The Daily - Monday, Mar. 5, 2018

Episode Date: March 5, 2018

In the days since the shooting in Parkland, Fla., a group of teenagers has risen to national prominence for their activism and calls for gun control. But more than 3,000 students attend Stoneman Douglas High School. Six of them spoke to a New York Times reporter about the day their childhood ended. Guest: Jack Healy, a national correspondent for The Times. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily.

From The New York Times, I'm Michael Barbaro. This is The Daily Watch. Today, in the days since the shooting in Parkland, Florida, a small number of outspoken teenagers have risen to national prominence for their activism and their calls for gun control. But more than 3,000 students attend Stoneman Douglas High School. My colleague Jack Healy sat down with six of them.

It's Monday, March 5th. So I flew down to Parkland, Florida, and spent a week trying to get to know some of the kids who you didn't necessarily see at the vanguard of the movement that has sprung up in the wake of the shooting. One day, outside of the school, I met Brooke Harrison and her parents, Denise and Robert. We talked for a little while, and a couple nights later, I met up with Brooke and several of her friends. Will you guys tell me about how you know each other? I know her from elementary school.

I went to private school. The girls all sunk into a sofa together to talk as their parents sat outside on the patio and chatted with each other. I've known Annabelle since seventh grade. I've only recently met Maddie. We've known each other since fifth grade. I've known you since middle school. So they were Victoria.

Alvarez. Eden. Eden. Madison. Zeltlanger. Two girls named Madison, Maddie and Madison. They called each other. Annabelle Worthington.

Annabelle. Brooketon. Annabelle. Brooke Harrison. And Brooke. I know you. Okay, and then 14. Do I play soccer? Okay. We talked about the activities that they pursue.

I'm a singer. I hang out with my friends a lot. And a little bit about, you know, what they love to do as kids. English. English. English. Okay. Was it, like, just English 1-on-1? English 1-on-1.

So they were telling me about school, an English class, and writing an essay. Oh, education. Education for, like, women. Practicing for our FSA. We've done so many. All of them were argumentative, though. Yeah. And our desks normally aren't in groups.

They're normally in rows. Which honestly I think was a blessing because it was a lot easier to run. Can we just know where my desk is? What usually is right there? No, but my desk was right in front of the door. That's why I saw the gun. Because when I looked up, I saw him walking by. You did? I didn't see. I saw his feet or something. I was wearing a hoodie saw him walking by. You did? I didn't see. I saw him like a shadow looking at me. I saw his feet or like something. I don't know.

He was wearing a hoodie. That's why. And I heard he was really having a happy time. And then they started telling me about the shooting. I was writing my essay and then we heard the gunshots. It was like, it was one after another. It was like, pfft. Yeah.

And so in my head, I thought like, oh, like firecrackers, you know? Nice. Had anyone ever set off firecrackers in the school before? No. But I just figured, I was like, okay, like firecrackers. And then I remember the glass door breaking. And for some reason I ended up,

like, I don't remember this part, it's kind of like blurry, but I remember being on the floor. I want to say I heard like a crack of like a shell and I was like oh. I remember like opening my eyes I was on the other side of the door. I was holding the teddy bear I had gotten and then I guess that's when it like came in and I realized what was happening. Their entire classroom explodes with gunfire. And I remember putting my hands over my head like a tornado drove just because I didn't want any, like, glass or anything hitting me because you can feel, like, the stuff, like, falling onto you.

You could smell it in the air. The only, I cannot describe the smell. It wasn't like a fire. It wasn't like anything. It was gunpowder. Gunpowder has a smell. But when you smelt it, you knew that's a gun.'t like a fire. It wasn't like any no it was a gun When you smelt it you knew that's a god, that's a guy and there was a lot of smoke Yeah, I can't even I can't even explain it. It was hard to be with deafness. Yeah, there's like a big cloud And I yeah, if you like now that we got yeah, yeah, my my bag was a black. Yeah, Birch purse There's some white all over it. Yeah, all over.

I just got a new purse. It's like, dutch. Yeah. You can tell that it's gunpowder. Does anyone have a bullet hole in their backpack? Because I do. Really? I have a bullet hole in my backpack.

You do? Can I see it? Yeah. Oh my gosh. Wow. But there's no, like, bullet in there, right? No. Like, bullet casing or anything.

It was really fast. If there was... That's terrible. It was really fascinating. If there was... That's terrible. One of the things that these girls have done to try to understand what happened to them on a grand scale is to try to understand moment by moment

what happened to them on a micro scale. So this is the diagram. Okay. You can see this is the door. This is the wall that connects to the hallway. And so the night that we chatted they all drew a diagram

of their classroom where each cluster of desks was, which student was sitting at which desk, and where the students fled once the bullets started flying. This is the TA table. And there's windows right here. They drew images of where certain students were when they died,

and they drew images of where they believed the bullets were coming in from. This was, it was just like a map of the day that their childhood ended. Okay, so basically, this is where I was sitting. I was facing the door. Alyssa was facing me. And then... The shooter was firing through the window of the classroom door, which the student said was locked.

Ms. Harsh, I guess,, had some kind of cardboard, so I kind of took that and put it over my face. I don't know if it did anything, but I thought that if he saw my eyes, he would shoot me, because I was right across from the door, right? So I'm like, I have to cover myself. I feel like my whole world was spinning and everything was going in slow motion so that the shots were just like, boom, boom.

You know when you're watching a movie and you see it happening, but you're not there? That's exactly what it felt like. It's like an out-of-body experience. That's exactly what it felt like. That's not my school. When I thought about this, about being in a school shooting, and the one thing that I've always said that I would do

is text my mom, I love you. And I'm like, thank you for everything. And I was so mad at everything that I wasn't gonna be able to get to do that and I was gonna die and not let my mom know that I loved her. and not let my mom know that I loved her. And then she shoots through our door, and there's glass, like, all over, like, in front of me. And then I just hear, like, a few shots happen over here,

and then I see Alyssa, and she's just, like, standing like this, and then she, like, falls back. And then, um... And then it, it like goes silent um and I'm like screaming and I'm like screaming, like, go to blood, like, get out. They were yelling at the class in the store. And I remember holding my teddy bear, screaming, like, please come get us, please come get us, please come get us, please come get us. And it took hours.

I felt like hours for them to go from that classroom to ours. SWAT officers stormed into the school. They yelled into the classroom and asked whether there was any danger inside of the classroom, anyone with a gun. The students said no, there wasn't. And then they fled. I remember Xavier telling me, put your hands over your head. Yeah. I just remember just from, just from like seeing like all these mass shootings and people running out with their hands up, I didn't want to be the person who they thought was, I know that

it's, but I just put my hands up and I ran. That's when I ran. They fled through a hallway that they described as being lined with SWAT officers, and they burst out into the daylight and ran through a parking lot and to the edge of the school grounds. And so that's what I just remember, like, running for my life. Yes. And did you see the dogs? I remember seeing the dogs barking, and then that's when it kicked in, and I was like, let me get out of here And I yeah, I ran from school to Parkland Golf

So far. Yeah, so far is far. It's really far. I was in jeans Vans, I was in a sweater They did that to them I remember I didn't even look good for that day because it was Valentine's Day I looked so good I looked so good! I looked so good! They literally took my favorite outfit for evidence because there was blood on it.

I was wearing my... I went home, I washed my teddy bear, they asked me, you got blood on anything? I said no. I know, I didn't give them my teddy bear. My parents were like, yeah, it's in the wash, let me see if there's blood. The teddy bear was the only thing I got out of that class with. It was the only thing I was going to keep. Mm-mm. In the two weeks since the shooting,

they have been spending a lot of time with each other, going to sleepovers, going to memorials. We were going to another viewing after we had two funerals that morning and then a viewing for Luke. And then we were going to Gina's viewing, what we thought was Gina's viewing. But instead we walked in, my best friend and I, we walked in with our moms and they it was kind of weird because my we were all wearing the the pins with the the ribbons and um and they asked what what the ribbons are for and we were like okay this one's for Jamie and this one's for Gina and this one's for for Stoneman Douglas in general and so they were like oh that's cool and then so we walked into the funeral home and they

handed us this card and we were expecting to see like gina's face on it but it was this guy named ron ronald and this old guy here you can see the picture and we're like okay that's not like you went to the wrong yeah and so we figured out that it was like the wrong day these girls are pretty resilient, and they've actually been able to find some light moments in all of this. So now you get to celebrate Ronald. Yeah. We were like, thanks, Ron, for making us laugh.

Wait, did you see him? So when we talked, these girls were incredibly composed and even laughed at times. But then they are still just like tumbled back into that day. That's all they're saying to me, too. They're like, it's fine. It's going to be fine. I feel broken.

I feel defeated. Yeah, me too. Like, that's not, like, it's not, right now in my mind, it's not going to be fine. I will never get over it I'm never gonna be okay. They don't like all of us have lost like our friends and classmates. There's like no, it's normal It's fine, but it's not like fine. It's not like nothing is one thing but like I'm like trauma This is trauma. PTSD. Especially for what we went through. PTSD takes 30 days to get over.

I can't close my eyes without looking up and seeing the gun. It's like seeing Alyssa's body. Mine is seeing Alex and the bullet holes through the wall. I see it happening in slow motion. We talked for about two hours, but it was getting late. And we had to wrap things up because, after all, it was a school night. How are you feeling about going back tomorrow? I'm so scared.

I'm excited. I'm happy because I want to see my friends. I haven't seen since. I'm excited to see my friends, but I'm so scared to go back. They're right. It's a part of the healing process. I can't go. At the same time, I don't feel ready.

I'm not ready. I don't know if At the same time, I don't feel ready. I'm not ready. I go back. But there's, I don't know if I'm ever going to feel ready to go back. So you might as well just get it over with. Get it over with, rip the band-aid off. I'm scared. Like, I'm like, I'm desperate to see all my friends, but like, I'm scared to go back. Hi. Hey, good morning. Hi!

Hey, good morning. The next morning, I showed up at Brooke Harrison's house at about 6.40 to be with her and her mother as they got ready and went off to school. Do you want to take this in the car? Okay, so normally we try to take this in the car? Okay. So normally we would try, we try to leave by 7.20. Okay. We've been leaving at 7.30 for a 7.40 start, but you know, we do live close. Yeah. Yeah. But yeah, Brooke skids in at the last minute, but we're not going to do that today. Yeah. Yeah. My first, that's your normal. My first period teachers don't want each day. Don't care though. So it's good So it sounds really bad, but like...

And she and her mom chatted and... I'm honestly not that hungry. I want just like a piece of toast. Her mom made bacon and toast and Brooke had some coffee. Maybe 5% coffee. With milk and three scoops of sugar in it. And... Probably really my like pin with everything.

Yeah, yeah. And try to find, like, any burgundy shirts I have or anything. She wore her burgundy Stoneman Douglas T-shirt, and she put on a burgundy pin to commemorate the shooting.

Oh, Mom, can I have $5? Because you know how I told you Eden was making, like, the necklaces? So, um, this girl, Eden, not the Eden who came here, a different Eden, she's making these really cool necklaces that have a burgundy stone in it and two silver stones inside for Douglas. I'm giving $5, and they're so pretty.

So I wanted to, and she's donating it all to the victim's fund. Oh, nice. So at 7.23. Okay, are we ready to get in the car's fund. Oh, nice. They already got one. So at 7.23... Okay, are we ready to get in the car? Yeah. We hop into their SUV together. Do you want me to sit in the back with you? No, no, no, no, no.

Sit in the front. Yeah, absolutely. And we drive through the community. Oh, no! Oh, they're angry. Oh, my goodness. You hit me. I had bacon in my pocket.

Five second rule. Oh, boy. How do bacon in mine. Five second rule. How do you feel? Are you excited? Are you nervous? I'm very excited just because I haven't seen just so many people since the incident. Yeah. So I'm just happy to give hugs to everyone.

Yeah. And then I'm also kind of nervous because I feel like if I see something that reminds me of Elena, I'm going to cry. Yeah. Or like if like during lunch where I see like where she used to sit, because she used to sit in like the same spot. And after probably about 20 minutes or so of driving, we pull into a circular driveway

that leads to one of the doors and leading into the school. It's making me sad. Mom, please don't cry. I think she's cried more than me. Okay, so you're going to go to the cafeteria, get your schedule. Yeah. All right, text me or call me if you need to. It was really nice talking to you.

Brooke and her mom hugged and kissed each other. Thank you. Love you. And she hops out of the car and heads back into school. I love you too. This week marks the first full week back at school for the students at Stoneman Douglas High School. On Saturday, despite weeks of lobbying by the students, the Florida Senate rejected a proposal to ban the sale of assault weapons.

We'll be right back. Here's what else you need to know today. I'm happy to take your questions now. We have a fairly strong manufacturing sector in this community, and I'm pretty sure they'd be happy to hear what your government plans to do on new tariffs announced on aluminum and steel in the south of the border. government plans to do on new tariffs announced on aluminum and steel in the south of the border. We regard the imposition of any new tariffs or any tariffs on steel or aluminum between our two countries as absolutely unacceptable. Over the weekend, U.S. trading partners threatened

to retaliate against President Trump's plan for tariffs on imported metals, with tariffs of their own on everything from American-made motorcycles to bourbon. Furthermore, the level of cooperation and integration of our militaries, our defense of North America, and our working together on a broad range of security issues. In Canada, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that Trump's rationale for the tariffs, that imported steel from his country was a national security threat to the U.S., quote, makes no sense. I hope the president doesn't really do this, because if he does,

it's just going to be a huge tax on American citizens. Back in Washington, senators from the president's own party, including Orrin Hatch of Utah and Ben Sasse of Nebraska, openly opposed the tariffs, saying they would hurt American consumers by raising the price on goods that use aluminum and steel. If you own a steel mill, today was great for you. If you consume steel and every American family at the store tonight bought something that has different metals in it, today's a bad day for you. In an interview on Fox News Sunday, the president's chief trade advisor, Peter Navarro, was asked about the criticism from Republicans. Are Sass and Hatch, who is the chair of the Senate Finance Committee, are they wrong? Of course they're wrong.

And in terms of the Republican Party, let's remember this. Donald Trump ran against 16 Republicans. None of those Republicans supported Donald Trump's positions on trade. He beat every one of them. That's it for The Daily. I'm Michael Barbaro. See you tomorrow.