when she saw the gunman come in, saw the gunman shoot her teacher and her classmates and how she needed to, decided to rub the blood of her friend on herself in order to try to survive. as this hearing continues, there are also developments on the bipartisan talks on gun safety. another part of the capitol. cnn learned senate republican leader mitch mcconnell privately expressed openness to raising the age limit to 21 for buying semiautomatic rifles. they ll be back to meet and negotiate again this hour. let s start with cnn s lauren fox live on the hill watching this hearing and seeing this emotional testimony happen. lauren, it was going to be hard to hear a child speak like this no matter what. it was very painful to watch. reporter: yeah, kate, there are always experts that come up to capitol hill and testify but it is so hard to watch and see a fourth grader be an expert on gun violence and carnage in this country and i think that that testimony and the testimony of pa
they want to make their loss of life matter. so he gave his perspective, and then we also are hearing today a new and horrifying perspective from inside robb elementary. 4th grade teacher reyes was feet away when the shooter killed all eleven students in the classroom. he played dead for 77 minutes, bleeding from multiple gunshot wounds. at one point he heard a student in the connecting classroom call out for police to help them, but police were treated and he s outraged by the lack of action by police, he says it s unforgivable. bullets everywhere, and then i just remember border patrol saying get up, get up, and i couldn t get up. did you feel abandoned in that moment by police, by the people who are supposed to protect you? absolutely. after everything i get more angry because you have a bullet proof vest. i had nothing. i had nothing. you re supposed to protect and serve. there is no excuse for their actions. and i will never forgive them. i lost 11 that day, an
neverending tide of gun violence. the annual convention of the nra kicked off today in houston. the keynote speaker is the arguably the most president voice of the republican party, the twice-impeached ex-president. greg abbot pulled out of an in-person appearance to return to uvalde. he ll be holding a press conference there in a few minutes, but back at the nra stage there will also be a speech from senator ted cruz who recently stormed off when he was asked by a reporter why mass shootings only seemed to happen in this country. cruz s decision to appear at the nra convention just days after 19 of his youngest constituents and two other teachers were murdered, chose how the hard line stance on guns has become so deeply embedded in the gop. even as the nra is weaker than ever consumed by scandals and lawsuits. as the washington post quotes, nearly a decade ago the massacre of 20 children and six adults through the politics of gun violence into a state of suspension for a f
to purchase tobacco in texas to 21. and in 2021, the texas legislature lowered the able to purchase guns to 18. this individual who killed 19 of our children a day ago was 18 when he went and purchased those weapons. and that s because the legislature lowered the age in the state of texas. and so if we don t stand up for our kids, it happened in uvalde, but these are our children. if we don t protect them, who will? and the legislature passed house bill 1927, talking about the texas legislature, that now permits permitless carry. no training. no license. no permit required. lowered the age by which people can purchase assault weapons to 18, and now 19 of our babies are gone. and families will be hurting for the rest of their lives. i applaud what beto o rourke did. the time to be nuanced is over, okay? and you can t not allow policymakers, legislatures, governors to pass bills that promote the use of guns and then when people are killed say we are praying and we are offer our
he was in the building 40 minutes for an hour barricaded in two classrooms before he was shot and killed by border patrol agent. we re learning about the li lives of the 19 children and 2 teachers one is a wife and mother of four and. died shielding students from gunfire. irma garcia. garza was just 10 years old he talked about how he learned was never going to come home from school i got confirmation that she was trying to call authorities and i guess he just shot her. how do you look at this girl and shoot her? oh, my baby. i miss my baby. all of the dead were in the same fourth grade classroom all 19 young lives described as precious, their teachers dedicated and carrying. more now reporter: 21 lives brutally cut short and 21 family shattered by act of violence all too common in the united states. 19 thank gone just days before the start of the summer break, none yet out of 4th grade, like 10-year-old uzia garcia who s uncle called him a great kid and full of life