little banged up at least. is this and we come together adds republicans like me and as democrats to come together for our country. and that's why i'm here today. i came back. i came down to talk to you because i want to send a message that this rhetoric that we see in today's society over policy differences has got to stop. the if this is the reason why members 0 congress were shot at today, today has to be the breaking point for both party to say enough is enough. >> reporter: what about security

for members of congress. do you feel you're going to be safe going about your daily business or does something else needs to change? >> we'll let that play out. i'm going to take security under consideration a lot more than i have. i will never go back to that park again, i can tell you that. >> reporter: congressman gaifda thank you for speaking with us. >> thank you so much. this is a time that underscores that political differences are one thing but we need to remember that we were all americans and our hearts go out to all of those injured today. >> well that conversation was happening two bits of information gcame in. we heard from kevin mccarthy telling us that steve scalise is out of surgery and he is doing well. that again according to kevin mccarthy. we're getting from our investigative team right now

that the atf, alcohol, tobacco and firearms conducting emergency traces on two separate firearms, one rifle and one handgun. that would jive from what we've heard from a number of folks at the baseball field. >> and pete williams of nbc able to confirm the identity of the shooter,hodgkinson. and we want to show again a video with a word of caution. it shows congressman scalise in the moments after he was shot. this comes from our colleagues at cbs. we know he was shot in the hip. we know he was alert and describeding a being in good spirits and able to speak to his wife from the hospital moments before going into surgery. and kevin mccarthy who is the republican leader in the house has said mr. scalise is out of

surgery, the congressman is doing better and we looked guard and are anxious to hear from him about what happened today. >> throughout the course of the morning we've found out that apparently the congressman, quite a baseball plan as well. played second base, took the job very seriously and throughout the course of his campaigning was known to actually hand out bats to supporters. our justice correspondent pete williams continuing to work the phones, trying to gather some new information. do we have any new information at this juncture? >> i thought one of the strange things about the news conference is they didn't tell us how many people were injured and what the extent of their injuries were. perhaps there were more shot than were nushlly told and perhaps some of their injuries were minor. but we're still trying to -- remarkably still can't tell you

with certainly how many people were wounded here. so we're still trying to nail that down, in addition to try to find out more about the nature of the suspect. but as i said a little earlier, they were apparently on to the identity pretty quickly because the suspect, we're told, had an illinois driver's license, a name on it. normally in a situation like that we would hear about that pretty quickly. but we didn't because we've had some experience here of shootings in the washington area where a suspect had an identity card that -- not just in the washington area, an identity card that turned out not to be his but was someone else's. they've now confirmed that.

as i say, we're told he's a 66-year-old, born december of 1950, a 66-year-old man from bell view, illinois named james t. hodge kinton. and as i said a moment ago, the motive here does not appear to be what we would conventionally think of as a terrorist motive, certainly not internationally inspired. whether this is a local problem, someone with mental problems or a political grudge, we'll have to wait a while to be certain about that. everyone has said they don't see signs of international terrorism. >> do we know if this man has a record at all? was he known to police? >> he may be known to the police in illinois. there's some indication that he had some run-ins with the police but nothing, if i understand

your question, nothing that would indicate any kind of a danger like this. >> pete, stand by. i know you continue to work the phones. a little earlier tennessee congressman chuck fleischmann spoke to our casey hunt. let's listen to their conversation. >> he and i decided to make a run to the dugout. that's where a lot of the members got hurt like myself trying to dive into the dugout to find a safe place. unfortunately when we got to the dugout we realized we were still under attack, the shots were still coming. the capitol police fortunately were there because of our chip, steve scalise. they returned fire and they saved our lives and the lives of other people because bewwe werel sitting ducks. a lot of people were bleeding. one gentleman was shot in the leg. one local law enforcement arrived and subdued the shooter, we were realized to get up and

then we regularized the magnitude of the carnage, our members who had been shot, staff members who had been severely wondered. one young gentleman got shot in the chest. it was horrible. he was just in my office yesterday. >> reporter: who is the young man. his name is mica. he plays with us every day. a lot of the hill staffers and folks come out and volunteer for both teams and lend their talents, their support in preparation for the game. it's an annual event. suppose to be a happy uplifting thing for both sides. today was a tragedy. >> reporter: what was it like for you personally. you said you walked right by the shooter. >> as it turns out i was walk right past the third base side, said hello to trent kelly, exchanging niceties about how well we had both played. the reason i know that, when i walked around, that's where the

first shot came from and the barrage of shots came from. i was just lucky he chose not to shoot me. >> reporter: what do you think should happen next now? >> obviously we don't know the motives of the shooter. innocent people have been shot, have been hurt badly, including members of congress and their staffs. when we go to a baseball field, we think baseball is safe. we think we're safe. i've played seven years. i have never ever feared for my security. now i fear for any security. after seeing the carnage there today and the fact that somebody could come up and do that with a rifle, it's shocking, it's sad and my thoughts and prayers go out to the people that were injured a lot more than i was.

>> reporter: and this dirt on your shirt was hitting the ground? >> absolutely. >> reporter: and your hand? >> we were down on the field laying down flat hoping not to get hit but we realized as the bullets keep flying that if somebody were to see us, we were still easy targets. so we made a run for the dugout, as did several other people. fort naughtiunately i made it. i was a few scary moments in the dugout. i stayed on the inside wall of the dugout, as did many members, many of who were bleeding. >> reporter: give us a sense of how many were wounded or hit. is it just steve scalise that was hit? >> yes, he was hit. one of our coaches had a broken ankle. mica, the staffer, sadly was apparently shot in the chest. he was being attended to. they brought in helicopters very quickly. two of the capitol police

officers who basically saved or lives were shot. these folks are heroes. i don't know who they are personally because this is part of whip scalise's detail, security detail. but for the fact that they were there, the carnage would have been worse. >> reporter: thank you so much for taking the time to tell me your story. >> casey hunt and congressman fleischmann a few moments ago. we haven't had a confirmation officially on the number injured. now we hear congressman fleischmann saying he knows of a staffer by the name of mica shot in the chest. we thought there was one congressional aide that was shot but roger williams said he had an aide by the name of zack park who was shot. we just don't know at this point if perhaps there were additional people shot and we're waiting for the authorities to give us the answer there. we know two capitol police officers were shot.

we heard the police chief say they're in good condition. steve scalise was shot, he's out of surgery, said to be doing well. we'll continue to get the best information to you. >> we know two are in critical condition at the george washington hospital. but what you just said could explain precisely why the field rep from the fbi was so reluctant to talk about how many were shot and wounded. >> shouldless mention the shooter himself, identified as james t. hodgkinson was also shot and unclear of whether he'll survive, according to pete williams. >> we've heard from a lot of lawmakers, republican and democrat over the next hour or two. we're going to be hearing from house speaker paul ryan at noon and also word from the white house a short time ago that president trump is going to be addressing the nation at roughly 11:30. peter alexander standing by for us at the white house. any indication what we might

expect to hear from the president? >> reporter: he'll punk wait the remarks he delivered this morning say heg was keep lhe wa saddened. we're getting information from the white house about what the president has been doing over the course of the last several hours. he had an event, a speech to the labor department scheduled for later today. that has been canceled. but he's had an opportunity to be notified about the situation in alexandria and to speak to many lawmakers this morning. among those, paul ryan and the wife of steve scalise and the chief of the capitol police. mike pence was scheduled to be out this morning. that was canceled.

he was rerouted to the white house. and the president this morning, the marine guard is standing outside of the west wing which would signify that the president is inside the oval office preparing his remarks from the public address he'll be making in less than 30 minutes from now. >> roughly 15 minutes away. maybe a little longer, from president trump addressing the country. just four hours, a little over four hours now since that shooting at a park in northern virginia during a practice for congressional baseball game set to happen tomorrow at nationals field. >> we have a shooter identified as a man in his late 60s with an illinois driver's license. unclear where he was living. he was shotly police in an exchange of gun fire. that bring us to jim cavanaugh who joins us.

you've been listening as we've gotten bits and pieces of what transpi transpired here. what are you thoughts this morning? jim cavanaugh, are you with us? >> i'm sorry. i didn't get you were talking to me. i thought it was a very very important interview there. because what he described was the capitol police officers keeping the shooter at bay, the two officers. one was wounded in the ankle. and so when they're engaging him, he's not able to shoot the members of congress and the staff aides and a the people in the ballpark. he has to focus on the gun fire coming from the two police officers. and then alexandria police uniform arrives and they start engaging him and they take him down, a combination of capitol police and alexandria police. critic critical. and you heard the witness say how loud it was, how loud the rifle fire was. it sounds like a crack. when you're at a ball field like

that or in a closed in area where trees around it, it's very very loud. any type of a semi automatic military style rifle. you're not going to not know what that is. you're going the hear that. people start scattering. so the distance is critical, too, because that's probably what saved representative scalise and the third base member because the distance -- the guy is not quite as accurate to be able to do it. if he was good with a rainfall it could have been a lot worse or if the people were in the dugout when he confronted them, it could have been a lot worse. >> everybody thanking their lucky stars that the capitol police were there and alexandria police following so quickly. we want to go to pete williams who is working the phones. >> we've been trying to get a clear picture of who was shot hereby. we know two capitol police officers who are said to be --

going to be okay. congressman scalise, roger williams of texas and now we've confirmed that a lobbyist was also shot. he is named as matt mika who is director of government relations for tyson's food in the washington area. his company says he's been taken to the hospital. they're awaiting word on his condition. he's worked for tyson foods for more than six years and the company says they're deeply concerned about him and his family. we don't know how serious his wounds are. but this would be a sixth person, a fifth victim plus the gunman for six people shot. anwe' we and we're still trying to determine what the condition is of the gunman to know whether he's going to survive the wounds and whether they've been able to talk to him and get any information out of him about why he did this.

>> and pete, i'm not sure if you heard it, but we had congressman fleischmann on a couple of moments ago what mentioned someone named mika. and the congressman said that he saw that this individual was shot in the chest, which is very disturbing. we'll continue to follow that. >> and i think you get some sense of that because of the statement of we're deeply concerned for him and his family. >> pete williams standing by for us. we should also note that this congressional baseball game that's set to happen tomorrow, it was actually set to start with the british ambassador who was going to throw out the first pitch to honor the victims of terror in london and in manchester as well. this is an annual, as you

indicated earlier, an annual rite of passage for the beltway crowd. we heard from a lawmaker saying last year they raised $600,000. at this point no firm indication as to whether the game will go on. but we've heard from a number of lawmakers, several of whom who, at the field this morning saying that the game should in fact go on, perhaps with a renewed sense of purpose. >> we're awaiting remarks from the president in a matter of moments. we expect at noon to hear from the house speaker paul ryan and nancy pelosi. and i just received an e-mail that went out to all members of congress saying come to the house floor to hear their remarks at noon today. let's go to hans nichols. he's at the hospital where congressman scalise underwent surgery. >> reporter: he's out of surgery, according to two congressmen.

some of who have spoke within majority whip scalise. you can see the emergency room entrance right here. this is likely where he came in. and this is a hospital in northwest d.c. where they do a lot of specialty work. they're not necessarily focused on trauma here. the main trauma hospital in d.c. is george washington hospital, down towards the white house a little more where there are also two victims of the shooting attack. now what the hospital is confirming is that the majority whip steve scalise is here. they're not saying anything about the status of his condition, where he is right now in terms of the surgery. but we can confirm, according to two congressmen who have spoken with scalise that he is out of surgery and in good spirits. >> thank you so much. we're pleased to say he's said to be doing well. peter alexander, as we look at

the scene here, the familiar yellow crime scene tape. we know that the president is expected to speak in a few minutes. what more are you tell us. >> reporter: you can see the picture. this is the diplomatic room here at the white house where we're expecting to hear from president trump. the timing is set for 11:30 today. he should be speaking within the next ten minutes or so. it's been a somber scene here at the white house over much of this morning for my colleagues up in the west wing earlier trying to reach out to the communications staff. the communications staff held their early morning meeting as they would and then the priority was making sure that everyone was safe and everything was being done to make sure this wasn't a wider threat. then the focus on what the president might say. we've confirmed that he's spoken to the wife of congressman steve scalise, his chief of staff, to

paul ryan and mitch mcconnell. he's been huddling with members of his team over much of this morning including the vice president. what's striking is how close to home this tragedy hits so so many individuals who work here at the white house. rinse priebupriebus, sean spice before president trump brought them on board. the relationships between the white house and many of these republican lawmakers go back quite some way. it's why president trump himself today, who has had steve scalise and some of these other lawma r lawmakers in for meeting was quick to point out that he considered him a true friend and patriot. this will be a striking moment. was president obama of course preceding president trump was put in this undesirable position on too many occasions of speaking about following situations where gun violence

often took the lives of too many innocent americans. we hope and pray of course today that nobody loses their life as a result of the tragedy. and at this point it appears that everyone who was hurt was only wound wed not killed. but you get to see the president at a time of crisis help soothe the anxieties that americans are feeling and may capture a moment of bipartisanship as they try to bring americans together, not republicans and democrats, just americans in the wake of the awful tragedy. >> that would be certainly called for in this moment where i think a lot of people are hurting and just so sad to see what's happened at what should be a very happy collegial event leading up to this baseball game in d.c. it's hard to fathom that we're talking about that. >> six people shot. our justice correspondent pete williams confirming that just a few moments ago, six shot, that's including the gunman. this is a facebook post from a staffer who was shot this morning.

his name is zack barth and i believe we have the post that we can put on the screen here. i got shot this morning at the baseball fields but i am in the hospital and okay. thank you for the thoughts and prayer. >> this was the aide to congressman roger williams in texas. >> yes. >> and he had mentioned that his staffer had been shot but was okay. it's nice too hear from him directly on his facebook page. i'm sure he's got so many people worried about him. as we understand it, he's going to be okay. >> apparently. he's already able to fas bike post. >> he's already facebooking. but we've learned of another individual who wu shot this morning, said to be a lobbyist by the name of mike mika. we wait to here about his condition. we have the two police officers who were shot and said to be in good condition by the police chief. >> the lobbyist is a lobbyist

for tyson foods. we're maybe seven minutes or so away from president trump addressing the nation. at noon we here told that house speaker paul ryan and than so pelosi will be addressing, not just lawmakers in this situation but also addressing the nation as well. we've heard from a number of people this morning. there was one eyewitness who was in the ymca who detailed just a harrowing account of how it all went down shortly after 7:00, the bullets piercing the glass at the y. he talked about being able to see the shooter crouched down, appearing to take aim at these folks on the baseball field. and he ended that account by calling for civility and calling for an end to the sometimes heated political discourse and rhetoric that has come to define our politics in this country as of late, but it hasn't been as of late. it's been for some time now.

>> as far as the investigation is concerned, we're told by our producer that the atf is now doing an emergency trace on two firearms, one rifle and one handgun. and that comports with what we've heard from witnesses at the scene, several witnesses, members 0 congress thought that the shooter had two guns. let's look at this news conference, joe barton among those speaking. let's listen. >> -- security detail. otherwise it would just be a bunch of guys out practicing. >> 22 members there. >> they have been something.

[ inaudible ] >> the alexander police who arrived very quickly who attacked -- i can't emphasize this enough. they attacked the shooter and saved our lives. >> as a result ovf that they endangered themselves. >> they were out behind the dugout. the shooter was not on the field and never got on the field. he stayed behind the third base dugout, came behind home plate, the utility shed, darted out in front of the utility shed and that's when he got shot. >> reporter: did you see the shooter and the weapon? >> i did not until after the fact. >> i was getting down, protecting, making sure my son was down. i did not see it when it was abactive shooting situation.

>> but we just left jeff duncan, and jeff jwas leaving with another member who would have all been positioned in the in-field. as is customary, we all have responsibility to get back to. sometimes people will finish what they're doing and leave a little early. as jeff was walking out he saw the shooter and spoke to them and said who are those guys, and he said that's the congressional baseball team. and he said what are they, republicans or democrats. he said they're the republicans. and the that was the conversation that they had. >> and they said he acted a little weird. we need to go inside. thank you. >> reporter: how long did the firefight go on for? >> that was congressman patrick me on, along with congressman joe barton from texas. also with the congressman from texas, his 10-year-old son jack who was at the field. >> two of his sons were there.

>> with him this morning. but again it sounds like we heard another corroboration of the story we've heard from a number of folks this morning, the gunman apparently, before opening fire, asked whether those with republicans or democrats on the field playing baseba baseball. so there's that. >> we've heard various accounts along those lines all morning long. and then the account that senator paul mentioned that morning, that they have been practicing there for the last couple of months. this was presumably, if someone wanted to target particular individuals, they would have known this is where the members of congressary their staff play baseball all leading up to the congressional baseball game for charity that was supposed to take place tomorrow. it's almost 11:30 on the east coast, coming up on the time that we're expecting to hear from president trump from the

white house. that's the live shot that we have from inside the west wing. and we'll hear at noontime from the house speaker paul ryan and the democrats' leader in the house, nancy pelosi. the call has gone out on the hill to say if you're a member of congress, come listen to what the leaders have to say as we await further word of how the injured are doing. >> we're learning more about the shooter. the suspected shooter at this hour. his name is james hodgkinson, 66-year-old old, an illinois driver's license. at this point it is note clear whether he was living in the area at that time. >> let's listen. >> -- to have a tragedy like this thrust upon it is a terrible thing. >> reporter: who do you work for. doesn

doesn't matter. w >> we only caught the tail end of what that witness was saying. >> reporter: we're now life. talk to me a little bit about once again what did you hear and see? zb >> i was out for a run this morning. i was going right up past simpson field, happened to glance over and see the fact that folks were playing baseball at an early hour in the morning. not recognizing they were members of congress. didn't think about it, ran and not a second later heard 12 or 14 shots go off, took another step and heard another volley of shots. i decided it was a dangerous situation, had to get cover in the parking garage and called 911. the situation looked like it got under control pretty quickly. i came up out of the granl and saw two members of congress i was familiar with and went over

and spoke to them briefly. you can tell knowing what we know now about what unfolded on that baseball diamond, you could see in their eyes that they were concerned about mr. scalise and all involved. >> reporter: he did not see the gunman by the way, back to you. >> we're going to interrupt because we have ron desantis who was there this morning. and sir, as i understand it, you believe you spoke with the gunman in the parking lot of the field. what did you hear. tell us your experience. >> well, we were out there practicing with everybody else, we was playing third base, jeff duncan was playing short, steve scalise was playing second. jeff and i looked at each other, we've got a good workout. let's get on the road so we can beat the traffic. we left five, ten minutes before it started. when we were in the car, an individual came up to us and asked us whether they were republicans or democrats on the field. jeff told them it was republicans.

he kind of turned and walked toward the field. it was a little strange but he didn't think necessarily anything of it. by the time we got to the field jeff and i immediately talked to each other, we've got to report this guy. now that he's been identified and his photo, both congressman duncan and myself believe that yes the individual that approached us was the same individual who has been identified as the shooter. >> so you spoke to this individual and then you've subsequently seen a picture of the suspect and you believe the person that asked you, is it republicans or democrats, is the person who is the shooter. >> that's right. i think the photos that we've seen match the description of the individual that approaches duncan's vehicle. >> did law enforcement show you those photos and ask for you to confirm the identity of the person you spoke to? >> no. i reported to capitol police. once his name was identified, i

typed his name into google images. he has a twitter account from the town in illinois that he's been identified from. i immediate hi sent it to duncan and say this is him, right? and jeff was like, yeah, that's him. we're both in agreement that that was the ge guy who approac our vehicle. >> had now not left when you did, is it our understanding that you would have been in the line of fire? >> i would have been at the third base. i would have been much closer to the shoot per. joef would have been closer too. it was the obvious thing that we were trying to beat the traffic. had we just decided to stay a little longer, who knows what would have happened. i still haven't come to terms with what has happened yet.

>> to the extent that you can, what was the demeanor of the shooter? at the moment you didn't think anything of it. but when you look back at it now and run it through your mind, does anything stand out? >> it was a little odd. this is a public field. people walk their dogs and everything. but it's not the type of thing that anyone necessarily goes and watches. and he was really interested in whether it was republicans o democrats and then he immedia immediately turned to the field. i just thought it was odd. i didn't think it was dangerous or anything and neither did jeff. once we heard the news of it, it clicked and we thought, this guy could be it. in hindsight once something happens, you think this fits. >> and i think we have an image that we can share. >> our first picture. >> i don't think you can see our signal. can you?

>> i cannot. >> we're showing a picture of a man, looks to be in his late 60s. he's been identified as james hodgkinson. but presumably that might be close to the picture you saw and you and congressman duncan having interacted with him. how do you feel, i guess is the question now, congressman desantis. i mean when you know what happened, you know your colleague steve scalise was shot, you know other staffers were shot, a capitol police officer. what is going through your mind right now. >> one, thank god for the capitol police. steve scalise as a member of leadership travels with a security detail. had steve not come to practice this morning, you would not have had any security at all. and i think this guy would have injured and killed a number of people. i think it would have been very ugly. those capitol police saved a lot of lives together. i also think about steve personally. he's a really good cheerful guy

and he loves this congressional baseball game. we've already raised $650,000 for charity. he dresses up in a nice uniform every practice. he was happy with me that i was playing this year. and every time he'd see me it was like, thanks for coming out, you're ripping the ball. stay with it. he was looking forward to play in the game. it looks like he's going to be fine, thank god for that. i don't know if they're going to play the game tomorrow night. i'm willing to play if they do. but it will be a little sad if steve is not able to play given how much it means to him. >> president trump expected to address the country at any moment now. what do you want to hear from the president? >> the president just needs to let the american people know that steve is a great guy, ask the american people to pray for a full recovery, as well as the others who were injured there. i don't draw any major conclusions -- >> congressman --

>> shortly after 7:00 a.m. this morning a gunman opened fire on members of congress and their staffs as they were practicing for tomorrow's annual charity baseball game. authorities are continuing to investigate the crime and the assailant has now died from niz injuries. the fbi is leading the investigation and will continue to provide updates as new information becomes available. congressman steve scalise, a member of house leadership, was shot and badly wounded and is now in stable condition at the hospital, along with two very courageous capitol police officers. at least two others were also

wounded. 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 during a very, very brutal assault. melania and i have grateful for their heroism and praying for the swift recovery of all victims. congressman scalise is a friend, and a very good friend. he's 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 after an entire nation and frankly the entire world. america is praying for you and america is praying for all of

the victims of this terrible shooting. i spoke with steve's wife, jennifer, and i pledged to her our full and absolute support, anything she needs. we're with her and with the entire scalise family. i have also spoken with chief matthew. she's doing a fantastic job. of the capitol police to express our sympathies for his wounded officers and to express my admiration for their courage. our brave capitol police perform a challenging job with their skill and their sacrifice makes democracy possible. we also commend the brave first responders from alexandria police, fire and rescue who rushed to the scene.

everyone on that field is a public servant. our courageous police, our congressional aides who work so tirelessly behind the scenes with enormous devotion and our dedicated members of congress who represent our people. we may have our differences, but we do well in times like these to remember that everyone who serves is our nation's capital is here because, above all, they love our country. 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. please take a moment today to cherish those you love and

always remember those who serve and keep us safe. god press them all, god bless you and god bless america. thank you. >> president trump speaking for a few moments from the white house and sounding a note of bipartisanship, offering his condolences and his well wish to steve scalise and the others who were injured and announcing that the suspect, this james t. hodge k k kinson had died. >> i think actually he probably died about an hour, a little over an hour ago. he was taken, we're told, to george washington university hospital here in washington, d.c., along with i think some of the other shooting victims. and we had heard an hour ago, beginning to hear from law

enforcement officials that they thought he had died in the hospital and we had been waiting for a third source on that when the president announced it. so it seems doubtful that they ever got any information out of him, whether he said anything when he was transported to the hospital that was useful, we don't know yet. but just a few minutes ago a law enforcement told me that obviously a big question now is what was his motive. he's got social media in which he's express some political view. you heard from the members of congress that he asked are these the republicans or the democrats that are playing. but what role that is, law enforcement can't go merely on what's on his social media and that kind of a comment. they're now pressing to find out exactly what the motivation was here. they will be searching his house, talking to relatives, trying to get a better picture

of why he came here, what he had in mind, whether he told anyone when he came here. but it's obvious that they knew who he was or felt they had a pretty good idea who he was shortly after the shooting when all of the shots were fired and they could get to him. they found an illinois driver's license in his pocket and that's what started the urgent work to figure out who he was, where he came from and why he did this. the second line of inquiry is the weapons. two weapons are being traced. there's an urgent trace under way by the bureau of alcohol, tobacco and firearms to figure out where he bought the weapons. if it was recent, that might help them to understand this. obviously the investigation takes a different course if the there's not going to be a prosecution it goes in a different direction. now the question is was anyone

else involved, did anyone help him, did anyone egg him on, did he tell anyone of his plans. they're still trying to figure it out. no way to answer those questions yesterday. but something to emphasize that we're been saying all morning, only because of the times that we live in, there's no indication that this was inspired by a terrorist group. >> pete williams there. pete, thank you. it was also interesting to hear president trump only speaking for a few minutes there, we may have our differences but everyone is here in washington, d.c. because we love our country. casey hunt at the capitol where members of congress are about to be briefed on today's shooting. casey? >> reporter: craig we have moved from where ywe spoke to you las down to outside of the congressional auditorium where is where this all hands meeting will take place to talk about what happened today. you may see some members of congress walk behind me to go in that meeting. congressman jeff duncan just

stopped to speak to reporters about his experience. pretty remarkable. he was with congressman desantis when a man that seems to share the same description as the man who has been identified as the shooter here spoke to him and asked, are these democrats oar are these republicans practicing on the field. and they gave him an answer. mr. duncan looked up at his clock to see how long it would take them to get to the capitol as they were departing. that was 7:02, just a few minutes before the events unfolded today. we're now hearing the congressman who representing the district where gabrielle giffords was hurt. on a personal note, we work every day with the capitol police officers who of course many of the congress people have said are the heroes. they're down here handing out pens with the capitol police shield.

>> president trump saying that the officers were able to take down the gunman despite being hit themselves. >> the story of heroism on the part of the capitol police officers is something we've heard again and again this morning. we want to go to tom costello. he's been at the scene all morning. good morning. i know you've spoken to a lot of witnesses. >> reporter: what's really remarkable is how consistent the stories have been. you know, as you cover news events over the years, very often the initial reports turn out to be not so true or maybe the initial impressions end up morphing into something that's different by the time the facts are sorted out. but at the moment, most of the facts stated by these witnesses, most of their descriptions of what happened have been consistent. and that is they dealt with or rather they heard dozens or hundreds of rounds being fired, that they thought that it was at least a semi automatic weapon and maybe also in addition to that a handgun, that this

individual who is described as a shorter stocky middle-aged man. we now know in his late 60s. that he approached people before this whole thing went down and said is that the republicans or the democrats practicing for the game. and they said republicans. and then shortly thereafter the shooting began. i arrived really very quickly on the scene, i would say within 40 minutes. and immediately i ran across -- i came across a witness who said that she was there on the field when this whole thing went down and that in fact she didn't know that they were capitol hill police officers but that officers were engaging and returning fire with the suspect and that one of those officers was shot and down. they braulought in an ems chopp. we now know there were two police officers shot, the congressional staffer, the suspect as well and congressman scalise. those reports of how it went down, how many shots were fired,

the type of weapon that was involved, the description of the suspect, the condition of the victims. we heard there were three red quite sirius and two yellow. not as serious. the suspect has died. all of that has been consistent throughout the morning. the other important headline for the people living in this immediate community is that the police have gone out of their way to say this is, they belief, a lone gunman. they did a complete sweep of the neighborhood in the immediate aftermath of this incident and they scoured the area to make sure that there wasn't another suspect at large and they were convinced that there was not. isolated one gunman taken out by capitol police. i'm curious what you would hear from casey hunt. but as it relates to capitol hill police, the fact that you had the gop whip here, obviously meant that there was a little bit of a higher level of security. if this had only been junior members of the house, i'm not sure you would have had the same

level of capitol police presence here on this baseball field. back to you. >> or any presence at all. >> we've been hearing that same thing. members of congress as you know, we've been covering washington for a long time, they generally walk around without any security whatsoever. but because scalise is in the leadership, he had a detail with him anobviously those officers performed heroically. i just saw a tweet from swalwell that the congressional baseball game will be played tomorrow obviously for charity but it will also be for the victim as ten heroic officers who took down the shooter. >> here here. jim cavanaugh is standing by for us now. jim, word from the president that the gunman is dead. besides in the on yus way, how does this change the investigation, other than not being able to talk to the suspect.

>> you want to interview the shooter to hear the motive directly from his mouth. we don't know if he was killed from fire from capitol police, alexandria police or may have put a bullet in his own head once he was wounded. clearly he knew he was on a mission that likely wouldn't end with him escaping. we could find a suicide note from this guy. it's likely a guy -- it has to be investigated. now there's not going to be a prosecution of this guy. so if he's a lone actor, there will be no prosecution of him. so it has to be looked at like he's a man choking on an empty grudge really. when you look at the motives for violent crime, greed, power, hate, revenge or escape. it's not going to be greed or es ta cape. it's going to be power, revenge. it's hard to get somebody else in your grudge, even if it's a

political grudge. but this clearly d lly -- the s of the fbi couldn't say it but i'm retired and i'm an analyst and i could say it, this is clearly an attempt to assassinate members of congress. no question about it. he's from illinois. he went outside of d.c., he asked the questions, we heard the congressman say it directly. he was clearly there to assassinate members of congress. so when you look at a suspect like that, you got to look at the motives for assassins and look at why they're doing it. and that's going to play a role in the investigation. and it's going to be -- it's not going to make sense to any of us but it's going to make sense in his mind and it's going to be similar to other grudges and things that assassins sometimes act on. they collect all of the grievances, they think they were wronged.

sometimes they shoot up their employer, sometimes they shoot at politicians, leaders, preside president, congressmen. >> we want to get back to casey hunt on capitol hill. you've got some new information for it? >> reporter: members are coming out of the all members briefing on the shooting with some news about the congressional baseball game itself. that game that raises money for charity, speaker ryan telling this group of members that the game will go on tomorrow as planned. and he received a standing ovation at that announcement. and i have to say i've spoken with several members today who were at this practice and they have almost to a person said the same thing, that they do want the game to go on. there are some members who suggested that maybe they should switch up the teams a little bit. typically the democrats play against the republicans, all in good fun. some suggestions, maybe they'll figure out a better way to split up the teams. but either way the game is going to go on. >> all right.

casey hunt with some breaking news. >> we've heard of course congressman scalise, his colleague was telling us who a fan he was of the game and it was his hope that the game would go on, and of course with special purpose now. congressman scalise is still in the hospital but out of surgery and we're told doing well and in good spirits. we're waiting on a condition of the man by the name of mika. we've got a facebook post from one of the people shot today, a young man who was a congressional aide to congressman williams. >> congressman scalise playing second base for the republicans. peter alexander is standing by for us there at the white house. and peter, a lot of folks were waiting to hear president trump, waiting to hear precisely in which direction he might go. it was a message of unification saying at one point when we work together for the common good we

are at our best. >> reporter: i think a lot of americans will be appreciative for those words of unity. for a little color behind the scenes, here at the white house, the president was joined by his vice president who was just behind the cameras, as well as ivanka trump and jared kushner and his speech writer. we did hear from ivanka trump a little bit ago as well. she just posted the following, saying our thoughts and prayers are with representative scalise and others injured in this morning's terrible incident. grateful to the first responders. this is a different day at the white house. the president had a public schedule. supposed to head to the department of labor this afternoon. instead they're going to have some meetings as planned taking place but it's certainly not going to follow the plan they had for the day. tomorrow, as you were talking with casey, is going to be one

of those unique moments where there's an opportunity really after a divisive campaign season and first few months of this administration like we've rarely seen in this country's history for all members of all sides to gather together at a big baseball stadium and try to come together in agreement that we're all americans before we're republicans and democrats. we have not found out whether the president will be attending tomorrow night's game or the vice president mike pence. we've reached out for more information on that. >> peter, thank you. >> hopefully a moment of unity. hans nichols is at the hospital where congressman scalise underwent surgery. >> reporter: we don't have an update on congressman scalise. we do have an update on matt mika. he worked for ten years at

tyson's food. before that for a lawmaker from michigan. he's been shot four or five times, according to friends of his, four to five times including chest wournnds. he's between critical and stable condition. i know that washington in the news is about the partisan conflict. it really is a small village. there's a chance you can bump into one, a republican, democrat or a reporter. this is one example of the shots affecting a broader group. all trying to pull together for someone they knew. there's a mixture of shock and outrage. a lot of people i talked to work for scalise or know him or passed him in the hall, other congressmen and staffers. they're outraged that something

like this could happen. everyone's thoughts and prayers are with everyone affected. behind me you see the entry into the emergency room here. this is one of two big hospitals. they do trauma here. they're really known for their specialty work. the other trauma hospital is george washington university a little further downtown where some of the other victims have been taken as well. >> hans nichols there for us. earlier this morning we heard from texas congressman joe barton. he's actually the manager of the baseball team. he actually brought his young son with him as well. let's listen to a portion of that interview. >> look, we were at batting practice. we have a congressional baseball game we play every year. a shooter came out to practice, starting shooting. he shot at trent kelly, our third baseman, sot az steve scalise, our second baseman, he

hit steve scalise. scalise's security detail and capitol hill police immediately began to return fire. and alexandria police also immediately came and began to return fire. they shot the shooter and i think the security detail saved a lot of lives because they attacked the shooter. the heroes are the capitol hill police, alexandria police and steve scalise's security detail. >> reporter: do you know what the shooter looked like? >> he was a middle-aged man, blue jeans and a blue shirt. i think he was anglo. and he has a rifle and i think he had an automatic pistol. >> reporter: can you tell us what it must have been like in the idealic setting to suddenly

have this kind of thing -- >> look. there's going to be all kinds of -- i'm the manager of the team. several people, security people were hit, one of our staffers were hit. scalise was hit. i've talked to the speaker, i have talked to capitol hill police. i'm sure there will be a general statement later on. luckily no one appeared to be killed. and again i just want to thank the security the suspects home in illinois. that's the scene. then we see a member of law enforcement standing out there. let's bring in pete williams. hi, pete.

>> you can see atf folks there. there are lots of agencies involved with this. you may well ask yourself, why are they just standing there? may guess would be they're waiting for a search warrant. that's the way these things normally go. the authorities, when they get someone's identity, although they've had this identity now i think for probably four hours, but how long it will take them to get a search warrant and since we're just getting these pictures now perhaps they've already received it and these are people outside protecting the area but this is going to be the standard response here to get -- once you have the person identified and, as we've been saying they moved pretty quickly on this because there was a driver's license the suspect had in his pocket and that allows them to begin to get information on where this person was from. this person has been identif