republicans expel a democrat from the house legislature for protesting gun violence on the house floor right now to more democratic lawmakers are also staring down. expulsion votes, also breaking escalating violence in the middle east. israel striking gaza tonight after facing a barrage of rocket attacks, the israeli ambassador to the united states is standing by to join me this hour. welcome to our viewers here in the united states and all around the world. wolf blitzer is off today. i m alex marquardt, and you re in the situation room. this is cnn breaking news. we begin our coverage tonight in nashville, tennessee, where a democratic lower democratic lawmaker, a democratic lawmaker was just expelled from the state legislature after protesting gun violence on the house floor. cnn s ryan young has been on the scene all day. for us, ryan. there are two more democrats who are also in jeopardy of being ousted tonight. what is the latest in nashville? alex. people are exasperate
remaining vote for justin pearson, who represents memphis. but ryan, could you recap what we know until this point. yeah. that that is one of those things where they believed by one vote that she has made it that she will not be expelled. of course, what we like to do is get a little closer so we can hear the final tally, but it appears at this point. each member had to go through their own sort of hearing. they would talk for 20 minutes, they would take questions. she used the lawyer to move forward. she also talked about being a teacher herself and feeling the pain. of having students be worried about school shooting. god we re not sure if that really connected with the focus on the inside, and she was saved by one vote, something that we re still paying attention to, as you can see all the people who have lined up here to pay attention to the same things we are. we were live with you as that vote was happening, so i haven t even heard the total number of votes. right all right, ryan
um, rely on the fact that he made a compelling argument and that compelled speech. you know, she reached their practices, and some of them have the courage to break range and do what they knew of snow was the right thing. and just moments ago we saw justin pearson at the podium. we believe we assume he s still inside. speaking is extremely compelling speaker but now that we have had these split results of johnson surviving the expulsion vote jones being expelled. what do you think that means for representative pearson community? i think harrison is. a young man. he has a great potential year. he s going to be a one in already is a wonderful legislator. he would make his case he was fighting for the people for all the young people that still represented here today, and i m encouraged by that last both that he, too, will be able to sustain this expulsion. and if he is expelled , and we know that
the media about what they feel. is the first blow against democracy that can t believe that members would basically be thrown out for decor. um reasons and i can tell you a passion from these protesters has been something to see parents and teachers showing up with children, but also for their voices to be heard because they feel like no one s talking about what we should be talking about, which is gun violence and maybe some smart provisions to put in place to stem some of the tide of violence that has not been talked about today because obviously the focus has been on what s happening to these three members. and the change in policy here in tennessee that people believe will send shockwaves throughout the entire country. alex extraordinary scene without law enforcement behind you, ryan as well as all those people up in the gallery. ryan also want to ask you about what representative justin pearson said earlier today. he is also facing expulsion. he blamed white supremacy and patriarc
another surviving her expulsion vote as the legislature ways expulsion for a third member. now cnn s ryan young is on the scene in nashville. ryan what is the latest there? we re waiting to see what happens with justin pearson. he s talking right now . inside that state floor. of course, that s what people are focused on right now, because all day long each member has had to go before this legislative body and make the case for them to stay now we do know justin jones was expelled johnson. her position was saved and she talked to us just in the last half hour, but all eyes are now focused on whether or not justin pearson will make it through this vote, and you can come back here and see the hallways. this is where people have been lined up all day. thousands of people have shown up to the state house to have their voices heard. they want to talk about gun violence and maybe gun control. that has not been the conversation. today, the conversation has been focused. on these three members