He just came in and there was a loud pop. I am absolutely terrified. I dont think anyone has rested. Our hearts are so heavy today. This heinous attack which has robbed the lives of at least 18 mainers and injured so many more is the worse mass shooting that we could ever imagine in our state. Thank you so much for joining us this afternoon. I am elizabeth cook. Its happened yet again, another mass shooting in this country, this time in lewiston, maine. At least 18 people were killed. The man hunt continues for the shooter. Today we are asking why does our country continue to suffer from gun violence, and what can be done to stop this vicious cycle . First lets get you caught up on news headlines. In Oakley Police have arrested an 18yearold in connection to the deadly shooting at a house party over the weekend. A 16yearold Liberty High School student was killed. Two others were injured. The suspect is identified as jason walizota. Police have not said how he is connected and a motive is unclear. New video of off duty pilot being escorted off a plane after feds say he tried to shut down the engines in route to sfo. Joseph emerson from Pleasant Hill faces multiple charges including 83 counts of attempted murder. He says he took magic mushrooms and had not slept in 48 hours. Our chopper spotted a small plane that appeared to have made an Emergency Landing in novato near marin airport. It is unclear what the problem was. Luckily, no one was hurt. Lets go to Jessica Burch for a quick look at your forecast. A cold front swept through yesterday allowing for daytime highs to only hit the 60s. From inland areas to the coast which is kind of what we are used to along the coast. Into the next days, well see more cool dense air. This is winter like but we are starting to see that wrapping up the month of october. This is what its going to look like. Clear skies today but more clouds will start rolling in into our friday forecast. Match that with windy conditions too. Its going to be a beautiful but dry weekend ahead of us which is perfect if you are heading out for halloween festivities this weekend, just high clouds pushing through, nothing to be too concerned about. Lets look at our daytime highs, very similar to yesterday, just a little bit warmer in certain pockets. We are still talking upper 60s throughout the bay area, 70s returning near novato and into concord and more upper 60s into the east bay today, near antioch this afternoon. Its going to be brisk. Its going to be mild, but we are getting closer to winter and it is starting to feel like it even all the way down to the Santa Clara Valley with 60s in the forecast this afternoon. Back to our top story. The search for the man police say is responsible for shooting and killing at least 18 people and injuring a dozen more in maine. Bradley blackburn is in lewiston for us today with the very latest on the ongoing man hunt. Reporter authorities in maine are urging residents to shelter in place as they hunt for the gunman believed to be responsible for wednesdays deadly mass shooting. He should be considered armed and dangerous. Based on our investigation, we believe this is someone that should not be approached. We have an active shooter. We have multiple injuries. Reporter Officials Say 40yearold robert card seen in surveillance photos opened fire inside a lewiston Bowling Alley that hosts a childrens bowling league. Out of nowhere he came in and there was a loud pop. Thought it was a balloon. Reporter ten minutes later Police Believe the u. S. Army reservist fired at patrons in a restaurant four miles away. A vehicle belonging to the suspect was found shortly before midnight in a nearby town. You, me, all these people here, we have to fear for our lives. Reporter homicides here are rare. The state has long been considered one of the safest in the nation. This city did not deserve this terrible assault on citizens, on peace of mind, on its sense of security. No city does. Reporter a New York National guard spokesperson says card was taken to a hospital for a medical evaluation in july after acting erratically during training at the u. S. Military academy at west point. As the investigation continues, President Biden has ordered flags flown at half staff nationwide in honor of the victims. Joining me now is state senator scott wiener. Thank you so much for joining us this afternoon. We have seen count less Mass Shootings like this nationwide this year alone including in california, which by the way has some of the strictest gun laws in the country. History has shown that doesnt make us immune to Mass Shootings. Seven killed in Half Moon Bay at the mass shooting there and over the weekend in oakley, a 16yearold as we mentioned earlier in the newscast died. Two other people shot at a house party there. What more do you think legislature can do to try to stop these Mass Shootings from happening . The california legislature, we passed numerous laws that have been quite effective. California has a significantly lower rate of shootings than the country as a whole. But we also dont have sealed off borders. We are integrated with all the other states, and anyone can come here and bring guns in. Thats why we need congress to act. Well continue to work in the legislature, but we have inaction from congress, not on everything. They did pass a good law last year, but congress has not done nearly enough. In addition, we have radical right wing federal judges appointed by donald trump and others who are now striking down some of californias laws using their very, very distorted interpretation of the second amendment. So we have some challenges with the courts and with the lack of action from congress, but we will keep working hard in the legislature. Senator, lets talk about those other politicians on the other side of this issue who well say the suspect in maine is mentally ill and this issue isnt about guns. Its about the Mental Health crisis in the country and thats contributing to Mass Shootings. How do you respond to that . They can cherry pick and say this person had a Mental Health problem or that person had a Mental Health problem. People can have whatever motivations or whatever problems, but the problem fundamentally is they have easy access to guns. If there is not easy access to guns, then whether someone wants to commit a crime or whether someone has a Mental Health problem, theyre not going to have access to the guns. So thats the common denominator. In most shootings, it is not a Mental Health issue. So many shootings are people who are, if there is a gun in their home thats not properly stored. Thats not a Mental Health issue. Thats a gun safety issue. We have too many guns and as long as we have too many guns, we are going to have shootings. And we need to make it not so easy to access guns and in particular, guns of war that are created in order to allow people to kill as many people as possible as quickly as possible. State senator scott wiener, thank you so much for joining us. Thank you. Now we have also reached out to the state gop for its response and the group connected us to assembly man tom lackey who is a former chp sergeant who says it is not gun control but Mental Health thats the root of this problem. I think focusing on the instrumentality misses the focus. The focus is not the instruments. If its not a gun, then it is some other tool they use to inflict other kinds of tragedy. The instrumentality is not the problem. Maybe its a contributor, but i would say the biggest problem is the Mental Health. The person should not have had access to this kind of weaponry if hes had this display of difficulty. Thats easy to say now. But we need to have more proactive measures when people are having these degrees of difficulty that we protect them and we protect us. I think its very, very logical and we made to be awakened by this. Assembly man lackey also says this tragedy show cases importance for us to be engaged and help those around us who are suffering from Mental Health issues. Coming up after the break, well speak to former Bay Area Congress woman Jackie Speier about how she felt of being a victim of violence in the jones town massacre and her message to the latest group of mass shooting survivors in america. Well speak with a child and adolescent psychologist about how parents can talk at cretors, we handcraft every batch of our delicious popcorn. Like our cretors cheese and caramel mix. Great on their own, even better together. Try cretors, handcrafted smallbatch popcorn. Back to our top story out of maine. Police and federal Law Enforcement are searching for this man who they say is responsible for killing at least 18 people last night and injuring a dozen more. We are joined now live by former Congress WomanJackie Speier who herself has experience with trauma, this extreme violence. Shes a survivor of the jones town massacre. Thank you so much for joining us. I have to ask you when you are looking at the images out of maine, does it take you back to the horrible day in jones town . Every mass shooting is a reminder for me and every other survivor of gun violence that we havent fixed the problem. And your former representative that you had on was somehow suggesting its all about the person. Well, its not just all about the person. I mean, these are weapons of war. There are 18 people dead today because he was able to slaughter them because he had a large magazine and because he was using an assault weapon. As a victim of gun violence and one who suffered five bullets, two of which i still carry, and a body that was riddled with damage, assault weapons have no place in society. They are weapons of war and should only be used in a war time environment. Now, certainly, this particular individual had some psychological issues. But again because it is so porous to buy guns, because we dont have background checks, because you can buy a gun with someone who is just another individual and not be subject to a background check, he could easily have gotten that gun any number of ways. There is so much work that needs to be done to make us safe and to allow those who want to continue to use guns for hunting, for target shooting, give them that opportunity. But they do not need assault weapons to do that. I am curious because you are running to be on the San Mateo County board of supervisors. Its a less high profile position than the one you had in congress. We have been talking about gun control on state and local levels. What can be done though on a Community Level to help prevent gun violence and Mass Shootings . Is there something that can be done . Absolutely. I have over a number of years done gun buy backs and arranged through funds that i would raise to buy back guns. Every one of those gun buy backs, there were 300, 400 guns taken in. Many were assault weapons. Many had been crime guns because their serial numbers had been scratched away. Thats one way. Every gun you take out of circulation is probably going to save a life. Second, you can do what san mateo has already done, thats invest about 1 million to go to the homes of those who have been the perpetrators of Domestic Violence and take their guns away for a period of years during the time at which theyre not supposed to be using guns. There are other things that can be done, certainly red flag programs can be very helpful. I am sure that the parents of this shooter wishes that they had done something in maine as well. I want to talk about one more question about victims of Mass Shootings, you yourself are a victim of a mass shooting, you have been to communities impacted by this kind of violence. Is this something that a victim, a witness it Something Like this ever recovers from . I dont think so. I remember sitting down with the families who lost children at newtown and how pained they were and all they wanted to do to somehow make the lives of their children have long lasting meaning was to get background checks, universal background checks in place in the country. We havent done that even now. We pat ourselves on the back because last year there was an actual measure that allows for a more enhanced background check for those 18 to 21. Those people 18 to 21 should not be able to get assault weapons. Yet they still can in this country. We have got to get serious about this issue. Former Congress WomanJackie Speier, thank you so much for taking the time today. Thank you. As much as we might want to as parents, it is impossible this day and age to shield our kids from all the violence happening around the world. From this mass shooting in maine to ongoing war between israel and hamas. After break, we are going to sit with a child psychologist to figure out best ways to navigate those difficult and often seemingly impossible conversations. As we continue to deal with the mass shooting in maine and continued violence and human suffering between israel and hamas, its often just impossible to shield children completely from it. So how do parents talk to their kids about the violence to help them better understand and to cope with it . This is where dr. Hilit kletter comes in to help these difficult conversations. Thank you so much for joining us this afternoon. I struggle with this a lot. I have a 4yearold and i have an 8yearold. My instinct as a parent always is to want to protect them from information or images that may frighten or traumatize them. Specifically with my 8yearold or the older children, to shield them from what is happening in the world particularly if there is a chance their friends could be talking about it in school. I want to clarify i am talking about my 4yearold is probably not exposed as much as my older children would be. When are you supposed to be approaching the conversation . Do you believe it should be parent led . I think it is important to have these conversations. I think you are highlighting the reality that its likely that kids are going to be hearing about it, whether at school or from their peers or even from other adults. Its all around us. And as a parent, you want to be able to be the one controlling the information and not having your child hear about it from somebody else. So it is important, i think, as young as four or five, you can already start having these conversations. Just to open it up by asking them what have they heard . Or do they know anything about whats happening right now . If so, for the younger children, that can lead to further dialogue. If not, let them know, okay, if you hear something, we can talk about it. Right . With older children, you can provide more information, but i would start very basic with just asking them what have they heard . What did they know . Then you can taylor it, go from there. Its also an opportunity to correct any misconceptions and provide them with further information. What can adults do to ease a childs anxiety when it comes to processing what theyre seeing and hearing . Sometimes it can take a couple days. With many children theyll see or hear something and it takes a couple days for them to fully process and react to it, correct . Correct. I think its important, especially with older children, to find out where are they getting information . What are they looking at . Ask them how they feel about it and what do they think, what drew them to look at certain images or certain information. From there to open up the conversation to allow them to express their feelings around it. And depending on whether they find the content distressing, to help model ways they can filter that information, whether its limiting looking at certain content. Parents can teach about the blocking function on social media. You can block certain images so it doesnt constantly show in your feed, how to search for reliable sources and know to assess the information. Because kids may not be able to filter what is true, what is fake news. Also to be able to teach them coping skills. What can you do when you are feeling anxious . Things like deep breathing or tensing and relaxing your muscles. Movement is very helpful, music, singing. Different strategies to help them relax should they feel distressed by what they are seeing. I think finally also focusing the discussion not so much on the horror but on what efforts are being done to help the people and finding ways, if the kids feel so moved, of how they might be able to get involved to help as well. Thats a great suggestion. I am curious, you talked about the physical reaction to some of these anxieties and ways to cope with that. A lot of kids, they dont really know how to communicate anxiety or fears they might be having. Its too difficult to express those feelings. I am curious, what are signs parents can look for when it comes to anxiety in kids, signs they may not know to look for. You are looking for any marked change in their mood or behaviors from what they normally are. As a parent, you know your child best. You know how they typically behave. Some common signs that might tell you that they are being affected is if you notice any changes in their sleep or eating habits. For younger kids, not toileting. If you notice they appear more worried or afraid, might seem more isolated, withdrawn, not interested in fun activities they normally would enjoy or maybe not even wanting to go to school. Younger children might become more clingy or express worries about their caregivers, have difficulty separating. With older children, we might see more sadness, more not want be to be around their peers or their family. Any changes like that and especially if they persist might be signs that something is going on. Right. Great tips. Dr. Hilit kletter with stanford childrens health, thank you so much for joining