welcome to a special edition of 360. and president trump's confidence that he and he alone can take on the national rifle association and secure legislation for stricter background checks. also his visit to el paso and dayton this week and his behavior throughout. we begin, though, not in either of those cities, but in clear lake, iowa, because all of this is now part of the presidential campaign. joining us now is julian castro. do you take the president at his word -- actually, i probably shouldn't phrase it that way. do you believe he actually is going to try to do something on background checks because that's what he said after parkland. he's saying the same thing. do you think it's going to be different this time? >> well, look, all of us hope and will work toward that.

i hope that the president is serious and mitch mcconnell is serious, but like anybody who has watched these two and what they've done when it comes to common sense gun safety legislation in the past, i'm not holding my breath. what often happens with this president is he says what he thinks he needs to say to calm people down when people are demanding common sense gun safety legislation like he did after parkland. and then a few days go by with no action, a few weeks go by with no action, and suddenly a few months and even years go by without any action. i hope this time is different. but really, it's up to all of us as american citizens to continue putting the pressure on the president and on republicans in the senate to actually do something this time. >> it's not a good sign for those who want some sort of change on background checks that mitch mcconnell, the president isn't telling mitch mcconnell,

you got to come back now, you got to bring everybody back now. mitch mcconnell is saying, we'll look into this, you know, once summer recess is over. >> yeah, you know, one of the defining aspects of the american body politics today, it's a very short attention span. what's a hot issue right now and what people are really pushing on today could well be different in two weeks, two months and much less even further along than that. and i think they're counting on that. i really believe this is part of a new nra playbook, to mouth some happy words, give some encouraging signs that change might happen, cool people down in the moment, and then let the moment pass without doing anything. >> i want to play for our viewers some of what the

president has said over the course of time and how similar it is. let's listen. >> we're going to be very strong on background checks. be doing strong background checks. >> we certainly have to strengthen background checks. everybody agrees with that. >> i think we're going to have the support of the nra having to do with background checks. >> very strong background checks. i think it's time that a president stepped up and we haven't had them -- i'm talking democrat and republican presidents. they have not stepped up. it's not going to be talked like it has been in the past. it's been going on too long. too many instances and we're going to get it done. >> i mean, he's not giving any specifics, now he's saying meaningful background checks. who knows what that means? >> it is. it sounds like -- it sounds like just talk and that's what it's been so far.

no action. just talk. and in the meantime, he has cozied up to the nra. he's depending on the nra to dump a lot of money to help him get re-elected in 2020. you also have a congress that is full of -- especially republicans who believe that they need the nra and its supporters to get re-elected and, you know, that makes it very hard to actually get something done. but i will say, anderson, the most striking moment to me the last few days, was the moment where the governor of ohio went up there a day or two after the shooting in dayton and basically got shouted down by people of different backgrounds. i'm sure republicans and democrats, that shouted "do something." . th that resonates with a lot of americans right now. 90% of whom support background checks. i don't believe people are going

to just let it go. >> i want to ask you about reporting today by axios that trump campaign officials, some of them believe the democratic candidates calling the president a white supremacist, that that could help him win re-election. could it both embolden his base and alienate mainstream republicans? >> i believe that his failure to help bring this nation together along racial and ethnic lines and in fact his active fostering of hate along ethnic and racial lines is one of the reasons he's going to lose in 2020, not succeed. because i think a lot of people, no matter what the color of their skin is, what their background is, they can see what's happening in this country. i would ask americans, do you feel more divided or less under president trump? do you really believe that we

can take four more years of this, do you feel good about our country right now under his leadership? in these last few days when we should have a president out there able to heal this country, he's unable to rise to the occasion time and time again. he may think that this racial priming is going to help him, but i don't believe it is. i think that a strong coalition of people from different backgrounds is going to go a different direction. >> i want to ask you about something your brother did earlier this week, tweeting out the names of people in his district who gave the maximum donation to the president's re-election campaign and writing, quote, their contributions are fueling a campaign of hate. i know you defended that action today. people have said, look, this is all public information, reporters look into this stuff, this is all available for anybody, but for an elected official to be putting this out,

a lot of the republicans are saying, this is inappropriate, it's essentially in a time where people are so polarized, potentially threatening -- putting a target on some of these people. >> well, my brother put that information out which is publicly available information of folks that had maxed out, made the maximum contribution to the trump campaign, a lot of them high-profile business owners in san antonio, as he said -- as a said, a lot of these folks have made their fun off of the bucks of the hispanic community, a lot of their employees are hispanic, and they are contributing money into the pocket of a campaign for donald trump that is then turning around and putting facebook ads up that say there's

a hispanic invasion in the united states and creating a climate of fear and hostility. that's what my brother was doing. some of these right-wing publications suggested that he was doxing these people. he did not put their phone numbers or addresses. he listed their names. he said he were -- >> are you glad he took it down? >> what's that? >> are you glad he took down the tweet? >> that was his decision. but i do think -- i do believe that in our democratic society, we have public disclosure rules and laws so this kind of stuff doesn't happen in the dark. so people do know who are funding campaigns and if it's publicly available information and he shared it without sharing anything that was private, you

didn't share their addresses or phone numbers or anything like that, i believe there's value in there. >> secretary, appreciate it. thank you very much. >> thank you. coming up next, we're going to get the latest from the white house on the president's claims on -- wanting meaningful background checks and how they track with the facts. and later the couple who made it their mission to travel the country to try to bring comfort and counseling wherever mass killers have struck. first sandwh your mammoth masterpiece. and...whatever this was. because we make our meat with the good of the deli and no artificial preservatives. make every sandwich count with oscar mayer deli fresh. [ text notification now that you have] new dr. scholl's massaging gel advanced insoles with softer, bouncier gel waves, you'll move over 10% more than before. dr. scholl's. born to move.

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talking today about past failed gun control bills. president trump said they went nowhere, but there's never been a president like president trump. he did not mention that the last time he said something like this, after the parkland tragedy, he folded under pressure from the nra. this time, he says he will get what he calls meaningful background checks, whatever that may mean, from congress. as always, the question is, is there any reason at all to believe him? some answers for kaitlan collins at the white house tonight. the president had a lot to say about background checks today and much of which he has said before. let's take a look. >> i think my base relies on common sense and me in terms of telling

>> it's by meaningful, what he may be trying to say, anderson, is some kind of checks that would have prevented one of these particular shootings, and the only thing i can think of that would do that, since, and the most recent cases, these guns as far as we can tell were purchased legally, would have been some kind of mental health red flag sort of thing.

and so the president could be referring to that and the nra has come out in favor of -- adopted the posture that we don't want mentally ill people to have possession of firearms. when it's come down to it, the nra has opposed legislation, for example, that would deny -- any legislation that would deny firearms to someone who's been dishonor by discharged from the military. >> it's very easy to -- and sort of on the face of it, when you quickly think about it, that it would seem to make sense. if somebody is -- mentally ill, not a great idea for them to have guns. but just when, you know -- when you actually kind of drill down on it for a law standpoint, does that mean that a first responder who has ptsd should never be allowed to have a firearm after

they've retired? so, should anybody who's in therapy or depressed -- i think there's a lot of layers to it that would have to be thought through. >> that's right, anderson, and i think it's important to recognize that the nra made it very, very clear, they came out strongly saying we oppose anything that's going to infringe on the right to bear arms. and so that's where they are. and that's -- to the extent there will be negotiations, that's how it all opens. now it comes to, say, mitch mcconnell, who, you know -- certainly trying to further the president's agenda, but first and foremost is the custodian of the senate majority. he's going to pay attention to what people are saying back home. and they're paying attention to what president trump is doing. it comes down to the man in the oval office. >> you wrote about the nra in the year following sandy hook. you detailed how they fought against new gun control then.

has anything changed in terms of their funding or how they operate? >> yeah, administratively, yes, there's been a lot of conflict. financially, they have not been doing as well, as they should, and they've been facing opposition from without, moms demand action, groups that were not nearly as powerful as they were in 2013. the nra is formidable. don't ask me, ask the republicans. they're the ones who fear the nra and fear is of course a psychological condition. there aren't being instances on record of somebody being voted out of office because of the nra, but they believe that they have that influence and as long as republicans are unwilling to stand up to the nra, as long as they perceive that the nra has that strength, then it becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy. most presidents have done

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it's certainly been a difficult week, as we said, two shootings, two cities within hours of one another. in the past, presidents have tried to console and inspire and listen to the victims, their families. that did not happen this week. i want to get some perspective from cnn presidential historian doug brinkly and kristen powers. this whole tradition of presidents going and being consoler in chief, has that always been in our history. >> no. when theodore roosevelt had to deal with the san francisco earthquake, he couldn't go to san francisco. walter cronkite would be the person, by linden johnson got in

a boat and actually went at night where people were suffering and put a flashlight in his face and said, you know, i hear you, i'm hear. america loves you. and it was a great moment and nixon followed suit with hurricane camille when it hit the mississippi gulf in 1969. but it's ronald reagan with the challenger, wi challenger that set this bar up that we expect modern presidents to be a grief counsellor. >> kristen, in past times, you usually see, both citizens and politicians on both sides of the aisle pulling together and that's one of the extraordinary things about moments like this. but we've seen in -- we've seen citizens do it, but just in terms of politics, kind of the opposite was happening at times this week. i'm wondering what you think that says about where we are as a country? >> the thing that i just keep

asking myself is how can republicans be okay with this? i understand that people say that they like things that donald trump has done, that they think he's done a good job with the economy. they like who he's put on with the supreme court, but how can you sit and watch this kind of stuff? frankly just this utter self-involvement when people have been massacred, victims of mass murder, and you have the president making it all about himself, you know, talking about his crowds, the white house creating basically a campaign video off of a visit to victims and families of the victims. and i think that -- i also wonder what is it like for people who are coming of age right now. do they think this is normal, that this is how presidents behave. because it isn't how presidents behave. and as you just mentioned, we can think of any president, whether you liked them or not,

at different points, where they brought the country together when we had a crisis. >> i was talking to doug during the break. doug, we -- last night we played, you know, a collection of ronald reagan talking about the challenger, bill clinton talking about oklahoma city, george w. bush talking about 9/11 from a mosque in the days after. and you hear them speak, you know, somewhere on teleprompter, george w. was impromptu and they were eloquent. their emotion was real and their honesty came forward. it stands in stark contrast to the abilities of this president rhetorically. >> if you go to -- >> and perhaps emotionally. >> if you go to oklahoma city today, they have an incredible museum there for what happened in 1995, over 680 people wounded. and bill clinton is woven

throughout the whole experience because he came there and gave this extraordinary speech about the empty chairs and the dead and heal the country. he used that oklahoma city moment to pull the country together and helped him get re-elected in 1996. there isn't going to be a donald trump museum display in a positive way in dayton or el paso because he flunked. it was good that he went, that was the right decision to try to kind of heal the wounds, but in the end it was zero performance of just trying to self-promote itself. >> it's interesting, all of the reporting of maggie haberman and others, that the president was annoyed by the lack of cameras inside, when in fact that's the most powerful message often when presidents go to this, that they don't have cameras inside and they are in a closed room with parents who's children have just been slaughtered or parents who have just been slaughtered and they are embracing them and

listening to them and they're adding words that they can. the fact that -- i was giving the president credit that there weren't cameras inside. he seemed to think that was a bad thing. >> yeah, one of the most remarkable and troubling things about donald trump is his utter lack of empathy. and that's what we see here is that he cannot get outside of himself and think about other people, even in the most dire of circumstances. where there's just no other way to look at it. and, you know, the picture of them holding that baby with the thumbs up, it's just so outside what is acceptable. >> yeah. kristin powers, thank you, doug brinkly, as well. why retired military officers are speaking out against assault weapons on american streets. ♪

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former chairman of the joint chiefs of staff has tough words. he writes in the atlantic that this is the only way to stop the slaughter of children. i'm quoting these weapons are for war. they're not for sport. assault weapons are designed to kill as many people possible. these weapons make it virtually impossible for law enforcement agencies to stop those bent on taking lives. i want to talk to mark hurdling.

you know admiral mullen, do you agree with him? >> i certainly do, anderson, and i think most -- at least most senior military would also agree with them and i think most junior military would as well. they see the repercussions and the damage that these kind of weapons can exhibit on people and they're totally against i think for the most part, i won't try and speak for all of the military, but a good portion of the military says these are not weapons that should be on the streets of america. >> rick santorum was on the program last night and he said there's no such thing as an assault weapon and what people consider to be assault weapons are no different from other semiautomatic hunting rifles. >> that's not true. and senator santorum should know that. the fact of the matter is, there's a debate about what defines an assault weapon. in fact the nra was the first organization to use this term. i've never known them as an assault weapon i. always called

an m-16 or an m-4 rifle, the military version of the 16 or m-4 carbine, just that term. since i've been in the private sector, i hear the term assault weapons and the first thing that will happen with anyone that's interested in the gun daebate, you'll say there's no such thing as an assault weapon. they're short-barreled. either a folding or collapsible stock so they can make the weapon smaller. they have a magazine that can carry a large capacity of ammunition, that can shoot a lot of bullets in a short period of time and they have a muzzle velocity, the speed of the bullet going out of the barrel is fast. that's why it's important for the military to have these weapons. those are unlike any kind of civilian weapons that you see and they're specifically

designed to kill people in war. i've seen it. i've seen the repercussions of that. i'm sure others have as well and that's why many of us are saying they should not be on the streets of america because they have a high capacity for killing and a very large capacity for disastrous injuries to people when the bullet goes in. let me give you an example of what that feet per second, 3,200 or 4,000 feet per second does. the bullet not only enters and sheds the tissue, but there have been tests run on that kind of speed of a bullet and it will have a concussive effect. it has an air way that will concuss inside of the wound. that's unfortunately what they're designed to do in war. >> which, by the way, the shooter in el paso wrote about his decision to use the bullets that he was using and the effect those bullets have on internal

organs. i appreciate your expertise, thank you. >> thank you. i want to give you a followup, a prosecutor says a 20 year old man who walked into a missouri walmart is being charged with making a terrorist threat. he was held by a fireman who was armed with a concealed carry permit until police arrived and arrested him. that's the latest on that. in central question at times like these is how can begin help the families of mass shooting victims through their grief and anger. i'm going to introduce you to a special couple that i met and their commitment to try to help those in need. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

he borrowed billions donald trump failed as a businessman. and left a trail of bankruptcy and broken promises. he hasn't changed. i started a tiny investment business, and over 27 years, grew it successfully to 36 billion dollars. i'm tom steyer and i approve this message. i'm running for president because unlike other candidates, i can go head to head with donald trump on the economy, and expose him fo what he is: a fraud and a failure. new super stay ink crayon from maybelline new york. precision tip. up to 8-hour wear. draw on all-day matte intensity. new super stay ink crayon. only from maybelline new york. new super stay ink crayon. ♪ sleep this amazing? that's a zzzquilpure zzzs sleep. our liquid has a unique botanical blend, while an optimal melatonin level means no next-day grogginess.

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where certain fungal infections are common, and if you've had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have flu-like symptoms or sores. don't start humira if you have an infection. help stop the clock on further irreversible joint damage. talk to your rheumatologist. right here. right now. humira. as this very difficult weekends, i want to bring you a story of hope and commitment. it began in 2012 when i was covering the mass shootings in a movie theater in a, colorado. among the dead was an aspiring sports reporter, i met and interviewed her brother at the site and called the killer a coward. what he said to me that day, it stuck, since then on this program, we've tried never to identify -- give the name of a shooter or show a picture of a

shooter in mass killing. i also met jordan and jessica's mother. and earlier this year i spent time with them. after jessica's death, they began a mission, essentially becoming first responders in grief, traveling the country, meeting and talking and counseling people living through what they themselves have suffered. i profiled them for 60 minutes and here's the report. >> your identity has been stripped from you, whether it's mother, daddy, sister, brother, i no longer have that title. i no longer have that relationship. and it's when violence, that takes a long time to recover from. >> i think some people think that there's a timetable for grief. >> yeah. >> do you get that? >> oh, yeah. the five stages of grief, right? and you go through all five of them and you think, now i'm done.

and they don't tell you, you get to start it all again and they're out of sequence. a lot of survivors don't know that, especially going into it. you may find what you have done for the last 20 years of your life has absolutely no meaning to you anymore and that was certainly the case for us. >> it wasn't long after their daughter's murder that sandy and lonnie phipps quit their jobs, they rented out their house so they can travel around the country to mass shootings hoping to meet survivors and offer help. the scene of a mass shooting is not an easy place to come to. it can be like walking into a stranger's funeral. we don't know each other yet, but we do know. >> in grief, strangers can quickly become family. we saw them in thousand oaks, california, when 12 people were gunned down last november. it is one of the latest stops on

their heartbreaking journey. >> if you haven't lost someone close to you, you can't comprehend it. >> just days before, they were in pittsburgh. you're not trained therapists, counsellors and you have up ended your lives and reaching out in a very individual way to people. >> yeah, that's compassion. >> that's what it is. >> bottom line, it's about compassion. >> the compassion we get from those people too. >> yeah. >> it's not like it's a one-way deal. >> it was in 2012 that their daughter, jessica, was murdered along with 11 others in a movie theater in colorado. she was 24 and an aspiring sports reporter. >> can you take me back to that day? >> yes. the young man that was with her was like a son to us and she

decided that she wanted to take him to see the bat man movie. when the shooting happened, they stood up and never made it out. >> both of them? >> brent survived. he was shot trying to save her. he went into paramedic mode immediately because that's what he does for a living. and the phone rang -- >> he called you from inside the theater. >> yeah. and i could hear the screaming going on in the background and he said there's been a shooting. and i said are you okay? and he said, i think i've been shot twice. and i knew then that something is bad. and i said where is jessie? and he said, i tried. and i said, is she okay? and he said i did my best, i tried. and i said, oh, god, don't tell

me she's dead. and he said, i'm really sorry. >> i grabbed her, and picked her up and took her to the couch. >> it's been six years now. almost seven and there's not a day that goes by that we don't still get upset and still cry. >> i lost a brother of suicide and a lot of people say you're part of a group, which you never wished you would be part of. >> it's a lifetime membership and the cost of the dues was way, way, way too high. >> sandy is 68, lonnie 75. they've been living mostly on savings, social security, and good will. >> i know you're on a deadline. >> occasionally crashing with friends. they started a non-profit organization called survivors

empowered to offer advice and kinship in the wake of mass shootings. but also to give families practical information, like how to deal with media attention or how to get a body home for a funeral. >> it's lonnie. just checking in on you. >> there's things that happen to the families of people who have been shot in people of a mass killing that do not happen to other families. >> exactly. the worst part finding out that the day your child has been killed, there are already websites that have popped up and facebook pages saying this is a false flag. >> did you have people saying jessica wasn't real? >> oh, yeah. >> you didn't lose a daughter. >> all the time. >> you never saw your sister's dead body. >> sandy's son jordan has been harassed and threatened by a man

who claims there was no massacre in colorado. >> your days are numbered [ bleep ]. >> similar harassment now happens to families every time there's a mass shooting. >> that's the worst kind of harm you can do to someone. you're a devastated parent becoming more devastated. >> shooting at century theaters. >> after the massacre in colorado, sandy and lonnie who were gun owners themselves, filed a lawsuit against companies who sold gear to their daughter's killer over the internet. the judge threw out the case. they had to declare bankruptcy and consult for a gun control group to make ends meet. but they keep that work separate from their outreach to survivors. >> we don't bring up guns when we go. >> we never bring up politics or

gun. >> we don't advocate, recruit, we don't do any of that stuff until somebody shows an interest. and we tell them, you know, you're not ready yet. >> a road map of american tragedy. they started in new town, and went to san bern. orlando, las vegas, portland, santa fe, pittsburg, and thousand oaks. each massacre is different but the look sandy and lonny see on the faces of those left behind is the same. >> you can't believe it. >> you don't want to believe it. >> their 17 year-old sonic las who just earned a swimming scholarship to college was murdered with 16 others in pork land florida last year. >> i expect him to come home every day. he was a great kid. >> his younger brother who was

grazed by a bullet doesn't talk much about what happened. he was in a classroom across the hall from nick. when the shooting began. their parents were nearby waiting for school to let out. >> alex called and said mom i'm in the back of an ambulance. i was hit in the head. in my mind i didn't worry about it. there's 3,500 at that school. one child was shot what's the odds of two of my kids being shot. and i took off to the hospital. and said wait for nicholas. >> they waited for 12 hours before finally being told nicholas was dead. within days a mutual friend connected them with sandy and lonny. >> do you remember the first meeting? >> yeah, of course. they had a house full of people. we felt like we were intruding on a private moment. which we were. for a good reason. >> i was skeptical. in the beginning.

i'm thinking what do they want from us? why are they here? after speaking to them, we lasted three hours. and they took the time just to be here. and were not here for any other reason. you're in a place that's just not of this normal life. you can't imagine. >> when you open your eyes in the morning you're like why should i get up today? why? and it's just so painful to feel this pain. the whole day. and to meet somebody who has been through it. and six years later and they're getting out of bed. >> you can look at sandy and see a way through. potentially. >> right. >> what are some of the things you the list of things you warn a grieving parent. >> i know you don't want to get out of bed right now. you'll live through this. it's going to take you a long time. that's number one.

people are ripping you off right now as we're speaking. there's probably a go fund me page. raising funds for the families and you'll never seen it. be careful who you trust. it's an introduction. mass shooting grief 101. >> they are trying to create a net work of survivors who can quickly respond all over the country. volunteers. after surviving the massacre in las vegas. >> when i met them i asked if i could go to parkland with them. she was like no. you're not ready for this yet. >> she's telling her story. i'm listening and going, oh my god. >> she showed sandy the cell phone video she unintentionally recorded of the shooting.

>> i'm watching the video going this is triggering me. i can't imagine what she has really gone through. >> what was happening arpd you? >> people were going downright away. i could hear the bullets whizzing right past my head. you would see them like jerk. and i don't know if i can say this. you would see them just explode. >> the gunfire lasted more than ten minutes. 58 people were killed. for weeks after wards, she was hardly able to leave her house. sandy advised her to see a therapist who specializes in severe trama. >> after about four or five months of therapy. i was a walnut and cracked open and i cried about it. i called and i was like i cried? i was all excited. >> i'm very happy. you can begin to put things

together. and create the new you. she's doing incredible work. >> this has been growing really ever since the shooting. >> yeah. >> the work she is doing started last fall. after the bar shooting in thousand oaks california. which is just miles from her house. she's now trying to help some of those survivors the way sandy and lonny helped her. >> wouldn't it be easier to not be immersed in the world of mass shootings? you are immersed in a very dark world. >> we live it. we don't see it as dark. we see it as shedding light. we care about people. we want to help them find their purpose and find their strength. so they can live their new normal. >> wla a sad new normal it is. if you want more information on the work they're doing. the web site is www survives

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