“p upa up a lot. what amendment comes up a lot. what we do have one, it certainly does protect some rights of individuals to hold guns, even the supreme court decision interpreting the second amendment talk about the limits on that right with all rights and responsibility. ithink on that right with all rights and responsibility. i think for many folks, they don't really understand that balance. but you have this right, that doesn't mean there can't be laws that restrict it in favour of public safety. i think sometimes, you get this sort of impediment of the second amendment that events us from having an intelligent conversation. i testified in front of the senate last march, i sat right across from ted cruz in the many. i was waiting for him to ask me questions about solutions to this incredibly important national crisis. he didn't ask me a single question. i sat there for three hours and he didn't asked me one thing. and it really shocked me that these leaders of our country should be trying to solve this

problem, but when they get the chance to talk about that actual solution and the statistics, they don't do it. theyjust statistics, they don't do it. they just throw a bunch of rhetoric at you. thoughts and prayers, or how this is about law—abiding gun owners. this young man, i don't know the details, my guess is until he committed this horrific act, he probably could have been identified as a law—abiding because until you do this terrible thing... we don't know. , ., know. yes, as you point out, we recently don't — know. yes, as you point out, we recently don't know. _ know. yes, as you point out, we recently don't know. there's - know. yes, as you point out, we recently don't know. there's sol recently don't know. there's so much that is left. as you point out, children are dead today. ijust want as you point out, children are dead today. i just want to know, from your experience given that we've seen these sorts of tragedies before the united states it's devastating for families and communities involved but across the us are you hopeful at all, optimistic that things might change? i’m that things might change? i'm

alwa s that things might change? i�*rn always hopeful that the american people will wake up and realise we don't have to live this way. we don't have to live this way. we don't have to live in a country where this is an on the news every single wake. if we simply tell those representatives we are not willing to live this way any more, they demand that they change i am hopeful. at the american people again have to raise their voices at some point. raise their voices at some oint. . ~' ,, raise their voices at some oint. . ~ . ., point. thank you so much for takin: point. thank you so much for taking the — point. thank you so much for taking the time _ point. thank you so much for taking the time to _ point. thank you so much for taking the time to speak- point. thank you so much for taking the time to speak to l point. thank you so much for| taking the time to speak to us today. i appreciate your thoughts on the programme. thank you for having me. i want to remind _ thank you for having me. i want to remind you — thank you for having me. i want to remind you if _ thank you for having me. i want to remind you if you _ thank you for having me. i want to remind you if you just - to remind you if you just joining us the few facts that we have on the story as they have coming in the last hour or so. we are expecting an update on the latest developments from president biden in the next hour or so. president biden in the next hour orso. but president biden in the next hour or so. but this texas governor greg abbott speaking about the situation in texas

there, this is what greg abbott had to say about it tragedy a little earlier.— had to say about it tragedy a little earlier. the shooter was an 18-year-old _ little earlier. the shooter was an 18-year-old male - little earlier. the shooter was an 18-year-old male who - little earlier. the shooter was - an 18-year-old male who resided an 18—year—old male who resided in you've all day. it's believed that is not yet confirmed according to my most recent report. he shot and killed horrifically and comprehensively 14 students and killed a teacher mr ramos, the shooter he is himself deceased. and it is believed that responding officers killed him. it appears that two responding officers were struck by rounds but have no serious injuries. in addition to that, it is being reported that the subject

shot his grandmother right before he went into the school. and there is... i have no further information about the connection between those two shootings. the subject is reported to be a student, to have been a student at uvalde high school. and is a us citizen. ., , high school. and is a us citizen-— high school. and is a us citizen. ., , ., , citizen. texas governor greg abbott. citizen. texas governor greg abbott we _ citizen. texas governor greg abbott. we have _ citizen. texas governor greg abbott. we have been - citizen. texas governor greg i abbott. we have been hearing from a whole host of voices in the united states. we are expecting to hear from the us presidentjoe biden shortly but meanwhile, a little while ago us vice president kamala harris spoke and urged lawmakers to come together and find a path to pass meaningful gun control measures. this is what she said. i measures. this is what she said. ~ ., ,, ., ., said. i think we all know and have said — said. i think we all know and have said many _ said. i think we all know and have said many times - said. i think we all know and have said many times with l said. i think we all know and i have said many times with each other, enough is enough. enough is enough. as a nation we have

to have the courage to take action and understand the taxes between what makes for reasonable and sensible public policy to ensure something like this never happens again. that was the us _ this never happens again. that was the us vice _ this never happens again. that was the us vice president kamala harris reflecting to a room full of leaders and she pointed out how they should never happen again and enough is certainly enough. our news reporter has been watching events in our newsroom for us. thank you so much forjoining us again on the programme. i know it's been a fluid couple of hours for you. what's the latest that you're able to tell us? in latest that you're able to tell us? , ., , ., us? in terms of the number of casualties. — us? in terms of the number of casualties, right _ us? in terms of the number of casualties, right now- us? in terms of the number of casualties, right now as - us? in terms of the number of casualties, right now as far . us? in terms of the number of casualties, right now as far as | casualties, right now as far as we know there is still at least 14 we know there is still at least ia pupils who have died in one school teacher. there is children between the ages of

seven in ten years old. we know according to the governor the suspected gunman was 18 years old and he is believed to have been shot by responding officers. we also know there are a number of people in critical care in a local hospital in san antonio which is a nearby city. there is a 66—year—old person in critical care as well as a ten—year—old child. the latest update we haveis child. the latest update we have is confirmed by two law enforcement officers who told our partner at cbs that the gottman, the suspected gunman was carrying an ar 15 rifle. that's a rifle that the national rifle association calls america's rifle, the rifle of choice, it's a civilian version of a military rifle and it was in fact used in the 2018 school shooting, high school shooting in parkland florida at that

marjory stoneman douglas high school where 1a children died as well as three members of staff. it's a rifle that is typically used in a lot of these mass shooting incidents because of its capacity to fire rounds quickly. just because of its capacity to fire rounds quickly.— rounds quickly. just listening to what you've _ rounds quickly. just listening to what you've been - rounds quickly. just listening to what you've been saying l rounds quickly. just listening| to what you've been saying in terms of the access to weapons, apparently that is gottman may well ahead according to those sources that the bbc has been speaking to as well, a little earlier we were listening to thomas about the gun debate, the gun control debate in the united states and it really divides the entire country, from coast to coast the political opinion and particularly in focus when tragedies of this sort come through. i know you've been reporting on the number of guns that we've seen in the us over the course of the last few

decades. give us a sense of how those laws have changed and what we are looking at now in terms of gun ownership. to put it simply. _ terms of gun ownership. to put it simply, texas _ terms of gun ownership. to put it simply, texas have _ terms of gun ownership. to put it simply, texas have the - it simply, texas have the loosest laws when it comes to gun ownership. in fact, more than a5% of the population in texas says that they live in a residence at home that possess an arm, i got in. it all comes down to the heart of the debate —— a garden. the right to bear arms, the right that is enshrined in the us constitution. after these sorts of shootings, as you say these debates tend to pick up. you have senators like chris murphy, of course the senator of connecticut where the last primary school shooting happened where 20 children were killed between the ages of five and 11 years old and six members of staff. where he is

saying that this is a wake—up call for gun reform. a lot of the democrats have rallied around that cause. that's not the case in texas. the texas attorney general has said that he believes this is just further proof that perhaps school administrators need to be armed because police officers cannot get to those schools in time. and senator ted cruz has rejected calls for government reform saying they are simply not effective, the strategy of taking away these rights from law—abiding citizens just doesn't make sense and that other scenarios, other ways of moving forward should be pursued like targeting felons in particular. as you say, it's a big debate in the united states was up and in the united states was up and in texas lawmakers tend to be firmly on the side of the right to bear arms, the loose laws around gun ownership in the united states.—

united states. thank you so much for — united states. thank you so much forjoining _ united states. thank you so much forjoining us - united states. thank you so much forjoining us on - united states. thank you so much forjoining us on the l much forjoining us on the programme with your thoughts. she will be back to give us more updates on the story. for the moment i want to turn to a reporterfor the moment i want to turn to a reporter for the the moment i want to turn to a reporterfor the san the moment i want to turn to a reporter for the san antonio express. shejoins me now. taylor, great to get you and your thoughts on the programme. he was speaking to your colleague a little earlier and she was talking aboutjust how devastated the community is in the midst of this tragedy. since then, of course we've heard from vice president kamala harris in the united states saying that enough is enough. what are you hearing in terms of the latest information that we are getting on this? 0bviously, with a situation like this information coming in rapidly and changing over the last few hours it has been an influx of politicians,

celebrities, local celebrities all coming out to wish each other condolences for this community. i think uvalde and the state of texas as a whole is absolutely devastated but that it never gets easier when you hear about these mass shootings and now especially with situations like this where it's primarily children that are involved in are the victims. it absolutely breaks your heart. i think the state in the country as a whole are really feeling that blow today. indeed. we've been speaking to various people today on the programme who been talking about the right of people in the state of texas to be able to carry guns and in particular one think really struck me, the fact that as we understand it, the suspect was armed with a handgun and it ar 15 semi automatic rifle. that is to sources confirm that

information the us partner cbs news according to the sources he also had high—capacity ammunition magazines when he entered the school. how does this happen in texas? unfortunately, our gun laws are very lax, so to say. having high—capacity rifles like that is not actually very uncommon in texas or in the united states. unfortunately, as we've seen with a lot of the mass shootings in a lot of situations like this unfold with these high—capacity with these high—ca pacity weapons, with these high—capacity weapons, whether they are ar fifteens or something else. unfortunately semi automatic and automatic weaponry is pretty common. in and automatic weaponry is pretty common.— and automatic weaponry is pretty common. in your time reporting — pretty common. in your time reporting for — pretty common. in your time reporting for the _ pretty common. in your time reporting for the san - pretty common. in your time | reporting for the san antonio express have you ever seen a tragedy of this sort unfold? i have not. i grew up in colorado so i grew up knowing columbine

happened not too far away for me. on a personal level i have dealing with it, on a professional level really being in the midst of it, being thrown into situation like this, i've never experienced something of this magnitude and it's absolutely heartbreaking. i think i speakfor it's absolutely heartbreaking. i think i speak for myself and my colleagues that today was one of those days that you put your head down, you part metallized, you get through it and tonight will be rough once the adrenaline is has settled. compartmentalise. it's all hands on deck for hours at this point for the river port is in the field, report is in the office, editors, producers, everybody has reallyjust dropped everything and committed themselves to the story. i committed themselves to the sto . . ., committed themselves to the sto . . . ., . ., committed themselves to the sto . . . . . ., ., story. i can imagine i can hear the emotion — story. i can imagine i can hear the emotion in _ story. i can imagine i can hear the emotion in your _ story. i can imagine i can hear the emotion in your voice - story. i can imagine i can hear the emotion in your voice and | the emotion in your voice and how difficult this must be. i really appreciate the fact that you're taking the time to speak to us today. ijust want

you're taking the time to speak to us today. i just want to ask about the fact that an emergency blood donation appointments are also apparently being held on wednesday following that shooting. i don't how much more you're able to tell us about the scene at the hospital, in terms of the recovery and a rescue going forward. i unfortunately was not out in uvalde today, one of my colleagues who painted the situation for me and he said what he saw was extremely grim. parents crying, hugging their children that they could find. it just so children that they could find. itjust so happen to be the civic centre where parents were to collect their children was where texans were actually voting today. there were parents basically in this earth shattering pretty much alongside people who are going out to vote to influence our politics here in texas will stop it was a very odd

situation for him, as my colleague told me. 0bviously, colleague told me. obviously, the community is absolutely devastated. lines of teachers and parents and community members and everyone just really feeling the impact is from what i've been told, uvalde is just grim. from what i've been told, uvalde isjust grim. it'sjust in an incredibly sad, sad sight to see right now. unimaginably so. just to see right now. unimaginably so- just to _ to see right now. unimaginably so- just to say _ to see right now. unimaginably so. just to say that _ to see right now. unimaginably so. just to say that we - to see right now. unimaginably so. just to say that we are - so. just to say that we are seeing statements coming in across these statement of the political divide in the united states where we seen a tree two tweet now from hillary clinton former presidential candidate say we are becoming a nation of angriest screens. she's call for gun control saying we need to call for to stop the scourge of gun violence in america that it is murdering our children. he reflected on the fact that there is this divisive in texas

alone. i wonder, there is this divisive in texas alone. iwonder, your thoughts on that given the fact that there has been so much discussion about it.- discussion about it. gun control— discussion about it. gun control is _ discussion about it. gun control is something - discussion about it. (izir'i control is something that's always discussed in american politics no matter who is in office. we saw the same thing with president trump years ago, we see it biden, we see it prior to those two and unfortunately, the same conversations keep happening again and again will stop i'm so sorry, i've got to jump again and again will stop i'm so sorry, i've got tojump in there. i so sorry, i've got to “ump in there. ., , so sorry, i've got to “ump in there. . , ., ,, . ., so sorry, i've got to “ump in there. . , . ,, . . there. i really appreciate your time but i _ there. i really appreciate your time but i want _ there. i really appreciate your time but i want to _ there. i really appreciate your time but i want to take - there. i really appreciate your time but i want to take you i time but i want to take you like to texas now where we are hearing from officials about the tragedy... irate hearing from officials about the tragedy. . ._ the tragedy... we greatly appreciate _ the tragedy... we greatly appreciate your _ the tragedy... we greatly appreciate your patience l the tragedy... we greatly i appreciate your patience and understanding. here to provide a short statement and not take any questions is our uvalde chief of police.

i apologise, i did not realise we were not on and you probably cannot hear what i was saying. i am executive director of communication for uvalde cis d. this is a tragic time in our district so please note the investigation is not complete. we will only be sharing a statement with you, not providing questions. we greatly appreciate your patience and understanding put up here to share a statement and not take questions is our uvalde cis id chief of police.— chief of police. thank you. good evening. _ chief of police. thank you. good evening. again, - chief of police. thank you. i good evening. again, briefly, as of— good evening. again, briefly, as of now— good evening. again, briefly, as of now we are still working on this— as of now we are still working on this active investigation. once — on this active investigation. once were able to provide them information to the families we will do —

information to the families we will do so _ information to the families we will do so first and foremost, ohviouslx _ will do so first and foremost, obviously. and you get information to our families and give _ information to our families and give them _ information to our families and give them some information. please — give them some information. please bear with us in regards to laugh — please bear with us in regards to laugh office of secondly, once — to laugh office of secondly, once we _ to laugh office of secondly, once we do get information that we can— once we do get information that we can release to the public we will he — we can release to the public we will be doing that, please know once _ will be doing that, please know once we — will be doing that, please know once we do get information we will share _ once we do get information we will share that with you and call another press conference. let call another press conference. let me — call another press conference. let me assure you the intruder is deceased and we are not actively— is deceased and we are not actively looking for another individual or suspect in this case — individual or suspect in this case was _ individual or suspect in this case was up we definitely ask you all— case was up we definitely ask you all to _ case was up we definitely ask you all to keep the family, families— you all to keep the family, families involved in your prayers _ families involved in your prayers. thank you so much. here — prayers. thank you so much. here to— prayers. thank you so much. here to provide a statement and not take any questions as i superintended.— not take any questions as i superintended. good evening. this was a _ superintended. good evening. this was a tragic _ superintended. good evening. this was a tragic event - superintended. good evening. this was a tragic event today i this was a tragic event today in my— this was a tragic event today in my heart was broken today. our— in my heart was broken today. our hearts— in my heart was broken today. our hearts and thoughts and prayers _ our hearts and thoughts and prayers are with all our families as we go through this day and — families as we go through this day and days to come. if you

announcements that we need to make _ announcements that we need to make is, — announcements that we need to make is, beginning tomorrow at 10am _ make is, beginning tomorrow at 10am we — make is, beginning tomorrow at 10am we will have grief counselling and support at the civic— counselling and support at the civic centre for our students, our— civic centre for our students, our staff, _ civic centre for our students, our staff, community members, anybody— our staff, community members, anybody that needs to come at that time. we may be there for more _ that time. we may be there for more than _ that time. we may be there for more than one day, maybe several— more than one day, maybe several days. our staff will meet — several days. our staff will meet at _ several days. our staff will meet at 8am at the civic centre as well — meet at 8am at the civic centre as well. we will begin visiting with— as well. we will begin visiting with them and seeing what those needs— with them and seeing what those needs are — with them and seeing what those needs are. school will be closed, _ needs are. school will be closed, the school year is done _ closed, the school year is done. we will have no school tomorrow _ done. we will have no school tomorrow or thursday, all activities _ tomorrow or thursday, all activities are cancelled throughout the district, no graduation is on peoples mind. we will— graduation is on peoples mind. we will come out with a notice on that— we will come out with a notice on that at— we will come out with a notice on that at a later time. all the — on that at a later time. all the staff— on that at a later time. all the staff members will report to their— the staff members will report to their campuses. otherthen to their campuses. other then the to their campuses. otherthen the robb _ to their campuses. otherthen the robb campus which will come to the _ the robb campus which will come to the civic centre. again, my heart — to the civic centre. again, my heart is — to the civic centre. again, my heart is broken today. we are a small— heart is broken today. we are a small community and we need your— small community and we need your prayers to get us through

this _ your prayers to get us through this. thank you.— this. thank you. again, this is a traric this. thank you. again, this is a tragic event _ this. thank you. again, this is a tragic event in _ this. thank you. again, this is a tragic event in our _ this. thank you. again, this is. a tragic event in our community was that we are very sorry that we cannot provide you more information but greatly appreciate your patience and understanding during this very difficult that we ask that you pray for all of the families affected. thank you and be safe. ., �* , ., ., safe. you've been hearing from officials in _ safe. you've been hearing from officials in uvalde, _ safe. you've been hearing from officials in uvalde, are - officials in uvalde, are initially from communications person talking about the fact that the investigation is not complete yet and asked reporters they are not to ask any questions as the investigation continues was then heard from the chief of police who talked a little bit about that active investigation as he called it and said that once they are able to provide information to the families they will do so. that is their most urgent priority. he also

wanted to assure people watching that the intruder as he said, as he called him is disease. they are not actively looking for another individual and he asked that the families in their prayers. another official spoke today talking about the fact that they will be counselling sessions that will be taking place over the course of the coming days, not just for students at the school but for the wider community as well. he also talked about the fact that schools will be closed, as i understand it until the school year is done you hurt a little earlier that the school year was due to be done i think this week and in the next few days, in fact. no school, no activities. they are all going to be cancelled throughout the district. in a rather heartening moment the official also spoke of the fact that this is a very small community and asked for prayers as they go through this awful tragedy. we can go back to

taylor, somebody who is very well—versed with this community. i don't know if you manage to listen into that press conference but very little information at this point. and understandably the fact that the priority is to update the families first. the fact that now that schools are going to be close, this is really ripping the community apart, isn't it? it really ripping the community apart, isn't it?— apart, isn't it? it is. with situations _ apart, isn't it? it is. with situations like _ apart, isn't it? it is. with situations like this i apart, isn't it? it is. with situations like this there | apart, isn't it? it is. with. situations like this there is no way around it, unfortunately. itjust tears unfortunately. it just tears everybody�*s unfortunately. itjust tears everybody�*s heartstrings, whether you have a child at robb elementary, you know a teacher, it such a small community, it's a very tight—knit area. it's hard not to feel that impact, even in san antonio, we are about an hour and a half drive from uvalde. i know here it wasjust in instant punch in the gut when we heard the news. it such

an unfathomable event.- when we heard the news. it such an unfathomable event. when you listen to the _ an unfathomable event. when you listen to the kinds _ an unfathomable event. when you listen to the kinds of— an unfathomable event. when you listen to the kinds of things i listen to the kinds of things that we heard today from the chief of police there saying it's an active investigation and the police will continue to brief reporters about this, of course the priority is to get information to their families. from your experience, what does happen next in an investigation of this sort, what will officials be doing? typically investigations _ officials be doing? typically investigations like - officials be doing? typically investigations like this i officials be doing? typically investigations like this to i investigations like this to take a lot of time, especially with the shooter being deceased now. there is a good likelihood that there is going to be a lot of questions that go unanswered from here on out. as he chief of police said earlier, the main priority as can be with the families, making sure they have the resources provided, making sure the survivors, everybody in the school and felt those effects, making sure they are taking care of. as far as the investigation,

realistically i think a lot of it is just getting him realistically i think a lot of it isjust getting him down realistically i think a lot of it is just getting him down to why did he do this, what was going on, what was the motive behind these things. it may be a question that we never get in answer to. a question that we never get in answerto. but a question that we never get in answer to. but typically it will start to be a deep dive into his life and really what drove him how he maintained those weapons, things like that. i can hear the fatigue in your voice. i want to thank you for keeping us up—to—date with all the latest developments and your thoughts at this awful time. i want to tell you about one of our reporters who has arrived in uvalde. a video journalist with bbc news and she has been saying lots of information about this that it's a solemn evening in small town texas. 1a—year—old

students, from robb elementary and can't believe that this was so close to home, according to madison she said why then? apparently madison has cousins at the primary school and her own high school was also forced into lockdown during the shooting. police have sealed off the scene of course but nearby neighbours have been standing outside wondering why it was in their town at this time. as officials are beginning investigations as we been telling you, the fact that uvalde is morning with a vigil just a few blocks away from school we have been hearing from those officials talking about the need for prayers for the community and the fact that this is still in active investigation. so much we don't know at this point was up the suspects motives oh course and what actually happened in the

lead up to this lots more that we will be telling you about on bbc news so do stay with us for the latest on this story. hello again. we had loads of showers across the uk. some impressive thundercloud, this one across the skies of of west london and there were reports of some hail, lots of it and we even had a report of a funnel cloud, that's like a tornado coming down that doesn't quite reach the ground. although there were loads of showers the thunderstorms really were concentrated across eastern areas why? that was onto the jet stream for the why? that was onto the jet stream. we had this trough moving across eastern areas of new two england, that's wicked the show showers made those thunderstorms the rich here

they were very heavy at all. that trough feature is all the way across northeast europe. looking at the charts for wednesday, a strong jet steam will be pushing in this set of what the front. friends themselves are particularly active but time you get to eastern areas of england but it will be a blustery day, certainly a different take and be able to say. the band of rain storms off northern island, western parts of england and wales, scotland, will push its way eastward barely any rain by it time it reaches england for the much brighter sunshine and a few showers mainly across northwestern areas. temperatures about 16 to 18 celsius for that won't feel too bad in that strong may sunshine. looking at the weather picture through wednesday night, many of those shows will fade away but then the cloud will start to rebuild in northern ireland as we head into the first part of thursday morning with that rain starting to make inroads here. this is another weather front coming in of the atlantic, a tiny bit of uncertainty

about where that's going, northern island, northern england and wales. favourite spot for seeing rain for the scotland sunshine showers and towards some england variable cloud. they will be sunny spells come and go here. temperatures quite a rage, cool air getting into northern island, highs around 13 to 15 degrees but warmer to thesoutheast with temperatures up to 20. towards the end of the week and the all—important weekend this area of high pressure is going to be building in from the west. the weather is set to settle down but we eventually get some fairly brisk northerly winds. those winds will feed and showers to go to scotland at times but otherwise a fair amount of dry weather with some sunny spells. that's the latest.

welcome to newsday. reporting live from singapore, i'm karishma vaswani. the headlines: another may shooting in the united states. at least 18 children and 3 adults have been killed in a primary school in texas. the attack happened in the city of uvalde, west of san antonio. police have named the government as 18—year—old salvador ramos. president biden has called for flags to be flown at half mast. he is due to address the nation shortly. the vice president kamala harris has already spoken. enough is enough. enough is enough.

enough is enough. enough is enou:h. ,, . enough is enough. enough is enouuh. ,, . ,. . enough. staff at the school are said to be _