Thank you for being with us on this second hour of Chris Jansing reports. Roughly 50,000 people are on lockdown right now across the state of maine as Police Continue their intense search for the man behind a Shooting Rampage that left 18 people dead and 13 others injured. These are the Photos Police want you to see because they are frantically searching for 40yearold robert card, an Army Reservist with a history of Mental Illness. Police say he killed his first seven victims at a Bowling Alley. Then he drove across town to a bar where the rampage continued. Eight more people were killed right away, three later died at the hospital. The suspects car tracked to a nearby town where it had been abandoned by a boat dock. Our small state of just 1. 3 Million People has long been known as one of the safest states in the nation. This Attack Strikes at the very heart of who we are and the values we hold dear for this precious place we call home. A local maine resident telling nbc news that it
shaquille brewster in minneapolis, thank you very much. closing arguments are now underway in the trial of actor jussie smollett. smollett took the stand in his own defense this week to deny allegations that he staged the 2019 hate crime attack in chicago. the actor charged with six counts of plan disorderly conduct and prosecutors say that he made a false report about the alleged attack. with more on this, i m joined by nbc news correspondent, rahema ellis. good morning, rahema. what can we expect to hear? reporter: well, pretty much what you have said, and that is to the point of just moments ago, the prosecution began its closing arguments in this case, following that we ll hear from the defense. and this may be a he said/she said story.
in less than an hour, an explosive trial of jussie smollett will be one step closer to wrapping up with closing arguments set to begin. the defense resting its case against the actor took the stand, telling jurors that claims he staged an anti-gay, racist attack on himself are, quote, 100% false. let s go live to rehaima ellis in chicago. rahema, where could the jury get on this case? reporter: stephanie, according to the judge, at the end of the trial yesterday, he said to the jurors, quote, this matter will be in your hands tomorrow, meaning today. this after a second day of testimony from smollett, who continued to vigorously maintain its innocence when grilled by the prosecutor about his contact with the two brothers accused of allegedly attacking him. smollett has come into this courtroom each day surrounded by family and friends. and when talking about why he maintained his contact with
a lot of the areas where republicans have really taken a hit, he reversed. not all, but some of that damage. and rahema, back to you in new jersey. joe biden carried that state by 16 points last year and now murphy is locked in this surprisingly close race. how did things get as tight as they are right now? reporter: i bet you that s exactly what a lot of people are talking about. it would be great to be a fly on the wall in the room where people are having these discussions. let me say this. it s leading to a lot of confusion among voters here. i just talked with some folks who say they don t even understand how there are more votes being counted and why weren t they counted yesterday? one of the things that people who voted for ciattarelli say they think is the reason why he was in a nail biter race at the end of when the polls closed last night, they said, because he listened to them. voters here are frustrated over the economy, over the high property taxes, over the handling of
is we could see a road rage incident. if this fire alarm was activated absent the men in the car like there was smoke in the building, a false alarm, the alarm tripped, the crowd spills into the street. policeman is there because there was an eyewitness on tamron hall s show. she witnessed a policeman being run over. so this car smashes into the crowd who may have come out in the street because of a fire alarm. then it could be a road rage incident. he pulls out a machete. launches into the crowd. the shots heard are then uniformed police shooting him. the other guy runs into the parking garage and is apprehended. what s the motive? could it be just road rage? a planned attack? i think it goes back to what rahema said. why did the fire alarm happen?