with us is gabby giffords husband.man gomer invoking your wife's name as an excuse not to do town halls? >> if he doesn't want to do town halls, he should just say he doesn't want to face his constituents. if gabby were still in congress, she would still be regularly holding town halls. meeting with your constituents is one of the most basic things you should do in a democracy. and gabby has done in excess of 50 public events just this year. so hiding behind her is not a good excuse. >> there are lawmakers, as you know, who do have serious concerns about their safety. i want you to listen to republican congressman scott taylor who talked about how seriously he is taking the warnings. >> very steersly, people are afraid, my staff is certainly concerned, so we try to take as many safety precautions as possible, both in the structure, but also having backup of local law enforcement. >> do you think that his concerns are legitimate? >> i think you always got to be aware and you want to take certain steps, you know, to make

gabby giffords group, the group for responsible solutions relating to gun safety said he comes down on the side of felons over gun safety.

louie gohmert faces new criticism from congresswoman gabby giffords. hen gohmert cited gifford's shooting as justification for him not holding a town hall. writing the house sergeant at arms advised us after congresswoman gabby giffords was shot at a public appearance that civilian attendees at congressional public events stand the most chance of being harmed or shot. giffords responded, i was shot on saturday morning and by monday morning my office was open. i say this, have some courage, face your constituents. hold town halls. gohmert is now responding to that. manu raju is live with the detamgs of his response. >> reporter: he's mushipushing . louie gohmert has battled republican leadership, but also democrats as well, pushing back at someone widely revered after she survived the 2011 near assassination attempt after 40e8ding a constituent meeting in arizona. gohmert speaking to local east texas station saying gabby that i cared so much about the shooting would never have minimized the death of people that day at that horrible event that changed her

former congresswoman, gabby giffords survived an assassination attempt.rging them holding town halls after one brought up the shooting as a reason to only hold telephone town halls. wh do you make of the republicans saying it's not a safeime to hold town halls? >> it's coming home to roost. many tactics that we used during the debate period on the affordable care act when members were going back to their districts and i felt it in my own district in terms of a turnout and those who were disruptive at the town halls out door similar to gabby giffords. v violence and threatening is not welcome anywhere. what you are seeing is a reaction to what they are attempting to do, that is unwind the affordable care act without replacing it. they want to repeal it without replacing it. what they are hearing is how difficult that is and the impact it's going to have on people's lives. that's why they are having this reaction. it's organic. democratic parties are good at putting together marches. we can't take credit for the march in 1960 or the women's march or immigra

he invoked the shooting of gabby giffords printed that gifford said lawmakers should have courage andtheir constituents. left-leaning group indivisible has published a handout on the web giving step-by-step instructions on resisting president trump's agenda. tim murphy in philadelphia did not hold a town hall citing this very guide. some believe not showing up to town halls could backfire. >> it's tough. democracy is a messy business. there is anger, but i would say, my, my prediction is if we look back in two years, we will see it's the republicans who actually went into these rooms and devoted as much time as they needed to to exhaust their constituent concerns and they will do better than the ones who hide. >> even the nation's most most vulnerable democrats like claire mccaskill, up for reelection, are avoiding townhall meetings as well. >> when you hear somebody like gabby giffords and what she went through, to advocate and say go out there and meet with their constituents, that says a lot. this woman almost died and she would still do it all over again >> there are a lot of poli

you just saw gabby giffords there at the end of ryan's piece, have some courage, face your constituents, hold town halls. you've been told they have been told they have a chance of being could. do you understand why they're not showing up zm. >> i honestly don't. i don't accept it for a minute. if you don't have the guts to face your constituents, you shouldn't be in the united states congress. if you need police at the meetings, that's fine, have police at the meetings, have security at the meetings. but don't use that as an excuse to run away from your constituents after you support repealing the affordable care act, doing away with pre-existing conditions, if you're going to do all those things, answer the questions your constituents have. >> today when marco rubio was i guess seen -- wasn't at a town hall, there he is on a milk carton. he should be holding one? >> well, i think that every member of the united states congress, that's what you're elected to do. that's what a democracy is about. i have probably held more town meetings in the state of vermont than any public official in

gabby giffords said i was shot on a saturday morning, by monday morning my office was open to the publics, have some courage, face your constituents, hold town halls. ryan young, cnn, charles city, iowa. >> i want to bring in my panel now, sarah westwood, the white house correspondent for the "washington examiner," and ryan lizza. listen to this tom perez, the new chairman of the democratic national committee speaking now. >> congressman keith ellison. the new deputy chair of the dnc. we are united, as a party. we have so much work ahead of us. because across america, people are fearful. people are fearful for our future. democrats unit reasonable doubt the hope for that future. so we're going to put our values into action. we have a special election today in delaware. boots on the ground. we've got actions all over the country today. that strength in numbers, the millions of people who have been coming out since the inauguration to say donald trump you don't stand for our values. we are harnessing that remarkable energy going forward to build a nation where our values of inclusion, opti

. >>> gabby giffords is slamming lawmakers who are not hosting townhalls like those.he took particular aim at texas congressman louis gomert who cited her assassination attempt in 2011 as a reason he would not meet constituents in person. giffords tweeting to the politicians who have abandoned their civic obligations i say this, have some courage, face your constituents. hold town halls. >>> washington, d.c., two police officers shot about a mile from capitol hill. the two uniformed officers were responding to a report of shots fired. both were taken to the hospital. we're told they're expected to recover from those wounds. the suspect was shot and killed. there were several other shootings earlier in the day in other parts of d.c. >>> new developments overnight in the death investigation of north korea leader's half brother. police say swabs taken from presence of what is called vx nerve agent. a banned chemical weapon which the u.n. classifies as a weapon of mass destruction. nearly two weeks ago kim was assaulted by two women seen wiping the toxic chemical on his f

republic, the state's -- according to the arizona republic, the state's former congresswoman, gabby giffords urged them to be brave and face their district. to the politicians who banned their civic obligation, have courage, face your constituents, hold town halls. the attack on giffords is a reason not to hold town hall meetings, references safety concerns. south florida an empty suit instead of theirs, marco rubio. rubio had not scheduled any town halle vents citing a trip to europe. he was back in town thursday. in protest, organizers staged their own forum with or without the republican senator. constituents in seattle were outsz dave reichert's office, hoping for a face-to-face forum. instead, some had a live facebook text. he answered only prescreened questions. >>> on "cbs this morning," we are talking to senator tom cotton who endured a contentious town hall in arkansas this week. >>> the police officer who fired his gun during a scuffle with teens made a big mistake. the trouble began tuesday. the problems with kids walking on his lawn grabbed a 13-year-old. he said the teen threate

gabby giffords' group for responsible solutions relating to gun safety said that he comes down on the side of felons over gun safety. hostile to women's reproductive rights. a hboobby lobby case, for examp. >> democrats haven't decided if they should try to block gorsuch. pelosi is you wering her colleagues in the senate to apply the strongest scrutiny. >>> even before this confirmation fight the senate's approval process for trump's several other cabinet nominees is getting ugly. they boycotted votes for two cabinet nominees and blocked a committee vote for attorney general jeff bridges. no president has had fewer nominees confirmed at this point in more than 8 >>> about a thousand state department staffers have now signed a letter of dissent opposing president trump's executive order on immigration. the letter made its round through dozens of embassies around the world. u.s. embassies, that is and congressional democrats are now warning the trump administration not to retaliate against those government employees. >>> at least four more lawsuits have been filed against the executive

. >> you remember gabby giffords camp, there was the targeting magazine, campaign shot which has targets on districts. which clearly was not meant to shoot anybody. the uproar and horror that somebody could possibly use a bull's-eye on anything that wasn't even a human being. and i'm hearing crickets about this from the same people. i would not be as kind. i think that trump has hit a nerve with these people. they go to the church of leftism and certain assumptions. one is that america because it is the number one country in the world ought to be apologetic for that, and trump is the antithesis of that. he will be dealing from a position of strength. he's not apologizing for america and is demanding respect. this will rattle a lot of cages. >> we are talking about it right now. this is the kind of thing that draws attention. you saw it circulating on facebook and twitter over the weekend. it's insulting to a lot of voters. it's missing the legitimate issues, particularly that they had with hillary clinton. >> you are not seeing the mainstream media pick it up. places like news week and "

. >> look at gabby giffords. the leftist guy that shot her, and now you see people burning and beating people with trump hats. >> congressman, just to be clear -- >> the left has to say violence is wrong, and love and peace, as you brought up in san bernardino -- >> orlando. >> thank you. people get beat up for wearing a donald trump hat, and stores get vandalized and they burn and they beat, and where does the left and cnn and msnbc stand up and say this is wrong? >> yeah, it's wrong when muslims are attacks as well, and when swastikas are spray-painted on buildings. >> come on. >> why do you think when it's a white terrorists, it's an isolated incident? >> what i am saying is you have a cell, a heart, a beat of isis inspiring people around the world. do you deny that? they are going to europe and coming to america, whether it's lone wolves, so what is the heartbeat of the attack that you referenced in the mosque? or what happened in charleston? >> extremism. hatred. >> how should we vet that to keep ourselves s

basically citing gabby giffords that were shot back in 2011 by a man later diagnosed as a schitzofrenicshe said have some courage, face your con stitch euns, hold town hall meetings and yesterday when i questioned senator mitch mcconnell and said these people want to be heard he said they are being heard. they have a fundamentally different view of where america should be going. >> thank you. another cnn exclusive. growing concern that the white house is playing politics with intelligence to justify the travel ban. we're going to talk about that, next. what makes this simple salad the best simple salad ever? heart healthy california walnuts. the best simple veggie dish ever? heart healthy california walnuts. the best simple dinner ever? heart healthy california walnuts. great tasting, heart healthy california walnuts. so simple. get the recipes at walnuts.org. ♪ ♪ ♪ lease a 2017 lincoln mkx for $369 a month. only at your lincoln dealer. >> the trump administration now expected to roll out it's revised travel ban next week in a cnn exclusive we're learning there's growing concerns from i

and, gabby giffords, the gun-control movement human shield. senator sessions has promised as attorney general he would work diligently to ensure that all americans receive equal protection under our laws, but his records creates justifiable alarm among many that his promise is more a product of nomination etiquette than a nomination epiphany. in fairness i should disclose about senator sessions nomination presidential baggage with me as the nominee of this president and this white house. on the campaign trail the american people witnessed donald trump glorified sexual misconduct, mock a disabled reporter, and make disparaging remarks about immigrants and minorities, all with no pushback from senator sessions. we all witnessed chance of lock her up and which senator sessions did not push back against an even excuse in his hearing as humorously done. in mass rallies that also featured beatings and the press cage and vilified, this didn't seem very humorous to many americans. americans know that the good guys in the movie are not the ones in the

louie gall bert said the house sargeant of arms advised us after former congresswoman gabby giffords was shot that they stand the most chance of harm or being killed just as happened there. giffords responded today saying i was shot on a saturday morning. by monday morning my offices were open to the public. to the politicians who have abandoned their civic obligations, i say this. have some courage. face your constituents. hold town halls. brian young, cnn, charles city, iowa. >> brian young, thank you. >>> still ahead here on "cnn newsroom," some unsettling details on how the half brother of north korea's leader was murdered. stay with us. >>> we'll have a live report coming up. plus, iraqi forces approach one of their biggest victories yet in the battle for mosul. why retaking a destroyed airport is still important to ousting isis. that's coming up here. you're watching "cnn newsroom." (mic thuds) uh, sorry. it's unlimited without compromising reliability, on the largest, most advanced 4g lte network in america. (thud) uh... sorry, last thing. it's just $45 per line. forty. five.

statement in texas not going to hold town hall meetings in the current environment citing the case of gabby giffordho survived but was shot at a constituent in the state of arizona. unfortunately there are groups from the violent strains of the leftist ideology and paid to be preying on the town hall and after gifords were thought. civilians stand the chance of being harmed or killed just as happened there. other people were killed but not the congresswoman in the case. he is suggesting that there is a tie in. >> sandra: we'll keep watching that. ed henry, good to see you. joining us now is dennis ross. congressman, good of you to be here. i hear you had a town hall yourself and took 21 question and stood before a crowd that involved catcall and boos. >> we knew what we were getting into. the left chartered the bus and others followed in the car and 192 capacity that the fire marshall let in there. and signs preprinted and everything. and unfortunate for those who came to have a reasonable dialogue and i would not leave or be intimidated. and i addressed them. >> sandra: the majority were there for

. >> and some are invoking the shooting of gabby giffords in their talks. >> she was shot as she has a form for constituents outside of a grocery store in 2011 but she does not want that to be an excuse for anyone to not hold a town hall. she sent a statement saying, i was shot on a saturday morning. i monday morning, my offices were open to the public. the politicians who have abandoned their civic obligation, i say this. have some courage, face or constituents, old town halls. in the newsroom, anne makovec, kpix 5. >>> protests continued in anaheim where an off-duty cop was filmed firing his gun at the ground during a confrontation with teenagers. >> we are out here to show people we are here to fight for our rights. >> this attention stems from a viral video between an officer and group of teens. the officer was upset over young people walking onto his property. he was eventually pushed into the bushes by one teenager and then fired his gun at the ground. 24 people have been arrested in protest over the incident. >> i'm very afraid that when the cops leave, it will start again. i'

lee gohmert in texas, in both the 2011 shooting of congressman gabby giffords, raising public safetyat's why he's not holding town hall meetings. giffords said have some courage, face your constituents, hold town halls. >> basically worried about his safety? >> that's why giffords pushed back. >> a very important statement if he is legitimately concerned about security. >> the leadership urged folks to worry about public safety. >> manu raju reporting. that's it for me. thanks for watching. i'm wolf blitzer in the situation room. erin burnett "outfront" starts right now. >> up next, cnn reporting the white house asked the fbi to knock down media reports. what was the fbi's response? plus senator bernie sanders ready to launch more than 100 rallies across the nation. he talks president trump and the gop town hall outrage. he's my guest tonight. trump's right-hand man steve bannon making a rather public appearance. he breaks his silence. let's go"out front." >>> good evening. i'm erin burnett. out front, we have exclusive reporting tonight that the white house asked the fbi to knock d

personal town halls is congressman louie gohmert and he says because of safety and what happened to gabby giffordquote violent strains at the ideology, some being paid are preying on town halls and since giffords was shot, there is danger us to civilians. giffords was shot in 2011 at an event. ed today in a response, gifford said she was shot saturday morning and her offices were open monday morning and urges politicians to have courage and hold town halls. virginia republican congressman scott taylor has not avoided town hall meetings. listen. >> let's not engage in that, please. i do work for you. look, i think it's legitimate concern. i think it's a legitimate concern about the cost of security and the travel of the president and his family. it's a legitimate concern, absolutely. just like it was at the last administration, too. thank you, appreciate it. >> thank you. >> he held three event, not so contentious. thanks for being with us. some republicans have suggested that some of the angry crowds are paid protist tors, which frankly is the same argument democrats made against tea party protes

texas congressman louie gohmert saying he's skipping the town hall because of what happened to gabby giffordd released a statement saying i was shot on sunday, by monday my offices were open to the public. she said to the politicians who abandoned their civic obligations, have some courage, face your constituents, hold town halls. when i spoke to senator mcconnell yesterday and said these people want to be heard. he said we are hearing them, there's a fundamentally different view on what should be happening. david? >> deb, thanks so much. strong statement from former congresswoman giffords. >>> president trump this morning calling on fbi to find the leakers responding to our exclusive reporting on apparent white house attempts to politicize intelligence. we'll get "the bottom line" with david axelrod next. >>> the trump administration is under fire for two exclusive cnn reports today. first, the fbi rejected an unusual request from the white house to publicly dispute media reports that the trump campaign was in constant contact with russian officials. you know that story. then there's also g

gabby giffords group, the group for responsible solutions relating to gun safety said he comes down on the side of felons over gun safety. hostile to women's reproductive rights and hobby lobby case, for example. the list goes on and on and criticized progressives for cases relating to lgbt progress and taking the cases to the courts. what saddens me as a mom and a grandmother is his hostility towards children in school. children with autism. he ruled that they don't have the same rights under the idea, the children that they could reach their intellectual and social advancement. he said that doesn't apply to them. he came down against them under the ada as well and again. it's a very hostile appointment. lovely family, i'm sure. as far as your family is concerned and all those if you breathe air, eat food, take medicine or in any other way interact with the courts, this is a very bad decision. well outside the mainstream of american legal thought. not committed to supreme court precedence. supreme court precedence. >> i want to get to the questions, but there is a big division in the

gabby gifford's group. said that he comes down on the side of felons, over gun safety. hostile to women's reproductive rights. hobby lobby case for example. the list goes on and on. krilt si krilt -- criticize progressives. taking the kays to the court. what saddens me as a mom and grandmother, his hostility towards children in school. children with autism. he ruled that they don't have the same rights under the yoid that children, that, that, they could reach their intellectual and social advancement under the law. he has said that doesn't apply to them. it is a hostile appointment. lovely family, i'm sure. as far as your family is concerned. if you breathe air, drink water, eat food, take medicine or in any other way, interact with the courts, this is a very bad decision. not committed to supreme court precedence. there is a big division in the democratic party whether or not judge gorsuch should be treated the way supreme court nominees normally are. or, turn about is fair play. given the fact that republicans would not hold a hearing for president obama's pick after

don't forget, when my husband was elected in 2010, two weeks later, a deranged marxist shot gabby giffordlast thing we need is violence. what these town halls and rallies are supposed to be about is civil dialogue. >> neil: to your point, a lot are seeking out escorts, somewhat to be with them and police escort because it's gotten so dangerous. 70 odd number of them had skipped out on the inauguration. that's one thing. but it's quite another to send a message to your constituents that the guy you don't like, they shouldn't like. the guy you think is not a legitimate president, they should conclude is not a legitimate president. that is a dangerous slippery slope. >> it is. don't forget, it was at the women's march where madonna said she dreamed of blowing up the white house. there's been countless attacks on trump supporters, including high school kids. they're playing with fire. i'll remind them, these are fathers and mother and grandmothers and grandfathers. we need to treat them as public servants with respect and have an open political dialogue instead of this craziness and escalatio

and "gabby giffords, the gun control movement's human heeled."ator sessions has promised to work diligently to ensure all americans receive equal protection under the law but many rhode islanders think it's more nomination etiquette. his nomination carries additional baggage for me as the nominee of this president and white house. on the campaign trail the american people witnessed donald trump mock a disabled reporter and make disparaging remarks about immigrants and minorities, all with no publicback from senator sessions. we all witnessed chants of "lock her up" which senator sessions did not push back against and even excused in his hearing as, quote, humorously done. in mass rallies that featured beatings and the press caged and vilified, this didn't seem very humorous to americans. americans know the good guys in the movie are not the ones in the mob. the good guy is the lawman who stands on the jailhouse porch and sends the mob home. across the country it made honest prosecutors' stomachs turn. senator sessions had so many opportunities to

and gabby giffords the gun-control movement's human shield.ator sessions has promised that as attorney general he'd work diligently to ensure all americans receive equal protection under our laws but his record creates justifiable alarm among many rhode islanders that has promise is more a product of nomination etiquette than a nomination epiphany. in fairness, i should disclose that senator sessions nomination carries additional baggage with me as the nominee of this president and this white house. on the campaign trail, the american people witnessed donald trump glorify sexual misconduct, mock a disabled reporter and make disparaging remarks about immigrants and minorities, all with no pushback from senator sessions. we all witnessed chants of "lock her up" which senator sessions did not fight back against and even excused as a humorously done. in mass rallies that also featured beatings and the press caged and vilified, this didn't seem very humorous to many americans. americans know that the good guys in the movie are not the ones in the m

. >> we talked about the shooting of gabby gifford in realtime and the political atmosphere then.ow before the shooting happened, i called roger ailes and said you have a conservative outlet conservatives across america depend on. what glenn beck is saying right now is inflammatory and is going to lead to violence. specifically calling the president a racist. then i went to phil griffin and said the same thing to phil griffin. phil, things better cool down because something bad is going to happen. >> target. >> the target visual. you had people in our prime time no longer with us saying hateful extreme things. it was almost like glenn beck and some people in our network that are no longer there were competing to be more -- guess what, gabby giffords got shot and suddenly everybody backed off, beck left, this other person left. you've got to play within the guidelines. there's no doubt steefg. >> little miller. >> bannonization of all this has certainly led to an atmosphere that's encouraging a lot of behavior, certainly on the anti-semitic side. >> why we're disturbed by steve mil

today i want to join with the law enforcement coalition, for working with former congresswoman gabby giffords, and mark kelly, who are standing up against legislation that would deregulate and allow civilians to buy silencers. it indicates that the gun lobby applauds introduction of the hearing protection act. a quote in an article says, many gun owners and sportsmen suffer severe hearing loss after years of shooting. yet the two necessary to reduce such laws is onerously neglected. what about the law enforcement officers who will suffer at the hands of those who want to do us harm with silencers on their guns? what will happen to those who will be murdered in the streets? what about them and their families? this is legislation that's misdrenthed, this is a legislation that's unfortunate and i join with my fellow americans and law enforcement officers, first responders, in standing up against a nonsensical and misdirected initiative. let's stand with those who are to protect us and let's protect our families. and not support this legislation. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: under the s

in both the 2011 shooting of gabby giffords in which gifford said lawmakers should have courage and meete hosting their own town hall and inviting lawmakers out of anger. a cardboard cutout stood in as a replacement for senator bob portman in ohio at such a meeting on thursday. the left-leaning group called indivisible is organizing activists to go to town halls and publishing handbooks giving step-by-step instructions on resisting trumps administration. urging people to be polite but persistent. tim murphy did not hold the town hall meeting this week citing this very. >> if you look at their guide, they don't even have issues you want to discuss. it's orchestrated where they will set, the they will boo when the congressman talks and they'll cheer when someone else talks. there told not to give up the microphone. as such as republicans. the nation's most most vulnerable democrats like claire mccaskill are also avoiding town hall meetings so the fallout is on both sides. >> no doubt. >> thank you. >> meanwhile the president's promise to build that wall along the us-mexico border, this pas

we were advise after congresswoman gabby giffords was shot at congressional be public events stand the most chance of being harmed or killed just as happened there. in the same amount of time it takes to have a town hall meeting which usually has between 30 and a hundred attendees in east texas, i can communicate with thousands of my constituent bosses through a telephone town hall meeting. in mountain hundreds of gathered on tuesday in front of the statehouse after senator steve danes held a event on wednesday he was met by constituents and some in support and some clearly frustrated. >> it's so important that we allow every montana's voice to be heard. that is why we have the first amendment. the freedom to assemble and the freedom to speech. this morning, i spent some time at some schools here in headlle and we had this press conference today. i wanted to stand with the outstanding leaders in montana because this is very important. a supreme court nominee comes up very infrequently. let's not forget the base of this last lex. hillary clinton lost by 20 points in montana. donald trum

gabby giffords, the well-known well recognized former representative from that state is urging thosecongress not hosting town hall meetings to have some courage. in particular, giffords called out texas congressman louis gohmert who cited her shooting as a reason he would not meet with in person. gifford survived an assassination attempt in 2011. >>> just hours from now, president trump will rally the conservative base of the republican party at the cpac conference in national harbor, maryland, near d.c. as a candidate last year, the president didn't even attend the event. in their remarks, many of the president's top aides told the activists not to waste the opportunity that last year's elections provided. vice president pence was there promising a quick end to obamacare and said the president is making good on what he said during the campaign. >> president trump is a man of his word. and we're keeping the promises he made to the american people. over at the white house, i like to say we're in the promise keeping business these days. >> the president's chief strategist steve bannon

the tucson arizona shooter who shot congresswoman gabby giffords and six others was diagnosed afterwards with schizophrenia. mr. president, it was nine years ago today when a gunman who had been diagnosed and treated for mental illness killed five people and injured 17 in a classroom building at northern illinois university in dekalb. about two-thirds of shooting deaths each year are suicides. last year there were more than 21,000 suicides by gun. the national lives on mental illness reports that -- quote -- "about 90% of individuals who die by suicide experience mental illness." mental illness is in fact a challenging issue for our society. i worked to expand treatment and coverage for mental illness, including through the affordable care act, one of the most important single laws we've ever passed to address mental illness. i wish those who are trying to repeal this commonsense gun safety regulation would drop that effort and join us in stopping this repeal of the affordable care act. we need more and better services for people with mental illness. the reality is that the gun laws on t