it was one of our guys and he was firing back at the shooter, and it was one of the best sights i've seen in my life. >> we were getting ready for a game and something like this happens, and you can't believe it. >> reporter: where i'm standing is in the middle of a residential area. this is the local baseball fields, playground. right behind us, you can see a little bit of the brick through the trees. there is a ymca and there is a parking lot there. several of the people who weren't involved in this game who actually saw what happened were there, were coming out of the ymca. in just a couple of minutes, we're going to talk to two eye witnesses who we haven't heard from before. let's get you up to date on what we know about the shooting so far. five people were injured, and of course that includes steve scalise. he is the person who many people say, because he was here, lives were saved. two law enforcement officers also shot two more men.

one of them is being described, as we speak, a congressional staffer. the other a lobbyist for tyson food. the gunman taken into custody aftby law enforcement, has been killed. he frequently poested on facebok and twitter, but what we don't know is his motive. what drove him to commit this crime, and what changes, if any, might come out of yet another senseless act of violence? president trump calling for unity as he addressed the tragedy just a little while ago. >> we can all agree that we are blessed to be americans, that our children deserve to grow up in a nation of safety and peace, and that we are strongest when we are unified and when we work together for the common good. >> reporter: here on capitol

hill, the president's thoughts were echoed by lawmakers who took to the floor just behind us at the capitol. listen. >> my colleagues, there are very strong emotions throughout this house today. we are all horrified by this dreadful attack on our friends and on our colleagues. we are united in our shock, we are united in our anguish. an attack on one of us is an attack on all of us. [ applause ] >> we do have our differences. and so i pray, my prayer is that we can resolve our differences in a way that furthers the preamble to the constitution, takes us closer to e.plurib e.pluribis unum. today, again, it's in the family.

it's an injury in the family for the staff and for our colleague. >> reporter: let's go straight to our reporters who are on the field. nbc's gary hague is here just down the road from where i am in inial alexandria, virginia. >> the first we heard was an active shooter at 7:09. lobbyists, congressmen had been on the field for about an hour. they were wrapping up their practice this morning where somewhere, from someone, opened up fire on them on the field. as you can imagine, there was mass confusion on the field. people didn't know where the shots were coming from, they didn't know who was shooting. we heard accounts of staffers and congressmen just sort of dropping in the field to try to avoid the gunshots. some people fled. so pandemonium on the field.

you mentioned the political implications of this. that's all going to get sorted out later. but the implications in this neighborhood were immediate. some people were mowing their lawns. they were getting ready f for work. some were leaving the ymca and heard sounds you just don't hear in neighborhoods like this one. >> we heard pop, pop, pop, pop, because literally bullets came through the windows of the actual building we were in. some man came running downstairs yelling, there is an active shooter in the parking localit, down, get down to safety. we all went to the locker room and tried to be safe, at least, probably 20, 25 minutes. then somebody ventured out to see what was going on and we came outside and saw cars out there. it was unbelievable. i saw a helicopter coming through and we saw the bullet holes spread out through the front window. it came through more windows in

the actual building. if someone had been on the elliptical, they probably would have been shot in the face. >> once we knew the situation was relatively calm and secured, we went upstairs and saw glass all over the lobby area where you walk into the actual facility, and, you know, two bullet holes, one stuck in between two panels of glass with the bullet actually in between the glass panels and then one that went between both glass panels and actually through the lobby area into the pool area and punctured both of those panels, too. it actually, like, went through the actual facility. just pretty crazy. >> so chris, a war zone scene here in this normally quiet, suburban, virginia neighborhood. other witnesses describe the gunman as taking cover behind the bleachers, getting in a shootout with the alexandria police department and those policemen taking cover behind the suv.

we've seen a huge law enforcement and first responder presence got here very quickly and probably kept this from being a much worse situation than it might have been. but five people were transported to the hospital, and chris, last we've heard, at least one of those people still in critical condition at george washington university hospital. >> reporter: yeah, and as you described the scene, you realize it's very active around here. it wasn't just on the ball field, it's people doing what they do every morning, whether it's working out at the ymca, and as i was drooiflg iving in, saw in this heat, mowing their lawn. so many people live there, and it really struck me you have a member of congress, joe barton from texas, and he's there with his 10-year-old son, right? >> reporter: yeah, that's right, we heard from joe barton this afternoon. we saw pictures of he and his son in baseball clothes back at the capitol.

this is a place where these members have been coming here pretty much every morning for the last two months getting ready for this congressional baseball game that's scheduled to go on tomorrow. this is one of the more beloved traditions in d.c., a bipartisan effort, both teams practice kind of separately, they come together for this big night at nationals park. so if you're a member of congress, what a treat to be able to bring your son to come to batting practice with these other members of congress who are your colleagues. and certainly the dark sort of moment this has turned into for that young man. >> garrett, thank you very much. from what we heard from the briefing earlier today from officials, the response was very quick from police, from medics. but even in the couple minutes it took people to get to this field, you had mo brooks and you had jeff flake going out to tend to scalise, to get him something to drink, to put pressure on his wound until the medics could get here. in the meantime, hans nichols is

at the hospital where steve scalise was taken. what information do you have for us, hans? >> reporter: we have nothing new on steve scalise, but i do have an update on matt mika. according to a source close to him, he took two shots to the chest, including a bullet to the lung. his condition is stable but serious. he is still on a breathing support system, a breathing support machine. doctors aren't quite certain whether or not they can go ahead and undo that, but they do say they have some confidence that this is going to be a lengthy process. again, this is the update on matt mika. he was the lobbyist from tyson food who was hit in the chest. we also have the facebook statement from another congressional staffer. he is saying basically giving the facts of what happened, saying he's okay, that he was shot this morning, but that he is fine. now, we've seen some activity here behind me. this is a main entry here to the e.r. entry for the medevac hospital here, med star hospital

here in washington, d.c. a lot of probation officers milling about. we don't have any update on steve scalise. we do see a couple capitol police cars and potentially his suv that is still here. he's inside but has told friends he's in good condition. chris? >> i know if you get an update on steve scalise, you'll bring it to us. let's go back to where hallie is. hallie? >> reporter: as we talk more about the suspected shooter in this case, i want to bring in now from the washington bureau pete williams with what he has learned. pete, what do you have? >> chris was talking about across that field from her is a ymca. that's important because people say they saw him, saw james hodgkinson at that ymca in the past couple weeks. the former mayor of alexandria,

virginia said she actually talked to him and knows he has been in this area for at least five weeks. his neighbors in illinois said he left his house, he had been there recently, and came to washington. but we still don't know why he came to washington. his friends and neighbors have described him as someone who was distraught by the election of president trump. he was a prolific writer of letters to the local papers. didn't like the republican party, didn't like republican tax policy. but whether that was the motive for the shooting, whether it was some mental health issue or something else, we don't know. i suppose it is stating the obvious now, but it was always a concern after something like this, no sign that this was in any way inspired by a terrorist organization. certainly no sign of a connection to a foreign terror group like isis. so now the question is why did he come here? did he come here with the intention to carry out some act of violence?

why did he come here? was it part of his political protest? was he drawn here for some other reason? neighbors say they thought -- family members say they thought he was about to come home after being here, and then suddenly this shooting. he had an assault rifle, authorities say. witnesses have been consistent in describing it that way. we know he had it since at least march when authorities went to his house in illinois after neighbors complained they heard gunshots. the sheriff's office says he was firing the assault rifle into the woods, and they told him he couldn't do that in a residential area, and he said, all right, that he would go to a shooting range. so he apparently had this assault rifle. that, by the way, is a weapon carried by a law enforcement official. but he apparently had this assault rifle that he used today for at least two and a half months. and authorities say when they went to his house in late march that he had a valid permit, which is required in illinois to have a firearm. authorities are now tracing exactly when that firearm was

purchased. he had that rifle, that assault style rifle and also a handgun, but witnesses say all the shots that he fired today were from that assault rifle. bernie sanders, the senator and former presidential candidate, said he apparently was a volunteer for the sanders campaign. other people who worked on the campaign have said that they knew of him but that nobody ever heard him express violent tendencies. he did have an arrest when police came to his house over a decade ago after a girlfriend reported that he had assaulted her, but no charges -- there was never any prosecution of it because the girlfriend decided not to pursue it. >> reporter: and pete, stand by here. we should note on the floor of the senate within the last couple of hours coming out and condemning this act of violence in the strongest possible terms. one of our affiliate stations also got an interview as someone who identified himself as a friend of the suspected shooter. his name is dale.

he said the shooter goes by the name tom or tommy. let's listen to what he had to say. >> at all the parties, he was the jokester of the party. he was also happy-go-lucky. it just took me by surprise when i saw it on the news today that he did what he did. >> reporter: how did you know him? >> i grew up with him. i've known him pretty well all of my life. >> reporter: how did you find out about today's news? >> i turned the tv on. and i just saw the james t. hodgkinson, and it rang a bell, but i never knew him by that. he was always called thomas or tommy. >> reporter: tommy? >> yeah. and -- >> reporter: when was the last time you saw him, sir? >> it's been at least two years ago. he came in and inspected my son's house.

he wasn't evil. i guess he was tired of some of the politics going on, but i don't know his politics, i don't know what he thought about different things, i just know that to me he was a nice guy. >> reporter: and that, again, was a friend of the suspected shooter. we are here just outside the capitol, and as though to underscore the point that we have been talking about, the idea that this shooting this morning happened in a public place with members of congress who, if not for steve scalise, would not have had security detail. we are also in a public place. it is business as usual. you might be able to hear a heckler with the megaphone who has shown up on the grounds here, but that's what happens when you're in a public setting, chris, and one of the discussions we've been having with members of congress in particular is about the level of security. we know, chris, that was brought up earlier today in an all hands, all house meeting, the idea that some members felt they were receiving more death threats, that this political rhetoric had become almost untenable. chris, that's the story line we're continuing to follow this

afternoon. >> reporter: thank you so much, hallie. i'm back at the baseball field with laura russell and victor thomas. you're at the y, you're working out, you were leaving. what happened? >> as laura and i came out of the gym as we normally do, we was at my car. when we get through working, i go to my car because i like to change into my flip-flops to be more comfortable. we were talking and we heard a bang. we were like, was that a firecracker? maybe it was a starter pistol. it didn't make sense. five or ten seconds later, we heard boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. that's when we got behind my car and just hovered behind my car. i peeked over, because i wondered where it was coming from, and i saw a guy walking back and forth behind the third

base dugout. it looked like he was shooting, so i lookedov over and he was. i could see the smoke from his rifle. i could see the smoke and him hollering, get out of here, get out of here! he would stop, reload, walk to the other side of the dug dgs o -- dugout. i heard a moment of silence because i was behind my car and i didn't think that was enough cover for me, and there was a ymca bus that was better than my car, so i ran over there. i felt a little bit safe, and at one point laura, we got distracted. i know she called my name. we both ran in different directions. i just remember when i was hovering behind the -- thank you, jesus -- i was just hovering behind the bus, and i could just hear the whizzing of the bullets. it was one of the scariest things ever. i was just praying, you know, and hoping that god would keep me and keep those that might be

involved in it. at some point there became silence. again, i don't know if he was reloading. there was some interaction between him and the off-duty police officers or what have you. i just took off and ran down the street, because through the trail, there is -- there is a string of houses. so i ran and i ran to like the second house, and this was a house that had, like, brick. it was made of brick. i laid on the ground and i could hear the bullets again. you could hear the whiz of the bullets. i laid on the ground by the brick house until i heard the police coming. i was like, when are they going to get here? they probably got there pretty quickly, but in my mindset, it seemed like it took forever. i just remember laying on the ground until they came. once i realized maybe it was safe to come out, that's when i got off the ground, went back because my car is still parked in the ymca in the parking lot, i went to my car to retrieve my phone so i could call my family

members and others who might be concerned for me. >> you were watching the shooter shoot. it must have been so surreal. i'm not sure if in realtime you can even process this, but can you describe how he seemed? did he seem deliberate, did he seem determined, did he seem agitated? >> he seemed very agitated, he seemed very upset. i remember him distinctly saying, get out of here, get out of here. he would just come to one side of the dugout and shoot, go to the other side and shoot again. he was pacing back and forth. he wasn't just standing on one area, he was going from one end of the other just shooting. >> laura, you did not see the shooting, as i understand, but later you saw a picture of the shooter. tell me about that. >> yeah, i left -- it was probably about the third gunshot, once we decided that it was definitely gunfire because i had seen somebody drop in the ball field and just went down. so i said their reaction, or

maybe they were hit, i don't know. but that told me we were right about it being gunfire. so i just said to him, i'm leaving, and i ran. and by the time i got to my place, which was like a block and a half away, it was just like 30 gunshots at that point, and so to go back to your question about seeing a picture of the shooter, yeah, the person -- it shocked me because it was someone that i recognized from the ymca. >> reporter: you had seen him there working out? >> no. that's what's weird. he would always be there with his laptop and he was always there early in the morning. we always go 5:30, 6:30 in that time frame, and he was always there talking to the front desk and on his computer. it just kind of was odd, but maybe that's what he looks forward -- that's his routine, goes in there and gets on his computer, but i never saw him

working out. i do remember making a note, you know. >> reporter: did you ever say hello, did he acknowledge people coming in. >> yeah, he was friendly. i didn't know his name. i'm friendly, too, so typically people you see at the same time every morning at the y, you do kind of know them, but he was not on the gym floor so i really didn't get to know him, just hi, bye, and he would talk a lot with the front desk -- the person at the front desk that's there every day. but never on the gym floor. >> reporter: can you even remember what was going through your mind as you're hearing these shots and you're running? >> i had no idea how many people were shooting. i had no idea where it was coming from. i did look left. i mean, i guess my body knew my ears heard and that's why i turned left. but, you know, just the way that things were echoing, i didn't know if it was coming -- what direction it was really coming from. but as soon as we knew it was

gunfire, i just had to run. i had to get out of there. and then i guess that the detail was returning fire, because when i was running, i did not know that, but i thought that he was chasing me because the gunfire was, like, coming in the direction where i was running, that cut behind there. and i was just thinking, i've got to get home. then i remember i'm hearing the gunfire, i need to check if he's behind me, and he wasn't, like thank god, and i didn't want to look again until i hit my door. so yeah -- it's still going, so you're thinking, is this going to end? how many people? are they chasing us? what do they want? is this just to shoot people to shoot people? >> reporter: then to find out it's someone you saw every day when you went to work out at the y. we're glad you're okay. it's been a very traumatic experience for you. take care of yourselves and thank you very much for sharing your story. we will have much more live

again. this is the baseball field where those moments of terror unfolded this morning. i'll be back with my colleague hallie jackson on capitol hill. as we head for break, the prayer from the chaplain in the wake of the shooting. >> may we refuse to boast about tomorrow for we know not what a day may bring. lord, surround our lawmakers with the shields of your protection and favor. fill them with your spirit, causing them to walk in your statutes and keep your judgments. ♪

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we are back now following the breaking news that has started and continued this afternoon about the shooting in alexandria, virginia. we are here on capitol hill as we talk about the status of the victims. as you heard my colleague chris

jansing co-anchoring this show, and we are also getting word from president trump and bernie sanders. senator sanders in particular had a striking moment on the floor today. walk us through it. >> reporter: a difficult day for some, including senator sanders, partly because of the political background we are starting to learn about this shooter who is, of course, now deceased. the shooter was at one point a volunteer for bernie sanders' campaign. it prompted the senator to go out on the senate floor and strongly condemn what happened today. take a look. >> i have just been informed that the alleged shooter at the republican baseball practice this morning is someone who apparently volunteered on my presidential campaign. i am sickened by this despicable

act, and let me be as clear as i can be. violence of any kind is unacceptable in our society, and i condemn this action in the strongest possible terms. >> reporter: now, hallie, there has been some suggestion of partisanship in the wake of what happened this morning. some said the shooter went to shoot as many republicans as possible, but by and large, this has been bipartisan condemnation of what happened and bipartisan unity in the community itself sort of coming together. you saw nancy pelosi and house speaker paul ryan both on the house floor essentially echoing each other, paul ryan saying an attack on one of us is an attack on all of us, and pelosi saying i identify perhaps for the first time in my career with the speaker's remarks. now, one discussion that i think we're going to continue to have and members of congress are

going to continue to have is around personal safety and security. how are they protected? as we know, we've talked at some length today about the fact that steve scalise had a detail, security detail of capitol police officers with him, and they likely saved many lives today. if he hadn't been there, there likely wouldn't have been any protection for members of congress. they, of course, deal with -- some of them get death threats, for example, and they go about their day-to-day lives without any additional security protection. that's the conversation we're hearing start to emerge here on capitol hill. hallie? >> kasie hunt joining us from inside langford to talk about everything that's unfolded here today. senator, thank you for being with us and i have to get your overall reaction to what you've seen over the last eight hours or so. >> painful. it's what everybody else has experienced as well. first the shock of it, and also the unfolding of it.

is it political motivation, where is this coming from, and we are so divided as a nation with people taking up their anger in a way that no one would want them to take their anger out. >> reporter: do you believe this is politically motivated? police are saying it's too early to say at this point. >> it is too early to say. the unpacking of it seems to lead that direction, but it's too far to say motivation. >> particularly among your colleagues in congress, they're talking about safety and security. given that this happened at a location, a public baseball field in the middle of suburb suburbanmesuburban alexandria in virginia, if steve scalise hadn't been there, there would not have been capitol police, there wouldn't have been detail there. >> we travel like everybody else and there is this perception

there is large security presence around us all the time. that's only in the capitol. it's always been that way. it's a little different for leadership in the house and senate. they have security presence with them. steve scalise has a presence in the house and had additional security, but for most members, they don't have that. we all face death threats. that was the conversation all this morning when i met with multiple members, the conversation over the last several months how there's been a rapid succession of death threats coming at members and what that means to them and their family and the situation we all serve under. >> what does it mean to you? have you seen that personally, senator? >> i won't talk about things specifically with me but it is always an experience we all encounter. this is one of those many moments where we talk about how do we bring the tone or the rhetoric down? we should be able to strongly disagree but to be able to respect each other as americans and say we don't have to disagree in a way that leads us toward violence or death threats or threats against people's families or their homes. all of these things are occurring now that are just not

only distasteful but now we actually see where this leads to. >> will you change anything going forward, senator? when you head back home, will you consider moving your office, for example, to a place that has more security? would you be more cognizant when you're with your family or staffers out in public events? how does this change your day to day life going forward? >> i can't speak on that. i actually chair the events and we talked about what will we do. we'll continue to move forward. go back to six and a half years ago with gabby giffords when she was shot at a community conversation. this same action occurred. there were significant changes during that time and many offices, including mine, made pretty dramatic shifts with how we handle security at that time. we're going to re-evaluate this again. at the end of the day, we're an american just like everybody else. >> and as someone who is not at

the capitol every day, i don't see you every day, doesn't realize you don't have security guards around you. let me react to something senator collins said earlier. he said, on a rare occasion i would have my gun in my glove box or something, but it's going to be in my pocket from this day forward. what's your reaction or response to that? >> it is the grand challenge all of us face. all of us have is to determine how we'll handle security, if we conceal carry, if we're in states that allow it, working with local law enforcement, each member has to be able to determine how they'll handle security on their own and how they'll manage it not only for them, their family but their staff. as you remember with the gabby gifford shooting it's the staff and members also around us. >> we'll see you at the game tomorrow at nats park? >> i will not be at the game. it's not because of this, but i am not scheduled to be there. i've been to them before but this is one i'll miss. >> thank you for that

perspective and for joining us on this program. i appreciate it and hope to see you soon. >> okay, thanks. >> i'm joined with congressman brendan boyle with us just outside the capitol from where we spoke to senator langford. i know you weren't able to listen in to that conversation with the senator but we talked about security and vulnerability. he mentioned he's on the appropriations team looking at perhaps increasing security. that has been possibly a topic of discussion with folks you've been talking to. >> that's right. so when we had our all-member briefing this morning, two different members, one democrat and one republican, brought this up -- >> that being specifically detail and security for each member of congress? >> not necessarily detail for each member of congress but reexamining what we can do to increase security when we're back in our districts, when we have absolutely no security, as you know, whatsoever, but most people don't know that. when i'm back in my district, most people are surprised when i'm out and about and there's no security whatsoever.

i think that will be reexamined, but even here, i find myself in my own mind divided, because on the one hand i want to make sure i'm secure, obviously, and my family wants to make sure i'm secure, but i would never want to lose the accessibility that i have with my constituents and the people that i represent. i like to be able to just pick up and go wherever i want and interact with people. so how in a representative democracy we balance that is going to be the key as we move forward. >> congressman, i'm getting word on my phone here from the hospital where steve scalise is at, the majority whip, says he was critically injured and remains in creditical condition. the other patient is in good condition, and this is according to the hospital where congressman whip scalise is now in critical condition. you hear something like that, congressman -- >> we're getting this live on the air and i'm shocked, because i learned that he was shot in the hip. i think that many of us had the

impression that he was in good spirits and that while it was serious, it was not critical. so now to learn that, in fact, it is critical is truly shocking. and i'm friends with steve, and i'm thinking and praying for him even more so now. >> this is an emotional moment for you, obviously. >> and he's a very positive, upbeat person. that is one thing i say at every town hall that i think doesn't get convey to ed to people back home, that many of us on this side of the aisle are more friendly than people realize. i think many people can hear the vigorous debate we all participate in, but recognize we don't actually hate each other. there are a lot of cross-party friendships. so to hear someone you're friends with and you know is in critical condions stunning and really hits you. >> congressman brendan boyle, thank you so much for joining us here. i know you're sending thoughts and prayers to steve scalise and

his family. to be clear, we don't know further details than what we just shared with you about the medical condition of the majority whip. other than what you're seeing from the hospital there, we have teams deployed across the washington area, here in alexandria and beyond. we'll have more on the shooting inially alexandria an president's response. we'll have more after the break. just 4 doses a year after 2 starter doses. stelara® may lower your ability to fight infections and may increase your risk of infections and cancer. some serious infections require hospitalization. before treatment, get tested for tuberculosis. before starting stelara® tell your doctor if you think you have an infection or have symptoms such as: fever, sweats, chills, muscle aches or cough. always tell your doctor if you have any signs of infection, have had cancer, if you develop any new skin growths or if anyone in your house needs or has recently received a vaccine. alert your doctor of new or worsening problems,

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we are back now live with our continuing kvrj in alexandria. i'm chris lansing. my colleague hallie jackson is on capitol hill and let's get you up to date with what we know right now. house majority steve scalise is out of surgery. we learned from officials he is in critical condition at this hour. more than five hurt when a man opened fire on a baseball field just behind me in alexandria. two police officers, a staffer and a lobbyist were also shot. they have identified the shooter as james t. hodgkinson. friends say he went by the name tommy. he's from illinois. during his remarks on the shooting this afternoon, president trump announced that the suspect died after being taken to the hospital. the fbi is now leading the investigation. we'll have much more live from here in alexandria, but now over to my colleague, hallie jackson,

over on capitol hill. >> chris, thank you, and here on the hill you have seen a lot of reaction from members of congress talking about what happened, talking about their colleague, steve scalise, who as you noted is in critical condition according to the hospital. and talking about what policies and procedures may need to be changed when it comes to our lawmakers. president trump came out earlier today with a statement from the diplomatic room that his staff says will be speaking for itself today. no press briefing, no press gaggle. we also heard from ivanka trump, the trump top adviser and daughter, of course, speaking from a roundtable, echoing what her father said, thoughts and prayers to those injured and hoping this will be a moment of unity for americans. here's what the president had to say. >> congressman scalise is a friend, and a very good friend. he is a patriot and he's a fighter. he will recover from this

assault, and steve, i want you to know that you have the prayers not only of the entire city behind you but of an entire nation and, frankly, the entire world. we may have our differences, but we do well in times like these to remember that everyone who serves in our nation's capitol is here because, above all, they love our country. many lives would have been lost if not for the heroic actions of the two capitol police officers who took down the gunman despite sustaining gunshot wounds. melania and i are grateful for the heroism and praying for the swift recovery of all victims. >> president trump at the white house earlier today. at the white house now, my colleague kristen welker who is joining us.

kristen, the president scrapped those plans. he was supposed to be headed to the department of labor in just a little bit from now to give what has been described as a major policy speech. instead he has spent much of his day on the phone talking with people here on the hill. >> reporter: that's right, and hallie, his entire schedule has been upended. this is the first domestic crisis that president trump has had to deal with. as you point out, he has been working the phones. he reached out to representative steve scalise's wife as well as the house speaker, the house majority leader, vice president mike pence also reached out to lawmakers on capitol hill as well. the president's message, what you just heard, calls for unity. he abandoned any partisan politics, and really, that is what we're hearing on both sides of pennsylvania avenue, hallie, and that is one of the things that makes this moment so striking. you have these leaders really trying to, at least for now,

trying to put any partisan politics aside and help the country focus together on this crisis and tragedy. let me give you a sense of how this unfolded here at the white house. once news was learned about the shooting, the street outside the white house, pennsylvania avenue, was closed to pedestrian traffic as well as lafayette park, which is just across the street from the white house. both remained closed for several hours while top staffers huddled inside, hallie, in meetings trying to decide what the next steps will be. it's hard to attend meetings so early in the morning, but these responded on what the president would do to respond. as you pointed out, the president had a speech scheduled. that has been canceled. he wanted to spend the day focused on his agenda, but that agenda has been changed dramatically. mike pence also canceled a speech he was supposed to give. i can tell you staffers have been glued to their televisions, their phones trying to get the very latest updates as they

continue to monitor this situation. of course, the vice president will continue to get briefed on all the breaking developments throughout the evening. hallie? >> kristen welker there at the white house lawn for us. kristen, thank you. we'll be checking back with you for updates throughout the day. i want to bring in congressman brad sherman. congressman, thank you for joining us. you had been set to come on this program not to talk about this yesterday. obviously events have changed. i want to get your reaction on something we heard earlier. i feel like the rhetoric out there makes us, meaning congressman, potential targets. do you feel that way? >> yes, and we have controversial issues we have to discuss. and we are legitimately divided on public policy and the rhetoric needs to be the rhetoric. but at the closed session today when we got the report from law enforcement officers, so many of my colleagues stood up and told stories about how they're being

harassed or even confronted at their homes, at their churches. and that's not a necessary part of the process. >> but you just said the rhetoric has to be the rhetoric. what tainchanges if there's sti this rhetoric out there? >> it would be good to deal with the rhetoric while there's still controversial issues. there are a lot of people out there who want to express their views to members of congress. come to the town hall and follow the rules at the town hall. send in the letters. send in the e h-mails. but don't accost somebody as they're trying to pick up their kids from school. most colleagues are pretty open. you're not really going to change anybody's vote by demonstrating at their home. >> there's been this call, as you heard kristen welker just report out from president trump, you heard it from house speaker

paul ryan and others, a call for unity. tomorrow night's baseball game might be a moment for that. are you going to go? >> i've never been. i've been in congress for near 20 years. until today it's just been a baseball game my members have been in. now it's a chance for unity. when we come back, we'll go back to chris jansing who will have more on the investigation into this shooting and where the investigation into the suspected shooter heads. this from tom costello. >> i was leaving the alexandria gym. someone said there was a man outside with a gun and i shouldn't go outside. i looked outside and saw the man with a gun. he was crouched behind the po wooden stands and he had an ak-47 in his hands. he was exchanging fire with

police officers who were behind a black suv. >> reporter: how confident are you it was an ak-47? >> i'm fairly confident. >> reporter: can you describe what the man looked like, his build, anything of that nature? >> sure. he was short, somewhat stocky. a caucasian man with while hair and he was wearing a blue polo. >> reporter: did you hear anything of any nature? >> i was inside, too far away to hear. >> reporter: what was happening with the exchange of gunfire? >> the police were behind an suv and the shooter was behind a wooden structure with an ak-47.

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with less pain, i can be more active. ask your doctor about lyrica. we are back live at simpson field. the scene of today's breaking news out of virginia. the shooting here in alexandria all captured on police audio. >> there are people running possibly, victims involved. >> shots fired. he is east of monroe. >> we need medics. we got -- give me your exact

location. >> there's a victim down in a baseball field. >> it was a chaotic moment as you can imagine, and it went on for a while. maybe hundreds of shots fired in the field behind me. this time of day, you might have children here, playing ball. they are maybe on the playground now. it's all blocked off by yellow crime scene tape. we'll follow this live, but this is breaking news this hour out of san francisco, and for the latest on that, where at least four people are dead after a shooting incident at a ups facility where the gunman has reportedly shot himself, his condition is unclear at the moment. gotti schwarz is standing by. what can you tell us? >> the gunman was wearing a ups uniform and killed himself after shooting as many as five people inside of that ups facility. all of this happening just before 9:00 a.m. here on the

west coast in straan francisco. we know at least three people with dead as well as the shooter. several others injured. witnesses have been describing chaos when those shots started to ring out. describing a flood of employees in brown uniforms running for cover. some of them jumping onto city buss and screaming for the drivers to take off to safety. others sheltering in place. now this is a big processing facility. 350 employees work there. ups has issued a statement saying, their thoughts and prayers are with those touched by the incident, and they are helping employees. police do not think this is terrorism related. the shooter was wearing a ups uniform, but they have not confirmed whether he was a current employee. chris, back to you. >> gadi schwarz, thank you for that update. our live team coverage of the shooting here in alexandria, virginia will continue right after this.

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i'm chris jansing in alexandria, virginia with my co-anchor, hallie jackson across the hill, and we are continuing our live news coverage on today's horrific attack on members of congress as they were practicing for a charity baseball game. it started at about 7:09 this morning. five people wounded in what was a chaotic shootout.

steve scalise in this video is seen being carried away on a stretcher. he is out of surgery now, and the hospital says he is in critical condition. authorities are i hahave identi suspect as james t. hodgkinson of illinois. he died of injuries sustained in that shootout in police. we have eyewitness accounts of what played out this morning. >> when you first got to steve scalise, was he talking? was he conscious? >> he was conscious. we tried to keep him talking. obviously, the most important thing, you could tell the gunshot was on the left hip, and so i just put pressure on that. i had a batting glove still on, and tried to keep blood from coming out, and somebody took off their shirt. we used the shirt to put pressure on. >> we tried to help the police spot the guy because they are moving back and forth. both of those