POLITICO NIGHTLY: How to change ‘Nothing will change’

 

View in browser   BY MYAH WARD Presented by Community member Amanda Welch brings flowers to lay at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. | Brandon Bell/Getty Images ‘GET ANGRY’ — After every school shooting in the United States, a now 7-year-old tweet by the British journalist Dan Hodges makes the rounds: “In retrospect Sandy Hook marked the end of the U.S. gun control debate. Once America decided killing children was bearable, it was over.” Nothing will change now, either. That’s an overwhelming sentiment today, after a gunman killed 19 children and two adults Tuesday in an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas. Nightly talked to Sandy Phillips, the founder of Survivors Empowered, an organization that provides support to survivors of gun violence, about these feelings of hopelessness and how she tries to counteract them. She said she would be lying if she, too, didn’t want to give up at a moment like this, but there’s too much work to do. Phillips lost her daughter Jessi in the Aurora theater shooting in Colorado 10 years ago. Her organization was leaving Buffalo when the reports of another massing shooting came in. She’s flying to Uvalde on Friday, she said, and hasn’t slept in 24 hours. This conversation has been edited. Tell us about the work Survivors Empowered does.  My husband and I have lived in an RV now for seven years. We have been responding to mass shootings for 10 years. We come in and say: We’ll help in any way we can. Here’s our survivor toolkit, and here’s our mindfulness classes. We’re trying our best to organize with other grassroots organizations to make sure survivors end up having what they need, and that funds get released to them simply and easily without having to jump through hoops, which no survivor is able to do in the first initial weeks after the event. This one in Uvalde, that we’re heading to, will be number 20 that we’ve responded to. I think that speaks to why people feel that nothing is going to change after this shooting. Have you lost hope? That whole community, very much like Sandy Hook, is going to be reeling forever. And it’s heartbreaking to see. That’s the minimum I can say about it because then my anger takes over. And I’m just furious that we, we in America, allow this to continue to happen. But we’re hoping — hope against hope, that maybe this time, in a midterm year, in a red state of Texas, we are hoping that something will happen because of this. Do you feel like gun safety advocates have done everything you can at this point? What does the next phase of this movement look like, in your view?  There is always more. When we got into this 10 years ago, we were being told by the big organizations to be nice when we go in to lobby, to go for the “low hanging fruit,” not to spend political capital on things that can’t be done. Do you think the NRA ever goes in with that kind of attitude? They don’t. They go in and they demand and they say: If we don't get it, we’re going to punish you. Well, we can take a lesson from that. We’re not just going to say, “Oh, I understand you can’t vote for this bill.” I’m going to make it hard on them. I’m going to remind them of how my daughter died, how she had to be cremated because of her wounds. And now we’ve got 19 children that parents are going to have to be doing the same thing. I know what those bullets do, and I know that there are pieces of their children laying around on that schoolroom floor. We need to get angry, and we need to quit placating the Democrats just because they’re Democrats. They have learned helplessness. It’s “Oh, well, we don’t have votes. We can’t take that to the floor.” Bullshit. There’s also an argument that President Joe Biden’s hands are tied. What do you want to see from him? The one thing that we all want the most is someone at the Cabinet level to be — I don’t like to use the word gun czar — but a gun violence prevention specialist, if you will. An office of gun violence prevention, one person in charge of it who can work with all the other people. You cannot have Susan Rice taking care of 15 different things, and oh, one of them is gun violence prevention. What do you say to people who embrace the idea that nothing is going to change based on the inaction seen over the last decade?  If you give up, you give in and you’re part of the problem. Welcome to POLITICO Nightly. Reach out with news, tips and ideas at nightly@politico.com. Or contact tonight’s author at mward@politico.com, or on Twitter at @MyahWard.   A message from Bank of America: As climate change intensifies, every segment of society must have an abiding interest in stemming its impact. In Bank of America’s new sustainability Q&A, leaders share the essential commitment needed by business and financial communities to create innovative solutions that counter the environmental and social challenges facing our planet.   LATEST FROM UVALDE — Beto bursts in: Texas Democrat Beto O’Rourke confronted Gov. Greg Abbott at a press conference today, accusing the governor of inaction on gun violence. Abbott, flanked by law enforcement officers and fellow Republican lawmakers, had just wrapped up giving an update on the Uvalde, Texas, shooting this afternoon — in which he said mental health was the root cause of the deadly event — when O’Rourke approached the stage. — On the Hill: Chuck Schumer is avoiding a quick Senate vote on gun legislation that would almost surely fail, choosing to hold out hope that the latest mass shooting will finally unstick a bipartisan deal. The New York Democrat castigated the GOP for its “obeisance to the NRA” and said that “too many members on that side care more about the NRA,” in a fiery floor speech today. — ATF nom speaks: Biden’s nominee to be the nation’s top gun regulator, Steven Dettelbach, faced a somber Senate confirmation hearing the day after the Texas elementary school shooting. Dettelbach, who has not yet shored up the necessary votes to become the director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, strategically veered away from his own views on gun safety laws during the hearing. Republicans, who have criticized him for previously advocating for an “assault-style” firearms ban, got a pledge from him to enforce the nation’s gun laws and combat gun violence. — Trump still on for NRA: Former President Donald Trump confirmed today that he will still attend the National Rifle Association’s annual meeting in Houston this weekend in the wake of the mass shooting. In addition to Trump, other Republicans set to speak at the meeting include Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem. WHAT'D I MISS? — Trump expressed support for hanging Pence during Capitol riot, Jan. 6 panel told: The Jan. 6 select committee has heard testimony indicating that Trump — after rioters who swarmed the Capitol began chanting “hang Mike Pence” — expressed support for hanging his vice president, according to three people familiar with the matter. The White House chief of staff at the time, Mark Meadows, was in the dining room off the Oval Office with Trump at one point during last year’s Capitol attack, the committee has been told. Meadows then left the dining room and informed other people nearby that Trump had signaled a positive view of the prospect of hanging the vice president, the panel heard. — Pennsylvania GOP Senate nail-biter triggers recount: Pennsylvania Acting Secretary of State Leigh Chapman announced today that a recount will take place “transparently, as dictated by law.” As of this afternoon, celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz was leading former hedge fund CEO David McCormick by 902 votes. An automatic recount is triggered in Pennsylvania if a race comes to a half-percentage point or less, unless the runner-up waives it off. McCormick did not waive his right to a recount, Chapman said.   DON'T MISS DIGITAL FUTURE DAILY - OUR TECHNOLOGY NEWSLETTER, RE-IMAGINED:  Technology is always evolving, and our new tech-obsessed newsletter is too! Digital Future Daily unlocks the most important stories determining the future of technology, from Washington to Silicon Valley and innovation power centers around the world. Readers get an in-depth look at how the next wave of tech will reshape civic and political life, including activism, fundraising, lobbying and legislating. Go inside the minds of the biggest tech players, policymakers and regulators to learn how their decisions affect our lives. Don't miss out, subscribe today.     — Federal tax receipts boom, powered by inflation: Tax receipts are booming, thanks in part to spiking inflation, a new government report shows . The Congressional Budget Office said today it now expects federal revenue this year to jump by a whopping $800 billion — equivalent to the Pentagon’s annual budget. That translates to a 19 percent increase, the biggest one-year hike in more than 40 years, and it comes on top of an 18 percent increase last year. — Abbott, FDA offer conflicting timelines for reopening shuttered infant formula plant: A senior official from the company at the center of the country’s infant formula shortages told lawmakers today it can restart its now-shuttered plant as early as next week, disputing a timeline laid out just hours before by the head of the FDA . Christopher Calamari, who leads Abbott’s U.S. and Canada nutrition division, told lawmakers in sworn testimony that the company hopes to reopen its now-shuttered plant in Sturgis, Mich. “the first week of June,” pending FDA approval. Abbott, one of the largest infant formula makers in the U.S., is working with the FDA under a legal agreement to reopen the site, which is estimated to produce one-fifth of the country’s total formula supply.   A message from Bank of America:     NIGHTLY NUMBER $1 trillion The amount the U.S. deficit will shrink to this year, before beginning to soar in 2024 , just as Americans prepare to elect the next president, Congress’ nonpartisan budget forecaster predicted today.   STEP INSIDE THE WEST WING: What's really happening in West Wing offices? Find out who's up, who's down, and who really has the president’s ear in our West Wing Playbook newsletter, the insider's guide to the Biden White House and Cabinet. For buzzy nuggets and details that you won't find anywhere else, subscribe today.     PARTING WORDS DOWNING, BUT NOT OUT — “Lucky f—er” was how Boris Johnson was described by one of his opponents last week, and it seems the stars have once more aligned in his favor, Esther Webber and Annabelle Dickson write. A long-awaited report by senior civil servant Sue Gray into a series of parties at Downing Street and Whitehall landed today. Despite one of the most feared names in Whitehall laying bare the lurid details of raucous nights of booze and boogying for all to see, the report failed to land a killer blow. Gray spoke of “failures of judgment” which saw senior staff either allow or encourage rule-breaking events, for which she said leaders in government and the civil service “must bear responsibility.” Yet the manner and timing of the Partygate reckoning make it unlikely this will come to pass. Gray managed to take the sting out of her own final verdict, since she was mainly left to repeat criticisms of the government she had made already in an interim report. The drip-drip of information about social events held in Downing Street and the slow-burning investigations by Gray and the police over six months defused some of the allegations’ initial impact and MPs’ willingness to defenestrate Johnson.   A message from Bank of America: What will it take to create a more sustainable world? Three Bank of America leaders discuss what the transition to a low-carbon economy entails, why environmental and social challenges are linked, and the essential role financial institutions and investors must play in driving solutions. They share the innovations needed in financing, technology and risk management to counter the environmental and social challenges facing our planet. “Sustainable finance means putting humanity and purpose together with capital. Every industry has the power and obligation to adapt and help drive positive change,” said Karen Fang, Global Head of Sustainable Finance for Bank of America. Learn how Bank of America is supporting the transition to a sustainable economy through its operations, business activities and partnerships.   Did someone forward this email to you? Sign up here.   Follow us on Twitter Chris Suellentrop @suellentrop Tyler Weyant @tweyant Myah Ward @myahward   FOLLOW US

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