now they are waiting to head off to the robb elementary school. a scene that we have all witnessed over the last four or five days. the makeshift memorial, 21 crosses there. however, we should note, there are now 22, as of today, a 22nd cross was added to that memorial. the husband of teacher irma garcia. who, two days after her shocking death, died himself of a heart attack. in some cases people are calling it a broken heart. after laying flowers at his wife s memorial there. that senior, white that is where the president and first lady will be heading shortly. they are, speaking of course, with the dignitaries who are making them at the airfield airstrip. in uvalde. but they will make their way by motorcade to the central of town, that memorial is makeshift. a gunman opened fire inside a classroom, that is why this is happening. there is also what about rated of the late police response to this shooting. which is only adding to significant agony in that small community toda
so peter, give me your sense of the importance of the president and first lady visiting uvalde today. and the must that they will take with them. uvalde well, look. everybody has, said obviously, biden brings a special empathetic quality to this kind of an event. but is the kind of thing that has become so wearing on him and so many people, the fact we have to do it twice in just two weeks. that could be a sign of great tragedy. but also, i think, frustration. because these two events will likely not change the dynamic in washington. likelihood that there is some optimism on the part of chris murphy in connecticut, trying to have these conversations with john cornyn. even the things that they are talking about are relatively modest in comparison, biden probably would not have done the kinds of things that it would be required to stop these particular tragedies. and the things that might have made a difference don t have easy to be on the table for discussion. so president biden, it i
and then the bulk of their, visit most of their afternoon, will be spent with the victims and survivors. their families. grieving with them and offering condolences. after that they will meet with first responders. most of the agenda today s close press. this is going to be a very private affair for president biden, who as you mentioned, his grief s personal. he has lost two of his own children. one of the young, age other in adulthood. and so he s a very emphatic person. and not only that, but this is the second time that biden has been in the white house and has had to grapple with a horrific school shooting. he was vice president during the sandy hook shooting. and he must be feeling a sense of déjà vu. and so today is truly about the victims, the survivors, and this community. alex? it certainly is. thank you for sending that, julia.
supposed to be sworn in on tuesday. alex? i tell you, it is attracting from so many angles. you have to wonder how chief arredondo is feeling today, knowing that he absolutely made the wrong call there. it is a burden he will have to live with and try to work through. thank you very, much liz, for that. let s go now to julia just. or she has more on the presidents itinerary. julia, i welcome you. we have so many times had to call this particular president, the consoler-in-chief. here we are again. where do we expect to see the president and first lady today? that is right, alex. consoler-in-chief. empathize or-in-chief. president biden is no stranger to comforting in the wake of a tragedy. as you mentioned, president biden and the first lady are now officially touching down in uvalde. their first top will be that memorial state at robb elementary school. then they will attend mass at sacred heart catholic church.
so, what s can he do? the horror of this tragedy, peter, is that 19 children and two teachers were killed in a classroom. 90% of americans want some sort of common sense gun control. they don t want more children to die, this way, ever again. what s can presidential leadership look like at this moment? can it be in the form of executive action? is there a role the president can play in exhilarating control reform in capitol hill, that way? there is not you can do through executive action. they ve taken some already in terms of things like ghost guns and things like that, that they would point to white house as examples of them-less using their powers best they can. but the truth is, the kinds of policies that would be effective, potentially, and stopping events like this, do require congressional action. they require a lot to be passed. president biden in the 90s, the senate passed a rifle ban.