classroom with the shooter. at least a couple of them made multiple 9-1-1 calls during this time. with one student asking the operator to please send the police now. during a press conference yesterday, the texas department of safety c mcgraw said that it was quote, the wrong decision to weigh to confront the shooter. >> obviously, based upon the information we have, there were children in that classroom that were at risk. for the benefit of hindsight worms city now, that of course there was in the right decision. it was the wrong decision, period. there is no excuse for. that >> tomorrow, president biden the first lady will be here to meet with the families of the victims, and grieve with this community. just 11 days ago they made a similar trip to buffalo new york, where ten black men and women were killed in a racist domestic terrorist attack by a different 18-year-old gunman, who also used an ar-15 style

rifle. that he was able to legally purchase, just like the gunman here and eovaldi. the vice president and the second gentleman will be in buffalo later today to attend the funeral of one of the victims of that massacre. meanwhile, as authorities we can continue to piece together the events of the tragedy here in uvalde, the nra is holding the second day of its annual convention in houston, just 270 miles east of here. joining me now, nbc news national security and intelligence correspondent, candlelight ian and, correspondent sam brock live in uvalde texas. can, the timeline of events of tuesday's tragedy keeps shifting. what has changed over the past few days in law enforcement's account of just what happened? good morning alicia well. you really had a shift from the department of public safety from defending the law enforcement response and saying that actually saved lives, to yesterday laying out a timeline that really made it clear that there was a series of colossal misjudgements.

and let me just go through it for you, because it tells the story in and of itself. we all know now that the gunman arrived in his grandmother's pick up truck, crashed near the school, came out shooting. we learned yesterday that the school resource officer, who earlier had been portrayed as confronting this gunman, actually drove right past him and took no action and it was not a factor. and then we learned that the gunman entered a jury that had been propped open in violation of school policy, by a teacher. and that gunman was in that classroom by around 11:33, and immediately fired off around 100 rounds, police are saying. and sadly, many children and the teachers, they believed were killed instantly. but a number of children remained alive. and that is where the mistakes really started to compound. he had locked himself inside that classroom, and the chief of the school district police, a man in pure peach arradondo was the scene commander, even though he commanded a police force of six officers and there are much larger police forces

in the area, he was the commander. he decided according to texas officials that the children were no longer at risk at that point. even though there were children who remained alive, in that classroom. and the gunman was continuing to shoot at police. and so he decided to wait, even though there were 19 officers in the hallway, children were being evacuated from the schools of the police were there. but they were not assault in the classroom. and we learned that, specialized border patrols tactical agents arrived around 12:15, but we're told to stay outside. and they grow increasingly frustrated and at some point, 40 minutes, later they got the key to the classroom from the janitor we are told. and on their own initiative, decided to assault through the door in a stack where a ballistic shield and use their weapons to shoot and kill the gunman. and one of the big questions, alicia, that is unanswered is, when did they get that key to the door. because the door was a reinforced door, and that may have played a role in impeding the police response.

but we just don't know, when they got the key from the janitor. so that is an important. fact and the other important thing that we learned, in horrifying fashion yesterday, was that children inside of that classroom or making 9-1-1 calls begging for help. and for some period of time, no help came. and it is not clear at this point whether the unseen commander knew all of that. the implication was that he did. the question was asked of the state police official, you know didn't you know about the 9-1-1 calls? and he said, the decision was made that we had to wait. and so, they're increasing calls now for an inquiry into how this all happened, what judgments were made, and who is going to be held accountable, alicia. sam, as we have gotten more details about how long long force and where to act while there were children inside the same classroom as the gunmen, one has been the reaction by the community, and the parents of young children in this community? >> there is a cruel irony,

alicia, which is the fact that you had 19 members of law enforcement, inside the hallways at 12:03, knowing that the gunman was not neutralized until 12:50. that is 47 minutes. there were 19 children who are murdered at robb elementary school. they were standing in the hallways. they were treated from law enforcement. they were waiting for the next step. as we talk to committee members who are outside the 5:45 this morning to pay their respects to the 21 victims. i talked to one gentleman who says, when you watch the press conference yesterday for the first time, he felt like the store vent -- floor banished beneath him. that is how upsetting it was. we have issues that parents are objecting to. one of them is the amount of time that it took people who swore an oath to protect at all cost, and endangering your life as well if necessary to protect children who were standing by. that's very concerning. they say according to a person i talked to that we are at a point where politicians have

made a calculated decision. they will sacrifice young lives at the altar of gun federalize asian. i was an 18 year old days after his birthday obtain an assault style weapon? why do you need to have one in the first place? they are flabbergasted. you cannot find a response from a politician here, whether it is tony gonzales the congressman for this area, or ted cruz. instead of talking about these policy matters, senator cruz is talking about the fact that we should have one go door per school. it is offensive to people in this community and those who are grieving right now. these family embers are those of the 21 who were killed today. the events that the inspired for this take place, we know that you faulty doubled their security budget in recent years. you can take all of the steps to ensure safety. there was an active shooter drills that took place a couple months prior to this. a teacher walked out of the building and left the door propped open as the shooter was

going by. we know how this ended, alicia. >> nbc news can the lenient and sam brock. thank you both. there has been more about lax gun laws. another shooting under greg abbott's watch. during the press conference yesterday, he was confronted by democratic state senator gutierrez. senator, you are not the first democrat to confront abbott at one of his conferences this week. what was your message to him? >> alicia, i asked him specifically to bring him back into a special session. it is going to bring change to our gun laws. we do not have responsible gun laws in texas. we have asked over and over in session after session to create change. after el paso, after southern springs, the governor suggested that he was so proud of his 17 school hardening measures. we saw where the measures got us here. it is time to create some

common sense solutions. you have to be 21 to by hand gun, but somehow you can get in ar-15 at fifth 18. this makes no sense. we need change. >> we talk about the influence of the nra and the hole that they have over the republican party. they have a fear of entering into a primary that ultimately becomes more competitive because this issue. tell me where you sit as a legislator, as someone who was looking to get things done. what is your experience of working with fellow legislators. what do you picture to be the intransigence on this issue. a government holding a redundant press conference on state services. he talks about how somebody broke the eyeglasses here. the state government can help the person pay for that. that's why i went over there. i was here at the time. i ran over to demand this special session because we have an effect list leader who was at the beginning, at the feet, of the nra for more money.

that is what this is about. they are beholden to the nra and the financial donations, simply for the sake of staying in power. this cannot be anymore. we need change in the state. we need change in this country. >> i think there are a lot of people who want to see sun -- gun safety measures in the past who wanted to go big. now there is more of an appetite for some incremental change. is this where there is the possibility of movement in texas? when we had the assault weapons ban at the federal level we do not see these events. certainly, i'm a gun owner myself, these are my constituents. it is rural texas. i own guns. i am a hunter. i do not own in ar-15, and i did not need went to hunt. an 18 year old has been able to buy a gun. at the end the day, we were hunting squirrels 60 years ago. technology changes. what is happening in our society now is changing. this man's out of touch.

i want to talk to you about this community -- >> i want to talk about this community and so many of the victims of this massacre. most of them latinos and hispanics. what does the state owe them? beyond answers, which is why we keep asking questions about the timeline and what happened, but they are grieving process is just in the beginning. what's type of support are they going to need as they continue the process -- >> we don't owe them a nonsense of replacing glasses. there is a health community clinic in uvalde. it serves 1800 latino to not have health insurance. they don't have enough money to be able to have a full-time therapists. have enough monthey're pissed g telemedicine. we need to have four or five medicine -- they're pissed. they need to give $2 million to that clinic right now. i asked for that yesterday. he said nothing about that. it is going to be a long mental health issue for survivors and

friends of survivors or families the survivors. i talked to a little girl yesterday and they were crying to me >> then i got brave. they were braver than the folks that were trying to get in there. these little kids. i am shocked and devastated and heartbroken by all of this. we owe them much more than what this guy has done. we owe them change, we owe the money to help them care for their children, we owe them real solutions. we need real gun solutions. this cannot ever happen again. i gave a senate floor speech on their open carry bill. i said because of this bill, children are going to die. that was your go. never did i think that bit of hyperbole would come to real life in one of my communities. i never thought that. i never thought that.

>> senator roland gutierrez, thank you for being here. details surrounding the police response are coming into focus. this keeps getting more distressing. officers outside of the office when children were inside with the gunman. we know that they were still. live students inside the classroom called 9-1-1 to beg the police to help them. our children lived in a world of regular active school shooting drills. it appears in this case that the kids remembered their training when law enforcement failed them. >> the cops said, help if you need help. one of the persons in my class and help. the guy overheard and came in and shot her the cops barged into the classroom. >> i heard, shooter, they tried to shoot at the officer. they ran past and rushed them

back inside. >> what were you thinking when you were hiding the bat for so long? >> i was trying to lay. still hours china to make a noise. >> back with me, former secretary of housing and urban development, castro. he's the former mayor of san antonio. it is 800 miles from here. he's also a political analyst for msnbc. tell me which we need to understand for this community as we tell the story? this community is a community of only 20,000 folks. they are a hardworking community. they are 73% latino and mexican american. they are folks who are working class. people have a lot of pride. it is a community of faith, family, and a community where no one ever expected anything like this to ever happen. right now, it is a community in

deep pain and shell shocked by what happened. even as we stand here talking, we have seen families coming, bringing families, asking police officers to put the roses at the cross is behind us. 21 crosses are behind. as this is all happening while we have former president donald trump at the nra calling for a drastic change in the country's approach to mental health. we have a top to bottom security at schools. why the inability to discuss this on their part as both ends. i think they have a whole group of politicians on the republican side who are afraid of the conversation. they believe that their primary voters would not stand for it. you have a super energize for people that will vote them up. it is trumped up by the nra. they contribute a lot to the campaigns. they have a loud voice even though not as loud as it used to be. at the same time, there is

always hope that some people will change. >> let's stick on that point. i know there's an element of hope. you look at what happened in florida after the parkland shooting. you have to rick scott and the republicans in that state legislator who actually move legislation with democrats on red flags. it is baseline, lots of people agree on, and the nra wanted them to be fearful. they wanted them to believe that they would come for them. at the end of the day, politically speaking, which is if we think is the motivation for a lot of this decision-making. politically, the nra was not as effective as they claim to be. i understand that texas is not florida, but i wonder, for you, as a keen observer and understanding of politics, is there a lesson for texas to learn from florida. well i think the lesson for everyone who wants to see some change, and some common sense reform is that time is of the

essence. that happened fairly quickly. there and a good example of this in texas is that right after el paso, lieutenant governor dan patrick, who sits over the texas senate very powerful in the state, so that background check should be extended. he was willing to take arrows from the national rifle association, he quickly changed tunes. a few months later. and so that, time that window came and went. right afternoon, senators manchin and toomey got together and proposed expanded background checks. people felt like it might get done, it didn't. so time is of the essence of something is going to get done. and that is why you have seen that push for abbott to have a special session here in texas. >> we are going to keep that urgency in mind, and you and i are going to continue to talk, former secretary leon castro. thank you so much for being with. us in a surreal split screen, less than three miles away from here in houston, the nra continues with its annual convention. we are going to bring you a live report, after a quick

break. but before, that dara brown is here with some other top stories we are following at msnbc. dara. >> good morning to you. vice president kamala harris is set to arrive in buffalo new york later this morning. harris will meet with the families of the victims of the recent mass shooting, and will attend the memorial service of ruth whitfield, the last victim of the shooting to be laid to rest. the cdc is investigating more than 200 mysterious cases of hepatitis among children. the world health organization says it has identified at least 600 of iffy cases of hepatitis among children, in 33 countries. the cdc also says it has identified ten cases of monkeypox across eight states in the united states, adding that the country is prepared to respond. and, in the trial that for better or for worse, has captured americas attentions, after six weeks of testimony the defamation trial brought by johnny depp against his ex wife amber heard, is now in the hands of the jury. and don't go anywhere, more news with alicia menendez, live from uvalde texas after a

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attorney's office to pursue justice for everyone. but like so many of my colleagues, i resigned in protest because chesa boudin interfered in every single case and failed to do his job. the office is absolutely in disarray right now. chesa dissolved my unit prosecuting car break-ins. now criminals flock to san francisco because there are no consequences. we can't wait. recall chesa boudin now. the site of this latest mass shooting, the nra is holding its annual meeting in houston. yesterday republicans who are in the pockets of the gun lobby like, texas senator ted cruz and the former president, took the stage to celebrate guns in

the wake of the massacre here and eovaldi tech texas. plenty of attending members didn't think that the loss of 19 children, two adults, a mass shooting in the same state, should get in the way their convention. >> the second amendment is our right. and because we gather, and because we have a convention that has been planned for years, and the fact that this happened just a few days ago, doesn't mean that you stop people from trying to do business or trying to promote their business and stuff. it is unfortunate. >> joining me now, nbc shaq brewster live from houston. shaq, talk to me about what you are hearing from people. what is the energy going into day two of this conference. >> well good morning. it will be much different than what we saw yesterday. you one of those high-profile speakers. former transit president trump or ted cruz for example, in that leadership form that we saw yesterday. they'll be official nra business, so members will be able to elect their new board, and will be political updates that members will have. in addition to going to the

convention hall and looking at guns, looking at the gear that is their this convention. so much different scene inside and what we saw yesterday. and you also have a different scene outside, with fewer protests. not as many people coming out, it is still early right now, but you don't have that large protest presence that we saw yesterday. but i think one thing that is still there on both sides of this issue, it's the passion. you have people inside, and you just heard that sound from that gentleman who was attending the convention, talking about a second amendment rights. saying why this is so important to him, even in the wake of the shooting that we saw earlier this week. and then you have protesters who came out in force yesterday. they wanted this convention to be postponed or canceled. they didn't get that, they made clear what they wanted to see. i want you to listen to some of those conversations i had folks yesterday. >> i wanted to protest this convention, i think it's a shame that our local government is allowed to happen today, here in the state, and so i just wanted to show a little bit of outrage and support for people who are out there.

and let them know that we are powered by numbers. i think it is shameful, everyone walking up should feel shamed. people are completely ignorant to the fact that there are parents making funeral arrangements today. and so i wanted this. canceled >> my great grandchildren are about the same age level as the kids at that that got shot. and i started wondering, that could happen to my grandkids. and the other thing was that, i know what it is like to lose a loved one. so i know these people are experiencing, and the fact that we give them some -- you know it was worth the trip. >> you hear what they say, and i think one point that that last gentleman made was that there is not a lot of optimism among the protesters there. they know the political realities in the senate, for example. they know it is a 50/50 split another 50 republican senators against and assault weapons ban,

for example. there's a majority of republican senators, and even in the past, some democratic senators that were against and voted against expanding universal background checks. so there's not a lot of optimism for any action that a federal level, or even at a state level here. with the governor of texas greg abbott, he addressed that convention via video yesterday. he said he was not looking at new laws that control guns. despite the lack of optimism, they said it was so important for them to be here because of the tragedy that they saw. for them it is a matter of life and death, but i think if you talk to a lot of the people attending the convention, they also say that it is a matter of life and death, because i see guns as a tool to protect themselves. and that is the big gap that you have here, and i think that was on full display yesterday. and that will continue to be on display, as we go through the weekend at this convention. alicia. >> and we talked, and we talked a little bit earlier about the work of the end that the nra has done to make people believe that nbc news -- shaq brewster, thank you so

much for spending part of mourning with. that's the sad truth is that america has experience so many mass cool shootings, that there is a network of parents who know this truth all too well. nicole hawk lee, whose son died at sandy hook, she joins me next. whose son die when owning a small business gets real, next progressive gets you right back to living the dream. now, where were we? [ cheering ] okay everyone, our mission is to provide complete balanced nutrition

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the year yet and the gun violence archive says that we have already had 214 mass shootings in america in 2022. 27 of them were school shootings. 23 years ago, the country struggled to process how and why to columbine high school students who go to school would go there to shoot and 12 killed 12 classmates and the teacher. at the time, mass school shootings were an anomaly. fast forward to 2012 when a deranged gunman went to sandy hook elementary school and murdered 20 children and six employees. six-year-old, dylan haake, was one of the dozens of people killed in the sandy hook shooting. he would have turned 16 years old in march.

back then, politicians warned -- swore to attend to these violence is. ten years later, here we are. i'm joined by the mother of late dylan hawk lead and the founder of sandy hook promise. she is pushing for gun reform. thank you for being here. before i ask you anything, else can you tell us what do you think what we need to know about what it is that these families, this community, is going through in this moment? >> i am sure they are in deep shock at the moment and just trying to reckon with some of the pain and the grief. it took several days for me to understand that this was anything beyond what just happened to my family. i cannot focus on anything else other than my direct family. it was weeks, months, before i understood the magnitude of that. the trauma goes on forever. the ripple effects of this trauma is never ending. the families are probably still

in that state of extremes shock right now. i remembered for too well. >> part of the cruel reality is that the families are in pain and in shock. when we talk about policy and system solutions, there is a sense that time is of the essence. urgency is one of the greatest forces moving this conversation. your sense, if a gun safety groups in this moment, are prepared, organized, and ready to go toe to toe with the resources that the nra has? >> absolutely. i think the outpouring to my organization over the last few days has been immense, in terms of people saying what i can do. give me actions, i need to do something. on the flip side, you have politicians saying now is not the time. after the shooting, this is not the time. as you stated, we have had more mass shootings than days we have had in this year.

we cannot wait another day. there is another mass shooting each day. the time is now. the time is before these things take place to enact a sensible policy. come to the table, how discussions of what we can agree on. people are dying. we have the power to stop that, to prevent it from happening. >> we saw the texas candidate for governor confront the current governor for the state policies and how he handles it. is there a model for success for getting voters to punish elected of election officials who refused to enforce gun safety laws. how do we hold them accountable? ? >> it is about voting. call an email. make sure your voices heard. they'd to matter. they do listen to the sheer emails and calls that they called get. vote your conscience. if someone is not ruling in

favor of you and your thoughts, you need to vote against. we need to take this seriously. >> we will get alicia back on par with us. she is coming from uvalde texas. we will continue here. the shooters in both massacres that occurred over the past few weeks, one and you've, texas and one in buffalo, new york. they were 18 years old when they purchased a semiautomatic rifles. they were old enough to purchase a gun but not by a drink in a bar. these military weapons are synonymous with private militias in the united states and overseas extremist organizations. the executive director of the constitutional advocacy and the protection of georgetown law as a handed in an opinion as a for the new york times. you've all the, buffalo, and

the semi automatic weapons that arises. she urges why permissive gun laws and easy access of firearms make the united states a prime target for firearms based terrorist attacks like the one in buffalo. they subject the population to the constant threat of mass shootings like the one in uvalde, where 19 children and two teachers were fatally shot. the united states must treat the easy access to semiautomatic weapons as the national security threat it is. mary mccord joins now. she's the former acting assisting attorney general for national security. mary, thank you for being here. let's talk about your op-ed. you call access to semiautomatic weapons a national security threat foreign and domestic. tell us more about this. >> that op-ed was based on a brief, a friend of the court brief, which i filed last fall on behalf of a former national security officials for the

entire national security apparatus. it was filed in the supreme court case where the justices are considering the first second amendment challenge since 2008. we were united in telling the court that this easy access to weapons, that are so used lethal, semiautomatic, assault rifles, and other semiautomatic firearms makes as a target for foreign terrorist groups and makes our communities targets of domestic groups that engage in extremist violence and who try to a team course in the militias that we see proliferating across this country. >> what would effective regulation look to you? >> first, i want to be clear. there is a mythology about the second amendment, that it is absolute. it protects everything. the supreme court, in 2008, just as quickly, out one of the most conservative justices of the modern court was clear that

it does not protect the right to keep in carry any weapon in any manner ever was to every purpose. you would think that listening to the nra and some of the speakers yesterday that that could be right. there is a substantially way that the supreme court has told us about who could carry weapons, as they have not historically been able to be carried by felons or the mentally ill. you can restrict the places where they could be kept, sensitive places, such as public buildings, voting places, schools. he can also restrict the type of weapon. i know these types of restrictions could be challenging. there is space in the second amendment for there to be security as the -- the advertising of these weapons. on the day that the uvalde shooter turned 18 and bought his semiautomatic assault style white full, the distributor, and the gun seller that posted

an ad featuring what appeared to be a three or four-year-old child sitting cross like it on the floor with a semi automatic assault style weapon on his lap and an extra magazine on the floor. what message is that sending. i think, advertising, is another way of regulating and cracking down on this. it is a shameful marketing of these weapons to young people. at every research in every town quote that six times as many people are shot one assault weapons are used in a mass shooting. why are these assault weapons legal? >> they are legal because our political elected leaders have not had the back bone to extend a assault rifle ban that erupted years ago. it is extremely vocal. it is extremely persuasive. it uses its money and power to keep elected officials telling a line. we know from polling that the

majority of americans believe that reasonable gun safety legislation is what they would like to see. the majority of americans are not the ones who have political power in this country. it is the gun lobby. it is those who are actually, through campaign comp positions, are going up against those who refused to take. action >> mary mccord, thank you for joining us. thank you for sharing your voice with us. alicia menendez is standing by in uvalde texas. we are working out some technical difficulties. after the break, what we must do to keep our children safe in the face of the gop's ties to firearms. gop's ties t firearms 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. and delivered to your door in as little as one hour.

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texas today. the city of is choked with grief and despair after a mass shooting killed 19 children and two teachers. 300 miles away in houston, the

national rifle association is holding its annual convention, resisting calls to regulate, in any way, the very weapons that cut these lives short. after the terrible shooting, republican lawmakers run up their usual excuses as to why xia gun safety regulations are not the answer to preventing these types of tragedies from happening. this isn't the only country where these type of tragedies keep happening. for years, many people have blamed the nra's financial hold on republicans for the inaction on good legislation, however, the washington post put out a noticeable difference in the gop's response to this incident saying quote, after another rampage at a texas elementary school, that left 19 children and two teachers dead, republican lawmakers did not wait for the nra as they lined up within hours to rip off any gun control measures. this reflects the recent decline in the nra power and

the logical conclusion of the increasingly hard-line messaging. the gun and liberty is unacceptable for patriotism. all gun control is a plot to seize weapons and you leave owners to fence lives. republicans did not wait for the response before they. -- since the nra's influence is diminishing, why are republicans still dug in when it comes to guns. after the break, i will talk about two leaders in the gun safety movement about what they think it's holding up progress on this front. what's strategy do they think will breakthrough with republican lawmakers? stay with us. stay with us

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looks like we're feeling good. bring on today with comcast business. powering possibilities™. joining me now is grove all ski, the cofounder and executive director of guns down america, an organization advocating for fewer guns across the nation. he's also the author of guns down, how to defeat the nra and build a safer future with fewer guns. frank has dedicated his life to advocating for gun safety measures after his daughter, jamie, was killed during the 2018 parkland high school shooting. he is the founder of gun-less safety. i assume both of you can hear the clicking and clanking behind me. fred, this is because, in anticipation of a president biden's visitation, there are already extra layers of security that are going up.

for our viewers, that is what is going up. this is my understanding that president biden is delivering or preparing to deliver a commence address. i have to ask, you what is this community need to hear from this president? what does this country need to hear from the president? what do you expect to hear? >> first, thank you for having me. when i look behind you and i see that imagery it takes me back to a minute that is under scrabble. you are from this community. i know you understand that. this committee needs to hear that they are going to heal. this country stands with them. they will have all of the physical resources that they need and the mental health resources they need to go forward. they need to hear more than that they need to do that this

country is done with this violence. they need to hear that this president is going to kick the senate in the hasse and do whatever it takes to get legislation passed. i heard your opening segments. we now have a president who was line legislation. we have a house of representatives that it has passed legislation, and we have a senate that is split 50/50. this is now a purely political issue. those in the senate, they have moved on. this is who they are. it is no longer valued. this is how they are now. we need to fire them, unfortunately that they will not be anything other than where they have been. in the next election, it will be the most important election of our lifetimes we cannot wait until then.

>> help us understand. you have the nra influence that is damaging xing. who are republicans beholden to when it comes to opposing any sort of gun reform, no matter how incremental we might be talking? >> they've been held to the entire gun culture that the nra has spent years nurturing and building up. i have to say, to fred's point, this idea of folks having to vote in the next election to fire the senators who are standing in the way of gun reform, i absolutely agree. i also have to say, the president here, as fred was saying, has a real opportunity to give voters something to really vote for. he can fight for government reform. -- he is bringing congress back from their two week vacation. they are going to work at finding a deal that he is personally, personally, going

to lead that effort. put that 30 years of senate experience to the test. roll up his sleeves and see what he could do. this is the kind of leadership that i know that front is looking for, i am looking for. survivors and americans across the country want to see. mister president, you can write the script where tragedy, thoughts and prayers, and nothing happens. you can show us real actions. you can inspire us i try to make progress that will help the country,. and will really create the electoral outcomes that we need to get real legislation and laws in place. >> fred, i like americans all across this country are lit looking for any sliver of hope that we can hold on to. i have to ask you, not only if you live through a tragedy like this, but you have lived through a state organizing that happens in the aftermath. when you look at what was possible in florida, you had republicans who were willing to

come to terms on a plate that was red flag. it's very model there across other states? it is a model used nationally? how do use the hard-hit lessons from florida and not extrapolate that to the rest of the company? >> is an interesting. >> -- i think the country has changed. my hope is coming from the directly from the american people. i do believe in this country. i think that 90% of the america who says that they want to do this, i believe them. as long as america feels that way, as long as america sees the consequences of those years and decades i know that i'm barricaded. they are to push these folks. i have hope in the reality that we have a president who is

committed to doing something about this. they are not going to stop fighting for this. i have hope, in the house of representatives, and speaker pelosi, who is meeting on this. i have hope in senator schumer and my friend, chris murphy, who have put the senate on notice. we are going to get a deal done next week or we are putting this stuff out fair for all. we are going to show america for those who are in -- who shares meaning for your life and your kids. you have given me a lot of hope and it's not just democrats you look at -- . i've had public conversations with former republican case. in my former congressman joe walsh, a republican, who believes in this stuff. it is not a partisan issue. we need to force those who are

currently in the senate to stop off or leave. >> you've referenced a thing that i want to look back to. it is the idea that there are systems and structures in place that may reform more challenging. there are also cultural pieces to all of this. there is something that is seeped into the fabric of our society. how do you reckon with that piece, especially when we know that all of the electoral strategies that you said, time is of the essence, how do you get to that cultural piece? >> the cultural piece is a really big part of this. you have on the other side not, just an infinity for guys, but identity of t of round shooters. when they get a conviction for an eye or having, they hear it through the prism of that they are attacking me, who i am, my identity, my culture. it is a masterful marketing job

by the national rifle association. they've been running the since 1977. this is where i say we need a real counterbalance from our leaders to refrain this conversation and to activate, as fred says, the 90% of americans who agree that we need tougher gun laws. it is going to counter the culture. it is going to take a leadership. it is not just all kinds of leaders but cultural leaders as well, to begin to strategically think about how you get out at that problem in order to make progress >> igor fresh, fred, my friends. thank you for being with me. so i have. i will be back at uvalde, texas, at 6 pm eastern for more american voices. the cross connection with tiffany cross starts right now. connection wit tiffany cross

♪ ♪ ♪ >> good morning everyone. welcome to the cross connection. this weekend, america is in mourning. we know this is a time for reflection. there were two mass shootings in ten days. 31 victims total. 19 of them were children i truly recognize how heavy this is for a lot of people, the difficulty of processing this. closing our eyes were tending it did not happen will not make the problem go away. i encourage you to listen to the survivors in this shooting. >> whenever they started shooting i hit behind lights to. the cops said -- >> the cops had help if you need help. they got one of the persons in my class to say help. the guy overheard and came in and shot her. he said, it is time to die. i was