president obama insisting his push for gun control is about preventing future tragedies. it is not about the a political victory he said, speaking to newtown families yesterday, the president urged congress not to block the vote. so connecticut has shown the way and now is the time for congress to do the same. [applause] nd a foxteve hayes of the news contributor joins us. steve, good to see you. good morning. gregg: republican as you know are threatening a filibuster but mccain and graham both say that would be a mistake. are they right? should there at least be a vote in earnest on this? well, look i think what you will hear from the defenders of the filibuster and people who announce they intend to do it, this is a significant argument over principle. they don t want background checks. they don t think they re good. rather than the, this being a political stunt as president obama suggested
i did go with the president to newtown and i saw the leader of the free world, the president of the united states, have to hold parents closely, had to console folks who had just 48 hours before had their children ripped from them in a hail of bullets. the depth of evil that they experienced, the brokenness that we felt in that place, is something that i will never forget. you know, jesus three times in the gospel says that one of the worst things that people can do, one of the worst sins we can commit is to cause our little children to stumble, and from newtown to the streets of new york and chicago, our kids aren t just stumbling, piers, they re dying. and that reality really settled in with me in newtown in those private moments with those parents. what do you say to the president at a time like that? you know, we spent a lot of time meditating on scripture,
first-hand in private ways, in the way the president received devotionals and spent time in prayer with pastors around the country but also in public ways, in the way his faith motivated his approach to issues in public life from compassionate immigration reform to issues related to gun violence. it was really an honor to have that front row seat to the president s values. the president has described the newtown atrocity as one of the biggest tests of his presidency for him personally. you went down to newtown with the president when he visited soon after that happened. describe what that was like for you and for him, and the test of his faith, when something like that happens, you re the president of the united states and 20 children are obliterated, that is a test of anybody s faith. describe to me i guess the emotional journey you both went on when you went down there. you know, piers, gut-wrenching doesn t really describe it.
describe it. i did go with the president to newtown and i saw the leader of the free world, the president of the united states, have to hold parents closely, had to console folks who had just 48 hours before had their children ripped from them in a hail of bullets. the depth of evil that they experienced, the brokenness that we felt in that place, is something that i will never forget. you know, jesus three times in the gospel says that one of the worst things that people can do, one of the worst sins we can commit is to cause our little children to stumble, and from newtown to the streets of new york and chicago, our kids aren t just stumbling, piers, they re dying. and that reality really settled in with me in newtown in those private moments with those parents. what do you say to the president at a time like that?
i was able to see that first-hand in private ways, in the way the president received devotionals and spent time in prayer with pastors around the country but also in public ways, in the way his faith motivated his approach to issues in public life from compassionate immigration reform to issues related to gun violence. it was really an honor to have that front row seat to the president s values. the president has described the newtown atrocity as one of the biggest tests of his presidency for him personally. you went down to newtown with the president when he visited soon after that happened. describe what that was like for you and for him, and the test of his faith, when something like that happens, you re the president of the united states and 20 children are obliterated, that is a test of anybody s faith. describe to me i guess the emotional journey you both went on when you went down there. you know, piers, gut-wrenching doesn t really