Welcome to the Washington Week Extra.
I’m Yamiche Alcindor.
This week gun reform efforts on Capitol Hill continued following the high profile mass
shootings and Uvalde, Texas and Buffalo, New York. On Wednesday, survivors and parents of
recent mass shooting victims testified before Congress.
Shot my teacher told my teacher good night and shot her in the head.
And then he shot.
Some of my classmates.
He shot my friend that was next to me.
And I --
Thought he was going to come back to the room, so I grabbed the blood and - and put it all over me.
Lexi received the Good Citizen award and was also recognized for receiving all A's to celebrate.
We promised to get her ice cream that evening.
We told her we loved her, and we would pick her up after school.
And then we left.
I left my daughter at that school and that decision will haunt me for the rest of my life.
Just heartbreaking.
Zeneta Everhart, who's son Zaire, was shot in Buffalo, New York, also described his injuries.
As I clean his wounds I can feel pieces of that bullet in his back.
Shrapnel will be left inside of his body for the rest of his life.
You are elected because you have been chosen and are trusted to protect us.
But let me say to you here today I do not feel protected.
If, after hearing from me and the other people testifying here today does not move you to
act on gun laws.
I invite you to my home to help me clean the Zaire's wounds so that you may see up close the
damage that has been caused to my son and to my community.
Amid all of this.
A bipartisan group of senators say they are optimistic that their negotiations over a
narrow package could get the 60 posts - 60 votes needed to pass the Senate.
Joining me tonight to discuss this and more.
Leanne Caldwell, Washington Post Live anchor and the co author of the Early 202 newsletter,
and Nicole Killian, congressional correspondent for CBS News.
Thank you, both of you for sticking around with me.
I want to go first to you.
How is this pain?
This these emotional emotional testimonies, and we should say that Matthew McConaughey
was also at the White House, demanding urging lawmakers to do something.
How is all of this sort of emotional conversation?
Impacting the negotiations?
Are lawmakers sort of feeling more of a sense of urgency?
Well, I think they have ever since this Uvalde shooting, and also the one in Buffalo occurred.
Um, you know, certainly for those who have been working on the issue like Chris Murphy
and others, but look This was a rough week.
Make no mistakes.
I mean, we saw in terms of that testimony from You know me a surreal fourth grader having
to talk about putting blood on her body just to stay alive.
I mean, there was hardly a dry eye in that committee room as you watched lawmakers listen
to that testimony, not only from her, but her father from this physician who graphically
described some of the wounds that he saw.
Um and then in terms of the buffalo victims as well, You know, I talked to a lot of those
families and Even in spite of all of the Trauma.
They are suffering, too.
You know, I talked to Garnell Whitfield Jr.
Who's 86 year old mother was killed and that tops grocery store shooting and I asked him
how confident he was if Congress would get something done.
And so, he said, he's not naive, but he's hopeful.
So, you know, look, I think these families feel or at least hope that maybe their message
has resonated.
Ah, But as we know, you know, the House passed a series of comprehensive measures of this
week.
The Senate the dialogue continue, so it's not necessarily moving the needle.
Immediately in the Senate.
But there is cautious optimism that maybe they can find this narrow compromise in the
Senate.
But clearly they're going past this deadline of trying to reach a deal by the end of this
week and Leanne jump in here.
Of course, I know you've been doing a lot of reporting on what these negotiations are.
Feeling like looking like sounding like, what are you hearing?
Well, I want to be clear that the negotiations between Republicans and Democrats in the Senate
they are.
These are not sweeping gun reform measures.
There are it's adjustments to current law, perhaps to strengthen current law.
Um they are very intent on doing what Republicans want, and that was Strengthening schools giving
schools.
The resource is high schools after Columbine have already got a lot of resources to quote,
harden the schools.
Now they're talking about doing that more from elementary and middle school, which is
also tragic and its face providing more resources for mental health support, especially that
target Audience who has been really the one that the profile of the shooters he's 18 to
21 22 year old young men, Um, as far as actual gun safety reform is concerned, they're talking,
perhaps about strengthening red flag laws.
But as my colleague Mike DeBonis and I reported yesterday, there's a lot of skittishness even
among that, among Republicans.
They're worried about due process and the fact that someone can go claim that another
person is a danger with no proof in that person can have their guns taken away.
So there's a There's still a lot of unsettled things around there.
And then the final thing is background checks.
There's no and no talk about expanding background checks.
But perhaps being able to go into a newly turned 18 year olds juvenile record to go
into their background to see if there's anything there something that's not possible now and
so hopefully these things will get past.
Hopefully those agreements.
Perhaps that's what Democrats and many Republicans want.
But the impact is still if it comes to pass, how it's unknown how broad this impact will
be.
Nicole, You also talked about sort of the house and what they're passing.
I want to circle back on that.
What?
What if anything coming out of the house can pass the Senate.
Is there sort of any sort of feeling that something that the house is producing What
we passed by the Senate?
No.
In short, I mean and look, the house knows that.
I mean to a certain extent.
This is like a messaging bill.
In terms of this protect our Kids Act package that the House passed this week, which would
You know, potentially raise the purchasing age on semi automatic weapons to 21, you know,
make requirements.
The first safe storage of guns Ban high capacity magazine to being We know that Senate Republicans
aren't going to go that far.
We did also see a separate bill passed.
It was sponsored by Lucy McBath, who introduced that measure that would In essence, nationalized
these red flag laws that would prevent someone from getting a gun if they are deemed to be
a threat on a temporary basis.
But even that, you know, it's Leanne pointed out their concerns with respect to due process.
So even that probably wouldn't make a lot of headway in the Senate and also worth noting
that there to background checks that are bills that are
still sitting in the Senate as well.
You know which we know the majority leader did put on the calendar.
But once these bipartisan talks got underway, you know they Kind of hit, hit the pause button
on that, so it really remains to be seen.
I think in terms of Democrats, they feel that this may be an issue that can galvanize voters
this November, even if they don't get the bigger gains that they would like to see on
this issue, and I wanna Now, if we obviously talked about what happened on Capitol Hill,
what is happening on Capitol Hill and I want to turn to what happened in your faulty Texas
because we're still learning so many details this week.
The New York Times reports.
Heavily armed officers waited an hour to confront the gunman.
Even as on scene supervisors were told that wounded students the little Children were
trapped.
Inside.
Reports say that more than a dozen students a dozen little kids remain alive for over
an hour before officers entered that classroom.
What's your reaction to that?
I mean, personally, If I was a parent, I Of In your body, infuriating.
I mean, I can't even express the anger.
You know, I'm a parent of two Children and I putting myself in that position.
I could not even imagine knowing that there were armed people there were Children calling
911 from inside that room.
And the armed officers were outside the door.
The cops were already there and not doing anything.
Um, you know, there's a Department of Justice investigation there is, I think a state Texas
state investigation as well as there should be.
These are the safeguards that have been put in place, absent any sort of gun reform or
gun control.
To protect schools, and it failed at every single level.
And so there are a lot of questions that need to be answered, and it's going to be a very
difficult process.
Nicole finally to you.
I just wonder if you what your reaction is to this news that we're hearing about these
police officers that we're going to hear, of course, more because there's so many more
questions that need to be answered.
Well, absolutely.
And I mean to Leon's point as well.
And I'm a parent of two young kids just under the age of the It'll students there.
I mean, you no one can only imagine.
What was going on in that time that elapsed.
I mean, certainly there was a report of the one mother whose instinct just kicked in,
and she went into that classroom for herself and yanked her kids out.
I mean, I feel like that's something I probably would do, too.
But you know, hindsight is 2020.
And, you know, you heard the family of Lexi Rubio they're talking about.
You know how that decision to leave their child at school that day will will haunt them
for the rest of their lives.
So I mean, this is going to be a very difficult issue that waves with parents, I mean, Was
see if any legal action Is taken going forward, but it is.
It does raise even more questions about this response.
As we learn more details about this investigation.
Certainly a lot of questions for The police officers in the police response.
There will have to leave it there tonight.
Thank you to LeAnn and Nicole for joining us and for sharing your reporting.
I’m Yamiche Alcindor.
Goodnight from Washington.