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The shooting of House Majority whip Steve Scalise during a congressional baseball practice today is still a developing and fluid story. Not much is known about the assailant yet other than eyewitness accounts that he was a white male who was described as roughly 40 to 50 years of age. No motivation has yet been suggested until Senator Rand Paul, who was he, himself, a participant in the practice, called into New Day on CNN.

Co-host Alisyn Camerota asked Mr. Paul if he had the feeling that the assailant knew that he was attacking lawmakers, to which Paul replied I cant verify everything, but I think there is some saying they may have heard that it was politically motivated.

There have been unverified accounts that the shooter asked if the participants were Republicans or Democrats, though it appears that the event was a bipartisan activity.

Watch the clip above, courtesy of CNN.

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Senator Rand Paul Suggests Shooter Was 'Politically Motivated' in Call to CNN - Mediaite

The answer is the Congressional Baseball Game, a tradition among lawmakers going back to the early part of the 20th Century that in recent years has raised $600,000 for charity.

"It's one of the best things we do," Sen. Rand Paul, who was at the practice when the shooting broke out, told CNN Wednesday morning.

In the run-up to the game, which is scheduled to be played tomorrow at Nationals Park, both sides -- Republicans and Democrats -- hold early-morning practices in neighborhoods around Washington.

Over the past two decades, the game grew into a bigger and bigger deal. When I covered the game for Roll Call in the early 2000s -- I attended the game as a fan several other times -- it was played in Prince George's County at the home of the Bowie Baysox. It moved to RFK Stadium in Washington, DC for a brief period in the 2000s. The game has been at Nationals Park since 2008.

These are generally lighthearted affairs, as CNN's Chris Moody found when he attended back in 2015 and saw President Obama cheering against Paul, who was then just getting ready to mount a bid for the Republican presidential nomination.

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The Congressional baseball game is a long-running, bipartisan tradition - CNN

Just over 24 hours after Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) announced his candidacy earlier this month to become the next president of the United States, his campaign was already celebrating at least on social media.

In a tweet, the campaign showed the digital flip scoreboard that dominates his campaign website tipping over $1 million. INCREDIBLE, the tweet reads, pointing out that all of the donations were made online. That is nearly $700 a minute in that first 24 hours. A week later, the Paul campaign had raised another million, according to the website a disclosure that isnt required by any law, and one that wont be verifiable until July. By Monday afternoon, the counter had been replaced by looping videos but what was the point of it in the first place?

This is the old telethon technique translated to the web. Lets get to $3,000,000 before 10 p.m!,' said Michael Cornfield, a professor of campaign strategy and messaging at George Washington University. The only thing missing is the drum roll.

Cornfield said that the first time he recalls a candidate using an online ticker was in 2000, when Sen. John McCain(R-Ariz.) added one to his website to capitalize on a 20-point primary upset in New Hampshire over the eventual nominee, George W. Bush.

In the early days of the campaign, the ability to raise lots of money can be seen as a qualifier and an especially important oneconsidering that the 2012 Republican primary winner, Mitt Romney spent $76.6 million on that primary contest, andthe likely 2016 Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton, and her supporters areexpected to spend somewhere around $2.5 billion, by some estimates.

While the $2.2 million that Pauls website had reported by Friday afternoon could be only part of his total fundraising picture so far he has held at least two fundraisers since announcing his bid for the White House, one of which asked for donations ranging from $1,000 to $5,000 the strategy imitates a fundraising tactic used by his father, former Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas), in his presidential campaigns: the money bomb. The idea is to raise a massive amount of money in a 24-hour period, building excitement as you go.

He would provide it to both show and generate momentum, said Candice Nelson, the Department of Government chair at American University.

The elder Paul saw a bit more success with the money bomb technique, though. In late 2007, he raised $6 million in one day. That could still be good news for Sen. Paul, who is often lumped together with his libertarian father in terms of policy positions: Ron Paul raised $41 million for his 2012 presidential run almost exclusively through small ($200 and under) donors.

But Paul might be expected to rope in some particularly wealthy big donors as well. As OpenSecrets reported in February, Sen. Pauls committees secured$7,600 from the founder of Napster and early Facebook executive Sean Parker in what was seen as an indication that wealthy tech donors could be interested. Silicon Valleydonors could provide a valuable push for Paul, who receives much less money from Wall Street than, say, Sen. Marco Rubio(R-Fla.). Silicon Valley donors have been a growing source campaign money, a trend that is continuing

But he will still have to contend with the other candidates jostling to secure donors big and small. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), the first major candidate to announce his White House bid, raised $4.3 million dollars in the first eight days of his campaign and a fair amount of that came from small donors, showing that Paul isnt the only candidate who can rally grassroots support. Rubio reportedly raised $1.25 million online in the first 24 hours after he announced his campaign.

On the flip side of the equation: Last month, a likely Republican primary opponent of Pauls, former Florida governor Jeb Bush, asked donors to his super PAC to limit checks to$1 million.

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Like Father, Like Son: Rand Paul's 'Money Bomb' - OpenSecrets ...

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer announced Monday he was supporting a resolution offered by Paul and Democratic Sens. Chris Murphy of Connecticut and Al Franken of Minnesota to block the sale of $510 million of precision-guided munitions to Saudi Arabia.

Paul and Murphy are expected to force a vote on their resolution -- which is possible under Senate rules for arms sales -- as early as Tuesday, according to Senate aides.

"I will support Senator Murphy's resolution of disapproval," Schumer said in a statement. "The human rights and humanitarian concerns have been well documented and are important: of equal concern to me is that the Saudi government continues to aid and abet terrorism via its relationship with Wahhabism and the funding of schools that spread extremist propaganda throughout the world."

Maryland Sen. Ben Cardin, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, came out against the munitions sale to Saudi Arabia last week, citing the Trump administration's decision to sell weapons to Saudi Arabia instead of trying to find a solution to the civil war in Yemen, where the Saudi-led coalition is accused of bombing civilians.

"I believe it's important for President Trump to present to us a strategy for how we're going to end the conflict in Yemen," Cardin told reporters on Monday.

With the backing of Schumer and Cardin, the vote on the Saudi arms sale could be razor-thin -- certainly much closer than the 71-27 vote to dismiss a similar resolution from Paul and Murphy last year.

Both Schumer and Cardin voted to dispose of that disapproval resolution, which was over a separate Saudi arms sale approved under the Obama administration.

But now Senate Democrats appear inclined to oppose the latest arms sale, as they have expressed concerns that the Trump administration is not pressing Saudi Arabia and others on human rights abuses.

Paul and Murphy say they're objecting to this arms sale because the precision-guided bombs are being used in the Yemeni civil war to target civilians.

"It's an arms race over there, and we're fueling it," Paul told CNN's Jake Tapper.

Paul told reporters Monday he thought the vote would be "very, very close" when asked about the whip count.

The $510 million munitions sale is part of the $110 billion arms agreement that Trump touted during his visit to Saudi Arabia last month.

The senators are able to object to that portion of the sale because it has been noticed by the State Department, where foreign military sales are subject to a 30-day congressional review period.

Most of the $110 billion Saudi sale has not yet reached that phase. Defense News reported last week that $85 billion of the deal is made up of potential sales that still need to be finalized.

CNN's Ashley Killough contributed to this report.

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Senate Democrats join with Rand Paul to oppose Saudi arms sale - CNN International

Sen. Rand Paul says sour grapes are to blame for the continued obsession by President Donald Trumps critics over Russias meddling into the 2016 presidential election.

CNNs Jake Tapper invited Sen. Mitch Connells Kentucky counterpart onto The Lead to discuss the ongoing media frenzy over possible collusion between the presidents associates and Russian officials. Mr. Paul was asked by the host if he supports letting the facts lead where they may, at which point he framed the ordeal as vindictive political theater.

I think the whole thing is sour grapes, to tell you the truth, Mr. Paul said Monday before imitating the presidents critics. Did Sessions meet with the Russian ambassador? Yes, I think its all sour grapes. I dont think theres anything there. Im not against people looking at facts, but I think we shouldnt get carried away with things.

The Republican added that former FBI Director James Comeys testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee last week confirmed that agents were not targeting the president.

Comey said the president was not, you know, the point of any investigation and the president responded petulantly, probably and said, tell everybody Im not the object of your investigation. You can see where there would be an annoyance. But even by Comeys testimony saying, he told me he hoped I would finish it, it certainly doesnt sound like any kind of obstruction of justice when you tell someone I hope they will finish their job.

Mr. Pauls appearance comes less than 24 hours before Attorney General Jeff Sessions testifies before the same intelligence committee. Mr. Sessions recused himself from the FBIs investigation three months ago due to two undisclosed meetings with Russian ambassador Sergei Kislyak.

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Rand Paul: 'Sour grapes' fueling Trump-Russia collusion frenzy - Washington Times