because while you're getting creative, walmart is doing what we always do. keeping prices low for you every day. so you can save money and live better. ♪ good morning. this is "andrea mitchell reports" in washington on another painful morning for the uvalde, texas community as funerals begin for the victims of last week's mass shooting at robb elementary. the first funeral mass for fourth grader amerie jo garza who was shot while dialing 911. a service this evening for 10-year-old maite rodriguez. there are visitations throughout the day for irma garcia and

husband jose. he died of a heart attack days later after a memorial for her. there are virtual meetings tomorrow to try to find what leading senate republican john cornyn calls a basic framework for gun safety proposals that could become legislation in the coming weeks, although it's still a long shot. president biden is prioritizing inflation at the white house today, laying out his three-part plan to address the glowing problem in a "wall street journal" op-ed and promising he won't medal with the fed ahead of a key meeting with jerome powell. the president also sits down with new zealand's prime minister who led her country to crack down on guns after the christ church mass shooting in 2019. we'll bring you news from their white house meeting as we get it.

european union commission president saying this package helps to finalize a ban on nearly 90% of all russian oil imports by the end of the year. we begin this hour with uvalde, with nbc's shaq brewster and nbc justice correspondent pete williams. shaq, today the focus is on the victims. there continues to be scrutiny of the uvalde police chief. tell us where that stands. >> reporter: another visitation starts just this hour. over the course of the weekend we've seen so much pain, grief and sadness. this is one of the memorials in uvalde where you have people coming to pay their respects. you can see the constant flow of people we have here. so many flowers, candles, teddy bears, flags. people coming to just write a note. so much grief in this town. you have a feeling that so many people are coming out to do whatever they can to honor the victims of this shooting. you mentioned, the first

visitation we saw started yesterday. it was a visitation for am merry jo garza who was shot while making a phone call in the room. she's described as a beautiful and loving girl. there's also a marine biologist, she wanted to be. her oh built air read knows who know and loved her were blessed with her kind, ambitious, friend left-hand asweet soul. one thing we see is the grief that's here, that sense of sadness, but there's also a building sense of frustration that's mounting combined with the sadness. the last update we got from state officials who are investigating this shooting was on friday, and that's when we learned what they called the string of errors that took place. including the decision not to engage the shooter, but instead hold officers outside of the classroom. much of the attention and much of the focus has been directed at the police chief of the

uvalde school district police department, a small department, but that chief, pete arradondo was the incident commander at the site. state officials are pointing the finger at him for making the decision of not engaging the shooter. we learned from the mayor yesterday -- we got a statement. i want to put the statement up on screen, but the mayor saying pete arradondo was duly elected to the city council. there's nothing in the city charter, election code or texas constitution that prohibits him from taking the oath of office. to our knowledge we are currently not aware of any investigation of mr. arradondo. despite the lack of investigation, there's a lot of questions that are there. we expected to see him sworn in to city council today. that swearing in has been canceled. we've reached out to mr. arradondo directly as a network and have not heard anything back. that's where a lot of the tension and frustration is being directed at right now as there's still so much pain and grief in this community, andrea.

>> thanks to shaq. pete, we're waiting to hear who is going to lead the justice department's critical incident report into the police response into the shooting and how that investigation will proceed. this is part of the justice department that was really dismantled partly under donald trump. so they are rebuilding. >> this is what's known as the cop's office, community oriented policing services. they've done these critical incident reviews in the past. they did one after the pulse nightclub shooting in 2016 in orlando. that took 18 months to complete that report because of the complexity of the shooting scene and the number of victims. the service also did a similar review on the terrorist shooting in san ber nino. we don't know who will lead it. it will be somebody from the c.o.p.s. office. it will look at what happens and

also make recommendations based on what they've done in the past, but it won't include, for example, as we understand it, it won't include people from the fbi doing this investigation. it's not a criminal investigation. it's a look at the policies, the decision, the business come, if you will. it also is not just to sort of find fault. it's also to look at what happened here and see what lessons can be learned so other police departments can benefit from whatever recommendations the report makes. it's going to be possibly up to a year if these other ones are like it. i would assume they'll take a similar amount of time. >> pete williams, thanks to you and, of course, to shaq. matt miller is joining us. he served as the justice department as the spokesperson for attorney general eric holder and joins me now, and afterwards with the biden white house for a

while with the national security council team as well. drawing on your experience, matt, another tragedy, another series of questions, serious questions about the local response, a grieving community, but these questions need to be asked, as difficult as they are, on why that gap, an hour and 17 minutes with people not going in when all the playbooks we've read, even by those who designed the fbi routines are to go in right away when you have an active shooter. >> that's right, andrea. it's clear that the best practices that have been sadly developed over the years since columbine were not followed in this incident. i think one of the things that's important to note about this review that the department is going to conduct is that something that pete noted. this is not a criminal investigation. i think we're all familiar with the types of investigations doj can conduct into police departments when there are allegations of criminal

wrongdoing, excessive force. for example, the investigation that the department announced last year into the minneapolis police department after the killing of george floyd. this isn't that. there's no allegation of criminal wrongdoing in this case. gross incompetence, maybe, failure to follow training maybe, but not a criminal investigation. this is one in which the department reies on the cooperation of the local police department where they can only investigate if they've been invited to do here, which they have been here by the city of uvalde. i think we'll be looking at what happened on the scene and we'll continue to hear reports from the texas department of public safety. but i don't think at this point we should take anything that we hear out of local law enforcement with 100% veracity, giving the shifting statements we've heard. doj will want to look at what happened, what mistakes were made, what best practices could be instituted for other police

departments and what other reports ought to be instituted in uvalde. >> how important, though, is local leadership? whatever they decide, it has to be implemented by someone at the local level. this is a small community, 15,000 people. >> local leadership is critically important, not just for implementing any reforms that come out of this report, but also for ensuring that the department can actually get access to the people and the information that it needs. because this isn't a criminal investigation, doj can't subpoena any one of the local law enforcement officials and make them come to a grand jury and testify. they will rely on the chief of police or the mayor ordering people to cooperate and ordering people to tell what they know happened for doj to be able to assemble all the answers and develop a complete report of what happened on that day. so it is crucial that they get direction from the top in the city, and i would say as well as the state. the uvalde police department was not the only law enforcement

agency on the scene. it's going to be important that doj talk to every law enforcement, state and local, that responded. >> as we know there's a lot of tension between state and this locality in terms of a local state rep and what you're hearing from the governor certainly and the other top state officials. >> yeah. that's absolutely right. i think what you've seen over the past few days is a lot of finger-pointing among them. one thing i want to add, andrea, i do think it's important. alzheimer's we look at this review as it launches, as it gets under way and ultimately as we review the report when it's finalized, is if we continue to expect police to solve all these situations, we will continue to find ourselves asking these questions in the wake of shootings. it's important that we get to the bottom of the mistakes that the police department seems to have made, but we will not police our way out of this situation. >> that's a very fair point.

i might also add, we cannot expect teachers to resolve this either in terms of becoming an adjunct to the police force. >> absolutely. >> matt miller, thank you. this morning on the "today" show savannah guthrie spoke with jacob alvarado, a u.s. customs and border officer. his wife is a teacher and his daughter a second grader. >> i was at the awards ceremony, i was there earlier that morning. >> at the school. >> at the school. i stayed around town, had breakfast with my mom, washed my car, fiktsing to go get my hair kurt. >> tell me about the text you received. >> my barber actually heard shots or he thought he heard shots. he was coming to the parking lot. i told him i didn't hear anything. i went inside the barber shop, sat down and then i can't recall if he received the text first or

if i received it, that there's an active shooter, i love you, from my wife. >> what did you do next? >> i looked for my gun. my barber said he had a gun. both of us raced over to the school and met up there. >> from your texts, it looks like you got there at 11:48. >> times, i have no idea on types. i know i got there as fast as i could. >> what did you see and hear when you arrived? >> chaos, chaos, everyone trying to get to the school, people trying to get everything situated. i was trying to get towards my wife's room and my daughter's room. >> were there already police there? >> yes. >> what happened? did you just run in and start evacuating kids? how did that unfold? >> i was actually going over there, and then i went back to my barber's truck. he got me his shotgun, gave me some shells, i put whatever shells i had in my pocket and took off running towards the school.

>> did you ask the police that were there, hey, can i go in? did you check in with them? how did it happen? >> it's a small community. my wife works at robb. everyone that works at robb knows me. pretty much all the local law enforcement knows me or the majority of them. i was able to go in. i announced who i was and made my way through. >> what happened next? >> as i was going in, i could see kids coming out of the windows and kids coming my way. i was helping the kids out. i was trying to contact my wife. i can't recall if i was calling her or texting herment then i met up with one of the officers there. i tried to make my way towards the door. i didn't have any of my gear. i was off duty. i met with another officer there, ruben, which i went to school with. his wife is one of the ones that got shot by the shooter. >> mrs. mireles.

>> yes. >> he was looking for his wife as well? >> yes. >> you were helping kids get out, but helping your second grader? >> my wife texted or called me and said she was across the treated at the funeral home. after that, my e next thing was to go get my daughter. >> your wife made it out safely but your daughter was still there. >> exactly. i didn't know where the shooter was at. i knew he had shot in the building. i didn't know if she was still there. my wife texted and called me that she was okay at the funeral home. the kids were already out of that building, so i went on to find my daughter in her wing. >> what was that moment like when you saw your daughter? >> when i saw my daughter, a big relief, yeah. >> after she got to safety, you continued to help? >> oh, yeah. i cleared out the rooms there, saw all her friends. i coach little league baseball as well. i'm not an official coach, but always there helping out. all their friends, i can see their faces. half of them fine, the other ones panicking and crying,

trying to keep them as calm as i could as they were evacuating. >> these last few days, i asked you had you gotten any rest this weekend? >> no, i haven't gotten any rest at all. >> because you're still haunted by what you saw? >> not necessarily what i saw. i mean my wife is extremely affected by it, yeah. >> a tragic situation. i know you're so glad to be able to be there. thank you for your time this morning, sir. appreciate it. >> thank you. will it ever end? a dozen more american cities had mass shoot tinges in the week since uvalde. the impact of constant gun violence, that's ahead. you're watching "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. ows! sometimes, i'm all business. a serious chair for a serious business woman!

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have already been many more shootings in the short time since that tragedy last week, exactly a week ago. this headline from "the washington post," u.s. marks memorial day weekend with at least 12 mass shootings including, quote, on saturday evening where six teenagers were injured by gunfire in chattanooga, tennessee, in what mayor tim kelly says was probably an altercation between other teenagers. joining me is chattanooga mayor tim kelly. first tell us what went through your mind when you were -- your own community, so soon after so many other recent high-profile mass shootings, had a shooting under way? >> i was heartbroken, obviously, and angry and frustrated. again, as has been said in uvalde, you think it can't happen here until it does happen here.

a very difficult weekend for chattanooga. >> tell me about what happened there. what's going on between these kids. >> well, we candidly don't know. i think the notable fact was that they were kids. all six victims were between the ages of 13 and 15 and it's unspeakable. it's unthinkable. it's crazy that we're dean dealing with kids with guns causing this kind of bay hem in our cities. we're hard at work looking for the primary suspect and thinking about ways we can prevent it in the future. >> let me just drill down on that. how do kids between the ages of 13 and 15 get guns? it's already controversial, to say the least, that in buffalo and in texas 18-year-olds had weapons of war really, ar-15s,

similar semi automatic. how do they get guns of any kind between the ages of 13 and 15? it's not legal in tennessee. >> it's not legal. again, part of a group of mayors called mayors against illegal guns. this is such a multifaceted problem. illegal guns are one of the most difficult areas that we have to deal with. clearly by definition they were possessed illegally. guns -- car thefts -- guns from cars have been up dramatically in tennessee and chattanooga over the past few years. we've been urging people to secure their guns as urgency as we possibly can. yes, clearly, these were guns that should have never been in the hands of children. >> christian, you know the pain of gun violence yourself intimately. both of your parents were shot on memorial day in 2005 and your mother tragically died.

you became an activist as a result of those experiences. can you talk about what 23578 lease and survivors in uvalde and elsewhere, buffalo and now chattanooga, are likely dealing with. >> thanks so much for that really important and critical question. i think it's really important to think about how big the ripple effect of gun violence truly is in this country, especially when we understand and know that not only are 100 people shot every day in this country. we have 40,000 people who were killed in 2020, a 25-year high and two to three times that number are individuals who are wounded and injured. the trauma that we experience as survivors of gun violence is on going. i'm 17 years away from the day,

like you said, andrea, where my mom was killed with a single bullet to her back. my mom will never understand or know the joys of being a grandmother. gun violence to me is the empty chair i had in the front row on my wedding day. the trauma of gun violence doesn't go away when the cameras or stories go away. it's generational. we have got to break these cycles of violence so that entire generations of people aren't traumatized the way i am and the way that these communities will forever be. there's just so much more we can do. >> is there anything that you know that is being discussed now by this bipartisan group of senators? and they're really looking for low-hanging fruit to be clear. they're working on something that can get those ten more votes from the senate and break a filibuster.

is there anything in red flag laws, maybe expanded background checks, raising the age of licensing? >> i think the conversations are real. i think the policies that you are raising are -- there's real conversations behind it. i also think that these in a lot of ways are policies that are the first steps we need to take but certainly not the last steps. we do need to raise that floor so we have a real chance at being able to address gun violence. we're talking about things like universal background checks, something that 90% of americans support, and a bipartisan bill has been sitting in front of the senate for over a year in a period of time where 50,000 people have been killed with guns. i hope that there will be progress on extreme risk laws. i hope there will be progress on finally passing hr-8 and hr-6 to

pass that foundation. we need that and we need more in this country. >> thanks to both of you for being with us today, chattanooga mayor tim kelly, i know this has been a very difficult time. christian heyne from the brady group. the white house adrift from national tragedies to soaring inflation. the biden administration is struggling. what that might mean ahead of the midterms. some exclusive nbc news reporting next. you're watching "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. aleve gives long-lasting freedom from pain, with fewer pills than tylenol. instead of taking pills every 4-6 hours, aleve works up to 12-hours so you can focus on what matters. aleve. less pills. more relief you see, son, with a little elbow grease, you can do just about anything. thanks, dad. that's right, robert. and it's never too early to learn you could save with america's number one motorcycle insurer. that's right, jamie. but it's not just about savings.

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has taken on a critical role, efforts on climate change, extreism online like what happened at christ church. we want to be -- i want to work with you on that effort, and i want to talk with you about what those conversations are like. the united states is -- there's an expression by an irish poet that says too long suffering makes a stone of a heart. there's an awful lot of suffering. i've been to more mass shooting aftermaths than i think any president in american history unfortunately. so much of it is -- much of it is preventable and the devastation is amazing. yesterday -- day before i was

down in texas and people sat in the room, about 250 of them in a large room with me for almost four hours. nobody left. they wanted to be there until i spoke to every single person in that room, every single person and waited until the very end. the pain is palpable. you've been one of our closest partners with a long history of friendship, 80 years ago marines landed in new zealand before embarking into the pacific theater in world war ii. i think i told you when i met my -- two of my mother's brothers were in the pacific. used to be able to deploy at the same time in those days. one was shot down in new guinea and they never found the body. the history gross back a long way, a long way.

i want to, buy the way, recognize new zealand's significant support for ukraine. as a lot of indo-pacific countries are doing now because this is more than just a regional war going on. so i look forward to our conversations today. we have a lot to talk about. i'm really, really delighted to have you here, really. >> can i say, mr. president, thank you so much -- >> you can say anything you want. >> we really welcome this opportunity. as you've said, we've spoken on several occasions. wlagt stood out to me is we traversed such similar issues. my grandfather served in the pacific, and i think that speaks to the personal connection, but also the depth of our friendship and relationship as two countries. we are in an incredible

difficult international environment, but also domestically it is extraordinarily challenging as well. and can i bring the sincere condolences of the people of new zealand for what you've experienced in texas and new york. it's been devastating to see the impact on those communities. our experience, of course, in this regard is our own. if there's anything we can share that would be of any value, we are here to share it. >> the work you're doing with tech companies is really important. i want to work with you there as well. >> i look forward to updaing you on some of the conversations we've made there. i also wanted just to acknowledge your leadership in bringing to the table the indo-pacific economic framework. whilst of course we're significant -- i look forward to having a bit of a discussion

about that opportunity as well. i also want to acknowledge your significant leadership on ukraine and how important that has been, not only to us as we look to play a role as well, but globally as we look to make sure that we strengthen the international response to what is a threat to our values and, of course, the territory sovereignty of ukraine. i do want to finish on a note of optimism. climate change is one of the greatest threats that we face, and i believe we're seeing the leadership opportunity that exists for our two nations to work together on this incredibly difficult issue, that will only be resolved if we work together. thank you. as you've said, we've got a lot to discuss. >> i want to emphasize the last point you made, working together. we are not coming to dictate or

lay down the law. we have more work to do in those pacific islands as well. so we talked at length in the past about my trip to japan and korea and dealing with the quad. i think there's a lot of opportunity to make the world safer and deal with the environment. >> i agree. >> thank you all very much. >> that was, of course, the president in the oval office with the prime minister of new zealand, jacinda ardern. credited with moving swiftly to control guns and working with tech companies about online threats to try to deal with the social media aspects of this. there was a terror attack, a dreadful terror attack in the capital of christ church, new zealand years back. she's taken a very proactive role on that as well as climate

change. you heard her talking about ukraine and some of the other threats in the region. so an important meeting for the president with the prime minister of new zealand. this comes at a critical time, the midterms approaching. according to exclusive reporting from nbc news, more than two dozen sources, including many allies of the white house, inflation at record highs. you see he's meeting later today with jay powell, the fed chair. gas prices up to $6.00 in some states and the president's low approval ratings have really frightened him and dkts democrats on /* /* on the hill following to near donald trump low levels. the president feeling adrift, according to the report, interviews close to the white house. joining us is one of the contributors, one of the authors of that piece, nbc news chief

white house correspondent kristen welker. talk to me about sort of all that is spooking the white house right now and it's getting closer and closer to the midterms and there's less and less time to turn this around? >> reporter: you're absolutely right, andrea. the white house, this president dealing with a cascade of crises right now, inflation as you mentioned, the war in ukraine. of course that baby formula shortage. one white house official framed it this way saying, quote, i've heard him say recently that he used to say about president obama's tenure that everything landed on his desk but the locusts, and now he understands how that feels. i think that really captures the sentiment here, that he is dealing with an extraordinary number of crises at the same time. he's particularly frustrated when it comes to the issue of the economy and inflation. he feels like his message has not broken through enough, andrea. he believes there is a good

story to be told. there are strong spots in the economy like the low unemployment rate. he wants democrats to highlight that and to do a better job, frankly, of highlighting that. at the same time he's trying to increasingly show americans that he feels their pain. he's out with that op-ed today in the "wall street journal" saying inflation is going to be his top priority. he's meeting with the fed chair today and he's going to, i'm told, stress the independence of the fed, but also stress that he has a plan to try to lower inflation as well. administration officials have said they hope that inflation starts to come down by the fall. of course, andrea, there are no guarantees when it comes to inflation. so democrats, this administration, this president increasingly worried about all of this and the impact it could have on the midterm elections. as you pointed out, we just heard the president, the prime minister of new zealand talking about guns. of course, they suffered that

tragic mass shooting. in the wake of the mass shooting, they installed new gun control measures. of course, we've heard president biden call for that as well. what we didn't hear in that q&a, andrea, after the cam rales left is president biden was asked, is he goings to meet with members of congress. he says he does plan to meet with members of congress. that is significant because we've been trying to nail down what will his exact role be in those negotiations. how involved is he going to be? we know he's publicly called for the reinstatement of the assault weapons ban. that stands a very slim chance of passage. other things like expanded background checks, red flag laws which prevent people who should not have a gun from getting one, those are under discussion right now. we know the president supports those measures as well. significant to hear him say he would be willing to meet with congress to try to get something over the finish line, andrea.

>> i want to share, kristen, you know this well, at your alma mater at harvard, jacinda ardern gave a commencement speech, and they have a completely different form of government but some of the same issues plaguing them. here is some of the things that she has accomplished. let's watch. >> we have passed laws that include everything from the introduction of gay marriage and the banning of conversion therapy right through to a 1.5 degree climate change target into style, banning military and semi-automatic assault rifles and the e decriminalization of abortion. [ cheers and applause ]. >> just a really noteworthy

example of things that can be done by a woman prime minister in new zealand, our close allies. kristen welker, we'll have to leave it there. >> thank you. the european union overnight laying out perhaps the harshest sanctions against russia since the invasion of ukraine, the eu agreeing to ban 90% of russian oil imports by the end of the year, overcoming some objections by hungary. the decision comes as russia is now gaining round in the fight in eastern ukraine. foreign correspondent molly hunter joining us from kyiv. it's good to see you. what is the reaction of the new sanctions even at this critical moment as russia is gaining ground in this offensive in the east? >> reporter: andrea, so nice to be with you. critical moment. the government here welcomes this sixth round of eu sanctions.

foreign minister says the oil embargo will speed up the countdown to the collapse of the russian economy and military machine. western sanctions are far too slow, far too late and definitely not enough, adding that ukraine definitely is not satisfied with the pace of weapons deliveries and says we believe in promises, weapons deliveries much more on the 230er front of officials' mind. that's what every ukrainian official, the fighters, the soldiers that our richard engles says they're asking for, asking for longer-range artillery. they're outgunned in the donbas. russian forces are closing in on the pocket of the donbas region. as of this morning, the head of the city military says the front line actually cuts in between right in the middle of that city. that means half the city is controlled by russian forces. the other half is still under ukrainian control.

there are still sive ville civilians. the russians have concentrated so heavily in this very small area. it looks big on a map but it's a very small area. that means they've neglected other places and allowed ukrainians and the ukrainian military to launch counteroffensives in the south. >> molly hunter. joining us is liam cooper, pentagon correspondent for "the new york times." one ukraine official says the front lines for the key city of donetsk is split right down the middle. >> hi, andrea. thanks for having me.

they're doing a slightly better job right now of managing to take some territory. what their biggest problem, though, is, they're not doing a very good job of holding their territory. that's why most officials believe this is going to continue to be a slog. you're going to see these shifts day in and day out. for instance, take kharkiv and take kherson. kharkiv, as you know, the russians encircled completely a couple months ago. they've pounded that city almost to obliteration. yet the ukrainians have now taken it back. the same thing is starting to happen in kherson in the south where ukrainians have launched -- the first city to fall to the russians after the invasion. the ukrainians have now launched a counteroffensive. that city is now contested. there's every belief at the moment that, even if russia is

able to continue add bans in the don boss region, it doesn't have what it needs, the russian military is not capable of holding this territory that you're going to see the ukrainians launching counteroffensives to try to take this back which is why they're asking for these weapons deliveries to be sped up. >> if the ukrainians have to direct more resources toward the east as they now are, is this going to be leave areas like kyiv at risk? can russia double-back? as bad z a their command and control has been, they obviously have more manpower. >> they do. this is one of the things that both countries are sort of toggling. the ukrainians have this issue. they're trying to defend the east. they're leaving some areas vulnerable. russians have this issue as well as they're focusing so much on the east. they're leaving the south and leaving some parts of their flanks in the north as well more vulnerable to counterattacks. this is definitely one of the

balancing act issues for both countries, both militaries in fact. >> helene cooper, as always, thank you. the pressure campaign on guns. the president says he cannot outlaw assault weapons on his own. is congress going to get it done? you're watching "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. miss allen over there isn't checking lesson plans. she's getting graded on her green investments with merrill. a-plus. still got it. (whistle blows) your money never stops working for you with merrill, a bank of america company.

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and contains high quality protein to help manage hunger and support muscle health. try boost® today. in the last hour the president saying he will now wi push ahead for action in the aftermath of uvalde on some sort of gun measures. the bipartisan senate group is set to meet virtually tomorrow to talk over their plans for gun safety reform. the group led by chris murphy who is passionate on this ever since newtown, has met twice in person the last week. they have texted and e-mailed between meetings. staff is working on legislative language over the holiday weekend. one source tells nbc news, they feel a new urgency. the politics could be changing this time. republican leader mitch mcconnell, unlike in the past, has approved these talks. this comes as the president vows to do something after uvalde.

he told kelly o'donnell that the responsibility is still on congress. >> there's a constitution. i can't dictate this stuff. i can do the things i have done and any executive action i can take i will continue to take. but i can't outlaw a weapon. i can't do that. >> joining us is eugene daniels and peter baker. eugene, there's a lot of pressure on congress and the white house now to act. there's public polling that supports it after what happened in texas and buffalo, new york. the president saying mcconnell and cornyn are reasonable republicans. can they find the votes that they need to pass something?

. >> it's hard to see ten republicans getting behind some of these measures that seem like they are on the table, whether red flag laws or possibly raising the age to get guns from 18 to 21. this is something that has had to happen with cigarettes, that congress passed recently. what's interesting -- we know this. we look at the up ins all the time. especially surrounding any of these mass shootings and these tragedies. any member of congress, any leader in this country who doesn't want to do something on this, frankly, is out of step with the american public when we see polling. we had politico polling last week that found people in the8 0

and 70%. whether that's expanding background check, a national registry for gun owners, red flag laws. all of these things have a huge amount of support with the american people. that's something that president biden has continued to press for and members of congress who want to do something is they know there's pressure on them, externally. from all types of constituents. it's not just gun safety groups. it's also civil rights groups. it's also immigrant groups. all of these groups who found their communities attacks in these tragedies are pushing the white house to do more. i'm told that the white house is looking at more executive -- possibly doing more executive action on this. the people really want to see action. they want to see it quickly. with congress doing zoom meetings while they are out, that gives people a little hope. we have seen this same thing over and over before. >> support seems to fade rather quickly after the initial horror, outrage, sadness. the political support for it in

polling begins to dissipate. peter, are you looking for small compromises, do you think, to get done here? when we look at canada to the north, the prime minister just proposed a national freeze on handgun sales. that isn't even in discussion here. even though handguns are the cause of most of the problems, not the hobble weapons of war, as bad as they are. >> yeah. striking to see such a sweeping initiative across the border when this capital here is consumed with discussions over relatively minor policy changes. let's face it, nobody ever lost money betting against bipartisan gun control compromise in washington, not in the last 10 or 20 years. it may be they get something out of this. it may be this time is different. there's a lou lucy and a footba quality to this. every time you see these awful

massacres, everybody says, it can't happen again, let's do something. then the gears in washington grind into basically not very much. that's because republican opposition in congress. the polls show that there's a large consensus in the american public for some of these relatively modest gun control ideas. not talking about banning assault weapons or freeze on handguns like justin trudeau did. we are talking about minor things that you would think there would be consensus on. a lot of republicans don't respond to the broad polls. they respond to the polls within their constituents and their states. it's more conservative. the ones who vote care about gun rights than the other side of the aisle. for them, the political dynamic is different than saying, polls show a lot of support for it. >> indeed. we have to leave it there eugene daniels, peter baker, thanks to both of you. the first funeral services

for the youngest victims are being held in uvalde, texas, today. as more scrutiny focuses on the police response to the mass shooting. the latest from texas just ahead. you are watching "andrea mitchell reports." this is msnbc. s getting graded on her green investments with merrill. a-plus. still got it. (whistle blows) your money never stops working for you with merrill, a bank of america company. trelegy for copd.

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"andrea mitchell reports." the review of the law enforcement response to the deadly robb elementary school mass shooting is underway. they are expected to select a leader in the coming days. much of the scrutiny is on the uvalde police chief whose swearing in as a city council member has been postponed while the community holds funeral services for the victims. chris murphy has been in talks with texas republican senator john cornyn as their staffs trade legislative language today ahead of bipartisan zoom meetings starting tomorrow to see if they can break years of senate gridlock blocking gun safety proposals. moments ago at the white house, the president telling reporters he will be meeting with lawmakers about guns. >> there's an awful lot of suffering. i've been to more mass shooting aftermaths than i think a