good morning. i'm jose diaz blart picking up another hour of coverage here in uvalde, texas. 10:00 here in uvalde. before tuesday this was just a

small tight knit community about 18,000 people. it describes itself as the cross roads to hill country. now, now the people here nearly 80% latino, many stretching back for generations reeling from the horrors of one of the worst school shootings in u.s. history. at least 19 children and two teachers were murdered. in the wake of horror like this, we often hear the word unimaginable but here it's almost as this is becoming easier and easier to imagine tragedies like this although i've got to tell you, that there is nothing easy. nothing easy about what uvalde and the people here are going through right now. so far, what we know from the investigation, the suspect first shot his grand mother before driving right here towards the

school where we are here. apparently crashed very close to the school and then claim into robb elementary proper. a lieutenant says the suspect barricaded himself in a classroom, used an ar style rifle in addition to wearing some kind of vest, tactical vest, it's one of those vests you can carry extra magazines on, may be that vest had some steel or porcelain protector in it, the lieutenant says they're trying to access video cameras in the school to learn more. imagine the horror of what was lived in here. the victims who lost their lives at the school behind me were third graders, fourth graders. little boys and little girls excited for the summer. tomorrow was the last day of school. i spoke with guadalupe, a parent of an 8-year-old child.

he was in the school. his mother dropped him off yesterday morning. like the parents of those 19 children dropped off their children never to see them again, guadalupe is one of the lucky ones. he got to see his son come home last night. here is a little bit of our conversation just a little while ago. >> the community right now is grieving. i didn't get any sleep last night. you know, i had a phone call from a friend that, you know, they didn't get any sleep. everybody is in shock. >> i want to bring in my colleague and i want to bring in my colleague and more than just my colleague, someone i admire so much and who, you know, tom llamas. i was thinking, tom, we were talking a little bit about that.

you know, yesterday those 19 parents dropped off their kids like you drop off your kids, like i drop off my kids and two days before the end of school and then this horror happens in there. tom, how do -- first of all, how do we process this? >> yeah, first, i don't think there is any take away here. i don't think there is any lesson to be learned. you mentioned in the last hour the sign, that's what really stands out to me because it says welcome. you said 80% of the community, 90% of that school is latino. so you think about these hispanic families, right? they leave their native countries come here looking for a better life probably taking two, three jobs to survive. i thought about them yesterday because at the reunification center or the center where you learned if your child was not going to come back, some of those fathers didn't speak english and we say it's unimaginable and there is a phrase in spanish like that.

[speaking foreign language]. they left everything behind and came here to this country, this great and powerful country and they got a public school education, and this happened. and i'm thinking about them because they were robbed at that age for children as you know, 8, 9, 10 is when kids are full of joy. >> yeah. >> that turning point right before they get, you know, become preteens and teenagers. they love going to school. they love their families. it's all about family. i'm thinking about the parents because they're going to be robbed of some incredible moments in their life. >> yeah. >> jose, i don't think there is any lessons here. there is going to be a gun debate and back and forth. there is going to be a lot of politics on this. i hope something changes but i don't know if it is because we covered park land, sandy hook and this. every single community in america is affected. in california, everybody is affected by this. >> and then, it's as though,

what happened in buffalo, you know -- >> ten days ago. >> they haven't buried some of the victims there. it's just like it's over and over and over again. and then it's like everyone can be directly affected, and those that aren't directly affected, tom, i'm thinking and you know, thank you, man, for talking about that, about the people who have dreams and hopes and aspirations and who sometimes have roots in this community and sometimes they're just planting the seeds. >> right. >> of their homes and of their lives and of their families and these kids, tom, and then to think -- >> and it breaks my heart that that shooter was also from this community. >> that's the thing i was going to tell you. >> it's easy to be a monday morning quarterback and say how did you miss the warning signs? the warning signs were there. there is interesting reporting, he was bullied. he started to turn and "the

washington post" has an incredible story upright now about the transformation, if you will, but you never know what every family goes through, and it makes it heartbreaking, and it's even worse it was a member of this community, someone that went to the high school and what was inside his heart, the evil to do this here. >> yeah, i was just speaking to somebody who has direct knowledge of what officials found in there, tom. >> yeah. >> and i can't even say it. i just can't say what that source told me, direct knowledge of what that shooter did in that classroom and what -- there was purpose and there was -- and there was this evil that -- i just can't believe it. i don't know.

you know -- >> you wonder where it's learned, how it develops, how it manifests. in a school of second, third and fourth graders, i hope something is done but i don't know if there is. it's so bad that we're supposed to shine a light on these things to try to gain understanding. i don't know if we will. i can't look at the photos. i want to honor these families. >> yeah. >> i can't even look at the photos. >> i know, man. >> no, because for the grace of god, that tom is the amazing thing that we all have to think about. they'll will time for political discussions and this and that and needed. >> yeah. >> conversations and needed issues of change but this is just -- tom, thank you. thanks. >> we'll stay reporting on this. >> thank you. i want to bring in morgan chesky at the civic center and tom was talking about the civic center that initially was where parents went to be reunited with

the children that had survived and then it evolved morgan, into something that -- what did that evolve into and what is it now? >> jose, you can almost call it an emotional epicenter for the community of uvalde. there were parents here who waited hours, hours upon hours waiting to hear about word if their student, if their child made it out of the school alive yesterday. today, grief counselors are inside this building. teachers from robb elementary school walking inside and out. sharing what's on their hearts, what's on their mind and everyone's minds here in this tight knit community of 1,000 people. the counselors will remain for the foreseeable future. all campuses here in uvalde have been closed down as this investigation deepens as you and tom discuss into a potential motive for the shooter to do the absolutely unthinkable. we do anticipate hering from

greg abbott and senators ted cruz and john cornan within an hour. i spoke to a representative from the atf. they will be an hand -- we're hoping to hear some clarity given into what transpired about this time yesterday, jose. that's when uvalde police would have gotten the initial shooter call, active shooter just outside robb elementary school where this gunman ditched his car and walked inside there are still so many questions that need answers, but in the meantime, this community has to figure out a way to move forward from this. two examples of how close this town is, jose when i pulled up into this community yesterday, i parked my car in front of a gentleman's home and made sure it was okay with him. he knew why i was here. he said by the way, one of these teachers killed was my niece. last night, jose, i checked into my hotel, the woman asked why i was here. i told her. she says, you know, one of those

teachers killed taught my son a few years back. every direction, every person. they'll have a connection to this. that's what makes it hurt more. jose? >> morgan chesky, thank you. thank you so much. you know, in the following hours after the shooting, senate majority leader chuck schumer began the process that would force votes on two bills that would expand background checks for gun purchases and last night, president biden made an passionate plea to the country. >> as a nation we have to ask when in god's name are we going to stand up to the gun lobby? when in god's name we do what we know in our gut needs to be done? >> joining us now is nbc news washington corespondent and the anchor and moderator of "washington week" on pbs. you're in minneapolis today

covering the second anniversary of george floyd's murder. you covered the mass shooting in newtown, connecticut, which happened while president biden was vice president. what are you hearing from the white house this morning? >> well, jose, as you said, i covered newtown, connecticut and i remember the mourning and the pain of those parents. i will never forget tiny coffins and 6-year-olds in suits going to funerals and i thought the world would change after that and today what i'm hearing from white house officials a decade ago, we have to turn pain into action talking specifically about assault weapons, talking about specifically trying to change background checks and the procedures that people have to get these guns but i don't really hear whether or not they actually have a strategy to move forward other than the fact they

want people to know something has to change. i want you to also listen to senate majority leader chuck schumer as you said, who is saying he'll force a vote on gun measures. here is what he had to say this morning. >> it is unacceptable to the american people to think that there are not ten of my republican colleagues, just ten, one out of five over here who would be ready to work to pass something that would reduce this plague of gun violence. >> and i would tell you, jose, that the path is uncertain but really we know that it is certain. it is already both sides democrats pushing for change, republicans saying that they want to do gun measures, that they don't want to make changes. we already know what the path ahead will look like. i should tell you standing here where george floyd was murdered two years ago, the theme i'm getting from people mourning now with texas is lawmakers are not responding to the life and death

issues that americans are asking them to respond to, jose. >> thank you very much. so appreciate you being on with us this morning. with me this morning is a recent of this extraordinary lovely town. >> yes, sir. >> your sister is a teacher. >> yes. >> here. tell me the last 24 hours, just take me back to yesterday. >> it's a nightmare. it's something that you never think happens in our beautiful small community. we're known as tree city. you know, the honey capital of the world. these are the things we want to be remembered for, not something tragic like this. >> your sister is a -- >> special needs teacher.

>> special needs teacher. have you talked to her? >> yes. >> tell me about that conversation. >> well, actually, i haven't talked to her. it's been via text message. she's pretty shaken up. she's doing well. her children escaped without harm. and they're just dealing with this tragedy. >> how do we -- how do you process this? it's -- you know, some of the folks i was speaking with earlier this morning would tell me, we just always said it's not going to happen here. it could never happen here. we're such a tight knit community and yet, how do you process this? >> you don't. you start taking it likens to columbine, all these other places, sandy hook. you don't think something like that would happen in this small community. it's a nightmare. we're all processing it. waking up this morning, finding out the parents that have finally gotten notice that their

children have passed, it's just something unthinkable. >> and yet, the unthinkable happened, and it happened right here. i'm just wondering, you have kids -- >> i have two children. i actually lived a couple blocks away from here. these are my old stomping grounds. i rode my bike here. i went to school here. i never in a million years would imagine we would be going through this. >> i'm thinking that because, you know, i'm going to talk to my children about this and what do you tell your children, johanna? >> luckily, my 8-year-old was sick yesterday so she stayed home but my 5-year-old did go to school and having to explain to him why he had to hide under his desk for half of the day is very hard. he can't comprehend it. he just said that he was happy that him and his best friend lewis were safe.

>> special meeting yesterday with your kids. >> very. >> they slept with me last night. >> how do we go forward? how do we go forward as a parent, right? we have the responsibility with our children. >> we have to advocate. we have to have a voice. this is where we as a community need to come together. we need to have a voice. we need to speak. something has to be done. this cannot happen again. this -- like i said, this is not how i want my community to be remembered. we are uvalde, tree city, the honey capital of the world, not another columbine or sandy hook. >> what do you need that voice to say? >> better laws, better gun control, better law enforcement, i guess, maybe at the schools.

i really don't know. >> yeah. >> there are so many questions. >> i don't, either. i'm just -- so many questions. what are the questions that you're going to be answering to your 5-year-old because you know what? he's going to hear about this eventually and he's going to ask questions and what do we say to them? >> say that we're trying to keep them as safe as possible. you know, remind them that the police are our friends. if you have a friend that maybe is showing some signs of maybe mental illness or not being happy, you know, talk to somebody. don't stay quiet. this young man showed signs. and nobody did anything. >> joann santos, thank you. >> thank you. >> it's an extraordinary community here. >> yes, it's a beautiful committee. >> it really is. filled with honey and filled

with love. >> yes. >> we just need to have strength in these so difficult, difficult moments. thank you so much. >> thank you. all across the country, kids are back in their own classrooms after the tragedy here in uvalde. up next, i'll talk to a member of the students that demand action about the changes they would like to see. plus growing calls for blood donations on the ground here in texas. how the community has responded. it's an extraordinary place. texas. how the community has responded. it's an extraordinary place riders! let your queries be known. uh, how come we don't call ourselves bikers anymore? i mean, "riders" is cool bu. -seriously? -denied. can we go back to meeting at the rec center? the commute here is brutal. denied. how do we feel about getting a quote

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23 past the hour right now, the funeral of pearl young, one of the ten victims killed in the grocery store in buffalo new york is taking place now. that happened ten days before what unfolded here at robb

elementary school in uvalde, texas. it's a stark reminder that these events are occurring more and more frequently. joining us now are a students demand action national advisory board member based in dallas. thank you for being with us. i'm wondering what were you feeling? you know, what have these 24 hours been for you when you see what happened here? >> yeah, first of all, i want to acknowledge that we're all absolutely devastated for everyone impacted by this senseless act of violence. once again, gun violence forced its way into our schools leaving nothing but devastation, trama and tragedy. for me personally, i feel extremely sad, frustrated, angry and yeah, it's very traumatic to see this again, to see kids full of joy and life have to go

through this and to lose 19 children, two teachers lives is absolutely devastating. we need more than thoughts and prayers. we need to demand action from lawmakers. >> yeah, i mean, as a matter of fact, according to new research that used cdc data, guns were the leading cause of death among children and teenagers in 2020. what are you hearing from students about this increasing violence by guns on children? >> yeah, honestly, we're all extremely scared. it's a very, like i said, trama experience. more than 4,100 people died of gun violence in the united states every year and more than 13,000 more are shot and

wounded. latin x people are twice as likely to die but gun homicide and latin x children, teens are three times more likely to die from homicide than their white peers. students across the nation feel extremely frustrated with the inability to create change and with the lack of response from the policy makers. we're extremely driven for change and extremelysafer commu we're gathering and trying to impact our communities in the best that we possibly can. >> thank you for being with us this morning. appreciate your time. >> thank you. up next, julian castro, the former mayor of san antonio joins us on how the south central texas community is mourning. but first, an update on the latest in the investigation. what we know at this hour about the shooter. also, want to talk about the little kids and those two

teachers that lost their lives right here yesterday. you're watching jose diaz balart reporting live from uvalde, texas. z balart reporting live from uvalde, texas. pssst caesar! julius! dude, you should really check in with your team on ringcentral. i was thinking like... oh hi, caesar. we were just talking about you. ha ha ha. yeah, you should probably get out of here. not good. ♪ ♪ ♪ ringcentral ♪ miss allen over there isn't checking lesson plans. she's getting graded on her green investments with merrill. a-plus. still got it. (whistle blows) your money never stops working for you with merrill, a bank of america company.

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30 past the hour, we wait for officials to provide an update on exactly what happened in the building behind me. here is what we know so far. investigators say the 18-year-old gunman went into the school, barricaded himself inside a classroom where he shot and he killed 19 students and two teachers. authorities say he was shot and killed by a tactical team that included a border patrol agent. police say the bodies have all been removed from the building behind me, and all of the parents have been notified. imagine that process. they still don't know why this gunman went on this rampage. with us to talk more about the latest on the investigation retired seattle police chief

carmen best who is now an msnbc law enforcement analyst. thank you for being with us. tom, what are we learning about some of the details of what happened here just, you know, a little over 24 hours ago? >> right, jose, a couple things are coming into focus. namely what we don't know or what appears to be ruled out at this point as well as some new information that we've gleaned over the past several hours or so. important thing is motive. a lot of people obviously very interested into why this person may have done it, not that any reason can be provided to the families to give them any sort of closure to this and not that any reason could be helpful but having said that, i think people want to understand why as far as moving forward is there anything that could have been done here to try to prevent that? so that's the first thing motive still a question mark. second thing, there appears to be no sort of link to any inspired or directed attack on behalf of a foreign terrorist

organization. so we've heard nothing about that to date and by now we would have. still trying to understand the tiktok and sequence of events involving this individual and law enforcement. when did he first get fired upon by police there? what happened after that? what was it that ultimately brought him down? a key component is understanding what he was wearing. we saw in the buffalo shooting that the suspect there was shot by a retired police officer working as a security guard and there is question here as to what this shooter identified as salvador ramos was wearing. our colleague kerry sanders was able to ask about that earlier. let's take a listen. >> it's confirmed he was wearing some type of tactical carrier, unknown if it was ballistic material but we're still trying to identify that. he was wearing some type of tactical carrier. >> a carrier means you can slip things in sort of sleeves, right? >> exactly.

you can place magazines, ammo, ballistic panels, it's more used for tactical use, tactical teams use those type of carriers. >> it will be interesting to see here, jose, going forward did he have any sort of ballistic protection there, could that have been a reason why he was able to go relatively unhurt or at least be able to continue his shooting that required tactical teams you referenced earlier to come in and try to put an end to this. >> yeah, tom, there are so many questions that we focus on this part of it because i mean, a tactical vest can be as simple as a cloth vest with some pockets to put the extra magazines in and there are some slits in there so you can i guess put a plate either kevlar or metal, ceramic, front sides but it could also be there was just, you know, pockets on it and just the ticktock of this,

it seems as though there were a lot of time in this. this wasn't an immediate situation. >> relatively speaking, jose, i think there could have been some time. we really need more information. i'm hopeful at this press conference that's coming up in two hours that we'll get that type of ticktock information that can help us better understand it, better understand what happened here. this is not, you know, a situation where it happened in new york or seattle, in an area that retired chief bess would know about where you have 50,000 in the case of new york police officers that could respond to something like this with a number of teams that have that type of tactical equipment on the street just because. or in a large city in a large city police department like seattle. so i think we do need to keep that in mind in this particular instance but we do need a lot more information before we can understand the precise chain of events here. >> so carmen, what are you

looking at? what are you wondering? what are the questions you have when you see what happened here? >> well, good morning, jose. like everyone else, you know, we're going to all wonder why. it won't change the outcome of this horrible tragic incident. as i reflect, i'm a retired police chief. spent almost 30 years in policing and it really saddens me to see we're still dealing with horrible mass shootings over 200 in the history of united states, there in uvalde, it's very, very sad but what happened there. clearly, this was premeditated this person not only bought guns, mr. ramos, but he also put on, you know, some sort of protective gear. there is speculation there but clearly, he had some sort of protective gear on and went in there premeditated to commit

this horrible carnage inside this school. and i can tell you that there will be a lot of speculation and trying to figure out what went on and what was going on with him but this intersection of the proliferation of guns and questionable mental health, you know, we have to do something to address that. now, i am a real advocate and proponent of red flag laws for this reason because when people are in crisis or depression or something else and they have access to guns and they're young and prone to impulse behavior, you know, it's going to be a recipe for catastrophe like we seen here today, yesterday. >> yeah, carmen and tom winter, thank you very much. i want to just stop for a minute. i want to tell you about the lives that were lost here in uvalde. relatives of teacher eva mireles

said she took pride teaching students of latino heritage. she was an educator here at this school for 17 years. the students who died, who died along with her include fourth grader uziyah garcia. third grader annabel guadalupe rodriguez, 10-year-old xavier lopez. he was in an award's ceremony with his mother just hours before the shooting here in the school. amerie jo garza also in fourth grade. you see here is the last known photo of this extraordinary bright young child. it was taken on the morning of the shooting. taken yesterday morning. there you see her proudly

showing off an honor roll certificate. her grandmother told "the daily beast" she was shot trying to call 911. here is irma garcia. she was in her 23rd year of teaching at robb elementary and she also reportedly shielded students from the attack. she leaves behind a husband of 24 years, four children including her eldest son who is completing marine boot camp. the school's website notes she loved to barbecue with her husband. she loved to listen to music. the other victims have not yet been publicly identified but they're there. and those families are dealing with the unimaginable right now. families of 19 children, two

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to people to find out what they may have heard, what they may have seen, wondering whether they knew this gunman, if they had seen him in the area, maybe casing the area in the past just trying to piece together the puzzle. what is missing right now is any sort of document, some video that the gunman might have made or written statement about what he was or why he was doing this. or if this was even planned to come to this school. at this point, we have the investigations that are working on multi levels. the perhaps most critical lynch pin to some information is the gunman's 66-year-old grandmother but she's in critical condition because the gunman fired upon his grandmother before he went on this rampage. >> so do we know, did he live with his grandmother? >> yes, we lived with his grandparents. >> this is someone who lived in this community.

he either had a job at a fast food restaurant or recently had a job at the fast food restaurant in town. people tend to kind of know each other after awhile. >> well, i mean, i think what hammers home is that everybody sort of knows each other and i believe you spoke to lupe that said okay, he knows the families of every one of these victims. that's 19 children plus two adults. so yes, this is a type of community where people absolutely do know each other. >> kerry sanders, thank you. joining us now is julian castro secretary under president obama and msnbc political analyst. thanks. looking forward to speaking with you because i mean, you were also mayor of san antonio 2009 to 2014. this is a community that you know so well. i'm just wondering how, you know, this is a place of 18,000 people, 80% latino.

everybody knows everybody. this is not a place where people just pass through. this is where they've grown their families and laid down roots. i don't know, your thoughts? >> it's a wonderful commune tip as you're finding out there, jose. uvalde a small town in so many ways like a lot of other small towns in texas and across the country people do know each other. it's a place of family, of faith, of people who value the relationships that they have. it's also a place that i bet never expected they'd have to confront this situation but the fact they're confronting it and we're confronting it speaks to how common incidents like this have become unfortunately. this is who we are in the united

states of america in the year 2022. >> as we speak, julian, they are burying one of the victims of the massacre in buffalo, new york. today right now it's like something that we'll be seeing as a -- how do you regularize something that is incomprehensible and the destruction on the soul, on the heart of the entire family of a town of a country? you know, i was just speaking earlier to roland gutierrez state senator here, district 19. he goes from san antonio to the border and he was just telling me, he says i just feel so helpless in the sense that i don't know how to get change. i don't know how to do things

when it's almost as if i'm not -- i'm powerless. >> i think a lot of us feel like that because we watched these events happen for decades. people remember this in columbine in 1999 and seemed like such a shock and now whether it's aurora, virginia tech or what we saw in buffalo or el paso three years ago in the state of texas, it has become so common, but we can't let it become normalized. unfortunately, there is a blueprint of action that the nra, you know, pursues along with politicians who follow it, and in about an hour and a half, the governor of texas and the two senators of texas and other republican officials are going to hold a press conference right there in uvalde and i'm sure that they're going to offer their condolences, they're going to say kind words but they're not going to offer any kind of plan of action, i bet, or how

we're going to stop these kinds of mass shootings in the future. for everybody out there who feels powerless, what we have to do is we have to channel this anger and this sadness and this frustration into the ways that we know can move things in our democracy, is to get involved, to use your voice, to vote, to do what you can to put pressure on those politicians to change themselves and to have the moral courage to put the right policies in place to make this less likely in the future. it's not rocket science. we see what has been in other countries. we compare the united states to those other countries. we can reduce gun violence if we're willing to take the right steps. >> thank you. thanks for being with us. up next, an urgent call for blood donations on the ground here in texas. what organizers say they need, they need desperately, and how the community has been

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53 past the hour. texas was already experiencing a blood shortage before yesterday at robb elementary school. officials are sounding the alarm, calling for more donations across this state. joining us is the chief operating officer of the south texas blood and tissue center. thanks so much for being with us. how has the community reacted? what is it that we need? >> we have an incredible, overwhelming support from the community in south texas stepping up to support people in this tragedy. we have needed blood continuously. it is always an urgent need for blood in our area as the demand outstrips the number of people who are able or willing to give at this time. we have apparently had 600 donors yesterday show up. >> 600? >> 600. another 600 plus and growing today. we have appointments booked through this week. i want to make sure that people are aware that nationally,

there's a blood shortage still. they can go to aabb.org and look for a blood drive in their local area to give blood. that's a way they can support the community and honor the victims here as well. >> aabb.org. very quickly, what were you able to do post what happened here? i know you all came through and immediately supported it. >> we got the call around noon for 15 units or donations of blood to arrive here in uvalde. we airlifted those. another ten were needed at the local hospital. we sent those here. then we have been filling demand for blood as patients have gone to hospitals in both san antonio and uvalde since then. >> thank you very much for being -- for what you do. to find your nearest location, if you are here in texas, visit -- e in texas,

visit -- >> also, aabb.org. that's an easy one. thanks. that wraps up the hour for me. thank you for the privilege of your time. this is such a difficult thing to report. i so appreciate you all giving us the opportunity to be here and to share what is just an unimaginable tragedy. andrea mitchel picks up with more after a break. andrea mitchel picks up with more after a break

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