The Young Turks - Kids & Guns

Episode Date: May 25, 2022

In a striking moment, Texas gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke interrupts Gov. Greg Abbott’s press conference about the Uvalde shooting. Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr made it clear he did not want to talk about basketball before Tuesday night’s playoff game, instead of devoting a news conference to discuss the violence at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas — and to condemn politicians’ inaction on a fundamental gun law. Ben Shapiro tweeted that “the shooter violated multiple gun laws” (implying gun control would not make a difference), even though he legally bought weapons when he was 18. Fox News guest to parents: It’s ‘your responsibility' to check for school safety. Host: Ana Kasparian The largest online progressive news show in the world. Hosted by Cenk Uygur and Ana Kasparian. LIVE weekdays 6-8 pm ET. Help support our mission and get perks. Membership protects TYT's independence from corporate ownership and allows us to provide free live shows that speak truth to power for people around the world. See Perks: ▶ https://www.youtube.com/TheYoungTurks/join SUBSCRIBE on YOUTUBE: ☞ http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=theyoungturks FACEBOOK: ☞ http://www.facebook.com/TheYoungTurks TWITTER: ☞ http://www.twitter.com/TheYoungTurks INSTAGRAM: ☞ http://www.instagram.com/TheYoungTurks TWITCH: ☞ http://www.twitch.com/tyt 👕 Merch: http://shoptyt.com ❤ Donate: http://www.tyt.com/go 🔗 Website: https://www.tyt.com 📱App: http://www.tyt.com/app 📬 Newsletters: https://www.tyt.com/newsletters/ If you want to watch more videos from TYT, consider subscribing to other channels in our network: The Damage Report ▶ https://www.youtube.com/thedamagereport TYT Sports ▶ https://www.youtube.com/tytsports The Conversation ▶ https://www.youtube.com/tytconversation Rebel HQ ▶ https://www.youtube.com/rebelhq TYT Investigates ▶ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwNJt9PYyN1uyw2XhNIQMMA #TYT #TheYoungTurks #BreakingNews  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You're listening to The Young Turks, the online news show. Make sure to follow and rate our show with not one, not two, not three, not four, but five stars. You're awesome. Thank you. Hey, we know you probably hit play to escape your business banking, not think about it. But what if we told you there was a way to skip over the pressures of banking? By matching with the TD Small Business Account Manager, you can get the proactive business banking advice and support your business needs. Ready to press play? Get up to $2,700 when you'll open select small business banking products. Yep, that's $2,700 to turn up your business.

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It helps with common issues such as hot flashes, poor sleep, low energy, bloating, and more. With over 40,000 reviews and a bottle sold every 24 seconds, the results speak for themselves. A survey found 86% of women lost weight, 77% saw an improved mood, and 100% felt like themselves again. Start your next chapter feeling balanced and in control. For a limited time, get 15% off your entire first order at happy mammoth.com with code next chapter at checkout. Visit happy mammoth.com today and get your old self back naturally. Welcome to TYTY, I'm your host, Anna Casparian, and I would love to tell you that we have some upbeat stories to share with with you today, but of course, and unfortunately, we are going to be talking about yet

another mass shooting in the country, this time a mass shooting that has claimed the lives of 19 children in Texas and two teachers. We'll get to all of those details and all the different components of that story in just a few, but I do want to also note that we'll be talking about other news, including some updates from the primary elections that took place last night. Some interesting details in regard to the Quayarsisneros race in Texas. So definitely stay tuned for that. John Iderola will be joining me in the second half of the show to help me talk about those

stories and more. And I just want to say thank you to everyone who showed Jordan Yule's support by retweeting all of his screenshots showing just how much money Republican politicians raked in in the form of campaign donations from the NRA. You know, I think it's really important for us to do what we can to amplify these messages because sometimes I forget that we are in a little bit of a bubble. And there are huge portions of the population in this country that just don't have the time to consume good quality news, to do their own research.

And so helping to get these conversations started, helping to get this information in front of them really helps. And one of the best ways you can do that while also supporting this show is to like and share the stream if you're watching us on YouTube can also help support us by becoming a member by either clicking that join button on our YouTube page, or you could do so by going to t.t.com slash join. Well, let's dig in. Let's give you the updated details on the shooting in Texas. I can't believe you're a sick son of the would come to a deal like this to make a political issue here. What you just watched was Beto O'Rourke confronting enraged Texas officials and politicians

who were holding a press conference to discuss the details of the mass shooting that took place on an elementary school campus in Uvaldi, Texas. Now it turns out that the governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, the lieutenant governor of Texas, Dan Patrick, don't like the fact that they have blood on their hands for continuing to expand gun access, including to people who should not have any access to guns. But nonetheless, let's watch a little more of this exchange, and I'll fill in the blanks. Pass the mic to Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick. Excuse me, excuse me, excuse me, excuse me.

Sit down, you're out of line and an embarrassment. It's after... Sit down and don't play this. Sir. The next shooting is right now, and you are doing nothing. No, he needs to get his ass out of you. This isn't a place to talk to this over. This is totally predictable when you...

Sir, you're out of line. Sir, you are out of line. Sir, you are out of line. Please leave this auditorium. I can't believe you're a sick son of a would come to a deal like this to make a political issue. What you just witnessed were Republican politicians and officials in the state of Texas who showed way more outrage over Beto O'Rourke confronting them about what they've done in that state than they did when news broke involving children getting gunned down in a classroom. There was more outrage expressed by them over what Beto O'Rourke had to say.

It shows you what their priorities are. They refer to him as a, you know, sick son of a bee because he had the audacity to do something that, quite frankly, I wish more Democrats had the courage to do. Instead of playing these games with civility and, oh, my dear colleague, yeah, how about you stir the pot a little bit? How about you call them out, especially as they're about to hold a press conference to pretend as though they're really concerned about these families who just, you know, got word that their fourth grade children were slaughtered by a mass shooter, an 18 year old mass shooter. And the statement that we get over and over again from the very people who want to enable, you know, terrible people. to be able to go out and buy guns is don't politicize this, don't politicize this. This is political. Politicians telling us to not politicize this is so stupid and so brazenly meant to shut us up

so they don't have to face any consequences for their actions. But let's discuss their actions. I think that's important. Let's start with what Texas Governor Greg Abbott has done, What has happened in Texas under his leadership? In the last two legislative sessions, Texas legislators have loosened gun laws, most notably by passing permitless carry in 2021, less than two years after mass shootings in El Paso and Odessa took the lives of 30 people. Less than two years after those shootings happened. Look, I've said this on the show before I'm going to say it again, okay?

I'm not in favor of banning guns. And in fact, I haven't heard a single politician advocate for banning guns. Yes, the Second Amendment exists. And much like our other constitutional rights, it has limitations or it should have limitations. Why would you do away with a requirement that would have people get a permit, qualify for a permit before being able to purchase a lethal weapon. How does that make any sense? Almost everything we do in this country is regulated in some way.

You can't just decide out of nowhere, you know, I don't have a driver's license, but who cares? I live in a state where lawmakers think it's totally fine for anyone to drive a car regardless of their age. And the argument will be, well, you know, there isn't a constitutional right to a motor vehicle. Fair, fair, but the Constitution specifically mentions a well regulated militia when it comes to the Second Amendment. Funny how the right wing loves to leave that out. Let me give you more. When a then 17-year-old student killed 10 people and injured 13 more in an art classroom in Santa Fe near Houston in 2018, Abbott called on state lawmakers to consider red flag laws that would allow

state courts to take firearms away from a person who represents a danger to themselves or others. Wow, I didn't know that. Impressive. Greg Abbott apparently has somewhat of a conscience, right? The problem is he doesn't have balls. Because a few months later, he backed away, like the coward that he is, like the craven, pathetic politician that he is. He backed away. Why did he back away? He backed away from the idea after Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick and gun rights activists drew a hard line against it. The state ended up passing laws more focused on boosting mental health resources and giving teachers more access to guns on public school campuses. By the way, this recent shooting in Yuvaldi turns out that there was an armed individual on campus, a resource officer who was armed.

There were also cops on the scene, just outside the school. They actually watched him run into the school and barricade himself. The cops were outside of the school for about an hour before backup showed up and then went in. An hour, an hour. They're sitting there or standing there outside of the school, listening to the gunshots. I thought all we needed were good people with guns. What happened? We're talking about highly trained individuals who never hesitate to use their guns

when they're chasing down an unarmed black person. These are the people who are protecting and serving us. And this is the argument that you get from the right wing when it comes to doing something about gun violence in the country. We just need more people who are armed, good people with guns. Yeah, that worked out real well. Well, and this isn't the only shooting where you have an armed security guard, an armed resource officer, a trained person who's supposed to keep individuals safe in whatever establishment

we're talking about. Same thing happened in Buffalo. When the mass shooter opened fire, he was immediately shot at by an armed security guard slash ex-cop. He was wearing body armor, it didn't work. So apparently the good guy with the gun risked his own life, died. while trying to save others. In August of 2019, after 23 people were killed by an avowed racist at an El Paso Walmart,

guy who was inspired by Trump's anti-immigrant rhetoric. And a few weeks later, seven more people were killed in a shooting spree in Midland and Odessa. Abbott and Patrick discussed expanding background checks to include stranger to stranger-to-stranger gun sales. But, you know, talk is cheap. They might tell you what you want to hear after a mass shooting, but what do they really do when all said and done, when the insane news cycle distracts us with some different story? This is what happens. By the end of the next legislative session in 2021, Patrick had gone silent on the issue.

And the legislature instead passed a bill long sought by gun rights activists that'll It allows Texans to openly carry a handgun without a permit, openly carry a handgun without a permit. This is the state, by the way, that effectively banned abortion, even before we got word, that the Supreme Court would be poised to overturn Roe v. Wade. And what do they tell you? They tell you that they care about lives. They care about lives so much. No, no, no.

They care about the reproductive rights issue. They care about posturing as anti-choice zealots because that's the culture war that keeps them in power. But when it really comes down to it, what they communicate to the people of Texas and everyone else across the country is that their campaign donations from the NRA, their likely personal investments in individual stocks for these gun manufacturers, way more. important, way more important than human lives. They don't even care about the lives of the zygote they purport to care about. It's a political tool for them. It's the only way that they accumulate power. They certainly don't do it by regulating their power grid to ensure that people don't freeze to

death during a winter storm. They certainly don't do it in the form of legislation meant to make people whole in the middle of a pandemic where they desperately need financial aid because they've been laid off. They can't campaign on those things because they abandon their voter. when it comes to anything that would actually substantively improve their lives. So instead, they decide, all right, what's our next culture war issue? Who will the collateral damage include? Okay, let's take women's rights away from them.

Let's strip them of their reproductive rights. And then we'll posture as individuals who care about human lives while we simultaneously allow every lunatic in the country to access whatever gun they want with whatever magazine capacity they want. That's the pro-life garbage that we hear from states like Texas. So I'm sorry, Beto O'Rourke, interrupting them, in my opinion, is the bare minimum, the bare minimum. And then what did Abbott have to say after all was said and done? Let's watch. Every Texan, every American has a responsibility where we need to focus not on ourselves

in our agendas, we need to focus on the healing and hope that we can provide to those who have suffered unconscionable damage to their lives and loss of life. Hey, Abbott, we're still trying to heal from the mass shooting that happened not too long ago in Buffalo, New York. To say don't politicize this is to tell the American people to shut the F up. Don't blame me. I love my power. I love my money and I love basically continuing what I'm doing. I mean, Texans died under his watch as a result of his decisions with their privatized, deregulated power grid.

Does anyone really think that these people care about human lives? No, this is political and federal O'Rourke doing the bare minimum was nice, I'd like to see more. And not just from one or two politicians in the Democratic Party, I'd like to see just to just a little more fierceness, a little more rage, a little more passion from the very people who right now, as we speak, are fundraising off of the tragedy that happened. Don't send me your goddamn emails, Pelosi or Schumer or any other member of the Democratic Party that doesn't do anything. They love the legislative filibuster in the Senate.

They love the Senate parliamentarian. They love any excuse to not have to do a goddamn thing for you. And then when tragedy strikes, they'll send you those emails. Please give us money. Don't. They don't deserve it. And what they'll do with your money is help either reelect or elect conservative Democrats who then later serve as their convenient excuse.

All right, let's move on. Since we left shoot around, 14 children were killed 400 miles from here and a teacher. And in the last 10 days, we've had Elders, we've had elder. early black people killed in a supermarket in Buffalo. We've had Asian churchgoers killed in Southern California. And now we have children murdered at school. That's Steve Kerr, the coach for the Golden State Warriors basketball team. He's about to share how fed up he is with gun violence in the United States. Let's watch. When are we going to do something?

I'm tired. I'm so tired of getting up here and offering condolences to the devastated families that are out there. That was during a press conference right before an NBA game. And Kerr decided, you know what, I'm not really interested in discussing this game. I'm interested in discussing what just happened in the country with this mass shooting in Yuvaldi, Texas. And what really stood out to me about his statements about what he had to say was just the passion in which he was sharing his point of view.

And it strikes close to home for him because his own father was shot and killed in a university. And so I can understand why he's infuriated, in fact, anyone with a conscience, anyone who's not selfish, self-centered, narcissistic, and concerned about their own profits should be enraged about what's happening in this country, not just with the mass shooting that happened on an elementary school campus in a fourth grade classroom, but all the mass shootings that happen on a regular basis in this country. Everyone should be furious and everyone should be clamoring for a way to solve it. And that is the point that he was trying to make here.

He made it passionately, and I want to watch more, let's take a look. Enough. There's 50 senators right now who refuse to vote on H.R. 8, which is a background check rule that the House passed a couple years ago. It's been sitting there for two years. And there's a reason they won't vote on it to hold on to power. So I ask you, Mitch McConnell, I ask all of you senators who refuse to do anything about the violence and school shootings and supermarket shootings, I ask you, are you going to put your, own desire for power ahead of the lives of our children and our elderly and our churchgoers, because that's what it looks like. You realize that 90% of Americans, regardless of political

party, want background check, universal background check. 90% of us, we are being held hostage by 50 senators in Washington who refuse to even put it to a vote, despite what we the American people want. They won't vote on it because they want to hold on to their own power. It's pathetic. I've had enough. Now look, I thought that Woody had to say was important. It's especially important to talk about these things in venues or in environments where you typically don't discuss it, right? I mean, you have all these reporters there, sports reporters thinking that he's going to comment on this upcoming game, and he used it as an opportunity to voice an incredibly important opinion

about what's transpiring in this country with gun violence and mass shootings. But it's not just 50 senators, and I think it's important that he understands that. Now, make no mistake, Republican lawmakers will continue to block any effort to pass just common sense gun legislation, right? Simple things, like, hey, maybe we should reconsider things like high capacity magazines. Doesn't mean you're banning guns. People can still get their guns. Whether it's for hunting, self-defense, whatever it is,

whatever reason law-abiding citizens want guns, okay? But maybe we should reconsider. I don't know, does it really make sense for an 18-year-old to have possession of these high-capacity magazines or these assault weapons? Does that make sense? It's just, and look, he is a coach, he's the coach of the warriors, legislating is not in his wheelhouse, he's an American who has an opinion and he's sharing it.

But what I found so fascinating was that an actual politician just kind of said what he had to say, although he did so in a much more calm, sleepy way, no passion. And when a politician tells us, when are we going to do something? I think the only real response should be, when are you going to do something? Let's hear from Joe Biden. Scripture says, Jill and I have talked about this in different context, another context. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. So many crushed spirits.

So tonight, I ask the nation to pray for them, give the parents and siblings a strength in the darkness they feel right now. As a nation, we have to ask, when in God's name are we going to stand up to the gun lobby? When in God's name we do what we all know? Stop. Do you know how fast you were going?

I'm going to have to write you a ticket to my new movie, The Naked Gun. Liam Nissan. Buy your tickets now. And get a free Tilly Dog. Not included. The Naked Gun. Tickets on sale now. August 1st.

Our gut needs to be done. And the gun manufacturers have spent two decades aggressively marking assault weapons, which make them the most and largest profit. For God's sake, we have to have the courage to stand up to the industry. I don't know, Biden. I mean, you tell me, you're the president of the United States. When are we going to stand up? By way, we is a weird way of putting it. When are you going to stand up to the gun lobby? And going back to what Kerr said earlier when he mentioned 50 senators blocking efforts to pass gun legislation, it's not 50. Joe Manchin just today was like,

yeah, you know, I don't really understand why we can't pass like some common sense like gun reform stuff kind. I don't understand. By the way, I'm not willing to do away with the legislative filibuster. Oh, we know. We know Manchin, a Democrat who blocked social spending, who blocks everything that would actually benefit the lives of Americans. And by the way, his own constituents. You see, the legislative filibuster for senators, especially Democratic senators, is like the most convenient excuse of all time. They would never do away with it. So, When you are dealing with a system that's set up in such a way where you would need 60 out of 100 senators rather than a simple majority to pass any legislation, well, the Senate

just ends up being a chamber of Congress where everything goes to die unless it's more funding for the military and defense contractors. That'll pass real easily. But that's the priority, right? That's what this country represents, right? This is the country that has branded itself the country of death. That is what they do. So when Joe Biden stands there and says, when are we going to do something? When are you going to do something? You're the president. Why aren't you naming names? You're really playing this unity game right now? Why aren't you calling out the very people who are standing in the way of literally saving lives in the country? When are we going to do something, he says. Can you imagine the most

powerful man in the world asking Americans, when are we going to do something? When is someone going to stand up to the gun lobby? I don't know, Joe. Why did you want to be president? To take naps in the middle of the day? It is pathetic when even when it comes to rhetoric, an NBA coach like outperforms the president of the United States. And it's also pathetic that the President of the United States asks the same questions that an NBA coach asks. You should have the answers, Biden, but he doesn't. All right, we got to take a break. Let's do that.

When we come back, we've got more news, including debunking some of the nonsense coming from right-winger in the aftermath of the mass shooting in Uvaldi, Texas. Welcome back to the show, everyone. I just want to read a few comments from our viewers, just because I think they're good comments. Starting with Aura Stone, who says, we have affirmed in the last 10 days that Americans are not safe at home, school, church, or place of commerce, but don't worry, Congress swiftly passed legislation to protect nine justices' homes from people who use sidewalk chalk. It's so true.

Thank you for that comment. Jeremy Justice says, when I was 20, I bought my AK with two 30 round magazines, a 75 round drum magazine and 500 rounds of ammunition for less than $1,000. The gun store was less than a mile from my old high school. It shouldn't be that easy. I agree. And you know, one thing I'll say, the argument of, well, you know, we can't take rights away from law-abiding citizens because of what criminals do, because of what mass shooters do. Which is interesting because I personally don't view it as taking rights away.

I have no problem with having to undergo a background check or to get a license before being able to obtain a gun. I have no problem. I don't see that as a violation of my Second Amendment right. And look, I'm not against banning guns. I think there's a, especially in this country that is just, we're a violent country. I can understand why people would want guns for self-defense, okay? But law-abiding citizens get their rights taken away all the time as a result of what criminals do, as a result of what terrorists do.

Just go through an airport TSA where they'll fondle you to no end and make you go through a full body scan where they can see your goods because someone tried to walk through TSA with a bomb in their shoe. I mean, look, this is just about money and this is just about profits and it's about the gun lobby, that's it. That's what this is about. And likely it's also about politicians enjoying that massive bump up in stock value after a mass shooting happens for these gun manufacturers, which we'll get to in a little bit. But first, let's debunk these idiot politicians. We know from past experience that the most effective tool for keeping kids safe is armed law enforcement on the campus. That was Texas Senator Ted Cruz spouting the same BS talking points following the mass shooting that happened on a school campus in Yuvaldi, Texas.

That mass shooting claimed the lives of 19 elementary students and two teachers. The shooting happened in a fourth grade class. classroom, we're talking about nine and 10 year olds being gunned down in cold blood. But you should also know that the statement that Ted Cruz made is easily debunked, especially in this context, because the school had an armed resource officer. Apparently the resource officer confronted the gunmen. These details are unclear and subject to change, which is why, you know, I kind of don't want to get into it until we have confirmation. We know for sure there was an armed resource officer on campus. He engaged with

the gunman, although reports indicate that no shots were fired between the two. And the gunman proceeded to shoot and kill 19 students, 19 elementary kids and two teachers. You should also know that there were literally cops there on the scene even before he ran into the school. and barricaded himself. And I think it's important to understand that. So let me give you all the details that we know as of now. Texas Governor Greg Abbott said the 18 year old gunman first shot his grandmother in the face before going into Rob Elementary School

and killing 19 children and two teachers. She called the police and the gunman fled, had an accident with a vehicle outside the school, and then went into the school. But when he went into the school, there were already cops there. By the way, miraculously, his grandmother survived. She got shot in the face, and she is currently in critical condition. I really hope she survives.

But 21 people did not survive. So there were cops there. And so let's have a better understanding of how this timeline went. CNN caught up with Texas safety lieutenant Chris Olivares and he gave them a timeline and it'll make it abundantly clear that there were armed cops there and the gunman was in the classroom for over an hour before anyone barged in to do something about it. Let's watch. There's a lot of questions about the timeline here. It starts with the grandmother at the home. What happens there?

Right. So the initial incident was a domestic disturbance involving the shooter with his grandmother in which the shooter actually shot his own grandmother. From that point he fled the scene in a vehicle. There was reports that the vehicle crashed nearby the school and that they saw a individual armed with a weapon going inside the school. Who's they? Local law enforcement, they received a call.

They received a call that the vehicle crashed. There was an individual with a long rifle making his way into the school. And that's when local law enforcement responded on scene. law enforcement engaged with him before he entered the school? Right. So we had local law enforcement from Evaldi Police Department, one of the school police officers as well as state troopers that arrived on scene. There were the initial officers on scene. They heard the gunfire. They were met with gunfire as they encountered this gunman who was able to shoot two police officers. Non life-threatening injuries, they

are stable, they are out of the hospital. But at that point they were at a disadvantage because the gunman was able to make entry into a classroom, barricade himself inside that classroom. So did Ted Cruz even bother to learn the details of the shooting or did he have his prepared talking points regardless of what happened in the shooting to, you know, offer any other solution other than doing something about guns? No, he didn't bother. Why would he bother? Why would he bother? And by the way, Ted Cruz, much like the way he dressed. and the way he talks can be bought real cheap, okay? Let's take a look at Graphic 3 here.

Jordan, you'll doing God's work. I don't believe in God, but if there was one, he's doing his work. How much money has Ted Cruz received from the NRA? Just $176,274. That's it. That's all it took. That's all it took. But I would be curious to see whether he's invested in Smith and Weston or Rue.

Ruger or any of these other gun manufacturers that are publicly traded. Because if he knows that the value of the stock will go up after a mass shooting, why would he want to do anything about mass shootings? He's making money. He's got his prepared talking points. All we needed was armed teachers, a resource officer. All we needed was more armed people in the school or near the school, more good people with guns to protect the students, right?

Let's hear more from the public safety official in Texas. Interacts with the police, shoots two of the police, non-fatal injuries, goes into the school, barricades himself in a classroom, you say. What more details can you give me about that moment inside, which I presume is the first classroom he went into? Right, so of course the initial group of officers that were on scene, at that point they were at a point of disadvantage because the shooter was able to barricade himself inside that class. There was not sufficient manpower at that time and their main, their primary focus was to preserve any further loss of life. So they started breaking windows around the school and trying to rescue, evacuate children and teachers while that was going on. At that point, we had a specialized tactical team arrive comprised of federal officers, local police officers as well.

They made forcible entry into that classroom. One of those officers was met with gunfire. He was shot, non-life-threatening injury. And at that point, they're able to shoot and kill the shooter. Let me reiterate, that's now the second video confirming that there were cops on the scene. There were cops on the scene and they did nothing. At first we thought they did nothing for about 30 minutes. But it turns out they did nothing for around an hour.

Around an hour, can you guys imagine? Just imagine for a second, okay? being trained law enforcement, and you hear the gunman in an elementary school, gunning down elementary students, and you're like, we're waiting for backup. We're waiting for backup. But all we need is the good guys with the gun. We need the good guys with the gun, right, Ted Cruz? They hadn't even identified the bodies yet.

And Ted Cruz is already spouting this BS talking point. One more video. Let's watch. The tactical team that came, where did they come from and how long did it take for them to make entry? It was a local team. Some of those were actually off duty border patrol agents as well. It's a comprised team of federal agents, local law enforcement. They all responded to the scene. They were able to make forcible entry. As far as timing, the response, I do not have that information right now, but they-

Because it just seems- They reacted in a moment's notice. Right, because it just seems that he was in there for so long in that classroom and that the office is who were initially on scene. Yeah, he was, yeah, the cops were there for quite a long time before they did anything about it. So it turns out, you know, I guess it's inconvenient, which is why Ted Cruz didn't mention it, but there were plenty of good guys with guns, plenty of armed people there. And it turns out that didn't stop a mass shooter from killing, from murdering 19 kids and two teachers. But they'll spout these talking points anyway, because they wouldn't dare cross the NRA.

They wouldn't dare go against their own financial interests. Because in America, the land of death, not the land of opportunity, not the land of Why just survive back to school when you can thrive by creating a space that does it all for you, no matter the size. Whether you're taking over your parents' basement or moving to campus, IKEA has hundreds of design ideas and affordable options to complement. at any budget. After all, you're in your small space era. It's time to own it. Shop now at IKEA.ca.ca. Liberty and freedom, the land of death, profits over people. We see it in our

health care system. We see it in the way that we treat our planet. We see it in the way we treat our kids. We see it everywhere. Texas certainly sees it with how they treated their energy grid, deregulated it, allowing private utility companies to cut corners and allow Texans to literally freeze to death during winter storms. We're the land of death. Does anyone deny it? Are we really going to pretend like we're better than every other country? We're the greatest country in the world?

No, we're not. The idea of America is pretty great. We certainly don't live up to it. And every year we move further and further away from it. Finally, I go to Ben Shapiro. kids and two teachers in Yuvaldi, Texas, was to claim that gun legislation would have done nothing to save those kids. Nothing, it would, nothing. And when he was making this point, he did so by lying to the very people who follow him on Twitter. Let me explain. So he tweeted,

the Texas shooter violated multiple gun laws. The suggestion that more gun laws would have prevented this act of unspeakable evil is unsupported, he says. And the implication that those who oppose such laws are somehow in favor of mass shootings is morally reprehensible. Well, let me be morally reprehensible and accuse people like you of that. Because rather than focusing on the actual solutions to prevent this from happening, you provide cover for the bad guys. Ben Shapiro always provides cover for the bad guys. You know, in my mind, Ben Shapiro is a classic conservative, right? The pre-Trump conservative in America, who I disagree with, but at least you can have a debate or a conversation with.

But in the Trump era, he decided to provide cover for neo-Nazis. He decided to provide cover for the Republican Party after the Buffalo massacre that was inspired by the rhetoric that spouted by mainstream Republican politicians about white replacement theory. Ben, stop providing cover for murderers in this country. And go ahead and call me morally reprehensible. I would argue what's definitely morally reprehensible, what's actually morally reprehensible is providing cover for murderers on behalf of gun manufacturers. I think you're immoral. But he also lied because he said that the Texas shooter violated all sorts of gun laws. Did he been? Did he? Where did you read about that? Because it turns out he didn't violate a single gun law.

I mean, he's in Texas. What gun law? You can carry a gun without a permit in Texas. What gun law are you referring to? No, the gunmen bought the weapons legally. He didn't break a single gun law. Not one, not one. The gunman purchased two AR plastic. platforms in the week before the shooting, as well as 375 rounds of ammunition. One of the assault rifles was left in a truck that was found crashed near the elementary school while the other rifle referred to in the briefing as a Daniel defense was found in the school with the gunmen along with at least 30 round magazines. He purchased two AR platform rifles at a local federal firearms.

licensee on May 17th and also on May 20th, he also bought the ammunition, 375 rounds of ammunition on May 18th. So this month alone, he bought a ton of weaponry in ammunition to carry out the slaughter of 19 kids and two teachers. But people like Ben are, you know, for the most part, shielded from this kind of stuff. I'm sure he can send his kids to private schools. He doesn't have to worry about this as much as other parents do. So as long as the check's clear and as long as he can continue building his career off of providing cover for the worst people in this country, who cares? I'll even lie to my followers. Unbelievably disgusting. That's morally reprehensible. To say, no, we shouldn't do anything

about guns because I'm going to now lie to everyone who follows me by telling them that there were gun laws that were broken in this case is, I think that's morally reprehensible. I don't know, maybe I'm wrong. You guys tell me. The gunman was also sending photos of his weapons to random people on Instagram, telling them that he's got a secret days before the shooting. We also learned that the shooter sent private messages to a girl that he met online in Germany. So he told her, her name, she's going by Cecee, I guess.

He told her via private messages on Facebook. I'm going to shoot my grandmother. He sent that message 30 minutes before he shot his grandmother in the face. The gunman, by the way, this is wrong. So this has been updated. He did not post it on his Facebook account. It was private messages, which is why I don't want to read that graphic. But what's been confirmed is that he sent the private messages to,

to this girl 30 minutes before shooting his grandmother. He also told her, I'm gonna shoot up the school. And she didn't know if he was being serious. Look, I don't wanna be too hard on this girl. I mean, I wish she would have reported it. She says that she wishes she would have reported it. But she didn't think he was serious. And it turns out, he was very serious.

We have just this dangerous combination in this country where guns are everywhere, they're easily. accessible, anyone can get their hands on them. You don't even have to go through a federal background check if you buy the guns in certain ways, whether it's through private dealers or a gun show. In Texas, you don't even need a permit to carry, blows my mind. And then on top of that, we have all these other crises. Yeah, we do have a mental health crisis. I mean, Republicans never really want to fund it or do anything about it. In fact, they actively blocked funding for mental health care multiple times. More recent example was blocked

social spending that was proposed by Democrats in the build back better agenda. So we have a mental health crisis. We have a lot of people living in despair. And I don't think that it's a surprise that we have so many young men carrying out these crimes. I'm not trying to be an apologist for them. I'm not providing any excuses for them. There is no excuse. But when you live in a country that tells you over and over again, no one's looking out for you, and there's really not much to live for. There's really not much to look forward to. Again, pretty dangerous combination.

And then you have that added layer of insane lunatics in the mainstream Republican Party calling for civil war, calling for violence. I mean, here, I got a perfect example for you right now. Let's go to Representative Randy Fine in the state of Florida. Okay, elected lawmaker in the state of Florida. Here's what he had to say. I have news for the embarrassment that claims to be our president, he says. Try to take our guns and you'll learn why the Second Amendment was written in the first place.

You're threatening the president with assassination? Is that what you're doing? I mean, if Republican lawmakers and if conservatives want to tell me, you can't just focus on gun legislation, it's got to be more comprehensive than that. I'm more than willing to have that conversation. But the problem is, whenever there's a mass shooting, they'll point to all the other scapegoats, right? So they can deflect and not have to talk about doing anything that would hurt the gravy train

that comes from these weapons manufacturers. They don't want to do a damn thing. They don't want to do anything about health care. They're not going to curb their disgusting violent rhetoric. And they're not going to do a damn thing about guns. So one side is kind of offering some solutions, very meek about it, very meek. Can we maybe do something about gun control, maybe? And then the other side is vicious.

They don't want to do a damn thing. So mark my words, more children will be slaughtered in this country. Because again, America is not the land of liberty or freedom. America is the land of death and destruction, both within our borders and so. certainly outside our borders with the foreign policy that we champion. I'm embarrassed to be an American. I am. And I hate saying that because I want to feel pride. But how do you feel pride when you see this day in, day out? Did I take my last break yet? No, I didn't. Sorry, I'm just going on and on and on.

So let's take a break. When we come back, we've got more news for you, including some of the coverage you might have come across, or maybe haven't come across on Fox News. How have they been covering it? Well, they've invited a coterie of insane people to say insane things. Come right back. We'll give you that and more. to our next story. Yes, we are mostly talking about the gun violence that happened in Texas yesterday. There's a lot to cover. So Fox News decided to invite every lunatic they could think up just to provide excuses for why America and its politicians should avoid doing anything about gun control. And they put a lot of crazy stuff out there, a lot of scapegoats, a lot of crazy solutions that I don't want to put words in anyone's mouths.

So why don't we start off with an actual politician, Representative Ronnie Jackson, who went on Fox News to say, you know, it's not really about guns. It's about culture. Let's watch. Kids are exposed to all kinds of horrible stuff nowadays too. I look back and I think about the, you know, the horrible stuff that they hear when they listen to rap music, the video games that they watch from a really early age with all of this horrible violence and stuff. I just think that, you know, and they have this access to the internet on a regular basis,

which is, you know, it's just not good for kids, I don't think. And so I don't know what's going on, but I think we need to stop at this particular point. Nobody needs to be pointing fingers too much right now, but we need to look at why did this happen? How could this happen? And what's wrong with our society? What's wrong with the culture in this country? Like, they can't stop themselves from admitting the guilt that they feel, right? Nobody, nobody needs to be pointing fingers right now.

Please don't point fingers at me, please, please, even though I totally empower and enable a system that allows for these massacres to happen. But please don't point fingers at me. And what, like, what was that statement? Ah, it's these damn kids and they're rock and roll. It's the culture. No, it's, well, first of all, okay, you know what? Let's do this.

I think that's BS. But let's, let's take what he has to say at face value. Let's give it to him. Okay, it's the culture. What are you gonna do? You're gonna ban the internet? You're gonna ban rap music? You're gonna ban video games?

You want censorship? Government can't do that. Government can't violate those freedoms of expression. So basically what he's saying is a bunch of nothing. There are no solutions offered. It's the rap music. It's the internet, internet. No, it's, guess what?

I know this is kind of shocking, there's the internet and rap music in other countries. Did he know? Seems like there's something unique about the United States, right? Could it be the fact that we're swimming in guns and we have no real regulations to ensure that people who shouldn't have their hands on them? somehow still access them. But he doesn't want to talk about that. But don't point any fingers, okay?

Don't point any fingers. This is the kind of garbage that Fox News had while covering the fact that 19 students, 9 and 10-year-olds were slaughtered in a fourth grade classroom and two teachers died along with them after that mass shooter barricaded himself inside their classroom. But we're not done. Unfortunately, there are more lunatics, including the next guy you're about to hear from. His name is Andrew Pollock, and he decided to blame the parents. Fun, let's watch. It's the parents. It's your responsibility where you send your children in school. You have to

know now after these shootings, and every week there's a shooting, whether it's at a school or in a supermarket, that you need to check where your kids go to school. You need to go back to the school and see, is there a single point of entry? Do you have guards at the school? I got a message and I made me feel kind of good from someone. They told me, they thanked me because they listened to me. And they sent, they took their kid out of public school and put them in a private school. Because a lot of these private schools, they take security way more serious. There was an armed resource officer on campus.

There were also cops right outside the campus. they watch the gunmen run into the campus and barricade himself. I don't know if he knows this. Actually, he should. He wasn't, no, he wasn't, my bad. But there were cops there, there was a resource officer there. There was plenty of security, and they couldn't do a damn thing. But like, really you're going to blame the parents? Ah, just blame the parents. It's the parents' fault. They just found out their kids were slaughtered, but it's the parents' fault. And then you have Laura Ingram sitting there like,

why does she make that face? Do you not listen to what he's saying? Are you really nodding along with this goon blaming the parents? You're blaming the parents. Jesus Christ, man. How does Fox News's audience not understand how much they hate them? How much these hosts despise them? How could you blame the parents?

You should have send your kids to a private school. You don't have the money. It's too bad. That's your fault. Garbage person. But we've got more. Here's Pat Bronson, or yeah, Bronson, calling for booby traps on campuses as a solution.

We need to install man traps. This is something we've discussed in the past back in 2018. I checked, man traps, a series of interlocking doors at the school entrance that are triggered by a tripwire. The tripwire can be a gunshot, broken glass, a manual switch tossed by a school employee, and it traps the shooter like a rat. And when he's trapped like a rat, we're buying time. The most precious commodity these children can ever get. It's time to run, time to hide, time to get away from this madman in his bullets. It's tripwires, it's man traps.

It's not labor, it's not gun control. It's not about guns, okay? It's about the fact that they didn't watch home alone and take it as a tutorial. That's the real problem here. Where are the marbles? Where are the hot wheels? Where are the booby traps? It's the school's fault.

It's not about guns. He's a former detective with the NYPD. Did you just talk about booby traps? And Fox News had this guy on thinking, no, nailed it, nailed it, booby traps. That, by the way, we're talking about a public school system, not just in Texas, but across the country. That has been undervalued and underfunded by Republican lawmakers. And whenever there's a mass shooting, they're like, yeah, man, it's the school's fault.

They got to trade the teachers to shoot. They got to have the booby traps. They got, maybe they could, you know, take a little cut from their salary to buy the hot wheels and the marbles. Former NYPD detective. And by the way, it's not like this guy has like a squeaky clean track record. He just had a lapse in judgment during that interview. Let's go to this graphic. Retired NYPD detective makes bizarre claim on Fox News.

linking shootings to vaccinations. That was during an interview he did on Fox News just last year. The producers over at Fox watched that interview and thought, nailed it, let's call that guy so he can share his opinion on the shooting that just happened in Texas. And finally, I just, this wasn't an interview, but I do want to talk a little bit about what Texas lieutenant governor, Dan Patrick, had to say. His big solution is, you know, there are just too many entrances and exits on the school campus.

What we need to do is create a fire hazard by ensuring that there's only one entrance and one exit. And we should have super high walls, you know, and maybe some barbed wiring. Maybe we create a prison for the kids. Because God forbid, we prevent lunatics from accessing guns. God forbid, we wouldn't want to do that. Let's just make sure our kids learn in a prison environment. It'll be great. These politicians not only don't care about you or your kids or your families,

they actively despise you. They actively work against you. They see your pain, they see your suffering, and their response to it is, it's your fault. It's your fault. That's it. I don't know about you, not feeling real free, not feeling a lot of liberty today, feeling beyond disappointed, I'm disgusted with what this country has turned into. And it's going to continue because the system is set up this way.

The system incentivizes people to seek power not to be public servants, but to enrich themselves through elected office. That's what this is really about. And the corporate media is just that, corporate media. The NRA represents corporate interests in the form of gun manufacturers. Corporate media will always defend corporate interests. They're owned by corporate interests. The entire system is flawed. We got to understand that and we got to change that.

Because the days of, oh, well, you know, if we just elect enough Democrats, it'll make all the different. Those days are over. And the reason why I say that is because now we have a Supreme Court that is stacked with right-wing judges who, as we speak, are working on further expanding gun rights. As we speak, that is what they're doing. They want to ensure that every state is able to open carry or concealed carry. Basically, any state that wants to curb gun ownership or have some regulations in place, those regulations are about to get struck down by our right wing ideological Supreme Court.

So when I say electing Democrats isn't enough, what I mean is we need to elect people who are actual fighters who want to reform the Supreme Court. And honestly, I don't see a damn person in office right now, not one who's even willing to do that or fight for that. That's super depressing. All right, we got to take a break. When we come back, John Ida Rolla will join me for other news. Okay, so that wraps up our coverage of the mass shooting.

There's a lot of other news to get to. So come right back. We'll share those stories and more when we return. Thanks for listening to the full episode of the Young Turks. Support our work, listen ad-free, access members-only bonus content, and more by subscribing to Apple Podcasts at Apple. I'm your host, Shank Heuger, and I'll see you soon.