tv MSNBC Live MSNBC September 22, 2013 3:00pm-4:00pm EDT
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the daily rundown tomorrow. that's all for today. we'll be back next week. if it's sunday, it's "meet the press." today. we'll be back next week. if it's sunday, it's so he shot at my head, but luckily it hit the wall behind me. hello. breaking news. new eruptions of gunfire, and explosions for a second day at a kenyan mall. terrorists holding hostages while government forces vow to end the tstandoff tonight. we're live on the scene. all of our children can go to school or walk down the street free from the fear that they will be struck down by a stray bullet. >> pushing for reform. the president urging americans
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to keep recenting for gun safety. this as he prepares to console the families of yet another mass shooting. nra is calling for layers of security around our military bases. >> new calls from the nra following the navy yard shooting. is it time for a different approach to mental health care? and maylessons learned. we begin in kenya where a teps military operation is currently under way. at this hour, several of the gurn men that stormed the westgate shopping mall appear to still be inside the building along with a number of hostages. the kenyan government says 59 people are dead and 175 injured. and that number could still rise. al shabaab is claiming responsibility. joining me by phone, rohit. what is happening on the ground
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where you are? >> reporter: well, mara, it's around 10:00 p.m. here, so it's late. it's raining heavily and there has certainly been fresh activity through the evening, fresh eruptions of gunfire. explosions were heard after a relatively peaceful day. reporters move far away, so difficult to get a vantage point. but certainly in the last few hours, there has been increased activity. presidential officials have been speaking about a plan to successfully neutralize a terrorist. what's not clear is that's what we've been listening to. and officials have also been saying that an operation is under way to end the siege tonight, what's not clear is whether that is bravado from the authorities here. or whether there is something more to that. certainly it has been another bloody day.
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the death toll has risen official figures saying 59 dead and hundreds of injured. and the make shift hospitals right around nairobi, the kenyan capital, make shift wards have been set up, people called on to donate blood. very tense and worry across the city. but there is a sense of unity. people coming together in the face of this threat of al shabaab terrorism. >> and as you mentioned, al shabab is claiming responsibility. do we know why? >> what we're piecing together in part, apparently said to belong to al shabaab says that they are blaming the kenyan government for its encroachment into somalia for flushing out or
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attempting to flush out, using its own army, militants over the border in neighboring somalia which tar geskgeted specificall shabaab. they say this is revenge. many people in the expay the tr and ngo community. and i was there a few months ago and there was certainly heightened security there, but clearly no real fears of this level of terrorism. >> all right. rohit, thanks so much for that report and please be careful there. the white house and state department have said they are closely monitoring the situation. joining me for the latest, democratic new york congressman elliott engel, ranking member of
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the house committee on foreign affairs. what do we know right now about the motivation for this attack? >> well, it's only what we assume. kenya has been very helpful in the war on terrorism and a lot of kenyan soldiers are next door in somalia's african union force. and this could be retribution for that. we don't know. but it's quite possible that it is. >> and was there any intelligence prior suggesting that an attack was imminent? >> i'm not a waiver any if there was. others might know better. but we were not aware of any specific attack. i met with the president of somalia the day before yesterday and he's trying very hard, also, to clean up his country. of course al qaeda has been known for its brutally all
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throughout somalia. and kenya as i mentioned has been very active with other countries in the affarican unio and the new leadership in somalia obviously wants to move ahead with democracy and somalia for all intents and purposes has essentially been a failed state due to the al shabab movement and al qaeda forces. >> so abc this morning, congressman peter king of the homeland security committee compared this attack to the 2008 bombings in will mumbai. let's take a listen. >> really in a well coordinated, well planned horrific massacre, they attacked at the busiest time of the week, busiest time of the day, they knew what they were doing. so this is again very similar to mumbai and showing al qaeda and its affiliates are still extremely powerful and still able to really strike terror into the hearts of people. >> like mumbai, this was a coordinated attack on a soft target.
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are you concerned that we might see more attacks like this globally and even here at home? >> i'm always concerned. terrorism rears its ugly head. al qaeda is trying to recover. we've obviously got them on the run. but there are other organizations like al shabab and others who have common ground with al qaeda. it's almost like the wac-a-mole game. they rear their ugly heads and you have on-tto smack them down. we always have to keep one step ahead and it's difficult to do obviously. i do agree with pete king about that. >> congressman, thank you so much for your time. later today, the president will be attending a memorial service for the victims killed in monday's navy yard shooting. on nbc's "meet the press" this morning, nra chief wayne
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lapierre said the massacre could have been prevented if there had been more armed personnel at the base and if the gun man's mental health had been taken more seriously. >> the whole country knows the problem is there weren't enough good guys with guns. when the good guys got there, it stopped. what really happened here, the mental health will situation in the country is in complete breakdown. >> joining me now is democratic arizona congressman ron barber who was an aide to gabrielle giffords and was shot alongside her in tucson. he now holds her seat. thank you so much for being here, sir. >> very nice to be with you. >> i want to address some of lapierre's comments. we know that alexis the shooter in this case actually got an additional firearm by taking it from a security officer that he had just shot. so what's your reaction to the lapierre assertion that this shooting and others could be prevented if more people had guns? >> well, i will respond to your question, but let me, first of
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all, if i may say how much -- how heartsick i am about what happened a week ago. my family have been through this, the families of the people that lost loved ones in tucson have been through this, we know the pain and grief that's going on and i want to stepped stepp my condition dole lenses. as to the question about good guys with govern, i don't know if that's the answer. i'm focused on two parts. on the mental health piece and then on the background check.'m. on the mental health piece and then on the background check.f . i'm focused on two parts. on the mental health piece and then on the background check.th. i'm focused on two parts. on the mental health piece and then on the background check. i think we can move forward on both of those and i have a bill in play in the house, it has a companion piece in the senate called mental health first aid act which really is an attempt
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to increase public knowledge and awareness of mental health issue so is we can get people into treatment before something terrible happens because they're melting dupe own or going over edge. we can treat people well and we just needed to make sure we identify them and get to them earlier than we have in the past. >> in politico this week, rich lowry wrote no gun reform bill proposed so far could have prevent the navy yard shooting. the toomey/manchin bill could have passed unanimously. gun control could have achieved the goal of barring the private purchase of happened governd gu step would have been unimpeded. what do you make of that? >> i think we can't just say that there is nothing to be can done. i think we have to take action. we have now had several
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shootings since the one that i was involved in when myself and congresswoman giffords and several other people were wounded and six died in tucson, we he have to look at every part of this problem and try to tackle it. for me, i think getting a good handle on how we help people with mental health problems is one step. i do believe we need to make sure that anyone within that gro groups people that are not supposed to have guns don't get guns through a background check that works. because of what i saw aw in tuc and since then, virtually every one of these shootings, there has been a person who should have gotten treatment, and either didn't or wasn't properly treated. and that led them on doing something that was very violent and tragic. and i would just point out that
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95% of people in this country who will have a mental illness never will commit a violent act. they're much more likely to be victims. but for that small group that is potentially going in that direction, to becoming a danger to themselves or others, that's the group we need to help. the mental health first aid bill that i have introduced in the congress with significant bipartisan support, now up to 52 co-signers on the bill, it will begin to educate first responders, educators and others who come into contact with people who are displaying mental health symptoms and know what they're seeing and know how to get services and deescalate a crisis. it's just one important step in the right direction in the area of mental health. and we have to restore the funding that has been cut. we've almost cut $2 billion out of mental health services over the last few years. we have to put it back if we're going to get treatment to people
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who need it. >> congressman, thank you for your time and sharing your feelings. up next, we'll bring you the latest on the ongoing stand over in kenya. also ahead, back here at home, eight days left to avoid a government shutdown. how the president took republicans to task last night. >> it is more streamlined and more user friendly. >> just the library of today. and from paper to pixels. the new library with 10,000 titles, but not a single book. it's today's big idea. [ taps baton ] [ dings ] ♪ ♪ ♪
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necessary and anything possible to defund obamacare. >> he has everybody worked up. >> top letting ted cruz set our agenda. >> this law is not worth causing a shutdown over. >> we're not going to let anyone especially flikt economic pain on millions of our own people just to make an ideological point. >> i can't win this fight. >> people like ted cruz who as far as i'm concerned carrying out a fraud with the people. >> only you can win this fight. public battle over government shutdown and obamacare continues today. and let's get right to our brain trust for more on that. esther is a political commentator. victoria is a professor. and peter is a senior editor at reason magazine. thank you all for being here. so peter, i want to start with you. at last night's congressional black caucus dinner, the president lit into republicans for their actions.
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let's take a listen. >> we have come too far. we've overcome far darker. well not negotiate over whether or not america can keep its word and meet its obligations. >> peter, has the president engaged in enough of this kind of rhetoric, countering the republican narrative that all of his initiatives are bad for the country and at this point is it too little too late? >> well, i don't know that the president has to do a whole lot here to prevent republicans from prevailing in their quest to defund obamacare. it's a really odd kind of situation in which republicans are pushing this. but there really isn't an end game. even if you're a critic of obamacare, it's hard to figure out what the end strategy is here. there is an element of the fantastic in which republicans say let's defund obamacare even though we don't have the vote, even though the senate is not going to agree to this. the white house is not going to
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agree to this. president obama has been very clear on this. and so the question here is not so much i think whether obama could or should be doing more, but what in the world are republicans doing, what are they thinking here. >> and victoria, the bill to fund the government and defund obamacare is in the hands of the senate thousand where it's expected to fail. but texas republican senator ted cruz had a message for his senate colleagues and house republicans. take a listen. >> senate republicans, it's now our turn to uhe a unify and sta together. this may end up going to the house and i fully believe the house will tip the fight. >> will cruz own this if it turns into a disaster? >> he will absolutely own it. i think he already has put his stamp on it. but i think when we're talking
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about the in-accept difference he incentive here, it's a longer term incentive. so i disagree that the end game isn't necessarily defunding obamacare. they know that won't happen. i think they have the eye on the 2014 midterm election because there are a couple of very tight senate races especially with four moderate democrats who know that if they vote to support obamacare, that they may lose their seat because of that. mary landrieu in louisiana so i think they know this is just rhetoric, but they're pumping up the base so they come out in force in 2014. >> and esther, is this really all about individual political survival? >> i think it's a combination of that, but i also think we're at the point where president obama's rhetoric needs to be matched with a strategy by the democrats to inform the american people about the ways in which obama care is going to serve them. because i agree with francesca
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the end game is actually keeping an eye on the election. 2014 in the short run, 2016 in the longer term. and the trouble is with cruz and his fellow crazies racking up that cacophony of nonsense, what you don't have is the equivalent of the american people even understanding what obamacare is. so what you need is not president obama's continued rhetoric. we have heard that. it's the strategy on the ground so people can understand how obama care can serve them so that come 2014, they have something real and tangible that they can hang on to to to say, hang on, this serves me. so this political strategy didn't just fail, this is a political rhetoric that wanted me, my family, my community to not have access to health care which they already have. >> so peter, when it comes to the communication strategy, is that what needs to happen, do we need to have more voices expressing the opposing point of
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view when we hear so much from the right about why obamacare they think will destroy the country? >> i think conservatives are not doing themselves any favors here and you can see that even within the conservative anti-obama care activists, within the republican party, there are a lot of conservatives who are concerned that the cruz defund strategy will hurt republicans in 2014, that an extended shutdown which is in fact what a number of the activists pushing this strategy are hoping to get to will actually backfire and cost them seats. >> and i want to switch gears. you produced a documentary in cane i can't. as kenya. what are your thoughts about the crisis in nairobi? >> my heart goes out to all the peoplewhat are your thoughts abe crisis in nairobi? >> my heart goes out to all the people still in the standoff.
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westgate, which is the mall where the gunmen are holding people hostage is in a district which is a moneyed space. so you're talking about a population that is part of the tourism economy and the tourism economy is the second biggest economy in kenya. had this happened for example in the biggest slum, there would not be these national global headlines and this kind of sense of unity around nairobi. so we're watching global terrorism understand that the targets are about the hierarchy of life. and so you're looking at american lives, british lives. british have a very important relationship with kenya. of course we know president obama's roots are in kenya, although he's a different tribe. and so i think it's important to understand the geopolitical reality and the way in which the hierarchy of life is being measured. >> and we will certainly of
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course to follow the developing story. thanks so much. and our brain trust will be back with us later in the show. don't go far. we'll talk to you more later in the hour. take a look at this. earlier today, a small plane made an emergency landing in the middle of downtown chicago. the single begin plane touched down on the lake shore drive. pilot had discovered a problem with the tail. >> i said this is it, but i still had control of the aircraft, so i called o'hare tower and told them i'm putting it on lake shore drive just north of buckingham fountain. >> according to police, the plane may have hit a car on the roadway, but amazingly and thankfully nobody was hurt. and. accomplishing even little things can become major victories. i'm phil mickelson, pro golfer. when i was diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis, my rheumatologist prescribed enbrel for my pain and stiffness, and to help stop joint damage.
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we'll ask an fbi insider where al shabaab is recruiting here in the u.s.. and meet the mayor. the new york city only black mayor joins us live with his memoir. at farmers we make you smarter about insurance, because what you dont know can hurt you. what if you didn't know that it's smart to replace washing-machine hoses every five years? what if you didn't know that you might need extra coverage for more expensive items? and what if you didn't know that teen drivers are four times more likely to get into an accident? 'sup the more you know, the better you can plan for what's ahead.
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♪ take me to the mountains, start a revolution ♪ ♪ hold my hand, we can make, we can make a contribution ♪ ♪ brand-new season, keep it in motion ♪ ♪ 'cause the rhyme is the reason ♪ ♪ break through, man, it doesn't matter who you're talking to ♪ [ male announcer ] completely redesigned for whatever you love to do. the all-new nissan versa note. your door to more. ♪ right now a super typhoon a make landfall in miainland chin. sippeds s yesterday it hit the philippines causing landslides and widespread power outages. now here is a quick look at some of the other top stories making news now. also in china, a verdict for the man at the center of one of the country's biggest political scandals. bo had been a rising star in
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china's communist part i. he faced criminal rnclaims and court found him guilty and sentenced him to life behind bars. in pakistan, at least 75 people were killed and more than 100 others wounded in a suicide bombing earlier today. among the victims, many women and children. that bomb went off at a christian church about 75 miles northwest of islamabad. so far no group has claimed responsibility for that attack. and the end of an era for the new york yankees. mariano rivera wore the pinstripes for the last time today. he's retiring after more than two decades in the mlb. the 43-year-old is widely considered to be the best relief pitcher of all-time. now let's get back to the breaking news where the situation in nairobi continues to develop at this hour. right now, 59 people are dead and 175 injured.
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so what does this mean for the war on terrorism? i'm joined by evan coleman. what may have made westgate a target for a terrorist attack? >> premly becau primarily becau doesn't have that many targets to go after. they're fighting a military with much more advanced weaponry. and their response was to say, listen, we won't try to fight you on an uneven battlefield, we'll try to go after soft target thas that you can't defe. and there were concerns about grenade and other machine govern attacks at soft targets. there was a fire at the airport and it wasn't clear at first
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whether that was terrorism related. so that illustrates the issue. kenyan infrastructure is not well guarded. al shabaab knows that, they made a i want above saying they would go after it and now it appears they have. >> and these things often feel very far away until they show up on our shores. do we have any concerns about al shabab activity here in the u.s.? >> 100% yes. it's probably arguably the most effective at recruiting u.s. nationals even more so than al qaeda. we've seen cells pop up in a variety of places. places like minneapolis, san diego, seattle, washington. these are not locations that are generally associated with high levels of terrorist activity, but it these are the hubs for al sha possible activity inside the united states and it extends here to the east coast. wherever there is somali ex-patriot community, there is a handful involved. it's not representative of
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somalis in general. most are opposed to this. but there are some people heerks we've seen americans go over and fight in so he mal kra. an american national from alabama who was not even of somali origin was just killed in somali last week after getting in a fight with his former al a sha b al shabab allies. so there are even rumors and its he unconfirmed, but rumors that u.s. nationals might have been involved in taking part in the nairobi attack. so we'll have to watch closely to see whether that pans out. >> evan coleman, thanks so much for your perspective. switching gears, new yorkers will soon have a new mayor for the first time in 12 years. michael bloomberg of course stepping down after three terms. there have been four mayors in the city's history that have served that long. new york, though, has only had one african-american mayor and
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that is david contindinkins. his memoir has just been released. mayor, thank you so much for being here. >> i'm dlelighted to be with yo. >> your career started in the military, you joined the marines in the last days of world war ii. what made you want to write this book now? >> others have written of me and i don't always agree with their perspective. and i recognize that history will record things a little differently than contemporary reporters. and i thought that i ought to make my contribution. so friends have been after me for some time and so i agreeded finally that i would write a book. >> and one of the standout moments of your career and a great moment in the book is when you brought nelson mandela yankee stadium. you can tell me about that? >> well, bill lynch, who died tragically very recently, was a
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dear friend and he was one of my deputy mayors. and he was insistent that we get nelson mandela to come here and this is the first place he came here once he was released from prison out side of the republican of south africa. and so we did a lot of things. we had a ticker tape parade, he stayed with my wife and me in gracie mansion. i'm fond of recounting the story of how i thought he was too tall for this bed in some small suite. and my wife said, no, he'll fit. and i said, no, i don't think so. and i realize later why i had this fear. he did fit, but i looked at a photograph of him and bill clinton. and clinton is slightly taller. then i realized that in my mind, nelson mandela was 10 feet tall. he was a bull mawonderful man.
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>> if we could turn to the mayoral race today. we saw an odd in some terms democratic primary. what do you make of what you've seen over the last few months? >> well, i assusupported bill thompson last time against mike bloomberg as well as this time. but the ultimate winner, bill de blasio, is a friend, also. worked with us in gracie, in city hall. and his wife was one of my speech writers and worked in the press office. she made me sound intelligent. so i'm delighted. and i think he'll be a fine mayor. >> and one of the issues that a lot of the democratic candidates for mayor in new york talked about during the primary season was the fact that new york city is now slowly becoming a city exclusively for the ultra rich. it's an issue of helping the middle class survive and that's really an issue we're seeing nation we'd. what are your thoughts on that, in helping the middle class to
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be able to make wages that they can live on so they can survive in this city and across the country? >> i think it's imperative that we do. we can't long survive as a nation if we don't care about the least among us. this is an observation dr. king made a long timinge ago. so it is important. and it can be done. moreover, the failure to take care of people who are poor, who need our help, really costs us more in the long run. we have today more homeless than we've ever had sense they started keeping records. and i'm sure you know that of all the people in-cacarcerateind keeping records. and i'm sure you know that of all the people incarcerated,ins started keeping records. and i'm sure you know that of all the people incarcerated,nse started keeping records. and i'm sure you know that of all the people incarcerated,se started keeping records. and i'm sure you know that of all the people incarcerated,cse started keeping records.
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and i'm sure you know that of all the people incarcerated,e t started keeping records. and i'm sure you know that of all the people incarcerated, a fourth are here in the united states. >> and of course you were the first african-american mayor of new york city and still the only one. how have you seen the political landscape for african-american politicians or aspiring politicians change since your time in office? >> well, i think things are for the better. i'd like to point out that one of the reasons i've written this book is to make the observation that i didn't do it alone, everybody stands on somebody's shoulders. and i had an awful lot of help. a lot of good bright young women and men who assisted me. and a lot of people like that are still out there. and i think that de blasio is going to have the wisdom to collect around him some of these people. they exist and they are there in every ethnicity. this is why i referred to new york as a gorgeous mosaic. it's not a melting pot as we were taught in harlem many years ago. >> a beautiful imagery.
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former new york city david dinkins, thank you for your time. >> so nice to see you live. >> you, too, sir. it's time to flashback to this day in 1975 when president gerald ford survived a second ass is nation attempt just 17 days after the first one. >> president ford left the st. francis hotel at 3:32. there were cheer, a few boos and then another sound. it was the sharp crack of a .38 pistol. president ford ducks down. the car sped away across the street, a wave of blue had already moved in on the pistol fired. ♪ ♪
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it's a $2.4 million facility with 4,000 square feet of space. the facility opened up just last week. and joining me now from san antonio is the man who spearhead willed t spearheaded the proper correct. what inspired to you to this? >> well, i got caught up when i readcorrect. what inspired to you to this? >> well, i got caught up when i read the book on steve jobs. not only about his inspiring life, but what hit me was the short period of time i had read it in the summer of 2012. the iphone came in in only 2007. a very short compressed world which was changing dramatically in the ability of people to use a different way to read. and that would be with ebooks and ebook readers and various other platforms such as tablets. >> isn't the point of having the
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internet on your phone and living in the digital space that the library is everywhere, it's all rn us? why do people need to go to a specific building for that? >> two things we wanted to accomplish. one is just what you said, the virtual world. where anybody can go to our site, download a book on to whatever reading instrument that they may have. we've already had in the first week 1200 books downloaded. we also give out ebook rearlea s readers where people don't have the the technology. but you also want to gather in place. where they can come and learn about technology. how to use the internet. we guide them to the digital public library of america. 4 million items. we guide them to gutenburg's site. we guide them to the research library here in san antonio. so we want them to learn about the internet, we want
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interactive learning games for children. we have three interactive screens. we have four interactive table, ipads in there with books. we have 100 children's books downloaded on nooks that they can take home. so you want a gathering place where people can share things with each other and where they can learn more about the world that's right at their fingertips. >> an amazing resource for the community. thanks so much for joining us. >> thank you. after seven decades, a world war ii soldier's letter has finally reached the daughter he never met. private first class john eddington wrote to his new born daughter before he was killed in action and it never arrived. but 14 years ago, a sabt. louis woman found the let are whiter cleaning out a relative's home. she handed the letter to head yesterday in an emotional ceremony if reno. [ male announct comes to doing what you love, more is better.
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a memorial service for the 12 people killed in monday's mass shooting at the washington naval yard will begin in about an hour. right now we're back with our brain trust. esther arma, political commentator and play wright. peter sudoman, senior writer at -- victoria, i want to start with you. president obama will address today's gathering later this afternoon. last night while speaking at the congressional black caucus dinner the president again made an impassioned plea for reforming the nation's gun laws. let's take a listen. >> as long as there are those who fight to make it as easy as possible for dangerous people to get their hands on a gun, then we've got to work as hard as possible for the sake of our children. we've got to be ones who are willing to do more work to make it harder. >> victoria, why is it still so difficult to sell gun reform legislation in this country?
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>> i think the scope is at issue here. i think at the federal level we just have too much divisiveness between republicans and democrats. i think the real movement if you want to see gun reform needs to start at the state level. we know states have such different gun laws. ranging from california that's the most restrictive in terms of gun laws to arizona being the most liberal where a 17-year-old can carry an open weapon. so what i think we need to do is like what we saw in colorado and in connecticut, is the state legislatures taking action. obviously in colorado, there was a response to that with the legislators being recalled. at the same time, we see the legislation sticking. all politics is local. the same holds for gun laws. i think we need to start small and eventually go up to the federal level. >> peter, the national rifle association says we don't need new gun laws to fight crime. wayne la pierre, the n.r.a.'s executive vice president said tougher enforcement is the key. let's take a listen. >> i'll tell you what the nra is
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for. interdict incarcerated violent criminals, get them off the street. enforce federal gun laws. >> does he have a point, peter? is this really an issue of creating new laws or are the existing laws good enough as long as they're enforced adequately? >> well, when it comes to future gun control legislation and thinking about that and movement on that, it's really hard to figure out any particular gun control proposal that's gotten any traction so far that would have made a difference here. and so, you know, you've got somebody who not only passed the background check, he used a shotgun. and he also had passed a security clearance check with the u.s. government. this is a guy who had secret clearance and had passed that background check. in terms of thinking about what sort of -- what sort of gun restrictions, what sort of gun
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control legislation could move right now, it's really difficult to use this as a jumping off point. i think that's a big part of the reason why harry reid has said that he doesn't have the votes and is not going to be moving gun control legislation any time soon. >> esther, chicago has one of the hardest hit cities when it comes to gun violence. at least 20 people have been shot in that city since friday. today is sunday. let's take a quick listen to what mayor rahm emanuel had to say about that. >> we cannot allow children in the city of chicago, and we will not allow children in the city of chicago, to have their youthfulness, their optimism, their hope, taken from them. >> now, we tend to look to legislation to solve problems like this. like indemmendemmic gun violenc. should we be focusing on root issues that tend to breed more violent neighborhoods? >> i think it's actually a combination of things. i think the cancer is always
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this idea that the mass shooting, the response is always, well, there's no single piece of legislation that would have prevented that. but what we know statistically is the majority of gun violence is not from that individual mass shootings. because rahm emanuel's words, we will not allow chicago's children to have their youth taken from them, to be subject to this kind of violence, we are allowing that. that's exactly what we are allowing. there's no question. -- passed s-4 gun violence to become a public health issue. so there are a range of strategic measures that could be thought about, could be employed in order to stem the tide of violence. i don't think it's about any one kind of mythic response to end all gun violence. i think that creates a paralysis that is dangerous. i agree with francesca. all politics is local. a range of local strategies can help deal with this. that's not the say the paralysis from our politicians is
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acceptable. that's what we've seen. so there's this idea that we can keep having the merry-go-round of the same conversation about what would or would not have worked. children are dying while politicians are prever kating and -- >> victoria, quickly, last word on this. a lot of political action groups against guns such as mayors against illegal guns. they've had very little success in turns public opinion towards new gun laws. why do you think that is? >> well, again, i keep coming back to all politics is local. let's take folks here in texas. they don't like seeing a movement led by michael bloomberg. what is a new yorker telling texans what to do? where you need the action is at the grass roots level. you can't have outside forces. people will just shut off and not listen. >> all right. you're going to have the last word on that. thanks so much for joining us. that does it for us. thanks for watching this sunday afternoon. i'll be right back here at 5:00
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p.m. eastern time for coverage of the u.s. navy yard memorial. craig melvin, my friend, back in this chair next saturday 2:00 p.m. eastern time. first "disrupt with karen finney" is up next. don't go anywhere. have a great evening. my asthma's under control. i get out a lot... except when it's too cold. like the last three weekends. asthma doesn't affect my job... you missed the meeting again last week! it doesn't affect my family. your coughing woke me up again. i wish you'd take me to the park. i don't use my rescue inhaler a lot... depends on what you mean by a lot. coping with asthma isn't controlling it. test your level of control at asthma.com, then talk to your doctor. there may be more you could do for your asthma.
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