♪ this is "nightline." >> tonight, a mother's agony. turning in her own son. >> how certain are you that your son would have been a mass shooter or a mass killer? >> i really can't say for sure. >> nicole schubert's gut-wrenching decision. >> it wasn't just about me, it was about a whole school. >> what she says all parents must do. plus, 187 minutes. inside the west wing as rioters overtook the capitol. >> president trump did not fail to act, he chose not to act. >> for more than three hours, despite pleas from his inner circle, the president refused to call off the mob. and the terrifying radio traffic from vice president pence's

secret service detail. >> there is smoke. unknown what kind of smoke it is. new honorees. u2, george clooney, and singer gladys knight and amy grant join an exclusive club. ♪♪ ♪♪

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪ good evening.

thank you for joining us. i'm janai norman. after each mass shooting comes the difficult questions. were signs missed? could lives have been saved? most recently in buffalo, uvalde, and highland park. one mother made the painful decision to turn her own son in to police after finding evidence he may have been thinking about killing her and others. here's abc's t.j. holmes. >> how certain are you that your son would have been a mass shooter or a mass killer? >> i really can't say for sure. i would like to think that, no, he would never be capable of something like that. but who -- no one knows, really. >> reporter: nicole schubert made a decision no parent wants to make. she turned her own son in to police after she says she found his journal detailing plans of a horrific killing spree when he was 17 years old. >> your first instinct is, as a parent, is to protect your child. so in my eyes i'm thinking, if he really had planned to do

this, he would be safer in jail. >> you were thinking of protecting maybe your own child, but your thoughts had to be on a lot of other children. >> well -- the school. i have a lot of friends. i had a lot of friends that have children there. because it wasn't just about me and him at that point. it was about a whole school. hundreds of people. hundreds of kids. children. >> reporter: this summer alone there's been buffalo, uvalde, highland park. >> while the motives may be different, each of the attackers were troubled young people crying out for help who clearly exhibited virtually all the warning signs we attribute to those who are preparing to engage in a mass casualty attack. >> reporter: in the aftermath of these tragedies, we're often left asking the same questions about the shooters. were there missed warning signs? and do parents of these young gunmen bear any responsibility

for their sons' actions? do you believe parents should be held responsible in some cases for what their kids do in these mass shootings? >> to a certain point. i mean, obviously we can't control our children's actions all the time, who can? but -- there's signs. you know, something's not right. >> what age was it where you started to maybe see things, what kinds of things were coming up with him? >> probably i would say 13-ish. it just got worse and worse as he got older. >> reporter: her concerns escalated in 2019 when she came across her son's notebook. she says it detailed his plan to kill her and then attack his high school. one of the things he wrote is that he wanted to kill his mom, you. what's it like for a mother to read something like that? >> devastating. that's my child. i gave birth to him. you know.

it hurts a lot. it still hurts. >> reporter: she turned over the notebook to law enforcement and told them she'd previously found what she believed were the makings of a homemade pipe bomb in her son's room. he was arrested and pled guilty to a felony charge for threatening to bomb or injure property and misdemeanors for harassment. he completed a rehabilitation program, community service, and underwent a mental evaluation. i'm sure you've had to have had these thoughts, like, what did i as a parent, as a mother, do or miss? or how could i have produced a child with these thoughts? >> well, of course as a parent, you think, i did something wrong. you know. it's my fault. because you're the parent. you give your child guidance and direction. so of course parents are going to want to blame themselves. >> reporter: not all parents take action like schubert did.

>> parents of alleged school shooter ethan crumbley behind bars at the same jail as their son. >> reporter: the crumbley case is the most recent example of authorities seeking to hold parents responsible. >> while the shooter was the one who entered the high school and pulled the trigger, there are other individuals who contributed to the events on november 30th. >> reporter: back in november, jennifer and james crumbley's 15-year-old son allegedly shot and killed four of his classmates. >> the gun recovered from the shooter at the school after the shooting was the same gun that was purchased by his father, james crumbley, on november 26th, 2021, in the presence of his son. >> reporter: both parents have pled not guilty to the involuntary manslaughter charges and are awaiting trial. >> there's a growing recognition of the important role that parents can play. not only by reporting behaviors of concern, but also ensuring that their children receive the

mental health care they need. >> reporter: a report by voice of america concluded that 80% of mass shooters were in crisis at the time of their crimes, meaning there was a change of behavior that was noticed by others. they also found two-thirds of all shooters had a history of mental health issues. in recent years, numerous states have passed red flag laws which allows loved ones and law enforcement to intervene before gun violence occurs. >> a mental health professional, a law enforcement professional, a family member can go to the courts and represent to the judge that a person represents a risk of engaging in violence, represents a risk to themselves, and the courts can temporarily restrict that person from possessing a firearm or acquiring a firearm. >> reporter: however, these laws aren't foolproof. >> i can stand here and say, hey, i tried. i really, really tried. >> reporter: before her son shot indianapolis fed ex, sheila hold

tried to keep her 19-year-old son from getting his hands on a gun. she reported him to police after he hit her and expressed suicidal thoughts, but he was still able to purchase an assault rifle. >> this wasn't a matter of someone going below the radar. he came to the attention of law enforcement. and it illustrates vulnerabilities in our current approach to dealing with these types of individuals. >> reporter: schubert knows that sharing her son's story comes at a cost. >> he told me that if i do this interview today, he will not talk to me for a very long time. which breaks my heart. but if there's a possibility to save even one person, one child, i think it's worth it. >> reporter: she says her son has not had any trouble with the law ever since. he's working and wants to go to college. according to a police report,

schubert's son referred to his notebook as creative writing and said it was just a story. abc news was unable to contact him directly. what is your message to parents out there who might have a troubled kid at the house, who might have a kid who's having some of the same experiences you had with yours? what is your message? >> just get help. stay in their business. as parents, it's our job to know what our kids are doing. just be aware and watch for signs. kids will normally tell you by their actions when something is wrong. all you've got to do is watch for it. >> our thanks to t.j. up next, the explosive new details. inside the white house as rioters attacked the capitol. ri. in my ozempic® tri-zone, i lowered my a1c, cv risk, and lost some weight.

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♪ ♪ tonight, in an explosive and dramatic primetime television hearing, the january 6th committee revealed minute-by-minute details of president trump's inaction for nearly three hours as rioters stormed the capitol. here's abc's chief washington correspondent jonathan karl. >> president trump did not fail to act during the 187 minutes between leaving the ellipse and telling the mob to go home. he chose not to act. >> reporter: tonight, the january 6th committee zeroed in on donald trump's actions and inaction as his supporters assaulted the u.s. capitol. the committee showed how trump's own top advisers pleaded with him to do something to stop the

violence. >> donald trump ignored and disregarded the desperate pleas of his own family, including ivanka and don jr. even though he was the only person in the world who could call off the mob. >> reporter: tracing the more than three hours between the end of trump's stop the steal rally outside the white house and his video statement calling on his supporters to go home. it broke down minute by minute what happened as the capitol was under assault and trump did nothing to stop it. the committee showed evidence that as the violence unfolded, trump didn't call the pentagon, he didn't call the justice department, he didn't call any agency that could help restore order. >> are you aware of any phone call by the president of the united states to the attorney general of the united states that day? >> no. >> are you aware of any phone call by the president of the united states to the secretary of homeland security that day? >> i -- i'm not aware of that, no. >> reporter: but he did make calls to republican senators, and he called twice rudy

giuliani, the lawyer leading his effort to overturn the election. one of tonight's key witnesses, trump's former deputy national security adviser, matt pottinger, who resigned following the tweet trump sent out while the riot was still under way, attacking mike pence for not having courage. >> i was disturbed and worried to see that the president was attacking vice president pence for doing his constitutional duty. >> reporter: also testifying sarah matthews who served as white house deputy press secretary. she too resigned on january 6th. >> i think that in that moment, for him to tweet out the message about mike pence, it was him pouring gasoline on the fire and making it much worse. >> reporter: and heard for the first time, chilling radio traffic of vice president pe describing the rioters in the capitol and closing in. >> if we're moving, we need to move now. >> copy. >> if we lose any more time, we may have -- we may lose the

ability to leave. if we're going to leave, we need to do it now. >> reporter: the committee presented interviews with trump white house officials showing that trump was fully aware of the insurrection as it was unfolding, but refused to take action to stop it. >> was the president in that private dining room the whole time that the attack on the capitol was going on? >> to the best of my recollection, he was always in the dining room. >> reporter: over and over again, trump white house counsel pat cipollone urged the president to make a statement. >> i think i was pretty clear there needed to be immediate and forceful response statement, public statement, that people need to leave the capitol now. >> reporter: trump eventually did record the short video, which he shared on his twitter feed. >> he refused to tell the mob to leave until 4:17 when he tweeted out a video statement filmed in the rose garden, ending with this. >> so go home, we love you, you're very special, you've seen what happens, you see the way

others are treated that are so bad and so evil. i know how you feel. but go home and go home in peace. >> reporter: outtakes from the videotape message he recorded the next day revealed even then, he didn't want to admit defeat. >> but this election is now over. congress has certified the results. i don't want to say the election's over, i just want to say congress has certified the results without saying the election's over, okay? >> reporter: as this series of public hearings comes to a close, the committee made it clear, this isn't over yet. >> we will reconvene in september to continue laying out our findings to the american people. >> our thanks to jon karl. joining us, january 6th house committee member jamie raskin, yvette simpson, former republican congresswoman barbara comstock. congressman raskin, what do you think tonight's hearing did for donald trump's legal exposure?

>> he had the intent to overthrow the presidential election, to block the transfer the power and the counting of electoral college votes, and was attempting to throw the whole election to the house of representatives for a so-called contingent election. that seems clear. but i think specifically what it did was it -- it's shone a very harsh spotlight on his actions during the three hours. when a real president would have been calling the secretary of defense, calling the national guard, calling the mayor of washington, d.c., mobilizing the apparatus of the government to defend our besieged capitol officers and defend the congress and the vice president. >> so much focus tonight not only on his action, but as you point out, his inaction during that time. yvette, i want to bring you in.

the january 6th committee has held eight public hearings. do you think that the committee has made the case that president trump broke the law, and what do you think was maybe the most damning evidence that we heard tonight? >> you know, i think the arc of the eight hearings was really compelling, starting with his knowledge that he lost the election and ending with not just his inaction, but his deliberate inaction, and escalation during those really important moments when people needed him to stand up and be the president. i think the idea not only was he inactive, but he was actively calling senators, trying to get them to continue to reverse the fair election while they were escaping for their lives. i mean, he's trying to get them to reverse their vote, and they're saying, mr. president, we're trying to get out of the building, people are trying to kill us. so many important moments today that showed not only that trump was inactive, but he was escalating in the moment and he was doubling down. >> barbara, weigh in. many republican members of congress say they aren't

watching these hearings so they didn't hear many of those things. some say they would support donald trump if he runs for president again in 2024. i have to ask you, how do these hearings change the minds of any republican members of congress or any republican voters out there? >> i think what's been so effective is it brought you back to january 6th and it showed what everyone said on that day. and so it's showing, these are all republican witnesses. it's trump white house counsel. it's the trump attorney general. and it's trump republican members of congress. all of that testimony from kevin mccarthy in realtime. other republican members. and as adam kinzinger pointed out, it's not just that donald trump failed to act, he chose not to act. and it was intentional. and he knew these people were armed. he sent them up there. and then he sat there when everyone is imploring him in realtime and he chose not to act because he wanted this violence to go on. he knew it was going on because he was watching tv.

i certainly hope there will be indictments and convictions. this is a -- donald trump should never be in the seat of power again. >> and representative raskin, i want to bring you back in quickly. the department of justice has a longstanding policy not to confirm any investigation prior to an election that could impact the vote. we have seen this happen before. what do you think? do you think this policy needs to be put aside ahead of the midterms this fall, and what comes next? >> well, look. the department of justice has different kinds of criteria for whether or not to bring a case. one is the gravity of the offense. it's hard to imagine a graver offense than this one. another is the culpability of the potential defendant. here again, donald trump looks to me like the guiltiest president in history in terms of what he just did. and the third criterion is about deterrence of future similar misconduct. we just can't have coups and insurrections and political

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this time she's heading to the nation's capital at a much more reasonable hour, and she'll have company. ♪ it's a beautiful day ♪ >> it's sure to be a beautiful day as u2, george clooney, amy grant, and composer tanya leone are inducted as the 45th class of kennedy center honorees in december. our congratulations to them. that's "nightline." you can watch all of our full episodes on hulu. and we'll be right back here at the same time tomorrow. thanks for staying up with us. thanks for staying up with us. good night, america. thanks to chase, angie's not sweating this text since there's zero overdraft fees if she overdraws by 50 bucks or less. and, kyle, well, he's keeping calm with another day to adjust his balance if he overdraws by more than $50. overdraft assist from chase. make more of what's yours.