i am house majority leader steve scalise from the great state of louisiana.as born in new orleans, so i've seen some crazy things in my time, but new orleans has nothing on washington, d.c. these past four years. joe biden and kamala harris have spent your tax dollars trashing america's finances in ways no sane or sober minded person ever would. let's talk energy. they have eroded the american energy dominance that president trump delivered. joe biden approved the nord stream pipeline for russia, but he killed the keystone pipeline at home. thousands, thousands of american jobs gone. it doesn't end there. biden let iran and venezuela export their oil, but he stopped liquefied natural gas exports here in america. president biden is not done. president biden waived taxes on chinese solar panels, but he raised taxes on americans. when we elect donald trump as our next president and expand their republican house majority, we will end the democrats assault on american energy, once and for all. so let's look at taxes. >> one of the things that is interesting that y

we have not heard from house majoriti leader, steve scalise, a good man. and obama have not endorsed kamala harris yet. >> this is telling that the leaders of the democrat party, who were behind this coop of joe biden, started with opponent, pelosi and -- obama, pelosi and schumer, may have not endorsed kamala, i think there might be a michelle obama play they are working on. these people have no respect for their own voters, we have seen, that they lecture you and i on democracy they trashed 14 million democrat primary voters who went to the polls to pick joe biden. they don't care. what is next? unkamala harris i think is out there as a trial balloon, as we saw before, she ran for president, she is only person to run for president in memory who never won a single state. it is because she finished 1% popularity in primaries. and look how well she has done as border czar, the biggest problem and crises in america america. lock at so many other things. crime is out of control, she is the one that raised money that minnesota freedom fund in summer of love, w

republican congressman steve scalise who was shot at a congressional baseball team practice in 2017. the divisive political climate has escalated even more. leading to the 2020 plot to kill michigan governor gretchen whitmer. the 2022 attack on house speaker nancy pelosi's husband paul pelosi and the arrest of a man who was allegedly attempted to kill supreme court justice brett kavanaugh the same year. >> i cannot condone this. >> reporter: republicans and democrats are condemning the attack on mr. trump, but the incident only punctuating concerns about the growing support for political violence. a recent pbs npr poll found one in five americans think violence may be necessary to get the country back on track. last summer, tucker carlson asked former president trump whether he was concerned about violence against them. >> are you worried they will try to kill you? why wouldn't they try to kill you, honestly? >> they are savage animals. they are people that are really sick. i have seen what they do. i've seen the links they go to. >> reporter: following the saturday assassination att

in 2017 a man shot former house majority leader steve scalise at a republican congressional baseball team practice. in 2020 the fbi foiled a plot to kidnap and kill michigan democratic governor gretchen whitmer. last year trump mocked the violent attack on then house speaker nancy pelosi's husband. >> and she's against building a wall at our border even though she has a wall around her house. which obviously didn't do a very good job. >> reporter: and now trump himself targeted by a would-be assassin. the majority of statements from republican and democratic leaders have called for calm and unity. >> we can't go on like this as a society. >> for all of us to turn down any kind of the temperature. >> reporter: echoed by voters from across the political spectrum. >> i hope that this is not used for propaganda to support violence one way or the other. >> there's no tolerance and there's no room for terrorism, for violence, for assassination attempts in this country. >> we may have differences, but we can still have one goal in common, is to be, you know, civil to each other. >> reporter

house majority leader steve scalise. >> the hyper torch rhetoric needs to be dialed down. let's talk about our distance to lament differences. we have big differences. >> and leader josh shapiro. >> political disagreements can never ever be addressed through violence. >> reporter: a top trump adviser who had first point to blame and democrats deleted the post and sent a memo saying the campaign would tolerate no post-attack harangues. that staffer for mississippi democrats benny thompson, she resigned. and trump implored the country to stand united. president biden capped off a day of what sounded like the beginning of rhetorical reflection. >> our unity is the most elusive of goals right now. nothing is more important for us now. then standing together. we can do this. >> reporter: may be, but political passions have artie spawned violence, republicans wounded in the 2017 congressional baseball shooting, the january 6th riot, the shooting of congresswoman gabby giffords. they hammer attack on house speaker nancy pelosi's husband, and the mockery that followed. >> how was

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i reached out to steve scalise because he's my brother. >> louisiana. >> yeah. lsu tigers.agree on politics. we share no opinions. but i guarantee you we love gumbo and eggs and rice and etoufee. we are americans. values of freedom of justice and equality. we bring that to our political discourse. that's why i talked to this man about his rules and how he's able to get all his dole gas on the floor. because the chairman knows how to do this. we have to lower the rhetoric and lead one another and i'm glad that the former president is lowering his volume. the current president lowering his volume. lower it. >> is it going to rachael, is it going to last? >> i was going to jump in on that. practically, i wonder what that looks like because the critical sort of theme of the campaign for the democrats right now is that donald trump is a threat to democracy. and if you re-elect him say good-bye to the republic. this is the sort of language that republicans are now saying could incite violence. >> it's policies that we disagree with. >> but i also -- >> no, no, no. but i think rac

you mentioned steve scalise the republican who who was attacked. the governor of michigan, a democrat and attempt to kidnap and kill her. the attack on paul pelosi, threats against supreme court justices, threats against the judges in the trump cases as the political temperature has heated up, and a growing, share of voters in each party view of victory the other side. as an existential threat to their vision of what america is. and those differences are real. you are seeing a portion of people at the fringes willing to take that onto violence and, you know, obviously january 6 as well. so there's no question the direction we're heading the only real issue is do we want to continue going in this way or can we find a way out of it? >> yeah, that's the question, but already there's been so much finger pointing blaming biden for saying that it's time to put trump in the bullseye, which of course reminds us of sarah palin putting gabby giffords in crime us hairs in that political ad. i mean, democrats were very quick to blame palin after giffords was s

. >> the attack leading to more concerns overheated little rhetoric in this country, steve scalise ishooting survivor himself on where the discourse needs to go from here. ♪ when you're a small business owner, your to-do list can be...a lot. ♪ [ cellphone whooshes ] [ sighs ] that's why progressive makes it easy to save with a commercial auto quote online so you can take on all your others to-dos. already did. see if you could save at progressivecommercial.com. switch to shopify and sell smarter at every stage of your business. take full control of your brand with your own custom store. scale faster with tools that let you manage every sale from every channel. and sell more with the best converting checkout on the planet. a lot more. take your business to the next stage when you switch to shopify. she runs and plays like a puppy again. his #2s are perfect! he's a brand new dog, all in less than a year. when people switch their dog's food from kibble to the farmer's dog, they often say that it feels like magic. but there's no magic involved. (dog bark) it's simply fresh meat and vegeta

. >> steve scalise talking about former president trump support after he was shot during practice forg more about failures following the assassination attempt on president trump over the weekend local police confronted shooter after lettered by rallygoers fell back after he appointed weapon at one shooting opened fire u.s. officials reporting iran plotting to kill 45th president authorities say they have found no connection between iranian plot and 20-year-old shooter joining me louisiana congressman house majority leaders steve scalise thanks very much for being here what can you tell us about rnc convention. >> great to be here the unity unbelievable never seen this united amongst republicans at a convention or a time leading into a presidential race that i can remember. you know start at the top president trump exhibited unity brought so many factions of the rep party telling contrast with democrats did you say array trying to jettison their nominee sitting president of the united states, they don't know even where to go we are united behind donald trump, even nikki haley invited t

with that i turn it over to our leader steve scalise. mr. scalise: thank you, whip. it's interesting to watch the democrats right now expressing disdain over joe biden's performance at the debate. let's be clear, first of all, the reason so many people are recognizing joe biden did so poorly is because president trump did so well in the debate. president trump actually articulated how we can get this country back on track, how we can get back to a place where under president trump we had a secure border that we no longer have, we had low interest rates where people, a first time home buyer, could go afford to buy their first home, which we don't have today. you could go to the grocery store and buy all the things you needed for your family and still have a little money left over to fill up your car because gasoline was less than $2 a gallon. president trump knows we can get back to those days and that's what president trump talked about. and then the president biden so many people saw is frankly, the same joe biden we've been seeing the last 3 1/2 years. the white ho

. >> next, georgia governor brian kemp, jim jordan and steve scalise talking about the current political landscape in a conversation with politico. they discussed several topics including the investigation into the attempted assassination of former president d

of house of representatives, congressman steve scalise.led in 2017 by a gunman who opened fire as the republican congressional baseball game held a practice. mr. leader, thank you so much for joining us. i imagine this is very difficult to experience just hearing that description and these events. what was your reaction when you got word about this? >> good morning, john. yeah, you know, when i saw, especially the unedited video with the audio yesterday, it brought back a lot of memories. a lot of emotions. you know, you hear the pops of the shots and that's a lot of what it sounded like on the ball field in 2017. my first thought were prayers for donald trump because he went down. we didn't know initially how bad it was. when you heard the word smoother down, that's what they said on the ball field for us, there was a shootout there. with police, capitol police. david bailey and crystal griner were heroes. you saw the heroes yesterday. the police who rushed to president trump while the shots were being fired. it just shows you the bravery

as well as house majority leader steve scalise who was shot and wounded in an attack at a congressionaleball practice back in 2017. >> it's left arming to think we came this close. to not having him with us. thank god that he is okay. >> reporter: a post on social media, trump also thanking the secret service for their quick actions responding to what happened just last night. an internal memo obtained by abc news, the trump campaign is telling its staff to avoid its offices in washington, d.c. and west palm beach. and also telling them to avoid commenting on what occurred publicly saying they will not tolerate dangerous rhetoric. george? >> racial, hel, you were there e scene. it must have been surreal and scary experience. >> reporter: yes, george. to be honest with you, it is something we are all still processing. i have been to almost every single campaign rally that the former president has had this election cycle and these are events that are typically filled with excitement of trump supporters waiting in line for hours waiting to see the former president. that rally, once it star

i believe we have congressman steve scalise with us it who isa survivor of political violence it. working together the morning you were shot we thank god every day you have recovered. i've got to ask you how did this sat with you today watching this play out? >> it was difficult to watch. brings back a lot of emotions. my first thoughts were to pray for president trump. early reports they weren't sure what happened you saw blood coming from his ear. but as we see now it was clear a clear assassination attempt maybe there is some divine intervention in preventing that from being much worse it could have been. there were other deaths. we pray for all of those who are injured or killed innocently. the shooter was it down and use out law enforcement take swift action. we saw that too on the ballfield. law enforcement goes to run toward the danger but they did it today, did on the ballfield that is one thing that keeps more people safe. when evil people show up to do things like this for there is no place for it. there is just no place for violence and power politics in america we coul

we still remember steve scalise. we still remember just recently the plot to kidnap gretchen whitmer, and we still remember we still remember what happened to nancy pelosi's husband. and so what we see though and what i'm proud to see is that this president stands up during those times where that of mocking or ridicule and he tries to bring this country together and does what a president should do. but you still have to prosecute the case and you still have to win this election and you have to show the american public what the difference would be between a joe biden presidency and donald trump presidency, because this race, regardless of whatever imagery has shown as we saw today, is still extremely close very close and jason osborne, you have worked for president trump in the past one thing that i think that is different from some of the areas that the bakari sellers was referencing? >> yes. voters remember martin luther king, but the speed with which information moves in our era, the fragmentation of the way people

i covered steve scalise after he was shot at baseball practice for the congressional baseball game. this is something that has become part of the fabric of how we do this. and it's horrifying. >> it is, it's unfortunate, but it seems like every couple of years this bubbles up in a very terrible way and this is the unfortunate latest iteration of that and it's it's often we know the ending of this story, at least in the short term, being that president trump, former president trump's okay. six inches or an inch to the other side, matter of millimeter matter. millimeters. it is a scary, scary thought where that goes and so i just we were we thankfully he's okay. a terrible that the rally attendee that died don't want to minimize that in any other way, but things could have been different, very different with just an insurer there all right. >> matt gorman, ron brownstein, standby for me. we're going to we're going to talk some more about this throughout this hour. i'm still ahead. we are hearing from top republican and democratic lawmakers following the assassination attempt on donald

it's completely ridiculous and i'm tired of playing this game doing this since steve scalise and the that we need to tone it down and i've been calling everyone hitler for 10 fucking years. and then you have biden going that ba -- at babos a back end do their job and oh, yeah, they are great bureau. because you're defending this. don't offend them. >> who's cocaine is that in the white house? lipsey daisy. who put the bomb on january 6? >> greg: let the fbi do their job. [ fart noise ] 's the ones you don't here are the calls for biden to step down and it is the theory if your car blows up that you don't need to buy a new engine but take it to the law and sell it for parts and is that what you'll do to biden? >> i think he bought himself some time but not a lot of time but it has pushed the issue off the table going back to the original question of what to they have without the strategy that presupposes they won't get back to it and again not to beat that dead horse and by the way, i will be off this that they will go back to it and i don't think they're struggling with where we are

steve scalise shot at the congressional baseball game was politically motivated president reagan, john hinckley did it because he was trying to impress an actress and had no political motivation. we don't know what the cause is. >> said. is very unclear what the motive is here. this individual might have been approaching this in a way we don't understand because of the catastrophic mental health breakdown. we have to keep all of the different possibilities open and that is what law enforcement is doing right now. >> thank you very much. let's bring in clint watts, a former fbi special agent and a national security analyst. good morning. we will put you the question we've been asking all morning which is how on earth could this have happened? elevated position 150 yards from where the former president of the united states is speaking, when you look at that map, what do you see? >> is pretty remarkable looking at that space, it's not an extreme distance for somebody with a long rifle. when you're in an elevated position like that, it gives you an extreme advantage, we see that for many a

steve scalise was very badly wounded. moment compare to that of the time when jfk was shot, when rfk was shot, when martin luther king was shot, and i guess reagan is more of an outliar, because it was a guy trying to impress a love interest. what are the differences? what are the similarities between the national mood? >> reporter: well in 1960s, america unraveled, malcolm x killed in 1965. martin luther king jr. in '68. many other political black panthers, fred hampton. we could make a long list. it was tragic. it was horrible the amount of deaths. and we felt like we've kind of evolved out of that, that maybe we had put our hate on the internet, that we were doing it in this new -- a less lethal way, even though words matter, but at least you can track what's going on online. it's hard to stop a crazy guy, 20 years old with a rifle. it just means you're going to have to have bigger perimeters and more security. we're becoming a security state nation right now. and then, i think january 6th is the turning point. when th

republican steve scalise, wounded by a fellow radical 7 years ago, is confident that it was the aggressiveic of the left that led to this. assassination attempt on trump. democrats say we need to discuss politics, but they the left is attacking donald trump as a person. they don't say that they don't like his tax reform, his immigration policy, they attack him personally, they demonize him, it's very dangerous. you are right, of course, it is also not the bunnies who pay the democrats in the same coin. the question now is how to bring down this temperature, because it is precisely on such criticism of trump that much of the campaign against him and... the region is built, also in the defense department they talked about the help of tankers during the liberation of the discord in the dpr at the end of june, providing these images of the night battle. t-80 crews of the tula airborne forces. groups of troops in the south used high-explosive fragmentation shells to destroy enemy firing points that prevented the paratroopers from gaining a foothold. well, in regards to current events, the crew

— and he was the reason steve scalise is _ and he was the reason steve scalise is alive today. my mind, that is a blessing and that is god's— that is a blessing and that is god's hand or stop i'm not surprised _ god's hand or stop i'm not surprised that they feel that way as— surprised that they feel that way as religious leaders. with donald trump _ way as religious leaders. with donald trump changing i way as religious leaders. tn donald trump changing the party's position on abortion, will that impact that support? it doesn't look like it has. and — it doesn't look like it has. and i_ it doesn't look like it has. and i think donald trump is the only presidential candidate in my lifetime can basically get the pro—life organisations to enter— the pro—life organisations to enter new to support him after making — enter new to support him after making such a major change in the republican platform. stay with us though, _ the republican platform. stay with us though, we _ the republican platform. fit— with us though, we are the republican platform. st— with us though, we are joined

let's bring in steve scalise could have you on the program. appreciate your time. this with they found requests from somebody different members saying we will do this all at once with a phone call. do you expect them to come out and give the straight up facts about what they know that led to this? >> sander and john good to be with you. i am not expecting a lot on this phone call. you don't usually get a lot of candor on these kinds of large phone calls. that is why you need hearings. we will have hearings starting monday. i know jamie, and the house oversight committee will be holding a hearing. chairman green and homeland security committee will hold hearings as well and people want answers, deserve answers and there is still a lot of questions. you hear these leaks even though the head of the secret service will not, address the public which is a major concern. they are trying to blend this on local law enforcement. it is still their respon responsibility. major, major questions about the rooftop, did the secret service heads and say it was too sloped? the 20-ye

house majority leader steve scalise, right now is taking the podium.shot during a congressional baseball game. let's listen. >> i'm house majority leader steve scalise from the great state of louisiana. i was born in new orleans so i've seen some crazy things in my time. new orleans has nothing on washington dc these past four years. joe biden and kamala harris have spent your tax dollars trashing america's finances in ways no sane or sober mind and person ever would. let's talk energy. they have eroded the american energy dominance that president trump delivered. joe biden approved the pipeline for russia but he killed the keystone pipeline here at home. thousands, thousands of american jobs gone. it doesn't end there. biden let iran and venezuela export their oil but he stopped liquefied natural gas exports here in america. president biden is not done. president biden waved taxes on chinese solar panels but he raised taxes on americans. when we elect donald trump as hour next president and expand our republic and house majority, we will end of democr

i love it. >> you only made four seasons of the show, and you play steve scalise's stupt double. >> i night, and you are so much more attractive. >> i am, aren't i? yes, thank you. >> martin: just fantastic. this is what i'm always fascinated about people -- you are -- when we would shoot our show, there's a holding area. in that area sometimes actors are looking at their lines or they're studying -- jane is just singing, doing jokes, laughing, asking questions of people. you love show business. >> i do, i absolutely love it. you know, you will be, like, across the room doing something, and you find the funny in everything. and so i will be listening to you and you'll say something hilarious, and i'll laugh, and you'll be like, oh, who got my joke? you'll look over, and it's me. you'll go like, yeah, uh-huh. [ laughter ] >> martin: a shark, yeah. >> truly the funniest person i know. >> martin: oh, that's not true. [ laughter ] >> it's almost a science with you. you find the funny in everything, and i deeply, deeply appreciate it. >> martin: that's awfully sweet. i don't believe you fo

that horrible moment when republican congressman steve scalise was shot at baseball practice. what had happened upon learning that the suspected shooter had been a volunteer for your campaign. how does that experience inform how you think the country can move forward right now? >> well, let me also say that a couple of months ago my office right here in burlington, vermont, i was not there at the moment, but there were seven staff members there was almost burned down by somebody who is in jail right now. seven people could have been burned alive, so, yeah, i am familiar with political violence in all its forms. the bottom line is what we need as a nation, what a democracy is about is not radical rhetoric. what it is about is a serious discussion of where we are as a nation and how we go forward. and in a certain way, kristen, politics should be kind of boring, you know? our health care system is disfunkal. how do we fix it? >> it's kind of a boring discussion, but we need a health care system that guarantees health care for all people and we have massive income and wealth ineq

. >> you were affected by violence in 2007 we steve scalise was shot at baseball practice you came out and forcefully denounced what had happened upon learning the suspected shooter had been a volunteer for your campaign. how does that experience inform how you think the accountant can -- country can move forward now? >> let me say a couple of months my office in burlington i have not this but there were seven staff members who were harmed when it was burned. the bottom line is what we need as a nation, what a democracy is about, is not ready calendar rhetoric -- it is not ready calendar -- radical rhetoric. it is how we should go forward. in a way politics should be kind of boring. our healthcare system is dysfunctional. how do we fix it? it is a boring but we need a system that guarantees health care. we have massive income. should three people own most of the society. waoeflt -- we have to have serious discussions of serious issues and not harsh rhetoric that we have heard the last number of years. host: that was bernie sanders from yesterday. we are talking your calls. carlos in ca

the riots on january 6, the shooting of house republican steve scalise and the attack on former speaker of the house nancy pelosi's husband. you know, the political regulars country hes got very heated. it's time to cool down the president with a plea for peace on the heels of an assassination attempt on former president donald trump in washington and the nascent lot. >> and trump did arrive in milwaukee today as scheduled ahead of this week's republican national convention. it doesn't kick off tomorrow on his truth. social site who said it's more important than ever that we stand united and show our true character as americans remaining strong and determined and not allowing evil to win. and a former first lady melania trump reacted to the shooting like her husband. she is talking about unity saying this morning, ascend above the hate, the vitriol, the simple minded ideas that ignite violence. we all want a world where respect is paramount. family is first love transcends. we can realize this world again, each of us must a man to get get it back. we must insist that respect fills corne

in 2022 there was the congressional baseball practice shooting that injured steve scalise.attacks against local officials. why are we experiencing this uptick in political violence? >> it should be condemned. we have to condemn the attack on former president trump. one of my earliest political memories was the attempt on president reagan. we are back in an era in which political assassinations are becoming a tactic again in which people seek a solution to what they think are problems and that is part of the rising violence across the board politically and part of the rhetoric increasing on polarized lines, so the other star to theme like a threat. it's a problem on the elite level and in ordinary conversations. reporter: members of both parties have said both sides need to tone this down. how much of that is at issue here? >> the issue of political rhetoric that is divisive and violent among elites is a huge problem and has been for many years on both sides. i'm just as concerned about what i'm hearing from people i know and love and see on social media. things like you rea

been victims of a tax attacks on politicians, attacks on their families. >> you remind us about steve scalise surviving a shooting, the husband of nancy pelosi surviving a hammer attack. i mean, you are a former capitol police officer. you have been in the rooms where it happens in terms of the policy disputes and beyond. but it's one thing to have division and statements that show that there is a distinction between how one person feels or the other. this level of political violence we're in right now. what does it do to you to hear about it it sucks to be frank because like i said, what we went through on january 6 with the nation witnessed was the result of what it was political violence is exactly what it was. >> they were there with, they were chanting, hang mike pence, and that they were going to kill nancy pelosi. they were there violent with violent intent on at the behest no, the president, the former president. so anybody right now, like it's so frustrating to hear the rhetoric that's going on anybody from any party attempting to score political points in a moment like this, but we

obviously, this is not something there was the attack on steve scalise. we have seen obviously a number of threats that has been intercepted by law enforcement over the years, but probably not since ronald reagan at the presidential level, has this appeared not since ronald reagan, but i want to read you something that i think is as powerful today as it was the first time it was written tonight, this nation faces, once again the consequences of lawlessness, hatred, and unreasoned in its midst. it would be wrong. it would be self deceptive to ignore the connection between that lawlessness and hatred and this act of violence that was lyndon johnson in june of 1968 a few years later, another presidential candidate was attacked in 1972, george wallace was gunned down. he survived, but he was paralyzed we have had very violent political contests before and it's something we ought to remember we are capable of this as a nation the people who do it, of course, are outliers, but they are a product of the extremism and the anger and the hatred that sometime pulses

in 2017, a man shot former house majority leader steve scalise at a republican congressional baseball practice. in 2020, the fbi foiled a plot to k to kidnap gretchen whitmer. >> she's against building a wall at our border even though she has a wall around her house, which obviously didn't do a very good job. >> reporter: now trump himself targeted by a would-be assassin. the majority of statements from republican and democratic leaders have called for calm and unity. >> we can't go on like this as a society. >> for all of us to turn, turn down any kind of the temperature. >> reporter: echoed by voters from across the political spectrum. >> i hope that this is not used for propaganda to support violence one way or the other. >> there's no tolerance and no room for terrorism, for violence, for assassination attempts in this country. >> we can have differences but one goal in common, to be civil to each other. >> reporter: the country as >> reporter: the country as leaders warning th it ain't my dad's razor, e current climate. ay watch it! it's from gillettelabs. this green bar releases

steve scalise the intruder, wanted to kill nancy pelosi or do something to nancy pelosi, you ended no one was killing her husband. there were people who made fun of the pelosi is after that attack on one side of the political aisle, it remains to be seen what the political response to this is by both democrats and by republican. i do think there's fear though anderson, that i mean, obviously on both sides about what the political implications are, but we can't get ahead of ourselves here. >> i mean, we do not know how this is all going to play out in the minds of voters. i will say though that democrats have been making this argument, that democracy is on the line and republicans are now saying that that is the rhetoric that that incited this. we have no idea. we don't know who this person is, what their motives are but on all sides, i mean, i think there should be probably a re-evaluation of all the rhetoric of the tone of this campaign going forward. will there should be, will there be i'm not so sure because i think both sides are going to try to find yeah, they're going to find wa

political rhetoric that has contributed certainly it has to contribute to an environment where steve scalise and the supreme court justices and paul pelosi and all these acts of violence, just or so wildly unacceptable and un-american and every way and i would i think that climate certainly probably contributed what happened yesterday, although it's an environment that is somehow sanctioning violent behavior. >> and i think it's a responsibility for all of us we have we have a big conflict, we have a conflict of ideas president biden and the democratic party. in my opinion, and i think in many republicans are taking the country in a direction that is not good for america and we think as republicans that we have a vision that's much better than that and we need to have a real debate and fight and argument conflict about the right direction of the country. but it it need not be dehumanizing it need not lead to violence. and in fact, it can't my the baseline of my experiences i was a platoon leader in the 82nd airborne division and i had a young man from alabama and i had an african american ma

like democratic congresswoman gabby giffords who was shot in 2011, and republican congressman steve scaliset at a congressional baseball league practice in 2017. since then, the divisive political climate has escalated even more, leading to the 2020 plot to kill michigan governor gretchen whitmer and the 2022 attack on house speaker nancy pelosi's husband, paul pelosi. >> we cannot condone this. >> reporter: both republicans and democrats are condemning the attack on mr. trump, the incident only punctuating growing concerns about increasing polarization in the country. a poll earlier this year found one in five americans thought violence might be necessary to get the country back on track. many who witnessed history saturday said something needs to change. >> how is this happening in our country today, and why is it happening. >> reporter: a dangerous reckoning in america now reaching a boiling point. liz kreutz, nbc news. >> i want to bring in michael beschloss, good to be with you tonight as part of our special coverage. we are only about 24 hours or so removed from this attempted assassi

was an attempted mass murder of republican congressmen at a baseball practice a few years ago, steve scaliseressman from louisiana was gravely injured. the capitol police did a great job in that moment and do a great job trying to protect us not only in the capitol but make sure we're aware of threats. the president is different from 535 legislators. that's why he has secret service and full-time details and why campaigns like president trump's vit, but i think the capitol police do a great job in trying to protect all legislators, and i'm confident the capitol police, secret service, local law enforcement and every other law enforcement agency next week at the republican national convention, again, will make it probably the safest place in america. i look forward to being there as does president trump. >> i know you are expected to speak and were expected to speak on national security isues. i wonder how this changes, perhaps, the party platform or at least your thinking? >> margaret, i think we have to move on with this campaign, despite this horrific shooting. the parties do have very dif

republican steve scalise, who was wounded by the same radical 7 years ago, is sure that it is the aggressiveric led to an assassination attempt on trump. democrats say that it is necessary to discuss politics, but the same leftists attack donald trump as a person, they do not say that they do not like his tax reform, immigration policy, they attack him personally. he is demonized, this is very dangerous. the right, of course, are also not bunnies paying the democrats in the same coin. the question now is how to bring down this temperature, because much of the campaign against him is built on precisely this kind of criticism of trump, and a couple of biden’s speeches have not caused the disease cure. the us presidential campaign headquarters has so far decided to refrain from any campaigning and has postponed all of biden’s trips around the country indefinitely. meanwhile, trump went to the republican convention in milwaukee, where of course he was. they will be greeted as a hero; after the assassination attempt, they promise to guard the congress like a fortress. alexey veselovsky, yulia seo

this is not new to members of congress, not just steve scalise but gabby giffords and of course many people who felt their lives were under threat in january 6. what kind of reaction are we hearing from capitol hill tonight in the aftermath of the shooting? >> reporter: from both democrats and republicans this evening, it's been folks expressing thoughts and prayers for the former president. expressing thankfulness he was the seriously injured and all throughout that, condemning this act of political violence. underscoring that political violenceco is no place in american politics and in the united states. we are hearing that anonymous d methods from democrats and republicans on capitol hill. >> let me ask about calls i've made for an investigation, congressional investigation. where condo responsibility our ability does congress have in a situation like this and what are we hearing from the speaker? we are hearing a lot about that. a lot of teases of what will come in terms of investigation. >> reporter: congress has oversight ability and type republicans expressing their going to f

the most recent one prior to yesterday was congressman steve scalise of louisiana. he was shot and severely injured during a practice for the congressional baseball game back in 2017. he posted this on social media, quote, praying for president donald trump. there is never any place for political violence. now to put this all in context before that, in 2011, arizona congresswoman gabby giffords was shot during a public event. six people died in the incident. the shooting left giffords permanently injured. giffords posted this to x, saying political violence is terrifying. i know i'm holding former president trump and all those affected by yesterday's indefensible act of violence. in my heart, political violence is un-american and is never acceptable. never in our nation's history, more than a dozen presidents, former presidents and candidates for president have been attacked. the list includes abraham lincoln, who was the first president to die by assassination in 1865. former president theodore roosevelt was shot in the chest when he was on his way to make a speech

gretchen whitmer, the attack on paul pelosi, he did not mention attack on rand paul, the attack on steve scalise. and there was clearly a bias in president biden's oval office address, that should disturb americans tonight. trace: that is my next question to you steve hilton, he ran down that list, i was looking at transcript, you think he listed all of those. right there so political. so overly political, didn't touch anything about scalise or anything about the joid jodjodgeorge floyd riots, and this is politics as well. >> and it is not just the biden saying unity now, but for the past three years, he has been doing opposite. remember, he said unity back then, it was the theme of his inaugural address, it was gone within days. we can expect the same here. because this is what you get from biden, tonight, i'm lookinga the twitter aoc still going on about fast itch. fascism. the idea this would change in a sessionive in can significant way is ridiculous. president trump used to say because of the success of the country through the economy and other ways before the pandemic he had a strong sense

[applause] i'm staying. >> please welcome louisiana representative steve scalise. rachael: thanks for coming. back-to-back interviews. no break for me. rep. scalise: you are working nonstop. rachael: given all the talk about saturday's assassination attempt of donald trump, i'm glad to be joined by our next guest house majority leader steve scalise who as many of you guys know has been on the receiving end of political violence himself. remember that just a few years ago scilly's almost died when a deranged gunman showed up at the congressional republican's morning baseball practice and started shooting at them. as somebody who was covering house republicans at the time, i remember how terrifying and awful it was not just for you but for your staff, for your family and your colleagues. so i want to actually start there. just give me your reaction to the tragedy on saturday. . i sure it brought back a lot of horrible memories for you. rep. scalise: it did. my wife and i were just at the house going through some things. we did not even have the tv on and our phone sta