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good morning, 10:00 a.m. eastern, 7:00 a.m. pacific. i'm josé diaz-balart reporting live from monterey park, california. it is a community here now reeling from tragedy as it becomes the scene of the nation's latest deadly mass shooting. it's a story that's become far too familiar here in the united states where a night of celebration turns into horror and heartbreak after a gunman opens fire at this dance hall, the star ballroom dance hall right here. this is the entrance. there's a small memorial that's just come up in the last couple of hours. this is where this tragedy, this massacre occurs. people were marking the lunar new year on saturday night, ten people were killed here. five men and five women. ten others were injured. the attack happening in one of the country's largest asian american communities. it is the deadliest shooting since the massacre at robb elementary school in uvalde,

texas, last year that took the lives of 21 people. the suspect has been identified as a 72-year-old asian male and as police search for a motive, officials say this dance hall may not have been the suspect's only target. after fleeing the scene of the shooting here saturday night, the suspect apparently headed for another dance hall where one man, brandon sane says he disarmed the gunman after a struggle. here's part of what this hero told abc news this morning. >> i lunged at him with both my hands, grabbed the weapon, and we had a struggle. we struggled into the lobby trying to get this gun away from each other. he was hitting me across the face, bashing the back of my head. i was trying to use my elbows to separate the gun away from him, create some distance. finally at one point i was able to pull the gun away from him, shove him aside for some

distance, pointed gun at him, intimidate him, and say get the hell out of here, i'll shoot. get away. go. >> unbelievable. the l.a. county sheriff says the suspect was found dead in his van from a self-inflicted gunshot wound on sunday. there you see the white van. following a standoff that lasted over an hour. joining us now is nbc news correspondent kathy park here in monterey park and clint watson, msnbc national security analyst and a former fbi special agent. kathy, thank you. tell us the very latest on this. it just seems like it's -- these things are happening over and over again. ten people lost their lives just right here as they were celebrating the new year, five men, five women. >> yeah, so i'll start there. lunar new year celebration, that's a big deal in this community, a predominantly asian community. we were told that the asian population is roughly around

65%, and it's a two-day celebration. tens of thousands usually gather for the lunar new year celebration. we were told that it was wrapping up when the suspect entered this dance studio, gunned down ten people, and injured ten others, but there was a second location. you mentioned few minutes away from here. he was able to get into that facility as well. you heard that good sotomayor than was able to wrestle the firearm out of the suspect's hands. the suspect did flee. there was that third location in torrance where that white van, which the suspect was driving was cornered by authorities. there was a standoff, and eventually when officials were able to breach that van, they found the individual kind of slumped over the steering wheel, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. the individual, the suspect has been identified as 72-year-old huu can tran. we don't know a lot about this

individual. everything is on the table at this point. the investigation is still ongoing. that really is a big question at this hour. what motivated this gentleman to carry out such a deadly attack. >> what more do we know about the victims? five men, five women, there were also ten people injured. >> that's what we're waiting for as well. we don't have the i.d.'s of these victims. they were older victims, 50s, 60s, perhaps older. this ballroom has been around for decades. it a's place where people come to have a good time. they learn to dance, ballroom dancing. this was a lunar new year celebration that obviously turned very tragic. we're told that it has the capacity to hold roughly 100 people. there were about 50, 60 people inside when the gunman charged and began shooting, but if it were not that individual who was able to wrestle that firearm away from the suspect, officials are saying it could have been a lot worse. >> to think this is a person who

actually went after, it was a hand to hand battle to get that gun, and then this is about 65% asian this community. there's also about 27% latino. i know that a lot of -- there's an argentinian lady who comes and teaches tango here. it's such a rich community. >> it's a melting pot. >> so rich and such an important and beautiful celebration. for this person to just come in and just cause such carnage. kathy park, thank you so very much. really appreciate it. clint, i wanted to ask you, we know a lot and we still don't know a lot. we don't know a lot about the victims. we haven't been able to publicly -- you know, identify them and talk about them and celebrate their life. what questions are police looking at when they're trying to figure out a motive into

this? >> jose, i think the principal one we were all trying to figure out yet is what we tend to see more of and which is some sort of an ideologically based or motivated attack against a series of targets, based on what the target is. it leans towards the idea that this was a personal motive. the other thing that's very different about this one, strange even, is what you said about the shooter, which is his age. most of these mass shootings that we've seen in recent years when we go through and respond to them, and i'm on here with you, we're talking about younger shooters predominantly, and this is not the case. this a much older gentleman that committed these murders and so looking at this situation it's quite complex. i think that's the other part which we did not see yesterday. in the past when we've had mass shootings, we've found threads on social media. we've looked out and found the shooter's name or somebody who

potentially made a threat against that target. i've heard no evidence of anything like that in this case. so it's quite different, you know, more complex in many ways. i think what is remarkable is how quickly they were able to track him down. remember, this shooting happened in the middle of the night. lots of the local businesses around there cctv which you showed there, you know, security camera footage hard to get in the middle of the night. they really rallied quickly to bring this to a quick resolve in terms of finding that man the next morning. >> yeah, you know, clint, it's just maybe i'm 15 feet from the entrance of this ballroom, and just right at the entrance i'm seeing two security cameras. that's just right here in the front entrance. there's also some security cameras in this noodles restaurant. and clint, there are so many questions. i mane, the fact that he apparently at least had, what, two handguns if we follow kind of the time line of what happened here, he comes in with a handgun here, kills ten,

injures ten. that sounds like a large clip, and then there is that apparently lost the handgun in the second place he went to, and then he took his life with a hand gun. what are the questions that you still have? >> i think that we're going to quickly arrive at a couple of questions about one, motive. the second one will be were the hand guns acquired legally or not, and were all components of the handguns legal. in different states there are different rules around high capacity magazines. i couldn't make out from the images you showed there, i would not be surprised if that was the image of a high capacity magazine being used. and then it will go to the mental state of the shooter. this gentleman who committed these awful acts, was he having some sort of mental distress or mental illness. and again, if you go back, jose, we've talked about red flag laws. essentially people who are under distress or background checks. people who are under distress known for some sort of mental

illness or issue, how are they able to still gain access to weapons? that goes to background checks. the second part is these red flag laws, which are, you know, in some states, california being probably one of the better states for gun laws, a tool that can be used. it's also very hard to implement. it's still not an easy thing to implement, and it's after the fact. somebody already has a weapon, and you're looking to actually prevent them from using that weapon by taking it. all of these things point to the same policy issues that we struggle with over the last half decade, which is why is there such proliferation of weapons. how are we going to do something about this? what are some of the roles we can do whether it's red flag laws, many other issues of things we could be doing in terms of licensing. none of them have moved forward. we witness another awful tragedy in california over the last 36 hours. >> indeed, and it's just horrific and just, you know, sometimes you just like how do

we describe this. it's just over and over and over again. you know, thinking of uvalde, and now this, i mean, it's just -- these things are happening over and over and over again. and there's ten families who lost their loved ones. there are other families dealing with an injured family member, and clint, very quickly on the issue of the hand guns, it seems as though, even if they were high capacity, you know, magazines he probably used two, and then went to the other place. so it seemed like at least he had some rudimentary training in the use of hand guns. >> yeah, i would say he probably knew what he was doing with the handguns. it doesn't take much training to use them. you can learn how to use them pretty easily. the same with the handguns is it is a more concealed weapon so oftentimes we've been talking

about assault rifles. law enforcement was quick to note there was no assault rifle used in this case. but in terms of concealment handguns and a person knows how to use a handgun, handguns, high capacity magazines, the level of death and carnage that can be inflicted, the violence, the wounds, it can happen nearly as fast as somebody who has just as little training with the handgun. and nobody sees the weapon when it enters a room or a facility. that gentleman you were showing just before, remarkable bravery for taking that handgun from the shooter when he went into that second location. also, it just points to the ability of locals. again, we're seeing local citizens tend to respond in mass shootings in a day-to-day situation. this goes back to the shooting in california springs as well. this is not a good situation that we have to rely on citizens to protect themselves when they're outgunned on most of

these occasions we're seeing around the country. >> clint watts, i thank you so very much. for more i'm joined by connie chung jo the ceo of asian americans advances justice, southern california. thank you for being with us on this very difficult morning. what impact does the shooting have on the monterey park community, the majority asian american community? >> i think for the monterey park community and all of the valley, which is one of the largest asian american communities in this country, there is just profound sadness and grief and pain. i think it has been a very triggering event because our community, when you think of the context of this pandemic and the rise in anti-asian hate. we have already been feeling attacked and that we have a bull's-eye on our backs. regardless of what the intent of the suspect was, the impact on

our community is that we are feeling again traumatized and targeted and injured, and to have this happen in monterey park, which is two-thirds asian american on lunar new year weekend, and at a lunar new year festival celebration, you know, that really is one of the most celebrated holidays for our community. it would be equivalent in many parts of america if somebody were to gun down a christmas day festival. so it's been a really profoundly difficult time of loss is and pain for our community. >> yeah, and you know, just thinking about this dance studio, it meant so much and it means so much to so many people in this community. >> yeah, you know, this was a long-established dance studio here in the community. i've talked to multiple people who said, yeah, my kids went

here and took dance lessons. my parent would go to dance classes or do dancing here in the evenings. it is part of the community, and it was predominantly asian americans who would come to this dance studio and so having something that was so much part of the community and part of the monterey park and part of the asian american community to have something this tragic happen has been a big blow. and so for us we really are reaching out not just to try to reach the direct victims of the shooting because we do have a go fund me page for victim support, and we want to make sure they get counseling and other services and victims of crime benefits, but it's also to reach out to the larger asian american community here in los angeles and say we understand that many people are grieving and going through a lot of trauma and folks need things like mental health support, and we can make sure that they get services in language in a culturally responsive way if they reach

out. >> connie chung joe, i thank you so much for being with us this morning. we'll of course continue to follow this breaking story here in monterey park. another update is just moments away. also ahead, the fbi finds more classified items in president biden's delaware home. we're going to take a look at why this latest search is different from the others. plus, a new record set for migrant crossings at the border. why there's a rise in migrants coming by sea. you're watching "josé diaz-balart reports" this morning from monterey park, california. ose doors. by working with you on a retirement-income plan designed to balance growth and guaranteed income. because doors were meant to be opened. dry skin is sensitive skin, too. and it's natural. treat it that way with aveeno® daily moisture. formulated with nourishing, prebiotic oat.

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all in favor of that. [ horn honking ] there's a lot of buttons and knobs in here. just look around. all in favor of that. [ horn honking ] this digital age we're living in, it's pretty unbelievable. problem is, not everyone's fully living in it. nobody should have to take a class or fill out a medical form on public wifi with a screen the size of your hand. home internet shouldn't be a luxury. everyone should have it and now a lot more people can.

so let's go. the digital age is waiting. 19 past the hour, questions about president biden's handling of classified information, this comes after the fbi found six items consisting of documents with classification markings and surrounding material during a 13-hour search of the president's private residence near wilmington, delaware, on friday. the material dates back to his time as a u.s. senator and as vice president. the president's personal attorney says the search was voluntary, not the result of a search warrant. the white house says it is trying to be as cooperative as possible with the justice department's investigation. >> we're following doj's lead throughout this investigation making sure that they have access to the information that they need to conduct an efficient and thorough review.

that's why the president and his lawyers offered up access, unprecedented access to every single room of the president's personal home to ensure that any documents that need to be properly in possession of the government are taken and are in proper possession of the government. >> with us now to talk about this, nbc news white house correspondent mike memoli. also with us harry litman, a former u.s. attorney and legal affairs columnist for the los angeles time and victoria francesco dean of the public school of arkansas. does the white house hope this will be the beginning of the end when it comes to the controversy surrounding the president's handling of classified material? >> yeah, they certainly hope so, jose. every indication from the white house and from the statements we received from either the president's personal attorney or white house counsel's office is stressing the fact that this was a cooperative process. that the law enforcement officials were there at the invitation of the president and of his attorneys, but i think

what it also might signal is the beginning of the end of the president and his team really having at least some control over this ongoing probe now, especially as the special counsel really begins to build his team around this investigation. up until this point, the last two and a half months these revelations of additional documents or materials being discovered either at the president's office here in washington or at his residence there in wilmington has been a result of the president's own team finding them or working with law enforcement as was the case oaf the past weekend. but it stands to reason that going forward law enforcement may want to initiate any additional searches on its own. so one of the questions we're asking the white house is whether there might be an additional invitation to search for the home he spent this weekend in rehoboth beach, delaware. there's a legal process that the white house can only stand back and say they'll cooperate fully. you'll remember just last week the president down playing this saying that there was no there

there, obviously they found some more there there, and senator joe manchin, a democrat from west virginia facing a tough re-election bid in 2024 should he run expressing his concern and the fact that he thinks the president should be more contrite in his public comments about this. we'll have a chance potentially to hear from the president when he returns to the white house in the next hour and of course from the white house press secretary later today, jose. >> and mike we don't know if that's an invitation to search areas including, for example, the president's office when is he was out of office from the vice presidency. >> no, and actually one of the things that jumped out at me from the statements we received over the we could was the fact that there were materials from the president's time as a senator. we'd obviously been focused on his time as vice president. that presents a new set of questions about whether other materials might have come from, not just from sort of a bit of

innocent mistake as they were packing the vice presidential office in 2017. >> harry, how unusual is it for someone to just tell the justice department to come on over and take a look around? >> unprecedented. you do not have criminal suspects or defendants saying come in and please look from top to bottom, except in edgar allen poe stories. and mike is 100% right. the doj wanted first to try -- excuse me, the white house wanted first to try to control this. hope it would go away quietly. that has proven not only ineffective but really scandalous, and now the idea is -- and it's got ripped, this is all doj, it's all fbi. come on in. we understand now it's a criminal investigation, and it's all to you. the upside politically to that is any drip drip or whatever that continues is with doj now.

they didn't find the documents rather than the white house, and the white house obviously has calculated the upside of that is worth the downside of being completely passive towards a criminal investigation. >> victoria, a recent quinnipiac poll found that 60% of americans thought the president acted inappropriately in the way he handled those documents. what does that tell you about how voters are seeing all of this, especially as the president prepares to launch his re-election campaign. >> good morning, jose. it shows a growing frustration among the american public, and i think that we know that in our system we are second chances, for forgiveness, what has been most puzzling for me is why not come out and say i messed up. i did this. to mike's point, a little bit more contrition. and i i understand that it's a formal process. let's remember what joe biden's core brand is, it's regular joe.

it's joe from pittsburgh. it's, you know, keeping it real. so for him to come out and say, you know what? i screwed up really badly. i'm sorry. i took home some work. i should have brought it back. i didn't. but otherwise folks are not going to be satisfied and this is going to contribute to those poll numbers that you just showed. >> and mike, white house chief of staff ron klain is expected to leave his post and be succeeded by jeff ziets. what did he decide that now is the time to step down as white house chief of staff. the folks that are working in it are so loyal they star on far longer than other administrations. >> mm-hmm. jose, i'd say ron klain is leaving but not going very far. obviously he's going to step down from the role he's held for the last two years now as the white house chief of staff. he's actually the longest

serving chief of staff for an incoming democratic president in history, so he made a bit of history here in the last few months. there had always been a sense that not at the end of last year following the midterms, but following the president's staff the union address here in just a few weeks, we will begin to see a bit of movement among the upper echelons of the west wing beginning of course with ron klain. part of that is because people -- these are very difficult jobs. they wear you out, and two years is a long time in the life of a white house staffer, let alone a senior staffer, but also the president is going to be gearing up that election campaign. as ron klain leaves his post, he's likely to remain a close confidant as he has for more than three decades. he first entered senator biden's life as the staff director of the senate judiciary committee when a young senator biden was the chairman in 1988, so a long history between these two.

>> thank you so very much for being with us this morning. up next, congressman gallego makes a major announcement about his future, and it may make it hard for dems to control a key senate seat. we'll explain, more more here from monterey park, california, the latest scene of a deadly mass shooting. residents here in one of the nation's largest asian american communities rocked by what has happened. unities rocked by whats happened >> very, very disturbing. very sad to see as a person of asian descent, you know, it's hard to see that this happens, especially during chinese new year. it's horrible.

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how competitive is arizona and that senate race? >> this is a long-time conservative state but one reticent to trump style politics over the last six years. that is what led to the elections of kyrsten sinema and mark kelly. in the case of kyrsten sinema she has continually rebuffed the democratic party and several of its key priorities when voting on legislation from voting against proposed carry interest tax increase on private equity earnings. she voted down what would have been a mandatory $15 minimum wage. of course she also upheld the filibuster as democrats in the senate tried to pass major voting rights reforms. this led to democrats pushing back against her term in office, even suggesting that another democrat should primary her, but then just after the november elections, she changed her party registration to independent, and that is where ruben gallego, the

congressman from the greater phoenix area is looking at what could be a three-way senate race. there are a myriad of republicans who are telling me that they are looking at u.s. senate races, including the likes of karen taylor robeson who narrowly lost to kari lake. she told me she would build more of a mccain type coalition. blake masters who lost to mark kelly is also looking at this senate race. we are looking at a big 18 months ahead as republicans and democrats, and kyrsten sinema who has not said she is in fact absolutely running for re-election in 2024, begin to lay a foundation of what could be a wild landscape over the next 18 months in the state of arizona, jose. >> vaughn hillyard, i thank you so very much. up next, searching for answers here in monterey, california. we're going to go to the latest on the investigation and residents here telling nbc news they are devastated.

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wayfair. it's always a big deal. ♪ wayfair, you've got just what i need ♪ 38 past the hour here in monterey park, california. police are still looking for a motive in the latest mass shooting that left ten people dead and ten others injured in this dance studio, and now we're hearing from members of this community including one woman who said she initially thought the gunshots were fireworks. >> just confirming that there's no safe place anymore. there's nowhere for you to be safe anymore, especially our kids going to school right here, it's just a scary thought that this world is not safe anymore. >> reporter: joining us now is nbc news correspondent josh lederman here in monterey park. we just got some new information

about some of the victims. what do we know? >> reporter: that's right, jose, we are getting the first confirmed names of the fatalities from this mass shooting. now two nights ago here in monterey park, the l.a. county coroner's office identifying one of the victims as mai nan, she's a female 65 years of age, and another female who was 63 years old named lelan lee. those are the first two confirmed victims, mai nan. a little more demographic information about the remaining eight fatalities. one was a woman in her 50s. two of them were females in their 60s, and then there were four additional males who were killed, two in their 60s and two in their 70s according to the coroner's office there. they're still working to identify and notify the next of

kin before they make those names public. that should be coming in the coming hours and days. in the meantime, investigators still racing, jose, to try to get to the bottom of what was the motive here? why did this happen? what precipitated this shooting on saturday night, and then what took place in those 12 hours after the shooter left that second location in alhambra and when he was found in that van with a self-inflicted gun shot wound about a half an hour away from here over in torrance. that is a period of time that we still know very little about what he was doing and where he was and anyone he might have come into contact with. those are the questions that investigators are trying to find out right now so that they can start to provide some of those answers to a community there right now really wants to know what happened so they can make sure they can prevent anything like this from ever happening again. >> josh lederman, thank you so very much. for more on this, i'm joined by a leader in this community,

chester chong, i thank you so much for being with us. a very difficult morning. i just, you know, you see just how close the door is from here, chester. they've put up a little memorial here for the ten people who lost their lives. how is this community doing, chester? >> i tell you what, i've been here many times. >> you've been here many times. >> this whole neighborhood i know, nice restaurant here and with the people and also the grocery store. that's all very quiet and peaceful, i don't know, location and nice city. unfortunate, you know, happening just two days ago during the chinese new year. >> and how important is that celebration? >> so important for many, you know, the chinese culture, thousand year for the chinese

new year. >> a celebration. >> yes, a celebration. >> i know that you actually were kind enough to show me one of the flyers that were spread out through this community, you know, last week and of course friday night inviting people to come here to celebrate the chinese new year countdown dance party. this is one of the flyers that you yourself have. and chester this is a place that so many people of this community came and felt safe and comfortable and a place to celebrate and to dance. how do you process this? >> it's two things, one thing is because someone like crazy or the mental problem or excited doing something him to do that, it's terrible because we don't want happen, but unfortunately in our country, it's not the first time.

the people, why? we're supposed to be living in one of the best countries in the world. we should be safe, but now because why? we're talking about many before this, we need to control that. the gunmen, they don't have the gun, they cannot do that. we have to do something for that. >> and while no one does anything over and over again with these things, chester, i know that i know you say you're here a lot. you know a lot of people that may have been here, and i don't want to give any names, i know that some folks that you know that were very close to you may have been in here on saturday night. >> yes. >> and lost their life. >> you know, because we have a social media group from the manager here, every time they

send out the group of the people, and one of the groups inside was them. so that's why it's really nice people. all friendly. they love each other. but also this group of people from all over california. they love to come here to have entertainment. that's why i feel so sad for this family and especially on chinese new year. >> i thank you so very much. thanks for being here this morning. it's so difficult to know that ten lives were lost when they were celebrating such an important and festive occasion. chester, thank you. >> thank you very much. up next, more migrants are coming to the u.s. by sea and makeshift boats and rafts. we'll talk to a journalist who's tracking the humanitarian crisis. what migrants are telling her about their dangerous journey. you're watching "josé diaz-balart reports" from month

monterey park, california. ey pa. monterey park, california.

49 past the hour, now to the increase of igrants arriving to the united states. according to government data, there have been 3.6 million

border encounters in the last 15 months. it's the beginning of fiscal year 2021. those are encounters. that's over a million more encounters than in the previous 15 months when there were just over 2 million encounters. one of the countries people are coming from is cuba, which is currently experiencing its largest mass exodus since the 1980s. five times more cubans coming to the u.s. in just the past four months than in all of fiscal year 2021. but with border policies changing, many of them won't get to stay in the united states. joining us now is paola ramos who spoke to people arriving from the florida coast, an msnbc contributor, a vice news correspondent. to see you. you have done such extraordinary work on this issue specifically and you know this, nothing happens in a vacuum. the cuban regime has been in power for 63 years now.

people in cuba still detained related to protests. does u.s. policy here dictate in any way what decisions folks are taking to take to the seas to try to get out of that island dictatorship. >> jose, i think regardless of the way the biden administration is implementing more hard-line immigration policies, the core of the story remains the same. so long as desperation exists, so long as countries like cuba continue to be dictatorships, migrants are willing to risk their lives, take boats and go through a 100-mile journey in boats just to reach that american dream. you can tell people not to come. you can tell people that the border is closed, but they will continue to do that, both to give the sense since october alone, the coast guard has intercepted almost 5,000 migrants at sea.

there's a massive spike in cubans that are trying to make that journey. when i was there a couple of weeks ago, it's important to see the conditions in which their making this journey, they're making boats with car engines, roofing material, glue, ropes to have a chance to make it to the united states. i've seen many sunken boats, indications that some people don't make it. so long as there's desperation, this will continue to be the reality. >> so what happens to cubans when they reach u.s. soil by boat? there seems to be a different policy, if you want to call it that, between what happens to folks that come from a -- from haiti or cuba on a boat, versus the darien jungle, up through mexico trying to make it through the border. >> everything is changing. that's why this is so historic right now from what we're seeing. if you're a cuban migrant that has recently arrived to the

united states, it is very likely that you will either be deported or you will be given orders of removal. the reason why this is historic, as you know, jose, since the cold war, cubans have received preferential treatment in the american immigration system. it is easier for you to seek asylum in this country, easier for you to have a direct pathway to citizenship, residency, here's the thing, perhaps until now. according to the new immigration rules, there are more legal pathways for cubans to come to this country, but not if you're seeking asylum at the border. you will be returned. that is why this is such an historic announcement for cuba. >> paola ramos, thank you for being with us. of course, look forward to that reporting on vice and you always have been on the forefront of keeping a light on this issue. i thank you for being with us this morning. >> thank you, jose. up next, the department of justice is investigating abbott

laboratories. the country sparked a nationwide formula shortage after a recall. but what the feds are looking for now. you're watching jose diaz-balart reports. g jose diaz-balart reports. when you take it again the next day. so betty can be the... barcode beat conductor. ♪ go betty! ♪ let's be more than our allergies! zeize the day. with zyrtec. power e*trade's easy-to-use tools like dynamic charting and risk-reward analysis help make trading feel effortless. and its customizable scans with social sentiment help you find and unlock opportunities in the market (vo) with verizon, you can now get a private 5g network. so you can do more than connect your business, and its customizable scans with social sentiment you can make it even smarter. now ports can know where every piece of cargo is. and where it's going. (dock worker) right on time. (vo) robots can predict breakdowns and order their own replacement parts. (foreman) nice work. (vo) and retailers can get ahead of the fashion trend of the day with a new line tomorrow. with a verizon private 5g network, you can get more agility and security.

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57 past the hour. the justice department has launched an investigation into abbott laboratories almost a year after it shut down a michigan formula plant. the company was forced to recall several infant formulas and

stopped production last february. joining us now is laura strickler, senior investigate producer for nbc news. what will the department of justice be looking at here? >> yeah, good morning. and we've just confirmed that the focus of the investigation is the infant formula plant the company has in michigan. i spoke to some experts on food safety investigations and they say they would not expect felony charges in a case like this, possibly a misdemeanor. over the summer, the company signed a dissent decree and they alleged that the products were adulterated because they were made under insanitary conditions and in violation of good manufacturing practice requirements.

>> laura, investigators were unable to definitely determine the source of the bacteria? how can that affect the doj's case? >> and this is a very important point. the federal investigators found no match between bacteria in the plant and samples taken from the infants. so experts are say most likely the investigation will be focused on the insanitary conditions. for example, the fda found standing water at the factory which is, of course, problematic at a plant where they're making powdered formula at a plant. and parents won't have to worry about the plant getting shut down again. the fda has deemed the products to be safe and the plant is under increased oversight from the fda. >> laura strickler, thank you so much for being with us. that wraps up the hour for me. i'm jose diaz-balart. thank you for the privilege of your time. i leave you with what happened

here just on saturday night, ten people lost their lives as they were celebrating, such a festive occasion. ten other people were injured. lindsey reiser picks up with more news right now. ♪♪ good morning. i'm lindsey reiser. right now the search for answers in the wake of the latest mass shooting in america. police say the suspect behind the massacre at a dance hall in monterey park, california, is dead after a dramatic standoff. ten people were killed, ten others injured. during a celebration of the lunar new year. it's the deadliest mass shooting in the u.s. so far this year. and the 36th mass shooting since january 1st according to the gun violence archive. that statistic raising the question being asked far too often, when will this