2020 Democrats Push Gun Reform At Iowa Forum; Michael Bloomberg One-On-One, Talks Guns & Gun Control, Disagreement With Elizabeth Warren & Presidential Race; Sen. Kamala Harris Speaks At Iowa Gun Reform Forum; Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD) Discusses North Korea, Trump Criticism Of South Korea, Mass Shootings And Gun Control, Death Of Jeffrey Epstein.
CABRERA: After a weekend of back-to-back mass shootings followed by a week of grieving, Democratic presidential hopefuls are taking on President Trump and the gun lobby. And 17 candidates are in Iowa right now taking part in a gun control forum. Live pictures right now. You can see Senator Michael Bennet is the latest. Here's some of what we've heard so far.</s>REP. TIM RYAN (D-OH): In Dayton, when we were hanging out after, I can't tell you the number of Republicans that came up to me and said, Congressman, please, please, this has gone on long enough and it's time for us to act.</s>SEN. KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND (D-NY): President Trump tried to go to these two places, tried to go to Ohio and Texas, and was yelled at by activists, "Do something! Do Something." People are tired of the</s>B.S. PETE BUTTIGIEG, (D), SOUTH BEND MAYOR & PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I trained on some of these weapons. A.K.'s, A.R.'s, they have no business in our neighborhoods, in peacetime in the United States of America. They are for war zones.</s>JULIAN CASTRO, (D), FORMER HOUSING SECRETARY & PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: What's happened with each of these incidents as Americans have seen them over and over and over again is that more people have woken up, more people have woken up and said, that could be my family, that could be me.</s>SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN (D-MA): If 90 percent of Americans want to see some basic sensible changes, why do they not happen? They're out there talking about it. I'm out there talking about it. I'll tell you why it doesn't happen, corruption, plain and simple.</s>JOE BIDEN, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES & DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We talk about post traumatic stress. Why do we think it does not impact on our society today and our children today? There's serious, serious post traumatic stress going on for all of these kids who witness this, or even don't witness this, know of it.</s>CABRERA: This gun forum is being hosted by Every Town for Gun Safety, the non-profit founded by former New York City mayor, Michael Bloomberg. Bloomberg has personally invested tens of millions of dollars into gun control advocacy and research into gun violence and prevention. He joined me just a short time ago to talk about whether things are different this time when it comes to actually seeing tangible changes at the federal and congressional level on gun violence.</s>CABRERA: So when we talk about that sense of hopelessness or cynicism or skepticism about anything being done when it comes to gun violence, you know, there was a crowd of people who fled Times Square this week because a motorcycle backfired and their first thought was that it was someone shooting. What did you think when you saw that video --</s>CABRERA: -- of people running for their lives because they heard a loud sound?</s>MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, (D), FOUNDER, EVERY TOWN FOR GUN SAFETY & FORMER NEW YORK CITY MAYOR: Well, it's not unexpected that when you read about the chaos that's been going on elsewhere in this country that your first thought might be I wonder if it's happening here. I think it's also true that we tend to overdramatize that. Not everybody in Times Square ran. It was one bang, and it didn't sound like a rifle bullet or anything from what I read. I wasn't there. That's what people said, they thought it was a car or bike backfiring. Let's not say that the whole world and America is ready to commit suicide --</s>CABRERA: No.</s>BLOOMBERG: -- because they think they're going to get killed. That's not true.</s>CABRERA: But it is true, people are on edge and people are scared. That's a reality right now for people right now who think it could happen anywhere.</s>BLOOMBERG: I think that's true. But what do you mean a lot? What percentage of the public do you think is worried? I don't get that when I talk to people. I think they understand that it's a dangerous world, but if you live in cities with good police departments that are in control, you're pretty safe. And if you live, for example, in New York, and in New York City, the crime rate is so low, it's almost impossible to measure compared to any other city. We still have crime in New York. A little under 300 people get killed every year, but that's a very negligible number compared to any place else. So where you live should impact your interest in jumping or getting out of the way. If you live in some of these cities with a very high crime rate and you hear a gunshot, or it sounds to you like a gunshot, it probably is. And if you live in a city with a very low crime rate, it's probably not.</s>CABRERA: But I don't want to downplay the fear, and I understand what you're saying. But if it could happen at a Walmart, a concert, a bar, a school, all of these places where we've seen mass shootings now, I think the feeling is it could happen anywhere, even in cities where there isn't a high crime rate. That is why people are so jumpy. And that is perhaps why there's this new sense of urgency to accomplish something when it comes to gun control or gun violence safety.</s>BLOOMBERG: I agree with you. There's a new sense of urgency. And it's wonderful it's happening because maybe we finally will get the legislation we need. If we do, your coverage of these events will have been helpful. But it's also true that we live in a society where there's a small number of people who have access to guns, and if we could take away their access to guns, we will all be a lot safer.</s>CABRERA: And let me ask you about that specifically because, in the cases of El Paso and Dayton, background checks wouldn't necessarily have prevented those shootings because the two people who are either dead now because they committed the crime or accused of the crime, as in El Paso's case, they were able to get guns -- they passed background checks. What would be the solution in those types of cases?</s>BLOOMBERG: There's nothing that is going to guarantee 100 percent safety in life. Life isn't that way. But background checks would reduce dramatically the number of suicides and significantly the number of murders. Red flag laws don't always make a difference. But if you save one life, isn't it worth it? I think you got to be careful here in saying, oh, there's no solution because nothing works all the time. The bottom line is, you can, if the public gets behind their city government and their police department, bring down the crime rate such that most people don't worry about it. And if you look at New York 20 or 30 years ago compared to today, I think most New Yorkers will tell you that they feel very safe and that crime is not one of the things that they worry about generally.</s>CABRERA: And there's overwhelming support across the country for some gun control measures. Recent polling shows 94 percent of Americans support universal background checks. And that includes nine in 10 Republicans and nine in 10 gun owners. And more than half of Americans support a ban on assault weapons.</s>BLOOMBERG: Right.</s>CABRERA: So when we talk also about how the NRA has so much power over the president and others who may be afraid of their political future for acting in, you know, some capacity on gun control, should they be more afraid of not doing something than of acquiescing to the demands of Wayne LaPierre and the NRA?</s>BLOOMBERG: Ana, in 2018, I supported 24 congressional candidates who were good, my definition, good on guns and good on climate. And 21 of them won and beat almost in every case an A-rated Republican, A-rated by the NRA. That goes to show you that the NRA does not have the power and not everybody is running away from them. And now, you you're starting to see more and more Republican congressman and Senators saying, I don't want to be on the wrong side of this issue. If you survey NRA members, as you yourself said, the NRA members want background checks. And the NRA does not have the power that they had before by any stretch of the imagination. And it defies logic as to why the president and Mitch McConnell seem to still be somewhat influenced by the</s>NRA. CABRERA: I want to get your reaction to this news, this breaking news, apparent suicide of accused sex trafficker, Jeffrey Epstein. Multimillionaire with a New York apartment who associated with many of the wealthiest and most powerful men in the country. What was your reaction when you heard the news?</s>BLOOMBERG: It was interesting. I think I met him once 30 years ago. I certainly haven't seen him sense then. And I don't know what happened. You'll have to ask the government. He was in a federal penitentiary or federal jail, as I understand it. And they'll have to do an investigation and see what happened. And I'm sure they'll do it.</s>CABRERA: More of my interview with Mayor Michael Bloomberg in just a moment. But let's go live. Senator Kamala Harris speaking at that gun forum in Iowa. Let's listen.</s>SEN. KAMALA HARRIS (D-CA): We need a president of the United States, who on related topics such as the hate that we are also seeing being displayed, which is manifesting itself in lethal proportion like we saw in El Paso. We also need a president of the United States who understands in a one of her greatest powers is to use this microphone in a way that is not about beating people down but lifting people up. People say to me --</s>HARRIS: -- did Donald Trump cause those folks to be killed? Well, no, of course, he didn't pull the trigger. But he was certainly tweeting out the ammunition.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you so much, Senator. And we have a question for you from the audience from Sara Dubois, who is a volunteer here in Iowa with Moms Demand Action. SARA DUBOIS (ph),</s>VOLUNTEER, MOMS DEMAND ACTION: Hi, Senator Harris. You've spoken out about how gun manufacturers and that NRA are able to influence Congress and keep them from passing strong gun safety laws. But the gun lobby has been able to get Congress to give gun manufacturers special protection from civil liability unlike anything and any other industry in the form of</s>PLCAA. HARRIS: Right.</s>DUBOIS (ph): As a former attorney general, how would you work to hold the gun industry accountable even while PLCAA is still on the books?</s>HARRIS: One, I believe we actually have to work to repeal it. And I have been an advocate for that for a long time.</s>HARRIS: Because there needs to be an opportunity for people to have a day in court to litigate these issues and a court will decide. But to have this shield against responsibility is not in the best interest of justice. So that is how I think of this issue. The other issue I'll say is this, we need to also -- as president, I will ensure that the CDC, Centers for Disease Control, can study the effect of gun violence as a public health issue --</s>HARRIS: One of the related issues that I talk a lot about, and you all know, is the reality of the trauma that is resulting from this in a number of ways. One, a child having to go sleep each night having to hear gunfire. Where that child is taught, honey, if you hear the guns firing, jump in the tub, because that's a safe place to avoid a stray bullet. The trauma resulting from exposure to gun violence, the trauma resulting from having a protocol around how to honor a child under the age of 18 who has been killed by gun violence. There are whole protocols in communities around our country, around how to mourn a child who has been killed because of gun violence in their own community. Let's also talk about the trauma experienced by our babies, elementary, middle, high school students, who are going to school every day to endure a drill during which they are taught about how to crouch in a corner or hide in a closet in the event there's a mass shooter roaming the hallways of their school. I talk about this publicly all the time. I can't tell you the number of 8 and 9-year-olds coming up to me and tugging at my jacket and say almost in a conspiratorial voice, really low voice, I had to have one of those drills. Our babies are sitting in classrooms where they should be focusing on their teacher and the wonders of science and math and art and instead half their brain is concerned about what might come running through that door carrying a gun. There's so much trauma that our children are experiencing because of this that has -- is having profound and severe consequences to their life even if a bullet never actually touches them. So we, who are supposed to be responsible, we, who are adults, have a primary responsibility to ensure and think of the safety and well- being of our children. I will tell you, I strongly believe you should judge a society based on how it treats its children.</s>HARRIS: And on this issue, we are failing. We are failing.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you, Senator. I would now like to turn to a gun violence survivor --</s>ANA CABRERA, CNN HOST: You've been listening in, live, to Senator Kamala Harris taking questions from the audience about her gun safety plan. We know, in her plan that she's put out, she's talked about taking executive action in the first 100 days she takes office if Congress does not act when it comes to gun control. Again, she's one of 17 candidates today in Des Moines, Iowa, taking part in this forum about gun safety and gun laws. Up next, much more of my interview with Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who, again, is the founder of Every Town for Gun Safety and the host of this town hall. Today, he'll talk about whether he's ruled out his own run for the White House. Stay with us.