Thank you mr president. My name is Curtis Kelley i represent Thurgood Marshall who academy here in the district of columbia. Thank you Vice President madam secretary for having myself and Gregory Baldwin who represent Thurgood Marshall. My tragedy started september the twentieth of last year i have two twin sons that attend Thurgood Marshall in the elite athletes junior olympics one of my sons was youngs Council Member for the district of columbia in ward five and one day he was this was this is after school you know we need to agri we need to protect our kids in schools but we need to protect them on the safe passage ways home as well and their Extracurricular Activities and their pox and recreations and everything that they try to go for their piece. So my sons i hear kelly went to College Bound right after school to announce that he was declaring for his college to run track and to further his education and become mayor of district of columbia or Something Like that. Or his route home he got a text from my sons our young kelly who was going to make it but when he found out there was a press he decided not to because locally we were burnt by the press so i on is texting here watch out someone in how passageway coming home and in a split second year was just walking home maybe from this distance to. The curtains are he was there close to home when a thought. Came out to try to rob zygon and he tried to robs are you trying to rob twenty minutes earlier came back because he was upset he didnt get them students those fast track kids im a come back and get him where i called my son got no its occasion over cell phone shot my son in the head and now hes not here with us that day i could have lost two sons but the tragedy that my family have to live with after losing as i hear is i have another son that attends Thurgood Marshall hes weve been taking them to all types of Family Counseling and therapy in the school has been affected the community has been affected and a local politician says so what we want to do is stand up for our students in the community. Give us some solutions as to what we can do so myself along with helping hands in d. C. Came together without tourneys everyone else has said ok we go do some research and find out what legislation can be found that can better serve to protect our students and the safety zones in their school zones and has been a fight because everybody show up for photo ops all the politicians show up to say were going to get it done were going to protect our kids but just for just a couple weeks later School Shooting just like we all hear about all these experiences at Ballou Senior High School kid is shattered school dumba kid is out of school in our schools on a safe passage way home there parks and recreation is extra curricular our students have to be protected our students have to be protected one local legislator asked me how do you define students how would a criminal defines to this he would you have defined them after you commit a crime against them the students are crying they calling for National Stand out day april twentieth in celebration of columbine because the same is that this is keep happening not just in our schools in our communities as well to upstanding citizens to those those doing the right thing and we as parents yes we try to fight to pass legislation just like you locally but nationally this campaign has grown and its affecting all of us all our kids is gun violence violence gun. So i thank you thats my story and were going to keep fighting and we will keep trying to pass legislation and we will keep fighting for our students and Thurgood Marshall here in a district of columbia and across america as well. Think its. Said. That he had a solution to the School Shooting skeet shooting the second run through. Over the years and weve seen too much of it. And stop it. You know a lot of different ideas and they have a right now is anybody have an idea as to how to stop it what is your recommendation just stuff. I dont know if im going to Say Something you havent already heard. You know i can tell you that in addition to all of the sorrow that were feeling in our community right now theres also a lot of anger anger that the police can visit a person dozens of times and not take action anger that the f. B. I. Could get at least two credible tips and not take anger and not take action and one possible solution which we discussed with secretary device over lunch was if a Tragedy Strikes can we wait for the First Responders to get to the campus four or five or six or seven minutes later and one possible solution which may not be very popular would be to have people in this School Teachers administrators who have volunteered to have a firearm safely locked in the classroom who is are given training throughout the year. There are plenty of teachers that are already licensed to carry firearms. Have you have them raise their hands to volunteer for the training and when Something Like this starts the First Responders are already on campus and if its not the teachers you can have people that work on the campus a custodian could be an undercover policeman someone who works in the in the library or the or the lunchroom could be an undercover policeman he serves lunch every day but he also has a firearm at the ready. A guidance counselor if you cant stop it from happening and with hundreds of millions of guns out there i dont know if it will ever be fully stopped but the challenge becomes once it starts to end it as quickly as possible and just unfortunately you cant wait five or six or seven minutes and what my daughter said earlier that there are thirty two states that have laws that require the schools to to to prepare for this and yet more than half the county and Broward County is one of them and our school was prepared and thank god it was only seventeen lives but when more than half of the counties wont spend the money out of their budget for the training even though the laws says they should itll be that many more the next time so between having the schools train for lock downs and possibly having armed personnel. Staff that are willing to do it yeah anonymously i dont want i dont want the kids to know who have the firearms i dont want the shooters to know who have the firearms i dont want people Walking Around with firearms on their side but when that alert goes off and they put the kids in the closets and they put the kids under the desk then i want the teacher to open mat safe pull out that firearm and be ready to do what needs to be done while youre waiting for the helicopters in the swat teams to come. If you have a common purpose. Thirty three were ready to work with what you. Want and if you kept up to the lead for training. We need to know that it will be there. And the other thing is communication. Is exactly the case with. The Police Officer communicating with. Child Services Child services you know what he wants you to get your ticket and for the government youre going to buy a gun at eighteen. If you are never standing even at that point of fifteen minutes you should be able to communicate with all of those of the people that something is wrong and this child doesnt belong was going to work. For you that is going to thats what is going to make you have a ghost that day what you heard today. Is not like this at least candidates like leaders that are its only been watching the u. S. President donald trump hearing from survivors of the shooting at the marjories Stoneman Douglas ice school in part in florida and which seventeen people were killed last week by a former student we initially started by hearing firsthand accounts of what took place with students expressing their shock and anguish we then heard a very passionate and poignant play from the father of one of the victims saying that is daughter was shot nine times he said he doesnt care about politics or where the two main parties stand on the issue he was calling for a better. Schools stronger protection for children so i do joe castro is live for us now in washington d. C. And weve been listening to really a number of people that idea but perhaps quite remarkable to see the president and members of his cabinet confronted by powerful firsthand accounts and just raw emotion in response to what happened in florida last week just remind us about the purpose of this of this listening session what are we what have we seen happening in. Thats right marian especially when you when you see the president and the u. S. Vice president and the secretary of education all in that one room with these survivors and parents of School Shootings from the perspective of the administration this certainly was an effort to put that image out there to at least show that publicly the administration is listening this was a listening session as a scribe by the white house and in the words of president trumka who opened this session he said that this would not be just a time of talk as in the past with other School Shootings but that this would be the time for action he seems to have at least initially started some of that action yesterday saying that he has directed his government to now ban the use of bomb stocks those gun accessories that convert a rifle into a machine gun and earlier today he also tweeted that he is focused on looking at background checks for the purchase of guns but the big question is will he will he indeed go any further and take up more legislation that these pro gun Safety Advocates have long asked for including expanding those universal background checks and now limiting the age of a person who can buy an Assault Rifle. In the case of this tragedy in florida we saw last week we know the shooter was just nineteen years old and had legally purchased the gun that he used to kill seventeen people with but the big question is how far will trump go how far can he break with the traditional stance of the Republican Party with the support they get from the r. And a lobby and will he make good on this on his promise i mean to the students and survivors and parents and he will do more steps yes and well thats what trump is trying to do to reassure the students and the parents that that listening session is still under way lets just listen and some more lets go in and lets attack because bullets are coming back at us and if you if you do this in a lot of people are talking about it its certainly a point that well discuss but conceal carry for teachers and for people of talent of that type of talent so lets say you had twenty percent of your Teaching Force because thats pretty much the number and you said it. An attack has lasted on average about three minutes it takes five to eight minutes for responders for the police to come in so the tack is over. If you had a teacher with who was adept at firearms they could very well end the attack very quickly and the good thing about a suggestion like that and were going to be looking at a very strongly and i think a lot of people going to be opposed to it i think a lot of people are going to like it but the good thing is that youll have a lot of people with that you know you cant have one hundred security guards in Stoneman Douglas its a big school its a Massive School with with a lot of acreage to cover a lot of flora and so that would be certainly a situation that is being discussed a lot by a lot of people you have a lot of people that be armed that be ready theyre professionals they may be marines that left the marines left the army left the air force and theyre very adept at doing that youd have a lot of them and theyd be spread evenly throughout the school so the other thing i really believe that if these cowards knew that that was that the school was you know well guarded from the standpoint of having pretty much professionals with great training i think they wouldnt go into the school to start off with i think it could very well solve your problem so well be doing the background checks will be doing a lot of Different Things but well certainly be looking at ideas like that you know a lot of people dont understand that Airline Pilots now a lot of them carry guns and i have to say that things have changed a lot people are in attack in the way they would routinely routinely attack and maybe you have the same situation in schools so does anybody like that idea here does anybody like it. Right yes the meadow youre beautiful meadow we talked about that. And do people feel strongly against it anybody anybody strongly against look we can understand both sides and certainly its controversial but well study that along with many other ideas anybody else something to say yes go ahead and. Put her on notice and it is really to have want to target for terrorists very well guarded im not asking for us to. Say which is for us who was put. On this is so many schools are speaking in order for him and ill go outside to call him a life or to just get a breath of fresh air and it is so easy for me to get back into that school im an unknown adult to many of those students can tap on the window open the door for me or i can catch someone coming out the side door and easily get in so one of the things that i that i have thought a lot about and seeing this around the country is we have really soft entry points into schools. This is. Good at the. Bridge in terms. Of my heart goes out to. Everyone whos experiencing this tragedy. Im currently dean of students for bridge which is in the heart of south. He has been listening to president drama still engaging with. Students and survivors of the douglas high School Shooting in florida certainly seeing a white house is keen to show that its taking action in the wake of this latest School Shooting lets get back to castro who is in washington d. C. So weve been hearing about a present time has been very proactive in asking members of his audience there for their thoughts and their recommendations hes going to get feedback and he says that everything is on the table they are looking at Mental Health theyre looking at a better protection and security in schools and protection for kids background checks but perhaps one remarkable point that has been raised and tossed around quite a bit is the potential arming training preparing teachers and members of faculty to be in a position to respond to a School Shooting. Thats right merriam and that has been a very contentious idea which was alluded to by trump when he asked for his audience there to raise their hands who are strongly opposed to the idea but i will tell you who has always cheered on that concealed carry concept of can carrying a concealed weapon and that is trumps base they have long lobby for that measure not to be only in schools but also anywhere in public in some states like texas that is already legal and so though the teachers unions all across the country have been strongly vocally opposed to this idea they call this a complete right wing radical concept it is difficult enough to recruit qualified teachers who simply have the job of educating children to add on this additional responsibility of carrying a weapon and then the question of what to do with it if an emergency like this were to occur how could a a teacher conceivably shoot their own student of that student was posing a risk to the rest of the school etc so many questions that this idea would leave on answered and certainly an extremely unlikely and uphill battle for any type of legislation akins about to pass. All right thank you very much heidi joe castro with all the latest from washington. Well earlier on students from the Florida School in last weeks shooting were among activists rallying in the state capital tallahassee the teenagers met with senators and campaign is to demand a ban on assault style weapons and strict controls on. Hundreds of High School Pupils have also descended on washington d. C. In solidarity they are staging a sit in outside the white house to demand that tougher gun restrictions skipping class to attend the protest. I. Now despite growing condemnation syrian and russian government bombs continue to rain down on the rebel held district of. Damascus more than three hundred people have been killed since sunday and all indications are that its just the beginning the bombardment involves as strikes rockets shelling and barrel bombs a crude unguided device filled with explosives and sometimes with shrapnel and oil according to medical sources eight hospitals were attacked on tuesday alone other civilian buildings have also been attacked like bakeries targeted to cut off food sources and syrias government seems intent on a big operation as eight hundred a ground offensive is next. There is no frontline in eastern. Residential neighborhoods have become battlegrounds the Syrian Government and its allies are bombing the besieged rebel enclave into submission. The suburb of damascus is under attack well look. We heard a plane overhead the myside landed people were torn into pieces i was with my nephew and we were both injured or i heard was the sound of an ambulance and i found myself here hundreds killed hundreds more injured the United Nations says makeshift hospitals are being hit some are now out of service there is a humanitarian crisis and there is nowhere to hide. There is no safe place i tried to convince my parents to say in the first floor of our building thinking it would be safer but they told me theres no difference because buildings are being flattened in the strikes. The government said military reinforcements to the frontlines around the besieged enclave the progovernment newspaper says the Bombing Campaign comes ahead of what it said will be a vast operation which may start on the ground at any time. The thousands of rebels there are promising to repel any advance a ground offensive will not be easy the government and its allies have repeatedly tried to storm eastern huta in the past the rebels have strong defenses and an underground Tunnel Network that they use to their advantage. For the Syrian Government and its allies a victory in eastern. Threats to the capital the rebels are able to fire mortars into damascus at times causing casualties russia is now justifying the Bombing Campaign even though. It is pointing to the presence of the fighters belonging to. The Group Previously known as el nostra accusing them of using civilians as human shields and of what it calls armed provocations. Many including the un are warning the battle for eastern hooter could turn into a repeat of the battle for aleppo. The battle for aleppo lasted for months there was so much suffering among the civilian population before a ceasefire deal was reached that involved a Mass Evacuation of the people of eastern huta fear they could face the same fate senator i was into beirut. Well as hospital struggled to cope with the overwhelming number of people injured by the strikes distraught civilians mourn their loved ones. In this video filmed by the media center a man can be seen cradling his dead son before the body is taken away with others to a makeshift morgue boy was killed in an airstrike in the beit sahour area of the town. Earlier we spoke to my had made several activists living in eastern guta he says the world has turned its back on syria. Seventy two hours the shelling and bombing raids are not stopping. This moment. Theres a lot of people here theres a lot of injuries medical warrants out of service we feel like betrayed really from the international community. That was there was part of the escalation zones and suddenly theres on being a Brutal Campaign on on the area its really we we feel like it betrayed. Syrias ally russia says the rebels in east and go to have ignored call for lay down their arms and surrender is called for a u. N. Security Council Meeting to discuss the situation there this is the un human rights chief condemned the violence accusing the Syrian Government of carrying out a monstrous campaign of annihilation and diplomatic editor james spays reports the Security Council met to discuss the uns charter the governing document of the World Organization with charter drawn up over seventy years ago gives the council a key role of maintaining peace and security a job its miserably failed to do over the last seven years in syria as it met once again divided and impotent some of the worst violence of the war as Eastern Ghouta was once again bombarded for under thousand people that leave. In hell on earth and so my appeal to all those involved. Is for any immediate suspension of all war activities in eastern guta there were in fact for one day two secretaries general in new york mr good terrorists his previous sesa bang kimoon had also been invited to speak he also expressed concern at the continued bloodshed in the syrian situation youd really have must come to an end its going to be a seventy year in for a come march and turn it into a seventh year appearing daughter seven years a sore many civilian population have been killed there is now a new peace effort the ambassador of sweden hopes to bring a new draft resolution to a vote in the council in the coming days were asking for a cessation of hostilities for thirty days throughout syria throughout syria forty or forty eight hours after that access for weekly u. N. Humanitarian and convoys aid aid convoys to. Areas in need particularly urgent busy areas russia had blocked previous efforts to get a resolution on a cease fire in eastern guta facing mounting criticism and bassett or vaseline the benzine has now himself called for a security Council Meeting on the situation on thursday the charter which the un has actually been discussing is in effect the constitution of the world body it begins we the peoples of the United Nations determined to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war now compare those words to the pictures from eastern guta history is bound to judge that in recent days and over the past seven years the u. N. Has failed the people of syria james pays out his era of the United Nations. Announced the news from nigeria where Officials Say fifty girls are still missing following an attack by fighters on a village in your bay state initially some ninety one students at a girls school in that she were reported as missing but some of the girls returned after fleeing into the bush in two thousand and fourteen around adopted more than two hundred seventy cows from the town of chimp ark. Interest has more from my degree well there are differing accounts as to exactly what happened at the government goes cool inductee in your b. State initial reports say the fight is went into town started fighting sporadically in there and then went to the school raided the school food store but nobody was taken then a day later after the attack at least one student told local media that you saw some of our colleagues being taken away so when the fighters moved into the Institution Members of staff of the school and the girls killed the first and ran into the bushes then reports emerged that more than ninety have been unaccounted for from then there were reports that some of the girls will fall out or found their way back into town and back into the school back to the school now some parents also approached the School Authorities telling them that in fact some of their daughters have made found their way home so the obvious to become an issue a statement saying that at least fifty students have been unaccounted for as of the time interval least that statement but said the military and other Security Services are calming the bushes trying to rescue those who fled and found their way why they actually couldnt get home now this is coming at a time when there are still up to one hundred schoolgirls kidnapped in two thousand and forty in chibok and now a lot of people are perceive us to exactly what happened and many people are complaining as to why there was no clear statement more than twenty four hours after the attack. A look at the days top stories now. Syrian government bombs have continued to fall on the rebel held this fictive Eastern Ghouta more than three hundred people have been killed since sunday medical sources say eight hospitals were attacked on tuesday alone other civilian buildings have also been targeted. I am deeply saddened by the terrible suffering of the civilian population. Used and good to four hundred thousand people that leave. In hell on earth my appeal to all those involved is ford in immediate suspension of all war activities he needs them good. U. S. President donald trump is meeting victims of gun violence at the white house including pupils and parents affected by last weeks massacre at a Florida High School seventeen people were shot dead by a form of people with an al fifteen Assault Rifle during the listening session President Trump was confronted by a parent who lost his daughter in the massacre was my daughter im not going to see again shes not here shes not here shes out in north florida whatever it is King David Cemetery thats where i go to see my kid now and it stops we all Work Together and come up with the right idea that School Safety its not about gun laws right now thats thats another fight another battle lets fix the schools and then you guys to battle it out whatever you want but we need our children safe around fifty Nigerian School girls are feared missing after book around fighters attacked a village in the northeast of the country a roll call at a girls school in depth on monday night initially showed that ninety one students were missing Nigerian Police deny any abductions have taken place. Youre up to date with all of our top stories but set for myself and the team here in london people in power is coming up next and then theyll be more news from doha after that at the top of the next hour in about twenty five minutes time. Once held in one of australias toughest Detention Centers now a world renowned surgeon when hes follows dr moon. As returns to his hometown baghdad to give amputees the hope of walking again at this time on aljazeera. You know just twenty seventeen a devastating landslide in sierra leone killed over a thousand people a terrible blow to a country that still bears the scars of the civil war and to be a part of russias initially free graemes point on by Climate Change was thought to be the cold but then other stories emerged of
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