President trumps response and how guns and terror in america are reshaping the fight for the democratic nomination. All tha and more on tonights pbs newshour. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by babbel. A Language Program that e aches reallnversations in a new language, like spanish, french, german, italian, and more. Babbels 1015 minute lessons rare available as an app, online. More information on babbel. Com. Consumer cellular. Financial Services Firm raymond james. The william and flora hewlett foundation. For more than 50 years, ncing ideas and supporti institutions to promote a better world. At www. Hewlett. Org. And with the ongoing support of these ititutions and individuals. This program was made possible by the corporation forb publadcasting. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Woodruff guns, hate and america. Gh we devote tos program to where we are now, and how we face, then change this tragic reality. Las vegas, orlando, blacksrg, newtown, Sutherland Springs, parkland. All sites of mass murder. Oakland, baltimo, chicago. All places witness to gun violence this weekend. Sadly, there are many more to name, and we take this hour to examine why. We start in el paso, where 22 people were killed. Our William Brangham is there. Reporter for many in el paso, its a time to show solidarity. Dozens and dozens of people lined up to donate blood. Local hospitals treating the victims put out the call, and the response haseen tremendous. Frida delgadillo is a College Student at the univers texas in el paso im here because i like tmmo help my ity in any way i can and so many people have shown up that i wanted to be one of them as well. When i first hea that there was a shooting i knew that it wasnt one of the people from el paso. I knew that it was an outsider because our community woul never do Something Like this. Reporter saturdays massacre happened at a walmart, just fivt miles fr border, where american and mexican families alike were shopping, many getting backtoschool supplies. Last night, in downtown el paso, hundreds gathered to grieve the victims. Chris cummings is in local realw estate, and cah his wife and family i think the only way to healt is to f bind with your community and let everyone know that el paso is not the type of place where this occurs. This was somebody frside our community and so we have to show our strength. R reporolice believe the 21yearold killer originally from the dallas area wrote ara cist manifesto that he posted online mutes before he entered the walmart. He cled his rampage a response to the hispanic invasion of texas. At least seven of the dead were mexican nationals, and some at last nights rally were still struggling that immigrants were the target. Mary mackay is a Public School teacher obviously it hurts more when this is your own hometown where this happens but i think it adds a wholother level of pain that this guy came to my home to kill us because of what color we are. You know, he went out of his way just to kill us for being hispic. Thats a lot to deal with, liket asnt a random shooting, he wanted to kill brown people. Reporter the border city of el pasos about 80 latino, and its been a hub for thousands of Central American migrants b crossing theder to seek asylum in the u. S. President trump has also made disparaginecomments about th city, and described these migrants as representing a kind of attack on the u. S. Democratic president ial candidate beto orourke represented the el paso area in congress. We have a president right now who traffics in this hatred. Who incites this violence who calls mexican immigrants rapists and murderers. Who calls Asylum Seekers amals and an infestation. Reporter congresswoman Veronica Escobar who was o elecrourkes seat in sa the shooting hurt a community thats already the target of the president S Immigration crackdown. No i think itoincidence this has been ground zero fors the presidenro tolerance policies, the return to mexico policy. Hatred and bigotry and racism has been tming below the surface for as lg as america but now its fullblown, out in the open and we have a real epidemic of hate in this country. And with the epidemic of gun violence that makes for a very deadly combination. Reporter the tragedy is also distressing for locals who see an oftentimes ugly nationalve debateimmigration being waged in a city that welcomes its diversity. I think the passions of many people are being stirred and i think that its largely it is partisan and it is wrong and im just going to call it what it is it is an evilness. We have to work together. I dont understand why were h allowired to infiltrate r communities. Reporter and in the end, beyond politics and policy, many simply want the world to know the horror of saturday is not the city they call home. It is a very lovely place. We really chose el paso to live here. We love the people, we love thel city, e the nature everything. And we live here al0ready over years by choice. People should come and see how the community is, how the place is and then they will really get a different idea about the border. Woodruff william, we are getting a see of how people e doing. Tell us more about how this community is responding. Well, judy, i think any community u go to after theyve suffered a major tragedy like this, one of these Mass Shootings, every Community Across the country says w he couldne imagined it ever would have happened here, but especially in el paso, which is a community, when you think of the shooter saying he targeted the place because of immigrants, this is a commun unlike ive ever seen anywhereelse in the u. S. , it so embraces their immigrants identity. You can see mexico from where im standing right here. The constant flowmy of mexicans and americans back and forth er the border. One man here referred to it as eity being juarez and el paso that is dtoided cotwo countries, and thats really the scwoins get here. Every Single Person weve talked to hasaid we welcome immigrants here, we have immigrants in our families, we live o this side o the border, we live on that side of the border, and, so,hat warm embrace of dual nationalities. In the park lot of the mall, you see mexican license plates all over the place. That kind of community, when you suddenly have violence visited on it because of immigration is especially jarring. Woodruff so the argument, william, that th rhetoric about immigration contributed to this, do peopl there believe that . Some people say t st ande people dont. I mean, freda, the young woman we met at the blood drive this morning, said no one is to blame for the shooting except the shooter. No one put ahi gun is hand and no one told him to drive 600 miles down here to do what he did but, she said and this is a point we heard from a lot of people at is undeniable the rhetoric about immigrants, calling them rapists and murderers, talking about Central American migrants coming here as an invasion of the United States, she said, and many echoed this, that its undeniable that that contributes to a feeling of fear and potential for violence. You mix that in with a young man whos been marinating in White Supremacy online for what seems months or years, thats a recipe for disaster. Woodruff and that it waswi iam brangham reporting for us from el paso, thank you. After the carnage in el paso, another tragedy. Our Yamiche Alcindor reportn,s from dayhio. gunshots reporter 30 seconds. Nine shot dead. And a commity reeling from yet another mass shooting. This time the violence unfolded early sunday, in a busy nightlife district in dayton, ohio. Police fatally shot the gunman, soon after he opened fire with an automatic weapon. He was just steps away from entering a popular bar ned peppers in the citys oregon district. Anthonreynolds had just left the bar as the shooting began. I know its gunfire, so im looking around and im like, okay wts going on . But then what you hear right after that is repeated, like, shots. High power shots like boomboom boomboomboom. So e just start really running. Im grabbing my cousin, we ruing. And i just start yelling at the peopleont of me, like, thats a mass shooter, thats a mass shooter reporter at one point, he was just ten feet away from the shooter. Reporter the shooters own d. Ster is among the dea till, the motive is unclear. Dayton mayor nan whaley said the Quick Response by Dayton Police prevented scores more from dying. Im completely grateful for the Dayton PoliceDepartment SixPolice Officers, five of h whe only been on this force for three years, ran toward the shooter heroically,in not with theof weapon he had but with the weapons weve given to them to stop this, and they did that in 24 seconds. Reporter the shoote full body armor and carried a. 223 ciber rifle with magazines holding nearly 250 rounds of ammunition. Officials say the gun was legally purchased in ohio. Hours later, police tape outlined the epicenter of the massacre. Yellow cones marked casings found on the scene. A pile of mismatched shoes scattered the sidewalk evence of the rush to esca the scene. Also in the aftermath shock,dn s and calls for action. You dont expect that to hit you at home. Unfortunately its become a reality of our world. Reporter pam brooks lives in a highrise building in the oregon district. From her windoshe witnessed thchaos. Ive seen people tell you to get in touch with your congressman and that kind of thing and ive never reached ouy toe representing me. But that has changed already. I sent off some emails a Text Messages this morning voicing my concerns and aing them to get back to their jobs and get some legislation in place so that other people dont need to go through this. Halleluja reporter sunday night, the Community Held vigil near the site of the shooting. Some, like teresa smith were still in shock i know love is greater, but b there is so mu and evil and divide and it doesnt have to be that way. All of these people are just innocent people who want to live and enjoy life and its, like, its been cut down. Reporter susie lane heads the dayton chapter of progun control group moms demand action. She hopes the Mass Shootings ohll spur both congress an legislators to act. Right n in congress there is a universal background check law that the house has passed and the senate has not taken it up yet. Thats a first step. A o need that cultural change where we understand guns arent the answers to our oblems. Ea reporter mhile, earlier at the vigil do something do something do something do something reporter the crowd shouted at repubcan governor mike dewine. They demanded he pursue gun control legislation immediately reporter after the vigil, dewine told a columbus sispatch reporter that he open to discussing gun control policies like expanded background checks. That willingnesso enact some reforms was shared by other ohio republicans. G. O. P. Senator rob portman sunday there arent enough laws, and in fact no law can correct somer of thefundamental cultural problems we face today as a country. Reporter reynolds, who witnessed the shooting, said he is hoping President Trump will himself seek change. He has to change his tone from the top, because youre in the seat that is powerful. Youre in a seat thats everything that represents this country. So if youre not holding it upfo everybody then thats a problem reporter he added that all of the countrys lawmakers must act to prevent these massacr after these cameras cut off we still got we still forced to sit here and work with each other and, and figure it out because these cameras aint going to be here forever, the lighting wont be on daytonwi forever becaus the rules we got in place this gonna happen somewhere else real soon. Everyone is shocked this took place in their hometown. Many fear around the corner another mass shooting could unfold in another city, judy. Woodruff yamiche, we heard Anthony Reynolds tell you hes concerned with President Trumps rhetoric. How much of that sort of frustration are you hearing from people on the ground there o . Over aner again, i have been hearing from people that the president s rhetoric as well hias inaction on gun reform is part of the problem and part of the reason why they feelik these Mass Shootings continue to happen. People here are juggling a lot. Th a is a city wi booming and rising immigrant population. Theres alsowh largele suburbs that are opposed to a lot of the citys pro immigrant policies here, and then you have the city really dealing with a number of things that really hurt the city here. You have the itcity dealingh a kkk rally that stirred up a lot of emotions, you also have a city that dealt with a string of tornadoes that hit and caused a lot of damage in may, and then the mass shooting. So you have people looking to the president to change his tones and help with a city who is just dealing with so much. Nd woodruff yamiche you know about the challenges in that community, you re there just last week, reporting on it, talking tow oters. Ch hope do you pick up from people thate aybe theso terrible shootings could lead to some change . People here definitely want to see change, but they dontfe as though theres going to be a loft change, and thatsma meanwhilly because people have been telling me after the newtown and the shooting in, parkla florida, people thought there would be a big momentum and washingto would pass all sorts of gun laws and that didnt happen. Now rthhopeful lawmakers will hear their voices but theyre not sure if they will be able to make real change. Woodruff Yamiche Alcindor reporting for us tonight fromda on, ohio, thank you, yamiche. Woodruff in the days other news, wall street had its worst losses of the year, after chinas currency hit an 11year loagainst the u. S. Dollar. The move sparked new fears about the escalating trade war. The dow nes industrial average lost 767 points to close at 25,717. The nasdaq fell 278 points, and the s p500 gave. The doand the s p were down about 3 . The nasdaq lost 3. 5 . In violation of international agreements. New violence has broke ant in hong kong after a general strike by pro Democracy Forces disrupted commuter traffic. The protests lasted all day, with some throwing rocks and wdlice firing tear gas to disperse the c after nightfall, demonstrators set fires at police stations. The citys chief executive carrie lam urged restrnt. translated today some citizens made their voices heard by participating in the strike action. No matter what kinds of requests you have, i hope all of you can exess your voices in a peaceful manner. People may choose to strike, but ould respect others freedom of returning to work. Woodruff lamarned hong kong is on the verge of what she called a very dangerous situation. Still, a top Police Official said there is no need to call in the chinese military. The hindu nationalist government of india touched off new turmoin ashmir today. Officials asked parliament to d the muslimmajority territorys right to make its own laws. The indiancontrolled part of kashmir was put on security lockdown and thousands of troops were deployed. In pakistan, muslim protesters turned out to denounce the decision, while pakistani eleaders warned it will h serious effects on regional security. The political crisis in puerto rico has deepened after the islands senate filed suit to oust newly installed Pedro Pierluisi as governor. The suit says he cannot legally hold the office beuse he was not properly confirmed. He also faces public opposition over legal work for a ial control board that imposed austerity measures. translated well for us it really symbolises a coup. People of puerto rico have woken up, theyve discovered the power they have, have said this is enough. Oo uff pierluisi was named puerto ricos secretary of state last week. He argues th put him in line to succeed Ricardo Rossello as governor, when rossello resigned on friday. The Puerto Rican Supreme Court will now consider the issue. A federal judge in new yorknt ced a florida man to 20 years in prison today, for mailing pipe bombs t democrats and trump critics. Sar sayoc had pled guilty in march to using weapons of mass destruction. The packages were sent before the midterm elections last fall. None of the bombs went off. And, another republican in the u. S. House of represritatives is re. Texas congressman Kenny Marchant announced today he wont run for rielection next year in his suburban dallas di. He gave no reason for calling it quits after eight terms. Marchant joins nine other househ republicanve decided not to run again. And,wo of americas largest newspaper chains have agreed to merge. Gatehouse media is buying gannett compan which owns u. S. A. Today among other dailies. The combined company will include more than 260 newspapers. Woodruff back to our look at guns in america. Excluding el paso and dayton, just since yesterday, ateast 88 people were shot and at least 28 people were killed by guns in 27 states, according to the gun violence archive. In act, we rarely report on these events gang warfare,nc domestic vio robbery. And that excludes suicide, the rgest factor for gun deaths. Amna nawaz reports that the number of guns in america som llion of them, more than one per person is greater than in any other country. And, that even on days of relative calm, guns kill roughly 100 people in this country every day. Nawaz President Trump condemnethe shootings and denounced White Supremacy and idracist hate, which he fueled such violence. He also warned against thef perilse internet and social media, which he said helped to foment that hate. But he declined to call for tougher gun laws, instead pointing to the mentth state of killers. We must reform our Mental Health laws to better identify mentally disturbed individuals who may commit acts of violence and make sure these people not only get treatment, but when necessary, involuntary confinement. Mental illness and hatred pulls the trigger, not the gun. Nawaz we look now at some of the questions that are again in the air, in particular, what, if anything, can or should be done to curb gun deaths in this country. We get two views. Shannon watts is founder of moms demand action, a Grassroots Organization she established int the days the 2012 shooting at sandyhook elementary school, to strengthen u. S. Gun laws. Larry ward is chief marketing officer with gun dynamics, a group that promotes grights and the gun industry. Welcome to you both. Thank you for making the time. Shannon, ill start with you. I want to take a moment, and you can, on a day like today, when Many Americans are reeling from the events over the weekend, what is your message to them . What specifically are changes you would like to see put into place . Well, we are specifically calling on congress to come back from recess and to do their jobs. Were asking them to pass leorslation that weve seen in the states, a background check on every gun sale, 21 states now require that, as well as red flag legislation. 17 states have red flag laws and have shown to be essential in interrupting gun suicide and gun homicide, and it is time for congress to do their job and protect americans instead o protecting gun manufacturers profits. Larry ward, what was your reaction when you heard about the events of this weekend . I w horrified. At the end of the day, all gun violence is terrible. Were looki at this thing that keeps happening over and over again. According to the Crime Prevention research center, 94 of these active shooter and mass ootings take place in gunfree zones. Shannon, whats your response what you just heard from larry la first of all, its not true most Mass Shootings occur in gunfree zones. Most occur in private residences and domestic violence. Walmart was not a gunree zone. Open carry was allowed in walmart and there were armed customers when the shooting happened. So those are talking points. Its been debunked over and over again. There are no background checks required on unlicensed sales in this country in 29 states, its helped so many criminals and minors get easy access to guns. And the idea just because one law wouldnt have stopped one specific mass shooting that b shouldnt han passed is as nine. We dont say one law is going to talk care of guches. We know they would work on a federal level. We want to ask you about what the president said, what people are talking about Mental Health. The Sutherland Springs shooter had a serious Mental Health issue and suicides actually comprise a large number of gu violence deaths in america. So whats your response to that argument. When you look at n homicides only about 5 of shooters show any sign of Mental Illness. We know people who are mentally ill are more likely to be victims of gun violence and perpetrators. Its a talkingoint. After the sandy hook, they blamed video games, movies and Mental Illnessud. S show its none of that. We have a hiring hi25er suicide rate because of guns themselves. Larry ward, yre a gun owner. Youre speaking on behalf of gun owners who comprie a minorityo f americans. What safety regulations would you be willing to sign on to . If were talking about safety, im talking about people safety, and th only way to stop somebody with murderous intent that goes into a place to stoot, un over, to drop a bomb, the only place to stop the people is to have people who are vigilant with their ability to defend themselves and the people around them and to make sure that law aiding citizens are armed so they can act. See, what happened in date ones there happened to be an armed Police Officer there. Of course, that whole area has most of those stores and restaurants and clubs were all gunfree zones, so thats why the place was chonnen, but thana god ther an officer there. Let me ask you about the dayton shooting. At the same time, nine people died in the shooting. Are you saying nothing could have been done to prevent the deaths . The whole case hasnt come out. There was a whole lot made about blaming President Trump, you know, and blaming, you know, President Trumps policies and ideas on the border. So we dont know the motivations of that particular shooter. Would anything have stopped them . No, he could have driven rented a truck and driven it and run over aunch o people. But he didnt use a truck. He use a k gun. W he doesnt use a truck. I want to stick toto what we know. As you mentioned, we do not know the motivation of the dayton alleged shooter at thisoint. It is true in america right now we have more guns in circulati than americans, and a large portion of that ownership is concentrated in a minority of americans, so im t understand from you, and you seem to be saying that theres nothing you would bwilling to do, theres no additional safety regulations you would be willing to agree on. Is that right . Well, you know, look, come to us with what i consider an additional safety regulation, which is ending gunfree zones, which, is you know, having more people look, everybody is what is the data you can show that shows that prevents death inri a . Well, what data can you show that shows gfree zones actually stop anybody fromsh ting . Let me tell you what data we have, federal waiting periods, for examp, can significantly lower gun violence in america. Background checks caann signify lower gun violence in america. Would either of those be amenable proposed safety regulations. There are background checks in all of the states in the there arete background checks. You ow, there are theres due process to get guns out of hands of people with Mental Illness. If you commit a crime, you cant have a gun in most states. There are very, very strict gun control laws in all the cities of america, and no ones talking about the 47 shootings oin chichere they have very strict gun control laws. Hannon, i would like task you, its been seven years since the Mass Shootings at sandyook elementary, which is the reason you began this work in the first place. A lot of people said back then if the murder of 20children ages six and seven could not bring people to actually change our gun laws i america that nothing will. Do you see anything in the weekends events that would lead you to believe now is the time to chang . Moms demand action is the largest gun Violence Prevention Organization in the country. We are larger than the n. R. A. We outspenthem in the midterm elections anduv outmaed them. We won in the midterm elections and well beat them in 2020. There are 4 millionuns in the hands of civilians in america. If that made us safer, we would be the safest in the world. We have the highest number of gun laws in the history of nations. The only y we fix that by every american getting off the sidelines and usi voices and voants and demanding change. We leave it there. Larry ward and shaon watts, thank you very much for your time. Nawaz now, from that stark debate over guns, to a resurgent threat here in the u states domestic homegrown terrorism, motivated by racism, whitsupremacy, hatred of government and immigrants. The president , whose own language has been frequentlyfo condemnestoking those hatreds, spoke to these issues this morning in one voice our tion must condemn racism, bigotry, and White Supremacy. These sinister ideologies must be defeated. Hate has no place in america. Have asked the f. B. I. T identify all further resourceths need to investigate and disrupt hate crimes and domestic eeterrorism, whatever they nawaz so how pervasive are these racist ideologies in thend u. S. Eyond . What is thu. S. Government doing, or not doing, to combat this threat here at home . Were joined by kathleen belew, a professor at the university of chicago who is an expert on the history of white supremacists,au anor of bring the war home the White Power Movement and paramilitary america. And seamus hughes, the Deputy Director of the program on extremism at george wagton university. Welcome back to you both. Kathleen, id like to start th you. Address for me, if you can, the president s first remarks, the bigotry, the White Supremacy, what do we know about the threat, how do we know thats led to violence and how has that changed over time in america . What were seeing now in el paso, and ill swear its not simply a single act ofnc vio we often think about these events as singular acts of horror andeth hard not to think about it that way when its in yo community and in your home. The thing is what were looking at is generations old. Its organized. Its part of a social movement crat had a broad purpose in every generations gender, age and class, and were seeing the fruitioesof dec of organizing. That movement came together after the vietnam war, it brought together activists into a coherent White Power Movement, and where we are now is responding to the fact that weve never had a coherent prosecution of this weve never had a largescale public response to this movement, and itsfa ora very m problem for our nation. I want to clarify when your saying were seeing the fruition of this decadeslong movement, are you isaying the threat larger than its ever been before . N i think it is. One thing you earn fromu looking at the archives of this movement from the history of the earlier period is that when thesctivists think about violence and acts of violence like the el paso shooting or the Oklahoma City bombing or the attacks on synagogues, those acts are not meant to be the ing. Point of this organ theyre meant to be political and ideological actions that bring other activists into the movement that abe waken people into joining this ground well. The end point is race car w t to ask you about the recruitment, but i want to ask about the other part of what president eump said is h asked authorities about what resources they need. What resources do they need to combat a growing average larger threat than before. Domestic terrorism has been an afterthought when addressing thish issues. You have less f. B. I. And analysts looking at the issue, at the same time you have a nd active investigation when it comes to i. S. I. S. And american terrorism. I think its time tw ,t a hard lo at where were putting our resources. What would you say about where the resources a going, where they should be . Not quite yet. Theyre woefully understaffed as it ands now. Were going to need to focus this in a coherent way. Were also going to nee to look at this as a movement around the country. This is an ideology thats pervasive. Kathleen, back to you on the idea this is a movement in somet way, and af this recruiting goes on yom. I heard one former whiteac suprt talking about the internet as a 247 hate buffet. Tell me abo how this movement grows. This is another area wherery what seems ew to us because of social media and the way the attacks go viral in our current moment is a strategy thats been percted in this movement over decades. This movement went online in 1983, 84 and kind of the preinternet chatrooms called the liberate net, and on those chatrooms, they were exchanging not only hit lts and assassination targets and things like this but also recipes and posted personal ads. In effect, they were doing social media befe social media even existed for the rest of us. So the idea that thats new is erroneous. What is new is of course the scale permittedin by these of outlets and the way that technologies and communications and technologies of killing allow thes body cou to go higher and higher and higher. I want to ask you abou how we approach this in a federal way to combat this threat and play a sound byte from Christopher Wray asked about a threat from dick durbin in july. I think the greatest terrorist threat to the homeland is t homegrown violent extremists. Wc pshp jdd inspired . Which is jihadist inspired violence. That does not meaby any stretch of the imagination that we dontq terrorism,ng inclu hate crime committed on behalf of some kind of white supremacist ideology extremely seriously. The f. B. I. Director is distinguishing americans inspired by foreignsm terro and those inspired by domestic ideas, White Supremacy and so on. Do you think there is a bigr threat one over the other. Theyre generally on par when it comes to violence. En it domes to Law Enforcement, you have the mateals for terrorism clause that allows you to interject yourself sooner. So less tools available for Law Enforcement and less coordination at a federal level. The big question is what is driving the growth of this movement. A lot of people have concentrated theonversation around some of the political rhetoric, some of it coming from rump himself. You have studied the move the for years and years. Tell me how you assess whats fueling this hatred right now. I think it might actually take a step back and think about what were calling these groups and ideologies. Whiermsyoc o]m ish m white supremacist White Supremacy is much bigger than. El pa White Supremacy undergirds norms terts of our public works legal system, court s and more. What were talking about here is a small Fringe Movement atrtmpting an oow of the United States through guerillace viol to incite a race war. This is in writing, what people are trying to accompln these manifestos. When we think about a phrase ionalism, in think too many people think about sort of overzealous patriotism or whiteness within the United States or promoting whiteness within the United States, but the nation at the heart of White Nationalism is t the United States, it the aryan nation, its imagined as a transnational white policy fundamentally opposed to the interests of the United States. So no matter how much win nod is coming from the elected officials, and this isan area for serious concern, we still have to attend to this fringe Violent Movement that is interested in a much more radical future. Wo a lot o to be done and hope hopefully more from our federal government as well. Kathleen belew and seamus hughes, thank you both. Thank you. Woodruff and thank you. The wkends call for policy changes nixd today i say to donald here is some of what they had to say. Stop your antiimmigrant rhetoric, stop the hatred, because thatt language, t hatred, that divisiveness creates a situation where certain people will do terrible things. Mr. President , its long pasi you stood up to it. Mr. President , its long pastdd time youssed it for what it is. This is hatred, pure and simple, and its being fueled by rhetoric that is so divisive ait causing people to die. What happened in el paso and in so many of the other shootings across the country, it was fueled by hate, and no, mr. President , as he said after charlottesville, there are not two sides to the issue when the other side is the ku klux klan and white nationalists. There is woodruff dayton, ohio is in the home state of anothe candidate, congressman tim ryan. Ryan has suspended his president ial campaign in the wake of this weekends shootings. Hes also been in dayton since yesterday, and he joins me now. Man ryan, thank you for being here. President trump, we learned, is going to dayton on wedneay. Today, among other things, he said its not Mental Illness ana hatepulled the trigger, i he said its not the gun, rather, its Mental Illness and hate. How do you respond to that . Im im furious about the whole thing, to be quite frank. T i thins an insult to the victims both here in dayton a in el paso and all the victims dthat have d in scenarios like this across the United States over the past many years because we know that four out of five of these crimes has nothing to do twith Mental Illness, t the vast majority of people and families that are dealinglnith mental s, those people are not violent in any way, shape or form, and thishole idea about video games, well, of course, we dont want our kids playing them too long to distract, because we know many people inther countries who have Mental Illness and who have played video games, they dont have this rate of crime. The issue is the god blessed gun and these weapons of war that are on theee s slaughtering people in places like dayton and el paso,nd if we dont close these loopholes and stop making these weapons of war, these crimes are not going to stop. Woodruff well, as you know, the house of representatives passed legislation this year, democratic majority, it is h not moved in the senate. Are you hearing a clear message from voters in ohio, in dayton about what they think should be done . We had a candlelight vigil last nht and i stayed here for two hours after and for anyone who wants to help dayton, go to the Dayton Foundation web site and make a donation to help the victims. There are kids who lost their father, so go to Dayton Foundation web site and send some money in to help these families. But i was here for two hours after, and i met republicans that were uptelling me to get something done, please, that this has gone too far. So when you hear that coming from democrati town in a democratic county in southwe ohio, you know that were reaching the point in this country wher peopl are fed up and the n. R. A. Paid off politicians like mitchco ell and donald trump and others in Republican Leadership will get steam rolled. Kihappen now or ds it take more time . Im not sure. But were going to apply as much pressure as we possibly can on these politicians carrying water from the gun manufacturers and the n. R. A. O its gotop, and i think were building more and more republican support, although you may not see it refcted in their political leadership. Woodruff i want to know if theres any single thing that can realistic happen, for instance the governor of ohioha been pushing red flag laws that allaw weapons firearms toom be taken away people who may present a danger to the community. Thisyos something know, we havent seen an appetite for nationally. Do you think that tide is rning . Well see about the red flag. Maybe maybe just maybe god, we hope and pray maybe theres a step we could take, but i will be clear that is very, very inadequate. That is saying if you know somebody, if you think they may try to buy a gun, if, if, if, that maybe you can prevent it. What were sayingev is w goes to buy a gun, regardless of who they are, should get nda backgrcheck, and thats the bill thats sitting at mitch asconnells doorstep right now, and it the support of about 80 of the american people, over 70 of gun owners and hunters that also think there should be a background eck and, yet, Mitch Mcconnell wont bring it up for a vote. To me, that is an insult to these people here who have lost lives. I mean, these people haped and dreams, they had plans, they had vacations, they have kids. You know, the kids had dads that they lost this is just gutwrenching, a to think people are so inadequate in their response and the prident is t distracter in chief more than anything else because he wants to getof everybod talking about some of these issues, like gaming, as posed to dealing with the real issue, which is the weapon of war that slaughters peopl both in el paso and here in dayton. Woodruff congressman tim ryan with us here tonight from ohio, from dayton. Thank you, congressman. Woodruff and that brings us woodruff now we hear from another democratic president ial candidate. Bl bill dio is mayor of new york city and runs the Largest Police force in america. You do run a large city that has its own share and history of guches. Yep. Woodruff how do you look on what has happened over this past w . Its a tragedy that does not have to be in america. I think thisapns for a reason. Its the proliferation of weapons and the ease wit which people can get them, and now it is thisib additional ho reality of White Supremacy growing in this country, this movement of White Supremacy growing, aided and abetted which messages from by message from the white house. We have to understand this wasnt the case 20 ars ago. Weve seen Mass Shootings become more and more common and on top of it now cwith a political agenda. We saw it with the tree of life synagogue in pittsburgh, in poway,alifornia, now el paso. We have to understandg somethchanged and we have to confront it two ways number one, congress has to pass laws, background checks, wait period before you get a gun, get assault weapons, and we need leadership thats goin tyiewn unify us and not unify us and t tear us apart. Woodruff your state, new york, has some of the strictest gun laws in america yet you still have your share of violence. Critics say you go to states with their share of gun laws and they sll have violence. I contest that. New york city is one of the safest cities in america. We had under 300 homicides. For a city of 8. 6 million people, and the most diverse place oneo earth e in one of the smallest, crammed together in one of thet small geographies you could happen for 8. 6 million people, and yet ualve created more mut respect, weve created a stronger social fabric and our police are working closer with communities. The result, gun violence continues to go down, crime continues to go down. I would argue weve got proof that those strong gun safety laws correlate to reduced violence. Woodruff you had in new york city in the brookn neighborhood of brownsville, a weekend before this shooting, one person dead, eleven wounded. You waited several days before calling it a mass shooting. Why . I have sense said i understand wy people in the community wanted to make sure somehow there wasnt a different value giv to one of thesene tragedies in place versus another. I went to the Brownsville Community and people were concned the community not be painted negatively because of the acts of a few. They appeared to be members of a local gang. I didnt want to add to the negative impression people were worried about. On the other hand, vois said woe wie dont want to be undervalues, we dont want a shooting that affects black lives to be less important than shootings for instance on some of the other college campuses. Said thats fair. I will refer to it as a mass shooting, etch if the motive or the specifics may have been different, i understood why seople thought that important. Woodruff another issue, of course, new york city has been the site of the Worst International terrorist i vent ever, 9 11. Woodruff do you think theres too much emphasis on International Terrorism and not enough on domestic . I think its time to reassess because for years there was a valid concern about International Terrorism, obviously, after 9 11. But even when i first camento office, we were still seeing more activity by terrorists directed at major locations in the west. Thank go that has been reduced for a variety of reasons. But whats come up is the domestic trim. This is the threat w need to focus on more and more. Woodruff mayor bibdzo of, no. Thank you. Uf woo and that brings us to politics monday. Itamy walter of the cook pal report and host of the politics with amy walter on wnyc. And tamara keith from npr. She also cohosts the pr hello to both of you on this time of serious reporting on the events of the weekend amy, not serious significant gun control measure has passed in this country in two decades. Why not . Lets look back at 1993 and 1994 where you had two major piec of legislation pass, the brady bill and the assault weapons ban, and look how the makeup of the democratic and the republican caucuses in congress then. You had a lot of suburban republicans who crossed party lines, supported a democratic president in his quest toass gun safety legislation. You had a lot of conservative democrats from rural areas in the south who voted against it. And it was those coals that made coalitions that made Something Like thatpossible, a bipartisan coalition. In the last ten 1e÷ major realignment in this country. There are very few republics left in suburban areas in part because of the republican position on guns, and there are very few democrats left in2n rl smalltown america in part because of the National Democratic partys position on guns. And, so, what we have now are democrats and republicans inco ress that are geographically just so similar. They dont represent aiversity of geography. What that means is votes o gun are piewcial partisan, they are no longer abt the issues on the geography you dont have a diversity within the caucus so youre not going to have diversity in the votes. Woodruff what would you add to that, tam . I would add thats pretty remarkable given the pbs Newshour Marist polled we just got back fairly recently found overwhelming support again for background woodruff we can show those percentages right here. Yeah, youve got 96 of 8 democrat of republicans, 89 of independents. I dont think that many people support apple pie. Yet, in terms of congress, it simply has not been able to be done. The legislation that passed in the house this year was the fit time the house has passed legislation dealing with gun control since t 1990s. In the senate, in 2013, there was this effort, the lastou ses bipartisan effort with manchin and toomey, a Republican Democratic senator, and that was after sandy hook, that was thelosest theyve come and couldnt overcome a filibuster. Toomey, the senator from pennsylvania said he wants to backws this and bring tha and, yet, he doesnt actually want the senate to come back into session ri aty because he doesnt think it has the votes. Woodruff could this be the impetus, amy, to change in some thway what status quo is . You had the president today saying we needn biparti and unity. The ship has sailed on that. Hes calling for uty yet thats not what he practices from his bully pulpit. That has not been his administration at all. So you cant now, two years in, after running as incredibly divisive administration and the rhetoric that has come from the white house to say, well, now were going to come together and change this. The thing, too about this bipartisan bill that passed tno house, 8 republicans supported it, 2 democrats voted against it. In 1994 when they passed the ban, 38weapons republicans supported it, 77 f that is going back tos t idea we have just sorted ourselves and now this polarizing its as much about the messenger as the. Messa everyone agrees in the poll weqt they drust the other party to do it. Woodruff but we are reading and, heari tam, about some problems in the gun lobby. The n. As had a lot of internal issues. Is there in any sense a weakening on the side of gun rights and a strengthening on the side gun control . Or,gain, are we looking at these staying this way iuin perp. N. R. A. Hasnt spent as much money in midterms as before, and yet it isnt about the money, its about the sway they have in peoples districts. Not yet have we seen a genuine erosion of that, and the other thing is the n. R. A. Is only one group, and there are a number of other gun Rights Groups who sort of pick up the mantel. Woodruff and quickly, amy, among the democrats, pretty much for the most part they want n control. Yes. Woodruff so are we assuming this isnt going to be an issue . Among democrats, no. Woodruff among democrats. It wasnt that long ago, judy, you remember the 2000 election, and there were a lot of democrats who said the reason al gore post inces like his home state of tennessee because of inthe N Administration taking a harder line on guns. So democrats are ill theyve made a lot of movement on this issue in the last 20 years to get to this place where they are tally unified in support for more g regulation. Woodruff amy walter, tamera keith, thank you both. Youre welcome. Woodruff and thats the newshour for tonight. Im judy woodruff. Join us online and again here tomorrow evening. For all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you and see you soon. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided b babbel. A language learning app that uses Speech Recognition Technology and teaches reallife conversations. Daily 1015 minute lessons are voiced by native speakers and are at babbel. Babbel. Com. Financial Services Firm raymond james. And by the alfred p. Sloan foundation. Ting science, technology and improved Economic Performance and Financial Literacy in the 21st century. Supported by the john d. And catherine t. Macarthur founedtion. 6commio building a more just, verdant and peaceful world. More information at macfound. Org and with the ongoing support of these institutions this program was made gossible by the corporation for public broadcast. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc captioned by Media Access Group at wgbh access. Wgbh. Org youre watching pbs. Hello everyone and welcome to amanpour. Heres whats coming up. One thing we should do is we should stiffen up our laws in terms of the Death Penalty. Why is President Trump reinstating the federal Death Penalty now after nearly 20 years . Reactions from both sides of this debate. Then red sea diving resort rs a hotel we can use to smuggle theugees through sudan to israel. The extraordinary true story of how undercover agents used that resort to smuggle Ethiopian Jews to safety. Th films director and one of the reallife mossad operatives join the show. And how segregation still impacts americas Education System even today. Investigative jouis