sanctions approved by congress aimed specifically at punishing russia. sarah sanders notes the trump administration has not rescinded sanctions enacted under president obama. >> we'll leave it there. that's it for us. i'll see you back here at 3:00. now time for andrea mitchell with "andrea mitchell reports." >> thank you, guys, for the fact checking. right now, students on a mission. high school students from parkland, florida, demanding answers from state legislators as president trump hints at tighter gun regulations. does he mean it? >> where is group two? >> we don't want to take away anyone's gun, we just need regulations on it. >> what do we want? >> change. >> when do we want it? >> now! >> i know my voice is going to be heard because i was there and i can tell them to close their eyes and imagine hearing your friends scream as you hear the gunshots. >> never again. never again, never again.

>> blame game. president trump again trying to blame barack obama for russia's election meddling. >> he has been tougher on russia in the first year than obama was in eight years combined. >> coming up, we will fact check that claim. face-off, the showdown on security clearances coming to a head inside the white house. who will come out on top, the president's son-in-law or his chief of staff. good day, i'm andrea mitchell in new york. at this hour activists are fighting for gun control on two fronts in florida's capitol. parents, teachers and elected officials joined students in a rally to support common sense gun control, their words. in about 15 minutes several students are scheduled to hold a press conference after their meetings today with lawmakers. nbc's maya rodriguez joins me now from tallahassee. maya? >> reporter: we just had a round of applause a few seconds ago.

solve of the students are at the rally that started at noon. it has to do with gun control. a lot of students are out here, both from local high schools and florida state university. joining us is karina richardson, a high school student in leon county, leon county has given you huge access to come here. why is this important for you to come? >> it's important because my generation we now have to do active shooter drills in our school to ensure we know what to do. past generations haven't had to do that. so now we're here to make our voices heard. >>. >> reporter: karina, thank you for joining us. as you can see, there are hundreds of people out here at this rally. >> i know there's a lot of noise out there, maya. thank you for bringing those voices. we'll be checking back with you throughout the show.

president trump sig flalg he might consider some modest new gun regulations. he's already stepping on his own message today, again, trying to deflect criticism that he is soft on russia by blaming barack obama. indirectly, another favorite target of his, his own attorney general. the president tweeting, if all the russian meddling took place during the obama administration, right up to january 20th, why aren't they the subject of the investigation? why didn't obama do something about the meddling? why aren't dem crimes under investigation? ask jeff session. joining me now, nbc national correspondent peter alexander at the white house, and msnbc political analyst robert costa from "the washington post" and moderator of "washington week." peter, first to you, with the president sigging he might be willing to consider new regulations supported by the nra, not that controversial, and in one case, the bump stocks arguably require legislation that a new regulation, new

executive order would not stand the test of a court challenge. >> andrea, to be clear, nothing here would have done anything to stop the shooting that took place in parkland, the bump stock issue. that specifically relates to what happened back in las vegas. the cornyn bill which would have stopped what took place in southerland spring, the awful church shooting there. the president is expecting new openness in the course of the last several days following that awful shooting in parkland. among those reportedly having conversations with associates he would be open to raising the age limit for those who are able to buy guns like the ar-15 weapon that was purchased by nikolas cruz there, putting the age up to 21. privately behind the scenes we're hearing interesting conversations from those that speak to the president, saying the president has been frustrated that more had not been done in the time since those past shootings. he said effectively why is this

always on my shoulders? why hasn't the department of justice done more? those comments were striking as the president ordered the department of justice to write those regulations banning devices like bump stocks. there was a review under way. the president was saying enough of the review, let's get something on our plate, let's do something about it. again, andrea, he attacked a frequent target, his attorney general jeff sessions, a man he has publicly on twitter and even in public statements called weak, beleaguered. he said he's disappointed with him on everything from the leaking issue, perhaps the original sin, the recusal from the russia investigation, and now, of course, on guns, the president basically saying you should have done more on this. the question is will the president actively address it in some real way or is the white house viewing this as a moment where they have to say something in a moment that could disappear as soon as the next big story swamps it. >> he's been the president since

las vegas, since bump stocks became a national issue. it doesn't seem to me, robert costa, weigh in here -- that they have done anything at all since las vegas? >> there has been a reluctance among republicans in both tallahassee in the wake of this latest shooting and in the wake of las vegas and congress, to have any kind of meaningful reform or legislation on gun control. you have to understand that the republican party, you look at the latest pugh poll, any kind of changes to gun law. that kind of thinking, that culture in the gop is informing leaders at this moment, even as they show a glimmer of a breakthrough. >> senator feinstein is among those who called for, first of all, legislation on the bump stocks, but also raising the age. she was the original sponsor of the 1994 ban on assault weapons, came out of her background in

california where she witnessed the assassination -- witnessed a number of mass killings, but also she rose in political life out of the assassination of mayor moscone in san francisco and she became the successor. this has been part of her political dna. the president has never talked to her about it to my knowledge or reached out in the past to her about any of this legislation. >> it's a good question, andrea. i don't have anything new on that. i don't know of any new conversations certainly between the president and senator feinstein of california. it's one we will press them again on today. the president will take i think what many americans will view as a rare step this afternoon after 4:00 when he hosts family, families affected by the shooting in parkland. some students, in fact, from parkland expected to be here for this listening session to take place. the families and loved ones and educators and teachers from newtown, sandy hook, columbine as well. this will be an interesting conversation.

it's likely, as we understand it, that reporters or at least the press pool will be allowed inside. the president frequently goes around the table and let's everybody share their opinions on this issue. there have been contentious moments at times, even on other topics with members of his own party on some of these issues. remember most recently when he was called out pour the idea that he was saying there should be a shutdown. what we'll be watching for is do any of these people call out the president to his face the same as we've witnessed these calls on cable television and in a new ad in "the new york times" today. >> to robert costa -- both of you have been covering the security clearance showdown, if you will, at the white house, the crackdown announced friday night by john kelly, the cheech of staff to try to get his arms around it. many say really taking aim at jared kushner, the son-in-law, who is reportedly resisting any change or downgrading of his security clearances, despite the fact that he has not passed all of his background checks.

what do you know about this? friday was the deadline that the chief of staff set, bob. this would set the son-in-law versus the chief of staff. who is going to win that showdown? >> it remains to be seen. when "the washington post" obtained that document last friday, reading through the first few pages, you see a reaction to the rob porter scandal. general kelly trying to implement new protocols inside the white house. if you trace your finger down in the document, you see this key paragraph where it talks about those who have interim security clearances. a week from today, they said last friday, that means now february 23rd, if you have an interim clearance, it will now perhaps go away and you're going to have to have a full security clearance to remain in the white house at least if you want to have access to classified materials. that puts jared kushner, the president's son-in-law, in the crosshairs of this document. how is he going to respond this week by that friday deadline? that's a point of negotiation inside the white house today. >> peter alexander, just to

button this down, jared kushner only yesterday was at the u.n. security council right behind nikki haley, sending a strong message of support to israel asthma mood abbas, the palestinian leader, was speaking to the security council. this is the first time they've even been in the same space, the israelis and the palestinians in quite some time. he's deeply involved in that. is this an attempt by john kelly to reduce his involvement in foreign affairs and deny him access to the president's daily brief, or can the president use his commander-in-chief authority and give him access to anything he wants? >> the president can use his authority to give frankly anybody access to this classified information. the president can sing single-handedly declassify it. he can have the housekeepers come in the he so chose. the sense such that john kelly put out -- this is so remarkable, literally after the

memo last week where he refers to jared kushner by name saying he has full confidence in kushner's ability to continue with his foreign policy agenda, noting specifically the israeli-palestinian peace efforts and also his conversations with mexico, among other foreign nations. the fact that he had to go to these lengths here, raises these questions to another level about whether or not john kelly is trying to bring jared kushner a little further away from those daily intelligence briefings from some of the most highly and sensitive classified information that the president has and say, you can stick with your portfolio, but we'd like to do this separately. we'll have to tune in to see how it plays out. >> back stairs, upstairs at the white house. fascinating stuff. robert costa, peter alexander on an important day where we understand some students from capitol hill have already marched to the white house. >> reporter: andrea, i can see them, they're now arriving at the white house.

hundreds of these students i believe from in and around the washington, d.c. area. there's the live pictures. as itches speaking to you, i could hear them with megaphones outside. >> peter, any time come back in and update us or give us a call on your cell. thank you so much. nicolle wallace, the host of "deadline white house," is here, four hours early. this is an incredible day, as all the days have been. to see these students in tallahassee and now a sympathy march on pennsylvania avenue, this is spreading. this is not just one tragedy, one place that people can ignore. >> tammy leitner was on the bus with them while they were driving from parkland, florida, to tallahassee, and they took that vote not to take up the bill to ban the assault rifle.

tammy was interviewing them in realtime as that was happening. so goes television and politics in the time of the iphone and live tv. i said to her -- they were crushed. they said how insulting. i said, no, how remarkable. what would normally be a state capitol story just in tallahassee, is now national news. it is now national news that the state legislature in florida which is 65% republican refused to take a vote on whether or not to ban the assault rifle because of those kids on the bus. every one of them has had a greater impact on this debate than lots of seasoned activists of my generation have had in a very long time. the last families and faces that had this impact, that had the nation's attention were the parents of the babies, the first graders and kindergartners who were slaughtered at sandy hook. before that it would be colu

columbi columbine. these kids here have donald trump's number. what they should ask donald trump to do today is call off the attack dogs on twitter, call off his allies on two other cable networks who have suggested on live television that some of these kids are actors. he's not powerless. yes, the nra backs the banning of bump stocks. it would still be better than nothing. i'm not clear why that never happened after vegas. but there are things donald trump can do. these kids growing up with technology, they understand all the tools being used against them better than people my age and of my generation. i think he has met his match in this generation of activists, and i don't think the gun debate will ever be the same. >> to your point, let's listen to some of the young people outside of this rally. >> you see, we all know that every leader including yourself, you have four pillars that you

stand upon. that first pillar that you stand upon that brought you here today is your faith. it is your faith that moves you. that second pillar, that move all of you to come here today on these capitol steps, is the respect for your flag. that flag that binds all of us together as one nation, as one people who are looking forward to a better america. the third pillar that you constantly remind us of is the importance of family. you see, this is a family. marjory stoneman was a family. this is a family affair. this is a family affair.

but it is that last pillar, it is that last pillar that led me to push forth that motion on the house floor yesterday. it is this last pillar that i know that really brings all of us together and puts all of this into true context. that last pillar is our future. this is what our future looks like. [ cheers and applause ] you see, there will be those who claim we are attempting to run over the second amendment. there will be those who say we are trying to take guns from the american people. but we are here to tell the same people that there's there is eighth amendment which says it is cruel and unusual punishment to allow our people, our kids, our teachers to be gunned down

in schools, on the streets. so you exercise your first amendment right. don't you let them stop you at this moment. this is the moment we've been waiting for. you are the calvary we have been waiting for. so to you, let's do it. do your sit-ins, do your non-violent demonstrations, do your protests. do not let anyone turn you around. if you cannot fly, i tell you right now, run. if you cannot run, i tell you to walk. if you cannot walk, i tell you to crawl. but whatever you do, make sure you move forward! [ cheers and applause ]

>> we're joined up here, you see dozens of senators and representatives. we're here because we're frustrated. for two years we have filed sensible gun safety legislation. bans on assault weapons and high capacity magazines, closing background check loopholes, allowing for a registry of the guns that exist in the state of florida. providing taking away guns from people who are mentally unstable or a danger to themselves or others. these bills have been filed for two years and we have not received a single committee hearing on one of these bills. >> as you can see, democratic legislators have come out to talk to some of the students. other of the students from parkland are inside the capitol building. nicolle wallace is with me from

"deadline white house." in one of your previous lives you were in florida, in tallahassee as the press secretary to then governor jeb bush. you know this culture, you know the politics of florida better than anyone. >> i worked in that building, and i was astonished that no one had the presence of mind to delay that vote yesterday. in some ways, it proves these kids' point. it let's them get into the debate, make the case about the intractability on the conversation about guns. >> one of the things pointed out by the tampa bay times, they had a voice vote about whether there were health effects to pornography on teenagers, where the pornography was dangerous to teenagers, and they did that by voice vote but did not take up the vote on guns. i guess basically to the republican-led legislator -- it was a party line vote -- that porn is more dangerous to these

kids than guns shooting real bullets, gunning down their fellow students and several of their teachers in front of their eyes. >> it's ludicrous. i think what people get wrong about florida is how culturally conservative the vast majority of the state is outside of south florida. i think a lot of people that vacation in florida, they think of -- south florida, they think of miami, more progressive than the rest of the state. a lot of those reps represent more culturally conservative parts of the state. >> some of the students from the high school, from parkland who survived all of this, are inside the capitol. let's listen. >> lorenzo? >> hello, everyone. my name is lorenzo prada.

i am a junior, and i do not support any political party, and i'm a survivor of the douglas massacre. i'm here today to advocate for stricter gun laws on behalf of the 17 whose lives were ripped away from them on the day of february 14, 2018. on the day of love, our loved ones were ripped away from us in a horrific manner that should never transpire. many would like to blame this event on the fbi's lack of action or the trump administration, but the simple fact is that the laws of our be loved country allowed for a deranged gunman to purchase a gun legally. the law has failed us and has let the events in parkland to occur. what we must do now is enact change because that is what we do to things that fail, we change them. to not change the law in our time of need would be a huge disservice to 17 dead in parkland, the 13 dead in

columbine, the 26 dead in sandy hook, the 50 dead in orlando, the 59 dead in las vegas. for the good of the students, the parents, the family and the country, we beg for common sense laws that would prevent a terrorist, because that's what he is, a terrorist who invoked terror upon students and everyone upon the nation, to prevent someone like him from ever holding a gun ever again. on that fateful day of the douglas massacre, we lost our future. in those lives lost lays the future of our country. on that fateful day we lost peter wang, a jrotc member and hero. he was seen holding the door open for other students to enter for safety. on that fateful day we lost coach feis, a football coach, security guard, hero and role model to his child. he was seen sacrificing his life

so another could live another day. on that fateful day we lost coach hixon, our wrestling coach and hero. he was seen leaving the auditorium to check the other's well-being because he put other's lives before his. on that day we lost nicholas dworet, cap tap on the swim team and soon to be an olympian. he was seen pushing another student out of the way when the terrorist shot into his classroom. i do not want to remember nicholas dworet as the man who met his death too early. he was my friend and captain. he was the heart and soul of the swimming team both in and out of school because he was friendly to all and mean to none. i had never seen nick frown because he was always optimistic in life. every time i saw him, he had a

smile. he had a smile when we were compete. he had a smile when i taught him spanish. he had a smile, even something he dreaded so much like math, i taught him math and he would never, never frown. before the week of that fateful day last week, the week before that nick had his own fateful day. the week before that i saw nick get signed into unv for swimming so he could chase his dream of becoming an olympian. that is a dream he can no longer achieve because nikolas cruz abhorrently decided to take nicholas dworet's life. we can't just blame nikolas cruz for this tragedy because the laws of this country allow him to purchase a weapon, purchasing an assault rifle before he was able to drink beer. he had clear signs of mental

illness. he was able to purchase a rifle after clear signs of delinquency, purchasing an assault rifle with the intention to kill. on that day of the douglas massacre, i was a victim like everyone else. my peers then, many performing heroic acts in their final hour and i was scared like everyone else. but my case was different than all the others, because on that day i was a suspected school shooter. on that day i was in the sound booth inside the auditorium when the fire alarm rang, i decided i would stay behind because what could possibly go wrong? i then hear the banging on the doors of the auditorium and i run downstairs to see 100 people banging on the door. i quickly open the doors to let the people in and i see my coach hixon running inside for safety. i was scared and i ran to the safest place possible which is

the sound booth again, and i start to pace back and forward because i did not know what was going on. and the people in the audience saw me. they saw me and they panicked because i was matching the same description as nikolas cruz. i had the same clothes, same color, same facial structure and they reported me. i was just hiding up there. i had no idea what was going on. then the door started to rattle. at first the only thought that came to my mind was, i'm going to die. the shooter is going to kill me. but then the s.w.a.t. comes in and i thought they were here to rescue me. but then as i go down the stairs, i find out that i was wrong. i found out that they thought it was me that killed the 17 peo e

people. as i go down the stairs, they tell me to put my hands up. i being the fool that i was tried putting my phone back in my pocket and they demanded again, and i, not trying to be one of those news stories of someone dying wrongfully because they refused to put their hands up, i just dropped my phone at that moment and kept going. when i went out those doors, i had six s.w.a.t. members pointing their guns at me. i was tossed to the ground, i was unjustly cussed and held at gunpoint for the degrading and depreciating action of the disturbed individual, nikolas cruz. i was then put in a corner with a police woman guarding me for the rest of the evening. i knew any movie made would be the end of my life. throughout the entire event i

only felt two things. i felt fear as i did not know my future. i did not know if i was going to be let go. i did not know where the terrorist was. i did not know how my friends were doing, and for that i was afraid. the second thing was guilt. i felt guilty closing the door behind me. i felt guilty for startling the audience. i felt guilty for the s.w.a.t. to pursue me instead of pursuing the murderer. i felt guilty for not contacting mile mother. i felt guilty for coach hixon whose life i thought i saved when he walked inside the auditorium. but whose life was ended when he walked out again. but guilty i shall feel no longer because i'm here to demand change from our government because the lives lost who shall not be lost in vain shall be used as a catalyst for change in our country today. we will make change in this country, and if not today,

tomorrow. if not tomorrow, the day after that and the day after that until we achieve the change that we want in this country. until the day that safety is preserved in all schools in our be loved country of america, we students will keep fighting for our right to live. if i had to drop everything else in my life just to make these changes happen, i will, because to me, to let these victims' lives be taken without any change in return is an act of treason to our great country. to let our fellow countrymen to fall beside us without a fight back is equal to leaving a soldier to die in a battlefield. this is an injustice to our country because not only of the lives lost, but also in the loss of confidence in our government. we lose confidence in our government because we are told that nothing can be done time and time again, and we are tired of hearing that because we know

there can be change in this country. never again should a tragedy of this caliber happen in this country. never again. as always, be proud, be passionate and be proud to be an eagle. [ cheers and applause ] >> lorenzo prada, a teenager, young leader inside the capitol in tallahassee. i'm here with nicolle wallace. the composure and compassion of this young man, driebing what he experienced, where he was mistaken from the gunman and had to face down the s.w.a.t. team himself, the guilt he's feeling. when he said the fault is not on nicolkolas cruz alone, it's on laws of our country that let nicolkolas cruz buy a weapon bee he could legally buy a beer. >> he started out by exonerating

two other groups caught in the crosshairs of this debate. he said it's not only the fault of the fbi, of the trump administration. i don't know there's very many elected democrats and republicans willing to give any quarter of this debate. these activists are so powerful, they are creating a flattening, sanding off some of the corrupted edges of this debate. their access to information, their ability -- that was loaded with facts. that was loaded with indisputable facts. i think the other group of students that are in washington, students and parents, i think when they sit down with the president, one concrete thing to ask for is his assistance in making this a fact-driven debate. the president can't do a lot, and i don't think he's willing to stand up to the nra. but he can purge some of the falsehoods, some of the smearing that happens online. e can call on facebook and twitter to take off the russian

trolls who were in the middle of this debate and have been since the shooting was on going. these students deserve that. that's the least that this president and this white house can call on. that's one of the fastest and easiest things he can do with the bully pulpit. these students are proving day in and day out that, one, they are sincere, two, they are committed, and three they have the goods to change the intractable gun debate in this country. >> nicolle, to your point, david hawg is joining us from outside the rally. we've been talking about the fact that you and your compatriots there have been smeared online by saying you were not survivors, you in particular were singled out. you are resilient despite the negative attacks on you. >> the only time you're ever doing anything that actually matters is when people try stopping you. that's what's going on. they're actually helping us out

a lot. my twitter following has tripled over the past day. i think that's in part because of these trolls. for that i'm honestly kind of thankful. the fact that people are trying to stop us, i can understand some of their opinions because there are some middle ground people. the majority are hard right people that don't want to have a discussion about guns or anything in this country or saving lives. that's what i think is sick and disgusting, the fact that people don't believe in this country anymore is absolutely horrendous and it needs to stop if we ever want change. >> we were just listening to lorenzo prada inside, carrying his extraordinary comments. david, he was talking about the fact that the lawmakers have just ignored the demands of people and it isn't just nikolas cruz. >> they won't be able to ignore us when they don't get re-elected. i guarantee you every person that voted no during that discussion yesterday is not going to have their jobs in the

coming years. honestly, i don't care at this point. change is coming regardless. >> are you aware that when they voted down the legislation that you've been seeking, they were voting that pornography is dangerous to your health as a teenager. >> hey, you know what i think is slightly more dangerous to your health than porn? guns. how can we agree that porn is dangerous for your health but not guns? what does that say about the state of our country? it's disgusting and deplorable. it needs to stop. we need start having discussions. i don't care if you're correctly elected and supported by the nra, if you speak up for these children's lives, i'll speak up for you on that. it's a small step in a bigger movement, it doesn't matter. we're going to change the world and nobody is going to stop us. >> how much has your ability online to reach out and crowd

source and create this movement helped you as you create a national movement now? >> tremendously. every single person here has probably seen us on twitter. a good 99% of them. without twitter, without instagram, without facebook, these people would not be here today in these large numbers. as such, people want to try stopping us because they see us as a threat. honestly, that's kind of entertaining to me and i love it because it means what we're doing is working. we're changing the world and people are trying to stop us. but they won't be able to. >> david, what about the pain and the grief that all of you are also experiencing, how do you incorporate that into your messages and your activism? >> honestly, but really bringing into view the -- what really matters here, lives, honestly. in every single tweet that i send out, it may not seem like i'm trying to be specifically

for each person or whatever, but every day i try bringing it back to what the main cause is. i went out on multiple issues on this platform, for example, campaign financing, different politicians. we're somewhat polarizing. we are -- well, i am somewhat polarizing. what i want people to know that's how i'm dealing with this, pointing out the individuals that i feel are responsible for the deaths of 17 people at douglas and the thousands across the country because of their refusal to take action. this is the awakening. they're seeing this could be my friend, could be my father or your mother. it needs to stop. if it doesn't, it will be. >> david hogg, thank you so much. please, go ahead. finish your thought. >> just one last point. one important thing for people

to remember is that i'm not anti gun. i am anti gun in the sense that you shouldn't be able to own a gun if you're mentally unstable and can't pass a background check. i don't people with histories of domestic violence to have guns. that's one of the major correlations. i don't want mentally unstable people especially to get guns. i want every sane person in america to express their right to own a gun. i just don't want the people to have the guns that shouldn't have them. that's the small percentage that are insane. i don't want to infringe on people's rights just as if people don't want to infringe on my freedom of speech. there's a clear and present danger. >> david hogg, thank you so much. i know we'll be hearing from you. now we'll continue to listen to some of your fellow students. >> -- is that we aren't being taken seriously enough. i personally don't know the steps that we're going to have

to take. once we figure that out, we're going to take them and you better believe we're going to take them as soon as possible because although we are just kids, we understand. we know, we're old enough to understand financial responsibilities. we're old enough to understand whether a senator cares about re-election or not. we are old enough to understand why someone might want to discredit us for their own political purposes. we will not be silenced. it has gone on long enough that, just because we're kids, we're not allowed to understand. trust me, i understand. i was in a closet locked for four hours with people i would consider almost family crying and weeping on me, begging for their lives. i understand what it's like to text my parents good-bye, i might never, ever get to see you again, i love you. i understand what it's like to fear for your life. i don't think we should ever be

discredited because of that. i don't think we should ever be silenced because we are just children. i feel that is powerful and it is one of the only reasons this movement is where it is right now. i'm extremely, extremely angry and sad. and i don't know if i'm going to be traumatized because of this. i don't know if i'm going to have faith in my state and local government anymore because what i saw today was discouraging. but i want everybody here today to know we will not be discouraged. we will not falter. we will not stop this movement because this is more than just us. this is everybody in america. this is for every single kid who fears for their life. this is more than parkland. this is more than florida. this is more than the united states. this is something serious. it is about human lives. please, i beg and i demand that every single person in power who

has the ability to change the fear that kids feel going back to school, that they do something. i want everybody to know, i'm supposed to be going back to school in less than a week. i'm not ready. i don't think anybody here is ready. i don't think anybody here is ready to go back to class and just have an 'em ity seat. you know that empty seat is because someone is dead, because somebody lost their life. i don't know how i'm going to cope with it. i've spoken to grief counselors. grief counselors can only do so much. what we need is action, and we need it now more than ever because people are losing their lives and it's still not being taken seriously. i don't know what it's going to take. i don't know what it's going to take to get some people to realize this is more than just re-elections. this is more than political gain. this is more than conspiracy

theories and people trying to disqualify us from even having an opinion. this matters to me more than anything else in my entire life, and i want everybody to know, i personally, i'm prepared to drop out of school. i am prepared to not worry about anything else besides this because change might not come today. it might not come tomorrow. it might not even come march 24th when we march for our lives down in washington, but it's going to happen and it's going to happen before my lifetime because i will fight every single day, and i know everyone else here will fight for the rest of their lives to see sensible gun laws in this country so kids don't have to fear going back to school. thank you. [ applause ] next i'd like to introduce sarah.

>> hello everyone. my name is sarah chadwick. i'm a junior at marjory stoneman douglas. msd is not only my school, but my home. on february 14th, 2018, an intruder broke into my home and robbed 17 innocent souls of a chance to impact the rld would. these outstanding and come nags nat eagles left us too soon due to the lack of gun control in our state and country. this atrocious act not only broke the hearts of our community, but broke the hearts of the entire world. we cry, we mourn and most importantly we ask why. i've been asking that question a lot lately. i haven't gotten an answer that has satisfied me. so we came up with a solution to the answer that we had never gotten. it has a name. never again. never again should a child be afraid to go to school. never again should students have to protest for their lives. never again should an innocent life be taken while trying to

gain an education. and never again should i feel guilty to be alive because peter, carmen, scott, hixon, meadow, jamie, alyssa, joaquin, helena, nick, alana, cara, martin, luke, gina and alex are not. that is why we have organized this revolution. forks for them. a revolution created by students for students. because at the end of the day, we're all positive, we're all passionate and we're all proud to be an eagle. thank you. [ applause ] i'd like to introduce my good friend, sophie whitney. >> i'm going to make this quick. high, my name is sophie whitney. i'm a senior at marjory stoneman

douglas, a place i have called home for four years, a place that i have felt safe more than anything, the place where over a week ago the biggest thing that ever happened was probably just a good season of baseball. but for the rest of history, we will now be known as that high school, where the biggest high school mass shooting occurred. with other shootings by this point, most people would have forgotten about us. but not this time. my classmates and i are probably the most determined group of people you will ever meet. people are talking about how we a aren't serious because we're children, but have you heard my friends talk? we're serious. we are here to discuss with our state legislators how we can prevent what happened to us. as alfonso said, i'm feeling a little discouraged about that. i don't want this to happen again. i wouldn't wish it would happen to us on my worst enemy because no one should ever have to go

through what we went through. 17 of our class mates and teachers were murdered at the hands of a mentally unstable monster, something that easily could have been prevented by a proper background check and mental health exam, an evil boy with a weapon of war took 17 people from their families. how many more people have to die before something changes? we will not let those 17 beautiful souls die for nothing because we are going to make a change. we will not give up. this is the only -- the beginning of our history. please be on the right side of it. help us. help us so children don't fear for going to school. help us so mass shootings aren't inevitable. help us so our children, grandchildren and their children after that don't have to march for their lives. help us for our 17 fallen brothers and sisters. help us so no one else dies. thank you.

[ applause ] >> next is delaney tarr. as you just heard my maim is delaney tarr, a senior at stoneman douglas. i'm a senior who late last night after getting in from a long and arduous trip to tallahassee was asked to write a speech, a seven-minute long speech because that is what we had to deliver to the media, to the people of country. i realized in that moment how exhausted i was, how exhausted we all are and how overwhelmed we all are. and to see us listed as these hero heroes, these bastions of change, it's scary because we are teenagers, we are children, and that's why i chose to speak from the heart because we're teenagers. instead of writing words out of an overworked brain, i figured why not stand in front of these

cameras and show them i'm not a crisis actor, not going off these pre written speeches given to me by another person because speaking from the heart is what we do best. this movement, this movement created by students, led by students is based on emotion. it is based in passion, based in pain. our biggest flaws, our tendency to be a bit too aggressive, our tendency to lash out, things you expect from a normal teenager, these are our strengths. the only reason we've gotten so far is because we or nof afraid of losing money, getting elected or not getting elected. we have nothing to lose. the only thing we have to gain at this point is our safety. coming here today as a teenager, full of passion, a bit too much passion, was very disappointing. as you heard from my colleagues and my peers, we've been to many rooms, spoken to only a few legislators, and try as they

might, the most we've gotten out of them is we'll keep you in our thoughts, you are so strong, you are so powerful. we've heard enough of that. that is not why we are here today. we are not here today to be patted on the back, we or not here to be told we're great because we're doing so much. we know what we're doing and we're doing it for a reason. we're doing it so our legislators, our lawmakers will make a change, so they will take us seriously, not dismiss us any longer, so they won't reschedule, won't push us into a another room as they dance around our questions. we came here prepared and we're going to come to every single meeting with every single legislator prepared. we know what we want, we want gun reform, common sense gun laws, stronger mental health checks and background checks to work in conjunction. we want a better age limit. we want you to not walk into a building with $130 and walk out with an ar-15. we want change and we know how to get this change. the bill that was not passed

yesterday, that was shot down here in this building, was very disappointing. it is a setback in our movement. we've been asked many a time how we feel about it, how we're going to go from here. all we can say is we're going to keep moving forward because we don't have a choice. we don't have the ability to stop and say, oh, no, we're upset, we failed. we didn't fail. the people around us failed us. if they continue to fail us, they will no longer be in office. soon we will be given the ability to vote and we will vote them out and the people around us will vote them out. they must do right by us or they will lose their jobs. we've brought that up to them time and time again. this is no longer a chance for you to dismiss us, ignore us and keep doing whatever it is you want us to do while telling us you want us to be safe, but not taking any action. to shoot down a bill like that is abhorrent. to not even give it a chance to be discussed, that disgusts me.

that disgusts my peers because we know what we've been through and we know this needs to be changed, there needs to be some solution here. we've had enough of thoughts and prayers. in your consideration. we're going to think about it. we're going to tell you how we feel because we support you so much. because we know that is not true. it you supported us, you ma would have made a change long ago and you would have made a change long ago. no longer can you take money from the nra. no longer can you fly under the radar doing whatever it is you want to do. because we are coming after you. we are coming after every single one of you and demanding you take action and that you make a change. thank you. this is an open letter that i have written. to whom it may concern.

life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. these are the three fundamental ideas on which our republic was founded. one, life. senselessly children are dying. my classmates and friends are dead. two, liberty. yet we are trapped because we are afraid of going to school where we might find ourselves trapped in a room or closet hiding from the barrel of a gun. three, pursuit of happiness. we are not happy about the decisions that are being made in our government. our elected officials are not acting in our best interests nor are they protecting the people of this country so they can pursue that happiness. on february 14th, 2018, at 2:20 p.m. the fire alarm went off. this was a second one of the day. i had complained to my teacher and said i wasn't going outside again e. it was hot and i was tired. yet she said we had had to go. she was following protocol. little did e we know our

evacuation route was taking us to the shooter. if it not been for the bravery and strength of the faculty and administration we would have walked straight into the shooter's line of fire and even more of the students would not be stand iing here pfr you toda. it is nothing but luck that saved us from. being killed. and this is not okay. while the people around me recognize the gunshots, all i could hear was get down, get down. without thinking i ran to the opposite side of campus fearing for my life. a school that once reverberated with laughter and inquisitive thoughts has screams and cries of thousands of students fear ing for their lives. this is not okay. trapped in a classroom sharing a feeling of numbness and agony with my peers, our only source of information is what our teachers were telling us and the information circulating within the school. this is not a drill.

five people are dead. 20 injured. this was a message in one of my group chats. that is is not okay. we received vid e e yoses our friends and peers being shot and being shot at. videos that shook us to our cores. helicopters above us and police sirens ringing in our ears, the sounds of choppers haunt us and police sirens sock us. two days after the shooting when i was picking up my medicine from the drive-thru, the cash register made a noise that i swore was a gunshot. that is not okay. as. students we should not have to fear for our lives. we should not have to run for our lives. e we should not have to hear the sound of gunfire on a school campus. . we should not have to hear the screams of our friends and mentors. that's not okay. we are losing sleep. all we can remember are the screams and cries and stampede of feet running for their lives. some of us are unable to stay

awake. all we can do is sleep because when we are awake, we are haunted by the memories of that day, of what happened to us. we can only imagine what could have been avoided if common sense gun control had been i want policemimplemented after tt mass shooting. schools were once places of learning, respect, dignity, they have now become sack ri laj. they are shooting grounds and this is not okay. so i ask. congress and senate, what if it had happened to you or to your children. would it take you so long to make a difference? would it take you so long to affect change and create policy and propose laws to stem the ditide of violence. no more. no more placing nonsensical politics above our lives. no more accepting donations from the nra who seem to care about their right to own a gun that than the lives of american children. they protect the amendment yet

the nra doesn't realize it was written 241 years ago. during that integral our guns have changed tremendously, yet our gun laws have not. that's not okay. the national rifle association pushes to preserve our right to bare arms per the second amendment. yet what they don't say if the amendment was written in order to preserve a well regulated militia. the united states has the most powerful military in the world. there's no need to keep ask preserve a well regulated militia. we live in a country that many dream of coming to. they dream of koling here because we serve and protect our citizens, yet at this moment, we are not. and lawmakers are slapping us students in the face and this is not okay. i implore you, congress and senate, out with partisan politics. now is not the time to be fighting over whose views are right and wrong. now is the time for action. i beseech our american lawmakers from congress and senate to stop slinging mud across the aisle and come up with a bipartisan

solution to an obvious epidemic of gun violence in america. a solution that will save lives. a solution that will prevent another mass shooting like the ones at columbine, virginia tech, sandy hook elementary, san bernardino, pulse nightclub, las vegas and most recently my school in parkland, florida. now is the time for change. never again will this happen to us. we the students will make a difference. our voices will be heard and we will not be silenced. so i say, students, stand up for yourselves and stand up for others. we are the future. let us change the future and let us do it now. [ applause ]

>> we have one mr. speaker. then we have a few comments. >> good afternoon, my name is tansill phillip. i'm 16 years old and a 10th grader. to think last week at this exact time i was complaining about not wanting to dpo to rehearsal after school and trying to think of an excuse to get out of it. that day will be with all of us and all of our parents, all of our teachers for the rest of our lives. when we saw this stuff on the news, i wept and wondered how anyone could let this happen. how our government could let this happen to men, women and our children. we done want to take away your guns. we want things to be done to

save our lives. we want gun policies that prevent an 18-year-old from killing 17 of our friends. we want mental health tests that won't allow them to purchase these guns. when did politics and money from the nra become more important than our lives. our message is simple. and it's never again. to everyone at the nra, we are not afraid of you. we will not be silenced by anything that you have to say. we are here, our voices are loud and we're not stopping until change happens. never again will this ever happen to any one of my friends. no one's parents should be put through that. never again. thank you.

>> thank you, everybody, so very much. i think that they have said more than we possibly could. and i know that representative jacobs has a few thoughts as we move into the afternoon session for meetings. >> thank you, senator. we have a group of kids scheduled for meetings taking place here in the capital. there's a lot of passion. but i want to share with you that while there is that passion and frustration, that things don't happen immediately. that the expressions coming from leadership on both sides of the aisle is that we will not leave this session without sensible gub law changes, without sensible changes to mental

health, without the funding that's necessary to secure our schools and harden our infrastructure so that as the children have said to you, this never happens again. this is not a partisan issue. while some things you may have heard today, we know that the way we get there is small steps at a time. for those of us that are on the same side of the aisle and those of us on opposite sides of the aisle, i have been describing this as a trust fall. that we are all standing together regardless of party determined that something good is going to come out of this senseless and terrible tragedy. it is what i u am dedicated to doing. it's what i know my colleagues on my side of the aisle. it's what i'm hearing from the speaker and from the president and from the governor all of whom and many more took the time to come down to parkland to see what happened. a