-We'd like to begin tonight
by saying a few words
about the horrific mass shootings in Dayton and El Paso.
This was a heartbreaking weekend of unspeakable tragedy
and, yet, one that disturbingly feels all too familiar.
Of course, as we all know by now, there's an epidemic
of gun violence and mass shootings in this country
and, no matter how difficult, we cannot become numb to it,
but it's also not just about guns.
The shooting in El Paso was
an act of white supremacist domestic terrorism
specifically targeting Hispanics.
It's a threat that is growing and real.
These are facts we must look squarely in the eye,
no matter how monstrous.
The spread of violent white supremacy has been fueled
by racist vitriol;
warning of invasions by immigrants,
language that is frequently echoed
by right-wing media outlets and, of course, the president;
and, on top of that, there is, of course,
too much easy access to weapons of war that should be outlawed.
This is a moment that demands moral clarity
and urgency from our political leaders
and so, now that we're seeing the political world react,
we thought we might at least try to offer
a few thoughts on what's happening.
For more on this, it's time for "A Closer Look."
[ Suspenseful theme plays ] [ Cheer and applause ]
[ Applause continues ]
As of Sunday, we've had 251 mass shootings in this country,
in just 216 days.
And, first, let's just make clear, right off the bat,
that we know there is a clear correlation
between the number of guns we have in this country
and the number of gun-related deaths we have in this country.
For one thing, America has 4.4% of the world's population,
but almost half of its civilian-owned guns.
I mean, just look at this chart from the website Vox,
comparing gun ownership to gun-related deaths.
Here are a bunch of other developed countries
and here's where we are.
We're farther away from the UK on this chart
than we are in real life.
[ Laughter ] There are proven,
straightforward, widely popular ways
that we can at least begin to address
this epidemic of gun violence and then, of course,
there's the issue of the president's racist,
anti-immigrant rhetoric
and the growing threat of white supremacy.
Our political leaders should have to answer
for where they stand on these issues, and, yet, at first,
some senior Republicans refused to even go on TV
and answer questions about it,
as CNN's Jake Tapper noted
on his show on Sunday morning.
-We're gonna talk with at least four
presidential candidates today about what they would do
to stop this epidemic of mass shootings and shootings.
We should note that we invited the Republican governor,
lieutenant governor, and both Republican U.S. senators
representing Texas to join us this morning.
They all declined.
The Republican governor of Ohio also declined.
We also asked the White House to provide someone
to discuss these shootings.
That request, too, was declined.
-So, basically, we tried to get the Republican governor
and lieutenant governor, senior senator, junior senator,
the Republican dogcatcher, the Republican
[ Laughter ] sanitation commissioner.
We even tried to get the Republican elephant,
but it literally ran away.
[ Laughter fading ] [ Zap! ]
Let me just say, as a general rule,
when you're spending all of your time dodging questions
from journalists and reporters,
that usually means you're on the wrong side of history.
It's like when the president tweeted his racist attacks
on four Democratic congresswomen of color,
Republicans literally ran into elevators to avoid reporters.
-He said that these progressive congresswomen
should go back to their countries.
I'm wondering what your reaction is to that.
-I'm working hard as I can on reducing
healthcare costs. [ Elevator chimes ]
I'm not giving a daily commentary
on the president's tweets. -But these are, you know,
racist tweets.
Do you have any concerns about it?
-The president said that these minority congresswomen
should go back to their countries.
Do you have a response?
-I hadn't read that, but I'll go check it out.
[ Laughter ] Man, at this point,
if reporters want an answer, they're going to have to start
dressing up as elevator operators.
[ Laughter ]
And then, when Republicans finally did speak up,
they acted as if the reasons for these attacks
were somehow mysterious, even though we know the facts
about the epidemic of gun deaths
and mass shootings in this country
and we know that the threat
of white supremacist terrorism is growing and real.
For example, Texas senator John Cornyn tweeted:
"For every complex problem,
there's an answer that is clear, simple and wrong.
Sadly, there are some issues,
like homelessness and these shootings,
where we simply don't have all the answers."
Hey, man, don't throw in a second problem,
like homelessness, you're also not doing anything about,
[ Laughter ] as a smokescreen
for the first problem.
That's like telling your wife,
"There are a lot of reasons
our marriage is failing, like my multiple affairs
or the fact that you're always mad about my multiple affairs."
[ Laughter and applause ]
You're not gonna get all the answers
if you refuse to ask any of the questions,
but these guys have to pretend this is some sort
of unsolvable problem because they're beholden
to powerful lobbies, like gun manufacturers and the NRA.
It's the same reason why, once Republicans did start going
on TV to talk about the shootings,
they didn't blame virulent white supremacy
or wide availability of military-style assault weapons.
Instead, they, once again, focused
on a favorite scapegoat of theirs: video games.
-How long are we gonna let, for example,
and ignore, at the federal level, particularly,
where they can do something about the video game industry?
I see a video game industry that teaches young people to kill.
-The idea of these video games, to dehumanize individuals,
to have a game of shooting individuals and others,
I've always felt that is a problem for, um,
future generations and others.
-You're blamin' video games?
You do know that other countries have video games, too, right?
Japan has a huge gaming culture and very few gun deaths.
If video games were so influential,
they should make one about Congress called
[Bleep] Do Something.
[ Laughter and applause ]
[ Whistling ]
And, as we all know,
[ Whistling and applause ] as we all know,
there are commonsense gun safety measures that are supported
by a vast majority of Americans,
that we could easily pass right now,
that would at least begin to help in reducing
the frequency and intensity of these horrific attacks.
In fact, the House just passed gun safety legislation
a few months ago, but it's been blocked
in the Senate by Mitch McConnell and, on Sunday,
Ohio congressman Tim Ryan called McConnell out on MSNBC.
-There is a bottleneck in the United States Senate
with Mitch McConnell.
We passed, in the House of Representatives,
a few weeks back, background checks,
a basic step that 90% of the American people support,
and the Republicans need to, quite frankly,
get their [bleep] together and stop pandering to the NRA.
-Damn, members of Congress are cursing on cable now!
[ Laughter ] Good! If there were ever a time
for cursing, this is it.
This is an emergency!
Next time Tim Ryan gives a speech on the House floor,
C-SPAN's gonna have to bleep most of it.
-President Trump, [bleep]
my [prolonged bleep] [ Laughter and applause ]
And, of course, it's not just McConnell
blocking gun safety measures.
It's also the gun lobby and, particularly, the NRA.
Even Trump, at a meeting with lawmakers
after the Parkland shooting,
blurted out that they were afraid
of tightening gun restrictions because of the power of the NRA.
-It doesn't make sense that I have to wait 'til I'm 21
to get a handgun, but I can get this weapon at 18.
I don't know. So I was just curious
as to what you did in your bill.
-We did not address it.
-We didn't address it, Mr. President.
-You know why? 'Cause you're afraid of the NRA, right?
-I think you underestimate the power of the gun lobby.
-No, no. I tell you what.
They do have great power. I agree with it.
They have great power over you people.
-There are a few times I'm glad he's a moron
[ Laughter and applause ] because he just accidentally
tells the truth. He's like the racist uncle
at the family gathering who's constantly
saying offensive stuff, but, once in a while,
because he has no filter, he'll just blurt out
something everyone's thinkin', like,
"That Susan really likes her wine, doesn't she?"
[ Laughter ]
"What is that, like, her fifth glass?"
[ Laughter ]
Moments like this,
you, at least theoretically,
want a political leader
to console and provide moral leadership,
but we know Trump's incapable of that
because of the racist vitriol he's spewed
since the day he launched his campaign.
He's demonized undocumented immigrants
as rapists and criminals,
called migrants seeking asylum an invasion,
and so, it wasn't very believable
when he offered this brief statement
after leaving his New Jersey golf resort on Sunday.
-Hate has no place in our country
and we're gonna take care of it.
We have to get it stopped.
This has been going on for years.
For years and years in our country
and we have to get it stopped.
And a lotta things are in the works and a lot of good things
and we have done much more than most administrations
and it's really not talked about very much,
but we've done, actually, a lot
so, a lot of things are happening.
A lot of things are happening right now.
-Oh, my God, our president sounds
like a guy who took too many mushrooms
[ Laughter ] at a carnival.
[as Trump] A lotta things are happening right now.
[ Smattering of applause ] A lotta.
[ Laughter, clapping ]
This morning, Trump spoke from the White House
and condemned hatred and violence
and white supremacy, specifically,
but, of course, it's hard to take
anything he reads off a teleprompter seriously
after all his previous comments.
Beto O'Rourke summed it up when he offered this response
to a question from a reporter about whether Trump
could do anything to make things better.
Is there anything in your mind that the president can do now
to make this any better?
-What do you think?
You know the [bleep] he's been saying.
He's been calling Mexican immigrants
rapists and criminals.
I don't know. Like, members of the press,
what the [bleep]?
[ Laughter and applause ] Hold on a second.
You know, I-I-- It's these questions
that you know the answers to.
I mean, connect the dots
about what he's been doing in this country.
He's not tolerating racism.
He's promoting racism.
He's not tolerating violence.
He's inciting racism and violence in this country.
So, you know, I just --
I don't know what kinda question that is.
-Yeah, he's right, and, again,
if there was a time for swearing, this is it.
In fact, with all the swearing, at the next debate,
they're gonna have to put Beto and Tim Ryan on a new program
called "C-SPAN after Dark."
[ Laughter and applause ] And, sure enough,
when Trump did read off the teleprompter today,
he ticked through the usual scapegoats he has in the past,
mental illness, video games, and did it flatly.
-We must reform our mental health laws
to better identify mentally disturbed individuals
who may commit act of violence
and make sure those people not only get treatment,
but, when necessary, involuntary confinement.
Mental illness and hatred pulls the trigger, not the gun.
-First of all, he's wrong.
Second, he sounds like a fourth grader
auditioning for the role of the scarecrow in "Wizard of Oz."
[ Laughter ] [as Trump] I would like, uh --
Line.
[ Laughter ]
Brian.
[ Laughter ] This was a horrific weekend
of tragedy and heartbreak
that no one should ever have to bear.
All decent people, everywhere,
should set themselves to the task of stopping this
and expressing solidarity with and support for
the oppressed, marginalized communities
targeted by this hatred and violence.
And, as for our political leaders,
the ones who are supposed to be protecting us,
all we say is they need to --
-Get their [bleep] together.
[ Laughter ] This has been "A Closer Look."
[ Cheering and applause ] ♪♪