the wrong decision. not my words but the description from the director of public safety. he said the officers responding made a serious mistake and not immediately going into the classroom where a gunman killed 19 kids and two teachers tuesday. this is coming after extraordinary briefing that provided more clarity about the time line but raised a lot more questions, many more questions. we learned teacher propped open the door. the killer would later enter. the school safety officer responded to the scene and drove right past it as the gunman hid in the school parking lot. they said this was a barricade subject situation and somehow didn t think children were at risk. made that assessment. we learned two students called 911 basically begging for help. they both survived. why did that teacher prop the door open? why wasn t an armed safety officer on school grounds. why didn t the responding officer, there were 19 of them in the school at one point jump into active shooter trai
that s until a 2018 spending bill included a compromise on spending research. in 2019, the first money for cdc to research gun violence came as the house and senate signed by then president trump and we re starting to get information out of some of these studies. one of the first who received a federal grant. our viewers know you as a medical professional, medical expert. this is something you are very passionate about. you ve done a lot on this issue. we know the cdc says the leading cause for death if kids and guns. can you talk about why research into gun violence is critical and why the u.s. is behind the eight ball on this. as an e.r. doctor and a mom, i cannot oversate the impact of firearm on our injuries.
you are a scholar of the second amendment and have written a lot on gun policy. we talk about the cycles of all of this. does it feel like things have changed in light of what shawna is talking about there, in light of what we saw over the course of the last year. there was news there will be federal funding for research into gun violence. something that was not allowed for a very long time. it was literally barred by congress that you could regulate and study the danger of toasters but not of guns. actually the congressman, a republican congressman from arkansas, who wrote that provision, has recanted and said this is crazy. we ve got to do something. i do think things are changing, though it s a big question. nobody should think they are changing so much that there s going to be dramatic change without further political change. after the newtown shooting, the background check legislation, bipartisan, didn t fail because the public wasn t for it. 90% of the public was for it. it did
encourages. they are basically the same phraseness that manifesto you would hear come out of the president of the united states as mouth. the words of the president has consequence. we have a presidents of the united states who has chosen to use his words in a way that have been about sowing hate and division among us. it breaks my heart to have to say this is the person we have who is president of the united states. the president is a cultural figure in the united states, and that cultural figure can have us reach for the stars and go to the moon, or that cultural figure can tell us, you know, go back to where you came from. his rhetoric has fueled more hate in this country. talking about invasions, and infestations and below up blip countries. he stock exchange racism. it doesn t just offend our sensibilities. it fundamentally changes the character of this country, and it leads to violence. joining mess now is
might be open to some type of executive order. what do you think would be within your power as president to do on guns without the congress? well, one of the things we know we can do is step up more on background checks, for example. we could do more on funding for research into gun violence. there are places where we could do more. i will use everything possible that is available to the president of the united states to lead on gun safety, to protect our people. it s alsos a place that we can really help lead the fight. look right now. moms demand action are out there saying they want to see real change. our kids march for our lives are out there. this is democracy at work. if they have someone in the white house who is on their side who says gun safety should matter to all of us our children