Transcripts For MSNBC News Nation 20131003

Back into head start. What you get are our National Parks and monuments open again. What you get is the economy not stalling but continuing to grow. What you get are workers continuing to be hired. Thats what you get. Thats what you should be asking for. Take a vote and end this shutdown right now. The president s remarks came after a closed door meeting last night with congressional leaders yielding no results. That meeting lasted for over an hour and was described by republicans as, quote, polite but unproductive. Today both sides sticking to their positions with republicans refusing to fund the government unless obama care takes a hit. The white house insisting that the house pass a clean bill that funds the government. We start our Coverage Today with nbcs kelly odonnell, whos on capitol hill. Kelly, i know there was at least a little bit of a bipartisan lunch with senator rand paul. Then you have two members of congress, one democrat, one a republican, coming out with some kind of idea they say is a bipartisan effort to end this but picking up little steam. One of the things thats been so difficult about this is you have these pockets of attempts at compromise, but it has not yet carried the day. In part, Speaker Boehner continues to say he will not allow a vote on the spending bill that does not include some changes to the Health Care Law. And that has been the hard line that has really kept us in this position. At the same time, the house is continuing to vote on things. Moments ago passing with some democratic votes a measure to pay the National Guard and reserve. You know, we already saw military pay for those active duty signed into law. This piecebypiece approach, theyre continuing on the house side with a little bit of democratic support. Senators from the Republican Party tried that on the senate floor as well. That was not permitted to go forward. Senator harry reid objecting. So there are some steps that are happening. There is certainly bubbling up frustration within both parties for sure, but i am talking to republicans who are frustrated with where things stand and have described a lack of an end game. And what do they do . Now all i seem to get from people is they think this merging of the two issues, the Government Shutdown were in right now with how do they handle the borrowing authority, the debt ceiling, which is coming up in a couple of week. So is there a point between today and october 17th, that big deadline, where there can be a coming together . It does not appear that theres any movement today. But the frustration is perhaps more raw today than weve seen in the early phase of the shutdown. Absolutely. Were on day three, and people dont know the end game. That obviously would create anxiety and frustration. You know, kelly, some of this frustration also directed at this congressman, the Tea Party Congressman who said in his comments that basically he feels the party is not being respected but they need to get something out of it but thcouldnt say wh. Heres what he said. Yesterday, i carelessly misrepresented the ongoing budget debate and Speaker Boehners work on behalf of the American People. Despite my remarks, its clear the American People want both parties to come to the table to reopen the government, tackle this nations debt crisis, and stop obama cares pain. That is his statement. It still doesnt address basically what he said, which he doesnt know what the party wants, but they need something. And his inartful comments yesterday that gave the president so much ammunition, its one of those moments in a standoff like this where something careless, using his own word, said by a member of congress can fuel a new way of looking at a standoff. It really gave the president a lot of ammunition to say its not about getting something when theres so many people out in the country who are beginning to feel the real world impact of what a shutdown actually means. At the same time, it is classic washington to say in a negotiation or a standoff both sides want to be able to claim some victory, real or not. They have to be able to sort of say they didnt just flatout cave. Caving is fairly unusual. So is there a way to give republicans something . Can they say they have brought the attention to the forefront . Maybe. But we just dont see what the elements are to bring about a compromise, which is why were here. So often there are things sort of in the universe of negotiables that can bring people together. This time its just not evident what that would be. All right, kelly. Thank you so much. Meanwhile, the stock market starting now to react to this shutdown. Take a look at the screen. The dow is now down over 100 points. Cnbc is reporting with no compromise on the horizon, more and more investors are getting nervous. The debate will get folded into increasing the debt ceiling. You heard kelly allude to that. In fact, in an interview with john harwood yesterday, the president said wall street needs to be worried. Wall streets been pretty calm about this. Is that the right way for them to look at it . I think this time is different. I think they should be concerned. When you have a situation in which a faction is willing potentially to default on u. S. Government obligations, then we are in trouble. And we go now to christikris welker at the white house. This was rolled into that meeting last night the president had with some of the leadership. Right, well, the administration warning that if the nation were to default on its loans, then it could send the country back into another recession. President obama making comments there to john harwood that the markets should be worried. Some people took those comments to suggest that maybe he was almost trying to goad the markets, to help make his point about the real world consequences of a prolonged shutdown and a default. I can tell you, White House Press secretary jay carney said that wasnt the president s intention. He was simply speaking from the past and of course what we saw during that debt ceiling fight of 2011. But tamron, i can tell you at this hour, the white house continues to dig in its heels on this issue. The president , jay carney reiterating that hes not willing to compromise on anything until there is a funding bill that is passed through congress. During his comments earlier today at that construction company, president obama called on congress to end the quote unquote farce. He urged them to hold a vote, noting that if there were a vote in the house today, that clean cr. In other words, that funding bill with no strings attached, would likely pass. So that is sort of where the white house is at this moment. I can also tell you that from the perspective of this administration, it seems increasingly likely that we might see a funding bill linked to a bill that increased the debt limit. But of course, theres a lot of uncertainty about how this actually gets resolved. In terms of the strategy here, i think youll continue to see the president put pressure on Congressional Republicans to act by speaking out publicly, which is what we saw him do today at that construction company. And it is interesting because this congressman gave the president , i think, the line of the day that really got the people on their feet basically saying, do your job. Thats what you get. You are basically hired by your constituents to do a job. If any of us did not do the job, we would be fired. With that said, you do have some republicans who are pushing back that the notion of a clean cr would pass in the house. They are implying, at least, that there are some democrats who might not follow suit. What can you tell me about that, kristen . Well, i think that there are actually an increasing number of republicans based on my conversations with my contacts on the hill and our reporters on the hill of republicans who seem to be willing to get behind a clean cr. Theres really a Division Within the Republican Party. Thats really being spelled out in the comments that you just quoted from, tamron. You have some republicans saying, we want to get something out of these negotiations. Other republicans saying, look, this has gone too far, this is bad for the republican brand. I think the white house, when they look at the scope of things, theyre looking at to some extent those polls which show majority of americans can not get behind this republican strategy. They might not love the president S Health Care law, but more of them say they disagree with shutting down the government over defunding the president S Health Care law. But i think that the white house reaching out to folks on the hill behind the scenes at least at lower levels, trying to determine how many democrats, how many republicans are actually with them on that clean cr. Perfect. Thank you very much, kristen. And away from politics or the game of politics on capitol hill, as you well know, thousands of people are experiencing frustration and fear not knowing when they will get their next paycheck. In fact, take a look. This was the scene in chicago earlier this week. Protesters from various federal agencies voicing their anger at furloughs that will leave them without pay and a struggle to make ends meet. Our next guest is in that situation. Diane tally is a single mother from arizona who was sent home from her job at Luke Air Force base on tuesday. Shes now wondering how shes going to pay her bills and keep her daughter in school. She join us from phoenix. Thank you for your time. Thank you for having me. You have been on your job, as i understand it, a decade, nearly ten years. Like the people in that video and like i pointed out, you dont know what youll do without your paycheck, which i think is anybodys situation. Yes, maam. When you found out purpose going to be sent home, what frustration did you feel . You know, at first i thought maybe they was going to do like they did for us during the summer. They would tell us you work four days, youre off one day. Then it got down to the very wire that, no, youre not working at all. Youre going to go home. It was like, this is not good. This is scary here. And its been a very hard thing on myself, on other people thats in my shoes. Its very angry. You feel very angry. Let me play a little bit of what a congressman said to our own chuck todd yesterday about the effect of the furlough. Lets play it. Ill just say most americans realize the government is shut down. It has no impact on their daily life today. They got their mail. Theyre going to get their Social Security check. How does that make you feel . He said most americans dont realize the government is shutdown. That was yesterday. Most americans thought the military would be working, especially the civilians like myself. I didnt even know our commissary out at the base was shut down. I found out yesterday when i went out to Luke Air Force base that the commissary where we get food at is shut down. It was shut down as of 8 00 tuesday night. People cant get food unless they go off base. A lot of the people do not have cars or theyre a onecar family. What do they do in that situation . This is just its terrible. And your paycheck, your next one is due next week. You know, even just the language, i think, is kind of bothersome, where people in your situation, in your positions are called nonessential personnel, as if you have not needed, but you are. Most importantly, you need your check. You show up to work hard for you and your child, and you need your pay. Yes, maam. We work all day monday. We went in on tuesday. We only was paid for two hours on tuesday. Thats all well get paid for when it comes next friday when we get our paycheck. When people say should there be finger pointing or is someone to blame, i think its sometimes a tough questions, but ill ask it. Who do you blame for this . You know, at this point i am just so angry at both parties, the democrats, the republicans, i dont even know who to blame. Its just to the point where you just you throw up your hands. You say, who do you blame . You dont know to get mad with president obama you know, i really feel sorry for the man. He has a lot on his shoulders. I would love to meet him and first Lady Michelle one day and say, i wouldnt be in your shoes for your socks because this is just this is just a mess. I dont know who to blame. Im just mad at both sides. They have taken the American Peoples lives in their hands and just ran with it. It seem like they dont even care. They got their paychecks. They went home fine. Theyre going to get their paychecks next week, the week after next with no problem. And its just its sickening to my stomach. Ms. Tally, thank you so much for your time. Wishing you the best and your daughter. We will see what happens, as you are one of 800,000 workers in this position. Thank you, maam. Thank you. Developing news now, fema recalling furloughed employees to prepare for the Tropical Storm right now that has parts of the gulf coast under a hurricane watch. More on when its expected to make landfall. Plus, the doctor serving time for killing Michael Jackson reacts to a jurys decision regarding aeg owing the family nothing. I cried because, for once, the world was allowed to hear some of the facts that pertained to this matter. And more members of congress being put on the spot about their pay after the Government Shutdown. Well talk with congresswoman gabbert, one of several lawmakers refusing to take a paycheck. She says she doesnt want the pay. Will others follow her lead . Join our conversation on twitter. You can find us tamronhall and newsnation. Humans. Even when we cross our ts and dot our is, we still run into problems. Thats why Liberty Mutual insurance offers accident forgiveness with our auto policies. If you qualify, your rates wont go up due to your first accident. Because making mistakes is only human, and so are we. We also offer new car replacement, so if you total your new car, well give you the money for a new one. Call Liberty Mutual insurance at. And ask us all about our auto features, like guaranteed repairs, where if you get into an accident and use one of our certified repair shops, the repairs are guaranteed for life. So call. To talk with an Insurance Expert about everything that comes standard with our base auto policy. And if you switch, you could save up to 423. Liberty Mutual Insurance responsibility. Whats your policy . Well, in the past hour, the white house announced fema is recalling furloughed employees to prepare for Tropical Storm karen. Right now parts of the gulf coast from louisiana to florida are under a hurricane watch. The storm is expected to become a category 1 hurricane. Weather channel meteorologist julie martin joins me live with an update. Julie . Well, tamron, this latest update really not a lot in terms of changes. Were still looking at a 65mileperhour storm generally moving to the northnorthwest around 12. Very slowmoving storm. About 430 miles or so just south of the mississippi river. As you mentioned, though, those hurricane watches and warnings are up. In fact, were looking at a projected path here from the National Hurricane Center Making for a saturday landfall somewhere in this general vicinity between pensacola and, say, panama city. At this time, we do think karen will weaken some, but were still looking at possibly quite a strong Tropical Storm making landfall in this area. Here are those Tropical Storm watches. That includes the new Orleans Metro area down through morgan city. The hurricane watches, that includes cities like gulfport, mobile bay, gulfshores, and pensacola. Were looking at minimum 74mileanhour winds there with those hurricane watches and the Tropical Storm watches. One of the big problems will be rainfall with this. Anywhere along the florida northern gulf coast here, were looking at upwards of 8 inches of rainfall. Keep in mind this is going to slow down some as it does move in this general direction. So certainly pockets in and around florida, over toward new orleans could be getting very heavy rainfall and some storm surge as well. Although, this storm has a ways to go. Really, rain and coastal flooding the main concerns here, tamron. All right, julie. Thank you very much for that update. Again, the white house confirming fema will bring back some workers who were furloughed to prepare for this storm. Right now as well were still waiting to learn the identities of victims of a Devastating Church bus crash in tennessee. The dramatic accident happening yesterday. Eight People Killed and 14 others injured. The bus was carrying a group of seniors from a tightknit North Carolina church group home from a trip to tennessee. Now, state officials are investigating. The ntsb says its likely they would have also responded, but their investigators are furloughed due to the Government Shutdown. Nbcs janet sham lee yan has more from knoxville, tennessee, where many of the injured are being treated. Reporter hi, tamron. Yeah, this was a horrific accident sparked, authorities believe, by a tire that blew out. In addition to the eight dead from three separate vehicles, about a dozen are still hospitalized here in knoxville. What should have been a homecoming became anning a niedsing wait at the front Street Baptist Church in statesville, North Carolina. Family and friends waiting for news, whether their loved ones survived the deadly crash near knoxville. We do appreciate all the prayers that has been given. This is a time of difficulty. Reporter the church bus was heading east on interstate 40 when the left front tire blew. Police say the bus veered across a highway median directly into westbound traffic, hitting an suv, then slamming into a tractor trailer, which burst into flames. The busy interstate came to a grinding halt and was soon closed in both directions. Well look at the braking system and make sure that the bus was functioning properly. Well also look to see if theres any possible, any possible other mechanical failures that could have led to this incident. Reporter at least eight people are dead, including six seniors on the bus. Returning from a gathering in tennessee. 14 others were rushed to the university of tennessee medical center. This is a very active investigation. It is going to be ongoing for several days. Our thoughts and prayers do go out to their families and to those who are injured. Reporter and of note, the Government Shutdown appears to be having an impact here. The ntsb telling nbc news it would likely have come to this accident to help investigate, but all of its investigators are furloughed. Tamron, back to you. All right, janet. Thank you. For the first time, were hearing from the couple at the center of that frightening attack by a group of motorcyclists. Its part of our stories around the news nation today. 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And thats why when diet and exercise alone arent enough to lower cholesterol i prescribe crestor. [ female announcer ] crestor is not right for everyone. Like people with Liver Disease or women who are nursing, pregnant or may become pregnant. Tell your doctor about other medicines youre taking. Call your doctor right away if you have muscle pain or weakness, feel unusually tired, have loss of appetite, upper belly pain, dark urine or yellowing of skin or eyes. These could be signs of rare but serious side effects. Is your cholesterol at goal . Ask your doctor about crestor. [ female announcer ] if you cant afford your medication, astrazeneca may be able to help. We are following some breaking news on capitol hill. There are reports of shots fired near the capitol. Some offices are said to be on lockdown right now. Let me bring in kelly odonnell, whos on the hill for us. Kelly, what can you tell us . Again, this is some of the video coming in right now. These are live pictures. Kelly, are you there . I am, tamron. This is limited information. We have been given a shelter in place order here on capitol hill. Were told we must stay in our offices under lockdown. Theres a report of shots fired on the west front of the capitol. I cannot independently confirm whether that is a report that is true or if sounds were heard. Were being told the u. S. Capitol police are clearing the area. That is what we know at this point. I can tell you that the senate floor has been operating. Offices have been operating. Were hearing warnings signs here to tell us to all shelter for place. We do have colleagues who are on the outside who are trying to assess whats happening, but this is a highly unusual, very concerning circumstance of a report of shots fired outside the u. S. Capitol at a time when lawmakers are here. We have seen protests but not large protests since the days of this shutdown. All of it has been peaceful. U. S. Capitol police who are not being paid but are on duty have been in position as normal and have often taken what i would consider to be more protective steps at times when there have been protesters who have been very peaceful in recent days. But right now we hear reports of shots fired at the u. S. Capitol. Were trying to get more information. As we get that, tamron, well bring it to you immediately. This is a dire, dire moment of at least concern of what could be happening here. So well get you more information as soon as we have it. Okay, kelly. Let me bring in luke russert. Luke, are you there . Yeah, hey, tamron. What did you hear . What do you know there . So tamron, my office faces the west front of the capitol. About five minutes ago, seven minutes ago, i heard three or four distinct boom, boom, booms. I immediately jumped up, looked out the window. I saw upwards of 40 or 50 tourists immediately hit the ground, all laying down. Then the Capitol Police moved to secure the perimeter of the west front. This is the side of the inauguration going all the way towards the reflecting pool. Tourists were then told to run towards the street, which would be independence avenue. So if youre facing the washington monument, they were told to run towards the left. The police were able to secure this area in front of the capitol. We saw police cars mobilizing. I saw police cars moving. Looked like there was some sort of a car chase. Obviously, i dont know for sure. But they have this side of the capitol secure. We have been given a lockdown order on the house of representatives side. We are not allowed outside the building. The floor proceedings in the u. S. House have been called i believe that is a direct result of whats happening now. I cannot confirm that. But those three whatever those booms i heard, they were loud. They immediately caused everyone outside to hit the ground. As we see a lot of these protests, we hear a lot of loud sounds on capitol hill, those were very startling. They got my heart running quite quickly. To see the way in which the police started running, they had these big, big machine guns and sort of chaotic moments in front of the capitol for a few minutes. It was it is not your every day occurrence. What can you see . Can you tell me what youre able to see now . Looking out at the west front of the capitol, an area where you would look towards, where the inauguration happened, is no longer occupied. Thats been secured. Everyone has been pushed and the streets have been closed in front of the capitol. What i see now is basically police guarding the perimeter of the capitol, not allowing anyone in or out. Tourists were kind of put in place towards the street, which would be independence avenue on the house side. You see some traffic moving further up towards the washington monument. I believe that would be 4th street, now almost completely secured. Luke, can i get you to stand by . Congresswoman gabbert is on the phone. Congresswoman, what have you been told . I think weve lost our connection. Well work to get that. Luke, are you are you there, congresswoman . I am here. Sorry about that. Thats all right. Can you tell me what youve been told so far . Here in my office in the Cannon Building, i was about to walk out the door. The alarm started sounding and we were told by Capitol Police to shelter in place. Right now were just trying to track down and make sure all of our staff is okay and that they have taken cover. We dont know many more details now. Were listening as things unfold. The main thing were being told is to shelter in place and for anyone whos near the capitol outside to take cover. Have you heard from any of your staffers who were not in the office at the time but may have, like our own luke russert, heard gunfire or seen some of the activity . We did one person was near the raburn building. They heard the shots were fired and saw the Capitol Police responding with their own weapons pulled. Beyond that, we havent heard any other details. Im just getting news in from our own Pete Williams that the fbi is on the scene. We see these live pictures coming in to us right now of the activity there. We know that the Capitol Police, for example, have been on duty, despite the fact they are impacted by the shutdown, meaning theyre not getting their paychecks. The security, is it fair to describe it as as usual despite whats going on with the shutdown . There have been some entrances that were closed down since the Government Shutdown. But the Capitol Police have been manning their posts, and their Readiness Level is, from what i can tell through our last few days here, is at the same level it always has been. Congresswoman gabbert, i know you and your staffers are inside. Were going to get more information. Thank you for getting on with us. Kelly, i understand you have an update. An update from u. S. Capitol police. Report of injured u. S. Capitol Police Officers but no numbers confirmed. These are early reports, of course. We know often that can be information that does not stand the test of time. The u. S. Capitol Police Spokesman is telling me there are reports of injured u. S. Capitol Police Officers. Working to find out more for you. Okay. So again, to reiterate, at least one Capitol Police officer injured, kelly. That is the report. I dont know if that means injury as in gunshot wound or injury as in some related melee type moment. Again, thats coming from a spokesperson from the u. S. Capitol police. No confirmed numbers. Again, early reports but were tracking this down. Okay. Thank you very much. Again, to catch our audience up, those of you just tuning in here, the capitol has been placed on lockdown after shots were fired, apparent shots fired on the west front. The house floor has gone into recess while its locked down. Our own luke russert essentially looking out of his Office Window heard what he described as at least three booms and at least 40 to 50 people he described as tourists hit the ground and at some point many of these people started running. The fbi, according to Pete Williams, sending agents to respond to reports of shots fired on the capitol. We just spoke with congresswoman gabbert, who was originally a guest to talk about the Government Shutdown. Her office is one of those on lockdown. At least one of her staffers also saw some of the activity. I have someone on the line. Jen hughes is standing by. Hes one of our nbc employees here. Are you there . Yes, i am. Tell me what you saw and heard. Well, i was sitting about a block and a half away, and i heard about what sounded like probably 10 or 15 gunshots in rapid succession. Then i looked over and saw a few police cars over there, and then i saw a black vehicle driving away, and they were chasing them going north over towards constitution avenue. Now, as i understand it, Kristen Welker is reporting that some people, some tourists have been pushed into Lafayette Park as the police there, all of the agents on the scene now are trying to get control of this. Back to what you heard and the gunfire. What was the how far away would you say you were from what you were hearing, if you could even estimate . I was a block and a half away. And did you see were there protester nearby . Give me a clearer picture of what you were seeing as far as the number of people in and around where you believe those shots were coming from, the gunshot sounds. I couldnt see any crowds. I had noticed a couple police cars with their lights on over in that area. I was a little bit too far away to see any crowds or anything. But i did notice a couple police cars. Then as soon as two more police cars drove up, thats when i heard the shots. All right. Thank you very much. I think luke is Still Standing by with us. Luke, are you there . Yeah, tamron. Quite an unbelievable sight i just witnessed. A helicopter has landed in front on the west front of the capitol in front of the reflecting pool, in front of the capitol. Wow. That is not something you see every day here on capitol hill. Its unclear what exactly that helicopter is doing. I do not know if its evacuating somebody or if its supposed to be a defensive measure, but a helicopter sort of circled the west front and then landed directly on the mall in front of the reflecting pool of the west front of the capitol. So what i see now is over to my right towards independence avenue, theres a lot of Emergency Personnel, fire engines, a few fire engines, even saw one of those s. W. A. T. Team trucks. A lot of police activity. It seems the perimeter has been all the way secured up until the, i think, 4th street or 6th street up on top of the mall. Again, tamron, those gunshots or booms or whatever they end up being have caused a helicopter to land on the west front of the United States capitol today. Thats a wild thing to see. Absolutely. Luke, again, for those who are just tuning in, this is breaking news were following after what is believed to be shots fired near the capitol. Kelly odonnell telling us at least one officer, maybe more, injured. We do not know what those injuries are. Luke, i think you have an incredible perspective here. You were in your office looking out the window. Tell those listen what you heard and saw moments after those several booms there. Sure. I was in my office. It overlooks the west front of the capitol on the mall. I heard those loud booms and immediately saw dozens and dozens of tourists, folks walking in front of the capitol hit the ground, totally lying on their stomachs. I then saw the Capitol Police mobilize. They started to run and secure the perimeter. There was some semblance of a car chase. I know you had a gentleman on here. He said he saw a black car driving away. From where i was, i saw Police Cruisers actively pursuing something towards constitution avenue, which is on the senate side of the capitol. But then after sort of the first boom, then the tourists were told to move by police. The police told them to move towards independence, which is on the house side. There is quite an extraordinary scene of tourists literally sprinting at the direction of the police over to independence avenue. We are still in lockdown mode here at the capitol, meaning we cannot go outside. The house of representatives, the floor, is now subject to call. Its in recess because of this incident. I think i speak for many of my colleagues here, its quite a nerve racking thing. I will throw back in what i said earlier. This has caused a helicopter to land on the National Mall in front of the west front of the capitol. Okay. That is an extraordinary occurrence. Right. Hold on. Im getting information right now. Okay. Go ahead, luke. It bears noting that it was september 16th that the Navy Yard Shooting took place. Less than a month now, youve got reports of shots fired near the capitol. We spoke with congresswoman gabbert, who indicated while some entrances have been closed down as a result of the shutdown, the security in and around the capitol was, if i can say business as usual. Capitol police still on duty. We know at least according to Pete Williams, the fbi, logically, involved in this, on the scene there. The information is sparse. What we do know is there are reports, a number of reports, including what our own luke russert heard of sounds that appear to be gunshots fired near the capitol. We also know at this hour that Capitol Police, maybe one, if not a few others, injured. We do not know if thats an injury as a result of them rushing to the scene or if this is another type of injury. You see some of the live pictures coming in. Perimeter has been set up outside of the white house. The house floor has gone into recess while this lockdown is taking place after these shots were reportedly fired outside the west front of the capitol. Again, we do not know, at least at this minute, if this is a confirmation of gunfire. Theyre working to confirm this, meaning our nbc team, our msnbc working to get as much information as we can. You see the level of activity happening there. Our own luke russert pointing out that a helicopter landed you know what, weve just got this video in. This is some of the evacuation, if you will, happening here. Im not exactly sure where this was. There were some reports tourists were being moved to a number of parks in and around. These are tourists, im told, that are being moved away from some of the areas. This is the live picture weve had positioned now for the past 10, 15 minutes of the activity happening in and around the capitol as a result of shots being fired. We have with us clint vanzant, whos on the phone. I want to be careful here because weve not been able to confirm if these were actual gunshots. Certainly by what luke heard and from everything coming in right now, it appears that these may have been shots fired near and around the capitol. Well, thats what we hear. Of course, out of our usual abundance of caution, especially in light of the Navy Yard Shooting last month, we know that let me put you on hold for a second. Capitol police have confirmed shots were, in fact, fired. So we have that confirmation. Eyewitnesses and others have pointed that out, but we needed that confirmation. Go ahead. There are also initial reports coming in suggesting that a Capitol Police officer, one or more, may be injured. Again, these are very preliminary reports. Should that be the case, it would perhaps suggest there was some type of confrontation between officers and a shooter. Again, thats speculation at this point. I think were too early into it. I know theres a lockdown at capitol hill. Theyve told the people working there to shelter in place, which you know means to go into your office, lock the door, turn off the lights, and wait until you get some type of notification that you should, in fact, leave the office. Right. As i mentioned, for those who just tuned in, we spoke with congresswoman gabbert live on the phone from her office. Shes one of the members of congress on lockdown with her staff. She was efforting to contact some of her staffers who were not inside, trying to get them inside as well as this lockdown is taking place. The Capitol Police congresswoman jared polis is on the line. Clint, hang on. Congressman r you there . We are. We are in our offices in longworth with our staff accounted for. Weve locked the doors. Weve closed the window shades. Were waiting for further instructions. Theres an emergency intercom system going off that is telling us to shelter in place and await further instructions. What other than that have you heard so far regarding the situation on the ground . We dont know. We only know whats come through the emergency broadcast that also went out on text and email that gunshots have been reported at the capitol. The instructions we got from Capitol Police are to close, lock, and stay away from external doors it and windows. We have locked our office doors. Were here waiting for further information. How many people are there with you, sir . We have about 15 people. Is that your entire staff . Staff and whoever happened to be visiting and meeting with us at the time that this came down. We have locked the doors. We dont know anything more than you do. Were more or less cut off here. Were just watching tv and trying to figure out what happened as well. But we have locked our doors and we have pulled our curtains over our windows. Have you been able to talk with anyone on the phone outside of your office to obtain any information . We just got at this very moment at update from u. S. Capitol police. The direction is to shelter in place until further notice. Theyre continuing to investigate the activity. Just another notice that we, as of this very moment, we are instructed to remain sheltering in place. That could mean theres perhaps i dont know if theres a suspect that has not been apprehended. We have been instructed to continue to keep our doors locked and remain here with our staff. All right. Thank you very much, congress n congressman. Let me play a little bit of what several members of congress had to say a short time ago regarding the shots fired near the capitol. Lets listen in, please. How close did they sound . We were just in the grass out here walking towards sounded like it was right outside of did you see where they were coming from, a car or anything . No. They made us all come back. All i saw were Police Officers and Police Vehicles. I didnt see any other im sorry, you were all walking from the capitol. We saw people drop down to it the ground, not shot. Just dropped down. There were already police cars going by us before we heard the bops. There might have been pops before. I dont know that they were shots. They just sounded like pops to me. The cops said get behind this car. We did that. Then they said come back. They told us to run back and come in this building. Okay. You know, the cops are all rushing in doing their job. Were all running away. Thats how this works. The police work. Pretty gutsy work. We were going to go underneath. We decided lets walk outside. We heard what seemed to be about four shots. Okay. You were also with the senators. Have you ever been in the capitol when it was on lockdown . I dont believe ive seen that. So it was four or five shots. Do you remember how close they were bang, bang, bang, bang. Okay. Very quickly. So semiautomatic probably . Im not a great gun expert. Sounded to me like that, yes. Then you had to run inside . Police suggest we come back to the capitol. Thank you. What did you hear, 2nd and constitution . Is there a gunman there . There were tourists going up constitution. Within it seemed like seconds you could hear pop. I dont know if it was a gun. It sounded like a firearm. Three, four, five pops. We said, well, why dont we start walking towards the capitol. As we did that, thats when they said get down behind the car as a barrier. They were saying that to there were some folks, probably tourists, that are on the grounds next to some of the trees. They said for them to get down. I have no idea what happened. Motorcycles were going earlier. They were going bob said, thats some motn motorcade or something. It was a little different. I thought, why would there be seemed like more police cars and fewer vans. Then we heard the pops. We saw people get down. They didnt look like they were hit. They just looked like they dropped down around the time of the pops. You assumed the pops were gunfire, but you dont know. The Police Officers we were just saying they always run into the danger and we all move away. Then eventually i guess they thought being behind those cars was more dangerous. So who knows what it was. We were behind the car probably two minutes. Which building is your office in . Im in russell. Im in hart. We were just walking up that walkway. We were walking out of the capitol on whatever that driveway is that heads towards the russell building. Along where all the cars are parked. Okay. Thats when we saw the Police Vehicles going in that direction. You guys are walking from dirkson over were walking from here back to our office. We were just hearing from senator bob casey, a number of other members of Congress Regarding what they heard, which is very similar, eerily similar to what our own luke russert reported. We break into this with breaking news of shots fired near the capitol. Theres a report that several Capitol Police officers are injured. We do not know the extent of those injuries or how they happened. We know the white house, according to Kristen Welker, is not on lockdown. Repeat, is not on lockdown. Members of the house were in the chambers voting or discussing many budget issues, budget bills when this took place. They are, as i understand, still inside the chamber. They were debating the mini funding bill during the shooting and are still in the chamber after this shelter in place issue was called. Weve talked two at least two members of congress who were with their staffers inside their office as this shelter in place measure is still there. Again, were working to get as much Accurate Information for you as possible here. But the information lets look at whats happening here on this screen. We see emergency workers, and im not sure if theres someone there appears to be someone on the gurney there. We dont know, again, the injuries here. They are just at least dealing with a situation here. We heard from luke that at least from his Vantage Point where he was looking, about 40 to 50 people hit the ground after hearing these gunshots. Many of those people started to run, as you can imagine. You would have some injuries possibly from some people trying to run, duck for cover. It was just september 16th that the Navy Yard Shooting took place. That deadly shooting. If youre there visiting, if youre there working and you hear anything that sounds like gunfire, logically people would either run or hit the ground. Thats what luke said he saw there. Is luke Still Standing by for us, guys . We dont have luke russert. I want our audience to hear more of what he was able to hear and see. This is not secondhand information. Luke saw this. There you are, luke. What are you able to see right now . As of right now, tamron, the perimeter around the capitol, the west front, it looks to be completely secured. You guys, i think, saw that helicopter just take off. Were still being told to shelter in place, being that no one can leave any of the House Office Buildings or the literal capitol. The Emergency Personnel that responded that seem to have sort of congregated around constitution avenue closer over toward the senate side heading over to union station. I can also see a bunch of Office Workers who are in buildings over there looking over on to the street. Hold on one second. Were now being told luke, hang on. Pete williams has a special report. Were going to dip into this. Lets listen into pete. For all intensive purposes over, but were waiting to get confirmed they have this car, that they have the driver. We dont know that for a fact yet. Thats the last bit of this were trying to get. In any event, it was a long running situation that started at the white house, were told. Again, this is Pete Williams. Hes right now reporting for nbc news special report. But this incident, according to pete, started with or at the white house. A breach or an attempted breach at the white house. Luke, are you still there . Yes. Okay. So that is the information pete is reporting right now on the nbc special report. This, at least from the information weve received at this point, started with an incident at the white house. Yes, thats what hes reporting. It fits into this narrative of a car chase that several witnesses have said happened here around capitol hill. It fits into what i saw, which was police cars scrambling and chasing a vehicle moving towards constitution avenue. The prerimeter is secure. We were just told if we wanted to leave the capitol, we were permitted to, which means the situation, for all intensive purposes, is most likely over, in terms of danger to the public. Tamron, ill just sort of recalibrate what i saw. Around 2 20 p. M. , i heard three, four loud booms, which were gunshots. Dozens and dozens of tourists immediately hit the ground on their stomachs. After a few minutes after the Capitol Police mobilized from the west front of the capitol, which is where the inauguration happened, the tourists were told to run. It was quite a sight to see, these tourists running, sprinting literally, young, old, men, women, children, all towards independence avenue. Then we saw a helicopter land on the actual mall. So picture the capitol during the inauguration. You go across that reflecting pool, thats where the helicopter landed. Ive been in d. C. Almost my entire life. Ive never seen a helicopter land on the mall. As of right now, we see sort of police dogs out, the perimeter seems secure. Folks from Office Buildings that look on to mall are sort of all outside on their balconies to look outside to see whats going on. I think the tension has sort of dissipated because were told were allowed to go outside. Its not a situation right now. I think its turning into the investigation phase to figure out what happened. I will also point out, tamron, this incident did cause the United States congress to grind to a halt as the house floor is in recess. A lot of members were actually caught in the chamber. They were not allowed to leave the chamber to go back to their offices. So the proceedings of government stopped. Are you able to see whats on our air right now . Yes, i do. I see theyre pushing a gurney. Looks like the gentleman has on a Capitol Police uniform. Yes, that would be a Capitol Police uniform. So the helicopter was a medevac. That is an unbelievable thing to see. I dont think thats ever happened before in the history of washington. That just shows you the degree of the seriousness. Okay. I got to interrupt you, luke. Ive got Pete Williams. Hes standing by. Pete, what can you tell us regarding what youve been able to get as far as information here . What were told is this incident actually started outside the white house where the driver of this black car tried to breach security there, then was pursued by the secret service on up to capitol hill. So the white house is about roughly where the shooting happened is about 12 or so blocks, a dozen blocks from the white house. The black car is spursued up to capitol hill where on the other side of the capitol from the white house, the shots were exchanged at the corner of 2nd and constitution. The picture youre looking at now on the left side, you cant see it, would be the Supreme Court building. On the right side would be one of the senate Office Buildings, the hart Senate Office building. So this incident started at the white house and then shots were exchanged at the up on the capitol hill on the other side of the capitol from the white house. We dont know how the shots who fired first, how that happened. That will be a long time, i suspect, before we have a good sense of that. In any event, what we understand is the crisis is over in the sense that theres no longer an active shooter. This isnt someone on the loose whos still firing shots. It happened and its in essence over in terms of the danger. Obviously, now the response is to take care of the apparently injured Capitol Policeman here and try to figure out exactly who this person is and what happened. But thats our understanding of how it unfolded. Okay, pete. Thank you very much. I have with us congressman peter king. What did you hear and see . I was actually outside the capitol on the east side. I did not hear any of the shots. This would have been about 2 25, i guess, when the shots were apparently fired. I came into my office across the street in the Cannon Building at about 2 30. Right as i come in, the sirens and public Warning Systems went off saying shots were being fired and Everyone Needs to shelter in place, which means lock the office doors, stay away from windows and doors and for no one to come out. There was an active shooter. Since then, weve gotten the same reports you have of the Police Officer being wounded, being medevaced out of the capitol. Thats basically it. The house immediately went into recess. The senate went into recess. All of us now are behind closed doors. Again, many Police Vehicles are on the capitol. Police vehicles, emergency vehicles. We have not gotten the all clear sign yet. I do know in just a moment the Capitol Police are going to hold a News Conference. What was the last update you received via the email that was sent out or the email system or overheard on the announcement p. A. . Basically just shelter in place. That was about 2 37 saying remain in place with exclamation points after it. From sources we have on capitol hill weve been talking to, we were told around that time the shooter was in custody. Now the Capitol Police are calling a News Conference in about a minute, which is probably an indication the crisis is over. Yes. And sir, were being told right now the house side of capitol complex now operating as pushl. It is no longer in lockdown mode. This is the latest information. U. S. Capitol no longer in lockdown mode