JUDY WOODRUFF: Good evening.
I'm Judy Woodruff.
On the "NewsHour" tonight: A community mourns after 17 die at a Florida high school, and
authorities investigate the shooter's violent past for a motive.
Then, we examine the all-too-familiar tragic pattern of mass shootings in America, and
ask, how do we stop this cycle of violence?
Plus, discrimination on the block -- why a person's skin color may factor into the process
of buying a home.
EMMANUEL MARTINEZ, Reveal: In 61 metros across the country, applicants of color are more
likely to be denied a conventional mortgage.
JUDY WOODRUFF: All that and more on tonight's "PBS NewsHour"
(BREAK)
JUDY WOODRUFF: The school shooting in Florida, and its aftermath, have dominated this day.
A report from the Broward County Sheriff's Office now says the teenaged suspect confessed
to the attack.
That word came as a city grieved for its losses.
Reporter Steve Mort with Feature Story News begins our coverage.
STEVE MORT: For Parkland, Florida, it's a date never to be forgotten, when a routine
school day turned into terror.
OLIVIA PROCHILO, Survivor: I thank God for watching over me yesterday to make sure I
was on the whole opposite side of the building, that my friends were OK, but I just find out
this morning that two of my other friends passed away.
STEVE MORT: Some held a vigil today to mourn the 17 killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas
High School.
The suspect, 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz, appeared in court in Fort Lauderdale.
He was ordered held without bond on 17 counts of premeditated murder, as investigators kept
working the case.
SCOTT ISRAEL, Broward County, Florida, Sheriff: We will do everything we can, the FBI, ourselves,
to make sure that this person is convicted of all charges and that justice is served.
STEVE MORT: Police say Cruz's assault began at 2:30 in the afternoon, almost the end of
the school day.
Gunfire echoed through the building, as students huddled in their classrooms, an agonizing
wait before armed police burst in to rescue them.
They streamed out of the school, hands in the air, while emergency workers rushed to
treat the wounded.
Luckier students had tearful reunions with parents and friends.
ADAM HABONA, Survivor: I feel like I'm in a dream.
Like, I don't believe this is real.
There's no way to describe what happened.
STEVE MORT: Among the dead, Douglas High football coach Aaron Feis.
Sheriff Scott Israel says Feis responded immediately to the shooter and may have prevented an even
worse tragedy.
SCOTT ISRAEL: The kids in this community loved him.
They adored him.
He was one of the greatest people I knew.
He was a phenomenal man.
He did it protecting others.
You can guarantee that, because that's who Aaron Feis was.
STEVE MORT: Investigators descended today on the home of the suspect, a picture already
emerging of a deeply troubled young man.
A former student at Douglas High School, Cruz was expelled for disciplinary reasons.
The sheriff reported very disturbing posts by Cruz on social media, including one last
fall in which he supposedly said, "I'm going to be a professional school shooter."
But none of this helps restore normalcy to Parkland.
Instead, it now finds itself another shaken community struggling to recover.
And as people here absorb the latest in a never-ending string of shootings, many here
are asking, where the carnage will end?
David Hogg was barricaded in a classroom while the shooter opened fire.
DAVID HOGG, Survivor: We can say all these great things about, like, we -- condolences
and saying we're so sorry for your loss is obviously important.
But what we need at this point is not to say that any more, because there shouldn't be
any more children that die.
We need to take action.
STEVE MORT: In Washington, President Trump said he will go to Parkland to visit with
victims and tackle the difficult issue of mental health.
DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States: To every parent, teacher and child who is
hurting so badly, we are here for you, whatever you need, whatever we can do to ease your
pain.
STEVE MORT: The president made no mention of gun control.
But Democrats sounded new calls for action on guns.
Congressman Mike Thompson, chair of the House Gun Violence Prevention Task Force:
REP.
MIKE THOMPSON (D), California: There's been 80 school shootings since this president was
inaugurated.
This is a crisis.
There's not a parent or a grandparent in the United States of America who doesn't feel
concerned about the safety of their children or their grandchildren.
STEVE MORT: But majority Republicans, including Florida Senator Marco Rubio, say stricter
laws wouldn't deter someone determined to murder.
SEN.
MARCO RUBIO (R), Florida: If someone's decided, I'm going to commit this crime, they will
find a way to get the gun to do it.
That doesn't mean you shouldn't have a law that makes it harder.
It just means understand, to be honest, it isn't going to stop this from happening.
STEVE MORT: Police say Cruz used a semiautomatic AR-15.
It's the same model used in last year's Las Vegas massacre and in the 2016 Pulse nightclub
shooting.
JUDY WOODRUFF: I spoke to Steve Mort just a short time ago, as we get new information
from authorities.
STEVE MORT: More details coming out from law enforcement officials here at a press conference
just a short time ago here in Parkland, Florida.
We understand that the suspect, Nikolas Cruz, did confess to carrying out this shooting
rampage at the high school here, and he gave law enforcement officials some details during
his questioning.
One of the things he said that he did was he brought extra ammunition with him to the
school, so he could carry on the shooting with his AR-15 rifle once he was out of ammunition.
He brought more.
He stored it in a backpack at the school, so he would have access to it.
So, information there on exactly how he planned to carry out the attack.
He said he started shooting people on the grounds and then inside the school itself.
We got a timeline on how things unfolded.
Apparently, he took an Uber to the school.
He took an Uber at six minutes past 2:00 in the afternoon, finally arriving at the school
at 2:19, which is when he entered the stairwell of the school and began shooting around 2:21.
So, the timeline pretty much in line with what law enforcement officials have been telling
us since the beginning, but we are getting more details now on what he did after the
shooting.
Apparently, he went to a nearby Wal-Mart, where he ordered food.
He went to a Subway.
He ordered a McDonald's meal.
So, certainly chilling details which kind of give a picture of the kind of person maybe
that had planned to do this kind of shooting and carried out this premeditated attack.
JUDY WOODRUFF: And, Steve, you have also been talking to some parents and some students.
STEVE MORT: Yes, that's right.
I have spent the day talking to several students and their parents here.
And, of course, as you can imagine, it's been a very traumatic time for them.
I spoke to one mother whose daughter had been in a classroom where their geography teacher
had been shot.
She saw the geography teacher on the floor shot and killed.
She said she thought she heard somebody saying, "Help me, help me."
The teacher had gone to the door to closed it.
And that, she said, is when she saw the teacher shot.
That's according to her mother, who was messaging, sending text messages to her daughter at the
time, trying to keep her calm.
I spoke to another student called Kelsey who was also in that classroom.
She says she was sheltering in a cupboard with her friends.
The shooter didn't enter the classroom, so, therefore, her friends were OK in the end.
She said that the SWAT team at the school got them out very quickly.
They told them to leave the classroom, to exit the school, not to look around them,
not to look at anything that was going on, just keep their hands above their head, and
leave the school as quickly as they could.
JUDY WOODRUFF: So many disturbing details emerging from this terrible tragedy.
Steve Mort, joining us from Lakeland, Florida, thank you, Steve.
In the day's other news: The U.S. Senate tried and failed to move on immigration.
Four bills fell short of the 60 votes needed to advance, but a bipartisan compromise came
closest.
It offered eventual citizenship to 1.8 million young people who'd been protected under the
DACA program, but it slowed the pace of funding for a border wall.
President Trump threatened a veto, and Democrats, including Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, blamed
him for the stalemate.
SEN.
CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY), Minority Leader: There is only one reason why the Senate will be
unable to reach a bipartisan solution to DACA, President Trump.
President Trump created this problem by terminating the DACA program last August.
Since that decision, President Trump has stood in the way of every single proposal that could
become law.
JUDY WOODRUFF: The bill backed by Mr. Trump garnered the least support in the Republican-majority
Senate.
It, too, offered possible citizenship for DACA recipients, plus more immediate funding
for a border wall and limits on legal immigration.
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell blamed Democrats.
SEN.
MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY), Majority Leader: Once again, when the hour came to actually make
law, instead of just making political points, our friends across the aisle were either unable
or unwilling to get something done, after all the talk, all the talk.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Today's failure puts the immigration issue on hold for the moment.
Both the House and Senate are out all of next week.
The Republican chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee has made a rare rebuke of Attorney
General Jeff Sessions over criminal justice reform.
Sessions had slammed a bipartisan bill to reduce jail terms for nonviolent offenders.
Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley rejected the criticism, accused Sessions and the White House of meddling
in the legislative process and said that Sessions should have resigned from his job.
In South Africa, a new president took office today after the ruling African National Congress
ousted Jacob Zuma over longstanding corruption scandals.
Lindsey Hilsum of Independent Television News reports from Cape Town.
CYRIL RAMAPHOSA, South African President: I, Cyril Ramaphosa...
MAN: Swear that I will be faithful to the republic of South Africa.
CYRIL RAMAPHOSA: Swear that I will be faithful.
LINDSEY HILSUM: South Africa's new president was sworn in after 24 hours of high political
drama.
JACOB ZUMA, Former South African President: Ladies and gentlemen.
LINDSEY HILSUM: Last night, former President Jacob Zuma seemed jovial as he addressed the
nation.
JACOB ZUMA: Good evening, ladies and gentlemen.
Why do you look serious?
You can't even say good evening.
(LAUGHTER)
LINDSEY HILSUM: There was no reason for him to resign, he said.
But then he did anyway.
JACOB ZUMA: I have, therefore, come to the decision to resign as president of the republic,
with immediate effect.
LINDSEY HILSUM: In the South African Parliament this morning, they sang "Zuma has gone" as
they prepared to elect Cyril Ramaphosa.
WOMAN: Can we have some order?
LINDSEY HILSUM: The radical Economic Freedom Fighters staged a walkout, because they want
general elections, not the coronation of a new ANC chief.
But amongst the other opposition parties, there was tremendous good will toward Mr.
Ramaphosa.
MAN: We wholeheartedly support the nomination, Mr. President.
LINDSEY HILSUM: He acknowledged the problem the country faces.
CYRIL RAMAPHOSA: Issues that have to do with corruption, issues of how to can straighten
out our state-owned enterprises and how we deal with state capture are issues that are
on our radar screen.
LINDSEY HILSUM: Outside Parliament, ANC supporters were jubilant.
After nearly a decade of corruption and mismanagement, President Ramaphosa, they hope, will restore
their party's pride and the country's economic fortunes.
JUDY WOODRUFF: That report from Lindsey Hilsum of Independent Television News.
The president of Turkey and the U.S.'s top diplomat met today, amid tensions over the
Syria conflict.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson arrived in Ankara for talks with President Recep Tayyip
Erdogan.
Turkey has demanded that the U.S. stop supporting Kurdish fighters in Syria.
Last month, the Turks launched an air and ground offensive against Kurds in Northwest
Syria.
The United States and Britain publicly accused Russia today of carrying out a crippling cyber-attack
last summer.
It initially focused on Ukraine, but spread worldwide.
The White House says that it did billions of dollars of damage.
Moscow denied the accusation today, and said that it was part of a Russophobic campaign
by Western nations.
On Wall Street, stocks rallied for the fifth day in a row, led by tech stocks.
The Dow Jones industrial average gained nearly 307 points to close at 25200.
The Nasdaq rose 112 points, and the S&P 500 added 32.
And, finally, highlights from day six at the Winter Olympics in South Korea.
Twenty-two-year-Old American skier Mikaela Shiffrin won gold in the giant slalom.
She's going for as many as four gold medals at these Games.
And Norwegian Aksel Lund Svindal won the men's downhill.
At 35, he's the oldest gold medalist in alpine skiing ever.
Still to come on the "NewsHour": what has kept the United States from making meaningful
change after mass shootings?; how some people of color are systematically refused home loans;
Making Sense of a quirky art collective in Santa Fe; and much more.
The tragic shooting in Florida has set into motion a familiar pattern: Shock and grief
give way to calls for some restrictions on the supply or sale of high-powered weapons
used in almost all of these mass killings.
As William Brangham reports, that pattern has been playing out for years and, at least
in Congress, usually has the same result.
GEORGE HINCKLEY, Lakewood SWAT Team: This was clearly the most devastating and traumatic
scene that I have ever seen or been associated with.
I hope never to see it again.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: The collective national response to mass shootings began before 1999,
but it was on clear display after the shooting at Columbine High School, where two students
used semiautomatic weapons to kill 13 and wound 24 others.
First, in the shock and grief, leaders express sorrow.
BILL CLINTON, Former President of the United States: To the people of the community of
Littleton, I can only say tonight that the prayers of the American people are with you.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: And then, the following month, Congress debated sweeping gun control
legislation in response, including a bill requiring background checks be performed at
gun shows, like those where the Columbine killers got their guns.
That legislation stalled in the House of Representatives.
GEORGE W. BUSH, Former President of the United States: Laura and I have come to Blacksburg
today with hearts full of sorrow.
This is a day of mourning for the Virginia Tech community.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: In 2007, a student with a history of mental illness used semiautomatic
handguns to kill 32 people at Virginia Tech.
This time, some things did change.
Afterwards, President George W. Bush signed a six-year-old bill into law strengthening
background checks, making it harder for dangerously mentally ill people to buy guns.
But, according to many, determining who belongs in that database, and getting all agencies
to comply, has severely hampered its effectiveness.
SEN.
JOHN MCCAIN (R), Arizona: All of us continue to grieve and mourn the tragic attack and
deaths.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: In 2011, after Congresswoman Gabby Giffords was shot and six others were
killed in Tucson, Arizona, there were widespread calls for reform, especially to curtail the
sale of high-capacity magazines like those used by the shooter.
But none of the legislation introduced after Tucson ever came up for a full vote.
The same thing occurred a year late, when 12 people were killed and 70 more wounded
in a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado.
Renewed calls for gun control and mental health screening went unanswered.
BARACK OBAMA, Former President of the United States: The majority of those who died today
were children, beautiful little kids between the ages of 5 and 10 years old.
They had their entire lives ahead of them.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: When 20 first graders and six teachers were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary
School in Connecticut in 2012, gun control advocates felt the nation's horror and outrage
would be enough for some bipartisan consensus.
SEN.
PAT TOOMEY (R), Pennsylvania: A perfectly reasonable place to end up where for both
sides ought to be able to agree is just to make it a little harder for criminals and
dangerously mentally ill people to obtain weapons.
WAYNE LAPIERRE, Executive Vice President, National Rifle Association: The only thing
that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Against stiff opposition from the NRA, legislation was introduced to
limit certain assault rifles and high-capacity magazines, like those used by the Sandy Hook
killer, as well as requiring background checks for all gun purchases.
BARACK OBAMA: So, all in all, this was a pretty shameful today in Washington.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: But the Senate defeated or blocked all legislation.
Similarly, there was no federal action after 14 people were killed and 21 injured in San
Bernardino, California, in 2015, nor the next year later, when 49 people were murdered at
the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida.
REP.
JOHN LEWIS (D), Georgia: We're calling on the leadership of the House to bring commonsense
gun control legislation to the House floor.
Give us a vote.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: And then, last October, the nation's worst modern-day mass shooting
at a country music festival in Las Vegas, 58 people were killed and hundreds more wounded
by a single gunman.
The killer used what's known as a bump stock to make his semiautomatic rifles shoot faster,
and initially, there, was bipartisan talk of regulating them.
REP.
CARLOS CURBELO (R), Florida: This prohibition, this ban on these bump stocks should be codified.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Five months later, no legislation regarding bump stocks has passed Congress.
Now, in the wake of yet another mass shooting, this pattern has begun again.
DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States: Our entire nation, with one heavy heart, is
praying for the victims and their families.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm William Brangham.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Given this tragic pattern, one could throw up his hands and think there
is nothing to do.
But we have to believe, for the sake of our children, there is a way through this.
How do we think about it?
To examine that question, we turn now to Daniel Webster, director of the Johns Hopkins Center
for Gun Policy and Research, Katherine Newman, author of the book "Rampage: The Social Roots
of School Shootings," and a professor of sociology at the University of Massachusetts.
Robert Draper, writer-at-large for "The New York Times" magazine, he has studied the history
of the NRA.
And Kristina Anderson, she was 19 years old when she was wounded in the Virginia Tech
shooting rampage in 2007, and has since founded an organization called the Koshka Foundation
for Safe Schools.
And we welcome all of you to the program.
I think it's -- I think we all agree we don't accept the idea that we can just give up.
We have to keep trying to solve this, to make it less likely that these terrible shootings
happen.
I want to ask each one of you, starting with you, Katherine Newman, what is one way we
should be thinking about this right now that could possibly move us forward?
KATHERINE NEWMAN, University of Massachusetts: I think we have to understand I think we have
to understand these shootings are planned, often long in advance, and that the shooters
usually leave a trail of threats or suggestions about what they're going to do.
We need to make it easier for people who hear those threats to come forward to people who
can make a difference, to the adults in their environment, to police in their environment.
It was remarkable to me in the research I did how much information was actually available,
so much so that, in some instances, kids didn't come to school on the day when those shootings
occurred, but no adult was ever informed.
Understanding what retards kids from coming through with information and getting it to
the right source is an important task, and I do think there is something we can do about
that.
JUDY WOODRUFF: So, if that is one way to think about this, Daniel Webster, what would you
say?
DANIEL WEBSTER, Johns Hopkins University: Well, I would say that we -- the United States
is unique not with respect to troubled youth.
It's unique with respect to our inability to address easy access to firearms.
It can seem as though that's impossible in a country with so many firearms.
But there are reasonable measures.
You focus on appropriate standards for legal gun ownership.
And I think what was particularly relevant in this case is -- and in many other cases
that lead to mass shootings, and that includes domestic violence -- there are warning signs,
as Dr. Newman suggested.
And there are new legal tools, new laws called extreme risk protection orders that work very
similar to the way a court does with domestic violence restraining orders, where evidence
is examined, and judges and law enforcement can act swiftly to protect individuals' lives,
when someone is amassing firearms and planning something very diabolical.
JUDY WOODRUFF: So, taking preventative action in the moment, in effect.
Kristina Anderson, as someone who is a victim yourself, as we said, of the shooting at Virginia
Tech, you have spent a lot of time thinking about this.
You work on it on a regular basis.
What would you suggest we start to think about now?
KRISTINA ANDERSON, Founder, Koshka Foundation for Safe Schools: I would add an echo to the
feelings of the importance of prevention and look at, how do we holistically embody the
values of security and safety and culture throughout the entire community?
So, adding on to Katherine's point, how do we educate and prepare and train the staff
of these institutions, from the janitors, the bus drivers to the teachers?
We have the campaigns of see something, say something, but more proactivity and acceptance
that it's OK to speak up, and make sure they understand what their options are for reporting,
what that process looks like, if there's a formal threat assessment team in place to
monitor and kind of look at that individual of concern, and then, long term, looking at
recovery, how do we take care of our communities, because, in this case particularly, we're
going to have the students that were injured, but also those that were in the building that
heard the gunfire.
You don't have to be physically injured to be impacted by this event.
JUDY WOODRUFF: No question about it.
Robert Draper, you have spent a lot of time thinking about another aspect of all this
that gets raised and then often gets shoved aside, because people say it's not time to
talk about it, but it's guns.
It's the availability of guns.
Daniel Webster just mentioned it.
Why has it been so hard to do anything about the extraordinary access to guns?
ROBERT DRAPER, "New York Times Magazine": It can be summarized in one word, NRA.
The National Rifle Association is the most powerful lobbying organization in America.
It's powerful not just because of the money that it has and membership that is, but quality
of the membership, which is to say that they make their opinions heard, make their opinions
count more quantifiably, I think, than any other organization in America, attested to
by the fact that the last time we saw any major legislative effort mounted to control
guns, any kind of gun safety law, was almost exactly five years ago at this time in the
wake of the Newtown shooting.
There have been numerous such shootings since then, and no political will whatsoever to
seek a legislative remedy.
And that is clearly because of the efforts by the NRA, who have made it clear to Republicans
in particular that they will pay a high political price if they were to sign on to such legislation.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Daniel Webster, I heard you suggesting that there may be a way in here,
if you could be very specific about when you move on someone who may be thinking about
doing something terrible.
DANIEL WEBSTER: Yes.
And the restrictions with respect to firearms do not need to be lifelong.
Sometimes, these risks are really acute.
And it's been more acceptable -- and we have research evidence to show in the case of restraining
orders for domestic violence that remove firearms and have firearms restrictions.
It leads to fewer homicides.
We have demonstrated that actually in several studies.
And so I think this is -- this policy is simply an extension of that same concept, of recognizing
at a point in time there's danger.
Ready access to lethal weapons makes that something you have to act on.
JUDY WOODRUFF: But, Katherine Newman -- or and, Katherine Newman, what you're telling
us is that a lot of this is going to depend on others speaking up who have some reason
to believe there's a reason to be really concerned about somebody.
KATHERINE NEWMAN: That's exactly right, because we need the information in advance.
And there are ways we can encourage that to happen.
In high schools, where kids may feel they're going to pay a social price for being identified
as teachers' pets or tattle tales, having trusted adults like school resource officers
in the area, in the cafeteria, people who get to know the kids, so that they can come
forward to someone who doesn't appear to be connected to the school's disciplinary authority
system.
We found students in high school were very able to do that and felt more comfortable
with that, because they thought that those school resource officers would take this seriously,
would investigate quietly, and would take action where it was warranted, because we
must remember, nine times out of 10, the threats they hear will not mean anything.
They will be idle.
But the one time out of 10 when it really does matter, they need someone to come forward
to that they feel comfortable doing so with.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Kristina Anderson, how then do you get the word to these young people
who are growing up?
Every parent wants their child to believe that they're going to be safe.
How do you get word to young people when it's time to speak up, when it's time say, something
is wrong here, we need to -- and to go to an adult?
KRISTINA ANDERSON: I think you begin by having really candid conversations that can begin
at the dinner table in your own home to really to the teacher in the classroom, and being
willing to have sometimes uncomfortable and difficult discussions, and meeting them in
a way that they feel comfortable.
So, a lot of schools use anonymous tip lines, Web-based tools, mobile applications.
Some schools do paper surveys.
And they just ask, who in the school do you think needs -- is being bullied or needs some
attention, and just slide that under someone's desk.
There are ways that someone can feel comfortable and empowered, if they feel their identity
is going to be protected, if they have to come forward initially, and, to Katherine's
point, if they feel they are going to be heard and taken seriously and given feedback and
response to whatever that threat may be.
One thing we often say, is the minute you have that gut feeling, to honor that and to
speak up.
And just with my experience with law enforcement, I have often heard they would rather respond
to 1,000 red herrings that become absolutely nothing than one event like Virginia Tech.
And so often it's building those partnerships, knowing that there is multiple people that
one can go to before it's necessarily the local police officer, although an SRO is a
wonderful candidate as well.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Robert Draper, I'm going to come back to you on the gun question, because
it's being raised already.
Are the folks who have been advocating for gun control measures been going about it the
right way?
Is it the approach, do you think, that's been a problem?
How do you look at it?
ROBERT DRAPER: Well, let's be clear, it's not the main problem, but it is a problem.
The real problem, frankly, resides with the Republicans, who have really shown nothing
in the way of political will to address this problem, even when it happens in their own
state.
And we have in the White House a president who understands his political base all too
well.
It consists of evangelicals and gun owners, and he is loathe to cross them.
But it's true what you're saying -- or what you're suggesting, Judy, that I think that
proponents of gun safety legislation need to be careful and not fall into a trap that's
arguably laid for them by the gun lobby by overstepping and proposing legislation that
wouldn't be a remedy for a particular instance.
In this particular case, the alleged Florida shooter purchased an AR-15 legally.
Closing universal background checks wouldn't have done anything to remediate that.
So, in the wake of this, if people are to propose legislation that really has nothing
to do with a particular crisis at hand, it will lead gun groups to say, see, they are
obviously just using this as an excuse to take away your Second Amendment rights.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Which is the argument we hear.
And, Daniel Webster, we go back to what happened in Las Vegas, bump stocks.
This was this device we learned about which could increase the capacity of a gun, and
yet nothing was done there.
DANIEL WEBSTER: Well, it is very frustrating.
And I think it's exactly for the reasons just expressed of why we have been spinning our
wheels.
I think there is some action at some state levels.
And I do think that part of this is putting together something that makes sense and has
evidence behind it.
And I think in the case -- one thing that is not being discussed in this particular
case is, you have a 19-year-old -- or, actually, I believe he purchased the AR-15 as an 18-year-old.
We don't allow 20-year-olds to buy a beer, but we allow 18-year-olds to buy as many semiautomatic
weapons and as much ammo as they would like.
I think something is wrong with this picture, and I think that should be part of the discussion.
JUDY WOODRUFF: OK.
In the little bit of time we have left, I'm going to around and ask each one of you, just
so that we can begin to think in a way that could possibly be productive here, what is
one thing that you think could be done in the short term to begin to address this?
And I'm going to come back to you, Katherine Newman.
KATHERINE NEWMAN: I would enable more school resource officers, often, sadly, the first
thing to be cut in a budget slash.
I would enable those school resource officers to remain on the job, because they are the
people that young folks will feel comfortable turning to, to deliver the information we
need to prevent these shootings.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Kristina Anderson?
KRISTINA ANDERSON: I would ask that schools, school boards, school principals take the
time to create written all hazards emergency response type plans for all types of threats,
whether it's with a firearm, a truck, a knife, whatever that might be, and make sure that
they are practiced diligently and with local law enforcement throughout the entire year.
JUDY WOODRUFF: And Daniel Webster?
DANIEL WEBSTER: Well, I would say extreme risk protection orders to address -- to allow
court action to remove firearms when someone is -- clearly has a lot of signals that they
are planning something very dangerous.
And that is the type of policy that extends well beyond the schools, because if this young
man didn't shoot up a school, what else would he have shot up?
So, the issue really is, you have somebody with really mal intent, and you're allowing
them to amass firearms.
JUDY WOODRUFF: And, finally, Robert Draper.
ROBERT DRAPER: Sure.
Unless politicians are persuaded that there is a cost to be paid by not supporting gun
safety legislation, they won't do anything.
Therefore, I think it's going to require outside groups, frankly, shaming politicians, particularly
those communities that have been affected by such tragedies.
They -- the Newtown parents got involved.
It's the closest we have seen to legislative remedies.
And I would expect that that's probably going to be the best way for politicians to understand
the emotional power of some -- such legislative remedies.
JUDY WOODRUFF: And I heard a mother in Florida today looking at a camera and saying to Washington,
you have got to stop these guns from getting into the hands of these children.
Well, thank you, all four of you, Robert Draper, Daniel Webster, Katherine Newman, and Kristina
Anderson.
Thank you.
It's been 10 years since the economic recession, and credit has slowly returned for most Americans.
By 2016, the number of conventional mortgages had risen 95 percent since the housing bust.
And yet some Americans are still being left behind.
The gap between white and black homeownership is wider now than it was in 1960.
Tonight, the first of a two-part series, results of a yearlong investigation from Reveal, a
program produced by the Center for Investigative Reporting.
As Reveal's Aaron Glantz reports, black and Latino homebuyers in some cities seem to have
a harder time getting a home mortgage.
AARON GLANTZ: Brooklyn native Rachelle Faroul moved to Philadelphia in 2015 hoping to buy
a home here.
RACHELLE FAROUL, Philadelphia Resident: I was like, I'm going to try this thing.
I have got a lot of gumption.
AARON GLANTZ: She made a good income as a computer programmer and had enough for a down
payment.
Her potential lender, Philadelphia Mortgage Advisors, was encouraging at first.
But the lender worried her income could be unstable, since she was a contractor.
So, Faroul suggested her mother co-sign.
RACHELLE FAROUL: Because she is a retired schoolteacher.
Specifically, she worked in New York City for 35 years.
Her pension is great.
AARON GLANTZ: But Faroul was told that wasn't enough to offset her mother's student loan
debt from a Ph.D.
RACHELLE FAROUL: I got shot down left and right.
AARON GLANTZ: Lenders look for applicants with debt payments roughly 36 percent or less
of their income.
So, Faroul got a new job with the University of Pennsylvania with a salary allowing her
to afford the two-story row house she found a short walk from the university.
RACHELLE FAROUL: I wanted this really badly.
AARON GLANTZ: But that still wasn't enough.
When she applied for a loan again, this time with Santander Bank, they also rejected her.
Her credit score had plunged 50 points because of a single delinquent electric bill.
She paid the bill as soon as Santander flagged it, but the bank still said no.
Faroul started to suspect this had to do with her race.
RACHELLE FAROUL: You know, black people in this country have to be twice as good to get
half as much.
And I couldn't even get half, you know?
They wouldn't give me anything.
AARON GLANTZ: Turning Faroul down because of her race would be illegal.
It's been illegal for 50 years.
LYNDON JOHNSON, Former President of the United States: Fair housing for all in this country
is now a part of the American way of life.
AARON GLANTZ: The 1968 Fair Housing Act was a response to redlining, a racist lending
practice where the federal government colored minority neighborhoods red on maps, labeling
them hazardous to lend in.
In 1977, President Carter went further with the COMMUNITY REINVESTMENT ACT, requiring
banks to lend to qualified borrowers in low-income communities in cities where they had branches.
But these laws have not solved the problem.
After the 2008 recession, banks tightened their lending standards.
Ten years later, while lending has return for many Americans, Reveal's analysis shows
what looks like modern-day redlining is showing up across the country.
EMMANUEL MARTINEZ, Reveal: We have places like Washington, D.C., places like Tulsa,
Oklahoma, Santa Fe, New Mexico.
These are the places where they are more likely to be denied because of who they are.
AARON GLANTZ: Nearly 50 years after the Fair Housing Act, Reveal data journalist Emmanuel
Martinez found some significant racial disparities.
EMMANUEL MARTINEZ: We looked at nearly 31 million mortgage records, nearly every loan
application filed with the government in 2015 and 2016.
In 61 metros across the country, applicants of color are more likely to be denied a conventional
mortgage.
AARON GLANTZ: Banks don't share credit scores.
They say that is proprietary.
But by using other information the government requires be disclosed, Reveal found statistically
significant differences by race.
EMMANUEL MARTINEZ: My analysis includes nine different factors.
Among them are the applicant's income, the size of the loan, and specific information
about the neighborhood that they are looking to buy in.
Here, we have the likelihood of denial.
So, black applicants in Philadelphia are almost three times as likely to be denied a conventional
mortgage.
AARON GLANTZ: Reveal found this pattern in dozens of cities.
Philadelphia was one of the largest.
That means that a black applicant and a white one with similar financial profiles will likely
have very different outcomes.
This wasn't true for just for one bank, but for the lending industry as a whole.
The Mortgage Bankers Association wouldn't go on camera for this story, but in a statement,
it said that the data available under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act is not sufficient
to make a determination regarding fair lending.
And the American Bankers Association said that without access to borrowers' credit history,
the data cannot paint a complete picture.
EMMANUEL MARTINEZ: Unfortunately, credit score and an applicant's total debt-to-income ratio
aren't part of this publicly available data set, but it's those same financial institutions
that have lobbied from keeping it away from researchers, from academics, from journalists
like me, who want to study those disparities.
SEN.
TIM SCOTT (R), South Carolina: I believe that we are better off having more information
released in aggregate on credit scoring and those folks who get loans to make sure that
there is no discrimination.
AARON GLANTZ: Republican Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina says releasing that data
would make the industry more transparent.
But it wouldn't solve a different problem.
He says credit scores penalize people of color.
He's introduced a bill to fix that.
SEN.
TIM SCOTT: So what we're trying to do is bring to light all those folks who are paying those
bills on time, and yet it's not showing up on their credit scores.
Your electric bill, unless you're doing something bad, doesn't show up.
Your cell phone, unless you do something bad, doesn't show up.
People of color are typically the folks who will be disproportionately impacted.
AARON GLANTZ: In almost every city in America, African-Americans and Latinos were denied
home loans at higher rates than whites.
We could not statistically prove a relationship between race and denial in many, but, in 61,
including Philadelphia, our analysis found race played a role.
Neighborhoods with very few loans had the highest proportion of black and Latino residents.
ANGELA MCIVER, Fair Housing Association of Southeastern Pennsylvania: You see, there
are beautiful homes up here, and people work very hard to maintain their properties.
AARON GLANTZ: Angela McIver heads the Fair Housing Association Of Southeastern Pennsylvania.
In the era of redlining, the government shaded this neighborhood, Germantown, blue and green,
marking it as a desirable area to lend in.
Over the decades, the demographics shifted from white to black.
And, today, banks deny more loans here than they approve.
You see beautiful stone facades.
You see garden patios, all of the trappings of middle-class life.
And the banks are just MIA.
ANGELA MCIVER: It's like a glass ceiling.
It's like, OK, we will allow you to go this far, but then you hit the top of the ceiling,
you're not going to go any further.
And that's upsetting to me.
AARON GLANTZ: After Rachelle Faroul began to wonder if race factored in her loan denial,
she decided to use a new strategy.
RACHELLE FAROUL: In order to be a be considered a good applicant, I needed to have a white
person or someone who's white-adjacent vouch for me.
AARON GLANTZ: This time, she asked her girlfriend, Hanako Franz, who is half-white and half-Japanese,
to apply with her.
Franz was working part-time at a grocery store.
One of her most recent biweekly paychecks was $162.
And, at the time, your financial situation was unstable.
HANAKO FRANZ, Girlfriend of Rachelle Faroul: Oh, yes, it was terrible.
RACHELLE FAROUL: It was so bad.
HANAKO FRANZ: It was terrible.
I was borrowing money from my sister.
Rachelle paid my health insurance at one point because I didn't have enough money to pay
it.
AARON GLANTZ: But, for Santander Bank, the final lender Faroul tried, none of that seemed
to matter.
Franz had a good credit score.
And once she came on board, it all went smoothly, even though Franz couldn't provide proof of
a stable work history.
HANAKO FRANZ: They were like, we need two years.
And I was just like, I can't give that to you.
And they were like, all right, we will move forward.
RACHELLE FAROUL: Yes.
AARON GLANTZ: We reached out to the two places that Faroul approached for loans.
Santander says that, while they sympathize with Faroul, her loan application was managed
fairly.
Philadelphia Mortgage Advisors declined to comment specifically on Faroul's loan application.
Both companies say they are committed to fair lending and adhering to existing laws.
The Treasury Department's comptroller of the currency is charged with ensuring major national
banks follow the Community Reinvestment Act.
Tom Curry held that job for five years under President Obama and conducted more than 1,600
community lending reviews on banks.
Nearly every one, 99 percent, got a satisfactory or outstanding rating.
How can everyone be getting this satisfactory rating?
THOMAS CURRY, Former Comptroller of the Currency: I think you have to look at each individual
bank and their individual record to see how well they're serving their communities.
AARON GLANTZ: But Curry wouldn't discuss any individual banks or their records with us.
Since stepping down as comptroller, he's been working at a law firm advising some of the
same banks he regulated.
He says he still wants make sure banks are lending responsibly.
THOMAS CURRY: You have an obligation to lend in low- to moderate- income communities, but
you have to do it in a safe and sound manner.
AARON GLANTZ: Mobile, Alabama; Ocala, Florida; Greenville, North Carolina, all of these cities
where our statistical analysis shows the reason you would be denied for a loan is the color
of your skin.
THOMAS CURRY: I think that the results from your studies are not acceptable from the standpoint
of what we want as a nation and to make sure that everyone shares in economic prosperity.
AARON GLANTZ: We also shared Reveal's analysis with Senator Scott.
SEN.
TIM SCOTT: Well, we certainly have made a lot of progress over the last 50 years.
The question is, is there more progress to be made?
The answer is yes.
One of the ways you make progress is looking at the current foundation on which progress
has been made.
And if it needs to be updated, we update it.
AARON GLANTZ: Faroul and Franz closed on their house a few weeks after Franz signed on.
Last winter, they both started moving into their new home.
But with the good news, there is a reminder of the barriers Faroul faced.
RACHELLE FAROUL: I have a hard time telling people that we bought a house, because their
response is always, congratulations.
This is not a feel-good story.
HANAKO FRANZ: And the whole point about this is that there is hidden privilege and hidden
discrimination, you know, that still exists and makes people's lives harder every single
day.
AARON GLANTZ: Faroul says her biggest fear is that, years from now, she will look around
and be the only black person left on the block.
For "PBS NewsHour," this is Aaron Glantz in Philadelphia.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Tomorrow, our series with Reveal continues with a report on how the gentrification
of neighborhoods is making it difficult for some longtime residents to take out home equity
loans.
Now a second story about business and the economy and bet on development through the
arts.
Last month, economics correspondent Paul Solman took us to New Mexico, where state and local
officials are betting on entrepreneurship to fashion an economic comeback.
Tonight, a short follow-up from the Land of Enchantment, a venture unlike anything Paul
has seen before.
It's part of his weekly series, Making Sense.
PAUL SOLMAN: New Mexico's economy tumbled head over heels during the crash of '08, and
has pretty much frozen for the decade since it hit bottom.
VINCE KADLUBEK, CEO, Meow Wolf: So, this is the House of Eternal Return.
PAUL SOLMAN: Return on investment?
(LAUGHTER)
VINCE KADLUBEK: Well, maybe.
MAN: Hello, and welcome to our house.
PAUL SOLMAN: And maybe even a small step towards the return of the New Mexico economy, says
CEO Vince Kadlubek.
So, it melted or something?
VINCE KADLUBEK: Yes.
PAUL SOLMAN: If, that is, this mystery fun house filled with portals to other space-time
dimensions should realize its ambition of becoming the next big thing in immersive entertainment,
following the lead of the Rain Room at New York's Museum of Modern Art, say, Toronto's
Lost and Found escape room, or the Crystal Universe in Singapore.
VINCE KADLUBEK: It perfectly expresses the type of immersive artwork that is becoming
wildly popular around the country.
Instead of walking up to a painting, you actually let audiences walk inside of the painting.
PAUL SOLMAN: But here in Santa Fe, it's immersion with a plot.
Opened in March of 2016, the House of Eternal Return is already a business sensation.
It needed 125,000 paying customers at up to $20 a pop to break even on operating expenses
in year one.
Instead, it drew 400,000, taking in nearly $7 million, its profits alone covering most
of the original investment.
WOMAN: We're in the closet.
PAUL SOLMAN: The paying visitors are the sleuths, scanning notes and diaries scattered midst
the maze.
VINCE KADLUBEK: Here's one of the portals right through the fireplace.
PAUL SOLMAN: We're going through the fireplace.
VINCE KADLUBEK: Yes.
PAUL SOLMAN: Thank God I play tennis all the time.
Which leads to the skeleton of a musical mastodon.
But can this techno-netherworld really do anything to revive a state like New Mexico,
whose economy keeps losing its best and brightest to the coasts?
Well, here are jobs robots can't compete with: a hippie artist collective called Meow Wolf
that became a business, convinced "Game of Thrones" creator George R.R. Martin to buy
a defunct bowling alley and lease it to them, and converted it into, well, something hard
to describe or sometimes even to see.
VINCE KADLUBEK: So, this is the laser harp.
And this is the sort of ethereal zone that is in between life and death.
PAUL SOLMAN: There's no map, no GPS, just room after room of you figure it out fantasy.
VINCE KADLUBEK: So, here's that aquarium that you were in, that you saw were inside the
house.
And now you're inside of it.
PAUL SOLMAN: But this is like virtual reality, except it's actual reality.
VINCE KADLUBEK: Right.
It's actual -- it's virtually actual reality.
PAUL SOLMAN: This is artwork designed and crafted by more than 150 artists, many of
them millennials like the 35-year old CEO, who started off as an artist himself, switched
to deal-maker.
VINCE KADLUBEK: I learned some basic business aspects, and I figured out what debt meant.
And I figured out how to...
PAUL SOLMAN: Did that come as a shock?
VINCE KADLUBEK: It was amazing to me.
Like, I grew up thinking that debt was this big, evil thing.
Our whole generation does.
It's like, you fall into debt, and you spend the rest of your life trying to get out of
it, and stay away from debt.
And when I realized what debt actually was, that somebody was willing to lend me money
to build something incredible that would end up paying them back, plus a little bit of
a return, and I, like, crunched the numbers, I was like, oh, yes, this makes total sense.
WOMAN: Take me to the galactic center.
Whoo!
PAUL SOLMAN: So, they borrowed $1.5 million, have created about 200 jobs so far, and promised
to more than double that in the next three years.
So, what does an artist make here?
VINCE KADLUBEK: We have an entry level, just graduated from high school, 19-year-old artist
who's making $50,000 with full health care benefits.
And then we have fabricators and designers making upwards to $70,000 or $80,000 salary,
with full benefits.
PAUL SOLMAN: Which is double that, if it were in a major urban area, right, I mean, because
of costs here?
VINCE KADLUBEK: I would say that these wages, $70,000, $80,000 in Santa Fe are some of the
sweetest that you will find, yes.
PAUL SOLMAN: Plus stock in the company Meow Wolf has become, with more jobs opening up
in a newly-acquired former Caterpillar assembly plant, for example, to create future exhibits.
Finally, there's the gift shop, featuring predictable items, and not-so-predictable,
like the Experience Tube.
John Feins, Meow Wolf's marketing director.
JOHN FEINS, Marketing Director, Meow Wolf: It is a chance for people to actually talk
to each other, the original social media, no distractions, no cell phones, just two
people.
PAUL SOLMAN: Add up all the revenues, says the CEO, and:
VINCE KADLUBEK: We have discovered a business model that is 50 to 60 percent net profit.
PAUL SOLMAN: If you take in $10 million, you're earning?
VINCE KADLUBEK: Five to six on top of it, after all expenses.
PAUL SOLMAN: So who's the lucky investor who gets the payoff?
VINCE KADLUBEK: We are withholding our profits.
We are reinvesting them, so that we can build something like this three or four times the
size in major cities around the country.
PAUL SOLMAN: So, I put the question to a pair of visiting out-of-towners.
Would it work in San Diego?
WOMAN: I think it would.
PAUL SOLMAN: And Athens?
WOMAN: I think it would work in Athens, yes, or Atlanta, yes, I think.
PAUL SOLMAN: And while Meow Wolf isn't exactly Amazon, looking to locate a second headquarters,
Kadlubek says he's received some sweet offers.
VINCE KADLUBEK: Now, we had other cities around the country knocking on the door and saying,
not only build one of these in our city, but we want your entire company to move.
PAUL SOLMAN: The House of Eternal Return's dark story ends in the Infinity Spa, where
the CEO summed up the mission.
VINCE KADLUBEK: Break down some paradigms, you know, bust through some new dimensions,
into a whole different way of thinking about what the state can be and what economy can
be in the state.
PAUL SOLMAN: Immersive art as economic engine, breaking down some paradigms to create jobs.
OK, a few hundred are a drop in the bucket.
But, hey, think Cirque du Soleil or Disney.
They too started out small and weird, which is what provoked me to sign off this story
from inside my favorite item in the gift store.
For the "PBS NewsHour," this is economics correspondent Paul Solman reporting from Meow
Wolf's Experience Tube in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
JUDY WOODRUFF: And we close tonight with some voices from Parkland, Florida.
It's possible that some on the outside become inured to these mass shootings because they
have become so common, but, for these individuals, that won't happen.
STUDENT: There's no way this is really happening.
It's Parkland.
It's Douglas.
Like, this doesn't happen here.
And then I guess, maybe a couple minutes later, I started to realize, wow, this is actually
happening, like this is really real life.
Like, this is happening right now, right here.
STUDENT: It would never be something that I expected in my life.
Douglas is one of the safest schools.
And they make sure that you're safe on campus.
I would have never expected it to happen.
STUDENT: Boom, boom, boom, boom.
We heard a gunshot.
I thought it was firecrackers.
But after I heard the last shot, I was like, oh, no, I'm out.
STUDENT: I was just like, what the heck was that?
Like, that can't be anything other than a gunshot.
So, I was like, oh -- I started running.
I was like, I'm not going to -- I'm not about to be shot.
STUDENT: Grabbed the fire extinguisher, two pieces of by two-by-four and a chair.
And we just -- if he did come in the room, we were going to try to stop him with everything
we had.
STUDENT: We decided to push all the desks against every door in the classroom.
My classroom, sadly, had three doors, so we had to move all the desks around.
STUDENT: Some kids froze.
Some kids were on their phones.
A lot of them were on their phones, just trying to Snapchat everything, because they thought
it was a joke.
And it wasn't.
There was kids freaking out, students freaking out, teachers.
It -- it was -- it sucked.
STUDENT: In a group chat, I heard people saying, like, a guy and a girl, they got shot.
I'm like, holy crap.
I was talking to them.
Now they're in the hospital, maybe dead.
It's crazy that this happened.
JUDY WOODRUFF: And our hearts go out to all of them.
We leave you with live video of a candlelight vigil that is under way right now in Parkland.
And that's the "NewsHour" for tonight.
I'm Judy Woodruff.
Join us online and again here tomorrow evening.
For all of us at the "PBS NewsHour," thank you, and we'll see you soon.
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