Transcripts For KPIX CBS This Morning 20170614 : comparemela

cancelled. major garrett is at the white house and joining us with the latest on that. >> it was a short agenda today. only one public event for the president, a a 3:30 speech at the department of labor to highlight his efforts to expand the workplace apprenticeships. that event has now been cancelled. and the white house is contemplating where and how and if the president will give remarks about today's tragic events. i can tell you that the president has telephoned house speaker paul ryan and is making other calls to members of the house republican conference and leadership and the white house is reviewing the president's schedule for the remainder of the day gathering more information and contemplating when or if the president will make public remarks on today's tragic events. >> one of the things we do not know what the motives were, but if this was terrorism, this is exactly the kind of impact that they want to have. they want to scare people, create disruption and that kind of thing. that's the larger publicity that comes. >> such a soft target. we don't know his motivation, but he was targeting republicans if what we're hearing from the report show that in the parking lot he was asking is it democrats or republicans. >> let's be clear. they don't know that. he doesn't know who asked if it was republicans or democrats playing. he says one man said to him said who is that on the field, republicans or democrats. he informed the police of whether that might be relevant or not to the investigation. e we don't know if that person who asked was the shooter. >> but it is a line they want to follow up on. >> it is an interesting question to pose in the parking lot. >> we should also pose that law enforcement officials telling paula reid that there are no links to terrorism at this point, but it is early in the investigation.e ha been monitor police scanner all morning. here are some of the clips of the radio activity shortly after the shooting happened. >> shots being fired and there are people running awfully victims involved. >> we have one shooter. >> we have suspect. give me your exact location. >> baseball field there's also a victim down in the baseball field. >> you can hear the terror and the stress of the voices of the 911 call just coming in. this incident started at 7:09 this morning. >> didn't jeff flake tell us they were there in the dugout calling 911. >> and that police arrived on the scene? e three minutes avenue receiving the first call. jeff flake has just given an update to cbs news radio. let's hear what he had to say. >> they were returning fire from right behind us. a lot of us took refuge in the dugout during most of the shooting. and more people would come in as it went on. one person who was shot in the leg made his way from the field to the dugout. >> did the attacker say anything or indicate? >> there was yelling going on that i couldn't tell who was yelling what. we were just making sure those firing from behind us were friendly. >> two police officers were shot and two congressmen? >> one congressman and a staffer shot in the chest. the one shot in the chest was -- i've got to go, but there were six shot total. >> that was an update from senator jeff flake talking to cbs news radio. >> jeff flake did one of the kindest things under pressure that he got steve scalise's phone and called steve's wife to say your husband is okay. everyone who was there treated him said he was coherent the whole time that he was taken to the hospital and we heard he's undergoing surgery. >> the instinct is to tell the wife rather than seeing it on television or hearing it on radio. >> we have a lot coming up in the next hour. updates from police, but we want to go to jeff with new information on law enforcement and the weapons used in this case. jeff? >> cbs news has confirmed that one of the weapons used, and this was a long gun that was used. it's an m-4 assault rifle. now that investigators have that information, that's what it locks like, pretty intimidating weapon there. and this according to our law enforcement sources is the weapon that was used on that baseball field as this suspect targeted members of congress and other people on that baseball diamond. so now we have seen pictures of the atf arriving on the scene. they will assist local police and the fbi in gathering information and they will look into this weapon. we're told that it could take up to 24 hours to search information about this weapon. for example, where it was pu purchased. this is a process that is done by hand oddly enough in this day in age of advanced technology because it is illegal to store those types of records. so our sources are telling us that this is something that will happen by hand. it could take up to 24 hours to determine where the weapon was purchased. also, with something called niben, the atf will be able to track whether the weapon was used in other crimes. that's why agents are on the scene and will gather ballistic evidence to see if the weapon that you see here on the screen was used in any other crimes. so this investigation still early on, but it is well underway. >> thank you very much, jeff. we're waiting to hear from senator rand paul, a republican from kentucky. senator, tell us where you were and what you saw and heard this morning. >> i just finished batting at home plate and i was walking towards the dugout. i saw jeff flake and he says, can i have a ride. i said, yeah, i want to do one more trip to the batting cage. so the batting cage is in right field. the outside of the main perimeter fence. i was in the batting cage and we heard one loud shot. and i grew up in the south and knew what a gun sounds like. i thought somebody was firing a shotgun or something. although we are in the city, not in the country. it was a little unusual. at first everybody stopped what they were doing. we were about ready to go back to doing what we were doing, but then there were five or ten shots in a row and everybody hit the dirt pretty quickly. represent scalise was hit fairly early on in the barrage of bullets. he was at second base. it was at a point there weren't as many people on the field. people were milling about. a as the first shots rang out, people took cover. several congressmen went into the first base dugout and it's two feet below the surface. people were getting down below the ground surface to avoid the gunfire. the gunman at first it was unclear where he was from. i got out of the batting cage and got behind a tree, a big oak tree behind the batting cage. it took me a few seconds. i wasn't positive if it was one shoot r or two. but there were two staff members that had run the perimeter of the outfield all the way to the right field corner. there was a 20-foot fence separating me from them. so they are laying on the ground, but the bullets even though we're pretty far away from the shooter, i'm 75 yards away from the shooter. the bullets are land iing a coue feet from me on the other side of the fence. they are hitting the dirt of the warning track. i can see the dirt poofing up as the bullets hit. it's a a tough spot to be in there. you have to decide to stay behind a tree or try to get the heck out of there. one of the staffers decided to scale the fence. it was about a 20-foot fence and he was over it in two seconds. it was like, boom, boom, he was over the fence. and he's behind the free with me too. and at this point, it looks like there's a slight pause. there's 50 or 60 shots and then there's a a pause. he's either reloading or moving. i got the feeling that people, other congressmen and staff were changing their staff behind buildings. i got the feeling he was coming towards us. and that sort of decision to stay or go, had the capitol police not been there, i think it would have been a massacre because we had no weapons or defense. this was representative scalise, his security team. so the irony is he took this bullet and it sounds like he's going to survive and i wish him the best and our prayers are with him. his security team saved everybody's lives there. there would have been a a killing field had that team not been there. you can't say enough good things about the capitol hill police. some plolicemen never have a fight their whole career. both of them were shot. just amazing courage. >> amazing example of doing their duty as they often say in circumstances like this. can you tell us whether there seemed to be shooting a at random orso seeming to shoot wi intended targets? >> if i had to guess, i would say it's at random it's hard to tell who people are with hats on and their uniforms on. i get the feeling this was sort of somebody said he shouted out is this r's or d's and someone shouted back republicans. that's before they knew he had a weapon. that's when the gunfire exploded. i get the feeling it wasn't specific members. i get the feeling it was all republicans. somebody else said they thought they heard something about health care. i can't confirm that. that's hearsay. but i think it was politically motivated. we'll probably find -- if i had to guess, there will be a mental illness component or some kind of psychological disorder would be my guess. >> did you actually see the shooter at any time? >> vaguely. everybody was saying he had a blue shirt on by the third base dugout and i could see movement. i was kind of not putting my head out from behind the tree as much. and so the gunshots were pretty close to where we were within about five feet of where i was. so i was just trying to be concerned about which side of the tree to stand on buzz i wasn't sure which directions the bullets were coming from. i couldn't have identified the shooter. they did get the shooter. so from what i understand, he may be alive and if he is, we will get more story out of this. i can't say enough about capitol hill police and without them i think it would have been a massacre. and we are very lucky to have such brave men and women guarding us. >> how many people were there when the shooting broke out? >> probably 15 to 20 congressmen and 2 senators and 5 to 10 staff members and people who volunteer to help with us. probably 30 or 40 people on the field. completely defenseless. without the capitol hill police we had no chance. that's when you start to wonder and have to make a quick decision. do i stay or go. is that protection going to last as the gunman advances. still out in the open, but at least a moving target as you're running. >> do you know how many people were hit? >> no, i think both capitol hill police were shot. i think representative scalise was shot and i can't confirm, but at least one or two others were. i haven't heard because i'm very concerned that there are reports of someone with a very bad gunshot injury, but i can't give you that detail buzz i don't know. i'm very worried about at least one person. >> senator, let me ask you. after whip scalise was shot, what happened? >> the sad thing is nothing could happen. he laid there but he was crawl lg so we knew he was alive. he crawled about 10 or 15 yards into the outfield. he was in the dirt of the infield at second base. he was able to crawl to the outfield. he was slow, but he was working and doing it with his elbows. he was trying to stay low and crawl at the same time. that's a decision he's got to make. do you lay there and hope he thinks you're dead or walk out there in five minutes and finish you off. he felt there's got to be a time you have to try to flee. nobody could get to him because he was in the wide open field. at that point, he's the only one left on the field. the gunshots ring out. he falls. everybody flees the field. but the gunshots are spraying the whole width of the field. people in the dugout are ducking down beneath the level of the field. nobody could run out to help him. the good thing is i think the shooter gave up on -- i don't know if he could tell he was moving. but the shooter didn't shoot back at him that i could tell. so that was fortunate. but nobody could get there to help him until the shooters was brought down. anybody that's been in a situation like this it seemed like an hour, but it was probably ten minutes. but i promise you without the capitol hill police, we wouldn't have survived. police did come, but it was probably -- you can't blame the local police. it takes awhile to get there. they were probably there in 10 or 15 minutes. but without the capitol hill police there, we wouldn't have had a chance against the shooter. >> you suggest a scene in which everybody is trying to find protection. everybody knowing that they might be in danger. congressman scalise on his elbows trying to get out of the way. everybody seems like a sense of enormous alarm they may be in the line of fire. >> everybody was in the line of fire. people in the dugout were seeing the bullets careen iing off the dirt. the dirt would explode into the dugout as the bullets hit the dirt in front of the dugout. where i am in right field, even though i'm outside the main fence, i'm right where the warning track begins in the very right corner of right field. and the dirt -- i can see the dirt of the warning track. i was trying to figure out which way it was coming from. by look iing at bullets hitting the dirt, they were hitting right next to us there in the outfield. he's just spraying everywhere. he was spraying a target. >> we can't say enough. we just didn't have enough. >> senator paul, you paint a terrifying picture. god for bid it happens to anyone, but i'm wondering how this affected you. you have had time to think about it. you saw people being shot and how this ahas affected you personally. >> i'm not sure aye had time to let it sink in. i about had a heart attack running when we decided to make a break for it. we took off in right field and i had to scale a a couple fences and i think i'm in good shape until i have to run with gunshots behind me. it is a traumatic thing. really more than the emotional thing is sadness. i'm sad for the people who were shot, obviously, and i wish them well. but i'm also sad that what a great could be try. this game is one of the best things about bipartisanship up here. i've gotten to know democrats through the game, house members, we joke around with each other, we have a good spirited game. it's for charity. over $600,000 this year for the b boys and girls club b and is someone decides they are going to shoot up people raising money for charity because they are angry about politics. something has to stop. and maybe we'll find that this was mental illness, but if it's just pure hatred of people in politics, we have to figure out a better way. >> senator rand paul, thank you for joining us this morning. glad that you're safe. one of the most chilling things to hear him say that if it were not for capitol hill police, it would have been a killing field there on that baseball diamond. >> they would not have been there but they are part of the detail for congressman scalise, who is the majority whip in the u.s. congress. >> let's go now to nancy corr tis on capitol hill. >> nora, the house sergeant of arms has now called a briefing for all house members exactly an hour from now, 11:15 a.m. eastern time. we understand that they will be briefed about this incident, briefed about stepped up security on capitol grounds in the midst of a day that's now anything but routine on capitol hill. a number of events that were supposed to take place have been postponed. there was a budget hearing schedule d for today on the capitol police budget. that has been postponed. we're told that votes on the house floor have been cancelled. and nancy pelosi, the top democrat in the house put out a statement a short time ago with her thoughts and prayers. there was also this very touching tweet from senator bill nelson of florida, who said, on a a day like this, all members of the house of representatives and the senate are playing on the same team radarless of party. that a reference to the fact that this practice was going on because of a game that was to take place tomorrow, a long standing tradition here on capitol hill. democrats versus republicans for charity, which i didn't realize until senator flake said it this morning. the game is slated to raise about $650,000 for the boys and girls club. so this is something that members of congress take very seriously. >> nancy, thank you so much. major garrett is at the white house where we expect to hear from president trump later today. major? >> that's right, the information here is coming to us very incrementally as the white house evolves the president's schedule. i reported a few moments ago the president cancelled his only public event of the day, a 3:30 speech at the department of labor. we can now report the president will make a statement on the shooting in virginia involving steve scalise and others. we don't know when. we don't know the venn you. it will be here at the white house. the white house senior staff is still working on that and developing more information and trying to pick the right timed a mist all these activities. and other events and other news that's coming about this investigation. and when to put that in the president's hands and when to have him address the nation. it will happen some time today here at the white house. i wish i could tell you when and the venue. i can't. just that it's going to happen. >> thank you very much, major. when the president comes out to speak abts the shooting, we will bring it to you live. in the meantime, julianna goldman just talked to a witness on the scene. here's what he had to say. >> there's a man with a gun outside. i should stay inside. i looked out and saw a gentleman with a gun outside by the baseball field. he had an ak-47 type weapon. and was exchanging fire with someone behind a black suv. >> did you see him before shots were fired? >> i didn't, i came in the middle of the incident. >> can you talk about what his mannerism, his demeanor, what you saw of this man? >> all i saw was that he was crouched down, as one does when bullets are flying, and moving from one piece of cover to another. at that point, i tray tried to get people away from the window. >> did you see anybody get hit? >> i didn't. >> describe the scene. was there commotion, mayhem, were people running around? >> inside the gym, things were fairly calm. no one was yelling or screaming. people were not in a panicked way. bullets were flying. there weren't many people around because it was so early in it the morning. i didn't see any chaos besides the gunshots themselves. >> how many gunshots? >> between 15 and 30. >> describe the shooter. >> he was an older gentleman between a 55 and 65 years old. he was short and rather stocky. was wearing a blou polo and carrying an ak-47 type weapon. >> did you see him when police were shooting? >> i did. i saw him laying down on the pavement being hand cup cuffed and had a knee in his back. >> did you see him? was he taken away then? >> i did not see him get taken away. i'm not sure when exactly that happened. but i did see emts rush to his side at one point. they were a clear addition to the pack. >> did you see anybody else injured? >> i saw one person laying down on the ground in an odd way. i would assume that person was injured. otherwise what they were doing didn't make sebs. >> tell us about how you felt. >> i felt fairly calm a at the time. i was trying to get people away from the windows and managed to focus on that. since then, it's been a little nerve racking, but i'm not traumatized by any means. >> it looked like an ak-4. why or how you identified the rifle? >> they have a fairly unique silhouette. i'm familiar with that through video games and news coverage and things like that. didn't seem to have any barrel attachments. >> we remind you that we will cover a live press conference at 10:30 as expected now with the city police, governor of virginia and perhaps the d.c. capitol police, which are being louted for the remarkable action in reaction to today's events. >> the two police officers who were wounded in this attack. jeff has more as he's been talking to his law enforcement sources. >> everybody agrees that the capitol police deserve credit here for saving lives. they are often like offensive linemen in football. they don't get attention until something goes wrong. they are getting attention for saving lives here because they jumped into action when it was needed with this suspect armed with an m-4 assault rifle and a handgun targeting people on this baseball field. and so just so you know, information about the capitol hill police and protective service that was around congressman scalise, they are part of the department of protective services. they look like secret service agents with suits on and ear pieces, but they are not. they are part of capitol hill police. they were the ones who jump ed into action here and they not only protect congressman scalise, but also speaker of the house paul ryan as well as the minority leader in the senate chuck schumer and other select members of congress. so the fact that they were there and ready to jump into action even though one of them was wounded and firing shots to protect the people on that field, they are being praised for their actions out there. as far as the investigation, it is proceeding, it is early on. we still don't have a name for the susp becut'm iur point do. he is in custody. he was wounded. the question is is he cooperating with investigators who are trying to search for a motive and also trying to figure out if there are any threats out there to members of congress, which is also the job and the responsibility of the capitol hill police to investigate threats against members of congress. it is a pretty large crime scene, as you can see there. you see the police tape we're used to seeing this in some neighborhoods around the country at different times, but to see this today and have it connected to members of congress is obviously what is unusual here. the question is what sparked this violence. we know the suspect according to witness accounts was talking to people before he started firing. but the question is was this something that was premeditated. did he plan this attack or was it something that was sparked at that moment on that field. we just. don't know. but these are questions that the fbi is looking into. they are part of this investigation along with local police in alexandria as they figure out the motive behind this shooting. >> perhaps we'll learn more about that in a press conference in a a few minutes. we have a statement of the governor from virginia who is expected to be at that press conference. the governor says we are shocked and saddened by the horrible act of violence against members of congress. law enforcement and other innocent people enjoying a baseball practice. we are praying for swift recoveries for those joured and we are thankful for the brave ri of capitol hill police to stop the attacker and treat those who were wounded. virginia public safety officials are coordinating with local responders and we'll continue to monitor the situation and make every resource available. >> a lot of credit being given to the capitol hill police. steve dorsey is from cbs news radio and has been talking to people on the scene all morning. steve is joining us now. what can you tell us? >> good morning, i'm looking at this softball field where police have expanded their search perimeter as they realize the magnitude of how extensive this attack was with bullets hitting a brick building across the street put iting a gash in the outside. inspectors walking up and taking pictures of it. a car window not too far in front of me was blown out in the attack. ed witnesses heard 100 gunshots and they also heard police exchange fire with the attacker. many survivors say they hid behind a dugout on the field as crowds rushed towards apartment building across the street. >> steve dorsey from cbs news radio. >> we're waiting. we think there's a press conference in a matter of minutes. we'll hear for the first time except for a brief remarks from the police from the d.c. skplis there they are. you can see pictures of them walking up for the press conference in which we'll learn more about what they know and as much as they can tell us at this time about the assailant, about what happened and the motivation might have been. and those questions as to what they are doing now as the investigation just beginning into the terrible acts that took place. >> what we know of the group will be approaching the microphone shortly. >> what we know at this hour is according to multiple sources that five people were shot and that includes the number three house republican steve scalise, who is currently in surgery with a gunshot to the hip. the president of the united states himself says he expects him to fully recover. we know there was a legislative aid to a congressman, who was also shot. two members of scalise's detail, who are believed to be capitol hill police members, and the fifth person it's not clear who that is. it's believe d it might be another legislative staffer. so we're unfolding situation as we're learn iing about all of t victims. we also note that the gunman is in custody. let's listen to the governor of the state of virginia and law enforcement. >> good morning, everybody. i'm mike brown, chief of the alex alex an dree police department. we're here today to give you an updit on the incident that occurred this morning here. let me repeat some of the facts that we know at this point. before i start, though, i want to say that this is an incident. it's not an active incident. the city is safe. we have an active investigation going on for the incident that took place this morning, but i want to reassure the community here in alexandria that the city is safe. e we will continue to work with the investigation as it moves forward. the facts a as we have it this morning again at 7:09, we received a 911 call of an active shooter at simpson park here in alexandria. units responded and were on scene within three minutes. the officers were received fire from a suspect and they returned fire and that is ongoing in the investigation as we sepooek. we came to find out that at this event b was a practice session for a baseball team involving some representatives from congress or some employees from congress. there were capitol hill police individuals contingent on scene and they also engaged with the suggest and i'll let the capitol hill police respond to that. the emergency medical personnel that responded, as well as officers from the alexandria police department provided treatment to a number of individuals on scene. those individuals we know that five of them were transported by public emergency medical sources to hospitals within the area to deal with a variety of injuries and treatment. at this point, the alex andria police department, because this case involves the assault on a federal officer, the federal bureau of investigation will be taking over the investigation and we welcome our work with the fbi. we are embedded and are assisting the fbi along with other agencies that are trying to deal with this particular scene in this investigation of this incident. that said, i would also like to say our gratitude to the agencies that responded to this scene. we had individuals from the alexandria sheriffs department, fire department, who were initial response helped us a great deal in trying to manage this thing. and quite frank ly, i couldn't e more proud of the men and women that were involved in the police department. they did an b outstanding job, from what i hear so far. at this point i'd like to go ahead and introduce the chief from the capitol hill police to talk about their efforts in this area and what they are doing. chief? >> thank you, chief. i would like to first start out by thanking the alexandria police, sheriffs office, fire department, fbi, atf, and all of our thorough law enforcement and local partners who assisted in this response. certainly it's a very large response and it's going to take awhile to sort through all the details. my units of our protection division were on site with protect d when we had -- when the incident occurred they did engage in gunfire with the suspect and were assisted by the alexandria police, the capitol hill police officers who were injured are in good condition and have not suffered any life threatening injuries at this point. as we get more information we'll be working through the fbi, our local partners with the police to provide more e details as they become available. but at this point, i'd like to turn it over to the fbi. >> good morning, tim slater, i'm the special agent in charge of the washington field office. i just want to reiterate what the chief said. this is a a secure community at this point. it's an active investigation, however, the security of the community is a paramount and i want to reassure you that's the case. we got involved around 9:30 this morning. initially we responded with our cap can toll response squad from the jttf per our protocol and they were assisting our state and local partners. once it was confirmed that we had a member of congress involved in the incident, we have taken the lead. however, this is a joint command and this is a joint investigation with our state and local partners to include who has been at the microphone already, atf, alexandria county and city and capitol hill police as well. i will take a couple questions in just a second, but i want to turn it over to the governor for a couple comments. >> thank you. first of all, thoughts and prayers to everybody affected by today's incident. i want to congratulate the effort of the state, local and federal. we're all here together. early this morning state police were ak vated. i want to thank everybody that's involved but especially the first responders. i have been told that members of the neighborhood and the community came out to be of assistance. this is truly an extraordinary effort. i also want to compliment the u.s. capitol police tr their quick action and through their heroic efforts they saved a lot of lives today. we do everything we can to keep our community safe and i want to thank all the law enforcement personnel and first responders who were involve d today. thank you. >> is it your feeling that this was a planned attack and are you investigating this that it could be an act of terrorism? >> it's too early to say. that's really raw at this moment. we're just about the initial part of the investigation. so it's too early to say. we're working it both ways right now. >> so is one of the angles you're exploring investigating that it could be an act of terrorism? >> we're exploring all angles. >> any information -- it's said there may be a tentative i.d. even if you can't say specifics r you beginning to narrow down on the identity of the shooter? >> yes, we are. >> was this an assassination attempt? >> we're still working on it. >> we'll not confirm that. >> are certain members of congress being targeted? >> too early to tell if they were targeted or not. >> what can you tell us about life threatening injuries? >> everybody was transported to the hospital and is receiving medical treatment. just don't know about the life threatening or not. >> the shooter asked if these were republicans or democrats. is there a a political motivation? >> i'm not aware of that at all. >>. >> i don't e know any of those facts. it's too early to tell. >> can you give us the condition of the suspect? and the general condition of the officers who were shot? >> i think the officers are doing better. i'm not sure about the suspect at this time. >> is the suspect talking to law enforcement? >> any other scenes you're looking at? >> security detail here with the kmab. give us a sense of the importance of the fact there were armed officers on the scene. >> members of a dignitary protection were here. >> the difference it made? >> i'm sure it made a significance difference. >> is he talking to you at this point? >> do not know the answer to that. >> any criminal history? >> anywhere else this investigation is taking place? >> we have secured the scene and getting through the logical investigative steps at this point. >> you said you don't think this is an assassination attempt and it would appear members of congress are targeted. >> i said that we are not sure at this moment. it's still early on in the investigation. we're working through it. >> is your suspect a local man? >> do not know yet. >> even from the region? >> don't know yet. >> do you know if the suspect approached lawmakers and asked they were republican or democrat? >> i'm not aware of that. >> you said earlier it wasn't an assassination attempt. can you clarify? >> if i said that, i misspoke. it's too early in the investigation to say one way or the other. >> there are some reports. >> given the fact you have laid out how much you don't know at this point and how much you're investigating, how can you and the chief and governor say that if you don't know that the community is safe, how can you rule out that there's not a broader situation? >> from the early on in the investigation where we are right now, we think we have a really good handle on it. we just want to run out a a k couple details before we confirm other addition stuff. fair enough? >> was there more than one weapon? >> i cannot. >> can we ask what weapon it was? >> can we get an update on your officers who engaged the suspect? they were wounded in the line of duty. . can you give us an update on how they are doing. >> they are being treated at a local hospital. and the injuries do not appear to be life threatening at this point. >> where were they hit? >> i would categorize that they are in good condition. >> can you describe what they did? how they engaged the suspect? >> we received reports of gunfire through our communications and we coordin e coordinated with the alexandria police. obviously, from early instance of this incident, shots were fired. >> where are your officers at when they started firing? were they in the field? >> this is too preliminary to go into the details of the investigation. suffice to say that officers acted heroically today and they are in good condition. and we look for a rapid recovery. and with that said, i'll turn it back over. >> one male and one female? >> i'm not going to comment on the names, numbers until i'm reasonably sure that next of kin are notified. >> what about the investigation tells you anything about the motivation here and whether it was political? >> we're not going to go into any kind of vags. >> who was shot? what he was doing? some conversations before? >> it's too early. when the facts come to light, we'll share what we can share. >> is the fifth person the victim or the shooter? >> we're not going to comment on that. it's significantly early. >> four victims or five victims? >> i'm not going to confirm that. >> but you can confirm there were five people injured. >> i'm not going to confirm that either. >> there were five people transported by public emergency personnel to hospitals. >> was the suspect of one of them? >> i'm not going to comment ob that. it's an ongoing investigation. let me kpebt to the question about the safe community piece. we have several things going on. the police department after we secured the scene here did an awful lot of work in the community. we walked the community, we looked for secondary issues, we brought in additional resources and assets so that we could deal with any possible secondary thing. the question that was directed about the investigation if it e reveals something else we'll respond to that. but right now every indication in this city is that this is an isolated incident, that the investigation will be long-term. and let me also do a thank you to the agencies that assisted us and locked around the community to make sure this was safe. that would include state police and sheriffs office and a lot of folks even in the neighborhood came out to kind of make sure that we were doing the right thing. >> there were five people transported. i won't go into that. i can't speak to the information that others are reporting. five people were transported. >> was anybody treated on the scene? >> i'll refer to the fbi. >> any other injuries life threatening? >> from your point of view and your knowledge about the capitol area, your view about the safety of the area. did you have any information prior, any agencies said there might be a threat in this area? might be a threat directed toward congress? are you satisfied that you have a handle on what happened here and there is is no additional threat? >> from virginia's perspective and secretary of public safety who is here with me, we had no information that anything like this was going to occur. >> governor, do you think anything needs to be done to protect politicians? >> i think we need to do more to protect all our citizens. i have long advocated what today is about. there are too many guns ob the street. we lose 93 million americans a day to gun violence. background checks that's not for today's duiscussion. we worry about all our citizens. >> so we have to look at this. i'm not going to get anywhere near the investigation. the fbi is leading this. this obviously with 93 million people a day. >> i can tell you from virginia's perspective we monitor all this. >> there's so much in the political discourse. so much back and forth. >> i can't absentee today. the investigation is going on. i do think things have become partisan in this country today. we got to begin to work together to get things done. we're the greatest nation on earth and there's been too much discourse that's pulli ining pe apart. we need to work to bring people together. i worry about economic development, education, transportation, basic things that people here want. that's what we need to focus our energies on. >> thank you. >> we do not have another briefing scheduled at this time, but we'll be communicating to let you know we will be providing another update this afternoon. at this location. >> that was a press conference held in virginia with the police, capitol hill police, governor and fbi. the fbi has taken over the investigation. they say as of this determination, an isolated incident. we now go to nancy cordes on capitol hill. >> the house majority leader kevin mccarthy who is a member of the leadership team just told reporters a few minutes ago that steve scalise is now out of surgery. we are awaiting a statement both from the. top republican in the senate mitch mcconnell and the top democrat chuck schumer. the senate floor is opening right now. it's very typical at the beginning of the workday you will hear from first the senate cap lin and now mr. mcconnell is on the floor, so let's take a listen. >> those practicing on the field, first responders, and the capitol hill police officers on the scene. we're deeply indebted to their service. we salute their continuing and unfailing bravery on behalf of the capitol community. the congressional baseball game is a bipartisan charity event. i know the senate will embrace that spirit today as we come together and express in both our concern and our gratitude. >> i join with the majority leader in offering our prayers for those who were injured. i was absolutely shaken by the news of a shooting early this morning at the baseball field in alexandria where many of my friends and colleagues were practicing for the annual congressional baseball game, an event that brings us together each year. it's been reported that representative scalise was shot as were two brave members of the capitol police force and others uncolluding a staffer. let us pray that they and any others injured are able to recover quickly. this morning is the most sobering reminder of how thankful we should be for the service of the capitol police force, who put their lives on the line day in and day out for us to be safe. i could not be more grateful that capitol police were there at a time to prevent this attack from being any worse than it was. i was with senator paul in the gym, who had been there. he told me had these two capitol police officers, who are the part of scalise's e detail not been there, it might have been a massacre. but their bravery is exemplary of all capital police force and we thank them. the entire senate family sends i thoughts and prayers to those wounded and our gratitude to those at the scene. i yield the floor. >> a moment of silence there you see as the senators announcing that. also cbs news has confirmed that the shooter has been identified by law enforcement as james t. hod hodgekinson. owns a home inspection business. his home is belleville, illinois. so he's 66 years old being identified this morning by law enforcement as the shoot er. at this hour, we have five victims and james is in custody. >> we don't know anything about his condition at this point. >> we do e know that his owned a home inspection business and apparently that license expired in november 2016. >> and was not renewed according to state records there. >> jeff joins us now with the latest on the investigation. jeff? >> we heard in the press conference from the fbi they really didn't have a lot of information. why, because it's still early in this investigation. too early to say what the motive is behind this attack. too early to say if it was an assassination attempt. too early to say whether it's tied to something bigger. so right now law enforcement does not have a lot of information, but they do have a name. so now that they have a name, they can go and canvas his neighborhood, talk to neighbors, talk to family members, see what was happening either in illinois and why he was here in this area. did he have some sort of residence in this area. so what was the tie to the d.c. area that brought him here and why was he there on that baseball diamond or around that baseball diamond at that time of the day, which is certainly unusual. a lot of us wake up early like that, but most people don't and certainly most people are at home at 7:00 in the morning. so these are all questions that investigators will try to answer as quickly as possible. obviously, you heard in that news conference, we have a lot of questions for them. so they are following up on the evidence they have, but the fbi is saying that right now, they feel like they have a pretty good handle on this. wouldn't delve into too many details to what that mean, but it could mean that they have a lot of information because they know who the suspect is. now as i have said before, the question is, is he cooperating with them? we know that he was wounded in this shooting. but the question is, is he alert enough to cooperate with investigators? that would certainly help accelerate the search for answers. but again, it's still early, as you know. >> what do we know about the weapons? >> we know a lot about the assault that was used. it was an m-4 according to sources. we are still trying to get information on the handgun. there was also a handgun used, but you can see from our graphic there that this is a pretty intimidating looking weapon. especially to have around a baseball field early in the morning. it's designed for lightweight mobility. it is the type of weapon that the military often uses. and so investigators have this information on the type of weapon. they have the gun that was used. and so now they will try to trace to see where it was purchased, when it was purchased. now if it was something that was purchased recently, that gives investigators a lot of information to go on or at least some information to go on. perhaps there was a change in this man's life that caused him to lash out. who knows, it's still early. these are questions that investigators will try to answer. then try to trace the handgun that was used in this shotti we and see if these weapons were used in any other crimes. so we'll just have to see. they have a lot to go on based on the information that they are getting from witnesses and some of the ballistic information they are gathering from the scene. >> we thank you. so far what we know his name is james t. hojkinson from the state of illinois. representative tennessee was at the practice this morning. let's listen to what he told reporters on capitol hill. >> we didn't exactly know where the shots were coming from, but it was loud. it was constant. so i actually ran and jumped in the dugout. that's when i got stuffed up. when i got in the dugout, we realized the shooter was still active. there was a child in the dugout with his children come out and watch us play. the children were secured. we went against the wall in the dugout. the capitol police were able to return fire and at least stop the shooter from moving forward. because we were like sitting ducks in the dugout. >> were you able to get a look at the shooter? >> i heard it and i did not see him. other members actually did see him moving around. >> how many shots were fired? >> several. multiple shots. it seems like it went on for quite some time. when i got back into the dugout with the members there, i realize one gentleman had been shot in the leg and i could see the bullet hole in it his leg. other members were like me blju trying to get there. they jumped in the dugout. it seemed like it went ob for a long period of time. fortunately, this was return fire from the capitol police to keep the shooter at bay. the congressional baseball game has gone for over 100 years. this is where republicans and democrats come together to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for charity. we practice for a couple months leading up to the game. this should be a happy and safe time and a very happy and safe place for americans on a ball field. just a horrible, horrible experience. actually now thinking the magnitude of the shots that were fired and the carnage that could have been there, i'm still in a state of shock. >> still wearing his baseball clothes from morning. he described the gunfire as loud and constant. we heard reports between 50 to 100 shots were fired. >> more and more. what's interesting to point out the obvious. this happened on a baseball field. which we think is a place for play and safety and fun. >> they have been practicing for six years at this particular diamond. this was the last practice before the game tomorrow. so they are wondering did they know it was the last practice or what was he thinking? >> why did this 66-year-old man travel from illinois to alexandria, virginia? was it politically motivated? was he targeting someone specifically? there were five people shot. nancy has been trying to track down who the identities of those who were jour ed. nancy is on capitol hill. >> we already knew that one of them obviously was the house majority whip scalise. another was a house staffer. then there were the two capitol hill police officers. we have more information on the fifth victim. his name is matt nika, he's a former legislative assistant to a couple members of congress. he now works for tyson fods as a lobbyist. we're told that he was there this morning as a volunteer coach at baseball practice. a short time ago, kevin brady, who is the chair of the house ways and means committee told reporters outside the george washington hospital that a fifth person was being treated there and that it is indeed matt nika. so we now know the identities of all five people who were shot this morning and unfortunately one person who was swept up in all of this was someone who no longer is affiliate iing with capitol hill. we have more about what the president and when the president will speak. >> 11:30 eastern from the diplomatic room here at the white house. president trump will address the nation and the world about this tragic incident in virginia. the shooting of four victims and the shooter, one of them including the house majority whip. the white house has been gathering information for both the president and the vice president. since news broke of this after 7:00 eastern this morning and preparing the president for what is his first domestic crisis as president of the united states. one of those moments presidents are asked collectively to put in this in context and to demonstrate not only a sense of and if possible place in some sort of context political atmosphere in which which occurred. there's much speculation about motives, what was said or not said, targeting, or if politics was in any way, shape, or form involved in the shooting in virginia, the president will be called upon to offer his thoughts on all of this. we will hear from the president 11:30 eastern. charlie. >> thank you very much, major. we anticipate what the president will say and investigation made at the previous press conference is very few facts are divulged so far. as norah will tell you, this is a cbs news special and we'll recap the latest. that's right. it is now the top of the 11:00 hour. this is cbs news special report. steve scalise, number three republican in the house of representatives is now out of surgery. he was shot in the hip this morning at a congressional baseball practice in alexandria, virginia. look at this video, shows him taken from the field, loaded spoke medevac helicopter to the hospital. the gunman identified at 66-year-old james hodgkinson of bellevue, illinois. >> investigators say it is too early to establish a motive for the shooting. sources say the suspect fired dozens of shots from an assault rifle. police officers at the scene returned fire. two capitol hill police officers hit before the suspect was wounded and taken into custody. terry mcauliffe said those officers, quote, saved a lot of lives today. >> a lot of people feel that today. we now know two other people were wounded. mike, a lobbyist for tiesons shows according to ways and means chairman kevin brady, the other is zachery barth, works for republican from texas. he is expected to make a full recovery. one of the first things he did was call his mother to say he's okay. we're waiting for a statement from president trump at 11:30. >> a lot of us went in the dugout. some of the injured were in there, too. one of the staffers had been shot in the leg. as soon as the gunfire stopped, steve scalise was on the field, laying on the field, been shot in the hip. applied pressure, tried to stop bleeding. he's in surgery now. looks like he'll be okay. thank goodness they were there. had they not been there, it would have been a lot worse. [ inaudible ]. >> rand paul was there. a regular practice we have. >> the gunman, we don't know if he targeted steve or just indiscriminately. there were a lot of rounds fired. [ inaudible ]. >> we think he was the first one hit and dragged himself off the infield to the outfield to get a little further away. he was obviously pretty tough shape. [ inaudible ]. >> he was on the field, center field at the time. he made his way to the dugout where we were, got in. so we were trying to keep down, the gunfire went on. [ inaudible ]. >> well, steve scalise has a capitol hill detail, capital miss detail because he's in leadership. had they not been there -- >> that's right. that's right. [ inaudible ]. >> too early to talk about that. >> that, of course, was the senator jeff flake on the field. >> we'll hear from house speaker paul ryan around noon. >> senate back in session, reconvened, began with a prayer from senate chaplain barry black. >> gracious father, "our shield and defense, we look to you in these challenging times. lord, the shooting at the congressional baseball practice reminds us of the importance of remembering our days. may we refuse to boast about tomorrow, for we know not what a day may bring. lord, surround our lawmakers with the shields of your protection and favor. fill them with your spirit causing them to walk in your statutes and keep your judgments. lord, you know better than we what lies ahead for our lives. so lead us like a gentle shep -- shepherd. we claim your promise, hebrews chapter 5 that you will never leave or forsake us. guide and inspire us all to follow your plan for our lives. we pray in your merciful name, amen. >> chaplain barry black this morning just moments ago as the senate reconvened following this stunning shooting this morning at a congressional baseball practice. senator rand paul just released a statement he was there. he wrote, as you've likely heard a gunman with a rifle opened fire on congressmen, senators, staff and police this morning. i was there, and i'm shaken but unharmed. many people likely would have died this morning if not for the bravery of the capitol police. my thanks to them are inadequate but heartfelt. they never hesitated to put their lives on the line to save everyone. please pray for those who were injured. >> they were very lucky those officers were there on the field. because as we know, most members of congress don't have that kind of security deal that actually have ammunition and weapons on them. we spoke it senator paul who was at the field this morning. he told us what he saw. >> so i was in the batting cage, and we heard one loud shot. at first everybody kind of looked up, kind of stopped what they were doing. then we were about ready to go back to doing what we were doing, then there were like five or ten shots in a row. everybody hit the dirt pretty quickly. representative scalise was hit fairly early on in the barrage of bullets. he was at second base. it was at a point where people were sort of -- there weren't as many on the field. people were milling about, going to the dugout. as the first shots rung out, people went to the dugouts, below the surface, to try to avoid the gunfire. the gunman, at first it was unclear to me where he was from. i got out of the batting cage and got behind a tree, big oak tree behind the batting cage. it took me a few seconds and i wasn't positive if it was one shooter or two, but also what direction the bullets are coming from. the bullets are landing a couple feet from me on the other side of the fence. they are hitting the dirt on the warning track. i can see the dirt poofing up as the bullets hit. it's a tough place to be, do you stay behind the tree. one staffer was over the fence in a few seconds. boom, boom, boom, he's over the fence and he's behind the tree with me, too. at this point it looks like there's a slight pause, probably 50 or 60 shots. then there's a pause. then he's either reloading or moving. >> can you tell us whether there seemed to be shooting at random or seemed to be shooting directly with intended targets. >> if i had to guess, i would say at random. obviously at people. it's hard to teal who people are with their hats and uniforms on there. i get the feeling sort of -- someone shouted out is this rs or ds, someone shouted back republicans. that's before they knew he had a weapon. that's when the gunfire exploded. i get the feeling it wasn't specific members, but republicans. someone else said they heard something about health care. i can't confirm that. i didn't hear either of those statements. that's sort of hearsay. i think it was politically motivated. i think we'll find if i had to guess there will be a mental illness component or some kind of psychological disorder will be my guess. >> how many people were there when the shooting broke out? >> probably 15 to 20 congressmen and two senators and probably five to ten staff members and people who just volunteered to help with us. so there was probably 30 or 40 people on the field. completely defenseless. without the capitol hill police we had no chance. that's when you start to wonder and have you to make a quick decision, do i stay or do i go. you have protection if you're behind a tree but is that going to last if the gunman advances. you have to decide when is your best chance to make a run for it, still out in the open but at least a moving target if you're running. >> senator, let me ask you, after whip scalise was shot, what happened? >> the sad thing is nothing could happen. he laid there, but he was crawling, so we knew he was alive. he crawled about 10, 15 yards into the outfield. he was in the dirt of the infield at second base. he was able to crawl on the outfield. he was slow but working, doing it with his elbows. he was trying to stay low and crawl at the same time. >> pretty chilling to hear senator paul describe what you do when you start hearing those shots. do you stay or do you go? >> jeff, you don't know which way to run. even though you're hiding behind a tree you adopt know which place to go behind the tree. >> we're waiting to hear what the president will say. he's already tweeted about this. what's interesting, can you imagine a circumstance if the police hadn't been there, somebody with an automatic rifle and people spread out, a terrible scene it would have been. >> rand paul used killing field, one said sitting ducks. 30 to 40 people on the field at the time. you're right, charlie, the damage could be catastrophic. >> a lot said about the capitol police and much more. a look at the investigation. here is a look at what police told the media just about 40 minutes ago. >> i want to say it's an incident, not an active incident. the city is safe. we have an active investigation that went on for the incident that took place this morning. i want to assure the people in alexandria the city is, indeed, safe. our units responded and were on scene in three minutes. the officer received fire from a suspect and they returned fire. that part of the investigation is ongoing as we speak. the emergency medical personnel that responded to the scene from the alexandria fire department as well as officers from the alexandria police department provided treatment through a number of individuals on scene. those individuals, we know that five of them were transported by public emergency medical sources to hospitals within the area to deal with a variety of injuries and treatment. we had individuals from the alexandria sheriff's department, of course alexandria fire department, whose initial response helped us a great deal trying to manage this thing. quite frankly, i couldn't be more proud of the membership and women involved from the alexandria police department. they did an outstanding job in my opinion from what i hear so far. >> united states capital police officers who were injured are in good condition and have not suffered any life threatening injuries at this point. >> we have secured the scene and we're getting through the logical investigative steps at this point. >> you said you don't think this is an assassination attempt, and yet it would appear members of congress were target. >> no, i did not say that. i said we are not sure at this moment. it's still early on in the investigation and we're working through it. >> thoughts and prayers everybody affected by today's incident. i want to congratulate the effort of the state, local, and federal. we're all here together. early this morning state police activated. i want to thank everybody involved but specifically all the first responders. i have been told members of the neighborhood and community came out to be of assistance. this is truly an extraordinary effort. i want to compliment u.s. capitol police for their quick action. through their heroic efforts and others they saved a lot of lives today. we do everything to keep our community safe. i again want to thank all law enforcement personnel an first responders who were involved today. thank you. >> that was a compilation of the briefing from law enforcement. you're looking at a picture of members of capitol hill. they have been told to arrive for a briefing on the events and they are arriving capitol hill. >> we go to jeff pegues in washington. jeff. >> can't ever sighs this enough, work of capitol hill police and that shooting, they used their skill and training to make a difference there and take the suspect down, according to witness accounts, because even they were outgunned by the suspect. keep in mind they were armed with handguns. he had an m4 assault rifle, a lot of ammunition, and a handgun to boot. let's take a look at that rifle. there it is. it's designed for lightweight mobility. we know from witness there on that baseball field he was moving from the outfaeield to infield and took cover behind the dugout or in the dugout. he was moving around armed. at least 50 shots, according to multiple witness accounts. maybe it was a little less, maybe it was a little more, but there were dozens of shots fired according to witnesses. it wasn't until the wounded capitol police fired back, took the suspect down, that this ended. multiple witnesses say it went on for about five, ten minutes for them. i'm sure it seemed a lot longer than that. we know who the suspect is, according to law enforcement, who has confirmed this for cbs news, james t. hodgkinson of belleville, illinois, 66 years old. that's what we know about him right now. you can bet law enforcement knows a lot more and they have fanned out in his neighborhood. what changed in his life. was there some sort of triggering event that caused this to happen. also, why was he here in the washington, d.c., area? was this a premeditated attack? was he targeting any specific person on that ball field? these are questions the atf, fbi, local agencies there in alexandria are trying to figure out right now. >> jeff pegues in washington. jeff, thank you very much. senator bernie sanders just tweeted, our prayers go out for a full recovery of representative scalise, aides and police who were injured. we've got to stop the violence is what bernie sanders just said. nancy cordes on capitol hill. once again, nancy. >> reporter: the reason it's notable we're hearing from bernie sanders is because initial records are that this suspect was a supporter of sanders, may have even volunteered for him in the 2016 election. here on capitol hill house members are going into an all member briefing right now with house sergeant-at-arms. there you see the house speaker and house majority leader walking in. we're expecting to hear from the house speaker paul ryan himself at noon eastern. that's in about 45 minutes. they are going to be briefed both on the incident itself and on stepped up security here at the capital. beyond that house votes we know are going to be canceled today because of this incident. the word came out from steve scalise's office as a leader. one more notable, zach barth, victim, staffer on capitol hill that was shot just posted on his facebook page, quote, i got shot this morning at the baseball fields but i am in the hospital and okay. thank you for the thoughts and prayers. >> thanks so much. at the hospital center where representative scalise is among those being treated. >> two people brought here, brought in from helicopter that lands feets from the emergency room door behind me. pan over, still a number of police cars still here. we know heavy security, when the congressman arrived there was an armored vehicle there blocking the emergency room. i count federal, state, as well as capitol police here on scene. we know that the representative was brought here, taken into surgery. this is a level one trauma center in washington, d.c. it is the type of facility where you would bring somebody who has suffered a gunshot wound, somebody who is in very serious or critical condition when d.c. has seen past mass shooting incidents, this hospital has taken some of those victims. they are very skilled in dealing with severe trauma. that is why park police helicopter flew straight here to bring the congressman to get immediate treatment. we've learned this from the battlefield in iraq and afghanistan, if you can get treatment in that first hour, that golden hour, it makes a huge difference in the recovery. truly every minute mattered in getting the congressman here. he was flown by helicopter and wheeled inside those doors and now hopefully on the road to recovery. we know he was taken into surgery. we've heard reports he may be out of surgery now but still waiting for a condition. the hospital will om say they received two patients from the shooting. they don't have updates yet. >> thanks very much with the updates from the hospital. we do have a confirmed picture of the man believed to be the shooter, james hodgkinson, 6 of years old from belleville, illinois. there he is. somehow police say he wound up at this baseball practice in alexandria, virginia with an m- 4 at the very least and started firing shots, one of which hit representative scalise in the hip. mentioned he's in the hospital but now out of surgery. several others, apparently can reports from congress and others, capitol police put down that suspect and stopped him from what he was doing. but the question now is how james hodgkinson, who you just saw a picture of, got to this baseball field in in alexandria, virginia from illinois. why he was there and what he was doing. we know senator bernie sanders, who we just saw a tweet from, was on james hodgkinson's facebook page. so what level of support hodgkinson provided to senator sanders during the campaign in terms of cheerleading, political support, i should say, is a big question. >> we certainly don't know, jeff, if it's politically motivated. there are reports there was someone in the parking lot asking before the shooting, who is on the field, are they democrats or republicans? rand paul told us he heard someone say, is it ds or rs is what he heard them say. we don't know the motivation behind the shooting. >> we go now to the white house and major garrett. >> live camera shot in the diplomatic room at the white house it's to address the nation 11:30 eastern. we're told remarks six to seven minutes. the president will be reading off a teleprompter. we don't know all the people involved putting together the remarks steve miller his speechwriter will be a significant voice putting remarks together. steve miller served as important aide to then jeff sessions on capitol hill. he knows capitol hill police. he knows the rhythms and the sense of lawmakers both in the house and senate. he will have a perspective about this event based on his experience in congress. kellyanne conway also knows a great deal of the members of congress, house, and senate. i'm sure she will have a significant voice in these presidential remarks. it's worth pointing out, this is the first domestic crisis president trump has had to wrap his rhetorical arms around as commander in chief. to put this in perspective, on behalf of those injured and recovering, place the national moment around this series of events, be cautious about what we do know and don't know and try to frame this as something we're talking about at the presidential level. congressman from texas. >> our number one relief pitcher. our prayers for steve scalise and his family and for the others, the capitol hill police who got wounded and our volunteers who got wounded also. the wounded are the police officers who attacked the shooter, and in doing so quite probably saved many, many lives. this is a charity baseball game. we've played it for almost 100 years. it's for a very good cause. i can only speak for myself, i hope we continue the game. it's in some ways what democracy is all about. >> my first thoughts go to the heroism of the capitol police there and responded immediately in a manner that likely saved the lives of a number of people, members of congress as well as staffers that are out there each morning helping us. i just left one of our other colleagues who we were talking about where we customarily are on the field. he positioned himself in the visitors dugout, which is across the field behind it, across the field from where the capitol police sit. it's unfortunate, because steve scalise is a member of leadership. he had a security detail there. otherwise we would just be a bunch of guys out on a normal morning. i think the fact we practice there every morning, a group of congressmen together, sometimes 20, 30 people. >> 32 members today. >> you may have been something in which somebody was able to anticipate our being there and being vulnerable. >> anyway, our prayers are for the people who were wounded and our thanks to the police officers who -- including the alexandria police who arrived very quickly and attacked -- i can't emphasize this enough, they attacked the shooter and that saved our lives. >> and in doing so, that injured themselves. it was remarkable heroism. >> where were the capitol police when they first came to the shooter. >> behind first base dugout where they normally position themselves. they were not on the field. the shooter was not on the field and never got on the field. he stayed behind the third base dugout karks around behind home plate, got behind the utility shed an then darted out in front of the utility shed and that's when he got shot. >> did you see the shooter and the weapon? >> i did not until after the fact. i was getting down, protecting, making sure my son was down. i did not see it when it was an active shooting situation. >> we just left jeff duncan from south carolina. jeff generally plays shortstop, third base, trent kelly. jeff was leaving with another member, ron desantis who would have all been positioned in the infield. as customary we all have things to get back to. sometimes they will finish and leave a little early. as jeff was walking out, he saw the shooter who spoke to him and said, who are those guys? he said that's the congressional baseball team. he said, what are they, republicans or democrats? he said republicans. that was the conversation he had. it was only as -- >> he said he acted a little weird. we need to go inside. >> thank you. >> that is congressman joe barton, who was standing there with his 10-year-old son jack we've been hearing all morning happened to be on the field this morning. he was shagging balls. he was beside him. with the white hair was pat meehan, talking about their colleagues on the field at the time of the shooting. >> the story beginning to fill out, although the police are investigating, the fbi who is leading the investigation was unable to tell us much. we're hearing from people on the scene, what a horrific scene it was and how worse it could have been without d.c. capitol police. >> and that the shooter was over, according to barton at least, over on the third-base line, eventually made his way out behind home plates, behind the utility shed. barton, can only imagine the emotion he showed there every time he talked, linked to his 10-year-old son with him and trying to protect him at the same time. but he again talked about the role of capitol police and that they responded. he used the word attacked, attacked james hodgkinson and put him down and prevented him from doing more damage. >> lucky there was a member of the leadership there. otherwise no armed security there. that's the other thing i keep reflecting on. had steve scalise not been there, there would not have been somebody there with weapons on the scene. they are very forth funate. >> let's go to major garrett at the white house. we will hear momentarily from the president of the united states. >> we're not exactly sure how soon we'll hear from the president, could be two minutes, could be five minutes. the president is going to make remarks. you see that live picture from the white house pool position in the diplomatic room at the white house. the president is not going to take any questions. six to seven minutes of prepared marks right off a teleprompter. as i mentioned before we went to joe parton for that very emotional rendition of his recollection of that tragedy at the alexandria baseball field, this is one for the president, one that every president, whether they want to or not, encounters during their presidency in which they have to put the senseless into some form of context. put violence, a pastoral setting. what could be more pastoral than a baseball field just after dawn where a few members of congress are taking batting practice for a charity baseball game? how more gentle an atmosphere could you have than that in washington, d.c. i can't think of one. yet violence broke out. senior member of the leadership steve clease in the hospital, having just emerged from surgery from being shot in the hip. four others victims of violence. the president of the united states, up to him, burden of the office visits on the sitting president to describe not om his reaction, what he believes happened, describe the political context if he believes there is one. some trump supporters on capitol hill have begun to say there's a political atmosphere that has become poisonous that might have something to do with this. the president has to decide if he wants to weigh in on that at this particular moment. all of that on the shoulders of the president of the united states as he prepares to talk to the country in the aftermath of what can only be described as one of the most shocking events to be visited on congress in recent memory. >> it's at these moments, moments of fear, too, we ask presidents to be at their best summoning their sense why this is important, their own eloquence to speak. we saw it to president reagan, challenger disaster, when president clinton went to oklahoma city. this is a moment in which the president tries to become the voice of america. >> that's right. president obama after sandy hook. president obama after the charleston church shooting. many, many presidents in the modern era of electronic communication went in this moment you speak to the entire country. in this moment president trump will probably be speaking to the entire world. what do you say, what do you not say? what areas do you try to put in context and wrap rhetorical arms around and what things do you leave for another day or the investigation to bring more clarity to. all this is weighed and sifted probably up to the very moment the president takes the podium there at the diplomatic room by those trying to put together the best words for him and those he's most comfortable with. i've talked to presidents about this in the aftermath of events like this. it's not just the words written for them, it's words they are most comfortable with and most genuinely want to convey. lots of presidents, every president has a team of speechwriters. so does president trump. in these moments it's the president's own sense of character, own sense of mission, own sense of emotional balance that oftentimes decides which words to use, how to use them, and what to tell the country. >> you're so right, major. a speechwriter can only take you so far. i think what people are listening for and looking for now is what will be the president's emotional state when he delivers, delivers his speech. he's in the going to take any questions. do you have any idea, other than steve miller, who might have helped him with his speech. >> i guarantee reince priebus, chief of staff, will be heavily involved. he has tremendous relationships on capitol hill, knows steve scalise personally. i have to believe mike pence the vice president would be weighing in on this. he also has deep representatives with the house of representatives. so does kellyanne conway. lots of people will want to involve themselves in this and try to strike exactly the right note of empathy, sympathy, national sense of grief, also a sense democracy is larger than any moment like this. i suspect, i don't know, interpreting based on my history covering presidents int traumatc moments like this. then there's always room for who the president is, who he wants to be in moments like this. that's sometimes the most important historical variable in a moment like this. >> we underline this the first challenge of this kind for the president since he's been in august january 0th, 2017. >> definitely had to deal with the who are itchihorrific videod all the world, the gas attack. that was something his white house had to distill, make a decision on, put a battle plan together rapidly and deal with the aftermath. it's not as if there hasn't been a significant event that this white house has had to cope with. there have been. this is the first wn in america that has not only riveted the country's attention but perhaps created a sense of unease about what is the context, what is the tone, what is the atmosphere of our political conversation. this president has said many times he's at the center of something that is very harsh, unrelentingly critical of him and in some cases not believing the fact he's a legitimate president. that eats at this president. he's made it clear in tweets. he wants the country to at least give him a break and at least accept him as legitimate 45th president of the united states and not have rancor of the kind they believe they have seen visited on the white house every single day. the president may weigh into that or he may save that for another day. that's one of those decisions only he can make. he can be advised on but his own center of gravity that will determine how far, if at all, he goes in that direction. >> the tragedy is there trying to shoot and perhaps attempting to kill members of congress, the president speaks of that at a time in which we do not know the fbi investigation continues whether this is political, personal, or something else. >> we don't. the safest place at a moment like this for a president is to leave that which is unknown, unknown and unspoken, and not jump ahead of what is actually being suggested or speculated. it's extremely important for presidents always to know what they know, speak to what they know, and have conviction about that part of their voice and their statement. we'll see how the president handles that aspect in a couple minutes. >> does it means anything, major, he's delivering the speech of the diplomatic room. we see the portrait of george washington. we just saw a quick glimpse of ivanka trump as she entered the room. >> i'm not sure if there's anything symbolically outsized in terms of its importance. it's obviously a beautiful mrs. there are many beautiful place toss speak in the white house. that goes without saying. but it is more attractive and more somber than, for example, the briefing room. the briefing room is the plainest real estate in the white house. here is the president of the united states, donald trump. >> as you all know, shortly after 7:00 a.m. this morning, a gunman opened fire on members of congress and their staffs as they were practicing for tomorrow's annual charity baseball game. authorities are continuing to investigate the crime. the assailant has now died from his injuries. the fbi is leading the investigation and will continue to provide updates as new information becomes available. congressman steve scalise, a member of house leadership was shot and badly wounded and is now in stable condition at the hospital along with two very courageous capital police officers. at least two others were also wounded. many lives would have been lost if not for the heroic actions of the two capital police officers who took down the gunman despite sustaining gunshot wounds during a very, very brutal assault. melania and i are grateful for the heroism and praying for the swift recovery of all victims. congressman scalise is a friend, and a very good friend. he's a patriot, and he's a fighter. he will recover from this assault. and steve, i want you to know that you have the prayers not only of the entire city behind you but of an entire nation, and, frankly, the entire world. america is praying for you and america is praying for all of the victims of this terrible shooting. i spoke with steve's wife, jennifer, and i pledged to her our full and absolute support. anything she needs. we're with her and with the entire scalise family. i have also spoken with chief matth matthew. he's doing a fantastic job of the capitol police to express our sympathies of his wounded officers and to express my admiration for their courage. our brave capitol police perform a challenging job with incredible skill. and their sacrifice makes democracy possible. we also commend the brave first responders from alexandria police fire and rescue, who rushed to the scene. everyone on that field is a public servant. our courageous police, our congressional aides who work so tirelessly behind the scenes with enormous devotion and are dedicated members of congress who represent our people. we may have our differences, but we do well in times like these to remember that everyone who serves in our nation's capital is here because, above all, they love our country. we can all agree that we are blessed to be americans, that our children deserve to grow up in a nation of safety and peace, and that we are strongest when we are unified and when we work together for the common good. please take a moment today to cherish those you love, and always remember those who serve and keep us safe. god bless them all. god bless you. and god bless america. thank you. >> trump at the white house. the president saying the assailant is dead and expressing the country's thanks to the first responders both from alexandria and d.c. capitol police for their heroic action. but the important point that came out here, the assailant is dead. we don't know what they have learned from him but that investigation continues. >> that is the first time we heard that. he also made a point of single out steve scalise who he called a friend, fighter, patriot, said he reached out to his wife to tell hers they are praying and pledged support. >> did not give any more information on two capitol police officers, we know they are in the hospital as well. two others injured but not hospitalized. you talked about the tone the president set there. somber, stayed away from any minks, overt political references of terror. more just talking about the importance of law enforcement. as we heard joe barton say who was there with his son, steve scalise was a member of the leadership. if steve scalise had not been there, capitol police would not have been there. it may have been a dramatically different situation. we're still waiting to get more information on the shooter beyond what the president said. we do know james hodgkinson is dead. 66 years old. there's a picture of him. he is from illinois. he was according to law enforcement carrying an m4. he came to this baseball field, was behind the third-base line for some reason and came up on it and eventually emerged behind home plate and utility shed. >> he actually never got on the field. >> never got on the field. but at some point this gunbattle that broke out during this congressional baseball practice, as joe barton mentioned in his words capitol police ended up attacking hodgkinson, put him down. he has since died of those injuries. jeff pegues also in washington. jeff. >> the president called it a brutal assault. that's how he described this attack on this baseball field early this morning with this assault weapon similar to an m4. regardless, this is what it looked like, especially to the people who were in the line of fi fire. there were several people in the line of fire as we've heard now from numerous witnesses and several shots fired. between 15 and 30 some say, also more than 50 others say. and it is not unusual for witness accounts to have varying degrees of accuracy especially this early on. it was astramatic sce traumatic those in the fire. those that weren't who witnessed it from several feet, several yards away, a distance away to see this unfolding. it was unfolding over several minutes. five to ten minutes, ten to 15 minutes we've heard from varying witnesses. we know according to law enforcement officials, capitol police, some have described it as attacking the suspect. they were certainly trained, even though they were wounded to go toward the danger instead of away from the danger. it was the capitol police who took the suspect down. there was also praise from the president for alexandria police who were on the scene according to their police chief within three minutes. so it was the capitol police, local police responding to this incident. now you have a combination of police agencies investigating, led by the fbi. the fbi telling us they feel like they have a pretty good handle on what is happening in terms of the investigation. that said, we still don't know what the motive was. now, as the president revealed, the suspect has died. he was wounded, and now he has succumbed to his injuries. that may complicate efforts to figure out a motive. but we know where he is from, belleville, illinois, 66 years old, james t. hodgkinson. the question is, why was he here in this area, and was this some sort of politically motivated attack. we just don't know at this time. >> a lot of questions about mr. hodgkinson today. thank you very much, jeff pegues. we're waiting to hear from nancy pelosi, democratic leader and speaker of the house paul ryan. they will be speaking live at noon. of course we will bring it to you at that time. we heard from congressman -- senator rand paul this morning who said there were about 15 to 20 members of congress on the field, 40 people total on the field but 15 to 20 members, they were there practicing for the annual baseball game. one of the people on the field congressman duncan. nancy cordes jones us with more on his part of the story. >> reporter: gayle, duncan is a republican from south carolina. he was in this all members briefing that has been taking place with the house sergeant-at-arms. he came out a short time ago and told reporters he had interacted with the shooter this morning. take a listen to what he had to say. >> i was there at baseball practice this morning. i actually left right before the shooting happened and had an interaction with who i believe was the shooter based on the profile i saw on tv. i've given a statement to the alexandria police department this morning after i heard about the shooting, they asked me to come down there because i did have an interaction in the parking lot who asked me if the team practicing was democrat or republican team. i told him they were republicans. he said, okay, thanks, turned around, got in the car and left, found out my republican colleagues were targeted. >> do you believe they were targeted because they were republicans? >> based on the question he asked me, i would make that assumption, because he asked me if this team was the republican or democrat team practicing. i responded that it was the republican team practicing, and he proceeded to shoot republicans. take that for what it's worth. >> can you describe why you believe this was the shooter? was it because the description you gave to the police? >> based on who i saw. the alexandria police department picture fits. >> did he have a t-shirt on that had any partisan. >> what i recognized was a red shirt, reddish. didn't see anything in his hands, didn't see any partisan stuff on his body and clothing. i saw the individual. i know what he asked me. i know how i answered. i know what happened. i'm making the assumption he was targeting republicans based on what he did. actually she's on the way off the field because i run around the mound. we get to the parking lot, desantis is already in the car. i'm getting in when this guy approached us. >> how are you feeling today? how are you feeling right now? >> i'm shaken up. my colleagues were targeted today by miami beach that wanted to kill them. trent kelly from mississippi played third base when desantis left, one of my closest friends. he was the closest to the shooter. he was targeted first. by the grace of god he missed. he zigzagged across the field as the guy continued to shoot, and he saw the whip, steve scalise, get hit. i don't think he'll ever -- this guy fought in iraq. he's a war veteran and active duty national guardman from mississippi. he's faced fire before, but not in a baseball uniform, not in a peaceful setting practicing the american sport of baseball. but he zigzagged across the field to get away from an active shooter who was targeting republicans and hit another friend of ours and the whip scalise. i would ask everyone to exercise calm and reflection and pray for my colleagues who were wounded and my colleagues that were affected because they were on the field when that happened. really the whole congress affected by this going forward. the world changed for us a little bit as members. i encourage everyone across america to play for our nation and for their elected officials here in congress as we work our way through this. i'm going to try to go to the briefing. thank y'all. >> that was congressman jeff duncan of south carolina describing his brief encounter with the man he believes was the shooter this morning at that baseball practice. now in about 10 minutes, the house floor will be opening for the day. as we've talked about, all votes have been canceled, but the house floor will open. the house speaker, paul ryan, will speak first. house minority leader nancy pelosi. they have asked all house members to be on the floor enabout ten minutes. that will certainly be a moving picture. everyone there paying tribute to the victims together, gayle. >> all right. thank you, naency. >> as we have taken note of this emotional place, this congress of the united states will hear from the speaker of the house and ranking minority member, as we have heard already from the president. the suspect, as we have learned in this morning's attack has died. so we'll check on the five other people who were shot. house majority whip steve scalise out of surgery. he was shot in the hip. president trump said a short time ago that scalise was badly injured but in stable condition. he was the only member of congress to be hurt. >> one congressional aide was also short this morning, zack barth who works for congressman williams. his mother said he called the family after the shooting with that same message. can you imagine how relieved they are. >> one at the scene said matt mika may have the most serious injuries. tyson foods, shot in the chest. capitol police not identified the two officers shot in this morning's attack but says they are in good conditions and have no life threatening injuries. if i heard the president correctly, he said at least two officers were injured, as far as we know. >> yes. one of them fired while he was injured. >> one thing we should point out, too, the police said an isolated sint, they don't believe part of any other incident. >> that's a good point. all the law enforcement officials made a pint of saying the community was safe. they kept emphasizing that over and over again. the community is safe in alexandria, virginia. >> it's safe and we heard the president call-for-unity. a lot has been canceled but can you imagine what the accept will be if it goes on tomorrow evening, was scheduled to >> a people who lived through this a and. >> we've been getting an update from the field. let's take a look at the first interview we had with him after the attack this morning. >> i was the firth after steve, brad another member from ohio, who is a physician, came out and applied pressure on the wound. >> seemed okay. >> he was coherent all the time. he laid out there at least ten minutes in the field. we couldn't get to him while there were shots. >> did the shooter say anything? >> there was a lot of yelling going on. to tell you the truth, some of the members had different angles and they may have heard him yell something but i didn't. the two security details, the woman, crystal, was shot pretty early, and she went down. the other gentleman was returning fire. >> female police officer. >> yeah, capitol police officer, wounded, airlifted. >> another shot in the head. >> another gentleman by the name of matt was shot in the chest. he was taken i think by an ambulance. >> what do you make of this? >> what do you make of it? no idea. no idea. i got steve scalise's phone and called his wife. i just didn't want her to wake up and hear the news and not know what was going on, so i talked to her. >> senator jeff flake of arizona. >> chuck fleischmann, marty, the photographer was there. i think mo brooks came in. during that time you'd see more and more pile in. i think there were about 12. some staff, some members, six, eight members in the dugout. like i said, there were people hiding behind trees. there's a dog park over there, always people over there. i think they were running the wrong direction. >> ten minutes to get the gunman down but you had security details. what took so long? >> he had a lot of ammo. i think he must have been secured behind the third base dugout for a while. so it was tough to get to him. >> from a tactical standpoint. >> seemed so. eventually he was out in the open. marty, our photographer saw him the first time raise the rifle. he thought, why in the world is somebody bird hunting out here at this time. looked like 40s, maybe 50, dark hair, white, with a blue shirt on, i think jeans. my view of him was quick behind the dugout. when i realized he had a line of sight into the dugout with all the members there, then we obviously went back down quickly. >> reports of 50 to 100 gunshots, obviously because capitol police were returning fire. >> 50 would be an understatement i'm quite sure. >> senator, we're now joined by national audience. can you recap exactly what you saw from the beginning? >> we were doing batting practice. there were a number of members and staff fielding. steve scalise was on second place, playing second base and fielding balls. all of a sudden we heard a very loud shot. everybody thought it sounds like a gun. the gunman was over by the third base dugout with a clear view of the field and everybody on it. then all of a sudden a couple more shots and we knew what it was. i just remember seeing some gravel, you know, bounce up as shots were coming near us. so we climbed spot dugout and tried to get our own people engaged. some people were calling 911. it was at least 10 minutes because we were applying pressure to one of the staffers was shot in the leg. we had a belt off and put that on. we could see steve scalise in the field. he dragged himself after he was shot from near second base about 10 or 15 yards in the field. a little further away from the gunman. he was laying motionless out there. i wanted to get to him but there were still shots going overhead from both sides. so finally when we heard the shooter was down, i ran low out to steve and started putting pressure on the wound. and then we for about 10 or 15 minutes did that until the medics arrived. >> how many members of congress were here? we see young people. >> about 25. >> republicans. the game is tomorrow. so we've been doing this for -- i've been in congress for 16 years. this is my 16th year doing this. >> what is it for -- >> we have a congressional baseball game for charity. this year we'll raise about $650,000 for some underprivileged kids here in d.c. so it's one of the longest institutions in congress, the roll call trophy goes to the winner. it's a great event. about 10,000 people get out to the game. so it's a game for charity we do every year. >> republicans versus democrats at matt stadium. >> this was your final practice before hand? >> that's right. the game is scheduled for tomorrow. i hope steve is okay. i did call his wife. i got his phone and called his wife to make sure that when she woke up she didn't hear news and let her know that i certainly thought he was going to be okay. >> that was senator flake from arizona earlier this morning. at moments like this we hear eloquence and recognize courage. here is what joe barton, the congressman from texas, who was there with his son and also participating in the baseball said. i hope we continue the game. in some ways this is what democracy is about. >> he's right about that. it will be interesting to see what decision they make on that. >> some riveting descriptions all morning long from members of congress who were there and what happened this unfold over an agonizing period of time. as they talk about representative scalise lying there on the field and they couldn't get to him because shots were still being fired as they tried to put down this gunman. we do have information on the gunman and online postings he was making. jeff pegues in washington has more on that. >> yes. typically when law enforcement tries to put together a profile of a suspect, what they look at first is social media. and according to what we've learned here at cbs news, this suspect, james t. hodgkinson from belleville, bellville illinois, 66 years old, left a trail on his social media pages including facebook. there were some eanlt-trump postings on his facebook page. a few of them: trump is a traitor, he has destroyed our democracy. quote, it's time to destroy trump and co, i suspect he meant company there. and so those are two of the postings that we have. those were posted in march. he also called republicans, quote, clowns.so for those who think -- and senator rand paul mentioned this -- maybe this is politically motivated, this is the type of information that suggests that perhaps it was. it's still early, the fbi is leading this investigation and they'rl

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