Honestly, i dont know what i what, woo, what, is. Anyway, im better looking than that joker. I want to thank my guests, all of you at home, for participating in what was a fascinate look at president obamas big challenges over the next four years. Anderson cooper starts now. Tonight people who think theres a revolving door on this place. A newly reelected congresswoman who should just be starting her new term. Instead shes already leaving and using what she learned here in capital to cash in. Were keeping them honest. Michelle obamas inaugural gown this time and last time four years ago, well talk live with Designer Jason Wu who goes from eating pizza to seeing his dreams come true. Breaking news. Students speak about the terror they lived through today at a Community College in houston, texas. New video up close of the drama as it unfolded at Lone Star College. What apparently started as an altercation escalated into a horrifying scene all happening in the middle of a National Debate on how to stop gun violence. Three people hurt, two detained and an awful lot of unanswered questions. Ed lavandera is live on the scene. What did you find out about the shooting . Hello, anderson. The two people involved in this altercation, apparently only one gun involved, were two of the three that were wounded. The third person that was wounded was a Maintenance Worker here at Lone Star College who was standing nearby. He was wounded in the leg and is being treated at the hospital tonight. Right now we know investigators are interviewing the two suspects and the two men involved in the altercation. So far no criminal charges have been filed and no one has been arrested. So theyre still trying to piece together exactly what led to all of this. So far the best accounts that weve gotten from what happened i think comes from one of the students at the school who was about ten feet away and said that they could hear the students arguing or actually only one of the students arguing about something, and then all of a sudden it started escalating. According to that one student, she said it seemed like something that could have been resolved but it kept getting worse. I mentioned only one student, Authorities Say only one of the two suspects had a student i. D. , so its not clear where that second person came from, if they should have been on the campus to begin with. Were seeing this video for the first time as our viewers are seeing it, this is brand new video to us. I saw reports that it might have been gang related. The sheriff was asked about this. What do you know . Well, weve been asking around about that as well. The sheriff was asked or the acting sheriff was asked this afternoon at a press conference and didnt have any information or refused to give any information on that, so well continue to look into that as best we can. In todays press conference, the chancellor of the school said the staff had recently trained for this kind of an incident, correct . Yeah, thats interesting. Over the last seven days the chancellor of the school said that the faculty and staff had gone over training drills, what to do in scenarios like this three times. All of this, of course, in the wake of the shootings across the country especially in sandy hook and connecticut. With us is freshman Amanda Vasquez who was in english class when she heard shots ring out. How are you doing tonight . Im feeling a lot better than i was earlier, of course. Around family. I cant imagine. Can you take us through what happened, what you saw, what you heard . I was waiting on my english class to start. It was about five minutes before it started. And all of a sudden i heard about six shots down the hallway. I started hearing people shouting and running, people just running. And i immediately tried to get under the desk, you know, tried to hide. Of course, did what my instinct was telling me to do. There were people coming into our room seeking shelter. The gun or the altercation that was going on and a lady, she was training to be an emt or Something Like that. She took charge immediately. And was like, everybody, you need to get over here so that if the gunman looks in here, he doesnt see you. And turned off the lights, put the table by the door. And i called my mom as soon as i could just because, you never know. I didnt know if this was going to be the last time i was going to be able to speak with her. So i just wanted to make sure that she knew that i loved her just in case. I wanted to let others know in the school not to come in there. I only had wifi once i moved to the other side of the room to hide, i only had wifi. So i immediately went to twitter because i know thats where the majority of people who follow me the most are. And i was trying to advise them not to come into the Academic Building because its not safe. I didnt want anyone else injured. And so did you hear any kind of altercation or words before the shots began . No. I just heard the shots being fired. And you say you think it was about six shots . Yes. Yes, sir. How long did all this go on for . Can you tell . The shooting or how long we were stuck in the room or . Well, the shooting, because i kind of understand they kind of moved location. There was an early report that it either moved from the Academic Building to the library or vice versa. It seemed to happen really quickly. I cant give you a number. I just my mind was going so fast in those moments. How long did you stay in the classroom . About 30 minutes. We were just waiting there silently, you know, calling loved ones, just in case, you know, it was our last time, just trying to let them know. Then finally what made you leave the classroom . Did police show up . Police came in the room, and they said that we need to put our hands behind our head and evacuate immediately, and so we did. We ran out of there. You know, we didnt want to be in there anymore. We knew that there was still a gunman on the loose. So we just wanted to be out of there and in safety. I mean, this is the kind of thing obviously youve seen on television, youve seen on the news, but to actually go through it, to experience it, what do you what do you want people to know . What do you do you take away anything from this . Do you learn anything from this . Well, one thing that really stuck out to me is you just never know when its going to be your time to go. So you always need to tell your family that you love them. Dont hold any grudges. You never want to end your life and and to have those tell your family every day and every loved one that you have husband, wife, girlfriend or boyfriend, tell them that you love them. Amanda, i wish you the best. Im so glad things turned out okay for you and your other classmates in that room. And thank you for talking to us. Thank you. You take care. Joining us is congresswoman Sheila Jackson lee. This happened while she was attending a forum. Shell leave to talk to joseph biden. And a coauthor of the bill that would allow teachers to carry concealed weapons. It seems like this was some sort of personal dispute that spiraled out of control. There are details we dont know. It could have turned into a shooting incident that endangered other people only because one of the suspects had a gun on them. Does anything that happened today make you rethink that it is a good idea to have young people carrying guns on a campus or anywhere . With all due respect, i dont think people in the Mainstream Media back east maybe understand texas. In texas we understand that you have to be 21 to have a chl on campus. Senator Brian Birdwell who is the lead on this bill and 12 of us have already coauthored the bill with him. You have to understand, anderson, when things happen like this, it only reemphasizes the issue that people must have a right to depend themselves. People who are responsible, people with chls, by the way, who have hardly ever been involved in a crime or a gun crime. I mean, less than 1 of chl holders, and we have half a million in the state, have ever been involved in a crime. These are responsible adults 21 or older who would be professors, maybe that Maintenance Workers, adult students, these are the people allowed to carry a weapon, anderson. Heres the other point of this. Thank goodness this wasnt an active shooter randomly shooting at people on the campus. Its terrible the situation that it was, but it wasnt an active shooter. But one of the reasons, anderson, that we want adult and students 21 and over to be able to carry their legally licensed firearm on campus is because a lot of crime happens on campus. The young lady who might be walking at night after a class to her car who has a chl but cant have it with her because its not allowed by the university. You know, campuses have thousands of people on it, anderson, there are lots of crime sadly that goes on. I want my young daughter or i want my young son to be able to go to college if he has a chl and hes 21 or over and to be able to carry that weapon and defend himself in a situation like today, an active shooter, or just someone coming up to rob him. Its everyones right to defend their life. Its in the constitution. We dont back up from this. This only reaffirms why we need to do this and why were supporting the bill. Your thoughts on that . First of all, anderson, thank you so much for having me and certainly senator patrick. My sympathy goes out to all of those who were impacted and who cannot empathize with amanda and i wish her well and i wish her future years of Great Success in what shes trying to do. To the point, though, the senator was saying. Well, let me say this. My focus this evening is on the tragedy, but what i will say is that in knowing this campus and having spoken to those who are there, this tragedy could not have been helped by the present legislation. I know when the concealed weapons bill was passed some many years ago the wisdom of the legislature at that time was not to allow concealed weapons to be on campus and i believe they were right. Take the situation today that if there were numbers of shooters, we know full well during the tragedy of my colleague, congresswoman giffords, that there was a potential of shooting the wrong person because someone did have a gun. Now im not suggesting that they couldnt have been more helpful then, but just imagine guntoting students who didnt know who it was, thought it might have been an active shooter and the shooting level would have heightened and more would have been injured. Right now there are three persons as we understand who have been shot who were hospitalized. One who had a medical issue. The panic was extensive. But in talking to the chairman of the board of lone star, this college has been there for 40 years and this incident has never happened. The bill that has been introduced in the state legislatures time is not now. In fact we need less guns not more. When we had a hearing just the other week, there were Police Persons saying we are frightened of being outgunned. The records show there are more than 200 police or more on the scene in two minutes. The Harris CountySheriffs Department was there in two minutes. The ems paramedics were there in two minutes. That school trains paramedics. Id rather be training paramedics and First Responders than arming students. I dont think amanda i cannot speak for her would have been happier if she had a gun in her hand and told you go find the perpetrator and try to take them down. Senator, theres a lot of responsible, you know, young people, 21 and older on College Campuses, but a lot of folks who defend our nation are very responsible. Right, yes, i know. But a lot of folks on College Campuses also do really stupid stuff even if theyre 21 or 22. When i was in college i went to a pretty good school and im a relatively smart guy, i did a lot of stupid stuff that i probably regret. Im not sure i would have wanted my roommates who also do stupid stuff to have access to handguns even in the number of suicides on campuses, doesnt the presence of weapons make suicide even more likely . First of all, i reject my good friend the congressmans comment of guntoting students. You have to understand you go through background checks. You are proficient in shooting. You learn the laws. The time has proven, anderson, since the late 90s when this bill originally passed that chl holders in texas are very responsible citizens. In fact people who do not have a chl are 16 times more likely to commit a crime. Anderson, if i may less than a fraction of a percent have ever been involved in a crime. These are responsible adults. Not toting guns around. You mention our troops. More are dying from suicide this past year than in combat. Youre a better journalist than to go down that rabbit trap. Im asking a question. Im not getting into an argument. Im just stating a fact. No, youre asking me about an issue that has nothing to do with carrying guns on a college campus. Suicide doesnt, the high number of suicides on College Campuses has nothing to do with access to firearms . If thats the best you have to debate this issue, thats a sad statement. Im not debating with you, sir. Im asking a question. If you cant answer, thats fine. You can attack me all you want. Let me disagree with my friend senator patrick. There have been a million homicides in america since 1968, the killing of Martin Luther king and robert f. Kennedy. Yes, texas has had a concealed weapons law, but even as they have had it, it is not a law that has a component to it that can say without doubt that every person who is now holding a concealed weapon is not suffering from a Mental Health issue, is not prone to high temper behavior. Let me push back on your hold on, senator. Im siding with you on this one i mean, im not taking sides, im just pushing back. Why shouldnt that young woman we spoke to have the ability to have a weapon and not cower in a classroom under a desk hoping that the authorities show up . Why shouldnt she have the ability to be armed and respond if that gunman does come into the classroom . Im very happy to say that. Because were not talking about just that young woman. Were talking about individuals all over campuses throughout the state of texas having guns, some more prepared than others. And the fact that you have guns on campus that may be one by a concealed weapons permit holder that gun can get in the hands of others. Just like any gun a criminal has, congresswoman. I believe lone star had the best response or a very full response both in terms of notification. I know theres some question about that. But they evacuated quickly. Can i ask a question, congresswoman . Let me finish. The Sheriffs Department was there, the ems was there. So my concern, anderson, is i believe in responsible gun ownership. I believe in the second amendment. Thank you. I am from texas. I passed sensible Gun Legislation as a Council Member dealing with gun safety and securing your guns, but to have guns on campuses with young people, 21 or older when theyre supposed to be there for an academic reason, i can tell you that that is trumped only by a match on gasoline. You should be able to defend your life. It is not appropriate. My sympathy to those who are now injured. Thank you for your time. Thank you. Im tweeting tonight. Why would a newly reelected congresswoman leave Congress Just days before she was supposed to get back to work serving the people who put her there . Keeping them honest. We tried to ask her and does big money on the outside have something to do with it . Progress does not compel us to settle centuries long debates about the role of government for all time, but it does require us to act in our time. Millions of americans, of course, watched president obama lay out his vision for the country yesterday. Keeping them honest, though, even as he spoke, another big washington power player was gearing up to advance its agenda. Not lawmakers, judges or journalists. Gearing up for battle to block bills or change them, usurp loopholes or widen them. You might like some of what theyre doing, but chances are you wont be pleased about this. A congresswoman who just got reelected but is leaving already taking what she learned in congress to get paid big dollars, leaving the people who elected her, basically high and dry. Drew griffin is keeping them honest. Reporter she may be the perfect example of what washington critics call the revolving door syndrome. Congresswoman, drew griffin with cnn. Which could explain why all we got from congresswoman Joann Emerson was the slamdoor treatment. The Southeast Missouri republican is quitting congress. Not because she lost. In fact, she just won her last election to her tenth term by a landslide. Shes quitting because she landed a job back in what you might call the real family business, the politics of influencing congress. Follow the lineage. In the 70s, Joann Emerson married a lobbyist bill emerson. When he went on to become congressman from missouri, joann went on to become a lobbyist for the restaurant industry. When he died of cancer in 1996 she took his seat and served nine terms since then. While the combined emersons were spending 32 years in congress they were raiding two daughters, both of whom who are now registered lobbyists. Now congresswoman emerson goes back to a trade association directing a team of lobbyists. Its the personification of the revolving door. Reporter kathy kiely with the Sunlight Foundation says its a revolving door of lobbyists and politicians and Staff Members and big payoff jobs that erode americans faith in a system that seems to be driven by special interest, access and money. What people do see is that is theres a network of individuals who dont necessarily have the public interests at heart. They have special interests at heart. When people have the