quickly. they might have needed to transport a wounded offer or -- wounded officer or get some equipment there, and that's probably why they went in. >> jim, thank you for that. i'm going to hand the baton over to katy tur. >> yeah, chuck, i just want to update everybody on what the unfolding scene is there at the capitol in case you are just tuning in at the top of this hour. there is breaking news, as you can see, from washington. capitol hill is on lockdown after a car -- you're seeing it right there -- ran into two capitol hill police officers and into a barricade in front of the capitol. both officers are injured, and the suspect is in custody. the suspect has been shot as well after exiting the car and brandishing a knife. this is after the suspect hit

those two police officers as well. first responders are on the scene, as are atf and the national guard as well as a law enforcement helicopter. you can see right here, shot by our friend jake sherman, landed on capitol hill grounds. he says he's never seen anything like this before. joining me now is pete williams, tom winter and jake sherman, who shot that aforementioned video. tom, as chuck said before, we believe you have some new information. please bring it to us. >> reporter: you'll forgive me for a quick second, katy, because i want to make sure we don't put something out there that we haven't confirmed yet, and there is information circling around law enforcement circles that's since been debunked. just to get to something pete and our colleague jonathan dietz has reported as well as myself, three law enforcement officials saying the suspect, after crashing into that barrier in the blue car you're seeing on the left-hand side of the

screen, exited the vehicle with a knife. at that point the person was confronted by police officers. he was shot, the suspect was shot, and the suspect has since been taken to a local hospital. that suspect's condition is unknown at this time. two u.s. capitol police officers have been injured as a result of this incident, one perhaps seriously. that's what we know at this point. as far as information on who the suspect is, where they came from or any possible motive, it's just too soon to say, katy, but we're still trying to nail down that information, and i would suggest bringing in pete as well who may have heard some new facts and new information since he and i last spoke. >> so, pete, anything? >> yes. we're hearing the same thing from law enforcement officials here about the sequence of events, plus one additional element of detail. our understanding is that the car did not stop for the police at the initial fence barricade that you saw earlier, the

temporary fencing. kept going, struck the barricade you see there, those pop-up barricades that are normally in the up position, and they're only brought down if traffic is allowed to go through. the driver of the car then got out of the car and brandished a knife and, we're told, attacked one of the capitol police officers that was on the scene, potentially cutting that officer in the face. we don't know if that was one of the two officers who was struck by the car, or if that's a third capitol police officer involved. but we believe that the only shots that were fired were fired by the capitol police officers at the driver who had a knife. as tom says, we know nothing about anything further about the driver. we don't even know what the license plate -- where that car is registered from, but you can be sure that right now that person is in custody and an intensive investigation is

already underway to figure out that person's identity, trace their movements backwards, how did they come here, where have they been? that work, you can be sure, is just now starting. >> pete, what is the threat level at the capitol right now? it was obviously very high as the fencing was surrounding the capitol, the national guard presence was very high as well. but congress is not in session right now. there aren't as many people there at the moment. after all, it is good friday. what currently is the threat level? >> you know, i don't know what term they use for threat level in terms of the homeland security department. it's in elevated posture right now. but the circumstances that led to all of this happening, this person is really basically attacking a building, because as you say, there aren't many people there. there is a small presence of national guard, but at these

checkpoints, they're manned by the u.s. capitol police. we've seen in some of these pictures that we have from the scene the sort of double entry situation, this temporary fence that was set up in the wake of the january 6th riots at the capitol. that was an initial checkpoint. then the car would have had to go through that checkpoint, and you see in some of the other pictures, the fence opened, the gate's opened and the fence. then the car stopped at the barricade that's been there for several years now, that any car that wanted to get to the plaza on the east front of the capitol, would have to go through that checkpoint as well. it was a double checkpoint that normally is -- >> jake, last time i actually went into the capitol, you could drive on the streets all around

it, you could walk past that barricade without any checkpoint. obviously the barricade stops the cars. is it still the same, or have things remained more locked down since the january 6 insurrection and also since a lot of this security perimeter was pulled back? >> reporter: yeah, so that barricade, there are two sets of barricades, one on the i understand -- independence side and one on the constitution side. they're always up. on the house side, i just went out to get my lunch before this incident happened. there is a fence you have to get checked at, even if you're on foot. then only when you get to the other side of that fence, about another 20 feet or so, 50 feet, is that barricade. it's the same on the senate side. now, those two streets that border the capitol, independence and constitution, are open to traffic. those are big thoroughfares of capitol hill.

they carry lots of traffic most days. they have been opened. there are still hundreds of national guard troops stationed at and around the capitol, but it's been dramatically decreased in the last couple weeks as we've gotten back to more normal up here on capitol hill. i will say, katy, and this was just said, i think, by pete, the building is empty today. the house is out, the senate is out. it's a very slow day on capitol hill, so, you know, the frenzy wasn't -- obviously this is not near as dramatic of an incident as january 6th, but there wasn't as much frenzy. still, they take these barriers seriously, and those barriers only go down when it's a member of the senate or house leadership or just authorized vehicles are the only ones that are allowed to go through there. so i think it's fair to say that capitol police officers, if you see a car approaching that, and they don't stop, you're automatically very alarmed and you're on high alert.

>> jake, what about the helicopter that landed on the capitol grounds? >> reporter: you know, i think that the -- i don't know what to say about that, katy. i think what was said before is right. park police patrols a huge swath of washington, the national mall. you see right back there, just to give you a sense, that's national airport just across the water. a lot going on in this small part of town. i think they were just responding to see how bad the incident was, because i also captured video of them leaving just a couple minutes later. i think they were trying to see what the situation was. they were called in. and it's notable, katy, to dwell for a second on the fact that the response was quick. i saw capitol police, obviously, which is always up here. park police, both the helicopter and a ground patrol car, plus

d.c. police all responded to the incident, seemingly within minutes. so definitely a bit quicker than we've seen in recent months, to say the least. >> and what happens when congress -- i'm sorry -- when the capitol itself, the building itself and those who are still inside, because there are people like you working in there, what happened when you were alerted there was a threat outside? >> reporter: we have pager systems in each office in the capitol. they look like pagers. they sit on chargers in each office and they say, there is a security instance outside, stay inside. >> pete has something. let's go to him real fast. >> reporter: we're told by federal law officials that a man, we know now it was a man, who drove the car has died of his injuries. he was shot by capitol police, was taken to the hospital, but is now dead.

>> wow. that is a big deal. pete williams. given that, i guess how are investigators now going to go and try to figure out a motive? i assume, as we're seeing on the left-hand side of the screen, looking into the car to see what they can find in there, identifying him, going to his home. what else? i think we lost pete. tom winter, are you still with us? >> reporter: hey there, katy. katy, if you can hear me, i can hear you. >> i think someone in the control room, by the way, has opened my key so i can't hear anything on television or in my ear, so if you could just close that, that would be helpful.

but, pete, i believe you're talking. i can hear you way off in the distance. pete, go ahead. >> reporter: yes. this will obviously complicate the investigation some because the best evidence of what went on here would be to talk to the driver. we're told the driver is a man. i don't know anything else about the driver, where the driver is from, how old the driver was, but was shot by somebody else who has now died in the hospital. we've heard there is a name circulating but they're not quite sure that's the right person, so the first task is to figure out who this person is, figure out whether that person had any identity on him, trace the car, check for fingerprints. they'll figure out who this person was pretty quickly, then the question will be retracing these people's steps. how did they get here, why were they here, check with friends

and family. it's going to be a while if this is the situation before they have any real idea of why this happened and what went on here, whether this is a person who came here intending to do this, whether this is a person with mental problems. you know, lots of questions to be answered. >> jake sherman, a moment ago we were talking about what happens when this sort of incident unfolds outside. you get a lot of announcements over the p.a. system and the pager system, as you were saying. a lot of the time they turn out to be nothing. did this time feel different? >> yeah, i think it will always feel different now because of what happened on january 6th. but, you know, on january 6th, this was a full building. as i was saying, katy, the gallery i sit in had a bunch of people in it. now i'm the only reporter up in our house periodical press gallery on the third floor of the capitol which is not rare on

a recess day. and the hallways are empty. just to give a sense here, this is not far from the capitol at all. i mean, this is, you know, a football field or two away where that car is sitting right now. but, you know, there are not people knocking on the doors. so that's a little bit different of a situation, although this is, in its own way, quite scary as well. i'd say, listen, we are blessed by the fact that there are national guard troops up here and they can lock down the perimeter quite easily. everybody responded very quickly this time, which is, you know, probably a result of what happened on january 6. one more point, katy, the house and senate are gearing up to spend another $2 billion on capitol security. nancy pelosi and her leadership team have been preparing a supplemental spending bill to fortify security both in the capitol and for members of congress around the capitol.

there's been talk about a retractible fence around the building, and i think just another incident like this, katy, it's just going to heighten the concern that this building is probably -- and i don't know this, i'm just telling you what i think people will say -- that this building is too exposed and too close to the road and too accessible. obviously this person was stopped, thank god, but we're with in the midst of a debate of the security of the building. >> it's obviously fraught with a lot of competing desires. it's a building where we're governed. it's the seat of our government, and there's access issues, and the public interest in being able to get in there and tour or observe what's happening, so there is a lot of competing, as i said, desires and interests there. lee ann caldwell joins us now. she's in the russell rotunda in the capitol building. that's an office building

overlooking the scene. lee ann, just orient us with your position. >> reporter: hi, katy. so the announcement that everything was being shut -- that we were being locked down went over the loudspeaker at 1:03 p.m. i was about to go on air with our colleague, chuck todd, so i wasn't sure what was happening. then all of a sudden we heard the sirens. where i'm at now, i'm still in the russell rotunda. i'm on the third floor, and look looking out the windows, i'm only about 100 yards, maybe, from the scene. we're inside. we were outside on the beautiful balcony, but we were told to go inside. we now have a camera looking on the scene. there is still a large crowd of law enforcement who have been

gathered for quite some time, at least 15 minutes, right outside the black fencing. as jake said, that black fencing was put up in the aftermath of january 6th. those cement barriers are reinforcing this black fencing. that is relatively new around here, and it was something that was expected to come down at some point. this could perhaps change the conversation. there was already a big conversation happening about what security is going to look like at the capitol. it's a conversation that has actually become very political examine very partisan as time has passed since january 6th. but we could still see this car, and i'm not seeing what you guys are seeing on the screen, but it's the car. it's been there. there's not as much of a crowd

around it now as that law enforcement crowd has moved about 20 feet away where they are having various conversations from my vantage point. you can still see ambulances, i don't know if that's in earshot. you see metropolitan police cars, they're up and down constitution avenue. and we're on the senate side of the capitol, so i had actually just walked through this area ten minutes before this had happened to come over to our camera position. and that is an entrance that lawmakers use to get to and from the capitol through their cars, by foot, a lot of times they walk through that to get to the capitol for their official duties in the capitol. it's something that is usually

very open. it's closed to tourists flight. -- tourists right now. of course, there's not as many people because of covid, but the cherry blossoms are in bloom. there's usually people at the mall that come and tour the capitol at any given time during the day. since january 6th, there's hardly been any people who are able to even access the grounds of the capitol if you are not a lawmaker or a staff or a reporter or support staff or food workers or capitol staff. the scene here has been pretty stagnant for about 20 minutes or so. not much change. i want to point out there is still national guard here left over from january 6th. the numbers have been reduced dramatically from a high of 25,000 national guards.

now there's only a few hundred. maybe a little bit more than a thousand. they haven't been giving us very specific numbers, but from my observation we can tell that it's been dramatically decreased over the past few weeks. so this is definitely going to send, regardless of what the person's motive is, if they're connected with some large movement or a lone wolf, this is definitely going to change the debate and the discussion about security and what it should look like. you know, the security discussion after january 6th was just beginning, and this very likely is going to impact it, katy. >> very likely, indeed. leigh ann, stick by for a second. let's bring in kasie hunt. kasie, i know january 6 looms large over that building,

including with people like yourself. as jake sherman mentioned a moment ago, it's likely to re-energize this conversation about security around the capitol. i assume you've been texting with your sources at the capitol, your lawmakers. what are they telling you in these initial moments? >> reporter: well, katy, it's clear that the tension is very high, and you're seeing that in the reaction from lawmakers. we got a tweet from the minority leader mitch mcconnell thanking first responders, saying he's watching what's happening. and this posture is clearly much different in the wake of january 6th. before that, there actually had been at least one other significant incident at the capitol that involved a car and a suspect who was involved in a car chase and who ultimately died in the wake of that car

chase. it was completely unrelated to the capitol building itself. so, you know, you have to keep in mind that over many years covering the building, i've covered incidents outside it like this one, i've covered plenty of false alarms, but obviously because what happened on january 6th was so much more dramatic and awful than so many people anticipated that it could be, there is a sense of being very, very nervous and scared, and i think that's what i'm picking up from my sources. now, the good news is that none of them really are in the building. there are perhaps a handful in there, because congress is out of session for these weeks because of the easter break. so some of the points have been made before, this is an area where oftentimes lawmakers are crossing the street in the crosswalk as they walk out of their offices, especially on a nice, sunny day like today. were congress to be in session, yeah, this is potentially a

regular threat. but, again, in the past, the tendency and the preference has been for openness, for allowing people to come in, see the seat of their government, have access to the buildings, access to the capitol, feel like you can walk right up to it. that has been an important part of the value system. so that's a big part of the debate we're seeing. that's why the security perimeter was pulled back to where it was, because just a few weeks ago, where the camera angles that we're looking at now where that car is, it could not have driven there if those perimeters were still up. there was no traffic along constitution avenue, and for people who don't live here in the nation's capitol to have been here often to have pictures, constitution avenue is the wide boulevard that runs along the northern edge of the washington mall, and if you were to keep going down the hill, you would hit the washington monument, you would eventually get to the lincoln memorial. it's one of these large ceremony

boulevards that are a hallmark of the city itself. so to have it closed was very dramatic for all of those people who live here and for anyone who would be coming here to experience the city, and as a tourist, obviously much more limited by covid-19, but still a very iconic place in washington and to have it shut was a very serious thing. so opening this up returned it basically to a security posture that was closer to before january 6th. there is no situation under which that barricade would have ever been down. that barricade has always been up all the time. there's actually two sets of barricades. so even if that person had somehow breached that first barricade, there would have been a second barricade. you know, it's half a football field or so to the entrance of the capitol on that side. just to people understand that this incident, and it's important to make sure we're focused on the fact that we don't know the motive for this attack at this point.

and in situations pre-insurrection, we always, i think, have been more likely than not to assume that it was perhaps entirely unrelated to politics. now, obviously, the situation has changed dramatically, and i think that is the question people are going to be asking. is the fact the insurrection happened, is the fact that it seems as though the capitol is a target, people view it now as a target, that they need to change something about the security posture and not allow cars, for example, to get this close to the building. remember, cars -- stopping cars has been a bigger focus for decades because of their capacity to carry explosives. so there's a lot of infrastructure already to prevent a car from driving into the capitol. there was less protection against a mob of people, which is, of course, what we saw january 6th, katy. >> yeah, kasie, and when she talks about a barricade, she's talking about that metal grate that comes up from the ground

and is only lowered when someone is cleared to go through. you could walk up past those barricades in normal times before the fencing, anybody could just walk in. there was a lot of access. you could approach any congressman that happened to be walking in that building. you could walk up to anybody before january 6th. pete williams, i'm going to bring you back in with a note that capitol police will hold a briefing on all of this at 2:45 and with the headline you just broke a moment ago, that the man who was driving this car and was shot by capitol police has now died. >> reporter: yes, and the question now is, what's the condition of the capitol police officers who were injured when the man -- we're told it was a white male that was driving the car -- when the man got out of the car and attacked the police officers with a knife? it could well be that the injuries to the officers are

more serious from stab wounds than from being struck by the car, but that's an element of detail we're trying to run down. >> so when we hear from capitol police at 2:45 p.m., pete, in your experience, what should we expect? >> reporter: let me just answer that very quickly because i need tie some calls here. we'll hope they can give us as much detail as possible about all the questions we have, exactly what happened. i doubt they'll give us the name of the driver, although we've been told by several law officials that the driver is dead. but there will be a lot of investigative work that has to be done. we don't know much about that driver. we've heard a few things but we're waiting to confirm them. exactly what happened, what's the extent of the injuries, and we'll learn a lot more, i would hope, about what happened to the capitol police who were involved in this. >> motive again, not something

we should expect to hear about unless the man happened to be holding a sign saying what he was intending to do. it always takes a little longer to figure that sort of thing out. pete, thank you, go take those calls. let's bring in msnbc correspondent kelly o'donnell. what is the white house saying right now? >> reporter: we're expecting to have a statement from the white house shortly. the president is currently at camp david. and during the daily press briefing with jen psaki, the press secretary, toward the end of that, there was a movement at the door that typically doesn't happen, and one of her colleagues said, this should be the last question. i had been looking at my phone and seen some of these initial reports. so knowing she had not yet been briefed, i raised the issue of a security incident at the capitol. tell us in this configuration of the president not being on cam campus at the white house, what might be happening.

and the president with his senior leaders at camp david and he could get briefed at my time. we have no reason to believe he won't spend the full holiday weekend with his family there at camp david, which is a full military installation not far from the white house. here at the white house, the vice president is no longer living steps away at blair house, so one of the perimeters around this facility has come down in the last 24 hours. it was an additional lane of sort of bike rack type fencing that would keep passers-by even farther away on 17th street and h street and so forth. a little less presence of that security here. i have been asked and been told that there is no change in the security posture here at the white house. now that we know a lot more about what happened at the capitol, it is a more isolated incident. as soon as we hear that there is a statement from the white house, we will bring that to

you. typically in these situations, you would expect the president to offer his thanks and gratitude and concern for the u.s. capitol police who, as you've been discussing, have been through a hellish few months and have been tested in so many ways, and today another example of that. we also saw separately from mitch mcconnell, who is on recess in kentucky, the republican leader expressing his gratitude to those officers for their service and acknowledging that we don't yet know all the facts. i was at the capitol in 2013 when there was a similar incident in a vehicle barricade kind of situation that kasie was talking about, and these things have at times become a part of life near these target locations and high security areas. obviously there is a lot more to learn about what happened today. the president, of course, had been talking about other matters, his jobs numbers, other things. that's the nature of this job, that at any moment, events can

change that will shape, even overshadow, the planned agenda of the white house. as soon as we learn more from here, we will share that with you, but it would seem that the white house security remains the same, which is still elevated fencing around the grounds here but not as much as there was even yesterday as the vice president is now living at the naval observatory. katy? >> important note to make. kelly o'donnell, thank you very much. i know again we don't know motive, but obviously january 6th still weighs heavily on everyone's mind and it's changed the perception of those alerts you get about a security breach or a shelter in place that you do get often in washington, d.c. at the capitol or the white house. the feeling around them has certainly changed since january 6th. hundreds of people have been indicted as part of the insurrection on january 6th. there was actually just, i think it was yesterday, a superseding indictment of oath keeper

affiliates for conspiracy leading to the u.s. capitol attack. so the investigation into what happened then and the dlet that still remains, obviously, still very much ongoing at the department of justice. let's bring in democratic congressman dan kilde and congressman ro khaana who is stuck in his car. ro khaana, congressman khaana, tell us what you're seeing. >> i want to thank the capitol police with the risks they take every day. i was going to get chinese food, and when i came back in, i got frantic calls from my staff saying there has been another incident at the capitol, and i had no idea. then i had an officer say go into your car and just stay there.

they are under extraordinary stress. it's really sad to see what's happening to the capitol, and my heart just goes out to them and my appreciation. >> how does it feel working inside the capitol right now, congressman khaana? do you feel safe? >> i mean, i do, as safe as one can feel in these circumstances. i feel safe largely because i know we have a lot of capitol police and others who are trying their best, but i think it's something broader than my safety. the question we have to ask is what is happening in our country where we have people coming in, trying to use violence and knives and arms into the heart of american democracy, the monument of american democracy? our country was founded to prevent violence to say we solved dputs with debate and something is just wrong with our nation. and that's what i'm saddened by.

>> congressman kildee, we spoke a lot in the moments around the january 6th attack but in the aftermath as well. a lot of the conversation, though, has moved away from who was responsible for what happened there. do you expect that an incident like this, and again, we don't know motive, is going to dredge up a lot of those feelings and dredge up this conversation? >> well, it certainly dredges up a lot of those feelings for me. those same capitol police officers that put themselves in harm's way today quite literally saved my life on january 6th, so it brings that back. i'm glad to be with you, i'm glad to see my friend ro khaana is safe, but as he said, something is going on in this country that isn't right. that capitol building is supposed to be the place where we bring every possible view under that dome to reconcile our

differences peacefully. we certainly have every respective representative. apparently for some people that's not good enough. having a voice is not good enough. they want to take matters into their own hands. and as happened on january 6th, try to have their way by disrupting the democratic process. i was looking forward to having those barriers come down. i was so happy when the external barrier was coming down, and now i wonder if this will just be a season of political violence or if this becomes our new reality. i certainly hope not, but it feels like it might be. >> let me ask you, should those barriers come down? do you want to see that fencing come down so people have access to the capitol grounds again, or do you want to see more fencing go up and more barriers go back to where they were along the perimeter of the capitol blocking off traffic from the streets surrounding the capitol? >> i mean, obviously, in the moment we're in, we've got to

make sure we have security, not just for members of congress, but there are thousands of people who work on our staffs every day. as you know, people reporting on the activities of congress who are at risk. so we have to make sure that in this moment we're safe. but absolutely i want to see those barriers come down. i want to see busloads of eighth graders showing up on the steps of the capitol again. that's who we are. but a fence doesn't change minds. we've got to figure out a way in this country, and it's going to take all of our voices, to not excuse or rationalize this behavior as somebody pathetically has done, as ron johnson has done, we must deal with this at the root cause. there is acceptance in some corners of this dangerous and ir

irrational behavior, and that hasn't stopped. zds again, i know we're all talking about emotions and security and just a general sense of what life is like now surrounding the capitol because of what happened on january 6th, yet we don't know motive for what happened here, so we need to underscore that. we hope more will come out at this 2:45 p.m. briefing. we don't suspect there will be more on the motive because that investigation takes time, unless somebody is wearing a sign on their chest that says, here's why i'm doing something, you're rarely going to get this in the moment. congressman khaana, i do want to pose that same question to you about security, though? how do you feel about the fencing and what is currently -- the precautions that are currently being taken around the capitol? >> well, you know, i had felt, like my friend congressman kildee, relief when those barriers originally came down in

the spring. it seemed like we were finally getting back to what the capitol should be, a place where anyone can visit. but this incident, i think, shows that there is still a threat, and security and safety has to come first and not just for members of congress, but for all the people who work here and visit here. i think there has to be some thinking about maybe there is a design around the perimeter where visitor entrances are moved but you don't have barbed wire, but there has to be a lot of thought about what it's going to take to keep us safe and yet have it be accessible. i do think one thing i hope every member of congress today, every senator can unequivocally condemn the violence, tell people that there is absolutely no justification. if we could just get every member of congress or senator to say something that basic today, maybe we can start to heal this country. >> congressman khanna and

congressman kildee, thank you for joining us. i want to do a little bit of a reset, for anyone who might be tuning in right now, let me update you. a blue car, as you can see right there, rammed into the barricade leading into the capitol, and he rammed two police officers. the man got out of the car, wielded a knife and was shot by capitol police. pete williams says that man has now died. so the suspect, according to these law enforcement sources, has now died. we do not know the condition of the two police officers. they were taken away to a local hospital. we're hoping to get more on that at 2:45 when capitol police hold a news conference about this incident at the capitol. also, if you are wondering,

congress is not in session right now for the easter holidays. it's good friday today. so the capitol is not quite as crowded as it normally is. there is still obviously many people at work at the capitol, but congress is not in session. there are some lawmakers who are there, including ro khanna, congressman khanna who we just had the air a moment ago. let's go to police chief carmen best. chief best, thank you for being here. what are we going to hear at this 2:45 briefing? >> thank you for having me. let me start out by saying my thoughts and prayers along with so many other people across the nation are with law enforcement, with the two officers that have been injured today at this tragic incident. i can't imagine there is anything more difficult for the u.s. capitol police chief or whoever is giving that briefing coming on the heels of the insurrection from january 6th to have this incident occur today

where two officers are injured. certainly they won't be able to talk about the motive at this point, but there is a lot of investigation going on from both local and federal law enforcement officials to determine who the man was, where he's from, any information they can figure out about him at this point. additionally, the vehicle which remains at the scene, they'll be combing through that to see if there is any evidence, any letter or note left, or also initially to make sure the vehicle itself isn't booby-trapped and a danger to others. at this briefing, i'm sure the chief, or whoever gives the briefing, will let us know the status of the officers, the communication between local and federal officials. the level of security, clearly there's been a lot of discussion about -- intense discussion about security in and around the capitol, mutual aid and how that is working out.

it sounds like today many people got there very quickly as opposed to the delayed response we saw on january 6th. a lot of that will be discussed as they ferret out the details and provide at least that initial briefing as to what they know and continue to gather evidence and information for later briefings about the situation. clearly they'll be reaching out to some of their officers as well. >> chief best, as a former police chief, what do you think about the security surrounding the capitol, the security of lawmakers and those inside that building? >> well, i think it's paramount. while accessibility is clearly important, it's the u.s. capitol. we want young people and people, visitors around the world, to learn about democracy. first and foremost, life safety is the key issue that we have to

take care of as law enforcement, and under these certain circumstances that we've seen in the last couple of months with potential breaches and attempts to injure both officers and potentially people inside, those security measures are going to need to remain in place, of course, but it will likely be intensified to a certain degree because of these most recent attacks. >> chief best, hold on for us for a second as we await this briefing. it might be starting any moment now, but let's briefly get in tom winter, if we can, who is one of our investigations correspondents. tom -- you know what, somebody is at the microphone. let's dip in to see who this is and what they're saying. >> good afternoon, everyone. my name is acting chief yolanda

pitman for the united states capitol police. it is with a heavy heart that i come here this afternoon to shed some light on the incident that occurred at the united states capitol. at approximately 1:02 hours this afternoon, a suspect entered what we refer to as the north barricade of the capitol. the suspect rammed his car into two of our officers and then hit the north barricade barrier. at such time, the suspect exited the vehicle with a knife in hand. our officers then engaged that suspect. he did not respond to verbal commands. the suspect did start lunging toward u.s. capitol police officers, at which time u.s.

capitol police officers fired upon the suspect. at this time, the suspect has been pronounced deceased. two u.s. capitol police officers were transported to two different hospitals, and it is with a very, very heavy heart that i announce one of our officers has succumbed to his injuries. we are not able to release any information, names or age, date of birth or anything of that nature at this time because we still have to notify the next of kin. i just ask that the public continue to keep u.s. capitol police and their families in your prayers. this has been an extremely difficult time for u.s. capitol police after the events of january 6th, and now the events

that have occurred here today. so i ask that you keep our u.s. capitol police family in your thoughts and prayers. at this time i'm going to turn it over to the metropolitan police chief, mr. robert conte, for the metropolitan police chief's portion of this investigation. thank you. >> good afternoon, i'm robert conte, acting chief of the metropolitan police department. our members responded to the u.s. capitol today just after 1:00 p.m. to investigate an officer-involved shooting. at this time, the metropolitan police department's homicide division as well as our internal affairs division will now take over the investigation with respect to the shooting death that occurred, as well as the officer's death. there is not a lot of information that we can release to the public at this time, but

we certainly will be working very closely with our partners at the park police, at the u.s. capitol police. at this time i just want to extend my deepest condolences on behalf of the entire metropolitan police department to all of the officers at the united states capitol police for their service, and unfortunately for the loss of life that have occurred here today at the united states capitol police. >> is there an ongoing threat here on capitol hill or in the neighborhood? what can you tell residents that live here as well as folks who work in the area? >> at this time it does not appear to be an ongoing threat. obviously we're in the very early stages of our investigation. we need to obviously understand the motivation behind this senseless act. so the metropolitan police department will certainly be doing that. [ any idea if he was known to capitol hill police or the pd beforehand? has he been spotted before or

anything like that? >> it does not appear he is known to the capitol police or the metropolitan police department at this time. >> reporter: does it appear to be terrorism related? >> it does not appear to be terrorism related, but we'll continue to investigate to see if there is any type of nexus along those lines. >> reporter: what does your mission look like for the next couple days? >> i'll refer to that the united states capitol police. >> reporter: did the suspect yell anything at any time? >> i would say at this time the investigation is still in its preliminary stages, so we don't have that information, and the capitol police as far as its security posture remains in a steady state at this time. we are very thankful for our national guard partnership. we do have national guard on the campus, but the security posture at this time remains the same. >> reporter: you're still looking for the motive, i understand that. any question whether there was a

target of a specific member they were trying to go after? >> we do not have the suspect on file with u.s. capitol police, so there is no indication at this time that there is any nexus to any member of congress. >> reporter: was there alcohol involved or anything found in the car? >> we cannot confirm that, but the investigation is ongoing. the suspect did exit the vehicle with a knife in hand, and at that time he started to run aggressively toward u.s. capitol police officers. [ inaudible question ] >> that part of the investigation is still ongoing, the scene is still being processed by metropolitan police department, so we will have additional information at a later time. >> reporter: did the suspect ever come in contact -- i know you mentioned the lunge, but did he come into contact with the

police officer there? >> the investigation is ongoing. from what we can see from video at this time, i do not see the suspect wrestling with a u.s. capitol police officer, but when he exited the vehicle, the knife was clearly in his hand and he did start to run toward the officers. at this time, this is all the questions that i am going to take. i turn it back over to metropolitan police department's chief. again, i ask you to please keep the united states capitol police family in your thoughts and prayers at this time. it has been an extremely difficult and challenging year for us, but we will get through this and we do appreciate the community support. thank you. >> hey, folks, we understand that you guys have a lot of questions. obviously this is a complex investigation. we are going to be putting out

more information as we can on social media, and if we decide to do any more briefings later on, we'll of course let you guys know right away. thank you. >> reporter: one question i have, looking at the grand at the grand fabric of all of this, the uscp has changed their intelligence the way they are sharing it. they have been doing what they can to beef up the security here and still they are under attack. what is the answer? >> well, i think just part of our responsibilities and duties as law enforcement officers, we're here to protect and serve the community. clearly this was someone who was actively trying to just get at whoever or whatever, we just don't know right now. so we have a responsibility to investigate that, to get to the bottom of this, whether the attack was law enforcement or whoever. we have the responsibility to get to the bottom of it. thank you. so just a heart-breaking

update there from the u.s. capitol police. one of the officers who was struck by this vehicle, struck by the suspect, has succumbed to their injuries. that officer has now died. they are not i.d.'ing that officer right now because they are waiting to inform next of kin. the suspect is also dead, shot by capitol police, died of his injuries. it is a male. it seems that they know his identification, but they have not released that as of now. i also heard that it was asked was this terrorism related? they said it does not appear to be such or so, but they are still currently investigating that. do not know motive as of now. joining me is tom winter and andrea mitchell. tom, first to you. we don't often get updates that quickly from law enforcement about the status of one of their

own. >> well, that's exactly right, katie. i think this investigation has quickly evolved, and i'm going to include in here some information from my colleagues, jonathan dienst and pete williams. at this point law enforcement is certainly aware of a name. i think what they're trying to do at this point is to make sure that in fact the person who this vehicle is registered to, who they may or may not have a driver's license of, is the person who drove this vehicle so that's our sense of what's going on behind the scenes in law enforcement circles. if this person has a common name then obviously you have to do a little more digging into their background, what's known in law enforcement circles as pedigree. what is any sort of a law enforcement record. they said he wasn't on the capitol police's radar. that's important, i'll explain why in a second. wasn't on metropolitan police's

radar. but does this person have any sort of contact with law enforcement previously? if so, there might be information in the fbi's cgis system or fingerprint information that could help them with certainty determine who was responsible for this today. as far as this person not have a nexus to the capitol police's system or their records or databases or any contacts with them in the past, that is important because that means there hasn't been a threat to a member of congress previously. if this person had threatened say a speaker or majority leader or minority leader, that person would likely have triggered a record in the capitol police's database and so they might have a better sense of who they are or who this threat might have been directed towards. as you pointed out, congress is not in session. there were not believed to be any members of congress on the hill today so that further complicates a potential motive as far as who's behind this attack. that's what's going on in law enforcement circles at this

time. we're trying to determine the circumstances that led very sadly to the death of another capitol police officer this year. that press briefing is extraordinary from the capitol police not only because it happened so quickly after this apparent attack, katy, as you mentioned, but because they have yet to give any public briefing at all following the incidents of january 6 of this year. so the fact that they are speaking out and on camera is a big step forward to capitol police leadership from a transparency standpoint so far. we'll have to see where this investigation goes. i suspect we'll get further clarity on the possible suspect here shortly, and obviously we'll bring that to you as soon as we get it. that may also help further clue us into any potential motives or a better sense of their background. as i said here at 2:54 on the east coast, right now this investigation has led to the death of the suspect after he was fired upon by police, after he lunged with them and law

enforcement officials have been briefed on the investigation whom nbc news has spoken with, tried to lunge at officers with a knife after hitting that barrier there. katy. >> again, one officer dead. the suspect dead after an incident on capitol hill. you can see the car right there. the other officer was transported to the hospital. they are still at the hospital. we did not get an update on their condition. andrea mitchell, you and i were together on air just a few months ago now watching the january 6 riot unfold. although this is not the same in scope at all, it does feel a bit like deja vu. >> it is just an awful, awful occurrence. and i want to just echo the sadness that has been spoken and what jim cavanaugh said earlier, this capitol police force is a very well regarded police force. those of us who worked on the

hill for years know them well. you know the sadness when officer sicknick died and also the officer who died by suicide. there have been so many injuries, 140 some injuries of some of their fellow officers after january 6th. we've seen how violent it was in the video that emerged afterwards during the impeachment trial and subsequently during those hearings that have been held by joint senate and house hearing committees. and the new leadership not yet taken over apparently, but the former head of the d.c. national guard taking over has been nominated to take over the capitol police. but you saw as tom winter just pointed out how quickly they briefed this time after not at all since january 6 on those incidents. it's remarkable also, katy, that in the past after 9/11 when those barriers first came up, barriers that are far lower than what we see, the fencing since

january 6th. before then, since 9/11, we would have thought immediately is this a foreign terrorist incident. then there was that lone incident. there have been other incidents, and so far d.c. police chief contee says this does not appear to be a foreign attack. now we think of domestic attacks since january 6. i want to say one thing about capitol police. many went on to become federal marshals and those alumni were part of my extended family for 19 years night and day, on the road, overseas and here guarding my husband. they are so close to my heart, they always will be. and i'm just grief stricken for the force. >> it has been a very hard year

for the u.s. capitol police and it's only april. it's been a very difficult year. i know a lot of individual officers feel under attack both by outside threats, but in the immediate aftermath of what happened at the capitol by public opinion, that obviously changed, but also let down by some of the lawmakers that they are there to protect. a feeling that there hasn't been recognition, full recognition for what happened on that day and the trauma that they sustained and what is continuing to happen. obviously we don't know the motive as of yet. important to remind people. we only have a couple of minutes left but new jersey congresswoman mikie sherrill. nancy pelosi has ordered all u.s. capitol flags to be at half staff in honor of this fallen officer. i just want your reaction. >> it's really heartbreaking. as you know, officer sicknick was not only a veteran but he was from new jersey. so to see these capitol police

who have been traumatized already by what happened, so many members of congress, myself included, feel we owe them a huge debt that we can never repay for their bravery on january 6th. and to see the ongoing attacks against them, my heart is going out to all of their families, to all of their loved ones. certainly as a navy veteran, i know what it is to have friends and family put in the line of danger and how traumatizing that is as well. you know, this ongoing attack against the capitol, the capitol that the former president made a target now, is continuing to be an awful aftermath that we do have to address. we do have to come to terms to what led to january 6th, what happened on january 6th. i'm afraid too many of my colleagues are saying those were peaceful protests. unfortunately, our capitol

police continue to pay the price. >> the president himself said the other day that the people who stormed the capitol were coming in hugging and kissing police officers. congresswoman mikie sherrill, sorry it was so brief, but thank you for joining us. just to reiterate, the u.s. capitol police has confirmed that one of the police officers involved in today's incident, one of those struck by this car, has died of their injuries. the suspect has also died of his injuries, shot by capitol police after exiting that car and brandishing a knife and lunging at capitol police officers. just a heartbreaking day. and that is going to do it for me. ayman mohyeldin picks up our breaking news coverage right now. katy, thank you so much. i'm chris jansing in for ayman mohyeldin today. we're coming on the air with that breaking news we ar