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their pain. today, big questions about the delayed police response. why didn't the school guard fire a shot? why was the school's door unlocked? why did it take an hour for a tactical team to break in? this new video shows parents outside the school while the gunman was still barricaded with the children and their teachers inside. the associated press reporting one parent who lost his daughter said authorities were unprepared and not moving quickly enough. law enforcement officials say they did engage immediately and that two of their officers were wounded. the investigation into the shooter's private facebook messages revealing he did plan to attack that elementary school. there's still no information on the motive. the nra convention in houston is scheduled to begin tomorrow. senator ted cruz is still

attending and still defending his political stance in the wake of the tragedy. >> mr. cruz, why is america the only country that faces this kind of -- >> you know what? >> you can't answer that, can you? why is this -- >> why is it people come from all over the world to america? it's the freest, safest country on earth. >> it may be the freest -- >> why are kids dying in schools? >> morgan chesky is in uvalde. there's so much pain throughout this community. there's also a good deal of frustration over what happened, the time line. >> reporter: yeah. the pain is palpable here. i think you had initial shock. that's going into a seemingly unending wave of sorrow that's coming over this community. just going up behind me, i want to show you, is just clear evidence of what this town now has to face. 21 crosses for the 21 lives lost. 19 second, third, fourth

graders. their two teachers. we are learning all of them killed in one classroom inside robb elementary school. so many unanswered questions. this town of 15,000 people has to find a way to somehow take its first steps forward, mourn those lost and find a way to move on. we know that today would have been, andrea, the last day of school. a day that a lot of kids look forward to. today, every campus is closed down, graduation is canceled. uvalde tries to move forward from this. officials have stayed tight-lipped about this investigation. we do know the time line is something we are going to press them on in the days ahead as we try to find out what led to this taking place. we have learned that according to documents, uvalde school district had an extensive safety plan in place that required a fence going up around the school, locking of doors.

yet, this still took place. authorities confirming that when that gunman went inside that classroom, the door locked behind him. authorities had some sort of issue gaining access because of that safety measure, because of the door being locked. right now trying to speak to the superintendent of schools who is tasked with calming, reassuring a staff that's meeting at a nearby civic center turned essentially a grief center with counselors on hand as they try to talk through this. lester holt spoke to a young girl yesterday at that very center, andrea, who told him that she heard the shots inside her school. that was very scary. >> yes, morgan. i saw that interview. she was clutching her teddy bear. she had spoken to a counselor. her parents were with her. it's unspeakable. thank you. this morning, savannah

guthrie had an extraordinary interview with two families devastated by the deaths of their daughters. >> a father's grief. a mother's silent anguish. a young family with five little girls now shattered. >> i won't see my daughter again. >> can you tell me how you got this news? >> i was at work. she called me. get to the school. i went to the school and tried to get in the building. the police barricaded, pushed me back out. i stood on the sidelines and watched this whole thing play out. >> i can't imagine what it would be like to be standing outside those doors wondering. >> longest day ever. it was. it was the longest day ever. >> steven garcia remembering ellie. what would you want people to

know? >> sweetest girl you ever had the chance to meet. i had the honor to call her my daughter. >> next week, june 4th, would have been her 10th birthday. she was looking forward to having a pool party to celebrate. >> we were going to have a party. her face lit up. that was the last time i saw her. >> she loved basketball and tiktok and pink and purple. she wanted to be a cheerleader and was planning her party. a little girl who lit up every room and every picture. >> she loved to dance. she loved to have fun. she loved raman noodles. she loved life in general. >> her and her sister

inaccept erable. >> the younger ones don't understand. >> she was devoted to her grandparents. spending most weekends at their side. >> it's hard to put into words. her grandparents struggling with the reality of what happened. >> school is supposed to be safe. >> for every child lost, 19 of them, there are stories like this and parents who will never be the same. this 10-year-old was another fourth grader at the elementary school. >> she was a good student. she was a very good daughter.

friend. very playful. very silly. >> she loved to draw, do science experiments and make people love. she wanted to be a youtube star one day. >> she was the perfect daughter. she was the perfect daughter. >> when he heard about the shooting, he raced to the school while waiting for news about his own daughter, he says he tried to comfort the children who did manage to get out. >> they were overwhelmed and crying. as many as i could, do you know your mom, dad's phone number? call them. that's what i tried to do to bring comfort to the kids. let them know mom and dad know you are okay, you are safe, you are here. you are not in harm. tried to calm them down the best i could. i was getting overwhelmed myself. i was trying to keep my cool for the kids. i was trying not to think about it. i was expecting for her to walk through the door at any moment. >> you were helping those kids, having no idea how your little

girl was? >> yeah. i was waiting for her. >> he waited six hours with the rest of her family, praying for a miracle that never came. it must have been -- >> it was a nightmare. >> such a painful scene. it was a nightmare. it still is. the unknown is where it was. we didn't know if she was alive. we didn't know if she was injured. we didn't know if she was -- she passed already. >> now all he can do is treasurer photos and memories, like this fishing trip they took. she's your only daughter. >> only daughter. >> only child. >> it's hard to even wrap your mind around something like that. this is the last photo he has of his baby girl posing with her honor role certificate just hours before the shooting. >> i want to honor her name. i want her to be remembered. >> he is determined to stay strong for her. >> i don't want to disappoint my

daughter. i want to live and make her happy. keep her memory alive. >> jennifer is still reeling, too devastated to speak. clutching her last mother's day gift from her little girl, a jar she made for her mother's prayers. her parents say she had a strong faith and was excited about reading a verse at church this coming sunday. >> jesus, he died for us. when we die, we will be up there for him. >> she's never going to be forgotten. a big part of our family. always has been. always will be. >> it's unbearable. moments ago i spoke with senator chris murphy, the democrats' point man on the search for any possible bipartisan agreement on gun safety measures. we talked about a meeting he was about to go into. he is there with his colleagues

as they try to find solutions. senator, you are the point person. you are leading the way, getting together, trying to form a bipartisan group. senator schumer is giving you ten days to get this done. after years and years, a decade or decades of no action, what can you accomplish in ten days? >> i do think it's important that we act fast. there's a sense of urgency in this country now. parents, like me, are having trouble explaining to their kids how we keep them safe. i don't want to share with you the conversations that my fourth grader had with his classmates yesterday as they talked about how they would survive a shooting in their school. we can't wait months or years. we need to come to a conclusion soon. senator schumer has given us a short lease. we are trying to find a path forward. it won't be everything i want. it won't be universal background checks or a ban on assault

weapons. maybe it's an expansion of background checks, maybe red flag laws, adjusting the age you can purchase weapons. whatever it is, it's a start. i'm sober minded about our prospects, our chances of success. i will do my best. >> senator cornyn, your texas colleague, one of the opponents to making changes, has said when he does get back to town, he will talk to you about red flag laws. is that the easiest thing to find a compromise on right now? >> john is a friend. i know he is very personally moved by these shootings. they happened with frequency in his state. i hope he is a partner. red flag laws are important. most of those red flag laws are state laws. we can incentivize states and help states develop those laws. but they are administered by the states. i hope we can talk about smaller refinements, improvements in the background check system.

i think there's a universe of things senator cornyn, myself, others can talk about this week and next week. >> what about limiting who can be licensed to sell guns? >> this is what senator cornyn and i have been talking about over the last year, trying to make clear that if you are selling lots of guns online or at gun shows, you have to be registered. if you are registered, you have to do a background check. that's a potential area of agreement. take a look at all of these sales that are unregulated sales that are happening online. make sure that everybody that is operating as a business is actually licensed as a firearm business. that could get tens of thousands of sales into the background check system. that could prevent lots of bad people from getting their hands on firearms. >> why did it take so long -- as long as an hour for the first responders to get into that

classroom? the school resource officer, the safety officer didn't fire a shot. they say he engaged, but he engaged verbally, but he didn't fire a shot, contrary to our initial reports. the tactical team couldn't get into -- they couldn't get into the classroom. the door to the school was unlocked. >> i haven't gotten a detailed briefing yet on what happened inside that school. i don't want to say i can guess. those are often very urgent, difficult and chaotic situations. what i do know is this. over and over again, we have been given proof that arming our schools, putting adults with guns in and around our schools doesn't seem to protect our kids. there was plenty of adults with guns at that school two days ago. there was a person with a gun in parkland, a person with a gun in dayton in dallas and over and over again the shooters only need a handful of minutes in

order to kill 20, 30 kids because of the power of the guns, get away with it. for my colleagues who say the answer is to put more people with guns in our schools, all the evidence tells us that's not true. >> how do you feel about the nra starting its convention in texas starting tomorrow? >> i'm glad some of my colleagues decided not to attend that convention. the reality is the nra isn't as powerful as they were five years ago. i think my republican colleagues know that. the nra will oppose anything we do on guns, because the nra doesn't want anybody to believe that laws can protect you. the only thing the nra wants you to believe is that guns can protect you. i just hope that my colleagues here on both sides of the aisle recognize the gun lobby isn't as powerful, isn't as potent politically as they were years ago. they don't have as much money, as many members. the approval rating is in the toilet. this is a moment where you can feel free to stand with the 90%

of your constituents that want the laws to change instead of the very slim amount of your constituents who are standing with the do nothing gun lobby. >> you said the other day, as you came off the floor, you said to reporters, don't talk to me with this bs about mental health. i'm paraphrasing you. what do you say to ted cruz, governor abbott, others who talk about arming schools? you addressed that. the mental health problems. >> we have mental health problems in this country. there's no doubt there's a lack of access to mental health resources. there's no more mental illness in the united states than in any other high income nation in the world. why do we have all the gun violence? the reason is in this country people who are having homicidal thoughts can easily walk to a store in their neighborhood and buy, without a background check, a weapon of mass destruction. you can't get your hands on those weapons in other

countries. in those nations, people that are having their brains break simply can't perpetuate the murder that you can here. the difference is the ease of access to firearms, the difference is not the amount of mental illness we have. we shouldn't expect that that is going to fix our gun violence problem. >> is there anything the president can do by executive action? is this really -- does it have to be done by congress? >> the president can lead the national conversation. my hope is that every day the president is talking about the urgency of action and that he is helping us organize the public to put pressure on my colleagues to come to the table and do something. i think there are a few more executive actions the president could take. really, the ball is in our court. this is something congress has to take ahold of right now. >> finally, you lived through this. you saw how parents were screaming when they got the

word. they had to give dna for identification. having gone through sandy hook, what do you say to this community and to these parents? what comfort can you offer? >> i just left the side of the daughter of the principal of sandy hook elementary school. i don't know i have any words. i was there in sandy hook when the parents were told, 20 parents who were left in that firehouse that it was their kids who were dead on the floor of the school. things i heard and things i saw, i wish i never heard and saw. i don't know i have any words of comfort for the families in texas other than there are people to help you, there are people that have gone through this and there are people in washington like me that are going to try to make sure this never happens again. i don't know any of that is sufficient. i'm sure none of that is sufficient. it's just our job to make sure this never happens again. >> indeed. thank you so much. thanks for your time. >> thank you. those critical moments.

new questions concerning what did happen in the first few minutes leading up to and during the shooting. the latest on the investigation, that's coming next. you are watching "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. "ana "ana mitchell reports" on msnbc still got it. (whistle blows) your money never stops working for you with merrill, a bank of america company. ♪ ♪ we believe there's an innovator in all of us. that's why we build technology that helps everyone come to the table and do more incredible things. ♪ ♪ finding the perfect developer isn't easy. but, at upwork, we found her. she's in prague between the ideal cup of coffee and a truly impressive synthesizer collection. and you can find her right now (lepsi?) on upwork.com (lepsi.) when the world is your workforce, finding the perfect project manager, designer, developer, or whomever you may need...

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state and federal law enforcement officials are trying to piece together the time line of events from the moment the texas shooter crashed his grandmother's truck outside the elementary school until the border patrol tactical unit arrived and broke through an adjacent classroom to shoot and kill him. that could be as long as an hour later. as the scene unfolded inside robb elementary, children's parents were outside and pleading to enter the building. one of the parents livestreaming on facebook. >> i can't be like that. you can't be like that when there's --

>> i do. get across the street. i'm having to deal with you. get across the street. get across the street. >> we're going to back up. >> [ bleep ]. [ bleep ]. [ bleep ]. >> you know there are little kids? they are little kids. they don't know how to defend themselves. >> we don't know the full context of that video. imagine how frantic the parents were. joining us now, pete williams and jim kavanaugh, a former atf special agent. pete, can you clear up some of the discrepancies for us? early reports in the fog of this terrible situation, was the school resource officer armed during the initial altercation with the shooter outside? did he try to take him down? >> the simple answer to your question about whether i can clear this up is, no.

we don't have definitive answers to these questions. whether the school resource officer shot at him and then what happened, what happened in the school and why it took so long. i will say a couple of things that are apparent now. one is, we have been told that the police officers inside, when they got to the locked door of the classroom -- that was the first problem, the door was locked when they got there. he was firing at the police officers through the wall. he had a very high powered rifle that was capable of shooting through the walls of the school. he was shooting at them. obviously, they can't see him. they don't know where he is. they're not going to shoot back. they don't know what the situation is inside. that's the first factor. the second factor is, we are told there was an initial attempt to try to physically push the door open, to breach the door that didn't work.

what our understanding is here is the team didn't get in until someone at the school produced a master key that allowed them to unlock the door. the third thing is, we have also been told that the school district ironically had recently installed hardened doors, specifically as a defense against shooters, against active shooters, so that when the report goes out, the door is immediately locked. that makes it harder for the shooter to get in. of course, if the shooter is already in the classroom, which is what this situation apparently is, the reverse happens. it's hard for law enforcement to get in. we don't have a good time line yet. i know that's something they are trying to do. it does seem possible it will be possible to construct it. there are a number of resources available. yesterday, the texas department of public safety people said there were surveillance cameras in the school. the police would have body cameras -- may have body cameras that would have time on them.

then there's the issue of when the car was crashed, if he had his cell phone, they could track his movements there. we also know that roughly when he got in there, because apparently one of the young children in there tried to make a 911 call. there would be a time of that. there will be some landmarks. i'm sure they will be able to put this together. it's obviously a very complex, chaotic scene. questions are very understandable. >> on all sides. jim, officers in the past in shootings at virginia tech, in lancaster, pennsylvania, they had trouble getting to the shooter. is this a problem with training or having the right equipment? are they outgunned when someone comes in with something that's similar to an ak-47? >> you are right, andrea. a couple things. police have not focused on this breaching problem as much as they should.

i spoke to officers about this issue. troopers had a hard time getting in. the only reason they were able to get in to cho was s.w.a.t. had been deployed to his first murder. they were out. they were able to go to the second building and breach it. officers have to have breaching tools, breaching training, small tools available. they can't wait 40 minutes for s.w.a.t. they got the key from the superintendent. how long did it take? all these minutes can be erased early with planning. for example, a school could set up a lock safe outside that only the police can get in. that could have master keys. any patrol officer could get in that box and then have access to the doors. that could be arranged before the shooting. then the minutes count. if you don't have enough

breaching tools for your deputies or officers, the best breachers that are close by to you is a hook and ladder company company, a fire company. they do it all the time. they are fearless. they can get through any door. i can tell you that you see the fire helmet behind me, that's my father's fire helmet from 9 truck in new jersey where he was a firefighter for 32 years. those guys go through anything. they are three minutes away from your mass shooting. you have to plan this ahead with them. you may have to give them bulletproof vests. we will give the gear to officers. arrange it now and not at the moment. like pete said, they were backed off probably by the rifles. the killer's rifle. did the officers have tactical rifles? most do. the tactic is, you gotta go in the three officer stack. you try to get to the point of

engagement, point of contact. you have to breach through locked doors fast. >> especially with the semiautomatic weapon on the other side. pete williams, jim kavanaugh, thanks. a community praying for comfort, trying to heal, trying to understand in the face of unimaginable grief. we will talk to the state senator about what can be done to help them. you are watching "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. msnc uh, how come we don't call ourselves bikers anymore? i mean, "riders" is cool, but "bikers"...is really cool. -seriously? -denied. can we go o meeting at the rec center? the commute here is brutal. denied. how do we feel about getting a quote to see if we can save with america's number one motorcycle insurer? should flo stop asking the same question every time? -approved! -[ altered voice ] denied! [ normal voice ] whoa.

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the uvalde community came together last night to pray at a mass remembering the 21 innocent lives lost. at a separate vigil also at a rodeo fairground. >> pray for these children that seen more than they should ever see in their lives. >> joining me now is texas state senator roland gutierrez who represents uvalde. senator, my condolences to you, the community, everything you are going through. i know you were with the families during that awful night and since. you have seen the pictures of onlookers urging police officers to charge in. there are questions why it took so long. families were frustrated

outside. can you clarify anything about the time line? >> we are -- i just got done with the folks at dps. they are still putting their time line together. we have doubled up our dps officers in the area. they are actually going from house to house. as you know, this was less than a quarter of a mile, about two-tenths of a mile from his grandmother's house to the school. they are literally having officers go door to door and knock on every neighbor's door to see what they saw in addition to camera footage and any other thing else they can get. >> do you know what took so long for the tactical unit to get there and breach that classroom wall? >> there was almost this immediate attention by the independent school district police. what we don't know and what i'm trying to ascertain is, we were told there was an exchange between them. i specifically asked, was there fire exchanged?

nobody knows that. if isd police exchanged any type of fire with these folks, that can't be answered as yet. then the local police showed up. a few of them. the cbp tactical force, of course, is there on another jurisdictional issue and good enough we had them stationed there. they showed up right away. it did take them a little bit to get there, for sure. i can only imagine there's a commotion, a lot of chaos going on. our law enforcement has done everything they can. we are going to uncover all of this and figure out this time line over the days ahead. >> you were sadly at that reunification center where parents were learning about their children, whether they were dead or alive. it took a good deal of time. the shock must have been paralyzing for them. >> it was difficult. an incredible juxtaposition

between the calmness of having them wait. they were following instructions. they were huddled in prayer. then as each one of them found out, just the cries and the -- daughters of my own. it's been so impactful. i'm at a loss for words, frankly. >> you said you have guns. you are a hunter. not semiautomatics for deer, of course. what message do you have for governor abbott and other leaders of your state about gun safety? >> it's time. if i have any message -- my role right now is to make sure the people of uvalde have all of the state's resources at their disposal. that's number one. we will need a tremendous amount

of mental health resources, psychologists, psychiatrists and counselors. that's the first thing. subsequently, we have to develop a real consistent policy plan for the future. it cannot be another shooting in texas and simply talk about mental health and talk about the evil that's among us. that is -- enough is enough. governor abbott and my republican colleagues need to come up with a significant plan. i filed a red flag bill in 2019. it went nowhere. they filed 17 school hardening bills that they are proud of. you see where that has gotten us. >> state senator roland gutierrez, thank you. again, our sorrow for the incredible grief of your entire community. thanks for being with us. >> thank you. will it be different this time? is this a turning point in decades of opposition from

republicans and some democrats have blocked firearms legislation in the senate. will it change? this is "andrea mitchell reports" only on msnbc. only onc you can get every other month. cabenuva helps keep me undetectable. it's two injections, given by a healthcare provider every other month. it's one less thing to think about while traveling. hiv pills aren't on my mind. a quick change in my plans is no big deal. don't receive cabenuva if you're allergic to its ingredients or taking certain medicines, which may interact with cabenuva. serious side effects include allergic reactions, post-injection reactions, liver problems, and depression. if you have a rash and other allergic reaction symptoms, stop cabenuva and get medical help right away. tell your doctor if you have liver problems or mental health concerns, and if you are pregnant, breastfeeding, or considering pregnancy. some of the most common side effects include injection-site reactions, fever, and tiredness.

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why does this only happen in your country? that's what many people around the world -- they cannot fathom, why only in america? why is this american exceptionalism so awful? >> i'm sorry you think american

exceptionalism is awful. >> i think this aspect of it. >> you have your political agenda. god love you. >> it's not. i want to understand why you do not think that guns are the problem. >> that was texas senator ted cruz evading questions from sky new's mark stone about why other countries don't suffer mass shootings the way we do here in america. joining us is kristin welker, "washington post" white house bureau chief ashley parker and forger obama white house press secretary robert gibbs. texas governor abbott and senator cruz oppose any restrictions on guns. beto o'rourke confronted the governor yesterday during his news conference. rday during his news conference.

>> sir, you are out of line. sir, you are out of line. please leave this auditorium. >> they did take him out. he came out and talked to reporters. the president is set to travel to uvalde in the coming days. what can he promise these people? can there be any real action? >> very little in the short-term, andrea. we know president biden signed some executive orders related to guns back in april, specifically one that would make it more difficult to get so-called ghost guns. those are the unserialized, untraceable guns. in speaking with officials here, i have asked if there's any renewed effort to try to pass new executive orders. the response is, not right now. the focus is really on lawmakers on capitol hill. that's where they believe the real change will happen. our producer asked the president

when he was visiting buffalo a week ago, that mass shooting there, if he would take new action to move on executive orders. he said, there's really not much that can be done through executive orders that can't be more robustly on capitol hill. the focus is there. turning up the heat on lawmakers to get something done. you spoke with chris murphy earlier in the broadcast. there are those discussions going on around potentially expanding background checks and the red flag laws. the question is, will they be able to get enough votes to move forward on any piece of legislation that would make it more difficult to obtain a gun, particularly for those who are mentally unstable? >> robert, we know now in polls, some of the polling is as high as 80% of people support some or all gun restrictions. it's really extraordinary. why can't they break this

gridlock in the senate? you would think politicians would react to what they see in the polls. >> yeah. unfortunately, i don't think the composition of the senate is equal to the composition of where the country is. that having been said, look, i'm a big believer right now, andrea, if there's a will, there is a way. i believe there are enough people up there that want to be able to do something. i think it's a good sign that people like chris murphy and others are having quiet meetings and negotiations. i think people at first were like, let's have the senate vote immediately, let's have the senate stay in session. all that would have done is push people to their natural corners of getting nothing done. i think if you look at the lindsey grahams of the world, pat toomey, mitt romney, susan collins, you think you can get closer to 60 votes to get something as was mentioned, maybe a red flag law, maybe

stronger background checks is too far to get to 60. i think if you are an elected official, democrat or republican, i just cannot imagine wanting to go home between now and election day and not have something to say that you did to try to make the next time somebody whose 18-year-old walks into a school with an automatic weapon, that you didn't try to do something different. >> senator cornyn, you might add to the list. chris murphy mentioned, they are trying to work together. ashley parker, you and your "washington post" team counted 3,500 mass shootings since sandy hook in the last ten years. congress has done nothing because of the opposition. this bipartisan group, they might come up with some small compromises. is the white house going to show leadership on this? is this really all on the hill? >> this is an issue that is

fundamentally an issue on the hill. as it has been for the past ten years, starting with sandy hook. that was actually -- five days afterwards, obama called a press conference where he said, this is not america, this can't happen again, i'm depp ooh -- biden came up with a plan. obama signed 23 executive actions. for real movement, it had to happen on capitol hill. biden and obama were told to steer clear because any involvement by the white house would put off republicans. as we have seen on other issues, president biden has had a tough time being able to persuade even some members of his own conference to do what he wants in terms of legislation, let alone republicans who are far more skeptical.

>> ashley kristin welker, robert gibbs, thanks. remembering the victims, including the teachers who tried to desperately, put their own lives on the line to try to protect these children. what could be done to avoid future tragedies? so they never have to put themselves in the line of fire. you are watching "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. e waa mitchell reports" on msnbc

miss allen over there isn't checking lesson plans. she's getting graded

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one of the two teachers killed in tks tuesday was irma garcia, a mother of four who taught at robb elementary for 23 years. the mother of one of garcia's former students spoke to ali velshi last night about what an extraordinary teacher she was. >> she was my son's teacher. my son had a hard time going to school, so she would buy him happy meals and take him happy meals and he would have lunch with her at school. she didn't do this for all the kids. she did it for my son. i don't doubt one bit that she stood right there in front of the gunman and said you're not going to hurt my kids because

that's the type of person she was. >> joining me is former u.s. attorney and law professor barbara mcquade and gregory jackson gun violence survivor and director of community justice action fund. barbara, talk to me ability the -- excuse me. one of those days. talk to me about the upcoming supreme court decision. >> as you know, andrea, the supreme court is looking at a rule out of the state of new york that requires people to have a license before they can carry a concealed weapon and that they have to show a particularized need for that. one of the things that i think is disturbing to all of us is the court demonstrated great hostility to this, much in the same way it shoepd hostility to a right to an abortion as we saw

in the dobbs case. i think all of us are bracing for the idea that the court might not only not add more restrictions from guns, but loosen the restriction on guns. that is one of the big decisions we're waiting for this june. >> greg, as i try to regain my voice, you're a survive or, but you've also visited recently in buffalo. tell me about that. >> the situation is dire in buffalo. we have a commuted of 90,000 black buffalonians where this shooting happened. every person you meet is a family member, family and friends and impacted by gun violence. too often we look at the numbers but don't realize the stories around it. one was an avid bowler, another a drummer at his church. these are people loved and revered in their communities but were lost to hate. right now we've seen gun violence is now the number one

cause of death for black men in america, number two cause of death for black women, and the number one cause of death for all youth, higher than car accidents. yet, we can't seem to take action around what is now a real public health crisis and requires a new public health emergency response. >> barbara, do you see anything can really be done by executive action? >> well, i think there's a lot that can be done by executive action. we can do a lot with congress, i think. there's a sliver of hope in some of the case law that exists in supreme court precedent. even justice antonin scalia wrote that, although there is this right to bear arms in the second amendment, it's not a right to possessions any gun whatsoever, in any manner whatsoever or for any purpose. i think the biden administration could focus on that language and look for ways to restrict access to guns with background investigations and other kinds

of things, there are significant steps that could be taken. we have a new atf director nominated and not yet confirmed in steve diddal back. we've had a vacancy in that post for seven years because of the hostility to gun safety. i think we could see some meaningful steps taken. i think the real change needs to come from congress to do things like universal background checks and banning of assault weapons, red flag laws. i think it's there for all of us if we seize control and don't let the nra and gun lobby have the better of us. >> greg, what do you make of those calls to arm teachers? >> we've seen very clearly that there's no such thing as a good guy with a gun taking out a bad guy with a gun. we saw that in buffalo. someone who was a lifetime gun owner, a retired police officer and security guard who sacrificed his life trying to stop that gunman. when you're someone going up

against an assault rifle and a world of hate, unfortunately people are getting outgunned every day. i'm a survivor of gun violence. when i was shot, having a firearm wouldn't have saved me. i didn't have time. that's the thing that people who have not been in these situations don't realize how quick these instances happen and how real it is to lose your life to gun violence especially when you're being outarmed and outgunned because of this very reckless access we have in a country where an 18-year-old can buy a weapon of mass destruction. >> barbara, do you see anything happening any time soon? >> well, you hope this is a moment where we get some momentum. we saw this ten years ago after sandy hook. it's very frustrating to see nothing more has happened. i think we can't give up there. we have midterm elections coming up. i think this is going to be an issue people care about. the timing i think maybe gives optimism that there can be hope and there's a lot of outreach

now. i have hope that the upcoming election can make a difference. >> thanks to both of you. barbara mcquade, greg jackson, thank you. we'll be right back. jackson, thank you. we'll be right back. we believe there's an innovator in all of us. ♪ ♪ that's why we build technology that makes it possible for every business... and every person... to come to the table and do more incredible things. ♪ ♪ you're pretty particular about keeping a healthy body. what goes on it. usually. and in it. mostly. here to meet those high standards is the walgreens health and wellness brand. over 2000 high quality products. rigorously tested by us. real world tested by you.

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zuriel: st. jude gave us hope. stephanie: all you've got to do is take care of your child, focus on her healing, give her a life. that for mother means a lot. and-- and thank you to st. jude. that does it for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports." follow the show online, on facebook and on twitter @mitchellreports.

today's premier of "chris jansing reports." with all your experience reporting overseas and here at home, i can't think of a more important time for you to be taking over. >> that's kind of you, andrea. thank you so much. great to have you in studio good to see you. good afternoon. i'm chris jansing. today we have new information about what happened during the second deadliest school shooting in history. we have new video, new interviews and we also have a lot of new unanswered questions. this hour we're going to be asking experts and people on the scene what exactly happened. let's start with the facts. the school district doubled its security budget in recent years. the school was supposed to be locked, and it did have a resource officer on scene. then there are the questions. perhaps the biggest, what do we do about it? we now know from a brand new poll almost nine of ten americans agree on one key change to our laws. so where is congress?