and the jma is because this is the james madison academy. here's the school's website. school is called the james madison academy. it's named after james madison, one of the founding fathers, credited as the brains behind the second amendment to the constitution, which of course enshrines the right for americans to keep guns. and that, you might imagine, is why the james madison academy in las vegas picked these two guys to address their graduating class earlier this month. on the left there the david keene. he spent two terms as president of the national rifle association. he now sits on the nra's board of directors. on the right is john lott. he's a very influential person in gun organization circles. he wrote a book that people call the bible of the nra. both david keene and john lott were invited to address the graduates from james madison academy. and they both said yes. they put on their robes and their funny hats. they travelled to las vegas. they prepared speeches about following your hopes and dreams, also about the importance of the second amendment, right? tha

this private school is called the james madison academy it is named after james madison one of the foundingfather, credited as the brains to the second amendment. and that, you might imagine is why the james madison academy las vegas picked these two guys to address their graduating class earlier this month. on the left there is david keene, he spent two terms as president of the half -- on the right there is a man named john lott, he is a very influential person in gun organization circles. he's an advocate for more people having guns with fewer rules. he wrote a book that people call the bible of the nra. both david keene and john lott were invited to address the graduates from james madison academy. and they both said yes, they put on their robes and their funny hats. they travel to las vegas they prepared speeches about following your hopes and dreams, also about the importance of the second amendment, that is why they were there. the school told him that as a thank you for giving those speeches they would both be awarded the james madison academy's keeper of the constitution award. thi

on the nra board, thought he was giving a rehearsal speech for graduating students at the james madison academygas -- but no such school exists. the stunt was organizeby the group change the ref, which was founded by manuel and patricia oliver, whose son joaquin "guac" was shot dead in the parkland, florida, massacre in 2018. this week, the group released this video of david keene's remarks in front of thousands of empty chairs. a warning to our audience, his words are interspersed with the sounds of 911 calls of students trapped at schools with active shooters. >> david king was the two time president of the national rifle association. he continues to be a staunch defender of your second minute right to keep and bear arms. therefore, it is my prilegto introduce to you david keene. >> let me begin by telling you wh an hor it is to be here to help lebrate ur aduation cture for moment t young mesadis for whothis scol is nad. is yr you cused onne of the mostmportantf madis's amdments,he secd endment. ere are me who wl contin to fht to g the sond amendmt. but would beilling t b that my ofou stand u

on the nra board, thought he was giving a rehearsal speech for graduating students at the james madison academyt las vegas, but no such school exists. this is part of what david keene said. >> the are somwho will contin to fig to guthe send andmentbut i wod be lling toet thamany of y will be ong thoswho stan up and prevent them from succeeding. amy: the stunt was organized by change the ref, a group founded by manuel and patricia oliver, whose son joaquin "guac" was shot dead in the parkland , florida, massacre in 2018. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. i'm amy goodman in new york, joined by my co-host nermeen shaikh. hi, nermeen. nermeen: hi, amy. welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. amy: president biden vowed wednesday to crack down on illegal gun dealers and to boost funding for police departments as part of an effort to combat a spike in gun violence across the country. rejecting calls by activists to defund the police, biden said cities could expand their police forces b

nra and a current board member of the gun group, thought he was practicing his address to james madison academyschool does not exist, and the rows of empty chairs that keane was speaking to was placed there to represent the 3,044 victims who would have graduated had they not died. >> this year you focused on one of the most important of madison's amendments, the second amendment. there are some who continue to fight to gut the second amendment, but i'd be willing to bet that many of you, among those who stand up and prevent them from succeeding. >> that's cool. >> so my advice to you is simple enough. follow your dream and make it a reality. >> joining us now manuel and patricia oliver who are the cofounders of change the ref, a pro gun control group that organized this fake graduation. their son joaquin oliver, was killed in the parkland shooting in 2018. i want to thank you both so much for being with us. manuel, first to you. this is the first time that your organization has confronted someone directly involved with the nra. i wonder why you decided this was so important. >> well, thank you

philadelphia or the academy of natural sciences in philadelphia, which we're all so institutions in philadelphia, which was at that time the center of the american scientific enterprise james madison really wanted to see a botanic garden on federal property and he was instrumental in the late 18 teens in having congress charter the existence of the first us botanic garden. it was actually built in bricks and mortar as a small institution on the block where we currently stand in 1820. however, it was not at that time funded by taxpayer money, and so it existed for a little while. and so there was a us botanic garden or the first version of a us botanic garden from about 1820 until the late 1830s when the colombian society began to peter out and then there was a bit of a gap and the story for the us botanic garden resumes in 1838. and that's a really fascinating history beginning in 1838. congress is getting interested in naval exploration and very much buoyed by the success the overland success of the lewis and clark expedition just a few years earlier congress feels that the country is ready to send out in armada or at least a small fleet of ships, which are called the united stat