Are. For more of grannys celebration, including the performances, as some are really worth taking a longer look, visit our blog at cnn. Com outfront. Ac 360 starts right now. Erin, thanks. Good evening, everyone, from newtown, connecticut. One month ago, tragedy touched down in his idyllic town, forever changing the lives of so many people here. One month later, the crowds, reporters, and Law Enforcement personnel are gone, but the pain for many families here remain. For the first time in the town hall behind me, family members of 11 victims of the tragedy had a conversation, about health, school safety, and what they call gun responsibility. Youll hear from a number of families tonight about how theyre coping one month since they lost their son or daughter, their brother or their sister. Much of the world may have moved on, but grief does not conform to any time table. Not here especially. And tonight, we want it ed to b newtown just to remind the world about what happened here and to show the world what has happened since. So many peer who have ample reasons to huddle behind walls in grief and grieving have done something more, something braver than anyone has the right to expect in the best of times, let alone the worst. They have reached out, reached out to one another in ways large and small, have begun to turn tragedy into transformation. United in grief, united in hope, united in newtown. 27 wooden angels in newtown, one for each victim of the massacre. But one month later, that displace and most of the other memorials have been taken down. Gifts sent from all over the world now preserved in a warehouse to become part of a futural pecture permanent memor. Visible reminders of the tragedy mostly gone. The community, however, is still struggling. Just today, dozens of family members gathered to announce a mission to promote a National Dialogue on gun violence, Mental Health, and school safety. For many of the families involved, its one way to honor the loved one they lost. It is a sad honor to be here today. Its been one month since i lost my son dylan and 25 orlando families lost their loved ones. At times it feels like only yesterday, and at other times it feels as if many years have passed. I still find myicism reaching for dylans hand to walk through a parking lot or expecting him to crawl into bed beside me for Early Morning cuddles before we get ready for school. So hard to believe hes gone. It is still all so hard to believe. The Sandy Hook Elementary School is still a crime scene. It remains empty and the future of the building unclear. But the children of newtown are back in class. Using a middle School Building in a nearby town for now, while educators figure out the future of the School District and how to keep the children of sandy hook together. Were very strong. Were a strong community. You know, were going to have our bumps along the way. But were working hard together, and thats whats important. One month later, with a National Debate on gun control under way, some families in newtown are eager to have a voice in the debate. The horror of knowing that these are innocent 6yearolds and 7yearolds for the most part who were so grievously harmed and killed by a man who was flawed in his judgment, had access to an assault weapon and other weapons as well. We need to have colonel as a society to ask those hard questions, do we have the right controls in place . If not, lets take some action. Residents of this Community Say they refuse to be remembered only for their loss. They hope the name newtown will be forever known not for this deadly shooting but as a turning point for change. Well be talking throughout the evening with people at the forefront of that effort in new tb across the state and the country. In a moment, astronaut mark kelly talked about their new mission to End Gun Violence and well talk to connecticuts governor dan malloy about his effort and Vice President bidens task force which is expected to present its recommendations tomorrow. We want to begin right here and right now with how the community is coming together spiritually and how people, parents are dealing with so much loss. Matt and Jennifer Hubbard join me. They lost their daughter Catherine Violet, a little girl who loved life and especially loved animals. I appreciate you both being with us. Can know its not easy. Sure. How are you holding up . Its hard. Were going day by day. First, its hour by hour. Now day by day. Sometimes minute by minute. Sometimes minute by minute. It changes. It changes. It comes in waves. It does, and every day for us, i think, is a new first. You know, were doing new things with the three of us. Its a new first. Getting through the holidays must have been yes and no. At first we thought how are we going to do christmas . Christmas is about hope and its about peace. And i think through the entire situation, there was a hope that some day were going to see catherine again. Shes safe. She is safer than we could ever make her. And thats peaceful for us. And so we made christmas what christmas was about. And christmas in our house is not going to be a sad time. It cant because thats not what were about. You teach a religious class at the church. First graders. First graders. Catherine was in the class. You have gone back to teach her class. I did, i did, because when i was at the fire house and i knew, i knew that she was gone. I knew the minute that i saw one of her friends mothers, that she was safe. Thats the first, shes safe, theyre saved. And in retrospect, she was. And i knew at that point that if i didnt have my faith, i dont know where i would be right now. So teaching those babies and those other first graders that god loves them and jesus will take care of them may not be the way we think hes going to take care of us because some days i wonder how am i going to get through this day, and every day i get through the day. They need to know that. And its so important. And it wasnt even a question. Im going back. I said to my coteacher, im coming back. It takes such strength, and its extraordinary. Its what we have to do. We owe it to our kids. We owe it to oech other to be kind, and we owe it to oeowe it oech other to love each other and dmanot get wrapped up in th hatred and the debate and everything that can come out of such tragedy. They were first graders and teachers who loved their kids and administrators who gave their lives to the kids. Were not going to make it about hate. What do you want people to know about Catherine Violet . One of the things i know i heard you say is that she loved animals. And you talked about looking out the window and seeing her with butterflies, like the first day of spring. Thats it, she loved animals. She loved every animal, small or large. Not only did she love animals, she loved people. She loved her family, she loved her teachers. There was just so much love with catherine. You know, thats how we remember catherine, all the love she gave us and our family and the animals. She just she would get the animals, and she would put them all around her. If they had clothes on buildabear was a debacle because everyone would say get the clothes for the bears, and she wouldnt want them because she loved the animals in their truest form. I think it was just the innocence of her. She would surround herself with her animals. We would have to, lets find catherine. But in spring, i will never forget it, she would find a butterfly and stop short and she would run and get her net, and she would work it all spring, and then in the middle of the summer, the red hair flying. And she would just you would look out and the wind would be blowing and she would be crouched in the garden. She would do it every year. She would catch this little butterfly in her hands. Who knows what she was saying . She would talk to it, and then she would send it on its way. It was perfect. She would always say, soandso is so kind. Soandso is so kind. And i think that the animals knew that she was so kind. She just loved it. She loved every bit. And so when we decided that we were going to remember catherine and what we were going to do, do we do a building . What do we do . And were going to build her her animal sanctuary, so were going to bring all of the animals to her. She used to kiss your hand, i understand . She would, um, she did it the morning she got on the bus. Every morning, she did not have a good time going to school, of course. She missed us. So in the morning, she would go to the bus and she would say, i love you. I love you. And she would kiss your hand. Then she would push it into your heart, and she would say, i love you. Push it in, all the way to my toes, and you knew it. It was all the way to your toes. And ill never forget it, i knew it, all the way to my toes, from now until the butterfly gets to heaven for her. You still feel it all the way to your toes . I do, i do. Its good. Its great. Its good. Thank you. Youre welcome. I wish you strength. Thank you. More now on the effort to reshape Public Policy in the wake of all this. In the state of the state address, Connecticut Governor dan malloy rejected calls to arm teachers saying more guns are not the answer. I appreciate you being with us. First, how do you think this community is doing one month on . Well, its a remarkable community. Great strength. Honestly, father and mother that you just spoke to are emblematic of the community and their strength will persevere, which is another thing i said during the address. But so we move on, and the community is having discussions about what they want to do as a permanent memorial and what they want to do with the school, and were here to help them make those decisions and make sure those decisions are acted on. You wrote a letter to Vice President biden, in which you said while connecticut may have some of the strongest gun control laws in the country, its not enough. Gun control has to be addressed nationally. What specific points would you like to see included in federal Gun Legislation . Its pretty straightforward. Number one, no one should be able to buy a gun in the country without a background check. Its computerized. I cant get on an airplane, you cant get on an airplane without somebody to checking to see if were on a list to see if we could get on there. Why could somebody by such a destructive item as a gun without a background check. We have to close all loopholes. This gun show loophole is what leads to guns in many cities where theres no background check. You cant do that in the state of connecticut. It shouldnt be allowed. The president of the nra sorry, go ahead. The whole thing with the magazines, you know, that carry 30 bullets, is crazy. First of all, an assault weapon, and thats what were talking about. Becomes an assault weapon in most cases once you connect it to that magazine. So a lot of these guns are sold as singleshotguns, but all you have to do is connect it with that 30round magazine and all of a sudden you have a very destructive instrument, which, by the way, has really been designed in essence to kill people. People dont go hunting with 30magazine clip semiautomatic weapons. They dont protect their homes with these instruments, these instruments are for killing. Thats what theyre for. And we have to limit that. We talked about the magazines, about permitting, and we have to have an assault weapons ban that works, and has a broad definition so manufacturers dont sneak things by them. As you know, the president of the nra said yesterday a ban wont be able to get through congress. To that you say what . If it doesnt, its because the nra wont let it happen. And theyre unfortunately will be other instances where these weapons are used in the way they were used in columbine or aurora or newtown. This is a movement and an awakening, i think, that started in newtown when 20 children could be lost in an instant because we dont have a weapons ban and a magazine ban that we once had in this nation going back to 2004. This is a wakeup call about who we are and what we are and how we want to be perceived and whether we want our children to be safe. I think, you know, round one, round two, round three in some senses may go the wrong way, but i dont think the people of newtown or the people of aurora or columbine are ever going to forget what happened in their communities, and frankly, i think things are changing now. Lets get the things there are common agreement on, almost everyone in their right mind agrees you should have a background check to buy a firearm. Almost everyone agrees you shouldnt be able to buy 30magazine clip magazines. I predict there are going to be other mass murders and each time the nra is going to have to come forward and defend the position, its going to get harder and harder and harder to do. Governor malloy, i appreciate your time tonight. Let us know what you think online. Follow me on twitter, tweeting in this hour. Astronaut mark kelly and his wife Gabby Giffords came here recently. Came away more determined than ever to stop gun violence. Youll hear from commander kelly. I talked to him earlier. And also, Kenny Chesney as our special report, united in newtown, continues. Amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me anyone have occasional constipation, diarrhea, gas, bloating . Yes one Phillips Colon Health probiotic cap each day helps defend against these digestive issues with three strains of good bacteria. Live the regular life. Phillips. Looks like youre in a pickle. Yeah. Can you get me out of it . Just so happens i know a chap. Book any flight and hotel together and get access to our free personal concierge service. Any need, any question, were on call 24 7. The fire house where children were taken after the shooting for safety and to be reunited with their parents in the hours after the shooting, now on the roof ottheir fire house, 26 stars, one for each life taken at sandy hook elementary a month ago today. Tomorrow, Vice President bidens Gun Violence Task force is expected to give president obama recommendations for preventing another tragedy. My starting point is not to worry about the politics. My starting point is to foiks on what makes sense, what works. What should we be doing to make sure that our children are safe and that were reducing the incidence of gun violence . The new polling from gallup shows 58 of americans now favor stricter gun laws compared to 43 a year before sandy hook. Former congresswoman Gabby Giffords and her husband mark kelly have formed a Political Action group to push for new legislation. I spoke to mark kelly a bit earlier today. Commander kelly, first of all, how is your wife doing . How is her recovery going . Gabby is doing great. She has a little cold right now. She doesnt get those frequently, but shes not feeling so well today, but in general, shes doing really, really well. She continued to improve each month, and shes got a really positive outlook about her recovery and so do i. You both went to newtown recently. Im curious what that was like for you and what you said there and what families said to you. It was very difficult. We met in one of the neighbors houses with a bunch of young couples. And it seemed every time we turned around, i was looking at a photo of, you know, some brighteyed 6yearold or 7yearold who was no longer with us, who was really, really difficult. Its not really much that you can say. We were just there to offer our support, but it was a difficult trip. What do you specifically want to see hap pen in terms of whether its gun control, background checks . What are you specifically hoping to see happen to change in. Well, our organization, americans for responsible solutions, wants to focus on four things. First of all, we want to educate people on the issue. But you know, we believe, gabby and i believe that there are four basic things that we need to do to make this country safer. Were not going to get rid of all the gun violence, but first of all, a universal background check will prevent some criminals and some of the mentally ill from obtaining a firearm. Secondly, a highcapacity magazine was used in tucson, aurora, used in newtown. Those are used for the military to kill a lot of people at once. The Mental Health issue, almost in every one of these mass shootings, it involved a young man who has some form, often schizophrenia, which is often easily threreated if you can ge them into a system where they have treatment and dont have access to a weapon. And finally, its very easy to get access to an assault weapon in the country. From my experience in the military, i spent 25ia years in the navy. Assault weapons are good at killing a lot of people at once. Thats something that should be and is designed for the military. I know youre gun owner, your wife is a gun owner, but the nra is essentially saying that the answer lies in arming people in schools. There should be an armed person in every school. Do you thing thats part of the solution . Personally, i dont think so. You know, i dont think that will work. Gabby and i are both very strong supporters of the Second Amendment. I defended the constitution. I defended the Second Amendment flying in combat over iraq and kuwait. Defending our country. Gabby owns a gun. I own a gun. This really isnt about the Second Amendment. I dont believe it is. This is about gun safety, and its about safety of the public. So you know, i dont buy the argument from the gun lobby that theres some sort of slippery slope. You know, i applaud the fact that the nra and the gun lobby realizes that theres a problem. But the solution of putting a Security Guard with a gun in every school is not something that i feel will work. I have flown in combat. It gets very chaotic when youre shot at multiple times. Friends of mine who were members of s. E. A. L. Team six, the same experience they had, they dont think this would work, either. Then what do you do . Do you put a Security Guard on a school bus . How about in a church or in a