♪ anchor: terror and heartbreak. the second mass murder in as manyeeks. >> we turned on the news and we heard of another shooting. it happened here. it happened here. >> my kids are my life. i lost a piece of my heart. anchor: 19 children and two teachers gunned down in the second deadliest school shooting in a decade. >> to lose a child is like having a piece of your soul

ripped away. >> once again, we grieve for the little boys and girls. >> guns shouldn't be as easily accessible. it's easier to get a gun than baby formula right now. anchor: grief over the tragic lo of lives. >> there were no more children at risk. with the benefit of hindsight, of course it was not the right decision. anchor: outrage as police admit mistakes were made in the response. plus. >> what are we doing? nowhere else to little clouds go to school thinking that they might be shot that day. >> we have to harden these targets so that no one can get in. anchor: the political debate over gun laws intensifies, next. ♪ >> this is washington week. corporate funding is provided by.

>> consumer cellular's goal has been to provide wireless service to help people communicate and connect. we offer a variety of plans and our customer service team can find one that helps you. >> additional funding is provided by. the human foundation, bridging cultural differences in our communities. sandra and carl delay magnuson. rose herschel and andy shreve's. robert and susan rosenbaum. the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. once again from washington, yamiche alcindor. yamiche: this has been a tough week for so many. our nation is morning after another mass shooting.

not even two weeks ago in buffalo, a white supremacist targeting african-americans shot to death 10 people. now another community in texas is also really. on tuesday, an 18-year-old gunman stormed into robb elementary school in skilled -- killed 19 children. the stories are heartbreaking. one student describes seeing her best friend shot to death while they were trying to call 911. another smeared the blood of a classmate on her bod and play dead to survive. the family of one teacher said police told them her lifeless body was found embracing her students and a final act of comfort. here's another account from jaredernandez whose little brother survived the shooting. >> he told me, the moment he was at lunch, he was going back to his class. i asked him if he heard anything.

he said he heard screaming and gunshots firing. yamiche: this tragedy is the deadliest school shooting since the 2012 massacre at sandy hook elementary. on tuesday from the white house, president biden urged the nation to turn pain into action. >> why? why are we willing to live with this carnage? why do we keep letting this happen? where in god's name is our backbone? the courage to deal with this, stand up to the lobbies. yamiche: previous efforts to pass gun reforms have failed over and over again. still on capitol hill, a bipartisan group of lawmakers meant to see what new gun laws might be possible. some republicans have already made it very clear that they oppose any changes to the way americans access guns. here is senator ted cruz of texas. >> you see politicians trying to

politicize this. you see democrats and a lot of folks in the media whose immediate solution is to try to restrict on the constitutional rights of law-abiding citizens. yamiche: this weekend, cruise and other republicans including former president trump gathered four hours away from uvalde for an annual meeting held by the nra. we will get into all of this and more tonight as we discussed this. first, joining us from uvalde, texas, a southwest correspondent for npr. jake sherman. joining me in studio, soul and coming on. and ashley parker. thank you for joining me. it's been a heavy week. i appreciate you taking the time. john, you are there in uvalde. talk to me about what sticks to

you as you think about the people that you talked to in that grieving community. the connection that so many have to this tragedy. >> yeah. thanks for including me. everyone does know someone who was touched by the tragedy here in uvalde. it's a town of only six teen thousand people. 80% mexican-american. every single interview that i did, they knew someone or a family or they had some attachment to the tragedy. even last night after interviews, we went to a taco truck to buy some food. we talked to francisco who runs it and he said some of the little children were his customers and they would buy shaved ice. his eyes got wide and he stammered for the right words. he said, you can't understand. nothing like this has ever happened in uvalde before. they are just stunned. they are in comprehending about

what has happened here. the most excitement in town is usually border patrol chases, human smugglers down the main street. all the words that we broke for, traumatized -- they seem to fall short of how people are experiencing this new reality. yamiche: just heartbreaking thinking about what that community is going through and what it will go through for the lives of those little children. the other topic that has to be discussed here is the police response. police didn't enter the classroom -- i'll most didn't believe it, 78 minutes after the gunman entered the police -- entered the school. in that time, students were calling 911 from the classrooms, parents were being handcuffed and tasered outside or threatened with being tasered, begging for comps to go in. please talk to me about what the

latest is here when it comes to the mistakes that the police admit that they made. >> when we heard from the director of the department of public safety today, you had tape of him at the top of the show, from the benefit of hindsight, it was the wrong decision. there's no excuse for that. i think what is maddening to people is how the story has continued to change. first we heard there was a school resource officer who was outside. then we heard that they all were inside the hallways. and then they had to get a janitor to let the men. meanwhile, you had families. i talked to some of them who were just beside themselves trying to get in to get their children. some were being held back. i think there was a lot of disappointment, to put it mildly, with the law enforcement response, especially with the

uvalde school system which had touted its police department, its officers, that they had trained for these kinds of things. that they were ready for these sorts of this. obviously, they were not. so there's just a lot of deep anger and frustration mixed with the grief here on the ground in uvalde. yamiche: deep anger and frustration is understandable, given the idea that police officers had 19 officers standing in the hallway and they waited until they found a janitor with a key to go into the classroom. you've been talking to national security experts. talk to me about how this happened, given the fact that there are policies in place to make it very clear what to do in an active shooter situation. >> when i talked to police experts, most of them are asking that same question. when you look at the situation in place with 19 officers outside and the evidence that

came out today, nothing of it and sup two will result -- adds up to a barricade situation. police official said that somebody on the ground deemed this barricade situation, somebody locking themselves in a room and preseing no imminent danger to those around them. how do you square that with somebody with a weapon, with a gun inside, locking themselves in a room while children are surrounding that person, calling 911 with gunshots in the background? as soon as you hear a scream, that might indicate that there is a frightening situation or imminent danger to those around you. we've seen that police forces have no issue rushing in when they deem to find an imminent danger, even in times where it's not warranted. in a situation like this, it doesn't add up how that calculation was made. you did see them come out today and say that that call was wrong. but still, there's going to be a

lot of questions over, what did those 19 police officers no? if you could hear gunshots on the call, i don't understand how you couldn't hear them if you were in the hallway. yamiche: before i talk to you about the white house in terms of what they want to do on guns, a tweet that you put up, it struck me. you said, i'm waiting to see what the accountability story is for policing. talk to me about what you are hearing from your sources on this discrepancy, these mistakes that police made. >> what you are seeing would be a keystone cops comedy of errors but for the fact that 19 children are dead. it's not just one mistake. as we watched the press conference today, the latest bit of accurate information, it was mistake after mistake after mistake. and then several days where they misled the public. there are additional accounts that goes to the fact that

police accounts are not always accurate. sometimes, that isery fair. in a fast-moving situation, witnesses aren't always reliable. they are getting information in real-time. but it and it from being a tale of heroism of the police force down there to the fact that you had as many police officers as children who ended up dying and they all did, according to these accounts, just about nothing to try to save those lives. >> everything points to this being an active shooter situation. after the columbine shooting, there was supposed to be a pivot in police training. you did see training where you went from isolated and containing somebody to rushing in and stopping that person with a weapon immediately. how it was deemed that this was a barricade situation and not an active shooter suation is a question that you are seeing the highest ranks of police officials act at this point. the former commissioner is also

saying that this was an embarrassment for the police. somebody who has defended police officers in the past even in sensitive situations. >> adding to that, you see people talking about that there were parents who seems to have more visceral instincts of what to do which was to race into the school and try to save the children. that was what the police initially were using their time and effort to prevent against, parents trying to save their children. yamiche: one other quick thing. president biden has hit been here before. what is this strategy at the white house to try to get something passed in congre? >> i don't want to take too long. president biden has had a front row seat in the decade since sandy hook. president obama holds a press conference where he deputized his biden to be the guns are.

he comes up with a proposal, 23 executive actions that obama signs. the parallel track ended up failing. it was pretty modest, to the point of toothless nests, background checks. biden wasn't instrumental to its failure but he was certainly a key person in this bill that went down. now as president, he prides himself. he is somewhat helpless and almost impotent to do anything when the real action is going to be in congress. as we've seen before, he has little sway there. >> the real action will be in congress which is the beta that you own. you've been talking to lawmakers all week. will there be real action in congress? what is your sense of what lawmakers could possibly agree on? >> at the risk of sounding naive

, i do feel that this is different than it has been in the past. i feel as if the efforts right now are more serious than they've bn before. just because you have a lot of republicans in the room. if you look at the lowest common denominator, which you have to do now, you have to look at the easiest, lowest hanging fruit, it's those red flag walls get those laws that will allow police in localities and states to confiscate guns. congress isn't going to -- [inaudible] what they might do is allow states to draw down on grants from the federal government to allow red flag systems to be put in place. following up on what ashley said. i would say, if i were a mocrat, i would tell the president to stay as far away

from this as humanly possible. number one, he has 35 to 40% approval ratings which is abysmal. he's deeply unpopular at this point. he has failed in the past that gun reform. so he doesn't bring anything to the table that's really of interest to the republicans. of course and a 50-50 senate, you need 10 republicans to get a bill across the floor. of the 50 republicans in the senate, there are 35 who will neveever support gun reform. you have to work from that 15 and take 10 from there. so biden isn't going to be persuaded here. i think this is on body language, watching people on the hill, talking to republican members of the senate. there is a pretty good chance of a modest gun reform package. i think the shock of the

shootis in buffalo and in uvalde, i feel like this is a different kind of moment for this congress. again, these might be famous last words. i do get that sense this time around. yamiche: as we are talking about this changing and there being some movement here, i want to put up graphics that show what's going on in america. first, mass shootings are uniquely americans -- american problems. the u.s. has had a 101. france is eight. i want to put up this graph. in 2000 one, school shootings hit an all-time high. there were 236 of them, more than double the years before. i want to come to you, john. you are in that community where people are impacted by this. what are people saying they want to see in uvalde? there's a gun culture there. what are you hearing as people in d.c. are debating here?

>> that's a really great question. it's complicated. there's a disconnect in some ways between the culture that you are hearing about in your environment and down here. this is gun culture. this is a huge hunting community. as a guy who owns a construction company told me, if everybody -- everybody owns guns down here. i interviewed a school superintendent in a neighboring school district. they are keenly conscious of all these threats to his students and is doing his best to secure his schools. he has ar-15's. he likes to use them for target shooting. when i talk to people down here -- this is just the folks i'm talking to and not necessarily everyone. i find that a lot of the rage seems to be directed at the local response that we've been talking about and how the school

handled this. i don't hear people talking as much about national legislation that we need to raise the purchase of long guns in texas from 18 to 21 which is what they did in florida, even in that conservative state. or universal background checks. the texas politicians, the republicans who run state government here, they always talk about hardening the schools. it is kryptonite. they want to talk about strengthening gun laws. oddly in town, you hear people that want better school security. they want their children to be protected by the school authorities and better school comps, definitely after this episode. yamiche: you will be going down to uvalde while president biden will be traveling there. what is your sense of if there

will be executive action or things that he might be able to do? >> i doubt that in the short term. i think you can look to the president's comments during the buffalo trip, when he went to go and comfort families of victims in buffalo. i was on that trip as well. right before he boarded air force one, he was asked what kind of executive action he could take here. he said, look, i don't have many options here. kind of deferred singing, the action needs to happen in congress. i did see some press releases and more statements today. more advocacy organizations that are calling for some action. appointing a guns are. that happened in the foot -- in the past. trying to form a task force. changing the definition of gun sellers so that you can have stricter regulation in that way. it will be interesting to see how the president balances

emphasizing with families, that's where he's very strong. balancing that with calling for action and also balancing how he addresses the police response. yamiche: jake, i want to come to you when it comes to the conversation. republicans are gathering at the nra. there's a myth that the gop is the nra. speak about the political significance of republicans gathering there. >> the nra is an example of today's politics. a group that is basically where most conservatives are. republicans at the moment our second amendment absolutists. it's not as if the republicans need to go to the nra to get a dispensation to pass gun laws. the last time the nra took a staunc position against a piece of gun legislation was with the

fix nics a in the trump administration. it was basically some kind of a background check system. the nra lobbied heavily against it. republicans were able to get it across the finish line. donald trump signed it into law. i think that people don't appreciate that the nra is one of the many groups in d.c. that takes a position where most people are and claims it as their own and claims that they are causing that. i think right now, republicans can. democrats are being reasonable here. this is the interesting thing. democrats traditionally have trd to swing for the fences when it comes to gun control. they are taking a very minimalist position. we want to stop people who are mentally ill are looking to hurt themselves or others from owning guns. we want to take guns away from them.

republicans feel that that -- standing against that is in a sustainable position, considering republicans have supported that for years. that's the situation at the moment. yamiche: really quickly, how are people feeling? >> i've covered a number of the small-town school shootings. it's the very unity that you first asked me about. the sense of close knit. that helps them get through this. they really do support each other. they know each other. in santa fe, texas also. frankly, tons of people go to church here. they feel like this is what they hear on sunday mornings about the nature of evil. now they've witnessed a true evil. it strengthens their face as

well. this will be a scar forever here. but i do think folks will recover. yamiche: the president signed this policing deal. i want to let you weigh in on this second anniversary of george floyd's murder. >> the action that the president took mostly will have an immediate pact on federal law enforcement agencies. one thing that the administration has been pointing to -- which some advocacy organizations are also saying -- is this database that contract police officers. policefficers can be fired for misconduct and move to another department. yamiche: he's trying to do something. >> he is. this is clearly a priority for him. it's a very polarized issue. for a decade, he and democrats have simply struggled with it. yamiche: thank you so much for joining us and for sharing your reporting. we will continue our

conversation on washington week extra. we will break down the georgia primary results and how mass shootings might impact the midterms. tune in saturday to pbs news weekend for the latest on the ground in uvalde. finally, our hearts are breaking for the families in uvalde. this is a nightmare that no one should have to live through. my prayers are with that community and so many others in morning across our country. for joining us. good night from washington. >> corporate funding for washington week is provided by. consumer cellular. additional funding is provided by. patricia u.n. rough the u.n. foundation. committed to bridging cultural differences in our communities. sandra and carl delay magnuson. rose herschel and andy shreve's. robert and susan rosenbaum. the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs

station from viewers like you. thank you. ♪ [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy.] ♪

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