>> donald trump is a personal guy, he screws everyone. jared kushner is a moron. >> the white house is claiming today thatis rough on russia. >> no, he's not. >> we thank all our guests for the wild ride last night. thank you for watching the beat. "hardball" starts now. gun talk. let's play "hardball." good evening. i'm chris matthews in washington. in a remarkable get together in the white house late today, real people talked about the real horror of mass school shootings. for the first time, the question of what to could about this continuing catastrophe was taken away from the paidup politicians and taken back by the people. it was an extraordinary meeting and at times a gut wrenching and painfully raw experience.

>> all the school shootings, it doesn't make sense. fix it. it should have been one school shooting and we should have fixed it! and i'm pissed because my daughter i'm not going to see again. >> i lost a best friend. practically a brother. and i'm here to use my voice because i know he can't. >> my story is far too well-known. i had two sons who were at sandy hook school. my eldest who was 28 at the time survive and my 6-year-old son dillon did not. how many more deaths can we take as a country? how many more teenagers and 6 and 7-year-olds can we allow to die? >> at other times, it was an honest debate what exactly should be done. >> it's not left and right. it's not political. it's a human issue. people are dying. and we have to stop this. we have to stop this.

if he's not old enough to buy a drink, to buy a beer, you shouldn't be able to buy a gun at 18 years old. >> i turned 18 the day after. woke up to the news that my best friend was gone. and i don't understand why i can still go in a store and buy a weapon of war. >> we all work together and come up with the right idea, and it's school safety. it's not about the gun laws right now. that's another fight, another battle. >> one possible solution which may not be very popular, would be to have people in the school, teachers, administrators, who have volunteered to have a firearm. >> anyway, president trump listened and at times weighed in with his own idea how to stop the violence which he often touted during the campaign. >> if you had a teacher with -- who was adept at firearms, they

could very well end the attack very quickly. in addition to what we're going doing about background checks, we're going to go very strong. >> age, age at purchase and very strong into the mental health aspect of what's going on because here was a case where it tried out, this person was sick. >> anyway, a week after the rampage in parkland, florida, it's clear the students are engaged. hundreds of teenagers from florida to washington, d.c. took to the streets today demanding action. what is still unclear is if politicians will actually deliver any concrete reforms that confront the deadly issue of gun violence in our schools. i'm joined by richard bluen that you will from connecticut, nicole lost a 6-year-old son dillon in the sandy hook shooting. she's dedicated her life to fighting gun silence. shannon pettypiece from bloomberg news, and phillip rucker at "the washington post"

and a political analyst for msnbc. let me go to nicole. i loved what i watched today. i wasn't so taken with what the president had to say. it was unnecessary he even talked. i love the fact that people could get out there who weren't paid politicians paid by the nra or afraid of the nra but people with the guts and the personal experience that spoke with candor about guns in school. your thoughts what you saw today. what did it feel like in that room? >> there was a real energy in that room that i hope that the president and his administration felt it. i was so glad they brought forward survivors and victims from so many different mass shootings to hear how does this impact your community and what solutions do you have to offer. this is an important start of a conversation. and now we need to hold this administration accountable for taking action on the ideas that they heard. >> let me go to senator blumenthal. there are a couple arguments i

thought were going to be key. one i was impressed that the president said we have to start talking about at least the age at which somebody can get an assault weapon, maybe not banning them. this is the first time he's even british opened the subject, the nra hates this, that you have to be old enough to buy a beer to buy an assault weapon. >> this kind of common sense measure has to involve breaking the grip of the nra and the gun lobby. nicole who cannily's courage and strength which was also so evident on the streets today by these young people, how inspiring and wonderful their voices. that kind of passion has to be talken to the ballot box so those kinds of measures not only raising the age for buying an assault weapon but banning them. and in fact, they are weapons of war designed to kill people in mass slaughter. banning high capacity magazines, extending background checks.

otherwise how can age be checked at all if you don't expand background checks to all purchases. there's no one panacea. but we know that action has to be taken. >> nicole, back to you. you've had the experience of going through this, losing a child. remember the very passionate guy standing over to the right of you, with the three sobs who lost his daughter. he talked about how we should not focus on guns but focus on the school safety issue. can you separate the two? can you separate the ar-15 semi-automatic basically school shooter weapon where you can go in and just spray bullets and kill all kinds of people from the issue of school safety? >> absolutely not. and you know, the ar-15 is the same weapon used at sandy hook to kill my son. this is an issue about guns. this is about access to those guns, about arab to deal with the mental wellness of the people who have access to those guns. this is a complex thing and it's not guns or people.

it's guns an people. if we're not focusing on both elements for school safety and for safety in general, then we're missing a key part of the equation. that's why the solutions won't work. we needed to focus on both and drive forward in that way. >> senator blumenthal, it's great having you on. you come from a state where people are only about guns. some states are. most states are not. most states are against any mention of gun control or school safety no matter how you phrase it. how are you going to get anything done with a president whose ear seems to be tuned to the nra and a majority of senators with ears and pocketbooks attuned to the nra who don't want anything done? >> this president has said to the nra, we will never let you down. in fact, his administration has cut funding for school security, cut funding for mental health treatment. he seems to be backing the idea of arming teachers. and eliminating gun-free zones.

that idea has been rejected soundly and consistently by the entire educational community, by teachers, superintendents, principals, because it makes schools less safe. and it is a nonstarter whether it's proposed singly or as part of any other measure in the united states senate. i will fight it because it is anathema, a dangerous and frightening prospect, but we need to take this issue to the ballot box. that's where it's going to be decided and nicole hochley's example of leadership should inspire us. >> our journalist here, it's such a tough one. logically, how does a custodian or a teacher who has access to a gun, a handgun perhaps in a box somewhere and they have to open it up because you don't want students getting into it and pull it out in a way they can challenge somebody with a semi-automatic assault rifle? they're going to start spraying you and you can't shoot them

till they start spraying. a civilian can't shoot at you first. you can't shoot someone because they have the wrong weapon. you can't say put that down or i'll shoot. they'll shoot you. give me the scenario where regular guns would take on a semi-automatic assault rifle successfully? what would be the scenario? >> i don't know that scenario, chris. i would point out that the experts in this area would say there are a lot of flaws with that theory including that you would then be having guns in all the classrooms. you've got kids running around. kids love to unlock things. >> how about a student in a tough neighborhood challenges the teacher. i know you're armed. show your stuff. it creates a dynamic of hell. >> and it's a very controversial position, too. you know, regardless of how the logistics would work. the president acknowledged it was controversial but brought it up anyway. in all the solutions being discussed and possible solutions being discussed, this is one that he took time to emphasize. of course, he did ask the people in the room. >> because the nra likes this

idea. this is not surprising. >> and he did ask the people in the room what they thought of it and people had the opportunity to give their feedback. so maybe he was listening on that. but it was a controversial topic and i went right into it. he knew who was going to be listening, as well. >> it's hard to imagine they're gaining steam. >> nicole, you have the street cred here. what do you think works? >> i think prevention works. i think focus on imminent safety, school safety and security. i really do not support the idea of arming teachers. they have enough on their plate at the moment and need to be focused on teaching. i'm not aware of any teachers that support this. prevention is a critical part of cure. >> how do you prevent -- like limiting access to the school to one door who you lock it when the school starts in the beginning of the day? how do you keep people from

barging in with a gun and shooting people? >> well -- shooting people, they're going to find a way. however, there is a lot of things that can be done in school security, doors, security systems insuring the doors are not open before and after school, there's appropriate signage and stuff like that. when i'm talking about revention, i'm talking more upstream. the teachers know what's going on in their classrooms and who is at risk of hurting themselves or someone else. the students do, as well. arm them with the knowledge how to identify that and what actions to take so it never becomes an issue of someone shooting through a glass door to get to a school. >> ten years old, angry at the fact bullied around being the outlier in the school not part of any clique, resist cliques they're not a part of, is really, really angry and perhaps emotionally disturbed. how do you stop them from that condition which is fairly common i think to becoming a violent shooter? senator, i can see your face.

do you want to say something on that? >> we have no higher rate of alienated angry, young teenagers or men. we have no higher rate of mental illness than other industrialized countries. we have a rate of gun violence that is off the charts because of access to weapons of mass slaughter. we need to reduce the number of dangerous people and in fact, keep those guns out of their hands and connecticut knows what works. we did it in the wake of sandy hook. we banned assault weapons. and we extended background checks to all purchases. we banned high capacity magazines and we have a measure called extreme risk orders which says to police in effect, if you sympathy someone is imminently dangerous to himself or others, get a court order, take those weapons away from that person. that's what we need to extend to all 50 states.

have i legislation that would help to do it. and banning dangerous people from having weapons is what will help reduce that number of alienated young men who do dangerous things to themselves or others. >> what do you think of that, nicole? >> i think those are important legislations. i also think some of the programs we teach from sandy hook everything from reaching out to someone who is isolated starting with hello and knowing the signs and how do you assess threats and put in protocols to find out what's going on in the kid's life, why are they acting out, this is a spectrum of activity from that bullied ice located child all the way up to the moment they're going to pick up a weapon and hurt someone. there are actions we can take. the dominos all line up. we need to focus on the space between the dominos and create interventions. >> phil, what can you tell us about the nra is up to? i had the sense the nra likes

any sense of emotional conditions, anything to doing with unlimited rights to guns, right? >> the nra. >> guns in school is good for them. teachers have more guns, they sell more guns. >> the national rifle association has largely been quiet since the shooting. they like the discussion of mental health, the discussion of school safety. they do not like the discussion of restrictions on guns or background checks. >> how about age limits? >> age limits i don't think they like. they want people to have access to guns if they want. >> why can't a kid, an 18-year-old wait till he's 21 or his mother or father buy him the gun? why do they have the right to walk into a gunshop at 18 when you just turn 18 and buy an assault weapon? why is that so important to anyone. >> because our laws allow it. the nra argued for generations it's the second amendment right to be able to buy a gun if you're an adult in this country. >> one argument i've heard is if they can be drafted in the

military and carry the weapon, shouldn't they be allowed to buy it. the president raised that issue of age in background checks as one of the things they're looking into. >> you should be allowed to drink at 18 if you die for your country. >> i would argue that, as well. but this is going to be, i think this is now an issue that wasn't on table yesterday on the table today. just like bump stocks. we were not talking about bump stocks a year ago. >> senator blumenthal, should the american people believe the president when he flirted the other day with bang bump stocks which allows a semi-automatic weapon to be turned into an automatic weapon? do you believe him? i thought he was doing the same kind of flirtation like he did on daca, oh, yeah, we'll do that. i think he's still going to slip away from that position. how do you read him. >> great question, chris. i don't take him seriously. the reason is that if he really wanted to ban bump stocks, if he was serious, he would back the

legislation that i and others have introduced. it's bipartisan. he doesn't have the power to ban bump stocks. his edict, his proposed regulation will fail in the courts because the atf has already said that the. >> is that what he's doing? is this a fake -- is he faking this by saying he's going do it by executive order knowing that won't work and blaming it on jeff sessions at justice when if he backed your legislation it would become law because he would sign it? >> whether he knows it or not, it is fake. it is a -- an unreal and illusory solution because he lacks the authority. better to legislate it, ban it by an act of congress as i propose. it could be done in a day or two. it would sail through the congress. but he refuses to back legislation. and he refuses to back extending background checks to all purchases. and a ban on the sale of assault weapons.

these kinds you have serious stepses are what will test president trump's real dedication to making american safer. >> thank you so much, senator richard blumenthal of connecticut, nicole thank you so much. shannon pettypiece and phil rucker. we'll have much more on this extra another moment right now as they tell the president to his face what they think needs to be done top stop gun violence in this school. will this raise the stakes for the president to do something? if there's another school shooting in the next couple months, it he personally responsible? that's a good question because he's taking control of this issue, he says. he says he's going to stop it. plus we'll get to what is happening in florida where students from marjory stoneman douglas high school face off with lawmakers in the state capital despite attacks from the fringe right. the sickening commentory coming from the right. this is "hardball" where the action is. i'm here to fix the elevator.

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arizona senator jeff flake said today he's working on bipartisan legislation that would raise the minimum age for buying a semi-automatic assault rifle like the one used in last week's mass shooting in parkland, florida, flake tweeted a kid too young to buy a handgun should be too young to buy an ar-15. working with senator feinstein on a bill that will raise the minimum purchase age for nonmilitary buyers from 18 to 21, he wants to make it 21 to buy a school shooter. we'll be right back. places you really want to go. with the united mileageplus explorer card, you'll get a free checked bag. two united club passes. priority boarding. and earn fifty thousand bonus miles after you spend three thousand dollars on purchases in the first three months from account opening plus, zero-dollar intro annual fee

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and to the truly disgusting. over the last week, we've seen the survivors of the massacre as marjory stoneman high school express their grief in their push for stricter gun safety measures in contrast to the grace and poise they displayed,

we're seeing a growing and ugly backlash among the fringe elements of the very hard right. various right wing websites have been targeting the young advocates falsely accusing them of being paid activists exploiting the tragedy for their own gain. the president's eldest son don junior a father of five joined in. this week he liked a tweet that accused one of the parkland shooting survivors david hague of hating the president and covering up for the fbi because his father is a retired fbi agent. 17-year-old david responded to the attacks with an impressive level of maturity telling buzzfeed it's immature, rude and in human for these people who try to destroy the people trying to prevent the death of future americans because they won't. joining me is evan mcmullin, former cia agent and former presidential candidate and jared moskowitz is a florida state representative. mr. representative, what do you make of this element out there

that has decided of the whole band of them out there decided they fear these young voices so much, these civilians if you will, not politicians so much that they're trashing them already? >> well, i mean, we've seen this playbook before, chris. it's a kill the messenger sort of strategy. it's funny as we debate mental health, i think to myself the folks that think these students are not real and are actors they may need to wind up on the list of people who don't have access to weapons because you know, i've met with these students. the governor met with them today. i've been feeding them pizza and ice cream. i was in a dozen meetings with the constituents. the idea they're not real and are actors, this is nonsense. these are the people who believe in big foot and the lochness monster. it's a shame that we give these people any credibility and we even talk about them. the fact the president's son is

retweeting that nonsense, it's all politics. people see through it. >> i like the way you talk. another case after florida lawmakers voted down a measure to ban assault weapons, one right wing activist tweeted saying the vote was the worst news since their parents told them to get summer jobs. that's dinesh desouza. former sheriff david clark said on twitter the well organized effort by florida school students demanding gun control has george soros's fingerprints all over it. what do you make of this, evan? is this fear? i find this not a big fan of the president these days or for a while now. i thought putting this together today was great. i thought letting all those people talk till he talked was first rate. i'd be afraid of those voices. >> yeah, look, i think there is some fear here. we see it in just the lack of decency that you see from dinesh deso za. you might want to dismiss him as

a fringe guy in the movement but he's still on the masthead of the national review, a conservative publication that's mostly mainstream, has diverse opinions. my point is that there's a lack of decent sit now within the party, within trump's republican party. this is a party who got behind ultimately roy moore, not everyone in the party certainly. that's why he lost. but the party got behind him. this is a party who is willing to turn the other way when you've got a wife beater in the white house or two. there's a lack of decency that starts with the president and results in the way they approach these students, these survivors, victims, their families. it's despicable. >> are they worse than trump? it seems like he's surrounded by a coat kerry of people less decent than him. >> it is part of the trump movement's culture. that's what it is. >> the representative, how do you address someone of your office? is it representative moskowitz? how do i call you? >> chris, you can call me jared.

the official title is representative. >> representative moskowitz, i believe in titles. i want to give yours. let me ask you about this whole thing. what do you think is going to happen down there? we had a vote the other day in tallahassee where even to bring up a ban on the assault weapon down there lost 2-1 just to bring it up. what do you make of that? that's not a good sign for doing flig anything about this rifle that did the killing the other day, used to kill? >> listen, that was a procedural vote. anytime you try to bring up a procedural vote and overrule the speaker who made a decision that vote will go down, the topic could have been puppies. obviously on guns we fell 40 votes shy of the two-thirds needed. we only have 41 democratic members, vastly outnumbered in the house. what i do believe is happening, a bill will be drafted. you'll see it released thursday or friday. it will be in committee on monday. i think you're going to see a massive bill that includes gun

control first. it's going to include school hardening, going to include school resource officers, going to include funding for mental health. it is going to include making government talk to each other, the fact that four different departments did of government had information on this kid and didn't talk to each other reminds me after 9/11 in which we created the department of homeland security and made government talk to each other. those four divisions did of government faced those children. and that should not happen again. so this is going to be a complete package. i can tell you right now, we have $600 plus million ready to be spent on member projects. these are water fountains or things in people's communities. let's take all of that money right now and tell every member, every senator, you're not getting your pet project. we're going to take the money and put it towards all these issues. i'll be first one to stand up and vote for that. >> what's your betting odds on this passing? >> well, we haven't been able to pass a gaming bill here in five years. i don't know if i'd bet on.

>> you have a state down there that fines local officials for doing something about gun safety. i mean, by that standard, dodge city under matt dillon would have been fined for having gun ordinances. i mean, what a crazy situation that is. thank you. i mean, the state's had a problem counting votes and a problem counting lives. thank you, florida state representative jared moskowitz. thank you, evan mcmullin. these gun laws are ridiculous. despite these ugly attacks from the fringe right, students across the country are mobilizing all over town here in washington taking the fight to law maeshs. will they be able to bring about legislative action when so many others have failed? these kids are something. this is "hardball" where the action is. gathered here are the world's finest insurance experts. rodney -- mastermind of discounts like safe driver, paperless. the list goes on. how about a discount for long lists? gold. mara, you save our customers hundreds for switching almost effortlessly. it's a gift. and jamie.

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in the wake of the parkland shooting, high school students have mobilized and thrust themselves into the center of the gun control debate in this country. today, they protested in tallahassee, florida, and washington, d.c. marching from the capitol here to the white house chanting "enough is enough," and never again. let's watch. >> we're sick and tired of politicians favoring it nra donations over human lives. and that needs to change. >> we didn't fail. the people around us failed us. and if they continue to fail us, they will no longer be in office. >> dear congress, how can you

claim to stand for the people but let your kid get slaughtered like animals! >> congress and senate, what if had happened to you or to your children? would it take you so long to make a difference? >> after seeing what happened in parkland, i just decided that that was the last straw. students can no longer stay silent on this issue. this country cannot stay silent on that issue. >> that was daniel who organized today's march in washington, d.c. daniel, thank you for coming down. people don't do things for no reason. why do you think a march would help? >> it brings much needed attention to the fact that our country is in desperate need of gun control. i mean, after parkland, it's just blatantly obvious something needs to be done and lawmakers aren't taking that action. we are demanding they do something now. >> when you think about it, you think about the gun itself, the ar-15. tell me about that kind of gun and why it is particularly

dangerous in a school. >> i mean, it's a weapon that's modeled after the m-16 which is a military grade weapon. and citizens are running around with them particularly lunatics like this guy in parkland, and they can do this massive damage. they can take lives. they maim people forever. it's just terrible. >> you know, when bobby kennedy was killed, i wrote my congressman, i tried to do something. maybe the only time in my life i wrote my congressman. something happened in the early '90s or assault ten years later, no ban. who do you trust in the congress in the senators in maryland or where do you go? >> maryland's already doing a lot. we have some of the strictest gun laws in the country. nationally, something needs to happen. parkland has to be the last school shooting. that's like -- >> did you sense trump was moving a little? he talked today, i'm always watching with skepticism. did he talk today about doing

something about the age requirement for buying one of these. not outlawing them but saying you have to be a certain age. i brought that up late today after meeting you had. >> that shows that he is starting to waiver. like he is starting to realize that the public outcry is so great and that he can't just sit by because like i said earlier today, if lawmakers don't do anything to fix this problem, to stop these killings, they are complicity in the murders of all these people, people from sandy hook, people from orlando, the people from las vegas and now the people from parkland. something has to happen. >> do you think the next one is on him. >> yes, i think this one is on him. he hasn't done anything up till this point. >> let me ask you about this idea, i'm sure it's an nra approved idea. teachers carrying guns. your thoughts and feelings. >> that's ridiculous. the more guns in this country, the more at risk we are. i mean, the access is already like crazy. so why do teachers need to have them? there should be less guns if

anything. i mean why do teachers need to have like an ar-15? >> keep up the good night. you know what a single issue voter is. >> somebody who votes for a single issue. >> you're up against them. how are you going to keep this issue on your mind months and years from now? >> the people at the protest i organized today will be able to vote in 2018. >> will they vote on this issue. >> of course. they'll be able to vote out all these politicians bought and owned by the nra. they don't stand a chance once we're at the ballot box. >> good for you. it's hard to be a single issue voter. it almost makes you crazy because you've got to be like the people you're against. dan, very articulate fellow and gutsy. up next, today's listening session made one thing clear, be gun violence is now a white house issue. whether trump likes it or not, he bought this issue, he took it into the white house. next shooting trump's. the president has to have some guts now because he's got to the protect himself politically. you're watching as dan just

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what we're going to do about background checks, we're going to go very strong into age of purchase, and the mental health aspect of what's going on. >> that was president trump vowing his administration will take action on background checks and mental health, also on the age of people able to buy things like the ar-1ar-15. the president heard the emotion emotional pleas of students survived. i thought it was an amazing hour before he started talking. > i was born into a world where i never got to experience safety and peace. there needs to be a significant change in this country because this has to never happen

againing. > woke up to the news that my best friend was gone. and i don't understand why i can still go in a store and buy a weapon of war, an ar. >> trump also invoked the story of a football coach at stoneman douglas who died protecting students to floit this idea of his it, probably an nra idea, of his solution. >> if he had a firearm, he wouldn't have had to run. he would have shot and that would have been the end of it. this would only be obviously for people very adept at handling a gun. and it would be, it's called concealed carry where a teacher would have a concealed gun on them. they would go for special training. and you would no longer have a gun-free zone. gun-free zone to a maniac because they're all cowards, a gun-free zone is let's go in and let's attack. because bullets aren't coming back at us.

>> let's bring in the "hardball" roundtable. yamiche alcindor, eugene scott from the "washington post," and sam stein, politics editor for "the daily beast." let me start at this end. trump was pushing it the nra line today talking about emotional problems, that's the soft that doesn't deal with guns. also the idea to arm teachers. he says you should be packing to use the term. in other words, on you, the teacher when teaching arithmetic orifice sicks they have a gun on them. every student. imagine schools where that would be a fighting issue. every student as a tough kid feels challenged by a teacher. i know you're armed. i know you're a tough guy. imagine the conversations that get started in the school. >> that's the traditional republican way. that's the nra way that the nra bought. the nra bought politicians to say that. >> do we ever have teachers packing walking around the classroom with a gun? >> to be fair, there were parents in there that also spoke

about the idea they would want their teachers to be armed. it's an idea an that is out there, but obviously, it would cause shoot-outs obviously. >> when is a teacher allowed to shoot? because a teacher, police officers get in trouble seeing a guy reaching for something and think it's a gun and they get in trouble. they're authorized to do something like that. a teacher can't shoot somebody till they're shooting. you can't shoot a guy because he's got the wrong gun. how would it work? >> that's not clear. one of the many problems it's not known how a teacher would respond in a way that's appropriate. there's no consensus. i've spoken with many teachers and parents and students and many of them don't support the idea, just creates more anxiety. >> i've been talking to white house officials what does the president want to see done about this. they do want to obviously move on bump stocks. they think the president wants to have those things not be able to people. >> why is he going through

ordinances? why is he going through the eo? why doesn't he push the statute, richard blumenthal was here. why doesn't he say pass the law. >> because he wants to give himself political cover and the backlash from his base who will be angry he's curtailing the second amendment rights. >> he thinks it won't get approved by the courts. >> exactly. >> as we used to say in the cowboy movies speaking in a foreclosed tongue, remember what he did with daca? all for it meeting with pelosi and chuck schumer. he started to add all these new conditions. is he pulling the same number? >> you talk to anyone who does any bit of legislating on the gun issue and no one within trusts him. part of that is reminiscent of the daca debate. they don't know where to pin him down. part is he's trying to thread a needle. he was elected with more support from the nra than any candidate in history. >> he says i'll never let you down. >> also a man who back in his formative days as a real estate

developner new york city was very supportive of gun control measures. it's tough to figure out where he is. >> he is a city mouse like most of us. he doesn't think guns are the solution to anything. >> the trump of 20 years ago would have responded differently than the trump of today. his proposals are by and large either vague org a reflection of the gun lobby. >> the age issue? >> the age issue is the one thing, i know for a fact he has close associates and advisers pushing him because it's common sense. >> 21 years to buy an assault rifle. >> if you take a step back, background checks, he means this is bill pushed by cornyn and murphy which is to beef up the current system, not to expand it. when he talked about mental health, he's putting out the line that all mental health people have a propensity to violence. >> since when did he care about mental health? >> the minute this young guy nikolas cruz goes to trial, they'll want to execute him. they don't believe in mental

illness. >> talking about guns in the classroom, we need to be very specific. i shouldn't say there's not a single teacher. the vast majority of teachers oppose this idea. there's data that suggests when you have guns around in a hope, you are far more likely to have incidental shootings. this is the proposal of the nra because they want more guns. this means more guns. >> wouldn't you shoot the teacher first? >> who knows. we don't pay our teachers to have classroom products. they have to buy their own supplies but now we're going to outfit them with guns and train them? it's crazy. >> when i asked white house officials what are the actual things you can do, are you okay with an assault ban? a weapons ban? are you okay with changing the age? they would only say the president is open to changing the age. they said. >> why do you think he's open to that? it is reasonable. it's a starter and gets you on first base. >> the nra isn't. >> why would he challenge -- because here's my theory about

politics. it's all about timing. he will say anything for the next two or three weeks because he knows a month from now, people won't be paying attention. >> that's essentially been his personality. he's gotten away with being a person who says one thing, does something else and continues to have political success. >> we'll be talking about russia tomorrow. these kids will be talking about all kinds of educational -- student loans. he's counting on that to fade them away. >> that is the classic story of gun control debates in this country. we had a congressman shot in the head, it faded away. 20 first grade sfleerz a president shot by a nut. ronald reagan. >> yes, it goes back to reagan. the white house knows this. there is a limited attention span in this country even for mass tragedies like this. after the vegas shooting. > baseball game. >> everyone was talking about bump stocks. >> how long ago was the baseball practicing that the congressman was shot? it's fairly recent. i think the frequency is picking p.

by the way, the next time. the gunfire next time, the quote james baldwin, who is going to take the heat? trump i think bought it today. the roundtable is sticking with us. you're watching "hardball." i let go of all those feelings. because i am cured with harvoni. harvoni is a revolutionary treatment for the most common type of chronic hepatitis c. it's been prescribed to more than a quarter million people. and is proven to cure up to 99% of patients who've have had no prior treatment with 12 weeks. certain patients can be cured with just 8 weeks of harvoni. before starting harvoni, your doctor will test to see if you've ever had hepatitis b, which may flare up and cause serious liver problems during and after harvoni treatment. tell your doctor if you've ever had hepatitis b, a liver transplant, other liver or kidney problems, hiv or any other medical conditions and about all the medicines you take including herbal supplements. taking amiodarone with harvoni can cause a serious slowing of your heart rate. common side effects of harvoni

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we're back with the roundtable. in honor of black history month we're asking each of our colleagues to tell us who their hero is in the african-american history books. yamiche. >> one of my mentors gwenn i fill, a prominent journalist. she men tord me and a picture of us together at the convention. she was one who worked for "the washington post" and "new york times." before then working for nbc news and then going on to work for pbs. that's where she made her mark. she was the first african-american woman to moderate a vice presidential debate and she made history as being one of the two first female anchors along with judy woodruff. she passed away in november, 2016 which is really, really hard for me and a lot of journalists. she mentored a lot of women and someone i look up to and think about very, very often. >> it was your feeling about her that inspired me to do this whole thing, by the way.

i thought that's what it's about. eugene. >> >> i also chose a well respected black journalist,ler ron bennett, author and historian and editor editor of eboni and "jet" magazine, publications at the forefront of addressing issues related to black americans before the mainstream media told the stories and took them seriously. i so looked to eboni magazine and "jet" magazine as a kid growing up to see my story and community reflected in ways the mainstream media did not. >> when i grew up, there were no blacks in ticements or any shows. alfred hitchcock made movies in new york city with no blacks in the street. they cleared the streets. >> i don't have a journalist. but i went because it's baseball season coming upon us, i went jackie robinson. big baseball buff myself. i can only imagine how hard it was to integrate our national

pastime, the vitriol he went through, not being able to stay with your roommates on your own when you're in the spotlight of the most popular sport in america takes real guts and fortitude. >> they were not nice to him. >> they were saying stuff you can imagine. >> he was such a person with so many ideas about the gop. >> later in his life, my dad saw him in the hospital in yale and he almost went up and said hi and he always regrets not doing it. >> he had great dignity. what a story. thank you yamiche for starting this whole thing, eugene and when we return, let me finish with the powerful honest human voices we heard today in the east room of the white house. you're watching "hardball." i'm lucky to get through a shift without a disaster.

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let me end the show tonight with a powerful honest human voices we heard from late today in the white house east room. sitting in a wide circle, they opened themselves emotionally, thoughtfully and desperately to ways they imagined or hoped could prevent more of the mass school shootings last suffered in parkland, florida. they talked about banning the devices, bump stocks that make semi-automatic rifles into tommy guns, of school drills, of raising the age on who can buy an ar-15 or outright banning the assault rifle. of the bullying that leads some teenagers to resort to the mass

revenge on classmates, of the failure to act on signs that a student is becoming violent and the basic challenge of making a school safe. there were all kinds of propositions some of them in conflict. should we arm our teachers so there is someone to challenge the shooter in those vital minutes before the first responders arrive, or does that detract from the teacher's primary role which is education, guidance and encouragement. what i liked most about watching that scene in the east room today was the openness and honesty of the discourse. when i hear a politician talk about guns i hear someone with the nra in his ear, or the second amendment voter on his mind. today i heard people with human experience speaking their hearts. the one group of american who's lack the first amend right to freedom of speech are our olticians on the topic of guns. they don't speak honestly about guns can because they fear to. late this afternoon, we had the gratify tag experience of hearing from people not in the

bag of or in 24-7 fear of the national rifle association. that's what seems so refreshing little truly american. that's "hardball" for now. thanks for being with us. "all in with chris hayes" starts right now. tonight on all-in. >> you have the power to change this. if you don't, we will change. >> you one week after the florida massacre. >> this is to every lawmaker out there, we are coming after. >> you students across america demand action. >> shame on you. shame on you. >> tonight, how the never again movement is taking hold. how lawmakers are responding and how the white house is trying to manage the fallout. >> does anybody have any -- an idea for a solution to the school shooting? >> plus, how the far right social media and youtube are allowing the smearing of survivors. >> the only time you're doing anything that actually matters is when people try stopping