to speak to my pain and to the pain of an entire community was unbelievably powerful. kerry, i wanted to ask you a question. you ve covered this white house extensively. obviously the president has a mixed record when it comes to his legislative accomplishments. what struck me is when there s big, important moments during the tenure of his presidency, whether it be gabby giffords, osama bin laden, newtown, he always rises to the moment and seems to find that perfect tone, that perfect amount of eloquence that connects with folks. did he do that here today, and is that really so far the legacy he s leaving behind? that on complicated issues and matters, he was that sort of voice of reason in america. i mean, his speech today did come as a surprise to some aides who, you know, were really wondering when he was going to speak out. they had been planning on having him address it tuesday when he talked to spanish language
the president at his best. this reminded me of what he was like at newtown. very real, very personal. that entire speech was off the cuff. there were no notes. there was not a teleprompter. that was all directly from the president s heart. i think he was able to convey. i think that will stick with people that want to hear that message in america. there s a segment of the population that is going to tune him out, saying he s fanning the flames of race. i think there is a suburban voter in a swing state, she s going to perk up and listen to this. honestly, there was no risk in him doing this. there s no re-election coming up. he s not going to offend anybody. which is why i think that point must have come on him this week that he should say something. i have a lot of african-american friends in d.c. they were as you described, toure. glum. one said i have three sons, three grand kids. michael vick can go to jail for fighting dogs for two years and
emotionally in order to take away the rights of law abiding gun owners. that s one of the themes we have seen here. some people i have spoken with coming from as far as california and florida who traveled here to attend this nra convention. they have said they are worried about the government trying to take away their rights. even if they would support a measure of expanded background checks the big concern is it would be a slippery slope to take away gun rights. don? thank you very much. as far as wayne lapierre s comments how would it make a difference if people in boston had guns? at 7:00 p.m. eastern i will talk with the executive director of the violence policy center at the nra convention. he says it is a way for the gun industry to promote the latest, greatest products. even some of those at newtown and aurora here on cnn. the pennsylvania mom who made headlines this week after being missing for 11 years is back in jail now. police say years ago brenda heist freaked out and
nra must and will be 10 million strong. 10 million. reporter: so there you heard from lapierre. the goal for the nra membership. he also said the members should be ready to get to work. you know that the nra is a big political force. what is he talking about? he s talking about making sure pro gun rights representatives are elected to congress in 2014. don? so the newtown school shootings launched the latest push for gun control. did lapierre mention newtown in his remarks? reporter: he did. that s an interesting theme we have seen over the last couple of days mentioned by wayne lapierre and folks like sarah palin and chris cox, part of the legislative arm of the nra. they have said people like president obama, people like new york mayor michael bloomberg and the people who want to see gun control measures go through congress are using events like the shooting in newtown, like aurora and various gun tragedies to play on the emotions of people and manipulate them
weapons out that can cause the kinds of damage like at newtown. nra members will be celebrating a major victory with the defeat of gun control measure in the senate. stirring sight in the skies of lower manhattan. the spire that will top the world trade center draped in an american flag being hoisted to the roof. it will become the tallest building in the western hemisphere and soaring symbol of resurgence in the face of terror. that s why it is our favorite story of the day. this is what we do on the favorite story of the day. there you go. here is wabc s tim fleisher. see this go up. cap it off. a beautiful moment for everybody. and not just for new york for america. reporter: this moment more than an amazing construction effort, placing the spire on top of the world trade center. the beacon that will be seen for miles around. and give a tremendous indication to people around the entire region and the world that we are back and we are better than ever. reporter: bri