February 22, 2018


News and Views


https://www.cbsnews.com/live-news/trump-listening-session-state-local-officials-on-school-safety-today-2018-02-22-live-stream-updates/
EMILY TILLETT CBS NEWS February 22, 2018, 11:19 AM
Trump suggests bonuses for armed teachers in effort to prevent shootings
Last Updated Feb 22, 2018 1:42 PM EST

President Trump doubled down on his calls to arm teachers in schools across the country in an effort to help prevent mass shootings from taking place. He suggested during the administration's most recent White House listening session with state and local officials that teachers who were trained in being "adept at guns" could receive a bonus for their training efforts.

"We have to harden our schools, not soften them up. A gun-free zone to a killer or somebody that wants to be a killer, that's like going in for the ice cream. Like here I am - take me," he said.

He added, "Shooters won't walk into a school if 20% of people have guns."

While the president has signaled he would be open to raising the age limit of those who can purchase high-capacity weapons as well as announce a proposal to draft regulations that would ban "bump stock" devices, he spent much of the morning and afternoon session expressing his interest in arming teachers.

Mr. Trump suggested in a series of tweets on Thursday that he would be open to exploring the idea of "gun adept teachers with military or special training experience" being able to carry concealed weapons at schools as a deterrence to prevent shootings.

He brought up those claims at Thursday's session, suggesting that "highly adept" teachers that do carry "we give them a bonus" adding that armed teachers would need training and should be paid extra money. He backed that up by saying it was "much less expensive than the guards" and would more effective.

"You come into our schools you're gonna be dead. And it's gonna be fast," he said. "I want my schools protected like my banks are protected," he added.

As the meeting came to a close, the president was asked if he had concerns about teachers with guns making quick judgments in the chaos of a school shooting - he said no, and that they'd be "experts."

Asked whether he'd provide federal funding for the armed teachers program, he said he would be opening to considering such funding for training.

Trump on arming teachers

The president renewed his calls to allow teachers in schools to conceal weapons of their own in an effort to prevent mass shootings.

"We have to harden our schools, not soften them up. A gun-free zone to a killer or somebody that wants to be a killer, that's like going in for the ice cream. Like here I am - take me," he said.

He suggested that "highly adept" teachers that do carry "we give them a bonus" adding that armed teachers would need training and should be paid extra money. He backed that up by saying it was "much less expensive than the guards" and would more effective and "look better."

Trump: "We're going to do strong background checks"
"I called many senators last night, many Congressmen. They're into doing background checks that they wouldn't be thinking about two weeks ago," said Mr. Trump.

He said the administration will be going to be "talking seriously about opening mental institutions and in some cases reopening" them.

"We want to ensure when we see warning signs, we act quickly," said the president of school shooters.

HHS Secretary Alex Azar echoed the president's urgency on addressing the mental illness component to preventing shootings, stressing the importance of screening and treatment around mental illness, as well as community engagement and research on the next generation of therapies.

Trump on violent crime, gangs
"We are working to reduce violent crime in America." He said Attorney General Jeff Sessions is "very much after that" as well as gangs.

The president addressed Sessions himself, saying "You're doing a great job with the gangs. The gangs are such a problem. These are human beings, these are animals."

He added, "We are literally getting MS-13 out by the thousands." The president said members of the gang are typically using knives as opposed to guns to carry out violence.

The president then suggested if he pulled law enforcement out of California you would have a "crime nest like you've never seen" The president said California is doing a "lousy management job" of preventing gang violence.

"It's a disgrace. The sanctuary city situation," he said.

"If I pulled ICE out of California, in two months they would be begging for us to come back," He added, "And you know what? I'm thinking about doing it."

Trump on listening sessions
The president said he pledged to the people at Wednesday's listening session the administration would take action - unlike people sitting in his position "who took no action at all."

He called Wednesday an "incredible meeting" with people who have suffered so badly.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions said the meeting touched people across the country. "We believe we can do better," Sessions said.

In light of the session, Mayor Christine Hunschofsky the mayor of Parkland told the president "you have done a great job."

"You don't know how much it meant for those students to be heard. That's a very empowering thing for the students and we appreciate it immensely. This didn't just happen in a vacuum. There was a whole timeline that led to this," said Hunschofsky.

She added, "I'm happy there's such a commitment to action on all the steps taken that could have prevented it."

Trump talks age limits on guns
The president reiterated his support for raising age limit for certain weapons."A lot of things are happening," the president said.

He said the administration is "Working on getting the age up to 21 instead of 18" and that there's a "tremendous feeling that we want to get something done" - a feeling 'including at the NRA,' he said.


UNIONS ARE IN THE NEWS AS A NEW SUPREME COURT CASE COMES UP ON THIS NEXT WEEK.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/02/22/nurses-rally-defense-unions-supreme-court-prepares-hear-biggest-threat-organized
Published on Thursday, February 22, 2018
byCommon Dreams
Nurses Rally in Defense of Unions as Supreme Court Prepares to Hear 'Biggest Threat to Organized Labor in Years'
"It's the union that brings many safety laws in legislation and public regulatory protections. It's the union dues that fund those efforts."
byJake Johnson, staff writer

Photograph -- "It's the nurses in my hospital, in my region, in my whole state that make up the strength of our union and our ability to protect our patients, our license, and our profession," said Maureen Dugan, RN. (Photo: California Nurses Association)

With the conservative-dominated Supreme Court set to hear a case that poses the "biggest threat to organized labor in years" next week, members of National Nurses United (NNU)—the largest organization of registered nurses in the U.S.—rallied across the country on Thursday to highlight the crucial role of unions in protecting workers from corporate exploitation.

"We need to defend the trade union movement, we need to grow the trade union movement."
—Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)

"It's the union that brings many safety laws in legislation and public regulatory protections. It's the union dues that fund those efforts," said Maureen Dugan, RN, who works at the University of California San Francisco. "It's the nurses in my hospital, in my region, in my whole state that make up the strength of our union and our ability to protect our patients, our license, and our profession."

The case under consideration—Janus v. AFSCME Council 31*—could determine whether public sector unions are allowed to collect what are called "fair share" fees from workers to cover the costs of collective bargaining.

As the Huffington Post's Dave Jamieson notes, "Although fair share fees have been upheld as legal for decades, the high court's conservative majority is likely to strike them down as unconstitutional."

"If the court rules against AFSCME, the entire U.S. public sector would essentially be a 'right-to-work' zone―meaning employees could no longer be required to pay anything to the unions that bargain on their behalf," Jamieson adds.

Speaking at an NNU rally in Chicago on Thursday, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said "there is a war going on against the working class in America" and argued unions are "the last line of defense."

"We need to defend the trade union movement, we need to grow the trade union movement," Sanders declared. "And every person in America, whether you're in a union or not, has got to understand that the reason [the rich] are attacking the trade union movement is they know the trade unionists are the last line of defense against this reactionary, corporate agenda, which wants to give more to the rich and take away from the middle class and working families."

Watch: Two videos

According to a report published by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) earlier this week, the Janus case did not arise out of widespread worker opposition to "fair share" fees.

"Rather, the fair share cases are being financed by a small group of foundations with ties to the largest and most powerful corporate lobbies," the report notes, highlighting the large role played by groups like the right-wing Liberty Justice Center, which is supported the Charles Koch Institute and similar pro-corporate organizations.

"This case is one of the most important cases to corporate interest groups. It is one of the cases that made Senate Republicans so determined to block President Obama's nominee to the Supreme Court," EPI labor counsel Celine McNicholas, who co-authored the report, concluded in a statement. "The outcome of Janus will affect millions of working people across the country and will impact the public services we depend on these workers to provide."

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License

Janus v. AFSCME Council 31* --


https://www.nationalnursesunited.org/blog/7-reasons-why-janus-v-afscme-supreme-court-case-threatens-safe-patient-care-across-us
BLOG
7 Reasons Why ‘Janus v. AFSCME’ Supreme Court Case Threatens Safe Patient Care Across U.S.
National Nurses United
February 21, 2018

The upcoming “Janus v. AFSCME” Supreme Court case threatens nurses’ ability to advocate for safe patient care. Here are 7 reasons why:

1. When hospitals cut corners on spending, they cut corners on human lives. From pushing patients out of the hospital while still ill, to stocking lifesaving supplies at a bare minimum, to having no limit on how many patients they assign to one overwhelmed RN, hospitals often make decisions that are good for profits — and bad for people. Who best standup for patients in those situations? Empowered union nurses.

2. Unprotected nurses = unprotected patients. When nurses see a threat to patient safety, they must be able to speak up without fearing retaliation, thanks to the backing of their union. RNs with strong unions are more effectively able to challenge employers that want to cut patient care services, close hospitals and clinics, and force nurses to work in unsafe conditions.

3. Nurses know better than billionaires. Bankrolled by billionaires and corporate CEOs, “Janus” encourages employees to refuse to pay dues, while they enjoy the rights and benefits of a union contract and representation. A not-so-hidden goal is to decimate unions financially, crippling workers’ ability to challenge employer abuses. Nurses need union support to ensure profits for the rich and powerful do not come at the expense of public health and safety.

4. “Right to work” laws threaten public health. Janus is based on so-called “right to work” laws now in place in 28 U.S. states. In those states, household incomes are more than $8,000 less, people under 65 are 46% more likely to be uninsured, life expectancy rates are lower, and infant mortality rates are 12% higher.

5. Attacking nurse unions also jeopardizes patient care in non-union facilities. Because RNs in unionized facilities are better able to advocate for and win critical patient and nurse protections, non-union hospitals sometimes match these protections simply to keep their nurses from leaving. When union protections are destroyed, working conditions — and patient care conditions — in non-union facilities will also suffer.

6. “Janus” sets stage for silencing ALL nurses. “Janus” currently applies to unionized workers in public settings, but it sets the stage for a future case to disempower all unionized U.S. workers. This has already happened in the 28 states that have enacted so-called “right to work” laws. For patients, that would mean a future of disempowered nurses, no matter where lifesaving treatment is sought.

7. Case comes during flu epidemic, opioid crisis, when empowered RNs needed most. With thousands of U.S. patients dying in an especially harsh flu season, and an opioid crisis killing more than 115 Americans per day (according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse), our healthcare settings need a strong voice for safe patient care. Nurses are that voice. Weaken unions, and patient care suffers, at a time when we need strong nurse unions the most.



https://nwlaborpress.org/2018/02/right-to-work-nation-getting-ready-for-janus-v-afscme/
Right-to-work nation? Getting ready for Janus v AFSCME
Feb 14, 2018 National
By Don McIntosh


COP LOGIC

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2018/02/22/officer-florida-high-school-shooting-sat-outside-gunfire-sounding-he-should-have-stopped/365122002/?csp=chromepush
'It's devastating': Cop stayed outside during Florida massacre while students died
USA TODAY Published 6:33 p.m. ET Feb. 22, 2018 | Updated 6:37 p.m. ET Feb. 22, 2018

Photograph -- Mourners have been building a makeshift memorial outside Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida for the 17 people shot and killed in the school last week. (Feb. 21) AP

An armed school deputy rushed to the Florida high school building where terrified students ran from a killer with an assault rifle, but then sat outside for about four minutes and never went inside.

The school resource deputy for Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Scot Peterson, was under investigation for his response to the shooting but then decided to resign his post, Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel said Thursday.

Two other deputies are also under investigation after a review of prior law enforcement calls involving accused gunman Nikolas Cruz spurred questions on whether the deputies followed the department's policies.

"It's devastating," Israel said during a Thursday news conference. "I'm sick to my stomach. These families lost children, we lost coaches."

Israel said surveillance footage captured Peterson responding to the building where the shooting was unfolding. He said the deputy got there within a minute and a half of when the gunfire started. He pisreasositioned [sic] himself outside the building but never went in, Israel said.

The shooting lasted a total of six minutes. Peterson sat outside the building for four of those minutes, Israel said. In the end, 17 people were killed.

He should have "went in, addressed the killer, killed the killer," Israel said.

Modern active shooter procedures were changed after the Columbine High School shooting in 1999, when officers were trained to wait for SWAT officers to respond and take out a threat.


Broward Sheriff
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@browardsheriff
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5:13 PM - Feb 22, 2018

Broward Sheriff @browardsheriff
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Officers are now trained to go toward gunfire because research has shown the presence of law enforcement can slow down a suspect, potentially bringing the death toll down.

"When we in law enforcement arrive to an active shooter, we go in and address the target and that's what should have been done," Israel said.

The Broward County Sheriff's Office also released information on more than a dozen calls that involved Cruz and his family. Israel said he placed deputies in two of the calls under investigation because there were questions whether more should have been done. The calls stemmed back to 2008 and all were made prior to last week's shooting.

Follow Christal Hayes on Twitter: Journo_Christal


I HAVEN'T LOOKED INTO THIS YET, BUT I DON'T BELIEVE FOR A MINUTE THAT MOST OF THOSE KILLERS ARE DEMOCRATS. IT'S GUN NUTS, AND OF COURSE MEN, WHO SO OFTEN WHEN THEY GET DEPRESSED GO OUT AND SHOOT SOMEBODY ELSE, NOT THEMSELVES.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/republican-congresswoman-many-mass-murderers-are-democrats/
AP February 22, 2018, 10:32 AM
Republican congresswoman claims many mass murderers are Democrats

ALBANY, N.Y. — A Republican congresswoman from upstate New York said Wednesday that "many" people who commit mass murder turn out to be Democrats.

U.S. Rep. Claudia Tenney made the remarks on Talk 1300 Radio during a discussion about calls for stricter gun control since last week's deadly Florida high school shooting.

"Yeah, well, obviously there is a lot of politics in it, and it's interesting that so many of these people that commit the mass murders end up being Democrats, but the media doesn't talk about that either," Tenney told talk show host Fred Dicker.

Tenney did not offer any evidence to support that statement.

Democratic state Assemblyman Anthony Brindisi, who is opposing Tenney this fall, called her comments "disgusting" and "toxic" and urged her to apologize.

Evan Lukaske, a spokesman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said Tenney demonstrated "how completely unfit she is to serve in Congress."

In a statement Wednesday night, Tenney said her comments were taken out of context.

"I am fed up with the media and liberals attempting to politicize tragedies and demonize law-abiding gun owners and conservative Americans every time there is a horrible tragedy," she said. "While we know the perpetrators of these atrocities have a wide variety of political views, my comments are in response to a question about the failure to prosecute illegal gun crime. I will continue to stand up for law-abiding citizens who are smeared by anti-gun liberal elitists."

Tenney was first elected in 2016. Her district covers a large swath of central New York including the cities of Binghamton, Utica and Rome.

© 2018 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.


HERE IS ANOTHER TEEN WHO SAW A DANGER SIGN AND REPORTED IT. SHE'S A HEROINE.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/new-york-teen-hailed-as-hero-for-reporting-friend-allegedly-planning-school-shooting/
CBS NEWS February 22, 2018, 7:37 AM
New York teen who helped thwart apparent school shooting plot: "It's about lives"

A teenager in Vermont is accused of planning an attack on his former high school after a friend reported him to police in New York state. Jack Sawyer pleaded not guilty to four charges, including attempted murder. He allegedly told the friend he was targeting the high school in Fair Haven, Vermont, that Sawyer once attended.

At least a dozen arrests in spate of "copycat" threats against schools across country

The investigation involved agencies both in New York and Vermont but would not have been possible if not for the brave 17-year-old who told authorities her friend might be planning a deadly attack.

"I texted him saying a school just got shot up and he answered saying, 'That's fantastic, I 100 percent support it," Angela McDevitt told CBS News' Meg Oliver.

McDevitt says she met Sawyer while at a treatment center in Maine for troubled teens. "It always struck me he was very attentive to detail and very kind," she said of Sawyer.

McDevitt says she stayed in touch with him after they left the facility, but last week, their friendship took a turn. According to a Vermont State Police affidavit, on February 11, Sawyer wrote to McDevitt over Facebook Messenger saying: "Just a few days ago I was still plotting on shooting up my old high school." The next day he wrote, "It's been the plan for like 2 years." And on February 14, he allegedly praised the Florida school shooting, writing: "it's just natural selection taken up a notch."

d18-oliver-school-plot-stopped-transfer-frame-215.jpg
Text messages allegedly sent by Jack Sawyer to Angela McDevitt. CBS NEWS

One day after the Florida shooting, McDevitt met with her New York high school resource officer, Evan Traudt, who then contacted authorities in Vermont.

"I found (what I was told) disturbing and knew I had to contact somebody in Vermont to look further into it," Traudt said. "I followed through with it and that's about it. She definitely is the one who did the most of it."

According to the affidavit, when police interviewed Sawyer, he admitted he was planning a shooting at Fair Haven Union High School, and was partly inspired by the Columbine massacre. He bought a shotgun a few days before. Police say when they searched his car, they found the shotgun, ammunition, books on Columbine, a gas mask, a video recorder and a journal detailing his plan, titled "The journal of an active shooter." Police say Sawyer told them he was going to use an AR-15, a handgun and his shotgun to carry out the attack.

McDevitt says it wasn't easy to report Sawyer, but she's glad she did.

"It's not the matter of friendship if it's about lives at hand. It's -- you need to do what you need to do," she said.

According to the affidavit, Sawyer has been diagnosed with ADHD, depression, and anxiety. Sawyer's public defender said there are a lot of unproven allegations in this case and it's a lot different than initially portrayed.

© 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.


YOUBETCHA!!

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/fbis-deputy-director-admits-there-was-a-mistake-made-regarding-tip-on-florida-shooter/
CBS NEWS February 22, 2018, 2:47 PM
FBI's deputy director admits there was "a mistake made" regarding tip on Florida shooter

The FBI's acting deputy director on Thursday admitted that there was a "mistake made" within the agency when it received a tip regarding concerns about the Florida school shooter.

During a press conference, David Bowdich was asked about the missed tip, and he said that Attorney General Jeff Sessions and FBI Director Christopher Wray immediately ordered a full-scale review of the agency's public access line, which is based in West Virginia. The call center, Bowdich told reporters, sends leads back to FBI field offices "throughout the country."

"In this case, we were conducting full scale review, but I will tell you Monday, I went out there myself and with my team, and it is a professional operation," he said. "Now let me be clear, there was a mistake made, we know that, but it is our job to make sure that we do everything in our power to ensure that does not happen again."

Bowdich talked about the volume of calls, noting that last year, the FBI received about 765,000 calls, in addition to 750,000 internet tips. Many of those, he said, "turn into leads," but most -- 9 out of 10 -- do not. "It is not easy work," he said. "I'm not making excuses because what happened is a tragedy."

This comes after the FBI said in a statement last week that it had received a tip about Nikolas Cruz, the suspected Florida school shooter, in January 2018 but failed to investigate the report. A person close to Cruz contacted the FBI's Public Access Line on January 5, reporting Cruz's gun ownership, his desire to kill others, erratic behavior and disturbing social media posts, the statement said.

"Under established protocols, the information provided by the caller should have been assessed as a potential threat to life. The information then should have been forwarded to the FBI Miami Field Office, where appropriate investigative steps would have been taken," the statement said.

Cruz has been charged on 17 counts of premeditated murder after being questioned by state and federal authorities. He's accused of killing 17 people and injuring 15 others.

CBS News' Paula Reid, Rebecca Shabad and Emily Tillett contributed to this report.

© 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.



MSNBC MADDOW

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 2/22/18
Mueller adds new piece to plot with new Manafort Gates indictment
Rachel Maddow reports on the details of a new 32-count indictment in Special Counsel Robert Mueller's cast against Donald Trump campaign aides Paul Manafort and Rick Gates. Duration: 21:47



Embed
HELP THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 2/22/18
States form gun safety coalition to share background check data
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo talks with Rachel Maddow about a new gun safety pact between New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and New Jersey that includes sharing major databases to make background checks more effective. Duration: 9:57


THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 2/21/18
America's youth become America's conscience on gun violence
Rachel Maddow reports on the nationwide student demonstrations for gun safety and the particular pressure on legislators in Florida where students still grieving from the gun massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School rallied in the largest protest Tallahassee has seen in decades. Duration: 6:01


THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 2/21/18
New right-wing Mike Flynn legal theory grasping at straws
Chuck Rosenberg, former U.S. attorney, talks with Rachel Maddow about new developments in Robert Mueller's Trump Russia investigation and a new right-wing hobby horse about Mike Flynn's guilty plea. Duration: 6:41