Remember . I remember waking up excited about going to practice the day before the baseball game, just a great tradition and i was Just Announced to be the second base starter so i was excited about that. Get out there early in the morning, work out with your colleagues in its lighthearted because the practice is already done, you just go through the motions of getting ready for the big game. All of a sudden, a shot goes out. You dont think its a gunshot because why would somebody shoot a gun on the baseball field . By the time we figured out what was going on, i got hit. I went down. Did you know you had gotten it . I knew my legs gave out. I wasnt sure, i didnt necessarily instantly feel it, i feel like something hit me but i wasnt thinking a bullet. I was down, in the gravel, in the infield and i just started crawling away. I heard it coming from third base line, i didnt know whether government was but after about 20 feet of crawling, ive seen a 20foot bullet trail and i just started to pray. I prayed some pretty heavy things and he delivered. How long were you out there . It seemed like an hour but it was really only a few minutes. When you look at the police report, the whole thing might have been 15 20 minutes from when he started shooting when the shooter was taken down but there was a lot of gunfire, almost 100 rounds between the shooter started with david, my lead detail officer, he engaged the shooter and crystal who was with my team that day, she started engaging the shooter and both of them were shot during the shoot up and still kept going at it. Kept the shooter away from us and thats really what saved so many of us. Instead of the shooter taking off, we were just sitting ducks, they were engaged in a gunfight. Ultimately, other virginia Law Enforcement showed up and took him down. Back in the game, you reconstruct almost minute by minute what was going on but you are laying there on the field, are you still conscious . I was, i could hear everything going on. When i was hearing the gunshots, and i was praying i was praying for the first thing that came to my mind, ive got a young daughter and i have this vision of her walking down the aisle alone and i thought god, dont let her have to walk down the aisle alone. It was that emotion that took over me. I prayed i would be able to see my family again. I really pray that dave and crystal were able to carry out their duties properly. And they were. It kind of gave this column over me. I had incredibly Severe Damage internally, i wasnt aware of that. I showed up to the hospital with zero blood pressure. My trauma surgeon said very few people make it through that. A lot of miracles that day. I remember everything including when the shooter went down. Congressman from ohio and also a combat surgeon, he was a doctor and also served in iraq dealing with these kinds of injuries in the battlefield. Fortunately, thank god he was there because he knew exactly what to do. He looked to see if there is an exit wound if there wasnt and he knew that was a bad thing. Instead of going through, it had broken apart into 100 pieces. He knew he had to put a tourniquet on me to stop the bleeding and that allowed me to live long enough to make it to the hospital. You write your fema explodes. Severing veins, slicing open organs, shredding intestines, destroying digestive track, making everything bleed at once. Hope foundation of your body imploded. You read the emotions because i found out later, thats what happened. I didnt know my left femur was shattered, and when i woke up three days later out of a, thats when they started telling me what had gone on inside of me and how i almost didnt make it multiple times that night. I almost didnt make it through the night. A lot of players, great surgeo surgeons, so many things worked in my favor but it was rough. Was the last memory you have of that day . I vividly remember brad and my colleagues coming around me and asking what they could do to help and i was so thirsty. I was just asking, i had a gatorade in my bag, i motioned them to it and my colleague got my gatorade, i remember getting about one tenth of what was poured out because it was falling down my face. It gave me enough energy but once i got on the helicopter, it seemed like it was taking forever and i remember, just take me somewhere. I dont want to bleed out on this ballfield. And i asked the paramedic on the helicopter for a phone so i could call my wife. I felt like things were fading away and i want to do share some words with her in case that was it. She didnt answer, it was 6 00 a. M. In new orleans. It went to voicemail and i left a voicemail. She kept it until this day, she doesnt share it with anybody. Its something emotional, something you would tell somebody at the end. Did you listen to it . I did, its tough but its hard to focus on the negative when i know how close i was to not making it and im here, i am alive. I get to do the things i couldnt have very few people in my situation made out. I know im lucky to be alive. You were flown up hear from your office . Yes, i never heard of it, they were initially going to take me to washington. Its closer but they dont have a helipad so you can only get there by ambulance and then its 7 30 a. M. , rush hour traffic. They started going and realized i wouldnt have made it to the hospital. They saw the helicopter coming back and in a twist of fortune, they turned back and sure enou enough, it landed on the ballfield and flip loaded me up and that i was in the er. I maybe had another minute the doctor said. I was that close. Luckily, they were able to take care of me. The subtitle countless heroes, you talked about a wom woman, susan. Shes a special person. We came in contact with soap and angels. People who did so many things to help. Not just me but for my wife, shes in new orleans with the kids and its summer, they dont have school so you dont expect at 6 30 a. M. But your husband is going to be shot on a ballfield but thats what happened. These feelings, shes not thinking this isnt real or lifethreatening, just a flesh wound and then the surgeon gets on the phone and says, you need to get here as soon as you can. Luckily they take the kids up to d. C. , she didnt initially wanted to tell the kids what happened and i didnt want to alarm them but ultimately, some friends helped take care of the kids. She helped coordinate making sure jennifer and family and friends that had come up could have a place to see what happened to me. She took on the security also who came up with you. When i showed up, they werent aware, nobody knew this was a terrorist attack, a plotted mass shooting, you saw Police Presence all around. Any number of converse and they shut things down. Nobody really knew what was happening and if this was a larger attack so there were a lot of police. Trump and malanga came to visit me that same evening. We have a hospital we are running and we are taking care of people and you cant get in the way. She did a good job of making sure they could do their job but the doctors and nurses could do their job as well. Your wife in new orleans got a call from the president. She did, he called to say that he was praying for me and for her and offer any assistance he could have and then showed up at the hospital and helped consult her. I have no memory of that. I woke up and came out of my, and i remember that part, i just didnt know how bad i was. I wanted to know how dave and crystal were, i knew there were different calibers of weapons being fired so it wasnt just the shooter, i knew they engaged him and heard somebody might have been hit but i wasnt sure. I found out they were okay which gave me a lot of relief. Crystal was at the same hospital as me so we got to visit a few times in the hospital as we were recovering. Semi automatic, 9millimeter, extra clips, 40 more rounds for the rifle and extra magazine, thats what the shooter had. You write that these bullets entered your body at 2000 meters a second. Pretty powerful weapon, obviously. The bullet that hit me, you could take a bear down with that. When i saw the size of the bullet later, i said how am i alive . It makes you wonder but again, a lot of miracles that day. That was one i detail in the book. I have a strong faith and that helped me get through. I chronicle specific things that you and if you dont have faith, you might think one or two is a coincidence but when you get to the fifth and six, clearly there was a larger presence on the ballfield. One of those is that brad usually did not stay until the end of practice. Normally has a meeting around 8 00 a. M. So he leaves a little before 7 00 a. M. To shower and get ready. That morning he found out his meeting was canceled. So he stayed for a little extra batting practice and he was in the batting cage, the shooter was behind the third base so he was out of the line of fire but could see everything happening. His skills took over and knew as soon as the shooter went down, he had to check on me to see what happened and see if he could do something to help. I wouldnt be here if he wasnt there that day. Most days he would have been there because of his schedule. Back in the game, its not until page 213 you used the shooters name. Why . I struggled with that, i knew to tell the story properly i wanted to tell it through the eyes of the heroes, the people saved me and everybody else on the ballfield. We dont see enough in real life. Good things we know about and really focus on it, too often it is the negative. I knew i had to give a little bit of his background as well. It was a tough thing and i still struggle a little bit about forgiveness because as a catholic, i do believe in forgiveness, im not quite there but im working to get there. There are some good people helping me with that. I felt it was appropriate to mention him but i wanted to tell the other backgrounds of the positive things because to get better, i needed to focus on the positive and not look back. That helps me a lot to focus on every day, i needed my energy focused on recovery. I needed to learn to walk again, basic skills will take for granted that i needed to start over with. So many positive influences got me through. So i focused on the positive. You mentioned routine and control are very important to you. Everybody has things that they do, my job as a member of congress, its a great job but your scheduled every 15 minutes, your staff has you scheduled for the things that have to happen next and you have to vote and come back in your meeting with people going to different even events. Its a routine, a treadmill in a lot of ways but all of a sudden im laying in the hospital room and its all gone. You are wondering if youre just going to be able to walk. I had tubes coming out of me, i didnt know if my legs were going to move again. I couldnt even lift my arms the first few days. The doctors were not sure what the extent of my damage was. I just wanted to see my wife and kids again. That was all that mattered. So it doesnt refocus you on what is important in life. You have the things you do every day it maybe the things that other people want you to do and you realize whats really important. We want to show you video from september 2017, tell us what we are watching. [applause] [cheering and applauding] one of the most special moments of my life. I wanted to come back to work after i knew i was going to be able to, sickly, what are you going to be able to do . The kind of schedule you had. If you come back, you cant come back at 50 . You are either back or not. Once i realized i would be able to go back to work, just to be able to walk back onto the house floor and see the emotions of my colleagues, everybody standing, cheering. It shows you we are part of a family. I had built so many strong relationships. To see the genuine love people had and they were rooting for me, i was able to walk on the house floor on my own, it was an incredibly special moment. One of the characters in your book who recurs with a friend of yours, who is that . Hes right behind me. Cedric. My colleague from new orleans, different. Cedric and i got to know each other in the state house of representatives. We became dear friends. That has maintains its self to the royals and differences of opinion. Dave right next to her. My surgeon, so many of the special people who helped get me back. Cedric was the first person to show up at the hospital. His democrat practice when he heard what happened. He found out where i was even before my staff. He went straight there in uniform. Ultimately, jennifer flew up from new orleans. He helped her. Politics can be roughandtumble but life is much more important and relationships are much more important. If you build genuine relationships, it can still be done. It might be rare but it shows how people can come together and care about whats great about this country. There were so many people who reached out and prayed and called me. I talk about some of the World Leaders who called, they might not know me well personally but they care about what we represent. I think it reminded people of whats so special about this country, after all the disagreements and things, we can find that we might not like each other about but we ultimately love whats great about this constitution. Im glad i was able to spare share that special moment. I got to see the good in people, one act of evil, we could have fixated on that but i saw so much good, loved ones and strangers alike all around. We need to see more of that in this country and world. One year later, another deal i will show you. Scullys does it out of first. The entire field goes over to congratulate him and give him a hug. He gets the ball and goes out. What a moment. What happens . Look at the emotions of everybody. They brought me to play second, the democrat from second, he hits the very first pitch. Im playing second base, i cant hardly move but they put me out there is a nice gesture. Well take him out when the real game starts. Its at the opposite field and its right to me. I cant really move more than a foot in either way. Somehow i was able to bring the ball and it brought me down to my knee. Ive got to make this place now. So somehow i got the ball to first base and make the throw and everybody came towards me. If you dont believe in god, how does a moment like that happen . I see everybody coming and we all start tearing up. I was shocked but every one else was shot at that day. For us, it was a release to say one year after the shooting, to say look, we are not going to let evil triumph over good. We are going to come back and play this game and to have a moment like that and share it with everybody else, i appreciated what he did, its not about the game, its the camaraderie. I know you have to leave but where are you in your recovery . Have you changed any of your policy positions on guns or medical care . It hasnt changed things, its fortified whats important in life, making sure you are focused on the things that really do matter in life, i want to make sure we have a worldclass Healthcare System so everybody has the opportunity i had into this country still is a shining beacon for healthcare and we need to make sure it stays that way. And so many other things that are important but in recovery, i still use a crutch to work. Im down with one, i started with a scooter. Now im down to one. By the end of this year, my goal is to walk without crutches. I have permanent damage in my left foot so the nerve damage hasnt come back and they say it likely wont. So i probably wont be setting any records in running but i can move around a lot better. Im doing physical therapy a few times a week and that helps a lot. Occupational therapists are wonderful. I put them through the ringer because i push them like they push me to get better. You have to keep focused on Getting Better every day. I still have a lot of people praying for me everyday. I appreciate the prayers because it does give me the strength to keep Getting Better and by the end of this year, ill be able to walk again, maybe i can run a five or 10k again. Im lucky to be alive. And david and crystal . They are both back on the police force. David is back on the team lead, what a special person both of them are. Crystal is back with Capital Police and shes working at another capacity but to see her in uniform again, we still stay in touch. We are still very close. The bond from that day whenever we can. The book back in the game is really about something very positive, something bad happened but all of the positive things that happened, we all have something bad that happens everyday but we also have good things. We need to focus on the good and that gives us the strength to keep Getting Better. Steve scalise is the author of this book, back in the game. Thank you for joining me. Journalist arthur harlem reports on the pentagons aerial surveillance system. Then well show you a program from 2004, who died monday at the age of 88. Thats followed by retired army officer ralph peters on civil wars chancellor bill. Check your cable guide for more schedule information. Good afternoon. I am patrick. I want to welcome those of you who are here. They are onsite here recording today. I want to go over a few items before we get to the program here. Make sure your self owned are turned off or at least in silent