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First White House Press Briefing Since Florida Shootings; Sanders Explains Why Trump Won't Condemn Russia For Meddling; Trump Announces Support for Bump Stock Ban. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired February 20, 2018 - 15:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[15:30:00] SARAH SANDERS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: A deranged killer murdered 17 people and injured at least 15 more at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. As you all saw the president visited the hospital and sheriff's department in Broward County last week. He and the first lady spent time with some of the victims who were recovering, thanked the doctors for their work and praised the bravery law enforcement and first responders.

Here at the White House the victims and families have constantly been in our thoughts and prayers. We pray for the recovery of those injured and for peace and comfort for the families of those who were lost. Our broken hearts are filled with gratitude as we heard the stories of incredible heroism.

15-year-old Anthony Borges was shot five times what he used his body as a human shield for his classmates, he remains in the hospital in recovery. Anthony, thank you for your courage, we are all rooting for you.

Assistant football coach Aaron Feis shielded students from a hail of gunfire, selflessly giving his own life to save others. Scott Beigel was barricaded in his classroom, but chose to open his door to let students run into safety. That decision cost Scott his life but saved the lives of so many others. Numerous other teachers sheltered students in their classrooms.

Tomorrow, we will be hosting parents, teachers, and students here at the White House to discuss efforts to ensure safety at our schools. Members of the Parkland community will be attending this listening session, as will individuals who were impacted by past school shootings, including the Columbine and Sandy Hook tragedies.

On Thursday, we will be hosting local officials, including members of the law enforcement community, to continue that conversation.

As the President has said many times, it is the right of every American child to grow up in a safe community. That begins in America's neighborhoods, where the brave men and women of law enforcement have the President's full support. And it extends to our schools, where teachers across our nation invest their lives in their students. No parent should ever have to wonder if their child will return home from school at the end of the day.

The President has expressed his support for efforts to improve the federal background check system, and, in the coming days, we will continue to explore ways to ensure the safety and security of our schools.

As you are aware, later today -- actually, right now -- in the East Room, the President will award the Medal of Valor to 12 public safety officers. They include law enforcement officers, emergency medical personnel, and firefighters. And the President looks forward to recognizing them for risking their lives to protect American citizens and communities.

The honorees are individuals who have exhibited exceptional courage, regardless of personal safety, to save or protect human life. And with that, I will take your questions. Mostly because we're matching. She earns the right for the first question.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, thank you. Does the President now acknowledge what the Special Counsel indictments made clear, which is that Russians not only tried to meddle, but interfere and influence the 2016 election?

SANDERS: Absolutely. And the President has acknowledged that multiple times before. He acknowledged it during the transition, he acknowledged it during a press conference in Poland, and he acknowledged it for a third time at a press event in Poland.

He has stated several times -- I think one of the places where you guys seem to get very confused, and it seems to happen regularly -- the President hasn't said that Russia didn't meddle. What he is saying is it didn't have an impact, and it certainly wasn't with help from the Trump campaign.

It's very clear that Russia meddled in the election. It's also very clear that it didn't have an impact on the election. And it's also very clear that the Trump campaign didn't collude with the Russians in any way for this process to take place.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sarah, if that's the case, why hasn't the President implemented the sanctions which Congress passed last year?

SANDERS: Look, frankly, that's not completely accurate. Look, this President has been tougher on Russia -- far tougher --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But he hasn't implemented the sanctions, has he?

SANDERS: Well, there's a process that has to take place, and we're going through that process. That law also says that the countries have to violate something in order for those sanctions to go in place. And that hasn't necessarily happened.

But what I can tell you -- hold on -- that the President has been extremely tough on Russia. He helped push through $700 billion to rebuild our military. I can assure you Russia is not excited about that.

He has helped export energy to Eastern Europe. I can assure you, Russia is not excited about that. He has put and upheld sanctions that the Obama administration put in place. He has upheld those.

He has closed three diplomatic properties that were Russia's, here in the United States.

He has taken a number of actions against Russia and put pressure on them. He has helped arm the Ukrainians. There are a number of places that Obama was too weak and refused to take and put pressure on Russia, where this President has.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But, Sarah, Democrats and Republicans have said the President could be much tougher. Why not implement the sanctions now?

SANDERS: I'm going to keep moving. Jon. Sorry, I'm sure he'll pick up where you left off. (Laughs.)

[15:35:00] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I'll pick up. First, a clarification from some of the President's tweets over the weekend. The President doesn't really think that the FBI failed to stop the Parkland shooter because it was too involved with the Russia investigation, does he?

SANDERS: I think he was speaking -- not necessarily that that is the cause. I think we all have to be aware that the cause of this is that of a deranged individual that made a decision to take the lives of 17 other people. That is the responsibility of the shooter, certainly not the responsibility of anybody else.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, did he mis-tweet when he said that? Because he's pretty direct. He says, "This is not acceptable. They are spending too much time trying to prove Russian collusion."

SANDERS: I think he's making the point that we would like our FBI agencies to not be focused on something that is clearly a hoax, in terms of investigating the Trump campaign and its involvement --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You just agreed that the evidence is there -- that the Russians interfered with our election.

SANDERS: I said that the Trump campaign interfered and colluded with it --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But the latest investigation is obviously about what Russia did, and raises the question -- now that you've said the President agrees. The National Security Advisor says, the evidence is incontrovertible -- what is the President going to do about it? What is he specifically doing about the fact that Russia interfered with our election and has every intention, we are told, of doing it again? What is he doing about it?

SANDERS: Look, just last week, the Department of Homeland of Security Secretary, Kirstjen Nielsen, met with a number of relevant stakeholders. They're discussing this process and going through and looking every single day at the best ways forward. Everybody wants to blame this on the Trump administration. Let's not forget that this happened under the Obama administration --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It happened over a year ago. What's he done about it?

SANDERS: We have spent a lot of time working on cybersecurity, focusing on protecting the fairness on our elections. And as I just said, the Department of Homeland Security --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How?

SANDERS: -- met with state and local officials just over the last several weeks, along with election vendors, to make sure that our election system is secure. Last week they met with state and private officials on how best to secure the election system from foreign interference.

We're not the only targets of foreign interference and we're working our allies, on a daily basis, to make sure that we're following best practices. This has been a topic of conversation with multiple foreign heads of state.

President Trump and the administration have made it clear that interference in our elections will have consequences and we're going to continue to impose consequences in response to Russian cyberattacks. Just last week, we called out Russia by name. It was one of the first times that you've seen something like that take place. We're going to continue doing things like that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But the President hasn't even criticized Vladimir Putin about this. He hasn't even called out Putin. He criticized Obama, he criticized the FBI; he didn't even criticize Vladimir Putin.

SANDERS: He has been tougher on Russia in the first year than Obama was in eight years combined. He's imposed sanctions; he's taken away properties; he's rebuilt our military. He has done a number of things to put pressure on Russia and to be tough on Russia. Just last week, there was an incident that will be reported in the coming days, in another way that this President was tough on Russia. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Last week, the Florida Governor, Rick Scott, called for the FBI Director's resignation. The Governor and the President were together over the weekend, or last week. Did the -- did Governor Scott talk to him about that? But more importantly, what does the President think? He obviously tweeted about this, but what does he think about the Director's -- should the Director go? What is the consequence of their missing the tip on the shooter?

SANDERS: I'm not sure if it came up in the private conversations between the Governor and the President. I would have to check and get back to you.

In terms of the action or the inaction of the FBI, that's currently being reviewed and investigated, and I can't speak to it at this point --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: By the White House? Is the White House reviewing it?

SANDERS: I believe it's internally. And at this point there's not a lot I can say. But I do feel, and I believe that we're looking at what action could be taken, and certainly what actions can be taken to prevent that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Does he have confidence in the new Director?

SANDERS: No changes in that. We've answered that questions a number of times and I don't have anything new on that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A quick clarification on what you said before about the event tomorrow. You mentioned who was coming. What is the topic exactly? Is it mental health? Is it guns? What are they going to be talking about with the parents and the students and the teachers?

SANDERS: I think it's a wide range of issues. You have a number of people that have, unfortunately, been through horrific tragedy -- like the one that we saw in Parkland, Florida, last week -- as well as some that hope they never have to go through that. We'll have a number of parents, and teachers, and students from schools in the local area, as well.

And this is a listening session to see what can be done better; what the actual concerns of the students are; what they would like to see.

[15:40:00] One of the things that the President wants to do is make sure that he sits down with a number of people from across all fronts.

Unfortunately, when horrific tragedies like this happen, everybody wants a quick and a simple answer, but there isn't one. There's not a quick and there's not a simple answer. But we want to make sure that we're addressing the problem. And we want to make sure that we're meeting and talking with as many people that not only are affected, but that play in this process as possible.

That's why he's sitting down with the parents, the teachers, the students; and then he's going to sit down with state and local law enforcement officials; and then he's going to sit down with the nation's governors, and bring all those conversations together and look for the best path forward, and make sure we're doing everything we can within every capacity from a state, local, and federal level to make sure incidences like this don't happen again -- Mara.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you, Sarah. The President, in 2000, did support an assault weapons ban. What's his position now?

SANDERS: Look --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is he open to reinstating the ban?

SANDERS: I don't have any specific announcements, but we haven't closed the door on any front. Again, that's the next several days and weeks will be -- to have conversations and to see what this process looks like, and to see what areas we can help make changes to, and in what places that we can do better.

Specifically, I know background checks are something that the President is supportive of making more efficient and looking at better ways to improve that process. And we're going to continue to look at a number of other factors as well -- Jon.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thanks a lot, Sarah. In the aftermath of the indictment, which was handed down by the Special Counsel Bob Mueller's office on Friday, the President tweeted quite a bit and tweeted quite a bit over the weekend. He was critical of the FBI; he was critical of Democrats; critical of the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, Adam Schiff; even critical of his predecessor.

But he was not critical of Russia. He was not critical of the Russian President Vladimir Putin. I didn't get a sense of outrage in what the President put out there in his tweets -- that he's angered that another country, Russia, tried to interfere in the U.S. Presidential election, tried to interfere in our system-

SANDERS: He actually called out Russia by name in his official statement that went out shortly after those indictments came down. He called them "bad actors," and specifically called out Russia. It was the only individual in that statement; that was the first reaction of the President. So, I would disagree with the premise of your question.

He's also, again, been extremely tough on Russia in a number of different ways and we're going to continue to do that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sarah, is he angered by this or outraged by the fact that Russia tried to interfere in our system?

SANDERS: I think he's angered that anybody would try to meddle into our system. But again, I think it's important to remember that we are looking forward, too, on figuring out the best ways to make sure that doesn't happen again -- Zeke.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thanks Sarah, if I could indulge you with three questions -- just, we have a lot of housekeeping to do. First, you mentioned the President's support of background checks. The House passed a bill that includes concealed carry reciprocity. Is that a provision the President would consider after this tragedy?

SANDERS: I haven't spoken to him about that specific procedure. I know he spoke with Senator Cornyn on Friday. The Senate version is a little bit different and he is generally supportive of that, but we're going to continue those conversations.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Separately, last week, there was news made by Administrator Pruitt, as well as Secretary Shulkin. Do they both have the President's -- about their private travels and use of -- whether it be first-class flights or inappropriate use of federal resources -- do both of them still have the confidence of the President?

SANDERS: I have no reason to believe otherwise. As we've said many times before, if somebody no longer has the confidence of the President, you guys will know.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And finally, the Chief of Staff, on Friday, issued that memo on security clearances -- that those with interim security clearances, by the end of this week -- that have been outstanding since June of last year -- would lose their access to classified information. One of those people, we know from his attorney, is Senior Advisor Jared Kushner. Can you talk about whether or not -- how he'll be able to do his very senior job in the White House if he does not have access to classified information?

SANDERS: I can tell you that no decision within the memo will impact anything that Jared Kushner is working on.

In terms of specifics on security clearances, I can't get into --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Does he not need classified information to do his job?

SANDERS: I can't answer whether someone has a security clearance or not, as we've addressed many times before, but I can tell you that nothing that has taken place will affect the valuable work that Jared is doing. He continues, and will continue, to be a valued member of the team. And he'll continue to do the important work that he's been focused on with the last year -- John.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sarah, you mentioned a deranged individual took the lives of 17 people at Parkland. That's after a deranged individual took dozens of lives in Las Vegas, in the wake of which the President offered some support for the idea of banning bump stocks, which then seem to have fallen by the wayside.

[15:45:00] And it was preceded by a deranged individual snuffing out the lives of nearly an entire classroom at Sandy Hook, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

Other than supporting a bill that would encourage state and federal governments -- government agencies -- to do what they're supposed to do, does the President have any ideas -- any ideas at all -- on how to address this? Or is he starting from scratch?

SANDERS: I can tell you that the President supports not having the use of bump stocks and that we expect further action on that in the coming days. He ordered the Department of Justice and the ATF to review the regulation of bump stocks. My understanding is that review has been completed and movement will take place on that shortly.

But the President, when it comes to that, is committed to ensuring that those devices are -- well, again, I'm not going to get ahead of the announcement, but I can tell you that the President doesn't support the use of those accessories.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And on the broader problem of deranged individuals getting a hold of weapons and killing people indiscriminately, does he have any ideas on how to deal with this?

SANDERS: Look, we're having -- again, that's part of a lot of the conversations that we're going to have over the next --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Which suggests he started from scratch here.

SANDERS: -- on mental illness.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If he has to listen to a bunch of people, and he doesn't have any ideas of his own, that would suggest that he doesn't have any ideas.

SANDERS: That's not what I said. You're taking my words out of context.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, could you explain it?

SANDERS: Well, I was trying to before you interrupted me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, go ahead.

SANDERS: But the President is very focused on mental illness, working with the Health and Human Services Department to determine the best path forward on that, and what is available and allowed under the law -- certainly something that we take very seriously, and something that we want to address, and that we're working hand-in-hand with both the federal government, as well as state and local law enforcement officials on what we legally can do.

Unfortunately, we can't just flip a switch, but there is a process. We are a law and order country, and the President is trying to do everything that he can under his capacity to address these concerns, and certainly when it comes to mental illness --Julie.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can I follow up on Jared Kushner? Would the President consider granting Mr. Kushner a full clearance, even if the red flags in his background check suggested otherwise?

SANDERS: First of all, I'm not aware of any red flags, and I think it's irresponsible to suggest that without having seen any individual's file. And secondly, I haven't spoken to the President about whether or not that would be necessary.

But again, as I said, Mr. Kushner's work that he has done will not be impacted. And he's going to continue to do the work that he's done over the last year.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Has the President ever overruled the Personnel Security Office on a recommendations he's had.

SANDERS: I'm not aware of any time that's happened -- Roberta.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Former Speaker Gingrich has put forward a proposal that he's sort of promoting quite a bit about training more teachers and administrators to use firearms and having more people with firearms in schools. I'm wondering if that's in the range of ideas that the President is open to, and if you can explain a little bit more about how the President, how the White House is going to run this process, in terms of taking in ideas from everybody, and having these listening sessions.

SANDERS: I haven't spoken with him about Speaker Gingrich's plan, so I have to get back to you on that front.

Over the next several days and weeks, how we'll run that process is take in a lot of information from individuals that have been affected, specifically by school shootings, as well as those that hope they never have to be in that same situation; and talking to state and local law enforcement officials, state and local elected officials, on what we're legally allowed to do, and what areas that we feel like we can help move that forward -- David.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What does the President think about Secretary Shulkin's handling of his travel -- the Wimbledon tickets and all that thing? What did Trump think about that?

SANDERS: Look, this is still has the -- I think there's a 97-page Inspector General report. And until that -- there's a secondary review that takes place -- and until that's completed, I can't comment any further on it.

I'll take one last question -- Pamela.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Does the President believe there should be an age limit for those who buy an AR-15? As you know, the shooter in Florida was a teenager when he first bought an AR-15.

SANDERS: I know there are currently laws in place in certain states that restrict that. In terms of whether or not we make that federal policy, that hasn't yet been determined. But that's something I --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But will he look at that? Is that something that he's going to look at?

SANDERS: I think that's certainly something that's on the table for us to discuss, and that we expect to come up over the next couple of weeks.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And let me just ask you. Over the weekend, he tweeted about his National Security Advisor, H.R. McMaster, suggesting that he seemed to forget to say that Russia didn't impact the outcome of the election. Has he spoken to him since? And does he still have confidence in him to do his job?

SANDERS: He still has confidence in General McMaster. I spoke to him specifically about that answer. He said that he liked the General's answer, but just thought that little addendum would be helpful to add.

Thanks so much, guys. Have a good day.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Does the President still believe that Vladimir Putin didn't interfere?

[15:50:00] BALDWIN: OK, so much of what you heard just there from Sarah Sanders -- again we haven't had a briefing in about a week. Lot of half-truths and spin on a number of serious issues impacting this country. Let's start with Russia and Russia's attack on our elections. Jeff Zeleny and Jim Sciutto with me and just first, Jeff, Sarah Sanders once again you know dismissing this investigation and falsely claiming that the President never questioned whether the Russians meddled, it's false.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: She did, Brooke. And it was clear that the press secretary has spoken out stronger and more forcefully against Russia than the President ever has to date. She said it's very clear that Russia meddled in the election. And she said the President has also said that. He, in fact, has not said that. Of course, the whole underlying issue here is she went on to say it's also clear it didn't have an impact on the election.

Well, we all know that specifically but that is what is the whole worry here in the President's mind that his election victory will be undercut by the discussion of that. By being afraid to talk about they have gotten themselves into quite a fix here. You can see Sara Sanders she had no answers for the tweets over the weekend. This is one of the reasons why. I was with White House officials over the weekend as I was in Florida covering the President.

They were stunned to see these tweets in real-time, the same times as we were. So, he simply was not previewing them with the White House staff. Now she is trying to come up to an answer and trying to explain something that has already happened in the tweets. Going on, I thought perhaps the most important takeaway was, why hasn't the President called out Vladimir Putin specifically? He's called out Barack Obama. He's called out others.

Sarah Sanders said that last week there was an incident that we'll be hearing about shortly about Russia. That was a cliffhanger, I guess, seemingly suggesting that this administration is doing something tough on Russia. They just don't want to talk about it. We'll see if that ends up being true. The credibility here is not what it would be normally in an ideal situation here.

But the press secretary is simply trying to bob and weave around what the President said and could not back up the question of how the Trump campaign, or the Trump presidency, excuse me, in a year has been tougher on Russia than Obama in eight years. She said that definitively. Brooke, that simply is not true.

BALDWIN: Jim Sciutto, what are you thinking?

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Listen, you can argue, and it is a fair criticism to say did the Obama administration act quickly or strongly enough with Russia? And that's a criticism we've heard from both Democrats and Republicans.

But when you compare the Trump administration response, particularly this President's response and the Obama administration's response, Sarah Sanders is entering really delusional territory there. I'll just give you an example. In January just before the inauguration, the Obama administration imposed a number of sanctions on Russia specifically for election meddling after repeatedly saying in public many times and identifying Russia as being behind it. Something the President hasn't done. You may remember they sanctioned a number of Russian entities and individuals. They kicked out 35 some odd Russian diplomats. They closed the two compounds.

Just to be clear, this is what President Trump said on the day those Obama administration sanctions were announced. President Trump said it is time for our country to move on to bigger and better things. No endorsements of the sanctions. No endorsement that Russia was behind the meddling and in fact a statement saying he wanted to move on from the sanctions.

As you know, we've talked about this, Brooke. The Republican- controlled Senate and House imposed sanctions by near unanimous majorities requiring this president to further sanction Russia. And one of those date markers passed last month, the administration let it pass. They released a list of Russian entities but did not impose any further sanctions on those entities.

So, it is one thing to say the Obama administration didn't act strongly enough. That's something you've heard from Obama administration officials. But to claim being stronger than the Obama administration? Listen the facts don't stand up to that and I'm sure Sarah Sanders knows that as well as anybody else.

BALDWIN: She was also asked about the tweet over the weekend, Jeff Zeleny, back over to you. The whole, the president seemingly connecting the FBI and the Parkland shooting to, well, they were too busy on this whole collusion campaign against me. She tried walking back that clear link that the president was making. But I'm not quite sure she pulled it off.

ZELENY: Yes. She did try walking back the direct link. That was one of the earliest tweets that came out over the weekend. Saturday evening after dinner time when the President was at Mar-A-Lago. He blasted the FBI for essentially being too focused on the Russia investigation and not focused enough on the shooting and other matters.

[15:55:00] She did try walking that back somewhat. But in doing so, also, again, called the Russia investigation a hoax. So, this is the sort of corner that they've backed themselves into here. In one respect, they acknowledge that there was Russia interference in the election. But at the other hand, call it a hoax. What she said she means by that was any collusion with the Trump campaign and the Russia officials. But they do in fact believe that the Russia meddling happened --

BALDWIN: Jeff, let me jump in.

ZELENY: We have not yet heard from the commander in chief what he plans to do about it? Or what he has to say to Vladimir Putin about it?

BALDWIN: Let me jump in. The commander in chief is speaking right now. That Medal of Valor ceremony is underway behind you inside the White House. He is speaking about Parkland. Let's dip in. DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: -- greatly moved by their strength, their resilience and heart broken for the families whose loved ones were so cruelly torn from them forever. Forever and ever. We cannot imagine the depths of their anguish, but we can pledge the strength of our resolve. And we must do more to protect our children. We have to do more to protect our children.

This week, I will be holding a number of discussions with students, local leaders, and law enforcement to develop concrete steps that we can take to secure our schools, safeguard our students, and protect our communities. School safety is a top priority for my administration. That is why when governors from across the nation visit the White House next week, we will be discussing at great length what the federal and state governments can do to keep our students safe.

This includes implementing common sense security measures and addressing mental health issues. Including better coordination between federal and state law enforcement. To take swift action when there are warning signs. In addition, after the deadly shooting in Las Vegas, I directed Attorney General to clarify whether certain bump stock devices like the one used in Las Vegas are illegal under current law. That process began in December and just a few moments ago, I signed a memorandum directing the Attorney General to propose regulations to ban all devices that turn legal weapons into machine guns. I expect that these critical regulations will be finalized, Jeff, very soon.

The key in all of these efforts, as I said in my remarks, the day after the shooting, is that we cannot merely take actions that make us feel like we are making a difference, we must actually make a difference. We must move past cliches and tired debates and focus on evidence-based solutions and security measures that actually work, and that make it easier for men and women of law enforcement to protect our children and to protect our safety.

In the aftermath of this evil massacre, our spirits have been lifted by the accounts of bravery at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, coaches, teachers, students, law enforcement officers and others who have shown us that the forces of love and courage are always stronger than the forces of evil and hate. It is this truth that brings us together today. The 12 patriots we honor come from many places and serve in many different roles. But they all share one thing in common.

BALDWIN: So, we wanted to make sure we heard what the President said as he is speaking. He is about to give out these 12 different awards. The Medal of Valor ceremony. I just want to point out, of the 12 people he is honoring today, eight of them are being honored for responding within some sort of shooting scenario. But very key, what we just heard the President saying there, making news.

And Jim Sciutto talk on me about the bump stocks. Right. We talked about this in the wake of the Las Vegas shooting, what that shooter did in order to enable that weapon to become an automatic weapon. And it sounds like the President is saying he just signed something banning these devices, which is significant.

SCIUTTO: It's all going to be in the details, right. Because the President also referred to what happened after Las Vegas. Congress for a moment, there were some Republicans they talked about a legislative ban. Instead they punted it to the ATF for was called a regulatory clarification process to see if bump stocks are allowed under current regulation.

[16:00:00] That I'm told, and I've been told, and I have been in touch with Republican members of Congress takes months and months. It could take as long as a year and then nothing could happen. So, the question is what did the President just sign? Did he sign a ban? Or did he sign something endorsing that process? That would go a big difference between what's happening right now.

BALDWIN: OK. You're right the point that out. We don't totally know. I've a minute left. Jamie Gangel, you've been sit go with me this whole time. He says he wants to do more to protect our children. These young people are in route to Tallahassee right now. I'm talking about the folks down in Parkland, Florida. Final thoughts from you.

JAMIE GANGEL, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: Just to follow up on what Jim Sciutto said, I think what the president said is he signed a memorandum.

BALDWIN: Right.

GANGEL: And then they're going to look into it. So, this was not --

BALDWIN: Not definitive.

GANGEL: Not definitive. Not today, to Jim's point. Something that could get kicked down the road. I think the question we're all waiting for is will there be something definitive, common sense, as he said, that makes a change.

BALDWIN: OK. Jamie, thank you so much. Jim Sciutto, thank you. I'm Brooke Baldwin. Thank you so much for being with me today. We'll send it to "THE LEAD" with Jake Tapper.