Of course, the dramatic images of a wounded Donald Trump recalling another dark period in american history more than four decades ago now, the attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan. President Reagan leaving the Washington Hilton hotel after giving a speech in March of 1981. You'll remember it was John Hinckley junior, opening fire, wounding the president, the Secret Service forcing him into his limousine, rushing him to the hospital. Now, more than four decades later, new images defining this new and troubling chapter. New York Times photographer Doug Mills, who has documented every president since Ronald Reagan, and he was right near that stage last night, just a few feet, in fact, away from the former president. Mills captured those chilling photos, one appearing to show one of those bullets coming very close to the president's head. I spoke to Doug Mills just before we came on tonight. Doug, thank you for being here tonight. I know you have been photographing president since 1983. You were in what's called the buffer area, that small area. Just a handful of photographers, I presume three or four of you. I'm curious, Doug, how close were you to the point, former president, and describe what happened when you knew this was suddenly taking such a dark turn.

Yeah, David, I was part of that small pool that sits right up in the buffer zone, which is just feet from and sometimes just inches from the podium. And the moments right before the bullets rang out, I was literally looking up at this huge flag that was up above him while he was speaking. And I thought, okay, I'm going to try and get some pictures of that flag flying. And then he gestured to his right and looked over, and all of a sudden, the shots rang out, and it was pop, pop, pop. And I was like, oh, my gosh. And so as I looked up, I kept taking pictures at the same time. And then when I saw him fall behind the podium, I thought, oh, dear God, he's been shot. So I immediately ran over to the left and looked around and tried to get my eye on the president, where he was. And by the time, in those split seconds, he was already covered and surrounded by members of the secret service who were, you know, blanketing him in case the shots were going. And there was complete chaos around us. And I couldn't see him.

And, you know, I'm thinking, is he okay? What's happened to him? They were lifting the former president up to his feet, and I thought, oh, God, he's alive. Thank God. And then he started to gesture with his fist and gave that defiant pump, and I thought, oh, wow, he's fired up. And then as he came closer and closer to us. I could see the blood on his ear, and I was like, oh, my gosh, he's been shot in the earth. And then as he was, you know, there was that moment where he was very defiant. And then literally the next second, the look on his face was just complete shock. And, you know, just looking out at what all the crowd is out there and he's seeing everybody scattering everywhere. So it was, you know, it was just a horrific moment.

And, Doug, we know more than 24 hours later now you've had a chance to study your images. Could you even believe that you captured that one image of what appears to be, you know, one of those bullets so close to the former president's head?

You know, David, it was one of those moments. I obviously didn't know it. So we were held in that tent. I was sending my pictures from my Sony camera back to the New York Times. And obviously the first pictures I wanted to send were the ones showing him defiant and coming off and alive. So I sent those. And then it dawned on me. It was like, oh, my gosh, I think I was taking pictures while he was, you know, why this whole thing happened, you know, the pop, pop, pop. And when the shots rang out. So I called one of my editors, Jen Mosswager, and I was like, jen, jen, I'm sending you images that show him falling after he was hit. And she called me back about five minutes, David, and just said, doug, you won't believe this. And I was like, what? And she said, and I thought I had done something wrong or I had messed something up. And she said, you actually have an image of the bullet passing behind his head. And I was, I was. I got chills. I was completely stunned.

Really is stunning that you captured it. And I think we've all seen that image now. And, Doug, you know, the temperature in the country, you've seen it deeply polarizing times. Did you ever fear this?

I never feared this happening at a political event. You know, I've thought about maybe there's a possibility from, like, a roadside or somebody would shoot at a, you know, either the president's limousine. And I never, because there's so much security around. So the fact that this guy was able to climb up on that roof and get a shot off is, you know, is pretty remarkable.

Well, Doug, you've covered presidents for 40 years now, and I wish you many more years covering presidents. And we're just glad you're safe. Doug. Thank you.

Well, thank you, David. I appreciate you having me.

Doug Mills of the New York Times with us tonight in an extraordinary series of images that will be remembered for many years to come.