arlette saenz explains what they're doing to bring change. >> reporter: the names of the 17 students and teachers killed at marjory stoneman douglas rang out at candlelight vigils across florida. a day of remembrance and activism. >> enough is enough. >> reporter: from a rally in los angeles -- >> shame on you. >> reporter: -- to a lie-in protest at the white house. one teen holding a sign, am i next? today 100 stoneman douglas students take their crusade to florida's capcapitol. >> hopefully we can get our word across to everyone. >> reporter: the teenagers will push lawmakers to enact tougher gun laws. >> there's so much grief in this community. my friends and i are turning it into political action. >> reporter: yesterday the suspected shooter nikolas cruz appeared in court, head bowed, his eyes fixed to the ground. a source familiar with the investigation says cruz had access to ten guns, seven he legally purchased including an ak-47 and the ar-15 allegedly used in the massacre. arlette saenz, abc news, washington. >>> authorities are warning people of the dangers posed by cliffs

arlette saenz, abc news, washington. >>> it's 4:45. san jose's police chief is reaching out to the city's latino community about their immigration fears. he visited church congregations over the weekend and is elaborating on the message he's spreading. >> police are not someone to fear. we're here for them. we're here to protect them. we're here to keep their families safe. it was important for them to hear that. they need to know they can count on us to be there without fear of us enforcing immigration laws. >> chief eddie garcia says he knows more aggressive federal immigration actions are fueling deportation fears. garcia plans to visit more latino churches in the coming weeks to assure people that san jose police do not enforce federal immigration laws. >>> the city of san jose has a new website where people can try to balance the city's budget for the upcoming year. the website is called balancing act and it lets people learn about public budgets and the choices their elected officials face in the budgeting process. you can submit

abc's arlette saenz is in that washington this morning with more.d morning,. >> reporter: tam, good morning its been one week since a gunman opened fire on stoneman douglas high school. this morning, the survivors of that massacre are taking their fight to the florida statehouse. survivors turned activist storming the capitol to demand action. >> this is not about democrats, republicans, left or right. this is a movement for humanity for safety for keeping our citizens a life. one week after the parkland shooting students are ramping up the pressure on state lawmakers. >> we're talking about gun safety, talking about school safety and we're talking about mental health. >> reporter: while the student rode on buses to tallahassee florida lawmakers voted to not consider a bill to ban assault rifles. one survivor watching the vote overcome with emotion. >> it was a big punch in the gut. >> reporter: in the nation's capitol, president trump directed his attorney general to find a way to ban bump stocks a device not used in parkland but used in the las ve

arlette saenz has more from d.c. >> reporter: good morning. the white house wanted the spotlight this week to be on infrastructure. instead they're facing more questions about that former staffer accused of domestic abuse. and now his first ex-wife is calling out two top white house officials. after these images plunged the west wing into chaos the woman in the photo is taking on the white house. in a "washington post" op-ed colbie holderness, the ex-wife of former staff secretary rob porter says she was living in constant fear and left the relationship a shell of the person i was when i went into it. holderness says she was dismayed when a white house adviser explained why she's not worried about porter's current girlfriend. white house communications director hope hicks. >> i have no reason not to believe the women in the case of hope, i rarely met somebody so strong with such excellent instincts and loyalty and smarts. >> reporter: holderness fired back writing, her statement implies that those who have been in abusive relationships are not

abc's arlette saenz is in washington for us this morning with the latest on what's coming today. good morning. >> reporter: tam, good morning. it's been one week since a gunman opened fire at stoneman douglas high school. this morning the survivors of that massacre are taking their fight to the florida statehouse. survivors turned activists are storming florida's capitol to demand action. >> this is not about democrats, this is not about republicans. this isn't left or right. this is a movement for humanity, for safety, for keeping our citizens alive. >> reporter: one week after the parkland shooting students are ramping up the pressure on state lawmakers. >> we're talking about gun safety. we're talking about school safety. and we're talking about mental health. >> reporter: while the students rode on buses to tallahassee, florida lawmakers voted to not consider a bill to ban assault rifles. one survivor watching the vote overcome with emotion. >> it was a big punch in the gut. >> reporter: in the nation's capitol, president trump directed his attorney general to find a way to b

abc's arlette saenz has the latest from washington. arlette, good morning. >> reporter: diane and kendis, good morning. it's been one week since a gunman opened fire at stoneman douglas high school. today the survivors of that massacre are taking their fight to florida's statehouse. survivors turned activists are storming florida's capitol to demand action. >> this is not about democrats, this is not about republicans. this isn't left or right. this is a movement for humanity, for safety, for keeping our citizens alive. >> reporter: one week after the parkland shooting, students are ramping up the pressure on state lawmakers. >> we're talking about gun safety, we're talking about school safety, and we're talking about mental health. >> reporter: while the students rode on buses to tallahassee, florida lawmakers voted to not consider a bill to ban assault rifles. one survivor watching the vote overcome with emotion. >> it was a big punch in the gut. >> reporter: in the nation's capital, president trump directed his attorney general to f

abc's arlette saenz begins our coverage from washington. good morning, arlette. >> reporter: kendis and diane, good morning. the survivors of the florida high school shooting are loading onto buses and heading to the state's capitol to push for new gun laws. less than a week after the massacre, this isn't an ordinary school shooting. >> jamie guttenberg, 14 years old. >> reporter: the names of the 17 students and teachers killed at marjory stoneman douglas rang out at candlelight vigils across florida. a day of remembrance and activism. [ chanting "enough is enough" ] >> reporter: from a grassroots rally in los angeles -- >> shame on you. >> reporter: to a lie-in protest at the white house. one teen holding a sign, am i next? >> this is a student movement. >> reporter: today 100 stoneman douglas students take their crusade to florida's capital. >> hopefully we can talk to representatives and get our word across to everyone. >> reporter: the teenagers will push lawmakers to enact tougher gun laws. we are resilient to make a change because, t

, law enforcement officials announced the manhunt was over. yong those arrested that day was jairo saenz,ng salvadoran who had arrived with the surge minors. s-lice say he became one of the leaders of a local clique, the westside sailors. >> ...a double murder, and according to law enforcement, most of the suspects arrested in these recent cases were in the country illegally. >> narrator: we interviewed jairo's ex-girlfriend, a 16-year-old student at brentwooi . to protect her, we've concealed her identity. >> did you know he was a gang member? >> no. he... when we first startedda ng he was nice to me, and everything. he would treat me good. he was respectful and everything. and then after monthhe started changing. he was threatening my family, we went to the police. made a report. and then i got an order of protection so he couldn't get close to me or my family. narrator: despite the restraining order against him, she says jairo threatened to kill her if she didn't go with him. >> he told me that i had to be with him. so, i left so he wouldn't... he wouldn't kill my family. >> where did

reporting live in washington arlette saenz of channel6 "action news." matt. >> thank you. outside philadelphia city hall last night to honor the 17 people killed during that shooting rampage in florida. district attorney larry krasner and various community groups called for tougher gun laws and an end to gun violence. some high school students who happened to be walking by felt compelled to join them and make their voices heard. >> i feel as though i need to do something to protect myself because quite frankly i feel as though adults and higher authority figures aren't doing enough. >> for way too long the nra has had much too much influence over gun policy. we got to vote some people out. >> today marks one week since the tragedy in parkland, florida. >> a judge in new york has declared a mistrial in the fraud case against philadelphia mob boss joey merlino. he stood accused of participating in gambling and health insurance schemes. the jury deliberated for nearly four days but was deadlocked. his lawyers insisted he quit the life of crime after a lengthy prison term. gov

arlette saenz has the latest from washington.d morning. >> reporter: linda and kendis, good morning. in the days after the shooting, president trump praised law enforcement for its response. he's now turned to bashing the fbi while the survivors of the massacre are issuing a call to action. president trump unleashed a new attack on the fbi. linking one of the deadliest school shootings in history to the russia investigation. the president tweeted very sad that the fbi missed all of the many signals sent out by the florida school shooter. this is not acceptable. they are spending too much time trying to prove russian collusion with the trump campaign. there is no collusion. that tweet drew criticism from members of his own party. >> the president should be staying out of law enforcement business. >> so many folks in the fbi with doing all they can to keep us safe. the reality is they are two separate issues. >> reporter: oh, my god, 17 of my classmates and friends are geend you have the audacity to make this about russia. over the

in washington, arlette saenz, abc 7 news. bag to you. >> thank you. threatening to attack schools in the same florida county where marjory stoneman douglas high school is located. >> sheriff's office says the teen posted it on social media, listed a number of schools. he told him as he was being taken into custody that it was a joke to scare his cousin. >> marjory stoneman douglas high school will remain closed through wednesday. the goal is to allow staff to return to campus by the end of the week. >>> six men were arrested for stealing laptops. >> police went undercover saturday night at cafe strad a on college avenue. officers saw a black sedan pull up in front of tcafe. two men graber grabbed two laptops, hopped into the car and other officers stopped the car and found the stolen laptops. the men were arrested and face several charges. >>> a former employee of an assembly woman filed a complaint with the city. >> christina garcia fired him after he refused to play spin the bottle with her. in the complaint, jay david kerr nick says she was dispara

abc's arlette saenz is following the developments from d.c. good morning, arlette. >> reporter: kendis, diane, good morning. the white house wanted the spotlight this week to be on infrastructure. instead they're facing more questions about that former staffer accused of domestic abuse. and now his first ex-wife is calling out two top white house officials. after these images plunged the west wing into chaos, the woman in the photo is taking on the white house. in a "washington post" op-ed colbie holderness, the ex-wife of former staff secretary rob porter, says she was living in constant fear and left the relationship a shell of the person i was when i went into it. holderness says she was dismayed when a white house adviser explained why she's not worried about porter's current girlfriend, white house communications director hope hicks. scrutiny for what he said during a speech to sheriffs around the country. while praising the elected officials at their winter meeting, he described the, quote, here anglo-american heritage of law enforcement

in washington, arlette saenz, abc 7 news. >>> arlette, thank you. we're hearing from the family who took in the 19-year-old who police say killed 17 people at that florida high school. nikolas cruz had been living with the snead family since thanksgiving after his adoptive mother died of pneumonia. james and kimberly snead's son was friends with cruz. they say they were aware cruz had weapons and kept them in a gun safe. james snead said he thought he had the only key to the safe. the couple has a message for the families of the victims. >> i can't imagine the pain they must be feeling. like he said, nothing that we can say is going to be any kind of help. but we're very sorry that they had this experience. never should have happened. >> you can hear their full interview coming up at 7:00 right here on gma after abc 7 mornings. >>> good morning everyone. a fire at an apartment complex in martinez overnight. unfortunately, a bit of a deja vu for folks there. this was the second fire in less than 24 hours at the same building. abc 7 news reporter amy