robert: where does the gun debate go from here? president trump is open tout changeshe n.r.a. balks at restrictions and lashes out at the media and democrats. i'm robert costa. the president's next steps en masse shootings and new developments in the russia probe. tonight on "washington week." >> there are no words. these families lost their children. we lost coaches. robert: president trump says schools should do more to protect students and throws his support behind the n.r.a.'s long-standing proposal to arm teachers. presidentrump: it's time to make our schools m ah harder targetor attackers. robert: the n.r.a. asues so -- accuses democrats f

using it for political gain. and students, parents, and survivors of last week's rampage unite to demand lawmakers fakection. >> my daughter, running down the hallway at marjory stoneman douglas was shot in the back with an assault weap, a weapon of war. why do we have to march on washingtonsaust to innocent lives? robert: the uniquely american problemf school shootings and how the national dialogue about gun violence could be shifting. pl, special counsel robert mueller files new charges against former trampe campaign their paul man form. we s its all with julie hirschfeld davis of "the new rk times." michael scherer of the "washington post." alexis simendinger of "the

hill," a jim vanderhei of axios. >> this is "washingt funding is provided by -- >> their leadership is instinctive. they understand the challenges of today. and research the technologies of tomorrow. some call them veterans. we call them part of our team. >> on a cruise with american cruise lines, travers experience the maritime heritage and cul of new england. our fleet of small cruise ships explores american landscapes, seaside villages

and histori harbors, where you can experience local customs and cuisine. american cruiselines. proud sponsor of "washington week." >> desirable -- additional funding is provided by o newman's foundation. donating all profits to charity and nourishing the common good. the ethics and excellence in journalismun to day. koo and patricia yuen through the yuen foundation, committed to bridging cultifalrences in our communities. the corporation for publicti broadcas and by contributions from -- to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. ce again from washington, moderator robert costa. robert:d gening. the debate over guns has been charged. emotionally, socially, and politically. the players are both old and

new. the national rifl association and gun control activists. lawmakers and law enforcement. this time students a survivors in particular have the fore. during a white house meeting with family and friends of victims andtunts, president trump announced this week that he supports raising the leg a to purchase certain guns and stricter background checks. president trump: f many years where people sitting in my position did not tak action. they didn't take proper action, they took no action. robert: the president also endorlsed the n.r.a.'s position that there could be more guns in school. julie wrote today on the front page of "the new york times" about the president lling for training and army of teachersay and ping them a bonus for carrying a weapon. how much of this is talk and how much of it could actually lead to action on

capitol hill? it's really going to be up to the president whether he's willing to reallyead on this issue, whether he can get it past the points of what he called today all talk and no substantive moving ahead. has introduced this idea, which he seems veryf, enaimored of training certain teachers who are trained to use firearms to protect they were -- their students to turnls sch into basically fortresses protected by educatorsho are trained to do that. it's a very controversial idea, not just with democrats but with a lot of republicans who support gun rights and want to see safer schools but think this is a problematic issue. one of the big questions is going to be will the president insist t concealed carry permits for teamers be af parte solution. there is broad support for better backgroundhes

which. i think there is support for raising the age of carrying well. robert: you're down in florida, michael in tallahassee. arming teachers,e that may b more of a local, state issue? >> in florida the house and senate republican leaders introduced a bl that would allow sheriffs to deptiles teamers to have a gun onca us. other states like texas and south dakota are already doing this. places where teachers have gun in schools. in florida, there's been a sea change in how republicans are dealing with in issue. this state has the country in gun rights educatiofor decades. after the nightclubg shoot and the fort lauderdale shootings, nothing happened. and now the reinstate and governorre coming out saying they want to do things the n.r.a. actively opposing. it's not what the students

wants. they want a ban on assault weapons back in place but it a huge shift in th conversation and i think it shows what could happen on the lederalel. florida is going to move quicker than the federal debate because they only have three weeks left in their legislative session. robert: so there's a shift in florida a y wonder, jim, is there a shift nationally? is in a national pivot point? there were big gun bills in 1968 after all t assassinations that year with assault weapons. dn't happen after sandy hook. sit happening now? a florida where you have a governor withn a-plus n.r.a. wait a rate something jim: it could be different but most likely back to the 1984 elections, since then the.r.a. has won every debate before congress and i often w

decisively. the president has been able to take a republican party that seemed to believe one thing and got it to believe something else. you've sn itith the view of the fibble, you've seen it with how they think abo deficits. a trillion-dollar defic now to pay a tax bill in private he talks about i wanto help the kids. but also always look at what the president talks about in public. he often mimics what he muses in private and if you look at t totalf his words, almost all of them have been allocatedng to ar teamers. the topic that's fronts and center is that so evenf he does the other things, raise the age limit to 21, have tougher background checks, maybe he would dohose but even if you did all of those, that is a drop in the bucket inms t of what it would take to keep somebody who decides they want tomas plkerr p from getti a

well that would with actually massacre. so we'reg a ly away. robert: on capitol hill how close areo we t any action? when you look at the house of representatives, controled by i -- controlled by recommendation, they seem unreluctant tony of this. pat toomey saie'going to try and revive the bill with senator mans of west virginia. republicans know they have to get their base vers out th year. just a few weeks before the midterm election. >> remember, congress lab out of town during this. the political leverage may be mor about where they feel they'll be injured more th they think they're going to be helped. president trump is not going to be on the ballot. in the house, as you point t, many of the conservatives feel the pain they would f suffer going

against the national rifle association on anything ould be greater than the idea of pressuring for action. but we've seen the mdiigration anussion even in the white house. this isn't the first time that the president has been dealing with in crisis. his first reaction, though, earlier in his presidency was to say it's too early to talk about that. pw thee of this, the pressure is much more intense and tt's the change we've seen in the last six years after sandy hook. many more mobilized and well-funded organizations that are moving fast. that was theriticism of six years ago. they weren't fast enough. >> unt this happened, the recommendation were really excited to get a concealed carry reciproty bill later this summer that would basically state that -- that anstate that has a concealed carry law, other states would have to honor ugit. they t it would be a winning issue going into the

fall for the n.r.aand republicans. the question i think here is whether this anger and frusation and concern stays on voters' minds in a news cycle thatns s incredibly fast a month from now, two months from now, sixonths from n and whether the gun issue could swing the other way and helpde crats. >> there's a recipe for a hinge moment. if young people vote or get their parents to vote or if some of these indicators where you see a surge in democratic voting in some off-year electiones car into the midterm election and republicans lose a lot of seats and is attributed to this. that's how you have a dramatic break. that's what happened in 1994. the politics of guns were different until peoplt, no, you pay a price on this issue. the incentive is victory.ro rt: we talked to

political analysts out there and nonpartisan analysts. they say if you wants to ban an ar-15 in this country, you'll have to have some kind of wave election. but julie, the president is talking about bump stocks, which was part of the las vegas shooting. he's talked about some more modest things. could they w maybet for the big stuff to see what happens in the midtermles an do the big stuff in the next few months? >> that's possible but the ke thing is whether there's going to be a realge rational movement on this you see a lot of young people, a lot of organic activism happening after the shooting in florida. this republicans feel they're going to beeld to account by young voters and people who are influenced by young voters and that this issue is going to really be harmful to them, then we might get to a place whereey l be willing to accept some of these murals. but as alexis said, there's

not a lot of enthusiasm for even some modest changes in the house. i think it might take the midterms to see something, even the modest changes much less potentially bang certain weapons or even the apple in addition >> one other thing i think is interesting about the messaging and i'm listening to the presidentse this. we've gone in nothing will solve this problemo we have to do something and if hat momentum continues and you see the economic pressure on the n.r.a. you can see that from companies today that are trying to sever theirla onships because they understand their consumers don't want to see that. if you see that continuing, that becomes part of a narrative that can be political poet ement. next fewsee in the -- potent.

>> we'll see if in youth movement ctinues. in the crowd they were circulating voter register administration from the podium, the kids were talking about you have to register to vote. these kid are coming to washington in the next few weeks. they'll ben washington. they are walkouts planned in the next few weeks around the country. that kind of momentum if it continues could matter. robert: so the, activis the students are out there in force.ch to whem this week, they are in the middle of this political debate but the n.r.a. rains defiant. wayne lapierre, the president of n.r.a. was in washington,he cpac. not backing down in even as he sees the president move a bit. >> you have to p ase for

moment. there were some beautiful things that happened this kweek. i thoth what we saw on stage at cnn and the white house, where you're bringi together politicians who have much different views with victi of these horn dowels massacres. at least have a dialogue. thatas a moment. for someone like marco rubio to go on stage with 7,000 people who want to boo you and show some openness o gun control was interesting. the n.r.a. is really powerful and i would caution anyone --here are several cautionary tales in how reactive repub cans mig be to public pressure. we saw this on global waing and immigration. areas where we have all of these protests, whether it's from business leaders or different groups and you say oh, republicans will buckle under this no, they won't they're responding to a very small set of voters who turn out in -- i up off

elections, which tend to be ite older voters. robert: we saw these same forces happen before but there are o glimmersaction that are notable. onriday, republican governor rick scott rolled occupant this $450 million proposal. it would raise the minimum age from buying any kind of gun in florida from 18 to 21, require a law enforcement officer at every public school and mandatory active shooter training. it would restrict anyone who has mental problems from buying a gun and ban t sale and purchase of bump stocks. michael, when you were in tallahassee, we were talking about this week. rick scott seemed like the last person who would budge. he budged. >> and i think the reason is because he's going to be running for re-election most likely later this year -- o for electi for the u.s.

senate against bill nelson. it's going to be a difficult rails. today he showed he can distance himself from the n.r.a. and from president trumston the qn of whether teachers should have guns in the classroom or school. he was building a sort of protective wall around himself against the charges coming this year and still it's going to be difficult. those kids are going to sta his tail pushing for an assault rifle ban through the coming campaign season and it's clear that the democrats in that state are hopeful at this point that guns can be a big issue going into november. robert: watching the president at cpac, the honoring, hour-plus speech, very much to the base, full meat. then you compare it to that quiet meeting with the parents an survivors at the white house. what version of president trump should we expect in the coming weeks? ue like every i with president trump, you never

know which one you're going to get. this is a lot like immigratio you have the president trump who talks about these incredible kids ander dre and we need to do something about it. and the nt day he turned around and recited the snake, that poem that basically compares all immigrants to a poisonous snake that's going to kill you in return for your hospitality. there is a big question and it's probably a question in the minds of his staff as well as in hiswn mind about what he's going to do anmorrow, next week on this issue. it's an open question to me what will influence i do think those kids and that session in the state dining room this week really had an impact on him. he use it would words i grieve for you and seemed like he wa really moved but -- by what he heard and wants to be the person who breaks the impasse ons g and takes action but it's

going to be difficult. robert: a lot of moving parts on guns. we'll keep following that detective. let's turn to thesi r probe. president trump's former campaign chairman was hit with new charges on fday, just hours after another campaign advisor struck a plea deal with special counseler robmueller. the new charges against the 68-year-old manafort include united states, conspiracy to launcheder money and failing to register as an agent of a foreign principal. urs earlier, rick gates pled guilty to to defraud the u.s. and for making false statements. gates has struck a plea deal and has agrew- -reed to cooperate with mull early. antorian, the son of a' russian garble ork ol' pled guilty about his communications wit gates. is this more about what boan mueller to learn about

paul manafort or more about what he wants to learn about president trump and the administration that rick gates is part of. >> it's hard to answer that question because it could both. . in the case of looking at the financialses that es manafort and g were involved in, you can see that specialouel has a whole very come mention -- complex avenue they've been pursuing and obviously coming up with evidence. but rick games is someone now who can cooperate over a period of time in which he was very close to the campaign and the campaign's chair and the idea that programs a special counsel is putting the squeeze on rick gates to then provide information about manafort and then present. the squeeze on manafort, as you point out, at8 years old, if he's found guilty and goes to prison, held be there potentially for the est of his life. robert: all of us on truth

serum would say we have no clue. the reason is that, when you're t readingse stories, all we have access to are the people who are getting interviewed by mueller, donald trump. nd the mueller investigation, the best i can tell,s leaking to nobody. that was illustrated like the diet where he indiets all -- indictment. where he indicts all these russian ol gas,. we don't nope. he could go after gates to nail manafort. he could go after gat cough up more information on the president. is an extremely methodical investigation by 1 people who knowxaly what they're doing and who they're going after. a ink it's going to be while before we know. >> that's truly. >> what we do know i there's clear aggression in the way he's going out about this. anyone who says something

false, he's bringing charges against you. these are bank loans unrelated to the trump campaign where information was given, he's going after you. that sends a message to whoever is still a target of the investigation, that they can't mess around with this group of people. bert: paul manafort, furious, issued a statement, i'm going to continue to fight on. >> he made a statement, i don't know why my former partner decided to plea but i'm not and i'm fighting these charges. as much as m beller mig trying to send a message with in move, man form is trying to push back saying i'm not going to be squeezed by thi i'm staying firm. not just for manafort but also the white h se and president trump himself -- robert: any chance ofid prtial pardons? >> that's again an open question. because we knowo little

and not only we, i think they in the white hse know very little about what's actually going on in thisio investig we see snippets, the indictments, the pleas but mueller has a complete picture he's pursuing. the white house does not have that without knowing that, they're considering, the president's legal team where they should talk with mueller. and every stem along this way makes that semifor per allows. robert: rick gates. most peopleon't know who he is. he's grown a beard, change his whole appearance. he was around at the beginning. when jared kushner, the president's son-in-law has meetings with foreign officials, including the russian amba ador and others. he saw a lot. he matters. >> he was in the white housen tooe early days of the administration. he does matters but like jim said, we don't know what he

knows. these indictments are not about what happened on the campaign. the guilty plea is not about what happened onhe campaign. we haven't gotten to that stage of the investigation. ha don't know state's evidence he can turn. >> the one thing i think everybody is watching is when you're talkith about relationships with the ukraine and the representation they were doing there, that' leadi you back to the discussions that had to do with russia w andt their financial interests were. what was the incentiveor manafort to want to be ebb gauging with russian? contac what was the insent active? was it personal for him or a broader situation? we might not know that, as youay, for months. >> what amazing me for white house officials is how much today doeseel like yesterday. robert: every day is yesterday. t ll have to leave i there, jim. today is friday. thanks, everybody.

our conversatn with continue online on the "washington week" extra. we'll steel -- tell you about the standoff between chief of ou staff and the president's son-in-law and senior advisor jarednd kushner if you miss the show or the extra, watch itin o later tonight and all weekend long atbs.org/"washington week." thanks for watching and thank u, ed lee, for your 38 years of service here on "washiprton week"'s oduction team. enjoy retirement. >> funding for "washington week" isrovided by -- >> their leadership is instinctive. they understand the challenges of today and research the technologies of tomorrow. some call them veterans.

we call them part of our team. >> american cruise lines, proud sponsor of "washington week." >> additional funding is provided by newman's own foundation, donating all pitches from newman's own food products to charity and four irishing the common good. the event i said and excellence in journalism foundation. koo and patricia yuen through the yuen foundation, commitold bridging cultural differences in our communities. the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. thank you. >> you're watching pbs.

announcer: explorore new worlds and new ids thugh programs like this, made available for everyone through contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. hello, i'm howard goodall. and i'm a composer of stage musicals, choral music, and film and tv themes. i'm also a music historian, and i've been makingdocumentarc for the past 20 years. m standing here in london's abbey road studio number 2 where in the 1960s, the beatles made some of the greatest records of all time. for the next hour, i'd like to share with you my passion foof those records in particular. what follows is my answer to the question, why is sgt. pepper's such a big deal?