neighborhood of pittsburgh. shawn henry was just looking at the social media. mr. bowers has an anti-semitic past. reportedly arrive with anti-semitic comments. it is also said he shouted anti-semitic comments whether upon capture or surrender or inside the synagogue remains unclear at this point. let's listen to what the president said a short while ago about the situation. here it is. >> a terrible, terrible thing what's going on with hate in our country, frankly, and all over the world. and something has to be done. something has to be done. about it looks like the results are coming in. and they are far more devastating than anybody originally thought. if they had protection inside, the results would have been far better. this is a dispute that will always exist i suspect. but if they had some kind of a protection inside the temple, maybe it could have been a very much different situation. >> there is the president again at jont base andrews about to board air force one. he is on his way to a campaign style rally, the first of two today. joining me now on the phone, jonathan dienst who has brought us a lot of information today. i understand you have more to share with us. jonathan, what do you have? >> basically, we can provide you with the update and summary of what law enforcement knows at this hour. they are learning a lot about the suspect given his activity on the social media, including apparent anti-semitic statements towards the hebrew sheltering and immigrant aid society which is a new york city-based organization on fifth avenue which helps bring in refugees at times from the middle east to various communities. and he apparently had posted some hateful and concerning messages a couple of hours before this shooting incident. so that is something that has law enforcement here in the new york area now running around to follow up on those possible leads. in pittsburgh, obviously the concern is for the officers and the worshippers who were in that synagogue given the multiple fatalities, given the weapon that was used, the ar-15, and this clear appears to be a hate crime detectived toward congregants at that synagogue. >> as you were speaking i was getting a printout of the things that were listed on the social media some of which i would rather not say. but it certainly backs up that there was a tipping point a couple of hours ago, maybe three hours ago -- it is hard to tell by the printout here before obviously the incident took place. and basically, he alerted on social media, i will say the last three words there, i'm going in. that is chilling. >> there is that, and there is also, based on what tom winter and pete williams were reporting about some of the comments that he allegedly made to officers going in and out of the synagogue while he was shooting, making some anti-semitic rants, apparently, that, you know, clearly this is an apparent hate-filled attack targeting jewish members, jewish community. as a result. that is where the investigation is leading at this time. here in new york, the n.y.p.d. is responding to all synagogues as a precaution until they get a better sense of who this guy is and is it just a lone actor. that is routine nowadays in major cities across this country. i am sure you will see the same thing in boston, chicago, los angeles until they have a solid feeling about this guy. now they are going to have to go into his social media, his home, his computers, and to see where did he get these guns, and when did he decide to come up with this plot, this plan to target that synagogue. >> absolutely. our colleague shawn henry formerly affiliated with the fbi said they are already on that and has gotten updates on that as well. jonathan, i am not familiar with the website of hias, do you know anything about this website that was cited by the shooter? >> i am just learning myself about it. i can tell you what i have been briefed by some law enforcement folks, and we will be in touch with them, meaning the organization and the anti-defamation league that is also getting regular updates. what i can tell you is they have offices here on fifth avenue in manhattan here on 37th street. that's their headquarters. and they explained to me they are like a charitable group. think of catholic charities, if if you will, and they do various social service, public interest efforts, including helping the elderly, including apparently helping or getting involved with assisting refugees. at least that appears to be why this lone individual was angry at this synagogue today. we have reached out to the group. we are waiting to hear back. obviously it's the going to take some time to hear back from them. but that is what's going on. i can tell you the n.y.p.d. and the fbi here in new york are now on it and heading to those locations to conduct interviews and also make sure that they are secure. he so you are going see not only an investigative presence at their offices, but a physical one as well with heavily armed officers standing by as this investigation moves forward certainly over the next hours. >> yes. n.y.p.d. having as you well know already launched police officers in marked cars to jewish synagogues around the city of new york in a precautionary manner. jonathan dienst much appreciated. when you get more information we will bring you back on. thank you for that we also heard from the president a short time ago, nbc white house correspondent kelly o'donnell joins us. he had a free wheeling interview before boarding air force one. >> this was the president's first opportunity to comment on the events unfolding in pittsburgh. he expressed sort of the horror everyone shares how this has escalated as the number of believed deaths has gone up and he reacted and those initial ways. he also talked about the fact he will have a more fully prepared statement when addresses the future farmers of, he ma it is not a campaign event. it is a white house events that will be in indianapolis. he will have a campaign rally later this evening in illinois. but the president will also be before a large audience and will have an opportunity when some of the facts are pulled together for him to be able to speak more broadly. he also said that he had spoken to the governor of pennsylvania as well as the mayor of pittsburgh. and the president was willing to take some questions. and this was an unplanned sort of impolice man thieu moment. and among the questions asked of him related to his position on revisiting gun law after the number of these mass shootings and violence with weapons in our country. here is part of that exchange with reporters outside air force one. >> mr. president, do you think you need to revisit gun laws? >> talk up, please. >> gun laws. gun laws, mr. president. >> well, again, this has little to do with it if you take a look. if they had protection inside, the results would have been far better. this is a dispute that will always exist, i suspect. but if they had some kind of a protection inside the temple, maybe it could have been a very much different situation. but they didn't. and he was able to do thing that, unfortunately, he shouldn't have been able to do. i hear the police were outstanding. i heard the police did an incredible job. and as you know, numerous police were badly injured. but, again, law enforcement did a fantastic job. but we are going to have a very complete statement for you with the results that are coming in of what took place, how it took place. again, law enforcement was outstanding. >> so that is one of the core issues of debate. usually it happens in the days after this incident. this is still unfolding. families still haven't been notified. there is a lot here that is just developing. so it might be recall for this conversation but the president was asked this question. and often what we hear, for those who belief there should be strong access to weapons, that that provides protection -- we see this whether it is in schools or in places of worship or in hospitals or public buildings, this argument about whether it is better to have people -- as the nra would say, good guys with guns to stop bad guys with guns. that is certainly a hot political topic and one for considerable debate perhaps at a time other than this particular moment. but it is the world and the culture that we live in. president also asked about this because he has said that he could be the type of president who could interact differently with the powerful gun lobby the national rifle association. yet we have not seen that play out. the president saying he owes them effectively nothing politically and that he could be the one who cole change some of how things are handled with respect to weapons. we saw some of that coming out after the parkland shooting. yet there have not been substantial changes or any changes. there is a school safety commission continuing to do its work and there is a pledge from this administration to stop bump stocks that tool that was used in the las vegas mass shooting. but that's part of why the president was asked this question and part of why it is so much of our debate. alec. >> kelly o. thank you for keeping an eye on every from the white house for us. let's go to ned price, national security analyst. welcome to you. i want to reminds our viewers we are waiting for a news conference or a briefing if you have, by the public safety official there on the scene. we are waiting to get the facts and figures and know specifically how many people were injured, how many people may have been killed and any details they want to share with us about the isn't who is now in custody. as you take a breath of the situation, ned, what comes to mind as you hear the situation from today, and you hear the talk of good guys with guns being put in places to keep out the bad guys with guns, those including churches, synagogues, schools? what are your thoughts, ned? >> alex, thanks. a really sad day. i think both the event today and the events over the past week i think have reminded us that extremism and i think we should even call it terrorism in this case -- the reports that this individual as he was undertaking this rampage said something to the effects you will of a jews must die, i think it underscores for us the necessity of understanding of reminding ourselves -- and especially reminding this administration, holding this administration accountable for their mistaken belief that terrorism comes in only one form. i think what we have seen over the past week in this country, in both of these series of attacks, is -- at least appears to be from what we know now, and yes we don't have all the answers yet, but at least appears to be domestic extremism, domestic terrorism coming to the fore. we have now a president in the white house and administration supporting him who heretofore at least have portrayed terrorism as something that comes at us from overseas that the other is responsible for. i think in both of these case as we learn move i think we have to remain attuned to the fact that these could well be domestic terrorists among us who are using weapons available to them. in the case of mail bombs, in the case of an ar-15 to take on their own citizens it look like. >> you know, ned, do you think there is a connection to be made, however defined, between the tenor of things that we have all been witnessing this week and what we see today? and i will tell you we are also keeping an eye -- it looks right now that we have officials coming to a podium. but do you think that that connection can be made, that this is just in the atmosphere and it is inescapable at this time in our society. >> we know more about the mail bols. what is undeniable is the fact that the recipients of those mail bombs were all called out by the president. >> ned, as i have said they have gotten to the podium. stand by with your thoughts. let's listen to the public safety officials on scene. >> these were our neighbors. these are fellow pennsylvaniians. and this is an incredibly sad day. i want to thank the first responders for doing what they have done to make us safe and to respond so quickly, so picture e i -- so effectively to this tragedy. >> city of pittsburgh public safety director. as the mayor mentioned, we have had a tragedy here today. the work of the first responders probably prevented it from becoming much more of a tragedy than what it is. the scene is very bad inside. there are multiple fatalities. there are at least six injuries, to include four police officers. the police officers' injuries at this time are non-life threatening. the other individuals are critical and serious in nature. they were taken to three of the level one, level two trauma centers here in the city of pittsburgh. that being al gapy general, upmc, and upmcpresby, and upmc mercy. at this time i would like to say we have established a phone number with the assistance of the fbi for any questions from victims' families. that number is 412-432-4400. once again, it's 412-432-4400. a victims assistance and reunification center has been set up at chatham college at kmatham campus at bury haul at 106 bury street. we will have grief counsellors there as well as the red cross of the allow half hour for the final plans on establishment at that center. there are individuals working to have it up and running as soon as possible. a further press conference will be held at the county emergency operations center at 4:00 p.m. this afternoon of which the elected officials and first responders will give you, as well as the fbi, will give you an update. at this time, this is being considered a federal violation and the primary investigative agency will be the federal bureau of investigation. i would like to personally thank the many first responders that have responded to this incident today, to include the pittsburgh bureau of fire, pittsburgh bureau of police, the ems, allegheny county police, and fbi, atf, and numerous others that i don't even -- i can't even count foum hirs respond remembers here that are providing assistance. this will be a lengthy crime scene. we are asking people that don't need to be in this area, please stay away from it so that both the investigators and first responders can do their job. i will emphasize at this time there appears to be no active threat to the community. this individual that we believe, the subject that is responsible for this, has been taken into custody. that's all i have. >> can you go over what happened? >> i don't -- that's going to be part of the investigation. >> can you do the numbers one more time for us? >> the injuries. >> on the injuries, we believe six injuries, four of which are police officers. so it is a total of six injuries. >> how many fatalities? >> i will not discuss that yet until we are sure of that number. >> are children among the deceased. >> i don't want to get into that at this point. >> it is reported he screamed all jews must die. is that true or false? >> there is a lot of information. i would be cautious about what you hear and don't hear at this time. we have numerous investigators here. i would ask if anyone has information regarding the investigation they also call that 412-432-4400, and that will put you in contact with the fbi. >> wendell can you tell us what the situation was in there? how many people were inside? and was a service going on. >> i don't have that. i don't want to give you -- my understanding was there was a service occurring. >> can people in squirrel hill leave their houses? >> that's correct. however, we are setting up a very hard perimeter around the crime scene. and we ask, you know, individuals to stay away from that. so there will be a very secure presence around the crime scene just to protect the integrity of the investigation. >> the person taken into custody, were weapons recovered off of this person. >> i don't want to get into that. >> do you believe he acted alone, 100%? >> onto get into that. right now what we have is one subject in custody from the scene. whether or not, as all these investigations -- we have to look into every imaginable fact to find out if there is anyone else that's been involved. >> what's the next step for you, sir. >> is there any evidence of a bomb? >> i'm sorry? >> was there any evidence of a bomb. >> there is not. explosive ordinance officials went flew the scene and there is no evidence of any ieds or any further step. >> what's the next step for you, sir. >> for a moment there you sounded emotional and a hand was placed on your shoulder. tell me how you feel right now. >> it is a horrific crime scene. one of the worst that i have seen. and i have been on some plane crashes. it is very bad. all right -- >> what's his identity, the shooter? >> i don't want to get into that. like i said there is a very active investigation going on right now. >> haven't you identified him. >> who are we going to hear from at 4:00. >> i'm sorry? >> who will we hear from at 4:00. >> myself, the sac, special agent in charge of the fbi the u.s. attorney as well as elected officials. >> a lot of moving parts. what is the next step here? >> the next step is secure the crime scene. the fbi has both assets from both western pennsylvania and from d.c. enroute here. they will be running the investigation and the crime scene with the support of both the allegheny county police and the city of pittsburgh police. >> did the shooter actually attend the synagogue at any time? >> i have no idea. i would like to mention the state police, you know, they have been instrumental in helping us out as well. >> is it six people or at least six? >> as far as the injuries right now we are at six injuries. >> can you identify the gunman. >> it is an active situation. offensely we know who the gunman is but i am not going to bring that up right now. >> why are the feds conducting the investigation? >> as i mentioned, this falls under a hate crime, being it is a jewish synagogue. so it will be basically a federal investigation with the assistance of the locals, counties and state police. >> is the shooter among those injured? >> the shooter was taken to the hospital. i will leave it at that. >> thank you, folk. >> thank you very much. >> a pretty tough day for officials there on the scene in the squirrel hill area of pittsburgh, pennsylvania. wendell hisrich there very rightly was emotional. it is a tough thing to see but it speaks to the fact that there was a terrible crime scene inside the synagogue there, the tree of life synagogue. and he was very hesitant to give any details on the number of fatalities, which speaks to a chaotic nature in a scene like this. what he did say was there were six injuries, of custom four were police officers. they communitily had non-life threatening injuries. the others, he did not specify numbers but you could derive two others were critically wounded. they have been taken to three various medical facilities in the area. there was also the statement made in a the fbi will be taking the lead in this investigation. to that end i want to bring in a former new york state homeland security adviser. michael balboni. when the fbi is brought in with a situation like this. does it necessarily mean that this is being classified as a hate crime? we know what is alleged to have been said by the shooter who is now in custody condemning people of the jewish faith. is that what then raisee rises to the level of a hate crime, then that falls into the fbi jurisdiction? >> that or it could be domestic terrorism, you know, in a the fbi has the lead in any time of domestic terrorism case, international terrorism, hate crimes, or federal crime. those are all the possibilities. seasons we don't know what the motivation is specifically of the shooter, they are coming in, and the obvious one obviously it is a synagogue. thek they are going the focus on that. >> there is a social media aspect. you have been looking while sitting with me in the studio at his social media. >> robert bowers, a 46 yearly male. that's the name that has been out there. his social media has been wide. that's what the law enforcement folks do is take that down. perusing it you see the individual had hatred against jewish community. he also had hatred against the president. he had -- he was saying that he was going to take matters into his own hands. there is a lot of information there. you know, what they do now is they look at the social media foot print. and they are going the find out every person that he communicated with, what were the things he was saying. whether he got any help, where he got the weapons from, all those parts of the investigation. >> i would say it is chilling as you look at the social media and mopping the thing that were put out just this morning shortly before the attack. the last three words issued by robert bowers was "i'm going in" so that is a chilling thing to listen to and you look at what has happened and you see that he allegedly went in, as promised. to that end michael, stand by. joining me on the phone is shawnee pellod. shawnee has a friend who was reportedly shot this morning. shawnee, where where are you calling from? the me what you know about your friend. >> i am at my parents' house, actually. immediately when i found out i jumped in the car and i came over here because i knew they would not answer the phone on the sabbath. and my parents live at the next enter section from where tree of life synagogue is. i am standing probably i don't know, less than 300 yards from the synagogue. i can't report much on my friend, to be honest with you out of respect for her. >> it is shawnee. >> shawnee. >> this is a female friend of yours. do you know if she is being treated right now in the hospital. >> my understanding is that she's okay. i would assume she's gone to the hospital but i don't know that. >> okay. so you are obviously very familiar with the area. your friend, is she a frequent congrgant there. it is a typical routine on a shabat morning. i understand there was a bris taking place. might she have been attending that? >> you know, either is possible. not only is the synagogue house to the tree of life congregation, but there have been other congregations that have rented space where maybe they are just starting as a could go grags or they lost their space and -- congregation or they lost their space. i know over the years there have been more than one congregation on a typical shabat. and yes i heard that there was a bris. yeah, there was a bris going on. i am the father of two boys. >> yeah. >> i have grown up in squirrel hill my entire life. my wife as well. and when i think about the fact that there was a fact, and as a father, i had exactly the same ceremony for my two children. and they are two young jewish boys growing up in this community. this is devastating. it is hard to process and hard to think about what we do to move on from here to make sure our children are safe. how we explain this to them. >> shawnee -- >> it is confusing. >> i sympathize very much. i am a mother. we know in a the bris sar money is a baby naming ceremony, which means there was at least one infant there if that ceremony was indeed taking place. all i can say is in addition to my thanks for talking with us, best of luck, god bless on this sabbath for you, to you and your family and loved ones, and to your friend. we hope that she is okay and that she will recover. shawnee pellod thank you very much. for all of you, we will take a short break here on msnbc and stay on the very latest. i have a number of experts who will be joining me on the other side of a break. if you are just joining us and you want the know what's been happening we are getting word of at least ten people having been shot -- eight to ten killed. we did get officials saying there were six injuries, four of whom were police officers, with non-life threatening injuries. but a tribute to the chaos of a situation like this, we do know that the numbers are not yet firm. we are going to get those for you as soon as we can and we will bring you the latest after a break. stay with us here on msnbc. razo. alright, up and down, never side to side, shaquem. you got it? 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it speaks to the chaotic situation of this. we are told among those injured, four police officers with non-life threatening injuries. the other two, presumably, though that number was not specified r in critical condition. as for the suspect, mr. bowers, he is known to have made anti-semitic comments on social media in the past, and as recently as this morning with three chilling words being the last words on his social media saying "i'm going in". we did hear from the president both on twitter twice, but he also approached the cameras at andrew's joint base, and answered some questions about the shooting. he was heading on board air force one. this happened about an hour ago. and among the things the president said, was calling for stronger consequences in cases like this one. >> anybody that does a thing like this to innocent people that are in temple or in church. we had the -- so many incidents with churches. they should be -- they should really suffer the ultimate price. they should pay the ultimate price. i felt that way for a long time. some people disagree with me. i can't imagine why. but this has to stop. >> the president referring to the death penalty there. let's also listen to what a witness on the scene had to say about what happened this morning. >> i tried getting up there and -- because i only live a block away from the synagogue and the street was blocked off. loads of police cars. shady avenue. rifles drawn. and i just could not believe what i was witnessing. >> again, that witness trying to get to the location, living just one block away from the scene at the tree of life synagogue. joining me now, nbc news justice correspondent pete williams. what's the latest. >> one of the things that was resolved by the public safety director in a news conference a short time ago was there were no comes to found inside. there had been reports that suspicious packages had been found and there could be explosive bombs inside. explosives experts checked those out and found no evidence of that. apparently the scene is pretty well cleared now. authorities also told us bowers, the gunman, was wounded, shot once, we believe, by police in this exchange of gunfire before he surrendered and is now in the hospital. so whether or not they have been able to question him, i don't know, because we don't know the severity of his injuries. we don't know if he's under going surgery for that wound. undoubtedly they will try to talk to him. in the meantime we had started to look at his social media postings. and some law enforcement people were also directing us toward them. his social media is rife with anti-semitic comments and also bragging about the weapons that he had. it should be pointed out the climate that we are in, especially with what we have been through in the past week that his hate is directed in many different directions. he also talks about his dislike for president trump, saying that he is a globalist, not a nationalist. a reference to the president calling himself recently a nationalist. and also saying that there can be no make america great again as long as -- and then he makes a very offensive jewish slur. so his hate was pointed in many directions on the social media that law enforcement has basically confirmed to us is his. and he also on social media talks about the weapons that he has. so if it is in fact the timing of this is driven by who knows what to the extent that he was thinking remarkally at all, he seems to be focused on an effort by a jewish organization that brings in refugees calling them an -- calling refugees an infestation and saying that that had something to do with the timing. again, who knows whether that's a remarkal thought at all. >> nbc just correspondent pete williams. touching on the weapons. we know he brought three with him. an ar-style weapon, a long gun as has been referred to by jim cavanaugh and two handguns. bill bratton from new york city police department joins us. considering what the new york city police department will do in the wake of this, it is my understanding you have deployed uniformed police officers to synagogues around the city. that what n.y.p.d. does when you have a swaying like in in neighboring pittsburgh? >> one of the benefits of the n.y.p.d. is that it is a huge department and during my time, the three years there, we created two units, critical response command, 500 or 600 officers designed to deal with corporate terrorism issues. and a 600 unit response group. all of them with long article and heavy equipment. they are are the police you see responding to these incidence with the helmets and the long guns. in addition, pretimpgts are aware of special locations such as synagogues, mosques, schools. when something like this happens the department immediately, without even thinking about it they have policies and procedures in place will start dispatching. on a normal saturday there is very frequently coverage at many of these jewish synagogues in any event in new york city. similarly on fridays oftentimes at the major mosques in new york there will routinely be coverage. new york again is probably best in class at this both in the prevention of as well as in the ability to quickly respond. >> commissioner we have reports of four police officers who were injured, non-life threatening thankfully injuries, but can you speak to the kinds of situation that they just delve into this morning -- we understand they were very quickly on the scene. they were highly praised by the governor there of new york -- pardon me, of pennsylvania. when you have four police officers shot though, sir, what kind of a precarious situation are they getting themselves into? >> we will get more details i hope in the 4:00 press conference. there was very little detail that came out in the one that you just broadcast. >> uh-huh. >> hopefully we get more specificity as to what spans pird. boo in america today all police departments -- what transpired. in america today all police departments train police officers they have to go in and they have to go in preferably in a team of four that they train for n. new york city we consciously designed a system that within five to seven minutes anywhere in the city we can have officers equipped with the long guns and the ballistic gear. every police car now in new york city is equipped with the helmets and the heavy-duty armor in their trunks. even precinct officers responding have extra protection. whether it is two officers, four officers or a single officer, they are trained to go into where is sacks going on. sounds like that's what occurred this morning. probably the four injuries injured is reflective of that. this gentleman was obviously heavily -- had a couple of pistols and an ar-15 type of weapon. those can cause catastrophic damage. the ar-15 is a highly accurate weapon even in the happened of someone who is not highly skilled in how to use it. fg we are hearing is the responding officers got there very quickly and did what they are trained to do, go towards the danger. >> thank you for calling in with your expertise. thank you, i know you will watching for the 4:00 update. and we will speak to you again then, sir. joining me now, steve irwin, he attended the tree of life synagogue, he lives two blocks away. he is the former chairman of the pittsburgh anti-defamation league. steve. >> yes. >> what did you see here? tell me your story on this terrible and tragic saturday? >> my daughter was sleeping at a friend's house a couple of blocks from tree of life and our house, came home and said this morning, opened up the door and woke us up saying there was an active shooter at the -- she's 14 years old. she says there was an active shooter at the tree of life and that four people were shot. >> literally i jumped up and turned on the tv. and my phone started to -- was going on fire with people all over squirrel hill and beyond. in fact, as far as germany sending me notes asking me to check to see if i was okay. obviously, my daughter at that age is regularly attending bar and bat mitzvahs at the many synagogues congregations, there is probably five within a few blocks of our home. fortunately, this morning she was not there. we just -- i have been checking in with my kids and getting everyone home so we can all be here until we can get a clear signal that we can go out. >> you are not the first person i have spoken with today who has attended services there at the tree of life synagogue. it has been extremely emotional for my previous guests because you think about the happy times, the celebratory teams, the peaceful times, the educating times that you spend in community in a place like that. what are your thoughts on that? >> two of my three children were bar and bat mitzvahed there. in the last several years it has become more and more difficult for congregations to afford professional cantors chls i served as a cantor at the tree of life. i know the synagogue very well. i know augusty the custodian and i am pleased to hear on television that he was able to got out. it is surreal sitting here watching on television, you know, all of my neighbors, and you know, our local elected officials, everyone on television with people running down wilkins avenue in combat gear to the synagogue. it is truly incredible. i was -- for a few years i was chair of the answer defamation league. i was chair during the time when the bomb hammers and taylor shootings occurred. we know there is a lot of hate in this world. a lot it is centered in pennsylvania. the ku klux klan had its offices not far in punxsutawney. we know there is a lot on the internet now for this kind of thinking and to plant seeds for this kind of thinking. the adl works with the fbi. and we have a great relationship. and the jewish community here, the federation and others, are -- we plan and try to educate people and prepare them for situations like this. but i can tell you, there is nothing that can prepare you for a morning like we have had this morning when you know you are just trying to -- we were sitting here waiting to find out who has been killed. we still don't know who is at the hospital, who has been shot. >> i am going to give you a little bit of an update, and before i let you go i have one who question for you. i will say we are getting an update from upmc press at thistarian treating four patients from the shooting. three victims are currently in surgery. one other is in stable condition awaiting surgery. another patient was treated and released. that is very good news. upmc mercy is treating a patient who is currently in surgery as well. that is what we have in terms of the updates. i wish i could provide you with names. would don't have access to that information. steve of course before i let you go, you may have heard the president, who gave food for thought in his brief remarks that he made answering questions from reporters before boarding air force one. and he talked about good guys with guns being able to fend off bad guys with guns in the context of potentially having armed guards in churches, in synagogues. we know he spoke that going on in schools though he didn't specifically address schools this morning. what are your thoughts on that? is that something that the tree of life synagogue has contemplated? >> i'm sure that we have contemplated having, you know, certainly we need metal detectors. we have them in schools. it is really -- i know that we have to focus on this problem. and there is two problems here. there's the gun issue and then there is also the hate issue and fostering hate and fostering those kind of intolerance and those kinds of issues. it is really right now we are really in the moment. it is hard to figure out what that is. i know that i don't know how to explain to my kids when they go to the jcc or another synagogue or go to their friends bar or bat mitzvah next week, what do we do? how do we respond to that? how do you live in world -- there is always going to be crazy people. it goes beyond that. you can just always blame it on the fact that there is a crazy person. to arm synagogue with machine guns and usies changes the religious experience on a sha bat morning. i am not sure what the answers are but i know it's conferring that our communities has to have in squirrel hill and pittsburgh. and north versailles in al gapy county, we all need to figure out how to address this dangerous and horrible issue. >> steve irwin i want to thank you for your time with us. i know as a father you want to get back to your loved ones and try to make sense of the chaos and the clamity of this day. >> all of you, if you are joining us right now, we will bring you up to date on the breaking news we have been following the last several hours. reports of eight to ten dead in a shooting at the tree of life synagogue in pittsburgh. a suspect is in custody. 46-year-old man, robert bowers of versailles, pens pen. he was injured. he ise is in custody, taken to a hospital and getting treatment there. he was holding an ar 15 rifle, we are told he had multiple handguns two at least. here's where the numbers are fuzzy. we are told a total of 12 people have been shot. including four police officers. we had the director of public safety though for the safety pennsylvania saying there were six that were injured. that included the four police officers. all with non-life threatening injuries. two were in critical condition. as for the suspect, mr. bowers has an anti-semitic past if you look at his social media which has been taken down. own of our analysts has been looking at his twitter feed. it is reportedly rife with anti-semitic comments. and we did hear from the president a bit earlier, answering questions about the shooting as he was boarding air force one. let's listen to what the president had to say. >> it is a terrible, terrible thing what's going on with hate in our country, frankly, and all over the world. and something has to be done. something has to be done. but it looks like the results are coming in and they are far more devastating than anybody originally thought. if he had protection inside, the results would have been far better. this is a dispute that will always exist, i suspect. but if they had some kind of a protection inside the temple, maybe it could have been a very much different situation. >> the president there now on board air force one going to meeting, followed by a campaign rally later on this evening. michael bam bony, i introduced you recaller, former new york state homeland security adviser. you were looking at the social media. you have also been getting information from colleagues of yours that are active in law enforcement. tell me what you are learning. >> that he had come prepared to reek havoc in the synagogue, that he actually brought extra ammunition. whether that's extra rounds of loose or whether there was something, another clip that he had for the ar 15. picking the sabbath morning to go, he was assured that there would be people in temple. >> and there were. >> and also, the fact that he was yelling thing as he was firing the weapon. >> i do want to ask you to clarify that. because we have reports of him yelling something despicable about people of the jewish faith. >> right. >> when he was apprehended, he algdly surrendered to police officers after being injured. but you a but your sources are saying that was also being shouted inside the synagogue. >> as he was firing he was yelling the epithets and the racial slurs as well. >> are you getting any sort of an update on the condition of inside the synagogue? i know you were with me as we were watching wendell, the public safety direct error who was nearly brought as we were watching the public safety direct director. >> and as commissioner bratton mentioned, the ar-15 is a very effective weapon when it comes to causing this type of devastation. and to be in close quarters and to have those kind of rounds, just imagine -- i don't have any specific information what the scene looks like. i will tell you know that this question good what shouses of worship can do, soft targets, there are places that do have armed guards. so this will be an issue that will bubble up as well as gun control. >> absolutely. michael, thank you for being here. i want to speak now with ned price. i know that you originally were going to be speaking with us broke all of the bo about all of the bomb paage pac and nwe have this now. is there is a way to relate the two? with the atmosphere of tremendous discord across this country, can one lead to another? can there be copycat incidents? >> well, there certainly can be. and i think that that is something that law enforcement at both the state and federal level will be tuned into. but i think what we have compared what we endured the past week, obviously there are different know vamotivations, be is one understand lying commonalty, at least one that appears to be and that is hate. hate on the part of the individual now in custody for sending those mail bombs to more than ten individuals, apparently a political hate. in this case what we have seen today, it seems this person was motivated by hatred for jews. but this hatred that under girds both of these attacks is not dissimilar. and i think that we have to as a country do to terms with how we are here and how we have gotten here. but also come up with solutions. you know, president trump today seemed very passive. and i think that his phase yol gi was it is a smahame. i haven't heard this before, to propose things that really would do little if nothing at all to make us safer. so i think that we need to focus on the underlying cause here. and our department of homeland security, our department of justice, law enforcement at the state and community level, they have experiments with programs to deradicalize, to counter violent extremism of all forms. and i think that that is something that in administration has not been willing to support to the same degree, but it is something that we have to commit ourselves to if we're going to be able to prevent future incidents like these going forward. >> and ned, the president made that statement, said that he would make a more complete statement maybe perhaps the sensitivity that he may feel, the fact that his son-in-law jared kushner who is both a jewish practicing with his faith and also jewish by culture, his daughter ivanka has converted to the jewish faith. they are raising their children in the jewish faith, they spend a typically jewish saturday for those who respect that with no television, and they have very limited activities on the chabot. and we have also heard from melania trump and she has put out a tweet that says my heart breaks over the news out of pittsburgh. the violence needs to stop. my god bless, guide and unite the united states of tamerica. but final thoughts on what you think the president needs to do. >> i think theat he is a president who has in many ways exacerbated tensions within our country and i believe frankly the hate within our country. i think that the president -- and then we have him go out and say this is something that has to stop now. and in some ways only i can fix it as he said on the campaign trail. this nt can can't be something sticks to for 15 seconds and then reverts to when speaking off the cuff. this is something that the president needs to be serious about in all moments because the american people are watching. and we don't of course want the american people to see the president as an example and to have him further emboldened, further in-flanl tflame the ten already existing. >> ned, thank you so much. that is a wrap of this hour of breaking news. david gura will pick up the coverage of this deadly shooting at the top of the hour. stay with us. take your razor, 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(vo) ask your health care provider about tresiba®. welcome back. we're continuing our coverage of breaking news out of pittsburgh, pennsylvania. here is what we know at this hour. a shooter is in custody after opening fire at the free ofynag. he is robert bowers. and 12 people were shot, six injured including four police officers, at least eight are dead as a result of that shooting. president trump expected to speak later this hour in indianapolis. we'll take it live. i want to start with pete williams. get us up to speed here. we heard from local law enforcement a few moments ago. >> and it happened about 10:30 this morning according to witnesses and law enforcement people when robert bowers carrying at least two firearm, we believe a handgun and semi automatic rifle, an ar-15 type rifle entered the synagogue and began opening fire. at some point he came back out, there was a confrontation with police, gunfire was exchanged. he came back out a second time and was arrested. he is now in the hospital with what one gunshot wound. according to a witness, there was some concern that he may have 4re6left behind explosive devices, but the police say that there weren't any. in terms of who robert bowers is, born in 1972, 46 years old, from the pittsburgh area, he has a notorious social media presence. and his social media is arrive oig with -- rife with anti-semitic comments. and it is sponsoring refug