Unprecedented events, i feel like they re piling up one on top of the other. Just a few moments ago donald trump officially became the republican nominee for president for the third time in a row and just moments before that he announced on truth social that he has selected ohio senator j. D. Vance to be his running mate. The start of the republican national convention taking place at an incredibly tense and volatile moment for the entire country. Less than 48 hours after an assassination attempt on the expresident, a shooting that left one person dead, two others critically injured. If we see donald trump today it will be his first public appearance since that horrific and tragic incident. It is violence that is deeply corrosive to our democracy. We all unequivocally condemn it in the strongest terms possible and as my colleague rachel maddow puts it, quote, there is no no no violent solution to any american political conflict. We would also like to extend our sympathies to the family
Good evening, i am chris jansing. Special coverage of the assassination attempt on former president donald trump. Next hour, president biden will address the nation from the oval office with a critical question lingering in the minds of congress and the country. How could this happen? and at this hour, we do have some new information for you. A senior secret service source familiar with the planning of yesterday s event tells nbc news that the roof was a well known, highpriority vulnerability. It was identified just the day before during a security walk through. We have also just learned that there were two counter sniper teams on site, and that the counter sniper did not need approval to shoot. One source telling nbc news that prior protocols were not followed the fbi announces the alleged shooter, 20 rolled thomas matthew crooks , appears to have acted alone. This all provides new context for the shocking scene last night in butler, pennsylvania, already burned into our collective co
Promised her spoken to the former president this afternoon following that attack at yesterday s rally. There are growing questions about how the gunman was able to get so close. Our senior north america correspondent, gary o donoghue, was outside the venue where donald trump s rally took place. This is his report. And you know, that s a little bit old, that chart s a couple of months old. It was just a few minutes into donald trump s speech when a volley of shots rang out. Gunshots get down, get down, get down! gunshots the former president could be seen clutching at the right side of his head. After that, he hits the ground, as the secret service pile on top of him. Theirjob, to put their bodies between him and the shooter. There was panic among the thousands of people inside the rally. Many ran, many threw themselves to the ground. Donald trump was seen getting to his feet and raising a fist to his supporters, signs of blood at his right ear. Cheering he can be heard saying the words
It was just a few minutes into donald trump s speech when a volley of shots rang out. Gunshots get down, get down, get down! gunshots the former president could be seen clutching at the right side of his head. After that, he hits the ground, as the secret service pile on top of him. Theirjob to put their bodies between him and the shooter. There was panic among the thousands of people inside the rally. Many ran, many threw themselves to the ground. Donald trump was seen getting to his feet and raising a fist to his supporters, signs of blood at his right ear. Cheering he can be heard saying the words fight, fight. Cheering we re just waiting to see if things have cleared, and as you can see, we re on the ground behind our car, which is not ideal, but that s the shelter we have at the moment, and that s what we are trying to ascertain what s happened. As people streamed out of the venue, they told us what they had seen. One man, a local business owner, described how he had noticed a
That speech to you live when hear from president biden, as we will be monitoring what he learned in that briefing at any the announcement he has. In all of this comes as we re learning, also new details about the shooter and the fbi investigation that s now underway law enforcement sources are now telling cnn that the gunman, who has been identified as 20yearold thomas matthew crooks, also had explosive materials inside his car and his residents he lived about 35 miles away from the scene of that rally and bethel park, that s near pittsburgh, pennsylvania. He opened fire from a nearby rooftop outside of the venue. He was ultimately killed by secret service agents. And today, investigators continue to search for a motive and also to find out how the gunman was able to get close enough to the former president to virus shots at him moments ago, we ve learned more about how the former president is recovering. We saw him land last night after he was taken to butler memorial hospital. He was