Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Kids go back to School

3,000 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School students returned to school today, two weeks after 17 of their classmates were killed in a mass school shooting. The students, teachers and staff members were greeted by grief counselors as well as about 50 heavily armed police officers.  

“The counselors were there “to provide a lot of love, a lot of understanding” and to help students “ease back” into their school routines, said Broward Schools Superintendent Robert Runcie.” The heavily armed police officers are there to provide protection and reassurance. Runcie said counseling and therapy dogs were available at the campus for students on Wednesday "to provide a lot of love, a lot of understanding.”   

Due to the fact that the shooter, Nikolas Cruz, used his backpack to smuggle an AR-15 into Stoneman Douglas, the students will no longer be using backpacks when going on to the school grounds.  

Principal Ty Thomas said in a tweet that “our focus is on emotional readiness and comfort not curriculum: so, there is no need for backpacks.”  

A group of residents sang ‘Let it Shine’ outside the school, crossing guards and local officers hugged students and welcomed them back. Parents, friends and neighbors lined the sidewalk holding sings of encouragement like, “We Stand with You.” Someone also brought a pony wearing a sign that said, “Free pony kisses.”  

The class schedule for today, Wednesday, started with the fourth period class. This way the students and staff could return to the same people that they were with during the shooting. The freshman building where the shooting took place remains cordoned off. Runcie previously told the Sun Sentinel there have been “numerous” requests to have the building torn down. 

Schools Safer Today Than In 1990s, Study on Shootings Says

A study from Northeastern University is reporting that U.S. schools overall are safer today than they were in the early 1990s, and there is not an epidemic of such shootings. 

The study says that since 1996, there have been 16 multiple victim shootings in schools, these shootings involved 4 or more victims, not including the assailant. 

Four times the number of children were killed in schools in the early 1990s than today. There are around 55 million school children in the United States, and on average over the past 25 years, about 10 students per year were killed by gunfire at school. 

Mass murders in general, not just school shootings, occur between 20 and 30 times per year, and about one of those incidents on average takes place at a school. 

The researchers used data collected by USA Today, the FBI’s Supplementary Homicide Report, Congressional Research Service, Gun Violence Archive, Stanford Geospatial Center and Stanford Libraries, Mother Jones, Everytown for Gun Safety, and a New York City Police Department report on active shooters.

RASMUSSEN POLL: More Americans Blame Government Failure Than Guns In Parkland Shooting

Which is more to blame for the mass shooting at the Florida high school- the failure of government agencies to respond to numerous warning signs from the prospective killer or the lack of adequate gun control?

• 54%:    The failure of government agencies to respond to numerous warning signs from the prospective killer is to blame for the mass shooting
• 33%:    Lack of adequate gun control
• 11%:    Opt for another reason 

Among the people polled who have children of elementary or secondary school age:

• 61%:    The government is to blame for the mass shooting in Florida
• 23%:    Lack of adequate gun control is the reason for the mass shooting in Florida

Shooting Survivor's Father Admits He Altered Email Exchanges with CNN, Which is Why We Didn’t Cover the Story on the No Spin News

A student from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Colton Haab and his father Glenn Haab, admitted to doctoring an email to various news outlets, stating that CNN scripted questions at the town hall after the mass shooting. 

Glenn Haab, father of the student Colton Haab, acknowledged omitting some words from an email conversation with a CNN producer, but said he did not do it on purpose. CNN then released its version of the emails between the media outlet and Glenn and Colton Habb. The CNN email showed that the producer wanted the student to stick to a question “that he submitted,” a phrase that was omitted in the version released by the family. The exchange stirred controversy after Haab’s son, Colton, said on Fox News that CNN scripted a question for him to ask at a town hall event on school safety and gun laws last week. 

Glenn Haab later pulled his son out of the event, saying CNN refused to let Colton read a lengthy speech and instead wanted him to read a scripted question. 

Another student, David Hogg, the student who has become the face of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas shooting victims, taunted President Trump on Twitter over his draft status. David Hogg called President Trump a “draft dodging coward owned by the NRA” in a tweet he posted on February 27. He was defending the sheriff that Trump allegedly called a coward for staying outside the school during the shooting. 

President Trump did not call the sheriff a coward, using that word for Deputy Scot Peterson and implying similarly about other deputies, for their reported staying outside the building during the shooting.

Trump Tweets about AG Jeff Sessions

On Wednesday morning, President Trump tweeted, “Why is A.G. Jeff Sessions asking the Inspector General to investigate potentially massive FISA abuse. Will take forever, has no prosecutorial power and already late with reports on Comey etc. Isn’t the I.G. an Obama guy? Why not use Justice Department lawyers? DISGRACEFUL!” 

The president was reacting to Sessions revealing a day earlier that the Justice Department’s inspector general, Michael Horowitz, will investigate the allegations, in light of memos released on Capitol Hill about FBI and DOJ efforts to obtain FISA warrants to spy on a former Trump campaign adviser. 

Sessions confirmed on Tuesday, in response to a question from Fox News’ Catherine Herridge, that the abuse accusations would be investigated at the inspector general level. 

“The inspector general will take that as one of the matters he'll deal with,” Sessions said, in reference to DOJ IG Michael Horowitz. Horowitz for months has been investigating the FBI and DOJ’s actions related to the probe of Hillary Clinton’s private email use while secretary of state. 

A final report is expected soon, though Trump seemed to complain Wednesday about the amount of time it has taken. 

Mail Time!

• Bill,
I enjoy the nightly podcast. I appreciate getting the real truth about the issues of the day, that's why I'm a premium member. I agree with you that the gun laws should be determined by the individual states. I live in Massachusetts and would support a ban on all assault rifles. Where would you stand if the state of New York tried to ban all assault rifles? 

• Hi Bill, I’ve read all of your books and recently finished Killing England, which inspired a trip to Yorktown this past weekend. I’m a lifelong Virginian and had never been. Walking the land where so many fought so bravely was a humbling experience; one that all Americans should consider. The sacrifices our fore fathers made to pave the way for our freedoms simply cannot be overstated. I watch all of your podcasts, Bill, and greatly appreciate your honesty and fairness. You call it like it is no matter the political persuasion and that is very refreshing in such partisan times. The money I spent on my premium membership is the best $50 I’ve ever spent. Keep up the good work! 

• Thank you for stating yesterday that you have a cheap inexpensive gift membership. I was unaware you had one and had asked you over the weekend to create one. I felt like you were talking to me. I just bought it for a young friend of mine, a millennial who has switched, out of good common sense, from liberal to conservative. I think he will reenlist in 3 months. He likes you and missed your program. Just wanted you to know you are reaching a younger audience. Sometimes I feel like I am part of a large global community that is with you in a classroom.

Word of the Day:Turgid