conduct this investigation and bring those responsible for these despicable acts to justice. we have to unify. we have to come together and send one very clear, strong, unmistakable message that acts or threats of political violence of any kind have no place in the united states of america. >> so far the devices have been what appear to be a pipe bomb. >> what we saw here today was an effort to terrorize. this clearly is an act of terror, attempting to undermine our free press and leaders of this country through acts of violence. >> through acts of violence. with me now with the latest nbc news investigations reporter tom winter. all right, tom, you and i have been together for the last two hours as we try to interpret what happened earlier today and we're getting more news about maxine waters. set the stage for us exactly
where things stand. i know i'm putting you in a tough spot because there are still so many unknown. >> and some things even not quite frankly we're not in the position to share because we don't want to be in a position we're disrupting an investigation. we know there's a suspicious package that's been identified that was sent to her that was intercepted at the capitol mail processing facility, and that's just normal procedure. what we don't know yet is if whether or not that specific package is in fact connected to the other devices that we've been talking about since early this morning. why do we know what packages are kind of connected here in what appears to be part of a same effort and why other suspicious packages we've heard about today are not connected to this, and i think the key details here are the evidence. we know the packages that were sent that are connected, the soros, clinton, brennen and the
former attorney general eric holder, that these were sent in what appears to be a padded manila envelope. the return address in maine is debra schultz. and there's no indication here the congresswoman sent out the packages herself. but the packages contained that return address. and the components of these devices, you're looking at it now, it appears to be a pipe. we're told 6 to 10 inches in length, there's explosive powder found inside. there appears to be some additional devices. obviously you can see wires in what we're looking at on-screen. we're told the components of the devi devices that were sent to former president obama, hillary clinton, as well as george soros, that all these devices have exactly the same characteristics.
so that's one of it reasons why they're all being tied together at this point. we say potential devices and suspicious packages that you're looking at on our screen as far as what we're calling them because the special agent bomb technicians of the fbi based out in quant ico, they're still looking at them. none of these devices went off, of course. at this point we're trying to see if these devices were designed to go off. it appears they were, but they did not go off, so was there something intentional done so they did not explode or something in their design put together so they did not go off? we know for sure again packages addressed to former president barack obama, package addressed to hillary clinton, package addressed to george soros and former attorney general eric holder, they're all part of one group as well as john brennen, a
former cia director. and obviously that was sent over to our colleagues at cnn. in addition to police commissioner james o'neil the package sent to cnn contained white powder, field tests are ongoing on those. obviously if it were a serious, chemical and biological agent inside of that we would have heard about that by now. so initial tests appear to be complete, and we'll wait for the final sign-off at the moment. >> i mean, think about the position the fbi, law enforcement is in right now. you don't know where the next package could go. and even though these packages for the most part were intercepted by congressional sorting centers and so forth, think about cnn, right? it is in one of the busiest -- columbus circle, the time warner center is one of the big -- not just the retail there, the
newsroom, that's a crowded tourist destination. you've got -- one of the university buildings behind cnn, essentially. this is cause for serious concern. i want to bring back ron allen in new york where a similar suspicious package was sent to the home of bill and hillary clinton. ron, give us an update. >> reporter: well, as you were pointing out, stephanie, this device never got anywhere near the clinton's home. it was intercepted by the secret service. the the clintons have lived out here for 18 years since they left the white house. they get secret service protection for life. as hillary clinton put it, they are just fine. she was not here at the time. she was in florida campaigning for democrats. former president bill clinton was here at the time when this
package was intercepted late tuesday night. but here's what mrs. clinton had to say today about all of this. >> hello. hello, hello. thank you all very, very much. you know, before i -- i begin, i want to say a few -- it is a troubling time, isn't it? and it's a time of deep divisions, and we have to do everything we can to bring our country together. we also have to elect candidates
who will try to do the same. who will set goals that will lift up every single floridian and american. usually when people ask me how am i doing, which happens quite often, i say, well, as a person i'm great. as an american, i'm worried. >> reporter: so clearly there is a very significant political dynamic to this that, of course, is apparently obvious at this point it would seem. interesting to point out, however, in the case of the george soros bombing, which police say was a real explosive, that was left at a mailbox that was along the side of the road where he lives. it's a major significant two-lane highway. one lane leads in the direction up here in the suburbs of new york. the mailboxes right out in front of his estate. a caretaker or an employee on
his property apparently went out the mailbox to pick up the mail, found this package, found it very suspicious, put it down in the woods near the house and called the police. so that is much different situation than having a device sent to a prominent official or prominent former president's home and sorted by the secret service. mr. soros' reaction as you recall as expressed by his foundation was just livid. he left no doubt he thinks he was targeted because of politics, because of his political views, because of what he called the politics of hate. stephanie? >> the politics of hate. i want to bring back my co-anchor ali velshi outside the scene in time warner in new york city. i think back to our colleagues over at cnn live on-air while this happened, how serious this is and commend them. there they are right next to you, coin continuing to report on this story as it unfolds and not going home.
it's commendable. >> reporter: i am so proud of them. i am so proud of them. you know, chris cuomo is over there with kate baldwin on the sidewalk outside of their place of work delivering the news. and i spent many years here. i worked in this building for seven years. i worked for cnn for 12 years. these are my colleagues, and that is what we do. we deliver the news, and i'm proud of them. but they are only one of the victims today receiving these pipe bombs. we don't know whether these are real bombs or not. they look like bombs. i've seen the pictures of the one received here. that's gone for testing. it's been removed from this building. of the six that were sent this is is the only one that made it to its destination. one that got close to george soros, one that got sent to the officeholder was sent back.
eric holder, and so he didn't get the potential bomb. mario cuomo, the governor of new york had said he'd received a package. it turns out that's not part of it. and maxine waters, the congresswoman was the target of another one which got intercepted at the mail office. so six in total. they're being investigated to find out whether they're real. experts have been telling you and me, stephanie, in the last few hours there are bound to be others. pipe bombs require tape and surfaces. what we don't know is whether they're real or not. cnn is over there. if you look past the nypd police vehicle over there, just to the right of that is the entrance to time warner and cnn. that has not been opened yet because this palkage received here also had white powder on it. police are still assessing to make sure it's not dangerous. i would suggest people don't
think it was ricin or some other chemical, but we don't know that. we don't have that information yet from the police. we've been here for a few hours. as you can see, stephanie, we've moved closer and closer. police have let us move closer. while i've been here, you've also been here with me, and there are a lot of people. this is major transportation hub, consumer hub. >> a tourist hub. >> so you got to talk to some of the people. >> reporter: i did. and one of the tings they were saying reminds me of the fact new yorkers are a very hardy bunch of peoplech and the people who come to visit new york are hardy people, too. i want you to listen to some of the sound we got. take a listen. >> right now my thoughts are i hope it's not something dangerous, that's all. >> reporter: is it unsettling to you to hear a device might have been sent to us? >> of course it is. it could be a destructive device.
you really don't know these days. >> it's the mecca of everything, arts, politics, fashion, everything that makes the world go round. and this is the perfect place to, shall we say, shake people up, shake the world up. >> reporter: and so people were shaken up by this, but they are still going about their activities. one of it things they could not do, they couldn't get in this building because of what happened. we see the revolving doors, they are letting people in and out of the building now. as it was mentioned, it is unsettling. this is where 9/1 happened. this is the city. people have to shore themselves up, brace themselves. and i think one of the things that happens here in new york, people are sort of on edge all the time. you sort of steel yourself against the possibility something could happen because it did happen in this city. people determined they're also going to get on with their lives. >> 9/11 was the last time i
remember organizations being evacuated because there were threats made to them. as you say this is mecca. time warner center, there are nine subway lines that run below us. there are numerous streets that go through here. broadway cuts through here. this is major commercial center. it's probably the only thing we have in manhattan you can call a shopping mall, but it's very high end. these are condominiums over here. i remember rickey martin bought one and it was $11 million then, and it must be be 50 or $60 million value now. if you're going to do something of shock value or really targeting people this is the place. >> without doubt. people come here to see people and to be seen. if someone wants to disrupt something, this is the perfect place to coo it. as the woman who was in one of our sound bites mentioned, this is hub for so many things. for the financial, for the fashion, for news, for politics.
the happens right here. this is where you get attention. >> it's remarkable stuff. you and i were talking ability this earlier. this is one of the areas the police demonstrate their proficiency in. over the years of being here you would often see unexpectedly 50 to 100 police vehicles gathering here, the police with their assault weapons. this is where they drill for emergencies because it was always expected. if something goes wrong, it might happen here. and they have done such an efficient job of keeping traffic moving on all of these streets. the subway is not closed. >> one of the things that makes this sort of strange is you hear sirens, see police cars coming through here in masse all the time. for some people it was like i don't know what's happening, it seems like a normal day. but when everybody started coming out of the building, it was clear something was happening. in addition people got messages on their phones.
she was in the building and didn't know if she would leave, but someone came up to her and said you've got to get out of this building. >> when we got here there were thousands of people out on the sidewalk. my old anchor john berman came by, he came for a run, he didn't know what was going on. that's what happened here. it happened quickly. people were evacuated. they cleared the building, cleared the streets. and now it looks like slowly things will get back to normal over here at cnn. >> and as always we have to show our appreciation for new york city's finest. weave got some of the best law enforcement officers in the world. i want to go now to washington, d.c. where garret hake is right outside the d.c. residence of former president obalm a a. i know the package like the one that went to the clintons was
intercepted. you know, president obama doesn't exactly get his mail and open his door with a cup of coffee. >> reporter: that's right. the former president and first lady don't come out in their bathrobes and pick up t miles f here. and that's where the package was intercepted. the package that was intended to come here never made it anywhere close. you hear some honking behind me. that's the secret service. they operate outside the obama's residents all the time. it's a very closely watched and protected home not just close to the obamas but jared kushner and ivanka trump. we're not terribly far from the vice president's residence up massachusetts avenue. so this is part of the city that is typically locked down, and today is no exception. now, we don't know if the former
president or first lady were at home at any point during the day today or whether they were directly contacted here at home about this package. we've not heard from them, but we have heard from the former vice president who spoke of describing really the moment that we're in here. in a tweet saying this country has to come together. this division, this hatred, this ugliness has to end. still waiting from word from president obama who's been much more visible lately out on the campaign trail. and i expect we'll hear from him in the not so distinct future about the events of today. >> we have heard actually via twitter from former president bill clinton who writes thank you to the secret service and all law enforcement agencies who responded to this week's incidents. they work tirelessly to keep our country and community safe. i am entirely grateful for their efforts. we should also share from president trump earlier who said the safety of the american people is my highest priority.
i have just concluded a briefing with the fbi, department of justice, department of homeland security and the u.s. secret service. so, yes, we have talked an awful lot about the divide in this country, the rhetoric on many, many sides and whether or not the president does insigcite a of this fury. but right now that's a secondary conversation. right now there have been over five packages sent out to a media organization and former and current political officials, and our law enforcement needs all the help they can get getting to the bottom of this. i want to bring back malcolm nance, executive director as well as retired atf special agent in charge, and jim calve nau. malcolm, your thoughts first. in the last hour we learned about another package to maxine waters. >> that was sort of expected. as ali, said in the last hour
and i'd to give him some props on this, whoever this bomber is, he has a play list in his head none of us are privy to. but now as he's delivered his devices, he is now executing a list that's in his head that we are now finding out is heavily partisan, and is targeted to whatever mental defect that he. that being said, we need to be aware that there could be other people out there who have just not found these devices or there's u.s. capitol hill police or some officer staffer who are now aware through the postal service warnings or new york city shield reports that these devices are now out there in play. people are seeing what they look like, they know what the packaging is like, and it remains to be seen when that will actually end. the most important thing is we have to get the bomber.
and now there's national awareness about these devices, this man most likely bragged to somebody. these type of bombers who are very political, they don't operate in a bubble. they're not like the unabomber who operate in the woods and carve their own bombs. this person likely had some communication on social media with friends. and if we're lucky law enforcement will be able to run him down very quickly. >> jim kavanaugh, i want you to weigh in. if you were in your former seat, what would you be most focused on right now? >> forensics and cameras and tracking where these things were actually mailed from. the soros was actually delivered by a carrier. so he might not have put the bomb in a mailbox itself. we don't know if a courier might have dropped it at a mail
facility themselves. that's the first blush you're going to try to get on, the investigators. we setup a joint command group with the jttf. commanders trying to run-down these leads are going across the country. forensics, fingerprints, dna. but really you're trying to stay ahead of the bomber. malcolm is spot on. he's laying it out for you. the crucial thing is the guys lose. i've had bombers change and adapt. you've got a frustrated bomber here, if in fact these bombs were intended to detonate, and we don't know because we don't have every last report of the fus fusing and firing system. we don't have those facts. but if it was intended to detonate and they did not detonate he is an unsuccessful
bomber and those bombers in my experience become even more dangerous than just they were at the beginning. because now they feel like they still want to achieve their goal of hurting and killing. and so they can change their packaging, their targeting. they can change their method, their modus operandi. they could be sitting at home watching all the news channels while they're currently making more devices. so it's imperative on the joint operations, jttf and all police to try to run those leads as quick as they can. i know they're doing, and malcolm knows they're doing it, quint knows they're doing. we've all done it. and it's fast, quick, and you've got to track down those leads and try to intercept this. i think he'll be caught, the question is can we catch them quick? >> and to that point, if this person, we don't know it's a man or woman, is watching the news, if they're watching right now, i would like to say please turn yourself in. please stop doing this. it makes no sense. there's no reason for it.
everybody's born a good person. you can always get back there, and the fear that has been incited, the work our law enforcement agencies are doing right now and the threat whether it's to these government officials, to the community, to the news organizations is just too much. i impress upon you to please stop. malcolm, what do you make of that point jim made and michael made earlier, do you find it peculiar this person was smart enough or sophisticated enough to put these things together, get the names and addresses have and a very specific target list and yet nothing was detonated. do you believe that was by design? >> we don't know about that yet. i mean, this could have been a fake device using all active components where assembled properly they would have exploded. he made -- you know, there are multiple methodologies bombers use. but no matter what this device was designed to intimidate. and it has.
it's intimidated the nation at this point. so for the most part we have to wait and see whether the fbi or new york city police actually fires off one of these devices and sees if it's a viable weapon system or whether the bomber just pretended to build a device in order to scare the entire nation and all the victims by seeing this thing. so as time passes we're going to learn that. actually we might learn that relatively quickly. but it doesn't matter. if he used natural components that explode, generally, you know, black powder, battery detonator and a pipe, it's going to intimidate you whether it's designed to explode or not. >> my goodness, jim, last point? >> yeah, i think if in fact that's the case, and it could be and malcolm makes a great point, we don't know if it's a live device. but if it is explosive and filler and of the components i would expect what would follow
on the heels of that would be a message from the bomber, and that message would be on the similar typing on the outside of the envelope as has been exhibited on the cnn photos, and it would have said see, i could have killed you, the next ones will be real. so if they are fake devices or with real explosive components i would expect a message. so we'll see. maybe not, but that's how i'd be looking at it as a commander of a bomb investigation. now he wants to say why did he do it this way? if in fact were real devices and none of the packages were opened by law enforcement who knows how to open a package like this who knows how to detonate it, it could be live devices by friction, a pull switch, a tripwire, a light switch when it sees the light. any kind of switch, mercury switch. all keends inds of ways it can designed with delays and funks,
but we don't have that information. but there could be more in the mail stream, and the other things he could change the outside look of the package. so do not get fixated that it's going to look like this. it could look different, and it could be left, placed at someone's house. so everyone needs to be alert. don't pick it up, don't touch it, don't open it unless you ordered it, unless you verified it, unless you know who sent it. you've got to be paying attention now because there's a bomber out there, he's a frustrated bomber, he still wants his goal, like malcolm said if it's just to intimidate, we get the message. >> if he or she wanted to intimidate, create chaos, incite fear, they have been successful. and again i implore them to stop. we're going to take a quick break. don't you go anywhere. we're going to stay on this subject. coming up, the president's response to today's unsettling
series of events, the interception of several bombs that have been intended for political targets and our colleagues at cnn here in new york. you're watching msnbc special coverage. don't go anywhere. are you paying too much and getting too little with your current medicare plan? if you have medicare, you have an
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welcome back. i am stephanie ruhle joined by the normal anchor of this hour, ali velshi, who is on location as we have special coverage of today's attempted domestic terrorism. ali is going to rejoin us in a moment. he is standing in columbus circle right outside cnn's headquarters where they received a suspicious package today along with a number of other political officials who received the same. i want to bring in our chief correspondent hali jackson at the white house. hali, the president spoke i want to say an hur and a half ago at a plan event where he was meant to speak about opioids, when he did, but he had a few brief comments. fill us in. >> he's tweeteding now, steand s received a briefing from the highest level homeland security intelligence officials in the
administration here. including the head of the secret service about these suspicious packages that have been sent now as you've seen on that map to a number of political leaders around the country, people involved in politics as well. worth noting that there is a thread that links these people together. but before we talk about that, let me play you what the president had to say very specifically in those remarks that opened his speech just a little bit ago. watch. >> the packages are being inspected by top explosive experts, and a major federal investigation is now under way. the full weight of our government is being deployed to conduct this investigation and bring those responsible for these despicable acts to justice. we will spare no resources or expense in this effort. and i just want to tell you that in these times we have to unify. we have to come together and send one very clear, strong,
unmistakable message that acts or threats of political violence of any kind have no place in the united states of america. >> reporter: the president there talking about the need to unify after what has developed today, comments that struck his critics as off, frankly, given that the thread that links these people together have been that they have the targets of personal attacks by president trump, criticism of his or have been critical of the president. now, here's the thing, the president -- the white house came up fairly quickly with a statement condemning what they called terrorizing acts earlier this morning when all of this started to unfold. the president came out and addressed what happened immediately as he walked out into the east room for those remarks, a previously scheduled speech that was a bill signing for opioids legislation. here was the question, stephanie, as you know the president has been holding an the creasing number of rallies in the gear up to the mid-terms these last couple of weeks.
it's at those rallies we've seen him go after in some cases by name the people on the screen right now. the question is how and when and whether he will reflect the sentiment delivered in the east room today at that rally in wisconsin today. he leaves departing from the south lawn about an hour from now. we will be out there asking the president questions about this. he may stop and talk to reporters, he may not. but it's at these rallies as we've seen in the past the president take a different tone or deliver a different message than he has does at the white house. >> he doesn't go after just his political opponents, he often makes comments about reporters, and it'll be interesting to see what the president does tonight especially in light what has happened to aerocolleaguour col cnn. i want to bring back ali velshi with senator jeff flake. >> it can be done, politicians bear a responsibility to do it,
and if we can model better behavior i think as politicians, capped dts wi candidates will pick up on it, and i think the voters need to reward it as well. right now there's no political market for saying i'm going to reach across the aisle. if you say that in a campaign it ends up in your opponent's hands. it can't be that way. >> what can because you haven't been shy about saying what the president can do, this is moment fortunately no bombs have gone off. no one has been injured but this is one of those moments that scares the nation a little bit. what can the president do? >> in those moments, his words were great. waefbl g we've got to tone it down and be more civil. we'll see in the next rally. >> which will happen tonight. >> if there aren't lock her up
chan or talk about a journalist that's been beat up and that's okay, that's wrong. he needs to follow up what he said with actions. if he models that kind of behavior, it helps the rest of the pall tegs oliticians as wel. >> this has been a bit of a cause of yours. what happens when you're not in office to talk about civility in politics? >> i'll still be around. we have to change it. there are big problems and we've got to face -- there are real enemies we have outside of this country, too big of enemies to be creating those amongst us and treating our political opponents as if they're enemies. so i'll be speaking out with whatever platform i have. >> one question here, our colleagues here at cnn are often criticized by the president, and that's okay. but how do we get to the point that's often the job of the press and we need to hold you all to account?
>> it's the politicians' job to take it, frankly, and like i said the enemy of the people, the president needs to know that phrase does not have a pedigree. and we have a number of journalists being detained and killed overseas. and you can't here be useding that kind of language. you just can't. >> senator, thanks for your time. >> ali velshi just moments ago speaking to senator jeff flake. you know, it's really important where he said when the president in in incites violence, calling the press the enemy of the people. there's no insistence upon morality or civility on the part of the president written in the constitution. and i'm reminded on a day like that maybe they didn't think
they had to write it in the constitution. it should without a doubt be understood and expected. with me now a former fbi agent and an msnbc contributor. clint, walk us through what you think from all we've learned thus far. >> yeah, well, i think what we're learning is we've got an individual who appears to have a hit list. you know, we can go back, what was it june 2017 at that congressional baseball practice shooting where that shooter had a list of six members of congress on him when he committed those terrible acts. it appears we fast forward until today and this individual likely had another hit list. in this particular case it appears democrats that he was after. you know, it's no coincidence that that's where he was going after. so that's going to be part of what law enforcement looks at, notwithstanding the treasure chest of forensic evidence that they have from the explosive
devices, the envelope of white powder, whatever that turns out to be, and the envelopes themselves. but this is the type of person who would have been very vocal. he, she, they would have been right up front with how they felt about the individuals that they targeted either on websites, blog sites, letters to the editor, personal letters. so between those potential sources of information as well as the forensics i would suggest that the authorities are going to pretty quickly identify an ever smaller pool of potential suspects when is responsible for this. >> all right, clint, i want to bring back ali velshi. we lost you for a moment there, ali, the thanker of this hour. ali, interesting comments from jeff flake sort of commending the president on what he said a few minutes ago but also making it very clear what the president has said and done in the past is not okay and not acceptable from
people who hold the highest office in the land. >> reporter: yeah. by the way, i didn't know that was live on tv, so it's good, i didn't swear or anything, right? >> well, cyou never know. we'll have to find out later. >> reporter: it's interesting. jeff flake it has been interesting to hear him say we have to turn down the volume on this, can we not be critical of opposition, of political parties? so it's good he did say he was glad the president didn't say, but it does mean he has to follow through. the president is at last night's check is continuing with this rally. and those rallies do tend to take on a tenor of criticizing in some cases the judiciary, the fbi, the department of justice and media and hillary clinton, and whomever else. and this might be an opportunity, maybe for the president to say, look, we don't know who is sending these bombs. but what the president doesn't want to do is be at the front
end of that movement that people are sending bombs. what a great good fortune that none of them went off. we don't know if they're real bombs. they're certainly being investigated right now, but who knows what they are. do you remember, stephanie, when jeff flake referred to that baseball game, the shooting that you and i covered very closely? and you remember for a few days after that that sense of bipartisanship, that sense of turning down the volume and improving our political discourse, it didn't last very long. so i think that's what we hope will come of this thing. as you can see we've been moved around a few times because the police have moved the lines. 58th street is now open, cnn is now open. my colleagues are now all heading back into the office. >> well, it's good to hear they're making their way back in, and it's good to hear that their location is currently safe. but, ali, we still don't know where these packages are coming from, who they're coming from or why. we know that tensions could not be higher.
we cannot ignore where we are on the clock with regard to the mid-terms around the corner, and the heat, the anger that's surrounding us. and just think about this. the president is heading out for another rally tonight. so even though he has said some restrained words today, you and i have been to this -- and i almost said party, and i don't want to say it -- we've been to this before. we've watched the president have amendmentry restraint where he's surrounded by people who are tweeting for him or putting out a statement or when he stays on script. but then when he goes back to his own zone, and a rally is exactly that. think about that when he's talking about angry mobs on one side while he's literally doing it in front of an angry mob, it'll be note worthy to see how he behaves this evening. >> so jeff flake talked about that, what the chants of lock her up start, will he respond?
today might be different. today might be a day the president says, hey, look, words have consequences. if words have the consequence of a pipe bomb with some white powder being sent to cnn and the potential for somebody being injured or worse killed, then that may give him pause to think about it. we don't know whether he'll do that, but that rally is continuing. the president's circle, the people around the president have actually been proetty vocal today, his two sons, his daughter, the first lady, sarah huckabee sanders they framed it in terms of themselves as recipients of threats and critsome, but that's fine. if you have to be a recipient of the threat to understand how bad threats are, that's okay. whether this is somebody who has anything to do with him or supports him politically or is a republican or a democrat or
somebody who's trying to as you you said earlier head fake us into thinking republicans are doing bad things, it doesn't matter. bring the volume down, change the dialogue, change the discourse, do not cause people to contemplate or take action on violence against other people. i am going to be waiting to see whether that change actually happens. let's take a quick break. our special coverage of this will continue on msnbc right after this. begins to change which may cause trouble with recall. - learning from him is great... when i can keep up! - anncr: thankfully, prevagen helps your brain and improves memory. - dad's got all the answers. - anncr: prevagen is now the number-one-selling brain health supplement in drug stores nationwide. - she outsmarts me every single time. - checkmate! you wanna play again? - anncr: prevagen. healthier brain. better life. their medicare options...e people go to learn about before they're on medicare. come on in.
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welcome back to special coverage here on msnbc. i'm stephanie ruhle with my partner on loekcation, ali vels. new york city mayor bill de blasio had an important message for everyone in the political spectrum. >> to all public officials of all partisan affiliations, don't encourage violence, don't encourage hatred, don't encourage attacks on media. you can disagree but you have to show respect for people and air your disagreements peacefully. o unfortunately this atmosphere of hatred is contributing to the choices people are making to turn to violence. there's no question about it. and the way to stop that is to turn back the other way, to
bring down the temperature, to end any messages about the use of violence against people we disagree with, and that has to start at the top. >> respect and civility must come first. it comes in the midst of a heated campaign as democrats and republicans are fighting for control of congress. joining us now to take a closer look at this is "the washington post" senior political reporter aaron blake. aaron, tell us what's going on where you are. how do you process all of what's happened in the last day? >> reporter: well, it's really difficult. obviously this is not something all of us have not necessarily foreseen before. this is something that people who especially have covered rallies during the 2016 campaign have feared and have worried about for good reasons because of some of their interactions with people at those rallies. this is in some ways perhaps a predictable conclusion of where we are in our political
discourse in which there is such mistrust of either side, there is such mistrust of institutions up to and including especially the media. and all it takes is one person with a real axe to grind, someone significant enough to te drastic action for something like this to take place. >> i want to point out that jeff zucker who, obviously, runs cnn, who the president has been very critical of in the past came out with a pretty aggressive statement. quote, a total lack and -- excuse me. for a total and complete lack of understanding about the seriousness of their attacks on the media. he's speaking, of course, about the white house. for our colleagues over at cnn, this is no longer a one off. this isn't the president being sort of glib at one of his rallies. we have seen today our colleagues at cnn have to break from live programming and evacuate the building.
and when the president made his remarks earlier at the white house, he didn't mention the media. so, aaron, you can speak to what it's been like for the last two years as sort of the constant attacks that the media is getting from this president. and while he says all the time it's just negative bias, negative bias, we have to remind our audience that at this point the president has lied over 5,000 times. especially in the last week or so. so while that could be perceived as negatives, it's straight up fact-checking. >> i think we all need to draw a firm line here. there is a difference between criticizing the media, directly citing complaints about coverage and certain stories. you know, trying to get a fair shake from the media that covers you and then there's a situation in which you effectively turn the media into the enemy, into a boogieman for political gain. the republican party has drifted toward the latter for a very long time.
this is not something that's necessarily new. it didn't start with president trump. it started long before, in fact, maybe 20 years before. but this is something that has certainly ramped up with lots of prodding from the president. now whether or not you actually think the president bears some responsibility for something like that happens today, we don't know all the details of exactly who did this or what their motivations were. but there is certainly an environment in which things are very pitched. people are very passionate. and people feel a genuine sense of grievance and a genuine sense that the media especially, and democratic politicians, are out to get them. are doing things that are very bad for the country. and when you set up that dichotomy where one side is not just doing bad things but is also evil, it's not difficult to see how people might take that next step. >> and i'm going to go out on a limb here and say people are not evil. they do bad things, and they have a chance to turn it around and be better. and i ask that our political leaders do just that.
president trump, in fact, i mentioned it, has that rally tonight in wisconsin. we want to know, will he continue on this attack? nbc's vaughn hillyard is in mosinee which is in central wisconsin. tell us about where you are and what's to be expected. >> yeah, good afternoon. this is the airport hangar where the president will be flying into about three hours from now. we've been out here all day. there's thousands of people lined up here. i want to be clear. when you're going through and talking to these people, they are good folk. they mean well. they're passionate people. i've been talking to them about these e ploesive devices, they say this is not right. it is wrong. they do not agree by any means. and i want to play a couple of those bites there that sound off on that. >> it's not good. we have to calm down a little bit and respect each other. and respect each other's views. i would expect not everybody to agree with me, but i want people that disagree with me to respect
me. >> it's not right. nobody should send bombs or that stuff to anybody. i don't care who they are. i disagree with them, politically, but that's wrong. >> now guys, i asked about the political rhetoric and where we are as a country right now in this. and many of the folks i talked to said they don't like to see when there are republican lawmakers shouted down at restaurants. i said at the same time when there's chants of "lock her up" are you not engaging or part of that? i talked to one woman there in one of the sound bites who told me she'll not be engaging in that chant tonight because she said she believes that each party, as well as the president, and she says she is here in support of his policies from immigration to -- reform, she understands and recognizes and hopes those types of chants are not engaged here tonight. >> then let this be a moment of learning and reflection for everyone. this person out there may have
incited fear, may have created chaos, but he or she is not going to stand in the way of free press. he or she is not going to stand in the way of democracy, and this is a time to get together and rise and be respectful. i turn you now back to the man of this hour, ali velshi who is standing right outside cnn's new york headquarters where people have made their way back in to work. >> it's kind of incredible. i'm watching all of these folks from cnn who i used to work with who sort of went afar, maybe grabbed lunch while all this was happening and they're coming back in. there's a sense of relief. poppy harlow who was on the air when this first happened when the alarms went off is going home to see her kid and it's just one of those -- this sense of relief that we're back. it's okay. it's all happening. there's been a statement put out by jeff zucker, the president of cnn worldwide saying there's a total and complete lack of understanding at the white house about the seriousness of their continued attacks on the media. the president and especially the
white house press secretary should understand their words matter. thus far, they have shown no comprehension of that. that's probably one of the more serious attacks we've heard from jeff about the president. we were speaking to senator jeff flake just a few minutes ago, before you were talking to aaron, and it was about the same thing. about this rally tonight. jeff flake says he's glad about what the president said earlier today, and as you and i were discussing, is it going to change when he gets to the rally? let's listen to what jeff flake told me. >> can't wait for civility until an election is finished. and we can't have people talking about this being the enemy of the people and talking about, you know, how journalists can be beat up and that's okay. i mean, that just -- you've got to get away from that. >> what do political leaders do to turn the volume down now? >> we're right in the heat of midterm campaigns so that's tough when you're close.
but i know it's never more needed, and we saw, for example, with john mccain during that heated presidential campaign when somebody was going after his opponent and he took the mike away. >> stephanie, that was a small example. we remember you and i talked about it when john mccain passed, that moment in the campaign against barack obama when a woman said something derogatory about barack obama at a town hall meeting and john mccain stopped it. he stopped it and said, no, ma'am, that's not the case. it was polite. a small moment. there was no talk of violence. but that's the kind of rhetoric that we crave these days. >> you know what, ali -- >> people have been mocking me on twitter for our conversation saying the president will change his ways tonight. we can only hope, right? >> the thing is that you mentioned that's so important. it was a small moment at the time, but as we look back, it was a massive moment. that was the moment when senator john mccain clearly put country
first. and that's what it's all about. people have political agend as, policies they're trying to put through, but every elected official at their core should always be putting country first. >> you know what struck me about what jeff flake said because one of the things you and i were talking about earlier today is that you can, as the president, be mad at cnn. maybe you should be. maybe you should be mad at msnbc, but what we do is hold people to account, regardless of party or that's what we should be doing. and jeff flake said politicians have to take that. that's part of the business. you run for office. there is a free press, a free press that is aloud allowed to to account and fact check you and bear witness. that's exactly what we exist to do. that is something that fundamentally this administration just has not come to terms with. criticism means attack.
and attack means enemy. and that is an environment which maybe today contributes to the sort of thing we've had. i'd love to be wrong on this. i'd love to think what happened today isn't connected. >> if you told 5,000 lies, i would call you a compulsive liar. i would fact-check you. i'd say you're dead wrong. ides call you a liar, write that you're a liar and you wouldn't like it and feel it's negative. but what i would be doing is my job. and that is what we do every day. >> and it is negative. if you are fact checking someone telling lies it is, by definition, negative. and the person being fact-checked is not going to like that. >> but it's not bias. >> it's what we do -- it's not bias. it's negative. and negative is negative, right? if i'm covering a hurricane, it's also negative. it's just factually negative. that is not the same thing as bias. even if it is bias, you are an elected official. you're going to have to get a thicker skin when it comes to
the media. the media is not backing down. my colleagues from cnn are out there right now broadcasting a show from the sidewalk outside of their headquarters because of a bomb threat, stephanie. >> that's commitment. if you don't want to be called a liar every day, here's a suggestion. stop lying. ali velshi, thank you for giving me the opportunity to join you for this hour in our special coverage. >> always my pleasure, friend. >> ali, please, get yourself inside. he's been throughout for hours on this story. why? because he's committed to coverage. we'll be right back here tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. thank you for watching. i hand you off to my dear friend and colleague nicolle wallace. "deadline white house" starts right now. hi, everyone. it's 4:00 in washington, d.c. before today, the list simply read like a list of favorite targets of donald trump's political targets dispensed on twitter as applause lines. before today is read like an obvious list of office holders, political luminaries and one of the news organizations that the

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