tv MSNBC Live MSNBC March 28, 2013 8:00am-9:00am PDT
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early next month. meanwhile, president obama will start the day with remarks this hour from the east room of the white house. mothers of gun violence victims will flank him, including mothers from newtown. the president's address will coincide with 140 events in 29 states, events spearheaded by obama's new policy arm, organizing for action. add together intensity of the day, a new ad from new york's mayor michael bloomberg for mayors against illegal drugs, an ad featuring newtown families. >> we dropped jesse off in the morning, december 14th and gave me a hug and kiss and said i love you, dad, and i love mom, too. >> our daughter grace was 7 years old. she couldn't wait to go to school. she would skip down the driveway. >> meanwhile, vice president joe biden had heavy words for
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congress yesterday. >> the courage that was demonstrated by those teachers, we don't expect the same amount of counseling from our lkd officials but lord sake, we do expect them to have the courage to up. >> will this turn into something concrete? >> it looking harder than anybody thought, the momentum is fading. gun people are very down. they think that the president didn't act fast enough. >> we will have live coverage of the president's remarks. but first we're getting new and intriguing details about the school shooting that started it all. a massive amount of documents in the newtown shooting were unsealed in just the last two hours. among the revelations, adam lanza fired 154 bullets from his assault rifle the day he killed 20 kids and six adults at sandy hook elementary. one of the books in his home was an nra guide to the basics of
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pistol shooting and an article about another school shooting seized from his home as well as. michael sisikoff is in connecticut. walk us through what we know so far. >> well, among the new disclosures out today is there was 154 bullets that killed the children and the adults at sandy hook elementary school, they were fired in less than five minutes. adam lanza went to the school that day with ten 30-round high capacity magazines, which he used to get off those shots, apparently loading and reloading at least three of those 30-round magazines were emptied entirely. so it gives you some glimpse of the incredible amount of fire power that lanza brought into the school that day. now, at the same time, that was
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in a statement by the chief prosecutor, who has been investigating this case. in addition we have the release of of redacted search warrants that reveal some of the materials found in his home, multiple boxes of ammunition, three samurai swords, a spear, a certificate in his name from the national rifle association. and lots more. >> what can you tell us about the video games that were found? >> reporter: not a whole lot. we expected more but there is a revealing excerpt from one of the search warrants that cites fbi interviews with an associate of adam lanza, somebody who knew him, and it does give an insight into adam lanza's world. i'll just read from that excerpt. the name of the person being
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interviewed is redacted but it says this person describes lanza as somebody who, quote, rare live leaves his home and is a "shut-in" and an avid gamer who plays "call of duty" amongst other games, has a gun safe with at least four guns in it and this person described adam lanza's relationship to -- describing sandy hook elementary school as, quote, adam lanza's life. so there's a lot of questions. as you remember, craig, in the after math just what was his relationship to sandy hook elementary school. we believe he went there and it played a very big role arng cording to this fbi interview, in his mindset. >> michael isikoff from connecticut for us today. thank you. >> jim runs organizing for
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action, an issues advocacy group. good to see you. let's talk about poll numbers, cbs and cnn show less support now for stricter gun control measures than we saw immediately after newtown. what happened to the momentum? >> look, i think there's still continuing momentum. 91% of americans support the president's calls for background checks. we know that background checks stop 2 million people who shouldn't get guns. but the fact is that 40% of all gun sales don't go through a background check. this is proposal that a vast majority, over 90% of the country supports and it's something that we should pass. >> let's talk about the background check. the politico reporting that senator grassley is drafting his own gun control bill now. grassley has opposed background checks, which are included in reeds bill. background checks were starting
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to look like the easier get but are they now also in serious trouble as well? >> look, now here's the truth. >> knows the politics of this issue are hard. but we also know what the president has said that is correct it is time to act. it is right and responsible that we take some steps that can make things better here. and we know that background checks is one of the most effective ways to stop people from getting guns who shouldn't have guns. >> i know you're an issues advocacy group, you are don'twork on behalf of candidates, but why not decide to raise money and just go after lawmakers who don't bend to your well the same way the nra does? >> today ofa has over 100 events across this country on our national day of action on gun violence. we're going directly to members of both parties to say the time to act is now. we can get things done like background checks, like high capacity clips, all of those things can get done.
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i understand politics are bad, we have more of a responsibility to do what we can to reduce gun violence in this country. >> daily beast article today made the case that a gun bill can still happen if democrats come together. he wrote in part, quote, democrats need to learn that you're far better off taking a stand than looking like a water carrier. what will organizing for action be doing to help democrats get on the same page when it comes to gun control? >> today on our national day of action, we're going to talk to folks about these common sense pieces of legislation. over 90% of the public support background checks and consensus on limiting high capacity gun clips and consensus on assault weapons. the on place there's not consensus is in congress. our volunteers are going across
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the country to say to both parties the time o act is now. >> you brought up the chasm that exists in this country between political will and washington, d.c. . we saw thes and from bloomberg, we saw the new ad today. what makes you think this particular point you're going to be able move the needle so much that you're going to able to motivate folks in d.c. to do something they haven't done yet? >> here's what i know -- the power of the grass roots is the single most powerful this evening in american politics. it's what elected barack obama twice when people thought he couldn't win. there are people across this country who understand that the time to act is now. newtown changed the politics on this. i understand these are tough political votes are folks but it's also the right thing to do and i think there's a real political price to be paid for opposing something like a background check when over 90% of the country supports it.
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>> jim messina, we'll leave it there. thank you, sir. >> thank you, sir. >> the president is scheduled to speak at 11:40 eastern. when that happens, we will carry it for you live right here on msnbc. coming up, is doma doomed? we're going to talk about the political impact. also, ashley judd's decision. she not running for senate. where does that leave mitch mcconnell? and developing news from south africa, former president nelson mandela back in the hospital, battling another lung infection. we'll go to south africa to get an update on his condition straight ahead. i've always had to keep my eye on her... but, i didn't always watch out for myself. with so much noise about health care...
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call it the return of the rogue. sarah palin is putting her name out with a new political super pac. >> she's proved that she can be effective endorsing candidates. >> sarah palin jumped in early and supported rand paul, marco rubio, tim scott, pat toomey, jeff blake and myself. >> let's bring in our thursday political power panel. karen hunter, chip saltzman, good to see both of you. chip, this ad comes after palin's cpac speech. is this about palin lining himself up for political comeback or is it more about keeping herself relevant? >> i think it may be a little bit both. i'm not going to try to second guess sarah palin because i usually guess wrong. the one thing she says is i'm here and i'm going to play in primaries and general elections. her rate of primary elections
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has been pretty good. >> from a democratic perspective, is it a good thing sarah palin is billing herself as the future of the gop? >> i love it. i absolutely love it. i think it's great, you know? they took a straw poll at cpac. did she make the top five? >> no. >> as far as being a queen maker, she couldn't do that for herself and mccain. i love sarah palin being in this, yes. >> but the ad itself seems a little odd. i guess the timing of it. why now? >> as we're getting into the summer season where a lot of candidates are making decisions of if they're going to run or not for not racfor senate racesd governor races. like it or not, her endorsement can be a big deal.
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>> it's interesting she had to do this herself. also, her reality show got cancelled after one season. she really needs some relevancy and it's the only way she can do it and it's sad. >> reality shows are tough, though, karen. let's turn to ashley judd. she's not going to run for the senate in kentucky. she issued a statement in part saying "it would be the greatest honor of my life to be entrusted as a public servant to our beloved kentucky. "the washington post" has made the case that democrats are perhaps better off. mcconnell and his campaign team have proven lethal at savaging past opponents. are democrats better off with ashley judd out of the race? >> they're not better off now but i think she has her eye on
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2016 when there might be a open seat with rand paul. that would probably be a better case for her, to use these next couple of years to build her platform, have real support and come and take that seat that way. this would be premature. she's getting her behind kicked already, which says that maybe she's a threat, huh? >> how scary of a candidate is mitch mcconnell. . we know he has about $7 million in his war chest but check out this ad today that's got a lot of folks talking. >> and we're back. it's tournament time. senator mcconnell's playing for the washington special interest against kentucky. >> kentucky's trying to move up, trying to provide assistance for workers who lost their jobs. >> they're blocked by mcconnell! >> with the sweet 16 starting tonight, the dscc thought it would be a good idea to maybe put out a basketball theme to
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ad. mcconnell said my view is if you're going to be a bigger target, you're going to adopt different tactics, i think we made it pretty clear that we intend to be very aggressive since day one. is mitch mcconnell that scary of a guy? >> i would not want to be running against him because there's a lot of people think you run statewide to make a name for yourself. i think the mcconnell team and mitch mcconnell himself said if anybody's going to run against him, it's going to be a career ender. he's a well-known factor, lots of money, he's got the infrastructure. he's doing what he should be doing, organizing, doing everything you can so he doesn't have an opponent next november. that's what his real game is. the hard work now will pay off next year. >> let's talk about same-sex marriages. ruth bader ginsburg said doma waters down traditional marriage but used a very different
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phrase. take a listen. >> and it affects every area of life. and so you are really diminishing what the state has said is marriage. you're saying, state, there are two kinds of marriage, the full marriage and then this sort of skim milk marriage. >> chip, i'm sure you read the transcripts, i'm sure you heard the oral arguments. it looks and sounds like the high court is going to strike done doma. no? >> it certainly is a real possibility, something nobody would have even thought possible two years ago may be possible. what ends up happening is this may end up going to the states and they may have to deal with it state by state. at the federal level, i don't think they have the stomach to take it on. >> karen, snoop dog. >> are you giving me a rap question? >> no, but chip, i know he
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doesn't know snoop dog. >> whoa, whoa, whoa. >> right before the show we get this note that snoop dog has come out. but politico has a list of those who have not come out and endorsed equality, there they are right there. why are those democrats still holding out? >> i don't know but i think snoop lion is high. the other democrats are -- i think they're following what's going on in their particular states. they're following the constituents. some aren't even running for reelection so maybe they're following their hearts as well. this is a very complicated issue, which we heard with ruth bader ginsburg. >> i know you know snoop because you just used his new name, too. did you even know he was snoop lion now, chip saltzman? >> i was behind the times. i thought it was snoop dog. that's what i grew up with. >> and that's why i went to
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karen. many thanks to both of you. >> just a ahead, out on the football field a current nfl player is considering coming out within the next few months. what it will take for that to happen and what that will mean. also, fighting back. chicago teachers put their freedom on the line to protest the decision to shut down dozens of public schools. first, though, today's producer pick. the 15-year-old pakistani girl shot in the face by the taliban nearly six months ago will be telling her story. her memoir will be published this fall. wait until you hear how much the deal is worth. you can read about it all on thomas roberts' facebook page. introducing new febreze stick & refresh
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>> please there always has to be concern. therefore the doctors i think we need to appreciate will prefer to work on the side of caution rather than take a risk. >> the beloved 94-year-old noble peace prize winner is back in the hospital today with a lung infection. mandela remains a global symbol of freedom from racist oppression after spending 27 years in prison for fighting apartheid. nbc's chapman bell is live in p south africa. chapman, what's the latest there? >> good morning to you, craig. we were alerted this morning the former president was transported to a hospital just before midnight last night. we just received an update from the office of the presidency saying the doctors advise that former president nelson mandela is responding positively to treatment and is still for an ongoing lung infection that's
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been reoccurring and they say he remains under treatment and observation in the hospital. now, mandela is of course revered around southafrica. any time he does go to hospital around here, it causes great concern. he did fight apartheid, spent 27 years in prison here and was the nation's first black president. we're told he'll continue to receive the treatment. this isn't the first hospitalization he's had in recent times. as you said, the current president jacob zuma appeals to the world to pray for the former president. >> it is worth noting here as all of this news unfolds in south africa that president obama will also be meeting with african leaders at the white house today. >> folks, take a look at this video. this is pretty amazing.
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homes literally on the edge following a landslide on whidbey island. one house knocked off its foundation, 33 otherser v evacu. residents will be able to return to their homes if they want but many homes still in danger. >> a south african judge reduced some bail conditions for oscar pistorius. he's allowed to leave the country under certain conditions. he was charged with killing his girl friend. >> the suspect in that deadly house explosion in indiana was also charged with plotting to kill a witness. he was overheard talking about it in jail. his girl friend and brother are already facing murder, arson and conspiracy charges. he killed a young couple and damaged 33 homes. >> and banks in cyprus reopened to customers today that met with
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long lines. they've been shut since march 16th. there are strict restrictions to make sure people don't withdraw all their money. >> pope francis visited a holy facility today. >> and a florida appeals court ruled polo tycoon john good man cannot adopt his long-time adult girl friend. it was an attempt to save his fortune while negotiating a settlement. he was sentenced for 16 years in prison for dui manslaughter. >> we now know the $318 million powerball winner will spend $29,000 on back child support. deputies from the county sheriff's office are reportedly trying to get in touch with him. >> and they might be happy meals but they're not so healthy. most kids meals at chain
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we're expecting a live look there from the east room of the white house. we're expecting to see president obama and joe biden. that's supposed to start at 11:40. the president is going to talk about gun violence and how to protect children from violence, on, this the 100-day of the newtown shooting. when those remarks happen, we will of course bring it to you
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live right here on msnbc. also in just a few moments, we're going to speak to the director of mayors against illegal guns. switching to immigration now, new optimism from president obama over the prospects for an immigration bill by summer. he continued his campaign to get a comprehensive bill on the table by silting down with spanish radio. he said lawmakers have hit a snag and he's prepared with a plan b. >> i've always said if i see a breakdown in the process, i've got my own legislation, i'm prepared to step in. but i don't think that's going to be necessary. i think there's a commitment among this democratic and republican senators to get this done. >> joining me is laurie montenegro, the telemundo reporter that interviewed the president. the president announced a trip
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to costa rica in may. did you get a sense of urgency on the immigration from the president? >> yes. and the president is anxious to fulfill his promise to the hispanic community, something he wasn't able to do in his first term. i found him to be very, very confident that this is going to happen. he is confident that after the spring break the senate will be able to present a bill and there's already word that we could also see a bill presented by a group of bipartisan congressmen in the house. i think both parties are looking at that the results of the last election and say that the hispanic community has woken up and everybody, you know, wants to be able to vie for this very important voting block. also it's an issue that needs to be resolved.
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people talk about security in the nation and we can't have 11 million people here, who the government doesn't know, who they are or where they are. and also, there's an economic aspect to all of this, many people believing if you can bring them out of the shadows, it can help reinvigorate the economy. >> four of the senate in the bipartisan group, they got a first-hand visit. senator mccain tweeted just witnessed a woman climb an 18-foot fence. she was contained. >> we don't want to make this earned pathway to citizenship a situation in which it's put off further and further into the future. there needs to be a certain path for how people can get legal in this country, even as we also work on these strong border
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security issues. >> is there frustration that republicans are so intent on tying border security to a bill? >> there's a lot of republicans who would like to do that. the president says you can't. he doesn't believe that we can tie a path to citizenship to security on the border. he said can you do both at the same time. you know, also another issue is that a lot of this seems to have already been resolved. we hear senator schumer saying that 90% of the issues have already been taken care of and that includes the border. you now what's pending now are the issues between labor and business and this is the guest worker program and the wages that are tied to that. >> lori montenegro, telemundo, thank you. >> to chicago now, last night hundreds of teachers and parents held a massive rally on the shutdown of dozens of schools.
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police did issue 127 citations for people who would not get out of the street. rahm emanuel says the time for negotiation is over. nbc news is the place for education nation. joining me is jesse ruiz, vice president of of the chicago board of education, appointed to that post by mayor rahm emanuel in 2007. good to see you. critics of the closures say 90 pfrs the students are black and hispanic and the schools will be a blight on already struggling communities. what's your response? >> we've been underserving or disservicing these communities for a decade because of population loss in these communities. this is an opportunity despite facing a billion dollar budget deficit next year where we can take the resources spent to operate buildings and tutin the
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classrooms to benefit students directly. that's what we're hoping to accomplish here. >> because members of the chicago board of education are all appointed by mayor rahm emanuel, you guys have also been criticized as essentially being in rahm emanuel's pocket. how do you respond to those accusations? >> it's a volunteer job so we're not in anyone's pocket. i understand who appointed me but i also understand who comes before the school board every month, parents, teachers, community members. i'm a life long community resident, so these are my neighbors, friends, people i run into at the grocery store about my life at chicago. corporate lawyer, i volunteer as a school board member as volunteers do across america. we stand here full well the concerns of our community. it tugs at our heart. it would tug more at my heart if
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we didn't take the resources and give them to the students that need it now. >> what do you say to parents and teachers who say we're not involved enough in the decision making process. >> this is the first time in chicago we've undergone the task for closing schools. usually in the past for poor performance, this time for underutilization, where we had a commission, parents, teachers, students, community members got to voice their concerns. we started with a list of 330 underutilized schools, brought down to 129 and to the final recommendation of 54. that's what that input did. it got us from 330 to 54. there are still underutilized schools that didn't get addressed this time around because of the concerns and the comments of our communities. so we listened. >> is there a chance you guys are going to shut down more schools? >> no. the mayor has said let's do this one time, have a five-year moratorium so every spring in
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chicago won't be school closing season, it will be focused on teaching and learning. >> jesse ruiz, vice president of the chicago board of education, thank you. we should note here i understand that president obama who is going to be speaking any moment now is actually your law school professor. >> he was my former law school professor as was elena kagan. >> dozens of sports figures are laying the groundwork for the possibility that an active nfl player may soon come out of the closet. at least 42 players signed a brief saying they support marriage equality. baltimore ravens linebacker brendan talked on the steps about a close teammate who is
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still in the shadows. >> so every day i go to lunch with a guy that lines up next to me and i love that player like he's a family member. so i talk to that man about my wife and kids and one day that man is going to talk to me about his husband and his kids. >> joining me now, hudson taylor, whose mission is to end homophobia in sports. we don't know the name of the player yet that brendan was referring to or if that player is preparing to come out. but there is a sense that something big is in fact about to drop in the nfl. do you know of any nfl athletes who are saying right now i'm ready, i want to do this, i want to come out? >> sure. well, you know, we know that there are closet athletes in the nfl and in all the professional leagues. what we need to remain cognizant of is the coming out process is
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difficult and different for everyone. it's only going to be when we have a critical mass of straight allies, that that person will feel comfortable coming out. >> have you been in touch with the athlete that we're not naming? >> i have not. i have not been in touch with that athlete. >> do we expect this is something that's going to happen in the next few weeks, few months? >> i think it could happen in the next two weeks, two months or two years. there are so many factors in the coming out process for an athlete. so it's difficult to say when exactly that will be. >> yesterday on news nation minnesota vikings punter chris cluwe was asked if a person would get sore from fans? >> i think that person would be supported. what most people don't stand is during the season we see each other in the locker room more than we see our own families. those are the guys you're spending 10, 12 hours a day with. it's a close-knit fraternity.
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when you have your friends, your family and they're going through something like that, then you know, you want to support them. >> how significant, what would it mean, what would it do if an nfl player came out, if a major league baseball player came out, in an nba player came out? >> i think it would change the game. it would show the world that the lbgt community is part of the athletic community and that it doesn't matter who you love, what your sexual orientation is, you can compete at an elite level and be yourself. i think it would be so empowering and affirming for the millions of lbgt kids in this country who may want to join a sports team or may abe afraid t go into the locker room that, kind of experience of seeing that athlete would change lives and save lives. there's now athletes across this country who are working tirelessly day in and day out to make that day a reality. >> activist hudson taylor, good
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to talk to you. >> thank you for having me. >> we continue to keep our eyes on the east room at the white house. president obama is expected to speak any moment now. he will be joined by the vice president and mothers as well as who are urging congress to pass significant gun control legislation. law enforcement officials will be there, victims of goon vun violence will be there and we'll bring that to you as soon as the president starts talking. we'll take a quick break. ♪
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[ phillips' lady ] live the regular life. i've always kept my eye on her... but with so much health care noise, i didn't always watch out for myself. with unitedhealthcare, i get personalized information and rewards for addressing my health risks. but she's still going to give me a heart attack. that's health in numbers. unitedhealthcare. developing right now at msnbc, you are looking live at the east room of the white house where we are continuing to await remarks from president obama. we are expecting to hear from him any minute now on what the white house is calling common sense solutions on gun control. it's part of a nationwide call to action on this, the 100th day since the shootings at newtown, connecticut. mark glaze is the director of mayors against illegal guns. mark, these of course are going to be the president's first remarks on gun control here in
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the past few weeks. what exactly do you think we need to hear from the president today to get some meaningful initiatives passed. >> well, i think we need to hear the president say that he's continuing to work on this, the vice president is doing this full time and that the momentum remains pretty strong given the fact that it's now been three months since one of the worst mass shootings in history. legislate has been introduced, the senate is going to debate those issues when they come back april 8th and today's national day of action is the biggest gun prevention advocacy day in the history of the united states and on the issue. we hope it continues to build momentum for common sense. >> you alluded to momentum there. based on the polling information that we've been looking at over the past few days, have you guys lost the momentum since the shootings at newtown? >> no, i don't think so. look, what you're seeing is kind
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of a normal drop in the intensity of people's feelings about a mass shooting after memories begin to fade and they start to think about other things, too. but the momentum for things like background checks, 90% of the american people and 74% of nra members think it's time to do this. and there's a sobering thought for members of congress who are going to have to vote on this, which is there are going to be other mass shootings unless they act. and if they don't act and these mass shootings happen, they're going to have a lot of explaining to do. >> we are learning new details today about the newtown shooting from some newly unsealed court documents, including that adam lanza had a "new york times" article about a shooting in illinois from back in 2008. we're also learning new details about the tucson shooting from new documents as well, including that jared lee loughner's parents were worried he displayed erratic behavior before that attack. how timely are these revelations on a day when your group along
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with organizing for action is looking to rebuild some momentum for gun control? >> well, it illuminates something we've known for a long time. we know how to enable states to get their records about peoples into the background system. and that's what congress is going to be voting on. >> much of today is about putting the pressure on congress, as you mentioned before the vote in the senate next month. do you think that politicians who don't hear the message, do you think there is actually going to be a political price? or do you think that the attention span and that the collective memory of the citizenry will once again prove to be a lot shorter than we'd
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like for it to be? >> we're having a national conversation on this issue of the kind we haven't had in a generation. it took the brady bill folks seven years to i think it's goi much less time to pass these reforms. and the truth is when 90% of the american people want something like a comprehensive background check system that would solve a lot of these problems, they generally get it. and if they don't, they generally make themselves heard about that at the ballot box. >> mark, you mentioned the 90% there and i had charlie wrangra on and he said, you poll folks and they'll say, that's what we want. but those aren't the people who are picking up their phones and calling their senators or congressmen. >> it's very often the case that the hardest-core gun rights advocates are the most active voters and callers. but that is no longer the case in any consistent way. i go up to the hill all the time. we get reports from senators
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that there are calls from the deep south running more in favor of pro quote-unquote gun control. it's just a different moment in the country. >> mark glaze, director of mayors against illegal guns, mark, thank you. good to see you. >> thanks for having me. >> once again, folks, we continue to keep our eyes on the east room of the white house. president obama expected at any moment, you can see the folks who are waiting there in the east room. once we start to see some people on the risers behind the podium, that generally gives us a pretty clear indication that the president is not too far away. we know we have time for a quick break. we'll be right back. a talking car. but i'll tell you what impresses me. a talking train. this ge locomotive can tell you exactly where it is, what it's carrying, while using less fuel. delivering whatever the world needs, when it needs it. ♪ after all, what's the point of talking if you don't have something important to say? ♪
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okay why? more is better than less because if stuff is not le-- if there is more less stuff then you might want to have some more and your parents just don't let you because there's only a little bit. right. we want more, we want more. like you really like it, you want more. right. i follow you. [ male announcer ] it's not complicated. more is better. and at&t has the nation's largest 4g network. ♪ rettyat&t has the nation's larconservative.rk. very logical thinker. (laughs) i'm telling you right now, the girl back at home would absolutely not have taken a zip line in the jungle. (screams) i'm really glad that girl stayed at home. vo: expedia helps 30 million travelers a month find what they're looking for. one traveler at a time.
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>> i guess he and my mom decided that that was you know, how it needed to be done. so yeah, i was devastated and i was disappointed. these are my parents. i had grown up with a lot of love in my family. and it was hard to see them go through this. >> were you mad? >> yeah. yeah of course. >> okay. as promised, president obama and vice president joe biden in the east room getting ready to make some remarks on gun violence. to commemorate the 100th day since the shooting at sandy hook elementary. right now, the president is being introduced. th that's katarina rothguard, who is a dance teacher who lost one of her students in the newtown tragedy. she is going to introduce president obama and we're going to listen in.
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>> beautiful young children. i have a unique background both in the performing arts and in law. i have been personally affected by gun violence. as a dance teacher i lost one of my students at the massacre at virginia tech. rema samaha was a bright, beautiful, talented dancer who lost her life. it was stolen from her at the age of 18. i will never forget her presence in my classes and her enthusiasm for dance. as the mother of a first grader i cannot even look at my own daughter without thinking about the poor innocent victims at sandy hook. my heart breaks for them and their families, and the families of the eight children every day who are killed by guns in this country. after losing rima and seeing the
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horror at sandy hook my reaction was that i no longer felt it was safe to raise a family in this country. i felt i either needed to leave the country or do something. as an attorney, i vowed to do something, because i feel that my right to feel safe in this country and the rights of our children to feel safe in this country are paramount and worth fighting for. i have never been an activist before. but i have found a voice with moms demand action for gun sense in america. and i am proud and honored to help them fight for better laws in this country. i am also honored to acknowledge vice president joe biden, a strong proponent of gun violence prevention measures in the senate for decades. and now in the white house. he is also an advocate for the rights of women and children.
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as mothers, we are eternally grateful for your support. enough is enough, the time to act is now. i am now extremely honored to introduce to you the president of the united states of america, barack obama. >> thank you. thank you very much. thank you very much. thank you, everybody. thank you. thank you. thank you, katerina for sharing your story. rima was lucky to have you as a teacher and all of us are fortunate to have you here today and i'm glad we had a chance to remember her. katerina lost one of her most
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promising students in virginia tech, the shootings that took place there six years ago and she and dozens of moms and dads, all victims of gun violence, have come here today from across the country. united not only in grief, and loss, but also in resolve and in courage and in a deep, determination to do whatever they can as parents and as citizens to protect our kids and spare other families from the awful pain that they've endured. as many of the families and friends who are here today can tell you, the grief doesn't ever go away. that loss, that pain, sticks with you. it lingers on in places like blacksburg and tucson and aurora. that anguish is still fresh in newtown.
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