you get someone of this caliber this morning and the intent is that vicious, it s hard to be prepared to handle that kind of contingency. it certainly is, especially when you re out there just practicing, playing baseball and all of a sudden a horrendous thing like this occurs. dave brat of virginia. i ll speak to congressman chuck fleischmann of tennessee, he s a republican and he was there on the scene and joining us on the phone. congressman, first of all, tell us how you re doing? wolf, i m shook up. thank god. i m a little bit bloodied from jumping in the dugout when we were under fire, but there were several other people shot and heart a lot worse. just a horrible, horrible morning for us all and a sad day for america. are you still there at the baseball field? no, sir. they kept us in an area that was
from this sort of injury. he s undergoing surgery at the med star hospital center which, by the way, is not that far away from capitol hill right now. once again, congressman, steve scalise, the majority whip and the number three republican and the number three leader in the house of representatives was shot in the hip earlier this morning, 6:30, 7:00 a.m. when he was doing baseball practice with the democratic members tomorrow. we don t know if that game will go forward in washington nationals park. sanjay, stand by. representative dave brat of virginia is joining us right now. you were supposed to join us to talk about a whole host of other issues to talk about those other issues, while i have you, i want to get your reaction. you know this area. you know alexandria and the republican members of the baseball team, the roster of about 34 members. give us your reaction? we all know the risks, and i
here. in terms of what we are hearing, the president and the vice president have been briefed about the shooting there. both of them weighing in. let s start with the president first. the president tweeting out also releasing a statement, the president saying the vice president and i are aware of the shooting incident in virginia and are monitoring developments closely. we are deeply saddened by this tragedy. our thoughts and prayers are with the members of congress, their staffs and capitol police, first responders and all others affected. and trump also tweeted about this incident as well, wolf. representative steve scalise, a true friend and patriot was badly injured but will recover. our thoughts and prayers are with him. the vice president was scheduled to give a speech at 9:00 this morning. that speech obviously canceled. he, too, has weighed in on this incident as well. he tweeted saying karen and i are praying for steve scalise
7:30 and then we rush back to the capitol, take our showers and start the workday. is it usual and i know you have to run that you practice at the eugene simpson park in virginia. are there usually spectators that show up and watch you practice, or is this pretty much closed? there were people that live in the neighborhood that might be walking their dogs or doing something like that. we have a good rapport with them. we ll say something to them. we say hello to them. but they ve been nice. we ve been nice and then this happened. yeah. awful situation. all right. congressman mo brooks. good luck to you. i know you got to go. i am being told to go further away from the ball field by law enforcement now. congressman, we will stay in touch with you. take care to those that are injured. certainly totally agree.
threatening. let s go to wolf blitzer for continuing coverage of this situation. wolf? this is cnn breaking news. we re following breaking news here in the nation s capitol in washington, d.c. and nearly virginia. i m wolf wlblitzer in washingto. a gunman opening unfair at a baseball practice that s right outside of washington, d.c. according to both congressional and law enforcement sources, the shooting appears to be deliberate. the shooter is in custody and is being taken to a local d.c. hospital right now. house majority whip steve scalise had been shot. at least two capitol hill police officers were also hit. we know at least one congressional aide staffer was also shot. the president tweeted this just moments ago, representative steve scalise, a true patriot,