character and this man of god. the words from mitt romney a short time ago. >> an honor to look back at his life today and remember him. that's it for us. "happening now" starts right now. >> jon: a fox news alert. the students of marjory stoneman douglas high school demand tougher gun laws in florida's capital today. president trump will hold a session with victims of gun violence. i'm jon scott. >> molly: i'm molly line. new regulations expected to be one topic the president will talk about later with victims of the florida shooting as well as those affected by sandy hook and columbine shootings. >> president trump: i will be holding a number of discussions with students, local leaders, and law enforcement to develop concrete steps that we can take

to secure our schools, safeguard our students and protect our communities. school safety is a top priority for my administration. >> jon: chief white house correspondent john roberts joins you now with more. >> good afternoon. today is one of two listening sessions the president will hold today and tomorrow. the first one 4:15 he will huddle with students, teachers, parents who have had some sort of connection to gun violence. among the people in attendance this afternoon we're told some 15 to 20 students from marjory stoneman douglas high school in parkland, florida. the scene of last week's shooting. sandy hook promise, parents of children killed in the sandy hook elementary school district and students and parents from the local d.c. area who have had experience with school violence. tomorrow the session will be with state and local officials to talk about law enforcement and the mental health aspects

of this issue. yesterday as you mentioned at the top the president took action following the las vegas massacre of october 1 where 58 people were killed in a hail of gunfire. the president directing attorney general jeff sessions to look into whether so-called bump stocks could be banned. they allow a semi automatic rifle to fire near automatic rate. here is what the president said about that yesterday. >> president trump: just a few moments ago, i signed a memorandum directing the attorney general to propose regulations to ban all devices that turn legal weapons into machine guns. i expect that these critical regulations will be finalized, jeff, very soon. we cannot merely take actions that make us feel like we are making a difference. we must actually make a difference.

>> to that end he is weighing other options including raising the minimum age for buying a firearm. current law federal law people can't buy a handgun from a licensed dealer until age 25 but they can buy a rifle or shotgun including an assault-style weapon at the age of 18. if you buy from an unlicensed individual there is no minimum age for purchasing a rifle. a study cited by the law center found one quarter of violent gun oh fepders would have been prohibited from acquiring a weapon if the national standard were 21 years of age. the president also throwing his support behind a measure that would improve the reporting system for the instant criminal background check, the nix system. senators cornyn supporting the bill. it would give incentives to state and federal agencies to report information that they are supposed to be reporting to the nix system. it is not clear how that would

really advance the debate, though it may tighten up the reporting for the criminal background check. >> jon: john roberts at the white house. john, thank you. at this moment in tallahassee, florida high school students many of them from parkland high school, are descending on tallahassee. they are demanding some kind of gun control legislation out of their state leaders there. these are shooting survivors from parkland high school. the terrible scene of the events last wednesday when a former student is accused of marching back to school and gunning down 17 people. >> molly: remarkable pictures as we shift back to washington this session with gun violence victims comes a day after the president ordered attorney general jeff sessions to craft new gun control regulations. joining me now daniel halper, contributing editor for"the

weekly standard" and free beacon. as we see pictures of the students in tallahassee i want to talk about what the president can do. he has talked about background checks and now he is calling for action on bump stocks, which did not happen successfully in congress following the las vegas shootings. how effective can the president be? >> well, in a weird way one of the things because the president is seen as such a staunch ally of second amendment rights activists and gun holders it gives him more leeway than his predecessor obama. because he is close, he can actually -- might be able to go further than his predecessors. with that said i don't expect him to go very far. what he has signaled so far the bump stock ban and to hold listening sessions. what comes out of those listening sessions. generally it is nothing. it is a way to take up some time and show you care about an

issue. come up with some sort of small around the edges things to try to sort of keep the heat off of him. he is feeling a lot of heat at this moment. >> molly: what does it mean we see these students and other people related to the sandy hook victims, for instance, people related to the columbine shooting actually meeting face-to-face with the president. in reality there is a much broader listening session going on across america. many of these students and survivors from the most recent shooting in florida are stepping before the news cameras. we're all listening. what will the president hear today? >> i think he will hear about people's pain and about the pain that people have suffered from these mass shootings. obviously you can see that in these people's tv interviews and see it all around. we've heard that before. i think separately as a policy matter the question becomes more relevant of what can actually be done? bump stocks have been used so

far as we know in a single crime, which is this las vegas shooting. it's the biggest massacre in american history and terrible but doesn't have anything to do with the parkland shooting and not clear what shootings in the future it might actually have any bearing on or what it might prevent. so it is very complicated debate because on the one hand you want the president wants to keep gun rights for americans and on the other hand there is a lot of pressure from the families. >> molly: united voices can sometimes change hearts and minds and these voices, these young voices of teenagers right now have proven to be eloquent in a broad spectrum but at the same time they are already seeing sort of the frustration of moving things politically. a group went there to tallahassee lawmakers voting down a motion to consider the ban regarding assault weapons during a session that opened with prayers for the victims in

florida. they've already seen that politics can be very slow. but it seems like there could be a longevity. students perhaps are still thinking about what happened and processing and yet to come forward with their ideas and the ideas ultimately may prove to be quite wide and varied. there will be those that say the bump stocks don't go far enough. background checks don't go far enough. can the president if he unites in some extent with some of the voices get some things done that people agree on? just moving that ball seems to be a challenge when it comes to gun control. >> no way to keep everybody happy. if he gets behind something it has a greater likelihood of getting past. the question is what can actually be done to prevent these massacres? it is much more complicated answer than just -- unless you will go as far as banning all guns, which i think you take a constitutional amendment, change it. it would be more complicated. if you go that far the debate is sort of -- it comes to a

stand still because it is so complicated. maybe one of these listening sessions somebody will say i have the perfect answer and this is what we can do. the likelihood of that happening is not very high. in a free society, you have people who are allowed to carry guns and weapons and you have crazy people and sometimes those people collide and sometimes it's the same person and sometimes bad things happen. and the question, of course, is how to prevent it in the future. i think in a way statistically it's a small number but it is a very powerful number and it is harmful and dangerous when it does happen. >> molly: thank you for joining us today. we appreciate it. >> thank you. >> jon: reaction is pouring in this morning to the death of billy graham, the evangelist dubbed america's pastor. he died at his home in north carolina this morning at the age of 99. he transformed american religious life and served as

spiritual counselor to many u.s. presidents. president trump tweeting today the great billy graham is dead. there was nobody like him. he will be missed by christians and all religions. a very special man. vice president pence also weighed in. >> today our nation awoke to the sad news of the passing of one of the greatest americans of the 20th century. the reverend billy graham. his ministry and his matchless voice changed the lives of millions and inspired our nation. >> jon: we will have much more on the life and legacy of the reverend billy graham coming up just moments from now. >> molly: a stand-off takes a deadly turn and a police officer among those killed. we have the breaking details on that plus another guilty plea in the russia investigation. how this move could turn up the heat on the president's former campaign chairman and how mr. trump is reacting to the developments next. >> the president hasn't said

that russia didn't meddle. what he is saying it didn't have an impact and it certainly wasn't with help from the trump campaign. whoooo.

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>> molly: right now a police officer and a shooting suspect are both dead after a stand-off in alabama. it all started when police were investigating the death of a woman and identified her ex-husband as a person of interest. he barricaded himself in his home last night and opened fire. he hit a police officer and he died of his injuries. the suspect was dead. police don't know if he shot himself or killed in the shoot-out with responding officers. >> jon: breaking now in the russia investigation with a new guilty plea after a prominent lawyer linked to former trump campaign advisor rick gates admitted in federal court he lied to the special counsel's team. this could step up the pressure

on gates and former trump campaign chairman paul manafort to cooperate with investigators. the president seems to be trying to redirect the probe tweeting this morning 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. robert driscoll a former department of justice official who served as deputy assistant attorney general. let's evaluate the president's tweet. what about the questions he is asking, robert? >> well, i mean i think he is frustrated but i don't think it's necessarily on point because obviously collusion can happen to the extent it did, which i understand he denies

that, it wouldn't be the fault of someone for not catching it, it would be the fault of the people that did it. to the extent there are crimes by either the hillary campaign or people in the obama administration, i think attorney general sessions would investigate them. he said he is looking into specific allegations that have been raised before and there has been nothing public about it. i have think the president's frustration stems from the fact because he is president, the details of his cases take precedence in the news and he feels like there should be more focus somewhere else. i really don't think the special counsel is going to spend a lot of time looking at the obama administration unless there is evidence of collusion there through the steele dossier or something like that. i think as a broader matter now. >> jon: you mentioned collusion and these charges, these new charges against this lawyer alex van der zwaan, somebody most americans have never heard of. they make no reference to the

trump campaign or the 2016 election. just a charge of lying to f.b.i. investigators, right? >> that's true. as the flynn plea was and as the manafort and gates indictments were, they are crimes that seem somewhat unrelated to the campaign. of course, we don't have the evidence that bob mueller does. and we don't know. and to give the benefit of the doubt to the special counsel's office, nothing he has done has been predicted by any analyst in advance and so he may come out with evidence we don't know about. but publicly the state of the evidence now, the main question that started this all is still unanswered and there is still no real evidence on it, did the trump campaign collude with any of this russian interference proven by friday's indictment of the russian nationals and the russian corporations. >> jon: that indictment seems to have strong evidence against those russians but when it talks about americans, it talks

about unwitting accomplices. you can't be part of a conspiracy. >> they went out of their way to make clear that the indictment was not implicating any americans at all. and that indictment was not alleging that trump was involved and why i'm saying the public state of the evidence so far is we just don't have any real evidence of collusion of the trump campaign with the russians. there has been speculation and there has been a couple of meetings but we haven't really seen anything yet. it doesn't mean it's not there. mueller has kept his evidence close to the vest as he has gone through. as of now, it is just not there. and these other issues are serious crimes and need to be looked at but they are all collateral to, i think, the big question politically which is the campaign implicated in any of this or the president implicated. so far the answer is no.

>> jon: the alex van der zwaan is the son-in-law of one of russia's richest men. any significance to that family tie there? >> right. it's hard to know. more significance in the information he pled to and the timing of the communications that he allegedly lied about was a month or two before the campaign. there is some communication that mueller was interested in between he and rick gates and another person which may or may not be manafort in like october of 2016. and so i think, you know, i think at that point the official work for the ukraine had wrapped up and i think that timing issue is -- it is interesting he is not cooperating. i think he is taking the plea and that's it. i don't think there is necessarily a cooperation agreement. it is curious fact that i know i guess his father-in-law is a

prominent russian but beyond that i would hesitate to draw too much from that. >> jon: thanks for helping us unpack some of this information. robert driscoll formerly with the department of justice. we appreciate it. >> molly: and an internal review claims hawaii was not ready for a ballistic missile threat. we know what happened when a false alarm triggered panic across the islands. what the emergency management agency is urged to do now. parkland students protesting at the florida state capitol now. how they plan to get their gun control message through to officials in tallahassee. >> it was the scariest day of all of our lives and it shouldn't happen to anyone in the country ever again. something needs to change in order for it not to happen again. from farm, to pot, to jar, to table. and serve with confidence that it's safe. this is a diamond you can follow from mine to finger,

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>> jon: guess what? hawaii's emergency management team was not prepared for a ballistic missile threat. that's according to an internal review from its state department of defense. the alert last month, the false notification warning about a missile on its way to hawaii. it took emergency management 38 minutes to tell people it was a false alarm. internal review just out is pushing for change. the review urges hawaii to suspend its ballistic missile preparedness campaign unless there is a plan for what people should do if it were to happen. >> senior leadership lacked awareness of personnel issues within the organization. >> the record identifies a breakdown in leadership and management at the hawaii emergency management agency. and we are actively seeking a

new administrator who will build the team that will implement the recommendations that are contained in this report. >> jon: the employee who said he accidentally sent out that alert was fired. >> molly: the media accused of exploiting florida high school shooting victims to push the gun control debate but the students are taking their concerns to the streets calling for action at gun control rallies. a former secret service agent had this to say about it last night on tucker carlson. >> their voices would be valuable. where were the signs missed? these students were there and dealt with this kid every day. the media is focused more on a teenager's expertise in supply-side control measures for guns which tucker, let's be candid, they probably have not studied a complicated, layered issue. they have the right and after what they've been through we want to hear their voices.

the media is focusing on an agenda. >> molly: on the topic we'll bring in howard kurtz joining me now. thanks for being here. to start things off, interesting thoughts here. i have such respect for these young voices. they have come forward at a very difficult time and gone from seeing their friends gunned down, running for their own survival to the national television networks in a brief amount of time and spoken with such eloquence. what are your thoughts on the idea that they are somehow being manipulated? >> i don't agree the media are exploiting the students at all and blaming them for not knowing it would happen in advance is pretty sad. they're old enough to weigh in on the debate. having gone through this horrible and traumatic experience they have a right to be heard. while i do agree that most journalists on the left favor some gun control measures, the mood is changing and hearing some evidence the "new york post" today has the florida

student on the cover with the headlines hope for gun control. a couple days after a front page plea that said mr. president, please act. that's not some liberal paper. >> molly: i imagine we'll hear a lot more of these voices and some may still be processing what has happened. we may hear difsh urgent opinions saying do something. it is your job. in the weeks, months and years to come we may her specific thoughts how it would shap en from various individuals that have survived this shooting and potentially others that have occurred. how do we insure we're listening to those voices? >> by doing a lot of reporting and making sure we talk to a wide range of people. by the way, president trump himself meeting with students and others today, some from parkland, some from other places of mass shootings. obviously that will draw a lot of coverage. i don't think we should assume that everybody has the same

view. nobody expects them to be experts on every type of ballistics and ammunition and all of that. but i do think that what would be the alternative for the media to shut them out or say they shouldn't be heard because they're too emotional or close to the situation would be to be pushing a different kind of agenda. >> molly: they have powerful stories to tell. i want to shift gears a little bit. we've just heard of the passing of the eloquent, amazing life of billy graham who led this incredible life of service. in addition to that, he was also a trailblazer in a sense that he brought christ, christianity to people across the globe and television was one of those things that he participated in and used that so powerfully. your thoughts. >> by using television and later if his career satellite transmissions, packed stadiums, billy graham was almost like a national pastor and he did sort of create the generation that followed him. a more controversial and sometimes divisive generation

of televangelists. how he counseled many presidents. less so in later years. he was close to richard nixon and george w. bush has said it was after taking a walk as a young man with billy graham that he decided to khak his life and give up drinking. a remarkable historical figure billy graham. >> molly: we'll remember him in days and weeks to come. thank you for your thoughts today. >> jon: a mid-term elections are months away. the fight to control the house of representatives, that is well underway. what top republicans are concerned about and how democrats are looking to gain the advantage. plus florida school shooting survivors stepping up their fight for gun control marching and demonstrating at the state capitol. more on their mission next.

>> molly: students from the high school in parkland, florida are in tallahassee pushing for gun control at the state capitol after 17 students, and teachers were killed. they'll pressure lawmakers to get something done. >> a lot of these legislators have children and they need to understand if this was their children she should stand up for them and they're either with us or against us. >> molly: rich edson is at the state capitol where there was an anti- gun rally going on today. we can hear it. >> there are several groups converging right now on the florida state capitol. not only the students from stoneman douglas high school. many of them and their parents are here but there are also gun control advocacy groups. students from florida state, students from this region who have all converged here.

the protest hasn't officially started yet. it is supposed to start within the next half hour or 45 minutes and more students coming. in the building behind here this is where the florida legislature meets and where many of the stoneman douglas high school students are lobbying lawmakers right now. they arrived three bus loads of them last evening here to tallahassee. and met with a number of local students and parents and teachers, discussed their legislative strategy. spoke to a few of them earlier today and they say they'll get results. >> we know change is nt going to happen today but show them what it was like to be trapped in a school not knowing if we were going to walk out. >> there are a number of different legislative initiatives ongoing. they voted down a measure that would have brought up a debate about an assault rifle ban. that was defeated. the president's office here says they're working on a

number of other initiatives dealing with money for mental health, money for school safety, raising the age at which you can buy an assault rifle to 21. even allowing judges to create a restraining order against someone from owning or possessing a gun. that is something that they are discussing in the florida legislature but they have only got a limited amount of time to do so. florida's legislature only meets for one session a year. that session is ongoing right now. it concludes in 2 1/2 weeks. from there they aren't scheduled to meet again until next year. leaders here say they could call a special session if needed. molly, back to you. >> molly: thank you for the reporting out of the state capital in florida. >> jon: democrats hoping to take back the house of representatives in the mid-term elections. right now they have the best chance of doing so in years. the president's favorability rating has been low and dozens of house republicans are retiring this year. but recent polls show the

democrats' lead narrowing for weeks with the president's tax reform law gaining in popularity. let's bring in our panel. jake mcbee former speech writer for loretta lynch and eric holder and another political analyst. wait a minute. we've got -- we had a little guest cancellation on us. i'm sorry about that. kevin sheridan is joining us. wow, guys, that's a first for me. my apologies, kevin. kevin, first of all there was a politico poll out last week that showed republicans with a 1% lead in the generic ballot come october. what turned that around? they had been behind for months. >> if you went back to december of 2017 just two months ago they were between 10 and 15 points down and what happened in between was the tax reform.

and i think once you see the effects of it and it is actually just begun, you see the american people's opinion turning around not just on the economy and their own lives but on what republicans have done for them. i think that's what you are seeing. that coupled with donald trump's deregulation and some of his foreign policy steps i think you've got a much different picture than you had a couple months ago. it is looking more possible. there certainly was a wave building. it is mitigated now. we'll have to see what the next few months bring. it is difficult for a president's party to maintain the house in a mid-term election. they are doing what they can, though, with this tax reform especially. it may turn around their chances. >> jake. >> you saw yesterday a poll come out that had democrats up 15 of the generic ballot.

i take the polls with a grain of salt. anyone who lived through the 2016 election knows you can't bet on a poll. there is a ton of energy in the grassroots at the democratic level and you saw just in the last quarter 40 democratic challengers out raised republican incumbents. it's huge and speaks on a level of energy on the democratic side not just against donald trump but in favor of the kind of future that doesn't pit vulnerable groups against each other and lifts everybody up. that's what democrats are about and why you are seeing the energy. it is pretty exciting. >> jon: let me read for you something the chairwoman of the republican national committee has to say. she writes as we head into the 2018 mid-term elections, the republican party continues to break fundraising records. we are working hand in hand in republicans in congress and president trump to have a pro growth agenda. in doing so we'll continue to invest in our ground game.

operations, technology and party infrastructure. >> molly: the republicans will raise a lot of money. the koch brothers will kick in money. they will have the money to compete. what's really exciting and interestsing is that you are getting so much grassroots support for democratic challengers. that's a big deal. it's not only just that democrats are fielding candidates everywhere, they are fielding record numbers of women across the country. that is a huge deal. the level of energy you see on the democratic side isn't just about a few large donors. it is really about grassroots support that is about breaking a republican culture of corruption and standing up for communities around the country. >> jon: in early years of the obama administration republicans seemed to base most of what they were doing in washington on opposition to president obama.

i mean, mitch mcconnell said his primary job was to make sure that barack obama would remain a one-term president. he was ultimately unsuccessful in that regard. i wonder if democrats' opposition to president trump is sort of the same thing all over again. >> the big difference is that there was obamacare at the time and it was unpopular. the tax reform legislation by contrast is popular and getting more popular and will continue to do so as the economy improves. look, the democrat energy is baked in, i would agree there. they'll come out, democrats will come out in droves. the question is whether or not independents and right-leaning women in the suburbs especially will flip over or stay home. this time around. they came over to donald trump at the end of 2016. the question and they've been somewhat of a problem for the last year. do they see more money in their

pockets and paychecks and in their households and do they then approve of what republicans are doing and want to send them back to washington to do two more years? >> jon: that's kevin sheridan, and former communications director to paul ryan. kevin, thank you, sorry for that goofed up introduction. jake mcbee with us. thank you both. >> molly: brand-new information on what would have been a key meeting, north korea apparently canceling at the last minute a face-to-face meeting with vice president pence at the olympics. we will talk about it next. (female vo) breaking news from washington as lawmakers; (male vo) raging wildfires continue to scorch parts; (male vo) allegations of misconduct; ♪ oh, why you look so sad, ♪ the tears are in your eyes,

mvo: how hard is it just to take some time out of your day to give him a ride to school and show him you support him. ♪ and don't be ashamed to cry, ♪ let me see you through, ♪ 'cause i've seen the dark side too. ♪ ♪ when the night falls on you, ♪ you don't know what to do, mvo: when disaster strikes to one, we all get together and support each other. that's the nature of humanity. ♪ i'll stand by you, ♪ won't let nobody hurt you. ♪ i'll stand by you, ♪ so if you're mad, get mad, ♪ don't hold it all inside, ♪ come on and talk to me now. ♪ hey, what you got to hide? ♪

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>> molly: breaking now with new information on what would have been a historic meeting we're told vice president mike pence had a scheduled talk with north

korean representatives including the younger sister of kim jong-un. but that meeting was called off the state department releasing this statement. saying at the last minute dprk officials decided not to go forward with the meeting. we regret their failure to seize this opportunity. we will not apologize for american values, for calling attention to human rights abuses or for mourning a young american's unjust death. we will not allow north korea's attendance at the winter olympics to conceal the true nature of the regime and the need for the world to remain united in the face of its illicit weapons programs. joining me now is someone from the brookings institute. how significant is this that we were going to meet with north korean officials? >> quit significant. madeline albright would have been the last u.s. official to meet at that level. we talked back in 1994 as

whether bill clinton should go in the 9 0*s. that didn't happen. albright went. that has been seen as a very high level of approval essentially for the united states to contemplate anything at the cabinet level or above. it would have been extraordinary. i think the vice president was correct to be willing to talk but do it from a firm, principled position. on those two basic parameters they got it right. >> molly: the administration at certain times had various officials express different thoughts how important or willing we should be to take diplomatic measures to talk with north korea. secretary of state tillerson has expressed some of that willingness. president trump has seemed to push back on that at certain points in time. does this show a shift in what we are willing to do moving forward as far as communicating with the regime? >> it was a big decision but i think we sometimes tie ourselves knots saying should we or shouldn't we talk? let's talk with a clear sense of purpose. without willingness to bend on

our core values. on that point it was a big decision to be willing to have this meeting but it didn't reflect any relenting in our economic pressure and military deterrents towards north korea. the one place where more creative analysis might be needed by the trump administration is what kind of deal would we accept? if you insist on complete north korean denuclearization as the first deal you are not going to get it. 90% of foreign policy analysts would agree with me. you should hope for that and insist on that as the long-term goal. as an interim deal a freeze on their production and testing of nuclear materials and long-range missiles is the realistic strategy. you can let up u.n. sanctions and keep the u.s. sanctions. you don't pay too high a price for that. it's the kind of flexible deal we need. otherwise it will be a

non-starter whether vice president pence is willing to talk or not. >> molly: a non-starter for pyongyang. pyeongchang the vice president went to the olympics and went after north korea trying to draw attention to their human rights abuses. having the father of otto warmbier, a victim of the regime there as well as well as other victims, drawing attention to that aspect of this regime at the same time. the sister of the dictator is there on the ground conducting what many have referred to as the charm offensive. so who won that there in north korea? >> i think vice president pence and secretary mattis did what they had to do to remind the world at this moment of the horrors of the north korean regime because the charm offensive was so impressive and going so well and everybody wants to believe in this olympic detente. we know what happened the last time there was an olympic detente.

afterwards putin seized crimea. north korea doesn't use this to divide the various countries applying economic pressure from each other. they want china and south korea to lighten up the economic pressure. i am sure that's their strategy coming out of this. not all about charm and niceness. i think mr. pence is correct to remind people of why we are at the place we're at. but then we have to think what's a realistic negotiating strategy. i don't think we're quite there yet with the trump administration. >> molly: thank you for your insights on the ongoing efforts moves towards diplomacy. we'll see if we see a shift. jon. >> jon: he was the most widely-heard christian evangelist in history and today we lost the reverend billy graham. we're looking back at his life and legacy next.

>> coming up on "outnumbered" we'll have the rally for gun control kicking off at the florida state capitol as students are about to hold a news conference as well. they plan to press lawmakers for action. we'll bring you all of it as it happens. >> legendary evangelist and spiritual advisor to several presidents, billy graham has died at age 99. we'll look back at his life and legacy. >> such an important story today. 12 presidents. all that plus our man in the middle. "outnumbered" at the top of the hour. see you then. >> molly: now to the legacy. left behind by the reverend billy graham. the evangelist credited with transforming american religious life died today at the age of 99. he reached hundreds of millions of people worldwide with his pioneering use of tv and radio and became an advisor to u.s.

presidents on both sides of the aisle. eric shawn is live with more. >> he was considered the most influential and well-known christian evangelist, a pastor to presidents and hundreds of millions. as you said the reverend billy graham passed away at 7:46 this morning at his home in north carolina. he suffered from cancer and pneumonia. looking live at the billy graham library in charlotte, north carolina where he will be laid to rest. he energized american religious life through his sermons and activism preaching the gospel of jesus christ. he reached millions through his use of radio, newspapers and films spreading his message to more people than anyone in history with a simple message. >> i do not believe that any man, that any man can involve the problems of life without jesus christ.

>> he was dubbed america's pastor and he gave spiritual counsel to every u.s. president from harry s. truman to barack obama. today president trump tweeted this, quote, the great billy graham is dead. there was nobody like him. he will be missed by christians and all religions. a very special man. graham said he first felt the spirit at age 16. he left his family's dairy farm to attend bible college in florida and started preaching on the streets of tampa before he took on the whole world. >> my father is clear in giving people an opportunity to accept, by faith, and to invite jesus christ into their hearts and into their lives. >> if you remember nothing that i say tonight except one thing i want you to remember, god loves you. >> jon: private funeral is planned for billy graham at the library in charlotte. he will be buried beside his wife, ruth. billy graham, an american icon will always be remembered. back to you.

>> molly: what a remarkable life of service. thanks for sharing it with us. and we'll be right back. . . hat. it was tough getting out there hat. on stage. i wanted to be clear. i wanted it to last. so i kept on fighting. i found something that worked. and keeps on working. now? they see me. see me. see if cosentyx could make a difference for you- cosentyx is proven to help people with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis... ...find clear skin that can last. don't use if you're allergic to cosentyx. before starting cosentyx, you should be checked for tuberculosis. an increased risk of infections and lowered ability to fight them may occur. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms.

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>> molly: thanks for joining us. >> jon: john good to have you here, mollie. outnumbered startle right now. >> harris: the news breaking this hour a gun control rally on the steps of a florida state capitol. parkland shooting survivors are demanding a ban on assault style weapons after a gunman killed 17 people inside their high school. he had a semiautomatic rifle last week. in a few moments 100 parkland students are planning to hold a news conference alongside a florida senator. we will bring it to you as it happens live. i'm harris faulkner. kennedy. katie pavlich, anchor of the intelligence report on fox business trish regan and joining us on the couch fox news political am list and co-host of the five juan williams is here. we say he is outnumbered b