hi there, everyone. it s 4:00 in new york and we begin today as we have done so many times, too many times, on this show with a crisis that is uniquely ours, uniquely american. today our country witnessed the 129th mass shooting of this year alone, this one, like so many these days, took place at a school. three young students and three staff members were killed today. they were killed at covenant school a private school in nashville, tennessee, after a shooter walked in and opened fire. after law enforcement engaged with the suspect, the shooter was killed, according to law enforcement. the shooter was a 28-year-old woman. at this hour not much more is known about a potential motive but it is worth noting at the top here how rare this particular specific situation is involving the shooter. according secret service there were only five female shooters out of 173 attacks from 2016 to 2020. in washington, d.c., president joe biden has been made aware of the shooting called it s
we have to do something? we have to call our lawmakers and make our lawmakers make change now or this is going to keep happening and it s going to be your kid and your kid and your kid next. because it s just a matter of time. peak 2023 after surviving a mass shooting in her hometown she went on spring break with her son and witnessed another. joining our coverage, clint watt, former consultant to the fbi counterterrorism division a research fellow at the foreign policy institute and joining us dave cullen, writing about mass shootings in our country for years, his latest new york times best seller parkland birth of a movement. former senator claire mccaskill is with us, but we start with tennessee state senator heidi campbell who met with the families of the students of covenant school today. what can you tell us about how the families are doing? hi. i just spent the past five hours in a waiting room nobody should ever have to be in, the worst
sandy hook unleashed a slow motion tsunami of determination that culminated this june in the first significant act of congress and gun safety in nearly three decades. 15 republican senators broke with the nra unthinkable in the old political landscape, the first time in decades. republicans in congress are taking our demands seriously and finally less afraid of the nra than they are of us. let s bring in dave, a journalist who has covered mass shootings across the u.s., his book parkland birth of a movement and with me executive director of guns down america, here at the table former managing editor of time and state department official msnbc political analyst rick stengel. dave, i want to start with you. we read from your piece in the times. can you walk us through what happened in the aftermath of sandy hook and why gun safety advocates were able slowly to change the game?