Stomach moment in this country. As we grapple with questions about whether our president s rhetoric has contributed to some unspeakable tragedies. Back in may, the president held a Campaign Rally in florida where he warned of a literal invasion of immigrants at the southern border. And then this happened. How do you stop these people . You cant. Theres shoot them. Thats only in the panhandle you can get away with that statement. Shoot them. Thats what two people in the room the audience members heard them say. Now they are focusing on ant anti immigrant screed posted moments before a gunman opened fire at an El Paso Walmart killing 22 people, 8 of whom were mexican citizens. The shooter carried out the tree of life synagogue massacre. He also warned of an immigrant in vacation before murdering 1 people. The el paso tragedy was followed hours later by another mass shooting in dayton, ohio. His motive remains unknown. Amid a barrage of criticism from democrats, some blaming him for the carnage, others calling him a White Nationalist. The president addressed the crisis today, first by condemning the ideologies that are seemingly being fueled by his own racebaiting rhetoric. The shooter in el paso posted a manifesto online consumed by racist hate. In one voice our nation must condemn racism, bigotry, and White Supremacy. Hate has no place in america. Hatred warps the mind, rafages the heart, and tkwours the soul. As the debate swirls around the president and guns, he makes it clear that he thinks neither are to blame. Instead he called out what he says are a number of other culprits. The internet has provided a dangerous avenue to radicalize disturbed minds and perform demented acts. The perils of the internet and social media cannot be ignored, and they will not be ignored. We must stop the glorification of sroepbs in our society. This includes the gruesome and grisly video games that are now commonplace. We must reform our Mental Health laws to better identify mentally disturbed individuals who may commit acts of violence. Mental illness and hatred pulls the trigger, not the gun. Tonight we will talk about guns. Well talk about the president. These awful tragedies, what is fueling them, what our leaders are planning to do about it, and what it all means for the president ial race. Were going to begin tonight with the latest out of el paso and dayton. Chris jansing and Gabe Gutierrez is on the ground in dayton. Chris, let me start with you. What is the latest from el paso . Anything new in particular about the connection between the shooter and the screed that was posted online . Reporter its something that officials are still looking into, although obviously they have made the connection both publicly and privately. We also know, nbc news has learned that the 21yearold suspected went in front of a magistrate yesterday, was read his miranda rights, was asked whether he wanted an attorney to be appointed. He said he did. The magistrate said that he listened carefully, that he have attentive and answered all the questions. Even with that screed, and i can tell you, cakasie, so many peop have read it online. They are still trying to come to grips with how someone can get in a car, drive 650 miles and just open fire, causing so much devastation. One thing that i would say almost everyone mentions to me is the 25yearold mother who was shielding her2monthold baby when she died. And then the devastating news today that in addition to the 20 who were known to be dead on saturday in the walmart behind me, two more died in the hospital. One overnight and one early this morning. And within i would say an hour of that news coming out, we saw at the memorial behind me, kasie, more and more people coming. It has not let up. Families coming in. They had heard it on the radio. They stopped and brought flowers. There is a coming together in the community as we have seen so many times before. People looking for some comfort. And also trying to deal with the reality that now there are 22 funerals that have to be planned and attended. I said to the mayor yesterday what was her priority. And she said there is nothing about politics now. Its helping these families get through what theyre going through. Very slowly were learning more about the victims. Very slowly theyve been bringing people in to identify the bodies. And it is now the deadliest shooting against la teen knows, the deadliest carnage against la teen knows in u. S. History. A local person told me today they average less than 18 murders a month. This is a very safe city. One of the safest cities in the country. And of course on one day, saturday, behind me 22 lives were lost. Kasie . Chris jansing, thank you very much for that report. Gabe gutierrez in dayton. We still dont have a motive in this shooting, but obviously taking place just hours after what we saw unfold in el paso. Whats the latest . Reporter investigators are obviously still looking at that motive. No clear motive yet. I do want to tell you something that happened this afternoon. Behind me the bar where the shooting happened incredibly has reopened. So have several businesses here along the oregon district in dayton. An incredible show of strength and resilience as the Community Begins to heal. Kasie, this afternoon we heard from local officials. They are still trying to search for a motive as to why 24yearold connor betts would have opened fire. They found 41 spent shell casings here at the scene, which is incredible when you consider that the shooting happened in the span of 30 seconds or so. Meaning the overwhelming power of the weaponry that this gunman had with him. He was able to cause so much carnage in a short amount of time. He could have had up to 250 rounds of ammunition with him. There are a lot of questions about the role of the gunmans sister in this. The youngest of the victims. Victims ranging in age from 22 to 57 years old. Authorities say she, along with another mutual friend, came with the gunman to this area earlier in the night. At one point they separated. Then its unclear what happened in that span of time. But then the gunman opened fire just after 1 00 a. M. Sunday morning. It is unclear whether she was specifically targeted. But today the police chief said it is hard to believe he wouldnt have recognized her among all the victims here. We spoke with several of the people who knew connor betts. One former classmate said he was a loner, outcast. At some point he had violent tendencies. The motive is still under investigation. We know from authorities that he bought his gun legally from an online retailer in texas. As this Investigation Continues here, we also know that the mutual friend that was with the sister, we know that he is cooperating with authorities as well as he recovers from his own gunshot wound. Kasie, after an emotional vigil last night when some screamed out do something in their frustration as to why lawmakers havent done more to curb gun violence. Now this community is starting its process of healing. Again, several businesses in the historic oregon district have reopened this afternoon. Ks kasie . You heard the president address these Mass Shootings. Im joined in washington by National Reporter for bloomberg news, Senior Vice President of communications for super for American Progress and former special standpoint to president obama. And editorinchief of the Washington Free beacon. Great to have all of you here today, although obviously an incredibly difficult subject to be talking about yet again. Lets start with what we heard from the president today laying a lot of blame in a lot of different places. But none at his own feet. It comes as there have been 255 Mass Shootings in 2019 in the United States. That is defined by shooting reform. More people, not including the gunman, were killed. All the questions are what happens next Going Forward . Does the president dial down his rhetoric and stop fueling some of the thoughts that seem to be in the el pasos shooters mind. Thats where he is getting criticism. The only one that seems to is one by Lindsey Graham and Richard Blumenthal that would give grants to states to enforce red flag laws. In other words, take guns away from people who have been deemed after due process, to be dangerous and pose an imminent threat of violence. Assault weapons bans dont seem to be going anywhere because of strong opposition. I have covered so many of these from capitol hill, so many of these shootings. I covered the wake of newtown extensively when they came as close as they have to passing a background check bill. It is getting to the point where every time this happens it is impossible to not think, well, heres another one. Here is another instance where members of congress arent going to do anything. It is easy to fall into that despair. That many dead kids doesnt move congress to act, what will . Something about this weekend felt different. I dont know if its because the president s rhetoric was matched so closely by what he said in his screed in el paso. But im hopeful. I have to hold on to that optimism or it will eat me from the inside. That we cant come together to do something about this. How many more people have to tie before congress does something . There is broad support for background checks. Can we at least do that . Why cant we . The last major gun control law was passed 25 years ago. In the ensuing decades we have had basically every conceivable constellation of power in washington, d. C. Between the two parties and the two branches of government, elected branches. In the 25 years, despite this rise in Mass Shootings, especially in the last half dozen years, nothing has happened. Fundamentally public support, even if stated as being for some of these initiatives controlling guns, when revealed in elections and the people they sent to washington they dont want to change the system all that much. I will say if i can, it shifted a lot since newtown. That lit a fire under the gun control movement. We saw this in the 2018 election. Exit polls showed guns ranked as the number four issues. They supported democrats by a margin of 40 points. That was a remarkable thing. 2018, we dont know if that is going to hold. It shows the intensity is shifting in the direction of gun control for the first time in a very long time, since maybe the early 90s. You saw how this was handled in florida after the parkland shooting by republicans. State office shows, to your point, maybe it will take getting kids elected to congress down the road to materially change. Clearly there is something going on. I want to show a little bit more of some of the things that the president has said, some of the language that he has used that showed up in that screed that was written by the shooter in el paso according to our reporting. Lets watch. We have to end human smuggling, stop human trafficking, shut down sanctuary cities, deport criminal aliens. When you see caravans starting out with 20,000 people, that was an invasion. I was badly criticized for using the word invasion. Look at the people they put into these lotteries. Its a disgrace. So that just a little bit matt, ending human smuggling and human trafficking, shutting down sanctuary cities is more controversial. Those are all policy positions. This description as an invasion and some of the ways in which this president used dehumanizing language to describe immigrants, africanamericans, others in our country, how is it that that doesnt have an effect . How can it not . Well, it certainly is having an effect on our culture and public discourse. We did see the beginnings of a backlash to it in last years midterm elections. The president made the caravans, socalled, a huge issue in the run up to that election. And he was defeated. They were able to expand the majority of the senate somewhat. In the races where it counted, i think there was backlash against that language. As i think he recognized there was a backlash to his language surrounding the squad and the go back rhetoric and then the chant that broke out at the rally. Why does the white house seem to think it is going to work . I think i hope they are realizing it wont work. And if the president just continues to say what he said today, i think he will be able to steer us in a healthier direction as a democracy and improve his chances in the Republican Party as well. The question is can he maintain this direction . Are it seemed to me that the president , while, yes, he made a nod to hateful ideologies, he didnt exactly acknowledge his own role in this at all. Is that not just a continuation of what we have seen before . It is a continuation of what we have seen before. Its kind of how he ran in 2016. Hes always been comfortable running that way. In 2018, allies will argue his rhetoric and his highlights of immigration and the caravan saved senate seats in red states. I hate to reduce this to political strategy. But he is speaking to rural america, white america. And told reporters this. And the danger of course is in suburban area the mood has changed very rapidly in favor of gun control. How does that play for him next time around if he does keep doing this . Yeah. To that point as well, i mean, daniela, there has been some backlash, Mick Mulvaney talked about Bernie Sanders supporters shooting up the baseball field, talking about whether your ideology, whether the ideology of people who support left wing candidates means that they should take responsibility. But i just dont see any politicians on the left talking the way donald trump was. Exactly. It of Mick Mulvaneys best try at both sides ism. You dont have Bernie Sanders, aoc or any other politician on the left consistently using in citeful language, racist rhetoric. Republicans twisted themselves into knots to avoid saying what the president is saying is race i have the, to say the president is emboldening White Nationalists. Until we get to that point, until we get to that reckoning, the trump we see on twitter, his rallies, thats the real donald trump. Trump reading from a teleprompter is not him. Until he shows me otherwise, thats what im going to continue to believe because that is what he has shown time and time again. Stay with us, please. Coming up ahead, a hatefilled screed and horrific massacre. Later, new york city mayor and 2020 candidate bill de blasio. The newspaper front pages chronicled this terrible moment. The Dayton Daily News calls the attack there a miami valley tragedy. El paso times is seeking answers after devastation. The headline in the boston globe, this is what weve become. And on the cover of the philadelphia daily news, god help us. This is the couple who wanted to get away who used expedia to book the Vacation Rental that led to the ride which took them to the place where they discovered that sometimes a little down time can lift you right up. Flights, hotels, cars, activities, Vacation Rentals. Expedia. Everything you need to go. Dprevagen is the number onemild memopharmacistrecommendedng . Memory support brand. You can find it in the vitamin aisle in stores everywhere. Prevagen. Healthier brain. Better life. But were also a company that controls hiv, fights cancer, repairs shattered bones, relieves depression, restores heart rhythms, helps you back from strokes, and keeps you healthy your whole life. From the day youre born we never stop taking care of you. So, every day, we put our latest technology and unrivaled network to work. The United StatesPostal Service makes more ecommerce deliveries to homes than anyone else in the country. Welcome back. Authorities are looking into a lengthy antiimmigrant screed posted online saturday that may have been written by the el paso gunman. Like the writings of the tree of life gunman in pittsburgh, both works echo President Trumps rhetoric, warning of an invasion at the southern border. While the epidemic of gun deaths predates the president , these cases are raising uncomfortable questions about the impact of his inflammatory rhetoric, especially when combined with the White Supremacist violence during his term. I will say that a majority of the domestic terrorism cases that we have investigated are motivated by some version of what you might call White Suprema supremacy. But it includes other things as well. Joining me is ben collins, our reporter who specializes on this beat. Difficult beat on the internet for nbc news. Jim kavanaugh, former special agent in charge at the atf, and nate snyder, senior counterterrorism official in the obama administration. Thank you all for being here. Jim, let me start with you just big picture here. What is causing the phenomenon that the fbi director was talking about there, increasingly the threats that they are seeing here in the United States, the domestic terrorism cases are motivated by White Supremacy or White Nationalism . While, White Supremacy has descended. We are truly, in fact, kasie, in the 60s. I know that era. I chased the nazis in my career. I looked yesterday on the website at the Southern Property Law Center just to count the number of civil righaoeutights on their memorial. 38 people were killed, including four girls at the baptist church, three at the freedom writers case, vernon don ger. We have exceeded this number, grossly exceeded this number with the emanuel church, the sikh temple, the synagogue. And new zealand, the numbers are revolting. We are worse in the murders of minority citizens than we were in the 60s. So we are in a very bad place. White supremacy is ascendant. Certainly digital hate, recruiting on the internet. But they get away with the violence because of the silence. It was dr. King who said, you know, we