Craig melvin will also be holding it down tomorrow. Good to see you, hallie jackson. Craig mel bin msnbc headquarters in new york city. Bracing for more, after the historic day on capitol hill, democrats and republicans are taking a break today before diving back into the public phase of the Impeachment Inquiry, as hallie just mentioned there. That will resume tomorrow. Were going to break down all the Key Developments from day one. Well also look at what we can expect from both sides tomorrow. Also ahead, a member of the community conducting these hearings, congressman Eric Swalwell will join me with reaction to everything that we heard and the strategy for tomorrow. You are looking live inside the New Hampshire statehouse where any moment now former Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick plans to make it official. He will be adding his name to that already crowded field of democratic contenders. What hes saying about his decision and the new questions
that his candidacy is raising about the entire field. Well get to that in a moment. Theres a lot happening on this thursday morning. Joining me from capitol hill jake sherman. Jake, of course, Senior Writer for politico. Hes also an msnbc political analyst. And here with me onset kristen welker, White House Correspondent for nbc news. Mr. Sherman, well start with you there at the capitol. Any moment now we expect to hear from the speaker of the house nancy pelosi. What do you suspect her message is going to be today and what will the things we learn in the hearing mean for democrats moving forward . Reporter democrats think they had a blockbuster day. Theres evidence they did move the ball forward. This phone call between Gordon Sondland and President Trump in a restaurant in kiev raising concerns than an aide heard about the investigations was the big revelation. We anticipate pelosi will talk
about that and the process overall. Remember, eight more days of hearings. Tomorrow marie yovanovitch, former ambassador to ukraine, that will be the hearing tomorrow, what were focused on for the next 24 to 36 hours. What republicans and democrats will try to do. Democrats will try to paint a perfect picture of an ambassador ousted for political purposes and republicans will try to muddy the water like they did yesterday. What they did yesterday, they didnt challenge the overall arc of the story, they challenged the particulars and how people found information that they did try to confuse the issue. I think thats the strategy Going Forward for republicans according to the ones i talked to on capitol hill. Ms. Welker, any word this morning on whether the president plans to change his defense or the administration plans to reconsider the defense theyve used so far . I dont think so. I think jake hit the nail on the head. Youre going to continue to hear
from the president , some of his allying on capitol hill, look, all these people are speaking from secondhand knowledge. President trump for his part calling what happened yesterday basically a snooze, and you have some solve his aides now inside the white house saying its a nothing burger. The reality is when you dig A Little Deeper and talk to some Administration Officials, they acknowledge they were caught off guard by the newly revealed phone call. They say thats the wildcard. What is Gordon Sondland going to say about this phone call we learned about yesterday which the staffer says the staffer overheard someone speaking to President Trump and he was putting the focus on the investigations into biden in particular. More so even than the ukraine policy. That gets to the heart of why the democrats are holding this Impeachment Inquiry in the first place. The president also, craig, really trying to strike a note of, look, i am staying focused on my job, remaining president ial. He had the joint News Conference with the president of turkey
yesterday. Later today hes going to be on the road. Hes going to be campaigning in louisiana. His allies, his aides think thats one of his strongest places, out in front of people, energizing his base. Thats what hes going to stay focused on. Jake sherman, are you still with me, buddy . I lost jake. Kristen, this strategy moving forward, do you get a sense that both sides were pleased with how yesterday went . I think the white house is trying to make that argument, and theyre making the argument for this reason, craig wait a second, kristen. Nancy pelosi talking about the impeachment. Lets listen. State department, none of us have come to this job to impeach a president. We come to work in the most bipartisan way possible, find our Common Ground where we can, stand our ground where we cannot. Yesterday you heard an appointment of the president speak in very Uncertain Terms, a courageous public servant. The devastating testimony corroborated evidence of bribery uncovered in the inquiry and the president abused power and violated his oath by threatening to withhold military aid. The white house needing an exchange for an investigation into his political rival. A clear attempt of the president to give himself the advantage in the 2020 election. Doing so, said to the president , jeopardize our jashl security, jeopardize our electoral system, violate your oath of office. I salute Chairman Schiff for the states manship that he brought, the democrats for showing great patriotism and professionalism with which they are conducting the proceedings. Im very proud of them. I said to the members at the beginning of the day yesterday, when we take the oath to protect and defend the constitution, we agree and we become custodians on a constitution. The constitution, brilliance of our founders to create a republic. A system of checks and balances, three coequal branches of government, separation of powers, each a check and balance on the other. As custodians of the constitution, we must be defenders of our democracy. Our democracy depends on that republic and not a monarchy, article ii that says i can do whatever i want. Again, with that responsibility, we go forward sadly, prayerfully, with a heavy heart because its not what we came here to do but we must uphold our oath of office. Questions. We hear it said routinely and of course its true that impeachment is a political process, not a legal one. Yet as we can observe, many of it we have counsels, depositions, subpoenas, this was made clear yesterday by Chairman Schiff when he reminded the minority that he would do everything necessary to ensure the legal rights of the whistleblower to observe anonymity. Right. In this political setting. So i wonder if you could explain to the American People why the legal rights of the whistleblower should prevail in this political setting over those of President Trump who should ordinarily enjoy a right to confront his accuser. Let me just say this. I will say to you, mr. Republican talking points, what i said to the president of the united states. When you talk about the whistleblower, youre coming into my wheelhouse. I have more experience in intelligence than anybody in congress, 25 years as top democrat, exof fish i dont as speaker and leader. I was there when we wrote the whistleblower laws. The whistleblower is there to speak truth to power and have protection for doing that and any retribution or how im coming the a whistleblower undermines our ability to hear truth about power. I will defend the rights of the whistleblower vehemently. The president can come if he has a case to make, does he want to come speak, does he want to present in writing or speak to the committee about what might be exculpatory for him . He has that right to do that. Nobody, nobody, president the president is not above the law. The president will be held accountable, and nobody has a right to endanger whistleblowers. Thats the system i will defend, and the American People, the American People understand that. You talked about bribery a second ago. Thats a very serious charge. Talking latin around here, e pluribus um numb, quid pro quo, bribery, bribery. That is in the constitution attached to the impeachment proceedings. What was the bribe here . The bribe is to grant or withhold Military Assistance in return for a Public Statement of a fake investigation into the elections. Thats bribery. Looking at an article of impeachment we dont know that. We havent even made a decision to impeach. Thats what the inquiry is about. When the committees decide that, they will decide what the articles are. But i am saying that what the president has admitted to and said its perfect, i say its perfectly wrong. Its bribery. You talked in the past about the importance being along on the idea of impeachment and bringing the public along. Do you think yesterday the witnesses, it was effective in convincing the public this is a worthwhile thing to do . Look, first and foremost, we have a responsibility to honor our oath of office, to protect and defend the constitution from all enemies, foreign and domestic. That is our responsibility. The clarity for the public to understand what is there wasnt as clear in my view when you say Obstruction Of Justice, Obstruction Of Justice, Obstruction Of Justice 11 times in the mueller report. That is justification enough for inquiring into an impeachment. This has a story, a narrative about the president threatening to grant or withhold certain privileges, certain Military Assistance, voted on by the congress to ukraine which is in our National Interest to do so because they were fighting the russians. Theyve already lost over 11,000, 12,000, 13,000 people fighting the russians. Thats why i say city hall roads lead to putin. Putin benefited from our not holding up that Military Assistance. Putin benefited by the action taken by the president visavis syria and turkey because they wanted a stronger stronghold in the middle east and the president gave them that. Putin benefited from the president s comments about
uncertainty about our uncertain from nato. The list goes on. I wont even go into the elections, joust those three because theyre the three i have mentioned to the president when i said, with you, mr. President , all roads lead to putin. You havent decided whether to move forward. That will be up to the committees to decide. Do you believe yesterdays testimony moved the needle for democrats more towards impeachment . This isnt about for democrats. This is for the American People. This is about patriotism. Its not about politics, democrats, republicans. Its not about anything political. Its about patriotism. Its about honoring our oaths of office and to uphold the constitution, and the Constitution Spells out what our responsibilities and what our penalties are. Yesterday i think i do believe the truth will set us free. And so the truth coming from the president s own appointee, the president s own appointee, describing bribery and threatening in the course of it, threatening the identity of the whistleblower is just shameful behavior. I wanted to ask you, usmca is eminent. How do you think aflcio is poised to respond if the bill is going to be considered well, we have shared values with the aflcio and believe the growth of our economy is blessed with more participation from collective bargaining, workplace safety, all of thatment so i think we will have well see what the implementation is, what
that is and the enforcement is. I think it will be a value that is shared by our friends in b labor as well as the democrats in the congress. So were in a good place. As i say, i want this to be a template for Future Trade Agreements so that the work we put in here will not only have a benefit in the u. S. mexico canada agreement, but for the globalization discussion in general. So what well have to do is, as soon as we come to conclusion, is to have the implementing language written, and we have an idea of what that would be. So i think were id like to see us get it done this year. That would be my goal. I dont imagine it would take much more in the senate to pass. Some of our legislation will pass this year, but we dont know what happens in the senate. I would hope that they would move quickly with this. You say the house has not decided whether to pursue impeachment yet. But when we see the hearing yesterday, a lot of questions about impeachment, you talk about three disticket things, bribery, abuse of power, things regarding articles of impeachment. Why would the public not think that the house is dead set on a course to impeach the president when all this milieu is going on. All this milieu is seeking the truth, called an inquiry. If the president has something that is exculpatory mr. President , that means if you have anything that shows your innocence, then he should make that known and thats part of the inquiry. So far we havent seen that, but we welcome in. Thats what an inquiry is about. Do you think theres a way, considering all the hearings and depositions that theres any way the house could not impeach, with all this work, regardless . Perhaps you have not heard me
when i have said this is something we do with a heavy heart. This is very prayerful, because impeaching is a divisive thing in our country. Its hard. The place that our country is now, its time a where when president nixon walked out of the white house. It wasnt there even two weeks before he left, it wasnt there, until the other shoe fell and he walked out the door. By the way, what President Trump has done on the record in terms of acting to advantage a foreign power to help him in his own election and of the obstruction of Information Ability Thout Th coverup makes what nixon did look almost small, almost small. But again, an inquiry is an
inquiry, and people come in and you hear what they have to say. Next week some of the republican suggestions of witnesses will come in, and well hear what they have to say. But this is not something you take lightly and you make a decision as you go along. One last question. Yes, sir. When these hearings are still going on, im curious whats been the working relationship with the white house . Have they been involved in this process, walking and chewing gum at the same time . Im not a gum shewer, but i do eat a lot of chocolate as i walk around here. Obviously the president the house senate, democrats, republicans and the white house will have to come to an
agreement. Left to our own devices, the appropriators, they come from the culture of appropriations and intelligence as forged in the congress, both places that by and large when i first started, they were not particularly partisan. But left to their own devices, the appropriators know how to get their job done. Without going into detail, were moving in a direction because we do not want a shut doudown of government. We prefer not to have a continuing resolution. We have to make some decisions as we move forward. The white house is going to sign off when you say the white house, you mean the administration . Lets just say the administration. And whoever they may designate at the table. Madam speaker, given that republicans have been arguing that yesterdays witnesses only heard things secondhand, im wondering if you think it would be worth waiting for those who
have heard firsthand like john bolton and Mick Mulvaney to testify cheryl, cheryl, cheryl, dont fall into the secondhand stuff, really. That is such a fraudulent proposition put forth by the republicans. That is such a fraudulent propositi proposition. They know it. Thats why theyre talking about process rather than the substance of what we have heard. I just wont even dignify what theyre saying in that regard. I just wont. [ Inaudible Question ]. We are engaged in what the constitution charges the congress to do, to make its decisions. We are not here to be manipulated by the Obstruction Of Justice of the administration. On the one hand they say that it is secondhand. On the other hand it obstructs all the people they consider to
have firsthand knowledge from testifying, obstruction of congress, obstruction of just e justice. Back to hr we have been listening and watching speaker of the house nancy pelosi talk about yesterdays public phase of the Impeachment Inquiry, the speaker there talking about the somber, prayerful mood, also making it clear in no Uncertain Terms she did feel like the witnesses yesterday spoke to an abuse of power by the president and corroborated evidence of bribery. Meanwhile, in the past few minutes, a scene that we have seen unfortunately play out far too many times in this country, students leaving their high school. Many of these students with their hands in the air. Bottom right, someone leaving that high school on a stretcher. There has been another School Shooting, this time in santa
clarita, california. This is the scene at Saugus High School. Were told so far there are seven victims, seven people, at least seven have been shot, conditions unknown. We are monitoring this quite closely. Andrew blankenstein is standing by. One of our producers there, nbc Investigative Producer for us. Andrew, what more can you tell us . Reporter well, we know that obviously there was a shooting this morning. We know theres multiple people down. Theres not a description of students at this point. Were talking about six to seven according to l. A. County fire. But we dont know the extent of these injuries. They were seeking a suspect as far as we know. We dont have any clarity on that. Its an unfolding situation. Schools are locked down in the area, and thats what we know at this point. Any idea at this point whether the person or people
that theyre looking for went to this high school . Still not clear at this point. Obviously theres been a massive response in addition to the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Office, theres the fbi and atf likely to respond as well at this point, if theyre not already. This is a high school thats about 30 miles north of los angeles in a suburban area. As far as trying to get people there, that can be tricky because, in addition to the stations that are located there, when you have a massive response like this, people come from all over in terms of law enforcem t enforcement. So were still trying to get whats going on the ground, but at this point this is what we know. There was a tweet a short time ago from the l. A. County Sheriffs Office. Ill read the tweet verbatim. Shooting at Saugus High School, please avoid the area. Male asian suspect, Black Clothing, last scene at the location. Deputies on scene still responding. Further information to follow. Still searching for the shooter according to the l. A. County Sheriffs Office. Folks in this area will obviously know these schools. They mention rosedale and highland Elementary Schools being on lockdown. Andrew, do stand by, see if you can gather more information. Id love to come back in a moment. I believe i have Jim Cavanaugh with me. Jim also on the line. Jim, of course, a former fbi atf. Jim, weve seen this play out time and time again. Were watching these pictures here, left side of the screen. Another high school, students leaving. It is roughly 8 25 local time
there in Santa Clarita, california. Bottom right of your screen, a number of Emergency Responders there, number of paramedics. What appears to be a student on a gurney. At this point were told seven victims, at least seven, their conditions are not known. Jim, what are investigators doing right now . Craig, the critical thing for the commanders on the ground is to stop the killing by locating the killer, the shooter who is, as far as we know now, very active. Hes all clad in black, apparently, according to witnesses. Is he hiding in the billing . Has he tried to make an escape . Theres a critical piece from the commanders, is this not an event that is over . Is it still Going Forward . Thats what theyve got to do. Some of these guys, craig, have no escape plan at all. They never come with one. They intend to die or get killed by the police or they just never even think about it. They never plan for it. They only plan for the mass murder, and thats sort of the end of their planning. Others do plan an escape. This is a critical juncture. As you described, the wounded are being cared for. They have to make entry fast because people can bleed out in these things. They can be shot in a hallway or a room and they can die from bleeding. They have to get in, find everybody who is wounded, press the shooter, press him down, press to point of contact. They can isolate him alone, then everything can stabilize. If they isolate him with others, then its a different scenario for the commanders. The first thing youve got to do, craig, youve got to find them. He might have escaped the
campus. The Parkland Shooter in florida escaped the campus. He left the campus. He was caught miles away by a patrolman walking down the road. Sometimes these guys do stay. Other times theyre hidden in there, barricaded in there, waiting for the police. I continue to always be struck by how calm these students are as they leave their schools there, as you see there. Some of the students with their arms raised to indicate to the deputies and Law Enforcement officials that they are students and not perhaps the suspect. We can also tell you in the last few moments, Los Angeles County has revised the number of victims. Were now told according to l. A. County sheriffs that there are three victims, three victims at least. Again, this is very early in the situation and these are numbers that tend to fluctuate as more information becomes available
and more people become accounted for. Knbc, our affiliate on the ground this is a high school roughly 30, 40 minutes north of los angeles. Knbc is on the scene there. How about we listen in for just a bit here, this is our affiliate outside los angeles. Lets listen to their coverage. Im wondering and waiting to find out this is a residential area, if there are homes in the area that may be told to be on lockdown because this shooter ran up the hill towards a hiking trail, towards an Elementary School which we now know, Highlands Elementary and Rosedale Elementary in Santa Clarita are on lockdown because of the proximity of the high school. The kids as you mentioned, meagan, look pretty calm right now and im sure hoping to go home and give their parents a really big hug. Yeah. Its going to take a little time there. You pretty much said it all daniella. These students most likely will be questioned. Definitely different from when i went to high school. You can see all these students, all on their cell phone, most likely texting their parents, letting their parents know that they are okay. So that is good, that theyre able to relay that message to the parents. We still have concerned parents coming up on scene. Thats a chp officer right there. We have multi agencies right here who quickly responded to Saugus High School once they heard shots were fired. You can see the orderly process right now. Once they have that campus secure and they have students, the injured students already transported, they can start removing the students who may have been sheltered in place as to when you first get on the scene, its still chaotic. Students may be running off campus. We did see students with their hands up, being taken to a safe location. The location is right off Saugus High School right off near parktion lot. Its going to be a long day, but
theyre going to take care of these students. Theyll be well tended to right n now. Megan, youve both been calling out the agencies that responded to this. You said chp, l. A. County and were hearing the federal government is getting involved as well. The atf is going to be responding to the shooting at saugus. We have a massive response between our local and regional and federal Law Enforcement agencies trying to figure out what exactly happened here as they search for the gunman. Megan, no information about the shooter, where that information might be as we see students escorted out of their classrooms. Weve been listening to knbc, our local affiliate in the area. Weve been listening to their coverage according to their reporters on the ground. The person they believe to be the shooter ran up a hill and
apparently near an Elementary School which is why that particular Elementary School is on lockdown. Rosedale and highland elementary on lockdown near Saugus High School. We should also point out, bottom right, thats video from earlier. The big box on the left side of the screen, this is the scene as its playing out right now. A live picture here outside Saugus High School as a stream of students continues to leave flanked b i Law Enforcement. I think we still have Jim Cavanaugh on the phone as well, retired atf, special agent in charge. Jim cavanaugh, we heard from one of the anchors a report that the atf is now on the scene as well, already involved in the investigation. What can we glean from that . Well, theyre responding as investigators, as federal agents. Youll see the fbi, the u. S. Marshal service. They all come together to lend the Special Skills they have. They all have the general investigative Law Enforcement presence, but they all bring little specialties as well. Theyre going to back up laso to find the shooter, stabilize the situation and help them in the investigation. The key point that your local affiliate reported that you covered is that the shooter was spotted running up a hill toward a hiking trail near an Elementary School. Thats critical information for the commanders to flush that out. Send deputies up the trail and try to locate them. Is he in a wooded area, hunkered down. L. A. County sheriffs
department tweeting a short time ago that theyre looking for someone male, asian suspect, Black Clothing last scene at the location, Deputies On Scene, still responding again. Jim, in cases like this, and i know its difficult, but in cases like this typically, the shooter or shooters, are they someone known previously to Law Enforceme enforcement . Its a mixed bag. Sometimes these people are known to Law Enforcement, or School Administrators have these people had trouble with the administration of the school or Law Enforcement. Oftentimes if its students, its someone who might not have attended class that day, be
under suspension or some other problems and didnt show up for class that day. Well go back to knbc talking to the Sheriffs Department spokesperson. What i can tell you is we have multiple resources responding to the scene like you said earlier. Reports of an active shooter at the high school. We have multiple victims down, our deputies are doing a System Attic Search Looking for the suspect. People tried to locate the suspect as fast as people and evacuate as many people as possib possible. Whats happening now, were going into a different phase where were conducting systematic searches with multiple deputy teams through the entire campus, making sure its safe, doing the same in
other locations like our Reunification Points, making sure we have a safe location to take students and were gathering resources to the area, so we can expand our search out into the campus, off campus and other areas to look for the suspect. Are you pretty confident at this point you have all of the victims and are treating them at this time . The victims we have identified we are treating at this time. Our partners at l. A. County fire assisting us with tending to the injured. Were pretty confident we have people gravely injured. In these type of situations, until we conduct a thorough search of the campus, we cant say definitively weve located anyone that was hurt or everyone that was hurt. Sergeant, were also hearing reports that this shooter may have been identified and may have been located at their home. Is there any information you can confirm about the shooter right now . I cant confirm any information about the shooter at this moment, other than he was a
male asian wearing dark clothing. Like i said before, very dynamic, a lot of moving parts. Were keeping that at bay, looking for all the resources we can, looking at all the leads we can and trying to make sure everybody stays safe. Sergeant, were showing our viewers at home our ground shots from outside Saugus High School after the shooting. Can you clarify . Initially we heard seven victims. That was revised by l. A. County victims down to three. Can you clarify for us how many victims you are hearing . I cant give you a definitive number on how many victims we have. We can tell you at least three, but we cant note the nature of the injuries because we dont know how they were injured. Might have been injured by gunshots, some might have been injured trying to flee. We have to conduct a thorough assessment and provide those numbers a little later. Do you have any information on the weapon used . No, i cant tell you what
type of weapon. I can tell you a weapon was recovered. It was recovered. There are several Elementary Schools that are nearby that are on lockdown. Parents of those Elementary School students, what should they do. As you can imagine, theyre pretty desperate to get to the school, get information about their kids and also the hills around that area, is that also being searched for the shooter right now . We heard reports the shooter was seen running up the hiking trail. I cant tell you where the shooter was actually seen running. Im not privy to that information yet. We have a lot of moving parts going on. I can tell you the parents of the students at Highlands Elementary, Rosedale Rmtly and Santa Clarita elementary, those schools are on lockdown. They are safe. The deputies are on scene to ensure they stay safe. Please be patient, contact your local School District, follow them on smead. Theyll be providing updates. For those at the high school, we
are Reunification Points. Our Santa Clarita valley twitter account is putting together information for Reunification Points for those at the high school. Were searching everything we possibly can. If we dont have deputies with boots on the ground in those mountainous areas, we have helicopters overhead that are using camera systems, were doing everything we can to bring this person into custody. You want anyone who lives anywhere near Saugus High School to stay inside. What do you want them to do . What we want them to do, if they see something, say something. Weve provided preliminary information about the suspect. If they see anyone matching that Description Torques call 911 and give us a location of where they possibly see this suspect. We ask people to stay indoors and lock their doors because whats happening at the moment. We have multiple First Responders driving up and down streets, canvassing the area. It helps us if people stay off the streets and give us that free thoroughfare to let us do what we need to do. You said one weapon was recovered. Did witnesses see a second, third or fourth weapon on this person . I dont know what other information or weapons the suspect has. Sergeant, thank you for joining us. We will check in with you in a little bit. We flared a spokesperson there with the Sheriffs Department in Santa Clarita californ california. It would seem they are still looking for the shooter. He couldnt confirm much other than he was a male asian wearing all black. Three victims at this point. He also indicated they believe they had found all the victims
gravely injured. He said at this point there are at least three victims and he also said right now deputies there are conducting what he described as a systematic search of the school using multiple deputy teams. There are three Elementary Schools on lockdown in the area. Declared the three Elementary Schools in the area were safe but their ear on lockdown because it appears the shooter is still out there. Also encouraging folks who live in the nearby neighborhood this is Saugus High School. If you live near Saugus High School according to the sheriffs station, please lock your doors, stay inside. If you see the suspect who call
911. Im joined now by phone by former fbi System Director for counterintelligence frank figliuzzi. Frank, we know again that the atf is on the scene. It would seem as if the shooter is out there. In addition to conducting the systematic search of the school, what else are Law Enforcement officials doing on the round . Right now this is really about containment of an ongoing threat. What theyre trying to do is pinpoint the last known location and tips theyre getting and create a perimeter as much as they can so they can contain the search, contain the damage that might be done. Its a very difficult situation. This is all hands on deck. We hear atf is on the ground. I can tell you that having been through some of this previously in my career, it doesnt matter
what badge you have or what agency you belong to, you are reporting now to the area and youre trying your best to get a Command Structure going and get resources going and stop the damage. Youve got lifethreatening injuries perhaps. Youre making sure youve identified victims and getting them to safety as well. Justice department Pete Williams joining me now from washington. Youve got a number of sources there who are probably close to the investigation. What are you hearing so far . So this shooting happened about 45 minutes ago at this high school, Saugus High School in Santa Clarita high school. The school has an enrollment of about 2400 students. According to the authorities, a 15yearold male wearing All Black Opened Fire Inside The High School and quickly fled and
thats what the search is going on now that youre talking about. There are a number of Hiking Trails were told by the authorities near the school. Thats where the attention is focused right now. Thats where witnesses believe that this young man fled after firing the shots. Because of that, as youve noted, craig, area schools are shut down. There are at least two Elementary Schools nearby, rosedale and highland that have been locked down. Other schools in the Santa Clarita School District and as you noted the sheriff sent out a teeth, anywhere near the high school, please lock the doors and stay inside. In terms of the actual casualties here, we dont have solid numbers yet. These numbers tend to be very fluid. What we have been told that there have been three bun shot victims and seven total injured. I dont know, frankly what that means, if it was only three people shot and four other
people injured in some other way. We just dont know. These numbers tend to fluctuate and well probably get more figures later. It seems pretty clear the shooting inside the high school is over and has been over for almost half an hour now. Now the effort is trying to make sure that all the victims have been found, the school is clear cleared. There was very Fast Response by Law Enforcement. T the average School Shooting is over in two minutes. Some of them are over in as fast as one minute. This would appear to fit into that pattern of shots quickly fired and then the suspect flees the scene. That seems to be what we have right now. Pete, while youre report, word from the Sheriffs Office about two minutes ago, they said this is still a very active situation, reports of approximately five victims being treated. Parents, Deputies On Scene everywhere. As you pointed out, pete, these numbers fluctuated, would seem as if they fluctuated again. At least three Gunshot Victims, knbc reporting five victims being treated. Pete, i dont know if youre in front of a monitor right now. But the scene, and just lost it there im sorry craig. Someone else was talking to me. We had a picture up from the helicopter and we just lost it. Not to speculate here, but it looked as if Law Enforcement personnel were positioning themselves behind one of the doors of a place car there. Not clear whether they had
identified if it was someone believed to be the shooter and was about to be engaged. We had that shot and immediately lost that shot. Well try to get that back up if we can. The earlier thing we heard is the authorities had a pretty good idea of where the gunman fled afterwards. They have a fairly good idea where this gunman went. This 15yearold who was wearing all black . Right. Do you get the sense, pete, this was a kid that was known to Law Enforcement before this . I dont even know whether they know who it is yet. I dont believe theyve identified this person yet. They may have one of the things happening right now is that the authorities who are still on the scene of Saugus High School are talking to students and witnesses because many of them may have recognized who this was, even though apparently this person was
dressed all in black. Whether he was wearing a mask or not i dont know. Some of the students may have a pretty good idea of who it was. That would just be their word. And until authorities get a good idea, they wont say who it is. Its roughly 11 45 on the east coast. This is Santa Clarita california, Saugus High School. A School Shooting happening roughly 45 minutes ago. Information still coming in. According to Law Enforcement on the ground now, at least five victims are being treated. They are looking for a 15yearold who was wearing all black. There was a tweet earlier from Law Enforcement, they were looking for a 15yearold asian male who was wearing all black. There was a report a short time ago from knbc, our affiliate there, right after the shooting, this 15yearold ran away. There are a number of Hiking Trails in and a around this rather large high school, 2400 roughly the enrollment there. This is a high school that sits in a suburb area. I want to, if we can right now, listen to the Chopper Reporter for knbc. This is the reporter inside the helicopter. I did talk about how they possibly had some type of intelligence on a particular house. This may be it here off Sycamore Creek drive. This is not too far from the school actually. The school is about a half mile from this particular location. So this would be very close to the proximity area, the Baseball Field. Remember we were talking about a Baseball Field earlier. Theres the Baseball Field. They last saw the suspect running through this Baseball Field, dropping some backpacks along the way. Thats what the deputies were indicating. Theres the wash. On the other side of the Baseball Field here is this
residential area which is inundated by Law Enforcement. They do have their guns drawn. Theyre focused on one particular house. You can see a Deputy Running out right now. We dont know what the situation is at this particular place, but definitely Law Enforcement has this area surrounded. Were going to move the helicopter and get the tree out of our way so we can see everything going on here. Megan, this is where youre saying and mentioning. Possibly the shooter could live here. Were waiting to confirm that. What about the neighbors in the area . Anybody trying to figure out whats going on or deputies probably hoping they stay inside their home. Most likely if someone comes out, deputies will yell at them, get back in your house, stay inside. They dont want to have their attention diverted to anything else that can distract them right now. Their focus is they need to find the shooter who went on to
Saugus High School. I think you guys updated the number of students who were shot. Did you say it was up to four now . Updated right now to five, two in critical. Thats their primary concern. They want to find who this shooter is. Possibly they may already have an identity. We havent heard anything broadcasted. Theres sometimes this information. They already know about it and theyre relaying information to the units necessary. But again, i did hear earlier that they did have an idea of who the suspect might be. They were talking about the suspects house, and this street here, we believe this is Sycamore Creek drive which is inundated by Law Enforcement officers right now. Megan, we want to remind people, even though we see Law Enforcement surrounding one particular home, this is still an active shooter situation and sheriffs deputies have been telling us they want everyone
who lives near this high school to stay indoors, to lock their doors up and to report something if you see something suspicious. A good reminder to not head outside. As we watch this Scene Play Out over a house which is apparently roughly a half mile from the school, our justice correspond is standing by with new information. Weve been told by two Law Enforcement officials now from different agencies that this suspect has been located and is no longer a threat. Now, frankly, at this point, i dont know exactly what that means. I dont know whether that wheth the suspect is in custody, the suspect has been disarmed, the suspect has been shot, the suspect has shot himself. I dont know which of those things is true. But all i can say with some certainty is that two Law Enforcement Officials Say that the suspect has been located and is no longer a threat. So well have to find out in the subsequent minutes what that means. Now, the second piece of information weve heard from a couple of Law Enforcement authorities is that as far as it appears now there were no fatalities at the school. Weve heard a varying number of injuries, half a dozen perhaps. Some as you heard the reporter from knbc say, some may be in critical condition. But at least at this point it does not appear that there are any fatalities in this shooting, and thats certainly good news. Craig. Shooting suspect according to two sources located. We do not know the condition of the shooter. And our justice correspondent Pete Williams giving us that new information here a few moments ago. Having this conversation while were watching the Scene Play Out. Bottom right, this is video from earlier. The big box on the left side of the screen there, that is a live
picture outside Saugus High School. Pete, do Law Enforcement officials believe that this is a situation that is now under control . Reporter as far as i know, craig, the answer to that is yes. The scene at the school at the high school seems to be under control. Its just now the process of making certain that its over. Going room to room. Thats a long and complicated and painstaking and slow, very careful process. But this whole thing is now almost an hour old. The shooting began just before 8 00 local time, that would be just before 11 00 eastern time, at Saugus High School in Santa Clarita, california. The shooting at the school was over relatively quickly. The suspect fled. Authorities had a pretty good idea where he was headed. And now it would appear from all weve heard that its, for want of a better term, over in terms of a threat. But certainly not over in terms
of making certain that the gunman was alone, that there are no other victims, that there are no other people who are a threat. But as far as we know in the sense of a threat or a danger, it appears to be over, craig, yes. All right, pete. Stand by. Do come back once you have some new information. But again, according to Pete Williams, two sources now telling us that the suspect, the gunman in this case, this 15yearold who was apparently dressed in all black who opened fire, roughly an hour ago has been found. What we do not know is whether he is still alive. Were working to gather more information on that. But no longer an immediate threat being posed in the area. But we were told at least a few minutes ago this was the case, that a number of area Elementary Schools are still in fact on lockdown. Clint van zandt joins me now. Clint, former fbi profiler, also
a contributor here at msnbc. So clint, where does the investigation go now . Presumably Law Enforcement will be talking to students scouring over the shooters social Media Presence as well. Very much so, craig. As you know, earlier Pete Williams was commenting that the School Service had streleased a study on school shooters. Although we dont have a quote unquote profile so far what we know about the situation seems to fit. These are things Law Enforcement would try to understand and confirm. Again, as the secret Service Study went, the weapons, the firearms were usually brought from the shooters home. The shooter was usually a young teenager. And again, although theres no certain profile many times we see that a shooter is absent the day before they carry out the
attack at a school that they go to, the shooters tell us they were bullied, they were angry, they were frustrated with their treatment, they had other social issues going on. And whats important, too, craig is that these shootings usually were not instantaneous, they were planned. In essence, this shooter we may well find out had planned on doing this. And i think its significant that the shooting took place right at the start of the day, suggesting likely that nothing took place at the school this morning to cause it but this is something related to the shooter that had been ongoing, he brings a weapon to him at school and looking for some type of revenge or to even the score in his mind that he thinks he has. All right, clint, stand by for me if you can as well. Congresswoman katy hill is on the phone right now. This part of Santa Clarita is in congresswoman hills district. And congresswoman, first of all,
and im reluctant to offer it, but our sincere thoughts and our prayers. Thank you so much. There. What more do we know . Well, first of all, this is not just this is the high school i went to. Last i heard the suspect was headed in the direction of the junior high i went to. I went to Elementary School there. There are dozens and dozens of students of course the families. This is exactly the moment that everyone had feared. This you hate to see that this is coming true. Right now im in my back yard. I can hear the helicopters and hear the sirens. You can see the helicopters. You can hear the sirens. Were just devastated and really
praying for people to recover and learn that the damages are minimized. Congresswoman, for folks who are not familiar with the area give us a sense of what its like. It appears to be a suburban area. We know this high school, your high school, fairly large, roughly 2,400 students. What else can you tell us about this area . Yeah, this is one of the safe Crest Communities in california. Its always on the top ten list of safest communities. This is not this is specifically the kind of area where a School Shooting is i dont know, has become more and more common. Youre not talking about these poor or challenged schools. Youre talking about affluent suburban neighborhoods where the profile of the shooter is its almost always a young man. I think that what i would say
about this community is you do have a higher number of people who own guns in their households than average across the country. So i dont know whats going to come out in terms of how this gun was acquired. Obviously, im a huge, huge advocate for gun safety laws. Weve passed four in congress that are all sitting on Mitch Mcconnells desk. As a member of congress i know this is something my colleagues and i talk about all the time, that this is what youre terrified of because not only has it benefited your community but when you go back and try to say people want to know what youre going to do, weve done everything we can in congress and its all sitting in the senate. So what weve had to [ inaudible ] were going to need a new senate and a new person in the white house to do this. After the most recent Mass Shooting in texas and the
shooting in dayton, ohio there had been some talk from Administration Officials that we can expect to see some sort of plan. Stand by for me, congressman. Our justice correspondent Pete Williams is stay with us. Pete, i understand youve got some new information on the shooter. Reporter all right. So what youre looking at here in this aerial scene from knbcs helicopter is you see those authorities there taking their positions waitinging for the police and the Sheriffs Departmenties to enter the house near the school where they believe the Gunshot Victim the shooting victim sorry, shooting suspect went after the shooting. So theyve used an investigative technique that i will not describe on the air because i dont think theyll want to give it away. But theyve used an investigative technique to confirm that this person is inside the house, that thats the house that this 15yearold suspect went to
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