Transcripts For MSNBC Martin Bashir 20131003

Window. When i looked out the window, you saw Capitol Hill Police officers their guns drawn immediately sprinting towards where they heard the noises and the pops coming from. They then instructed the tourists who were in the field on the west front to get down, all those tourists were lying on their stomachs, and after a few mings of securing that immediate perimeter, they instructed the tourists to sprint and get out of the area and go to independence avenue. From my Vantage Point i saw men, women, children sprinting, a few dozen or so, printing to independence avenue. I saw Capitol Hill Police cars engage in some kind of chase. I saw them chasing something over towards constitution avenue, which is the senate side, and that is where apparently this standoff occurred and where this woman was shot and killed. What i can report is the sergeant of arms said the baby is believed to be fine. The Capitol Hill Police officer who was medevacked out of here from a Park Police Helicopter which actually, martin, landed on the west front. Today we saw a Park Police Helicopter medevac a Capitol Hill Police officer off the mall. That was an extraordinary thing to witness. I will also say to you, martin, that the business of the house of representatives, the house went into immediate recess around 2 30 p. M. We were all told to shelter in place. No one was allowed to leave the Capitol Building or any of the office buildings, and this incident for roughly an hour did close the peoples house, the business of the people. Legislation was not being debated, legislation did not go through. That was lifted around 3 30 and the members acknowledge that the incident that o kurnd and the hearts and prayers went to the officer injured and all those who engaged in the pursuit and now business is back up and running. Quite an extraordinary scene on capitol hill. We all know it can be a dangerous place. Theres no fence perimeter like the white house. People say were always fearful of Something Like this happening because there is no perimeter. The Capitol Police really showed how good they are that they were able to figure out, assist in this chase, and block this individual from getting closer to the capitol where they could have caused real damage. As i understand it, the Capitol Police have not been furloughed. They are all working. Its simply an issue as to whether they will receive their paychecks in orderly fashion as they normally do. Is that right . That is correct. They are deemed essential employees but their payment was not given to them on the usual schedule. So what you had today, martin, was a Capitol Hill Police officer who went to work, pursued this suspect in his vehicle, ended up getting medevacked from the national mall, and that pay is not going to come to him normally at least from where we stand right now. That can change. They can do a special disten sati dispensation, but youre correct. Lets listen to mr. Bernie sanders from vermont. We heard what seemed to be four shots. You were also with other senators. Have you ever been in the capitol on lockdown before . I dont believe i have. So it was four or five shots. Do you remember how close . They were bang, bang, bang, bang. Okay. [ inaudible question ] the police suggested we come back to the capitol. The senator there, luke, repeating what you thought you heard. You suggested around five shots. He said he heard four. When you were looking out, did you see you said you described seeing the police with guns drawn and you described seeing tourists and visitors to the capitol running. Did you see the suspect at all . No, i did not. I did not see the suspect. From my Vantage Point what i could see was the Capitol Hill Police running towards them. I then saw the Capitol Hill Police cars pursuing down the street. I did not see the car itself, but i saw their pursuit. Martin, in that moment, its obviously a heightened sense of anxiety that one feels just sort of seeing dozens and dozens of tourists in the vicinity of this incident who had no protection besides the valiant Capitol Hill Police. There were a lot of folks in the middle of the field. Immediately when i heard those shots, one of the things i heard, oh, gosh, if someone is on a shooting rampage in the middle of the field, that could be horrific. Luke, you just want us to show the video. Weve just been watching video of the police chase, so you here we have it now. You can see Police Vehicle pursuing a black sedan around a round about and then accelerating off. I dont see it but i think i know what youre talking about. What you see is the car got fairly close to the capitol on one of the streets in front of the west front. Sometimes police can put up a barricade where it literally comes out of the asphalt. In this case because of how quickly this car was storming up, the sergeant at arms said they were not able to get the barricade up, and that is why you saw the Capitol Police literally ram this vehicle with their own vehicle. Yes. Which i will say is a very heroic act. Obviously you saw the Capitol Police car, air bags deployed, doors mangled and which that incident caused the political Police Officer to be medevacked from the national mall. Luke, our thoughts and prayers are with that capitol Police Officer. Do stay with us, luke, but id luke now to go to our White House Correspondent Kristin Welker. Shes joining us from the north lawn of the white house where authorities believe this incident actually began. Is that right, kristin . Reporter well, they think it started sort of at 15 and e which is on the other side of the white house. Is that on the treasury side . Reporter thats on the treasury side. What is remarkable about what luke is reporting, he heard those shots fired, we really didnt hear anything here at the white house, martin. I can tell you that president obama was here when this began to unfold. He has been briefed on the situation. I can also tell you that Senior Administration officials are sort of huddled behind closed doors right now as they monitor this situation. They are in contact with Law Enforcement officials who are trying to get to the bottom of exactly what happened. Pennsylvania avenue, which is the street just outside of the white house, parts of that have been closed down as a security precaution. That is exactly what we would expect in this type of an incident. Typically when there is any perceived threat, pennsylvania avenue closes down. However, its also important to note that the white house is not on lockdown mode. That means that people who have hard passes, who have actual white house passes, are being allowed entrance into the white house at this moment. They have also, by the way, pushed back onlookers to lafayette park, that is across the street from the white house. Dozens of them still gathered sort of watching all of this unfold and really the scene here outside of the white house is that they have brought in extra security. Again, just as an extra precaution. But we were here at the white house when this all unfolded. We didnt hear anything. The reporters, the correspondents, the producers here were made aware of us when we looked up at the Television Screen and saw shots had been fired at the capitol. Everyone quite stunned that that would happen. As weve been reporting, this is a city that is shutdown right now. There is already a fair amount of anxiety due to that shutdown, uncertainty. Certainly this incident has only raised the uncertainty here in washington, d. C. Martin . And the actual vehicle, its being suggested that the driver tried to overcome some of the barricades, those stumps that areally in the ground that prevent vehicles from getting closer to the white house. Do you know what side of the white house the vehicle attempted to attack those from . Again, it was sort of on the treasury side. So really far from where we are right now, martin, and, again, so we didnt actually hear that happen. And were still sort of getting information piece by piece and i can tell you that white house officials are continuing to gain information as well. I was talking to one official here who initially wasnt aware of the fact that there was an attempted breach of the white house. So that is sort of what we have right now. But as is typical in these situations, the white house sort of very tightlipped until they are actually confident and able to confirm the information. So we anticipate well be getting more information throughout the hour. Martin . Kristin welker, thank you. Stay with us. With us now is michael isikoff, our investigative correspondent. And, mike, weve been watching this tape of the vehicle itself having attempted to access the white house, failing to do so, and then accelerating sorry and then acceleratinac is that right, towards the white house . That appears to be the case. One little fact weve confirmed and i think its partially visible from the photos is that the car has a connecticut license plate. So it was from out of town. Who it was, who this woman was were still waiting to find out. A couple of other just additional details. Capitol hill staffers were just in the last few minutes notified by email that theres going to be a Park Police Helicopter over the capitol area, and that may well be happening right now as we speak or will be happening shortly. This is at the request of the metropolitan police. So clearly Law Enforcement still trying to piece together exactly what happened here. Its obviously a crime scene, and theres a lot of Unanswered Questions to say the least. Mike, but that helicopter is not there in pursuance of any other individuals because as i understand it the capitol chief of police said this was an isolated individual. Right. Isolated incident, no relation to terrorism or anything else. Of course, without knowing who the person was and what her motivations might have been, we should all probably just be a little cautious on drawing on that front, but, no, youre absolutely correct. The helicopter is for forensic purposes to piece together what happened. Now, have you been able to identify the age of the child . Because i have seen reporting that suggests it was a baby in this vehicle. Yeah. A baby, small child. Weve heard conflicting reports on that, nothing on the age. There was this officer, and just to clarify, i misspoke earlier in the previous program, the capitol Police Officer was not shot, but there was a Capitol Hill Police officer who was injured in a crash relating to this. Hes the one that was medevacked away, and hes the one who chief dine was referring to as being conscious and breathing, but no further word on his condition at this point. Okay. Thanks so much, mike. Stay with us. Joining us now is robert costa of the National Review who was also at the capitol as this event unfolded. Robert, where were you and what did you see . I was actually just walking outside of the u. S. House. Walking actually with representative Michele Bachmann from minnesota, talking politics. It was a Beautiful Day on capitol hill, and i said goodbye to her, walked back into the capitol and almost immediately it was a lockdown situation. I did not hear the shots, but the cops immediately reacted in a way i have never seen before and for about 15, 20 minutes it was very intense. I was sitting next to the Police Scanner in the press gallery listening to reports telling everyone to take shelter and it was quite a surreal scene. And presumably house members were were you with were house members on the floor as this was happening . Thats right. Actually, it was so chaotic, martin, that if you were near the House Chamber on the second floor of the capitol, some reporters were pushed into the actual House Chamber and blo cloakroom and nobody knew what was happening. The officers didnt have perfect information so they wanted everyone to get inside of a room. And how long did this lockdown last for you, robert . I was in the press gallery next to the scanner, and it lasted for about 15, 20 minutes and they were you were allowed to walk outside of the rooms you were in and then after 30 minutes of this whole situation unfolding, the whole capitol was lifted from its lockdown status. Right. I should say that we are expecting a Police Briefing by the Capitol Police. Originally we were told it would be around 4 15 and we expect to the hear from the police in a moment. Yes, thats exactly right. I actually just spoke with some capitol Police Officers and they have heard from their own spearers and colleagues that one officer has been injured and medevacked out. They believe the suspect is either very much injured or dead but the capitol Police Officers i have spoke be with dont have full information. Right now the capitol is not on lockdown but the scene on second is roped off and thats still a crime scene. We were just showing our viewers some pictures of a microphone being set up. We are expecting a Capitol Police briefing any moment now. And were now going to go to harry reid who i believe is speaking on the floor of the senate right now. I ask unanimous consent when the senate completes its business day they adjourn until october 4th following the prayer and pledge t. The time for two leaders be reserved for use later in the day. The senate be in a period of mourning for debate only until 2 00 p. M. Senators permitted to speak for up to ten minutes each. Without objection. Mr. President , if theres no further business, i ask it adjourn under the previous order. The Senate Stands adjourned. Robert, weve just heard the senate being adjourned until tomorrow morning. Harry reid there calling it to adjournment. Not much detail, not much said about the events. As you sit where you are, rocket, whats the exact situation there . Here is the situation. I heard from house and Senate Officials that the senate was debating whether to proceed with business today. As you just saw from the majority leader of the senate, we will adjourn for today. The house right now is voting. The house decided to stay in session because after the lockdown was lifted, they decided to have afternoon votes and many members are heading to the floor as we speak. Luke russert is still with us at the capitol. Luke, im assuming that a large number of senators and congressional members are now leaving because business is closed for the day as it were. Well, actually what you said there from robert is the house is actually going to vote. This then means a lot of the members of the house of representatives will come from their House Office Buildings and then come onto the house floor and then we are subject to the call of the chair once that business is done, which would most likely mean tomorrow just as the u. S. Senate, martin. I can tell you right now though, its still a pretty tense scene on capitol hill. Obviously the immediate threat has dissipated, but if you look behind me, you can kind of see a s. W. A. T. Team of Capitol Hill Police officers still very much at the go in front of this side of the capitol. Theres a lot of police presence. Theres a heavy checking of identification. Must have a hard pass and whatnot. But i would id be surprised after these votes if there is any more sort of business as usual. I think when these types of events happen, usually here on capitol hill they take at least the evening to sort of let everything simmer down. Have the tourists in the locality you saw running, have they all been cleared out of the area . Yeah, they have been cleared out of the area. Theres none from where i can see from where i am. Usually you can see some Milling Around in front of the capitol, taking photographs. Theyre not allowed to come and take the photographs. Interestingly enough, martin, right behind me is if youre a pedestrian, its an open walkway. You literally can walk on these grounds right behind me from the house side to the senate side of the capitol, and you always see a lot of tourists, especially around this time of day because with the dusk and the sun, they all want to get that perfect capitol hill sort of sun over the dome shot. But thats not happening today, and the tourists who i saw being evacuated from the general area i assume have been pushed off around independence avenue and are not allowed back onto the grounds. I recall, luke, that you were talking to me only recently when the Washington Navy yard shooter was unleashed. I mean, this event today must have provoked thoughts on the part of many people where you worked and an immediate remembrance of what happened of that individual firing on those people. That Navy Yard Shooting was only about two weeks ago, and yet that feels almost like six months ago from a reporters standpoint. What happened at the navy yard definitely put the city on edge. I have to tell you, this is going to feed this this collective psyche of unease. The navy yard is literally just a few blocks away from where this incident occurred. Its within a mile i would say or at least a mile and a half. So to have these two things within a span of roughly two weeks i think is definitely affecting the psyche of walked, especially for us who work here on a daily basis. Sure. Luke, stay with me, but lets hear from senator bob casey, who has been speaking about what happened. You could hear pop, i dont know whose gun, it sounded like a firearm, three, four, five pops. We said why dont we start walking towards the capitol. As we did that, thats when they said get down behind the car. They told us to take cover, so we took cover behind an suv. But we didnt see anything. Heard six shots fired. We thought we heard shots, saw a lot of police cars, then we heard shots, and then the police told us to go back. We were simply walking back to our office. They told us to run back and come in this building. So those senators were actually outside when the shooting started. Im sorry, martin, come again. Those senators were actually outside when that shooting started. Yeah, thats a common occurrence on capitol hill, especially on days like today when its nice. Its almost you could say summer in october. A lot of them walk outside. Its interesting you bring that point up because when the Gabrielle Giffords shooting happened, there was a lot of concern amongst security personnel about members of Congress Walking outside. Theyre such easy sitting targets. There is a sort of movement, why dont you use the underground totals that are totally secure, but members of congress are very much this idea, this is the peoples house, the peoples senate, theyre open, we want to engage with you. I think thats what youre seeing. The house was delayed for an hour but now theyre going about the peoples business because they dont want this incident to stop the mechanism of government. Absolutely. Thanks so much, luke. I should remind our viewers, we were told earlier there would be a Capitol Police briefing at 4 15. Thats been delayed somewhat. But well bring it to you live at any moment. Joining us is our correspondent kasie hunt who i believe is actually on the scene where this incident began to unfold. Casey . Reporter hi, martin. Yeah, this is still an active crime scene. You can see it im sure behind me. This is where that capitol Police Officer who has been injured was hurt. You can still see the car that crashed actually sitting in the middle of the street on constitution avenue, which is, of course, a major thoroughfare here in washington. What were waiting on from the Capitol Police is just more of a discussion of exactly what happened. Its still murky as to who shot first, who was in the car. Theres another car thats further up that road that, as you can see, the suspect continued to drive up constitution. So this Police Officer was actually stopped, according to eyewitnesses i have talked to, by barriers that are built into the road here at the capitol, and those barriers are designed to prevent exactly this kind of an event from happening. So the barriers that are closer to the Capitol Building itself are actually up all the time, and a Police Officer has to lower it for you if you have a pass to drive through. But many of these roads are used by everyday washingtonians. If you shut off the traffic on this road, it would create even more headaches for an already congested area. So most of the time those barriers are left down, which is what you saw happen here except they were thrown up i guess a little too quickly according to eyewitnesses here. Were just trying to determine at these crime scenes exactly what happened on the outside of the Capitol Building. And, casey, can you help us with any further information on the condition of the capitol Police Officer who was medevacked out from the scene . Were still waiting to hear more details about his condition. At the last press briefing, they did say that he is at least stable at this point. So hopefully the news wont be too dire, and you were talking earlier with luke russert and also showing harry reid on the floor. Senate majority harry reid actually was he started his career on the hill as a capitol Police Officer working the night shift. Its something he likes to talk about quite a bit. This would be an incident that hes personally connected to as far as a capitol Police Officer being hurt. Right. I believe, casey, we may have some sound that were going to play now from a witness who observed what happened. I heard about six gunshots, very rapid succession, blam, blam, blam, blam, blam. Right after that maybe five Capitol Police cars came roaring down pennsylvania avenue, down to the parking lot here towards the monument over there on first street, and shortly thereafter i hear those gunshots. I saw people running all over the lawn of the capitol. An individual there describing the chaos. Casey, as you said, were waiting for this police press conference. Do we have any more details about when we should expect that . Reporter at this point its already been delayed past what we expected, so, of course, this is somewhat typical for a situation like this. Law enforcement needs time to sort of collect all of the information and they want to make sure they can come and provide some level of new detail. We do know that the roads are still all closed in this area well past the crime scene itself. Many people who have cars that are parked around here have been told that theyre going to have to leave them here forself ho v hours. They wont be able to move them off the curb. So at this point were still just waiting on new tidbits of information. Thanks so much, kasie hunt there live from the scene. Were joined by Eleanor Holmes norton with us from washington. Good afternoon, maam. Good afternoon, martin. I imagine that this is almost too much for you to bear, the second shooting in the capitol that you represent in, what, two weeks . In two weeks. And i thought we had settled down. In fact, when i first heard of shots outside the capitol, i said, my goodness, i thought all the madness was on the inside now. But the shots were alarming news in light of the Navy Yard Shooting. I first heard it, of course, not from the television, from my staff who had been in the cafeteria and said everybody was running, came up and said congresswoman, id like to close your door because theres a lot of running going on. Then, of course, we had the alerts and we learned that there had been a shooting. The shooting is unnerving, but what i want to say to you, martin, is that when Something Like this happens, we all need to be on the alert, but usually its over alert, and you dont get back to business as usual, and that hurts the capitol city and that keeps us all alarmed. I went through this after 9 11, and i have to tell you that after that, i do think that the best thing to do is to get back to business. Or else the capitol city is going to be all upset every time there is anything of the kind that happens. We have the best police and the best protection right here in the capitol that anyone could ask for, and you see what happened. They came from all over. There must be at least a dozen Police Forces in the district of columbia. So if anything happens, there is going to be enough protection so people should not be unduly concerned. We heard you speaking on the floor earlier this week pleading for d. C. Operations not to be subject to this government shutdown. Can you answer this question, was there a full contingent of Law Enforcement at work today as normal . There appears to have been, and if you saw the number of police on the outside, you would have thought there were them and then a whole lot more, the secret service, of course, because the white house had been involved earlier when this car apparently tried to ram through the barriers there, and, of course, how unusual for something to start at the white house and then make its way to the capitol. Then everybody really was concerned, and it may have been just somebody who didnt know what she was doing. Well learn when the Capitol Police finally get around to having the press conference you keep speaking of. Yes. And you were talking earlier about your staff coming out from the cafeteria and telling you, delegate, you need to be safe, you need to remain in your offices. In those circumstances, did you close all your windows, close the blinds, switch off the lights as often were advised to do in circumstances like this . I did not. She wanted me to close my door. She didnt even know who was happening on the outside. Then they came back in to say everybody had been told to lock down and get away from the windows. I did not. I really have to tell you, martin, the post9 11 left me with such a feeling that everyone was so afraid the next minute that what you needed was to inspire calm, not to have everybody do more than the police say was necessary. Right. And i believe that youre desire for continuing business as normal will be satisfied because were expecting the house at some point to reconvene fairly soon. The senate, of course, has adjourned until tomorrow. The Senate Majority harry reid speaking earlier told us that, but were expecting house business to continue. Are you hearing of any calls to votes or anything like that . Yes. There are going to be some votes this afternoon. I have to tell you, when i said i thought all the madness was on the inside, i wasnt just fooling. Remember, theyre holding up money that doesnt even belong to them, the districts local funds, and i was on the floor yesterday and the day before trying to get those out and still were playing games up here. The only reason i would think wed want to close down is those games. If the American People continue to hear those games with each side digging in further to its own views, theyre all being turned off. Just as well turn off the house for a few moments, turn off the senate and try to see if we can get back to normal. Well, lets hope so. Delegate Eleanor Holmes norton, thank you so much for joining us this afternoon and i hope youre able to continue serving and get back to business just as you described. Thank you, martin. Thank you. Lets go now to Jimmy Williams who was in the capitol during the 1998 shooting incident. Jimmy, are you with us . Yes, im here, yes. I guess this is a terrible reminder of that day, isnt it . Its a scary moment. Listen, every day at 3 15 a friend of mine, a fellow staffer in the senate who worked for mr. Mcconnell, senator mcconnell, we would leave our offices and go to the capitol every day. We would have a diet dr. Pepper on the speakers balcony and walk back. Thats how you woke up basically in the middle of the day. That was the one day we did not go. We both had meetings at the same time, and so we were leaving our offices to go to the capitol and then we got put on lockdown. At that point a very different kind of lockdown than it is now. Because a gunman, rusty westin, walked into the capitol, shot officers chestnut and gibson, killed one of them instantly and then he was detained and hes now incarcerated to this day. But it shook the capitol complex. The family of the capitol, both the house and the senate, and it changed the way we did business. It changed our badges. It changed where we could go. More Police Security and then, of course, after 9 11 things were very, very different. But this is i know what these people are going through, and it literally shakes you to your core. Youre in your office and you get this thing that comes across and the person could be right outside your office door. You just dont know. You think about your friends that are in other offices and the other house and Senate Office buildings. Those on the capitol and the senate floor, the members themselves, the people that are working in the woodworking shop. Literally, this is your family, and everyone is being attacked at the same time for all intents and purposes. Yeah. Jimmy, luke was talking to us earlier, luke russert, about the distinctive differences between the white house cordon as it were around the white house and the capitol itself, and he was saying that the capitol is actually relatively easy to access for members of the public and tourists and thats certainly how i found it in the past. And that was a conscious decision on behalf by the senate and the house leadership at that point in time. You may recall that they said this is the peoples building. People should be able to come to this building. Its not like they didnt beef up security. But at the end of the day, the capitol is a far more flowing complex. Today after 9 11 everyone has to enter if they dont have a badge or a press badge, they have to go in through the Capitol Visitors Center through one unified entrance, but after that it was very much open. You could just walk into pretty much any entrance, but its still far nmore open than the executive complex is without a doubt. Jimmy williams, reflecting on a horrific experience the last time. Thanks so much, jim. With us now is james, an msnbc Law Enforcement analyst and a former special agent for the atf. I want to show our viewers a remarkable photograph we have of Police Officers moving towards the i believe the suspects vehicle. You can see that there. You know the area of the capitol extremely well. Your thoughts on whats happened today. Well, its horrible. You know, we have an officer injured and maybe someone killed or seriously wounded that was trying to attack the white house. Just blocked from locations, im familiar with 8 treasury and this section of the capitol. It looks like the woman probably tried to ram the gate at the white house right next to treasury and was engaged by the secret Service Uniform division. Yeah. She might not have a firearm. Just her car maybe. That remains to be scene. Youve heard conflicting reports, but clearly martin a pursuit down pennsylvania avenue then toward the capitol. And we have that video footage of the pursuit going around a round a about, her in the black vehicle we saw in the still photograph, accelerating away and being chased by police. Exactly. Cop to Capitol Police would be alerted, shed be racing down pennsylvania avenue, which is a pretty good distance. Theyd be alerted to her. Shes not going to get anywhere near the Capitol Building with a vehicle because of those stanchions you discussed, and theyre going to engage her in gunfire if shes trying to ram those barricades because they dont know if shes a sue said bo suicide bomber, explosives in the car, with the report she already rammed the white house gate. They would probably engage her with gunfire, and if theres a child in the car as weve heard from Pete Williams and mike isikoff, its a very, very dangerous situation. Jim, your line is breaking up a little bit, but can you reflect for a moment on the kind of individual that were talking about here . Someone who is driving, attempting to overcome barricades and protection around the white house and has a baby in the vehicle with her . Yeah. Its not a very rational act for anyone to ram the gate of the white house in a vehicle for any reason. Its pretty irrational or, you know, fanatical. We just dont know her motive yet. That remains to be seen, and it could be anything across the board. Well have to see, but certainly irrational or fanatical and then to go up to the capitol and try to do the same thing. The iconic symbols of america and shes attacking them. Could be delusional. Could be any motive really. Jim cavanaugh, thanks so much. Were going to take a very quick break. Much more on this breaking news from the capitol when we come back. Stay with us. In metamucil actually gels. And that gelling helps to lower some cholesterol. Metamucil. 3 amazing benefits in 1 super fiber. One more time, just for themselves. Before the last grandchild. Before the first grandchild. Smile. Before katie, debbie, kevin and brad. There was a connection that started it all and made the future the wonderful thing it turned out to be. At bank of america, we know were not the center of your life, but well do our best to help you connect to what is. This is video that weve just received of the chase involving a woman in a black vehicle apparently with a child. She had attempted to attack the white house with the vehicle. Shes then pursued, as you can see, by Capitol Police, driving at some speed around the round abo about. Joining us now as we watch these pictures is the washington pos posts dana milbank. Where were you when this was going on . I have been in the capitol all this week and then decided to write from home today, so i managed to thank heavens for that. Miss the mayhem. Watching the scenes like everybody who works up there and lives in this town, you, of course, recognize the area as a very familiar one where we walk by and park our cars. Thats not the sort of things you expect to be seeing there. Indeed. One of the attractions of the capitol itself is that it isnt so heavily guarded. It is more open. The area around the capitol, you can walk in there very easily. Nobody inspects your bags or anything, and often the senators, members of congress, are walking back and Forth Holding press events outside on the lawn and walking to buildings. Ive been surprised, you know, as Jimmy Williams was saying earlier, particularly compared to the white house complex, how very open it is and actually how easy it would be for people to disrupt whats going on there. Okay. Dana, can you hold on for a second because were going to go to the floor of the house right now. The gentleman, does he know how likely it is that whether well obviously every member has a schedule theyre trying to deal with that and inform their staffs of that. I know its very difficult for the leader. Ive been there, how difficult it is to anticipate, but could you i have heard some comments that saturday is a probability, but perhaps sunday is not. Does the gentleman provide any clarification. We will announce in the morning what to expect as far as votes for the weekend. So i yield back. I yield back the balance of my time. The yes is on the passage of the joint resolution. Those in favor say aye. Aye. Those apose eopposed no. The ayes have it. The gentleman from indiana. I ask for a recorded vote. Okay. Luke res effoussert, you hav watching whats been going on on the floor of the house. There was some discussion about the possibility of working on saturday. Did i hear that correctly . What you saw there is often called a colloquy when cantor and hoyer go back and forth. I wasnt able to see it, only able to hear it. From what i heard it seems that eric cantor has said the weekend schedule would be determined on friday. Theres all sorts of rumors we could be in saturday or sunday with both sides trying to work on a government shutdown. Thats what you heard right there. Behind me since i last spoke to you, it sort of opened up. There are now folks who are allowed to walk from one side of the capitol to the other on this side. So as the day goes forward, we get closer and closer to being more of a normal capitol hill afternoon. Weve been watching these extraordinary pictures of secret Service Agents attempting to stop the driver in the black vehicle. She wasnt stopped. They didnt appear to fire on the vehicle initially. But pursued it by vehicles themselves. Yeah. And what you heard there earlier from kasie was this whole sort of security this perimeter, the security perimeter here on capitol hill where they literally have road blocks that come up from the asphalt. And the car was able to get so close and those were not up and operational in terms of how quickly it got here. Some of the images i have seen on twitter from various news feeds because this did go over the scanners, an important thing thing, it did go over the scanner so it alerted local news to get involved. To see guns drawn in front of the United States capitol from those officers on that suspect and then after that to have the Capitol Hill Police officer injured, medevacked from the mall, i cant repeat that enough, how extraordinary of a sight that was to see personally earlier today. Its something that really shows you how grave and how intense this situation was when it occurred. Thanks so much, luke. Were going to go back now to our White House Correspondent Kristin Welker who, i believe, has an update for us. Kristin . Reporter martin, the sense of normalcy beginning to set in here at the white house. I can tell you pennsylvania avenue has just opened back up, so you have tourists walking out front of the gate that is on pennsylvania avenue. Of course, the white house was never in full lockdown mode, but they had brought in extra security, had closed off parts of pennsylvania avenue. I can also tell you Senior Administration officials who had sort of been huddled behind closed doors have come out. Theyre back in their offices. They continue to monitor the situation, continue to be in contact with Law Enforcement officials, but certainly theres a larger sense of calm now that things are getting back to normal to some extent at the u. S. Capitol. To rehappcap what happened tesa white house. The suspect allegedly tried to crash into a barrier thats sort of outside of one of the security gates here at the white house. Thats at 15 and e and just to give you some perspective, thats really the farthest security entrance from the west wing, from the residence. Its near the treasury. Its all the way on the east side of the white house. Were here on the west side near the west wing. So no one really heard anything or saw anything in the initial moments. Of course, our reporters who are at the u. S. Capitol have been reporting that they heard those gunshots fired. It was quite a different situation here at the white house where the reporters, the staff became aware of the situation once it started to be reported out from the u. S. Capitol. And also to recap, martin, president obama was here when this all unfolded. He has been briefed on the situation, will likely continue to be briefed, but theres no indication we will hear from him this afternoon about what has unfolded here. Still, having said that, Senior Administration officials continue to be in contact with Law Enforcement officials as they monitor this unfolding situation. And the president earlier today, of course, had been traveling, hadnt he . He had been back, what, a matter of two hours i think when this incident occurred . Reporter right. And he was out traveling speaking at an area Construction Company talking about the impact of a prolonged shutdown on businesses, small businesses. Of course, washington has been focused on the shutdown, has been roiled by that. A lot of tensions here in the capitol as they try to sort through how to reopen the government and then, of course, this happens. No one was expecting it. It seemed surreal here to be in washington, quite frankly, when we learned that shots were fired at the u. S. Capitol. All of this just sort of adding to the tensions that have already been building up throughout the week. Martin . Kristin welker, thank you so much. Stay with us. Well have much more on this breaking news from the capitol when we come back. In the nation, sometimes bad things happen. Add brand new belongings from nationwide insurance and well replace stolen or destroyed items with brandnew versions. We put members first. Join the nation. Nationwide is on your side you know who you are. You can part a crowd, without saying a word. If you have yet to master the quiet sneeze. You stash tissues like a squirrel stashes nuts. Well muddlers, muddle no more. Try zyrtec®. It gives you powerful allergy relief. And zyrtec® is different than claritin® because zyrtec® starts working at hour one on the first day you take it. Claritin® doesnt start working until hour three. Zyrtec®. Love the air. Claritin® doesnt start working until hour three. Howd you d9 out of 10. Iz today . 9 out of ten . Thats great. Nothing says, im happy to see you too, like a milkbone biscuit. Say it with milkbone. Join the majority leader in expressing our gratitude to the Capitol Police. [ applause ] thats a standing ovation just now in the house. That was minority whip steny hoyer thanking and expressing his gratitude to the police there in the u. S. Capitol. Joining us now is senator Bernie Sanders of vermont. Good afternoon, sir. Good afternoon. Where were you when this incident unraveled. Actually oddly enough i was a few yards right from where im talking to you. I was walking down constitution avenue having left the capitol heading back to my office at the Dirksen Office building, and what i observed were a number of police cars racing down constitution avenue, their sirens blaring, and then as i stopped to look at that, i heard about five four or five rapid fire gunshots. Did you see who was firing . Did you see where these shots were coming from . They sounded like they were coming from kind of where they were coming from, a block or so away from here. Right. And what was your next action. There were a lot of Police Officers in the area who are urging us to get down on the ground. Senator wicker and i just kind of ducked behind one of the suvs right over there, and then we werers courted back into the capitol. When you got back into the capitol, did you receive the notice of a lockdown . Were you told that you and your staff should remain inside and so on . Absolutely. You know, what the police are trained to do appropriately is to take the worst case scenario. You dont know what is in the vehicle,a bom vehicle, is there a bomb, is it a decoy attack. They made sure everyone was join. Im sure you will join your colleague steny hoyer who expressed his gratitude to the police in their speedy action in dealing with this and you are also mindful of the officer who was injured and medevacked from the scene. Absolutely. Look, these guys you know, it sounds simplistic or rhetorical to say they put their lives on the line every day, but they do. As you remember a number of years ago some deranged guy with a gun came into the capitol and shot and killed two Police Officers. Everybody is mindful of the tragedy that took place on the navy yard. Theres a lot of stress and tension on capitol hill right now with the government shutdown. These guys day after day do a really good job. These individuals, although they havent been furloughed, we understand there will be some delay in them receiving their paychecks and yet they continue to serve. I mean, its not just them. You know, we have some 800,000 workers, you know, people who have kids, people trying to pay the mortgages and pay the college bills, theyre not working today and theyre not getting paid and we have over 1 million, including these Police Officers, Law Enforcement people, fbi agents, who in all probability if i have anything to say about it are surely going to get paid but they dont know that and they dont know if the check will come in a two weeks or a month or whatever so theyre working under a lot of stress. Frankly, i think thats totally absurd and i hope this shutdown ends today as it can if the speaker of the house allows a vote. Its an awful situation. It is, indeed. Senator Bernie Sanders, thank you for joining us. Thank you so much. Do stay with us. Well have much more on this breaking news from the capitol in just a moment. Because an empty pan is a blank canvas. [ woman 2 ] to share a moment. [ man 1 ] to remember my grandmother. [ woman 3 ] to show my love. 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With all the good years ahead, look for the experience and commitment to go the distance with you. Call now to request your free decision guide. Oh thats footage earlier today of the incident at the u. S. Capitol where this vehicle attempted to drive across into the barricades at the white house, was then confronted by secret Service Agents and was then the vehicle accelerated away. You heard the shots yourself. And then was pursued by the police. We understand the driver was subsequently shot, a woman. There was a child in the vehicle. Jimmy williams is with us, an msnbc analyst. Jimmy, your reaction to seeing this . Well, the beginning of that footage right there, had those barriers not been there, that woman would have been able to drive literally up the graduated steps straight up to the capitol steps. Those were put in after 9 11, they did their job. Those are massive steel pilings put into the ground, and so what we did after 9 11 to secure the capitol complex worked today. Our precautions actually worked and thats a great thing. What did not work i think is when you see her go around that monument and then she goes back up and then she takes a right up constitution avenue, there are massive metal plates that are supposed to come up, and theres no way she got all the way up past the Capitol Building up to the Supreme Court without going over two or three of those metal barriers. So those didnt come up. I assume that by the time she got up to the Supreme Court, that theres a set of barriers there that those did come up and thats why she was stopped. It looks like after 9 11 everything we did to make the capitol complex secure from a truck bomb or something along those lines, Something Like this, it succeeded today. It worked. It certainly did. And yet also it wasnt so onerous, the security, that it made the peoples house, as it were, repel the people because people can still get close and approach that area, cant they . Yes, absolutely. And, again, after 9 11 the leaders of the house and senate made it pointedly clear, the peoples hous the Capitol Building, you have to go through security but its always going to be there for them. They pay for it and theyre allowed to go in and out as long as theyre not convicted felons, et cetera, et cetera. Final thoughts on this today, jimmy, before we leave . I think this is a very tragic moment, but our Law Enforcement and our first responders, they stepped up to the plate. By the way, lets be remarkably clear, those Capitol Hill Policemen are not being paid as we speak. Theres something to be said Public Service for your country