>> 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 but

always welcome. >> juan: i appreciate it. what a day for the funeral. those kids such heros to me. the young people that died. some of them are being now acknowledged by west point given posthumously. >> harris: posthumously by one. >> juan: i think all of us feel the passion of those people attending the funeral today. >> harris: glad you are here. survivors of last week's school shooting are marching on the capitol. one student detailed the ongoing struggles many are facing in the wake of the devastating attack. >> we want our schools to be safer. i don't want to be afraid to go to school anymore. we just want them to understand what we're feeling right now. >> i don't know if i'll be able to walk into the building where i sat for three hours wonde wondering if i will come out alive or if i will see my parents again. i just passed the school for the first time the other day, it was heart-breaking to see all of the students' faces who unfortunately

passed away. >> harris: steve harrigan live for us in parkland, florida with the latest. steve? >> harris, wake of the tragedy in days of multiple funerals more than 100 students from stoneman went up by bus to the state legislature in tallahassee, about an 8 hour drive by bus. and they have been meeting with state lawmakers throughout the day. they are trying to get something done on gun control. there is three weeks left in the legislative session. the students came with backpacks, knapsacks, sleeping bags, pillows. they are going to try to get something done. here is what one student had to say. >> it was the scariest day of all of our lives. it shouldn't happen to anyone in the country ever again. and that is something that needs to change in order for it to not happen again. >> they are really trying to share that first-hand experience, that terror and that hope to get something done with their lawmakers. as far as the protests go, the antigun protests, they are getting bigger around the state. we saw a number of students

walk out of class yesterday in protest. and more than a dozen schools today schedule to walk out at different parts of the day. many of those students making their way here. either to lay flowers or to express their support for the students. as far as the accused shooter, 19-year-old nikolas cruz, he remains in solitary confinement. there is some concern debate about whether or not he should have a public defender. cruz could inherit up to 1 estate of his adoptive mother. some officials here saying that money should be used for an attorney instead of tax money for a public defender. we have senile some repairs going on at the school. we saw a truck full of school doors. obviously the result of some of that carnage. they are getting ready to open this school back up. teachers are back friday. students are scheduled to go back to class on tuesday. harris, back to you. >> harris: god bless them as they return. steve harrigan, thank you very much. you know, as we get ready to talk about this, there is a lot of concern about how to make it safer. you know, politics aside,

everybody has a different point of view on how to do that, juan. >> juan: it is, but i am encouraged by these young people becoming activated. if there is a hope for this time being different, different than the aftermath of newtown or columbine or others, it would be that suddenly young people and here we are talking about high school students, harris are willing to take the, i guess it's 400 miles from parkland up to tallahassee and say something. and i think it's easy to criticize them but i withhold my criticism in this sense. their passion is admirable. they saw their classmates die and they want to do something. the question is what president trump having meetings today with some of the young people. >> harris: so, katie, i understand the students, many of them are upset because the state legislature rejected a ban yesterday on assault weapons. i'm reading deeper though. they have a lot of other issues they want to bring up in terms of the mental

health component of this. in terms of making communications easier among agencies. there's a lot to deal with. and they do have three weeks left in the legislative session, although as we all know not every one of those will be legislative days. >> i think they want to focus on solutions that will actually be effective. we had a so-called assault weapons ban from 1994 to 2004. it didn't reduce crime it didn't reduce mass shootings. columbine happened in 1999 during that ban. the majority of mass shootings are carried out with handguns that doesn't particularly solve the problem and the concerns that these students have. and i understand that when you have a guy come in with an ar-15 wanting to kill you and your friends, you probably have some feelings about that. but in terms of moving forward, you have to be very careful about looking at what kind of legislation you are passing and you can't just pass things that infringe on people's freedoms and constitutional rights without some kind of result in terms of safety in the end. and we have seen previously that we have not had that

result. >> harris: the underlying and, trish, you and i have talked about this a lot, the mental health component, just watching the social services send police 39 times, not always sending them but they knew the record of that home that they were responding to with nikolas cruz and family at the time, his mother was living. 39 times and knowing what the baseline was. as katie has pointed out, we have so much we have to deal with, because that underlying has nothing to do with the weapon that was used. >> right a complete failure of our system. a failure of our fbi who was notified twice about this kid. they have you had have followed up especially on that second tip. he said on that youtube site that he intended to be a school shooter, yet, nobody did anything about it so, for sure, a lot needs to be done on the mental health front. i mean, we should not have people walking around freely that can be dangerous to all of society, dangerous to

themselves. we need to be, i think smarter about sharing this information. i know that gets privacy. obviously from seeking that mental help. you are not going to do as much damage. if you are mentally ill and have you access to ar-15, you will do more damage. >> that's just not true. >> harris: i want to get kennedy in here. >> kennedy: how so, bullets kill less with a handgun than ar-15. >> katie: that's not true. >> kennedy: that's one of the narratives that people don't know a lot about guns pose dpostulate things as though they are experts. and that's when it gets incredibly dangerous. that's what makes shortsighted legislation and quick fixes that don't do anything to really attack the greater problem. >> trish: how is it we are allowing a kid like this who

did have the police at his home 39 times ar-15. how is that okay? >> there was never paperwork filed so this kid had something on his record that would prevent him from buying a gun. >> it's messed up. >> kennedy: speaks to the systematic failure that you initially got at. those are the things we have to take a look at. we have to take a deep cultural look at ourselves. we have to talk about why we are giving some kids anti-prepress sants and what we are putting into their bodies. how does that affect their brain chemistry. if somebody is already volatile and violent. >> harris: as a parent, we have these conversations and in many cases we know those among us who have problems. some of us in our own homes, some of us not. some of them are neighborhoods, kennedy, you hit a nail, maybe not the nail because there are so many we could hammer in this particular circumstance a nail on the head, and it is so disturbing that i don't know if it's stigmatized and we don't want to talk about it, but it upsets we greatly that we can't.

when i hear you say that, i know that there is so much that isn't being said with those issues today r. we are focused on what we think we can hammer. this is happening live. this is a rally in tallahassee, florida. young kids and people act like they don't want to call them children. they are. they are very young. they are coming out and maybe acting like adults and using big words and being out there out in front. but they are little ones to us. and they are gathering on the state capital to express themselves. juan? juan juan i just wanted to say even as we have differences about mental health or the types of guns and potential gun bans, we should also remember in the spirit of these young people that americans overwhelmingly agree yes, we should have stricter background checks. president trump has said he is open to considering that. president trump is now pushing the bump stock ban. >> harris: i'm going to get to that. >> juan: that we talked about with this type of weapon that can make it fire

more rapidly there are other things. for example, instead of talking about gun control, we could talk about gun safety and innovations that would limit who can pick up a gun or an illegally obtained gun. >> harris: i will pick up. i promise to come right back. president trump is taking action on gun relations ahearegulationregulations. he will sit down on improving school safety who have directly experienced these horrific tragedies, including. so students from majorry stoneman douglas high school. he also planneds toed me with state and local officials tomorrow and host governors next week on mental health issues. so things that you, juan were, talking about. just this morning the president tweeted. this whether we are republican or democrat, we must now focus on strengthening background checks and he made this announcement yesterday. watch. >> after the deadly shooting in las vegas, i directed attorney general to clarify

whether certain bump stock devices are legal under current law. that process began in december and 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. >> harris: this as sarah sanders suggest other regulations to tackle gun control. >> does the president believe there should be age limit for those though buy ar-15? >> that's certainly something on the table for us and we expect to come up over the next couple of weeks. >> harris: the white house getting into the conversation and a very meaningful way right now. chief white house correspondent john roberts joins us now from there. john? >> harris, good afternoon, i can just see you coming down

pennsylvania avenue outside in front of the white house is this protest that has been marching around washington today demanding something to be done to end these school shootings important data point on discussion handguns and assault rifles which is deadlier. 2007 some we showed virginia tech two handguns and killed 32 people and wounded 17 others. so, any kind of gun in the hands of a person bent to do damage can be awfully deadly thing. the president listening sessions to try to figure out what to do to curb school shootings in the united states and other shooting as well. is he meeting tomorrow with state and local law enforcement leaders and state officials to try to figure out from a law enforcement perspective what can be done. this afternoon, 4:15 in a state dining room he is going to meet with students, parents, and teachers, all of whom have some sort of

connection to either school or gun violence. parents, teachers will be here from the high school. sandy hook promise, parents of students who were killed at sandy hook elementary in 2012. as well as an organization called rachel's challenge which is dedicated to reducing school violence and parents, students and teachers from the local washington, d.c. area. surrounding areas of maryland, virginia who all have some sort of connection to school violence. yesterday, the president took action out of the las vegas attack. back on october the 1st in which a gunman killed 58 people. the president directing attorney general jeff sessions to look into whether so-called bump stock or slide fire mechanisms should be banned. they allow semiautomatic rifle to fire at the rate-near the rate, at least of an automatic rifle. listen to what the president said yesterday. >> the key in all of these

efforts, as i said in my remarks the day after the shooting we cannot merely take actions that make us feel like we are making a difference. we must actually make a difference. >> you pointed out at the top the president also weighing a number of other options including raising the minimum age for buying a firearm. current federal law, people cannot bay handgun from a licensed dealer until age 21. they can buy what's called a long gun, a rifle or a shotgun that would include an assault style rifle when they're 18. if you are buying from unlicensed individual, there is no minimum age to bay long gun. a study that was cited by the giffords law center found that one quarter of violent gun offenders would have been prohibited from buying a firearm if the minimum age was 21. sarah sanders also saying that the mental health aspect of this will be a big issue to discuss as well. listen here. >> the president is very

focused on mental illness, working with the health and human services department to determine the best path forward on that. and what is available and allowed under the law, certainly something that we take very seriously and something that we want to address and that we are working hand in hand with both the federal government as well as state and local law enforcement officials on what we legally can do. >> the president has also come out in support of a bill sponsored by senator john cornyn of texas and chris murphy of connecticut that would give incentives to state and federal agencies to do what they're supposed to do anyways and this is report information up to the national instant criminal background check. harris? >> harris: john roberts, thank you very much. we are awaiting that news conference now in florida to begin. we should tell you that florida democratic senator it's a state lawmaker there, lauren book has helped organize. this she will be with the students. just moments ago, some of those majorry stoneman

douglas high school students were at the lecturn and now you are seeing local officials speak. it isn't just the students from parkland but they are there now to head up a news conference when that happens. we will take you there live. you know, kennedy, presidents can weigh n a lot of different ways in this instance. when you see an enominee ration, a lisenumeration a listt crosses your mind? >mind? >> fothe fact that he is a bottom line president and more malleable makes him more men to be bipartisan. and, you know, here you have that bipartisan bill co-sponsored by a republican from texas, john cornyn. and i think the president will be more open to that yes, he has got a huge endorsement from the nra and

he understands the value and purpose of the second amendment. his sons are avid hurchts. is he from new york city. a lot of people feel safer because there are strict gun laws. in that i don't think he has as much of a carved out position. unlike presidents before him, president obama always gave a lecture. didn't really do anything. and other presidents have been hesitant to really lay out specifically in bullet-pointed detail forgive that wording what exactly they would do in terms of gun control and this president has been bolder in that regard. >> harris: it has been a third rail issue and there are many of those, cultura socil cultural issues. i would say we have seen tipping points already. we have had other tipping points. columbine a tipping point. trish. >> katie: i want to talk about the legislation we are talking about. the cornyn bill would make it mandatory by law for states t input mental health records background system.

that is not the case. the navy yard shooter he was committed in new hampshire. his records weren't put into the background checks system federally. he went to virginia, bottom a shotgun, passed a background check and carried at the navy yard shooting. this bill would require by law, incentivize states with some kind of funding to put those records into the background checks. >> kennedy: make that system more accurate. >> katie: that is progun, national sporting shoots foundation, the nra who had been working for a decade to try to get this kind of legislation through congress. it isn't the antigun people who have tried to make sure that the mental health records are put in the system. yet, they are the ones accused all the time of not being for gun safety. >> juan: well, another side of that story, which is that president trump undid a regulation. >> that's not true. onon ion. >> juan: let me finish. you get social security disability payments and

determined you can't handle your own finances that you should not be able to get a gun. he undid that this is part to me of is this president and he says is he willing to take the heat. >> harris: got to talk quickly here. >> juan: take the heat from the nra politicians seen as being bought by the nra finally willing to say enough? >> harris: all right. the florida democrat that i was telling you about lauren book is at the electric turf right now. we understand that the first person to speak from majory stoneman douglas high school will be their junior class president. we are watching this live play out. she has been very vocal and helped organize a lot of funding coming in from democrats across the country, in particular. to pay for, i know i had a lot of question who is paying for the buses there are community dollars coming in but also some political dollars coming in as well. so we're getting ready to watch this and they will tell me in my ear when we are ready to take this. the junior class president, again, will be the first of the students to speak. let's watch.

♪ [applause] >> good afternoon, everyone. first and foremost, i just want to thank you all for joining us today. in the wake of this horrible tragedy, we grieve, we cry, and we deny that just seven days ago 17 members of the stoneman douglas family had their lives taken from them in a matter of minutes. but, within this past week alone, a movement has begun. a movement that demands change at a state and national level. i would just like to thank lauren book and everyone who assisted me in making this trip a reality because i designed this in order to allow my -- the voices of my classmates to be heard. so without further ado. i want to introduce the

first student that's going to be talking. lorendo. [applause] >> hello, everyone. my name is lor lorenzo prado. i am a junior and i do not support any political party, and i'm a survivor the douglas massacre. i'm here today to advocate for stricter gun laws on behalf of the 17 whose lives were ripped away from them on the day of february 14, 2018. on the day of love, our loved ones were ripped away from us. in a horrific manner that should never transpire. many would like to blame this event on the fbi's lack of action or the trump administration. but the simple fact is that the laws of our beloved country allowed for a deranged gunman to purchase the gun legally. the law has failed us and

has let the events that happened in parkland to occur and what we must do now is inability change because that is what we do to things that fail. we change them. to not change the law in our time of need would be a huge disservice to 17 dead in parkland, the 13 dead in columbine, the 26 dead in sandy hook, the 50 dead in orlando, the 59 dead in las vegas, for the good of the students, the parents, the family, and the country, we beg for common sense laws that would prevent a terrorist because that's what he is. a terrorist who invokes terror upon students and everyone upon the nation. to prevent someone like him from ever holding a gun ever again on that fateful day of the douglas massacre we lost our future in those lice lost lays the future of our country. on that fateful day we lost peter wang a rotc member and a hero.

he was seen holding the door open for other students to enter for safety. on that fateful day, we lost coach feis, a football coach, a security guard, a hero, and a role model to his town. he was seen sacrificing his life so another could live another day. on that fateful day we lost coach hixon, our wrestling coach, a security guard, and to me a hero. he was seen leaving the auditorium to check the others' well being because he put others' lives before his. on that day we lost nicholas dworte captain of the swim team and a hero. and to be olympian. nicholas dworet was seen pushing another student out of the way when the terrorist shot into his classroom. i do not want to remember nicholas dworet as the man who met his death too early because to me nicholas was a friend and my captain. he was the heart and soul of

the swimming team both in and out of school because he was friendly to all and mean to none. i had never scenic frown because he was always optimistic in life. every time i saw him, he had a smile. he had a smile when we were competing. he had a smile when i taught him spanish. he had a smile, even something he dreaded so much like math, i taught him math and he would never never frown. and before the week of that fateful day last week, the week before that, nic had his own fateful day, the week before that i saw nic get signed into und for swimming so he could chase his dream of becoming an olympian. but that is a dream he can no longer achieve because nikolas cruz decided to take nicholas dworet's life. we can't just blame nikolas cruz for this tragedy.

the laws of the country allow him to purchase a weapon. nikolas cruz was able to purchase an assault rifle before he was able to drink beer. nikolas cruz was able to purchase an assault rifle although he had clear signs of mental illness. nikolas cruz was able to purchase an assault rifle with clear science of delinquency from the school. nikolas cruz was able to purchase an assault rifle with the intention to kill. on that day of the douglas massacre, i was a victim like everyone else. my piers dead, many performs heroics acts in their final hour and i was scared like everyone else. but my case was different than all the others. because, on that day, i was a suspected school shooter. on that day, i was in the sound inside the auditorium when the fire alarm rang, i decided that i would stay behind, because what could possibly go wrong? i then hear the banging on the doors on the auditorium and i run down stairs to see

100 people banging on the door. i quickly opened the doors to let the people in, and i see my coach hixon running inside for safety. i was scared and ran to the safest place possible to the sound booth again. i start to pace back and forth because i did not know what was going on. and the people in the audience saw me. they saw me and they panicked because i was matching the same description as nikolas cruz. i had the same clothes, same colors, same facial structure and they reported me. and i was just hiding up there. i had no idea what was going on. and then the door started to rattle. allege at first the only thought that came to my mind i'm going to die, the shooter is going to kill me.

but then the swat comes in and i thought they were here to rescue me. but then as i go down the stairs, i find out that i was wrong. i found out that they thought it was me that killed the 17 people i go down the stairs they tell me to put my hands up. i being the fool i was tried putting the phone back in my pocket. they demanded again and i not trying to be one of those news stories of someone dying wrongfully because they didn't -- refused to put their hands up. i just dropped my phone at that moment and kept going. when i went out those doors, i had six swat members pointing their guns at me. i was tossed to the ground. unjustly cuffed and held at gunpoint for the degrading and depreciating action of

the disturbed individual nikolas cruz. i was then put in a corner with policeman guarding me for the rest of the evening: i knew any move i made would be the end of my life. throughout the entire event, i only felt two things, i felt fear as i did not know my future. did i not know if i was going to be let go. i did not know where the terrorist was. did i not know how my friends were doing and for that i was afraid. second thing was guilt. i felt guilty for closing the door behind me. i felt guilty for startling the audience. i felt guilty for the swat who had to pursue me instead of pursuing the murderer. i felt guilty for not contacting my mother. i felt guilty for coach hixon whose life i thought i saved when he walked inside the auditorium but whose life was ended when he walked out again.

but guilty i felt no longer because i'm here to demand change from our government. because the lives lost who shall not be lost in vain shall then be used as a catalyst for change in our country today. we will make change in this country and if not today, tomorrow. and if not tomorrow, the day after that and the day after that until we achieve the change that we want in this country. until the day that safety is preserved in all schools in our beloved country of america, we students must keep fighting for our right to live. if i have to drop everything else in my life just to make these changes happen i will because, to me, to let these victims' lives be taken without any change in return is an act of treason to our great country. let our fellow countryman to fall beside us without a fight back is to me equal to leaving a soldier to die in the battlefield.

this is an injustice to our country. because not only of the lives lost but also in the loss of confidence in our government. we lose confidence in our government because we are told that nothing can be done time and time again. and we are tired of hearing that. because we know there can be change in this country. never again should a tragedy of this caliber happen in this country. never again. as always, be courageous and passionate passionate to be an eagle. [applause] following me i have ryan sycks with his speech. everybody who made their way here. i do not have an actual written or prepared

statement. but i am the president and founder of the msd improv club so hopefully i get something. in. [laughter] >> ryan, what's your last name again. >> deitsch. what can i say? what can i say that everyone else hasn't already put so eloquently that all my fellow students have surprised me with for the longest time i have only perceived douglas as a school of just entitled children and those who jewel, these are powerful speakers. this is the future. i have seen before me my friends, people that i have known since even 3rd grade have been standing next to me and have been speaking out against what is wrong. and what is wrong is that the life of innocence is being taken day after day after day.

and it does not matter what we say. it does not matter how many people die. the legislature, those in power have not taken action. using their words and political double talk as much as they can. it's not a weapon that i want them to be able to use anymore. they can walk around any question they want. but the more they don't act, the more they don't deserve to be in office. the more that i know me and my friend we are turning 18. i am a senior. i'm 18 myself now. can i vote and i know who i am not voting for. these people that i have been meeting with. these people that i have seen, none of them have really put it into words what needs to be done. i will say i am a high school senior. i do not know the exact course of action to take. i don't know exactly what needs to be done. what we are doing now is

nowhere near enough. if i have to keep seeing neighbors i do and if i have to keep seeing friends die and i have to keep seeing other people on the news deal with this same tragedy. they do not deserve. this america does not deserve. this humanity does not deserve. this and i just like to go into saying that we -- overall, the media is doing their job. and i appreciate it. but i would like to say that during the time where we are going to funerals. where people are grieving, i know for a fact that yesterday i walked out of carmen's funeral early because i cannot handle that type of grieving. i cannot handle being in there mourning over the loss of somebody that i have known for at least the past six years. and just like to say as i see a camera tracking me as i cry walking out of a church. that is not acceptable. that is just -- that popular

rises the idea if these killers are out there if they have these guns they will get them to be on assume leaderboard. i saw this the next morning after the shooting. there was a top 10 shootings in america. and we were at number 9, i believe. there should not be some rating score. you should not be able to put in a name at the end of that to say that i'm the one who shot up 19. i shot 23. i shot 506789 these people are looking for infamy. these people are going out there, getting attention. and america should not stand for that. i would also like to say overall, me and my friends, they have really shown me what we can do. they have shown me that everyone who has come out today they are listening. that people are listening to this and i am so happy to see that people are listening. but they need to act. and we need to act. and i know we have the school walkouts already

being planned. we have the march on washington march 24th. i fear after talking to representatives today that that is not enough. one trip to tallahassee i knew was not going to be enough. i don't know how many times i'm going to be having to come up here to just speak to have somebody to listen to me. i know i have been walking in to office after office after office and i may have only spoken to three representatives. two of which already agreed with me. i want to see those people who have spoken out against this. i want to see those people who shot down that bill, who did not let it get past committee. i want to see those people. i'm not here for a fight. i'm not here to argue with you. i just want to speak. i just want to see your face and know why. [applause] >> thank you so much for this opportunity. i would like to introduce alfonso calderon.

[applause] >> first and foremost, i would just like to thank everybody for giving us this platform. and senator raider from parkland who came here. there is one thing i want everybody to remember today about this, we are just kids. i know myself, i'm only 16, i'm a junior in high school. most of my worries are what show am i going to watch at 6:00 p.m. when do i do my homework. how do i fit in rehearsals for theater? i know for my other colleagues it's sports or maybe film. but everybody needs to remember we are just children a lot of people think that disqualifies us. as if we have been through a traumatic experience that we don't know here with talking about and speaking irrationally.

i want everybody to remember that is not the case. we, more than anybody else understand the violence that comes through certain guns. we more than anybody understand what it feels like to lose somebody. we understanding to have a beautiful community like parkland and have it taken away from us by the media and everyone else and nikolas cruz who just ruined its image. parkland is a beautiful, safe town. and it is now ruined. i know personally i'm probably going to live is there for a pretty long time. and it's not going to be the same. oh, i'm sorry to hear that you are from parkland. i want everybody to remember we are just kids. it's very difficult to talk about this sort of thing because not only not even a week ago, i was worried about a math test. i was worried about having a school show for the children and the elementary school. just a road down.

the way people today have treated us or not greeted us is acknowledged by ryan is that we aren't being taken seriously enough. i don't know the steps we have to take. once we figure that out, we are going to take them, you better believe we are going it take them as soon as possible. because, although we are just kids, we understand. we know. we are old enough to understand financial responsibilities. we are old enough to understand why a senator cares about re-election or not. we are old enough to understand why someone might want to discredit us for their own political purposes. but we will not be silenced. it has gone on long enough that we, just because we are kids, we're not allowed to understand. but, trust me, i understand. i was in a closet locked for four hours with people

crying and weeping on me begging for their lives. i understand what it is like to text my parents goodbye, i might not ever get to see you again. i love you. i understand what it's like to fear for your life. i don't think we should ever be discredited because of that. i don't think we should ever are silenced because we are just children. i feel like that that is powerful and one of the only reasons this movement is where it is right now i am extremely, extremely angry and sad. and i don't know if i'm going to be traumatized because of this. i don't know if i'm going to have faith in my state and local government anymore. because what i saw today was discouraging. but i want everybody here today to know we will not be discouraged. we will not falter. we will not stop this movement because this is more than just us. this is everybody in america. this is for every single kid who fears for their life.

this is more than parkland. this is more than florida. this is more than the united states. this is something serious. it is about human lives. please, i beg and i demand that every single person in power who has the ability to change the fear that kids feel going back to school, that they do something. because i want everybody to know i'm supposed to be going back to school in less than a week. and i'm not ready i don't think anybody here is ready i don't think anybody here is ready to go back to class and just have an empty seat. and you know that empty seat is because -- because someone is dead. because somebody lost their lives. and i don't know how i'm going to cope with it i have spoken to grief counselors. grief counselors can only do so much. what we need is action. we need it now more than ever.

because people are losing their lives and it is still not being taken seriously. i don't know what it's going to take. i don't know what it's going to take to get some people to realize this is more than just re-election. this is more than just political gain. this is more than conspiracy theories and people trying to disqualify us from even having an opinion. this matters who me more than anything else in my entire life. i want everybody to know i personally i'm prepared to drop out of school. i am prepared to not worry about anything else besides. this because change might not come today. it might not come tomorrow. it might not even come march 24th when we march for life down in washington. it's going to happen and it's going to happen before my lifetime because i will fight every single day and i know everyone else here will fight for the rest of their lives to see sensible gun laws in this country and so that kids don't have to fear going back to school. thank you. [applause]

next i would like to introduce sara. >> hello, everyone. my name is sara chadwick. i'm a junior at majory stoneman douglas. msd is not only my school but my home. and on february 14th, 2018, an intruder broke into my home and robbed 17 innocent souls of a chance to impact the world. these outstanding and compassionate eagles left us too soon due to the lack of gun control in our state and country. this atrocious act not only broke the hearts of our community but broke the hearts of the entire world. we cry, we mourn, and most importantly we ask why. i have been asking that question a lot lately. i haven't gotten an answer that has satisfied me. so we came up with a

solution to the answer that we would have never gotten. and it has a name. never again. because never again should a child be afraid to go to school. never again should students have to protest for their lives. never again should an innocent life be taken while trying to gain an education. and never again should i feel guilty to be alive because peter carmen scott feis, hixon, meadow, jamie, alyssa, joaquin, helena, nic, alana, carla, martin, luke, gina and alex are not. that is why we have organized this revolution. for them. a revolution created by students for students because at the end of the day, we are all positive, we're all passionate and we are all proud to be an eagle. thank you. [applause]

and i would like to introduce my good friend sophie whitney. >> okay. i'm going to make this quick. >> hi my name is sophie wit whewhitney. i am a student at stone man douglas. the place i have felt safer than anything. a week ago the biggest thing that happened was probably a good season 6 baseball. but for the rest of history we will now be known as that high school where the biggest high school mass shooting occurred. other shootings at this point most people would have forgotten about us. not this time. my classmates and i are probably the most determined group of people you will ever meet. people are talking about how we aren't serious because we are children but have you heard my friends talk?

we are serious. we are here to discuss with our state legislators how we can prevent what happened to us, but as alfonso said i'm feel a little discouraged about that. i don't want this to happen again. i wouldn't wish what happened to us on my worst enemy. because no one should ever have to go through what we went through. 17 of our classmates and teachers were murdered at the hands of a mentally unstable monster. something that easily could have been prevented by a proper gan background check and mental health exam. an evil boy with a weapon of war took 17 people from their families. how many more people have to die before something changes? we will not let those 17 beautiful souls die for nothing because we are going to make a change. we will not give up. this is the only the beginning of our history. please be on the right side of it. help us so children don't fear going to school. help us so mass shootings aren't inevitable.

help us so our children, our grandchildren and their children after that don't have to march for their lives. help us for our 17 fallen brothers and sisters. help us so no one else dies. thank you. [applause] next is delaney tara. dee dee laney tarr. >> i'm a steinier at stoneman douglas high school. i'm a senior who late last night after getting in from a long and arduous trip to tallahassee was asked to write a speech, a 7-minute long speech because that was what we had to deliver to the media to the people of the country. and i realized in that moment how exhausted i was. how exhausted we all are and how overwhelmed we all are. and to see us listed as these heroes of the bastions of change, it's scary

because we are teenagers. we are children. and that's why i chose to speak from the heart. because we're teenagers. because, instead of writing words out of an overworked brain i figured why not stand in front of these cameras and show them exactly how i feel. show them that i'm not a crisis actor. i'm not going off of these prewritten speeches given to me by another person. because speaking from the heart is what we do best. this movement, this movement created by students, led by students is based on emotion. it is based in passion and it is based in pain. our biggest flaws, our tendency to be a bit too aggressive, our tendency to lash out, things that you expect from a normal teenager, these are our strengths. the only reason that we have gotten so far is because we are not afraid of losing money. we are not afraid of getting reelected or not getting reelected. we have nothing to lose. the only thing we have to gain at this point is our safety.

in coming here today, as a teenager, full of passion, a bit too much passion was very disappointing. as have you heard from my colleagues and my piers, we have been to many rooms. we have spoken to only a few legislators and try as they might, the most we have gotten out of them is we will keep you in our thoughts. you are so strong. you are so powerful. we have heard enough of that we have heard enough of we are so strong, we are so powerful. that's not why we are here today. we are not here to be put ad on the back. we're not here to be told that we're great. we know what we are doing and we are doing it for reason. we are doing it so that our legislators, our lawmakers will make a change. so that they will take us seriously so, that they will not dismiss us any longer so, they won't reschedule, so they won't push news another room as they dance around our questions, because we came here prepared and we are going to come to every single meeting with every single legislator prepared. we know what we want. we want gun reform. we want common sense gun

laws. we want stronger mental health checks and background checks to work in conjunction. we want a better age limit. privatize to be completely reformed. you can't walk in with $130 and walk out with an ar-15. we want change and we know how to get this change. the bill that was not passed yesterday, that was shot down here in this building, was very disappointing. and it is a step back in our movement. we have been asked many a time how we feel about it. how we're going to go from here. and all we can say is that we're going to keep moving forward because we don't have a choice. we don't have the ability to stop, to think oh no, we are upset about this. we didn't fail. the people around us failed us. and if they continue to fail us, they will no longer be in office. soon we will be given the ability to vote and we'll vote them out and people around us will vote them out. they must do right by us or they will lose their job and we have brought that up to them time and time again. this is no longer a chance few just dismiss us, for you

to ignore us and keep doing whatever it is you want to do while telling us you want us to be safe and you don't want anything to happen like this again by not taking any action. to shoot down a bill like that is absolutely abhorrent. to not even give it a chance to be discussed, that disgusts me. that disgusts my peers we know what we have been through and we know this needs to be changed there needs to be some solution here. we have had enough of thoughts and prayers. we have had enough of we're in your consideration. we're going to think about it. we're going to tell you how we feel because we support you so much because we know that that is not true. if you supported us, you would have made a change long ago and you would be making change now. so this is to every lawmaker out there. no longer can you take money from the nra, no longer can you fly under the radar doing whatever it is that you want to do. because we are coming after you. we are coming after every single one of you and demanding that you take action. demanding that you make a change. thank you. [applause]

>> my name is dmitry hawk. and this is an open letter that i have written. to whom it may concern. life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, these are the three fundamental ideas on which our remus republc was founded one life, yet senselessly children are dying. my classmates and friends are dead. two, liberty, yet, we are trapped because we students are afraid of going to school where we might find ourselves trapped in a hiding from the barrel of a gun. three, pursuit of happiness. we are not happy about the decisions that are being made in our government. our elected officials are not acting in our best interest. nor are they protecting the people of this country so that they can pursue that happiness. on february 14th, 2018, at

2:20 p.m. the fire alarm went off. this was a second one of the day. i had complained to my teacher and said i wasn't going outside again. it was hot and i was tired. yet she said we had to go. she was following protocol. little did we know our evacuation root was taking routg us directly to the shooter. we would have walked straight into the student's line of fire and even more of the students high school myself included would not be standing before you today it is nothing but luck that saved us from being killed. and this is not okay. while the people around me recognize the gunshots, all i could hear was get down, get down, get down. and shooter. without thinking, i ran to the opposite side of campus fearing more phi life. a school that once reverberated with laughter and inquisitive thoughts now reverb united states of screams and cries of thousands of students fearing for their lives.

this ♪ okay. trapped in a classroom sharing a feeling of numbness and agony with my peers, our only source of information was what our teachers were telling us and the information that was circulating within the school by a group chat. guys, this is not a drill. five people are dead, 20 injured. this was a message in one of my group chats. that is not okay. we received videos from our friends and peers being shot and being shot at. videos that shook us to our cores. helicopters above us and police sirens ringing in our ears. the sounds of choppers now haunts us and police sirens stock us. two days after the shooting when i was picking up my medicine from a cvs drive-thru the cash register receded and made noise i swore was gahanna shot. i shouldn't have been allowed to make that association. that is not okay. as students we should not have to fear for our lives. we should not have to run for our lives. we should not have to hear the sound of gunfire on a

school campus. we should not have to hear the screams of our peers, of our friends, of our teachers, of our mentors. that is not okay. we are losing sleep. all we can remember are the screams and cries and stampede of feet running for their lives. some of us are unable to stay awake. all we can do is sleep because when we are awake we are haunted by the memories of that day, of what happened to us. we can only imagine what could have been avoided if common sense gun control had been implemented after the first mass shooting as was the case with so many other countries. schools were once places of learning, of respect, of dignity. they have now become sack sacrilege. they are now shooting grounds. so i ask congress and senate, what if it ha h. happened to you or to your children? would it take you so long to make a difference? would it take you this throng effect change and policies laws stem the tide

of violence? would it? no more. no more placing nonsensical politics above our lives. no more accepting donations from the nra who seem to care more about their right to own a gun than the lives of american children. they protect the second amendment, yet the nra doesn't seem to realize it was written 241 years ago. during interval our guns have changed tremendously, yet our gun laws have not. that is not okay. the national rifle association pushes to preserve our right to bear arms per the second amendment. yet, what they don't say is that the second amendment was written in order to keep and preserve a well regulated militia. the united states has the most powerful military in the world. there is no need to keep and preserve a well regulated militia. we live in a first world country that only -- that many dream of coming to. they dream of coming here because we serve and protect our citizens, yet at this moment we are not. lawmakers are slapping us students in the face, this is not okay.

iism or mr. you congress and senate, out with partisan politics. now is not the time to be fighting over whose views are right and wrong. now is the time for action. i beseech our american lawmakers from congress and senate to stop slinging mud across the aisle and come up with a bipartisan solution to an obvious epidemic of gun violence and mass shooting in america. a solution that will save lives. a solution that will prevent another mass shooting like the ones at columbine, virginia tech, aurora, sandy hook elementary, san bernardino, pulse nightclub, las vegas, and most recently my school, majory stoneman douglas high school in parkland, florida. now is the time for change. never again will this happen in our country, to our students, to us. we, the students, will make a difference. our voices will be heard and we will not be silenced. so i say students, stand up for yourselves and stand up for others. we are the future. let us change the future and let us do it now. signed dimitri, hoth, senior

majory stone man douglas high school, senior, survivor. [applause] >> ask some questions here, please? >> we have actually one more speaker. with due respect. and then representative jacobs and i have a few comments. but, let's hear our last speaker. >> good afternoon. my name is tamzel phillips. i'm 16 years old and tenth grader at majory stone man douglas high school, to think last week at this exact time i was complaining about not wanting to go to rehearsal after school and trying to think of an excuse to get out of it. that day will be with all of us and all of our parents, all of our teachers for the rest of our lives. when we saw this stuff on the news, i wept and

wondered how anyone could let this happen, how our government could let this happen to men, women, and our children. we don't want to take away your guns. we don't want to get rid of the second amendment. we want things to be done to save our lives. we want gun policies that prevent an 18-year-old from killing 17 of our friends. we want mental health tests that won't allow them to purchase these guns. when did politics and money from the nra back more important than our lives. our message is simple and it's never again. to marianne hammer and everyone at the nra and everyone affiliated with the nra, we are not afraid of you. we will not be silenced by anything that you have to say. we are here, our voices are

loud and we are not stopping until change happens. never again will this ever happen to any one of my friends. i will never -- no one's parents should be put through that ever again. never again. thank you. [applause] >> thank you, everybody, so very much. i think that they have said more than we possibly could. and i know representative jacobs has a few thoughts as we move in to the afternoon session for meetings. >> thank you senator books. we have had a group of kids that we scheduled for over 70 different meetings. >> harris: we have been covering live the news conference by majory stoneman douglas high school students who traveled from parkland, florida to the state capital, tallahassee to first take part in an

open rally, antigun violence and some of them progun control in that rally. and then give this news conference where we have seen together live here on fox news channel several students giving statements about what it means to be a survivor what one student called a terrorist who unleashed terror inside their school. we heard a lot of emotional pleas for change. we heard a lot of emotional pleas for what types of change they would like to see. and the last student pointing to mental health there was talking about putting it into the system so that it gets maybe a mental health test somehow for consideration when someone goes to buy a gun. these kids have given a lot of thought to this and she shared some really jarring stories about where they went through and where they were. one young man who spoke first who said that initially because of either his height, some kind of look about him, that people thought that he was actually the