basically was a shield. he didn't survive the gunman's bullet. >> yes. >> what do you think of that, when you hear what your son did in saving the students' lives? >> it just doesn't surprise me that scott -- that's life the way it's supposed to be lived by scott. scott would do that, and especially for his students, because those are his students. >> how did you raise him so well? >> i think we raised each other. i think he raised me and i raised him. i think that's how it went. >> let's face it. before this tragedy, you didn't -- is it fair to say you didn't know that much about marjory stoneman douglas high school. you had to really get up to speed on what the students were like here fast? >> scott was so humble. unfortunately the night we drove in, when i looked at the school, i couldn't believe it. i had no idea -- you could have thought scott was working in some underprivileged school --

>> right. >> i had no idea. >> so big. 3,300 students. what a wonderful reputation and what a wonderful reputation he had. he was only teaching here -- this was his first year. >> it was amazing. the school is amazing. the students, i'm just so happy that this is where he was and this was his family, also. >> the students are amazing. we are very touched that you two now have a relationship, a friendship and a familial relationship thanks to your son scott. thank you both so much for being here with us and sharing all of this. >> thank you. we're following a lot of news. let's get to it. >> this is cnn breaking news. >> good morning, everyone. welcome to your "new day." it's thursday, february 22nd, :00 in the east. chris is in new york and i'm in parkland, florida, this morning. we begin with breaking news.

president trump denies saying he was considering arming teachers to prevent school shootings like the massacre that claimed the lives of 17 people here behind me at marjory stoneman douglas high school. we listened to the session yesterday at the white house where he said he was considering arming teachers. he proposed it as a solution to the crisis of mass shootings. this was a very powerful listening session, chris. this is right before our town hall meeting. we have heard so many suggestions, so much commentary, so much contentious talk between the town hall and the listening session, it has been a really powerful 24 hours here, chris. >> what we're seeing here is it gets complicated fast. the emotion is obvious, raw and real. figuring out what to do, there's a reason we keep watching shooting after shooting. the president is evidencing that right now. he's struggling to limit what the position is, dealing with pushback against the idea.

this is the test of leadership. we'll go through what the president actually said and what that might mean in policy. all of this comes as survivors, parents, teachers of the massacre there in florida and others confronted lawmakers and the nra at a remarkable cnn town hall on guns and school safety last night. republican senator marco rubio, those were his constituents, he had the courage to show up and face critics who are demanding action. you can say i didn't like what rubio said, or so what, that's his job. so many are hiding. governor scott didn't want to go to that town hall. we're waiting for his ideas. ryan, mcconnell, the gop leadership in congress, where are they? for rubio to show up, that mattered. he did break with the nra. he said he supports raising the age to buy rifles, he will consider a ban on high capacity magazines. let's get to abby phillip live at the white house with details.

>> reporter: the president tweeting this morning with three different messages, making a point of emphasis on his comments yesterday about what he wants when it comes to teachers and guns. let's put the tweets up and i'll go through the points he made. he said, i never said give teachers guns, like was stated on cnn and nbc. what i said was about the possibility of giving concealed guns to adept teachers with military training or special training. if a savage sicko came to the school, highly trained teachers would serve as a deterrent. he noted about the cost. he said it would cost much less than guards and a gun-free zone is a magnet for bad people. he said attacks would end if he was able to have certain highly trained teachers with guns. he adds that history shows that school shootings last on average three minutes. it takes police and first responders five to eight minutes to get to the site of the crime. that last point is particularly

important because i think in florida that was the case, this shooting did not last very long. i want to play exactly what president trump said in that listening session yesterday so you can hear for yourselves. take a listen. >> this would only be obviously for people that are very adept at handling a gun, and it's called concealed carry where a teacher would have a concealed gun on them. they'd go for special training. and they would be there and you would no longer have a gun-free zone. >> reporter: those comments are pretty clear, and we played them and reported them as he said it, but i think it's also very clear that there's a lot of pushback to this idea, including from marco rubio who was asked about this last night by a teacher. he said i just don't support this idea. i don't think it's a good idea to have weapons in the school, whether it's in the hands of a teacher or not. i think it's a little bit separate from the idea of having

armed guards. it's a controversial issue. the president clearly thinks it would be a huge deterrent for attacks like these, chris. >> joichbing us, cnn political analyst josh green and jonathan martin and cnn political director david chalian. of course, alisyn is in florida and i'm in new york. david, he did say he wanted to arm teachers. now, to be fair to the president, he's saying i didn't say all teachers. okay. he said all teachers would have the opportunity to be trained to see if they could qualify for concealed carry permits. maybe you'd have up to 20% and that would make a difference because gun-free zones are an invitation to murder. >> right. he was saying there's also a population of teachers who could be adept -- >> he did suggest training as well. >> without a doubt. >> this isn't unusual for someone who hasn't owned a position for very long. struggling his way through receiving the criticism. >> you have to see what he's

doing. what you saw in the tweets is the president is latching on what he believes is a solution. he said this could instantly fix it. what i hear and what i'm reading in his tweets is, the president believes the instant fix, the instant solution that can solve this problem is, a, more guns. he's not talking about restrictions on guns. that's first of all, and second of all, he is taking a position that he knows is controversial. he sort of wants the fight here. that's what the tweets this morning to me suggest, that he understands he's taking a position that is more in line with what the nra has espoused before on gun-free zones, not a compromise position he's trying to reach. >> you are right. we're seeing it in realtime. alisyn, he's tweeting again. if a potential sicko shooter knows a school has a large number of very weapons-talented teachers and others who will be instantly shooting, the sicko will never attack that school. cowards won't go there. problems solved.

must be offensive. defensive alone won't work. j. mart, we have had armed guards in schools before where there were shootings. obviously the shootings still occurred. there's style here. this is trump getting criticized and doubling down on a position. but there is a lot to this idea of having better security in schools could make a difference, make the schools hard targets. where are democrats with their level of acceptance of that idea? >> i think the democrats, if there were some efforts to add funding for additional security folks at school would probably be all for that. they're not going to be forgiving side pieces to teachers teaching algebra. that's beyond the pale. we're sitting here responding to a president who is responding to tv coverage that's quite circular. i guess this is the world that we're in. i think the fact is, he is trying to portray the image of

responsiveness, of doing something. his instinct is not thought out based on policy papers, based on conversations with experts at a think tank. he's trying to throw stuff out. i would remind you guys he has a track record after all these terrible moments of instinctu instinctually turning the the idea of more weapons. after the pulse nightclub shooting in 2016 in orlando, he floated the idea of adding weapons there to the security guards at such nightclubs. even the nra said, no, that's not really where we're at. he's responding to stuff. he's floating ideas and it is grounded in a more sort of pro-gun stance. i think we have to be careful in not assuming that this is where he's going to land on the issue. he tweets about all manner of things. he floats changing libel laws once a month. we'll have to see what bill gets

to his desk. that's what's going to be important. what kind of cover will he give to his party on capitol hill in terms of what kind of bill they can get to his desk. >> josh, being here at ground zero in parkland, what i hear from teachers and students, they're open. these students are too young to already be indoctrinated with some position. they're open to suggestion if it worked. so prove to them that that's effective. show them the data that arming teachers would be effective, and i think they might be open to it. but at the moment, it's just sort of this notion that that might help. what they hear from their teachers, that's not why they got into teaching. the teachers themselves don't feel equipped to take on a crazed armed gunman. last night at the town hall, one of the teachers from here talked about that. listen to this. >> am i supposed to get extra training now to serve and protect on top of educate these

children? am i supposed to have a kevlar vest, strap it to my leg or put it in my desk? >> josh, some teachers might be willing to do that. obviously we would have to know if that actually works. >> well, we would. one thing you have to understand here, this is pretty clearly the nra position, more gun, not less guns. trump pivots instinctively when he's flailing in his inability to come up with a policy that works. one of the policies you see in his tweet storm is arming guards and having that be a deterrent doesn't quite make sense when you think about the fact that a lot of these shooters are either mentally ill or suicidal. i don't think there's any reason to think they'd be deterred by the fact that some people on campus might have guns. they're there to kill and in some cases wind up being killed themselves. we've seen that happen in numerous school shootings. i think the more encouraging sign came in the cnn town hall

last night in marco rubio's willingness to embrace new positions, bans on high capacity magazine clips, raising the age limit to buy rifles. if that signifies a real change in the current of the republican debate over guns and gun control, i think that could be meaningful and produce something finally that might be a fundamental change. but if that's going to happen, it sure seems like based on the last 48 hours that that leadership is going to have to come from the congress and not from the white house because trump doesn't seem to know what he's doing. the other thing, when you see him attack the news and the media like he is in these tweets, that's usually a sign he's flailing and doesn't really know what to do. i wouldn't look there for leadership on this issue necessarily. >> let's try to do it a little different. david, there's no question the president is monitoring, and this is a tricky situation, president trump. if you can avoid the instinct to

double down and get defensive. this is not the time to play to these divisions. you came out and said you want to make a difference. you have lawmakers who have unique emotional momentum around them. this is a chance that something can get done if things are done differently. david, that's going to mean not resorting to this side is bad, we're good, this is stupid, this is smart, this is right, this is wrong. it has to be done differently if anything is going to change. >> that is certainly true, because it has been proven to be an intractable problem in many ways thus far. what the tweets indicate to me, what jonathan was saying, what kind of political cover will the president apply to his party on this issue? this morning he indicates he may not be that interested in doing that. he retreated to a corner to fortify a position he was in, to sort of, it seems to me, prepare for a battle over this rather than actually reaching across to start finding solutions and giving political cover to many of his fellow republicans. this indicates to me the idea that something is going to get

done may be not as noor as perhaps marco rubio's movement last night suggested to some. >> as alisyn says, let's err on the side of optimism. hopefully a president who says he's a great dealmaker and cares about this, that he will do his best to get his party to work with the democrats to get something done. alisyn has the right advice. david, josh, j. mart, thank you very much. alisyn to you. >> chris, i'm just getting it from the kids. the kids are the ones who feel empowered, feel like they're right on the cusp of change and getting something accomplished. two of the students who survived the massacre behind me also attended cnn's town hall -- actually many of the students did, hundreds. so how do they feel about what they heard last night and what they think is going to happen next that will allow them to go back into this school on tuesday? they join us next. i was out here smoking instead of being there for my son's winning shot. that was it for me.

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survivors of the parkland massacre made a powerful case to their lawmakers face-to-face last night at cnn's town hall. >> we'd like to know why do we have to be the ones to do this? why do we have to speak out to the capitol? why do we have to march on washington just to save innocent lives? >> you're absolutely right. let me start by saying, and it

goes without saying that what you've lived through and what you live through is not supposed to be a part of your high school experience. what you have done cannot end next week or next month or even next year, but i do believe thatality at the end of the three-week session in tallahassee, you achieve the restraining order, a few thinks they're taking about doing, i would take that and herald it as a victory and continue the momentum going forward until we have made the progress necessary to make sure that no community in america will ever have to have a forum like we had tonight. >> that student right now, ryan, joining me now along with samantha. samantha was actually shot during this massacre. she was also at the town hall last night. thank you very much for being here. let's talk about the town hall and what you got out of it. tell me about that exchange with moore co-rubio. were you satisfied with his answer? >> overall, i wasn't as satisfied as i was hoping to be. but i didn't expect a little bit

that he would just use political double talk to stop us from answering the hard hitting questions that cameron posed last night. >> cameron posed the question are you going to still accept money from the nra. he did say he was making progress in terms of changing his thinking on other things, like raising the minimum age he talked about and he would rethink the high capacity am nation? >> with all that, still i say the same thing about the president. these are all just words for the moment. he might try to quell the crowd because he was the most hated room in that room besides the nra lady that came out later. overall he wanted to make sure it was a comfortable zone for himself. he said the words he said just to make sure those people were satisfied. >> i don't know about that. i don't think he was very

comfortable. he was in the hot seat. we don't know if it's lip service. >> we don't know if it's lip service yesterday. we'll see in washington for the coming weeks. i pray for the people here and the people all over america, it's true the moments he's putting out. >> samantha, you were shot. can you tell us how you're doing and what your injuries were? >> i was shot twice, grazed in my back and a bullet ricochets into my chest. >> you also lost your best friend. >> yes, unfortunately i did lose my best friend. >> i'm so sorry. so sorry that you all have to endure this. what was the town hall like for you last night? >> there was a lot of things that i expected and came true. as ryan was saying, the double talki talking, the not answering questions. i did expect that. at least america got to see how much anger we have, how much we want things to change, how much

we have this passion. i'm glad that that got across. the crowd, of course they were expressing their opinions, but hopefully it reached those at home and someone will do something about the situation. >> oh, people feel your intensity. people certainly feel the intensity of the students at douglas high school. did you feel any common ground or did you leave hopeful that things will change in washington? >> i did leave hopeful, but i'm not secure in my beliefs. i believe it was more of a double speaking. people were kind of answering, kind of not. but at least now we know what to expect more than we did before. now we have the drive. now we kind of know the situation, what to -- what their counteracts will be. >> you have a long road ahead of you. ryan, you're 18. >> yes, i am. >> you're the voter, a future voter. >> i'm a voter for the next

election. rubio never watch out. he knows i will not be on there for him. >> did this change how you'll vote in the midterms? did what happened at your school change your thinking? >> it didn't change my thinking. i've always had a certain leaning to where i think things should be. after this shooting, i have heard from politicians, i've met with politicians. it's just making me frustrated beyond belief, but i know for a fact that we cannot stop and we will not stop. how are you going to sustain this fight. one month from now is the martha you're all calling for nationwide about gun violence. that's a long way away. how are you going to keep your foot on the gas until then? >> until then we're meeting with anybody we can. trying to set up meetings at not only the state capitol again, but trying to set up with the national capitol. >> you're trying to go to washington, d.c. >> we're trying to go to d.c., trying to speak to those people as much as we can because we want to find that common ground. we want to find a place where

they can be satisfied with their second amendment rights and we can be satisfied that we don't have to bury our friends. >> not only that, but the media is a powerful tool in the country. it influences a lot of people's decisions. doing interviews, expressing our opinions, we hope to -- the people are very important. we hope to influence them. >> you know some people suggest the media is manipulating you guys. >> yes. >> you find that laughable. >> we're all paid actors, brought in from people all over the country. >> don't joke. people think this. >> it's ridiculous. to think i'm a good actor. if anything, it's a compliment and i hope the academy is watching. >> i appreciate you're able to find humor. some of it is so vial and so hateful. listen, we're following you guys. we appreciate your spirit, your motivation. you're giving us all inspiration. thank you very much for last night and for being here. >> thank you.

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a senior official tells cnn that the u.s. has already acted on russian interference, warning russia and vladimir putin not to interfere in the upcoming midterm elections, and it is insisting the u.s. has already taken direct action to address the meddling. what are the facts to back up the claims? let's ask republican congressman peter king of new york. always good to see you, sir. >> thank you, chris. >> you got any information for us on this, what the administration has done to tell putin and russia not to mess with the '18 elections? i've never heard this before. >> i know the word has been passed on. i can tell you as far as within this country, homeland security and others are working to build up our cyber defenses against russia. also, just one dramatic example,

you've gotten days ago in syria we killed hundreds of russian troops. there was no apologies, no regrets, no expressions of sympathy. definitely a turn in attitude toward russia. and i see it. and i hope the president continues. i was never of the belief that we could work with putin and i was extremely critical of barack obama when he told medvedev that putin would get a better deal on him after the election, when hillary gave the reset button. i think one of the worst foreign policy mistakes in decades is when president obama basically invited the russians into syria back in 2013. there's a lot of blame to go around. i think president trump was wrong during the campaign. i think he was well-intentioned but misguided to think we can deal with putin. he is kgb, will always be kgb. in talking with people in the intelligence community, the military community, there's no doubt in my mind we have a much

tougher attitude. we can go back and forth on who is to blame and who did more. i believe there have been wake-up calls to the administration that putin is not the changed person they thought he was. we're seeing it in syria where the russian troops attacked a military unit knowing americans were there. i'm glad the americans went back and killed hundreds of them. >> one more beat on this. you do say you know the word has been passed on. what happened? who told russia or vladimir putin not to mess in the election? >> i'm not going to get into who is behind it. i believe strongly -- >> just heto help the credibili. that's why i'm asking. >> i can tell you people i've spoken to, high ranking in the intelligence community who are extremely -- who realize it's important to be strong against

russia. i'll leave it at that. people very high up realize that we have to take strong action, defensive and do whatever else -- >> i'm not questioning the intelligence community. >> i'm not getting into that. >> i'm not suggesting the intelligence community doesn't think that. i'm suggesting that the white house has been saying the exact opposite. he's calling the interference a hoax. i'm saying i'm surprised that the white house or the president delivered this message. i'm not saying the tleens community wouldn't. they have a different agenda. >> these are people who deal directly with the president. >> okay. h.r. mcmaster -- >> i can't go any further. i've been critical of the president and his policies against russia. i'm saying there's been a change in thinking. >> peter king, you've always been a straight shooter. if that's what you say, i'm taking you at your word. the audience can judge it. h.r. mcmaster, rumor that he's

going to be moved out. have you heard anything about it? >> i've just heard the rumors. i have great regard for general mcmaster. he's a tough-minded guy. i read his book on vietnam. he's a person who can cut through a lot of b.s. i like general mcmaster. i've heard the rumors for the last six months. there's always rumors coming out. i hope he stays where he is. >> you think it would be a mistake to move him? >> i'm not the president. from my vantage point, i think he's doing a very good job. let's go to the instant matter at hand. do you think there's a chance that anything will be done to help stop these school shootings? >> chris, if you had asked me a week ago, i would say no. make it clear, i favor ban on assault weapons, i believe in background checks, i sponsored the bill saying if you're on the terrorist watch list, you should president be able to buy a gun. i'm on that side. having been through so many of

these from sandy hook and aurora -- there's so many of them. there's never been any action. what i've seen in the last week, i think there is a real chance that something can be done, whether it will be enough or not i don't know. but if we can at least start moving this dialogue and get going and people not be locked into their positions, i don't expect everything i support to be enacted. i would like it to be. chris, you and i grew up in new york. the only people i knew that had guns were cops and bad guys. we come from a different culture. you talk to people out west, the smaller states, they have more of an affinity for guns. they have to realize those guns can come into new york and new jersey and kill people as well. to me there's no reason for people to have assaulted weapons. i don't believe there should be any objection to having background checks for gun shows. if you're on a terrorist watch list, you shouldn't be able to

buy a gun. that's common sense. let's realize something has to be done and not just happy talk. >> haven't heard anything from ryan or mcconnell. your party is in control. if it's going to happen in congress, they have to motivate it. >> i've been an outlier in my party on this for a number of years. i would hope, again, the speaker and the majority leader would realize we can't just operate within our own echo chambers. there are reasonable people, not just people who are anti gun, not just people who want everyone to have ar-15s, but there's a reasonable middle of people who say, yeah, people are entitled to have their weapons under the second amendment, but there can be reasonable restrictions on them, we don't want people with criminal backgrounds or mental illness to have guns. we don't believe there's right now a reason for people to have ar-15s. to me you can have almost unlimited guns, you can have access to guns, be able to use them, so long as it's done by

people who are not criminals, people who don't have mental illness, and there's no need for the high-powered weapons. what's good in north dakota is not good in new york and vice versa. i realize that. there's different gun cultures. not like you and i grew up in, chris. >> understood. >> a concealed carry. just because a person can get a permit in another state doesn't mean they should be able to bring that gun into new york city. >> that's what your party is pushing right now with the reciprocity rule for concealed carry. >> i voted against that. >> peter king, appreciate your appearance on "new day" as always, sir. >> thank you, chris. alisyn, left, right and reasonable used to be a joke. but now it's our reality. >> absolutely, truer words never spoken. listen, chris, right now we're getting new information about what actually went on inside the school when first responders got

there, and it complicated their work to saving people. we'll have a report on what went wrong with the video surveillance system. that's next.

i we worked with pg&eof to save energy because wenie. wanted to help the school. they would put these signs on the door to let the teacher know you didn't cut off the light. the teachers, they would call us the energy patrol. so they would be like, here they come, turn off your lights! those three young ladies were teaching the whole school about energy efficiency. we actually saved $50,000.

and that's just one school, two semesters, three girls. together, we're building a better california. i'm here outside of marjory stoneman douglas high school. this morning we're getting new information about what went on inside that school when first responders arrived. we have new information, a new report that finds that police were thrown off actually by the security camera feeds at the school. cnn's rosa flores joins me with

more information. what are you learning? >> this is reporting from florida's "sun sentinel." they're saying there's a 20-minute delay because of the video being monitored. in essence, imagine police officers monitoring video and relaying that information to the officers who were already on scene here on campus. let's listen to some of that conversation and then i'll give you the context afterwards. take a listen. >> i got a guy here outside the building -- we're going to go inside. >> they are monitoring the subject right now. he went from the third floor to the second floor. from the third to the second floor. >> he's now back down on the second floor. he was on the floor. back on the second floor now. >> is that from recording? is that from the school? >> yes, sir. they're following him -- it's about a 20-minute delay. they're following him on video, on the camera. they had him exiting the building running south.

>> alisyn, i talked to a coral springs captain that was there on scene. he said he was on the west side of the building by that door. when he said they were hearing this information, he had 20 to 25 police officers both on the first, second and third floor. they had cleared the building already. so he said that the impact was psychological for them, because they thought we're going to have to confront the suspect, this is going to turn into a gun battle is what they were thinking. >> in other words, they thought it was live. when they were hearing he was on the second floor or third floor, they were getting realtime information. but, in fact, it was a 20-minute tape delay. >> that's absolutely right. for them, they were ready to act, ready to do what they needed to do to make sure that the suspect was no longer a threat to those students, but they had already -- they had seen the carnage, unfortunately, they knew he had been there. in the video based on the

timeline from the sheriff's office, if it's a 20-minute delay, the suspect was already out, probably headed towards the mcdonald's, at the mcdonald's. we know another police officer was able to apprehend him later. >> obviously that is a tragic flaw, and it is helpful for schools around the country to make sure that's not their situation with whatever video surveillance they have. rosa, thank you very much for all of that reporting. if you watched tv yesterday, there was a father's emotional exchange with senator marco rubio at cnn's town hall last night. this is what started the town hall and got it off to this very intense feeling for the next two hours. so we have that dad and why he walked away from the senator's answer to his question. o it all. but we can always find time to listen to great thinkers and explorers whose stories take us places our hamstrings can't. all we have to do is listen.

download audible to start listening.

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and there's never been an easier way to get great advice. a place for mom is a free service that pairs you with a local advisor to help you sort through your options and find a perfect place. a place for mom. you know your family we know senior living. together we'll make the right choice. a grieving father talking about the pain and loss of his daughter, jamie's death. fred guttenberg came face-to-face with senator marco rubio in this heated exchange. >> i think what you're asking about is the assault weapons ban. >> yes, sir. >> let me be honest with you about that one. if i believe that law would have prevented this from happening, i would support it. i want to explain to you why it

would not. >> senator rubio, my daughter running down the hallway was shot in the back with an assault weapon, the weapon of choice. >> yes, sir. >> it is too easy to get, it is a weapon of war. the fact that you can't stand with everybody in this building and say that, i'm sorry. >> fred guttenberg joins us now. thank you very much. i know it's been a long night. i know it's been a long week. everyone was riveted, everyone was captured by what you said to marco rubio because you just embody the anger and the intensity that everybody in this community is feeling. what did you want marco rubio to say to you? >> the truth, and that he understo understood. this behind us, these are my children, went to school. my daughter won't be anymore.

my son i'm supposed to send back here next week. the school was a hunting ground, and i wanted him to say the truth. i wanted him to be honest about this weapon of choice because these cars going by us, you can't drive a car through a school as a weapon. you can't use a knife. you might cause some injuries, you won't have the level of destruction. handguns won't cause this level of destruction. i wanted him to say the truth. >> what did you think of his response to you? >> i want to wrap my arms around marco and tell him i love him, and i want to tell him thank you for helping us with this. last night i thought his response was as weak, as i said his comments over the past week have been. i want marco to join with these kids.

these kids have been fierce and unafraid. marco last night, and i'm sorry -- senator rubio last night continued a pattern that is not deserving of anyone's support. i want him to join us. i want to wrap my arms around him. but last night was weak. >> hold on a second. he did show up. >> i commend him. i do. >> so do we. >> it's a tough room. i give him credit. >> very tough room. i would say he took the most intense questions and the most contentious questions. it did sound like he was giving a little on his previous positions. did you hear that when he talked about he was thinking the high capacity magazine, thinking about raising the age minimum, all those things. it sounded like his position was changing. >> i did. and so -- i'm thankful for it. anyplace is a starting point. i'm willing to start and go from there, but there's too much to do to get this right. so if he's willing to start and

accept the fact that his position needs to shift -- he said he's willing to change his mind. i'm willing to stand by his side and do it. that started a little bit last night, and i commend him for being there because that was not an easy thing to do. i'm a father. all week long people have been telling me what to say and sending me things to say, and i don't want to hear any of it. to me i'm focusing on -- it's just common sense. it shouldn't be easy. there needs to be more security in terms of a border around these schools maybe. we need to get rid of these weapons. >> here is what marco rubio tweeted after the cnn town hall. he said -- senator rubio says banning all semi-automatic weapons may have been popular with the audience but it is a position well outside of the mainstream. your response? >> that's a lie. listen, i don't want to make comfortable people in this debate. i just don't. i'm a brutally honest person.

that's a lie. the majority of people are standing with what's going on here in parkland, and i can't be any simpler than that. >> 67% of the latest quinnipiac poll says they would support a ban on assault weapons. how did you have the composure to stand up there and just as vociferously as ever say all that to senator rubio last night? >> my 14-year-old daughter is dead because of a bullet to the back, the strongest person i knew. she's standing on my shoulder and giving me strength. she's going to power me through. she always fought for the rights of others. she always took on other kids who bullied others. she was part of the best buddies program. she would expect me to do this. i'm doing it for her. >> how are you going to send your son back into this school on tuesday? >> i always tell my kids, we have to do what's right, and we can't be afraid. what's right and not being

afraid is walking through this gate on tuesday and going back to school. i will worry. i always worry about my kids, but he has to go back to school. out can't live life afraid. you have to be able to go forward, and my job is to help him go there. >> tell us about what your son said on the night of the massacre when he got home. >> my kids were typical siblings. they loved each other. my son really took care of his sister, but they fought. they were typical siblings. he wasn't really showing a whole lot of emotion that night. i think he was in shock. but when he went to bed -- they had a nightly ritual. they fought over the bathroom. it doesn't mat the ter -- it happened every night. they did it. couldn't stop. that night he came down crying to us because jamie didn't fight back. that's what triggered his emotion.

then he talked about being an only brother, and he'll never be an uncle. and he's okay. his friends have been amazing. they have surrounded him with love, but he -- that was when it really triggered for him that our family is different now. >> i just never had considered that, that he would never be an uncle. all these things -- the ripple effect, the repercussions of those few minutes inside the school are so long lasting and powerful. we are following you. thank you very much for being with us and for all of your strong words, and we're so sorry for your loss. >> thank you so much. have a good day. let's turn to another powerful moment. this one was during president trump's listening session with the survivors and family members of school shooting victims including the survivors of this parkland massacre. watch this. >> i turned 18 the day after,

woke up to the news that my best friend was gone. and i don't understand why i can still go in a store and buy a weapon of war, an ar -- >> joining us now is the young man who you just saw make that appeal to the president in the clip. that is stoneman douglas student sam zeif. and the managing director of sandy hook promise. her son dylan was killed in the sandy hook massacre. thank you very much for being here. you've had a very intense week, very intense past 24 hours. sam, what did you think of that meeting with the president and his response to you? >> after everything that was said and at the end of the meeting, as soon as i started hearing the words background

check and mental health check, it just kind of stung. it felt like we weren't moving with him. but afterwards -- i didn't know we would be filmed. afterwards, seeing the impact we made together was amazing. >> when you say just hearing background check, you wanted it to go farther? >> that's a given. it should be a given. it should already be that way. we shouldn't have to be worrying about those now. >> i understand. you think that should be your starting point, not the end of the negotiation. nicole, set the scene for us, what was it like in that room? did you feel the president was receptive? what did you think about all the ideas being bandied about there?

>> first, i was just very grateful that the white house had opened its doors and said come in and share with us your thoughts and your ideas for solutions, and to hear from different victims and survivors from different tragedyies and different paths and states of their journey. that was something new and unexpected. i did feel the administration was listening. i do very much think we now need to hold them accountable. it's not just the small actions. background checks, as sam said, that should have been in place years and years ago. we fought hard for that in 2013 and it failed. we have to push hard for a series of comprehensive actions in our communities and at a legislative level that are going to make a difference. >> i think it's safe to say

there's no one thing that will solve this. obviously people are talking about all their ideas now and the solutions. sam, what did you think about the president's idea of arming teachers? >> madness. absolute madness. teachers go through emotions every single day, just like students do, just like mentally ill people do, just like everyone. teachers are faced with the responsibility every single day of molding young lives and mentoring them and being there for them. why should they be faced with the responsibility of knowing whether or not they're going to have to kill them that day? >> nicole, what were your thoughts when you heard that suggestion? >> i don't think it's a reasonable suggestion at all. i don't think it's something that the politicians should be talking about. ask any teacher. teachers have no desire to be

armed. their job is to teach. their job is to inspire, their job is to keep their kids safe and being the front line of defense for that from a preventive perspective is one thing, but in terms of arming them and asking them to make that sort of decision in a crisis moment, that's completely unacceptable and not a solution that should be pursued in any way. >> sam, today, now that you've been at the white house, now that we've had this conversation in such an intense way, what do you want to say to the president? where do you want to start today? >> honestly, i hope we can do th that. i said this today, i said this last night. i said it yesterday at the white house. he can make america great again, and this is how he does it. if he doesn't want to cooperate, we're going to make america great again. >> there you go.

nicole hockley, sam zeif, thank you very much for being with us. thank you for sharing your personal experience with us in trying to make schools safer and the whole country safer. that's going to do it for us from parkland, florida. as we part, we want to just show you again the faces of the 17 lives lost in the school behind me. teachers and students who showed up for school thinking that they were just going to have a day of education, and obviously lives across the country have been changed as a result of what happened last week. here they are. we'll be with cnn "newsroom" and john berman right now. good morning everyone. john berman here. something changed. right before our eyes, it changed. the national discussion on