trump o for theishonesty and fraudulent behavior that he has engaged in hello everyone and welcome to the texas book festival panel reporter at the san antonio and i also covered the november 5th mass shooting in texas which is what we are about to talk about. and i have with me a long time texan, former "washington post" reporter and pulitr prize finalist for his editorials on gun culture, law and tragedies. we are here because he just wrote a new book.

... >> so with the express vis in theook she and her

photographer have done support worknd i came away admiring the bh of you. >> thank you that's nice to say. and me and lisatuck around and then to dive deep and in that perspectivend i really respect on - - respected joe. anthen to move on. >> so first i want to ask a basic question why do yo want to write this book and ts topic? this is something you were doing outside of your work a

that word necessarily on the happiest topic that you try to focus on it. >> and to recall how allf this happened and i word is at the texas book festival in a tent signing books there were a line of people in my daughter kate was in the line and said did you hear about e shooting and i had not and she said i didn't get the name of the town so in my book signing session was over to my got in the caro head back to houston and tned on

satellite radio a heard about this unfolding horrible eventn a lite town called sutherland springs. the re i listened and then to find out what this was all about. and then san antonio on the loop and then endeup after dark in this little town that had never heard of. so there i was. and then to write this story and write about those in the column.

and those radiating frequently about guns and gold gun culture. and we knew them. and the reason i haven't heard of sutherland springs because officially it's not the town ansee unincorporated community east to san antonio and has been there a long time and interesting and colorful history but there is one flashing yellow light on highway between sanntonio and victoria and people pass on through. and there is no downtown.

to me you stop. the church is at the heart of what community there is in sutherland springs and the memberof the first baptist church don't live in that community. and then they go their separate ways. but this particular church they are like extded famil that out only worship together and sunday evenings and tuesday evenings andhursday evenings for bibletudy. the together. they go on vacation together like anxtended family. they are the sutherland springs community. >> if you make covering that tragedy.

>> and that you are with the relative. >> so you grew up in a similar culture may be looking at a community what did you learn about rural right? >> a grew up in a fundamentalist community so the bible a their guide in life. and they think it is fundamental literal what the bible says is what they lieve in and how they try to direct their life for the people of sutherland springs

are fundamentalist christian thing out their life they trto find a parallel are some guidance and i think it was even more, i don't think the wo extreme is correct but even more intense than when i was growing up in a church community th is simila similar. also the other thing i learned that i wasn't expecting when you first discovered it. i was surised and of is respecting that happened in the midst i would have accepted them.

anthen changing the gun laws but that's not what i found. and then to go the belief god. and then in the streth and my belief. d then for those people that are listening explain what exactly happened novemr 5th before how they recovered from it. >> the first bapst church at the time of the shooting was a

small congregation may be 50 pele or more and on that morning of november 5th 2017 they were gathered for sunday morng worship. and as they were beginning the service that morning, gunshots began going through thelimsy wooden wal where no idea what they were coming from and then people started to get hit with these bullets and then he came from e outside walked down the aisle and ended up killing 26 of those 50 people gaered and wounding many others.

so the largest mass shooting in texas at the time. how do you engage. >> so the purse of the book so you can read about the tragedy which you did in which i did and reporters around the world andhen to explore the facts that what happened on

that morng that it radiates outward that this radiated for this to go away. and then to go to the ne one. but they are still there. and then there was this community there lt to cope and to do that i had to get to know them. with those who are wanted.

>> even our own journalist to get the now book and tell me what happened sunday morning mostf them were willing but it's hard if that the community wa already not friendly to media and afterwards it cane hard to gain and then to have such

difficulthere are tse cars that have desnded. >> so what are you getting? and i could not see through all the media. and other reporters like me to co in and knock on doors. >> and they were overwhelmed by us. and i understand why we had to do it and tre is a mob of

reporters standing on the courthouse steps and here comes the mo to sending on the district attorney or the politician. we try not to be that way but it's hard not to be that way. so as i stted to drive to suthernd springs on sunday, i tried to be easy with them. and for the first couple of weeki didn't have a notebook. and i didn't want th to think that i was to send it on them. and the woman i was working with was a wonrful investigative reporter a

then she had theime to do a story she just goes and comes in fors long as she can and tell they are comfortableith her. and then they got to talking about usnd then they had the unofficial blacklist of reporters that were too persistent and had gotten things wrong andadn't corrected it or they justelt like they did not trust them and agreed among themselves they just wouldn't talk to these reporters and said is thing personal is just the way it is.

and it took a while for me to be comfortable wh them. >> i think that persistence is showing so much lonr afterwards. >> it most rorters don't have that luxy and i was on my own and i could do it but that's thenly way it could have worked. >> you write a lotbout lies in gun culture in texas so i'm wonderinif you were surprised or not and to take away from the ft that there was an increase in applications that were

actively trying to arm themselves. >> i was surprised initially those that experienced mass shootings want to change the laws and i was naïve i didn't realize the depth of their emotion f lack of a better word to their gun almost everyone was gun owners and were pistol on his hip to look around you and then they wearin guns on their hip so

pointedut to me to become known as the hero that had it not been for himot only armed butamiliar with guns the shooter the more that morning would've killed everybody else in church. so it took a while for mto get used to that culture >> because that'his role.

and his daughter heard the sound because she has been around answerable lif she mentioned something to her dad and t up and put on a pair of jeans and basally he confronted the shooter. >> and talking to gun-conol advocates there is common ground for those to be well

trained and he has his gun in a safe lock and not every gun ownerractices. >> and he to you and i since he was six or seven and that he knows so well and i wanted make absolutely sure i got my informationight aut guns because it can get terribly impatient a

actually with a tutorial aut guns it is the arsenal in the house and theno come out with the guns and then say explain what it did d where it came from so he wa extremely careful a after the shooting he wrote at the nrconvention to chuhes around the country. >>alk about the role of

faith inhe community and it grew immensely after the shooting and those that passed away with those being in the worship band like that so how important was faith very few people that are members of the church left but mos or all

wh stayed with their belief to get them through something that was unimanable. when i first started talking to people about their faith and how it had sustained them to be honest and then they go away but the more fruently the more i got to know them then realized the belief kept them going i have trouble understanding for them to be angry with god and with the shooter for sure i know they had gone through depressn

that did not cause them to question their belief i also had trouble with the ideas that god allowed this to happen that took hi teenage daughter to accept the sincerity and the depth of eir belief >> a then tha god is this nonsensical thing that you cannot be there one mine and be called t next that it

would go away that it was part of god's plan thats some way it's eerie to thi about than a comfort to them something bigger than we can understand it is all under control and then iad trouble understanding and those counseling servis in san tonio and several of them told me what kept them alive.

it would help them to survive the immediate aftermath but pt them alive in the days and weeks and months to follow. and then they wake up in the middle of the night in a panic to tell those of pain and trauma and it was hard to listen and then for a sunday

morning and driveome andit at those picnic tables and then go ealunch with them and hear the stories and then i would drive think about what i heard andhen repeat the stors to my wife and it was too much. >> i really struggled with that we had to make a decion writing th book how much do we want to focus on the grisly

details because you have to tell the story that was only part of the story. so for people to uerstand at they experience but we don't want it to be th focal point. >>hat did you want people to take away from your bk? >> can odessa and las vegas and all these places around the country and in santa fe texas these are communities that were affected by mass shootings that never should have happened and not jusat that moment for the rest of your liv that we need t be aware of that and to do everythinge can to make sure we don't on - - it doesn't

happen again. >>. >> and to in particular this experience and the aspect of the faith? >> i had trouble understanding. that they truly did believe as deeply as they to me a the former head o the jewish study center and was reminding me the holocaust survivors often lost their faith that i

would expect sething similar and it didn't. >> and to go back after theepteh fires into the audience member is that similar experience to what you had? but also to talk to someone

else who is also through the trauma is even more beneficial. >> it is a fine line and they want to talk. >> as journalist how do you focus when you hav to tell challengg stories like this? and with that consideration. so i havtrouble separating myself or listen to music or talk to my kids.

and one month after the shooting i was going to the funeral before i knew that well but nearly every day i remember waking up with my heart racing tha you are still in that moment. and i was in my shock mode. and then to all the parties. i remember getting a care package and thas because they had to cover the house shootings sohey sent a care package that we know what you are going through and be

strong. and i was soouched by that. i didn't realize that i understand what you as a journalist are going through. i will never forget that and trading his seat for that trauma wh the idea of connecting with other jonalists tt had been thrust into cering mass shootings. >> i'm glad that question came up because i hadn't thought about it because we are in an odd situation temporily we are part of the community but yet we're onlookers on the outside we can only watch but

we cannot help but be affected by what we see. >> it definitely makes me more scared of mass shootings and i'm quicker to think i'm afraid that is happening. >> and being in a crowd? >> yes. more afraid and the crowds my mind goes to that first because i've spent so much time with people w have gone through that i have a more visceral understanding o what that looks like, ho it happens, how it feels like the fear is close to me. and having support groups like th among journalist andhen to acknowledge the, like first responders for those that have

experienced this. >> why do you bieve that's portant? >> because i think we have to share in the eerience itself to figure out ways to prevent that from happening again. whether they lost faly members or not they are human beings they are our fellow man beings and we need to share in that literature. >> i told folks that's my

mission we want others to understand whathey are going through to help others was something like that. and then try to tell the story. and anybody that has an interesting story and then to share with your readers it is worth knong about. >> and then to know what was the moti of the gunmen with any adjuments to their procedures.

>> the gunmen was 26 years old. andrew up and had trouble in school and went to t air force academy and had more trouble there. came back to the area, married a younwoman who had family at thehurch. and as best we can tell, had some problem wh the family and came to thehurch that morning to do away with his in-laws and he realized the church being aslose as it

was he would have to kill everybody. and then there were warning signs throughout his air force career that he was pro to violence. and the air force did not report the incident to keep them from acquirg a weapon after he got out of the service. and i understand i it, legislation by senator johnornyn and other procedures with thether services have been instituted

to make sure it doesn't happen again. >> do you have any suggestions that have expressed fear fro a shooting were several school shootings have ourred. >> there are school systems and those that have approached it in different ways t lockdown or identify pottial problems and as a resident local historian and at one

point she knew her student so well if she recognizes mething isn't quite right in the student's life she fel free to call up the parents and say yo need to check on your daughter or on youron. i'm not quite sure what i saying be on the fact that if somehow we could be aware church members teachers or parents or of problems and aware enough to intervene then maybe me of these would be prevented. >> and there were a lot of red flags withhe gunmen that were never addressed and that speaks to mental health services also lack of services

for people. we have three minutes left. after a ma shooting in scotland where he livedll handguns were banned's is there a time it's that could be acceptae in the us and what cld society do? >> i had a daughter who lived in a friend who lived in a small town in england near cambridge her kids had the run of the town no fear whatsoever about some kind of mass shooti in england because guns are not partf the lture inngland or new

zealand or canada or japan are countries around the world. there is something about us th we need to deal with. the only hope i have that we will engage is the culture in texas becomes more urbanized d it is in such the intrinsic intrinsic part of the culture to deal with the proble of mass shootings legislatively and cultully and maybe someday we will get past this. >> and what about the practical next steps >> the next step in texas beuse we are not at that point when i would like to see the laws that make it difficult if not impossible

for citizens to own military stylweapons but that's coroversial in the states. and it seems iensible to me >> so why didn't they shoot back over today? >> pastor frank was in oklahoma cyo teach rifle shooting abaptist youth camps' one was on his harley coming to churc a he saw that the hog patch were being offered so the only

armed person was the one living acrosthe road. >> you think that would've chge the outcome if folks could have been armed wit their handguns? >> iave trouble imagining that because i think the firepower would overwhelm anody in the cgregation. who can say. i don't know. the last question. what is your next bk? what are you working on now? >> i'm looking for a book that is a bit happier. with the novel based on 1897 in a little town called aurora where the unidentified fing object crashed into a windll.

[laughter] >> thank you so much for your time. it's a pleasure getting to know you. and then with thatind of time and that i got to know well so i am thkful for that. >> i hope people read this beuse there's more to it than just that horrible sunday morning. >> yes. there are people who recovered and share a commitmt to be kind and do good even after thworld was so unfair to

them. thank youo much for tuning in. appreciate it and wait fo the next ufo book and have a good day. [laughter]

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internet the equalizers and connectors from those powerful individuals? >> as is the virus began in march and the ci was shut down a to doing live stream programs and all tse across e country that my of you