those that are being reunited are not affected by this in any way, shape or form. and the school district will release a statement here shortly on exactly what's going to transpire over the next two days, three days. the school will be in lockdown, shut down, the high school will be shut down for another two or three days because of the ongoing police investigation. this is not going to be taken lightly. we have to make sure that we do everything necessary to assure for a swift and orderly type resolution to the situation that occurred. we will -- at this time i'll bring the superintendent up and he'll make a statement for the school district. superintendent? >> as a school community, our focus is on our students and staff, as well as their families. our thoughts and prayers are with the injured, and all of those affected by this awful

tragedy. as a school community, and as your superintendent, i pray, and we pray every day that this doesn't happen in any school. today our school community experienced a terrible tragedy. the actions and response of our staff, students, and local law enforcement officers saved many lives. our emergency responders provided critical support, and medical assistance. we will continue to work in cooperation with the local law enforcement in the coming days and weeks ahead. our high school, as mr. stephens noted, will be closed over the next several days. however, our elementary schools and our middle school will remain open. tomorrow, as we know that our school family and system can provide strength and support to our students.

counseling services will be available for the entire school community. if parents elect to keep their students home, we understand, and we will provide any support for those families as well. further information in regard to these services will be shared out soon. we appreciate the thoughts, prayers, and support from our local community, as well as from across the nation. thank you. >> thank you, superintendent. just following up, we do have a very large law enforcement presence. we have assistance from not only local law enforcement here in the murrysville penn township and the surrounding communities. the fbi brought in individuals to help with the investigation, and background, trying to see if there was anything that might have led to this particular situation. at this point i'll open it up to some questions.

>> does the superintendent -- can you tell us a little bit about the principal that tackled this student? >> that information will come out at a later time. he's still being questioned by law enforcement and that information will come out later on. i can't release that at this point. >> can you tell us the last time there was a drill, any kind of safety exercise here at the school? >> it was probably -- that's one thing we're very fortunate here. we work very closely, the department of public safety works with the school district. we were up here probably three months ago for a tabletop exercise. we had a full-scale exercise here about a year ago. so, you know, the school district has been proactive when it comes to any type of school incidents that occur. and these plans are reviewed, and the plan will be reviewed after this situation to see if anything needs to be improved upon. we have to look at it from the standpoint that what we saw happen here today was a very

evidence that the plan does work. and the students are as safe as can be. we haven't lost a life. i think that's what we have to keep in mind. remember, we have to keep the people that are affected by this, the 19 students, and the one faculty member that was involved in the actual stabbings, we want to make sure our thoughts go out to those people. it's their world that we have to worry about right now. the school will resume, and we will be back as strong as you were in the past, if not stronger in the future. thank you to everyone. >> and that was daniel stephens, emergency management official and the school superintendent there at murrysville, a school of 3,600 students. as you've just heard from the school superintendent, dr. parieno in murrysville,

pennsylvania. all wounds were the result of a knife attack. seven of those stabbed are considered to have life-threatening injuries. police say it was the assistant principal who tackled the 16-year-old sophomore, stabbing and stopping his stabbing rampage. the suspect is now in custody and is being questioned by an fbi official interview specialist. the first call for help came shortly after 7:00 a.m. the students were getting ready to head to class. many injured were attacked on the first floor of the school, and in hallways. joining me is jim cavanaugh, msnbc analyst, and melissa finch, and ceo of forbes hospital joining me by home. first from the hospital, tell me about the condition of those injured. according to the doctor's report earlier, there were some very serious injuries indeed. deep penetrating wounds to the right abdomen in what the surgeon described, the e.r. surgeon described as a seeming

pattern. can you update us on that? >> yeah. i think that's accurate. all of the victims here are male. i know that there were some females involved that may have gone to other facilities, but the victims here at forbes were all male, and they were deep stab wounds in the abdomen. three of them, you know, that required immediate -- taking the patients immediately to the operating room. frankly, they're fairly extensive surgeries. one of the kids is just coming out now. so very serious injuries. and to include the kids that were not taken to the operating room, that were able to be treated in the emergency room, that will continue to stay in the hospital, in some of our critical care areas.

>> according to what i heard earlier, there was need of -- there was serious organ damage, internal injuries, and they said one fortunate thing was there was a liver specialist on hand. is that the kind of injuries you're talking about? >> yes, for one of the kids, that's absolutely true. and for the others, you know, you have to continue to do studies to make sure that the pancreas or, you know, other organs aren't harmed. even when we're giving that interview, you know, we're still having to monitor the other kids, and so forth. but yes, one of the kids p -- you're right, we actually contacted a liver specialist who flew out here just in case we needed his expertise. >> i know the city of pittsburgh, their medical system were early specialists in liver transplants and things such as that. so i know you have the expertise nearby. but tell me about whether these

are still life-threatening. i know kids lost a lot of blood. >> yes. well, one kid is still in very critical condition. and i think that -- i think the kids are going to be fine. they're young, and i think they'll persevere. and i think they're all going to be fine. but that doesn't -- these were life-threateni life-threatening -- and not the paramedics responded in the field so appropriately, i mean, it really is a team effort. everything has to work fluidly. and in this instance this morning, i think you can be very proud of everybody that was involved. >> well, indeed we are. i know it's a small community. the doctor who was speaking earlier said he knew the moms. he was an obgyn working in the e.r. and probably delivered some

of these kids. this is a small town. >> well, that's true. and many of our employees, you know, have kids that go to franklin regional, and they were worried about their children today. i personally live three blocks from franklin regional. so, you know, as i was driving to work this morning, i was actually counting the ambulances that were driving past me and calling in, and saying, number four went by, number five went by, number six went by. and also looking out my windshield to look at what was happening with the air ambulance and calling it in. so we immediately established medical command this morning. we had 20 physicians at the ready this morning. and our response -- i couldn't be more proud of our hospital. that's why we have a trauma program. and it's why we're here.

>> we thank you, and for all of you, for what you've done. and thank you for taking the time to talk with us. there are 3,600 students k through 12 in the school district, 1,200 in the high school. one of those students joins me by phone. elisa, were you in school this morning? it was before classes even started when this all took place. >> i wasn't in the school this morning. but i was driving up the hill to go to the school when i heard the fire alarm. i saw tons of people outside. i saw a few hysterically crying. there was kids going down the hill saying, turn around, go home, get out of here. i was just very confused. >> and from that point, what did you see happening? i assume that the emergency medical teams started arriving. >> yes, they did. i went to my parking spot, because i had nowhere else -- because i had no idea where else i could go. i got out of my car and that's when students were saying someone got stabbed, and i

couldn't believe it. i was sitting out there in awe outside my car. and teachers came by, they said, okay, everyone move down to the middle school, so we're in a secure area. i saw police cars from a lot of different townships coming in to help us. and i definitely knew this was something that was very serious. >> elisa, what grade are you? >> i am in 12th grade. >> and so at this point are you still on the campus? or have you gone home? >> i am home now. but i just got home about an hour ago. we were waiting in the gym for a few hours until our parents could come and pick us up and check us out, and get home safely. >> i know there's going to be counseling, we heard earlier that one of the chaplains is going to be meeting with parents and students. have you had any contact with any of the counseling, or your folks and others getting together for group meetings later today? >> i haven't had, like, any counseling, but i definitely

think counseling is definitely a good idea. i saw a lot of people there that were just barely hanging on. i know a few of the kids that were stabbed, and i know a lot of their siblings that are my friends. and it's just crazy to think that something like this could happen at a little small town in murrysville, pennsylvania. >> and i know that you know some of the kids who were hurt. we're told by the hospital that at least at forbes they were all boys. i don't know if you know any girls were also hurt, and what you know about whether they were in any club together, or after-school activities or any particular classroom. is there any connection among these kids? >> yeah, i do know a few of the girls. i had a class with one last year, and i know another girl who's in the band with me. and she's also a really good friend -- my really good friend. i talked to her before, she's really sweet, really nice. it's just insane to think that

this happened. to, like, such nice people that did not deserve this at all. >> we don't want to use any names of anyone, because everybody's obviously underage and nobody's been identified. but do you know the boy who allegedly did this? >> i know his name. i don't know him personally. but i've heard his name around, hike people told me about it. i know who did it. so -- >> and do you know what people are saying, those who are in the inner group of people who know some of the victims, about what happened? i know you're not an eyewitness, but from what your friends have told you? >> yeah, i do. i heard some eyewitness stuff, actually. one of my friends' sisters was chased by the kid. but she was not hurt in any way. but she was chased by him. she's totally shooken up. which is understandable. i know a few of the -- like i said, the siblings of the people who were hurt.

and they weren't holding on too well. >> alyssa, is your mom home, or your dad? >> yeah, they are. >> i'm going to let you go, and you be with your family. i know this is going to be a hard couple of days. >> yes. >> we wish you the best. >> thank you. >> take care of yourself. >> thank you. >> and jim cavanaugh is with me from the atf. jim, you've been through so many horrible situations before, in your service, but this is a bad one. >> it is, andrea. but there's a positive here for the parents, too. my very first call as a uniformed police officer was to a brutal stabbing. and there's a lot of blood, and they're violent attacks, but they can be very survivable as well. i think in this case, that's what we're seeing. we've got the paramedics there quick, the police and trauma surgeons. so really, we're going to see some miracles with the medical here. and from what the doctor said at the press conference, a lot of the wounds were on the arms of

some of the guys, maybe girls who were fighting off this guy. so those wounds may not be fatal. so there's some positive here. let's hope that everybody can survive this. you know, one of the things that strikes you here is the roving nature of the crime scene, which we see in all these kind of berserk attacks. ft. hood, the navy yard, you see it today. the criminal doesn't stay in one place. this berserk child, really, it's awful criminality, you know, opposed by this vice principal and police officer. but they go from place to place. they move around. and these are large buildings, large facilities, and the officers have to find them to stop them. >> the hospital administrator is still on with us. mr. jackson, i know that jim cavanaugh said that we're hoping from your reporting, from what the doctors said, that the blood has been stenched, that the emergency medical teams got

there quickly, as you pointed out, and that these kids will survive, despite organ damage and trauma of what they've been through. >> that is our hope and prayer. that is what we fully expect to happen at this point. >> do you know about children who have been taken to some of the other hospitals in the area? where besides forbes might they have been taken? >> i know that one went to our sister hospital, allegheny general hospital, and the patient has been treated and released, i believe. and a young woman was sent to the children's hospital, and within the upmc system, or presbyterian hospital, i believe a few were also sent there. the more critical patients came here because of our -- we're the nearest trauma facility. but i don't know -- that's what i know. >> and so far, is everyone out

of surgery? refresh our memory -- >> no, there's still one young boy still in surgery now. >> and is that the boy who had the serious liver -- >> it is. >> -- involvement? >> it is. >> is this going to be a case -- can that liver be repaired? is this a transplant situation? what do you know? >> i don't know that yet. i don't think it's going to be a transplant situation. i don't know. >> all right. thank you again, reese jackson from forbes, and everything that your trauma teams have been doing in the e.r. molly joins us, a reporter with the "pittsburgh post-gazette" now. molly, are you there at the scene? and what do you know so far about what happened? >> sure. i'm in a parking lot right now near the school. there was just a press conference a short time ago with the public safety spokesman from westmoreland county. and with the superintendent of

schools. it was a short update. we expect to have another one about 2:00. everything is so early at this point. we do know that the 16-year-old male student suspect is in custody. had some injuries to his hands. and that there were a total of 20 people injured. four critically. 19 of the injuries were students, one was a school security guard. >> and we heard that the assistant principal with some help from the school guard actually arrested, or brought down the attacker. >> yeah. we believe he tackled the attacker. some of the details are still sparse. we were able to get his name confirmed by the district. but we have heard from several folks about what happened. and that there seem to be other students who took action to help protect their fellow students.

>> and do you know anything yet, molly, about what set this off? what could have set this off? or about the attacker himself? i don't want to use any names. >> right. and we're not yet at this point either. the police chief in murrysville said a short time ago that they're not sure what the motive is yet. but that's still early. it's still under investigation. i'm just really leaving it at that at this point. >> molly, i know you've got a lot of reporting to do. thanks for joining us. let's bring in pete williams down in the newsroom. local police asked for help from the fbi, the fbi is now on the case? >> well, not just the fbi, this has been an all hands-on-deck from law enforcement in the area. the fbi does have a full-up office in pittsburgh not far away. and what they've been doing is helping process the scene. gather the evidence to build the narrative of what happened here, so that the police can pursue

charges. so they have evidence response technicians on scene. they have people who can counsel the victims. they will also help take witness statements, and they will also help with the interviews of the family and friends of the young man who's in custody now, as they try to answer the question to which apparently there's no good answer yet which is, why did he do this. one question that occurs, of course, is how was he able to stab so many people so quickly. apparently authorities say he had two knives and was moving very quickly through the hallways and classrooms. but was he targeting people? was he acting at random? and why did he do this is still a question we don't know. the police officials earlier said that they were looking into a claim that the student suspect had telephoned another student the night before. and had said something threatening. but they're still looking into that to see whether in fact that is the case, whether this is a case as we so often see in these

incidents of insider school attacks by students whether this was some kind of grievance, whether this was a case of bullying. but we don't know the answers to those questions yet. >> thanks, pete. that's new information, two knives, supposedly with the suspect, at least according to initial reports. pete williams, i know you're going to have more information as it becomes available. thanks to james cavanaugh and to all of our other guests. and again, just to recap. a mass stabbing at franklin regional high school in murrysville, pennsylvania. a 16-year-old male student, a sophomore, has been arrested and is now being questioned by the fbi specialists. the attacker was tackled by the assistant school principal. we know 20 people were injured, 7 of those hurt are said to have life-threatening injuries, 4 were reported critical at medical institutions. authorities say that students were stabbed with a knife, and now pete says possibly two knives. several first floor classrooms

and hallways, before the classes started around 7:15 this morning eastern standard time. an update from forbes hospital earlier today reported that three of the victims were taken there, were undergoing surgery. five of the admitted students had superficial wounds. all injuries were knife wounds and had a pattern to them, to the lower right abdomen and right flank. one student is still in surgery at this hour with liver damage, or with some problems with the liver. we'll bring you updates as we have them. stay with us. you're watching "andrea mitchell reports" on on msnbc. ] we're nw in the approach phase, everything looking good. ♪ velocity 1,200 feet per second. [ man #2 ] you're looking great to us, eagle. ♪ 2,000 feet. ♪ still looking very good. 1,400 feet. [ male announcer ] a funny thing happens when you shoot for the moon. ahh, that's affirmative. [ male announcer ] you get there. you're a go for landing, over.

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androgel 1.62%. get the blood tests. change your number. turn it up. transferred money from his before larry instantly bank of america savings account to his merrill edge retirement account. before he opened his first hot chocolate stand calling winter an "underserved season". and before he quit his friend's leaf-raking business for "not offering a 401k." larry knew the importance of preparing for retirement. that's why when the time came he counted on merrill edge to streamline his investing and help him plan for the road ahead. that's the power of streamlined connections. that's merrill edge and bank of america. a big announcement in the world of college basketball today. derrick gordon, a sophomore shooting guard at umass, has come out as the first openly player in men's 1-a athletics. he said in part, this is the

happiest i've ever been in my 22 years of living. no more hiding. i just want to live life happy and play the sport i love. derrick joins me now. let me ask you, i'm so happy for you, and sharing in your joy. what gave you the guts, the courage to come out and to do what you did today? >> it's all timing. it was the right time for me to come out. nobody really has a set date when it's their time. my time was after the ncaa tournament. i went to my room, i did some thinking after that, and i made the decision. there's a lot of kids that's in my situation right now, that can't be themselves and got to hide who they really are. and i want to be the first to step up and be that leader for those people that are like that, because it's a scary situation, just to have to tell your family members, your friends that you're gay. i want to be able to inspire

those people that's like that. >> what helped you have the guts to tell your family, your friends, your teammates? >> just confidence in myself. i had about three, four days when i came back from the tournament, just a lot of thinking, talked to jason collins. he definitely inspired me a lot. and just talking to him, he just told me, listen, there's going to be a lot of negative things, but it's going to be more positive people that reach out to you and want to help you. and he definitely helped me a lot into making my final decision. and i couldn't be any happier. this is the happiest i've been. and i just want to get back and join my teammates and get ready for the next season. >> i want to ask you about your coach. because coach kellogg, derrick kellogg, issued his own statement. let me just read that statement in part. he said, i have the most

profound respect for derrick and the decision he has made to come out publicly. he's a model student, a terrific competitor, but most importantly he is a wonderful human being. we know his decision weighed heavily on him for some time. but as a coaching staff, a team and a family, we stress to him we support him in any way possible. derrick is a first-class representative of this yurt and this program since he joined us, and we're all very proud of him. tell me what difference having coach kellogg and that coaching staff behind you meant to you? >> it was great. some of the -- the way the team responded, i thought they wasn't going to respond that way. coach kellogg, he's been great. this is definitely going to make me and him much closer. he's a wonderful coach. my teammates are rallying behind me and they were very supportive of me no matter what. the sexual orientation is going to be behind me. they know the type of player i'm

on the court and the type of things i can do. it won't change anything. i'm just happy and blessed that i've been involved with this organization, and my team accepting me for who i am. >> now, you are a sophomore. you still have two years to play, at least at umass. you had a breakout year this year. >> yeah. >> your first year playing with the team, the first time you've gotten to the ncaa tournament since 1998. you transferred from kentucky. was the atmosphere different for you in kentucky? western kentucky, i should say. >> as far as my sexual orientation? >> yeah, as far as your comfort -- well, as far as your comfort level with the team, about this whole issue of your sexual orientation? >> they had no idea. that's something that i just -- i mean, i've been hiding very well for them not to be able to find out. but it didn't change anything, as far as from western kentucky and now at umass. i just felt that honestly, i

couldn't go the next couple months just hiding and being somebody that i'm not. just living a life in shame. and just having people go out there and saying gays aren't allowed in sports, and it definitely changed my mind a lot. i think nobody in this world should ever live like that. that's a horrible way of living, being somebody that you can't. i just got the confidence and told myself that i'm not going to live my life different just because society doesn't accept it. and i was willing to make a change for the better, and help people out that's in the position that i'm in, or even kids that don't play sports. just people in general that's afraid to come out and be themselves. because i'm 22 years old. i'm only going to get older, and i don't want to wait until i'm 35, 40 years to say, i'm gay. because that's a lot of years of

hiding. and i wouldn't have been able to do that. so i got the confidence in myself, and the support from my support team. and they helped me out along the way through all of this. >> and i love your t-shirt. your #betrue t-shirt. >> yeah. >> loving that. you got help from another role model, jason collins, the nba player. now you're going to be a role model as well. which is amazing for kids all over the country. but tell me about your folks, and talking to your parents and how did that go? >> well, my mom -- like i said before, i was nervous when i was telling them. it got to the point i told my mom to start guessing what it is. that i'm going to tell you. and of course, she guessed it right on the fifth one, she asked me, are you gay? i said, yeah, that's it. they kind of froze for a little

bit. but my mom said, oh, i always knew. which is expected. because mothers always know. but my father was kind of surprised. he couldn't believe it. but he came around and he supported me. it may have took him some time, but he definitely supported me. he loves me for who i am, and nothing's going to change. my older brother, mike, definitely handled the situation better than i thought he would. he definitely helped me out a lot. he's more concerned about my basketball career and my future. he's just ready to get back in the gym and start working out with me. i couldn't have asked for a better answer from him. my twin brother, he took it a little hard, because he couldn't believe it at first. but he's going to accept me for who i am. he loves me, and he comes home in september, and he said he just can't wait to see me and get our brotherly bond back. my whole family has just been supportive. which is a big deal for me, because my family, it's family

first for whatever i do. and they was the first ones to know. and just to hear their responses and how they handled it was just a blessing. i'm sure there's a lot of families out there that probably handle it way worse than my family handled it, but -- and that's the sad thing about it, but hopefully i'll give those kids out there and whoever else the confidence to come out and be themselves, no matter how old they are. >> derrick gordon, jason collins before you, now derrick, now you, you are an incredible role model. we want to thank you. this is a big and important message to kids everywhere. and to their families. thank you for being with us today. >> yeah. definitely. >> congratulations. a lot of guts. >> thanks for having me. >> and back to -- we have the sad breaking news outside of pittsburgh, the mass stabbing at franklin regional high school in murrysville, pennsylvania. a 16-year-old male student, a sophomore, arrested, now being questioned by an fbi interview

specialist. he was tackled by the assistant school principal and handcuffed by the school officer. authorities report that students were stabbed with a knife in several first-floor classrooms and in hallways before classes started. we'll be back with more details. [ female announcer ] f provokes lust. ♪ it elicits pride... incites envy... ♪ ...and unleashes wrath. ♪ temptation comes in many heart-pounding forms. but only one letter. "f". the performance marque from lexus. but only one letter. ♪ i ♪ and i got the tools ira ♪ to do it my way ♪ i got a lock on equities ♪ that's why i'm type e ♪ ♪ that's why i'm tyyyyype eeeee, ♪ ♪ i can do it all from my mobile phone ♪

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president obama and former presidents carter and clinton are going to be gathering at the lbj library in texas tomorrow to mark the 50th anniversary of the civil rights act. 50 years ago, georgia congressman john lewis was the youngest member of the so-called big six, the civil rights leaders who put their lives on the line every day in order to get this law past congress. in his congressional office a few days ago, john lewis talked to me about the significance of tomorrow's anniversary. it marks the 50th anniversary of the passage of the civil rights

act of 1964. you will be introducing the first african-american president. what does that mean to you? >> it means everything to have an opportunity to introduce, or present the first african-american president. if someone had told me a few years ago, 50 years ago, that i would have an opportunity to introduce an african-american as president of the united states, i would have said, you're crazy. you're out of your mind. you don't know what you're talking about. it's a great honor. >> has this administration done enough to advance the cause? >> i think this administration can do much more. 50 years later, we still have a distance to go. we've come so far, but we have so far to go. >> there are members of the black caucus, that there need to

be more appointments from this president, from this white house. >> there needs to be more action on the part of the president, on the part of the congress, and on the part of the american people. the american people need to make some noise, so say what we did 50 years ago, with president johnson and president kennedy. >> you made a lot of noise. >> well, it was important 50 years ago to make some noise, to find a way to get in the way. and for some reason it went too quiet. i tell young people, i tell students all the time, speak up, speak out. >> is that because people feel disenfranchi disenfranchised, they don't feel their government is working for them? >> i think a great many people in america today feel

disconnected. they feel that they won't be heard. that we have people who are trying to make it harder, and difficult for people to participate in a democratic process. some people feel their votes won't be counted. >> well, in fact, you fought so hard for the voting rights act, and now we see efforts in state after state to roll it back. starting with what the supreme court did. you were very critical that day you came on my program, and you said it was like stabbing through the heart. >> i still feel that way. that decision was a very bad decision. i took it personal. i gave a little blood on that bridge, to help create that climate to getting voting rights act of 1965 signed into law by president lyndon johnson. >> we attempt to march to montgomery.

>> you're talking about bloody sunday, about the bridge, and what happened in selma. >> well, you know, we just wanted to march in an orderly, peaceful, nonviolent fashion, to dramatize the need for voting rights action, for the congress to pass a strong voting rights law. and president johnson came to the congress and gave one of the most meaningful speeches any american president had given in modern time, on the whole issue of civil rights and voter rights. it was passed. it was signed into law. if it hadn't been for president johnson signing that bill, there would have been no barack obama as president of the united states. >> we see now in key states, where republicans control the legislature, attempts to turn things back and create new barriers for people voting.

>> we see it all over. it's not just a southern thing. we see it in ohio. we see it in pennsylvania. we see it in arizona. it's not just in the american south. so there is a need for a stronger voting rights act. we don't want to go back, we want to go forward. we made too much progress to stand still, or to slide back. >> talk to me for a minute about dr. king. you met him, you were 17 years old, and he sent you a bus ticket to come from college, and meet with him, join the movement. >> i remember so well. in 1957, at the age of 17, i went to college only ten miles from my home. it was all white. didn't admit black students. i submitted my application, my high school transcript, never heard a word from the college. i wrote a letter to dr. king and told him i needed his help. he wrote me back and sent me a

round-trip greyhound bus ticket, traveled to montgomery, met with him and revere ref remembered - reverend abernathy in his church. and i saw martin luther king jr., i was so afraid to be in his presence, and he said, well, you the boy from troy? are you john lewis? and i said, dr. king, i'm john robert lewis. and he started calling me the boy from troy. he inspired me. he taught me how to stand up, to speak up, and speak out. he became my inspiration, my hero, my big brother. >> and we'll have more of my conversation with congressman john lewis tomorrow. he also shared with me his incredible story about buying a suit for his first protest.

>> this was my first protest. and it led to my arrest. i had just turned 20 years old. and i wanted to have a nice suit to wear. and i couldn't afford a new suit, so i went to a used store, used men's store and bought this suit for $5. >> $5? >> $5. >> and what year was this? >> this was 1960. february the 27th, 1960. 89 of us, students in nashville was arrested. >> was this a lunch counter protest? >> we had been sitting in at the woolworth's lunch counter. >> we'll have a special coverage all this week marking the 50th anniversary of the civil rights act. please tell us what civil rights means to you today. share your thoughts using the #advancing the dream. [ male announcer ] this is kevin. to prove to you that aleve is the better choice for him,

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this morning's mass stabbing at franklin regional high school in murrysville, pennsylvania, heft a small town shaken to its core. what can be done to prevent these tragedies in the first place. join me is the school safety expert joining me from cleveland. mr. trump, let's talk about the response team and what they could have done, what they did, and how you would evaluate it so far. >> hi, andrea. this is a time of day that concerns us. we've been focusing in our security assessment consultations with schools just on this issue. if you look at many of our high schools around the country, custodians are going around opening doors as early as 6:00 a.m., an hour or more before students and staff arrive. students come in, oftentimes before many of the teachers. so teachers are just arriving, you have a skeletal staff on scene, while students are in cafeterias coming in hallways.

so supervision is a critical thing at this point in time. not to say it's the teacher's fault or anything, but we have to have a heightened adult presence as soon as the first kid walks in the door. as far as the actual response today, with having a school resource officer, plus a security officer, and assistant principal intervene, having the onsite support, because that's how most of these incidents have their first intervention. i have some questions as to the fact that i heard in a press conference that someone pulled the fire alarm and caused people to evacuate. that can actually create more chaos for first responders coming on scene, rather than having students lock down. but i think that the issue is really to get students out of harm's way. that's done by the traditional lockdown, which has worked well in many of these incidents. but there's going to be with social media in particular texting, facebook, twitter, cell phones.

you're going to have parents flocking to the scene. so schools have an amazing amount of challenges along with their first responders to deal with parents coming right away, text messaging, misinformation, parent/student reunification, plus handling the actual incident itself so make sure they neutralize the threat. >> very briefly, what about magnetometers in schools? >> it sounds like a quick fix, but the devils are in the details of implementation. time and labor intensive. you can still get a weapon in. someone could come in clean, pass a weapon through a window, come in at night for a basketball practice at 6:00 in the evening, when they're not running, and plant something in the school and pick it up the next day after they got cleared. sounds good, sounds like a quick fix. the first and best line of defense is people. number one way we find out about weapons in schools is when a kid comes forward and tells an adult that they trust, whether that's a teacher, principal or school resource officer.

>> kenneth trump, very good advice. thank you for that. other headlines we're following today. as expected today, senate republicans blocked the democratic bill curbing paycheck discrimination against women. and the month-long search for missing malaysia airlines flight 370 got a boost today when an australian navy ship with american ping detectors heard two more pings, which could be from the plane's black box. analysis conducted saturday were consistent with those of the plane's black box. the pings were slightly weaker, suggesting that the equipment batteries may be dying, but they are narrowing the search area. the lead prosecutor in the oscar pistorius murder trial had his first chance to question the former olympian. he pressed pistorius on the details of the events. he began sobbing when a photo of reeva steenkamp was shown in the

am courtroom. he said he did not need to be tormented by what he saw that night. >> i made a mistake. >> you killed reeva steenkamp, that's what you did. >> i made a mistake. >> what was your mistake? >> my mistake was that i took reeva's life. >> you killed her. you shot and killed her. how do you take responsibility for that. >> i did, my lady. >> say it then. say yes. i killed -- i shot and killed reeva steenkamp. >> i did, my lady. mix jingle) right on cue. (laughs) it's more than just a meal, it's meow mix mealtime. with wholesome ingredients and irresistible taste, no wonder it's the only one cats

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you're looking at live pictures from ft. hood, texas. this afternoon president obama and michelle obama will be there. president obama will speak at the memorial for the three people killed in last week's shooting. more than four years after the speech he gave to honor 12 soldiers and 1 civilian killed

by hassan. that does it for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports." a lot of news today, much of it sad. and more of our coverage on advancing the dream as we mark the 50th anniversary of the civil rights act. the president will be speaking in our hour. "ronan farrow daily" is next. beautiful wednesday weather. pretty much coast to coast. this will be the warmest day we've seen this spring. 97 in phoenix. look at minneapolis at 72. that snow is melting in a hurry now through northern portions of wisconsin. the great lakes and northern new england. sunshine is going to be with us right throughout the day. enjoy. what does everything mean to you?

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and now i've got to take more pills. ♪ yup. another pill stop. can i get my aleve back yet? ♪ for my pain, i want my aleve. ♪ [ male announcer ] look for the easy-open red arthritis cap. we have breaking news right now from the stabbing rampage at a pennsylvania school. we'll update you throughout the hour. we'll also bring you the latest on president obama's trip to console victims of another recent act of violence. we'll bring you a civil rights icon who's going to preview today's speech from president clinton on another era of violence and injustice, and what we can do to prevent it from recurring. it's one of those hard days. we'll do our best to bring you everything you need to know. >> we're following this breaking news, an attack inside a pennsylvania high school that

sent as many as 20 people to the hospital with stab wounds. >> guns aren't the only things we have to fear. knives are there also. in many ways, race has always divided our political parties. no doubt we're a vastly different country than we were 50 years ago. but the reality is, there is still so much more to go. >> prosecutors are getting their first chance to question the olympic sprinter on this, his third day on the witness stand. >> you killed her. you shot and killed her. >> i did, my lady. >> say yes, i killed -- i shot and killed reeva steenkamp. >> the standoff in eastern ukraine continues. the diplomatic war of words escalated. >> no one should be fooled. believe me, no one is fooled. russian special forces and agents have been the catalysts behind the chaos in the last 24 hours.