Northward. It is currently getting strength in the Gulf Of Mexico. Landfall expected later this evening. The Governor Desantis will bring us updates. A big morning on capitol hill. The Task Force on the first Trump Assassination Attempt about to hold its first hearing. With It Nevoses are state and local police out of pennsylvania. It begins 30 minutes from now and well watch that as well. First time weve heard from The House side, okay . This is one of the rare times we have heard from her, watch. Can we trust you . Yes, yes. Am i perfect . But i will tell you i will always put the needs of the people first. Bill more from Kamala Harriss first Solo Sitdown Interview coming up. First live to tallahassee. The governor is on time as he normally is. Here we go. Make landfall as a major hurricane, as a category 3 or 4. It is moving fast. More rainfall is expected and it could lead to significant Storm Surge in our coastal areas. So we are prepared for that, of course. And well see what happens in terms of the intensification. I think that these things can rapidly intensify. Sometimes they become major, sometimes there are changes. Were just going to continue to do our thing and assume that this is going to be a major hurricane when it makes landfall. This is a very large storm so you will see tropical weather that will extend hundreds of miles away from the center of the storm. Doesnt necessarily mean youll have a Hurricane Category 3 winds on the East Coast of florida but you will have tropical conditions and it will be nasty throughout the latter part of the day here in the state of florida. We are, of course, looking at the track. If you look at the 8 00 a. M. Advisory. The models are nudging the center of the storm east. Thats significant when you talk about tallahassee. I think yesterday we were looking at an eyewall probably just on the western part of the city. When these storms hit the northeast part of the storm is usually the most damaging. So to the extent it is tracking East And Mirroring more of an Idalia Track that will impact the extent of the damage. This area has vent had a major Hurricane Hit in quite some time and nobody in recent memory has seen a storm of this magnitude that has hit. We have seen that slight trend and that could potentially be very impactful talking another 30 or 40 miles to the east versus maintaining course or even toggling a little bit west. There will be debris either way. Obviously if it hits direct into tallahassee with the trees that we have here and it is nice but it will cause a lot of damage. We have been kevin and his team are working with local governments throughout the state but particularly this region making sure they have their Debris Contracts ready to go. There will be a need to get debris out of the roadways. Kevin and his team and jared and his team are helping but power restoration. You want to get the power back on. The linemen will have to access these Power Lines and that could be more challenging in an area like tallahassee other than it would be in areas less wooded. Do your Debris Contracts. Youll get fema reimbursement. Fiscally constrained counties we have stepped you have and helped them in the past. There will be a need for serious debris removal. Take the appropriate steps. Weve said all along this storm was never projected to make landfall in kind of the florida peninsulas or gulf coast. But because it is such a big storm it is churning a lot of water. You will see surge all up and down the West Coast of florida. The water will rise and that is going to create hazards as well. So just because you are outside the cone, i think a lot of those on the West Coast of florida are outside the cone. That doesnt mean you wont see significant impacts. We have overnight had 14 different tornado warnings. There is likely to be more of those throughout today. Warnings were issued in palm beach, henry, glades and callier county. Some areas are feeling the effects already. In North Florida you still have time to execute your plan. You need to do it now. Time to get to a shelter but you have to do it now. Every minute that goes by brings us closer to having conditions that are going to be simply too dangerous to navigate. If you are in the northern part of the state and have access and in an Evacuation Zone and told to evacuate, you have time to do it now so do it. But dont wait until six hours, seven hours and say man, this thing looks big and think you will want to go out. That will be very hazardous to do that. With all of the evacuation orders, there will be a time some of that time may have been reached in southern parts of the state where your local official will say its too late to stay put. I dont think weve reached that in Northern Florida yet. Wherever you are, if your local officials say that it is too hazardous to go and you are better off hunkering down, heed that advice. I know jared is talking about with the folks about the winds. Were looking at the skyway bridge. I dont know if theyve closed it yet. It was imminent. You are starting to see this. Listen to local officials depending where you are in the state. There will become a time in North Florida as the hours pass they may tell you stay put. But dont put yourself at risk. We have fatalities on the roadways in hazardous conditions almost every storm and those can be avoided with proper planning. Remember also were going to experience power outages. A lot of people use generators. Thats great. But please use the generator properly. If you use the generator inside your house, that could kill you. You have to keep the generator outside The House a safe distance from any doors or windows. You cant let the Carbon Monoxide get into your home. So please use the generators appropriately. Also in terms of shelters. So if you are in an Evacuation Zone, you have been ordered, some people recommended evacuation, some people may not have been told to, but they look and maybe they feel like they need to get out, there are shelters available. If you want to look at the shelters available in your particular county go to florida disaster. Org shelters and youll see the options you have. All counties are required to have at least one petfriendly shelter. Please do not leave your pets behind. Make sure that you take them with. We want to keep our pets safe in addition to our families. The division of Emergency Management has partnered with uber. We announced yesterday to provide free rides to shelters for floridians in counties that are under a state of emergency, which is almost all of them at this point. So if you want to use that, the Uber Code is helene relief. Bill he is proving his metal when it comes to hurricanes. Helene is another changer. Im bill hemmer. Dana im dana perino. He is an uber confident governor and let me get up here and get everybody what they need to know right away. It is a huge storm and it might have snuck up on people. Hopefully theyre paying attention now. Bill lets get the latest. Its over the warmest waters of the Gulf Of Mexico now. We expect it to be a category 3. It will bump the winds up shy of category 3. Several hours over a very warm pool of very intense and very deep warm water. So we expect rapid intensification to continue over the next several hours as it impacts the big Bend And Panhandle of florida where we think it will make landfall. This storm is so huge were talking about the largest storm in the Gulf Of Mexico in history. Tropical Storm Force winds extending over 300 miles from the center of circulation. The governor talked about tornadoes. Well see the potential for tropical tornadoes throughout the Day And Afternoon and evening for some of the heavily populated states. Im concerned that this storm will impact an area that has never experienced a category 3 or higher, that is the Coast And North towards the tallahassee region. It will be extensive power outages, Storm Surge of 20 feet that will go to the second story of your home. Over the top of homes. As i mentioned in history here we have never had a major Hurricane Tracking directly over tallahassee and why im so concerned and we are expecting this to be at least a 3, perhaps a 4. People need to complete preparations now or evacuate if you can. Bill dont go far. Our colleagues at Fox Weather have been on the air 24 seven as well. Talk to you soon. Looking holistically at the connection between that and housing. And looking holistically at the incentives we in the federal government can create for local and state governments to engage in planning and holistic manner that includes prioritizing affordable housing for working people. Dana imagine she got paid a dollar for every time she said it. Joining us is kellyanne conway. The New York times headline was this. Three takeaways, the subtitle in her first Oneonone Cable Tv interview since becoming the nominee the Vice President dodged direct questions and stuck firmly on message. She did so holistically, kellyanne. Yes, Sesame Street Word of the day. Weve heard a couple from her. Look, this is a problem for her campaign at this moment as i see it. On the one hand she needs to get more specific and granular on the promises she has made. On the other hand every time she tries to fill in the blanks it gets worse for her. People have less confidence in her competence that she can actually do what she is saying she can do. People are looking for her to inspire her. Anybody with a character border, abortion voters, wants the first female president of color to inspire her they are baked. Not 5 of the undecided voters now say theyre mostly economic voters. Look at the Daily Mail Modeling today. Trump is in the lead. Why . It doesnt look at this or that poll in a given moment. It pulls together past election results, under counting of the Trump Voter in 2016 and 2020, and overlays it with economic indicators. Lets face it. We voters always have one big question. Do you want to stay the course and have four more or do you want to make a change . Both of these candidates, trump and harris, are saying they are the change maker. Clearly the incumbent and stuck on the one hand trying to distance herself from the Bidenharris Lack of accomplishments and on the other hand every time she seems to represent Change And Something new she fails to fill in the blanks. Look what happened this week. Donald trump had a great Manufacturing Speech in georgia. He was very specific. He spoke for an hour and a half straight. 15 corporate Tax Rate if you have factories here manufacturing in the usa. The next day he calls into the national association of manufacturers annual board meeting. Medium, small and large businesses. Thats a 3 Trillion industry in our country. These are people who want Recalibrated Trade deals. The Tax Cut and jobs act back. She says i want billionaires to pay their fair share. A lot like Bernie Sanders and without the charm of either trump or sanders. She is stuck with the 5 saying what do you offer me . The irony. Incumbents usually say give me four more of the same. She is saying make a change. Every time she says make a change the economic voters are thinking trump. Bill tomorrow she goes to the border. Think about the two issues now, economy, immigration, then you have Border Security as 2a. Is she going to wax more poetic at the border . I dont know. Yesterday was a huge day for her campaign. She had the economic speech in pittsburgh. The air went out of the balloon during that think and then the interview with Stephanie Ruhle last night. Watching other cable networks some was played back and not a lot. I dont know why that is, kellyanne. They are hiding her. She is hiding in front of us in a sealed package in part because of Mainstream Media protecting her trying to stop trump and in part she doesnt have it. You either have it or you dont in this business and she doesnt. Im being a clinical, surgical, political analyst here. There are plenty of democrats we see on the daily who can articulate a vision on the economy that is center left and she just cant do that. Part is she has spent 3 1 2 years not doing her job. Folks, i look at her schedule every day. Until recently it has been very, very thin. A lot of weekends in l. A. That we paid for. Stopping off in nevada because its a Swing State with six electoral votes. A lot not on her public schedule. How many times ive seen that the Vice President has nothing on her official schedule today. How is that possible . If you arent doing the work as the number two, when it is time for you to become Number One she is racing the clock and trying to run it out. It is based on i know democrats have so much money they dont know how to spend it. I think they will overplay their hand, too. We know where she stands on Abortion And Cant do it on the economy. Every time biden is out there saying she has been great. She has been my partner, she has done a great job on the border with a 60 disapproval rating. Done great with israel and economy, over 60 disapproval right. He is reminding people she is already here. If you dont like what is going on in your life now Ladies And Gentlemen you cant go for four more. This is not rocket science. It is binary choice. They make the mistake, whether the other cable stations, Kamala Harris and allies, they cannot finish a sentence, answer a question without saying trump, trump, trump 50 times. People say i like the trump economy. Lets get it back. I dont have to marry him or have him as my friend. Just do the job he did before. Bill kellyanne, thank you for that. A lot of Breaking News. Thank you for your analysis. Well see what she says at the Border Tomorrow if the trip takes place. Border czar. Dana Melania Trump is opening up exclusively with Fox News in a very incredible interview she did with ainsley. The moment she found out about her husk nearly assassinated on July 13th in butler, pennsylvania. She answers it this way. I ran to the tv and i rewind it and i watched it. I was only a few minutes behind and something, i guess, look over me so i didnt see live live but a few minutes later. When i saw it i, you know, it was only nobody really knew yet because when you see him on the floor and you dont know. You dont know what really happened. If you really think about it, July 13th was a miracle. By that much and he could he could not be with us. Dana she is spare in her interviews. When she does one they have an impact and well get answers. Melania trump is asking for them and in 20 minutes youll hear more. The hearing is taking place on capitol hill. They arent wasting time. A bipartisan effort to get to the answers. Bill it is rare we hear her talk this long and at this great of depth. Talking about her son, the way she is raising him and losing her mother in the last year as an impact on a person. Off we roll on that. Breaking news from capitol hill. This happened just a few moments ago. Thats President Zelenskyy out of ukraine. He has been in the united states now all week. He had a stop in d. C. Now. Earlier in the week he had what is considered to be a controversial stop in the Battleground State of pennsylvania. Push can lawmakers in The House did not like that at all. Chuck schumer and mitch mcconnell. Zelenskyy will leave on the trip with 4 Hundred Million in additional Military Aid to continue fighting the war against putin. That meeting getting underway on the hill. Wanted to share that video with you from washington, d. C. There is that and also more Breaking News here in new York City. It is now my belief that the federal government intends to charge me with crimes. If so, these charges will be entirely false, based on lies. But they would not be surprising. I always knew that if i stood my ground for all of you, that i would be a target. Dana rumored for many months, even years, now we have a stunning setback for the democratic leader of the nations largest city. New York MayorEric Adams has been indicted on federal criminal charges. Well learn more today. Cb cotton live in new York City with the latest. Hi. Good morning. Mary Eric Adams says he is innocent and pledging to fight the criminal indictment. We will learn more will the indictment is unsealed as early as today. This morning his attorney telling us federal agents arrived to mayor Adams Manhattan residence to take his phone. The attorney calls it a spectacle saying adams would have happily turned it in. Investigators came into public View And F. B. I. Raided the homes of his chief campaign fundraiser. Days later the Mayors Phone and ipad were seized. Others were served Grand Jury subpoenas. Told by sources the federal investigation was examining in part whether adams 2021 campaign accepted illegal donations from the turkish government or turkish nationals in exchange for favors. Adams has continued to pledge his Innocence And Cooperation with Law Enforcement as at least six other people in his circle in recent weeks had homes raided or devices seized in separate investigations. Overnight adams saying he will not resign. I have been facing these lies for months since i began to speak out for all of you and their investigation started. Yet the city has continued to improve. Make no mistake, you elected me to lead this city. And lead it i will. Now despite that defiance calls for adams to resign continue to grow. He is being charged with acting as an unregistered foreign agent that comes at a time when more than 130 World Leaders are here in new York City for the united nations. Bill Fox NewsKerri Urbahn reacting. His phones seized. I came out of an event a couple years given back to him and returned to him the next day and went back again this morning. The investigation didnt start a year ago but they were looking at him back in 2021. That was premayor days. So whats going on, kerri . These cases take a long time. We havent seen the Charging Documents yet and dont know whats in them. It could be a Campaign Finance Violence or not registered as a foreign agent. The thing i think im most surprised in the last 24 hours is actually the skepticism im seeing both on the right and left about the feds bringing charges against mayor adams. Perhaps i shouldnt be surprised. There is a Growing Distrust of americans and our justice system. Doesnt mean he didnt do anything wrong but the instant skepticism is a Change And Trend were seeing. Which is really unfortunate. Dana this is something rumored since when he got elected. Since he got elected people are telling me he will get indicted. I dismissed it. Maybe this is every mayor is always indicted. New york is not chicago. That is different. It is possible given what we know from previous reporting, that this has been going on for a long time and you have had all these people resign under him. Which means to me they probably got to them and those people are like okay now i will either have to make a decision, will i cooperate or fight it and have to resign. The ones that havent resigned looks like they are getting indicted, too. This is a lot of people. Typically to your point where there is smoke there is fire. But again the skepticism is a bit interesting and troubling as we are as a nation. Separately fera is often a tool that the feds get someone when they want to get someone. Case in point. Hunter biden was Gal VanityingAround The World for years making money working for foreign governments and never registered and the feds never brought that charge. Not suggesting Eric Adams is innocent by any stretch but its interesting. Dana they tried to go after Chief Justice roberts when we did his confirmation hearing. He works for a big firm. And that never went anywhere. To me you have this big of an operation over this many years and the feds they are cautious and careful. If you are going to do this you better have something significant. Why theyve been working on it for so many years. We need to wait and see whats in the Charging Document and need to see the Evidence Theyve gathered. Bill first person they raided about a year ago, 11 months ago was a 23yearold Fundraiser who worked for him. She was a recent College Graduate and like Number One, why are you hiring someone so young to take care of your fundraising . Not that she couldnt do it. It raised eyebrows for a lot of people. She was the first one they targeted and then as you point out, dana, a number of resignations just in the past week. Always a bad sign. Personnel matters and policy. I have questions about how much did adams know and they have enough to have brought the charges that he has Intention And Willfulness there. You could be surrounded by bad staff who make decisions and it goes to you. If they are indicting him that means there is a Willfulness Component on his end as well. Well get more details when the document is unsealed. Dana moments from now the House Panel investigating the Assassination Attempts against former president donald trump. Were waiting for its first hearing to begin. Plus officials in florida still briefing ahead of hurricane Helenes Landfall later today and bring you the latest on that monster storm. Have you always had trouble losing weight and keeping it off . Same. Discover the power of wegovy®. With wegovy®, i lost 35 pounds. And some lost over 46 pounds. And im keeping the weight off. Wegovy® helps you lose weight and keep it off. Im reducing my risk. Wegovy® is the only fdaapproved Weightmanagement Medicine thats proven to reduce risk of major cardiovascular events in adults with known Heart Disease and with either obesity or overweight. Wegovy® shouldnt be used with Semaglutide Or Glp1 medicines. Dont take wegovy® if you or your family had medullary thyroid cancer, multiple endocrine Neoplasia Syndrome Type 2, or if allergic to it. 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And coverage for routine dental, vision and hearing. A knowledgeable, licensed humana Sales Agent will explain your coverage options. And, if youre eligible, help you enroll over the phone. Its that easy Call Today and well also send this free guide. Humana. A more Human Way to healthcare. Dana Fox News alert for you right now on capitol hill. The house Task Force on the first Trump Assassination Attempt is about to hold its first hearing including testimony from state and local Police Officers. There is a lot to get to this morning. David spunt has more from washington to set us up. Good morning. Good morning. Well try to get through this and may have to toss back to you. A bipartisan committee. Like the senate, this committee is working toward a final report to release to the public. Weve heard a lot publicly from the Secret Service. Today well hear from local police. We have a live look now at the Hearing Room where things will get underway in moments. In july by unanimous vote of those present in The House 4160 The House voted to establish this Task Force looking into the Secret Service failures of what happened in butler, pennsylvania, in july. Todays hearing comes after a detailed Senate Report pointed out multiple Mission Failures relating to the Secret Service on July 13th. For instance the secret Service Counter Sniper leader saw local police with guns drawn and was asked by investigators did the thought even cross your mind you should inform someone to keep the Bract Pro Tectiee from going on stage or already on stage take him back. Did that thought cross your mind . I had didnt. Figure out whats happening and take action. The hearing will look at the second Assassination Attempt on former President Trump in two months. This time at his florida golf club. The Justice Department this week added new charges to routh in an indictment. That could keep him behind bars for the rest of his life. As we wait for this hearing to gavel in well be hearing from local Police Officers in the state of pennsylvania. Dana. Dana david spunt, thank you. Bill the last part is important, too. A retired Secret ServiceSpecial Agent is with us now. Tim, good morning. The yesterday the senate blasted the Secret Service. The Counter Sniper told the committee while seeing officers with guns drawn elevated the Threat Level the thought to notify to get trump off the stage didnt cross his mind. Thats a quote. What is important today. You are taking the local authorities in butler, pennsylvania, in Butler Township, in Butler County. What can they do in this Hearing Today that report on the Senate Side did not do . They can basically tell the truth from the Point Of View that they saw it. They can go back and tell them exactly stepbystep what they saw and how they reacted. In those situations, typically the Secret Service hopes that a Law Enforcement officer will react in accordingly just as he would if Secret Service was not there. Hopefully they can retrack their steps and give them some good valid information. Dana one of the things that i think has been important to note is the bipartisanness of this and senate democrats have been the ones as outraged as republicans. Here is senator richard blumenthal. I have said our report. You dont have to attend a classified briefing to know we need to be doing more to protect elected officials. Americans need to know that the Threat Level has multiplied to a different order of magnitude because iran, russia, china, and others are in effect trying to sow discord, divide the nation and undermine our democracy. Dana the hearing is gaveled it and getting it underway. The looming threats out there now. Your thoughts. I think the Secret Service needs to take every Event And Venue that former President Trump goes to as if it is a sitting president and it is super Bowl Day as we always say. You cannot say oh, that will be okay or we have enough men. You need to look at the whole venue and really scrutinize it and make sure you have absolutely everything covered because as you can see in the last two months, we have had two attempts and i think there could be more out there. Bill we could afford to learn more from the administration about the iranian threats. Thank you, stand by. This is mike kelly, the cochair, republican. He represents butler, pennsylvania. So he is in the barrel of the story now. Lets drop on in. Today is your day to come forward with your testimony. Now i along with several of my friends were actually present at the rally in butler when the shooting occurred. It is my hometown. I have lived in this community for more than 60 years and grew up to the Butler Farm Show. We did farming and we would took our animals there and play american Legion Baseball at the fields beside the Farm Show. The tragedy remains very personal to me and the entire community. This tragedy, the very real threat to democracy of our na nation escaped that day. We realize it was entirely preventable. Because of failures by the Secret Service the shooting was not prevented. Last week acting Director Rowe said his own agency showed complacency. Crooks scouted and identified weakness, had Security Vulnerabilities not existed it is plausible he might not have attempted the shooting and could have returned home. Well never for for sure. What we do know the documents and testimony point to several failures on July 13th in the days leading up to the rally. Not a single mistake that allowed crooks. There were Security Failures on multiple fronts. To date our investigation has identified three key factors. First, secret Service Planning or perhaps more accurately their failure to adequately plan created confusion among the agencies Law Enforcement partners. They were not assertive on key decisions like the placement of some of the units and delegating responsibilities. Secondly, the Secret Service did not close down public access or manage access to the grounds next to the Rally Site that were less than 150 yards from the stage where former President Trump spoke. Third, the Security Communications and Command Structure were not cohesive. Information in a moment of crisis went through radio communications, Text Messages and phone Calls Way too slowly. Second and reports were passed in a manner of telephone. These other failures led to a dysfunctional Security Situation that took the life of mr. Comperatore, injured two others and nearly claimed the former president s life. I will add to this. There was another life lost that day. The Crooks Family lost their son. Whatever role he played that day we have to remember that at the end of the day, at the end of the day i believe this all could have been prevented. In the hours leading up to the Assassination Attempt crooks had a prolonged and unimpeded ability to scout the target and identify the best shooting positions as crooks was flagged multiple times for suspicious behavior, confusion surrounded Law Enforcements responsibility to find and question him. Crooks operated in an unsecured area as situational information was delayed and limited about him. Former President Trump took the stage even as local Law Enforcement were escalating efforts to find a suspicious person. Evidence shows in crucial moments after local police over radio reported that crooks had a long gun on the roof in a period of less than 30 seconds before shots were fired the Secret Service could not process the information fast enough to pull the former president from the stage. I am going to do something here. I think we believe the same thing. All we had to know if we knew there was a suspicious person out there. Why in the world would you let former President Trump go out onto that platform if you werent sure it was secure . Thats the whole purpose of why the Secret Service was there. Thankfully President Trump survived this neardeath experience. Mr. Comperatore did not. Exercising his right to participate in our democracy, he was not able to complete that day. I want you to know something. The Comperatore Family saturday morning, July 13th, with a so excited to leave their home as a family, mr. Comperatore, his wife and two daughters to go to butler, pennsylvania to watch our candidate speak. Four people drove over that morning. Three people went home that night. Mr. Comperatore lost his life that day. That is totally unacceptable in america. Todays hearing brings forward three witnesses at the rally aiding the secret Service Effort on July 13th. These men are the first individuals who helped provide security. Theyre here to give their accounts off what they saw and experienced both at the rally, the Planning Process leading up to it. The key being the Planning Process leading up to it. They will share information about mistakes and regrets but also about heroic and selfless actions taken by local Law Enforcement that day. These men and units were not in charge of July 13th nor have a hand in designing the Secret Service security plan. Those responsibilities belonged to the Secret Service. These men answered a call to play a role protecting the public and our political process even though providing security at a political rally is not their usual line of work. Our country already knows what happened at 6 11, sunday, july 313th. Theyll tell us about specific actions and events that led to the outcome. Testifying today we also have a medical examiner who performed the autopsy on thomas crooks. He is testifying to answer questions how crooks died and to hopefully put to rest some theories and doubts that often seem to follow highprofile violent events. Finally, our panel includes a distinguished retired secret Service Agent who played no role and is on this panel to provide insights into Secret Service protocols and practices. After this hearing the Task Force will use what we learned from todays testimony, additional documents and local Law Enforcement resources in the next phase. Well be seeking answers about the Secret Services questionable decisions regarding planning, resources and apparent lack of leadership that led to Complacency And Vulnerability on July 13th. Since the Task Force added its first staff in august following a unanimous vote by the House Of Representatives to establish this Panel Weve led a thorough, fact based and bipartisan investigation. Our duty as expressed to establish the Task Force is to investigate and represent a Report Making Recommendations by December 13th that address the secret Services Security failures. This Task Force is fully on track to fulfill our duty. This hearing is not our last Word Or Conclusion but a window for the public to see our important ongoing work. I want to take a moment to address former President Trump who after September 15th has now decided after two Assassination Attempts is going to return to the Butler Farm Show on october 5th. I want to personally commend the former president and his family for the incredible Strength Theyve shown since July 13th. I cant imagine anybody looking at this and looking at it please separate the politics from all of this. This is a united States Citizen running for political office with a wife and children and grandchildren. Nowhere nowhere in our whole scope of government can we accept the fact that these people put their life in danger by running for a public office. Totally unacceptable. He is owed a lot better than what he got that day and we will be looking forward but we are more worried about the clear it is public servants at all levels of government to stand goes those using violence to interfere with our elections. Every american should be outraged regardless of who they intend to support by these attempts to nullify their votes through violence. We use balance, not bullets to make a determination who should serve. Todays hearing is a Task Force latest attempt to seek accountability and answers on what happened in butler, pennsylvania and restore the faith, trust, and confidence the american people deserve. One last thing before i recognize the Ranking Member jason crowe. We have, i think, for whatever reason were put in the same place at the same time for the right reasons. I will ask unanimous consent to enter a letter from Leader Scalise granting permission to have one of our witnesses testify remotely today. Without objection, so ordered. I now recognize the distinguished Ranking Member from Colorado Mr. Crowe for his opening remarks. Thank you, chairman and i want to start by thanking all the witnesses for coming here willingly on your own time to provide important information for this panel and for the american people as we seek answers that they need. Political violence has no place in our democracy period. We must be united in our belief as americans, not as republicans or democrats, that political disagreement is settled through rigorous debate, not violence. That is why this Task Forces investigation in Todays Hearing are so important. Since the establishment of this Task Force two months ago i have worked closely with Chairman Kelly to insure this investigation is and remains bipartisan. Were coordinating closely to establish the facts of the Security Failures of July 13th so we can help insure those failures never happen again. It is our hope that Todays Hearing will provide the public with critical insight into our progress. The Secret Service is a critical dual mission. First, Protect Shun and investigations to insure the security of and investigation of crimes against the u. S. Financial system committed by criminals Around The World. Its Protection Mission operates by the Secret Services own admission on a 0 fail mentality. As it must. While numerous other state and local Law Enforcement agencies were present during the July 13th event the Secret Service is responsible for the safety of its protectees. A mission the Secret Service has had fulltime since 1902. It is clear that the Secret Service failed on July 13th. Also impossible to ignore, however, the fact that the world has changed dramatically since the Secret Service first took over fulltime president ial protection in 1902. Political events are bigger. There is a significantly greater number of protectees. Access to information about their movements are more accessible to the public. Times have clearly changed. The Secret Service must be expected to accomplish its 0 fail Protection Mission without any errors, congress must also insure that the Secret Service has the resources it needs to accomplish that mission. It has become apparent since July 13th the Secret Service is stretched too thin. It takes years to create a secret Service Agent qualified to protect the president or former president. Right now there are simply not enough secret Service Agents. As a result, the Secret Service must rely heavily on department of Homeland Security agents and other federal agencies whose responsibility may not primarily be personnel protection. The Secret Service relies heavily on local and state Law Enforcement particularly with largescale events like July 13th. In the first part of this investigation it has become clear that local Law Enforcement played a critical role in security on July 13th and efforts by individual local Law Enforcement officers may have saved lives and prevented a far greater tragedy. It is also clear, however, that the communication between the Secret Service and local and state partners was disjointed and unclear. For example, there was no single Command Post for all Law Enforcement to receive and relay information. Given how critical the partnership is between the Secret Service and local and state Law Enforcement agencies, clear lines of communication are crucial. The Secret Service must do better. This Task Force has a solemn urgent responsibility to uncover the failures and help stop them from being repeated. The american people deserve clearances about what happened on July 13th. This hearing will provide the first pieces of what we learned but make no mistake, this investigation is still in the early days and there is much more to do. I look forward to hearing from our witnesses and learning more about their perspectives on what happened, what went wrong and how we might prevent these failures moving forward. Thank you, chairman. I yield back. I want to introduce our witnesses. Were joined by Edward Lens the commander of the Butler County emergency service unit. He is a sergeant with a Township Police Department. On July 13th while working for there he was stationed in the local Campaign Post at the campaign Rally Site. Next a patrolman for Butler TownshipPolice Department. He is also a Sniper Team assistant leader for Butler County esu. July 13th working for Butler Township. He was stationed with a secret Service Agent when the Motor Car arrived. Third witness is mr. John harold. A lieutenant for the Pennsylvania State police. The officer in charge for the Pennsylvania State police on July 13th. Next we have mr. Patrick sullivan who served over 40 years in federal Law Enforcement. He began his career at 18 working for the f. B. I. And joined the Secret Service as a Special Agent where he served 23 years, retiring as a superviseor. Though he is retired and not present July 13th he served on the secret serVice PresidentIal Division for four years and his expertise will be helpful in context of how the Secret Service works with local Law Enforcement to insure the safety of all protectees. Then we have dr. Gold schmidt. He is the Chief Medical Examiner for the Allegany County Office of the medical examiner. He conducted the autopsy of the would be assassin Thomas Matthew crooks. We appreciate you all for being here today. Before recognizing the witnesses i would like to remind them their oral testimony is restricted to five minutes in length. If the light in front of you is red the testimony is concluded. Will the witnesses stand and raise their right hands. Do you solemnly swear or affirm the testimony you give is the truth, the whole Truth And Nothing but the truth so help you god. All with witnesses answered in the affirmative. Commander lenz. Thank you for being here today. Good morning. My name is edward lenz. Patrol sergeant for the adams Township Police Department in Butler County, Pennsylvania And Commander for the emergency services unit. I was the commander of the local tactical units operating at the president ial rally July 13th. Butler esu was requested to assist the u. S. Secret service by providing two Counter Assault teams and a quick reaction force. Later two Sniper Teams were added to that request during the Planning Process. We were assisted at the Butler Rally by the beaver county, Washington County and all gani health network. We provided a second armored vehicle with a Counter Assault team and two police snipers. Washington Regional Swat provided tactical operators and snipers and allegany healthcare. The quick reaction force, three Sniper Teams and support personnel we provided a total manpower of 44 persons exceeding the number requested by the Secret Service. At no point during the Planning Process was Butler County esu asked to secure the Agr Complex nor the perimeter surrounding that area. At no point was butler asked to deploy a Sniper Team to the roof of the Agr Complex or did we ever say we would provide one to the roof there. From their positions inside the Agr Building the snipers were not able to see the roof where the shooter was located. Not within their area of responsibility. Butler county is our home. Some of those attending that rallies were neighbors, friends, family, coworkers and my wife was one of the paramedics embedded with our team at the rally. She provided treatment to those that had been shot. Each and every Team Member took their job serious and responsibility serious. I there were several suspicious persons one ended being the shooter. This information was relayed to unformed Patrol Officers and discussed with the snipers posted inside the Agr Building. Beaver County Sniper in the Agr Building was able to take a photograph of the suspicious male sitting near the Agr Building and saw him using a Range Finder pointing toward the stage. This information was promptly reported to the Pennsylvania State police in the Secret Service command center. Butler county Sheriffs Department and the Police Department. Had these officers not picked up on this suspicious behavior we likely would not have known anything was wrong until shots were fired. Prior to those shots being fired, an operator from Butler Esu had exited the Red Barn and monitoring the Agr Area due to suspicious person reports. When shots rang out, he was able to quickly identify where the shots were coming from. Observed the shooter, shouldered his rifle. Acquired his target and fired one round at the shooter which caused the shooter to recoil and fall out of sight. He did this less than six seconds after shots began using his short Barrel Platform RifleCham Beard in 556 with a Weapons Sight at a distance of 110 yards. He prepared to engage with traditional rounds as the shooter came back into sight secret Service Counter Sniper fired a round striking the shooter ending the active threat. No other rounds were fired by the shooter after he was engaged by the Butler Esu operator. Since July 13th we have cooperated with multiple investigations and members interviewed by the Pennsylvania State police, f. B. I. , senate Homeland Security and governmental affairs committee, Secret ServiceMission Assurance investigators. Homeland committee, senator Grassleys Office and this Task Force. We have done so without sub own aed. Butler County Esu has nothing to hide and well continue to cooperate. The american people deserve the truth. It is nothing short of a tragedy. Evil will always be a threat and we must continually review our own actions, adjust our operations, and constantly strive to achieve perfection though we will never achieve it. Thank you. Thank you. Appreciate. I know how heart felt this has been for you and gut wrenching it has been for you. We talked right after this. Thats the purpose of Todays Hearing. Local Law Enforcement has gone through way too much. Well get to the bottom of it. The work you did that day was exceptional. Thank you. I will recognize patrolman for his five Minute Opening remarks. Good morning, members of congress and Task Force. Im drew, a Patrol Officer with butler Police Department. As well as a veteran of the u. S. Army. Please let me begin by stating the place where the deadly events of July 13th unfolded is my home. I was born and raised in Butler Township, pennsylvania and regularly attended the annual Farm Show on those very grounds since i was a child. Butler Township Community is sacred to me and members of the Police Community with whom i serve. Many of our friends and Family Work in Butler Township and our Police Force works very hard day in and day out to insure their safety and to man the Peace And Safety of all who come into the township. The events that ultimately played out were horrific and tragic. A man lost his life, his family lost a husband and father. Peoples lives were changed forever. I had the unique perspective of wearing two hats esu member, Assistant Team Leaders of the Sniper Unit i took part in some of the Planning Meetings. Interaction with the Secret Service. On the day of the event i worked as a Butler Township officer assisting with Traffic Control to insure the roads and intersections were clear for the Arrival And Departure of the motorcade. I want you to know that i, my fellow Township Offices and Esu Team memosbers are committed to do all we can to help prevent similar tragedies in the future. Weve participated in numerous interviews including those of this Task Force. We have done so to be transparent and to do what we can to help make political rallies and public events safer. Most importantly to prevent lives from being shattered whenever evil men are determined to pursue evil deeds. Thank you. Thank you. Now recognize Lieutenant Harold for his five Minute Opening remarks. Lieutenant harold. Chairman kelly Ranking Members and the Task Force. I proudly entered the State Police academy in 2005 and have been a supervisor since 2013. I was the officer in charge of personnel at the Butler Farm Show site on July 13th rally for former president donald trump. The officer in charge has overall supervise re responsibility for the psp assets assigned to the detail and i performed those duties, including visiting each Psp Post to insure assignment were clear and they had adequate resources and took part in Planning Meetings for the rally for form he President Trump with Secret Service and local Law Enforcement as well as preparing the operational plan for the Butler Farm Show site. I appreciate the opportunity to join you today to discuss the event as it pertains to the State Police. The State Police is a full service Police Department composed o