edgar madison is now facing seven charges in this case. he's accused of firing his gun inside the comet ping-pong restaurant in northwest washington. . that restaurant the center of a fake news story about hillary clinton's presidential campaign. we have team coverage for you beginning with mark segraves, who is at the d.c. superior >> reporter: the 28-year-old from north carolina made his first appearance before a d.c. superior court judge. the judge ordered him held without bond until later this week when he can appear before a preliminary u hearing before another judge. this all started yesterday afternoon inside comet pizza in upper northwest washington. it began just before 3:00 sunday afternoon. the 28-year-old walked into come e et pointed it at an employee. the e employee was able to get away and call police. he fired once inside the restaurant. no one was injured. nearby businesses were locked down as police negotiated with welsh who eventually surrendered. he told police he was there to, quote, self-investigate what had been dete

we've learned his name is edgar madison welch and he's 28 years olds.told police he had come to invest gate an online conspiracy theory called pizzagate. at the restaurant with his wife and three young children and just a short time ago told us what he saw. >> i was actually playing ping-pong with my wife at the time, and the suspect walked in. he walked behind me. we -- i assumed he was a security guard. you know? several people seen him with the gun, and were obviously starting to kind of move around and shake things up. and so -- an employee came and grabbed me and let me know that this was indeed somebody that wasn't supposed to be there and was a gunman and obviously my first reaction was get my family out, get my kids out and my wife did the same and thankfully were out of there. the staff did an amazing job getting everyone out. >> cnn correspondent joe johns joins us along with brian stelter, host of "reliable so s sources." what do we know about the suspect at this point in time? >> you mentioned, brianna, he's 28 years old, named edgar madison

jummy: prosecutors have dropped local charges against edgar madison welch, the man charged with firing an assault rifle inside comet ping-pong, and now they are filing in federal court. john gonzalez is live with the details. good afternoon. because of certain details with this case, the fac state lines and the fact that there was this fake on life story that garnered national attention, at the request of the u.s. attorneys office the local judge at superior court has to miss -- dismissed the charges, and now this case heads to federal court behind me. federal judge, federal charges. welch could face that federal judge sometime this afternoon. the gun man's parents were in court today. they listened and watched intently, no comment for us as they walked out with their son's attorney. he told the washington post that a traumatic incident changed their son's personality. he struck a pedestrian with a car. the boy suffered minor injuries. no charges were ever filed. today in clean-cut and clean-shaven, escorted by marshals into the courtroom. he nodded in the direction of his attorneys an

police say 28-year-old edgar madison welch stormed into a restaurant in d.c. with a shotgun, telling police he wanted to quote, investigate pizza-gate. a totally bogus online conspiracy theory that dc. police confirmed as fictitious. the false news was spread by michael flynn jr., who is the son of trump's new u.s. national security adviser, michael flynn senior. after the incident, flynn jr. tweeted this. quote, until pizza-gate is proven to be false it will remain a story. the left seems to forget podesta e-mails and the many coincidences tied to it. cnn's joe johns is following this story and joins us now from washington. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, carol. you really have to file this under what happens when fake news stories use real names, real places, but false facts. 28-year-old edgar madison welch came here to this location, comet ping-pong, with a rifle, apparently fired it. police took him into custody. he was charged with assault with a dangerous weapon. no one was injured because the people saw the gun and started running away. when po

. >> on sunday this man, edgar madison welsh drove from north carolina armed with several guns. he walked in, pointed an assault rifle at an employee and told police he was investigate a conspiracy theory called pizza gate that hillary clinton and friends were running a child sex ring in the basement. >> i was here with my kids last week. we left 10 minutes before all the stuff started. i wanted to come back. we had a great time. i brought the kids to understand the power of rumors and oddly enough this is it. >> mom kelly boss weighed in online. she said she brings her kids here all the time and she will continue to do so. >> this fake news stuff is horrible. it has to stop. >> reporter: the own er er as i caught up with him just a little while ago he said today during the day they got three to four times more than the business that they normally get on a friday. when i come back at 6:00 we'll tell you about the person who put together this facebook event and the kind of slack that he's getting online for it. live, debra alfaron, wusa 9. >> debra, thank you. ing in all of this.

police say 28-year-old edgar madison welch stormed into the restaurant in d.c.h a shotgun. he told the cops he wanted to investigate, quote, pizza-gate a totally bogus online conspiracy theory spread by, among others, our new missional security adviser's son michael flynn jr. cnn's joe johns is following this from northwest washington. good morning. >> good morning, carol. this is the restaurant behind me and police do say 28-year-old edgar madison welch walked into this restaurant holding a rifle. he apparently fired it. no one was injured. police arrested him. he was charged with assault with a deadly weapon. when they sat down and talked to him, he said he was here to self-investigate pizza-gate which police themselves call an online fictitious conspiracy theory. so, he's taken into custody. this is a problem, apparently, that this restaurant has been dealing with for quite awhile. several weeks, in fact, there have been death threats against people who worked for the restaurant, we're told. now the owner has put out a statement, and he said, in part, what ha

. > and the suspect, 28 year old edgar madison of north caroline according to source owes say hee drove up from north carolina with the purpose of targeting this restaurant. tonight we're learning he's being charged with a weapon.on. > now to oaks land, california that warehouse fire continues to climb. the fire broke out during a dance party. we're learning up to 100 people may have attend the event. fox's adam housley reports. >>reporter: today our districti attorney, nancy o'malley, did activate a criminal investigation. that team is on the site andnd working in concert with our other law enforcement enf particulate necessary.icul th the criminal investigation teami has been activated the site of a massive warehouse fire that killed dozens of people late friday night into saturday morning, this as the agonizing search and recovery continues.tu with the debris we are literally going bucketful by bucketful. when we find a victim behalf to stop. we have to then conduct an investigation. it has to be thorough. it has -- everything has to be documented. firefighters announcing on of the v

. >> a fake news rumor that brought 28-year-old edgar madison welsh from here on north carolina on sunday. he brought a gun inside comet ping-pong and said he was there to investigate a conspiracy theory that hillary clinton and friends were running a child sex trafficking ring in the restaurant's basement. >> the moral of the story is the fake news things some people think it's funny they're creating these stories online. it's not funny. it's serious. it can have very, very serious consequences. >> the interim chief of police dc came to support comet. >> it's horrifying. somebody could have been kill ed. it's just ridiculous. >> no one was hurt on sunday. callers have been phone ing ing comet and near by businesses threatening them. >> we relationship with our federal partners to the extent that we need to get them involved we will get them involved. >> reporter: and one woman that i spoke to who wrote on the facebook event page to express her support said that she got at home from one of those conspiracy theory people and they were threatening her. she was rattled they got her name and

but the troubles for edgar madison welch are far from over at this point. stephanie ramirez is live outside the federal courthouse with more on what happened in there today. stephanie? >> reporter: yeah, mike, the pizza gate suspect edgar welch is due here as soon as 1:30 today. before he was facing a slew of weapons possessions charges including assault with a dangerous that is weapon. but the local charges were dropped. the u.s. attorney's office announced they are now charging welch with interstate transportation of a firearm. with intent to commit an offense or with knowledgeable reason cause to believe that offense would be committed. now this could all mean up to ten years in prison with a final and this all stems from december 4th, when an armed northwest d.c.'s comet ping- pong. he told police he was there to investigate the fake news stories of a child sex ring known as pizza-gate. now today in court we saw a clean shaven and coherent welch. he appeared to have a buzzed head and a mustache. we know his family is here to see him. more for you later t

cou edgar madison welch is facingac several charges.seve he read on line that the restaurant was harbor child chid sex slaves way connection to way the hillary clinton campaign and wanted to see fory cl himsef and help reassures queue them. e that story is false. is alse >>> become latest victim that of o same fake news story this time in new york. brooklyn restaurant known for wood fire please pizza received telephone callsedelep threatening its employees.lo >> it came after social mediaeda users connected the restaurant n to the pizza gate hoax gate centered on com pet ping-pongino in d.c. no arrests have been made. mad >> president-elect donaldside trump slamming a union leaderntl who claims trump lied about lieb negotiated. whones weted chuck jones is president of united steelworkers 1999 has done a 19o terrible job representing workers.wo >> president-elect is traveling to columbus ohio presi today tom meet with some of the victims of last week's atimtacks at ohio stateo st university.si the private event will includetc a meeting with police and paramedics who responded tond t the

police say 28-year-old edgar madison welch went there to investigate a conspiracy theory.he fake news said hillary clinton was running a child sex ring from the d.c. restaurant. prosecutors charged welch with assault with a dangerous weapon. >>> some college students in new jersey are going to be spending -- studying time inside a bank vault. check this out. fresco user joe hall zen us this video rowan university dedicated its camden academic building today. it's a restored 1920s bang the former first camden national bang and trust building is now home to student lounges and one in the bank's old vault. building renovation was paid for with a $17 million grant from the state. very nice. when you take fresco videos nice steady shot is also good. back ting 229 wet authority. meteorologist kathy orr is in moorestown, new jersey. it's time to light that tree. >> guess who is with me? come here. the big guy himself. >> nice. >> he's gained a few pounds. >> just a few. >> cookies. >> santa when you say hi to lucy and iain they've been very good. >> lucy and iain have been very g

he's 28-year-old edgar madison welch of salisbury, north carolina. he came in to order a pizza, a shot was fired into the floor and the police said they got one gun -- two guns actually from him and another in his car that was parked outside. now, comet pizza has been at the center of a series of internet rumors and hoaxes, and what police are called fictitious accounts about things that go on there and the owner says this is what's prompting this and it's got to stop. here's what the oerp had to say. listen. >> i simply say we should people to spread these malicious remarks about comet ping-pong. >> they've been getting threats like this. according to one report, at least one report, another had already visited. this person told welch told folks he came to investigate the series. police at first denied that but now talking to him, it seems like this story is getting right now we're live on "news4." >> thank you. >>> 5:04. a tragic story now developing. we now know 33 people died at a massive warehouse fire. they have more than half of that warehouse

superior court where e at this hour edgar madison welcl name madison welch will be in court here for a preliminary hearing. this means he'll go before a a judge, and we'll fine out his os bond status.tu he's currently being heldurrentg without bond. but per happen the judge will release welch so that he can goc home to north carolina pending trial.ia. the 28-year-old from salsbury,al north carolina, was arrestedrrte sunday on connecticut avenue. you see the photograph there. te charged with firing a gun inside comet ping-pong.ng. that's a pizza r connecticut avenue northwest washington. welch says he was investigatingn fake news reports about an alleged child sex principle runr from the restaurant connected to hillary clinton. now in an interview with the nen york times reporter yesterday,a, madison welch said this quotingi here "i just wanted to do someom good and went about it the wrong way". he said "the intel on thiss wasn't 100%". and later saying "i regret how i handled the situation".. this hour this comes as theres r are these new reports from new york city that a popular woo

wielding an assault rifle at a pizza place says he was investigating a fake news story. 28-year-old edgar madison welsh telling police he was investigating a probe of pizza gate. that claims hillary clinton and her campaign chairman peds pejo podesta would involved in a child predatory story. they praised the prompt response of police. >>> just a short time ago, we got reaction from china to last night's new provocative tweet storm two days after his controversial phone call. trump tweeted this, did china ask us if it was okay to devalue currency making it hard for companies to compete and heavily tax our products into their country? the u.s. doesn't tax them or to build a massive complex in the middle of the south china sea? i don't think so. and china responded diplomatically moments ago. joining us now is alexandra field. what was china's reaction? >> reporter: alison, officials are used to hearing tough talk on the subject of china from candidate trump on the campaign trail. they may not expect to hear from president-elect, but that is what they got. the tough line against beijing. he tweeted

>> the suspect in this case, 28-year-old edgar madison welch, appeared in d.c.n the last hour, and he's now formally charged with assault with a dangerous weapon and unlawful discharge of a firearm. the metropolitan police say he walked into cot met ping-pong restaurant. this is a family restaurant with adults and children. he told officers he walked frrk the not finding any evidence of that. >> this all stems tr a false story that's federal claiming that hillary clinton was associated with a child sex ring at this restaurant. police say the claims are fictional and the restaurant and other businesses in the area say they've been receiving threats and harassing phone calls for weeks. now, police found two guns believed to belong to the suspect inside the restaurant and one more inside his car. clearly, this is a dangerous situation that went beyond fake news world. >> certainly is. very, very dangerous indeed. >> let's get back to power. >> once it looks like this, it. your own opinion, but you're not entitled to your own facts? we live in an era where some have

edgar madison welsh telling police he was conducting a probe of the pizza gate. that's a debunked conspiracy theory that claims hillary clinton and john podesta were involved in a child sex scandal. overnight, the false accusations were denouncedenounced. >>> just a short time ago, we got reaction from china to the provocative tweet storm from donald trump. two days after the phone call up ending decades of diplomacy in china. trump tweeted this, did china ask us if it was okay to devalue their currency making it hard for our companies to compete? l heavily tax our products going into their country or build a massive military complex in the south china sea? i don't think so. joining us from beijing is ye alexandra field. are you getting any indication there could be retaliation down the line? >> reporter: we don't know what president-elect trump intended to illicit in taking on beijing on the twitter account. the spokesperson for the ministry of foreign affairs says china won't speculate what motivated his actions or transition team's actions. the tweets did not

restaurant. 28-year-old edgar madison welch allegedly fired several time while investigating a site ofild trafficking even though there was no evidence a trafficking ring and fortunately nobody was hurt. >>> ducis is here and the temple owls have new head coach tonight. >> it's the week they found their man. he has no head coaching experience and the fourth straight coach that temple hired with no head coaching experience but temple sees something they like in jeff colins and pat craft said as soon as i met with jeff i knew he was the right coach at the right time for temple. collins spend the last two seasons as florida's defensive coordinator, the defense was ranked in the top ten nationally and before that mississippi state. the school has called a news conference tomorrow at the center at 11:00 a.m. >>> delaware is getting a new head football coach, danny rocco is hired. he led richmond to three state bowls and rocco will be introduced tomorrow afternoon at 1:00. >> now to college basketball, big five basketball games are huge and this one is no different. number one villanova is s

and police say that the man arrested yesterday is among them edgar madison welsh is accused of showing one several guns at comet ping upon. he drove from his home in north carolina and went inside the restaurant and point assault rifle at employee cowing a least one shot. according to arrest records welsh read online the restaurant was harboring sex slaves and wanted to see for himself and try to recuse them and he surrendered after finding no evidence and "fox5" executive producer jeff gajak was in the area at the time and got this cellphone video as welsh was arrested yesterday afternoon. earlier today we saw that police are now patrolling in the area near comet ping-pong. have also been named as part of this sex crime conspiracy theory and it's caused them to also get threatening calls and threats online. the owner of the bookstore politics and pros told me his biggest fear was this would turn into something violent and yesterday that would happen. and with all the craziness he said there's been a lot of support and we saw that for ourselves.

a judge delayed a hearing for 28-year-old edgar madison welsh to his attorney can review the case. he said he drove to basement. he was prompted by a fake news story. >>> more snow and bitter temperatures for parts of the midwest. heavy snow hit denver over night. near white-out conditions led to crashes. north dakota looks like a frozen tundra. this bismark man has been trapped for days. >> we get dumped on a lot but not like this. this is unusual for us. >> have you been able to leave your house? there? >> yes, we do. we are okay sglchls this . >> this woman tried to scale a wall of snow at her front door before rethinking her decision. yeah. i don't know. she didn't get very far . >> is that enough snow for you? >> that's a lot of snow, especially for them. you know, places like the dakotas get a lot of snow. they get a lot of 3 to 5 inches but not a whole lot of foot to 2 feet storms. it's cold and more snow is heading their way actually. i hate to say that. more sno actually, it's the truth. >>> now as far as we are concerned, the coldest air is here kind of seeping into the m

. >> reporter: comet ping pong shooting suspect edgar madison welch is talking from jail. he granted an interview to adam goldman a reporter from "the new york times." in that conversation welch says to self-investigate something he had read online, it was a fake news story, a hoax which falsely claimed that a child sex ring was linked to the restaurant as well as the clinton campaign. now, reporter adam goldman recounts what welch said. >> he started drawing down on this and thought there was ?k? evidence that was real. i asked him if he discussed it with anybody, he said he also discussed it with his family and they seemed to think that there was evidence that there was, i guess, children were harbored at this pizza place. >> reporter: and, again, those allegations completely false. now, welch is due in court again today, he is facing a variety of charges including assault with a deadly weapon. back to you in the studio. >> megan, thank you. >>> from the district to brooklyn, new york, the pizzagate hoax has spread to roberta's pizza. social media has helped it spread. "

. >> armed with an assault rifle, police say edgar madison welsh sent customers scrambling on sundayhen he walked into the d.c. restaurant and fires at least one shot into the floor. >> police immediately set up a perimeter. >> this image shows welsh surrounded by police with his hands behind his head. >> hisrre. you're come tog a place to eat. didn't make any eye contact. ear-dnd taken into custody. police say he told them he came to theselfnvestigate pizza gate. a fake online conspiracy theory suggesting the local the centerx slave ring organizedn and her f manager. in an effort to crack down on fake news, red banned the discussion thread on its site. >> you just think, people are very b keyboard. people are writing all these hateful messages, but you don't actually think someone's going to do somethi the fake story we viral, the owner of the d.c. pizzeria says he's received hundreds of death threats. >> what happened today demonstrates that promoting false and reckless conspiracy theorys do come with consequences and i hope those involved with fanning feez flames w t contemplate w

fortunately nobody else insidens there but facing very serious charges.chs. 28-year-old edgar madison welchw weapon -- discharging a weapongi unlawfully and assault with ait dangerous weapon. wea we can tell you that dc policeoe have increased patrols around a the area.e aa now welch did tell deck that ish yes, indeed he came here becausc he wanted to find out for himself if there were childrenhe who were being traffickedraffice through here in the basement. that's aheccording treo i thatot internet conspiracy theory we'v' been talking about. abo but he toll detectives that whea he saw that there was noere evidence of that, we saw by the video shot by fox5 he did come m out here with his hands up.ds u left his weapons gave up peacefully.celly but even so, other shops along g this strip here on connecticutct avenue have told fox5 they, toot feel like they're getting kindek of wrapped up in this, that those online folks have alsoe a lashed out at them.d at t that they received some threatss online and also over the phone. definitely dc police, again, increasing surveillance.veilla we've

edgar madison welch charged with assault with a deadly weapon. let's go to jacob soboroff.oking into this, the impact of the fake news stories but how this went viral as we like to say and then picked up, we talked about reddit but also picked up by other social media sites. >> all over the place using facebook and instagram and came back around. in this story in particular where his own was not only used to perpetuate the fake news story but people came back to attack this gentleman on it and taken private since then. i want to talk about this today. i was scheduled to be there tonight at comet ping-pong before any of this has happened. this is truly a phenomenon, this phenomenon of fake news that's stretched from here in southern california to there in washington, dc and all the way to macedonia where people are making a living off fake news and sending it out across the internet, particularly on facebook and buzzfeed did a remarkable analysis after the election. the 19 most fake shared outdid the real news in the run-ups before the election. when you talk about consequen

police say the suspect, 28-year-old edgar madison welch armed with an assault rival walked in this cometng piz pizza restaurant and fired a shot. he said he came to self-investigate what we're talking about here, pizzagate, this fake online conspiracy theory that made the round during this presidential co campaign was the center of a child sex ring run by hillary clinton. since this went viral, the owner said he's received hundreds of death threats. at this point police believe it's only welch that was involved in this incident. >> halle, it defies belief. what a story. ali jackson for us in washington. coming up, cheers and celebration. it's announced that the standing rock pipeline will be rerouted. but a new president is coming in in a month so is this simply a delay? scary, and messy and fragile. but under the proper care, they become something beautiful. >> demonstrators have long said the project is an environmental and cultural threat. supporters say it's going to provide jobs and pump money into the local economy. >> it's a require mement. so this company was trying to pretend th

police say this north carolina man, 28-year-old edgar madison welch was inspired by a lie spread on linek into this d.c. pizza restaurant with two guns sunday. sharif silmy i was there with his three daughters and wife. >> we were at the comet ping-pong really just enjoying lunch, having a good day there. i was playing ping-pong with my wife and my kids were kind of around us. they were playing foosball. this guy walked in and was walking straight for the back room. >> reporter: welch admitted he drove to d.c. from north carolina to self-investigate pizza gate. it is said that hillary clinton was involved in a child sex ring at this pizza place. there is no proof and the accusation isn't true. two of the firearms are recovered inside the restaurant and another was found inside his car. police say at one point he fired off his weapon after pointing it at an employee. >> i was aware of the situation surrounding the comet ping-pong, so i thought maybe they would have security or people that are coming in and out, so my initial reaction wasn't really to respond, but then a staff member kind

edgar madison welsh, it's a case of real life consequences of fake news. my cnn political commentators join me. good evening to all of you. you have been talking a lot about fake news during this election. this is a prime example of what can happen when people latch on to these conspiracy theorys. is there a way to keep this fake news from circulating and inspiring these extremist views? >> this is the question i dread this is a hard question, it doesn't have a satisfied answer right now. there are lots of things individuals can do. some things that newsrooms can do. i didn't take pizza gate seriously, when it started to come out in early november i thought it was so ludicrous, so disgusting, people trying to link her to a pedophilia ring. i just dismissed it. maybe i shun the have. maybe we should have tried to debunk it more clearly early on. buzz feed did good work on that. there are steps we can take, there are no -- satisfying answers to this hard problem. >> that's hard, because you give life to it. >> during the campaign there were some rational peo

edgar madison well. went to the restaurant after reading a article about they were hash oinging child sex slaves. >> and republican con fwretional leaders say allegations that russia medals in presidential election. mitch mcconnell says richard burr will lead a bipartisan inquiry and related probe will be chaired by senator john mccain. >> and nancy pelosi's daughter are demanding intelligence briefings on russian interference by monday when the electoral challenge makes the presidential vote official. >> nine democrat and one republican who said he would no vote for trump. >> trump said he will announce his pick for secretary of state this morning. >> we learned one time gop candidate is the in line to be the next energy secretary. "fox5" mel smell live on capitol hill with the latest developments, good morning, mel. >> reporter: good morning and sources are saying that that secretary of state pick will be exxon mobile ceo rex till scheduled to retire from the company in 2017. tillerson may have one of

authorities say a guy named edgar madison welch walked into this pizza restaurant in upper northwestngton over the weekend. it's been here for years. he had a rifle in his hand. apparently fired at least one shot, no one was injured. people apparently scattered when they saw the guy with the gun. authorities when they sat down and interviewed welch say he admitted to them that he was here to self investigate the now notorious internet conspiracy theory known as pizzagate which alleges that the restaurant along with hillary clat and her campaign manager john podesta involved in a child sex ring. all false. he was charged with assault with a deadly weapon. no one was injured and the owner put out a statement saying this shows the consequences of what happens when people use lies on the internet. back to you, chris and alisyn. >> joe, thank you very much for all of that background. we have our panel. how to quell and squash all of this. so much fake news out there and turns out there is a consequence to fake news. a gullible person believes it. the details made up are disturbing and he

i take it a 28-year-old, edgar madison welch? >> reporter: that's right. that's his name, wolf.olina, and he is locked up right now, but he is expected to appear in d.c. superior court in a little while charged with assault with a dangerous weapon. now, authorities say he was here over the weekend, walked in with a rifle. apparently that rifle was fired, authorities say, when they took him into custody, they found two additional weapons, and amp they charged him, they sat down and asked him questions, and what he told them was a little surprising. of course, he said that he came here to self-investigate, if you will, the allegations against pizzagate. a pizzagate, of course, is that online internet false rumor that has been going around for quite some time suggesting that hillary clinton and john podesta, her campaign manager, were, in fact, involved in a child sex ring here. all of it totally false, but it started in late october and kept building through the election, continues to this day. there have been threats against this pizza institution here on connecticut avenue in wa

edgar madison welch talked to a "new york times" reporter from jail. goldman says welch told him he just wanted to check out the restaurant but became upset when he was driving to d.c. and something in him flipped. he also said he believed the false, unfounded reports that a child sex ring wasbe welch is now facing two felony charges. >> and this week, a member of the presidential transition team was fired for some social media posts involving that fabricated news about the comet ping-pong. >> the son of the man donald trump has selected to be his national security adviser, retired general mike flynn. "meet the press" moderator chuck todd joins us now. general flynn came under a lot of fire, but nothing from the trump administration denouncing fake news. >> not quite, but one thing i would note is the sound of silence on trump administration officials standing by mike flynn. very publicly. they haven't thrown him under the bus, but they're not exactly -- they're exactly overly defending him either. i had kellyanne conway on mtp dale a, because there's

. >> good morning, steve, allison, 28-year-old edgar madison welsh will spend a few more nights in d.c. jail than he planned top spend in d.c.. meanwhile you can see this here. here they came together and painerd front of the restaurant with signs of support and love. now according to court documents welsh told detectives he went to the pizza shop to see if any child sex slaves were harbored there and he was armed and prepared to rescue them. he surrendered peacefully from police when he found no evidence the children were alleged there but before firing off three shot. it's a crazy conspiracy thoory claiming the clinton campaign was involved in al the fbi and d.c. police said it's xlootly false. rumors persisted online and d.c. police are adding patrols and neighboring shops and customers say this unnerved them a bit. >> i'm just a local mom from the neighborhood and my little boy and i wanted to show support to owners of comet and we feel there's a silent majority that respect and love neighbors and we wanted to show that and try to make it kid and babies it's a fun place. they're su

edgar madison welsh went to a restaurant after reading a story online after owners were hash oing are sex slaves. including assault with a dangerous weapon. >> all right. coming up on on tuesday. tucker, is here with more. >> good morning. >> hello. >> i ran and got coffee and i'm ready to go, fired up now, let do this. >> cloud cover, cool temperatures to start the day. temperatures right now reagan national 40. 33 out at dulles and bwi marshall 33. in a few days these will be temperatures you will dream about saying oh, my god i can't wait until it's 30 degrees he's degrees. >> we've said thaet never. >> no. >> we dream big. >> i know you do. >> cover in the forecast. mostly cloudy. combination of upper level low to west and area of low pressure south. it will get up along the coast and team up to give us plenty of clouds and we may get a shower or freeze route" showerer well norman west of the snow showers this afternoon but it will not amount to a whole lot of anything. temperatures in mid 40s. still lot of cold on the way and in fact extreme cold. coldest december temperates we'l

into the restaurant with an assault rifle, according to court documents released when 28-year-old edgar madisonarged with four counts including felony assault with a deadly weapon. welch was said to have told police that he read online that the comet ping-pong restaurant was the base of a child sex abuse ring run by clinton and her presidential campaign chair john podesta. he added he wanted to see for himself if the children were there. investigators say the theory has been proven to be a hoax. the judge has ordered welch be held until a preliminary hearing on thursday. >>> donald trump returns to north carolina today. it's the second stop on his thank you tour of america. while general james mattis is expected to be introduced as his choice for secretary of defense and we're expecting more announcements this week. mattis' confirmation means that congress has to pass a waiver because civilian control of the military requires seven years out of uniform before he's able to take the job. house leaders are thinking about adding a measure to an upcoming spending bill to make sure mattis' confirmati

the dramatic standoff captured in these photos began moments after this man, edgar madison welch, armedth an ar-15 and a hand gun, walked into this popular d.c. pizza place. police say firing multiple rounds. >> he was walking straight directly to the back room. a staff member indicated that this was a gunman, and we just swiftly made our way out to the exit and got out of there. >> reporter: police quickly surrounded the building, coaxing welch outside with his hands up. what may be more bizarre than his alleged actions are what led him there. police say the 28-year-old was on a mission to stop a crime that had never been committed. an allegation made that hillary clinton and her campaign chairman were running a child sex ring in the basement of the restaurant. the story has been proven to be false by police and others. the restaurant doesn't even have a basement, and the story has been traced to a series of lies and fabrications, which first circulated on underground internet messaging during the campaign. in part, because the owner has donated to democratic causes. police say welch t

police say 28-year-old edgar madison welch walked in to comet ping-pong yesterday with an assault rifle one shot into the floor. officials say welch told him he went there to investigate pizzagate. it's a theory from an online post claiming the pizzeria was a child sex abuse ring run by clinton and her campaign chair podesta. >> what happened today demonstrates that promoting false and reckless conspiracy theories do come with consequences, and i hope that those that are involved with fanning these flames will take a moment to contemplate what happened here today and to stop right away. >> important to mention, though, no one was hurt. >> that is kind of crazy. >>> all right, kasie, "saturday night live" returned this weekend and to little surprise the cold open centered around donald trump and his continued use of twitter. >> kellyanne, i just retweeted the best tweet. i mean, wow, what a great, smart tweet. >> mr. trump, we're in a security briefing. >> i know, but this could not wait. it was from a young man named seth. he's 16, he's in high school, and i really did retweet him, seri

that was apparently driven by an on-line conspiracy theory. 28-year-old edgar madison welsh was arrested after firing a gun in a popular child's pizza place in a scheme he believed involved hillary clinton. that is obviously one of those on-line rumors that has been debunked but did get plenty of attention on line. he now tells how he regrets that action. jacob, you have been looking into this subject the last few days now. there's hillary clinton, just her second appearance since the election. she's trying to draw some attention to it. what have you been finding? >> it's so fascinating to listen and hear hillary clinton talk about what she calls an epidemic of fake news, and some people are saying fake news did have an influence on the outcome of this election. we know that the 19 most viewed fake news articles were viewed more than the most 20 viewed news articles from mainstream sources. so this gentleman who went into the comet ping-pong pizza is speaking about why he went in there. what was behind the thought process to lead him to leave his home in north carolina and actually go to

this guy's name is edgar madison welch. a mid 20s, from salisbury, north carolina, and police say he came here over the weekend with a rifle in his hand, apparently fired that rivafle. at least think they he did. no one was hurt because people saw the gun and started running. police took him into custody and then they sat down with him and talked to him and what he said was that he came here to self-investigate the online conspiracy theory known as pizzagate. this is a story that's been around for weeks and weeks, alleging that there was a child sex ring running out of this restaurant, somehow involving hillary clinton and her campaign manager john podesta. the restaurant has been dealing with this issue for weeks. the restaurant owner put out a statement that said, in part, what happened today demonstrates that promoting false and reckless conspiracy theories comes with consequences. i hope those involved in fanning these flames will take a moment to contemplate what happened here today and stop promoting these falsehoods.

police say 28-year-old edgar madison welch went there to investigate a conspiracy theory.e news said hillary clinton was running a child sex ring from the d.c. restaurant. a witness says welch was completely silent during the whole ordeal. >> the gentleman did not say a word. did he not say a single word. which once again what was so odd. >> i'm happy no one was hurt. don't like the idea of anyplace you spend so much time being a crime scene. >> prosecutors have charged welch with assault with a dangerous weapon. police found several weapons on him including a rifle and handgun knowledge one is hurt. president-elect trump's new administration continues to take shape as another new cabinet nominee announced and the list of candidates for secretary of state grows. >> meanwhile on capitol hill republican lawmakers are plotting their first moves under a gop led congress and president. fox's joel waldman in d.c. >> reporter: president-elect trump's inauguration is still well over a month away. but republicans in congress are already planning the repeal of president obama's sign

but edgar madison welch walked into a restaurant full of customers yesterday, fired the weapon, according to police, and pointed it at an employee. no one thankfully was injured. welch was arrested and charged with assault with a dangerous weapon. two fireappl arms were found in restaurant, another in his car. my next guest is one of the customers in the restaurant during this entire scary incident. he joins me now. thank you so much. you were in the restaurant with your wife and three young kids. tell me what you saw. >> yeah. we were in the restaurant and the middle section of the restaurant where there's some ping-pong tables and fusball tables, my family was playing, i was playing ping-pong with my wife at the time. the suspect walked in, he walked behind me. i assumed he was a security guard. several people seen him with the gun and were obviously starting to kind of move around and shake things up. so an employee came and grabbed me and let me know that this was indeed somebody that wasn't supposed to be there and was a gunman, and obviously my first reaction was to get my family ou

. >> reporter: the dramatic standoff captured in these photos began moments after this man, edgar madison, armed with an ar-15 semiautomatic rifle and a handgun walked into this popular d.c. pizza place. police say firing multiple rounds. >> he was walking straight directly for the backroom. a staff member, you know, kind of looked at me and indicated that this was a gunman and, you know, we just swiftly made our whey out to the exit and got out of there. >> reporter: police quickly surrounded the building, coaxing welch outside with his hands up. tonight, he's charged with assault with a dangerous weapon. what may be more bizarre than welch's alleged actions are what led him there. police say the 28-year-old was on a mission to stop a crime that had never been committed. a an outlandish allegation made months ago online that hillary clinton and her campaign chairman were running a child sex ring in the basement of the restaurant, comet ping-pong. the story has been reportedly proven to be false by police and others. the restaurant doesn't even have a basement and the story has been trace

here in washington, a few blocks away from here, is talking about what made him do it 28-year-old edgar madison wch is his name. said he was investigating nine articles saying the pizzeria was at the center of a hillary clinton child sex slave ring. well, welch now telling "new york times," this is one of the great understatements in the history of man, quote, the intel on this wasn't 1 hurricane%. wow, msnbc's jacob soboroff is following this story and has more. jacob, i think "not 100%" is a complete understatement. this was ridiculous lyin making up fictitious horror stories about children being used for whatever actual purposes and playing it on hillary and that pizzeria down the street from here. what are your thoughts? >> i think the intel was not 100%, it was not 90%, it was zero percent, because this was a completely falsified story, a lie, as you say, chris. and you'd be happy to know that the comet ping-pong, your local pizzeria is back open for business. they're accepting customers again. and for the first time, we are hearing from this man when went in based on this complete lie and

armed with an assault rifle, police say edgar madison welch sent terrified customers and employees scrambling when he walked into the d.c. restaurant comet ping-pong and fired at least one shot >> metropolitan police department has arrived on the scene immediately, set up a perimeter. >> reporter: this image taken by a witness shows welch surrounded by police with his hands behind his head. >> his demeanor was bizarre. in that, if you come into a place to eat, you ask for a host or grab a seat at the bar. he didn't make any eye contact or talk with anybody. >> reporter: the 28-year-old taken into custody, police saying he told them he came to the establishment to fake online conspiracy theory suggesting the local pizzeria was at the center of a child sex slave ring organized by hillary clinton and her former campaign manager, john podesta. in an effort to crack down on fake news, reddit banned the discussion thread on its site. >> you just think, oh, you know, people are very brave behind their keyboard, writing all these hateful messages. but you don't actually think that someone is going to

>> reporter: hey, allison andisd steve, yes, edgar med son welchl he goes by madison that's hist's name due here in court in an in hour. preliminary hearing.el we're at dc supeimriinor court. he's currently being heldel without bond. the question will be will theilt judge release him to go home to north carolina pending hisng h upcoming trial. tal if it goes to that.hat. can show i was photograph of welch arrest on sunday. sunda this was on connecticut avenue u in northwest.st firing a gun inside comet pinkk upon. up that's a pizza restaurant there. popular place in northwest d.c. welch is told investigators hege was investigating fake news ns reports about an alleged child sex ring run from the restaurant connected to hillary clinton. ewto h with ail nlaewry new york times reporter yesterday madison welch said this. ts. quoting here, i just wanted toao do some good and went about itbi the wrong way.. he said the 100% and that i regret how i handled the situation.uation this comes as reports coming out of new york city this morningk i that aty popular wood fired piza restaurant called r

on sunday police say 28 greerd edgar madison welsh drove to the district from his north carolina home. when he got to comet police say he fired his assault rifle multiple times inside. no one was injured. according to court documents welsh told police he read online that the restaurant was harboring child sex slaves and wanted t that story tupd out to be a fake online news story. >> happening today solemnly commemeration as around our area as 75 app versusy of the moment of the attacks on pearl harbor draws close they are morning. national museum of u.s. navy will lay a wreath with 99-year-old survivor of historic attack. ceremony is on to puck liing and begins at 9:00 this morning ceremony will begin at world war ii memorial with wreath laying at the freedom wall. and remarks from senator john mccain. that happened in hey high at the exact home the attack took place. coming up 7:15 bob barnard will be at the national air and space museum center with live coverage of commemerations in our area. >> i look forward to watching that. 7:05 now i'm stopped. hopefully this puts a dent in the

story before the presidential election and while they had threats this was the worst. 28-year-old edgar madisonrom north carolina taken into custody after he pointed his rifle at an employee who managed to get out and call police. police found two guns inside the restaurant and another weapon in the suspect's vehicle. there's video from the scene that you're seeing there. well, a heartbroken dolly parton, tennessee native. the country singer organizing a telethon. the singer said that all the money raised will go to her mypeople-fund. she started just last week. she grew up in this area, the smoky mountains did a movie about her life. it will be in nashville. well, american airlines is having a very weird problem with the new uniforms that it recently rolled out. the uniforms maybe making their employees sick, thousands of employees have been complaining of severe itching, rashes, headaches, even hives after they put on the new clients. the airlines launched an internal investigation and seemed to be due to wo allergies and commanding complete recall even though employees seem to like them. in

edgar madison welch facing fac muddle pep charges.bob barnard standing bynb with the latest.he latt. bob. >> reporter: this hearing gets under way shortr:ly. tr washort it was postponed basically fromm last week because madison that's his middle name that's what heht prefers to go by madison will gw much his attorneys wanted attorw several more days to furtherer investigate the situation anduai the incident. ninease goes back on that sunday more than a week ago when welch allegedly droveed up from his home in salsbury, sr north carolina, to investigatege those fake news reports thatha hillary clinton was involved in some kind of child sex slave s sting operation running out of comet ping-pong there inn northwest dc near the chevyhevy chase circle.. when welch went in there here didn't find anything but heind h fired off a gun, and customers e and employees went running.ni he was arrested there right outt on connecticut avenue righte rih afterward, and he's been held in custody since then. t the hearing today is tois to determine wheth

armed with an assault rival, police say edgar madison welch centerfied customers and employees scrambling on sunday when he walked into the d.c. restaurant, comet ping-pong and fired at least one shot from the floor. >> people who ran in from comet >> metropolitan police department arrived on the scene and set up a perimeter. >> reporter: this image shows welch surrounded by police and hands behind his head. >> his demeanor was bizarre and coming to a place to eat, you hit the bar but didn't make any contact or talk to anybody. there to investigate pizza gate, suggesting there was a child sex slave ring organized by hillary clinton and her former campaign manager, john pod des stan. in an effort to crack down on fake tv news, reddit banned them from the site. >> people are brave behind their keyboards but you don't actually think somebody will do something about it. r story went viral the owner of the piz rhea said he received hundreds of death threats. >> what happened today shows promoing false conspiracy theories do come with consequences. i hope those involved with fanning these flame

edgar madison welch facing a a mucks ma'am of 35 years inyen prison for driving from northm h carolinaoriesheorie claiming high level dem weree running a child trafficking ring in that pizza shop.hop >> a nanny accused of in theinhe death of a baby in princeprin george's county will appear aea before a judge.fore that happens this morning.ni she charged with murder andurded child abuse after police say shs force fed an eight month oldontd baby girl who died.wh die the victim's home surveillanceen system caught the whole thing on tape and showed the nannyanny napping before being woken up bb the baby crying.ing >> in dc courtroom today tay preliminary hearing for hospitai employee accused of sexually abusing a patient.atient police say 51 year old simon ofo waldorf assault add femaleeme patient at united medical centec in southeast earlier this month. the hospital says it cannot cano comment on the accusations whilw still under investiga >>> family of terrence sterlingi filed a $50 million wrongfulro death lawsuit with the same thee baltimore law office that that represented the family