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On The Record: Mass. Democrat reacts to Alexandria shooting

Updated: 11:35 AM EDT Jun 18, 2017

Rep. Jim McGovern says we need to have an honest conversation about guns in this country after Rep. Steve Scalise was shot at a baseball field in Virginia.

WEBVTT ED: GOOD MORNING, EVERYONE.IT IS TIME TO GO "ON THERECORD.">> WE HAVE TO BE MUCH MORECAREFUL ABOUT HOW WE USE OURWORDS.ED: A COUNTRY NOW IMMUNE TOVIOLENCE. CAN CONGRESS SET AN EXAMPLEAFTER A WEEK OF TRAGEDY?>> WE NEED THE WHITE HOUSE TOWORK.RIGHT NOW, IT IS NOT WORKING.ED: THE PLOT THICKENS IN THEPROBE OF THE TRUMPADMINISTRATION.OUTSPOKEN BAY STATE CONGRESSMANJIM MCGOVERN IS OUR GUEST THISMORNING.ON BEACON HILL, HOW HIGH CAN THEMARIJUANA TAX GO?AND -->> SHARING YOUR FATHER'S LESSONSWITH THE PRESIDENT.ANNOUNCER: FROM WCVB CHANNEL 5,THE INSIDE WORD FROM WASHINGTONTO BEACON HILL.TODAY'S NEWSMAKERS ARE GOING "ONTHE RECORD." ED: GOOD MORNING.HAPPY FATHER'S DAY.I'M ED HARDING, ALONG WITHNEWSCENTER 5'S JANET WU.IT SEEMS WE NOW SAY THIS EVERYSUNDAY.AFTER ANOTHER UNBELIEVABLE WEEKIN WASHINGTON -- THIS MORNING, WE HAVE WORCESTERDEMOCRAT JIM MCGOVERN AS OURGUEST. THE CONGRESSMAN JOINS US LIVEVIA SATELLITE FROM WASHINGTON.GOOD MORNING.THANK YOU FOR JOINING US ON THISFATHER'S DAY.JANET: THANK YOU FOR BEING WITHUS.REP. MCGOVERN: HAPPY FATHER'SDAY.I WISH MY FATHER, WALTERMCGOVERN, A HAPPY FATHER'S DAY,TOO.JANET: LET'S JUMP INTO WHATHAPPENED THIS WEEK.A SHOOTING IN ALEXANDRIA WHERECONGRESSMEN WERE PRACTICINGFOR THE ANNUAL BASEBALL GAME.WILL THIS EVENT CHANGE ANY BOATSON GUN CONTROL AND HOW?THERE'S TALKS ON BOTH SIDESABOUT THE NEED FOR MORE GUNS INWASHINGTON AND THE NEED FOR LESSGUNS.REP. MCGOVERN: I'M ON THE SIDEOF LESS GUNS.THERE ARE TOO MANY GUNS AND TOOMANY ASSAULT WEAPONS IN OURCOUNTRY.WE'VE HAD INCIDENTS LIKE THIS INTHE PAST.MY COLLEAGUE GABBY GIFFORDS WASSHOT.WE'VE HAD MASSACRES TIME ANDTIME AGAIN.YET, IT HAS BEEN DIFFICULT EVENTO BRING THAT DISCUSSION TO THEHOUSE FLOOR.I'M HOPING AT SOME POINT THATWILL CHANGE.WE NEED TO HAVE AN HONESTCONVERSATION ABOUT GUNS IN OURCOUNTRY.JANET: YOU DON'T THINK THIS WILLCHANGE ANYTHING ONCE AGAIN?REP. MCGOVERN: I HOPE I AM WRONGON THAT.SOME OF US WILL CONTINUE TO PUSHTHAT WE BRING RESPONSIBLE GUNSAFETY LEGISLATION AND GUNCONTROL BILLS TO THE FLOOR.WE HAVE TRIED TIME AND TIMEAGAIN IN THE AFTERMATH OFMASSACRES AND WE HAVE NOT BEENSUCCESSFUL.MAYBE THIS TIME WILL BEDIFFERENT.ED: WHEN I HEAR ON THE STREET,IF YOU USE THE WORD "MASSACRE,"IF SANDY HOOK COULDN'T CHANGEANYTHING, WHAT CAN?REP. MCGOVERN: THE NATIONALRIFLE ASSOCIATION ISWELL-FINANCED LOBBY THAT INVESTSHEAVILY IN CAMPAIGNS.EVEN AMONG DEMOCRATS.THEY DON'T WANT ANY OF THESEVOTES TO COME TO THE FLOOR.WE HAD A SIT IN ON THE HOUSEFLOOR LAST YEAR OVER THE FACTTHAT WE COULDN'T GET THELEADERSHIP TO BRING TO THE FLOORTO BILLS.ONE THAT CALLED FOR UNIVERSALTHAT SAID IF YOU ARE TOODANGEROUS TO FLY ON AN AIRPLANEBECAUSE YOU WERE ON AN FBIWATCHLIST, YOU WANT NOT TO BEABLE TO GO BY AN ASSAULTWEAPON.JANET: BECAUSE OF REPUBLICANSWHO BACK THE CURRENT GUN LAWS,THEY WILL CHANGE THEM SO PEOPLEWILL HAVE MORE ACCESS TO GUNS TODEFEND THEMSELVES?REP. MCGOVERN: THE MAN WHOCOMMITTED THIS RENDERS CRIME --HORRENDOUS CRIME HAD A LONGHISTORY OF TROUBLE.HE WENT OUT AND BOUGHT THISWEAPON AND SHOT AT MYCOLLEAGUES.THAT WAS IN VIRGINIA.THE LAWS IN VIRGINIA ARE PRETTYLOOSE.GOVERNOR TERRY MCAULIFFE TALKEDABOUT THAT IN THE IMMEDIATEAFTERMATH OF THE SHOOTING.LET'S TALK ABOUT THIS.MOST OF THE PEOPLE I TALKED TO ALAW-ENFORCEMENT -- IN LAWENFORCEMENT QUITE FRANKLY FAVORCOMMONSENSE GUN LEGISLATION.WE OUGHT TO INSIST THERE BEBACKGROUND CHECKS AND THEY OUGHTTO BE UNIVERSAL.I DON'T KNOW WHY THAT IS SOCONTROVERSIAL.SOMEHOW COME IN WASHINGTON, ITIS.ED: THE NEXT THING I WANT TOTALK ABOUT IS CUBA.PRESIDENT TRUMP NOT A BIG FAN OFHIS PREDECESSOR'S CUBA POLICY.WHAT'S THE DANGER OF CHANGINGCOURSE?REP. MCGOVERN: THE DANGER IS ITHURTS THE CUBAN PEOPLE AND ITHURTS THE AMERICAN PEOPLE.NORMALIZING RELATIONS WITH CUBAIS NOT JUST ABOUT HELPING CUBA,IT'S ABOUT HELPING THE UNITEDSTATES.ALREADY COME A NUMBER OF U.S.BUSINESSES IN A VERY LIMITED WAYHAVE BEEN ABLE TO DO BUSINESSWITH CUBA.IT HAS RESULTED IN MORE JOBS INTHE UNITED STATES.AMERICAN AIRLINES, JETBLUE ANDDELTA HAVE DIRECT FLIGHTS TOCUBA.PEOPLE ARE BEING EMPLOYED IN THEUNITED STATES BECAUSE OF OURBETTER RELATIONS WITH CUBA.BEYOND THAT, WE HAVE MEDICALRESEARCHERS, PEOPLE IN OURBIOTECH INDUSTRY WHO WANT TOWORK WITH THEIR CUBANCOUNTERPARTS OF INVESTED A GREATDEAL OF RESOURCES INTO CURINGDISEASES.WE PRIDE OURSELVES IN BEING AFREE COUNTRY.AMERICANS OUGHT TO HAVE THERIGHT TO BE ABLE TO TRAVELFREELY WHEREVER THEY WANT TO GO.PEOPLE CAN TRAVEL TO NORTH KOREAAND IRAN IF THEY GET A VISA FROMTHOSE COUNTRIES BUT YOU CANNOTTRAVEL TO CUBA BECAUSE THEUNITED STATES GOVERNMENT SAYSYOU CAN'T?THAT GOES AGAINST WHO WE ARE.IT'S A MISTAKE TO TURN BACK THECLOCK ON OUR RELATIONS WITHCUBA.ED: MONTH AGO, I SPENT A WEEKTHERE.THE PEOPLE OF CUBA ARE WELCOMINGTHE PEOPLE OF UNITED STATESWITH OPEN ARMS.THEY WANT TO EXPAND THERELATIONSHIP.REP. MCGOVERN: ABSOLUTELY.MY FIRST VISIT TO CUBA WAS IN1979.IT'S A MUCH DIFFERENT PLACE THATTHE EUROPEANS AND CANADIANS HAVERELATIONS WITH CUBA, TRADINGRELATIONS WITH CUBA.PRESIDENT OBAMA TOOK THE FIRSTSTEPS, WHICH I SUPPORTEDWHOLEHEARTEDLY.LET'S CONTINUE TO MOVE FORWARDAND LIFT THE TRAVELRESTRICTIONS.I HAVE A BILL THAT WILL DO THAT.AND CONTINUE TO ENCOURAGE THEREFORMS THAT ARE BEGINNING TOTAKE HOLD IN CUBA.TO GO BACK TO A POLICY THAT HASFAILED MISERABLY FOR 50 YEARSMAKES NO SENSE.JANET: A SERIES OF LAWSUITS ARENOW MOVING THROUGH THE LEGALSYSTEM GOING AFTER PRESIDENTTRUMP ON THE -- DO YOU SEE ANYAFTERWARDS TOWARDS FORCING THEPRESIDENT TO REVEAL HIS PERSONALFINANCES?REP. MCGOVERN: I'M HOPING THECOURTS WILL TAKE IT UP.CONGRESS IS ABOUT TO FILE ALAWSUIT AS WELL.I'M ONE OF THE PEOPLE ON THATLAWSUIT.THE MAYOR CAN PEOPLE HAVE THERIGHT TO KNOW WHAT THEPRESIDENT'S FINANCES ARE,WHETHER THERE ARE ANYCONFLICTS OF INTEREST.THE FINANCIAL CONFLICTS OFINTEREST THAT THIS PRESIDENT HASHAS PUT THIS WHITE HOUSE ON ACOLLISION COURSE WITH CORRUPTION.I DON'T KNOW OF ANY OTHERADMINISTRATION WHERE THIS LACKOF TRANSPARENCY WOULD BETOLERATED.PEOPLE OUGHT TO KNOW WHETHERTHERE ARE CONFLICT OF INTEREST.THEY OUGHT TO KNOW WHEN THEPRESIDENT PUTS TOGETHER A TAXREFORM PLAN IF IT'S BENEFITINGHIM OR AVERAGE AMERICANS.AND THEY OUGHT TO KNOW WHETHERTHERE ARE FINANCIAL TIES WITHRUSSIA AND OTHER FOREIGNGOVERNMENTS.LET A LITTLE SUNSHINE IN.WHAT WE ARE ASKING FOR.EVERY OTHER PRESIDENT HAS HAD TORELEASE THEIR TAX RETURNS.WHY SHOULD THIS PRESIDENT BE ANEXCEPTION?JANET: ARE YOU ANY MOREOPTIMISTIC TODAY THAN YOU WERETWO OR THREE MONTHS AGO?REP. MCGOVERN: I'M OPTIMISTIC INTHE SENSE THAT CONGRESS ISCOMING TOGETHER TRYING TO FIGUREOUT CONCRETE ACTIONS TO BE ABLETO IF NOT PERSUADE THE PRESIDENTTO COME CLEAN ON HIS TAX RETURNSTO MAYBE GET THE COURTSINVOLVED.I'M HOPING THE COURTS WILL TAKETHIS UP AND THAT THEY WILLDECIDE ON THE SITE OFTRANSPARENCY.ED: WE ARE READY FOR THE OTR POPQUIZ.ARE YOU READY?REP. MCGOVERN: PROBABLY NOT, BUTGO AHEAD.ED: QUESTION 1 -- AN AMERICANCOLLEGE STUDENT WAS RELEASEDFROM A NORTH KOREAN PRISON THISPAST WEEK.THE 22-YEAR-OLD WAS SENT HOME INA COMA.HE WAS SERVING 15 YEARS HARDLABOR FOR ALLEGED ANTI-STATEACTS.WHAT HAD OTTO WARMBIER DONE?WHAT DID HE DO ECH?REP. MCGOVERN: THE NORTH KOREANSACCUSED HIM OF BEING A SPY.ED: HE TRIED TO STEAL A BANNER.KEEPING WITH THE NORTH KOREANTHEME, WHAT HIGH PROFILEAMERICAN WAS IN THAT COUNTRYWHEN OTTO WARMBIER WAS RELEASED?REP. MCGOVERN: RODMAN.THE BASKETBALL PLAYER.ED: FORMER BASKETBALL BATBOYDENNIS RODMAN -- BAD BOY DENNISRODMAN.

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On The Record: Mass. Democrat reacts to Alexandria shooting - WCVB Boston

California congressman Eric Swalwell rolled up his sleeves and picked up the phone Saturday to encourage voters in Georgia's 6th Congressional District to vote in Tuesday's special election for Jon Ossoff, the Democrat vying to fill the House seat left vacant when President Trump tapped Republican Tom Price to serve as his Secretary of Health and Human Services.

Ossoff, a 30-year-old documentary-film producer and former congressional aide, is up against 55-year-old Republican Karen Handel, Georgia's former secretary of state.

Swalwell, who represents the San Francisco Bay area, tweeted a video of himself at a phone back at the IBEW Union Hall in Dublin, California, where he said nearly 100 people had gathered to phone voters in Georgia.

"Whats so amazing is that no one here has probably met Jon Ossoff, but they believe in his ability to work for this country, to reach across the aisle, and to do what we can to fight for working families again in this country," Swalwell said in the video. "Most of them told me today they have never been to Georgias 6th District, dont know anyone who lives there, but they feel a sense of responsibility to do their part to help Jon."

Also rallying Saturday for Ossoff was civil rights icon John Lewis, the Atlanta congressman from the neighboring 5th district, who spent the day campaigning with the Democratic candidate.

"Let's honor him ... and who all who sacrificed with him" by casting a ballot, Ossoff said of Lewis at one campaign stop.

And on the Republican side, Health Secretary Tom Price and Agriculture Secretary and former two-term Georgia governor Sonny Perdue, headed to Georgia to campaign for Handel.

"The leftists have gone and typecast and they've picked this young man -- charismatic, articulate -- and they've taught him a few Republican buzzwords," Perdue told Handel supporters. "They think he can fool you. It's not gonna happen."

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Rep. Eric Swalwell goes phone-banking for Georgia Democrat Jon Ossoff - ABC News

Democrat Mike Collier officially announced his bid for the position in Round Rock Saturday afternoon.

Erin Jones, KVUE 6:42 PM. CDT June 17, 2017

There's a new candidate for Texas Lieutenant Governor.

Democrat Mike Collier officially announced his bid for the position in Round Rock Saturday afternoon.

A large crowd of supporters came to the Sharon Prete Main Street Plaza to hear his plan to take on Dan Patrick in 2018. He told the crowd they need a lieutenant governor that will bring Texas together, not apart.

He criticized Patrick on his priorities this legislative session, like the so-called bathroom bill. He says if he wins the race, he'll focus on fixing Texas' economy and school funding.

"We're very different in terms of public education," Collier said. "I'm pro-public education. I'm pro-teacher and retired teacher and he's not. We have very different points of view in terms of tax policy. I attribute high property taxes to republican fiscal policies. I'll show that on the campaign trail.

"When you look at what he stands for you'll see that he's trying to do good for everyone not just for certain interest groups," supporter Sharon Covey said.

Collier, a long time accountant at PriceWaterhouseCoopers in the Houston area, was the Democratic nominee for comptroller in 2014. He lost to Glen Hegar. Saturday, he said his experience running in a statewide race will help him in this election cycle.

2017 KVUE-TV

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Democrat Mike Collier officially announces bid for Texas Lt Governor - KVUE

Up until a recreational congressional Republican baseball practice was shot up last week, the news media had been anticipating violence from one side. It just happened to be the wrong side.

Now after more than a year of suspiciously eyeing only President Trump supporters and Republicans for any sudden movements, the media are calling for "civility" from "both sides."

Otherwise the default position is to again blame Trump.

On Wednesday, 66-year-old James Hodgkinson sprayed bullets on a baseball field outside of Washington, D.C., where Republican Capitol Hill staffers and GOP Rep. Steve Scalise were practicing.

As of Friday, Scalise, the House majority whip, remained in critical condition after taking a shot to the hip. Four others were also injured.

Hodgkinson was a Bernie Sanders supporter who hated Trump, as his comments on social media showed.

But in the face of all evidence that Hodgkinson was a Democrat animated to go on a shooting rampage by his own political frustrations, New York Times political reporter Glenn Thrush looked to Trump.

"Any debate about civility in politics begins with Trump," he said Thursday on Twitter. "No one has degraded discourse more, while embracing the fringe."

Whatever "fringe" Trump appealed to, none of them have picked up an assault rifle to gun down a congressman.

That was a Bernie Bro.

In an effort to even the score between the GOP and Democrats, The New York Times editorial board chocked the incident up to "vicious American politics" and repeated the false claim that "the link to political incitement was clear" between 2008 GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin and the 2011 shooting of then-Democratic Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.

The paper later removed that part from its editorial, admitting that there was "no such link."

Hodgkinson's Facebook page showed that he belonged to the groups "Terminate the Republican Party" and "The Road to Hell is Paved with Republicans." One note on his Facebook said, "It's Time to Destroy Trump & Co."

But a bemused editorial in the Washington Post asked, "Who knows what mixture of madness and circumstance causes someone to pick up a gun and go on a rampage?"

The Washington Post then helped spread responsibility for the tragedy among everyone, saying that it should "cause a gut check about what passes for political discourse in this country."

Hodgkinson was a partisan Democrat. Before his shooting spree, he asked Reps. Ron DeSantis and Jeff Duncan as they left the field early whether it was Republicans or Democrats practicing.

But a willfully-clueless Scott Pelley of the CBS "Evening News" ended his Thursday night program decrying unspecified "leaders and political commentators who set an example" for having "led us into an abyss of violent rhetoric."

When an outspoken Democratic voter opens fire on a group of Republicans practicing baseball, the media blame everyone. Or just Trump.

It's the same thing they did during the 2016 campaign.

In May last year, anti-Trump protesters shut down a campaign rally in Albuquerque, N.M. Rioters lit the city ablaze, vandalized property, and threw rocks at cops.

But the New York Times said two months prior to the riot that it's Trump who "gives license to violence" for saying he'd like to "punch" a protester. The liberal Mother Jones said the same month that Trump is "basically encouraging violence now," and a headline at the website Vox declared that "the problem with violence at Trump rallies starts with Trump himself."

Why isn't any of the violence coming from the people who support the guy who's supposedly fueling it?

Kathy Griffin posed for a photo that depicted her holding a severed Trump head, but when a Democrat deliberately targets an elected Republican to take a bullet, the media ask that everyone be ashamed of themselves. Or at least Trump.

The national media were all too ready for violence to break out among whipped-up Trump supporters, but for more than a year, the violence has only come from one side.

It's not Trump's.

Eddie Scarry is a media reporter for the Washington Examiner.

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James Hodgkinson was a Democrat, but the media want 'both sides' to claim him - Washington Examiner

Terence Mann once told Ray Kinsella in the 1989 classic movie "Field of Dreams" that baseball "reminds us of all that once was good, and it could be again."

That was the sentiment at the Congressional Baseball Game at Nationals Park on Thursday, after two days of trauma, both physical and mental, that reminded the Capitol Hill community that there are bigger things at play than partisanship.

A day after House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., was shot and critically wounded Wednesday morning, the charity game had a new meaning for lawmakers taking the field in an annual contest that pits the two parties against each other. It had a new meaning for the record crowd, too.

There was a lot more at stake than the scoreboard Democrats won 11-2 and many people who were there struggled to adjust to what they should expect after the shooting rampage in which lawmakers were targeted and four victims were shot.

"This is what our country needs after such an act," said Rep. Rodney Davis, R-Ill., who was at the practice the day before and witnessed the shooting. "There are a lot of people who don't believe Republicans or Democrats talk to each other. They think we fight about everything, and this game should show em all that we come together in America's pastime, and we have fun, and we compete, and at the end we shake hands.

"The best part of the game is I sit behind home plate, and I jaw with my Democratic counterparts because they're my friends," said Davis, the GOP team's catcher, "and that's a message I want to get out to people."

President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence did not attend the game, but Trump sent a message of unity and many other politicians of every stripe made appearances. The president's daughter, Ivanka Trump, Energy Secretary Rick Perry, and Kellyanne Conway, counsellor to the president, were among those in the stadium to represent the administration. All four congressional leaders, House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., led the crowd of nearly 25,000 in a "Play ball!" chant.

Throughout the game, which featured a lack of hitting ability, hordes of stolen bases, and echoes of Bruce Springsteen's 1984 hit "Glory Days," was a sense of togetherness. The two teams took a knee together around second base during the pregame ceremonies. After the game, the Democrats' manager, Mike Doyle, handed the trophy to GOP manager Joe Barton and revealed that it would stand in Scalise's office until he gets out of hospital and returns to the halls of Congress. The event raised a record $1.5 million for charity, Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., revealed in a tweet late Thursday.

The main question hanging over the game, however, was whether the newfound amity and mood of sober reflection could last and do anything to douse the flames of rancorous partisanship that have been raging for the past year and throughout Trump's first five months in the White House.

"I just hope this time it lasts longer and people really sit down across the table from each other and try to understand each other," Conway told the Washington Examiner, "because I understand why some people may be skeptical that that will be enduring and not fleeting, but we can at least try."

Congress members shared the sentiment. Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., said that despite bipartisan work on legislation that brings members together behind the scenes, it is bitter political differences that remain in the foreground.

"Events often mask for a time the underlying problems," Issa added, "but they don't eliminate them."

While baseball was played on the field, most of those in the stands and on the field thought about Scalise, whose name received a roaring ovation during the pregame introductions. As of Thursday night, he remained in critical condition after suffering a gunshot to his hip that tore internal organs, broke bones, and has forced several surgeries.

He was shot by a man authorities identified as James Hodgkinson, 66, of Belleville, Ill., a supporter of Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. The shooter was killed by police gunfire at the baseball practice field where the attack took place. He also shot and wounded three others Capitol Police Special Agent Crystal Griner, Tyson Foods lobbyist Matt Mika, and congressional staffer Zack Barth, an aide to Rep. Roger Williams, R-Texas, a team coach. Barth was at the game Thursday and worked at the Capitol earlier in the day.

Rep. Ryan Costello, R-Pa., said, "I was an athlete growing up. If something else was troubling me or bothering me, it's like I didn't think about it for the two or three hours I was playing a game or preparing for it, but that's not going to be possible given how serious and scary that incident was." He added, "You just don't stop thinking about those five individuals and praying for them and their family," also refererring to Capitol Police officer David Bailey, who was injured during the Wednesday attack.

"In the grand scheme of things, the game means absolutely nothing, and it never has," he continued. "But what it represents or is intended to symbolize is that, yeah, Republicans and Democrats may disagree on some things, but we all love baseball. It's America's pastime, and we can be friends. And at the end of the day, we're all human beings who like to compete and respect one another."

Republicans believe that many of the 25 or so members of their conference who were at the baseball practice would be dead if it had not been for the action of Scalise's Capitol Police security detail, who engaged the shooter in a gun battle. Since Wednesday, many suggestions have be offered about how best to respond to the murder attempt directed against lawmakers. Rep. Barry Loudermilk, R-Ga., is proposing a rule to allow lawmakers to carry concealed weapons while in the nation's capital. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., is introducing similar legislation for anyone who wishes to carry in Washington, D.C., not just lawmakers.

Beefing up the Capitol Police force is also an idea on the table. Matthew Verderosa, chief of the Capitol Police, recently asked Congress for a $33 million boost to the force's budget in order to hire 72 more officers and increase security.

Pelosi told reporters Thursday morning that there needs to be a "discussion" about tightening security for members of Congress, including those in large groups such as the baseball practice. She also called for more money for Capitol Police.

Despite the broad mood of unity at the game, the minority leader nevertheless took a shot at Republicans, blaming them for increased violence in federal politics. She pointed to Trump's comments on the campaign as proof.

"We have a president who says, 'I could shoot someone on 5th Avenue and nobody would care,'" she said, referring to a comment Trump made during the 2016 campaign. "When you have people saying, 'beat him up and I'll pay your legal fees,'" she went on, "When you have all of the assaults that were made on Hillary Clinton."

"For [Republicans] to be so sanctimonious is something that I really I must," she continued, before catching herself and adding, "Sad for myself that I've gone down this path with you because I don't think it's appropriate for us to have the first discussion of it, and it will be for another day."

In the wake of the shooting, members are speaking about the constant threats and security challenges they face, especially in their constituencies where town hall meetings have boiled over in anger. Lawmakers have been sent threatening messages in recent months, especially in the wake of the House passing the American Health Care Act, a bill to repeal and replace parts of Obamacare.

"I've had more threats this year than any other time," said Rep. Lou Barletta, R-Pa., adding that he recently had to report a threat to Capitol Police after his repeal and replace vote. In a message, a caller said the vote meant he wasn't going to live long, and it was therefore Barletta's "turn to die as well."

"It's just been more of that type of rhetoric than anytime in the past, and it's really got to stop. I think it's just gone too far now," Barletta lamented. "These [lawmakers] are men and women who are trying to serve. You have to worry about doing town hall meetings ... not only for your own safety, but for the safety of people that go, and your staff. I worry about my staff, who take a lot of the abuse from people, and I just think nationally the rhetoric has gone too hateful. People aren't going to want to serve."

There is plenty of work on Capitol Hill likely to erode this week's unity quickly. Senate Republicans are trying to pass healthcare legislation by the July 4th recess and are writing their bill behind closed doors. House Republicans are moving forward with tax reform, led by Ryan and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady, R-Texas.

And looming over these efforts are investigations into alleged connections between Russian meddling in the 2016 election and members of the Trump campaign. That scandal has widened with the appointment former FBI Director Robert Mueller as a special counsel. The investigation is expected by many to undermine Republicans' ability to put their legislative agenda into action.

On Thursday night, though, people at the ballpark expressed hope for a brighter future.

"Tonight's a good start," Conway said.

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Hardball politics: GOP-Democrat anxiety in aftermath of shooting - Washington Examiner