these witnesses begin talking. goodness. an 11-year-old girl. as a small circle of senate negotiators, democrats and republicans continue to work on the possibility of gun legislation. cnn has learned that a larger group in the senate are expected to meet in the next hour to discuss an emerging proposed package, following an emotional plea by actor and uvalde texas native matthew mcconaughey from the white house podium yesterday. can both sides rise above? can both sides see beyond the political problem at hand and admit that we have a life preservation problem on our hands? we ve got a chance right now to reach for and to grasp a higher ground above our political affiliations. the chance to make a choice that does more than protect your party, a chance to make a choice that protects our country, now and for the next generation. my next guest was elected to the senate as a pro-gun democrat in 2007. he voted to allow guns on amtrak trains in 2009 and everything changed
versus what lawmakers are willing to do. i m going to talk to a key republican negotiator next. and the fbi stepping in after an overnight arrest near the home of supreme court justice brett kavanaugh. we ll have the latest on the shocking threat. plus, pro golfers putting their reputations on the line for a paycheck. some say is blood money. ready to key off with saudi arabia s new lead, ignoring the country s record on human rights and the murder of a washington post columnist. welcome to the lead. i m jake tapper. we start with the upsetting testimony describing the human toll of gun violence in the united states, front and center on capitol hill today. families of victims from the mass shootings in buffalo, new york, and uvalde, texas, described before the house oversight committee not just the horrific attacks but what they want to see congress do to prevent such tragedies from happening again. we also heard from the only pediatrician in uvalde who rushed to th
now the people at the center of them are begging and pleading with their elected leaders to do something and do something now. a bipartisan group of u.s. senators has been trying to strike a narrow, modest deal on gun reforms, one of the lead negotiators telling me in the last hour he is cautiously optimistic that they can get something done. despite ongoing talks on capitol hill today, it is still legal in most states for an 18-year-old to buy a semiautomatic weapon. josh campbell went to a gun range to show us just what such a weapon can do. they are known as assault style weapons. and have been used in some of the country s deadliest shootings. from uvalde, tulsa, and el paso, to parkland, san bernardino, and sandy hook, it has been the weapon of choice for many of the killers. line is hot. the los angeles police department demonstrates an ar-style semiautomatic rifle for us on the department s gun range. you have a 16-inch to 20-inch barrel. you have a stock that
testimony from victims of the recent shootings. this student described watching her friends and teachers die and saying she s afraid to return to school. the devastating story of kimberly and felix rubio who lost their daughter. we told her we loved her and we would pick her up after school. i could still see her walking with us toward the exit. in the reel that scrolls across my memory, she turns and acknowledges my promise. then we left. i left my daughter at that school, and that decision will haunt me for the rest of many i life. we don t want you to think of her as just a number. she was intelligent, compassionate and athletic. she was quiet. shy unless she had a point to make. when she knew she was right, she stood her ground. she was firm, direct, voice unwavering. today, we stand for lexi and as her voice we demand action. somewhere out there, there s a mom listen to our testimony, thinking, i can t even imagine their pain. not knowing that our reality will one day
table and told them to act like they were going to sleep, is about the time when i turned around and saw him standing there. for more i want to bring in rosa flores who is live in uvalde, texas. what a horrifying glimpse into that classroom on that day, rosa. . brianna, these details are chilling. let me take you through these details. now the man you saw and heard, he is a teacher at robb elementary school, and he spoke to abc news, and he says that on that ill-fated day, he was in his classroom with his 11 students. they were all watching a movie when gunshots rang out. his students turned to the teacher and asked him what was going on. he said that he told the students to go under the table and pretend that they were sleeping. that s when he says that he turned around and saw the gunman. he saw the gunman right there and that gunman opened fire. reyes says he was shot multiple times. the gunman hit his arm, his lungs and also his back. this teacher says at that point h