Transcripts For CNNW CNN Newsroom Live 20180226 : vimarsana.

Gun policy Takes Center Stage in washington as the National Rifle association and President Trump seem to differ on what should happen next. The north korean team have packed up and gone home. We will go live to south korea for more on whether the end of the Winter Olympics means the finale for diplomacy. And with those olympics all wrapped up, the attention now turns to the next winter games. Were live in beijing where preparations are already under way. Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the United States and from all around the world, im Rosemary Church at cnn headquarters in atlanta. This is cnn newsroom. The olympic diplomacy achieved with north korea during the winter games is now being tested. South korea announced on sunday the north is willing to hold talks with the United States. But there is a major sticking point. The white house says any dialogue must result in north korea giving up its nuclear weapons. And were now learning the south korean president moon jaein is calling on the u. S. To, quote, lower the threshold to talk with north korea. Meanwhile, demonstrators in seoul are protesting south koreas diplomatic efforts with pyongyang. But that has not stopped north korean delegates from agreeing to continue talks with the south, even after the olympics. Now Paula Hancocks joins us now live from pyeongchang. Interesting were hearing now from the south Korean Leader, lower the threshold here. So presumably, the u. S. Is not to talk about getting rid of north Korean Nuclear weapons. The fact that president moon jaein really has the most incredible balancing act to maneuver. At this point he has managed to bring north korea to the pyeongchang Winter Olympics. He has managed to have this sporting diplomacy that his sister sitting down with him and talking. North koreans saying they are willing to talk to the United States. And on the other side, you the United States maintaining its policy of wanting to make sure that denuclearization is at the top of the agenda when it comes to those talks. But the south korean president is trying to say lets lower the threshold. Lets at least sit down and talk. Something he said was meeting with chinas vice premier, yu yangdong. What happens after the olympics . There will be u. S. South Korean Military drills which every year anger pyongyang. So its difficult to see where the momentum is going to be. But certainly thats something south korea needs to work on. As for the United States, ivanka trump has just left south korea this monday morning local time. And she did talk a little bit about north korea. We are 50 miles away from north korea. So affirming the u. S. Position and our joint position of maximum pressure with our south korean partners is very important. There was also white house response to north korea telling the south korean president that they were willing to talk to the United States. Quote, we will see if pyongyangs message today that it is willing to hold talks represents the first steps along the path to denuclearization. In the meantime, the u. S. And the world must continue to make clear north Koreas Nuclear and missile programs are a deadend. So the Trump Administration trying to hammer home the point that there will still be sanctions and pressure until north korea is willing to talk about giving up its nuclear weapons, something that most people do not expect the north Korean Leader kim jongun to do willingly. Rosemary . All right. Many thanks to our Paula Hancocks, joining us there live from pyeongchang. And there is outrage on multiple fronts after the latest School Shooting in the United States. It has renewed the gun control debate with some rare bipartisan agreement. Its also resulted in demands that someone be held responsible for missing so many warning signs about the gunman who killed 17 people. An armed deputy stayed outside the school even as the gunman fired on students inside. And the Broward County Sheriffs Office is acknowledging it had received 23 calls about the shooter or his family in the last decade. Well, now dozens of florida lawmakers want the Broward County sheriff suspended. The sheriff spoke with cnns jake tapper. I will only take responsibility for what i knew about. I exercised my due diligence. Have i given amazing leadership to this agency. Amazing . You dont measure a persons leadership by a deputy not going in to a these deputies received the training they needed. And Martin Savidge has more now from parkland, florida. Even as the chorus of voices demanding that Broward County sheriff scott israel either step down or the governor the state of florida fire him, there seems to be only defiance coming from the sheriff himself. He has said that he definitely has no intention of resigning, and he also says that all of this is now being driven by politics. He points out the fact that of course the governor is republican, and most of the lawmakers so far that have come forward demanding that the governor remove israel are also republican lawmakers. The sheriff himself is a democrat. But here in the community where this tragedy played out, it is not about partisan politics. Its about something much more simpler and even easier to understand. Its about personal pain. Its about the loss that they have suffered. And its about almost the day to day revelations that seem to imply that the Broward County Sheriffs Office either failed to see serious warning signs coming from the alleged shooter nikolas cruz, that one of their deputies failed to intervene when the shooting was taking place, and there were other deputies that failed to rush in the in the immediate aftermath. As parent who has lost a child, as a community that has lost so much in all of this, the anger has reached a breaking point, and they believe the sheriff is directly responsible. He is the head of the department. Meanwhile, the governor of florida is still pushing forward with his plans to bring about change and to improve security at the schools within the state. There is one point, though, in which he disagrees with the president of the United States. President trump has come out and said he thinks its a good idea that some teachers and high schools should be trained and armed with sidearms. Governor scott does not agree with that. I disagree with him. I believe youve got to focus on people that are welltrained, Law Enforcement that are trained to do this. I want to make sure that we have significant Law Enforcement presence on top of the schools metal detectors and bulletproof glass, better perimeter fencing, all these things. And the other thing is i want to give our Sheriffs Department in each county the authority to create the program on a per school basis that the parents can feel comfortable that their child is going to is a safe school. Meanwhile, the investigation into the tragedy at Stoneman Douglas high school is continuing. It is currently being handled by the Broward County Sheriffs Department. But now the Florida Department of Law Enforcement has been called in by the governor to investigate the Sheriffs Department as to how they responded on that terrible day. Martin savidge, cnn, parkland, florida. U. S. President donald trump told governors at the white house this weekend that School Safety is a top priority. And he said stopping School Shootings would lead the agenda in their meetings later monday. The president has also said he favors raising the age limit from 18 to 21 to buy rifles. The nra rejects that proposal, but a spokeswoman did try to soften the disagreement with mr. Trump. Take a listen. He wants to raise that minimum wage. Will the nra back that . Well, the nra has made their position incredibly clear. The five million members of the nra have made their position incredibly clear. Thats a no . I do want to caution people because i know people are trying to find daylight between President Trump and five million lawabiding gunowners, and la a lawabiding gunowners across the United States. These are just things he is discussing right now. I think as president it is great he had all these individuals come into the white house. He had this listening session. He is really looking for solutions. He wanted to hear what they had to say, and thats what he is doing. So far nothing has been proposed yet. But the position is you do not want to raise the age rate. Thats what the nra came out and said. Thats correct. One other point President Trump has said is it should be left up to the states to decide whether to arm teachers. Its the latest twist to the controversial suggestion he made following the florida School Shooting. His daughter ivanka trump was asked about it on nbc. Take a listen. Youre a mom of three young children. Do you believe that Arming Teachers would make children safer . To be honest, i dont know. Obviously, there would have to be an incredibly High Standard for who would be able to bear arms in our school. But i think there is no one solution to creating safety. Are you advising your dad on this . You advise him on other topics. I think having a teacher who is armed who cares deeply about her students or his students and who is capable and qualified to bear arms is not a bad idea, but its an idea that needs to be discussed. And for more on the gun control debate, kate andrews is a u. S. Political columnist for the city a. M. Newspaper, and she joins us now live from london. Good to see you. Good morning. So the president is pushing this idea of Arming Teachers, something the nra also supports. But many critics suggest it is a flawed suggestion. How likely is it that we will see state governors when they meet officially monday seriously consider this idea . Well, i think you might see some governors endorse it. But i happen to think that governor rick scott is on to something when he says that this might cause more hindrances and problems than its actually going to solve. And i think majority of americans actually do support the idea with some kind of security on campus. Perhaps a security guard, somebody who is trained in that way specifically who isnt worried about teaching day to day and looking after kids in those other ways. We dont necessarily have a problem with security guards in shopping malls, out in the street. Its not thought necessarily to be a scary thing. So i think maybe thats a better pathway for these governors and for the president to try to assess. But you can see the problems that could come into play if you started encouraging teachers to arm themselves. Teachers should first and foremost be looking after the education and the safety of their students. And they shouldnt necessarily have to be worried about where the gun is in their drawer at any given moment of the day. It would seem more reasonable to hire one person on campus to have that concern rather than to ask all teachers to do it. Also, you would never want to be in a situation where teachers felt pressured to bear arms and to take up a weapon or to defend their classroom because for some people, its just not the right option. Thats why the Second Amendment has that important choice involved. If you want to arm yourself, you do have the opportunity legally to do so under the existing regulations and under the law. But most americans choose not to. And i dont think we should put that pressure on them to do so. Of course, in this florida School Shooting, we saw someone who was armed, who was there to protect the students, who didnt go in. So that is an interesting point, no doubt well l be part that of debate. So the president has also indicated that he is open to comprehensive background checks. But he hasnt indicated what form that might take. We talk about the latest cnn poll on tighter gun laws. That shows seven out of ten americans support tougher background checks. So there is an area of compromise here. We are seeing some sort of bipartisan approach. But what form, or what type of background check would appeal to both parties in this instance . How far could it go . Well, this is what is deeply frustrating is that the u. S. Already has some of the toughest regulations in place when it comes to buying a gun worldwide. We have very, very many and we also are supposed to in theory have universal background checks. The problem is that a lot of people slip through the cracks. And they do it for several reasons. Some of the shooters dont have any prior convictions, and there is no red flag that has gone up that would suggest that they arent able to buy a gun. In other situations; the shooter and in texas who shot up the church, he actually did have prior convictions. He was found guilty of domestic abuse. But it hasnt been registered correctly. Had it been, he shouldnt have had access to that gun. So i think there are two issues here. One senn hansing the systems that we already have and actually making sure that people have to abide by the rules that are already in place. And i think once we feel secure that thats actually happening, we can see where the genuine holes. And as we say, most americans have no problem with sensible gun reform, or background check reform even to make sure that people are being checked properly before they can purchase a weapon. All right. Well thank you, kate andrews for bringing your analysis to this. Of course, it is a debate that will continue. Well see what comes of this meeting with the governors. And of course, well see what congress decides in the end as well. A long way to go. Many thanks to you, though. Well, next here on cnn newsroom, the latest on whats supposed to be a ceasefire in syria. Well have a live report from the region. Thats still to come. Plus the search is intensifying for more than 100 missing nigerian girls. Why their parents say theyre doing what the government could not. Were back with that in just a moment. The last minute. Guys, i have a couple of things to wash we got this. Even on quick cycle, tide pods cleans great 6x the cleaning power, even in the quick cycle its got to be tide a ceasefire resolution at the u. N. Saturday may have already failed in syria. Activists say shelling and air strikes in Eastern Ghouta have not stopped. There are also reports pro Government Forces are mounting a ground offensive. This video from saturday purportedly shows the aftermath of one of those strikes. The syrian observatory for human rights says more than 100 children have been killed in the area over the last week. These children survived but still have to live with the horrors of war. Cnns Jomana Karadsheh is tracking events in the region from jordan. For the very latest, she joins me now live from aman. Jomana, good to see you. The United Nations voted for that ceasefire over the weekend. But syria ignored that and continued its bombardment in Eastern Ghouta. What impact has there been on the ground there for civilians . Well, you know, rosemary, that longawaited solution at the u. N. Security council seems to have changed nothing on the ground. No signs of a ceasefire. By all accounts, sunday was a day of escalation. We got reports of intense bombardment of different parts of Eastern Ghouta request air shelling. And activists on the ground zwliek they say was a ground offensive by the regime trying to push into Eastern Ghouta on several fronts which led to intense clashes. Were also getting reports of a possible chlorine gas attack. This is coming from activists on the ground as well as medical groups that include the Syrian American medical society, sans, who say that one of the hospitals they support in Eastern Ghouta treated 16 patients, including 6 children who were, quote, suffering symptoms indicative of exposure to chemical compounds. The oppositions Damascus Health director is also reporting that. And they say they believe it is exposure to toxic chlorine gas. Now at cnn, we cannot independently verify these claims. Both sides in this conflict in the past have accused each other of using chlorine as a weapon. And it is civilians who continue to pay the heaviest price in this conflict. We must warn you that some of the images youre about to see are disturbing. Images that the world has seen time and time again out of syria, another strike, another rescue of a bloody child whose name we nay never know. Eastern ghouta has become a kill box. People here say theyve never seen a week like this before. Activists have been trying to document what life, if one can call it that, is like for civilians here. In underground shelters, they ho