geoff bennett, katy faang, and tammy leitner. geoff bennett is in pompano beach for us. geoff, good day to you. i know there's new reaction from the trump administration following the special counsel's criminal indictments. what can you tell us? >> reporter: that's right, alex. we know the mueller indictment blows a hole in president trump's favorite talking point about the russia investigation, that it was a hoax, a witch hunt coordinated by democrats as an excuse for losing an election they otherwise should have won. this morning the president's own national security adviser, h.r. mcmaster, appeared at a conference in munich and said that russia's interference in the 2016 election is now beyond dispute. take a look. >> we would love to have a cyber dialogue when russia is sincere about curtailing its sophisticated form of espionage. i think that day will be coming, because we're becoming more and more adept at tracing the origins of this espionage and subversion, and as you can see, with the fbi indictment, the evidence is now really incontrovertible and available in t

>> tammy leitner there. we expect to hear from the governor, the sheriff's office in just a couple minutes. i can see a lot of activity behind you and i imagine that there are folks who are eagerly awaiting to get more information from these guys. i want to bring in darryn portrid and thank you for being here. let's talk about what we know and don't know at this point as we wait for this press conference to begin in the next couple minutes. tom, you had this suspect, you had him armed with an ar-15 style automatic rifle according to the law enforcement officials on the ground. this was apparently according to the attorney jim louis, legally obtained. that's what he told the south florida sun sentnel. what the process for legally getting that kind of gun? >> halle, apparently the shooter purchased that gun legally from a licensed federal firearms licensee. he was not a prohibited person at the time that he purchased that weapon. in other words, he had no prior felony convictions. he had not been adjudicated m

right now nbc news correspondent tammy leitner is standing by to talk to us. she has been at the scene for some time now. tammy, i heard you earlier talk about the emotional reunion, the parents who had obviously shown up, the police have to make a perimeter to keep everybody back and everybody safe. most of the parents who showed up because of electronics and the ability to text knew that their loved ones, their kids, were okay. some of the parents have received bad news that their kids were being transported to hospitals. but in a metered method, i know they let some of the kids run out to the perimeter to their parents. >> reporter: yeah, i can tell you we're about a block away from the school. and we did see a couple of officers slowly walk out students with their arms around them, very gently, tenderly walk those students up to their parents. very gemotional reunion as you can imagine. we've seen dozens and dozens of parents show up hoping to be reunited with their children, which for the most part was not happening because the kids were obviously debriefe

all right, tammy leitner in parkland, florida. as the terror unfolded inside that school, parents also endured agonizing moments of uncertainty as they rushed to the campus to find their children. one mother and son spoke to our affiliate wtvj just moments after reuniting. >> the fire alarm went off, so everybody was going outside like a regular fire drill, and then all of a sudden i heard, like, two gunshots and then i just see a whole bunch of people start running my direction. >> i just picked up my cell phone and all i could hear was him yelling, there's a shooting at school, mom, there's a shooting at school, happening right now. so i just told him, run, baby, run, run, run. >> and all the administrators and teachers just hold us to start running so i was just running. >> i just felt panicked. you know? and helpless. there's nothing you can do. your kid is running for his life and there's nothing you can do. >> can you get a handle on your emotions yet. >> i'm glad that i'm alive. it also makes me really sad that -- >> okay,

tammy leitner is joining us live this morning.speed on the developments so far and what we expect to see in the next few hours here. >> reporter: good morning. investigate rds are working on trying to piece together a motive. right now, we know they've interviewed 2,000 people and they're chasing down every lead. they have told us not all those are credible. some are only rumors but they have to chase down every lead. let me give you an idea of the time line. we have a better idea. we know nikolas cruz arrived

tammy leitner is in florida. danny cevallos is an msnbc legal analyst. we just saw him appear before the magistrate. he said just two words, yes, ma'am. he's been assigned a judge. tell me what happens next. >> as we saw, what we expected was that he would be denied release. the judge has to make a finding that the proof is evidence or the presumption great as to a capital offense or a life imprisonment penalty. as we heard on the video he's already been assigned a division judge. that case will leave that rarmt court. we will not likely see that judge again. division judge is assigned so anything else his attorneys immediate to argue will be made directly to that court, to that judge. from here on out the next court date will be scheduled and he'll but probably not within the next couple days, but a little farther out but not very much expected today. not very much happened. it was very, very likely that he would be held without bail even though florida requires a significant showing from prosecutors in order to completely deny bail or bond. >> it was p

tammy leitner with the students there. frank feg lew zi, former assistant director for counter intelligence at the fbi and national security analyst. thank you, so much for coming in. i don't know what to say. this is happening again and again uniquely in this country, the pattern is motive, someone very much alienated, angry at society. high school is tough. with the availability of semi-automatic weapons and multiple ammunition, multiple and munition of magazines, it's fairly easy to put it together and one person did today. frank? >> chris, i want to talk to everybody out there who is wondering what they can do. we've certainly got into the gun control issue. and people need to work that out. that rests largely with congress. i want to talk to folks who say i want something to do now. it's time to start equipping our teenagers, our loved ones with the skill sets to recognize the warning signs and indicators. if you've got a teenager at home who is exhibiting the following behaviors, the corporations teach these behavior

. >> nbc's tammy leitner is in parkland at a memorial for us this afternoon. tammy, we'll talk about the investigation, but i want to start with this memorial and how this community that i know is agonizing right now is coping. >> aaron, as you can imagine this is extremely tough for this community, for the people that knew the families, that are friends and family members of those that died in the school shooting, and for those who didn't that have been showing up here all morning, all afternoon, we're talking thousands of people not only from this community but neighboring communities coming to pay their respects putting down flowers, notes, pictures, a lot of emotions, a lot of grief here. a community actually grieving together, aaron. >> and, tammy, about the investigation, that is still going as this community is grieving right now. how are they feeling about how the investigation has been handled so far and these missed signals that we're learning more about? >> that's tough. you know, everybody that we've spoken with they are grateful for the first respo

nbc's tammy leitner with students in florida. tammy, thank you very much. >>> and a man in colorado has written a powerful confession in response to the school shooting in florida. quote, i was almost a school shooter, he says. i didn't carry out anything. i didn't hurt anyone, but in 1996, i almost did the worst possible thing. people say mental health is the issue, and that's true. a bigger issue was love. i had a severe lack of love. and i really think this kid did, too. some people blame this violence on the media or video games or music. we call those people morons. but there is one thing that would have made it all different. i didn't have access to an assault rifle. i was almost a school shooter. i am not a school shooter because i didn't have access to guns. guns don't kill people. people kill people. but people with guns c s kill l of people. that man is aaron stark and he joins me now. aaron, first of all, thank you very much for being here. it's such a brave thing to put into words, to put down on paper. i condensed it

let me go to tammy leitner who has been traveling on the bus with the students. re currently in the midst of a dinner pit stop on their way to tallahassee. tammy, you've been talking with these students. spending time with them. they are i assume starting to become more aware of the politics of tallahassee. how have they been resktsacting this? >> reporter: we're essentially 4 hours in to this 400 mile journey. they have stopped for dinner. in a lot of ways it feels like a normal field trip. we have chaperones, kids sharing snacks, joking around, but the a somber tone and a bigger feel. and that is because they are taking on a national issue. and so how did they take on a national issue like gun control? ernest calderon, you have been very outspoken. and how do you take on such a large issue and bring about change? >> to really bringing about change, what we want to talk about are small steps. the first small step we're taking is talking to governor rick scott today hopefully and tomorrow at the florida capitol. another small step we could do is maybe make backgro

nbc's tammy leitner is live in florida with the latest.t more do we know about the suspect here in this attack? >> reporter: hi, david. according to the miami herald's reporting there was an incident in 2016 where nikolas cruz and his girlfriend got into a fight and broke up. he was extremely upset and got into a physical fight with another boy, carved a nazi symbol into his bag. all of this came to the attention of state officials because somebody called the abuse hotline, indicated he was on snap chat can cutting his arms, that he was threatening to buy a gun. and there was some question at the time whether he was actually the victim of medical neglect. ultimately the state's report said that he was stable and he did not need to be hospitalized. david? >> tammy, thank you very much. tammy leitner in parkland, florida, with us this afternoon. >>> joining us now, the mayor of parkland, florida, of that town of 31,000 where this attack took place. thank you for taking the time to be with us this afternoon. i want to start by asking you as a

. >> for the very latest, we want to go to nbc news correspondent tammy leitner, reporting all day from parkland, florida. >> reporter: brian, it's been about eight hours since this shooting happened. and we are still seeing parents and students coming out here, talking, grieving, supporting each other. but mostly searching for answers. why today? 17 teachers and students are dead. >> oh my god! >> reporter: who are. in the classroom. terrifying gunshots near the end of the school day. students posting videos on social media as a shooter opened fire at stoneman douglas high in florida north of ft. lauderdale. >> i have the gunshot victim. >> this is a catastrophic and unbelievable, catastrophic day in broward county history. it's devastating. i'm sick to my stomach. >> hands, put your hands up! >> reporter: teens streaming out single file, hands in the air, reminiscent of columbine. and so many other recent shootings. >> i'm just relieved he's okay, yes. >> reporter: officials calling it a mass casualty incident. >> i'm coming out to the east side with the casualty. got an ambulance sta

plus, nbc's tammy leitner is on that bus full of florida students who survived the school shooting and bound for tallahassee. tammy, what's going on there? >> we've just gotten on the bus. we'll be leaving here in about five or ten minutes, traveling 450 miles, about eight hours, so they can go and make their voices be heard and we'll be along for the entire ride. this is food made to sit down for. slow down for. put the phone away, and use a knife and fork for. and with panera catering, it's food worth sharing. panera. food as it should be. and with panera catering, it's food worth sharing. now that we have your attention... capri sun has four updated drinks. now with only the good stuff. do you know how to use those? nope. get those kids some new capri sun! >>> right now, in coral springs, florida, dozens of students and school staff getting ready to depart for a 400 mile road trip to tallahassee. where they will meet with state lawmakers to demand action on gun control. my colleague kerry sanders spoke to one of parkland's teachers about what the students may be able to achieve. >>

. >> nbc's tammy leitner is in parkland for us this afternoon.know that school is now over for the day, but just in reading the accounts, listening to the accounts of some of these students who have returned, some of them have said they woke up with a pit in their stomach. they were, to some extent, anticipating this day, dreading this day. what are the students there telling you? >> reporter: kristen, it hit all of these students very differently. some of the students were extremely emotional. walking out of the school crying, arm in arm with their parents. other students were happy to be back at school, being reunited with their fellow students, with their teachers. each student it was really different. but one thing everybody agreed on it was extremely difficult to go in and see those empty desks where their fellow students who were gunned down once sat. those desks now filled with teddy bears, flowers, candles, with memorials of sorts. another thing, this entire community pretty much shut down today. a lot of the members of the community show

joining me now, tammy leitner in parkland and sean henry, former fbi executive assistant director. tammy, first to you on the investigation so far and how this community is coming together. >> reporter: this community is coming together really in their grief. i can tell you there are still seven victims in the hospital, one in critical condition, there were some emotional vigils overnight. and funerals as you mentioned start today. investigators are still trying to piece everything together. they have conducted 2,000 interviews. to get a better idea of what happened in that seven minute span that nikolas cruz was in that school when he killed 17 people, we now know that he was able to slip out of the school with some other students and there was about a period of time that for an hour that he was able to roam around freely. he went to a walmart, to several fast food restaurants before a local beat cop who was patrolling alone spotted him walking around in a residential neighborhood and he picked him up without any problems. >> thanks to you, tammy. and to sean henry, how does the fb

and joining us is tammy leitner who i spoke to 24 hours ago when you first heard the news as we did and you rushed out from miami to get here. what do we know? >> reporter: right knew we're seeing very two different pictures of nikolas cruz emerging. a -- according to his attorney he is a broken individual and sad and remorseful for what he's done. now all of the students that we've spoken have painted a different picture of nikolas cruz, they painted a picture of somebody who is disturbed and calculated, somebody who is obsessed with guns who used to show pictures of dead animals that he had shot. he often joked about actually coming into the school and shooting it up. so two very different pictures emerging of this young man. >> tammy, we know that he was arraigned today but people have been saying -- the people we've been talking to here and you were here earlier today have been saying he was a bit of an outcast. he had been expelled, he was not allowed to bring a bag with him to school for fear that he would bring probably weaponry. do we know a lot about what authorities knew if an

tammy leitner is joining us live this morning. bring us up to speed on the developments so far and what we expect to see in the next few hours here. >> reporter: good morning. investigate rds are working on trying to piece together a motive. right now, we know they've interviewed 2,000 people and they're chasing down every lead. they have told us not all those are credible. some are only rumors but they have to chase down every lead. let me give you an idea of the time line. we have a better idea. we know nikolas cruz arrived at the school at 2:19 by uber with a black duffel bag and back. he had a semi-automatic rifle with him. he went straight for a stairwell in the school. that's where he took out the rifle, and he targeted five different classrooms on two levels of the school. police do believe he was targeting certain classrooms and we now also know that that semi-automatic rifle that he used, he did purchase legally from an authorized gun store. we also know that he was only inside that school for about seven minutes when he

parkland, florida, somebody who has been covering the story all day long, nbc news correspondent tammy leitner. thank you, tammy, for being with us, i know it's been an incredibly long day and long night already. >> reporter: yeah, rachel, after speaking with students and parents and teachers for the last six hours, we're beginning to understand what these students went through during that small period of time when the shooter was roaming their campus. and how some of them were able to escape and how some of them were forced to barricade themselves inside the school. there was one 14-year-old student who was texting with his mother from the school office. and he was with three other students. and he texted his mother and said, there's a shooter, i don't know what to do. she told him, barricade yourself in. for the next hour she stayed on the phone, sending him text messages, telling him to hide, to go into a corner, to stay safe. there was another student that we talked to, 17-year-old hector navarro. when those gunshots rang out, he didn't think it was safe to be anywhere inside that school.

>> tammy leitner, thank you. hector, thank you for taking time. i appreciate that in parkland, florida. mark fullman is the national affairs editor at mother jones. he wrote about the race to stop school shootings and has been writing about the specific ways in which mass shootings like this school shootings, lone gunman are a sort of zing phenomenon. what's your thoughts watching this unfold today and hearing the news about it tonight? >> hi, chris. i'm sorry to be with you yet again for this subject. my heart goes out to all the people in florida suffering from this terrible attack. you know, it's still early. i want to to be careful. there's a lot of migs information in the media events. this is the case we've seen over and over again. these do not happen in a vacuum. this person planned this attack meticulously. he was using tactical gear, tactics we've seen in previous cases. and i think it's important for the american public to realize that there are often behavioral warning signs that precede these attacks. people need to speak up and reach

. >> tammy leitner, thank you so much. from a difficult place in parkland, florida. appreciate it. >>> there is renewed calls for action to do something about it. francis rooney is join me next. >>> and natasha bertrand on her piece in "the atlantic." how do you win at business? stay at la quinta. where we're changing with stylish make-overs. then at your next meeting, set your seat height to its maximum level. bravo, tall meeting man. start winning today. book now at lq.com start winning today. fthere's flonase sensimist.f up around pets. it relieves all your worst symptoms including nasal congestion, which most pills don't. and all from a gentle mist you can barely feel. flonase sensimist. >>> this happens nowhere else other than the united states of america. this epidemic of mass slaughter. the scourge of school shooting after school shooting. it only happens here not because of coincidence, not because of bad luck, but as a consequence of inaction. we are responsible. >> scolding fellow lawmakers for not taking action to prevent school shootings like the one in p

with me now from parkland florida is tammy leitner. and you have been on the ground there for several days. and today for the first time we're hearing from an attorney for scot peterson, what is his message? >> reporter: that is right. an attorney for scot peterson is saying his client did in fact hideout side of the school as the shooting was going on. but that his clients was, in fact, following protocol. now he said that scot peterson initially responded to the school for a call of fire crackers. but when he learned that it was, in fact, gunfire, he determined he thought that the gunfire was coming from outside of the school. and that is when he took a defensive position outside of the school and that is what protocol dictates. and that is what other officers started to arrive and they also took defensive positions according to him. he also said that his client, when s.w.a.t. arrived on the scene, he told them where the keys were to go into the building, where the shooting was happening and also drew them a diagram of the campus and

. >> tammy leitner, i appreciate you both joining thus hour. the business community has become an active participate in this one. the first time the group has been hit in its pocketbook. the nra is promising a major fight. they call it a shameful display of cowardice and the loss of a discount will neither scare nor distract one single nra member from our mission. great to have both of you with us. lets talk about the political question here, the business community, obviously not waiting for congress to act. can they come together over objections on any issue dealing with gun reform? >> ayman, this is a congress for months that has had no coherent message from the house to the senate from that october shooting in las vegas to sutherland springs in december and then here in the week since. today, this afternoon, the house and the senate members will be returning here and really tomorrow is when those two caucuses, the democrats and the republicans, will be meeting to come up with a plan where they can take legislation. to note this is a congress

nbc's tammy leitner joins me now from parkland, florida. tammy, give us the latest from parkland. i'm guessing a lot of students will be going out to dick's. >> reporter: yeah, stephanie, school started 90 minutes ago. teachers are trying to ease the students back in today. they're having a short day, only about four hours. not a lot of schoolwork will be done today. this is really about reuniting the kids, reuniting the students together, reuniting them with their teachers. not a lot of schoolwork will be done. there are going to be grief counselors on hand, emotional support dogs, really just about bringing the kids together and starting that healing process, stephanie. >> what is fueling sort of the students here? you would think this is a time, it would be so hard for them to go back to school. >> reporter: yeah, there's no doubt this is going to be a tough day. everywhere these kids look, there are reminders of this shooting that happened just two weeks ago. as they walk into the campus, there are flowers and signs and pictur pictures. there are going to be a lot of empty des

. >> tammy leitner, you have been there for days now, we appreciate your reporting. and the white house is responding to the tragedy by scheduling a listening session. the white house says it supports efforts to improve the federal background check system. jeff bennett joins me. you have been covering washington for some time. there's a lot of energy in the wake of one of these devastating mass shootings and then it never seems to go anywhere. what can you tell us about the president's thinking and where this is all headed? >> reporter: as nbc news first reported president trump is supportive of efforts that would improve background checks so the president supports in principal at least this bill introduced by john cornyn, the number three republican in the senate and also the democrat from connecticut. the white house previously singled out mental illness as the underlying cause for mass violence that they would addr s address. the outreach is how the gun policy is changing. having spent all day saturday and all day yesterday at the parkland memorial where tammy is

. >> tammy leitner, thank you very much. survives of last week's shootings are turning their angry into action. >> they say that tougher gun laws do not increase gun violence. we call b.s. >> students from marjory stoneman douglas high will head to tallahassee tomorrow to push for stronger gun control laws. they are also planning a march in d.c. next month. there was a lion outside of the white house who showed the president folks want action, but the president was at his golf club in florida. over the weekend he blamed the fbi for missing the warning signs because they are spending too much time trying to prove russian collusion. the "washington post" reports the president also surveyed mar-a-lago club members about whether he ought to champion gun control measures. yesterday nbc news was the first to report that the president has expressed some support for legislation to attempt to strengthen the federal background s. chris grade wree and sophie whitney are seniors in douglas highs. they hid inside barricaded bathrooms. gu

nbc's tammy leitner is live in parkland, florida. what do students say about what they plan to do? what's the action they plan to take? >> hey, david, they're taking that grief and they're turning it into something positive. and you can see how much grief this community has. take a look at this memorial. it's been growing over the weekend. thousands and thousands of people have been coming out here to pay their respects. some from this community. some from other communities. all of them wanting to pay their respects to the 17 people who have died. now, there are a number of events today, including in d.c., a lie-in. a protest planned out in los angeles. you have to keep in mind there were a lot of vigils, a lot of protests over the weekend, but one week ago, all of these were just normal high school students. they were worried about tests. they were worried about going out on dates. they were worried about sporting events. now they have become outspoke and and en advocates for gun control laws. >> we heard more attempts here to raise awareness of what he was like, what his behavior

>> tammy leitner, hans nicholas, thank you very much. >>> president trump says he wants to arm teachers. he says it will solve the school shooting problem, but does his staff agree? here's donald trump's daughter and senior adviser, ivanka trump, and exclusive interview with nbc news's peter alexander. >> you're a mom. you send your kids to school. would you feel safer knowing your children's teachers were armed? >> i think it's an interesting conversation to be having, and it's a new and fresh idea. >> are you advising your dad on this or other topics? >> i think having a teacher who is armed who cares deeply about her students or his students and who is capable and qualified to bear arms is not a bad idea, but it's an idea that needs to be discussed. >> let's ask a teacher. anthony swafford is a former marine corps sniper. he says i was a marine and i don't want a gun in my classroom. thank you very much for being here. in the op-ed you wrote, you talk about the training it took to use a weapon in the military that was similar to the ar-15. tell me a little bit about what it took for

i want to start with nbc's tammy leitner in parkland. today is another difficult day. three more funerals. but students aren't just home, they are resolved to make sure this doesn't happen again and they're taking their message to the state capital. it's stunning because when we've had shootings before, we see a lot of makers say it's too soon, it's too soon. they don't get to say it this time because the students, though there in that building who lost classmates and teachers, they're the ones saying enough is enough. >> yes, that's right, stephanie. it is undoubtedly going to be a long emotional day for these students. they're going to start by attending the funeral of a very close friend of theirs, 16-year-old carmen schentrup. and then from there, they're going to be boarding several buses, 100 students and their parents, headed for tallahassee. they'll leave here at 1:00. it will take them about 6 1/2 hours to get there. they'll be sleeping in the civic center tonight. tomorrow, they'll walk to the state capital where they'll be meeting with state leaders to discu

tammy leitner is on the road with those students. any reaction from the students on the bus to the state legislature essentially refusing to hear the bill? >> reporter: of course there is reaction. these students are making their way 400 plus miles to go and lobby state lawmakers to tighten gun bills here. and word is slowly trickling around the bus. i'm here with daniel. daniel, what is your reaction to this, the fact they won't even hear this? >> i'm just upset. i mean, we're coming -- drive like eight hours to see these state length lay tors ae ledge gives me more drive. i'm morlt filt mortified. that is a big screw you. they know hundreds of kids are coming up to the state capital which by the way is extremely far from us. just to talk to them. and they are just not even are considering the bill to stop things like this. never again hashtag has been going around and it's like they don't even care that we don't want this to happen again. why should anyone else have to live through this? i don't understand. >> let's me ask your sis

beginning with nbc's tammy leitner in parkland. you have been there for the last two weeks. let's start with the latest investigation and what's happening specifically at the school. today's the first official day back. what can you tell us? >> good morning, stephanie. it's been a long couple of days for these students and their parents returning to this school for the first time. and keep in mind, this school has essentially been frozen in time since valentine's day when the shooting happened almost two weeks ago. the kids have been coming back to the school really reliving the shooting for the first time. all of this going on as the broward county sheriff's department is coming under fire. an internal investigation going on. while as many as three sheriff deputies are being looked at for possibly staying outside the school while the shooter was inside the school shooting. our own kerry sanders sat down with the sheriff, sheriff scott israel, and asked him about this investigation. let's go ahead and listen to what he had to say. >> right now, i'm not going to tell you that

my colleague tammy leitner joining me now from parkland.ere listening this morning when they spoke about those 14 who were wounded. 5, as we understand, with life threatening injuries. what more do we know about the victims and about those who are still recovering right now? >> right, peter, of those 14 who were injured, we know 5 of them are still in the hospital. we do know there were a number of surgeries that happened overnight. some patients were released. of those five still there, obviously in critical condition. we are being told they may be sending some of them home today. it's hard to tell. they're at several hospitals. one thing i want to point out, we spoke with the doctors just a little while ago who treated some of these patients and they told me that for the last nine months, they have been training for a scenario exactly like this. they've been working with the fire department and with the police department and so they were ready when this happened. peter, i'm actually here with one of the first responders who was one of the

nbc's tammy leitner is traveling with the students. she joins us now from one of the buses where they're at a pit stop. tammy, what's it like? >> reporter: well, they're getting back on the bus from the pit stop. they've been on the road about an hour. i'm actually here with an amazing brother-and-sister team. one is 16, one is 18. and you guys are pretty remarkable. tell me a little bit -- i know you're out of breath. you just ran back to the bus. tell me why you're making this journey. >> we're making this journey because we want to make a change. we want to be able to contact our legislators, not through social media, not so they can just ignore us, so they can just block us, so that they won't answer, so that we can meet with them face to face, look them in the eyes, and tell them not what we want, but what we need. we need change. we need safety in our schools. we need increased gun control. we need mental health background checks, and we want to ban semi-automatic weapons. we need to tell them so that they know and that they can a

. >> tammy leitner was on the bus with them while they were driving from parkland, florida, to tallahassee, and they took that vote not to take up the bill to ban the assault rifle. tammy was interviewing them in realtime as that was happening. so goes television and politics in the time of the iphone and live tv. i said to her -- they were crushed. they said how insulting. i said, no, how remarkable. what would normally be a state capitol story just in tallahassee, is now national news. it is now national news that the state legislature in florida which is 65% republican refused to take a vote on whether or not to ban the assault rifle because of those kids on the bus. every one of them has had a greater impact on this debate than lots of seasoned activists of my generation have had in a very long time. the last families and faces that had this impact, that had the nation's attention were the parents of the babies, the first graders and kindergartners who were slaughtered at sandy hook. before that it would be colu columbi columbine. these kids here have donald trump's number. what they s

tammy leitner is headed from miami up to parkland, florida. tammy, i guess that is -- if you were starting in miami, that is about a 30 minute drive four? >> actually it is a a little bit longer. we're about 30 minutes out right now. you guys, i can tell you that we did speak with a mother whose daughter is inside of the school right now. she is actually trapped inside of the school. according to her, there are still -- at least about 20 kids and teachers inside of the school. they've barricaded themselves inside there. we know that they are on -- not on the first floor and i'm not going to say where they are just in case the shooter is listening. we do know that some of the students have gotten out, but there are still at least about 20 people in there hiding and we do know that some people are injured as you mentioned. the s.w.a.t. is surrounding the school right now but obviously this is still a very tenuous situation. patients right now a-- parents trying to get ahold of kids an the mother that we spoke with was texting her daughter inside

but first, nbc's tammy leitner has the latest on the investigation. tammy, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, guys. this community is waking up realizing that 17 members of their community are dead. while police are searching the gunman's house trying to find answers as to why this shooter has opened up and fired on this community in yet another deadly school shooting. now, this morning we are getting our first look at the shooter, 19-year-old nikolas cruz. he has been charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder. we now know cruz entered the school yesterday just after 2:00 p.m. he had an ar-15, multiple magazines. gunfire rang out. students took cover running, barricading themselves inside classrooms wherever they could. this went on for more than an hour. cruz was somehow able to slip outside of the school but not before killing 17 and injuring 14. police tell us they were able to look at surveillance video from the school to determine who cruz was. they located him less than a mile from the school. they picked him up, took him to a nearby ho

tammy leitner is in miami with that story. hey, tammy, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, guys. as we know, transmission of the flu virus can be very aggressive in schools, and that's why some schools nationwide are actually shutting their doors in an effort to stop the spread. this flu season is the worst the country has experienced in years. and schools which are a breeding ground for the germs are taking it on the chin. heather holland, a second grade teacher from weatherford, texas, died from flu-related complications. her death putting parents there on alert. >> i'm fairly worried just because there's multiple strands out there and so you can't be fully prepared. >> reporter: many schools are telling students and staff to stay home in an effort to prevent the virus from spreading. holy angels catholic school in illinois closed its door after more than a quarter of its students got sick. and it's not just classrooms that are susceptible, but anyplace where lots of people gather together in close quarters. >> there hav