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New Day
Actions Against Gun Violence. Aired 8:30-9a ET
Aired October 02, 2015 - 08:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[08:30:00] REP. TIM MURPHY (R), CO-CHAIR, CONGRESSIONAL MENTAL HEALTH CAUCUS: Families have a right, whether it is here in Oregon now or the issues in Connecticut or California, those families had a right to see their children grow up. And those who were still alive, they had a right to go through life without dealing with trauma the rest of their life. That's where Congress has to hear the voice of the American people and say, stop squandering the opportunity, stop delaying, stop letting more people suffer in this. That's the key. America needs to speak up.
CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Well, let's use an opportunity that is about the worst of us and use it as an opportunity to bring out the best in us. Let us know when it's on the hearing docket again so we can cover the hearing, we can see what the resistance is and we can let people weigh in.
Representative Tim Murphy, as always, it is good to hear you voice. I'm sorry it is on occasions such as this.
MURPHY: Let's keep trying.
CUOMO: What do you think about what the congressman said? Tweet us using #newdaycnn or post your comment on facebook.com/newday.
Mick.
MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: He's right, we've got to keep trying. Much more of our breaking coverage ahead. And specifically we're going to take a look at what happens next for the community of Roseburg. Is it time for stronger gun controls? We're going to speak with a state lawmaker who represents that area.
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[08:35:07] PEREIRA: All right, here we go with the five things to know for your new day.
At number one, police working to find a motive for a massacre at that Oregon college. Ten people are dead, including the gunman. We know of at least nine others being wounded. One victim's father says the shooter singled out Christians.
Breaking news this morning, the economy added 142,000 jobs in September. Job gains in July and August were always revised down. This is a deviation from the solid growth that we've seen in the last few years. The unemployment rate, though, remained unchanged at 5.1 percent.
Hurricane Joaquin still bearing down on the Bahamas, look at that, as a powerful Category 4 storm. Most forecast models now say, though, that Joaquin will probably steer clear of the East Coast of the United States. However, that intense rain is not going away. Batten down the hatches.
Six U.S. service members and five civilian contractors were killed when their military transport plane crashed at the Jalalabad Airport in Afghanistan. The U.S. military is now investigating the cause of that crash.
U.S. officials are making it clear they will continue with military action in Syria. This as Russia mounts air strikes in the war-torn nation amid deepening concern over Moscow's blurred strategy.
For more on the five things, you can always visit newdaycnn.com for more.
Chris.
CUOMO: All right, Mick.
With mounting gun violence comes mounting outcry for gun reform. President Obama didn't hesitate to begin the outcry again last night. But how do we get past the politics of guns and take a look at the other factors and actually take some action. We have experts ahead.
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[08:40:38] ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: We are following that breaking news out of Oregon, the massacre on the campus of Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon.
Here's what we know at this hour. Nine people killed, nine others wounded. Investigators say the 26-year-old gunman was armed with three handguns and one long gun and enough ammunition for a, quote, "prolonged fight." He was killed in a shootout with police.
Michaela.
PEREIRA: All right, Alisyn, with President Obama admonishing the nation for not fighting gun violence, what are lawmakers in Oregon and even on the federal level do in response to this latest massacre? Here to discuss is Dallas Heard. He's a Republican representative in the Oregon State Legislature.
And I should also point out, has family ties to this area. I understand your family goes back to the 1800s. You grew up in Roseburg. You call it home. It's your district. But you're also a lawmaker, representative. What would you like to see happen in terms of laws and legislation in your area?
DALLAS HEARD (R), OREGON HOUSE REPRESENTATIVE: Well, first of all, thank you for having me today.
It's obviously difficult to put into words what our community's dealing with right now. As a policy maker, obviously the first instinct is to start thinking about, how do we prevent this in the future. But right now, frankly, I just don't think it's appropriate for especially local elected officials to really go into that.
My concerns and my prayers are focus on the families, the victims, and making sure that this community can somehow just pick up the pieces and start moving on with our lives.
PEREIRA: That is so vital and so important, healing and comforting the victims, the victims' families. But, sir, we have also heard the governor of your state of Oregon. We've also heard the sheriff of the county that Roseburg is in both echo your sentiments and say now is not the time to talk about gun control legislation. Sir, with all due respect, if not now, when?
HEARD: It could be next week for all we care, but right, I mean, the wound is -
PEREIRA: But will it happen?
HEARD: The wound is still open and bleeding. You know, you talk about my ties to this community. I drive by this campus literally every day of the week. My business is located five miles from here. My father and my parents' house is located close by. So I go there frequently over the weekend. So this means everything to me.
And this issue, obviously, will be addressed in just a few short months when we go up - back up to Salem for the short session in 2016. But like I said, the main - frankly, Michaela, the whole reason I even took this interview was because I just want to reach out to you folks and your audience and just beg for guys for your prayers. This is a faith based community. A very solid community. It's - it's not a joke. I mean half the town's related to each other.
PEREIRA: I know.
HEARD: We love each other. Everybody knows everybody. I had a gentlemen that's a local business owner call me at 11:00 last night while still laying awake in bed trying to just convince myself this was just a nightmare and I'd wake up, and told me that one of his managing employee's wife us one of the victims.
PEREIRA: Oh, goodness.
HEARD: And so even at that point I - I've already got a small connection to somebody that's been a victim of this tragedy.
PEREIRA: No, and I - and I respect that, I really do, representative. But my point is, and you please know you do have our prayers and you do know that you have the prayers of the nation with you. But you also know as a man of faith, as I know as a person of faith, that faith, prayers without action is fruitless. We have to also act. And so that is my challenge to you is to make sure that this does get dealt with in the weeks and days ahead. I will give that to you.
Let me ask you more about the community. You know that, obviously, all of the people in the community are reeling from this. What are you hearing from the townspeople? Because I know it, as you mentioned, everyone knows each other. Everyone knows someone that was touched by this. What is their reaction to this senseless tragedy?
HEARD: You know, frankly, you know, as I was walking around at the prayer service/candlelight vigil last night, I didn't hear a lot of anger. I saw a lot of pain. I could hear the pain, the crying. But I could hear the hope in hoping for these people and praying for these people that have been directly affected by this. This community, frankly, is not like a lot of the parts of the - a lot of other parts of the nation. It's certainly not more like the urban communities.
[08:45:01] The rural community of Roseburg and the greater Douglas County area, we're doers, we're fighters, we're not victims. I just - I'm telling you, I'm very blessed to be the representative of this community. We're looking on how we can improve our lives and how we can prevent this from happening in the future. But right now 24 hours haven't even passed.
PEREIRA: I know.
HEARD: And when it comes to being in leadership, I'm very disappointed in some of the national figures that have been making comments on this situation considering how fresh it is. We don't even still have the full facts. When I met with the governor and other elected officials, when I was listening to Country Sheriff John Hanlin, the stats he gave me yesterday are different from the stats I heard over my ear piece here when I was listening to you folks as far as how many dead, how many wounded. We still don't know how the gunman accessed his weapon -
PEREIRA: No, we don't. It is -
HEARD: There is just too many unknown facts.
PEREIRA: There are. It is early stages. It's not even 24 hours, as you said, but you can also understand that so many of us are tired of being here again and that is the concern. We want to make sure this kind of thing does not happen. That is a challenge for you there in your community. And we say thank you to you for joining us on NEW DAY today. Representative Dallas Heard. Thanks so much for joining us.
HEARD: Do you have one -- I have one thing to say.
PEREIRA: Go ahead.
HEARD: We have a GoFundMe account that I set up at 1:00 in the morning because I just could not sleep and I was like what do I have to do to help these people. And it's UCC Victim Relief at GoFundMe. I'm begging people across the nation to help these folks in the healing process. We don't want anybody that has a dead child or a dead spouse or a victim who is healing in the hospital to be burdened with the financial burden that is coming. PEREIRA: They shouldn't have to do that.
HEARD: And I'm asking the community to get on that (INAUDIBLE). Thank you.
PEREIRA: All right. Thanks for adding that note. Representative Heard, we appreciate it.
Alisyn.
CAMEROTA: Michaela. How could this happen again? That is always the question we ask after another senseless shooting. So when we come back we'll discuss the politics of guns and see what the presidential candidates are saying today about this massacre and stopping the violence.
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[08:50:28] PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: The reporting is routine. My response here at this podium ends up being routine, the conversation in the aftermath of it. We've become numb to this.
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CUOMO: The president clearly frustrated. But, you know, the question winds up getting turned back on him. What has he done about it? What have lawmakers done about it? About gun laws, about mental health, about a culture of violence that is almost uniquely American.
We know what the issues are. We've covered dozens of these. Yes, the reporting is fresh. The investigation is new. But surprises are unlikely in this. So let's discuss.
We have senior politics editor for "The Daily Beast," Jackie Kucinich and CNN senior Washington correspondent, Jeff Zeleny. It's good to have you both.
Let's start with this primary assertion, Kucinich. It is too early. Don't politicize this. Let them heal. We hear it from lawmakers more than anybody else. Is that a hedge or do you believe that is the right place to be?
JACKIE KUCINICH, SENIOR POLITICS EDITOR, "THE DAILY BEAST": Well, very rarely are any sort of gun legislation passed as a reaction to these sort of things. So yeah, we hear that. Is it a hedge? Probably. But, you know, this is something, as the president said, that's kind of become routine because there isn't a lot of political courage out there or political will to pass more gun legislation. We've actually seen less gun restrictions even get more lenient in wake of Sandy Hook.
CAMEROTA: So Jeff, I mean, just for two prime examples that happened on NEW DAY, after the Lafayette Theater shooting in July, Governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana was on NEW DAY. We asked him about it. He said now is not the time to talk about it. We must let the healing begin.
An hour ago we had the Oregon Governor, a Democrat, Kate Brown, on NEW DAY, asked her what can change, what will you change in your state, she said now is not the time to talk about. When exactly is the right time for politicians to talk about these things?
JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: It's a great question. It is always delayed. Never talk about it. The problem here is -- the president is right. He went through the litany of names of shootings that have really become, you know, one word touchstones of the horrors of our culture here from Columbine, you know, to Sandy Hook to Newtown. But there is never a good time here. There has to be a conversation on both sides. Certainly the presidential campaign, the middle of a presidential campaign, is also going to be not a good time to talk about this. So there is never a good time to talk about this.
But yes, the president deserves some of the blame for this. No question. He has not rallied the country behind this. Now he doesn't really have the standing to do so, if he ever did. The Republican- controlled Congress certainly is not going to take up this issue. So it is going to be on the voters. It is going to be on the American people to call upon their leaders to do something.
CUOMO: Right. But leaders go first, Jeff. Alisyn is showing me nine different presidential candidates, tweets from them. O'Malley, Sanders, Hillary, Trump, Pataki, Huckabee, Kasich, Bush, all saying we pray for them and only one of then saying we need to do something right now and I'll do everything I can to achieve that. That's Hillary Clinton.
But look, the case and point politically is this. Bobby Jindal said not now. Have we heard anything from him since on this about what to do? What not to do? No. Of course not. Why? Because the gun debate is going nowhere in this country. We know that, Kucinich. The question is, what about all the other elements? In mass shootings -- And again, they are just a fraction of percentage of the gun violence we have in the country. But mental health is a constant refrain. And we just had Representative Tim Murphy on. He can't get his bill pushed through. The culture of violence, which is what really needs leadership in this country, gets almost no voice. Those things don't even get discussed. What's behind that?
KUCINICH: You know, the interesting thing is the last time any kind of gun legislation was passed was in was in 2007 after Virginia Tech. And President Bush signed into law and one of the things it did was it added mental health records to the instant background check. But in a lot of states they haven't done anything. They either don't have the funding and nothing has happened. So the laws are out there. And one of the executive orders that the president signed was encouraging states to update these laws of -- state by state. But there isn't a consistency. And the other interesting thing is this year in April, Pew Research Center has some polling. The people who think that gun rights are more important than further restriction on guns, it became more. It's 52 percent of people.
[08:55:02] CUOMO: Right.
KUCINICH: So the country even is more in favor right now for less gun -- for more gun rights more than more gun restrictions.
CAMEROTA: You know, Jeff, after Newtown, the president was so frustrated then that he came out and he said there are 23 executive actions that I can take right here and now, I don't have to wait for Congress, and I'm going to do that. And they sounded great at the time. Have the CVC research the causes and prevention of gun violence, make sure what Jackie is talking about, have states coordinate more. But what's happened with those? Why haven't they seemed to make a dent?
ZELENY: It is a great question, Alisyn. I was thinking about that when I saw the president speaking last night. More frustrated. More angry than I've ever seen him in more than a decade of following him and covering him. But he did not mention his executive orders. So that is a key question for the White House today, to go through this checklist of 23 things. The reality is the executive actions that he signed were largely window dressing. They were feel-good measures that, you know, let's set up a blue ribbon commission for this. Let's do this. They need new laws and Congress needs to be involved in this. It needs to be much more than the executive action.
CUOMO: And they need to focus on a lot more than just guns.
CAMEROTA: There you go. Jeff - Sorry, Jackie, Jeff, thank you so much for that.
CNN's coverage of the campus massacre continues after this short break with Carol Costello.
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