This morning what the president had to say. Our racism must condemn racism, bigotry and white supremacy. The question, will words be followed by action free fall, wall street plummets, its worst day of the year as china plays hardball, the aggressive move it just made escalating the trade war when it will hit your wallet. All that, plus saying goodbye, the heartfelt goodbye. The terrifying moments caught on camera, smoke filling the cabin of a packed plane forcing an emergency landing. And judge jay, late night legend jay leno is on a mission to find hidden talent on our plaza, today tuesday, august 6th, 2019. Announcer from nbc news, this is today with Savannah Guthrie and hoda kotb live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. Hi, everybody, good morning, nice to have you with us on a tuesday morning, and nice to have you become. I know its a hard duty to be there in dayton with the community thats just really, really hurting right now. Yeah, its good to be back, and youre right, they are deeply hurt in dayton as a lot of folks are all over this country, but they are resolving there to have some good come from this. And two communities in a lot of pain. El paso and dayton is where we start this morning the search for clues and answers in ohio and texas. This morning theres new information coming to light about the suspects were also hearing more from the families of the fallen weve got it all covered well start with nbcs Gabe Gutierrez whos in dayton for us this morning gabe, good morning. Reporter savannah, good morning, an incredible act of resilience, the popular bar behind me that the gunman was trying to enter has already reopened now investigators are digging into the gunmans past including a troubling account from an exgirlfriend, and we should warn you the new video youre about to see is disturbing this morning a terrifying view inside the crowded dayton bar as gunfire erupted. People diving for cover while the gunman tried to get inside before Police Quickly took him down now a growing mystery, why 24yearold connor betts killed nine people in just 30 Seconds Police searching his home in a dayton suburb where he and his sister megan attended high school. She was a wonderful person. Late monday an emotional vigil in her hometown. Megan bets was the gunmans youngest victim, but its still not clear if she was the main tart. It seems to just defy believability he would shoot his own sister its also hard to believe that he didnt recognize that was his sister. Reporter six of the nine fatally wounded victims were africanamerican so far police say they do not see a racial motivation. A former girlfriend of the gunman agrees. This isnt about race this isnt about religion. Its none of those things. This is a man who is in pain and didnt get the help that he needed. Reporter Adelia Johnson said she dated betts for a few months and they broke up in may they originally met in a Community College class and bond over their shared struggle with mental illness. People go every day being perfectly fine with having a mental illness, me included. And he just he got the short end of the stick, no support system. Reporter she now believes there were red flags she says he showed her a video of a mass shooting on their first date, that he later took her to a gun range, and that he performed with an extreme heavy metal band known for sexually violent lyrics one former High School Classmate says betts also got in trouble for making threats. Whatd you make of him . Kind of a loner, a bit of an outcast. This community remembering the nine lives cut short, among them beatrice warrencurtis whose mother said loved to travel and was on a girls trip to dayton. Hug your kids and love them you dont know in america now, when they leave they may not come back. Gabe, i know the gunmans sister obviously was a victim. She was not the only person who was with him before the shooting, is that right . Reporter yeah, thats right, Savannah Police say a friend who rode with the gunman and his sister here to the oregon district was also shot, but he survived, and were told that hes now cooperating with investigators, savannah. Extraordinary, gabe thank you very much. From dayton now to el paso where the death toll has risen from the mass shooting there, and as the victims families share their stories, police revealing what led the gunman to that crowded walmart on saturday nbc National CorrespondentMiguel Almaguer has more on that miguel, good morning. Reporter craig, good morning. Here in el paso the grief is overwhelming the death toll has now risen to 22 today we are learning more about the investigation and the suspects rampage. Lets go, lets go reporter this morning, chilling new details about 21yearold Patrick Crusius, now facing capital murder charges after police say he opened fire at a walmart filled with families Authorities Say the gunman stopped at this walmart because he was lost and hungry, then went back to his car, armed himself and started his rampage killing many victims at close range executing some as they pleaded for help were dealing with a tragedy of 22 people who have perished by the evil, hateful act. Reporter police say after his arrest, the gunman showed no remorse or regret speaking openly about his extremist and hatefilled manifesto posted online just minutes before the shooting this is like a nightmare. This is not el paso. Reporter Sylvia Salcedo filmed the the ordeal as she hid under a table with her 91yearold mother the d. A. Now seeking the Death Penalty for the suspect as he appeared in court, the judge telling nbc news the gunman was attentive and lucid and ordered held without bond. Former schoolmates describe him to the l. A. Times as strong minded with a short temper and often picked on because of how he spoke and because he wore what looked like hand me down clothes. Now with the death toll rising, families separated during the massacre are finding out the fate of their loved ones. All i want to do is find my mom. Somebody needs to tell me where she is. Katie hallberg has now learned her mother angie was among those killed, newlyweds jordan and Andre Anchondo both died shielding their baby boy paul. Theyre both heroes because they were doing their job as parents. Reporter Javier Rodriguez was the youngest victim, only 15 years old. He had just finished his freshman year in high school, jessica garcia, her husband memo and their kids were at the walmart for a fundraiser both parents were shot in the le legs while their children hid from the gunman escaping unharmed. My grandmother said she was hiding and heard him taunting saying come on out, im going to get you. My soninlaw, i truly believe he stepped in the way and took the brunt of it to protect my daughter. Reporter this tightknit community in mourning and praying for those still fighting to survive more than two dozen injured in that shooting in el paso, what do we know about the latest on their conditions . Reporter not far from here at a nearby hospital 15 people remain under the care of doctors. Two people are still in Critical Condition fighting for their lives. Guys, back to you. Miguel almaguer there for us in texas where does the nation go from here the debate over next steps is raging in washington nbcs White House CorrespondentPeter Alexander has that part of the story. Multiple white house officials tell nbc news President Trump is kbptexpected travel today ton and el paso in the next few days to pay his respects to the victims and thank the First Responders there. The president is facing renewed criticism following his prepared statement here monday where he condemned hate but did not address his own past language and made no call for strict new gun laws. Reporter in the wake of what he called two evil attacks, President Trump delivering this denunciation of hatred in america. In one voice our nation must condemn racism, bigotry, and white supremacy. These sinister ideologies must be defeated. Hate has no place in america hatred warps the mind, ravages the heart, and devours the soul. Reporter the president emphasizing mental illness, steering clear of proposing any new gun restrictions. Mental illness and hatred pulls the trigger, not the gun reporter earlier on twitter, President Trump called for strong background checks and suggested tieing them to new immigration laws, but he made no mention of that during his televised remarks. The president s past rhetoric stoking antiimmigrant hatred according to critics, is continuing to bolster their claims that hes part of the problem. This is an invasion it is an invasion, you know that. Former president obama releasing a sharplyworded statement, a thinlyveiled rebuke of his successor though never mentioning President Trump by name, urging americans to soundly reject language coming out of the mouths of any of our leaders that feeds a climate of fear and hatred or normalizes racist sentiments. Mr. Obama who had at least 14 Mass Shootings during his time in office also renewing his calls for tougher gun control laws, something he unsuccessfully pushed for as president following the Sandy Hook School attack. The majority of those who died today were children, beautiful little kids between ahead of them. Reporter obamas the ages of 5 and 10 years old they had their entire lives ahead of them. Reporter obamas former Vice President and current Democratic Front runner joe biden also weighed in this is White Nationalism this is white supremacy. This is about hate, and its being fueled by rhetoric that is so divisive, and its causing, causing people to die. Peter, weve heard the talk, what the candidates, what the president , what people are saying what is being talked about being done actually . Is there any action proposed by lawmakers in washington . Reporter good question lawmakers arent in washington in fact, theyre in recess until after labor day. Top democrats are calling on the senates Top Republican mitch mccoell to cancel that august recess to call lawmakers back here to washington to act on bills that have been on mcconnells desk since february, bills passed by the house, but so far mcconnell is resisting those calls. Hes encouraging republicans to, quote, reflect on the subjects the president raised and to engage in bipartisan discussions of potential solutions savannah and craig. All right, Peter Alexander at the white house for us, thank you, peter. Now we turn to those new jitters on wall street this morning after the stock markets worst day of the year. The dow lost nearly 770 points on monday. The s p dropped nearly 3 , nasdaq fell by about 3. 5 , so whats driving this plunge . What does it all mean for you . Nbcs Stephanie Ruhle joins us with some of the answers this morning. Always good to see you my friend. Lets start with the worst day of the year for all three of the major indices. It seems as if this was driven by china devaluing its currency. First of all, what does that mean . Why does that married so mutter us . This is all about the trade war. On friday the president threatened new tariffs, 25 on 300 billion worth of goods coming from china. That means u. S. Companies have to pay this additional tariff or tax to get those goods here, so what does china do . They devalue their currency. That basically means buying those chinese goods are cheaper, so they want those u. S. Companies to still buy the goods. They devalue their currency, and it weighs things out so those the u. S. Companies pay the tariff. Goods cost less, so its a positive because they want to get that stuff. Now, its really bad if im a u. S. Company that has any business in china. I dont want that to be the case at all, but its the worst for consumers because for consumers when you see these tariffs put in place, that means eventually can companies are going to have to charge you more, and thats tech companies. Thats clothes. Thats shoes. Thats toys. This is school season. When we have to go buy our kids new clothes for school, i dont want to pay 25 more, do you . Of course not, and i guess the question is, you know, theres been some misinformation out there about who really pays the tariffs and whether or not companies will pass on the tariffs pass on that price to consumers. Will they . Eventually they will. Some companies havent, so people could say i hear all this ability tarif about tariffs but nothing costs more to me yet. It will because margins arent so Big Companies like to absorb it as long as possible, but eventually they say i got to make money. I have to pass it on to the consumer, and the other thing that china did, they had an agreement with us to buy farm products, agricultural product. They said huhuh, not going to happen. We know the u. S. Government has already been giving farmers billions in aid to weather this storm. Its about to get worse. And the markets see that, i guess. Without a doubt because guess what if were not buying products those companies, those public companies, its going to hurt their bottom line. Do you think were going to hit a recession . I mean, eventually we always are, and the reason the fed cut rates is to keep us in an economic expansion, but weve been in one for nine years. At some point a recession is coming and this trade war is not helping it. It puts a lot of pressure on. Yeah, all right. Thank you. Thank you. British airways is blaming a technical issue for some terrifying moments on a flight from london to valencia, spain. Video shows the cabin filling up with heavy smoke about ten minutes before landing. The plane had 183 people on board. It did land safely, but passengers had to slide down emergency chutes. At least three were taken to the hospital but were quickly discharged. Now to some sad news that is just breaking this morning. Celebrated and trail blazing author Tony Morrison who won both the nobel and Pulitzer Prizes has died. Rehema ellis takes a look at her illustrious life and career. Tony morrison was exceptional. She remembers being the only black child in the first grade and the only one who could read. The early reader became a celebrated writer called one of the greatest authors in american history, the bluest eye, song of solomon are considered classics, illuminating the black experience in america. We not only survived, we produced something so valuable, so irreplaceable, and thats whats worth celebrating. Born Chloe Wofford in 1931 in ohio, she studied english where she picked up the name toni, as one of the few black ed dors at random house she published books by angela davis and muhammad ali. A divorced single mother she wrote her own first novel when her two sons were in bed. 14 years later she won the Pulitzer Prizes for beloved. It was made into a movie, the story of a black woman who kills her own child to save her from a life of slavery. Poet maya angelou said morrison didnt write english, she compose it hcom composed it. In 1993 she became the first africanamerican awarded the nobel prize in literature. Oprahs book club made morrison a household name whose works challenged readers. Its not fast food. Its a meal that you should relish. Reporter in 2012, acknowledged with the nations highest civilian award. Toni morrisons prose brings us that kind of moral and emotional intensity that few writers ever attempt. Reporter she devoted her life to teaching and inspiring others to write. I could never be happy if i thought there was going to be another void, another huge historical silence about the experience of black people. Reporter Toni Morrison, a descendant of sharecroppers who changed the face of american literature. Rehema ellis, nbc news. You spent some time with her back in the 80s, you interviewed her, right . Thats right, and just the vast knowledge you got from her, and in the presence of greatness really. And a great teacher, too. I was just reading a quote from her, if theres a book you want to read but it hasnt been written yet, then you must write it. Inspiration. The family saying the 88yearold passed peacefully following a short illness, adding they are grateful she had a long, welllived life. So are we. Yes, we are. Lets get a check of the weather. Were talking about heat out there. We have heat watches and warnings, 5 Million People and fire watches as well. Weve also got some moisture making its way through the southwest, monsoonal moisture. Numerous storms will be firing up by the afternoon. Localized flash flooding, especially in the southwest, and then as we go around the rest of the country, severe storms in [farmers bell] burke at farmers insurance, weve seen almost everything, so we know how to cover almost anything. Even a threering fender bender. clown 1 sorry about that. clown 2 apologies. clown 1 . Didnt mean it. clown 3 whoops. stilts sorry clowns were sorry scary hey, were sorry [man screams] [scary screams] burke quite the circus. But we covered it. At farmers, we know a thing or two because weve seen a thing or two. We are farmers. Bumpadum, bumbumbumbum thats your latest weather. Savannah . Al, thank you. Coming up, in the wake of the and thats your latest weather, savannah. Thank you. Coming up, in the wake of those back to back shootings, a look inside the world of online hate. Well talk to a top intelligence official at the nypd about the daily battle being waged against domestic terror. We are here to discuss jessies online time. And out of respect, we will let you make the first offer. Thirty minutes. Thirty minutes . Objection overruled. One hour. Sweeten the deal by doing the dishes and ill consider it. I wouldnt do it. I hate the dishes. One hour with the tablet, you walk the dog and do the dishes. If you insis