and a very good morning, everyone, i'm kristen welker in for tamron hall and this is "newsnatio "newsnation." with we begin with developing news. u.s. military officials are investigating the deaths of five american soldiers in what is believed to have been a friendly fire incident. it happened last night in the security operation in southern afghanistan. now, if confirmed, it would be one of the deadliest friendly fire incidents in the nearly 14-year war in afghanistan. jim miklaszewski joining me now from the pentagon and what is the very latest that we are learning, mik? is. >> well, these five americans were on a training mission with the afghan security force s s i the province of southern afghanistan in what should have been a routine operation turned into a tragic mishap. it is not clear what the mission was, but apparently some reports that they were out to screen polling stations for the

upcoming runoff elections for this weekend, but that is not even clear at this point, but what is clear is that they came in under a heavy and fierce attack under taliban forces and returned fire, but the taliban kept on relentlessly so that the americans had to call in an airstrike. a b-1 stealth bomber, and then came up upon the scene, and launched a precision-guided bomb that fell on what they thought was the taliban target, but unfortunately, killed the five americans and kill the one taliban soldier. by all accounts, it appears to have been either mechanical or electronic or human error and a terrible accident, but just how it happened won't be known until an investigation is completed and central command down in tampa, florida, is already on that case. >> and following oup than point, mik, the b-1 stealth bombers are to be precise, correct? >> well, there is a human element, because somebody on the

ground has to radio in the position, and somebody in the aircraft has to write it down and then enter into the weapon, itself, so was a number transpose odder a mistake made or who knows, and it could have been mechanical error or some kind of faulty bomb or guidance system or whatever, but again, that probably won't be known until the investigation is completed. >> all right. jim miklaszewski, thank you for your reporting. >> yes, kristen. and right now, a member of the armed services committee just received a briefing about the release of sergeant bowe bergdahl, and this comes amid a firestorm of the obama administration not informing congress ahead of time, insisting that if word leaked out bergdahl could have been killed by his captors, and senator joe manchin is among the opponents of the democratic

members. >> was it a good deal or bad deal? i don't know, i can't explain it to my fellow virginians back home. >> and last night, fellow l lawmakers were upset when they found out that at least 80 obama administration officials knew about the deal, but congress was not informed. >> i am concerned with the administration telling 80 or 90 people within the administration and not one member of congress about this. >> we heard nothing except for continued excuses about why they did not come to congress. >> there is a lot of problem s with the administration's stories and it keeps changing and does not add up. >> the fact that 80 or 90 people in the administration knew about it, but not one member of the congressional leadership to me puts the good faith of the administration in doubt. >> and joining me live now is

democratic congresswoman jackie spear, a member of the house armed services committee which is going to hold a hearing tomorrow about the prisoner swap with secretary chuck hagel who is scheduled to testify. thank you for joining me, congresswoman. >> thank you for tin i havetati havetation. >> you were there last night? >> yes, i was there. >> and one of the things they learned is that there was nothing new coming out of there, and did you learn anything new? >> yes, there was new information, and of course, because it is a classified briefing we cannot talk about it. >> can you tell us the nature of the information, congresswoman, and do anything to calm some of the concerns that you have had? >> well, i think that the issues regarding whether or not american soldiers were killed searching for sergeant bergdahl was an issue that was dealt with by the administration, but again, that information is classified. >> so they, you cannot tell us one way or another if they had

information confirming or deny ing the allegations that six soldiers may have died looking for bergdahl? >> they provided clarification. >> okay. the other complaint that we are hearing from a number of your colleagues is that 80 to 90 administration officials knew about this prisoner swap, and yet members of congress weren't briefed. do you share the frustration of the fellow colleagues? >> well, let me first say that congress members have a big ego, and so, there is a fair amount of, you know, why weren't we notified, but the truth of the matter is that the certainly, the leadership certainly, the chairs of the intelligence committee should have been notified. the president has apologized for not notifying them, and it was an oversight, and i don't believe it would happen again. and clearly, we should be informed. now, the question that must be answered though is what would

you have done with the information? we don't have the authority to consent to the actions taken by the president, and in fact, he has clear authority to take this action. it is a notification action only, and in assigning the statements that he made last year when the national defense authorization act was passed and there was a 30-day notice language in it, he produced a signing statement that he would not necessarily comply with it. so i mean, he was on good footing in order to do the, to take the steps that he did, but in hindsight, informing some of the leadership and the chairs of the intelligence committee would have been the appropriate action. >> when you heard that 80 to 90 administration officials were briefed though, were you surprised by that or frustrated? >> well, it is not so much that they were briefed, but they had to be brought into the deliberations in terms of logistically how they were going to go about doing it or whether legally they had the authority

to do it, so they were brought in on the need-to-know basis. again, leadership should have been put on notice, and beyond that, let's get on to understanding what was the status of these detainees, and were they subject to torture while they were at gitmo? were they waterboarded? they were highly placed within the taliban. for those who are concerned about releasing members of the taliban, we need to remember that once we leave afghanistan, whether it is totally in 2015 or 2014, our ability to detain these taliban members becomes much lez certain. if we are not in the active war setting, our ability to detain them as p.o.w.s becomes suspect. >> we are just hearing from the house speaker john boehner and i want to play you a little bit of what he said moments ago and get your reaction on the other side.

take a listen. >> the biggest issue here is the violation of a policy that the united states has had for many, many years. that we don't e negotiate with terrorists, and we are going to pay for this, and there is not any doubt in my mind that there are going to be costs and lives, and lost lives associated with what came out of this. >> congresswoman, we are getting the a.p. alert that the dick durbin is saying that the bergdahl deal was reached a day before the prisoner swap and that the u.s. learned the location an hour before the pickup, and so before i get to the action of john boehner, can can you confirm that is part of the briefing last night? >> i can't confirm that, but let me underscore the term terrorist. the taliban is a part of the fabric of afghanistan and they were part of the leadership of that country before we en gaged there, and we are now actively attempting to get the taliban to negotiate with president karzai and the afghanistan government,

because there is some cooperation, and some level of coordination between the two if that country is going to survive and move forward. so, to say that they are terrorists at this point is not necessarily accurate. let me also say that senator mccain has said a number of times that he was willing to exchange prisoners to bring back b bowe bergdahl. and we have had a campaign by some of the republican congress members to bring bowe bergdahl home, and one of those members has actually flipped and now says that he shouldn't have come home. i mean, you can't be on both sides of the issue, and there is a lot of hypocrisy and campaign ing going on, on this issue right now. >> and the investigation of exactly what happened is continuing, and congresswoman jackie speier, thank you, for joining us. >> thank you. and now more information on the couple that went on a

shooting rampage in las vegas leaving five people dead including two police officers. and one of the fathers of shootersb amanda said that she was my sunshine and now she is gone, and i don't believe that i can get over it. that sob took my sunshine and he ought to be glad that he is dead or else i'm chasing him down. and while the millers had anti-gun and anti-police views they were acting alone and living in las vegas since january and the neighbors said they had grown grim and threatening with a lot of the ranting on the social media, and nbc spoke to a neighbor they had been living with and she described what happened when they they left her house that morning. take a listen. >> and four guns altogether, and air 401, and 38 and two little handguns that go here. so i guess altogether five. and a lot of ammunition. they said that they used it for protection.

they were going in the underground, and i should have called the cops myself. but i didn't, because i thought that they were talking smack. >> jarod miller had joined the ranch cliven bundy and his standoff against the federal government, and miller posted that he had been kicked off of the ranch in in april, but not before he spoke exclusively to nbc news. >> i feel sorry for any federal agents who want to come in here and try to push us around or anything like. i don't want any violence towards them, but if they want to bring violence to us, and if that is the language that they want to speak, we will learn it. >> chilling video, and jay gray joining me now, and what more are we learning about the shooters this morning, jay? >> well, good morning, kristen, and we are getting the insight into exactly what the mindset may have been before the shooting, but first, what is happening here on the ground of the site where the first shots

rang out, officers are coming to the memorial, and others are just stunned and emotional about what has happened in the community. a and a lot of people are greeting and thanking the police for what they are doing in this investigation. back to the millers and what we know about the thinking and as they move into the horrible attack. we have some of the last posts online and both active on social media. starting with jarod miller, the dawn i dawning of a new day, and may all of our sacrifices be worth it. and then he wrote, we have come in peace, but we must prepare for war and we are facing an enemy that is well funded and who believe that they stand for freedom and justice, be to stop this oppression, i fear, can only be accomplished with bloodsh bloodshed.

and on am ma da's, to the people of the world, you are lucky i can't kill you, but remember i will get you, i will get you because one day all hell is going to break loose and i will be standing in the middle of it with a shotgun in one hand and a pistol in the other. we are learning more about the investigation here based on the surveillance video and witness statements. police say that that i am bushed the two police officers as they sat here in cici's pizza, and then the couple placed a "don't tread on me" flag and swastika on the bodies. and then they walked over to the walmart to where amanda shot and killed a man who tried to stop her husband and then she shot and killed him and then herself. these are officers working with a heavy hart right now. >> indeed. jay gray, thank you so much for

that e report from las vegas. >> yep. and right now, hillary clinton is kick iing off the bo tour and about to start signing copies of "hard choices," and she has a hard choice, of course. and she is responding to the criticism over the attack in benghazi. >> i believe that there were systemic problems within the state department. >> all right. and she says that it is more of a reason for her to run. we will play more of clinton's interview coming up. and also this -- >> mr. chairman, you need to deal with your governor. >> ms. brown,ly deal with my governor when you deal with your presiden president. >> ooh! >> some heated moments there at a rare nighttime house hearing on the v.a. scandal, and this as a new internal audit reveals how many thousands of veterans are waiting to see a doctor. and plus, donald sterling reverses course saying that he will not sell the clippers and he will sue the nba, but his lawyer will tell us what is

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there is new anger today after a report that says that tens of thousands of veterans are falling through the cracks when it comes to the medical care. and speaker john boehner spoke out a short time ago on capitol hill. >> we have a systemic failure of a part of the government. when you look at the bill on the floor this week, it calls for independent review of the v.a., and i think that this is an important step, because we have to understand just how sick this patient is before we begin to prescribe some treatment.

>> the house veterans affairs committee held a rare night hearing last night with top officials from the v.a. and inspector general jay griffin said that many of them ordered appointment data to be altered and his office is looking as to whether criminal charges should be filed, and some members were not happy with what they were hearing from the v.a. >> it is not new stuff and you came before the committee and i was not here yet and you said that you had 26 schemes for gaming the system, and have you changed any of those? have you had anybody who lost their job for doing this? we know that veterans have lost their lives and i don't have any clue or information that anybody has been peen punished or lost bonus or anything because of somebody that you have known for years. >> and channeling the ainnger tt a lot of americans are feeling right now, and the report released yesterday found 57,000 vets across the country have wait waited at a least 90 days for appointments and found that almost 64,000 in the last ten years who were never seen at

all, and joining me now is colonel jack jacobs, medal of honor recipient, and msnbc analyst, and dana milbank, msnbc analyst as well. and so, i want to start with you, colonel jacobs, and this report is painting a dire picture. >> well, i'm not surprised. one is systemic, and it is a large ungangly bureaucracy that has been living in the 19th century for a long time and it is only until general shinseki took over that the records were computererized and they could not talk to defense department from whom they got the patients from, and no cultural oversight from congress, and a problem for a long time. it is nice that the congressmen are getting exorcised about it, but it is long overdue that congress should exercise some supervision over this

department, so you have a cultural and structural problem and both of them vo to be fixed before veterans can be treated proper properly. >> and in a lot of ways cultural problems. >> yes, you need good leadership, and if you don't, otherwise, that is not going to be fixed either. >> and dana, new director sloan suggests that there are many more vets with a 90-day waiting period of nearly 64,000 vets who were never seen in the last ten years. >> well, he has not done much, there is only so much that somebody could do in this period of time, and to what the colonel said, i would add another huge problem is the money problem of the huge influx of veterans and some of them needing more care than before because of the nature of war from these two wars over a decade and so you

take ta systa system that is un take it and process it and then flood it and you have an entirely new problem. what the acting secretary is doing right now is a band-aid to try to fix the immediate problem here, but that won't take care of the overall problem and neither will what the house is doing now. i mean, there are many pieces of this, and i mean, it is going to involve a lot more money of course, or a completely new way of thinking about this, and nobody is ready to talk about that yet. >> and congress is considering legislation that would allow some veterans, colonel jacobs, to seek care outside of the v.a. i know that you are a proponent of this and what do you make of the legislation? is that a good step? >> well, it is a first step. but it is just going to be a stop gap measure. it is only congress' way of making sure that people who are entitled to the car get enfranchise and get the care rather than having to get an

appointment to get an appointment to waiting 90 days or longer, and they are trying to get them care now, but it is not going to solve the overall problem of how medical can care is delivered to the veterans. that is going to take a complete change in the way we do that. >> and dana, do you anticipate that the legislation will pass? >> well, it is hard to anticipate anything is going to pass even if it is motherhood and apple pie, because there are a number of reforms that everybody agrees on, and some use of outside providers is already contemplated and veterans have died waiting for that the as well, and so that is not going to sol tv problems, and work rooms need to be changed and money, and so many things that need to be thrown at this. >> and colonel jacobs, the administration is looking for a permanent v.a. secretary, and how important to install a new secretary quickly in the near future and what time line would you like to see for that? >> well, it is an interesting question, because it is like the news, you want it fast, but you

to get it right. i think that finding the right person is much more important than getting it fixed right away. >> and colonel jack jacobs and dana milbank, thank you for the insights. >> thank you very much. >> and right now, impact of marijuana laws on the deadly car crashes. i will talk to a doctor who studied the issue where pot has been legal for six months. and now terrifying video of an out of control elevator coming to the crashing end. it is one of the stories that we are following around the "newsnation." what if a photo were more than a memory?

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death deaths in 2010 and that is triple the rate of a decade earlier and that is before states like colorado and washington legalized pot for recreational use. as more and more states move forward with legislation to legalize marijuana in some form, new research is underway to l w under way to see who is most at danger. and we are joined by the director of the health and human institutes. what is the take away of the study that you have been working on? >> well, the one i want to work on is the one from the colleagues from colorado who have shown that since medical marijuana was legalized in colorado and widespread use, there is a widespread increase in traffic fatalities in colorado. >> when you look at the numbers, it is something that we are seeing among people under the age of 25. is that accurate? >> well, absolutely.

when we think about the traffic fatalities generally, it is mostly the issue of the younger drivers and inexperienced drivers and those who may take all sorts of risks with the driving behavior. >> and what are the implications of that and the message to the young drivers? >> well, certainly, the implications are that don't mix substances and driving. that marijuana from multiple studies can impair the cog nitie abilities and impair the ability to operate a motor the vehicle, aped we know from the controlled studies that people weave more in lanes when they are using marijuana and this study suggests since there is a wider use availability of marijuana, through medical marijuana, an increase in fatalities in traffic accidents in colorado. >> and of course, alcohol is something that has been legal for quite some time, but do you anticipate and should there be a broader effort to educate people about the findings in the

studies that you are working on and about the potential dangers of getting behind the wheel after you have been smoking pot? >> well, certainly, it is an often underrecognized issue that people under the influence of marijuana they have the ability to operate the car impaired and the risks of an accident are increased when people are intoxicated with marijuana, and that is a real concern for public safety. >> all right. dr. wilson compton, and thank you so much for that information. >> you are very welcome. >> and right now, hillary clinton is signing copies of her book "hard choices" at a barnes & noble in new york city. >> and the surprising declarations after they came out of the white house. >> we came out of the white house not only dead broke, but in debt. >> and this morning she is clarifying those comments, and also on benghazi and her health. and senior political editor mark murray is up next. at the next job, next adventure

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moments ago former secretary of state hillary clinton arrived a at bookstore here in new york to sign copies of her new book "hard choices" released this morning. it is a candid look at the achievements and the setbacks as secretary of state and many consider it a prelude to a 2016 presidential run. as part of the 10-day immediame, she is going to be conducting media interviews with all tv network networks, including our own, and she is clarifying something that she said in the first interview with abc. >> we came out of the white house not only dead broke, but in debt. we had no money when we got there, and we struggled to, you know, piece together the resources for mortgages for houses, and chelsea's education, and you know, it was not easy. >> well, let me just clarify that, i fully appreciate how

hard life is for so many americans is today. it is an issue that i have worked on an cared about my entire adult life. bill and i were obviously blessed and we worked hard for everything that we got in our lives, and we have continued to work hard, and we have been blessed in the last 14 years. >> joining me live now is msnbc news political editor mark murray, and look at that, she is already walking back the statements that some said seemed a littleto tone deaf, and is th the first gaffe of 2016? >> well, kristen, we will have so many more to talk about and one of the things that hillary clinton is doing is holding so many interviews with so many news organizations for minute s if not hours, and all in that kind of a way to answer every question, and to say that you have addressed it every which way for any follow-up that anybody will have, we will see it over the next ten days, but it is important to note however the context of the of the statement that she made it in. it is regarding why did she and

her husband give speeches at almost $200,000 a pop if not more and she gave that one statement and it was problematic for her, and one of the challenges that she is going to have as she runs for the presidency is to have a little bit of the common touch. oftentimes when the politicians are no longer in the political arena any more and they have made a lot of money, and have a lot of wealthy friends, sometimes it is harder to relate to the person who instead of being struggling on a 400,000 salary as president of the united states, somebody is making just $40,000 and has four or five kids to support and how are you able to relate to folks. that is not only a challenge of her, but all other potential presidential candidates will have a lot more money than they had a few years ago. >> and we saw it play out in 2012 for several of the candidates. we want to move on to several of the questions about benghazi and something that the republicans have criticized her about already the handling of benghazi, and she says it is

more of a reason to run, and prebudding some of the criticism, mark, that she is expected to get if she does announce. >> well, she is stiffening up the spine. as hillary clinton and her husband and everybody knows in washington, politics is not beanbag and it is a tough sport, and the republicans are giving it all they have right now the go after her, and for a year and a half away from when the iowa caucus cans would take place, kristen, and so we have a long ways to go, but what hillary clinton was giving in the benghazi statement is that i am ready for anything that is coming my way, and for a lot of the speculation about, well, maybe she is too old to be president or too fatigued or tired or about the health, a lot of this ten-day activity and all of the interviews and all of the travel, i think it is response to some of the things that, you know, if she does decide to run, that i have the mettle to withstand it all. >> and she is also talking about sarah palin, and listen to what she had to say to our cynthia

mcfadden about sarah palin. >> the obama staff, the campaign wanted you to attack sarah palin, and you say, you wouldn't do that. >> the day she was nominated and so it is the day after the convention that nominated president obama and vice president biden and the day she was nominated the obama campaign did contact me and asked me to attack her, and i said, attack her for what? being a woman? attack her for being on a ticket that is drawing attention? i said, there is going to be plenty of time to do what you should do in politics which is to draw distinctions. >> and mark, fascinating comments there, and i hear her walking a fine line in part with the relationship with the current president and what do you make of those comments? >> well, i think that is one of the little distinctions that you could end up drawing between the president and his campaign team and hillary clinton and the overwhelming part of her book is very supportive of the

president, and very supportive of all of the people in the white house, and her book was not a dishing dirt-type book when it comes to the president and the people close to him. she is a able to make a little distinction there when it comes to sarah palin and of course as we found out in the campaign, the obama campaign did not know how the deal with sarah palin in the first couple of weeks after she was introduced to the country, and then it is sarah palin who ended up becoming the story and by her own doing more so than the president's campaign team did or hillary clinton. >> mark murray, as always, thank you so much. >> thank you, kristen. >> and you can watch more of the interview of cynthia mcfadden and hillary clinton tonight on your nbc stations. we will be right back. this is interesting.

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sell the team n. a letter to nbc news entitled "the team is not for sale" sterling says quote, from the onset, did not want to sell the los angeles clippers and i have worked for p 33 years to build the team, and adam silver acted in haste to order the for sale of the clippers and banning me for life, and imposing the fine. adam silver's conduct in doing so was without reason. >> my client is out to clear his name and he is going to expose the nba for what it is a band of hypocrite hypocrites and he is being singled out, and the issue is not whether the conduct is inappropriate, because he has apologized. >> joining me is legal analyst and attorney eric guster. thank you for joining me. >> thank you for having me. >> let's start right there, sterling and the attorneys saying that he is being singled out, and yet he has a real

history of making racially incentive comments and even gotten into some legal trouble for it, and so is he in a unique circumstance here, and a tough argument to make legally? >> well, not necessarily, because what donald sterling is going to do is that he is going to investigate the actions of every single owner, and what the nba did to those particular owners, because was if the other owners have similar conduct and were punished like he was, then he may have a strong case, and i suspect that he has found things already in order to prove his case. >> and this is what his attorney says led to the change of heart. i will play you what he had to say on the "today" show and get your reaction on the other side. >> did mr. sterling did not understand that the fine would stand and the lifetime ban would stand when he agreed it seemed to the deal last week? >> that is not the understanding. i'm not going to go into particulars of the discussions, but that is clearly not the understanding. of course, adam silver has come out now and made it clear that he is not going to back off.

but, again, matt, i think that the bigger issue is that my client is out to clear his name and he is going to basically expose the nba for what it is, it is a band of hypocrites. >> and eric, what do you make of that, some confusion it sounds like that sterling's attorney is arguing. >> and maybe he was confused, but i don't buy that he was necessarily confused about the lifetime ban, but when he argues that they are a band of hypocrites that is what he is going to hedge the bets on, when you have a league of different owners who have done many thing ashs and many of them have made statements that were record ed that the nba did not do anything about or the nba had knowledge about, but they treated donald sterling differently, he may have a strong case to keep his team. >> and sterling's attorney was also asked about the client's mental capacity and this is what he said on that point. >> is donald sterling mentally

stab stable? >> well, matt, i know that you have spoken to him, and i have spent fair amount of time with donald sterling. there is no issue as to his m mental capacity, and of course, there is some very good, you know, legal tactics of why that issue has come up, and frankly, i don't think that it is going to be getting much traction, because we know it is an issue to come the bear, and we are prepared to deal with it when it does. >> eric, your reaction to that answer and how do you believe this going to end? is. >> i think it is going to end with some deal struck between the two parties bshg fru the beginning, i did not think that donald sterling would sell the team. this is a multibillionaire who has his pride on the line and he has built this team from literally nothing and being the laughingstock of the nba into the powerhouse it is, and for the statements recorded illegally to force him to sell his team, i don't think that they are going to be able to do it. >> and thank you, eric guster for the insights. appreciate it. >> thank you.

and the high speed police chase that led to an intense s.w.a.t. standoff tops the stories around "newsnation" today. police say that the suspect was wanted in con nnection of a criminal report, and encountered officers. at some point in the chase, he ditched the car and ran through the neighborhood climbing on to the roof of a home. the homeowner and surrounding residents had to evacuate and then he surrendered and was arrested by officers. and terrifying surveillance from chile which shows the moments that a man got inside of an elevator inside of an apartment building when something went wrong, and you can see the man frantically pushing buttons when it was launched 15 floors in 30 seconds before crashing into the roof, and the man did suffer inju injuries to the legs and head and he is in serious condition today. and up next, the "newsnation" gut check, an oregon school is going to make condoms available to sixth grade student

students. that is right, sixth grade students amid a spike of teen pregnancies, and do you agree with the move? we will tell you how the weigh in. and what caused a championship basketball player to cower in front of the president? we thought it is one of the things that you should know. all of that when we come back. ♪ ♪ fill their bowl with the meaty tastes they're looking for, with friskies grillers.

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we have breaking news out of oregon. police have confirmed that there is an active shooter at reynolds high school, 16 miles east of portland. it happened just after 8:00 a.m. local time. our local station reports a student tweeted out the school is on lockdown and police are surrounding the school. we'll listen into our affiliate covering the story. >> to confirm what you just said, we know life flight is confirming to us it has been called to troutdale but they won't go any further than that. the folks who answered the phone there. you've seen the helicopter and

it is a lifeflight chopper called and we don't no if it's landing or there's any need for a life flight helicopter. it may be just a precaution when something like this happens. what do you have, ashley? >> i was talking to a parent of a student in the school right now and i was talking with her as she was texting with her son. she actually just moments ago found out her son is okay. you can see here the sheriffs bringing another tactical vehicle into the scene here. to get back to the parent. she had just heard her son is okay and he was telling her that right now they are in lockdown and she thinks he's in a performing arts class. a lot of the students in the classroom she said holed up in lockdown waiting for further instruction from police and from deputies, right now very tense situation for a lot of parents out here wondering where their children are, a lot of them trying to text with their kids who may be in the school right now. a lot of emotion as you can imagine running high. we're going to be talking with

more parents and try to figure out what else they are hearing from students inside the school because right now that is the most information we're able to get is from parents who have students inside. >> you're right, scary situation is apparent. i can't imagine standing outside that campus like many of them are wondering what's happening in there and hoping and praying that my child is okay, as you stand out there. you're right, you don't know unless they have a phone and texting to you or something to let you know what's going on in there. i see a lot of folks texting out there over the last few minutes that we've watched this. and i assume they are trying to get in touch with folks on campus and kids on campus to see what exactly is happening there. we can tell you a couple of things we've had confirmed. we know that life flight has been called and life flight is on the ground there right near reynolds high school. on the ground on stand by lifeflight does not have a

patient. they have not received any patient or word they will get a patient but they are there. the helicopter has landed and ready to take off with anybody who needs that kind of critical care should that be needed there in troutdale. we see students tweeting and locked on to a couple of those accounts and see they are talking about a number of police cars. one student tweeting she heard gunfire and third reporting a police officer racing towards the school's gymnasium at ren oltsds high school. we have watched a stream of police cars and fire trucks, ambulances, stream by here on cherry park road. again, this is in troutdale. katherine cook is on the phone. we bring you in because you are a graduate of reynolds high school and i don't believe you're on scene yet but you know the area very well. this must be shaking you up this morning to hear your high school is involved in this. >> actually i just woke a half

hour -- i work at night so i picked up my phone and saw a completely blown up text, your school, something is happening. i turned to twitter like we all do nowadays. i just -- after i got myself together, i sent a text message to my old track coach at reynolds. he's still there. and i was so thankful to hear back from him right away. hey, i'm okay, i've got my students, we're in lockdown in our classroom now and waiting to hear more. and i'm just really shaking me up too. i'm praying for everyone's safety. i follow some law enforcement agents, one of the firefighters i follow just said that they've confirmed two victims. i don't know if that means two people dead or injured. it's all important we all stop and wait without getting too anxious, wait for the reports,

the actual reports of facts and it's easy in these circumstances to go with the first rumor we hear. but, you know, certainly everyone is doing their jobs to keep everyone safe. i'm praying for the best. >> we all are. >> we will continue to follow this breaking news on msnbc, reports of an active shooting at the high school in troutdale, oregon. that's just outside of portland. for now though that does it for this edition of "news nation." i'm kristen welker. andrea mitchell is up next. [ mom ] hi, we're the pearsons, and we love chex cereal. so we made our own commercial to tell you why.

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imagine loving your numbers. ask your doctor about invokana®. ...i got lots of advice, but i needed information i could trust. unitedhealthcare's innovative, simple program helps moms stay on track with their doctors to get the right care and guidance. (anncr vo) that's health in numbers. unitedhealthcare. good day, i'm andrea mitchell in washington. we're following breaking news in troutdale oregon, there are reports of an active shooter inside a high school. dozens of police officers are on the scene at reynolds high school in troutdale. no more information is being released yet. we'll stay on top of this and bring you developments as we get th them. joining me now is the mayor of

troutdale, mr. douglas. what can you tell us? >> shortly after school started at 8:00. we had reports of an active shooter. there's police officers from multiple cities swarming around the high school. there has been a life flight helicopter called to the scene but we don't know at this point if there's any injuries. the parents are gathering outside the police tape wondering about their students. and it's the second largest high school in oregon so it's a rather large school. >> and exactly where in oregon is troutdale? position it for us, mr. mayor. >> it's the eastern suburb of portland, oregon. >> now, at this stage, you don't know of any injuries. what are you hearing from inside the school? >> well, the best we can do right now is social media from the students that are trapped inside the school.