good morning. breaking news, a massive fire engulfs a london apartment building overnight. panicked residents trapped inside. some using bedsheets to escape. at least six people have died. more than 50 others injured. the building still smoldering this morning. and there's fears it could collapse. we'll be there, live. breaking nov ining overnigh warmbi warmbier, held in a prison, returns to the u.s. the 22-year-old in a coma, rushed to a hospital. what happened to him? and why the north korean government decide to release him? not mincing words. attorney general jeff sessions feisty and defensive during a tense

>> what are they? >> that -- why don't you tell me? >> strongly denying any collusion between the trump campaign and russia during the election. >> it is an appalling and detestable lie. >> but why did he refuse to talk about his private conversations with the president? all that, plus another ugly incident for the airlines. bill cosby's tv daughter speaking out in an exclusive live interview. and a father's day promotion strikes out big-time. today, wednesday, june 14th, 2017. >> from nbc news, this is "today," with matt lauer and savannah guthrie. live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. good morning, everybody. welcome to "today." it's a wednesday morning. so glad to have you with us. craig's in for matt this morning. it's a busy morning. your world. we have it covered for you. we start with therea ne in

fire ripping through a high-rise as hundreds of residents left. >> the images are heart breaking. people are trapped inside. some had to jump to safety. others waving towels and flashlights trying to signal for help. this is a live shot of the building. the smoke is still pouring out. firefighters are still in there battling the hot spot. let's go to bill neely on the scene for us. bill, good morning. what's the latest >> reporter: goomorning. it's still burning 11 hours after this fire started. 24 stories high. hundreds inside at the time. firefighters are still going floor to floor. six dead confirmed at this time. but police say that number will rise. nightmare in the dark. a london tower block consumed by fire. hundreds trapped inside. firefighters battling for hours to get them out. trapped residents

one woman dropped a baby from the 9th floor. >> the baby just dropped in a straight line, and a guy just ran forward and the baby fell into his arms. >> reporter: survivors told me they could hear people screaming for help. >> they were there, but you can't get to them, and the fire just went, and it just took them. >> reporter: there are nearly 200 apartments inlo up to 1,000 residents. lond londone chief said there are many dead. >> at this time i am sad to confirm there haveeen a number of fatalities. >> reporter: dozens of residents have been fake taken to hospitals. this mother w inside. >> luckily she made it out. nearly nine hours on in this

24-story tower is still blazing. there are fears the block would collapse. >> reporter: the cause of the fire isn't known. residents say they've been warning of fire safety for years. the tower was recently ren nated at a cost of $11 million. people say there was no central fire alarm this morning. >> there was no fire alarm. the building, we don't have a fire alarm system. >> reporter: seri questions for authorities after a catastrophic fi that's still being fought. >> and this smoke can be seen across london. although they say the official cause of the fire is not known. we've heard from several residents that one man reported his refrigerator caught fire and the flames spread quickly. very bad news expected later in the day as police say the number of fatalities will rise. >> heart breaking scene. bill neely, thank you. wewa

residents we hear briefly in the piece. he was on the 17th floor. he escaped with his girlfriend and aunt. good morning. it's so good to syou. i'm so glad your family is okay. can you tell us what happened last night? >> we were up watching a movie, and we heard the sirens of the fire trucks. there was no alarm in the building. there's no integrated alarm system. so we looked outside and saw the fire trucks, got spooked. i went outside to check the lift to see if there was any activity. it seemed quiet, but i could smell the smoke. we went inside. i looked out the window, and i could see the flames coming out from underneath. really rapidly, and we tried to get out of there -- i woke up my aunty, and with the help of my girlfriend, we moved fast so that we could move slow d

and his wife, and yeah. they were right behind us by a couple of minutes, but we were able to move with kind of some order but right behind us apparently chaos broke out. i feel like we were just minutes away from real disaster. my aunty is an elderly lady and needed the time to get down. >> is everyone you know, are they out of the building? did everybody you know get out? >> i don't know. i don't know everydy in the building by name, but we all know each other by face. it's full and family and children. i've seen a lot of people. so happy to see them. but there's a lot of people i haven't seen either. i don't think to think the worst, but it's really worrying. >> and what do you see through the night and this morning? you were definitely one

of that building so fast. it sounds like so many people were trapped on some of the higher floors. >> yeah. we were -- when we got outside, i saw that in the initial fire i saw underneath me, by the time we got down which took about 10 to 12 minutes, had risen along the length of the building. the building caught fire like a candle. and we were outside. we were looking up and we could see people inside waving at us. we were telling them to come down, but they were waving back which makes me feel like maybe they couldn't -- because there was already smoke when we were going down the stair well. i feel maybe the smoke got worse and people were scared to take the risk of i suppose suffocation. >> thank you for spending time with us this morning and telling your story. our hearts go out to you and your family and everyone you shared that building with. thank you.

ohio imprisoned in north carolina for 17 months is back on u.s. soil carried off the plane in a coma. gabe gutierrez is at the hospital where he's being treated. gabe, good morning. >> reporter: goomorning. he's being treated at the university of cincinnati medical center. no details are being released about his exact condition. his parents say he has been in a coma since shortly after his imprisonment. a bizarre turn of events for an american colleg student caught up in a geo political nightmare. this man finally reunited with his family and taken to the hospital. a stunning home koming after 17 months of imprisonment in north korea. >> at the president's direction, the department of state has secured the release of the college student. >> reporter: thisni a growing mystery about how the 22-year-old ended up gravely

koreans claim he contracted botulism and fe into the coma after taking a slngil that has not been verified. in a statement to the prez, his family says we want the world to know how we and our son have been terrorized by the regime. the university of virginia student had been on a tour of the country when in january of 2016 he was detained for stealing a propaganda poster from his hotel and sentenced to 15 years of hard labor. since then the u.s. had worked with swedish officials to secure his release, but it wasn't until this month an american officials say they learned of his medical condition. today ribbons of support in his hometown. the surprise announceme coming on the same day dennis rodman touched down in north korea for his fifth visit. >> open the doors. >> reporter: but the state

department says rma had nothing to do with the release. it came amid rising tensions with the regime. >> north korea's reckless rhetoric continue despite united nations sanctions. >> reporter: again, the hospital here is not releasing any exact details about his condition. but his family plans to speak publicly at a news conference tomorrow. >> gabe gutierrez for us. >> let's turn to bill richardson. secretary richardson, good morning. as i mentioned, you were working on this for more tn ye, and apparently he has been in a coma for the bulk of that time. were you shocked to learn that and what do you t caused that condition? >> i was absolutely shocked. my representatives and my foundation have bn meeting in the last year at least 20

with the north koreans in new york to try to secure the release of otto a find out his condition. make sure the swedish government have access to him for a lot of medical reasons, and they never said anything about his condition. i think their as are unc unconscionab una ieir excuse of botulism in taking a sleeping pill is wrong. i think there's a coverup going on. we spoke to the family. they called our foundation spokesman yesterd morning, gave us a heads up of what was happening. this is a wonderful family. this is a fine young marn, but he's in a coma, and the question is why didn't the north koreans disclose this under international law why has he been in a coma for 17

just his parents, the international comty. and the united states. this is very, veiou >> ambassador, i can't believe i'm actually asking this question, but dennis rodman arrived there yesterday, the same day of mthe release. they say there's no correlation. do you buy that? >> reporter: yes. i think dennis rodman has been there before. the fact is he has a relationship with kim jong-un. he's the only game in town. they may be telling him something about otto's condition or about a potential dialogue. i don't think so. i don't think he would be a good diplomatic channel, but he's the only american that's ever spoken to kim jong-un, so what we have is a situation that's totally uncertain, but i think the focus has to be not just

warmer but there are three other americans and a canadian. they should release them immediately, pe after this. >> i know you'llnu work on this. i know the state department and secretary tillerson are working on it. thank you and giur regards to the family. >> there's much more to get to today including fallout from jeff sessions capitol hill testimony. he denied any contacts with russians about the presidential election. while ede t says sessions did a, quote, very good job, some lawmakers say he didn't answer enough. peter alexander is at the white house. peter, good morni >> good moin mmoats toy saying jeff sessions was bobbing and weaving. the president is praising sessions' performance. this was a dramatic day of testimony. the nation's top prosecutor playing defense often indignant insisting

line with russia. less forthcoming about his conversations with the president. attorney general jeff sessions fiercely defending himself on questions of coordination with russia. >> the suggestion that i participated in any collusion, that i was aware of any collusion with th run government to hurt this country is an appalling and detestable lie. >> reporter: and on the parameters from his russia probe. >> i did not recuse myself from defending my honor against false allegations. >> reporter:sessns' testimony before the senate intelligence committee often contentious. >> i am not stone called. >> reporter: including this heated exchange about testimony about james comey. suggesting there we problematic reasons for the

>> what are they? >> there are none. i can tell you that for certainty. this is a secret innuendo being leaked out there about me, and i don't appreciate it. >> reporter: sessions also contradicting the account he did little about the request comey never be left alone with the president. >> he did not tell me at that time any details about anything that was said that was improper. >> reporter: havin acknowledged initially two undisclosed brief meetings with the russian ambassador, sessions denied there were a third in the may flower hotel, but says they could have cross passed. >> nothing improper if i had a consideration wit him, and it's conceivable that occurred. i just don't remember it. >> reporter: democrats pouncing on what he wouldn't

sessions repeating it would be inappropriate to discuss his private conversations with the president. later cross examined. >> i want you to be honest. >> i'm not able to be rushed this fast. it makes me nervous. >> reporter: also this morning the white house is knocking down speculation fuel one of the president's own confidants that he might look to fire robert mueller. aides have been advocating against this idea. a spokesperson saying while the president has eve rit to fire him, he has no intention to do so. >> all right. peter alexander for us. thank you. >> now to the ugly incident caught on camera at an airport. you can see what appears to be a passenger being pushed to the ground by an airline employee in houston. tom costello covers aviation for us. tom, good morning. here we go again. >> reporter: yeah. good morning. this occurred in

an affiliate of nbc obtained this video which shows an airline employee shoving a 71-year-old man. the man is suing the airline. it was just two months ago a doctor was dragged down the aisle of a plane by security officers in chicago. this morning united airlines is back in the headlines. kprc obtained surveillance video from 2015 that shows a 71-year-old man b pushed to the ground in a ticketing area by a customer service representative. >> he laid there lifeless for several minutes. not one employee comes to check on him. they left him there like a piece of garbage. >> reporter: that ns suing united. he was asking for a new boarding pass. they came the man laughed and

>> that's when he says i'll kick your [ bleep ] and shoves him to the ground. >> reporter: aft lying at no time floor for nearly a minute, he got help from another passenger. when a united airlines worker called 9-1-1, he cade not say the man was pushed. >> what's the emergency? >> there's a 70-year-old male that's fallen down. >> okay. is he awake right now? >> i don't know. >> you know the cause of the fall? >> no. >> reporter: overnig united released a statemt that reads in part, we've seen the video from 2015 shows unacceptable behavior by a united employee. this employee is no longer with our company. the conduct shown here does not reflect our values or our commitment to treat all our customers with respect and dignity. >> reporter: anoth incident this morning, this one occurred overnight at newark airport involving united airlines. flight 170 bound for italy as they were pulling

gate, passengers began to notice fuel gushing out of the wing. they actually thought it was coming out so fast and strong it almost looked like a fire hose. they notified the crew. the crew immediately stopped the plane, called in the personnel to check it, and, in fact, they were dealing with a significant fuel leak. they thanked those passengers for speaking up or saying something when they saw something. that flight was cancelled and all those passengers spnt the night in newark rebooked on flights today. a close call averted. >> about to go on a long haul flight. can you imagine? >> and now a check on the weather. mr. roker is in kentucky this morning. good to see you, al. >> good morning. we are at fort campbell, kentucky. we are at the 104 first airborne. this is our big father's day surprise for one special

we want to talk about severe weather firing up today. we're already looking at strong storms throughout the plains. and it's going to be pushing east. as it does, we have a risk of strong storms stretching from chicago, cincinnati, all the way down to oklahoma city. we'll get to your local forecast coming up in the next 30 seconds. outside plenty of sunshine. it is plenty warm as well. temperatures are in the mid to upper 70s already. and even though it'

now, it will not be quite as hot later today as it has been the last several days. yesterday was 95. most areas in the mid to upper 80s today. a lot of warmth and humidity. showers and thunderstorms likely after 3:00 today. here's future weather to help you plan it out. there's the chances of thunderstorms b 4:00. that continues into this evening. be umbrella ready. >> that is your latest weather. all right. al, thank you. coming up, the desperate man hunt underway for two escaped georgia inmates accused of killing their guards. also bill cosby's tv daughter speaking out in an exclusive live interview. first, this is "tayonbc. ive liv. first this, is "today" on nbc.

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this is a news 4 today newsbrea good morning. it's 7:26 on this wednesday june 14th. >> in the news this morning, we know who's facing on in the race for the governor of virginia. the results are in. ed gillespie and ralph northam are the respective party's nominees. gillespie's opponent refused to concede. the election november 7th. this substitute teacher has been arrested and fired from fairfax county schools. police are asking parents to call child

he arranged to have sex with a young girl and he arrested them. a look at a problem on the beltway. inner loop disabled vehicle. take a look here. northbound gw south of montgomery, cras reported in the two right lanes. southbound 95 and maryland after 32, lanes opened after the crash. and bw parkway between m.d. 198 and 197, crash on the left shoulder. a check on the forecast is coming up nex

a warm and dry start to the day. we're at $79 this morning. afternoon highs not as warm as the last couple days. upper 80s

thunderstorms between 4:00 and 8:00. off and on rain chances for the next few days. >> thank you, chuck. >> back to the "today" show after this break vo: delivering cleaner, reliable energy... creating jobs for our veterans... helping those in need save money on their energy bills. it takes 16,000 dominion energy employees doing the job. and now, dominion energy is investing $15 billion to build and upgrade our electric and natural gas infrastructure... creating jobs now and for the future. across virginia, we're building an economy that works for everyone and dominion energy is helping power the companies that power our economy.

♪ 7:30 7:35 on this wednesday morning. we like to say around here that is where the magic happens. the control center. >> the hard working crew of the "today" show just below our studio. good morning. i'm savannah alongside hoda and craig. matt is under the weather. >> yes. he'll be back soon. >> a lot happening overnight. let's get to the headlines. at least six people have died in a devastating apartment fire in london. officials expect that number will rise. it started on a lower floor of a 24-story building and quickly spread. at least 50 people are being treated for injuries this morning. we'll get a live report from the scene in a mot.

last night after his sudden release from a north korean prison. the young man his parents say is in a coma. he was taken immediately by ambulance to a cincinnati hospital. he was arrest january of last year and sentenced to 15 years hard labor accused of stealing a political propaganda poster. and jurors are resuming deliberations afte failing to reach a verdict on tuesday in the cosby case. the jury must decide if he is guilty of druggind leing andrea constand. they spent 12 hours behind closed doors reviewing key pieces of evidence, including excerpts from his deposition in a 2005 civil case. coming up we'll speak to a fellow actor who accompanied him to the trial. first, this terrible apartment fire in london. bill neely is on the scene for us this morning. bill, what's the

>> reporter: goomorning. the entire block is still burning. the smoke, seen across the capital. hundreds of people inside this block at the time. the official cause still not known. but i've been hearing heart breaking stories from people who saw residents inside the block screaming from window people saying save my child. one woman says she saw another woman throw her baby from the ninth floor which remarkably was caught, she says, by a neighbor. firefighters still inside going floor to floor. i've also been talking to one resident who said this building was a death trap. it was renovated over the past year at a cost of $11 million. but plastic clating was put on the outside, and the resident said the fire which started on the second floor made the building go up like a candle. he also says there was no central alarm system and no

just one stairwell which sounds absolutely incredible. there are a lot of questions being asked here. the police said just over an hour ago that six people are confirmed dead, but that number, they say, is expected to rise. back to you guys. >> an awful story. bill, thank youe much. another major story we're following this morning. the nationwide man hunt for two escapeden inmates in georgia. they overpowered and then killed two guards on a transport bus before getting away. nbc kerry sanders has the latest. >> reporter: it's now been 24 hours since the two inmates made their deadly escape. investigators say e two inmates at this point who are believed to still be traveling together could be halfway across the country. >> 43-year-old donny rose serving life behind bars, 24-year-old ricky

on a prison transport bus. an on board security camera showed the cold-blooded murder of two guards. >> they got into the driver's compartment, overpowered the guards, obtained their weapons, and shot and killed both of the corrections afrss. >> reporter: susan dun heard the shots and snapped shots shortly after. >> it was quick succession, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, and then a sound, a scream, a yell, something. then nothing. dead silence. >> reporter: murdered corrections officers 58-year-old curt us blue, a family man, and 42-year-old christoer monniaca, a father of two girls. the mayor was with officer

learning he'd been murdered. >> he had to get up to 2:30 to go to work. last night for some reason she got up and hugged his neck and told him she loved him before he left. she has that memory. >> reporter: they carjacked this honda civic and about 30 miles from the escape, authorities say they broke into a home, ditching their prison uniforms, changing clothes. later spotted in a family dollar store. both inmates armed with nine millimeter pistols. authorities assume they have nothing to lose. this morning the loss of life says the sheriff is both painful and personal. >> i saw two brutally murdered corrections officers. that's what i saw. i have their blood on my shoes. >> reporter: there's now a 70,000 reward for the capture after these two men. federal agents have joined in with state

inmates. the sheriff says his fear is these two inmates who are believed to still be armed know what's happened and likely fear -- or believe they have nothing to lose. so law enforcement fears they could kill again. back to you. >> all right. kerry sanders for us. thank you. al is out in kentucky. he has a check on the weather. later he's going to be a big surprise. al, good morning. >> good morning. fort campbell, kentucky, and we're going to surprise a conserving dad in a little bit. let's talk about this heat. it's going to get hot here in kentucky. temperatures in t 90s. it's cooling down in the east. let's go to the maps and show you. we are looking at out west that big dome of high pressure upper level high. that's going to make for hot conditions through t southwest. in fact, we haeaadsoes for 20 million people from california into the southwest. temperatures are going to be getting up well over 100 degrees from

fresno through sunday and that spreads into the southwest as well with triple digits stretching from death valley all the way to tucson. the rest of the country cooling off in the northeast and new england. strong storms through the northern plains. gulf coast looking at wet weather. sunshine from texas to the west. that's what's going on around the country. here's what's hang i your neck of the woods. >> not getting that hot out there. not as hot as yesterday. temperatures 70s. annapolis at 80. and we'll contin see the temperatures ri io t upper 80s for daytime highs today. it is going to be a little warm and a little on the humid side. we'll have the temperatures moving up and up. now, again, temperatures are going to be in e upper 80s. we have a chance for showers and thunderstorms after about 2:00 a.m. until about 8:00 p.m. tonight. >> and that's your latest weather. get the weather any time you need it. go to the weather

television and attended part of the bill cosby trial this week. she's speaking out in an exclusive live interview. we'll catch up with her right after this. it's kate's laid-back beach look and with the complimentary help of his ethan allen designer, paul created a look that's...well, really paul. now save 20% on your total purchase. design your look today.

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including keshia knight pulliam. she's with us this morning exclusively. good mornin >> good morning. >> obviously you have a long history with bill cosby. why was it important to you to be at the trial? and did you have any reservations ab given the nature of the accusations? >> it was important for me to be there because at the end of the day, i truly believe you're innocent until proven guilty. that's just not the man that i ever experienced. and i just thought about it how would i want to be treated if god forbid i was in that situation? and the true test of family, of friendship of just loyalty comes. it's easy to be there for someone when things are good, money is good, when all of these things, but i just felt like i wanted to do what i would have wanted to receive. >> you have a special insight into bill cosby. you were there for the first time and have been communicating with him a little bit over the course of the trial. what would you say his state of mind is right now? >> i feel -- i can't speak to

interactions wi him, he's been in good spirits. he's been upbeat. knowing mr. cosby is no know that he's the comedian. there's always that kind of sense of laughter. i was grateful to see that his spirit hadn't been broken as a result of the process. it's arduous. there's nothing happy. there's nothing go about it for either side. either side. it's just not a good situation. >> i know you said you'll accept the verdict no matter what it is. if he is found guilty, will that change your opinion of him at all? >> you know, i'm going to have to cross that bridge when i come to it. i'll be disappointed. however, it won't change the love. because when you have family, people falter. people make mistakes. things happen. in no w is that condoning. as a graduate of a all

a daughter, it's nothing that i take lightly or that i condone in any way, shape, or form, but he's still a person. he's still a father, a husband, a parent, someone's son. >> did you learn anything in the course of the trial? obviously the ju is out. and we don't know what the jury will decide. there was evidence in the trial in which mr. cosby acknowledged, for example, giving drugs to women that he wanted to have sexual relations with. when you hear that, how do you square that with t person that you know? >> what i can say is i was there for the opening argument for both the prosecution and the defense. i didn't hear the testimony which you're speaking to. but what i do know is the judge was very adamant that the jury's job and it's not ours. we don't hear all the evidence, but they're the ones who are going to hear every piece, every shred of evidence. it's for them to make a decision, not based on bias or anything elseep

facts of the case. and i trust they'll do a good job with that. >> a lot of people, i guess, are looking at bill cosby and wondering did we really know him? they see that magazine article and you have all these accusers who have come forward. how do you feel abo that? >> well, i feel like this. everyone has their own experience and things they've done, whether the proud of them or not. and he's clear that yes, he has been unfaithful to his wife. and something that i've said before, that is between the two of them, and the only people who know exactly what happened were the two people in the room at that given time. and ultimately, if she chooses to forgive him for those things, that's between the two of them. and it's just a hard situation. however you toss it, however you slice it or look at it, it's not a favorable situation. >> keshia knight pulliam, it's good to have you here.

to have you wit us. >> thank you. thank you. let's head to carson in the orange room. good to see you. >> good morning. here's the question for you. is this an epic father's day fail? we'll get your take on that? one of the weirdest baseball promotions we've ever seen. we'll tell you more about it right after this.

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all righ we're back. carson, i know i said this before, but you have a doozy this morning. >> this is a good one. jacksonville's minor league baseball team is running an interesting promotion for tomorrow's home game. they're called the jumbo shrimp. here's the promotion. they're calling it the you might be the father's day promotion. that's right. they say they're going to be distributing pregncy tests that you'll know if you need to return for sunday's father's day game. it's an evening filled with suspense, intrigue, and envelopes. that's right. fa are going to get a discount on beer and a pregnancy test. social media lits up on this. one of the most pro moes ever. on the other side, one is disagreeing saying the organization gets more ridiculous everyday. how embarrassing for the city of jacksonville. we asked on twitter what do you think? is

it was 50/50. now it's hitting a little goes too far. the jumbo shrimp have other unique promotions scheduled. superhero day, nothing as bold as father's day. what do you think? >> i don't know. i want to have a good sense of humor, but it feels like maybe that's over the line. >> and a new product they are using to dodge red light tickets and they are putting you at risk on the roads? >> and al with another surprise for a deservi d

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breaking news right now. we don't have a lot of information but we are learning that multiple people have been shot in alexandria. this happened at simpson baseball field on eastman. police believe they have the suspect in custody. we don't know exactly what happened, what led up to this multiple shooting. we have justin finch there as well as others headed to the scene on top of the story. follow them on twitter for the latest on the breaking updates. also police are telling anyone who lives or wks around eastman avenue to stay away from this area. now let's get a c othe forecastex

temperatures will make it into the upper eighty. we'll have the humidity between 2:00 and 8:00 p.m. humidity drops for another. another chance for storms and we keep daily chances hidi rises friday into the weekend. a shooting in alexandria. we'll update everything in our app. for right now, over to aaron gilchrist. >> thank you. we are staying on top of this breaking news as we approach the 8:00 hour. alexandria police investigating a shooting in the 400 block of east mo

it happened about 7:30 this morning. it puts it close to the delray neighborhood. east monroe avenue runs up to jeff davis highway to route 1 and over to mt. vernon avenue, and right there below jeff davis highway on that road on east monroe there is a baseball field and a dog park in that area. it puts it across the street from a grocery store and a ymca facility. we know alexandria police have shut down this area at this point. they have cordoned off the area close to the baseball field. as you might know, there are several homes and businesses a coffee shop close to this area. several other sma businesses. this would be a busy part of that area of alexandria at this point in the morning. alexandria polic ha swarm third down area and shut down some of the roads surrounding the baseball diamond for

know at this point they are looking at at least several people having been shot early this morning. the circumstances, why folks may have gathered in that area? we're not clear on. we're working to gather the latest detail on that. we have several crews headed to the scene. we want to go to a nbc news special report already in progress. >> more coming in the next few minutes. a tremendous amount of emergency equipment here in alexandria, virginia with police, fire rescue all on the scene and allegedly one gunman taken into custody. >> there are rerts a member of congress had beeshot. we're not clear yet whether or not that identityee confirmed. we have no report at this hour of any fatalities. as tom mentioned, potentially multiple shots fired. >> tom, you mentd

is this an area in lockdown? do they believe this is a gunman that acted alone in do they think he may be part of something larger and the caveat being this is early and all the information is preliminary? >> there is so much police activity in this area. i'm still not able to get right up to the scene itself. i'm a couple of blocks away. and as you would expect, with this much police activity, the streets are a bit locked down at the moment. difficult to get in close. i can't answer your question as to whether they think other players might b involved. we have a report that at least one gunman may be in custody at this point. there are members of congress tweeting out updates on themselves and reporting that multiple shots were fired. and that one report has it that a rifle was involved in the shooting. but we don't have t independently confirmed. nbc has confirmed the republican whip, a congressman in leadership in the uni

who was shot. unclear on what his condition is at the moment. i want to go to peter alexander at the white house. i see sean spicer has said that both the president and vice president have bn briefed. peter, what more u tell us. >> reporter: w hearing from sean spicer. he has close relationships with members of congress that includes steve scalise. writing both the idt d the vicpridt aw of the developing situation adding our thoughts and prayers are with all affected today. there are reports right now so far not yet independently confirmed by nbc news that scalise was hit in the hip by gunfire today. other reports, a lot of this through twitter. one suggesting another republican lawmak actl used his

try to stop the bleeding. it took place in the delray area that has been a gentry if iing area. it's an area that's had problems with crime in the past. at this point unclear whether, in fact, the victims here, the individuals who hit were specifically targeted or if this was just violence that happened to take place in that area. but about this congressional baseball game that's at least as of this morning scheduled to take place at the home of the washington nationals baseball team, this is really one of the few bipartisan opportunities that still exists in washington with the deeply divided congress right now. this is a chance for everybody to come together dsi tomorrow night. it's the reason why so many lawmakers get up for an early morning practice. we'll work to get new details on exactly who was t by the bullets. >> we're just getting this information, so forgive us as we try to put it togee nbc has been able to

that steve scalise, one of the republican leaders in the congress was among those shots. we believe there were multiple shots fired, and there is another congressman there at the time, is my understanding, and may have been involved as peter mentioned in administering aid. we're continuing to gather facts. >> peter, stand by with us at the white house. let's get to tom costello. on his way to the baseball field. at this point since our last conversation, we'rle confirm it was congressman scalise shot. awaiting an update on his condition. can you descre for us the scene where you are right now? >> yes. >> reporter: i' managed to get up to the field, and there's a series of recreational fields, soccer fields, baseball fields and the like. a very heavy police presence blocking all roads going into that area around the baseball field. so for several

and ems personnel on the scene as well as police. we don't see any at this moment, don't see any officers who are tactically armed. in other words, we don't see any signs of s.w.a.t. that doesn't mean they're not here. it may mean is scene is big enough, it's difficult to see where police are. also police helicopters above the scene. >> tom, you've been around washington a long time. if a member of congress is in a recreational settg like this practicing baseball, is there any kind of security detail that goes along with that member of congress? >> i really don't believe so. not for a typical member of congress. for the most part, as you know, they kind of come and go. they may or may not have a security individu watching over them or there for their protection, but this is not the kind of protection you would get with the president or the vice president or even a cabinet member, as you know. >> this picture right now for our viewers at home, this is a

this is alexandria, virginia. over the bridge, washington d.c. a word of shots fired at a congressional basell game practice waiting to get a little bit more details here. tom costello for us on the phone. telling us the scene right now, roads blocked into the fields. fire and ems, a large presence, of course, obviously, there as well. waiting to find out more about the suspect. tom, i know that iiced a short time ago there are reports that there's a suspect in custody. do you have any more information on that? >> i'm afraid i don't, craig. and candidly, as i try to make my way closer to the command post, i'm not even at this moment in a position to ask the police for an update. so you may have a little bit quicker access to information through the network news desk than i do at the moment. >> and obviously we're all over that. there are a lot of conflicting reporon

and this is one of the times we try to take a deep breath and have caution because this is often in the early hours we get information that ultimately changes. we want to be as careful as we can be, but we know a congressman has bn sh and apparently thereas shooter that we know of so far who fired multiple shot at the baseball practice. >> i was in washington d.c. over the weekend, and there was a great deal of talk about the game. we'll get to in a moment. these are the first pictures from the baseba field we're getting in in northe virginia. first pictures from the scene. difficult to dis fm this vantage point. >> is this a live picture? it is a live picture. >> we heard from tom that this is an area where you've gotten in the distance to the right, you can see what appear to be baseball fields. a soccer field in the front. peter alexander still standing by for us with more information. pete, what do you have? >> we're hearing from the alabama congressman moe brooks

baseball practice as this took place. he's saying in interviews behind third base on this practice field he saw a rifle and then he heard steve scalise, his colleague, the repuic screaming over near second base. he said scalise then bleeding crawled into the outfield. he's detalging the scene. he says the two members of the congressional security detail were among those shot which is important. it indicates that these lawmakers did ha members of their own security teams with them at the time. he also said that the shooter was hit by gunshots by security who apparently were firing back at the time. he describes when it happened he was in the on deck circle. basically just alongside home base. he was looking in the outfield. as he mentioned, he saw someone, a shooter behind third base. he saw the rifle, and that's when shots were fired. he is saying there were at least 50 shots, 50 shots or perhaps

communicating sofar. this again coming from moe brooks, one of those republican members of congress at the baseball practice taking place early this morning. the shooting said to have taken place shy of an hour ago at about 7:15 this morning. >> it sounds like congressman brooks is giving an interview. we have not had a chance to talk to him ourselves. it sounds like he's describing the situation that's harrowing. he reportedly is also somebody who was able to try to help aide steve scalise. some people talked about him using his belt as a tourniquet to address some of the bleeding. we don't have any word right now on the congressman's condition. whether he's at the hospital, where he is right w. these softball practices are a right of summer in washington and members of congress and staffers go. there would have ui a few people the baseball field. alexandria j virginia is right

d.c. and you can see the capital from alexandria. >> can you clear up some confusion? the reports are that congressman scalise has been shot. we have that confirmed. can you confirm wer staffers have been shot as well? >> reporter: i can only base my reporting on what moe brooks is saying. he says that steve scalise, the majority whip was among those shot. he said he believes one staffer was hit as well a two members of the congressional detail. he said he thought about five people were wounded. we don't have specifics on their conditions and in terms of the number of injuries right now we don't know. >> all right. peter, thank you. i don't know if we have tom to check back in with who was make higz way to the baseball field and i believe arrive tatd scene. are you with us? >> yes, i am. let me tell you that meanwhile a block and two blocks away from the scene you've got a

school kids and clearly their last day of school. all of them walking to school. true, this is a very sensitive area. these kids with backpacks, shorts and t shirts on a hot day in the washington d.c. area. all making their way to the local schools. so business as usual in the blocks surrounding us. but the police focus is very much on the scene on the ballpark scene right there, the fields, just a block or two away from the schools. and a very heavy police presence as well. we've not seen anymore ambulances rushing in through the area. in other words, one would ascertain just paced on that body language that perhaps, in fact, the situaon is contained at this moment. >> and i was having the same thought. we were looking at this live shot, and we can see some of the emergency personnel that are there. but they do not seem to be in a state of trying to actively protect a scene or

somebody. so perhaps it is the case that whatever has unfolded and transpired thismorning, it's somewhat under contr at this moment. it's scary when you talk about the school kids who are walking right through tha area. >> and you mentionhechl kids. you can see regular passers by there as well appearing to go through what appears to be an area cordoned off with police tape. tom, you're making your way to the command center to try to talk to officials. when you get more concrete information, let us know. but, again, this is a situation that may be, hopefully, contained at this point. >> i'm reading a tweet from the democratic whip. he's the democratic counterpart to steve scalise in the congress. he said he's monitoring reports of the situation thinking of his friend steve scalise and his staff. we're just really starting to get this information as it comes

and here we ha a shot. this is from twitter of a helicopter arriving at the scene. perhaps a med vac. it's hard to make out. >> peter alexander a few moments ago on our air doing reporting based on congressman moe brooks from alabama. congressman brooks was giving an interview and during the course of the interview according to peter, sort of recounted what appears to have happened shortly after 6:00 a.m. someone behind the third baseline at this park in northern virginia heard a rifle. shortly thereafter, saw steve scalise, the congressman, the majority whip, crawling into the outfield. he was bleeding profusely, according to congressman brooks who was also on the scene there. the eyewitness also telling us that the shooter appeared to have been hit by gunshots. there are still a number of things we do not know at this

is the suspect in custody? was the suspect perhaps even shot and killed on the scene there? did he act alone? according to tom costello this is an area now that appears to be -- appears to be somewhat, the situation appears to be under control to a certain extent. >> i think we have somebody who might be able to shed light. i think i have on the phone charles. charles, you were just on your way to workout and you passed the scene. do i have that right? what happened? >> i came upon the scene when all the police cars were arriving. i came in the said door because the front door was blocked. i came into the gym and people were visibly shaken. a woman i work out with generally next to me named amber had been leaving the y and someone took the first shot. it went above her head, went through the glass. and went through another interior piece of glass and into the pool area and they t

baseball field? can you give us a sense of how close this was? >> 75 yards. it's adjacent. >> what have you heard from other witnesses and the young lay duh you mentioned about what happened this morng in. >> she said she thought some of the shots might have come from law enforcement b wasn't sure because they were shoing the shooter and took the shooter down, and there were three bodies out on againnies they were attending to. and then a chopper came and pulled at least one of them out of here. we can't see who anyone is. we can't confirm whether they were shooters staff or what not. >> it was her sense the shooter had been shot by police? >> yes. she said he was down, yes. >> charles, the scene right now, where you are, can you tell whether this is a situation that appears to be ongoing or can you tell whether this is a situation that seems to be under control right now? >> my firsh

it's under control and it probably is. but there's mayhem out there looking with all the police vehicles and fire vehicles. they're probably ju making sure there's not another shooter but people are inside the y. some are already working out. they won't let anyone leave until it's all clear. >> charles, thank you for calling in and telling us your story. we appreciate and send you our best. we want to go back to tom costello. you've been speakio otr witness wh h you learned? >> reporter: i'm speaking with a witness right now. what happened? what did you see? >> i was getting out of the car with my dogs to go to the dog park, and i heard really, really loud popping sounds. i knew a baseball team was practicing at the baseball fields, and everybody starting screaming hit the ground, hit the ground, and a bunch of the players ran behind a tree. i layed flat in the field i was

louder like they we coming. he was walking across the field toward all of us. >> reporter: thgunnman? >> the gunman, and i was screaming can someone help me? i have my dogs. but they couldn't. nobody could do anything. and then security -- special agents pull out a handgun and tried to shoot back screaming drop your weapon and shot her. and she fell on trod. >> repoerwa. th shooting suspect was a woman? >> no. no. no. >> reporter: t agent was a woman? >> suspect, i'm not sure. i think the agent was a woman. i'm not sure of that either. but he or she fell on the ground in front of us, and we were all just trying to lay as flat as we could. then i crawled dragging my dogs to a car, and i shoved them under the car andas close as i could under the car to hide from the person, and then whoever came and to get it under control. >> reporter: d notice

members, anybody who was shot? in other words, bd the officer, did you notice anybody else shot? >> there were a couple people injured that th took out on stretchers. the person who w the security guard, they took out in a helicopter. other than tt, i'm not sure who was there. i didn't even know it was -- until the investigator just told me five minutes ago. >> reporter: and the gunman, you say they were also shot, you believe? >> i don't kno they said they captured him. >> tom? >> reporter: let me just tell the anchors in new york that you are shaking. it's hard for you to control right now. because you've seen something very traumatic. and i would imagine you're just grateful that you got out alive? >> um, it was -- you never think something like th is going to happen to you, and it was terrifying and also it was even scarier that i had my dog children with me. so i'm very glad that all of us are okay. >> reporter: i'm g kk it back t

she's shaking and difficult to -- just trying to hold it together. >> is katie still with you -- >> you're watching a special report. we're going to take over this local story that will have national implications about a shooting in alexandria and a congressman among the victims after this incident that started a little after 7:00 this morning. we'll fill you in on the details we have at this point. we know alexandria police shut down an area of east monroe avenue. just off route 1. jeff davis highway in alexandria after a shooting at simpson field in that area. we know that the house majority whip, a congressman from louisiana, has en injured. has been shot in this incident. we can tell you a little bit more of what we know about him. >> here's more information about congressman, the congressman from louisiana. steve scalise. at this point as we take a live look, this is outside of simpson field. you can see emergency response there

the louisiana house majority whip chairman of -- congressman scalise is also the house majority whip, and he was among those shot. we also have confirmed that two capital police officers were also shot. they were wounded and are being treated. >> we underan w a practice happening at simpson field, a baseball game scheduled for tomorrow. the congressional baseball game we all hear about annually happening is scheduled for tomorrow. this practice w happening on the field. it would have be members of congress as well osb some of their staffs with them at this practice. we don't know which side of the aisle they may have been on at this practice, but this representative, two capital police officers a part of the security detail were also shot here. you heard from the nbc news reporting that someone said they saw a rifle. another congressman said he saw a rifle there on the

crawling across the field and bleeding. you may have seen of the video of a helicopter. i believe that was a u.s. park police helicopter landing on the field there. very liky bei used as a medical transport for someone hit. >> you saw moreoro that's what we wanted to bring you about steve scalise. he's the father of two children and represents the first district there in louisiana. in addition to this, we note that alabama congressman moe brooks was also there. he was actually on deck when this happened. and he is the one that described that that's when he saw the rifle behind third base, and that's when he saw congressman scalise start crawling into the outfield and bleeding. they said congressman brooks actually took his belt and used that as a tourniquet. for more details, we're going live to meghan fitzgerald at the

scene. >> an active scene. it tapes off about a block or so away from where the shooting happened. you'll see a heavy police presence and also some fire trucks. obviously the bigger trucks. just to the left is where we understand the field at the moment. here's what wise e telling us. they heard multiple gunshots. upwards of 30 gunshots. we're also told by witnesses as well that some of those bullets went into the ymca which is nearby. police forces, we're having some police sources confirm for us that two u.s. capital protection agents were among the shot along with an aide and as we've been reporting this morning, representative ste scalise of louisiana. obviously a large police presence here. the initial information that came out just about an hour ago from alexandria police was they believed

custody. so, of course, this is information that's coming in right now. we don't know if that suspect was shot and killed or if that suspect is actually in custody right now. but we know that this area right here is secured. law enforcement are out here investigating. certainly scary moments as we've been reporting here. this is one of those practices that has been taking place for a while now for this congressional baseball game that was set to happen here shortly. they practice in the morning. so, again, information still coming in right now. we are still gathering information here on the scene. but again, we know that house majority whip representative from louisiana was among those who are shot and law enforcement sources are confirming that also two u.s. capital protection agents were among the shot along with an aide. they were flown to local hospitals. we'll be out here gathering information. as soon as we get more information, we'll t it back to you.

us. we also have a witness on the phone with us. david woodruff is near the scene. tell us where you are and what you have seen. >> i'm basically right across the street from simpson field looking down again at the first and third baseline. as this happened i was out running by the scene here this morning. heard the shots, couldn't have been more than 30 yards over my left shoulder. heard betwe 1 to 14 shots, a brief pause and about four more shots when i ducked into a garage and called 9-1-1. other witnesses here said they heard upwards of 60 shots. it sounded like there was a rather lengthy gun battle between the protective detail and the assailant before he was ut

two victims going north up to area hospitals. we also saw at le o ambulance leave with police protection. but at this point, the situation does seem as though it's under control and folks have calmed down a bit. it was the republican congressional te practicing. some of the witnesses said a couple members of congress sought shelter in apartment building across the street where some of the staff happen to live. it's not uncommon for staff to come out here and help members of congress practice as they go. look over, again, at simpson field, it's, again, a large field next to the ymca, and you can see there's about a dozen members of congress still talking. and i'm getting talked to right now by the secret service, so i think i might need to let you guys go. >> all right. david, a lot of information. we appreciate your time, and

we can also, i want to reiterate this as meghan referenced a moment ago. alexandria policere saying a suspect is in cusndot a threat. that's a direct statement from the police a few moments ago. >> we heard from peter alexander earlier who was smoking with mo brooks of alabama who was there on the scene on the field when the shooting occurred. according to congressman brooks, he said he believed that the suspected shooter had been shot. that there was gunfire that followed and that security detail that was the was involved in that. along with the two u.s. capital protection agents not and being treated. we're hearing that the person believed to bepen custody was shot as well. no update on that individual's condition. tom costello and also david

they're seeing a lot of what you're looking at right now at this live look. emergency response, very stationary. no sense of a scramble or panic. it suggests the situation is under control. david mentioning that there are members of congress on the ground right now that are talking and able to stay there. they're not being told to stay away. we know the public is being advised to keep away from the 400 block of east monroe street in the delray area of alexandria. >> as of 8:15, the public schools are now in lock-in position. they don't call it a lock-down. they're calling it a lock-in because of the multiple shootings, victims they've learned about in that area. i can tell you i'm familiar with this area. my bar bar shop is over there. there's no schol

there is, i believe a middle school around the block on mount vernon avenue, not too far away from this, but out of an abundance of caution, alexandria public schools putting all schools in the city in a lock-in mode right now. they say it takes place if a threat is identified outside the school. all school doors are locked. classes are continuing normally. there's no entry or exit from the school buildings as this lock-in is unfolding at the alexandria public schools. this as an abundance of caution. we believe the situation is not fluid in the sense that there's someone that police are looking for. you can see atf police officers on the scene here now. because this involved members of congress, you sho exct to see a large federal presence. we've seen reports the fbi is on scene. jackie benson reported the chief of capitol police is also on scene here. we,

capitol protecti agents we believe were shot in this incident along with that congressman, and as there would have been members of congress gathered for this particular practice, there would have been a capitol law enforcement presence with so many members potentially of congress there as well. let's listen in. >> we want to check back in with meghan fitzgerald -- actually, let's check in with a witness to hear their account. >> it's just crazy. >> what did your supervisor tell you about the people in the y at the time? did they evacuate or shelter in place? >> he didn't say, but i believe that they sheltered. >> other than yourself, were there any other pedestrians or drivers? was it crowded? >> it was crowded. i'm not sure what anybody else seen. >> there weren't any other -- just youlf

that's not -- i mean, i just pulled up when everything was blocked off. >> how do you feel right now? >> it's just -- i'm -- i don't know. words can't describe right now. >> a semi automatic weapon? >> that's what i heard. >> from a witness? >> yeah. >> can you describe how everybody looked running away from the feel? >> i can't describe it. i wasn't hear at the time. when they said the people were running away. >> can you just go over one more time what you saw from the beginning? we got here a little late. >> you've been listening to a website account of what unfielded here about an hour or so ago at simpson field in alexandria on monroe avenue in what would typically be a busy time this time of day.

shop, where there's a grocery store. all within close omi to this field. we're learning several people including a congrsm, oo scalise, have been shot. >> and meghan fitzgerald is reporting from thne and said it's believed at least 30 shots were fired in this exchange. and that there were actually bullet holes at the ymca, that they were hit by this. it's early in the morning. not sure if summer camp or if anything was in session. we know that alexandria schools right now putting out a notice that all of their schools out of caution, they're in a lock-in status right now. >> and we talk about the shots fired here. there's been a mix of information coming in this morning. we just want to show you video. we're getting it in of a bullet hole, i believe ths ing to be at a window. it looks like

directly across the street from simpson field where the baseball diamond is. i believe thers a soccer field there as well and a dog park there as well. now you see the images of large bullet holes and cracked glass across the street from simpson field, we believe in the ymca building. we weather we heard from david woodruff saying he was headed there. there were folks either working out or about to go to work out in that area, and this is now the scene that they are watching unfold befo them in alexandria. >> a lot of the staff members were saying there were reports that some of the people who were there, they sought shelter in nearby homes because apparently some of the aides live near simpson field. for those of you not familiar with the congressional baseball game, this is an annual event. this is a tradition in washington. it's n sometng necessarily see oe news, but people that are in the political world know about this. it

one of the few that still exists here in washington. and at a time when the congress is just so divided, people really were looking forward to it. it's the one time they set their differences aside, and i believe this is the eve. i mean, this was the day before the game was supposo take place. >> for our control room, i want to let everyone know scott mcfarland joining us in the studio in position one. scott, you've covered congress. you're aware of how these things would unfold from a federal perspective. >> the baseball game, it's the thursday in june. it's an annual tradition. it's republicans versus the democrats. they play it at gnanats par it gets a crowd. it gets media coverage as well. u.s. capitol police will protect members of congre off the campus. when they go to a police like delray to practice baseball, there would be capitol police there. what's more,

the minority whip, the majority leader and minority leader all have their own special protective level. what they call protective service. especially assigned u.s. capitol police who shadow them. they walk with them along the grounds and the capitol and go with them and back to them with their home districts and would go with them to delray to protect them today if they're participating in a baseball practice. this is a normal posture for u.s. capitol police to be with members of leadership or gatherings of members of congress. even if it's off site. even if it's off campus. the chief of u.s. capitol police was scheduled to appear this morning before a u.s. senate panel to argue for a budget increase. to help beef up his force, to beef up his man power and equipment. that was going to happen. it may still happen or may be called off becau he circumstances. this was a day u.s. capitol police were planning to argue why they need a

staffing. and funding. u.s. capitol policve several hundred members. they work on campus. they work throughout the country. shadowing poss threats and shadowing members of congress including the leadership. not unexpected they'd be in delray into the majority of the u.s. house was there. >> i want to mention as you're talking we're getting information here. a tweet from senator mccaskill. it says police indicate officers will be okay. thank god. hope true forel >> that update from the senator from missouri after speaking with capitol police according to her twitter accou >> sean spicer now writing on twitter, both the president and the vice presiden aware of the developing situation in virginia. our thoughts and prayers are with all affected. we also know that early on the house minority whip

and he's thinking of his friend. >> the president just issued a statement as well. i'll read it from the white house. the vice presi a i are aware of the shooting incident in virginia and are monitoring developments closely. we're keeply saddened by the tragedy. our thoughts and prayers are with the members of congress, first responders, and all others affected. >> even as we talk about this having the impact of a national stage as a resu of being a member of congress involved here, we can't help but remember there are local folks impacted. alexandria city schools in a lock-in status. fairfax county schools saying their safety and security folks are monitoring the situation in the delray neighborhood. and that all schools are safe. they likely are getting some feedback from thr parents who are learning about this news happening in aleck zoon dree ya. >> when you have the fbi on the

time before they are able to open the streets. we want to go to meghan fitzgerald who is on the scene? how close can you get and at this point we know we believe there's one suspect in custody. getting any kind of word that there's anybody else that they're looking for or anybody else they say might be involved that this could be larger than one shooter? >> reporter: that good question. usually during big shootings such as this, police are very easy going with the information that they're letting out. i just got off the phone with the public informn ofcer for alexandria, she's not releasing much. she doesn't know if the shooter was shot, but she knows there's not anyone else right now that is someone they're looking for. i want to show you the scene. you can see it's secure. police taped off the area. we're about a block away from where that baseball fie is. i want to draw your attention to the fire trucks that are down a little bit further down there.

we understand the field was. i talked to an eyewitness -- not an eyewitness, but he was driving to work at the ymca which is nearby to the field. he tells us he was not able to get to work because there was a large police presence. he called in and was told by people that are -- his employees there at the ymca that they were not able to get out, and he is not able to get in. another colleag of mine talked to witnesses who described seeing about -- hearing about 30 gunshots. they also say that there were gunfire that hit the windows of the ymca. this is coming from two witnesses that we spoke in. but this is n confirmed information. this is inrmiot continues to com us right now. but we do know multiple people shot. the representati from louisiana among those who was shot this morning just after 7:00 or so. and was rushed to the hospital. so, again, a developing story right now. we're continuing to work

if we can, there's a lot of media presence out here as well, but this is a neirhd. a lot ous around here. a lot of people walking their dogs. people getting ready to start their day. and just as that day was getting ready to start, witnesses are telling us they heard multiple shots being fired. again, rapidly evolving situation out here. of course, we'lltieo work o source and bring you the latest information as we get it. >> all right. meghan fitzgerald live for us this morning. we'll let you gather more information and come back to you as we watch the live pictures unfolding and hear a heavy response from alexandria city police as well as the aleck zoon dr -- fire department. a large shooting scene in aleck

>> law enforcement confirming the -- >> if you're asking why members of congress are gathering at the dawn for baseball practice, this is a full day scheduled in the u.s. house. session beginst 10:00 p.m. some of the leadership meetings are at 9:00 a.m. it goes through the dinner hour. to prepare for tomorrow's game with everybody in town, they do so typically in the morning. it's not uncommon in the week of congressional basa games for them to gather at dawn to have an all hands on dat 7:00 a.m. the hour is not unusual. u.s. capitol police do shadow collections of members of congress. if you have several of them together at one spot, not uncommon for u.s. capitol police to be there. and wherever steve scalise goes, capitol police go. the majority whip has

protection. that's a u.s. capitol police officer. if you see them in the capitol, they wear suits and secret service like ear pieces. they follow leadership wherever they go. >> we heard the eyewitness account from david woodruff. he was there. he said he believed this was the republican team practicing at simpson field. we heard this morng miur of reporting about the number of shots fired. we heard peter alexander reporting earlier that someone saw a person with a rifle there near third base. we heard from david woodruff that he heard 12 to 13 shots, the thought, a pause, and then possibly more shots, and peter says he's indicating 50 shots. that leads you to believe that not only was there the shooter but at least sevel members of that protective detail for the members of congress who would have been armed and likely retur

was unfolding and as peter alexander reported earlier, having seen this member of congress, the house majority whip, bleeding and kraulging across the infield there at simpson field where they were practicing for the baseball game tomorrow. >> yeah. we just want to go ahead and recap what we are hearing through our sources through peter alexander who spoke with mo brooks who was there at the time on deck. and he saw what he said was believed to be a rifle behind third base which was followed by congressman scalise crawling into the outfield as aaron mentioned, bleeding, and hearing the screams from aides and staff from second base. these are the scenes they're describing and how it all unfolded. gunfire continues after that. and congressman brooks telling peter alexander more shots fired and the suspected gunman was also hit. we have yet to

information. there's sti a lot more questions. one of them is were they targeted? i mean, this was a group of republican congressmen practicing early in the morning. if there is, indeed, only one person involved with this, i don't know wh th says about the situation, but i know that's one question th is up in the air. was this a targeted group of people? >> it's not the first time u.s. capitol police have faced armed v individuopfire. a little more than a year ago there was bulle flying in the capitol visitor center lobby as a man with a gun pulled that gun near a security check point. u.s. capitol police fired back and 19 years ago a deadly shooting outside the office of majority leader th tom delay. >> we want to go tthe scene. julie carrie is on the ground for us. bring us up to sp

and a half from here. i heard about this this morning and came over directly. let me -- we heard from some of the earwitnesses in the neighborhood. we'll have some of that in a minute. but let me set the stage. this is the y where i work out most mornings. one of my first was to a staffer. he confirmed the gunfire broke out around 7:00 this morning. in fact, some of bullets came flying through the windows of the ymca. no one hurt inside the building. directly across from the ymca is the baseball field. it's customary to see the members of congress practicing across the away at simpson field. they're here sever mornings a week practicing for upcoming baseball games. this morning the staffer at the ymca tells me they heard the gunfire. he said some of it seemed to be directed at the parking lot, some at the baseball field. i talked to some neighrs

here is what reba heard this morning. she says she heard at least 30 gunshots. this is what she told us. >> boom, boom, boom, boom, for the first ten or so, and then there was a pause and they started up again rapid fire. >> what time was it? >> it started about five minutes to 7:00 this morning. >> what were you thinking? >> holy crap. that was the thoughts in my mind. we were getting my daughter ready for school. i was on the front porch. it was a calm morning and all of a sudden there's gunfire in our neighborhood. >> reporter: agai a lot of gunfire. some of the neighbors were waking up to it. reba said she talked to a man who was exercising at the ymca who was an eyewitness. and he said that he spotted the gunman initially sort of hiding in an area betweene

and between the baseball dugout. she didn't have a lot more details of him, and right away directed police to speak to him, but again, just a very shocking start to the morning for people in the delray neighborhood of alexandria. a quiet area normally. this is a very community gathering place. a lot of people come in the morning to exercise. this is where all the little league teams play baseball. where the tc williams high school team plays baseball. this has really shattered the sense of security in this community. speaking to some of the neighbors that live around the ymca in hearing that a member of congress and his staff were shot in this gunfire, you know, they have their very strong feelings that this must have been a targeted shooting. we don't have tdetails and we're waiting to be briefed on exactly what happed here this morning. >> all right. l live for us. we'll let you

she alluded to the alexandria police department. we now here the chief will speak shortly in that area there on monroe avenue. we're going to make sure we have a camera ready to hear him when he lays out some of the details about what unfolded. we're also seeing reports from the associated press right now that congressional aide has said that congressman scalise is in stable condition george washington universy hoit at this hour. we know u.s. park police had their chopper evacuate at least two people, we believe likely congressman scalise among them, evacuated them from that field there after havin landed a short time ago taking them as we understand from t congressional aide in the ap report to george washington university hospilre he's in stable condition. nbc news reported earlier they believed he was shot possibly in the hip. we don't know that directly from police yet, but

>> a lot of the reports surfacing on social media. of course, because it's so early in the investigation, there's so much information iou there, tt we are just going to use caution with our reporting right now. but in addition to that, aaron, i wanted to add as you mentioned before, law enforme confirming the t u.s. capitol protection agents who were also shot are expected to be okay. there were also reports that an aide was shot, but we have yet to learn the status of that individual's condition. what we know is that alexandria schools are in a lock-in right now and people who live and work and wanted to go in that area for the 400 block of east monroe street are being told to stay away. even our reporters are one block away. >> steve scalise is a relatively new member of congress to be in leadership. he became the majority whip when in virginia a couple years ago there was an upset

the leadership moved up a step and steve scalise took over so the majority whip could make over the spot. he was handing out little baseball bats to otr members of the gop conference. he was a big baseball fan. his metaphor for his run for majority whip was to hand out baseball bats like i'll crack things into place. he took this event tomorrow seriously. and ultimately the question becomes does it still happen? it's one of the fiptin things atti exists in the u.s. congress in 2017. >> i have to read this. i'm seeing this tweet. the "today" show sent it out. quoting rand paul doing an interview with msnbc saying scalise being at practice saved everybody else's

not have been security there or not as much. the fact that he was there is what put security on the ground to shoot back. >> security follows congressional leadership, at least metaphorica 27. perhaps not into their personal homes, but congressional leadership has an elite protective detail furnished by the police. when they're in the office build, those police officers are wearing suits and ear pieces like secret service. >> this is a photograph that was tweeted out by a member of congress. you're looking at the people, the aides, the staff members, the individuals that were there at the republican congressional baseball practice, gathering, linking arms, holding each other and praying shortly after the shooting had occurred. also hearing from witnesses that a lot of them have remained on the scene and that they're still there. they're still there in the

tradition that dates pack to 1909. when the first annual partisan showdown began, and it has evolved over the decades into a big charity event that actually benefits a lot of washington charities including the nationals dream foundation, the boys and girls club. >> and angie, the female members of congress have a correspondentingofall game that they play against each other and i believe against female members of the media. >> yes. >> they've enhanced that. >> they look forward to that every year. this is with one time they come together and set their differences aside. they take all their differences from the floor, and they get together on the field, and it's really become a loved event for both parties. as we take a live look of the scene here, honestly, since we've come on the air, not much as changed as far as emergency response. that tells us it seems like the situati

president trump now tweeting about what happened this morning. first time he's tweeted today. in that tweet he says representative ste scalise of louisiana, a true friend and patriot was badly injured but will fully recover. our thoughts and prayers are with them. that tweet coming from president trump's personal twitter account in the last couple of minutes. >> you're looking at the statement released earlier. i can go over that. the vice presidentni are aware of the shooting in virginia. we're monitoring developments closely. we're deeply saddened by this tragedy. our thoughts and prayers with the members of congresses, their staffs, capitol police, first responders and aller affected. we also know the other half of the house, the house minority whip from maryland, also echoing the same sentiment here saying they are monitoring the reports, and also that he's thinking of his friend, steve scalise as well as his staff. >> u.s. house foreign affairs committee, the first one out of the box to

they had scheduledm for 10:00 p.m. there's a busy day of congressional hearings on the house and senate day. the first one is delayed. we'll see how much of the u.s. floor house activity will be delayed. they're supposed to debate a veteran's bill and they were going to wrap votes by 4:00 this afternoon. we'll see if it happens as the u.s. house watches what happens in alexandria. >> as we talk about this, we might be talking about the primary in virginia last night otherwise. we're hearing from the current lieutenant governoof virginia and the man who won the democratic primary last night in virginia. ralph thonortham treating what happened is horrifying. praying for all those affected. i looked for a statement from ed gillespie who won in virginia last night. nothing from him yet. we'll likely hear from him at some points

are becoming more aware of what's unfolded in -- i think what is typically thought of as someone who has traveled through this year. i went there for six years to get my haircut. this is a quiet area. there are new apartment building across from simpson field that weren't there three years ago. that community has been growing. there's a giant grocery store newly renovated that julie talked about a while ago. a coffee house on the corner. this area is growing but it's residential and woulbe surprised to he dozens, possibly, dozens of gunshots having rang out before possibly before 7:00 a.m. in this neighborhood off monroe avenue. >> we want to check in with tom costello who is reporting for nbc and has new information. >> reporter: that why they gh

escort that particular officer out. she thought that officer was a woman, but s wasn't sure. what we have now is pretty consistent reporting from witnesses that a total of five people shot including the gunman at this moment no reports of any fatalities. and we should emphasize it would appear the gop scalise did not suffer life threatening injuries. back to you. >> tom costello offering more detail from what he's opinion able to gather on the scene in alexandria as the investigation of this shooting is unfolding this morning. we are maybe an hour, just about an hour from when this all started to unfold. almost two hours from when it started to unfold. and again, you're seeing this large response. maybe possibly familiar look of fire engines and local law enforcement response. we're also hearing the fbi is on scene. u.s. capitol police including their police chief. we believe also on scene

the atf saying they are there as well. right now you're looking at the police chief there in alexandria, chief brown, about to make a statement. >> we'll give you what we currently have at this location. i am chief michael brown. i'm joined here by a number of officials that are working with us on this particular scene. and what i'd like to talk to you is give you an overview of what took place. we received a call of an active shooter. shots fired at nine minutes after 7:00 this morning here at the park on monroe, simpson park. at that time there was a practice team event with a baseball team of folks that were representing some folks on the hill. we were there withithe minutes. we do know that officers from the

three officers that we had on scene arrived. two of our officers returned fire. beyond that, we're not going to make any other statements until such type as we ect what's taken place. it's an active scene. we have a lot of witnesses we're having to interview. we are collaborating with the capitol police and the aleck zan dree ya's police department and t fbi and collectitas. we'll t tke yte we getorinrmio gowe'ringo t to schedule a press conference probably about an hour and a half from now and give you an update. right now that all we have. i will add one other thing. we know that five people were transported medically from the scene. we will not give out their names or their locations at this point. for their condition of their injuries. i'm not going to take any questions at this point.

at this juncture. what i will do now is i would like to ask the chief from the capitol police to come up and make a brief statement. chief? >> good morning. i'm the chief of the united states capitol police. this morning we received a call via our communications of shots fired at this location. officers who were on scene responded and engaged a suspect in gunfire. very shortly thereafter the ale aleia city police and others responded to assist. at that point we were able to calm the situation. victims were transported to the hospital. we're not going to get into any details in terms of the investigation. this is ve early on. we will -- i want to thank the

alexandria police, the sheriff office and the first responders. they were rapid in their response. i appreciate their rapid resp responnd cey it saves lives. at this point we're going to gather the investigators together and look at what we have and put this incident together. again, it's very early on, and there's a lot of witnesses to be interviewed. once we have more information, we'll certainly pass on whatever information we can to make sure that you have the information you need for your work. thank you very much. i'm going to turn it -- i'm going to turn it back over to the alexandria chief. >> folks, we're not going to answer any questions at this point, because as the chief pointed out, this is an ongoing investigation. we call the crime scene hot because we're collecting information and

would be premature for us to respond. we'll give you an update on what we can speak to and perhaps give you answers to some questions. as of right now, this is a stable situatio this point. there's no additional threat. we consider this incident to be a closed incident under investigation. thank yovy much. we'll be back with you in about an hour and a half. thank you. >> all right. the alexandria police chief making a brief statement. trying to fill in a few details about what unfolded. he said at the end there is no additional threat. this is a closed incident as far as his police department is concerned in terms of the active response about an active shooter at simpson field in the delray neighborhood. >> the police responding within three minutes. the chief saying, capitol police officers already there returning fire after the initial shots. and they also

engaged the suspect who was shot. right now as they describe it as an active investigation. and an active scene, a hot scene. he said there are a lot of people there that they have still to interview. with the fbi and the atf, you mentioned five agencies they're working with. >> u.s. park police, the fbi, bureau of firearms. u.s. capitol police, a swarm of law enforcement o this scene. the alexandria police chief said this is an isolated threat. no broader threat to the city. threat see what haenathe u.s. capil today, if there's an enhanced city posture. u.s. capitol police have a unit that specializes in detecting threats from afar. if there's somebody they try to intercept them in hometowns before they get to town. u.s. capitol police may have a different security posture than the city police would. that said, i believe a few

lifted that lock-in, that security posture they have for the students. perhaps what the police chief said this is a threat that's been lifted. >> you're looking at images from the ymca across from the field where this incident unfolded. bullet holes in the windows at the ymca where folks would have been working out this morning. large bullet holes. many of them in the glass here. we should note the capitol police officers or part of the protective detail that was at the field there did return fire on the gunman as well as two alexandria police officers who arrived on the scene quickly joining capitol law enforcement agents in firing back at the person who we now know shot congressman ste scalise, the majority whip there who was practicing f a baseball game set to happen tomorrow. five people, the police chief

hospitals from the scene. he didn't want to go any detail to the degree they were injured for did he want to see to what hospitals they we taken to. we do know from a congressional aide the live picture here of george washington university hospital, we know that that's where steve scalise was flown to earlier this morning. >> we have a message out to the u.s. capitol community, many thousands of staffers who work in the capitol complex. it reads the u.s capitol police is researching a shooting. it involved u.s. capitol police personnel. out of caution there's a robust police presence throughout the capitol complex. however, all buildings within the complex are open in accordance with routine operations. that means what is going to be a very busy day in the u.s. congress, tour groups can still come. staffers can move freely, and they're going to try to go about the

today. we've seen postponements of hearings and we expect the 11:00 a.m. a.m. hear where the u.s. capitol police chief is expected to testify and urge for a more robust budget is likely to be postponed. >> you mentioned this is what is happening at the capitol is what you expected would happen. an incident would prompt capitol police on the grounds to make sure that they make their presence known in a more robust way out of caution until they can have a handle on why the shooting happened? >> in part because this is one of the government's most difficult to secure complexes. the u.s. capitol complex is necessarily open. it's necessarily democratic. passers by can go around the circumference of e building. they can walk into the calf ffea f and walk into hearing rooms. it's a difficult mission, and when something happens even when it's miles away, you have to assume they change their posture. and will put

the ground today just to keep -- to be a visual deterrent and give people peace of mind. >> because as we've heard from the witnesses from our own reporters on the ground, julie carrie who lived nearby and aaron who gets his haircut nearby, this was a community. this is a residential area. and when we look at those images of the bullet holes in the cmca, it's scary. this could have been much worse. we know for a fact that the five people including the gunman were hit by gunfire. and congressman scalise is believed to be in stable condition. at this point, we hope to get more information and hopefully more insight on what's behind the shooting at a news conference that's expected to happen in a little more than an hour, 10:30, i believe is when they said it's going to happen. we'll stand by f that to bring he

hour at this point. some of you may have joined us in the last few mine we want to bring you up to speed. this was a scene that unfolded a little after 7:00 this morning when alexandria police shot reports of shots having been fired at simpson field there on monroe avenue in the 400 block of monroe avenue around 7:00 this morning. there was a practice, a republican practice, baseball practice going on for the congressional basl game that is scheduled to happen tomorrow. as such, we know the majority whip, the white house majority whip steve scalise was there practicing. we know that there were capitol police officers, agents of some sort, protective detail with him as well as any other members of congress. when this gunman opened

understand with a rifle, capitol police officers w able to respond, were able to fire back at him and they were joined by alexandria city police officers, at least two of them in firing back as they arrived on the scene after the initial reports. at this point we know five people have bee transported to hospitals. the congressman, two capital police officers believe as well as the gunman. that gives you four, and then there was a report that a staffer may havee there as well. >> we want to show you this. gabby giffords, a survivor of gun violence hersf. my heart is with my former colleagues, their families and staff. she shared her sentiments. she's been an active voice in the fight against gun violence and advocate for gun control. we also know the

and the president are aware of the situation. releasing a statemt saying they're monitoring it and are deeply saddened by the incident and their thoughts and prayers are with all of those involved? >> the vice president was scheduled for a 9:00 a.m. address. the address haen postponed. you're going to see a lot of government events getting slid back later in the day if they have it at all. >> i can't help but think the baseball game won't happen despite the long history it's had. >> that's an open and good question. will they postpone it? >> we want to go back out to julie carrie, onethfir reporters to confirm this morning that the shooting took place at simpson field. julie, what have you learned? >> reporter: let me recap the news conference we had with the police chief michael brown. some of the information you've heard already, but this is the first official confirmation of what we've heard this morning from witnesses in the neor

happened around 7:09 this morning. members of congress were practicing at simpson field. witnesses in the tell us they heard multiple gunshots. perhaps more th0 gunshots. and there are other witness reports that the shooter was on the scene reloading, refiring his weapon. we do know that five people were wounded. that excludes gn himse and the five people we know, congressman from louisiana, representative ste scalise. two of his staffers and two capitol protection officers. there was law enforcement on the scene. so they were f to engage this gunman. alexandria police, very quickly to the scene, and they also took part in taking this gunman into custody. one thing the chief would not talk about is the exact status of the gunman. we have heard that he was also wounde t

gunfire, but that's not been confirmed by law enforcement. we do know that that gunman is in custody. now, obviously a very chaotic scene when this gunfire began this morning a little after 7:00. a lot of people at that ymca exercising. there was so much gunfire that i was told when i called one of my friends inside the y that some of the gunfire pierced the front door glass windows and went in. we're told there we no injuries inside of that building. the injuries taking police on the baseball field where members of congress routinely practice. i'm at this ymca a lot of days this time of day. they're here sever mornings. it's clear to say there are members of congss there. some of them are parking their cars with their congressional license plates in the ymca parking lot. we don't know the motive of the shooting. if it was so kind of a targeting

easy to know that there were members of congress here. and we're going to hear now a little bit of that earlier news conference from chief michael brown. >> we know officers from the capitol police as well as three officers that we had on scene arrived, two of our officers engaged in gunfire, returned fire. >> reporter: but again, chief brown refusing to tell us whether the gunman was shot, his condition. that's what we really have a lot more questions about. they'll have anoth befg less than 90 minnesoutes. the chi called it a hot scene. there are many law enforcement people back there. a lot of witnesses. they have a lot of people to talk to about what happened. we still even have choppers up in the air flying

this was a huge jolt to this very quiet, peaceful neighborhood thimoing when many residents, they were having their morning coffee, heard all this gun fire at the ymca. this is a real community gathering point inalexandria. there were not only members of congress practice, but this is where little league plays the games and where the tc williams high school team plays their season. a grocery store across the street. a busy coffee shop down the street. this is a hub of activity here. just a shocking start to the morning here in the dell ray neighborhood. thererei victims. we believe the gunman may have been hit in the gunfire. we're waiting to get updates on the conditions of all those injured. >> i'm curious if i can ask. the police chief was clear about not wanting to take questions and not having a lot more

than what we heard in the news kch confe know five people were transported to hospitals. did anyone give you the condition of the people? were they the only ones injured? anyone else who wasn't transported? we know therw a flurry of people trying to get away when the gunfire started. what more are you hearing about that, if anything? >> reporter: yeah. right now the only information we have is about the five victims that we've been reporting on all morning long. representative steve scalise, two of his aides and then the two capitol protection officers. these are plain clothed officers that look out for members of congress when they're in public places like that. and there have been unconfirmed reports that the gunman has been injured. we don't know anything about how serious their injuries were. you mentioned that when this gunfire broke out, there were people at the ymca exercising people in the parking lot. i've talked to witnesses in some of the neighborhood who sa

people running to get away from this gunfire. but so far we've not heard of any additional injuries. a and even though some of the bullets came into the building, no injuries that we're aware of. i spoke to a staffer at the front desk and he said no one was injured in there. >> i know it's early in the investigation and there's so much chatter out there, including on socialed right now. also getting reports that congressional a law enforcement telling people, sources that this appears that it was a deliberate attack. are you hearing anything along those lines? that is the one thing that we did not hear from the police chief. he did not talk about a motive. he did not talk about whether or not thigro was targeted. >> reporter: i thi a lot of that is speculatn right now. i know from talkin of the neighbors, that was her initial supposition, that,

members of congress on the field and because that could have been a known fact that this might have been a targeted attack, but there's no official confirmation of that. i think that is a lot of speculation among neighbors. in the thicket of media here, i mean, there are dozens of cameras and probably over 50 reporters here right now. there are also just a lot of people from the nghrhd here listening in. they want to know why and how this happened. they're here listening trying to get firsthand information about the violence that broke out in their neighborhoo thimorning. >> all right. julie carr li carey for us there. thank you for filling us in. i want to mention the report from the associated press right now where they are quoting a texas representative as saying that it was a member of his staff who was shot at this baseball practice. we know as we've said to you before, that thecongressman, two capitol police officersnd

injured in this incident. we knew there was a staff nebraska. we heard reporting there was a staff member injured. now a report from a member of the texas representative saying the aide was shot. >> we heard from rand paul who was there. he said that this would have been a massacre if it weren't for capitol police. if it weren't for them being on the ground and returning fire. senator mccaskill yi s learned t ofr will be okay. we are seeing an outpouring of response from those on the hill. >> the u.s. capitol police, the unique police force in america, they are shrouded in a bit of mystery. they are congress's police force. they meetings are eno e public. you can't get capitol police records. you can't see what they're doing. we know from our

millions of dollars in budget. they canvas the office buildings from the house and senate side, but they do go out into the community. they're positd whh you know it or not, in cities small and large, far and wide all across the country. and they will folmeersf congressional leadership. it's not surprising there was a police detail with steve scalise for his police practice because there's always a police detail with steve scalise just like there is with the majority leader, the hous speaker, the democratic leaders. this is what happens. this is what u.s. capitol police do. the officers who are assigned to follow leadership a an elite group. they train. there's firearms training in the rayburn house office building itself. so they can stay proficient at their fire arms training. there's a training

prince george's county. it's not surprising. they're there with steve scalise even at the break of dawn outside the capitol. >> correct me if i'm wrong, but congressman scalise is the first member of congress has been shot since former arizona representative gabby giffords was in 2011. we have heard from the former representative otwter saying that her heart is with her former colleagues and her family and staff and the u.s. capital police, public service and heros. >> let's loo this. it happens off campus. gabby giffords happened outside a grocery store tucson. the vulnerability the staffers feel, they feel they're more vulnerable when ty' back home. we've seen the last 18 to 24 months the member of local congress in maryland and d.c.

enhance their security posture, adding door systems that lock. you have to be buzzed in to visit a member of congress. some are adding on sight security. in a congressional hearing this spring, the u.s. capitol police chief and the house sergeant of arms were asked what are you doing to better secure members of congress when they're away from the shield of security that surrounds the capitol. they're envisioning scenarios like this where lone wolves, potential attackers pounce when they see an opening, when they suspect there's less police security when they're out in the open. when they're away from the capitol. this is a littt different. this is a bit of a hybrid. they're away from the capitol, but they have the capitol police protection which clearly played a role today. >> we are -- as we're waiting for another news conference, we believe the police chief will hold another news conference within the next hour or so. we've been hearing reports about how

we've seen reports from our colleagues that senators jeff flake and rand paul were also at this practice. you mentioned this would be both the house and senate involved in this baseball game. >> congressional baseball game is house and senate. it tends to be few senators because the senators tend to be a bit older. there's usually a larger number of house members. senators flake and paul describing one of them used the term a killing field. that's how they described what they saw and what they experienced out here at simpson field in alexandria. that as the gunshots erupted, are you saw members of congress and their staffs running for the dugouts, trying to take cover as one of our witnesses reported, someone with a rifle just started shooting. and at this baseball diamond. you can see the car outside the field here with a windows shot out. there were bulls flying all over the area. we saw the ymca as we

they saw, they said they saw a lot of the membership's lying all over the field. some of them wounded. we want to go to a statement from the govern of louisiana. he writes this appears to be an outrageous cowardly attack on one of our own. steve scalise is a friend, colleague and fighter for the people of louisiana. while details continue to unfold, i want to thank the capitol police, all the first responders, and e other members of congress for their quick and he rowic effort. >> the governor of louisiana later referenced scalise is a dad of two kids, husband, man with a family, and they got this news somehow this morning. they got this news through some means this mornin that when dad's away practicing baseball, something happened? >> i think they got it, a lot of how many people a watching it right now. i reached out to some of my congressional contacts, and on the republican d

said we're watching the tvs right now. we'll let you know if anything else surfaces. you have to imagine it's been extremely hard for the scalise family as well as the other facts involved? . >> one of the victims is a staffer for williams. he's the coach of the republican team. he's the democrat team. mr. williams today issuing a statement saying one of his staffers is among those wounded today. >> we have a full statement from him at this point. and i want to add more detail from what he had to say or what his office had to say. congressman williams was not shot however a member of his staff was shot and is receiving medical attention. the gunman has been detained. at this time we don't have any further information. the republican baseball team holds practice every morning at 6:30 at simpson park in alexandria, and so t

possibly would have kno that this practice had been happening and was happening, and what time to be there, and there are reports coming in from our colleagues at nbc news that say that this person before he opened fire may have asked what party, what politipay practicing today. >> this is a well known thing in the neighborhood. if you go to the gym in the morning, you se the members of congress practicing. i doubt they're wearing suits and ties. you may have to know it's members of congress and not just a baseball practice. the reporter we have from nbc shows about at least a dozen members of congress were there. some of the names are perhaps lesser known. no local members of congress on the list. the senators are well known. rand paul being one of them. >> what we learned or didn't learn was the condition of the gunman. we're hearing reports that the individual was take ton a hospital. we want to go back out live to

>> reporter: we we talking earlier when alexandria's police chief briefed. i am hearing from one source that while the gunman was shot, he is believed to be alive. as we've been reporting, that's one source i've heard from from. we're looking to get more information io we'll have another briefing in little more than an hour. a lot of activity here on the scene. still a lot of law enforcement fish fi fishes investigating. there are many witnesses to talk to today. when i first arrived on the scene. i went a block away that leads to the parking loot ymca. a lot of people ran down that street to flee the area. we talked to a woman who lived right next to the ymca. there was no doubt in her

going on when she heard the gunfire. >> and then i heard the whiz come down the street, like a bullet coming this way. i was like that whizzed down my street. i'm going inside. >> reporter: he thought it was up close over here for that whiz, the stray bullet that came down the street. i talked with one of the eyewitnesss who wa at the field and running down our street for cover after, and he said that the shooter was hiding between the shed and the dugout up at simpson field. and he had a rifle. and the rifle he was at first shooting in the air, and then he was shooting kind of randomly 360. now we know it was the republican congressional team practicing and he was going@louisiana congressn staff and security. that man is an important police for police to talk to. she is believed he was exercising at the ymcand

have been on his way out of the building at the ti the gunfire started. so she put him in touch with police right away. but again, they are gathering statements from so many people here. chief michael browdering this as a hot scene. there's so much information to gather. the big question everybody wan s answered is whether or not th was a targeted attack. >> thank you, julie. >> a few more statements coming in. i want to mention that the speaker of the house, paul ryan, has now tweeted about this incident saying this morning the hearts of the whole house are with steve scalise. the brave capitol police staff and all those who were in harm's way. >> when you take batting practice, it's fencing on top to catch fly balls. there was about four foot of blue plastic. i hit the dirt behind that blue plastic along with two of three other people who we there. it's such a

all this is going on and the gunfire is nonstop from the rifle. it occurs to me that i'm not in the best of position, that he could easily go around the third base dugout, and he could pick us off from about 15 feet away. at this point, thsti no return gunfire from our capitol police, and so i don't know if we collectively or an individual made the decision, but reran to the dugout. a first base dugout which is cinder block and recessed about a foot. we dove into the dugout. some of our folks suffered bruises and contusions, scrapes from diving into the concrete dugout. i scrambled over everybody to the far right field side of the dugout in case there's a chance to escape out of the dugout, and then noticed that one of our staffers is bleeding from his leg.

i said you've been shot. you're not okay. so i pulled off the belt and myself and another individual, i don't remember wh it was, put on a tourniquet using that belt to help stem the bleeding from his calf muscle. and then we ducked back down keeping as low as we can. that's what people were yelling to do. at the same time e re people in t dugout with cell phones talking about how we're under attack. and they' screaming for reinforcements, aasto far, there's still been no return fire by our security detail. as best i know. i'm at the end of the dugout now down the right field line, and then all of a sudden i hear loud explosions, and i look up and there's a man with a gun. fortunately, he's a good guy. he's shooting back across the infield at the man with the rifle that's causing the man with the rifle to be a little bit

we're staying down. the capitol police officers instructing us to stay low. at the same time we here stoeve scalise is out. there's a trail of blood. we can't help him. we're helpless. we have bats versus rifle. not good odds. and so it's very intense moment. we stayed down. there was a lot of exchange of gunfire. 50 to one hundred. there's a lot of it. it seems like it took forever. it seems like it took a long time for local law enforcement to provide backup to our capitol police. i'd guess it was three to five minutes. eventually we he shouting the shooter is down. we stayed down a little bit longer to make sure he's not only down but no longer

shooting. jeff flake w th first out of the dugout. i was shortly behind him running to the right field where steve scalise was on therod. there we reorof us who got there fairly quickly. someone ran back to steve and wanted something to drink. when you have loss of blood, you get thirsty. and a congressman from cincinnati, ohio, he's a physician. he came up. i don't know how it happened, but suddenly there's no pressure on the wound by anybody. brad is getting prepared to cut off the pants. he hands me the cloth, and i put a cloth over stevscalise's hip where he's been shot trying to slow the blood flow while brad winstrop is going to things that need to be done. then theit

defending us hobbles out with a pretty bad limp to right field because he's been shot. and we're trying to tell him to get back, steve is fine, we'll take care of him, but he's loyal of the person t'sned to protect. even though he's wounded, i'm sure his adrenaline is flowing like everybody else's, he's trying to make sure steve scalise is going to be okay. eventually retalk -- he talks to steve and goes back and gets treatment. apparently one of our capitol police officers w shot -- i don't know how bad, but we did have a helicopter that landed pretty close to where steve scalise was, and whoever was shot the worst was taken off in a helicopter. at this time the local police have shown up. they've herded us into a circle onto a concrete basketball court that's on the righ side of the baseball field, and they surrounded us, the staff, the congressman, every there

protection in case there's a second shooter. i think that's a to z. there's probably parts that could come back as i try to work through it. i think steve is going to be fine. it was a shot to the hip. he was conscious when i was there. certainly the staffer who was shot in the calf, i saw him carted off on a stretcher. he still had my belt around his leg to help reduce the blood flow. i hope that helped him. and then our prayers need to be for the wounded. the shooter, quite frankly, i don't have a lot of kind things or thoughts in my brain right now about him, but the four innocent people were shot, the two capitol police officers, steve scalise, and the staffer, i hope everybody in america shares their thoughts and prayers for bothem here wa at charity event raising $600,000 for charity and we come un

who would have thought it? >> we're going to keep the sound up in case he starts speaking again. a thorough account of what happened from mo brooks who was there engaged in that practice this morning. the republican t practicing for the congressional baseball game scheduled for tomorrow. >> and at this point what we know is that the congressman, congressman scalise, is in stable condition. he is being treated at gw hospital. we still haven' uat on the aide who was shot. it's believed to be a staffer with roger williams. >> never heard him say a word. after the first half dozen shots or so, there was a lot of hollering by the staff and by the congressman about active shooter, and to take cover. and so he had said

probably would not have heard it. he was -- once the capitol police engaged, it seems he was pinned down behind the third base dugout. it's cinder block. at some point rifle versus pistols, he was able to wound both the law enforce offers. he was making his way to the dugout where the rest of us sought protection, and but for the bravery of our wounded capitol police officers, there could have been lot of people shot. >> again, congressman brooks will recounting -- >> i got a good look at him for a fraction of a second. all he had to do was adjust his aim 30 degrees to his right, and i was an easy target. but it appeared to be a white male. i would say

he was not skinny. i wouldn't call him fat, but he was on the chubby side, but it was a short glimpse. as soon as i figured out what was going on and figured out i was an easy shot should he move in my direction, i took evasive action. are we finished? all right. perfect. >> a long interview for mo brooks. this is the first refence a gender. hoos saying it was a he. really striking to see throw hours at the start of the baseball practice, mo brooks still wearing his batting glove as he talks on the phone about a tragedy he witnessed firsthand. this is quite something. >> even experience. the clarity withch

within the sights of a gunman saying if he adjusted the footing angle he could have been within range of gunfire himself. >> i believe the congressman during that interview said it was a capitol police officer who was limping out into the field to go protect congressman scalise, likely shot in the leg. yeah. if you're capitol police, you're lamp law enc you don't stop because you're wounded. you continue. and steve scalise has personally assigned capitol police officers who protect him no matter where he goes or what he does. that could have bo of the roles there. >> based on what congressman brooks said, we believe based on what he said that congressman have a scalise was shot in the hip and the staffer that was a staffer of congressman williams was shot in the calf. and that congressman brooks there took his belt off and wrapped it around that staffer's leg to try to stop the bleeding

i think we'll continue to hear stories like this come out of this. part of the use 4 team reporting florida representative just left jury before the shooting. a man asked him if gop or democrats were on the field and that the shots started just a few minutes after that. in counter? >> this is nearby what you're looking at which is the ymca in the delray area. you can clearly say the glass has been broken and cracked. because of bullets. it hit the building. we know from witness accounts, people we've talked to, that there were people in there working out. this could have been worse. senator rand paul of kentucky, one of the individuals there. lawmakers there who said that this could very well have been a massacre if it wasn't for capitol police and their presence there. also t rid

alexandria police. they were on the scene within three minutes. >> this is a shocking episode, but there were warnings a couple weeks ago. the u.s. sergeant of arms asking that the congressional security apparatus spe more money, set aside more money or spend more energy helping to protect members of congress and their staffers when they're off sight, outside the congressional capitol shield. >> an automatic shotgun, or there would be a fraction of a second between shots. it seemed to me to be the kind of gun that would fire when you pull the trigger as opposed to keeping the trigger down. he was aiming. there was a litt b of time between shots to aim. sometimes the distance would be fractions of a second. sometimes it would a second, two or

do we know how critical? it was long enough for me to see the shooter di charge the first half dozen or so shots. figure out that i was in clear sight if he shifted his view a little bit to th right. i would be the next closest to him to dive around the batting cage and land on my belly with my batting helmet and bat in hand, lie there for some period of time. it seemed like a long time, but it might have been 30, sixty-seconds, mat minutes. keep in mind when you're in this kind of circumstance, judging time is very, very

during strictly guess, when do you get up in run? he can try to take you out? in the time you're lying in the ground, you're weighing that risk versus the risk that he'll come around with a 10 to 15 foot clear sign of sig at people lying on the ground behind a plastic shield which is not much of a shield a all. and ran from there, sprinted to the dugout. i don't remb if we collectively made t decision or if one of us got up and then we all got up. nonetheless, enoime to get to the first base dugout. i'm still hearing no return fire. i'm not dugout. i see the staffer who has a leg wound. i take off my belt. myself and another gentleman, i don't know who, and the staffer, we applied a tourniquet. then i'm laying face first along

ground breathing dugout dust when to my right i'm at the far end of the dugo ofit baselin to right i start hearing bam, bam, bam, and i look up and there's a guy with a pistol. and is he one of our guys or is it a double shooter situation? it took a second to figure out he was one of our guys and he was firing back now at the shooter. and it was one of the best sights i've seen in my life. >> you see two images. one of congressman mo

>> people can get together in a bipartisan way. this ye it l li we're raising over $600,000. it's held at the washington nationals baseba stadium to help people who otherwise are not in a position to help themselves. it does a lot of good. it's among a bunch of charities. for someone to start trying to take out congressmen under those circumstances is just unconscionable. there ar't words that can describe it. >> but he was aware of where he was and what was going on. >> so you actually watched him get shot? >> i saw that he was down, and then i went out to him after they had subdued the shooter. >> okay. and what was the mood like today? at this

something like th to happen? >> no. we were upbe getting ready for a game, and then something like this happens and you can't believe it. fortunately capitol police was there. or we would have been as a ruler in without return fire. i'm sure they saved who knows how many lives. but let's pray for those who did get hit today. >> reporter: thank you. >> thank you. >> all right. we switched to the picture. we heard from somef e membe of congress returning to the hill this morning talking about what they saw and experienced. >> reporter: congressman d. >> certainly. >> reporter: can i ask you a quick question. obviously this is a difficult time for you. i can see it. how are you feeling now? >> well, the adrenaline has calmed down a little bit. of course, the stress and the emotional shock of

friends shot where you're helpless, you have a baseball bat, they have a rifle, you're defenseless. the capitol police officers did, i understand one of them may be in critical condition if the report i got back is correct. they were taking on a guy with a rifle from 90 feet away. they had pistols. he had a rifle. both of them wer wounded. that's not a fair fight. the bravery they showed is just incredible. >> when did you hear the first shot? >> i was getting ready to have batting practice. the first shots were pretty much past the third base dugout, maybe 10 or 15 feet. hard to ascertain for sure. and i hear the big bam. i thought it was a car backfiring until i see the rifle barrel. and a white male taking careful

whoever he coult ahold of. >> what happened next? >> well, once i figured out i could see him clearly, albeit, it was less than a second or two, i figured out he can also see me. and i was in open field. i was about 80 feet from him. i immediately sought cover. i ran behind the batting cage, and if you're familiar with baseball fields where they have batting practice, you have a covered area. it's a kind of fencing and at the bottom it has blue wrap around. i ducked behind the blue wrap. it occurred to me that if he got around the third base dugout, myself and two or three other congressman, i forget two, head first in the dirt trying to seek protection behind a blue plastic

next targets. it was a wise decision for us when we thought we had no choice, we ran and jumped in to the first base dugout which is about -- >> you've been listening to congressman mo brooks recounting the story of what we experienced this morning in the shooting in aleck zoon dree ya. we have a statement from the office of steve scalise, the congressman shot. reading he was shot in the hip. he was transporte m star washington hospitant e he is currently undergoing surgery. he's in stable condition. prior to entering surgery he spoke to his wife by phone. he's grateful for the brave action of capitol police, first responders and colleagues. that was steve scalise who was shot this mornin along with three others. >>

people who were participating, took them on a bus back to the capitol complex. >> they shot him, and put him on the ground. got him in handcuffs . no one ever thinks you're going to be involved in a circumstance like that. it comes as a total shock. >> and did the police tell you anything? do they know who it is? >> no. it's a guy, big, fat guy, probably 5'8", a t shirt and shorts. had a long gun and a pistol. it was a semi automatic rifle, and it looked like a nine millimeter pistol. just short hair. >> reporter: did say anything? >> i didn't get at him. he went down in the field. he was the only guy in the field that went down. and so i was off the field. and behind the backstop. >> reporter: thank you, congressman. >> sure. >> all right. a piece of tape we believe there from one of the congressman who is returning now to the capitol af

incident at the baseball practice in alexandria this morning. live pictures as the law enforcement pres remains near simpson field. very much from alexandria police. they are trying to piece together what hapn here, what led up to this incident. why a person with a gun possibly a rifle came here to the simpson field during that practice. the republican te and the congressional bal team and opened fire as you can see there an image of one of the vehicles that was nearby with the window shot out. we know there were also shots that hit the glass at the ymca across the street from that field. >> i believe that was mike conway of texas. all votes, all formal business in the u.s. house cancelled. obviously the majori whip is out of commission and no shortage of members of congress rattled. they knocked down a big day of

until tomorrow. >> we're also hearing from the governor of virginia on twitter. he also echoing the same thing we're hearing from the top. from president trump as well as the vice preside that they are monitoring the current situation. the virginia public safety team is aware. they're coordinating with local authorities, and that his thoughts and prayers are with the victims this morning as well. >> we have told you that we expect sometime between 10:00 and 10:30 the police chief will return to update us on this investigation of e incident here. i want to point out that you're looking at images from the ymca across the street from simpson field where a bullet hole is obvious in the glass at that building. offering aidth proximity to the field and the number of shots that were fired in the reports on that range from anywhere from a dozen shots to we heard as many as 50 or 60 sh

started this assault and up to four, we believe, capitol police officers and alexandria police officers who fired back. that resulted in dozens of shots fired there in what is typically a fairly quiet area of the neighborhood in alexandria. >> scott, you mentioned this incident happening on a day when the capitol police were going in to request more resources and more funding to beef it up. and also a big day for gun violence, people who are against guns or for gun control in town. this is -- >> this was a big day on the hill. as you look at the baseball field itself, the police tape canvassing the perimeter of the baseball field. i think you see a baseball on the grass inside the infield. the sandy hook shooting families, the parents of the children killed in connecticut five years ago are in whi

event to promote awareness of gun safety and gun law. and the u.s. capitol police chief was to appear one hour from now in front of a u.s. senate to urge for more resources to prote members of congress. this was a busy day on the hill. it's a few weeks remaining before the recess. there's appropriations. people are trying to get funding. summer vacations are going on. you could have tens of thousands of visitors. any given day there are about 10,000 staffers working on the senate and house sides. u.s. capitol police have a robust presence no matter what happened, but now we're told they're going t reinforce their presence and provide peace of mind for the thousands of people walking through. >> and scott, you mentioned sandy

i wanted to add this. this was a tragedy that devastated the nation back in 2012. 20 children fatality shot. six adults. while the mother of one of the victims, a six-year-old, sharing her thoughts on twitter. saying no one deserves to be the victim of gun violence. not a child, not a politician of any party. we stand with grievers and victims. >> want to point out we are now seeing nbc news reporting that george washington university hospital says it has received two of the wounded people from the shooting scene in virginia and that both are in critical condition. again, we'll point out that the congressman, steve scalise was taken we believe flown to med star washington hospital center off north capitol, and that we know now two victims will receive i'll say two wounded were received at george washington hospital.

five transported to hospital. we don't know if gw received the hospital. the shooteras taken to a hospital. we don't know if he's there. we'll try to piece together who is where and what condition they're in. we know for certain at this point that the conesans surgery at med star washington center in stae condition, and gw has two people from the condition and are in critical condition. >> he's the third ranking republican in theubcan house. he assumed the leadership position when erik cantor lost and had to vacate his leadership position. he's a dad of two kids. he has a wife in new orleans. he spent time more time in the washington d.c. a because he's a member of leadership. i remember covering his run for the position of the republican study committee a few years

majority whip, he handed out baseball bats to other republicans to kind of secure votes to say he's a home run hitter kind of guy who could knock the job out of the park. steve scalise, a big baseball fan. was a proud participant in that annual congressional baseball game. it was supposed to happen tomorrow night at nats park in front of a role crowd, not just the staffers. people came to watch that game and covered for media. >> we're looking at some of the images from alexandria along with the accounts from witnesses and people who were more than witnesses if you will, who were on that baseball indictment around 7:00 this morning the shots were fired. you're seeing the bullet holes in the window at the ymca across the street from simpson field. in reports about anyone impacted at the other businesses and homes in the area. if it comes to be true that there were dozens, possibly 100 sh

you can't help but to wonder whether some of the hopes near the ymca, the coffee shop across from the field, the grocery store half a block away from there may have also received some of those shots that have been fired. we are asking these questions. our crews are spread out around the area. erika gonzalez joining us on the set here to help us continue to walk through this as we wait for the police chief to do another news conference. >> we're hearing what is likely positive and uplifting news. our investigative producer tweeted out that congressman scalise's office says he is in surgery. he was in good spirits prior to the surgery and has even spoken to his wife by phone. so some promising details there in regard to the condition of the congressman. let me ask you this. one of the pictures we're

seeing, a moving image of several democratic congressional members huddled up, and the tweets said that they were at their practice this morning. so is this at a different field? where exactly is this taking place? we understand that that shot that we were showing was the democratic congressional members at their practice this morning. >> yes. it's a different field. i'm not sure if it's a different part of the area. we had one local member of congress who had been practicing for a while but was not going to play tomorrow night from northern virginia. otherwise the participants are all members of the house and senate. the republicans praccet 30 in the morning. got to get the practice in before votes begin and the committees meet between 9:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. it was planned. it's regularly held this time of year, that time of day, i believe at that field. it's not a surpris that they'd

be out there to anybody who knows the congress and their annual festivities with their baseball game. >> there's the image we were talking about. this picture was tweeted out this morning by representatives two tweeted i was at the democratic practice this morning. i'm safe. worried for my colleagues and staff and i'm watching the situation closely. as we were listening to congressman brooks in one of the most vivid accounts that we have heard all morning long of the events that transpired at this field, we were also hearing a very moving tale also from senator rand paul who was speaking to msnbc this morning and was saying he was on the perimeter of this field, and that he could see the shots hitting the ground, and all these things he said start to flash through your mind. do you try to retreat? he says simultaneously we're thinking, or is the gunman going to come closer to us? he says at that time there was a staffer that j

he said the fence must have been 15 feet high jumped it in a matter of seconds and the two of them were hiding behind a tree. while the gunman began firing shots. another eyewitness account that spoke to nbc's tom costello was saying that she could see the shooter firing at one of the officer there on the field, and she had her god children with her. and that she sa loved the children beneath the car and that they were hiding there while all of this started to unfold. and so tom costello said we have to leave her for a moment because she was so rattled by the event that she was literally physically shaking and it was hard for her to fh describe the events. but it's just incredible to think that these people were this close to it, and as congressman brooks said, they were so close, but at the same time they felt powerless that they could do nothing while it was happening. >> they were. you're in an open f l

that, it's hard to be able to do much of anything. as we now approach the 10:00 hour here on this wednesday morning in washington, it is 10:00 now, and you're watching our special extended news coverage of this shooting incident involving a congressman in alexandria that happened. we'll reset this and tell you everything that wee learned up to this point. again, that shooting happened just after 7:00 when alexandria police for getting the first calls about a gunman on simpson field. as the police officers from the ale alex police officer arrived. they saw capitol police officers there to protect the majority whip returning fire on someone who was presumably with a rifle shooting at member of congress and staffers who were there practicing for a congressional baseball game. >> it seems like we lost the picture a moment ago that was on the larger screen for you on the right hand side whe