a busy saturday. happened about an hour after the mall opened. we want to bring back in ken ulman, he's the howard county executive there. sir, we continue to get updates and new information. and part of that new information is where this took place. police told us that it happened in one store, what more can you tell us now about where this shooting and where those three dead were found? >> yeah, thank you for having me. it does appear that the shootings all took place in a store called zumiez, which is kind of a skate shop. there was a lot of discussion earlier about the food court, which made some sense because the store is sort of on the second floor near the food court. and so, you know, people in the

food court certainly would have heard shots and would have been a very scary situation obviously. so it does appear that the shooter was amongst the victims. the detectives are doing a lot of work. if you can imagine this is just a very, very large crime scene at the moment with a lot of potential witnesses to be interviewed. and so one of the reasons why you see people coming out methodically and going to buses is to be interviewed in the warmth. it's very cold out. and so a lot of our men and women in law enforcement are just doing a fabulous job. i will say this, we are absolutely not confirming that this is a domestic situation. it's too early in the investigation to know that. so we still do not know the motive. >> all right. we were getting from -- i know you have several law enforcement agencies now involved and some federal law enforcement officials are the ones that are passing some of that information

along. >> okay. >> but we certainly appreciate you passing along exactly what you all do have and are able to confirm. and you mentioned as well the people -- moving people around. i can't imagine, you have, i guess literally hundreds of potential witnesses there, how are you going about now? you mentioned buses and getting them to warm places, but i guess what is that process? and it certainly could take a while of getting those witnesses, getting those witness statements. tell us what that's like right now? >> well, that's exactly what's happening. we've got a lot of support from state police. i was just on the phone request governor martin o'malley, our neighboring jurisdictions are all helping. as you can imagine what we're doing now is we're going systematically through the mall, every nook and cranny of the mall, making sure that everyone is safe. there's still a lot of people that may be sheltering in place. and then our detectives are systematically as we clear the mall interviewing people and then taking them to -- we

brought in a number of buses so that they can be interviewed in a warm setting. so there's a lot of moving parts. and like i said, you imagine a busy, busy shopping mall on a saturday morning, that's what we had. >> how many agencies, sir, do you have actually on the ground now? we know local police, county police and some federal officials as well. just how many agencies are participating? >> there may be approaching a dozen agencies. i know i've seen obviously we're taking the lead in howard county, but i've seen state police. i've seen the fbi. i've seen the park police. i've seen prince george's county, ann arundel county, it's unfortunate commentary on our country these days that we do have to train for these things. and our tact teams work very

well together. they drill together all the time. we've drilled at the columbia mall before. and so, you know, this is something that we're trained for and our law enforcement officers did exactly what they are trained to do and are still doing it as we speak. >> again, ken ulman, the county executive there. so we appreciate the update once again. and i'm sure we'll be checking back in with you. i know that press conference expecting another update at 4:00 eastern time on that maryland shooting. we'll certainly pass along details as we get them. sir, thank you so much. do want to give our viewers a headline of other stories this morning. at least 29 people dead today in violent protests throughout egypt. demonstrations and four deadly bombings yesterday left more than 20 people dead. this unrest comes as egypt marks the third anniversary of the 2011 uprising that forced long-time president hosni mubarak from power. there are new details this afternoon on what we're likely to hear from president obama in his state of the union address which is coming on tuesday. a white house preview sums up

the president's message in three words, opportunity, action and optimism. also another arctic assault is headed our way. bitter cold continues to blanket a large section of the nation. the arctic blast is expected to keep highs below zero -- did i read that right? highs below zero, and single digits next week for much of the midwest and eastern u.s. today we're going to play a little game.

which 4g lte map has the most coverage? this isn't real difficult... pretty obvious to me. i'm going to have to say verizon. verizon. that's right! the choice is obvious. verizon's superfast 4g lte network is over three times larger than any other 4g lte network. now get one, two, or even three-hundred dollars off a new smartphone depending on the smartphone you trade in on america's largest, most reliable 4g lte network. that's powerful. verizon. now get a free lg g2, with a 13-megapixel camera. the day building a play set begins with a surprise twinge of back pain... and a choice. take up to 4 advil in a day or 2 aleve for all day relief. [ male announcer ] that's handy. ♪ [ male announcer ] that's handy. when jake and i first set out on we ate anything.

but in time you realize the better you eat, the better you feel. these days we both eat smarter. and i give jake purina cat chow naturals. made with real chicken and salmon, it's high in protein like a cat's natural diet. and no added artificial flavors. we've come a long way. and whatever's ahead, we'll be there for each other. naturally. purina cat chow naturals. [prof. burke] at farmers,we make you smarter [bell rings] about your insurance,because what you don't know can hurt you. what if you didn't know that home insurance can keep your stuff covered,even when it's not at home? or that collisions with wildlife on the road may not be covered. and what if you didn't know that you could be liable for any accidents on your property? the more you know,the better you can plan for what's ahead. talk to farmers and get smarter about your insurance. ♪ we are farmers bum - pa - dum, bum - bum - bum - bum♪ so i can't afford to have germy surfaces. but after one day's use,

dishcloths can redeposit millions of germs. so ditch your dishcloth and switch to a fresh sheet of bounty duratowel. look! a fresh sheet of bounty duratowel leaves this surface cleaner than a germy dishcloth, as this black light reveals. it's for everyday surfaces where dishcloths deposit germs. and only bounty duratowel is clinically proven to be 3 times cleaner. so ditch your dishcloth and switch to bounty duratowel. the durable, cloth-like picker-upper. we've been talking a lot these days and all week about a potential privacy threat posed by government surveillance programs. but there are new revelations this week that the privacy of millions of americans has been put at risk simply by shopping. neiman marcus confirmed that hackers may have stolen information from more than 1 million customers over a period of several months. that's on top of target's recent disclosures information that 110 million customers may have exposed during the holiday shopping season.

teresa payton is the new author of the new book privacy in the digital age. ma'am, thank you for being here. tell me, who knows more about me these days, is it the government or target? >> it's probably target and all the other retailers. >> wow. >> they have an insatiable appetite to get to know you, to market to you better, to take care of you better. and to do that they have to have big data warehouses that track everything about you. >> now, they have so much information, so are they so vulnerable just because they want to collect more and more information? or are they actually making mistakes in what they're doing? >> you know, i mean, they may be making mistakes because obviously behind all technology at least for now are humans, right? so there could be mistakes made. but target actually has a security team that i've admired for years. and really what it is, i think we need to change the conversation. and ceos need to walk into work

and say to their teams, i know we're going to be hacked at some point, we're going to be attractive to cyber criminals, they're going to attack us, so how do we collect data about our customers in a way that we can protect them better? so we need to help ceos really change that conversation. >> congress is going to get involved, and i think they want answers, they're going to get some answers, try to from the target ceo, but yes, you haul them out and take them to task for this. but it sounds like from what i'm hearing from you, you know, you're going to get hacked unless we improve, you know, i guess some of the security. there's nothing we can do and we better get used to this. and congress, nothing they can do, necessarily, can they? >> they could look at some of the laws. we really haven't passed significant cyber security legislation for 12 years, believe it or not. and the laws on the books right now a lot of them were written before cyber crime really took off in its current state. but i do believe that consumers actually do have a voice and can take some nontechnical steps.

the first one being get a separate e-mail address you use with retailers that you don't attach to your bank account or your health insurance. and that way if something happens they can't try and get into the rest of your life. >> that is a very simple tip, but very important one as well. again, i want to make sure i get this out there, the name of the book "privacy in the digital age," certainly wish i could talk to you a whole lot more because a lot of us could use your help, but we did have a lot of news going on today. we wanted to make sure we were able to talk to you here even if so briefly. hope to see you again, ma'am. >> thanks. have me back. >> all right. we're going to continue to follow a story that has really been topping the news today out of maryland. three people dead after a gunman opened fire inside a shopping mall. again, updates continue to come in. we'll give you the very latest next. [ female announcer ] you get sick, you can't breathe through your nose...

suddenly you're a mouth breather. a mouth breather! how do you sleep like that? you dry up, your cold feels even worse. well, put on a breathe right strip and shut your mouth. cold medicines open your nose over time, but add a breathe right strip, and pow! it instantly opens your nose up to 38% more so you can breathe and do the one thing you want to do. sleep. add breathe right to your cold medicine. shut your mouth and sleep right. breathe right. all white meat chicken was made to be blanketed in golden breadcrumbs. with whipped mashed potatoes, topped with a thick homemade gravy. so she makes her country fried chicken to be eaten together. so they savor every last bite. marie callender's.

of the dusty basement at 1406 35th street the old dining table at 25th and hoffman. ...and the little room above the strip mall off roble avenue. ♪ this magic moment it is the story of where every great idea begins. and of those who believed they had the power to do more. dell is honored to be part of some of the world's great stories. that began much the same way ours did. in a little dorm room -- 2713. ♪ this magic moment ♪ nbc news has learned today's shooting at a maryland mall was a domestic situation. and it was not a random

shooting. three people killed when a gunman opened fire inside a second story shop. that was this morning. joining me now once again nbc law enforcement analyst jim cavanaugh. he's in nashville for us. hello again. we have another news conference coming up around 4:00. going to get an update from officials there in maryland. what are you expecting to hear? and, i guess, what would you like to hear to kind of fill in some of these blanks we still have? >> well, i think the chief and the department has done a great job, a great response. i think what we'd like to hear and what i think they'll probably tell us is a whole lot more information because it puts the public at ease. it's in the interest of the police that the public has the most information to be at ease, that there's not some person out there randomly trying to kill. if they know the situation, they may not release the identities of victims, but they may tell us what they know the situation entails, a revenge or suicide or domestic, or whatever they want to release. but that's more helpful to the situation at hand for the public and surrounding police

departments to know as well. so i think they'll do that. they've done a very good job of being forthcoming. the chief was upfront and they did a good response. i think we talked earlier, t.j., about the response of the shoppers. and that was pretty quick. and it's a terrible tragedy, but it's, you know, unfortunately we've become accustom to a lot worse heavy tidings than this. so, you know, with multiple deaths, it's just sad, sad case. but it could have been obviously a lot worse. the man loose with a shotgun in a shopping mall. >> comment further on that really important point. yes, this is a fluid situation. you want to get as much information out to the public as possible. but why is it at this point right now so important for the public to know that this wasn't a random shooting? >> well, it is because it puts yourself at fear -- your fears are reduced. your vulnerabilities are heightened when you think, well, i could go to the mall and get killed. your vulnerabilities drop when

you say, oh, this was a personal situation, or this was revenge on the boss at the place that fired him. you go back mentally to your own personal situations. that's why random -- totally random public events such as terrorism or a subject of mental illness killing everyone is a much more feared by the public at large because you don't know what kind of situation you can be in. but it also goes to, you know, other police forces, t.j., that are in the surrounding areas. they need to know, you know, should they be on the look out, is there co-conspirators and so forth. so in the police force and in law enforcement in general we're sometimes too close with our information. we sort of live in that society. that we don't want to give out any information. but the best way to do it is to understand what the information -- for the commanders is, what information do we need to keep locked in the box that absolutely cannot be told because of maybe a pending trial. and what information -- and everything else we should be able to put out. >> yeah. >> in this case we probably have

a dead shooter. so we're not going to have a criminal trial. so it's less imperative that we hold everything. now, certainly maybe for notifications of next of kin, but there's a lot of information that could be released and forward and i'm sure the chief will. >> at 4:00, like you said, jim, thank you once again. jim cavanaugh, thank you. we're going to be staying with this story and give you yip dates from the ground as we get them. expecting the press conference at the top of the hour. want to bring you information on another story, really a sad story that a lot of people in this country had been watching with anticipation. we've been following here a pregnant texas woman pronounced brain-dead now ordered to be taken off life support. a judge made the decision yesterday. according to court affidavits 33-year-old marlice munoz met the criteria back in november after collapsing in her home. that led between a bitter fight between her husband and john peter smith hospital where she's being kept. eric munoz wanted her off life

support. the hospital refused saying doing so would kill the fetus. the hospital has until 6:00 p.m. eastern on monday to disconnect his wife from a ventilator and other machines. her family's attorney reacted to that ruling. >> this is the decision we sought. there's nothing happy about today. this was a sad situation all the way around. we are relieved that eric munoz can now move forward with the process of burying his wife. >> a columnist for the ft. worth star telegram covering the story. thank you for being with us. we know the two sides the hospital and the family agreed yesterday jointly that in fact the fetus was not viable, but this is not something the hospital had been on board with. so why before the hearing yesterday is this something we're now finding out that, yes, they do say that the fetus isn't

viable? >> t.j., the fetus is not viable because it's not ready for a premature delivery at this point. the fetus is not -- would probably not survive. it is too early to deliver the fetus is why it's not viable. the battle in this case has not really been between the munozes and jps. jps hospital said their hands are tied by the laws of texas, that the laws of texas say they have to continue to provide life support to the mother. and jps really had avoided any sort of antagonistic role with the family. and obviously they said we welcome the case in court. i think now what you'll see is that the case has been adjudicated in court. i will be surprised if tarrant county appeals this ruling. i think tarrant county, it's been a day, we haven't heard appeal yet, i think the county is going to let this move on and let eric munoz, a firefighter

and his family move on. >> the hospital thought they were doing what the state law required them to do. but the state law, at least the person who helped write the state law, said this type of situation was never even talked about when we were writing that law. so even with that person coming out and saying this is not what it was intended to do, why is it that the hospital, i guess, they erred on the side of caution in some way when it comes to the law. why did they interpret it this way? >> always concern that a judge might interpret other recent decisions, the legislature granting a fetus personhood. the hospital did not want to be liable or subject to criminal conduct in case some judge down the line didn't agree with their actions. the hospital needed some sort of judge's ruling on what the law said and didn't say. the hospital, you know, generally agreed that she is dead and has been dead since

thanksgiving. and they've seen the munoz family up there go through misery and go through pain. but they've also said and this is what the law says, tarrant county is a conservative county, the reddest majority republican county in texas, one of the reddest in america. they've wanted to be very careful and be sure they have the law on their side. >> again, you don't anticipate them appealing this ruling, but we don't know for sure yet, correct? >> we don't know for sure. and everyone says nothing's been heard, no decision's been made. >> bud kennedy, we appreciate your time with the ft. worth star telegram. thank you so much. >> thank you. coming up here, mitt romney, the inside story. a new documentary follows the romney family through a pair of failed elections. two of romneys top former aides are with us next. stay here. ♪ [ male announcer ] to truck guys, the truck is everything. and when you put them in charge of making an unbeatable truck, good things happen. this is the ram 1500.

the 2014 motor trend truck of the year. ♪ and first ever back-to-back champion. guts. glory. ram. [ coughs ] i've got a big date, but my sinuses are acting up. it's time for advil cold and sinus. [ male announcer ] truth is that won't relieve all your symptoms. hmm? [ male announcer ] new alka seltzer plus-d relieves more symptoms than any other behind the counter liquid gel. thanks for the tip. [ male announcer ] no problem. oh...and hair products. aisle 9. [ inhales deeply ] oh what a relief it is. ♪ she'd just grab the bounty select-a-size. one select-a-size sheet of bounty is 50% more absorbent than a full size sheet of the leading ordinary brand. use less, with bounty select-a-size.

afghanistan, in 2009. orbiting the moon in 1971. [ male announcer ] once it's earned, usaa auto insurance is often handed down from generation to generation. because it offers a superior level of protection. and because usaa's commitment to serve current and former military members and their families is without equal. begin your legacy. get an auto insurance quote. usaa. we know what it means to serve. so i deserve a small business credit card with amazing rewards. with the spark cash card from capital one, i get 2% cash back on every purchase, every day. i break my back around here. finally someone's recognizing me with unlimited rewards! meetings start at 11, cindy. [ male announcer ] get the spark business card from capital one. choose 2% cash back or double miles on every purchase, every day. what's in your wallet? i need your timesheets, larry!

is your tv powered by coal? natural gas? nuclear? or renewables like solar... and wind? let's find out. this is where america's electricity comes from. a diversity of energy sources helps ensure the electricity we need is reliable. take the energy quiz. energy lives here. this is the creamy chicken corn chowder. i mean, look at it. so indulgent. did i tell you i am on the... [ both ] chicken pot pie diet! me too! [ male announcer ] so indulgent, you'll never believe they're light. 100-calorie progresso light soups. i think the con would be that you would be the president. who wants to be the president?

>> talk about stress. >> yeah. >> talk about stress. >> a very scary situation. >> he'll be bald in about a month. >> that was a clip from the new netflix documentary "mitt" which followed mitt romney and his family from his decision in 2006 to first run for president as shown through the night he lost his final bid in 2012. romney appeared on "today" show yesterday to talk about the film which has just been released and said it wasn't easy to watch that footage. >> in this case we have my wife praying, and me as well. and we have scenes of ann and i hugging each other and talking very personally to one another. and he, gosh darn it, he captured all that. and then he had the guts to use it. >> joining me former romney campaign manager and ryan williams, former spokesman for the romney campaign. thank you both. you were both, i think, able to see the film. netflix locked up, i wasn't able to watch it. we had a couple other people with the same situation.

but from what i'm hearing from this thing, he's a much different guy that america knows. why didn't america get to know the guy in that film? >> it's a difficult thing for probably ryan and i to characterize because certainly we got to know that guy. and what we saw in that movie wasn't altogether different from what we experienced every single day. but most of what america sees is a candidate that's standing up at a podium giving a speech. and, you know, maybe on interview programs like this where you're not really your natural self. you tend to be that more when you're with your family. i think that's true of all of us. >> ryan, do you think he changed? did he learn something from 2000 from his first run and to his second run that made him change his public persona even more? was it talked more about how he should be after his first failed bid? >> well, i think we all learned something from the first race. i think governor romney obviously learned more about the process, what it takes to run for president, the type of media freak show you have to go through to go through that kind of process.

but he's a genuine person. he is who he is. and i think that he stayed true to what he was in the second race as he had in the first race. i think this film showed more behind the scenes of what mitt is like as katie and i i know that he's a good man, he's a genuine person, someone who would have made a good president. >> katie, this film had been released some of this footage before 2012, some of the footage from his previous run. if this had come out before the election, do you think it would have changed things? >> it's hard to say what your 20/20 vision is like looking back ward, but i certainly think that the reaction to it would have been different if it had been pre-election. i think, you know, sort of the fawning media coverage of this might have looked a little different if he was still a account for office. i think you sort of look back with more of an endearing sort of perspective. but he's a good guy. he would have been a great president. i'm proud to have worked for him. and, you know, i think it's really america's loss is all i can say. >> ryan, what about faith? people will see in this film if they do get a chance to see it, they'll see the family, they'll see them praying.

i mean people -- everybody knows he's a mormon. but it's just his faith didn't seem like something that was front and center during the campaign. what do you think? how do you think people will react to seeing some of this now? again, this is somebody you all very familiar with, but the public didn't get to see this? >> i think people will see that he's just a genuine guy. he has a great family. he's a dad first. he's a family man first before he's a politician. and i think people will begin to see what mitt romney is like behind the scenes, not at a podium, not viewed through the lens of a competitive campaign when the other side is trying to take shots at you every day, take everything you say out of context to make you look unacceptable. i think people will see a very genuine person who as katie said would have made an excellent president. >> we have a clip here from this that was taken actually on election night. let's take a quick look at this. >> i just can't believe you're going to lose. >> yeah, well, so what do you say in a concession speech?

by the way, does somebody have a number for the president? >> you're grinning and let's just have your reaction then of what was going on there? you started laughing just a bit. >> it's funny to me to remember the mitt romney that was always sort of trying to manage everything himself and not taking for granted that somebody else would have the phone number, but certainly garrett jackson was always doing his job on that front. it's a really poignant moment. you know, we expected that he was going to win. we all hoped that he was going to win in that very human moment for he and his family when they realize it's over is tough to watch. >> is it tough to watch, ryan? i'll let you close it out here. but the impression that a lot of people might have of romney now and after watching this film, and again i haven't seen it yet, i want to make that clear. i want to check it out. but the reaction i'm hearing is, wow, i didn't know that guy and you almost feel sorry for him in a lot of ways. did he really have no idea he was going to lose? what would you like people to walk away from this film knowing

about him now? >> i think it's good people are going to see the mitt romney that i knew, katie knew, the rest of the campaign and people knew him for years, he's a good man. the final scene is a touching moment. shows his human side. hopefully people will begin to know the real mitt romney better after watching this movie than they did through the campaigns. >> all right. he says 2016 is not an option for him. he said he is done. so we shall see. all right. katie, ryan, thank you both for being here. thanks so much. >> thanks for having me. >> thanks for having me. i'm going to stick with some politics here. looking ahead now to 2014 -- here we are in 2014, and openly gay republican has never been elected to congress. but three candidates are hoping to change that. this november former massachusetts state senator, a former san diego city councilman, and a university of new hampshire administer tor are all running for congress but they face an uphill climb not

only facing members of their party, but unseating incumbents. joining me now dan innis, thank you so much for being here. whether you're gay or straight, is that really a part in your mind of your campaign at all? >> you know, t.j., thank you for having me. it's good to be here. no, it's not a part of my campaign. that issue has been decided in new hampshire, we're a state that has marriage equality. public opinion polling shows overwhelming support for it. and it's not a centerpiece of my campaign. it's not a message about the race. i'm focused on the fiscal issues and the things that matter to the people of new hampshire. >> what kind of reactions are you getting from people not just in your state but maybe around the country and even in washington, d.c. and maybe even within your party to hear that you could make some history here? and some people might even scratch their heads, an openly gay republican they feel flies in the face of what they think the republican party in some ways stands for.

>> yeah. i think, you know, to start the republican party is pretty broad-based. and it's always been a big tent sort of party. and there have been gay republicans for a long, long time. the log cabin republicans have been around for a long time. this is nothing new. i think it's new to have some candidates out there, and i think that speaks to how the party is shifting and changing. when i go around in new hampshire, this isn't an issue. it hasn't come up at any of the campaign events. and it's not something that's really at the forefront of people's minds. they're concerned with the budget. they're concerned about reforming the way things get done in washington. and they want to see the country solving its problems and working together to get things done. that's the message i hear. >> let me put this up. i know you're familiar with it, but let our viewers see it. a portion of the party's platform from 2012 kwlt we reaffirm our support for a constitutional amendment defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman." some people might ask the question how could you be a part of a party that would have that as a part of a platform. so you tell me how do you

reconcile a platform like that with being a part of that party and running for congress as a republican? >> yeah. you know, that party and running for congress as a republican? >> i've been a republican all of my life. you subscribe to the party's values, particularly on fiscal issues. i think the party is beginning to move and modify its views on a number of issues. i'd be surprised if ten years from now this is an issue at all. i think it won't. we've come along. folks like rob portman and others are beginning to open up and we're going to see some shic shifts in the party. >> we will follow you as you run for congress. dan inis, thank you for being

here. >> a gunman dead after opening fire inside maryland shopping mall and kill it would go others. we will go live to the scene next. stay with us. the cocoa bean, and five simple whole grains, new multigrain cheerios dark chocolate crunch is breakfast... with benefits. start your day with a delicious new crunch. healthy never tasted so good. is your tv powered by coal? natural gas? nuclear? or renewables like solar... and wind? let's find out. this is where america's electricity comes from. a diversity of energy sources helps ensure the electricity

we need is reliable. take the energy quiz. energy lives here. adding thousands of products online every day. from hard hats and goggles. to tools and cleaning products... to state of the art computers, to coffee to keep you fueled. from the sign over the door to the boxes to get it out the door. yes, staples has everything you need to launch your big idea. except your big idea. so when you get an idea, we're ready with everything else. staples. make more happen.

we just heard gunshot and this lady came into the store and was like there's a guy with a gun. there were several different gunsho gunshots. my a me and my friend were in the store and we ran into the back room. we're crying and we're scared out of our minds because we thought we were going to get shot. >> a deadly shooting at the mall of columbia this morning left three people dead. authorities plan to hold a news conference minutes from now.

we keep getting updates but what else do we know now about possible injured? >> reporter: we're getting an update about the people injured here this morning. according to howard county general hospital, four people were injured, three sustained injuries during this incident. one person was shot, we believe in the foot. all of them are listed in good condition. so that is some positive news that is coming out of this tragic situation that unfolded here at the mall in columbia, maryland. just to recap what we know, this all started just after 11:00 this morning. that's when howard county police save they received multiple calls about gunshots here. they responded to the second floor to a second floor called

zumis. they said two bodies on the floor, one was a female. of the dead bodies, one police believe was the shooter. police also say they go fonda gun ne -- saying they found a gun near the body of the shooter. police also not saying what the motive is but according to nbc's pete williams and producer michael cozner, sources tell being them this was a domestic situation. we want to understand the fact that this is not an active scene. police do not believe there's a second shooter. they believe one of the three dead bodies belongs to the shooter. those at the mall say it was a

terrifying situation, they sheltered in place, locked the doors of the stores they were in at the time, some people started cry bug really sheltered in place. some people were here with their young kid. one woman says the entire morning makes her thankful for life and thankful for how much she has. >> kristen, thank you so much for the updates. we're going to pass it off to "disrupt with karen finney," who will take it for you after the break. [ female announcer ] switch today and get two safe driving bonus checks a year for driving safely. only from allstate. call 866-906-8500 now. [ dennis ] zach really loves his new camera. problem is...this isn't zach. it's a friend of a friend who was at zach's party and stole his camera. but zach's got it covered... with allstate renters insurance. [ female announcer ] protect your valuables for as low as $4 a month when you add renters insurance to your allstate auto policy. call 866-906-8500 now. what are you doing? we're switching car insurance.

why? because these guys are the cheapest. why? good question. because a cut-rate price could mean cut-rate protection. you should listen to this guy. [ female announcer ] with allstate you get great protection and a great price, plus an agent! drivers who switched saved an average of $498 a year. call now and see how much you can save. just a few more ways allstate is changing car insurance for good. [ female announcer ] call an allstate agent and get a quote now. to help me become an olympian, she was pretty much okay with me turning her home into an ice rink. ♪ she'd just reach for the bounty select-a-size. it's the smaller, powerful sheet that acts like a big sheet. look, one select-a-size sheet of bounty is 50% more absorbent than a full size sheet of the leading ordinary brand. use less, with the small but powerful picker-upper, bounty select-a-size.

anybody have occasional constipation, diarrhea, gas, bloating? one phillips' colon health probiotic cap each day helps defend against these digestive issues with three types of good bacteria. i should probably take this. live the regular life. phillips'.

with olive garden's plebest 2 for $25 yet choose two melt-in-your mouth entrees like new parmesan crusted chicken or tortellini topped with velvety alfredo 3 full courses of our best 2 for $25 yet, at olive garden! i'm karen finney. we're continuing to follow breaking news out of columbia, maryland where three people are dead after a gunman opened fire after 11:00 a.m. this morning. still no word on identities or motive. we're expecting a press conference in moments and we'll