21/02/2018 Outside Source

Hello, I'm Ros Atkins,

this is Outside Source.

Hundreds of high school students

have marched in the state capital

to demand stricter gun controls.

That is in Florida.

We are advocating for a change

because of this capital's failure to

do a primary job by keeping us safe.

Some of these theatres too soon to

talk about gun control. No, it is

not too soon. There is no better

time than now to talk about gun

control.

The death toll in Eastern Ghouta

in Syria is since is now

over 300 since Sunday.

The UN is calling it hell on earth.

We will talk to the BBC's Jeremy

Bowen Atlanta.

There are problems

that face us tonight that will never

be sold. -- solved.

Billy Graham, the most

influential preacher

of the 20th century, has died.

Martin this year will look at his

legacy.

We'll be taking a trip down

the River Nile in 360 degrees.

It's a first for the BBC News -

a virtual reality documentary.

We will hear from the correspondent

on this, Allister Whitehead. --

Alastair Leithead.

We will begin in Florida looking at

the issue of gun control.

Let's start with these pictures

of survivors of last week's school

shooting in Florida marching

on the state capital, Tallahassee.

They want action.

If we had stricter gun control is we

would not have lost 17 lives of our

classmates, teachers and staff

members. We would not have destroyed

the innocence of 3000 high school

students and damaged a whole

community. If we had stricter

gun-control measures in Florida, 17

families would be having dinner

tonight together instead of mourning

the loss of their loved ones.

CHEERING

On the podium was the

sign "Never Again".

That's the name this

movement has taken on.

It's being driven by students.

And it's going well beyond Florida.

Some of them are using the hashtag

never again, others a hashtag me

next.

These are some of the key picture

that tell the story.

Students are walking out

of classrooms across Florida.

They're trying to pressure

lawmakers to act.

There is not too much evidence the

pressure is telling at the moment.

This is Washington, DC.

Hundreds of students

from the District of Columbia,

Maryland and Virginia staged

walk-outs, gathering in Washington.

These are students in a Kentucky

high school walking out to show

support for families and victims.

A little bit earlier I spoke to

Barbara Plett Usher of the BBC. She

is in Tallahassee and was joined by

some students.

You saw that rally outside the

Capitol building, lots of speeches

and noise outside but lots of work

being done inside the buildings,

where the students were meeting

legislators. I have two with me,

Dmitri and Isabel. They have been

speaking to democratic and

Republican legislators about what

they want. Dmitri, what did you

achieve?

As you said we spoke to

democratic and Republican

legislators, I think we were really

able to show them what we went to an

side of the school when the events

transpired, we were able to tell

them the kind of things we wanted to

see in terms of gun reform and

mental care reform.

Isabel, did you

have anything you could work with?

Before you came the lawmakers voted

against a ban on assault weapons,

can it still be achieved?

I think

our talks went very well. I think we

came to a lot of common-sense gun

reform together and I have hope for

the future.

What sort of steps do

you think will happen next?

I

definitely think there will be other

groups of kids from our school and

others coming to Tallahassee and

using their voices to make sure

imminent change happens, to make

sure this type of tragedy does not

happen again in a Florida school.

Then we have a march that of the

March 24, the March for our lives in

Washington, DC, taking us on a

national platform to make sure the

voices of students across the

country are heard and that this sort

of event does not happen anywhere

else in the country.

Isabel, you were speaking about

tactical steps, what you think those

would be?

We have been talking about

increasing the waiting period

between buying a gun at receiving

it, increasing the age to get a gun.

Right now it is 21 for a hand that

only 18 for a long gun, we want to

increase them both to 21. We talked

about the waiting period, it is only

three handgun and on the day for a

longer, we were talking about also

increasing web to three days and

hopefully longer, eventually.

This

is a lot of work, do you have

staying power to keep up the issue?

What a lot of people have come to

realise is that we are passionate

about this type of change and we are

serious. Even if the media goes away

we will still be here, persevering

to make sure change happens. This is

not about the media coverage, this

is about the lives lost, feeling

safe in schools, security, our

lives. It is life and death.

How do

you feel about going back to school

on Tuesday?

Excited and happy to see

my friends and be back together in

one place. Anxious for everyone

because I'd want anyone to feel

uncomfortable or unsafe, but I think

they will get through it together as

a community and all of our teachers

have been supportive.

How about you,

anxious and nervous, I had a class

with one of the victims and it will

be hard to have an empty desk. But

until we rebuild our own memories

and happy experiences at that

school, that is when the real

healing will begin with all of our

friends, teachers, administrators

and everyone who went through that

experience, we will bond as a family

get through this together.

Thank

you, and Isabel. They have been

speaking about their experience and

save that has given them some impact

at the Capitol. We will be watching

them under the students in the next

month to see whether this movement

is real change in the -- we will be

watching them and other students.

Now, there's nothing news in calls

for more gun control -

it happens after every mass shooting

in the US.

And they happen very frequently.

But these students have been

particularly effective

at getting their message out.

And they're putting a lot

of pressure on the President.

He's been tweeting.

"Whether we are Republican

or Democrat, we must now focus

on strengthening background checks!"

That comes on the back

of this announcement.

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 finalised very

soon.

These are the types of devices

he is referring to - bump stocks.

They make ordinary weapons fire

as if they were machine guns.

One was used in the Las

Vegas attack last year.

Then, as in Florida last week this

weapon was used - an AR-15.

It's a semi-automatic gun -

and you can buy one

in the US once you're 18.

So long as you pass certain checks.

That's what the alleged

shooter last week did.

Now that age limited

is also being looked at.

Here's the White House

press spokesperson.

REPORTER: The president believed

there should be an age limit for the

people who buy and AR-15.

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, it has not yet been

determined, but that is... I think

it is on the table for us to

discuss.

President Trump is due to host

a "listening session" with high

school students and teachers

at the White House in the next hour.

And also holding an event with

gun-control campaigners, including

Vice President Mike Pence and Betsy

divorced from the education

Department.

We will show you pictures of that

when it comes on.

Billy Graham has died.

He was one of the big figures

of twentieth century Christianity.

He began preaching in a tent

in California but soon

took his mission overseas -

often in huge arenas such

as this one in London.

These sermons in the 1950s drew tens

of thousands of people.

He was the first preacher

to maximise the power of television

and became a confidant to a number

of Presidents - Kennedy,

George Bush, Bill Clinton.

And President Obama and Nixon.

Here he is in full flow.

We are a decent people, we are good

people. The Bible says that the

whole human race is simple. The

Bible says that all of us have

sinned. I have broken the

commandments of God. So have you,

and the Bible says the wages of sin

is death. The Bible says the soul of

the spiritual die. And the Bible

says we are all guilty.

That was said by the Reverend Jesse

Jackson.

I have spoken to our religious

affairs editor Martin Bush era about

him.

I did think there will ever be

a preacher with that kind of reach

ever again.

He evidently created a

new form of Christianity which has

found deep roots in many parts of

the world?

I don't think so. This

message was very simple, based on

the new Testament. When he's

preached, it did not matter if he

was preaching in Zimbabwe, Nigeria,

London, Northern Ireland, his

message was that God created us, we

have fallen away from our Creator

and in order to get back to him we

need a relationship with him that is

only possible through the death of

Christ on the cross. He preached

that message simply wherever he

went. It was much is the simplicity

of the message, it was the sincerity

of his life. Many US breaches of

high status with big crowds,

television networks, have had

terrible faults from grace. Billy

Graham was not involved in a single

financial or sexual scandal. I think

that is why the outpouring of grief

today has been so widespread and

international, people feel he was

not a hypocrite and his message was

consistent, his life was also

consistent.

That's interesting, the strength of

his personality and style gave birth

to a type of evangelical

Christianity that some people have

said is too rooted in money,

personality and has little to do

with the core message of

Christianity.

It is interesting you

talk about money. Billy Graham's

accounts were both transparent and

always audited externally every

year, intentionally, because he was

aware of the possibility. In the

1980s two of the biggest newspapers

in America dug into his finances to

see if there was any impropriety.

They could not find any. They made

it public, they said we have

searched through his bins, there was

nothing to find. Multiple

individuals have followed him who

have not been as honest and had his

level of integrity and have gone on

to exploit people financially. You

will see things on American

television where someone says

tenders $10 and we will send you a

prior cloth. Billy Graham never did

that. They say give to us and God

will bless you, he never said that.

The only message he preached was

about you finding salvation in

relation to God. It was never about

any material benefit that him or his

organisation could gain.

Martin

Bashir talking about Billy Graham.

As we have dinner every day this

week, we must turn to the horror is

playing out in Eastern Ghouta in

Syria. -- as we have done every day

this week.

It's a rebel enclave

close to Damascus -

and since Sunday 300

people have died.

Around 400,000 live

in Eastern Ghouta.

They are trapped there is this plays

out.

The UN Secretary General has

described the situation

as hell on earth.

Here's one doctor there.

You cannot imagine the situation in

Eastern Ghouta now. Many injured

people, civilian people. We can't

treat all of them. Maybe you can

hear the voice of the air strike

now. In every minute we have more

than three or four air strikes,

cluster bombs, artillery. It is a

situation, it is like a catastrophe

in Eastern Ghouta. You can't imagine

that.

You could hear bombing

in the background on that clip.

This is footage of the bombardment.

This is a brutal onslaught.

A massacre.

Civilians can't get out.

Nor can they get supplies.

Medical facilities have also been

destroyed in recent days,

so the injured have no guarantee

of being treated.

Some say these medical facilities

have been targeted.

These siege tactics are nothing

new - the Syrian government

and their allies did just

the same in Aleppo.

There, in the end, humanitarian

corridors were created.

We wait to see if that will happen

in Eastern Ghouta.

Lina Sinjab has more from Beirut.

13 medical facilities have been

targeted. Schools, bakeries, food

tricks, main roads and even

ambulances. Rescue workers are not

able to help, they are running out

of medical equipment and themselves

being targeted. People inside

Eastern Ghouta described the

situation as hell. There were

mortars falling into Damascus. The

Government and Russia are determined

to clear the area from what they

describe as terrorists, but Eastern

Ghouta has been besieged for five

years and completely sealed off for

50 days. Unicef has issued a

statement saying they are running

out of words to describe the

situation, and the UN special envoy

said to might be seeing another

Aleppo scenario. Aleppo was also

bombed out and seized until the

moment where both rebels and

civilians gave up and were bussed

out of their own hometown towards

Idlib in the North, where it is also

being bombarded. For the people in

Eastern Ghouta, they have been

living the walk the seven years,

they are tired of the bombing, the

procedure meant, they want safety

and beginning to end. -- they have

been living the wall for seven

years. They might not want to head

from their home town to another

dangerous area.

In around 15 minutes we will hear

from Jeremy Bowen, talking about the

situation in Eastern Ghouta. And we

are waiting on Donald Trump who is

expected to make an appearance soon.

He has been listening to teachers

and campaigners who want to talk to

him about gun control. And in a few

minutes we will hear about the

possible dangers that come with

artificial intelligence. We are told

some could manifest themselves

within five years.

Two victims of the six attacker John

Warboys, known as the black cab

rapist, have won a landmark legal

case against the Metropolitan

Police. They say their treatment by

police breached their rights and

cause them harm. Clive Coleman

explains the importance of the

decision.

The really significant

aspect of the ruling is that this is

a novel route, using the Human

Rights Act, whereby victims of

serious violent crime can help the

police to account, they can take

them to court and win compensation.

This is one big legal battle by John

Warboys' victims which is over

successfully. They face another

significant battle because the two

women at the centre of this case are

also the women who are questioning

the decision of the parole board to

release John Warboys.

Stay with us on Outside Source.

Our lead story is hundreds of high

school students have marched

in Florida to demand stricter gun

controls, saying the rights

of children must come

before the right to a gun.

We can turn to some of the main

stories from BBC World Service, this

from BBC Urdu.

Pakistan's Supreme Court

has ruled that former

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif can no

longer lead the political

party he founded.

Mr Sharif is accused of corruption.

He says he's the victim

of a political conspiracy.

The first missing French soldier

from the First World War to have

been identified using his DNA has

been buried with full

military honours.

Claude Fournier was laid to rest

alongside two comrades.

Still no sign of Donald Trump coming

out, still in the meantime will turn

to take Dummett a story he will pay

close attention to. -- we will turn

to a story he will pay close

attention to.

Details of the Trans-Pacific

trade deal - or TPP -

were released on Wednesday.

And it looks like the landmark

deal is a step closer

to becoming a reality -

despite the fact that the US

is no longer involved.

The 11 remaining countries -

led by Japan - unveiled

details of the pact,

which no longer includes rules that

Washington was pushing for.

Yogita Limaye is in New York.

In the simplest possible terms, what

to these 11 countries want to do?

Essentially to create a huge trading

block, and together they would

account for 13% of global GDP. They

were hoping the US would have been

part of it because with the US that

sort of combined effect would have

been as much as 40% of global GDP.

Currently if you take the 11

countries it reaches around 500

million people, with the US it would

have been around 800 million.

Having said that, one of the first

things President Trump did when he

came into office was to back out of

the deal, these 11 countries think

they still want to go ahead, they

want to create a huge trading block

and reduce trade barriers between

them. Some of the country such as

Canada, Mexico, Australia, New

Zealand, Japan especially taking

quite a lead role.

How much are they

had to go back to the drawing board

after America pulled out and how

much is this a continuation of the

original plan?

The new draft

released has some changes, about 22.

I'm sorry, I have asked you a

question but I will interrupt you

because Donald Trump has just

appeared. We will immediately look

at this live feed and we will listen

to what we can hear the president

say.

We understand he will miss

campaigners connected to the Sandy

Hook tragedy of several years ago,

when a number of children were shot

dead in one school. We do not know

what the president will say with

regards to the issues the

campaigners want to talk about, we

know that Vice President Mike Pence

will be in attendance. I wonder if

we can see him back? And we also

know that one of the most senior

figures in education in the US,

Betsy DeVoss, is there.

Thank you

viewer suggestions, I have heard

some of them. We need to do

something about this horrible

situation going on. I want to

listen, and then after Ellis and I

will get things done. I thought that

if the pasta could possibly say the

prayer, it would be appreciated. --

I thought if the pastor could.

We

thank you for the date you have

given us. We will get America by

contract there needs to be with our

children, our adults, everybody

involved. Father, I ask you to

extend the holy spirit to computers

to this time. You said you would

send it, right now we embrace it. He

says where two or three are gathered

in my name you are here. We ask you

to comfort the families, every one

of them. Even the families that did

not lose a loved one but know they

were there at that time, comfort

them. Fathers, I ask in the name of

Jesus Christ, we welcome you here in

this room. Amen.

I appreciate that. Thank you. Vice

President, you wanted to say, and I

would like you to say a few words.

And then I would like to recognise

you to Betsy DeVos, who some of you

know. -- then I would like to

introduce you to.

(INAUDIBLE)

Our deepest condolences and sympathy

is from the first family and our

family and of the American people.

As the president said last week, the

American people are united in one

heart, a broken heart, for what took

place. The president called this

meeting for us as much to talk about

what's happened in our country over

the last 20 years and to find out

from all of you gathered here, by

listening, by learning, how we might

ensure that this is the last time

this ever happens. I, along with the

president, and deeply moved by the

stories of heroism and courage and

candidly moved by the courage that

it takes for many of you to be here

today. What I just want to encourage

you to do is tell us your stories.

America is looking on. Your

president, our entire

administration, leaders around the

country at every level are looking

on. We want to hear your hearts

together. I encourage you to be

counted and vulnerable, share with

us not only your personal experience

but what it is you would have us to

do. And just know that, as the

president has already taken action,

he will be meeting in this very room

in the coming days with governors

from all 50 states to make school

safety the top priority of this

administration across this country.

The president and I wanted to hear

from you all first, and so I want to

say thank you for coming, thank you

for the courage and being able to be

here and share your hearts and from

our families to yours, God bless and

comfort you.

Thank you, Mike, very

much.

Thank you, Mr President.

Students, teachers, parents, thank

you. Many of you have lived do

something unthinkable. For many of

you, it is raw and fresh. I admire

your strength in coming to share

your experience with the president,

the vice president and the world. No

student, parent or teacher should

never have to ensure what you will

have. My heart is broken. What

happened last week shocked us, it

angers us, it pains us. We are here

to have an earnest conversation

about why this tragedy and too many

others before it happens, and how we

can work to find solutions. We are

here to listen, to gain your

important perspective on ways to

reduce violence and protect

students. Our hope is that by

talking and listening we can make

something that was unthinkably bad

something good. And your loss and

George trauma must never be in vain.

-- your loss and your trauma. Thank

you again for being here, let's get

started.

Thank you very much, Betsy.

I just want to say before we begin

that we will be very strong on

background checks, very strong

emphasis on the mental health of

somebody. We will do plenty of other

things. Again, next week the

governors are coming in from most of

the states and we will have a very

serious talk about what is going on

with school safety, very important.

There are many ideas I have, many

ideas others have, we will pick out

the strongest and most important

ideas, the ideas that will work, we

will get them done. It will not be

talk like in the past. It has been

going on too long, too many

instances. We will get it done. I

want to thank you all from toe for

being here. I would like to year

your story, and if you have any

suggestions in the future based on

this horrible experience you have

gone through, I would love to have

those. How about you?

Thank you, Mr President, for having

me here. My name is Julie, I am from

Stoneman Douglas high school, I was

there chewing the shooting and I am

a survivor. I want you guys all to

emphasise the point that I survived.

I was lucky enough to come home from

school, unlike some of my other

classmates and teachers. It is very

scary. And knowing that a lot of

people do not have this opportunity

to be here still is mind blowing. I

am just... I feel like there is a

lot to do, and I really appreciate

you hosting me and what you are

saying, I am confident you will do

the right thing and I appreciate you

looking at the pump stocks

yesterday. That means it is

definitely a step in the right

direction, I think we can agree on

that. -- I appreciate you looking at

the bump stocks. I am grateful to be

here and we can work out something,

maybe compromise on some solution so

no person in this world will ever

have to go through something so

horrific and tragic. My thoughts and

prayers are out to everyone, so

thank you.

My name is Jonathan, I go

to Stoneman Douglas and I was

actually in the second classroom

that was shot at. In my mind, as a

kid, nothing about horrible should

ever have to happen to you. You

can't even think about it. It

doesn't even seem real still.

Everything seems fake. I can't

even... I don't even know what's

going on, it is just crazy,

everything happening. It is just so

tragic. Thank you for everything.

You have done a great job and I like

the direction going in. Thank you.

My name is Melissa, is my son.

I could not get in touch with my son

because I am a teacher at a middle

school that was locked down. I could

not find out if my son was alive or

not. I feel for all of these

families. My heart is just broken

for my whole community. We are

coming together. I feel for all the

families who have lost, and I feel

for the ones that are here, because

we now have almost a guilt. Why not

my child? Which I feel bad saying. I

am happy that he is here with me but

I feel so bad for all of you who

have lost so many. And I am just

begging for a change. We need a

change.

Do you mind? May I passed the

microphone back to my daughter,

because I think she has some nice

solutions, if that's OK with you?

Shore.

My name is Carson, I am a

junior, and I was at Marjorie

Stoneman Douglas at the time of the

shooting. I know there are a lot of

different solutions we can go to to

help eradicate this issue, but one

that stuck out to me was about all

the drills and protocols that my

teachers had to go through. They

knew what to do once the code red

for an active shooter was announced,

but through research I found that

only 32 states require drills. But

of those 32 states, more than half

of the counties do not go through

the drills because they want to

spend their resources towards

something else. And I know that a

bill was also passed that declared

that each school has to go through

one drill each month, but I know

that my school, we go through fire

drills every month, and we have not

had our lockdown drill yet this

year. And I think a change that will

increase all the trainings and

protocols so if, God forbid, another

shooting does happen, at least all

the teachers will be prepared and

can hopefully keep their students

calm.

Thank you very much.

My name

is Ariana climb, I just want to say

thank you for leading this country,

you are a great leader and I

appreciate the direction the country

is going in. I am a junior, I

attended Stoneman Douglas. I just

want to say that everybody right now

is so stuck on what they believe

that they are not even listening to

what other people believe. We need

to listen to the other points of

views, we all need to realise that

we all have different points of

views, and that the solution is not

going to be a singular thing. It

will be multifaceted, and it will be

created by a collection of different

people working together, and we all

have to realise that we all have our

opinions, and together we will be

able to work towards a solution.

This is not just Parklands any more,

this is America, every student in

every city, it is not small, it is

everything. I would just like to say

thank you for having us.

My name is

Fred, I am Carson was Mike Baird, I

will pass the microphone along to

some of the other students. If we

have a chance later on, I will speak

or other parents can speak but I

would like the students to get their

chance.

My name is Justin, and I was

at the school at the time of the

massacre. I am only 15 years old, I

am a sophomore. 19 years ago the

first school shooting at Columbine

high school happened, and I was born

into a world where I never got to

experience safety and peace. There

needs to be a significant change in

this country, because this has two

never happen again, and people

should be able to feel that when

they go to school, they can be safe.

And because there needs to be a

change. I'm sorry. People need to

feel safe, and parents shouldn't

have to go through the idea of

losing their child, as I know from

my dad. He was panicking, and he

couldn't imagine it. So that

shouldn't even be a possibility that

should go through a parent's mind,

and there needs to be some change.

Thank you.

I am just an's dad, and I

will be brief. Justin was texting

me, hiding in a closet, saying, if

something happens, I love you, if

something happens, I love you, and

you can't imagine what that is like

as a parent. And then his phone died

and I didn't know what happen for

another hour or so. 17 lives are

gone. I was lucky enough to get my

son home, but 17 families. It is not

left and right, it is not political,

it is a human issue. People are

dying, and we have to stop this. If

he is not old enough to buy a drink,

to go and buy a beer, he should not

be up to buy a gun at 18 years old.

I mean, that is just common sense.

We have to do common-sense, please,

Mr Trump. These are things we have

to do. In Israel, you have to be 27

years old to have a gun, you are

only allowed one. They taxed the

guns. You have to go through

significant training. We have got to

do something about this. We cannot

have our children die. This is just

heartbreaking. Please.

My name is

Shannon Morris, I am a local

administrator for a school in DC,

and overly want to continue the

conversation for our students.

I am

also a local educator here in

Washington, DC, so I will allow our

students that are here to voice

their opinions as well as give some

of their ideas to do that at this

time, and my condolences, and my

heart truly goes out to not trust

the families that have lost children

in this horrific, horrific incident

that has occurred, but also to our

families here in the district of

Colombia that experience gun

violence outside of our schools,

that directly impact our schools,

because they are our students.

Hello, I go to the friendship

technology puppetry Academy in the

heart of Southeast DC. My

condolences to every family here

that experienced the shooting, and

all the students that experience

that. I am here on behalf of my

school and all of the friendship

schools in DC to be able to prevent

those kind of things happening in

our school. In Southeast DC, we

doing counter a lot of violence, and

things, most of the time at night,

but a lot of the times it is, like,

in the daytime too. So, our schools,

we do take preventative measures to

stop that. We check bags at the door

and everything, and at first we are,

like, no, we don't want to do this,

but then we realise it is for our

safety. But we wanted to make sure

that it continues and that nothing

can ever slip up for these things to

happen in school. Counselling for

our students who are struggling with

fear and bullying. Bullying triggers

emotions that will make a student

want to bring a weapon to school to

protect themselves or to get revenge

for a person who did something to

them. So we just want to have a lot

of preventative measures to be in

the schools, and also outside of

school, to make sure that nothing

can happen to us while we are in

school.

Hello, Mr President, thank

you for having us, I am Christine,

the mayor of the city of Parkland.

We have a great city. It has been

one of the safest cities in America,

and the fact that this happened in

our city means that it can happen

anywhere. We are blessed that we are

a very close-knit, family oriented

city, and our community is coming

together. We lost 17 lives, but the

ripple effects throughout the

community are devastating. I have

spent the last week going to

funerals. Friends of mine have lost

their children. We have two at some

point caring off and be strong

enough to come up with solutions,

and I hope we will. And, if I might,

I had two parents who lost children

this past week text me some of their

thoughts, if I might share them with

you? Thank you. I spoke to Jennifer

Antoni Montalto, they just buried

their daughter Jeannie yesterday. --

Jennifer and Tony. Tony is a airline

pilot, he supports the second

Amendment but he says he does not

believe there is a need for assault

rifles. He also says the FBI, there

were signs missed, and it reminded

him of 9/11, so we have to make sure

we work on making sure our protocols

are in place so that people don't

slip through the cracks, literally,

in this case. We also talked about

the red flag laws. I think there is

a little progress being made now in

Florida on the red flag laws, which

is when somebody shows signs of

hurting themselves or someone else,

you can take their gun away from

them. Fred Guttenberg, a service for

his daughter, Jamie, was last week

on Friday. He would like the

administration to publicly

acknowledge the role of guns. These

two parents talked about guns, and

there are absolutely lots of areas

where there is room for improvement,

lots of areas, from mental health,

from teacher training. But also part

of that is also the gun issue. It is

not that it is just those are not

begun, it is all of them. And in the

debate world, the high school debate

world, the kids talk about when they

bring up legislation, you want to

have impacts. You are not bringing

up legislation that doesn't have a

positive impact. And what is the

positive impact of having

legislation that stops the sort

rifles, Barron 's assault rifles? It

could save a life. And that needs to

be a priority -- that bans assault

rifles. When we talk about rights,

we have the right for free speech,

but if free speech in any way in

dangers anyone, it gets restricted.

And I every state we are coming here

to listen, and that we are coming

here to look at all different

perspectives, because we need action

and we need to be solution oriented.

We are here because my daughter has

no voice. She was murdered last

week, and she was taken from us,

shot nine times on the third floor.

We come as a country, failed our

children. This shouldn't happen. We

go to the airport, I can't get on a

plane with a bottle of water, but we

leave it, some animal could walk

into a school and should our

children. It is just not right, and

we need to come together as a

country and work on what's

important, and that is protecting

our children in the schools. That is

the only thing that matters right

now. Everyone has to come together

and not think about different laws.

We need to come together as a

country, not different parties, and

figure out how we protect the

schools. It's simple. It's not

difficult. We protect airports, we

protect concerts, stadiums,

embassies, the Department for

Education, that I walked in today,

that has a security guard in the

elevator. How do you think that

makes me feel? In the elevator, they

got a security guard. I am very

angry that this happened, because it

keeps happening. 9/11 happened once,

and they fixed everything. How many

schools, how many children have to

get shot? It stops here with this

administration and me. I am not

going to sleep until it's fixed.

And, Mr President, we're going to

fix it, because I'm going to fix it.

I'm not going to rest. Look at my

boys, my boys need to live with

this. I want to see everyone, me,

I'm a man, but to see your children

go through this, bury their sister.

That's why I keep saying this,

because I want it to sink in, not

forget about this. We can't forget

about it. All these school

shootings, it doesn't make sense. It

should have been one school

shooting, and we should have fixed

it! And I'm kissed, because my

daughter, I am not going to see

again. She is in North Lauderdale,

whatever it is, King David Cemetery,

that is where I go to see my kid

now. And it stops. We all work

together and come up with the right

idea. School safety. It is not about

gun laws right now, that is another

fight, another battle. Let's fix the

schools and you guys can battle it

out. We need our children safe,

Monday, tomorrow, whatever day it

is, kids are going to go to school.

You think everyone's kids are safe?

I would have been at the school

every day if I knew it was that

dangerous. That's enough. Let's get

together and work with the president

and fixed the schools. That's it. No

other discussions. Security,

whatever we have to do, get the

right people, the consultants. I am

never going to see my kid again, I

want you all to know that. Never,

ever will I see my kid. I want it to

sink in. It's eternity, my beautiful

daughter, I'm never going to see

again, and it's simple. We can fix

it. This is my son, Haq, who has had

to deal with this too. You have

something to say, son?

I just want

to add it is imperative to the

safety of everyone to support the

free market and free flow of ideas,

and listen to people, radical

opinions on both sides. And that is

how we will find solutions. You let

people battle it out in a free flow

of ideas. Censorship has got to

stop. That is how we find the

solutions, by listening to everyone,

having an open mind.

I am Hunter-Paul, class of 15,

Marjorie Stoneman Douglas. I walk

the same hallways where Meadow got

shot and all other 16 victims. First

off, I want to thank the president

for having us. We had a very

effective meeting before I walked

into this room. Mr Vice President

and Madame Secretary, I put all my

trust in them and my father that we

will be able to find a solution.

That is all I have to say. Thank you

for having us.

My name is Sam, I am a student from

Marjorie Stoneman Douglas, Parkland,

and I just want to take a second

first to thank you for having me, Mr

President, Nistor vice president,

Madame Secretary. I was on the

second floor of that building,

texting my mum, texting my dad,

texting three of my brothers that I

was never going to see them again.

And then it occurred to me that my

14-year-old brother was directly

above me in that classroom where

Scott Beagle was murdered. Scott

Beagle got my brother in the class,

he was the last kid to get back into

that class. And I'm sure a lot of

you have read my texts on the

internet to my brother. I didn't

plan for them to go viral, I just

wanted to share with the world,

because no brothers or sisters or

family members or anyone should ever

have to share those texts with

anyone. And that's why I'm here. I

lost a best friend, who was

practically a brother, and I am here

to use my voice, because I know he

can't. And I know he's with me,

cheering me on to be strong, but

it's hard. And to feel like this? It

doesn't even feel like a week. Time

has stood still. To feel like this,

ever, I can't feel comfortable in my

country, knowing that people have,

will have, I going to feel like

this. I want to feel safe at school,

you know? Senior year and junior

year, they were big years for me

when I turned my academics around,

started connecting with teachers,

and I actually started enjoying

school. And now I don't know how I

am ever going to step foot on that

place ever again, all go to a public

park after school, all walk

anywhere. Me and my friends, we get

scared when a car drives by,

anywhere.

And I agree with Hunter and hack

Trump Huck, how we need to let ideas

flow and get the problem-solving

store I turned 18 in the day after,

woke up to the news that my best

friend was gone. And I don't

understand why I can still go in a

store and buy a whiff of war -- a

weapon of war, an they are. I was

reading that a person of 20 years

old bought an AR-15 with a fake

idea. How have we not stop this

after Columbine and after Sandy

Hook. I am sitting with a mother

that lost her son. It is still

happening. In Australia, there was a

shooting at a school in 1999. You

know, after that, they took a lot of

ideas, they put legislation

together, and they stopped it. Can

anyone here guess how many shootings

there have been in the schools since

then in Australia? Zero. We need to

do something, and that is why we are

here. So let's be strong, for the

fallen ones who don't have a voice

to speak any more, and let's never

let this happen again, please.

Please.

Mr President, Mr Vice President,

Madame Secretary. My story is far

too well-known. I had two sons who

were at Sandy Hook school. My eldest

who was eight at the time survived,

and my six-year-old son, Dylan, did

not, and I have been working

tirelessly on this issue for over

five years now. The organisation

that I help lead, Sandy Hook

Promised, is very focused on keeping

kids safe at school because no

parent should go through this will

stop every parent who send their

kids to school should know without

any question in their mind that they

are going to be coming home that

day. This is not a difficult issue.

You are absolutely right. There are

solutions, and this administration

has the ability to put them in

place. And after Sandy Hook Promise

said we wouldn't have let this

happen again, and yet it has

continued to happen for five years.

How many more deaths can we take as

a country, how many more teenagers,

six and seven-year-olds can we allow

to die. Don't let that happen any

more on your watch. There are things

that you can do right now, mental

health community earlier, funding

for that would be very much

appreciated. The stop school

violence act, enabling prevention

programmes and reporting systems in

schools across America. It has

already passed through the house, it

is in the Senate right now. I urge

swift passage of that, that can get

a lot of help to schools. I

absolutely agree, since Sandy Hook

there has been an increase in school

safety and security. We have

invested a lot in the bricks and

mortar of our schools and the

security of our schools. I think we

also need to focus on prevention.

How do we prevent these acts from

happening, how can we help identify

and get help for people who are at

risk of getting help before they

pick up any weapon? That is what we

need to focus on, by preventing

these acts, and you have the ability

to do that. There is legislation

available to you right now, and

there are a free training programmes

across the States right now, you

could mandate these sorts of

programmes. You could ensure that

schools, students and educators are

trained how to recognise the signs,

and to know what to do when they see

them, and then to ensure that those

tips are followed through. This is

not difficult. These deaths are

preventable. And I implore you,

consider your own children. You

don't want to be me. No parent does.

And you have the ability to make a

difference and save lives today.

Please don't waste this. Thank you.

Mr President, Mr Vice President and

Mrs

I am a little bit weak, I had

surgery last week so I am weak in

voice and body, but 19 years ago I

went through what some of the folks

here are going through now, because

my beautiful daughter, Rachel, was

killed, and my son Craig was in a

library that day. Two of his friends

were murdered beside him. He lay

covered in their blood, looking down

the barrels of two guns aimed at

him. A split-second before the

trigger was pulled, the alarm system

was set off, and it distracted him.

I would have lost two children that

day at Columbine, so my heart goes

out to you, sir, and to everyone of

you in that room that have

experienced the trauma you have gone

through at Parkland. Our focus has

been, the most beautiful wife, the

most beautiful lady in the room

right there, Sandy, we started a

programme called Rachel's Challenge,

it started a year after Rachel died.

We have worked with someone before

partners over the last few years, we

work with Chuck Norris and his wife,

Jean, a programme they called

kick-start the kids. We work with

Cal Rikan Junior and his brother

Bill, and have created a programme

for athletes called the uncommon

athletes, based on something my

daughter wrote in one of her

diaries. We have partners with one

of Dr Robert Marzano, on a programme

called why try, and another

programme called Love and logic, the

Gemma Fay, one of the largest

parenting programmes will stop all

of us combine our efforts together.

Our organisation has reached over 28

million students and the last 19

years, and we have seen seven school

shootings prevented. We see an

average of three suicides prevented

every week of the year. I have a

little book with me that I would

like to leave with you. It has got

letters from students, we don't edit

them. These are e-mails from

students who are planning to commit

suicide, and we see three of those

every single week, students who have

changed their mind. If you don't

mind, just want to share one sinful

principle with you that we have

learned over the years, as we work

with millions and millions of young

people. It comes from something you

said last week in your speech, and

it was that we must create a culture

of connectedness. We must create a

culture in which our classmates

become our friends. That is

something we have learned how to do

over the years. We have over 28

different programmes, and we see

children connect with one another.

Every single one of these school

shootings have been from young men

who are disconnected, and we talk a

lot about the mental health issues,

but it actually goes deeper than

that, because there are a lot of

mentally ill children that are kind

and compassionate. And so we work

with those children every single day

of the school year, but there is

with the one with the propensity to

violence. So one of the things we

have learned, and we train young

people and we trained teachers, that

the focus must not just be on unity

or diversity, because if you focus

too much on diversity, you create

division. If you focus too much on

unity, you will create compromise.

But if you focus on relatedness, and

how we can relate with one another,

then you can celebrate the

diversity, and you can see the unity

take place. I am all for unity and

adversity, but the focus needs to be

on how can we connect. And that is

something that we and our

organisations have learned. One

thing we have learned is how to

connect students with each other,

with themselves, their teachers and

their parents. And I would love to

share more as we have a chance to do

so. Thank you again for having us

today.

STUDIO: For most of this

edition of Outside Source, we have

watched an extraordinary listening

session with resident from, vice

president, and a number of people

who have been affected in different

ways by school shootings in America.

If you are watching on BBC News,

next is the News at ten with