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New Timeline of the School Shooting Reveals Mistakes were Made; Columbine Survivors Express Outrage Over Uvalde Shooting; Interview with Representative David Cicilline (D-RI) about Gun Control Legislation. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired May 28, 2022 - 16:00   ET

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

[16:00:00]

MARCH-GRIER: Supporting one another so that hopefully we can prevent something like this from ever happening again.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN ANCHOR: And to nominate someone you think should be a CNN Hero, go to CNNheroes.com right now.

You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM, I'm Jim Acosta in Washington.

A day before the president visits the site of the Uvalde, Texas, mass shooting, Vice President Kamala Harris just called for an assault weapons ban. She was in Buffalo, New York, today to attend the funeral of one of the victims of the mass shooting in that city.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We know what works on this. It includes let's have an assault weapons ban. You know what an assault weapon is? You know how an assault weapon was designed? It was designed for a specific purpose, to kill a lot of human beings quickly. An assault weapon is a weapon of war with no place, no place in a civil society.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: After back-to-back mass shootings, Republicans are looking elsewhere for answers. Just in the last two days, GOP Senators Ted Cruz and Ron Johnson and former President Donald Trump floated a laundry list of reasons for the country's mass shooting epidemic. Want to hear them? Here they are. They include video games, social media, wokeness, critical race theory, absent fathers, declining church attendance, too many doors at schools, and the list goes on and on.

But one thing not on their list is the one thing that is unique to the United States of America. Hundreds of millions of guns and minimal restrictions for acquiring them. To be sure, gun violence in the U.S. is a multifaceted problem that requires a multifaceted solution, but GOP leaders are willing to consider every facet, except this glaring one.

This debate is raging as a devastating picture emerges about Tuesday's massacre in Uvalde, Texas, that left 19 children and two teachers dead. It is now clear mistakes were made and warning signs were missed. CNN has learned in the weeks before the massacre at Robb Elementary, the gunman was posting rape threats on social media and flat-out saying he was going to carry out a school shooting. That key detail emerged just hours after Texas law enforcement admitted to critical mistakes in response to the shooting.

CNN is also getting new information about how authorities ultimately engaged with the shooter on Tuesday. Specialized Border Patrol agents entered the classroom with a shield and the gunman emerged from a closet and began firing at them.

CNN's Jason Carroll has more on the timeline of events.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GOV. GREG ABBOTT (R), TEXAS: I was misled. I am livid about what happened.

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Texas Governor Greg Abbott aiming his ire at law enforcement.

ABBOTT: My expectation is that the law enforcement leaders that are leading the investigations, which includes the Texas Rangers and the FBI, they get to the bottom of every fact with absolute certainty.

CARROLL: After damning new admissions from Texas authorities.

COL. STEVEN MCCRAW, DIRECTOR, TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY: It was the wrong decision. Period.

CARROLL: The incident commander making the decision not to immediately enter the classroom the gunman was in.

MCCRAW: The decision was made that this was a barricaded subject situation. There was time to retrieve the keys and wait for a tactical team with the equipment to go ahead and breach the door and take on the subject at that point.

CARROLL: Officials explained how the shooter got into the school.

MCCRAW: What we knew, the shooter entered, Ramos, was propped open by a teacher.

CARROLL: Investigators clarifying the timeline as police arrived.

MCCRAW: The three initial police officers that arrived went directly to the door and two received grazing wounds at that time from the suspect while the door was closed. At 11:37, there's more gunfire, another 16 seconds was fired. 11:37, one at 11:37 and 11:38, 11:40, 11:44. At 11:51, a police sergeant and USB agent started to arrive. At 12:03, officers continue to arrive in the hallway and there was as many as 19 officers at that time in that hallway.

CARROLL: Officers did not enter the room until a janitor provided keys. MCCRAW: They breached the door using keys that we're able to get from

the janitor because both doors were locked. Both of the classrooms that he shot into were locked when officers arrived. They killed the suspect at that time.

CARROLL: In that crucial time, survivors inside both classrooms made desperate calls to 911.

[16:05:02]

MCCRAW: She identified herself and whispered she's in room 112. At 12:10, she called back in room 12, advised are multiple dead. 12:13, again, she called on the phone. Again, at 12:16, she's called back and said there is eight to nine students alive.

CARROLL: Minutes later, a student called.

MCCRAW: A student child called back, was told to stay on the line and be very quiet. She told 911 that he shot the door. At approximately 12:43 and 12:47, she asked 911 to send the police now.

CARROLL: Alfred Garza says his daughter, Amerie, may have been one of those students who tried to call 911. She was killed during the shooting.

ALFRED GARZA, DAUGHTER WAS KILLED IN UVALDE MASS SHOOTING: Something has got to be done now. You know, where do we go from here, you know? You were wrong. What do we do now? You know? It's my question. What are we going to do now?

CARROLL (on-camera): The accountability you're talking about.

GARZA: Right. The accountability. You know? Somebody has got to be responsible.

CARROLL (voice-over): Warning signs missed.

MCCRAW: Ramos asked his sister to help him buy a gun. She flatly refused. That was in September of '21.

CARROLL: With social media group chats and posts as far back as last February offering red flags.

MCCRAW: Yes, at Instagram for a group chat, and it was discussed that Ramos being a school shooter. That was on February 28th of 2022. On March 14th, and there was Instagram posting by the subject in quotations, 10 more days. The user replied, are you going to shoot up school or something? The subject replied, no, and stop asking dumb questions and you will see.

CARROLL (on-camera): The governor here says he expects new laws to be passed to address what happened here. He also says expect both the FBI and the Texas Rangers to investigate every law enforcement official that was involved with what happened.

Jason Carroll, CNN, Uvalde, Texas. (END VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: The massacre in Uvalde has brought back painful memories for the victims of other school shootings, including one that shook the nation more than 20 years ago. On April 20th, 1999 a pair of Columbine high school students killed 12 students and a teacher and injured more than two dozen others before taking their own lives.

My next two guests are both survivors of the Columbine school shooting as well as teachers who are now part of a support network for the survivors of other mass tragedies. Kiki Leyba and Heather Martin join me now.

Thanks to both of you. I know it must be so painful to go over this all over again but we appreciate it so much.

Kiki, let me start with you first. To this day, you teach at Columbine. What was it like when you heard about the shooting in Uvalde or I guess for that matter any other school shooting or mass shooting that we hear about these days?

KIKI LEYBA, COLUMBINE HIGH SCHOOL TEACHER WHO EVACUATED STUDENTS DURING 1999 SHOOTING: All right. It's just horrific. It's sickening. It's just moving between sadness and anger, and just outrage that this continues to happen.

ACOSTA: And Heather, you were at Columbine. You were a senior in 1999 when you had to barricade yourself with dozens of other students in the high school choir room. Obviously the kids in Uvalde are much younger. They're 10 and 11 years old. How did surviving that shooting impact your life? What has it been like, and I guess what can these kids look to in terms of what they might expect?

HEATHER MARTIN, COLUMBINE SURVIVOR AND TEACHER: I think -- well, for starters, I struggled a lot after the shooting. The summer afterward I graduated. I was a senior, so going off to college was really hard. And basically what I think is really hard for everyone that experiences a shooting like this is when you go off into the world and you're surrounded by people who don't get it and who don't understand, that was really, really difficult for me.

And I struggled a lot. I ended up dropping out of college. And I think the most dangerous part for me was comparing my own trauma to other people's. Like saying, hey, mine wasn't so bad. I didn't lose a loved one. I wasn't shot, so I should be fine. I should be fine, and I kept telling myself that, and the truth was that I wasn't fine.

ACOSTA: Yes, and Kiki, we heard an account about an 11-year-old girl in Uvalde, I'm sure you've heard this story. She smeared the blood of another student all over herself to pretend she was dead and other students are terrified to even go to the school again. Let's listen to this.

[16:10:05]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ADRIENNE BROADDUS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Do you ever want to go back to school?

JAYDEN PEREZ, UVALDO SHOOTING SURVIVOR: I don't want to, no, because I don't want anything to do with another shooting and me in the school.

BROADDUS: Are you scared it might happen again?

PEREZ: Yes. And I know it might happen again probably.

EDWARD TIMOTHY SILVA, UVALDE SHOOTING SURVIVOR: I have the fear of guns now because I'm scared someone might shoot me.

AMBERLYNN DIAZ, MOTHER OF EDWARD TIMOTHY SILVA: Because he was asking me does he have to go to school next year, and I just don't want him to be afraid of school. I want him to continue learning and not be scared, you know, of going back to school. Yes. I want him to have a normal life again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: It just breaks your heart listening to those beautiful little kids.

Kiki, what advice would you give to those families?

LEYBA: That is -- it's just awful, especially for children so young, but at any age, you know, even college age students returning to school, the thought of it is terrifying, and I think that those conversations, you know, with kids that are older they certainly have to happen. It's so difficult to imagine or frame a conversation with a child that is, you know, first grade, second grade, talking about such horrific things, and it shouldn't even have to be a conversation.

But, you know, students that are older, the thought of returning in the fall or any time after a shooting is just traumatic, and the, you know, the thing that gets you through it is that sense of togetherness, the sense of community, your peers, you know, friends, family, and going through it, walking through it together, and obviously some counseling, you know, trauma therapists and just all the support that you can possibly throw at staff and students and families in the aftermath of these tragedies.

ACOSTA: And Heather, as we were saying earlier, it's been more than 20 years since Columbine, and this keeps happening over and over again. Did you think it would, I guess, end up like this where we would just be in this cycle of mass violence where it just happens over and over again?

MARTIN: Definitely not. Unfortunately for me, and I don't know why this is. It really doesn't make sense to me either, but I am surprised every time. Like I can't believe it's happening every time, and it really does make me, you know, angry. It brings up a lot of past issues that I've had and, yes, I can't imagine that we are where we are today 23 years later after Columbine. ACOSTA: Yes. And Kiki, after these school shootings, we've heard

Republicans say that teachers should be armed and that the solution is more good guys with guns. We actually heard that at the NRA convention yesterday just after what happened in Uvalde. I guess what would you say to that?

LEYBA: I think it's ridiculous. I've never met a teacher that thinks it's a good idea. I think bringing guns into schools is a wild card and it's a ridiculous idea, and it's not addressing the problem in any way. It's just simply them deflecting and trying to protect their love of Second Amendment rights and guns and that seems to supersede the safety of our schools, churches, grocery stores, our children.

I think the idea of arming teachers is simply ridiculous. Cruz and his idea of single door, again, another ridiculous idea and just deflecting from what the problem is.

ACOSTA: And Heather, what do you think?

MARTIN: I know that I do not want to be armed in my classroom at all. That is not something that I would ever want to do, and I think that that is much more dangerous than people are considering.

ACOSTA: Yes. And especially with all of the school shootings that we had in this country, I suppose there might be the prospect, and you both are living proof of this, where you could have a school shooting survivor who becomes a teacher who is then asked to have a firearm in the classroom if some of these proposals were to come to fruition. It's just -- is mind boggling. It's just mind boggling.

[16:15:04]

Kiki Leyba, Heather Martin, thank you very much for being with us. We appreciate it.

MARTIN: Thanks.

ACOSTA: Coming up, there's been a long history of congressional inaction when it comes to gun control, but is there a path forward now?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: In Washington, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are facing enormous pressure to act in the wake of the horrific events in Uvalde, Texas. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell says he has directed Republican Senator John Cornyn of Texas to engage with Democrats on a bipartisan solution on gun violence. A meeting was held Thursday, but the battle to find common ground will be steep.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MARCO LUBIO (R-FL): The truth of the matter is these people are going to commit these horrifying crimes whether they have to use another weapon to do it with. They're going to figure out a way to do it. SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): I can't assure the American people there's

any law we can pass to stop these shootings.

[16:20:02]

SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX): When there's a murder of this kind, you see politicians try to politicize it. You see Democrats and a lot of folks in the media whose immediate solution is to try to restrict constitutional rights of law-abiding citizens.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Joining me now is Democratic Congressman David Cicilline of Rhode Island. Back in 2016 he was one of the organizers of a 26-hour sit-in on the House floor to protest gun violence and demand congressional action to address gun violence. In the years that followed, he proposed an assault weapons ban.

Congressman Cicilline, thanks so much for being with us. We appreciate it. Time and again after every mass shooting there are lawmakers like yourself who have tried to harness the anguish of the nation to finally get something done on gun control, but it just doesn't happen. It's failed over and over again. Do you think this time is any different?

REP. DAVID CICILLINE (D-RI): I hope so. Look, the young people that you just had on your show were speaking about being afraid to go back to school. I mean, elementary school is supposed to be a time of great joy and pleasure and fun, and these are kids who are afraid to go back to school. We have a gun violence epidemic in this country. We've had over 200 mass shootings this year, 27 school shootings this year alone, and this is a really serious problem.

The idea that because we can't pass a law that will end gun violence completely we should do nothing, which the two senators just suggested, is absurd. We can do something about this. We can pass a set of bills that will help to reduce gun violence in this country. We've passed two already, one to strengthen criminal background checks, one to close the Charleston loophole to make sure people who don't pass a background check can't get a gun.

These are very common sense supported by 90 percent of the American people. They're not even controversial, but the Republicans in the Senate are blocking them. So, you know, I hope we're going to pass more commonsense bills out of the House, send them to the Senate, and continue to press for their passage and get them to the president's desk.

But this is an epidemic, and we have got to do something about it. It's sickening to watch case after case, individual after individual, shooting after shooting and the carnage and the devastation, it's causing families and communities, and the idea like there's nothing we can do about it, that's baloney.

ACOSTA: And earlier today Vice President Kamala Harris called for an assault weapons ban. We don't always hear a message that clearly articulated. Does this one have to be clearer from Democratic leaders? And, I mean, what do you say to your Republican colleagues? They have the filibuster over in the Senate. It just -- you can pass all the bills you want in the House, but over in the Senate you need 60 votes.

CICILLINE: Right. Well, we have 205 cosponsors of the assault weapons ban. And remember, these were weapons that were designed for wartime. They are designed to kill as many people as quickly as possible. When we had an assault weapons ban in effect there was a significant decline in mass shootings. Once the assault weapons ban expired mass shootings tripled.

So we know this works. These are weapons that don't belong in our communities. In almost all of the mass shootings in recent history, they've involved an assault weapon. And so we should ban them as well. But look, the Senate has the filibuster rule, but we should continue to do our job and pass whatever we can in the House and send it to the Senate so we can keep pressing them to take action.

If we don't pass stuff out of the House because the Senate won't pass it, we could go home and do nothing because of the filibuster. There's so much of our work sitting on the Senate majority leader's desk because it can't get past the filibuster. But look, the American people are demanding that we do something. That there are a number of bills in the House that will significantly reduce gun violence in this country, and we owe it to the victims of gun violence, to the people who are worried about it to take action.

And that's why I think you will see the House Judiciary Committee mark up a series of bills and the House pass them, and then the pressure will be on the Senate to do their job, protect their constituents, reduce gun violence in this country once and for all.

ACOSTA: And yesterday, gun control opponents met at the National Rifle Association convention in Houston, a four-hour drive from Uvalde, and we heard from Texas GOP senator Ted Cruz repeat that talking point that good guys with guns are what's needed. Obviously that didn't work, though, in Uvalde. It's very clear that the police officers were in the hallway there and they didn't barge in and kill the gunman.

How can you get anywhere on this issue if the other side has dug in their heels and they're just going to repeat the same talking points over and over again?

CICILLINE: Yes, I mean, this whole idea that if everyone had a gun, if there were just more guns we'd be safer. If that were actually true, America would be the safest country in the world in terms of gun violence because there are over 400 million guns in this country, more guns than people. And so that idea is absurd and the notion of just promoting gun sales, that's what the gun manufacturers want, that's what the NRA wants, the gun lobby. It's about promoting the sale of guns to maximize profits for these big gun manufacturers.

[16:25:06]

And, you know, to hear those talking points, like if everyone just had a gun, the teacher and the principal and everyone else in the school, I mean, the idea of injecting more guns into schools as a solution is horrifying, and it's bad public policy. It should never happen, and it's a way to distract from the real issues. And that is the unwillingness of our Republican colleagues to work with us on commonsense gun safety legislation that will reduce gun violence in this country.

This is a peculiarly American problem. We have a gun violence epidemic in this country unlike anywhere else in the world, and there's a reason for it. And that's because it's too easy for dangerous people, people with serious mental illness, criminals to get access to firearms in America.

ACOSTA: Congressman, you sit on the Judiciary Committee, and right now the Supreme Court has after 6-3 conservative majority and might be on the verge of taking down one of the nation's oldest and most restrictive gun control laws. It involves restrictions that in New York state where there was that mass shooting in Buffalo just two weeks ago today, and those restrictions place -- are placed on who can carry a gun in public. How worried are you about that?

CICILLINE: I'm very worried about that. This is a New York statute that says you have to have a justification to carry a concealed weapon. You have to demonstrate some need. The Supreme Court has always recognized the rights of states and localities to restrict firearms, to limit the kind of firearm you can possess, to limit where you can take them, but we now have new justices on the court who have a very different view of the Second Amendment, and they've shown by the leaked Roe versus Wade reversal that they don't feel bound by precedent.

And so I think there's a lot of reason to be concerned that this Supreme Court is actually going to make it easier for people to have access to firearms, to remove reasonable restrictions that are intended to reduce gun violence in this country, and I think it's -- I think like so many I'm very concerned about what the Supreme Court is going to do in this area as well.

ACOSTA: All right, Congressman David Cicilline, thank you very much. We've invited a number of Republican lawmakers to come on. They didn't accept our invitation, but if they're out there listening right now, give us a call. We'll have you on.

Congressman, thanks very much.

Coming up, as President Biden prepares to visit Uvalde, Texas, Vice President Kamala Harris attends the funeral of another mass shooting victim in Buffalo.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Enough is enough. We will come together based on what we all know we have in common, and we will not let those people who are motivated by hate separate us or make us feel fear.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:32:08]

ACOSTA: Vice President Kamala Harris is urging lawmakers to take action on gun reform calling for a ban on assault weapons and enhanced background checks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: On the issue of gun violence, I will say, as I said countless times, we are not sitting around waiting to figure out what the solution looks like. You know, we're not looking for a vaccine. We know what works on this. It includes let's have an assault weapons ban.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: This morning Harris visited the site of the racist supermarket shooting in Buffalo, New York. She also attended a funeral for Ruth Whitfield who was the oldest of the 10 victims in that attack. In her remarks at the service, Harris warned America is facing a, quote, "epidemic of hate."

CNN's Joe Johns is here with us now from Buffalo.

Joe, tell us more about the vice president's visit.

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jim, the remarks came in two different tranches, if you will. There was what happened out at the airport where she talked more about politics, assault weapons ban, expanded background checks. The back and forth that's gone on on Capitol Hill right now. Of course some of that is controversial, but the guidance initially when she was headed up here to Buffalo from Washington was that she did not want to speak at least at this funeral for Ruth Whitfield, the 86-year-old woman, the oldest person who was killed in this shooting spree a week, two weeks ago today, but she didn't want to speak at this because she was concerned that if she made remarks, it would be deemed political.

But that all changed when Al Sharpton who was delivering the eulogy said he was breaking protocol and asked her to speak anyway, and she got up and talked, and one of the things she talked about was trying to find a common thread for Americans to hang their hats on and that common thread throughout so many of these mass shootings around the country she said would be fighting back against the fear. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: We will not allow small people to create fear in our communities that we will not be afraid to stand up for what is right, to speak truth even when it may be difficult to hear and speak. There's a through line, what happened here in Buffalo, in Texas, in Atlanta, in Orlando. What happened at the synagogues. And so this is a moment that requires all good people, all God loving people to stand up and say we will not stand for this.

[16:35:02]

Enough is enough. We will come together based on what we all know we have in common, and we will not let those people who are motivated by hate separate us or make us feel fear.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNS: She also visited the Top supermarket, the scene of the crime, and took some flowers with her and she talked to family members of the victims as well.

One thing seems very clear, Jim, the administration trying to send a message to Buffalo that they support the city and they're concerned about what happened. Back to you.

ACOSTA: Yes, Joe, absolutely. I mean, after Uvalde, you know, we can't forget what happened in Buffalo. It was just two weeks ago today, hard to wrap your head around something like that. It was just two weeks ago. It feels like a lot longer than that.

Joe, thank you very much.

Coming up, the war in Ukraine through a mother's eyes as she takes shelter in a basement with her three young children.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:40:38]

ACOSTA: It's been 100 days since Brittney Griner was detained in Russia and her fellow WNBA players are urging President Biden to get her home. In a statement released today, the Women's National Basketball Association said, quote, "Brittney Griner is our teammate, our friend, and our sister. She is a record breaker, a gold medalist, a wife, a daughter, a champion, a role model, an all-star and so much more. Right now BG is an American citizen who's been wrongfully detained in Russia for 100 days. That's 144,000 minutes."

Griner was originally taken into custody back in February after she was stopped at an airport in Moscow for allegedly having cannabis oil in her bag.

For months we've seen horrific images of the war in Ukraine. But here's something you have not seen, it's the war through the eyes of a mother as she shelters in a basement with her three children in Kyiv. Her name is Olena Gnes. And CNN's Anderson Cooper met her in Kyiv and profiles her family's odyssey in a special "AC 360" that airs tomorrow night. Here's Anderson with a preview.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST, ANDERSON COOPER 360: Thanks, Jim. You know, we've all seen a lot of images of the war in Ukraine, but this is something you really haven't seen. It's the war through the eyes of one mother as she shelters in a basement with her three children in Kyiv. Her name is Olena Gnes, and before Russia invaded she was a tour divide, and she used to post videos about her family and about life in Ukraine on YouTube. But when the bombs started falling she kept recording and she decided to make basically a video diary of what she and her husband and kids were experiencing as they moved into a basement shelter, never knowing if they'd survive through the night.

I talked to Olena on "360" since the early days of the war and was able to finally meet her just a couple of weeks ago in Kyiv. But when I realized just how much video she'd shot, and I started to watch it, I realized what an extraordinary thing it was that she had created. It's a view of the world that we've rarely seen before. It's very intimate and poignant. It's very personal, and she's really just a lovely, thoughtful, caring person. This is the war diary of Olena Gnes. Here's a brief clip.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER (voice-over): In the morning against all odds, Kyiv is still in Ukrainian control.

OLENA GNES, UKRAINIAN MOTHER: So the latest update is that we are alive. I am alive. This is (INAUDIBLE). She's sleeping on the floor, and some other people in the shelter woke up. It's already morning. It's like 7:00 in the morning. (INAUDIBLE) sleeping on a small sofa here. It's very important that we survived this night. Now the day has come. You know, at night, everything looks much more scary for people, so as you can see, even many people left the bomb shelter right now because it's more than 7:00 in the morning.

COOPER: Many in Kyiv are leaving. Long lines of cars clog the roads heading west. Train stations around the country fill with families trying to get out. Olena decides she and the kids will stay.

GNES: I feel safe here. The chances for us to die here in Kyiv are equal to the chances for us to die on the road somewhere, and another thing, I want my children to be alive, of course, but both physically and spiritually. I want them to be strong. I want them to be free.

COOPER: Olena's husband Sergey brings supplies for his family. He's volunteered to fight despite having no military training.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through text translation): Daddy, what were you doing today?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through text translation): I can't tell you, Katya. Bye.

COOPER: He leaves quickly to rejoin his unit.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through text translation): Mom, where is Daddy going?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through text translation): Mom, I want to go to Daddy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through text translation): Me too. Where did Daddy go?

GNES (through text translation): He went to defend us. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through text translation): To war?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Her family like so many others have been through so much, and it's really given them a lot of strength to know that the world is watching what happens in Ukraine. So I really hope you can watch this Sunday night. I think you'll come away with a whole new understanding of the war in Ukraine and what people are going through -- Jim.

ACOSTA: Thanks, Anderson. Be sure to tune in, "A MOTHER'S DIARY OF WAR" airs at 8:00 p.m. Eastern tomorrow right here on CNN. And we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:50:39]

ACOSTA: Another member of the sports world is speaking out after the horrific massacres in Uvalde and Buffalo. San Francisco Giants manager Gabe Capler publicly decrying the state of the country in a new interview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GABE CAPLER, SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS MANAGER: I just don't -- I don't plan on coming out for the anthem going forward until I feel like there's -- I feel better about the direction of our country, so that will be the step. I don't -- I don't expect it to move the needle necessarily. It's just something that I feel strongly enough about to take that step.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: CNN's Andy Scholes takes a look at the other emotional responses coming from all corners of the sports world this week.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORT CORRESPONDENT: Well, in the wake of what happened in Uvalde, sports figures and teams have been using their voice to advocate for change. The Warriors head coach, Steve Kerr, on the day of the shooting, was very emotional, demanding politicians do more.

STEVE KERR, GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS HEAD COACH: When are we going to do something? I'm tired, I'm so tired of getting up here and offering condolences to the devastated families that are out there. We are being held hostage by 50 senators in Washington, who refuse to even put it to a vote, despite what we, the American people, want.

They won't vote on it because they want to hold onto their own power. It's pathetic. I've had enough.

SCHOLES: On Wednesday, the Heat and Celtics held a moment of silence for the lives lost. And then their public address announcer delivered this message.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Heat urges you to contact your state senators by calling 202-224-3121 to leave a message, demanding their support for commonsense gun laws. You can also make change at the ballot box. Visit heat.com/vote to register and let your voice be heard this fall.

SCHOLES: The Warriors, a very similar message advocating for commonsense gun laws before game five of the Western Conference finals. Kerr again speaking out that day, saying, "We as a country need to start thinking of gun control as a public health issue."

KERR: For whatever reason, it's a political issue. But it's really a public health issue. So as soon as we can just shift the dynamic to this being a public health issue, then you get momentum. So what I'm asking people to do is to get involved in their local communities.

I've got lots of friends who are Democrats, I got lots of friends who are Republicans, and all I know is they all want gun violence to go away.

SCHOLES: The Yankees and Rays in Major League Baseball meanwhile teaming up. Instead of tweeting about their game, they presented facts about gun violence in our country. The Rays adding, "This cannot become normal. We cannot become numb. We cannot look the other way. We all know, if nothing changes, nothing changes."

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts meanwhile says politicians have failed the country.

DAVE ROBERTS, L.A. DODGERS MANAGER: How there can be a bipartisan consensus on an issue like this is very disheartening. It's very irresponsible by our nation's leaders. And something needs to be done and be proactive about it because like everyone has said, enough is enough. When is enough, enough?

SCHOLES: LeBron James tweeting that, "There simply has to be change. Has to be." While NFL Network's Rich Eisen made a passionate plea for something to be done.

RICH EISEN, NFL NETWORK: We cannot give up. We cannot give up as a society and we cannot give up on giving our two cents and keeping the pressure on those in power who do nothing about it. Children murdered in their classroom, murdered, in their classroom. And you're already seeing the responses from those in power, who refuse to do anything about it, saying it's about anything else other than easy legal access to assault weaponry.

[16:55:05]

SCHOLES: And sports teams and figures have in the past been very powerful helping to enact social change and they're once again using their platform to try to make a difference.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: Thanks, Andy for that. Coming up, the Texas governor declares he was misled and is now livid

after police admit major mistakes while responding to the Texas school massacre. More on that, plus reaction from Texas Congressman Joaquin Castro, next.

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