-- i'd like to take these last few seconds to just tell the nation. i know the eyes of the nation are on us, are on the community of uvalde. i just want to tell the nation, ask the nation to pray for us to continue to pray for us and thinking of us and not to forget about us. >> uvalde county commissioner ronald garza. thank you very much for your time and for being with us. your message is heard loud and clear. thank you. that does it for us this hour. "deadline white house" with nicole wallace starts right now. ♪♪ ♪♪ hi there, everyone. it's 4:00 in new york. a split screen moment in america that really illustrates where we are as a nation when it comes to gun violence in the backdrop of a nationwide outcry for lawmakers to do something, anything, to stem the seemingly

neverending tide of gun violence. the annual convention of the nra kicked off today in houston. the keynote speaker is the arguably the most president voice of the republican party, the twice-impeached ex-president. greg abbot pulled out of an in-person appearance to return to uvalde. he'll be holding a press conference there in a few minutes, but back at the nra stage there will also be a speech from senator ted cruz who recently stormed off when he was asked by a reporter why mass shootings only seemed to happen in this country. cruz's decision to appear at the nra convention just days after 19 of his youngest constituents and two other teachers were murdered, chose how the hard line stance on guns has become so deeply embedded in the gop. even as the nra is weaker than ever consumed by scandals and lawsuits.

as "the washington post" quotes, nearly a decade ago the massacre of 20 children and six adults through the politics of gun violence into a state of suspension for a full week as conservative politicians waited to hear from the powerful gun lobby, the nra, before taking a stand. this week, after another rampage at a texas elementary school that left 19 children and two teachers dead, republican lawmakers didn't wait for the nra as they lined up within hours to rebuff any proposed gun control measures. that dynamic reflects both the reesence decline of the nra's power and the logical conclusion of its own increasingly hard line messaging that guns are extrickable from patriotism and leave owners defenseless. less than 300 miles from that nra convention, the community of uvalde. there, they're demanding answers

after officials gave conflicting versions of the police response to the shooting. in a press conference earlier this afternoon the director of the texas department of public safety laid out what can only be described as a litany of failures by police there, and he offered an updated timeline with chilling and heartbreaking details on what actually happened in the nearly 90 minutes from when the shooter enters the school to when he was eventually shot dead by police. authorities now say by 12:03 p.m. on tuesday there were 19 officers in the hallway outside the classroom where the shooter was holed up. that's just half an hour after the shooter crashes and first enters the school, but police decided, all 19 of them not to breach the door of the classroom. instead, they chose to wait out there another 47 minutes to go in so they could get the keys to the door, despite the fact that students who were inside the classroom with the shooter, watching the carnage called 911

multiple times. one child begged the 911 operator, quote, please sed the police now. here's what the director of the texas department of public safety had to say about that fateful decision by police it there. >> it is simply this. there is a 40-minute gap and if the 911 operators were aware that children were alive in that classroom why weren't officers notified of that, and if that's the case why didn't they take action? that's the question. again, i'll go back to the answer for right now is that it was considered, okay, the decision was made on the scene. i wasn't there at the same point in time, the decision was made that this was a barricaded subject. a situation that there was time to retrieve the keys and wait for a tactical team with the equipment to go ahead and breach the door and take on the subject at that point. with the benefit of hindsight where i'm sitting now, think it

was not the right decision. it was the wrong decision. period. there is no excuse for that. >> that press conference raising yet more questions again about the chaotic and frankly, baffling police response to the shooting and officials confirm stunning reporting by "the new york times" that border patrol agents were stopped from confronting. when they arrived in uvalde, texas, on tuesday, the local police at the scene would not allow them to go after the gunman who had opened fire on students inside the school. that's according to two officials briefed on the situation. it's where we start our coverage today. my colleague msnbc's yasmin vossoughian joins me from uvalde, texas, she put those questions that yielded answers at that press conference. also joining us, former fbi assistant director frank figliuzzi. he's been making sense of this since it was under way. frank, i have to start with what we already played with this

admission, really, of the wrong decisions being made by police on the scene. how do you hear that? >> nicole, we seldom disagree on issues, but you just used the phrase making sense, and then laid out an expectation that somehow i might do that. i can't. i can't. >> yeah. fair. >> i can't make sense of this in any way, shape or form. it goes against all of our training, all of our instinks. i was hoping and i have to tell you and maybe people will accuse me of a law enforcement bias and i was hoping that there was something that would show us that there were legitimate reasons for what happened, but there are none. this boils down to a decision by an on-scene commander, and i want to talk about that also because the on-scene commander here was allegedly the isd, the school chief of police. let's put this in perspective. he or she commands six officers total. period. that's it. that's really not a chief.

that's maybe a squad supervisor in most other departments, and yet in a mass casualty active shooter event, he was the on-scene commander and i have a litany of things that could be done better and studied by every chief of police in every city in america right now. really? you're going to put the isd chief in charge? really of a mass casualty active shooter? is that the best qualified person? does he have tactical training? does he have extensive command experience and training? i don't know, but maybe the county sheriff and maybe the local chief of police. i don't know, but this obviously went horribly wrong. secondly, the decision that it boils down to is this is now a transition to a barricaded subject and it's no longer an active shooter and every piece of evidence today is to the contrary. it never transitioned to a barricaded subject. at least 16 rounds were fired in about seven minutes of time when police were probably hearing

those shots. so this golden hour you keep hearing doctors talk about to treat a trauma patient. kids are bleeding out when 19 officers are in the hallway. how can you say i don't think they were in any continuing danger? i think the danger and risk had stopped and therefore we'll try to talk, and then i hear we were waiting for better equipment. so again, on the checklist for the chiefs of police to consider tonight with their departments, where are the breaching tools in our department? why are aren't they in any god darn trunk on every shift that we have? who's got the master keys to the school? because the chief of police for the schools didn't have the master key with him. they waited for a janitor. so i can't make sense out of this except it's going to be taught in training schools about how not to handle an active shooter. >> frank, i just have to put up a timeline that makes clear that

whatever they thought or were not doing they were in possession or were in receipt of, possessed it, first hand knowledge from students in the classroom witnessing the massacre who had the agency to call 911. 9 and 10-year-olds. let me just put this up. we talked about what happened at 11:28. the shooter crashes. the first 911 call is placed ostensibly from someone who saw that. shots were fired by the gunman outside the school. the shooter enters the school at 11:33. three officers arrive and enter the school at 11:35. 12:03, 19 officers are in the hallway and here's what happens after 19 officers located inside the school and outside the classroom. 12:03, call from inside the classroom to 911. 12:03. 12:15, board patrol tactical unit member arrive.

12:16, and you know at least one person is alive. they had to press 911 and call. another 911 call comes 13 minutes later. so you know that person is still alive or another person is alive ask calling and that person reports that eight to nine students are alive at 12:16. why don't you run in at 12:16, frank? this is, to me, the part of the time line that is the most disturbing. they don't kill the suspect for another 45 minutes. what on earth explains that? >> so i listened carefully to steve mcgraw. they had a bps for texas and by the way, i want to emphasize as others are doing, this is not his mess. he's in the position because he's the head of law enforcement in texas, to have to explain someone else's horrific decision making that he disagrees with. i just want to get that out because i hear some people say this guy, you know, blah, blah, blah. he's explaining someone else's decision making that he's now

investigating, but a lot of police officers will tell you that when you need it most, the radios and the communications failure. it's inevitable and it's a story you can all tell throughout our careers. the only thing i can think of and i was listening carefully to steve on this, and he wasn't clear on this and did the on-scene commander understand that there were active 911 calls? that there were people alive and that you can in some case hear shots fired in the background of 911 calls? did he get that? and the only thing we can think of, that we're dealing with the school chief, the different department and the local police department. i don't know where dispatch is. i don't know where 911 is. things are very regional particularly in small town america it's often a regional dispatch 911 center. is it controlled by the county sheriff? that is. did it make its way via radio comps? i don't know, but i didn't hear that clarity from the head of

dps today. he said something like, he asked the same question i just asked and then he said it was reviewed. it was reviewed, and a decision was made that we're not going in. so it sounds like they had that active information, but yet it's not clear to me. >> yes, and you've been on the story all day and you've been asking questions of the decision makers. tell us what you've learned? >> so first let me start with this. we're talking about the on-scene commander? did he, in fact, know that the 911 calls were coming in? that people were alive inside these classrooms? there was no on-going negotiation inside. they were hearing shots ringing out all of the way up until 12:21, that is 15 minutes past the crash happening from the time the first 911 call. i asked the press conference about the first 911 call made at 12:03, a teacher saying eight to

nine students are alive. i am alive. 47 minutes later the shooter was neutralized. i asked is that teacher alive? i didn't get an answer. are those eight to nine students are alive. i can verify two to three are alive and the rest we don't have information on. think about that. you are one of the parents of a student inside the classroom in 112 and you think could my baby have survived this had they acted sooner? there was no ongoing negotiation. there were 19 officers inside and an 18-year-old inside a double classroom 111, 112, armed with an ar, not much experience when it comes to shooting. you had 19 officers outside for 47 minutes not acting. that is a huge and major breakdown. i spoke to jose and angel. jose lost his little brother xavier, a 10-year-old boy inside

room 111 alongside his girlfriend, as he puts it, annabell that they were together when they died. this little boy, he loved dancing. he was with his girlfriend annabell. they were holding each other, he said, when they passed, a 911 call was made from room 111, nicole at, i believe, 12:19. a 911 call was made from room 111, and these two next to me and told me the story of their brother now gone, a 10-year-old. think about this tiny community. everybody knows one another, right? the police know the community. the community knows the police. there is a s.w.a.t. team in this community. i asked that, as well. where was s.w.a.t.? two years ago they posted. s.w.a.t., uvalde s.w.a.t., ready to act in an active shooter

visiting s.w.a.t. s.w.a.t. is a part-time team and the personnel was not in place. where was the school resource officer? he wasn't here. once he heard the shooting he drove immediately to the school and bypassed the shooter who was crouched near a bush headed toward the teacher thinking that was the armed shooter. where was the school resource officer? the person that's supposed to be protecting these rounds and the question of the lead-up, the social media lead-up. the clues that led to what took place. march 14th on instagram he writes, the shooter, ten days from now. ten days left. someone says what are you going to do, shoot up a school? he said no, but you'll see what's coming and here we are. and these parents are grieving. people continue to bring flowers today. xavier gone. annabell gone. all these little babies gone and this police department continuing not to provide the answers that everyone needs right now. this makes the wound that much deeper for these families that

are going through an unspeakable tragedy that we cannot even begin to imagine and i hope none of us ever experience. >> yasmin, our colleague tom winter described it as, quote, the greatest failure of law enforcement in modern american history when it pertains to an active shooter. is that conclusion by the parents who lost their babies and by the town? >> every single person i've been speak toeg say what was law enforcement doing? some say they're not surprised. we have not begun to dig into the relationship between the community and law enforcement here, and i think that is the next step as we expand this story and look into what this investigation brings, but this community is asking those questions as to why it was the law enforcement did not act. i have heard of parents and we have seen the videos standing outside this school. there is a video posted to

facebook at 11:54 a.m., a full hour before the shooter was neutralized of someone showing up outside the school, parents gathering, begging officers to go inside as they were cordoning off the area. they all see it as a complete and utter failure. and by the way, they didn't even realize there was a s.w.a.t. team solely dedicated to combatting shooting situations like this at schools. there were numerous people saying we need a specialized group that is dedicated to handling school shooter situations. i said you have one. they said we do? i said you do. they -- they want answers. they know that these families need this for whatever type of, you know, solace that they can get from knowing what the last 45 minutes of their children's lives was like, the last hour of what their children's lives was

like to help them get through this unspeakable tragedy. they feel like this was a complete and utter failure of the police department. i'll say one other thing. we're in texas, nicole, right? now is the conversation to have about guns and we know that texas, there are a lot of guns in texas and a lot of gun owners in texas and every person i talked to and i've been talking to a lot of people here over the last 24 hours. they are all gun owners and they own a lot of guns. i know you own a lot of guns and i know this is texas. should know is 18-year-old be able to buy 1,600 magazines? should an 18-year-old be able to buy an ar? a military assault-style weapon and every single one of them, gun owners, people who like to shoot, who sometimes do it for fun, said no. this is not right. something has to change, but they don't have the faith that something will, and i think one of the most difficult things is the way in which all of this, nicole, has been communicated over the last couple of days,

the misleading quote, unquote, facts that they were telling us that turned out to be absolutely wrong. that there was a school resource officer here. there wasn't. that there was 12 minutes between when he crashed to when he entered the school. it's now five. >> all of these 911 calls were coming in as 19 officers stood outside. all of those, as all of those things have been corrected and changed, was there less and less trust that they are going to get the truth, even if the truth eventually comes out. even if there is an admission of not compliance or sheriff not acting appropriately. i don't think anyone's going to trust anything that's coming out of this police department at this point. >> yasmin, i know you have some reporting to do before you come back and spend some more time with us. we will let you go do that. thank you so much for your reporting on the scene. i want to add to my conversation my colleague ken delanian.

ken, you have since the earliest hours of this massacre have been trying to separate fact from fiction. in hindsight, this was not an appropriate response. the words are like fingers on a chalkboard. babies died. two teachers died. one of the teacher's husband had a heart attack since losing his wife. let me show you what may be the most revealing explanation, really. this is from the texas deputy safety public spokesman. they didn't enter the building because -- >> you want to preserve life, but also one thing that, of course, the american people need to understand is that officers are making entry into this building. they do not know where the gunman is. they are hearing gunshots. they are receiving gunshots. at that point if they proceeded any further not knowing where this suspect was at they could have been shot. they could have been killed and at that point that gunman would

have an opportunity to kill other people inside that school. >> ken -- explain what he's saying there and just as a baseline, what are you supposed to do if you're with 19 other officers and there are small children and two teachers inside with the gunman. what are you supposed to do. >> police doctrine calls for you to go in immediately with whatever force you have in an active shooter situation, even if it's two or three officers let alone 19, and i think that was an incredibly revealing comment by this dps spokesperson who wasn't there and who was basing it, of course, on interviews and maybe speaking with officers, but this is the suspicion that people have right now. it really wasn't about whether it was a barricaded hostage situation or active shooter situation. it was about officers that didn't want to go in to face an ar-15. i think we need to wait for the evidence on that, but based on those comments it's a reasonable question to ask, and i also just

want to underscore a point frank made which i thought was the second most shocking revelation of his news conference. the most shocking stufr was the 911 calls. i was yelling at my television and could not believe there were that many 911 calls. we know of one 911 call from a little girl who was later killed. her grandmother talked about that, but the second most shocking revelation was that the on-scene commander was the chief of the school district police force, a six-person police force when outside the school and later inside the school were very experienced federal agents and police officers from other jurisdictions and people with tactical experience and people with military experience, why this -- and his name is pete arredondo according to the website of the school district police and other sources, why was he allowed to be in charge of this entire scene is mystifying and there is also a real question of whether the border patrol agent, bortac, the

tactical s.w.a.t. team decided to kill the shooter. did they do that on their own initiative or did the orders change? we don't know the answer to that question, but it's an interesting question and it underscores the sort of questionable nature of that decision. i mean, at one point, steve mccraw, the dps director said that that on-scene commander determined that children were not at risk. children were not at risk when 911 calls were coming in, when gunshots were ringing out. it's inexplicable, nicole. >> frank, i want to bring you back in. i want to bring in some more new reporting. this is also from "the new york times." it says an abandoned haircut, a shotgun and a plan. how one border patrol agent got his daughter and others out. jacob alvarado had just sat down for a haircut when he got a text from his wife trisha at the robb

elementary school. active shooter. help. i love you. he ran out of the barbershop and sped to the school. his wife and the children she taught were hiding under desks and behind curtains. their daughter, a second grader at robb was locked in a bathroom, he said. mr. alvarado quickly made a plan with other officers at the scene. evacuate as many children as possible, armed with a shotgun that his barber loaned him. mr.al very adon said he led his colleagues toward the wing of the school that housed his daughter's classroom. two other officers provided cover, guns drawn and two others guided the children on the sidewalk. they brought out dozens of kids and teachers, emerged screaming. i don't know, but this was not part of someone's command and control. this was an off-duty border patrol officer getting a haircut

and what was the plan getting the people safe absent the barber and borrowing the barber's gun. >> i don't fault that agent at all. he saved lives. >> if he was able and willing to do that and we hear from "the new york times" reporting that that border patrol at large was ready, willing and imploring that they go in, then we've got a situation where again, it comes back to the on-scene commander making an awful call. i hope we are not talking about turf and jurisdiction issues at this time. i am so tired throughout my career of turf and, you know, i'm in charge and this is my turf and -- but i fear that's where we are and people ceded that, apparently, we don't know the story of how dynamic and

robust the discussion was in those hallways about who was in charge and why they couldn't go in, but this gets to whether or not the most qualified person is part of the plan to be in charge and it should have nothing to do with turf or jurisdiction, but i'm afraid that's where we may be, and thank god that federal agents happened to be in this area because it's relatively close to the border and there is a presence there. can you imagine if there had not been that presence there? this could have been even worse. >> no. that's a nightmare. it's already a nightmare and that's where it gets worse. ken delanian, thanks for your reporting and wave an arm if you come up with something in the next hour and a half. texas governor greg abbot will be holding a news conference from uvalde. we'll bring you that when it starts and we'll fact check it and respond to it immediately after if that's necessary. right when we come back, less than 300 miles away from uvalde,

the nra is gathering for its annual meeting and protesters have been there in huge numbers. we'll talk about what those protesters are up against and demand changes and demand what large swaths of americans want. before we take this break this afternoon. we'll continue an effort we've been trying to make all week to step back from tragedy and the investigation and recenter our coverage around honoring and celebrating the lives lived by the victims in this tragedy in texas. makenna lee elrod is one of those beautiful souls. such a sweetheart. she used to write notes to her family and thied them so they could be a little surprised, found and read later. her aunt describes her to abc news as a light to all who knew her, a natural leader. she made friends wherever she went, softball, gymnastics,

dancing, singing. makenna lovered all of it and she cherished the moment she had with her dad, driving to the ranch, feeding the animals, riding on the ranger. so that is how we'll remember her, too. and then there's maite elena rodriguez. her mother had so many words for her as all of us moms do. focused, competitive, smart, bright, beautiful, happy. she wanted to be a marine biologist, and she wanted to study at texas a&m university. we do not have any doubt that she would have accomplished her goal there and everywhere. the associated press reports this, in her final hours maite was publicly recognized in an honor roll ceremony, with such a brilliant and bright future. all of our worlds are a little dimmer without her. we will be right back. mmer withr mmer withr we will be right back. plaqu. now, there's skyrizi. 3 out of 4 people achieved 90% clearer skin at 4 months, after just 2 doses.

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>> one of our nbc reporters on the ground in houston captured these young protesters across the street from the nra's annual convention in houston, texas. around their neck are signs that say "am i next." harrowing, right? the nra without shame or pause kicks off a three-day extravaganza includes a freedom-filled weekend for the entire family. all of this with uvalde 300 mails away. after confronting governor greg abbot, beto o'rourke tried to reach out to those attending the

convention as gun safety advocates look for a new way to fight the nra. take a listen. >> to those who are attending the nra convention across the street, you are not our enemies. we are not yours. we extend our hand open and unarmed in a gesture of peace and fellowship to welcome you to join us to make sure that this no longer happens in this country. but the time for you to respond and to join us is now. we cannot wait any longer for you. those who will be the victims of the next mass shooting unless we act are counting on us at this moment so please join us now or be left behind. >> we have an incredible team with everything happening in houston. governor greg abbot is just

beginning a news conference. stay with us. >> the community of uvalde, that obviously includes the families of the victims and the friends of the victims, the victims including anybody who was in that school who made it out alive, but also benefits that would aid anybody who lives in uvalde. the entire community has been affected by this horrific crime, and through these state agencies that you will be hearing more about here shortly, you will see that we have, as a state, tremendous benefits that can aid those who are suffering and those who will continue to suffer sometimes for many years. one thing i must emphasize and that is, we are going through short term challenges rate now. the reality is many of the challenges will be long term

challenges. texas stands with uvalde for the long term in helping every single person in this community be able to piece their lives back together, to heal as much as they possibly can. we will be here as long as it takes. among other things, and i know that there have already been some offerings to ensure that cost of funerals will be taken care of. during the course of the meeting there was an anonymous donor who attended the meeting and provided $17 5,000 to ensure that any cost for every family concerning funeral services would be taken care of and we appreciate that anonymous donor for his generosity and we will ensure that those resources get

into the right hands to make sure that no family who is suffering from incalculable heartbreak at this time will have to worry about a single cost with regard to anything concerning this travesty. now, in addition to that, there are all kinds ever needs as well as all kinds of services. one of the needs is need for mental health care and we have an abundance of mental health care services that we are going to be able to provide. that includes state and private providers that will be providing mental health assistance to anyone in the community who needs it, and when i say anyone, that means the totality of anyone who lives in this community. we believe that you would benefit from mental health care services. those mental healthcare services are free. we just want you to ask for

them. the way that you can ask for them whether it be today, tomorrow, next month or next year is this number, 888-690-0799. mental healthcare can be reached by calling 888-690-0799. that help line will be answered 24 hours a day, seven days a week whenever you need it. in addition to that, i am announcing the establishment of the one-star foundation fund to assist with the ongoing challenges that will be faced by the victims of this crime. to put this into perspective and to help you understand how this works, we opened up a fund like this in the aftermath of hurricane harvey to assist all of the thousands of victims of hurricane harvey and received

millions of dollars in support that went to those who faced challenges because of hurricane harvey. the exact same thing applies here. right here is the address, it's onestarfoundation.org. onestarfoundation.org. to be more precise, onestarfoundation.org/uvalde. you make a contribution at that site that is a pre-registered 501c3 organization. provide a contribution to that site there is no overhead cost and 100% of the money that you donate is going to be going directly to victims of this horrible crime to help them with their lives. one of the pre-designated donation sites that it would be going to is the robb school memorial fund. so, again, the

onestarfoundation.org.uvalde. you can do your part to help out the people in this community that are suffering in incalculable ways. we set up a headquarters for victims assistance services at the center located at the uvalde county fairplex as we will discuss here momentarily. there may be a relocation of that site, and we will keep everybody fully informed about where the relocation site will be. every family impacted by the shooting has been axe signed an advocate to help them with their needs. among other things there will be airfare, whether it be through american airlines, or jetblue airlines that will provide victims' families free of charge so that they can get here free of charge to get here to be with their family members.

it will cover the travel ask lodging costs of families who have lost lovered ones, healthcare cost to families impacted by this tragedy will also be covered by texas insurance companies and donations from private citizens. the texas housing and community affairs, for example, they have a fund to pay for needed supplies right now whether it be food or gas or other essential needs and that money is available right nows we speak. also at the family assistance center, the health and human services commission whom you will be hearing from here in a second, they will assist families in finding human and health programs. the teachers retirement system and the employees retirement system will provide access to benefits including workers' compensation. staff from the texas workforce commission are available to get families child care and unemployment benefits and state

staff are available to provide assistance to business owners impacted by this tragedy. healing the broken hearts will take a long time, but through the generosity of our fellow texans and the good works of neighbors helping neighbors, we can begin to stitch back together the fabric of uvalde. helping us to do that is the leader of uvalde himself and that is the mayor of uvalde who i would like to ask to speak at this time. >> governor, i would like to thank you for bringing all of the state agencies and the services you've offered our community and they will need this help, not just today but in the long term as you mentioned so for that, governor, i appreciate and all i can say is i've seen you these last two days and the capacity -- that you felt along with these

families, and i just really admire it, and i thank you. like i said, we appreciate everybody from all over the world and the country that has sent messages of encouragement and so forth. i mean, our hearts are broken here in uvalde. it's a very -- nobody ever wants to have to go through this especially as a mayor. i never thought it was something i would have to go through. my heart's broken with these families and the one thing about our community. uvalde is a strong community and you'll see that there's a lot of unity in our community and it will take some time, but we will get over this and uvalde will be back stronger and better than ever. >> thank you very much, who has been actively engaged and helping the victim of crime and will remain engaged all of the way through is christina mitchell. we want to thank everyone who has reached out to us from

uvalde from across the state, from across the country and across the world. we greatly appreciate all of the support and kind words and prayers and assistance that has been sent to us and like the mayor said, here in uvalde county we are down to earth people. we are salt of the earth people and we are a family. and like a family, we're going to get through this together with each other and for each other and we're asking everybody across the world to continue to support us. so i, the district attorney, along with the fbi victims assistance people, the dps victim assistance people, the attorney general's office, we have set up a family assistance center at the fairplex in uvalde. it's a one-stop shop and when we say victims we say anyone associated with robb elementary school. when you come there, you are going to meet with the counselor and you will meet with all of the services that the state has to offer. funeral services, bluecross

blueshield, the mexican consulate is there, the red cross is there and we are there to provide all of the services any family may need, and if you need something that's not there then let me know and we will find it for you, and that's going to be open and continue until june the 1st. we are open from 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. there's also food there and a play center for children and please come and see us, any victims, anybody that needs help. please come there. it's a resource for everybody. there's also a victims services center at the civic center that's run by the school district and that's for anyone affected in the school district and they have that services there. so we thank everybody. we, appreciate your support and please, keep our victims in your prayers. these families of the deceased children and school teachers, and keep us -- keep us strong. thank you. >> thank you, and now i'm going to call up seven leaders of

seven different state agencies to give a brief explanation of what that particular agency does. there are more than seven that are involved in this process, but we're calling up these seven. first is the health and human services commissioner cecily young. >> good afternoon. i am cecily young, and i'm the executive commissioner at the health and human services commission. we do medicaid, chip and s.n.a.p. and we have eligibility assistance available at the family assistance center, and we will continue to have eligibility assistance available on an ongoing basis once we move into the next phase of this. additionally, as the governor mentioned, we have an 888 number for mental health services, it's 888, 690, 0799. this is run by hill country local mental health authority. so it is local. it is a 24-hour, serve days a

week call center that is able to connect people with services, counseling, medication, telecounseling services and telepsychiatry services, and they will be able to ensure that anyone in the community that calls in will be connected to other available mental health services. so it is a way to triage, again, to try to make it as easy as possible for the members of the community. >> thank you. next is the texas department of insurance commissioner, kasie brown. >> good afternoon. i'm kasie brown for the national department of insurance. tci is here to ensure that insurance companies are approach yetly and quickly handling claims. what our department does is oversee the health insurance as well as the workers' compensation insurance claims. so if you are going to -- if you're a private sector

employee -- i'm sorry, if you're a public sector employee, those employed by the school district or those first responders, they'll have workers' compensation coverage and private sector employees should check with their employer to see if they carry workers' comp, and workers' comp covers mental illness and ptsd so please make sure that you are taking advantage of that benefit for you. we have staff available at the fairplex center to help you start the process for processing your workers' compensation claims and to explain all of the benefits that are available to you under the system. thank you. >> thank you. now from the teachers retirement system, brian guthrie. >> thank you. good afternoon. my name is brian guthrie, i'm the executive director of the teacher retirement system of texas.

we are here today to not only help the families of the two teachers who tragically lost their lives and provide them the benefits they are due, but also to help all of the employees of not only this school district, but all of the surrounding school districts to make sure they have access to mental health and behavioral health services and we recognize not all of these employees are members of the system and are for our health care program and we want to thank our partners, bluecross, blueshield to everyone who is employed in this different rikt and any of the surrounding districts. thank you. >> now for the texas employees retirement system? portser wilson. >> i am porter wilson with the texas employees retirement system of texas. and we provide benefits to state employees and also to employees of higher education in the community so the local community college employees will get

health insurance from health select of texas which is provided by bluecross blueshield of texas and we've activated a 24-hour crisis hotline to help connect medical and mental health services and we have that information available on the flyer? >> thank you. now from the texas workforce commission, ed sarna. >> my name is ed sarna, i'm executive director of the texas workforce commission. it has a local presence on main street in our local workforce development office and through that office will provide child care services for not only the families of the victims, but also anyone who is associated in the school or first responders. we'll also look to protect any tanev or snap benefit so they don't lose the benefits because they're unable to work or need

training. anyone needing unemployment insurance or benefits that need assistance during this time. we are available locally, so please -- and we are also out at the assistance center, as well. >> thank you. and now the head of the tdhca. >> good afternoon. i'm bobby wilkinson. we have a very flexible pod of grant funding we are funding the local partner. they have a field office here. they are at the family assistance center. they are passing out grocery and gas cards. they can help with lodging. even extended family, maybe grandma or someone is here and she needs help with gas, lodging, et cetera. it's flexible. we are looking forward to helping as many people as we can. thank you. >> thaufrng.

last is the head of the texas education agency, mike morath. >> thank you. tea has been working in close coordination with the school system. thank you publically to hal for your leadership. for the work that all of our educators have done. the agency provides support directly in the form of grant funds. we offered several mental counseling services. those have been provided around the clock. since this began. will continue to provide support as the school district prepares its responses for summer and this fall. >> thank you. once again, whether it be the services you heard about or there are many more we talked about earlier providing briefing to local officials, the state of texas has robust resources to ensure that these families who

have been devastated by this horrific crime, as well as the community, we will be able to help them with any and all of their needs. i cannot overemphasize enough that everybody, students, teachers, law enforcement, everybody in this community, please, avail yourself of salutely free mental health care. it will pay off in the long run. with that, i will take a few yeses. [ inaudible ] >> i will answer your questions.

before i start answering questions unrelated to the discussion about the benefits we are providing to the community, let's take those questions first. i will come back to you first. go ahead. >> do you plan to call a special session either this year or early next year? will you call a special session now or soon? >> let me make clear -- maybe i wasn't clear. before i start taking questions unrelated to the benefits that we are providing to the community -- we have an obligation as a state to communicate to the people of this community the benefits that are available to them. their lives are crushed. they have no idea what's going on. they may have no idea whatsoever how they're going to pay a bill. let me give you an easy example of something explained to me. there was a parent who lost some glasses that were crushed in

everything that happened. he told someone he had no money to pay for it. we have money to pay for that stuff. there are people who have no idea about getting food. we have money that can buy them food. let's discuss -- if you have any questions about these benefits. if you don't have any questions, that's fine. >> with all due respect -- >> we will be in and out of this, helping people who lost their glasses is important, especially to the person who lost their glasses. but there are 19 murdered, two dead teachers. one of the teacher's husband died from a heart attack. mental health services are important. governor greg abbott said the school shooter had a mental health challenge. yet in april of this year, in april he slashed $211 million from the department who overseas mental health in texas.

texas is last in 50 states in the united states of america and the district of columbia for access to mental health care. that's according to the 2021 assessment. we will listen. but we are not going to let him gaslight anybody today. >> your question. i remember it. short answer, yes. i was misled. i am livid about what happened. i was on this stage two days ago. i was telling the public information that had to have been told to me in a room just a few yards behind where we are located right now. i wrote down hand notes in detail about what everybody in that room told me in sequential order about what happened. when i came out here on this stage and told the public what

happened, it was a recitation of what people in that room told me. whether it be law enforcement officials or non-law enforcement officials, whatever the case may be. as everybody has learned, the information that i was given turned out in part to be inaccurate. i'm absolutely livid about that. here is my expectation. my expectation is that the law enforcement leaders that are leading the investigations, which includes the texas rangers and the fbi, they get to the bottom of every fact with absolute certainty. there are people who deserves answers the most. those are the families whose lives have been destroyed. they need answers that are accurate. it is inexcusable that they may have suffered from any

inaccurate information whatsoever. it is imperative that the leaders of the investigations about exactly what happened get down to the very second of exactly what happened with 100% accuracy and explain it to the public, but most importantly to the victims who have been devastated. [ inaudible ] . >> i'm coming to you next. >> are you worried that that bond of trust has been ruptured and it's going to be a long time before there is that bond of trust? >> my expectation is that as we speak and every minute going forward, law enforcement is going to earn the trust of the public by doing exactly what they're supposed to do from this point on.

that is making sure that they thoroughly, exhaustively investigate exactly what happen and explain to you and the public and the victims of the crime exactly what happened. i told this guy i was coming to him next. >> are you going to call a special session to deal with this, specifically the issue of gun violence? republicans are joining democrats in asking for one. is there any specific legislation from out of that? will you roll back some of the liberalizations that you made in gun ownership and gun usage such as the so-called constitutional carry? that's a big issue for a lot of people. that man should never have had a gun to start with. >> let me answer your second

question first. in your second question, you talked about the rollback of any legislation that i signed this past session. let's be clear about one thing. none of the laws that i signed this past session had any intersection with this crime at all. no law that i sign allowed him to get a gun. the gun that he did get. again, there was nothing about the laws from this past session that has any relevance to the crime that occurred here. with regard to special session, let me say this. first of all, all options are on the table. second, to your point, do we expect laws to come out of this devastating crime? the answer is, absolutely yes. there will be laws in multiple different subject areas. for example, i do fully expect to have every law that we pass in the aftermath of the santa fe shooting to be re-visited. first, we need to gain the information about exactly what

happened at the school to find out the extent to which those laws were complied with to the extent they were not complied with to find out what shortcomings allows this to occur. second, we need to have a discussion and pass laws to make sure our schools are safer. the people of uvalde and the people of texas deserve that. second, as i was discussing two days ago, you can expect robust discussion and my hope is laws passed that i will sign addressing health care in this state. there's an array of health care issues we face as a state. there are health care issues that relate to those that commit gun crimes in particular. those need to be addressed. whether it be health care issues that i talked publically here with the mayor about two days ago and that would affect the community in general or whether it be laws that address the challenges that are now

surfacing that this killer had in his life. that lead to someone doing what he did. then there will be all other kinds of issues. there will be committees formed. there will be meetings held. there will be proposals that will be derived, many of which will lead to laws that will be passed in the state of texas. let me make one thing perfectly clear. the status quo is unacceptable. this crime is unacceptable. we're not going to be talking about it and do nothing about it. we will be looking for the best laws that we can get passed to make our communities and schools safer. >> will universal background

checks be one of the laws that ends up being proposed or passed? you can spend $100 million on mental health care, but without universal background checks, it's worthless. somebody gets through. somebody will kill again. really, how do you plan to stop something like it happening again? >> let's be clear about a couple of things. these background checks -- if everyone wants to seize upon a particular strategy and just assume, that's the golden strategy, look at what happened in the santa fe shooting. a background check had no relevance whatsoever. the killer took the gun from his parents. look at what happened in the shooting in sullivan springs. there was a background check that was done. it was done in a flawed way that allowed the killer to get a gun. anyone who suggests, maybe we

should focus on background checks as opposed to mental health, i suggest to you is mistaken. if there's anybody who thinks perfect health care in this country, in this world, they are wrong. if there's anybody who thinks we can't do more to address mental health care, they are wrong. they can. we can. we're going to. go ahead. [ inaudible ] >> i'd like to know what you have been told by investigators about what -- [ inaudible ] why did he make a decision to not go in? why was he in charge? [ inaudible ] >> what i have been told about that is several things. one is that this is an ongoing investigation and that there have been, obviously, new facts

and information surfaced revealed as a result of that investigation that are different today than they were two days ago. second, there will be ongoing investigations that detail who knew what when, who was in charge of what strategy, why was that particular strategy employed, why were other strategies not employed. bottom line, why did they not choose the strategy that would have been best to get in there to eliminate the killer and to rescue the children? i can't hear you. [ inaudible ] how are you doing? >> great. in a respectful way, would you consider -- this is a kid 18

years old. would you consider a ban on 18 years old being able to buy an ar-15? >> it's my understanding that ever since texas has been a state, an 18-year-old has had the ability to buy a long gun, a rifle -- right. since that time, it seems like it's only been in the past decade or two that we have had school shootings. for a century and a half, 18-year-olds could buy rifles and we didn't have school shootings. but we do now. maybe we're focusing our attention on the wrong thing and we're focusing on -- [ inaudible ] >> my colleagues are asking for a special session. you are getting a letter tomorrow.

the senate democratic caucus, we have asked for changes. i'm asking you now. i apologize for interrupting your press conference about the needs of this community. i've been here three days. this judge worked his ass off, the mayor. i don't know how to express the loss of a family. i know you feel it. you have to do something, man. colleagues are calling you telling you an 18-year-old kid shouldn't have a gun. this is enough. >> next question. i can't hear you. speak up. >> on the question about the uvalde consolidated school

district -- are you investigating him? what's the status of the employment? >> can i -- i was unable to hear the first part of your question. >> on the school's police chief, the gentleman who stopped police going in earlier, is he specifically under investigation? what is the status of his employment? has he been stood down pending investigation? what is the situation? >> every act by every official involved in this entire process is under the investigation conducted both by the texas rangers and by the fbi. every act of all of those officials will be known and identified and explained to the public. but i cannot overemphasize

enough, we need to get that information to the families of all these victims who deserve -- >> we will jump out and provide fact checking and context. i want to provide context for the gentleman who stood up to govern abbott right there inside this press conference. we believe it was democratic state senator roland gutierrez who called for a special session. he and others have pressed this governor of the state in which 19 third and fourth graders were slaughtered by a weapon that governor abbott doesn't believe should be illegal in a process that governor abbott doesn't think should be illegal without a background check that governor abbott doesn't think is necessary. his solution for making sure the slaughter doesn't happen again is mental health services. again, he slashed $211 million from the state's mental health services. the state of texas comes in 50th in terms of the access to mental health care that it provides to

its citizens. that's where we are. we are going back into this. is there more? let's keep going. i will be back. >> come on. that's it? unbelievable. >> 19 small children, two of their teachers lay dead but he was done. that was it. joining our coverage, shannon watts, charlie sykes, also joining us tony -- i'm going to screw this up -- plotsky and former fbi assistant director frank figliuzzi is here with me. let me start with the dynamic in the room here.

the relationship this governor has with the citizens of the state. it seemed that in the room, while the services may be urgently needed, the answers fell pretty flat to blame the information he got for the information he gave out. is that your sense? >> it is. one piece of information that i think is now getting lost from the conversation is that while the governor is talking about the need for more mental health services, he also said initially at one of his earliest news conferences that this gunman had no documented history of mental health. so no one is bringing forth information about his mental health history. i think the idea of a call for more mental health services, while that may be very valid, may not have helped or stopped what happened in uvalde earlier this week.

i think the governor continues to kind of pound this mental health problem without, in the minds of many, talking about the real issue. one other thing. that is, it's not as though this is the first mass shooting that has happened in texas. 2019, el paso walmart. 2017, southerland springs and other shootings. i think among many people in the state, there is a demand for our lawmakers to get to the capital immediately to do something legitimate to stop what has happened from happening again. >> tony, what you just alum illuminated is so important. funding for mental health is important. especially in the country that's 50th for funding. it doesn't meet the abbott

standard. the abbott standard is to rule out raising the youngest age for purchasing an ar-15. rule out consideration of background checks because it would not have stopped the slaughter at uvalde. the abbott standard doesn't apply to his own solution which is a mental health check, because governor abbott told us, the world and the parents in uvalde that this shooter had no mental health history. >> i also want to point out that while we are hearing from the governor, the constituency of texas is very divide on this topic. they are now being forced yet again to reconcile their belief about gun ownership and the second amendment with what happened in uvalde. i think -- in the days to come, we may see effort to reach a compromise. but i can tell you that on the

ground talking to people and the very community where this happened, there was also something of a hardening of positions, with regard to gun ownership and gun control. that's an interesting dynamic that's playing out not only in uvalde but really across the state. >> frank figliuzzi, i'm sure our viewers will feel like this was longer, but the governor's press conference lasted 36 minutes. 19 police officers. a coincidence that 19 students lost their lives. stood outside for 47 minutes and did nothing. your reaction? >> as you said, we cannot diminish the need and importance of victim services. he made reference -- you heard reference to the fbi victim services unit. they are talented people. they do incredible things. that's great. however, no amount of free flights, no amount of free caskets, no amount of mental

health counseling is going to bring back any one of those murdered children. the governor seems completely unable to understand that he can easily make a distinction, when you talk about whether an 18-year-old should buy an assault rifle or not, and we hear about a century of history on long guns. we didn't have ar-15 style assault weapons back then. he can make a distinction and say, you can go hunting, here are the rifles you can buy, you can possess. here is an assault-style rifle. if he thinks people are stupid and unable to understand that there is a clear distinction between the killing machine and a hunting rifle, then he is taking us all for fools. >> tony, i want to understand something. on abbott's watch -- he appeared on fox news. residents of the state froze to death. el paso is the site of a racist

murder. his solution is, there is nothing we can do. we wouldn't come back into session. we won't look at the six gun laws. when he passed those laws, he held it up. he smiled like i have never seen that man smile. he said, texas is now a second amendment sanctuary state. that's is who he is. do people support him with the same numbers he did when he was elected? >> i think we're going to find out in the next few months. of course, a big gubernatorial race with beto o'rourke on the democratic ticket. i think we are going to get some indication. right now, the governor is really apparently trying to thread that needle while maintaining his base that feels very strongly that this really isn't about guns, that it's about something else.

i think he is going to have to really continue to pay close attention to his base and what they're saying in the days and weeks to come. my sense from talking to people in uvalde over the past several days is that some of them, like i said, were almost retrenching in their position. as we start seeing funerals being held for these children and as the emotional toll of the loss of 19 young kids and two teachers sinks in, one would wonder if some of the positions might melt a little bit. >> shannon, the facts as they become clearer are terrible for governor abbott. it sounds like there was, at best, a fog of war, at worst a coverup of inaction. the governor participated in. he said -- i wrote down hand

notes. he wrote down hand notes. that's what he blamed for participating in what was at best a fog of crisis in the moment. not much remorse conveyed by anybody in terms of the fact pattern here. i think these victim services are vital. that's why we carried the news conference. if one person watching learned one place to find one resource, that's why we carried it on this network. we interrupted because not everything that was communicated was communicated in good faith or accuracy. your reaction to the governor's position four days after the second deadliest school massacre in our country's history. >> it's absolutely shameful. i don't disagree with you on the victim services. i think that what that sounded like was a long list of things that we can pay for after we allow your children to be preventbly slaughtered inside their elementary school classrooms.

then he goes on to say that there are no laws on the books and no new laws needed, but that he will be open to passing new laws. we have been here before. with this governor. he shows true colors all the time. there isn't a word that can come out of his mouth that would make me think he is anything but for the gun lobby, a danger to public safety. he is a coward. we don't like cowards. a few days ago, the governor said it could have been worse. he said that there was a quick response that police ran toward gunfire. now we know that 10-year-olds were calling 911 and pleading for help inside their classrooms. while police waited outside. the irony of that is that the solution that he also wants to give is that we arm teachers. we give police training and military-style weapons and they won't go in and take on an

18-year-old with an ar-15 and a death wish, but they want kindergarten teachers to do that. make it make sense. >> it doesn't make sense. it can't be made to make sense. the gaslighting is perhaps the worst thing about what we just watched. 36 minutes, 19 police officers were outside for 47. charlie sykes, books don't kill anybody. but they have been outlawed, banned. guns kill everybody when they are aimed at innocence. the police officers are on camera telling wolf blitzer, they didn't go in because they didn't want to get shot. there will be no laws to deal with a weapon of war that is so heinous that in their own words, texas law enforcement officials didn't go in the school where the kids were risking their lives to call 911. if you are in there with a mass shooter, dialing 911 isn't silent and talking to the 911 operator, it's not silent. it's a heroic act of bravery designed to save the lives of the people in the room.

those are the only heroes in this story that are confirmed at this hour. >> you know, one of the real tragedies here, of course, is that after this, what do we get? we have these talking points on autopilot from the governor. he is presiding over a catastrophic failure of law enforcement and of public policy. he is giving all the rationalizations for not doing anything. one of the questions i thought made a really excellent point, which is you talk about having more monitoring of mental health but you oppose background checks. how does that connect? what the governor said was, well, there's no magic law, as if -- unless it's perfect, we're not going to do anything. this is one of those moments where i hope people understand how many of these talking points have been destroyed. all of the things done in the

past to protect our children obviously have failed. the good guys with guns narrative has been absolutely discredited. it was discredited in buffalo where a good guy with a gun did try to stop the shooter. was killed because the shooter was wearing body armor. we had the good guys with the guns 19 to 1 and they delayed and they waited. this tragedy keeps going on. i guess i'm thinking about the politics of this. i want to make a slightly contrarian point here. i think that politicians who actually tried, even republican politicians in places like texas, could successfully defy the nra. they have allowed themselves to be cowed by the nra. if you had a genuine leader who stood up with the majority of legal gun owners in this country and said, look, we support the second amendment, but it's crazy we don't have red flag laws, it's crazy an 18-year-old can

buy a weapon of war, it's crazy we don't have limited on the size of magazines. it's crazy that we done do background checks for everybody buying a gun. this is one of the -- there's almost a wizard of oz quality to the nra claiming to speak for all of the gun owners. i talk with a lot of gun owners throughout the midwest and in wisconsin. most of them support the second amendment, but they don't support these extreme and reckless policies. if you had a leader who stood up and said, look, folks, we stand for the right to life, what about the right to life of these children? what about a situation where our law enforcement officers, the men and women in blue are outgunned by crazed teenagers with ar-15? this is not what we support. i think that actually they would show that the nra is not just a

grifting organization, but that it doesn't speak for the vast majority of americans, including the vast majority of gun owners in this country. >> that's a smart point. i was thinking the same thing. nra is a guy with a hairpiece behind a curtain dealing with legal problems. i want to bring into our reaction to what we heard from texas state officials in uvalde, a friend of the show, texas state representative and democratic candidate for congress, jasmine crocket. i believe it's your colleague who confronted the governor about a special session. tell me what you would like to see happen. >> you know what? the state of texas wants to be so contrarian consistently. we are the state that obviously pushed forward with the legislation as it relates to

reproductive rights. that was all about life. yut we lost lives. we lost kiddos. the answer isn't to go into special session. this was senseless. what most people aren't talking about is because we were dealing with so many other bad laws is that house bill 1927 is a bill passed in texas this session that not only expanded access to guns, but it did it in such an irresponsible way. normally, someone has to have a license to carry. they said, no, no, no. that's too cumbersome. people don't need a license to carry. we just want people to be able to shoot the bad guys. as you have discussed, what happened? we had trained officers that did not stop this shooting. the idea that we are now going to have all these people that are untrained, on the streets. no, the governor doesn't want to do the smart thing. the smart thing would be to call a special session. you and i spent a lot of time

together this summer because there were special session after special session. it was all in the name of voter suppression. we can't do it to save lives. this is the party that is pro life. >> i really want to broaden this out. you are making such a good point. governor abbott is the governor of a state that is out of the mainstream of republican ideology and beliefs on abortion. vigilante laws do not have majority support in the country. governor abbott is the governor of a state out of the mainstream. normal people, 85% of all americans support universal background checks. what charlie was saying is that includes legal gun owners. because legal gun owners go through all sorts of things. it varies by state. the vast majority of states require a background check. you can't buy a weapon and ammunition at the same time from sometimes the same vendor. the reason you get to 85% of americans is because -- that

includes a lot of gun owners. texas is outside the mainstream even of gun owner views on safe gun ownership and use. voter suppression, something you and i talked about almost daily, gerrymandering, over disenfranchisement. what breaks the cycle, what breaks the gop hold on a state that's obviously being failed by republicans? >> you know, that is the million dollar question. right? we have an opportunity. we have beto o'rourke who is running. we have someone who absolutely cares. the last time that beto was really out front as it relates to guns was when there was the terrible mass shooting we saw in el paso. this was our first legislative session since el paso. i had colleagues that stood before the entire house and they were in tears telling the stories of their constituents that lost their lives in the el paso shooting as we were trying to fight against house bill

1927. that fell on deaf ears. all they wanted was what we called red meat to take back so they could win their primaries. they didn't care about the backlash. they didn't care about the potential of losing lives. they definitely never thought about these children. this is also the party that says, we back the blue. let me tell you, every single law enforcement agency in the state of texas that decided to weigh in on this bill said, this is dangerous. we do not want you do this. do not give everyone guns. what people don't understand is that normally, you have to have a license to carry in the state of texas. as of september, you didn't have to have a license. i want to be clear. i'm a licensed gun owner. i'm not anti-gun. the idea that we are not going to be smart about this and make sure law enforcement has tools available to them, normally, they would walk up to someone and say, do you have a license? they can't do that under the current circumstances because you are not required to have a license.

it fails everyone. it fails the communities and law enforcement that they claim to love so much. >> shannon, i know that's where you migrated messaging around gun safety activism. shannon, if you can talk the way you teach people to talk about gun safety, the movement and about making it about the future and bringing gun owners into it, tell me what that messaing sounds like. >> yeah. we aren't against the second amendment. many of our volunteers are gun owners or their partners are. this is about restoring responsibilities that should go along with gun rights. these are responsibilities the vast majority of gun owners support. only one in ten belongs to the nra. they support the common sense gun laws that are proven by data to save lives. the data is in. if you live in a state with

strong gun laws you are less likely to die. if you live with states with weak gun laws, you are more likely to die. we have lawmakers who are beholden to really not even the nra anymore but more this ideology. it's a cultural signal now, a fund-raising tool. it has become this way to energize the base. we're essentially allowing gun lobbyists, extreists to write gun laws. these horrific shooting tragedies, mass shootings, gun violence, it's the logical outcome of letting someone with a profit motive write your laws. state and federal. i want to talk about what we're doing as an organization right now. we have so much energy. people who just want to get involved. we have to be reaching out and telling our senators in red and blue states, this is what we want. if you text the world bold to 64433, we will patch you in

right away. everyone needs to hear from us. next friday is national gun violence awareness day. it kicks off our annual wear orange weekend of action. this is about acknowledging that gun violence is a crisis in this country. if go to wearorange.org, we will connect you to an event. the election is 164 days away. november seems like a lifetime but it's not. if the lawmakers don't act, they know we will hold them accountable. if you want to know where your lawmakers stand, go to gunsensevoter.org. >> charlie, i want to come back to you on the last point. this is an election where the republican party will have self-identified as doing nothing. what this shooter did was he turned 18 and he bought an ar-15 go days after his birthday. four days after his 18th birthday he bought a second ar-style ar-15 style and enough

ammo to thrive in the donbas for a couple days. that's something that the gop has green lit. abbott says nothing should change. everything the shooter did is who we are. that's who the gop is. when does that get attached to every republican elected official in america? >> as we're having this conversation, i'm having flashbacks, including to sitting on set with you right around the time of the parkland shooting and talking about, now this issue is on the ballot. will it make a difference? i remember the immediate reaction to sandy hook and whether that would have electoral consequences. part of the real -- again, sad part about all of this is that a nation that was not shocked into fundamental action by the slaughter of the innocence in sandy hook is unlikely to be

shocked into action this time around. yes, this is a crucial issue. it's on the ballot. the republican party has shown itself to be completely unwilling to buck the nra. i think they could. i'm not going to blow smoke and say that this time it's going to be different. because it hasn't been different in the past. i think that these stories -- i don't know what it's going to take. i don't. i asked myself this many times. do we need to see pictures? do we need to see it more graphically? what does it take to make this country say that human life is sacred? for all of the people saying the second amendment is sacred, running around with big signs saying, jesus, guns and babies and claiming to be pro life. how can you be pro life and not be shocked to your absolute core when something like this happens? who in america can't sit right

now and think, that could have been my child, that could have been my grandchild, how would i feel, what would i be willing to do if i could prevent that, what would i be willing to support if i could make it less likely, if we could stop the next school shooting? i don't know the answer to that. we have to keep talking about it. we have to keep telling these stories. >> i think, too, the brain blocks out some of what you are talking about. i think people should think really hard about why the parents were asked to provide dna to identify these victims. >> i know. >> just think about it. shannon, charlie, tony had to leave us, thank you for your contributions, frank, thank you all week long. jasmine is sticking around. when we come back, breaking news out of houston. a live report from shaq brewster after a quick break. before that, we will come back to the victims.

she had a softball for tuesday night. it would have been the last of her season. she didn't make it. she was just 10 years old. one of her cousins told "the washington post," her family is still in shock. they try to wrap their heads around such a profound loss. in honor of tess mata, tell a loved one how much they mean to you today. her sister wrote on facebook about just how badly she wants to tell tess how pretty she,how badly she wants to hear her laugh, how badly she wants tess to hear how loved she is. tess adored tiktok dance videos. ariana grande, getting her hair curled. spare a moment to think about her and her family this weekend. we know you will. we will be right back. u will u will we will be right back.

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in houston texas, it's 300 miles from uvalde, top republican politicians gathered for the nra annual meeting, despite calls from democrats and gun safety advocates to cancel this year's event. in the last few minutes, they heard from ted cruz. they expect the former twice impeached ex-president to take the stage shortly. joining us, shaq brewster from outside the convention. the story outside is as big or bigger than the story inside. tell us what you are seeing.

>> reporter: i'm sure you can hear the crowds that are outside the convention center right now. there was a lot of controversy over the existence of this nra convention. i want to give you a heads up. you see the crowd of protesters. this is no longer the official protest where you saw beto speak out. these are people who came out to protest and demonstrate against the convention you are seeing there. you see a heavy police presence outside. you will probably see this, you will see convention goers walk out. you will hear the crowd uproar. i want to give you a sense if you hear that from the crowd. you mentioned, this is something that has gotten a lot of attention, more attention than what you have inside. that's because people have been calling for, after the devastation that we saw just about four hours away -- i will let you look at what you are seeing over there. after people saw the devastation of what happened in a town just

about four hours away, they expected either this convention not to happen or at least there to be a different tone from the speakers inside. you haven't gotten that. we did hear from governor abbott who did not appear here in person, but did record that video. in his appearance, he said that there are hundreds of gun laws on the books. he said that the shooter already committed a felony once he brought a gun on the campus there. there was nothing he signalled or nothing he said that signalled that any new gun legislation would be coming. you hear from the passion around here, that is what folks are asking for. the people out here, they have very specific demands. they want an assault weapon ban, universal background checks. you hear red flag laws. one thing that you continue to hear is a pessimism they will get that. that's not stopping them. they still want to be here. they still want to let their voice be heard.

they want to put pressure on people because it's so important to them. for them, it's a matter of life and death. >> do the protesters feel a different wind at their back, speaking out that has crossed culture? you had steve kerr ahead of game four of the nba final give a passionate speech, the miami heat make an announcement to call members of congress, other sport z kaft sportscasters speak. do the protests feel the wind at their back as they confront a pretty fortified nra conference? >> i think they feel the wind at their back. i think unfortunately, i'm sure you understand this feeling, they felt this feeling before. people thought that after sandy hook that there would be change at a federal level. people thought after the shooting in el paso there would be change at the state and

federal level in terms of how people have access to guns, people's access to guns. they feel like they have been let down before. you continue to hear, that is not going to stop them. that's why you have scenes like the one we are seeing. you are having those verbal confrontations. i haven't seen anything physical. it's just the verbal confrontations. you get the passion. you get the tension. that's because both sides, people on both sides see this as an essential issue. they see this as a matter of life and death. i've been talking to some of the convention goers. their heart breaks with what you saw with the school shooting this week. but they feel that the second amendment and their protections are what are more important. they fear that any progress that they do, if they give up on increase in the age to purchase a weapon, they fear that will turn into something worse, a full-on confiscation. that's what you heard from the passion on both sides. >> one is passion. the other is delusion.

i know that's the view. shaq brewster live in houston. thank you so much. back with state representative jasmine crockett. if you think a background check will keep you from your ar-15, you clearly shouldn't have one. if you think waiting until you are 21 is going to keep you from your ar-15 -- it's just nonsense. one side is the the table with the most reasonable policy proposals that are, frankly, quite modest, maybe too modest. but they have the support of 85% of the public behind them. the other is swathed in delusion that someone is coming to take their guns. >> you are absolutely right. one thing that i do want to make clear, because it does seem like everything is so crazy in texas. i was a joint author on a good, common sense piece of legislation as it relates to guns.

it got a hearing. we were really excited. that was a huge step for us to have a hearing. that bill never saw the light of day. it never made it to the floor. it was never going to be considered. this is the deadlock we find ourselves in. we end up in these culture wars. we end up with literally these delusions of grandeur about the second amendment and what that means. i was consistently having to tell my colleagues, it seems like the only amendment y'all care about is the second amendment. there's a bunch of other ones you guys completely ignore. so i'm like, i don't understand why there's so much emphasis put on it. one of the reasons that i always wanted to emphasize to my colleagues that i own a firearm, that i am licensed to carry, is so it couldn't be the democrats are anti guns. it's not about being anti guns. it's being literally pro life.

being smart about this. we were saying -- i believe when we were debating this terrible bill, we actually had a child be killed in a walmart parking lot because their parents had a firearm in the car. mom ran into the store. kid gets ahold of a gun and ends up accidentally discharging the firearm. i was like, this is more reason why we at least need to emphasize training. they wouldn't give at all. this was the first major bill that i realized that there was something terribly broken in the statehouse. i actually was brought to tears because i was supposed to do an amendment as it related to protecting our courthouses. we know emotions are high in our courthouses. whether it's a family courthouse or a criminal courthouse. the last thing we needed to do was loosen the restrictions as it relates to firearms in these

very locations. i was supposed to talk about the fact that i have been involved in a courthouse shooting before. i was supposed to tell my story. the amendment before that was an amendment about white supremacists not being able to own firearms. sadly enough, i saw that amendment fail. it failed upon party lines. they would not even agree that white supremacists should not have firearms. you can only imagine how reasonable they were as we were attempting to at least put some safeguards in the form of amendments around this terrible bill. now we see yet another historic tragedy that really could have been prevented. i get it. i'm a criminal defense attorney. there are some people that are just going to break the law. i get it. but what we can do is make it more difficult for them to be able to carry out these types of things. we know that there is no reason that anyone, especially an 18-year-old, needs to walk

around with an ar-15. that's not about protection whatsoever. at least if it wasn't that he could have his hands on this type of firearm, then maybe he would not have been able to carry out such -- such a large tragedy in such a short amount of time. >> one that scared off the cops, it would appear, for over an hour. texas state representative jasmine crockett. thank you for spending time with us. when we come back, can anything be done? are we broken beyond repair? first, this is miranda mathis. her best friend was her brother. she was fun, she was spunky. she was very, very bright and quite talkative. but so very loving. i want to tell you about joe garcia. joe garcia was not at robb elementary on tuesday.

but he is absolutely a victim of the attack. we introduced you to his wife, his high school sweetheart, irma garcia, seen here, in our remembrance on wednesday. it's been reported she shielded her students during the rampage and died there. shortly after, joe delivered flowers to her memorial yesterday he went back home and tragically died himself. doctors suggest his death is a potential example of what's called broken heart syndrome. a form of heart attack brought on my intense grief. joe and irma have four kids. their story so profoundly affected everyone that 40,000 people have so far donated to a go fund me in their names, totaling more than $2.2 million. we will be right back. we will be right back.

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people say to me periodically, "man, you've got a memory like an elephant." it's really, really helped me tremendously. prevagen. healthier brain. better life. a monster was attacking but the team remained calm. because with miro, they could problem solve together, and find the answer that was right under their nose. or... his nose. for state controller, only yiu will save taxpayers money. wait, who, me? me? no, not you. yvonne yiu. yvonne yiu. not me. good choice. for 25 years, yiu worked as an executive at top financial firms. managed hundreds of audits. as mayor, she saved taxpayers over $55 million. finding waste. saving money. because... yiu is for you. yiu is for you. exactly. yvonne yiu. democrat for controller. our students, they're our top priority. and students are job one for our superintendent

of public instruction, tony thurmond. recruiting 15,000 new teachers, helping ensure all students can read by third grade. the same tony thurmond committed to hiring 10,000 new mental health counselors. as a respected former social worker, thurmond knows how important those mental health counselors are for our students today. vote for democrat tony thurmond. he's making our public schools work for all of us. what about talking about it? no, no, no, we're talking about doors and par hardening schools. my parents were public school educators. they wouldn't know how to handle a weapon. anybody in full body armor and an ar-15 would have wasted my dad and mom in two seconds before they got their gun out. teach them how to do it.

are you out of your minds? you must be out of your minds. anything except looking in the mirror and looking at the real issue here. please, for god sake, do something. >> that's our colleague saying what needs to be said, saying what a lot of us are thinking in the exact way we're all thinking it with the tone of furry and exhaustion. joining us now chair of the department of african american studies at princeton university and msnbc political analyst. i haven't talked to you about this in a couple days, and i just want to know where your thoughts are and where you think our energy should be and our focus. >> you know, well, i've been thinking about you a lot this week. in between the tears and the like and i was thinking about our time when el paso happened. >> yes.

>> it led me to think about the young baby, the 2 month old who will probably be turning 3 now who lost his parents, jordan and andre in el paso. and that baby is growing up still in a country defined by violence, so, you know, president biden is fond of saying that americans can do anything, even in the midst of his being the chief consoler in chief but that confidence in what we are, nicole, often obscures how monstrous we can be. it becomes a way of absolving us of sins so we can sin again and again and again. i've been trying to wrap my mind around whether or not we're up to the task of salvaging democracy in this moment. and i haven't quite found an answer yet. >> i mean, i think one of the mistakes we've made in our conversations over the years is thinking there is a circuit

breaker or something that breaks the fever. sometimes we call it a bottom. we're 600 feet below the bottom, right? but i wonder if you think that we've seen the extent of the damage that can be done when one of the country's two major parties, 40 to 50% of americans identify with, it doesn't have any shame, doesn't have any permission, doesn't have any sort of limits to what they'll do in the pursuit of power. >> right. but, you know, we have to think about that party as a reflection of a certain large segment of the population, as well. they're not just being duped but all driving some of this insanity. part of what i've been trying to wrap my mind around is the kind of rot the moral rot at the heart of our political pathtology as if one way to think is the moral infrastructure of the nation is

crumbling and the bridges that connect me to you and other human beings are collapsing and we're -- we have retreated into our silos of selfishness where greed drives our own self-interest and hatred. you get this constellation of hatred because guns to protect us from rights and replacement theory and crt, lgbtq and women have -- right? we have all of this that's this toxic combination that undermines many robust conception of the public good and easy for us to identify the republican party as the enemy when the rot is at the heart of the nation. we have to do something much more fundamental if we're going to address this because the slaughter of innocence reflect how monstrous we are because we keep turning our backs on it. we keep turns our backs every time it happens. >> where does that healing

start? >> in the streets. where we as americans -- you see what beto did. i'm not trying to say we need beto or democrats. i'm not trying to say that. he said you're not our enemies. we extend an open hand to you. but the time is now and if you don't join us, we will leave you behind. and so we have to have all those folk who are complacent in their silence to drive america to the hope they need to be. we have to do that now because politicians won't lead the way. the people must lead the way, nicole. that's the only thing i can reach for. >> but, i mean, i guess this furry and this passion and this rage and this grief doesn't feel like it being met by our leaders. they went home for the weekend. abbott did a taped message to the nra multi tasking for the gun lobby and for the citizens of uvalde.

where is this deep and deepening grief and outrage and panic i talk about in our leaders? >> i don't see it just like you. and, you know, you have the republican party doing what we're doing. you have mancih and sinema doing what they're doing. they're part of the problem in my mind. they are an indication of the rot. greed. criticism, crude self-interest, drive our leaders and a reflection in part of the country. so if we're going to take it back, they need to be shivering in their boots because the country can't survive like this. >> uh-uh. >> how many times can you continue to read the names of people that died, nicole? senselessly. i mean, damn.

>> i can't -- [ laughter ] eddie, you got me. you always get me. you got me at the tend of the week. to be continued, as always. as eddie just said, we are going to devote the last few moments of the program today to complete the important task, important privilege of memorializing the victims of tuesday's attack. nevaeh bravo was 10 and put a smile on the face of everybody. look at her smile. i can see how she did it. her family describes what they're feeling, like a nightmare from which they cannot wake up and this is alexandria rubio, lexi. she was a terrific athlete, basketball was at the moment evidently her favorite sport. she was tall for her age. the post reports she was the second oldest of five girls. her great around says she couldn't remember lexi ever fighting with any of her sisters. she was a happy child.

we'll leave you with what her dad told cnn. all i can hope is that she is not just another number. this is enough. no one else needs to go through this. thank you so much for letting us into your homes during this excruciating week. we're so grateful to all of you. "the beat"ari melber starts now. >> horrible week. appreciate the reporting. have a great weekend. >> you, too. welcome to "the beat." i'm ari melber. i want to tell you exactly what is going on. the nation is ending a week marked by the second worst school shooting ever but we continue to get these new details out of texas which show mistakes, misinformation and in some places, lies. it shows the on going tragedy has become clearly a full blown scandal especially for texas' republican governor greg abbott who now says he's quote livid about how he received what was false information about