Rep. Ted Deutch (D-FL) On California School Shooting
REP. TED DEUTCH (D-FL): In place and requires that everyone who buys a gun be subject to it. I was at an event last night celebrating 25 years since the Brady background check bill passed. All we want to do is make sure that everyone is subject to it. It wasn't helplessness; it was -- it was action with the leadership of new members like Lucy McBath, whose entire life is devoted to really stepping up and honoring the memory of her son, Jordan, who was taken from us, from her, from our world far too soon. There's real leadership that led to significant action. The only helplessness is the helplessness that Mitch McConnell says he feels because the president won't allow him to bring up a bill. The Senate needs to act on this. And there's so much more we can do.</s>ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Yes.</s>DEUTCH: We can fund programs in communities to help address gun violence.</s>CAMEROTA: Yes.</s>DEUTCH: We can have extreme risk protection orders. There are things just -- they're not partisan -- they're not partisan and we need to just get them done.</s>CAMEROTA: You're so right. I mean, you're so right. Helplessness is the wrong word. Impediment and obstructionist, I guess, is -- are better words. I do want to ask you about what's happening today behind closed doors. Obviously, you sit on the committees where this is relevant. David Holmes -- he is the diplomat who heard the phone call in Kiev -- at a restaurant in Kiev -- between President Trump and Ambassador Gordon Sondland. What are you and others wanting to know from him today behind closed doors?</s>DEUTCH: Right. Well, obviously, we want to know -- we want to know more about the call. It's incredibly troubling on so many levels to think that this call took place, the president made it, that there was a cell phone involved, the risk to our national security -- all of those things. And, Alisyn, I -- we're defending the Constitution and it's really important. But I just -- again, given what's just happened in Santa Clarita, I want to -- I'm desperately trying to avoid a situation where we feel like we're just checking the box again. I appreciate your commitment to the gun violence issue. And I know there's a lot going on in Washington and I'm in the middle of all of this and I'm grateful for the opportunity to help defend our Constitution. But there was a chorus teacher --a choir teacher -- 26-year-old choir teacher in Santa Clarita yesterday who had to console 40 sobbing kids while taking care of one who was shot. That kind of scene plays out over and over across America. And, yes, we're going to focus. We're going to keep going forward with the impeachment inquiry and it's really important, but I just -- it feels like these acts of gun violence and the focus on gun violence becomes shorter and shorter before we just move on to the next thing. And I just want to make sure that that -- that we don't allow that to happen. That's what the people who are trying to prevent action want and that's what I'm fighting so hard to prevent.</s>CAMEROTA: Congressman Ted Deutch, we really appreciate your voice on this topic and others. Thank you very much for being with us.</s>DEUTCH: Thanks, Alisyn.</s>CAMEROTA: John.</s>JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. We have a little bit of dictionary definition session for you this morning having to do with the impeachment hearings. This is part of our weeklong series "Fractured State of America." John Avlon here with a reality check -- John.</s>JOHN AVLON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: That's right, guys. So look, all this week we've been looking at the fractured state of America. How polarization is hurting our country and our ability to reason together. Well, the kickoff of the fourth impeachment inquiry in our history offers a portrait of polarization in action and it ain't pretty because after the first day's public testimony it was clear that Democrats and Republicans were not just speaking from different scripts, but unable to agree on basic facts. But don't get discouraged by these attempts to distract you. Facts still matter. What you need is a guide to cut through the spin. So here's some of the signature moves that we saw that will likely to get trotted out again. First, the deflect and project, courtesy of Devin Nunes.</s>REP. DEVIN NUNES (R-CA): The Democrats have a long habit accusing Republicans of offenses they, themselves, are committing. For years, they accused the Trump campaign of colluding with Russia when they, themselves, were colluding with Russia. And now, they accuse President Trump of malfeasance in Ukraine when they, themselves, are culpable.</s>AVLON: This is classic Trump stuff, deflect and project, and it's doubling down on discredited conspiracy theories that the president apparently still believes, while also decrying a cult-like atmosphere among Democrats -- deflect and project. But then, we've heard very little Republican response to the actual allegations. Witness the revival of the hearsay defense. Despite the consistent accounts we've seen to date, Republican Jim Jordan and others hammered this home.</s>REP. JIM JORDAN (R-OH): You never met the president.</s>WILLIAM TAYLOR, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO UKRAINE: That's correct.</s>REP. MIKE TURNER (R-OH): You have not had any contact with the President of the United States, is that correct?</s>AVLON: Now, here's the tell on that one. The White House is currently blocking testimony of folks who do have direct knowledge, like John Bolton and Mick Mulvaney, so it's a pretty thin read to hang an argument on. And this is closely related to the nothing to see here defense that says the nearly $400 million in military aid to Ukraine was ultimately released, so whatever happened before doesn't really matter. The problem is that the money was released after the White House became aware of the whistleblower complaint. In other words, the president's defenders are trying to take credit for getting -- the plan getting foiled. Attacking the credibility of witnesses is also a classic tactic. We saw this Fox graphic during Taylor's testimony that recounted President Trump calling the career diplomat a never Trumper, which was almost subtle compared to Rush Limbaugh and others calling the nonpartisan public servants nerds, seriously.</s>RUSH LIMBAUGH, RADIO HOST, "THE RUSH LIMBAUGH SHOW": We have here a bunch of professional nerds who wear their bow ties and they have their proper diplospeak.</s>CHRISTIAN WHITON, FORMER DIPLOMAT, GEORGE W. BUSH ADMINISTRATION: And they look like people who sat by themselves at recess.</s>AVLON: Stay classy, but it certainly fits the sandbox politics we've been seeing. And, of course, it was only a matter of time before someone blamed the whole thing on George Soros. But all of these are preferable to the move we'll call the indignant ostrich.</s>SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): So why am I not going to watch this hearing tomorrow? Because I think it is a threat to the presidency and I don't want to legitimize it, and it's un-American. I'm not going to read these transcripts. The whole process is a joke.</s>AVLON: Hiding your head in the sand and refusing to read sworn testimony or watch the hearings or calling the constitutional process or un-American doesn't make the facts go away. It just shows how much these hearings have become about teamism rather than a search for the truth. And that's your reality check.</s>CAMEROTA: Indignant ostrich.</s>BERMAN: Yes.</s>CAMEROTA: That is well-played.</s>BERMAN: I am not listening. I am not listening. I am not listening.</s>AVLON: One of the many services we provide.</s>CAMEROTA: Thank you, John.</s>BERMAN: So, the next impeachment hearing will begin in less than 90 minutes. What will former U.S. ambassador -- the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine say about President Trump's conduct? We'll discuss, next.