that wraps up this hour of "msnbc live." i'll see you tomorrow morning on too today. andrea mitchell starts right now. investigators in dayton and el paso discover new information in texas. how the accused killer ended up in the walmart. in ohio, the gunman's ex girlfriend is speaking out for a long time. >> this is a man who was in pain and didn't get the help he needed. he didn't have the support he needed. hate speech. while the president tries to stick to a script in one brief speech, his campaign uses the term invasion to describe immigrants more than 2,000 times in paid ads on facebook. language used biy the alleged killer.

>> we have an invasion of gangs, invasion of people. >> people hate the word invasion, but that's what it is. call for action. protesters against the gun lobby outside nra headquarters in virginia. with chants of enough is enough. will congress listen? >> the time for thoughts and prayers have come to an end. good day, everyone. i'm andrea mitchell in washington. the president is reacting on twitter today to criticism from president obama. police digging into the background of the gunman responsible for nine deaths, including his own shooter as we learn information about the shooter. we're expecting a press conference from dayton's mayor

to begin moments from now. in el paso a family assistance center is opening. 15 are still in the hospital, including two in critical condition. for both communities, the anguish is raw. as family members of the victims speak out. >> my granddaughter said she was hiding and heard him taunting, saying come on out, i'm going to get you. my son-in-law, i truly believe he took the brunt of it to protect my daughter. >> hug your kids and love them. because you don't know in america now when they leave they may not come back. >> joining me now miguel almanguer in el paso. nbc's gabe gutierrez in dayton. nbc white house correspondent kristen welker and pete williams. gabe, first to you. we're expecting to hear from the mayor at any moment.

tell us how the investigation is going? >> reporter: hi there, andrea. as you mentioned right behind me you see the crush of cameras, expecting to hear from the mayor in a few minutes. this is the crowded bar the gunman was trying to get into when police officers stepped into within 30 seconds and took him down. just an incredible scene to think that how much more deadly this could have been if those officers, which many residents are calling heroes, had not stepped in. authorities have said they have recovered 41 spent shell casings at the scene. but he may have had capacity for as many as 200 rounds. we're learning more about the gunman. investigators digging into his past. overnight, we spoke with one of his ex-girlfriends. she told us she met him at a community psychology college class. she broke up the relationship in may after they had been dating

for several months. she now believes there were red flags, including he had showed her, according to her, a video of a mass shooting during their first date. he later to her to dates at a gun range and he also performed for a extreme heavy metal band known for sexually violent lyrics. she says this was not -- she doesn't believe this to be racially motivated. six of the seven victims were african-american. police say they have no indication race was a factor here. she agrees with that. take a listen. >> this isn't about race. this isn't about religion. it's none of those things. this is a man who was in main and didn't get the help that he needed. he just got the short end of the stick. >> reporter: and she says that they first bonded during that psychology class because they had a shared struggle with mental illness. so several questions remain

about the motive at this point. as you mentioned the sister, 22 years old, the youngest victim, what role if any did she play in any of this? was she the target? we don't know at this point. we are awaiting a press conference from the mayor here in dayton any moment here here on the scene. a historic district where all the bloodshed happened a couple days ago. >> and what is usually a really lively active center of traffic and pedestrian activity in the club district as well. we'll come back to you as soon as we hear from the mayor. miguel almanguer in el paso. we expect in both cities, both communities the president will be going tomorrow. at least some officials in el paso are reluctant to have him there. congresswoman escobar telling me that until he apologizes and retracts his anti-immigrant stance, his remarks that are so

offensive, she speaking for herself would rather he not come here. what is the reaction to the anticipated visit? the mayor has spoken out. >> reporter: the reaction to the president's visit is mixed. some people are welcoming him while others are opposed today it because of the rhetoric he's had over the last several months in office. many people say it's up to the president to come here, but they are going to protest his arrival when he does get here tomorrow. his exact schedule is unclear. many folks are anticipating that. the police chief here in the city of el paso told us that the suspect drove ten hours from his home in allen, texas. when he arrived in the neighborhood lost and hungry, he then says that the suspect came into the walmart here behind me. walked in, walked back out to his car, reentered the parking lot and the store with his gun armed and began to open fire. as you know, the death toll

climbed yesterday to 22 victims. we know today at this hour, some 15 people remain hospitalized, another two people remain in critical condition. still fighting for their lives. many families here continue to grieve. at the crime scene here behind us, memorials have been erected for those people that were both killed and injured here. certainly very heart felt and emotional times here in el paso, andrea. >> kristen welker, the president on twitter today deflecting any share of the blame, disputing apparently that his rhetoric contributed to the anger. even though there are striking coincidences between the language in that messaging from the shooter, the alleged shooter in el paso and the president's own rhetoric about invasion, anti-immigrant stance. he didn't say that yesterday on that speech on teleprompter but it's been his language since the

day he announced for president. >> reporter: that's right. and not addressing his own language. instead, deflecting, trying to put the focus on the criticism by former president obama. some of the quote unquote, hateful rhetoric that's led to this culture, this crisis that the country is now facing. the president tweeting out a quote from a host of fox and friends. saying did george bush every condemn president obama after sandy hook? he had two mass shootings during his administration. not many said he was out of control. quoting a fox news anchor to take a swipe at his predecessor. president obama was criticizing president trump when he talked about some of that hateful rhetoric. the question becomes what happens next? what is washington going to do about this? top advisor kellyanne conway

confirming that president trump has talked about the two members of the congress. the last time the bill was taken up by congress was by president obama when it was narrowly defeated in the senate. president obama said it was a shameful day in washington. we know that president trump has expressed a willingness to be open to expanded background checks in the past. but that legislation has never gone anywhere, andrea. we know that a background bill has passed through the house. now you have democrats demanding that mitch mcconnell call back the senate to vote on some of those bills. is mcconnell going to do it? it's not clear. he did put out a statement yesterday calling for lawmakers to really try to consider bipartisan solutions to this problem. my colleague peter alexander pressed kellyanne conway on

whether the president was going to demand the senate come back. she didn't indicate that was going to happen. the big question looming over this is what happens next. worth noting that the white house is pushing back on the criticism that the president not visit el paso. the press secretary telling me moments ago that that type of criticism is partisan nonsense saying that the president wants to go to these communities to offer comfort and condolences. >> let's point out that the house legislation overwhelmingly passed on february 28th. mitch mcconnell has never even let it get out of subcommittee. if the president of the united states wanted mitch mcconnell to do something, it would happen. that's certainly the way things have been working in washington since this president was elected. what about legislation? what could this red flag legislation do? senator toomey said he's spoken to lindsey graham who is talking

about suggesting to states that they pass the legislation. so to have states do it individually doesn't seem like an effective national response. >> reporter: 17 states have done so so far, and the district of columbia. these are laws that allow someone to notify the police or a family member or a teacher or someone in the community that there's somebody in the community with a gun that they're worried about and then a court can order that the gun be taken away. can't be done by the police, it has to be authorized by a judge and then the weapon can be returned if the problem is going away. if someone is struggling with other problems. that's what these red flag laws do. so far, they have passed constitutional muster about whether they violate the second amendment or not. in terms of legislation, background checks, you always hear about that, there's widespread support for closing

the gun show loophole, making all private sales regulated. in these two shootings, probably that wouldn't make a difference. there are some exceptions. the first baptist church shooting in texas, where an air force officer, he should not have been able to get a gun. er in el paso and dayton, both those guns the authorities say were legally purchased. the other question this brings up is whether there should be a domestic terrorism statute like we have a foreign terrorism statute that would allow more investigation by local and federal agents into white supremacists, but the problem is when you're investigating foreign terrorism, you have identified groups. isis, al qaeda, hamas, al shabaab. with domestic terrorism, just people standing around in a chat room electronically speaking, spouting white supremacist views it's hard to know how to get a handle on investigating that or

what material support to that would be. those are the big legislative challenges. >> and i want to return to the assault weapon ban which was legislated in 1994. it expired by congress' decision ten years later. i know there's a lot of conflicting data on whether it helped, didn't help. but at this point, the assault wep ban and the large magazines. look at what that shooter accomplished in 30 seconds with that large magazine. >> reporter: basically firing two rounds per second because of the high capacity there. banning assault weapons is one thing some states are looking at. other states are looking at banning high capacity magazines. it seems hard to believe you'd have a ban on assault weapons themselves. but perhaps some of these other features is something congress

would consider. >> thank you so very much. coming up, national security -- why isn't the fbi doing more to combat domestic terrorism? we'll expand on what he just suggested. that's ahead right here on "andrea mitchell reports." stay with us on nbc. ith us on n. but you're not, because you have e*trade, which isn't complicated. their tools make trading quicker and simpler so you can take on the markets with confidence. don't get mad. get e*trade.

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i will say that a majority

of the domestic terrorism cases that we've investigated are motivated by some version of what you might call white supremacist violence, but it includes other things as well. >> fbi director chris wray telling lawmakers that the fbi has recorded 100 arrested of domestic terrorism suspects in the last nine months. the majority are white supremacists who have become emboldened to act on their views. joining me now is a former fbi agent who is in charge of the active shooter program, and matt miller former chief spokesman for the justice department. catherine, tell us about how the fbi approaches these cases? as chris wray testified, until

someone becomes violaent you can't investigate them for their speech if it's a domestic case. >> it's true. before the violence, you can do investigation. but it's challenging. i've worked domestic terrorism cases myself in the midwest whether i was up in wisconsin. it's a challenge because we're looking for behaviors, incidents, things they might be doing as opposed to in a hate crime situation where you have a clear articulation of something that's in paper or in words that goes beyond -- that reaches past the first amendment protections to incite. >> this is a problem that attorneys general have coped with. when you were at justice, when do you decide when someone is a danger to the community? >> it's a tremendous challenge with respect to international terrorism and domestic terrorism. there are three things the government needs to do.

congress needs to pass a domestic terrorism law to give the fbi more tools than it currently has to combat domestic terrorism. some of the tools they have for combatting international terrorism. you know, the agency was completely reoriented after 9/11 to focus on international terrorism. rightly so. with this uptick in domestic terrorism, we need to make sure that the same focus is being brought to bear. all the joint terrorism task forces that exist in cities around the country are focusing on domestic terrorism in the same way. finally, i think we need a whole of government approach to combat not just people with hateful idealogies that turn to violence, but preventing people from being attracted to those idealogies in the first place. we launched a campaign like that during the obama administration. but this is where it's very hard to see how the fbi would do it as long as donald trump is president. can't have the fbi running out and trying to convince people not to become white supremacists when you have the president of the united states echoing the very language that wheite

supremacists use all the time. >> and in fact, some of the programs that have been in place were cut back with this new administration. >> it's tough when you only have so many resources and you have x number of agents and analysts and they're only assigned to international work. when we know in the united states, we have this growing white supremacist groups that have been going on and on and on. >> yaei'm going to interrupt yo. the mayor of dayton is speaking right now. >> as you cover me all the time, you know i have lots of protesters all the time. even my friends protest me from time to time. so i'm glad that they're using their right to give free speech comment. look, i know that he has made his bed, he's got to lie in it. he hasn't, you know -- his rhetoric has been painful for many in our community.

and i think that people should stand up and say they're not happy if they're not happy. >> do you think the governor's proposal would have stopped connor betts? >> i haven't gotten into the details of it yet. certainly some of the mental health questions had he's asking -- i've been clear about this. i'm not pollyannish to think we're going to find the perfect legislation that's going to solve every single gun problem down the road. we need to start working and moving towards that direction. i definitely think the actions of, you know, both him, senator brown, senator portman, congressman turner coming to dayton on sunday. seeing this site and then witnessing the love and grief and outpouring and the anger of our community has had an effect on him. >> can you say if this incident is politically motivated? >> the incident of trump coming? >> no, the shooting. >> no, i mean, i have no news on the investigation today.

>> do you think that the president can unite dayton tomorrow? >> everyone has it in their power to be a force to bring people together. and everybody has it in their power to be a force to bring people apart. that's up to the president of the united states. [ inaudible question ] >> look, i'm in favor of a ban on assault weapons. i've always been in favor that even before this. i think this gun is a problematic issue. the issue is if he didn't have a gun like that we wouldn't see so much death that happened in 30 seconds that it occurred. and i shared that with the president when he called me sunday evening. >> mayor, do you believe that the president will help bring this community together tomorrow? >> look, i have no sense of what's in president trump's mind at all, right? i can only hope that as president of the united states that he's coming here because he wants to add value to our

community and he recognizes that that's what our community needs. that's all -- >> have they reached out for a meeting with you? >> yes. >> is that going to happen? >> yes. >> do you know about the schedule and what he's going to be doing? >> i don't have information. >> after his remarks wrapped up yesterday, what was the first thing that went through your mind? >> i'm sorry. his remarks yesterday? can you give me -- >> when he addressed the nation about these shootings, when also he addressed the people -- >> of toledo? yeah. look, i'm disappointed with his remarks. i mean, i think they fell really short. he mentioned, like, gun issues one time. i think watching the president over the past few years over the issues of guns -- i don't know if he knows what he believes, frankly. >> when he did misspeak and say toledo instead of dayton, what was your immediate reaction? >> like, people from the coast never understand ohio and they think all ohio cities are the

same. it's an exhausting issue we have all the time. you know, we had people from power centers to pay attention to our communities we'd be better off. >> the governor's plan for early intervention, it seems like it was applicable here. >> definitely the governor trying to make steps that have affected -- he's been clear. he called me last night about this, we had a discussion about it. i don't know if these things would have changehead daytd day. i think the governor has been working on this for a few months. it's not something he got together maybe it sped up the process. i think he's been working on this -- >> you have all these teachers in town, so early intervention seems like it's applicable for today and sunday morning. >> right as we go back to school. you know, having those assets. let's be clear. the mental health issue we're talking about to increase mental

health capacity in this state has been an issue since the great recession. so having just that done, i don't think it has per se -- i'm sorry -- to do with the gun issue. it does have a little bit. we need mental health access overall. we see that every day in our communities. we see that with people who have survived this. >> is enough being done at the federal level to address gun violence? >> absolutely not. i think the -- what do you see in d.c.? you see a lot of nothing happening on a lot of stuff. commonsense gun reform is an example where nothing's happened. we want something to happen there, too. >> is there an update? >> no, we don't have much of an update today. >> are you going to express these views to the president when you see him tomorrow? >> absolutely. >> you are? >> absolutely. >> you're going to tell him how unhelpful he's being. if i'm telling you, i'm going to tell him. he probably will hear it from

you all better than he hears it from me. >> what are you going to tell him? >> like how unhelpful he's been on this. yesterday his comments weren't helpful to the issue around guns. >> you believe he's coming too soon? >> look, he's the president of the united states. he does his calendar. i do mine. >> your reaction to the comments by -- >> oh. they're really heartbreaking. i mean, i think here you have a woman that lives 40 minutes from here and for her to spew such hate in a community -- our community is about inclusivety, diversity and bringing people together. to say that on the heels of these deaths, i think she just represents what is so disgusting about american politics today. and i commend the ohio republican party for calling for her resignation. i commend the profile

encouraged, the warren county commissioner shannon jones, who always speaks truth to power. i hope she resigns. because that kind oaf hate does not -- there's a lot of interesting stuff in the ohio state house. definitely that does not belong there. >> have you had a chance to meet with any of the victims yet? >> the victims have their victim advocates. so they have not asked to reach out. we give them their space and will continue to do that. >> going back to the governor's address this morning talking about mental health. here hin dayton you had the tornados, now this, how do you think it's going to be at the start of the school year? >> mental health is a really big issue. guns are a big issue too. i want us to be careful to not just put them together as one. they're connected. but we have a mental health issue that affects gun violence. we do have an issue with guns. you know, the straw purchase card he talks about, the background checks, are really, really important.

and to just do mental health and don't do gun work on commonsense gun legislation, we'll not be successful in this fight. [ inaudible question ] >> i'm pleased with these flag laws. i'm glad that ohio hopefully will be one as well. >> have you been briefed on the alleged ex-girlfriend about some of those red flags and what are your concerns with that? >> i have not been. i let the police do their investigation. i think it's important to give them space. then when it's time they'll brief us. i know they're doing everything as quickly as they can. [ inaudible question ] >> no, i don't have any updates on the investigation this afternoon. are you guys good? >> thank you. >> should we expect an update -- >> dayton mayor nan whaley. she's been extraordinary outspoken and again today saying

that she will tell the president what she's telling the press. that action has to be taken on gun laws and that she does not think his statements yesterday were helpful. not only the fact that he misspoke and said toledo instead of dayton. but his statements in general, speaking about the gun issue in a very sort of separate -- speaking about mental health. >> you see frustration expressed by the mayor, that the president's words yesterday. if he repeats those same words when he visits dayton tomorrow ring hollow if they're not backed up by action. number two, if they don't sort of take back the ideology and the extremism and hatred he's been sowing in his office. it was very much sentiments expressed by the shooter in el

pa paso. for the president to have the moment for the country when they visit mass shootings or attacks, it needs to be backed up by recognition that he bears responsibility for his own words and some kind of real commitment to doing something about it going forward. of course, there's no expectation that he'll show movement on either of those two fronts. >> as a former fbi agent, catherine, you've seen these families in the past, these red flag laws. if people comply and notice family members and do report them, that's one them. sandy hook, the mom did not report her son. there are plenty of instances where families actually cover up for their troubled youngsters or siblings. >> also, it's important to remember that guns are legal in this country. sometimes the sandy hook mom in that case, the information that we gathered was that she was using that as a bonding method. she was buying the guns. that was one way she could get her son out of the house. it's complicated as the mayor

mentioned about mental health issues. this whole issue of white supremacy is not new in the united states. i put a guy in jail not too many years ago who was part of a white supremacist group that has stood since 1973. they have members in their group who have gone to jail. so it's not a new problem. but it's not a problem that we've addressed from a statutory standpoint. >> we have to leave it there. in the 1920s, the klan in their robes marched up pennsylvania avenue. thank you very much. great to have you here. in virginia, hundreds of protesters gathered last night in front of nra headquarters. a show of force in renewed fight for stricter gun laws. the powerful gun lobby, a one time republican kingmaker, has stood at the center of gun control for decades. they've maintained a stronghold over washington even though

their power has been weakened. joining me now is jennifer wexton of virginia. thank you for joining us today. yp i want to give you a chance to respond to the mayor of dayton and her comments about the president, his travels to el paso and dayton tomorrow and what he can expect. what you think he needs to hear. >> he needs to hear that his words are hollow if they're not backed up by action. we have a real opportunity in this country to finally enact gun violence prevention legislation. we passed background checks in february and the bill has been sitting in the senate. mitch mcconnell has blocked it. if the president is sincere and wants to make change, he can do it by asking mitch mcconnell to pick that bill up for a vote. >> and the pressure from democrats primarily on mitch mcconnell to call back congress. this is a five week recess until congress comes back. i know you do a lot of home

visits. why wouldn't the president of the united states call the republican majority leader and say join with nancy pelosi, bring everyone back and let's do something. >> why wouldn't he? that's a great question. i hope that people ask him that when he goes to visit the cities that have been torn by this violence. >> let's talk about the nra. their management disputes, a lot of internal mayhem, alleged corruption, connections to moscow, visits to moscow. at the same time, they still have a hold over a significant number of legislatures. are they as powerful as they once were? are they blocking gun legislation from passing? >> i think that they are still powerful, but their power is ebbing. part of the reason for that is that the power of the people has been rising. you know, i came -- this weekend i addressed a group of gun violence prevention advocates and volunteers in washington,

d.c. under the every town umbrella. moms demand, students demand every town. they started seven years ago with maybe 80 volunteers coming out for their gun sense university. this year they had almost 2,000. those folks are going to go home, they're going to knock on doors, they're going to form groups in their own communities. they're going to make this an issue. this is an issue i ran on unapologetically. i ran on the issue of gun violence prevention. i won. i'm not the only one in the class of 2018 who did so. lucy mcbeth from georgia, jason crowe from colorado. we put this issue front and center of our campaigns. people deserve to be safe. people deserve to not be afraid that their children are going to be gunned down in their school or be mowed down by assault weapon fire when they go back to school shopping. we can do better than this in this country. we have an opportunity to do so

now. >> in your own state, we thought things were going to change after virginia tech. and there was so much action in virginia. state after state, we see this national grip of the gun lobby and of largely republican -- not exclusively republican -- resistance to change of the gun laws. >> and we saw that in virginia very recently. our governor called us back for a special session of the general assembly. the republican majority, they adjourned rather than even have this discussion. they were afraid, they were cowardly, they did not want to have the discussion and have to go back and face their voters. in virginia we have state races in november and i anticipate this will be an important issue for a lot of voters. >> jennifer wexton, thank you very much. thank you for being with us today. president obama for the first time taking on president trump's racist rhetoric without

naming his successor. issuing a very tough, very pointed statement. coming from both the former president and the former first lady michelle obama. writing, we should soundly reject language coming out of the mouths of any of our leaders that feeds a climate of fear and hatred or normalized racist sentiments. this is "the new york times" reports, president trump's reelection campaign has posted more than 2,000 ads on facebook in apcle clear attempt to rally trump base. joining me is elise allen and phil rucker and jeff mason. elise jordan, there was a tweet from the president today, he was quoting from fox news from their morning hosts about how president george w. bush never

came after president obama. president george w. bush also was really noteworthy when you were in the bush white house for the way he embraced the muslim community after 9/11 for his acumenicism, his understanding of the immigrant border situation coming from texas as he did. talk about the comparison between president trump and his predecessors. >> president trump should be careful what he encourages or invites, because by acting that way about president obama's comments, he's almost inviting president bush to step in and remind president trump that he in the aftermath of 9/11 encouraged americans to embrace diversity within the country, not to demonize the muslim community. to work together to combat extremism, that muslim allies

were our partners in the fight against terror. and the message was the exact antithesis of what president trump espouses on a daily basis. if you listen to the beautiful speech president bush gave at the national cathedral, it's a message of inclusion and love and uplifting american values in the hardest of times, that that is what makes us a truly great nation. >> you wrote that teleprompter trump meets twitter trump. we heard from nan whaley, the mayor of dayton, talking about how disappointed she was with that teleprompter speech. as you wrote, teleprompter trump repudiated twitter trump on monday. such is the picture of a divisive leader trying to act as a healer.

do you want to explain what you mean by that? phil? phil, i'm not sure you heard me, so let me bring in jeff mason while we straighten out phil's listening device. you obviously watched that speech as well. i'm not sure what your reactions were. >> well, i mean, i think the comparison of the teleprompter versus the twitter trump is spot on. the president when he engages on twitter goes on attack against his opponents. he uses language that people see as devici divisive. when he was standing with that teleprompter, he was different. he criticized white supremacy.

that is inconsistent with his record and a lot of that record is documented in his tweets and in what he says at rallies as well. >> and joe biden, speaking exclusively to telemundo about his reactions to the way the president has handled this tragedy. >> the way the president talks, if he were a principal in your high school and they talked that way the parents would be coming in and saying fire him. it's outrageous the way in which we characterize these people. it's the thing that brings all the hatred out in the open. they think it's legitimate to come out and do the things they do. it's about white nationalism and supremacy against minorities. >> i know you heard joe biden just now. what you didn't hear is me quoting from your and ashley parker's writing today about how teleprompter trump was repudiating twitter trump in the

diplomatic reception room on monday and how that picture of a divisive leader trying to act as a healer is so dissonant if you can dig down into that. >> that's i think the clearest way to describe what happened yesterday morning at the white house. the president, of course, was reading from that scripted speech repudiating bigotry, racism, hatred. he talked about setting partisanship aside and overcoming these sorts of divisions with love and unity. but, you know, a lot of people say wait a minute. president trump is the one who is always focused on partisanship, who is creating some of these divisions and deepening them with his rhetoric, with his regular attacks. not only on immigrants but on his political foes on twitter and so forth. so, i you know, we'll see if trump really takes in the words that he read in that speech yesterday and changes. you know, this is a man in his 70s.

he is not changing, this is trump and it's who he is. >> in fact, if you take a look at the facebook ad buys from his campaign, he's just -- they're just, you know, drilling down on that. that's the message they're sending to their base. >> that's exactly right. this is a deliberate strategy by the trump campaign. we saw it a few weeks ago with the attack on the four congresswomen of color. we saw him continue it with the attack on baltimore and their african-american congressman elijah cummings. we'll continue to see this through november of 2020. there's a strategy that trump is employing to try to use these divisions in order to galvanize and motivate his own white supporters to maximize the turnout of trump voters in some of these important states that are going to be up for grabs in the presidential race. >> thanks to all. coming up, grief into action. we'll talk to a father, the father of a young boy killed at

sandy hook elementary school about the latest massacres and what he's doing to try to stop the next one from happening. you're watching "andrea mitchell reports." stay with us on msnbc. ching "anl reports. stay with us on msnbc. so, every day, we put our latest technology and unrivaled network to work. the united states postal service makes more e-commerce deliveries to homes than anyone else in the country.

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the majority of those who died today were children. beautiful little kids between the ages of five and ten years old. they had their entire lives ahead of them. >> president obama clearly overcome with emotion, addressing the nation the day a gunman walked into the sandy hook elementary school. his emotional response in stark contrast to president trump's response two days after the weekend massacres. joini joining me now is the father of one of the children killed at sandy hook. mark, thank you for coming. i hate the fact we meet at these terrible occasions. how important was it to you and

the others later, of course, when you realized that there was a connection with the leadership of the country, that president obama was at least doing what he could to comfort and try to take action? >> thanks for having me on again, andrea. it was comforting to know that our elected leadership was doing everything within their power, within their construct to address this problem and to try to prevent it from happening again. and that's kind of where my organization, sandy hook promise, picked up. it's really invested in prevention of not only mass shootings, but suicides and other violence as well. >> how frustrating is it that all these years later these killings are still happening? >> it is absolutely frustrating. it's kind of like opening up a

wound that will never truly heal. i will always grieve and mourn the shooting murder of my son, daniel, forever. but i have taken that grief into action with hook promise. as frustrating as it is to see these tragedies unfold, i have to look into my heart and i know that our organization has prevented mass shootings. we have prevented suicides. we're just getting started. we're only six years old and we've trained over 7.5 million students and adults in our life saving know the signs programs. we offer the trainings for free. we know it works and will continue to see more and more impact. of course it is devastating to see we can't obviously catch all of it. i look at the gun violence epidemic in our country as a very complex issue. it's not just about these high profile mass shootings. our communities and cities across the country are bearing witness to these tragedies every

single day and that pain is just as real for those families. it's just as forever. and it's going to take comprehensive solutions. sandy hook promise works on the front end with prevention. we train students how to recognize warning signs for free. we know that works. but we need more. we know that we have bipartisan solutions in our congress that are waiting a vote. we need to implore senate majority leader mitch mcconnell to take the background check expansion bill up for a vote in the senate. the extreme risk protection orders are life saving opportunities we can put into -- in to implement right now. we need to step up a is a nation and make this our priority and get busy fixing this problem because it's preventible. >> in february of 2018 you were at the white house with president trump after parkland. have you heard from the white house since? >> no, i was optimistic that we were able to share, we have a solution and we were willing to

help our federal government get policies in place that can help prevent these tragedies from happening. unfortunately, we did not hear back from them. >> well, mark barden, your work goes on and it's such positive work. we thank you for transforming your grief in part at least into service. thank you for doing what you're doing for the country. >> thank you. we need all the help we can get. >> that is absolutely true. every day. >> thanks, andrea. >> thank you. meanwhile, in hyannisport a heartbroken kennedy family gathered on monday for the funeral of saoirse kennedy hill. the 22-year-old granddaughter of the late robert f. kennedy and ethel kennedy found unresponsive at the family compound in cape cod last week. >> reporter: so many of the mourners were so young. saoirse kennedy hill's classmates and friends gathered

outside the church as the 22-year-old's body left the kennedy compound where she died last week. a police escort brought the kennedys to our lady of victory church where they have celebrated and grieved over the years. grandmother ethel the 91-year-old widow of senator robert kennedy helped out of the car by her son, max. former congressman joe kennedy and his son joe iii a current congressman were pall bearers along with ted kennedy jr. nbc news anchor maria shriver was an usher. inside one of the songs "when irish eyes are smiling." the words changed to "when saoirse's eyes are smiling." an unnamed mourner telling "the boston globe" the service was full of hope and laughter and love. in celebration of the wonderful young woman who filled the world with her adventurous spirit. her father, irishman paul hill,

carried his daughter from the church. "people" magazine reporting he told mourners, saoirse was the love of my life. before breaking down in tears. from her mother courtney kennedy hill who gave her life, a last good-bye. >> in his eulogy robert kennedy jr. said, if anyone ever wondered whether god loves the kennedy family, proof is they gave us saoirse. ♪ this is not just a headache. this is not just a fever. this is not just the flu. it's meningitis b... and you're not there to help. while meningitis b is uncommon... once symptoms appear, they can progress quickly and can be fatal... sometimes within 24 hours. before you send your teen to college... make sure you help protect them. talk to your teen's doctor... about meningitis b vaccination.

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the worlds of literature and civil rights have lost one of their most powerful voices. toni morrison, poet, novelist, editor, professor, first african woman to win the nobel prize has died at the age of 88 in new york surrounded by family. morrison's novels include "beloved" and "the bluest eye" and "song of solomon" in which she spoke to the pain and resiliency of the african-american experience. in 1993 she was awarded the nobel prize for literature and in 2012 president obama celebrated her with the presidential medal of freedom. >> toni morrison. she is used to a little distraction as a single mother working at a publishing company by day she would carve out a little time in the evening to write. often with her two sons pulling on her hair and tugging at her earrings. once a baby spit up on her tablet so she wrote around it.

circumstances may not have been ideal, but the words that came out were magical. toni morrison's prose brings us that kind of moral and emotional intensity that few writers ever attempt. from "song of solomon" to "beloved" toni reaches us deeply using a tone that is lyrical, precise, distinct, and inclusive. she believes that language arcs toward the place where meaning might lie. the rest of us are lucky to be following along for the ride. >> no one has said it better. for years as an editor toni morrison brought black voices into print. at princeton and other major universities she was a beloved teacher. today president obama tweeted this picture posting, her writing was a beautiful, meaningful challenge to our conscience and our moral imagination. what a gift to breathe the same air as her if only for a while.

and that is it for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports." remember, following us online on facebook and twitter @mitchellreports. here's ali velshi and stephanie ruhle. >> what a great remembrance. have a great afternoon. it's tuesday, august 6. coming up the rise of domestic terrorism. white supremacists have been responsible for multiple mass shootings in recent years. we'll look at the government's response and why it's been so slow and ineffectual on this issue compared to other types of crime and terror. plus, the politics of guns. we'll break down why the nra is so powerful and why no one has been able to stop its influence in washington. we'll get a look at the red flag laws and how they can be used to keep guns out of the wrong hands. today we learned president trump is set to visit el paso and dayton, ohio tomorrow in the aftermath of the deadly mass shootings to pay tribute to the lives, the 22 lives lost in texas and the nine killed in