notified. i think what we assumed from the very beginning is that this virus is already in the united states. so now we know the vie are us is here. the big message for everyone is that if you have not been vaccinated, now is the time to get vaccinated. about 18% of adults in this country have not been vaccinated. folks over age 5, currently available population for vaccine in this country, only about 75% of the population have received at least one dose of vaccine. so now is the time. this is the incentive for everyone to be vaccinated. the other flip side of this is the more robust response you have to your vaccine the better you are likely to be protected against this variant. and that's where boosters come in. so if you've been vaccinated, time to get boosted. we have only boosted 23% of the folks in this country who have been fully vaccinated. so there's a long way to go. so the message is, yeah, the variant is here. we don't know if it's going to outcompete delta. we don't know how well prior immunity will protect you. if you're not vaccinated, this is your cue. >> dr. jonathan reiner, thank you very much. "new day" continues right now. welcome to our viewers in the united states and all around the world. it is friday, december 3rd. i'm john berman with brianna keilar. ring the bells and shout it from the rooftops. there will be no government shutdown at midnight tonight. not only did both houses of congress pass a stopgap measure to fund will government until february, they did it a day early. what got into them? there was some political drama because of president biden's vaccine mandates. . >> a small number threatened to hold up the vote. they see fighting vaccine as a winning political play, obviously. it comes as we see a dramatic measure out of germany where the unvaccinated are essentially being banned from public lives a the country deals with a surge. a considerable one. it shows patience has completely run out with those refusing a shot, very similar to what's happening in the u.s. as the winter months begin. joining us now is michael smerconish, host of cnn's "smerconish." what do you think about what germany is doing, and can you imagine that being done in the u.s.? >> i imagine it not being tried here. and it wouldn't work, brianna, if it were to be tried. we narrowly averted a government shutdown because of continued opposition among republicans, red state else, rural representatives to vaccine mandates. and the president's announcement yesterday of increased emphasis on testing i think is a tacit recognition by the white house that they have not been able to reach certain among us and no amount of brow beating about the need for vaccination is going to get the job done. another sign that i see going on here by some towards vaccination is this move in at least four states. tennessee, kansas, iowa and florida where they are guaranteeing unemployment benefits for individuals who lose their gig because they wouldn't go along with an employer's vax mandate. stop and think about that. the argument has been that the government has been too generoused with enhanced employment benefits and that's why people aren't going back to work. by the way, i think there's some truth in that argument. the very people advancing that argument are the same ones saying let's protect the right of people to collect a paycheck in defiance of the employer mandate. that separates us from germany. we are so dug in on this issue. and angela merkel, on her way out the door, is headed in a totally different direction. >> first of all, michael, i can't believe you're looking for intellectual consistency. shame on you for even asking that question. clearly there are some republicans who see opposition to vaccine mandates and requirements as a winning political issue, right? >> no doubt about it. and, sadly, i think it plays well in certain parts of the country. but, yes, they are recognizing that digging in and opposing the president, first of all, but especially on this issue, making it a gadsden flag don't tread on me kind of thing has resonance in certain parts of the country. and i think the white house realizes this now and is going in a slightly different direction than they have been going here to for. >> republicans blame biden for rising cases, right, but fighting precautions every step of the way. so they're trying to keep the problem going as they blame the president for it. >> well, brianna, yes. and john is right when he points out the hypocrisy that exists in all of this. why isn't the winning hand for republicans operational warp speed is whattenabled the fast development of these vaccines by donald trump. trump was in alabama. lindsey graham gave a speech at a country club in south carolina and starting to go down the road of encouraging people to get vaccinated. and the blowback from the live audience was immediate. and they never went back in that direction. so they recognize, republican leadership recognizes this is something that the base has really dug in on. >> yeah. michael, we know you will be dealing with some of the topics tomorrow at 9:00 a.m. thanks for being on this morning. >> thank you for that. alec baldwin speaking out about the tragic shooting on the set of "rust" in october. he said he never pulled the trigger that killed halyna hutchins. this was an incredibly interesting interview. it also raises a lot of questions. >> reporter: it certainly does raise a lot of questions. but this was a raw, emotional hour-long interview. alec baldwin described the moment he saw the cinematographer falling to the ground, saying he was wondering if she had a heart attack or perhaps fainted. he said he had no idea, or the idea of a live round being in that weapon was so far from his head that he didn't realize she was shot until nearly an hour later. alec baldwin denying he's at facility in the death of halyna hutchins. the cinematographer shot on the movie set in late october. >> i never pulled the trigger. >> you never pulled the trigger. >> no, no, no. i would never point a gun at somebody and pull the trigger. that's the training i had. you never point the gun at someone and point the trigger. >> reporter: that was aen interview with abc news. >> do you see that? do you see that? she said, yeah, that's good. i let go of the hammer. bang. everyone is horrified. they're shocked. it's loud. they don't have their ear plugs in. the gun was supposed to be empty. i was told i was handed an empty gun. they were cosmetic rounds, nothing with a charge at all, flash round, nothing. she goes down. i thought to myself, did she faint? the notion that there was a live round in that gun did not dawn on me until probably 45 minutes to an hour later. >> reporter: baldwin emotional when discussing hutchins, working as the film's director of photography. >> the people said her work was beautiful. she was someone who was loved by everyone who worked with and admired. i'm sorry. but admired by everybody who worked with her. >> reporter: he dismissed claims that armerer reed was overworked. >> i assume that everyone who is shooting a lower budget film is stretched. myself included. and i got no complaints from her or the prop department. i'm not sitting there when i'm getting dressed ready to do a seen to say the prop woman seemed very harried today. >> reporter: baldwin says it's up to that person to make sure they're safe for use. >> there is one person that is supposed to make sure what is in the gun is right and what's wrong is not in the gun. one person has that responsibility to maintain the gun. >> reporter: what is the actor's responsibility? >> i guess that's a tough question. because the actor's responsibility going this day forward is very different the day before that. >> reporter: he denied allegations from looper, who said conditions on the nickname set were unsafe. >> so you had no sense from anyone on the set that people had been stretched to the point where safety was compromised? . >> no, no. i never heard one word about that. none. none. >> reporter: an investigation is under way working to determine how live rounds made it on set. baldwin says he's eager to learn what authorities discover. >> as far as i'm concerned, someone put -- the investigation is going to find out. but someone put a live let in a gun. a bullet that wasn't even supposed to be on the property. this is the thing i hope the sheriff's department doesn't give up on, that they follow this to the ends of the earth. where did that bullet come from. somebody brought live rounds, plural, onto the set of the film. and one of them ended up in that gun. and if the bullets didn't come on the property, we wouldn't be having this conversation. >> reporter: no one has been charged with a crime in connection with the shooting. and baldwin believes he's in the clear. >> i've spoken to the sheriff's department multiple times. i don't have anything to hide. you know what i mean. the facts as i see them are what i have stated on the record. >> you're not worried about being charged? >> i've been told by people in the know in terms of even inside the state that it's highly unlikely i would be charged with anything criminally. >> reporter: baldwin says the focus should be on hutchins and joel souza, who was injured. >> i don't want to sound like i'm the victim. again, we have two clear victims here. >> is this the worst thing that has ever happened to you? >> yes. yeah. yeah. because i think back and i think of what could i have done? >> reporter: he also recalled meeting with hutchins's husband and 9-year-old son. >> he hugged me and i suppose you and i are going to go through this together, i said. and i thought, well, not as much as you are. this boy doesn't have a mother anymore. and there's nothing we can do to bring her back. and i told him. i said, i don't know what to say. i don't know how to convey to you how sorry i am and how i'm willing to do anything i can to cooperate. >> reporter: when asked if he feels guilt for the fatal incident that ended the cinematographer's life, baldwin giving this response. . >> no, no. i feel that there is -- i feel that -- someone is responsible for what happened, and i can't say who that is. but i know it's not me. honest to god, if i felt that i was responsible, i might have killed myself if i thought i was responsible. and i don't say that lightly. >> reporter: earlier in the interview, he explained how the aftermath is deeply affecting him mentally. >> i'm not somebody who has a lot of vivid dreams but iowa dream about this constantly now. i wake up constantly where guns are going off. these images have come into my mind, kept me awake at night. i haven't slept for weeks. i have been struggling physically. i'm exhausted from this because i have to try to be there for my kids. my family is all i have. honest to god. i couldn't give a [ bleep ] about my career anymore. >> reporter: multiple members of the crew have accused producers of "rust" of cutting corners on the film for the sake of budget. at least two as you heard in the piece have filed lawsuits against alec baldwin. but baldwin deflected some of that blame when speaking to abc news, saying he was not one of the producers in charge of hiring. all this as that investigation into how those live rounds ended up on set continues. guys. >> such a raw interview there. lucy, thank you for that report. steve wolf, a special effect coordinator and firearms safety expert with 30 years of experience. steve, we want to ask you very specific questions about the gun. first, i want your human reaction to alec baldwin saying he felt zero guilt for what happened. >> really unconscionable. there was enough blame to go around that alec certainly knows he has partial responsibility in this. if he's not the one who brought am know on the set, he is the one who pressed the trigger. i can't imagine being in that position and not feeling some guilt or remorse. him trying to steer the conversation to where the ammo came from. he was asked what the actor's job is? it is not to try to determine what the direction of the investigation is by telling people this is the one thing i want you to focus on. there were many factors. and he was partially responsible. >> so the gun. and this is one of the big headlines from this interview. alec baldwin made the claim that he never pulled the trigger. that what he did was he pulled the hammer back and then released it. explain -- >> i'll show you exactly what happened. >> explain to me what he is claim and how plausible that is. . >> okay. so not plausible. on a single-action revolver, when you pull the hammer back, which is an intentional act, click, click, click, click. now the hammer is set. when you pull the hammer back and let go, the hammer doesn't go anywhere. when you press the trigger, which i'm going to do it with this figure so you can see what a minute act that is, it takes very little to press the trigger. option one, he pressed the trigger. it was such a minor press that he wasn't aware that he had ordered that signal from his brain. or option b, he's holding the gun with the trigger depressed. now, on this gun it doesn't matter which order you go in. you can cock the gun and press the trigger. or press the trigger and then cock the gun. if you release it, it falls and the gun fires. so as he is cross-drawing, his finger is on the trigger, which he may have interpreted it just resting on the trigger. with a one millimeter pull, it would be sufficient. now he pulls the hammer back and releases it. he doesn't have to press the trigger again if he's already got pressure on it in order for the gun to fire. i think that's a key point in this matter. >> two other possibilities that i have seen raised, and everyone who raises them say almost minuscule chance that it could be. number one, he didn't pull the hammer pack to the point it clicked. any possibility of doing that and discharging a bullet? >> no. there are things that catch the hammer at each point of the way. the firing pin never will impact a casing. >> and the last possibility is that somehow the gun itself was flawed so that the mechanism that would cause it to click, as you really very, very clearly pointed out to it somehow didn't work. there was no click and nothing to prevent the hammer from going in. any possibility of that? >> only an investigation that examines the interior parts of the gun could reveal that. >> but unlikely in your experience? >> very unlikely. i have never seen that happen. >> i want to thank you for showing that. that shows us what baldwin was trying to explain last night and how plausible it was. now his separate contention that somehow the bullet ended up there. you say that doesn't clear him of all wrongdoing in this. but it does raise a very serious question, which was there was a live round in the gun and somehow the live round got in the gun. >> yes. mr. baldwin describes how earlier in his career he had worked with professional armerers. he said they would hand you the gun. they would open the gun. she would show the gun to everyone. they would load the gun in front of everyone and show what was being put into it. if there were dummy rounds, they would shake it so everyone could hear it. they would hand the gun to the actor. if the actor manipulated the gun at all, the professional armerer would come over and say, stop, i need to check that. please don't do that again. and he said he made sure that the actor was not the last line of defense in protecting the crew. well, this was not done on this set. ms. gutierrez was not checking the gun. it was handed to him by an assistant director who has no credibility as a firearms expert. so he knew the difference between what a real armerer does and what was being done on that set, and he never objected to that. . >> right. >> he never said, dave, why are you handing me the gun? where is ms. reed? why isn't she checking this gun for me. he took the advice of someone who he knew had no expertise. so why would he believe the gun was clear and why would halyna believe it was clear. because dave said cold gun. he should have known that declaration could have only come from the armerer, and she wasn't there. >> thank you for explaining this in such detail. >> thanks, john. a son who lost his son in the parkland shooting traveled to the white house to get answers. >> i don't understand why four kids lost their lives inside a school after we already learned the lesson in parkland, in sandy hook, and in many other places. >> what he wants president biden to know. he will join us next. plus, facebook sold ads comparing the vaccinations to the nazi era. how much did the company profit from this? and ahead, stacey abrams is running for governor again. will she be successful in her second attempt? onfidence. this is my granddaughter...she's cute like her grandpa. voya doesn't just help me get to retirement... ...they're with me all the way through it. voya. be confident to and through retirement. this is the new world of work. each day looks different than the last. but whatever work becomes... the servicenow platform will make it just, flow. whether it's finding ways to help you serve your customers, orchestrating a safe return to the office... wait. an office? 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>> i had a reason to vote for biden. that is exactly the reason i'm looking today to fix. and this is not about blue or red. this is ethical. what i'm looking for today is those answers. those promises. and we shook hands and we said -- we share that pain of losing a loved one. that was one of the connections with biden and us. and so he will understand what to do. so today where are those promises. and these families in michigan, these four kids, they deserve an answer. because we shouldn't be learning lessons out of these after parkland and sandy hook and vegas, santa fe, santa clarita. what are we doing with this information, totally ignoring it? . >> what action specifically do you want the president to take? . >> i've been hearing the president can do anything. what do you mean? if the president can do anything, then who can do something? we have a total division in congress. a total division in senate. the president can do many things. he can write an executive order now and ban assault weapons, for example. and will that make everybody happy? no. but it will save a few lives for that period of that executive order being there. so this is an easy question for someone that lost its son. and i'm telling you something, 150,000 families have lost someone since i lost joaquin. i know their feeling, i know the pain. i hear people saying enough is enough. that's not enough. enough is enough and then doing something. i'm here. . >> you tried to get into the white house yesterday. you were rebuffed. what have you heard from the white house? are they responding to you? >> the only response was like at 5:00 p.m. i was there very early in the morning. do you have time for a call next week? >> with who? >> with another guy. i forgot the name. >> not with the president? . >> no. which is an important guy. just not the person that i want to talk to. and i go, like, no, are you kidding me? i'm outside. i'm here. and i'll be here tomorrow. and i understand making an appointment at the white house is not a big deal. if i don't have an appointment yesterday, all right, let's make an appointment for today. so i'm going back today and i'm wishing that one of the reporters in that press conference inside the white house will raise his hand and say, hey, is it true there is a parkland father outside that you're not letting in? and if you let me in, it will take 10 minutes because i have questions for answers they should already have, i'm assuming. >> joaquin would be 21 now. i know you miss him dearly. we'll be watching to see what answers you get. thank you so much. >> making hanging traitors great again. what does it feel like to sell your car to carvana? it feels amazing. when you get a great offer in seconds... 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>> is it okay to post holocaust ads on facebook? does facebook say it's okay? . >> so the answer to that question is no. facebook only took action on these ads after cnn brought it to their attention. but the ads, the last ad make hanging traitors great again. facebook said that is cool. that does not break their rules. this just months after we saul gallos outside the u.s. capitol. >> can we because to know how crazy this is. there is something particularly, as you said, disgusting. but there seems to be this virulent misappropriation of the holocaust, embracing of naziism. when you break it down, it is really anti-semitism at bottom. and content moderating that a million billion dollar company seems unable to do. it seems worth noting this is being amplified that it isn't new but being allowed to propagate sort of unabated. . >> and when we saw fox news personality earlier this week comparing dr. fauci to a nazi doctor, people were rightly outraged. but this stuff doesn't happen in a vacuum. for some people, their facebook feed is full of this sort of stuff, full of comparing what's happening here to nazi germany and full of comparisons, insane comparisons making the vaccine in line to the holocaust. . >> and facebook would say, look, we can't scan through every single add. that is their counter to this. but the facebook whistle-blower said this is actually deliberate, right? because the ads and generally the content that sort of gets people riled up, she would say is deliberately pushed to people because we know it gets more eyeballs. >> and it's two separate issues, right? there are billions of posts on facebook. facebook can say we can't monitor everybody. that's one side of the debate. the other side is they're selling ads. they are taking money. and the reason why they are so profitable is because they don't have people going through, taking the time to consider what is in these ads. that is why they are so profitable. . >> they say they can't monitor everything, donie. how hard was it for you to find this stuff? . >> i would love to say i did amazing journalistic work. you type it in and you start finding this stuff. the fact that they have to rely on news organizations and academics and researchers and even groups like the adl to bring to their attention, it is infuriating. . >> any legal repercussion? >> they have basically found a way to get away with this through immunity. can you put up things you know are false? can they knowingly put up ads that are defamatory and get sued for it? no. thus far, they seem to have been able to create a legal zone, like this bubble, if you will, of not being able to be held liable. and they would say that of course this is disgusting, right. but it doesn't defame anybody personally. it doesn't have an explicit call against somebody for violence of a particular person. so who is left to sue over it? nobody. >> you might call that the meta zone. how do you like that? laura jarrett, donie o'sullivan, terrific reporting. thank you very much. alec baldwin says he in his mind knows he is not responsible for the shooting death of the cinemat cinematographer. we'll speak to a lawyer who disagrees. and why are some fighting tooth and nail over life-saving vaccines. your reality check next. ♪ ♪ 'tis the season to break tradition in a cadillac. don't just put on a light show—be the light show. make your nights anything but silent. and ride in a sleigh that really slays. because in a cadillac, tradition is yours to define. so visit a cadillac showroom, and start celebrating today. ♪ ♪ healthy habits come in all sizes. like little walks. and, getting screened for colon cancer. that's big because when caught in early stages, it's more treatable. hey, cologuard! hi. i'm noninvasive and i detect altered dna in your stool to find 92% of colon cancers, even in early stages. early stages! yep, it's for people 45 plus at average risk for colon cancer, not high risk. false positive and negative results may occur. ask your provider if cologuard is right for you. count me in! me too! this is elodia. she's a recording artist. 1 of 10 million people that comcast has connected to affordable internet in the last 10 years. and this is emmanuel, a future recording artist, and one of the millions of students we're connecting throughout the next 10. through projectup, comcast is committing $1 billion so millions more students, past... and present, can continue to get the tools they need to build a future of unlimited possibilities. why would public officials not only ignore but actually bury a way to keep people safe from the pandemic. back when president bush was running for re-election, bear with me here, i remember seeing this bootleg campaign slogan slapped on a t-shirt. it read, saving your ass whether you like it or not. i have my policies differences with the guy. that was an instant classic in the wake of 9/11. war and terror was a struggle against ate death can you tell. the president was going to try to keep everyone safe no matter how much they kphraeubd. what a difference a decade and a half makes. republicans are fighting back in mask mandates that save lives in the name of freedom. the fights seem never ending, right. the senate managed to avoid a shutdown pressed by a few right wingers who wanted to take the government off a cliff unless the government backed off sraoeb mandates. of course ted cruz was in on the weasely action saying we should use the leverage we have to fight against what are legal, unconstitutional abusive mandates. his junior partner in crime, roger marshall,s tried to play the victim card saying does senator schumer want to shut down the economy, does he want to threaten national security? as long as we make sure we don't fund that mandate, we'll be okay. senator marshall is an actual medical doctor which is one of several reasons he should know better than to spread this b.s. a board slammed him saying roger marshall is far more interested in fighting culture wars than he is in fighting the pandemic. that problem is epidemic right now. here's a brand-new example from missouri where the governor mike parson strenuously opposes mask mandates and came down with covid in september. now, get this, it turns out that his office requested a study about the effectiveness of mask mandates back in november. and when the report by the state department of health came back with data showing that counties with mask mandates had far lower case rates during the height of the delta wave, it was shelved. it would not have seen the light of day but for an information request from the covid-19 project. why would the state suppress data showing mask mandates saved lives? was it politically incorrect? well, that's the darkly ironic part in the show me state. especially when the state republican a.g. is suing counties to remove local mandates. but this is part of a red state political trend right now. and that's why the partisan divide over covid is so sick and so stark. the "washington post" phillip bump did an analysis of the deaths per capita since biden took office and vaccines became widely available. get this, in counties that trump won, deaths have spiked this year. . in counties that biden won, covid deaths have decreased dramatically. deaths have risen in rural counties, while thief they are gone down in urban areas, dez bite being more densely populated. it highlights the fact that this is primarily a pandemic of the unvaccinated. a new survey from the kaiser family foundation showing 91% of democrats are vaccinated, with at least one dose, while only 59% of republicans are. and what's worse, 26% of republicans say they will definitely not get vaccinated. there's a deeper demographic divide along partisan lines than any other category, including race or income when it comes to vaccines. and this of course is not some kind of naturally occurring phenomena. it is the result of people being lied to in political echo cha chambers, being told the vaccine is worse than the disease itself. it's tragic but not surprising to see some of the people who have spread this misinformation fall prey to the disease. but knowing more of the unvaccinated will die, statistically, disproportionately republicans, it is beyond cynical to see the rnc pushing talking points saying biden has failed to get covid under control. what's it going to take to snap out of this stupid and self-defeating partisan staupor. we have already lost more americans than died in the civil war and still we can't seem to face facts. vaccines work, masks work, mandates work. and america is not going to get fully back to work until we finally recognize that pandemics don't care about partisan politics. and that's your "reality check." >> it is so simple, right? it is so simple. and i know in your new digital "reality check," you are explaining why americans are finding themselves on two sides of the extremes. . >> that's right. i tried to dig into the question of the psychology of extremism. what researchers are finding are commonalities between folks on the far right and far left. it's a fascinating conversation with jonathan hite who says this tribalism, teamism, is making us structurally stupid as a nation. go check it out. yeah. that is fascinating. i can't wait to see that. john avlon, thank you so much. new reporting that donald trump is furious after chief of staff mark meadows -- at his former chief of staff mark meadows. hear why. and the shooter had the gun in his backpack during a school meeting with his parents. the sheriff leading the investigation joins us ahead. beautiful on the outside, but if you have diabetes, there can be some not-so-pretty stuff going on inside. it's true, with diabetic retinopathy, excess sugar can damage blood vessels, causing vision loss or even blindness. so remember this: now is the time to get your eyes checked. eye care is important to your long-term diabetes management. see a path forward with actions and treatments that may help your eyes— and protect against vision loss. visit noweyesee.com and take control of your sight. ♪ limu emu... & doug ♪ ♪ superpowers from a spider bite? 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[beep] i just wanted to say... ♪ find yourself in these situations and see who you are. and that's just part of the bargain. ♪ new details into what led up to the shooting at oxford high school that left four students dead and seven others injured. the prosecutor in the case says she believes it is a strong possibility that the suspected shooter had the gun in his backpack as he met with his parents and a school official before he opened fire. joining us now is oakland county sheriff michael bouchard. the prosecutor there, karen mcdonald said she would release evidence today that she says will show that this crime could have been prevented. what do you know about this? >> well, one of the things that we're working on as we retrace the moments of that tragic day and thankfully because the school has such an incredible video system, we can really map out exactly and literally watch what the perpetrator did from the point where he left the office, from that meeting, and ultimately the shooting began until we took him into custody. so, you know, we have to believe that he had the weapon either on his person, in his backpack, or somewhere in that travel route and because the process never had him leaving the school. >> so he either had it in his backpack or picked it up somewhere in the school where he left it, correct? >> correct. >> and when the prosecutor says it could have been prevented, by whom then? >> well, you know, i'm not sure exactly what she means specifically to that because i didn't hear the context, but i think the point is that there was a meeting, there was some concerning behavior, we were not looped in, obviously. that was something that we certainly wish would have happened. and, you know, we encourage all schools or people to always loop us into anything they find concerning, troubling, and, you know there is protocols and things that we do and follow that i think certainly may have made a difference in this situation. >> the superintendent put out a video last night, a heart felt video, about a lot of subjects, one thing suggested is that there was no action the school could have taken to prevent it. do you agree with that? >> well, again, the one thing that comes to our mind is that we would have liked to have been looped into that conversation, either in the room or told about it immediately. they may not have certain authorities or they may not have wanted to do certain things, but that's different for us. we have a different role and a different process. >> i want to ask you about instagram post that was put up by the shooter. and it shows the sig sauer gun, the murder weapon here, and the post reads just got my new beauty today. sig sauer 9 millimeter. ask any questions, i will answer. so that was the gun purchased by the father, correct? >> correct. >> yet the shooter who was 15 is referring to it as mine. is that legal? >> no. no. legally that's not his. he cannot own or, you know, possess that weapon outside the house or, you know, any kind of process of transporting, carrying or using without very few restrictions. there is some places where it is possible an underage person can use a firearm at a range or on private property, in a range fashion, things like that, within a home they can hold and possess it, but not outside the house and they can't legally own it either. >> what legal jeopardy are the parents in? what laws would be pursued here? >> well, the key question will be and that's what my detectives are trying to run down and it is a bit of a challenge obviously because neither the parents nor the suspect are speaking with us, but at what process did he come into possession of that weapon that day. was it given to him? was it aloud to be picked up and taken freely at his discretion? or was it stolen? was it broken into something to be removed? and that's all part of the investigation. and obviously we'll have to be part of the charging decision of the prosecutor. >> hypothetically if the gun was sitting around the house, does that put the parents in legal jeopardy and not look cked up i any way? >> that would have to be a legal argument. there is not a specific statute that says anything along that lines, but that would be something, a, we would have to figure out a way to confirm and, b, that the prosecutor would argue. >> finally, i know there is one thing going on that has got to be infuriating to you, which is that there are at least last count 60 phone threats to high schools, schools across michigan. what do you think of this phenomenon and what do you want to say about it? >> incredibly disturbing. it is more than 60 threats. it is 60 area school districts are closed, not the number of threats, the threat numbers is significantly higher. hundreds and hundreds and it is very disturbing because what it is doing is it is really aggravating the raw nerves and emotions of every student, every parent, every teacher in the whole region, completely unnecessarily. so the schools shut down out of an abundance of caution while we and our partners check all these threats out. but the fact of the matter is none have been verified as anything that has ultimately any credibility. and typically what we see tragically and crazy that after a real tragedy, these kinds of threats spike all across the community. and they're completely false 99 times out of 100 and usually 100 out of 100, but we can't afford that 1 out of 100. and most of the time it is because some kid thought it was funny, which it's not, it's a crime, and if the other option is they want the day off of school, and that's a crime. if you make a threat of any kind of violence against a school in our state, that's a 20-year felony potentially. so we're investigating each and every one of those. and we're going to prosecute each and every one we can identify. and because of the sheer volume,