survivors from parkland. they're speaking out after meeting with lawmakers in the florida state capitol of tallahassee. they're turning their anger and anguish into action. >> never again! never again! never again! never again! never again! never again! >> i'm wolf blitzer here in washington. we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world as you see students from florida stoneman douglas high school. they've converged on the state capitol in tallahassee, and they're demanding action, immediate action on gun violence here in the united states after the slaughter of 17 students and staff members at their school by a shooter with an assault-style weapon. >> we're old enough to understand why a senator cares about re-election or not. we're old enough to understand why someone might want to discredit us for their own political purposes. but we will not be silenced. it has gone on long enough that

we -- just because we are kids, we're in the allowed to understand. but trust me, i understand. i was in a closet locked for four hours with people who i would consider almost family, crying and weeping on me, begging for their lives. i understand what it's like to text my parents good-bye, i might never, ever get to see you again, i love you. i understand what it's like to fear for your life. >> mark preston is joining us right now. he's in florida getting ready for tonight's very important cnn town hall. mark, these remarks, these speeches by these students, these survivors have been so moving, so powerful. they clearly will have an impact, but set the stage for what cnn is about to do later tonight. >> they certainly will, wolf. you know, when we look back at other tragedies, these shooting tragedies we've seen at schools, there have been outcry and

outrage over, you know, a few days, several days, perhaps a week. but it's nothing quite like what we're seeing here right now down in florida. the activism of these kids have really carried this message. we see it in tallahassee. there are folks up in washington, d.c., speaking to president trump. but here tonight at the bb&t center just outside of where this occurred, right down the street from the high school, we're going to see thousands of people here behind me, talking to their lawmakers, wolf. they're going to talk to the likes of senator marco rubio, senator bill nelson, congressman ted deutch, who represents the district. they're all going to answer questions of the folks about what can be done, what can be done in washington to try to prevent this from happening again. in addition to that, we have the sheriff as well, scott israel, who has become a national spokesperson, a celebrity in some ways, talking about this issue, specifically about mental health, and the national rifle

association. the national spokesperson is going to be here as well. the nra has come under, as we know, an incredible amount of pressure and criticism for their stance on gun rights. but the nra is sending a representative here tonight, wolf, as well, to talk to the folks in the building. >> i know, mark, that cnn invited the president, president trump, to join in this town hall tonight. also invited the florida governor, rick scott, to participate. both have declined. why did they say they didn't want to be part of this very important town hall tonight? >> well, it wasn't just those t two, but let's start with president trump. from my understanding, it was his schedule. he said he was unable to attend, to come down here. he's holding his own listening session with a very small group up in washington, d.c., as we speak today. but governor rick scott said that his only two weeks left in the legislative session, he said he needed to focus on the legislation. but it wasn't just those two

folks, wolf. we also asked the state senate president as well as the florida house speaker to come. we invited them to come address their constituents directly. they, too, said they were tied up with business in tallahassee. wolf? >> all right. i know we also offered them an opportunity to appear via video link-up, via satellite to this town hall, and they declined that as well. stand by, mark. i'm going to get back to you. diane gallagher, our correspondent on the ground in tallahassee. the students, i take it, diane, they were pretty disappointed, discouraged by their meetings with lawmakers. is that right? diane, i don't know if you can hear me. can you hear me, diane? we're going to try to reconnect. we're going to try to connect with diane.

unfortunately, we lost her. she's on the scene. she's been covering all of these dramatic moments and very, very powerful words from these students who survived that massacre just the other day. tonight's town hall, cnn's town hall comes hours after florida's republican controlled house refused to debate a ban on assault weapons, like the ar-15 rifle that was used to kill 17 students and teachers in parkland, florida. today students from parkland, they're demanding answers. >> i know i've been walking into office after office after office, and i've maybe only spoken to three representatives, two of which already agreed with me. i want to see those people who have spoken out against this. i want to see those people who shot down that bill, who did not let it get past committee. i want to see those people. i'm not here for a fight. i'm not here to argue with you. i just want to speak. i just want to see your face and

know why. >> joining us now, republican florida state representative chris lavella. he's among those who voted against debate considering the ban ban on assault weapons. thank you for joining us. what do you say to those students, those surviving students who are there in the state capitol of tallahassee who don't understand why you don't even want to consider a serious debate on this matter? >> yes, sir. i had the privilege this morning of meeting with a couple groups of students from marjory stoneman douglas high school. they're meetings i will not soon forget. it was a very sad time, and it's a very sad time in florida. i didn't have the words to say to them. i tried to listen to them more than i spoke. but the vote yesterday was a procedural vote.

the gentleman, representative mcgee, who's a friend of mine, is the incoming democratic leader. his procedural thing he did yesterday, there are many democrats that weren't aware he was doing that. none of the republicans that i spoke to knew that he was doing that. you know, his job as the incoming minority leader is to win seats for his caucus. he's a good man. he's a friend of mine. but there are discussions being had with republicans and democrats to try to come up with some ideas and some solutions. and i would point out that the democratic representative jared moscowitz, who graduated from marjory stoneman douglas high school, who's been very outspoken the last week, he's a democrat and spoke out this morning at the antics of representative -- >> representative,

representative, when do you want to begin a debate in the florida state legislature to ban assault weapons? >> i think that, you know, there are other discussions that we're having. and i serve on the criminal justice subcommittee. frankly, i would liked to have heard that bill, have the opportunity to make amendments to it, make some changes, but just to do a stunt, you know, like was done yesterday, i think is a completely different thing. i'd like to point out, i'm the only republican co-sponsor to some gun control legislation. i co-sponsor the red flag bill that would allow family members and law enforcement personnel to do risk protective orders. representati i think that's a great bill. >> representative, first of all,

do you want to ban assault weapons in the state of florida? >> i think that's something that we certainly can look at. i think, for instance, in florida, to buy a pistol, you have to be 21. to buy an ar-15, you have to be 18. i think something like that should be changed immediately, to raise that age to 21. there needs to be more background screenings, more background checks. i think once somebody starts to lose their mental capacity or they make violent threats, you know, their weapons need to be taken from them. >> so when will the debate begin on banning assault weapons, on stricter gun control in the state of florida in the aftermath of the massacre that happened last week? realistically, you're a representative. when will that serious debate actually begin, and assuming the debate is not going to go on forever, when will there be an up and down roll call, a vote on

what to do? >> i think that there's going to be legislation that will be released this week that will be bipartisan in nature, both republicans and democrats coming together for some common sense gun control measures. i think you'll see that as early as tomorrow. >> so you want to ban the sale of any guns for anyone in the state of florida until that person reaches the age of 21. you have to be at least 21. because it's been well pointed out in florida you can buy an ar-15 style rifle at the age of 18 with very limited background check. you got to be 21 to buy a pistol or a handgun. you got to be 21 to buy a can of beer. >> yes, sir. i think there's a big difference between a rifle that you have to put a bullet in each time. the age for that is 18. there's a big difference between that and an ar will ha-15.

i believe someone should have to be 21 years old. >> how about a rifle? how old should someone be to buy a rifle? >> currently that's 18 years old. i'm not sure whether that will be changed. i'm certainly open to looking at that. i think especially in northern florida, in rural areas, there's a hunting tradition that people 18, 19, 20 years old, responsible gun owners, you know, that use rifles for hunting and other purposes, but to me, there's a big difference between a traditional long gun, a rifle, and an ar-15. >> how many of your fellow republicans -- i know on this issue you're considered a moderate republican, representative, but how many of your fellow republicans in tallahassee are with you on this? >> i think there's quite a few, actually. i'm proud to be the lowest rated republican by the nra. i have a "d" rating.

i think there are numerous, you know, conservatives, numerous republicans that see these common sense gun measures, and they certainly will support them. i think the bills that you will see introduced this week will be bipartisan in nature. >> the student survivors say that you and other representatives, they've danced around the questions they're asking. so many of them, we just heard powerful words from them, saying they're discouraged by the meetings they've had over the past few hours in tallahassee. you say you met with them. you say you were moved by them. will your colleagues be moved by them as well? >> i would believe so. i serve with honorable people, both republicans and democrats. you know, one of the things i told the students that i met with this morning was that the vietnam protests were led by students. the civil rights protests were led by students. now they're leading their own

movement for gun safety and gun control and school safety. i applaud them for that. they're an absolute inspiration. it was an honor to meet them this morning. >> some of the far-right wing websites have been publishing these crazy conspiracy theories about what happened at that high school, alleging that some of the students aren't really students but they're actors, which is of courser ha untrue. others saying they're being coached by various liberal groups. what's your reaction to those conspiracy theories? >> i think the people peddling the conspiracy theories are absolute idiots. they should be ashamed of themselves. you know, these students -- you negotiation i have no question of their motives. and the people that would attack these students should be ashamed of themselves. these are 14, 15, 16, 17-year-old kids that are trying

to make a difference. i frankly am inspired by them. i think that anybody that would question their motives should look in the mirror. >> that's a fair point you're making. well said. representative latvala, thank you for joining us and good luck. >> thank you very much, wolf. >> i got to tell you, the whole nation, indeed much of the world is watching what's going on in florida right now. an important note to our viewers, be sure to watch later tonight for the cnn town hall "stand up:the students of stoneman douglas demand action." it starts at 9:00 p.m. eastern. our own jake tapper will moderate. that's later tonight. we have more than on the breaking news. we're going to hear more emotional stories from the student survivors and why president trump may now be considering an age limit involving assault weapons. plus, we're seeing more walkouts under way right now in schools across florida. we'll update you on that and all the important news right after this.

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students are taking a stand on guns. they're marching, they're demonstrating. here in washington, down in florida as well. we're seeing survivors from last week's tragic shooting making sure their local lawmakers are hearing their voices, hearing their demands. let's discuss this and more. joining us, our cnn political analyst, david gregory, and our chief political analyst gloria borger. a very important town hall tonight on cnn. are we going to see action on a federal level here in washington? >> i wouldn't hold my breath about that right now. you saw what the president did yesterday, saying, you know, i'm ordering the justice department to enact this rule on bump stocks, which didn't go to congress. it was a rule because congress didn't want to act on it. i think what you have, particularly in the house, is you have a bunch of members who

are afraid of getting primaried on the right, not on the left, not a general election, and if they're going to get primaried on the right, if you're a republican, one of the issues that people will come after you on would be gun control. second amendment issues. if you're not 100% pure. so you have a large group of members who don't want that to happen to them. so you know, i would have to say that on a federal level, without extreme leadership at the top, i wouldn't bl particular wouldn't be particularly optimistic. >> the president did indicate he might be open to more thorough background checks, might be open to raising the age limit to 21 to buy any kind of assault weapon -- not assault weapon, any kind of weapon, for that matter. it might be sent over to the justice department for these bump stocks to be banned, which could take a rifle and make it effect li effectively into a machine gun.

he's open to certain steps. i know the national rifle association is open to some steps. >> that's a positive sign, but to disagree a little with gloria, presidential leadership has shown not to be effective in this realm. you know, you saw that with president obama after newtown. and they weren't able to get it done. states have had a little bit more success trying to take these issues on, but the national rifle association is very powerful there. i think there's a couple of things at work here. there's got to be opportunities to do something that has some bipartisan appeal, strengthening background checks, raising the age, which applicable in this case, not always in other cases. i think it's got to be -- it's got to flow from power. these young people who are so poised, who are getting this incredible lesson in democracy, including the ugly parts of it too, where you become the subject of conspiracy theories and twitter hate, that's all part of it, unfortunately today.

they've got to understand that power and registering voters, that's -- to make guns a single issue for voters on the left, like it is for those on the right, that's where the momentum will shift. until then, you know, even president trump's support, he made some of these signals on immigration, too, and we didn't see it come to pass. >> this new quinnipiac poll, gloria, you've seen it. 97% of the american public, according to this quinnipiac university poll, say that do support more stringent background checks. >> sure, they do. but you have to look at how you get it through the congress. i go back to point about political survival. survival for a lot of the republicans is that they are in very conservative districts where there is no give on second amendment issues whatsoever. forget funding from the nra for a moment. this is about them getting

primaried primaried on the right. if the president were to send a signal that this is okay and deal with the nra and make it acceptable to these members, then maybe he could have some kind of an impact. i mean, barack obama lost a handful of democrats when they were doing reform after newtown because those democrats in red states were afraid. they were afraid. >> but i think it's so important that we do think about the fact that the country is awash in guns. access is too easy. and there are people who have mental health issues or sociopaths who see this kind of blaze of glory and targeting students as what they want to do to get their attention. that has to be dealt with as a specific -- you know, my kids are of an age where they've grown up with active shooter drills. that's a part of their reality. there has to be some specific work done on campuses. so it's got to be a fulsome approach. i think the left still has to realize for many people who support gun rights, they see

it -- any attempt to erode it as really federal overreach. it's a proxy fight for overreach of the federal government, in the same way pointed out in the wall street journal. a lot of the left sees any enroachment on abortion rights as a slippery slope. we've got to get beyond that, and maybe these students who are so poised, as john king was saying, whether you agree or disagree, they're incredibly poised. they are different. it's a different voice. >> we'll see if the president is at all willing to risk antagonizing the nra, the national rifle association, even though they give him overwhelming support in his bid for office. >> in our town hall tonight, you have a representative from the nra who will be there. >> they'll show up to state their case, for sure. >> they've been kind of quiet on this. so it'll be interesting to see whether they will let some legislation go that sort of nibbles around the edges.

if they give that, then these members and conservative districts will breathe a sigh of relief because they want to get "a" ratings, not "c" ratings. >> everybody stand by. more news we're following, including a stunning tweet from the president of the united states, challenging his own attorney general to investigate former president barack obama. yes, you're going to hear why. plus, more on the breaking news. student survivors and lawmakers are meeting in florida as the teens make demands over guns. i'll be joined by a survivor and a congressman coming up. with the travelocity customer first guarantee... your only worry... will be navigating the local traffic. get help with hotels, free twenty-four-hour flight changes, and our price match guarantee. travelocity.® wander wisely.™

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live pictures coming in from stoneman douglas high school in parkland, florida. you see the students. they are demonstrating outside. we're told that a few other local high school students are walking out. they're walking towards stoneman douglas themselves to protest the situation involving guns here in the united states.

to protest what happened at stoneman douglas last week. we're going to have continuing live coverage of that. stand by. in the meantime, president trump is now calling for an investigation -- a criminal investigation into the former president of the united states, barack obama, over russian meddling in the 2016 u.s. presidential election. here's the amazing tweet from the president earlier today. question, if all of the russian meddling took place during the obama administration, right up to january 20th, why aren't they the subject of the investigation? why didn't obama do something about the meddling? why aren't dem crimes under investigation? ask jeff sessions. jeff sessions, the attorney general of the united states. by the way, in the original tweet, the president misspelled the name of his attorney general. he left out the ""s" at the end. david gregory and gloria borger are still with me. it's pretty amazing, gloria, the

president is recommending that his attorney general, who he clearly doesn't like because he recused himself from the russia investigation, go ahead and start a criminal investigation of the former president. >> well, you hit the nail right on the head. first of all, it all goes back to jeff sessions not recusing himself from russia. the president's anger is just smoldering over that. he gets angrier and angrier every time something happens in the russia investigation. which has occurred. so he also believes, i'm told, according to a source with knowledge this morning, that he believes that sessions' justice department is not aggressive enough on lots of things, and that would be investigating democrats, uranium one, obama, hillary clinton, whatever it is. he also was surprised to learn, i was told, that the bump stock rule was sort of languishing there and that still had not been done yet. and that's why he ordered jeff

sessions to get it done. you know, as you know, these rules go through public comment, and they do take some time, butt preside -- but the president wanted to see it done sooner. i think this relationship in any other world would be completely untenable. but right now we're told the president is not going to fire jeff sessions. >> and here's the very strange situation. the president wants the justice department, the attorney general, to investigate the democrats and the former president because they didn't do enough as far as russian meddling in the u.s. presidential election is concerned. but over these past 13 months, he's been the president of the united states, and he has suggested on several occasions this whole issue of russian meddling in the u.s. elections was a witch hunt, a hoax, a ruse. he hasn't taken it seriously at all. he hasn't launched any serious investigations into this. >> right. if he would listen to his own

arguments, which i think are fair. i think it's fair to hold the obama administration to task for not doing enough because they were trying to thread the needle and didn't want to seem to be putting their thumb on the scale of the election. they were too sensitive about it. great. then you're the president, do it now. if there's ample evidence, if you feel vindicated that in fact this meddling and this effort by russia to sow confusion and chaos within the electoral system and it wasn't specific to you, donald trump, all the more reason for you to have a strong, robust response as the president to trprotect the presidency, to protect our elections. instead, this president is attacking institutions of government, the justice department, the fbi, after he has his own people in there, chris wray at the fbi and jeff sessions. so that part of it is simply unforgivable. you can disagree with democrats, disagree with the investigation, point out that they found no collusion. that's what we know so far. there's no excuse for the president not having a more robust response.

if he would put any effort into that as opposed to distracting from the mueller investigation, we might be getting somewhere. >> it's interesting. this new quinnipiac poll on russia, 76% of those who responded think the russian government tried to influence the 2016 presidential election. it was 68%, the same question, back in january. so the overwhelming majority of the american people agree with the president's own national security advisers, the president's own director of the fbi, director of national intelligence, that the russians were involved in, this even though the president really remains skeptical. >> well, and the entire intelligence community. this is a president who said that putin said to me, we didn't do it, and you know, i tend to believe the guy. >> he said he seems sincere. >> right. whereas -- and again, i'm not saying obama didn't make some mistakes here, because in hindsight, there are lots of people i talked to from the obama administration who wish they had pushed harder to reveal

what they knew. but you know, i do believe that at least obama, you know, said that to putin and pulled him aside and said, you better stop messing around and did other things. i think that, you know, this obsession with obama as a target to him -- you negotiatiknow, ob president anymore. you're the president now, as david is saying. get with it. if there is a problem, get on it. yesterday sara sanders kind of said, well, the president was very tough on russia in a recent incident, and we'll let you know about that soon. i don't know what that is. >> we haven't heard about that yet. also, another question that came up in this quinnipiac university poll involving the president's son-in-law and senior adviser jared kushner. 62% now say it's inappropriate for jared kushner to play a significant role in the white house, 24% say that it is appropriate. that's the smallest share to say so since quinnipiac first asked

this question back in april of last year. he doesn't have permanent security clearances. he has interim security clearances. seems to be a little fight going on between john kelly, the white house chief of staff, and kushner. kelly doesn't want kushner to have access to top-secret, classified information because he doesn't have permanent security clearances yet. >> right. and anybody, you know, who's worked in the white house will tell you it's crazy that he should have that access with only temporary security clearance. this just shows what a knife fight the west wing is and has been since day one. and it's a problem with hiring your son-in-law and your daughter. you throw them into the mix, it's not right. and it hasn't been right since day one. now that there's a fight over this, yeah, i mean, the whole thing -- it's one thing to have people you trust. you cross the line when you start hiring your children. now he gets all mixed up because they had a horrible policy on vetting people as we saw with rob porter. now they've got to bring some

order to it. now it just creates a whole new fight over this with kushner. >> the fighting is going to continue clearly. all right, guys. thank you very much. we have more on our breaking news. rallies, protests, school walkouts. they're break out across florida indi and indeed large parts of the united states as students and lawmakers meet over demands on guns. i'll be joined by one of those student survivors and a u.s. congressman who represents that district when we come back. (vo) just one touch. with fancy feast creamy delights, she can have just the right touch of real milk. easily digestible, it makes her favorite entrées even more delightful. fancy feast creamy delights. love is in the details. with its historical ance records...test ...you could learn you're from ireland... ...donegal, ireland... ...and your ancestor was a fisherman. with blue eyes. just like you. begin your journey at ancestry.com

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students are taking action today, dramatic action. they're demanding reaction to the tragic shooting, the massacre in florida last week. they walked out of schools. they marched on the state

capitol in florida and on the capitol here in washington, ending up over at the white house. they're demonstrating in an effort to spark serious change in the nation's gun laws. let's bring in florida congressman ted deutch, whose district includes parkland, florida. he's a democrat. and kameron is a stoneman douglas high school junior who survived the shooting last week. cameron, can you tell us about what's going on behind you right now at your school? >> well, today we have people from coral springs high, coral glades high, coral springs charter, north broward. everybody's walking out of school, and everybody is coming to stoneman douglas to demand change together, and it's amazing. >> are you optimistic that something will actually happen? >> oh, absolutely. people keep asking me, what do you have to keep you going? why do you think this is going to change? look at everything right now. look at what's already happened. we've already made a difference.

it's just a matter of when. >> you certainly have. congressman, the florida governor rick scott says he will introduce new legislation, a new legislative plan as early as friday. have you talked with him about what needs to be done? do you know what he's actually going to introduce in florida? >> wolf, i don't know what the governor is going to introduce. i know that he knows what needs to be done because he's heard it from the residents of my district. he's heard it from student survivors. but this is a governor who's had the most radical gun agenda throughout his entire tenure in tallahassee. there have been so many opportunities to take meaningful steps, and instead what he's done over and over has been to try to pour more guns into the street, make it harder for local governments to regulate, make it harder for those of us who want to fight gun violence, to do what needs to be done. i hope that it's positive. and i'm glad that he's now

focused on the issue. but i suspect that what kamerca knows has to get done may not be in there. >> cameron, if the governor is watching us right now, what would you like to say to him? >> i'd like to say, governor, it was you who did this. we owe all of this to you. and it's you who's going to change it. if you don't, that's fine. but expect to feel it in the polls and expect to get out of there. >> you think he's going to respond to this? i spoke with him the other day, and he said everything was on the table as far as he's concerned. >> yes, well, you got to remember who we're working with here. rick scott is not somebody who listens to anything but money. i can only hope that he'll step in and do what he needs to do here. again, we're teenagers, and we got to remember they're acting like them. >> cameron, as you know, president trump is hosting what he's calling a listening session over at the white house today on guns and school safety.

students, some at least from stoneman douglas, will be there later this afternoon. were you personally asked to take part in the president's event? >> you know, i believe my invitation must have been lost in the mail. the only person who's publicly part of the never again movement who was invited was david, who instantly said no because unfortunately, we have better things to do with our time than waste it. but there are students from stoneman douglas who are going. i have a feeling they were invited because people thought they weren't part of our movement. they have no idea. we're unified. we're together. everybody's here to represent us. as much as people think they can hide from the truth, they can hide from us, they can host a listening session and decline the invitation to the cnn town hall, we're not going anywhere, with or without your help. >> congressman, i know you're going to be at the cnn town hall later tonight.

as you also know, the president is now signaling that he might be ready to come up with some changes in the nation's gun laws, possibly including a ban on what are called bump stocks that could make rifles effectively become machine guns. talk about some of the steps you'd like to see the president take. he may be open to tighter background checks. he may be open to a national age restriction as far as purchasing weapons are concerned from 18, let's say, to 21. are you encouraged by those initial indications, those signals he's sending? >> wolf, i don't know what those -- i don't know what the signals are, and frankly, i don't much care for signals or discussion. we need action. i don't understand why president trump isn't coming to speak to the entire student body of douglas tonight along with the families. i don't understand why governor scott isn't coming tonight to speak to the entire student body.

what i know is this. the president says he wants to outlaw bump stocks. we should do that through legislation next week on the floor of the house. he says he's open to expanded background checks. that's not just providing more information into the database. that's ensuring that everyone who buys a gun gets a background check. he says he's thinking about maybe accepting an increase in the age. well, everyone in america should have to be 21 to buy a gun, and that should be on the house floor and the senate floor next week. we should do all of those now. we should then engage in the important debate that starts with asking why is it that assault weapons, which were illegal until 2004, are now flooding our streets and resulting in the kinds of carnage that we saw in the school just behind cameron. that's the discussion that we have to have. but first, we have to pass these important measures on the floor next week. no, i don't want signals. we don't want to have a broad

discussion. let's get things done. that's what these students deserve. >> cameron, what do you say to those folks out there, some conspiracy theorists, who are alleging that students like you are being hijacked by left-wing activists, that some of these students who have appeared on television aren't even students from your high school, they're actors, that your anti-gun message really isn't your own but is part of some left-wing conspiracy? what do you say to those folks? >> well, if you had seen me in our school's production of "fiddler on the roof," you would know nobody would pay me to act for anything. >> "fiddler on the roof" is a great one. who did you play, by the way? >> -- i have to tell you, what we've seen so far has been a miracle of miracles. >> miracle of miracles, a great play. cameron, thank you so much. thanks to what you and your fellow students are doing. you're really -- you're really

energizing so much of this debate. congressman deutch, i know you're going to be participating in the cnn town hall later tonight. thanks to you for joining us as well. good luck to both of you. >> thanks, wolf. >> thank you. and students who survived the shooting of parkland, they're declaring we will not be silenced. the emotional press conference they just held at the florida state capitol and their message to lawmakers who refuse to even consider debating a ban on assault rifles. stay with us. much more after this. alright, i brought in high protein to help get us moving. ...and help you feel more strength and energy in just two weeks! i'll take that. -yeeeeeah! ensure high protein. with 16 grams of protein and 4 grams of sugar. ensure. always be you.

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never again. those are the two words that

have become a rallying cry for survivors of the mass shooting at douglas high school in florida. just a little while ago, some of those students spoke during a truly extraordinary news conference inside florida state capitol. their message? we may be young, but we're old enough to know something needs to be done to stop the violence in the united states. listen to this. >> we lose confidence in our government because we're told that nothing can be done time and time again. we're tired of hearing that. because we know there can be change in this country. never again should a tragedy of this caliber happen in this country. i will say that i am a high school senior. i don't know the exact course of action to take. i don't know exactly what needs to be done. i just know what we're doing now is nowhere near enough. if i have to keep seeing neighbors die. if i have to keep seeing friends die, other people on the news

deal with the same tragedy. they don't deserve that. humanity does not deserve this. >> we haven't being taken seriously enough. now, i personally don't know the steps that we're going to have to take, but once we figure that out, we're going to take them and you better believe we're going to take them as soon as possible. because, all though we're just kids, we understand. we know. we're old enough to understand financial responsibilities. we're old enough to understand the way a senator cares about re-election or not. we're old enough to understand why someone might want to discredit us for their own political purposes. we won't be silenced. it has gone on long enough. trust me, i understand. i was in a closet, locked for four hours with people who i would consider almost family crying and weeping on me. begging for their lives. i understand what it's like to

text my parents "goodbye." i might never get to see you again. i love you. i understand what it's like to fear for your life. and i don't think we should ever be discredited because of that. i don't think we should ever be silenced because we're just children. >> never again should students have to protest for their lives. never again should an innocent life be taken while trying to gain an education. never again should i feel guilty to be alive because peter carmen, meadow, jamie alissa, nick alana, kara martin, and luke, gina, and alex are not. that's why we have organized this revolution. for them. a revolution created by students. for students. because at the end of the day, we're all positive.

we're all passionate. we're all proud to be an equal. the rest of history we'll be known as "that high school." we're the biggest high school mass shooting. where other shootings most people might have forgot about us. we're probably the most determined group of people you'll ever meet. people are talking about how we aren't serious because we're children, but have you heard my friends talk? >> amazing young people. very, very powerful words. their theme, once again, never again. be sure to watch later tonight for the cnn town hall stand up. the students demand action. it airs later tonight at 9:00 p.m. eastern. jake tapper will moderate. thousands of floridians, students, survivors, others will be there. we'll watch it tonight 9:00 p.m. eastern time. take a look at this. these are live pictures coming in from parkland, florida. that's where the high school is.

students there and from several area schools are meeting in solidarity with the shooting victims who are petitioning lawmakers to change gun laws. our special coverage continues after this. (vo) make her day with just one touch. with fancy feast creamy delights, she can have just the right touch of real milk. easily digestible, it makes her favorite entrées even more delightful. fancy feast creamy delights. love is in the details. dial your binge-watching up to eleven. join the un-carrier right now, and get four unlimited lines for only thirty-five bucks each. woah. plus, netflix for the whole family. on us. prrrrrrr... so, they get their shows... let's go, girl! you're gonna love this bit! and you get yours. watch however you want. on your phone, tablet, or tv. for a limited time, get 4 lines for just thirty-five bucks per line, with no extra charges. it's showtime! all on america's best unlimited network,

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hi there. i'm brooke baldwin. you're watching cnn. thank you for being with me. from making it out alive to making a difference. students who survive the deadlyist school shooting since snook are there at the florida state cape toll demanding gun reform. it's been one week. the teens are feeling the resistance to change, as they expressed