Marches Take Place Across the U.S. Calling for Stricter Gun Control Legislation; Students from Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School Gather to March on Washington D.C.; Survivors of Mass Shootings Give Speeches to Crowds Gathered at Marches.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone, from Washington D.C. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Right now from coast to coast people of all ages are pouring into the streets walking side by side, holding signs, chanting, singing, and demanding stricter gun laws. The leading voices in this movement, the high school survivors of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas massacre in Parkland, Florida. They planned the March for Our Lives, that's what it's being called, to honor the 17 classmates and faculty members killed by an armed former student just last month. The survivors have one very loud, very clear message on gun violence -- never again. Their frustrations gaining national momentum and driving the conversation on the polarizing gun control debate. Those students are leading the march on Washington right now, but they don't stand alone. Star power is backing them up here in the nation's capital. Ariana Grande, Miley Cyrus, Lin-Manuel Miranda are just a few of the names taking part in the event today. And you're looking at the main stage right on Pennsylvania Avenue, hundreds of marches in fact are scheduled across the country today. CNN has team coverage with reporters spread out across the country. CNN's Dianne Gallagher is with a group of students from Parkland, Florida, right here in the nation's capital. Dianne?</s>DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Fredricka, we're not too far from where you are, about a mile, and that's because this group of Marjory Stoneman Douglas alumni, teachers, students, parents, they're about to be leaving this breakfast they had this morning. And I'm going to see if I get Don to can pan the room. They're waiting. They're going to be marching roughly that mile to the area together as a show of force and solidarity. They want people to know that MSD showed up, they came. They as a family are here supporting what these students are doing, supporting the idea of safer schools. Some of them are proponents of gun control. Others are focused on mental health. We're seeing a bit of diversity of ideas within this room. And most of these, again, MSD people here. So there should be any time now coming up these escalators -- we can see they are starting to come at this point. They're passing out lots of buttons and pens. There are plenty of signs, Fredricka. And again, this is something that this entire community kind of got involved in. When this happened at the school, it's a close-knit area, Coral Springs, Parkland, Florida. They banded together. We have alumni from the '90s, the 2000s, from just a few years ago. I talked to one alumni who went to UCF and she said that she rode a bus all night. She got in Washington D.C. at 6:00 a.m. just so she could be here and march with those students. As they get up here, we're going to start going with them, Fredricka, walking down to where you are so we can be there as they support their fellow students on stage. Again, it looks like we're about to leave now, so I'm going to send it back to you so we can get out the door.</s>WHITFIELD: Dianne Gallagher, thank you so much. As so many kids from Parkland, Florida, assemble there before they make their way to this area on Pennsylvania Avenue just in the shadow of the U.S. capitol. CNN's Kaylee Hartung is in Parkland, Florida, where it all began, where the mourning continues for the 17 killed, and the focus is sharpening there. Kaylee?</s>KAYLEE HARTUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fred, the program here just beginning in very enthusiastic fashion. You can hear the chants behind me I'm sure. But you make a good point. As one parent just reminded me, this community is still grieving. But as that parent of a Stoneman Douglas student told me, she's filled with pride to see her daughter turn that grief into passion. This crowd gathering behind me, evidence of the impact that the passion of the Stoneman Douglas students have had on so many. We've seen these pictures of hundreds of Stoneman Douglas students making the trip to D.C. to make their voices heard. But remember, Stoneman Douglas is a high school of about 3,300 kids, so many of them wanted to be here. As one student organizer told me, this was where she felt she need to be today, not in D.C. but here in other home community to make their voice heard. She also said it's absolutely incredible for them to see the support that they have generated, as you see behind me here, but also across the country. Now, here where we are in Pine Trails Park, this park where these kids grew up in this community playing soccer, having sports banquets and award ceremonies here, this park then became the site of the memorial where people came to pay their respects to the 17 victims and shed tears for that loss of life. But now today this park takes on a new meaning for the change that they hope to see. This march will leave Pine Trails Park in about two hours. They will march towards the high school. They're then told to march in silence past the high school and to keep marching as this signal, sign of the determination that they want to keep this conversation moving forward. Fred, this program just about to get under way with a host of speakers. We anticipate it to be a very powerful and moving morning here in the Parkland area.</s>WHITFIELD: Kaylee Hartung, thank you so much, out of Parkland, Florida. You see the crowds there. There are crowds developing in New York City as well, and that's where we find our Jason Carroll in the thick of it. Jason?</s>JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Let me tell you, there are so many people who are already here and the event hasn't even officially started yet. We're here at 61st street. Let me show you what's happening up here. People are standing shoulder to shoulder, going up Central Park West all the way up to 72nd street, keeping them in pens along the way. Already I've spoken to a number of survivors here, people from Sandy Hook, a librarian who sheltered 19 fourth graders in place in a library there. I also spoke to a survivor from Las Vegas who was here as well. And in talking to a number of the people here who are about to take the stage very soon, Fredricka, they've been talking about what they want to see going forward. As you know, the state of New York has some of the toughest gun legislation in the country. That was passed after Sandy Hook. And when I spoke to one of the survivors here today, I asked her, I said what is it specifically that you're going to be looking for like so many people here who are coming out to protest, to stand their ground? She said we're looking for politicians to listen to the people and the people will be speaking today. Back to you.</s>WHITFIELD: All right, Jason Carroll, thank you so much. Let's talk more about the scope of this march and the mission and what might be accomplished. David Swerdlick is a CNN political commentator and also special editor for the "Washington Post." David, good to see you.</s>DAVID SWERDLICK, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Thank you.</s>WHITFIELD: So it's an extraordinary sight because you've got a lot of young people here from all over the country and you have them with their parents. This is a family event. Their objective is to get the attention of lawmakers here in the shadow of the U.S. capitol. Is this likely to be effective?</s>SWERDLICK: I think it's the start of something at least. You know, in the wake of the Parkland shooting, you've seen a march here today that's led -- yes, many adults are here, but it's led and inspired by students in part because I think a lot of students saw with their own eyes for the first time just how slowly the wheels of government turn when they want a problem addressed, and this is their response to it, Fred. We're getting to that point in the year where Congress is about done doing things and they start turning toward campaigning for reelection in the fall. Will this spur them to kind of come back here, act, take action on some of the things the students are demanding, like maybe reinstating the assault weapons ban, like perhaps raising the federal age limit to 21 for purchasing all firearms. It's unclear, but I think this is how they're going to try and get the attention of their representatives. They're looking at this and saying, hey, we're kids, we think something should be done, why aren't adults getting things done.</s>WHITFIELD: I talked to a lot of kids and their families who have descended here on Washington D.C., and so many of them have expressed they are so disappointed that there hasn't been great change on a national front. And then on the eve of this march, the White House makes an announcement that the Trump administration will have a new rule or at least taking a step toward banning bump stocks. And that was a plea being made after the Vegas shooting. On the eve of this march that the White House would say it is making a step towards that, is that strictly to appease this audience?</s>SWERDLICK: So I think President Trump is feeling his way, trying to figure out how he can look like he's on the right side of this issue without abandoning or getting crossways with one of his core constituencies, which is the NRA. He enthusiastically accepted their endorsement when he ran for president. In recent weeks he's had more than one closed-door meeting with leaders of the NRA, and he can't afford to lose that core constituency. At the same time, President Trump realizes that there's a lot of agitation, a lot of concern in the country for doing something about gun violence in the country, and people are looking at this and saying after Sandy Hook, after Parkland, after Las Vegas, why won't government act? President Trump's not a traditional conservative, so I don't think he's driven by an ideological core on this issue as much as he wants to try and keep his base with him, at the same time appeal to a broader audience.</s>WHITFIELD: There are one-issue voters out there, and many of them here whom I've spoken with say this gun control, stricter gun laws issue is the one issue for them. How might it impact midterm elections? Are Democrats and Republicans particularly conscientious that the one-issue voter could make a difference in midterm?</s>SWERDLICK: You're going to have I think one-issue voters on both sides, Fred. You're going to have folks who have traditionally supported strong gun rights who are going to look at what's happening here and say I'm going to go out there and vote as I've done in the past to try and elect people who don't want to change existing gun laws. On the other hand, you've got a lot of teenagers out here today who might be voting for the first time in their lives this November, turning 18 this year, and saying that, look, if legislators aren't going to do something, I'm going to vote for different legislators who might take action on this. Again, if you go back to what the president's doing, he said yesterday, as you said, that he wants to ban bump stocks, but folks out here today are saying we want you to do more. The Florida -- the Parkland kids were able to get their legislature in Florida to pass a law that banned bump stocks. It didn't go that much further to doing some of the other things they wanted, so I think they're going to continue to pressure legislators to do more over the course of this year in advance of this election.</s>WHITFIELD: And quickly, your impressions as you look around, as people are gathering, the official march begins, or the rally begins at noon, but already hundreds of thousands appear to be here.</s>SWERDLICK: Yes, a critical mass is gathering. And the fact that it's so chilly out here and people are still out here sort of excited and ready to form up here and show their support for this issue signals that this is a movement that's probably not going anywhere any time soon.</s>WHITFIELD: Maybe not hundreds of thousands. Maybe tens of thousands.</s>SWERDLICK: Yes. It's hard for me to see out here and it is early. It's cold but it's a nice day. I think you're going to see a lot of people out here.</s>WHITFIELD: They'll leave here near the U.S. Capitol Hill and then they'll march towards the White House later on. David Swerdlick, thank you so much. Some of the music now beginning here. We've met so many families who have made the trip here by plane, train, car. The Bishop family from Parkland, Florida, says it's their mission to advocate legislation in Florida and across the country to ensure both the right to bear arms and the right to feel safe.</s>WHITFIELD: Daniel and Julia, you were both at Marjory Stoneman Douglas school at the time of the shooting but you were in separate buildings. And mom, Susan, you were at a nearby Walmart shopping for last-minute Valentine's gifts for the entire family. And now more than 30 days later you're here in D.C. for this march for life. So how has all of this changed, impacted the family?</s>SUSAN BISHOP, MOTHER OR PARKLAND SHOOTING SURVIVORS: This incident has blown a grenade size hole inside of our town, and we're all coping with it and trying to come together and use this to come together to make change and to make sure that no community ever has to go through what we've had to go through.</s>WHITFIELD: Your mom said something really powerful there, which is coping and changing. How do you prioritize those things for you? I mean, you were in your school. You've lost your classmates. You have to both cope and now you're on a mission to change. How are you doing that?</s>JULIA BISHOP, PARKLAND SHOOTING SURVIVORS: Well, I think that we know that our classmates that did lose their lives, they would want us to be activists. We did have the time shortly after to grieve and to be upset, and we still carry that with us every day. I always think about my classmate, Carmen, every single day. But I know that when I'm fighting for her I'm making a difference.</s>DANIEL BISHOP, PARKLAND SHOOTING SURVIVORS: It's stressful. I'm not going to lie. It's been a lot to handle as a student, as a teenager, but I think that coping and change come together, that they're hand in hand.</s>WHITFIELD: A week after that shooting -- and Julia, you were on a bus to Tallahassee and you had a message for lawmakers.</s>JULIA BISHOP: I'm going to be speaking to these legislators. I don't care what political party they come from. There was legislation passed in the state of Florida. We did end up having the age limit raised to 21, and also there's going to be a three-day waiting period.</s>DANIEL BISHOP: Even though I went to Tallahassee and talked to legislators and tried to get my points across, I don't have a vote. So I think that it's really important for everyone who can vote, 18, 19, 20, 21-year-olds, everyone to go out and just try to influence the people around them.</s>WHITFIELD: The U.S. capitol building, this is the seat of power. And mom, Susan, when you look at this building knowing what it represents, do you see it differently after the shooting claiming 17 lives?</s>SUSAN BISHOP: I want these lawmakers who are representing us to understand that we have to make the changes that need to be made to keep the people in this country safe.</s>JULIA BISHOP: I'm honestly worried that this will just blow over as every other mass shooting has. In Vegas, there were almost 60 people killed, and we were sad for a week and we sent our thoughts and prayers, and no one did anything about it.</s>WHITFIELD: Daniel, what's the goal for this march?</s>DANIEL BISHOP: I think that we have something real here. This is real. And when we were just another high school, we barely even noticed when the Senate rejects gun control. We barely even noticed. I mean, now when things get passed, when things don't get passed, the whole community knows.</s>WHITFIELD: The Bishop family in huge company here in the nation's capital and across the country because nationwide gun control rallies and protests are growing by the second. Take a look at live pictures right now in Miami, Florida, where crowds are taking over the streets there. A similar scene unfolding in Philadelphia. We have reporters fanned out across the country as well. Stay with us. We'll take you across the country.