Judge Jeanine: Our kids deserve our protection

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Judge Jeanine: Our kids deserve our protection

Parkland, Florida school shooting sparks debate over gun control and how to secure schools; 'Justice with Judge Jeanine' host speaks out on 'Hannity.'

This is a rush transcript from "Hannity," February 15, 2018. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

SEAN HANNITY: And welcome to HANNITY. And this is a Fox News alert.

We have a lot of breaking news about the Florida high school shooter, confessing to killing 17 people.

And also breaking at this hour, new questions about how all of the warning signs surrounding the gunman, Nikolas Cruz, were missed. What went wrong, and why did so many red flags go unnoticed? We're going to have a comprehensive discussion tonight.

Also tonight in the face of unspeakable evil, violence, tragedy, people rose up to protect other people. We're going to show you heroes that saved lives at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.

And while politicians, the media, they're all pointing fingers, placing game, giving you the same predictable talking points, tonight, we will offer solutions. How do we protect students at schools all across the country? Answers. That is in tonight's breaking news opening monologue.

HANNITY: We start tonight with breaking news and details about the investigation into this horrific tragic Florida high school shooting. The 19-year-old gunman Nikolas Cruz, he has now confessed to slaughtering 17 innocent people and wounding at least a dozen others.

Cruz is also telling investigators details of the sinister attack. He shot students in the hallway. He fired into five separate classrooms and Cruz also confessed to authorities that he had extra ammunition in his backpack. We're also learning disturbing new details of missed warning signs in what is now one of the worst mass shootings in American history. All of the red flags were there but tragically, Nikolas Cruz was able to commit this heinous act.

The FBI is, in fact, confirming tonight that in September, a YouTube user, with the name Nikolas Cruz spelled the name the same way as the shooter was reported to the bureau for writing, quote: I'm going to be a professional school shooter.

The man who reported the comments said that the FBI visited him the following day but the bureau is saying today that it could not be determined the time, the location, and actual identity of who posted the comment.

Our own Catherine Herridge as she noted earlier today all the FBI would have had to do is trace the IP address which is a routine practice to determine the location of the individual. For some reason, it didn't happen in this case.

The mayor of Broward County is saying that Nikolas Cruz was being treated at a mental health clinic but stop seeking treatment more than a year ago. And authorities are describing his social media post as beyond disturbing.

Just take a look at some of these pictures. You can see the suspect. Is he seen posing with guns and knives and even dead animals. And former classmates of Cruz say he was a loner, he was obsessed with firearms. He liked to show off pictures of all of his weapons.

'The Miami Herald' is reporting that Cruz had been suspended for fighting and having ammunition in his backpack and Cruz was then later expelled for disciplinary reasons and was attending a school in Broward County for at risk students. Cruz also had problems at home. Both parents adopted him and his brother are dead. His mother passed away in November.

The suspect was staying with a friend's family and there were also reports of Nikolas Cruz having ties to a Florida-based white supremacist group. But law enforcement said earlier today that they haven't seen any of those connections. We'll continue to monitor.

What's also very troubling tonight is how students are describing their former classmate. Now, this is what they say about the shooter, Nikolas Cruz. Let's watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He definitely had just some things a little off about him. It was just more or less that he was aggressive and quiet and shy about when he got aggressive.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: His personality was like very different.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was a bit off. He would like curse randomly in the middle of lunch. You know, he would just like scream out random curse words. Like he always seemed a little bit off, you know. Just something was wrong with him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A lot of like crazy stuff that he did. Just not -- he got kicked out of school most of the time. Honestly people were saying it was going to be him. Joked like that saying that he would be the one to shoot up the school, but it turns out, you know, everyone predicted it.
That's crazy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: Just like with other mass shooters, there were signs, there were warnings of mental, social, emotional problems. But all the pieces were never put together to prevent this tragedy from happening. And like with many other shootings and terrorist attacks, Nikolas Cruz was telegraphing his attentions all over social media.

Aside from the obvious fact that anyone that would commit these horrible acts of evil and violence are completely deranged, the one commonality between the gunman and Parkland, Florida to Southerland, Texas, to the church in South Carolina, Sandy Hook, Virginia Tech are mental health issues and mental illness.

During an address to the nation earlier today, the president offered his deepest condolences and highlighted this issue of mental health. Let's take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We comfort the grieving and the wounded. And we hurt for the entire community of Parkland, Florida, that is now in shock and pain and searching for answers. To law enforcement, first responders, and teachers who responded so bravely in the face of danger, we thank you for your courage.

We are committed to working with state and local leaders to help secure our schools and tackle the difficult issue of mental health. Later this month, I will be meeting with the nation's governors and attorney generals where making our schools and our children safer will be our top priority. It is not enough to simply take actions that make us feel like we are making a difference. We must actually make that difference.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: Profound words from the president saying it's not enough to feel better. It's got to make a difference.

He is also, the president is, planning to visit Parkland, Florida, and offer comfort and support to the community. Details have not yet been finalized.

Also predictably within hours, Democrats, the liberal media, they race as they always do to politicize a tragedy and try to blame, believe it or not, President Trump and Republicans. Let's take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKA BRZEZINSKI, MSNBC: Step up. Be a man, and talk about it and stop thinking about the NRA and your next campaign donation. Just stop. Everyone knows what you're doing. And it's time.

That does it for us this morning. Stephanie Ruhle picks up the coverage right now.

STEPHANIE RUHLE, MSNBC: Thanks so much, Mika. Thanks, Joe.

And to Marco Rubio, you don't have to step up and be a man. Step up and be a human.

SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, D-CONN.: Words of contemplation, talk about mental health are complete not enough. They must be followed by real action. The president has to lead or get out of the way.

SEN. BILL NELSON, D-FLA.: The people have got to say enough is enough. We are not continuing with all these massacres. And we have got to have the representatives of the people in the halls of government respond to that.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HANNITY: This has happened with Republican administrations, under Democratic administrations. But what you see there is shameful. It's disgusting. But it's not surprising because it's so predictable. It happens every single time there is a shooting.

Hollywood celebrities, they are all so quick to post their hateful messages, of course, aimed at the president, Republicans on Twitter.

Let's start with Chelsea Handler, tweeting, quote: We have to elect candidates not funded by the NRA in November. We have an opportunity to elect candidates who won't allow kids to go to school and get shot. It's disgusting how many times this has happened and Republicans do nothing.
You all have blood on your hands.

Bette Midler: Another school shooting. This in Florida. Congrats to the spineless cowards who do nothing to help us end this horrific epidemic in Congress.

And Director Adam McKay posted. Normal person, oh my God, kids are being killed in schools, churches, concerts. Let's do something. Republican congressman, kids are being killed in schools and churches and concerts. Let's not do one single thing, #bloodonyourhands @GOP and @NRA.

Author Stephen King writes: Broward school shooting, there will be prayers from blabbermouth Don, Pence the Grinch and their rightwing cohorts. There will be no call for any sort of sane gun regulations.

Sadly, it is the left's solution every single time this happens. They rush to judgment. They want to point fingers and blame and use all kinds of vicious horrific, rhetoric. It never accomplishes anything.

They shouldn't be what these tragedies are about here. You have people rolling out the same old tired talking points and political arguments. You know, liberals, they start blaming the weapon that the shooter used. In this case an AR-15. But if they want to ban AR-15s and these mad men, they will use something else. We saw that at Virginia Tech where a gunman used a pistol and killed 32 people.

Look, let's get to solutions tonight. I have been in radio for 30 years in my life. This is now my 23rd year at the Fox News Channel. I know all of the talking points. And I know it's all just noise and it's not going to solve the problem.

Here's the simple truth. You're not going to change people's minds with a political debate, especially as it relates to the Second Amendment. I am a strong supporter of the Second Amendment. My mind is not going to be changed.

I have thought this through all these years in my life. And I doubt can I change the minds of any of these Hollywood liberals and the anti-Second Amendment crowd. The problem this country is facing right now is school safety.

We can keep repeating the same talking points and talking over each other again and again and again after something like this happens. Or maybe it's trying to actually find a solution to this problem. The children of this country deserve to be protected. They deserve safe schools.

As the president said, no child, no teacher should ever be in danger in an American school. We could all agree on that. No parent should have to fear for their son or daughters when they kiss them goodbye in the morning.

I want to lay out a solution that I think is not political and, frankly, I believe any reasonable person can agree on. This is about the safety and security of students and children in our schools. And every single school in the country immediately a comprehensive, threat assessment done by law enforcement professionals.

Every school has a unique situation. And for those that will say oh, oh, where are we going to get the money for this? Well, I would argue that it's probably more than likely local police, local FBI would be happy to help schools figure out the best plan of action to protect these kids and keep them safe.

You're going to have to secure the perimeter of every school. All points of entry must be secure. You've got make sure that there is a system that controls who is going in and out of the building.

And in addition to that, you will need a strong, physical security presence. And you can start by hiring trained, armed, former, or retired police officers, trained, armed, former retired armed military veterans.

In other words, let's give our kids the same security that most politicians that they get. Let's give them the same protection that actors and actresses get on the red carpet when they are at the Oscars and pretty much everywhere else they go. We have plenty of retired officers, plenty of trained professionals, plenty of trained military guys. They can conceal their weapons. But their very presence also with the strategy, strategic plan that is properly implemented will bring about a profound change.

I know there are probably detractors out there say but, Sean, Parkland, Florida high school, they had an armed security guard.

OK, here's the thing. The school has 3,000 students. It's one of the biggest campuses in Florida. You're going to need more than one person to properly assess and deter any potential threat at a facility that large. We need enough people to protect every single building, every point of entry, and the entire perimeter.

Some of you will argue, OK, this is going to cost money. You're right. My answer is, yes. But is it not worth every penny so that we never ever have to turn on our TVs like yesterday and see this unfold ever again like what happened in Parkland?

Here is another point about the plan. We already know it works. I broadcast from New York City. And post-9/11, you cannot enter a single office building without a work ID. I have a radio building I enter. I have a TV building I enter.

If you are a visitor in any of these buildings, you have to present a valid identification, or else you are not getting in. And have you to be vouched for by people that have been secured and already in the building or work in the building. Every student can have their own valid ID before entering the school and also where needed metal detectors which have already proven to be effective in some schools in the country.

Here's the bottom line, we are at a crossroads. It's time to either step up, do our job, create school safety that will work for these kids. Give them the same safety our politicians, actors, actresses, and famous people get. And instead of bringing out the same old talking points and trying to score cheap political points and trying to outdo each other with the same arguments, same attacks, nobody's minds being changed, maybe for once we can solve the problem. And this should be all about solutions.

I'm not saying this plan is flawless. Nothing is ever going to stop 100 percent of these things from happening. There is evil in the hearts of other people, unfortunately, in this world. But, why wouldn't we try to do every single thing we can do in this case to prevent these tragedies from occurring and make them less deadly if, in fact, they do happen.

Here's a simple test and a question for everybody tonight I think they can ask themselves. If God forbid you ever found yourself in any type of administrative building and that building has an active shooter, would you prefer to know that there are trained, armed, retired military and police already on site to give you a fighting chance? Would you want to know that there was a complete threat assessment, security assessment on that building that was completed? My guess is you probably.

Here's our final point. Democrats, they say gun control leads to less violence. Well, if that's the case, I would like for them to explain why cities with the highest murder rates have the strictest gun controls and are run by Democrats. Look at these stats about the number of murders in 2016. All of these cities have Democratic mayors and have been run by liberals for years. Yet, their crackdowns on the Second Amendment, it has done nothing to stop violence.

Liberals also don't want you to know about these shocking statistics. During the Obama presidency, over 3,900 murders in his adoptive town of Chicago. And more than 18,000 people who were shot in Chicago just during the last six years of his presidency.

Do you remember hearing this kind of outrage and blame by the left about the out-of-control violence? That's one American city. And liberals also love to say that giving people the right to carry doesn't prevent crime. The figures say otherwise.

Let's take a look at some of the charts given to us by author 'More Gun Less Crime', John Lott Jr., from the Crime Prevention Research Center. The chart shows violent crime before and after right-to-carry laws were enacted in the U.S., and as you can see having more citizens armed leads to a decrease in violent crime.

Here's another graphic on murder rates before and after right-to-carry laws were put into place. Also in the U.S., murders have plunged as a result.

And as John Lott Jr. points out as more people carry guns you see further drops in both of those statistics.

All right. A lot to absorb. The answer is, we've got to protect our kids. We don't need to tune in to what we saw yesterday ever again. Let's start solving the problem.

Here with reaction, the host of JUSTICE WITH JUDGE JEANINE PIRRO.

Judge, any court that you walk in to in America I have to go through a metal detector, any one that I have ever been. I also have to present an ID in any court I have ever been to. Every time I have been to Congress, every RNC convention, every DNC convention, every ballgame I go to and every office building in New York.

Can we not do something better instead of the same old arguments?

JUDGE JEANINE PIRRO, JUSTICE WITH JUDGE JEANINE HOST: Well, you know, Sean, you're so right and what you said certainly rang true to me when whenever something like this happens we go to the old argument. The Second Amendment people say, you know, the right of the individual to possess or bear arms shall not be infringed. And then on the left, they say that guns kill people. I think shooters kill people.

But let me start by saying, Sean, number one, that as the D.A., I would often have to tell a parent that their child was the victim of a homicide.
So my heart goes out to all of those parents and all of those people who knew the victims here.

But we need to be very clear. This is not a political issue. This is not an issue about the left and the right and the NRA. Actually, I'm sick of hearing the NRA.

And in the interest of full disclosure. Let me say I have many guns. I have long guns. I have handguns.

But this is really about the individual and in this case, an individual who not only threatened and posted himself on YouTube as someone who wanted to be a professional school shooter, but that individual had been expelled from school. He had all kinds of personal problems. And, yet, he was able to purchase a gun.

Why was he able to purchase a gun? Because background checks, to be honest with you are a joke in the sense that if you are on cycle tropic drugs, if you have been in a mental institution, HIPAA law protects us and I used to sign pistol permits all the time as a judge. It prevents us, the HIPAA laws from, finding out what your mental history is. So, all the wackadoos from Adam Lanza and school shooters from Aurora, Columbine, they can get them with no problem although some got them from their parents. But that's not the point.

You are absolutely right. We need to protect kids and that means we have got to have metal detectors. We've got to have experienced cops. I don't care if they are retired or they're skilled cops working in the schools. And we've got to be able to have perimeter controls.

We have to have police -- teachers who can carry a weapon and react to this kind of nonsense, because our kids deserve our protection, Sean.

HANNITY: You know, look, I'm not saying -- I know schools that right now, if you are a parent, there is only one door you are getting, that they do have security at these schools. There is only one door. And even if they know you, I have gone into schools where hi, Mr. Hannity, I need your ID.
First thing they would say.

PIRRO: Yes.

HANNITY: You know, no exception.

PIRRO: Sean, you can do that at a building in New York City. They will say hi, Judge Jeanine, do you have your ID? Wait a minute, we're in New York City, you know who I am.

But I agree with you, Sean. What we had here though was a warning that we haven't had in other cases. And with all due respect to the FBI, if they deserve it, based on everything we are hearing, about, I don't want to hear another FBI agent go up to a microphone and say, we had no further identifying information.

Wait a minute, you are the FBI. Some guy did the right thing and he called you. And he said this kid is on YouTube saying want to be a professional school shooter. How many people in this country have the name Nikolas Cruz? How many people in this country have the name Nikolas with a K. How many have bought a gun.

If we learned anything from 9/11, it's that the federal agencies don't connect with each other. This kid, all the warnings were there. All they needed to do was connect the dots and they didn't.

HANNITY: I think, Judge, you couldn't say it any better.

All right. We appreciate your insight. We'll be watching you this weekend and you're in for me tomorrow night and people will be watching. Thanks, Judge.

When we come back, President Trump, we have a lot of breaking news, vowing tough action on mental health following the shooting massacre in Florida.
Ed Henry has details and so many more angles and introduce you to the heroes from yesterday, straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Talked to my teacher and said I am scared. Then would all heard gunshots. And he unlocked the door and let us in. I had thought he was behind me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is Mr. Beigel?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But he wasn't.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What happened?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When he opened the door, he had to re-lock it so we could stay safe. And he didn't get the chance to.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: A student describing how her geographer teacher was killed yesterday protecting her and her fellow classmates during the shooting. That's not the only incredible act of heroism we are hearing about tonight.

Joining us now with a lot more is Fox News's Trace Gallagher.

A lot of heroes here that have come up, Trace.

TRACE GALLAGHER, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, most schools, including this one have active shooter drills giving students and teachers guidelines on how to react. Experts say during a genuine attack, instinct takes over. And in this case, the instinct of 37-year-old assistant football coach and security guard Aaron Feis was to throw himself in front of students to shield them from the bullets. The coach was shot and later died in surgery.

Those who knew him say he died the same way he lived, putting himself second.

Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean, he was a big man. He sprinted with everything he had towards it to make sure everybody was safe. I heard that he got in front of a couple people and shielded them. He actually took the bullets for them.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know when Aaron's funeral is, I don't know how many adults are going to go, but you will get 2,000 kids there, the kids in this community loved him. They adored him. He was one of the greatest people I knew.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GALLAGHER: And witnesses say that geography teacher you mentioned, Sean, Scott Beigel knew that kids in the highway were in danger, so he opened his classroom door to let them in. But when he tried to re-lock the door, the shooter walked by it that very moment and he was shot and killed. Students inside his classroom say he got in the way of the killer and likely saved many lives.

Several other teachers also barricaded their doors and hid their students.

And then there was the story of the unnamed janitor who witnesses say helped save the lives of students who were unknowingly running toward the shooter. They say the janitor told them to run the other way and ushered them into a classroom for safety. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He stopped us and he got us into her classroom. I would say 30 to 40 students into this teacher's classroom at the same time, and as a result of their heroic actions, they saved probably all of our lives, about 40 of us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GALLAGHER: Yes, amazing to think -- amazing to think that within seconds many students witnessed both the epitome of evil and the height of heroism.
And many other stories we have yet to hear about -- Sean.

HANNITY: amazing heroism. Thanks, Trace, for that report. We appreciate it.

And earlier this morning, the president delivered a powerful address to the nation and he says he plans to travel to Parkland, Florida in the coming days.

Live from Pompano Beach in Florida with much more, Fox News chief national correspondent, our own Ed Henry -- Ed.

ED HENRY, FOX NEWS CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Sean, good to see you.

You want to talk about heroes, I can tell you this time last night at this medical center that I'm standing in front of, there were fears that the death toll of 17 was going to rise. There were still people still in critical condition. People here working around the clock to save lives, doctors, nurses, first responders.

I can tell you tonight, there is a glimmer of hope. There is only one patient left in critical condition. They are still rallying around that patient.

The president giving his thanks, certainly today, grateful for everyone, sprinkling into action but also trying to heal the nation as he spoke from the White House. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We are committed to working with state and local leaders to help secure our schools and tackle the difficult issue of mental health. Later this month, I will be meeting with the nation's governors and attorney generals where making our schools and our children safer will be our top priority. And it's not enough to simply take actions that make us feel like we are making a difference.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HENRY: Now, remember, after that horrific shooting in Las Vegas, the president and first lady Melania Trump didn't just talk to families of victims, they also went in, met with doctors at a medical center, the nurses, the first responders to thank them.

I'm told by the doctors here today that without the EMT technicians jumping on this quickly and stopping the bleeding, there would have been many, many more lost lives. And so, the president will be here in south Florida at Mar-a-Lago this time tomorrow night, Sean. There's nothing on the official schedule just yet.

But one official suggested to me that as early as Saturday morning, the president is likely to be at this medical center, the high school, somewhere in this region wanting to show more directly his thanks for everything that everyone on the ground here has done, Sean.

SEAN HANNITY, FOX NEWS HOST: All right, Ed Henry, thanks so much for that report. We appreciate it joining us with more. We have former LAPD detective Fox News contributor Mark Fuhrman former FBI special agent Manny Gomez. Mark I have known you over the years. We don't often disagree, you have seen a couple of flaws in what I think -- you are never going to convince an antigun person to be pro-second amendment and similarly I have carried a weapon almost all of my adult life. I have had carry permits in New York, California, Alabama, Georgia and Rhode Island. I have had carry permits. It's part of -- I was trained since I'm 11 in the use of a firearm. So, you are not going to win on that debate. But securing the schools with the professionals to me is 1,000 percent doable. And we owe it to the kids to do this.

MARK FUHRMAN, DETECTIVE, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: We do. We do. And the only thing that -- I don't disagree with you. I just think that there is a better approach. When you have retired personnel, they have the best part of their career behind them, and you need a generational gap that isn't two or three generations perhaps the better part of one. These officers on the school need to be able to interact with these students and get that information that a guy like Cruz would have surfaced and they would have actually confided in the officer. You need to get some kind of a system where have you protocols for all these schools so everybody is working off the same sheet of music. And you need to harden the inside targets so the suspect can't get in, and you create the tactical situation for a shooter on the outside, which allows responding officers and the security officers to take out the suspect with no danger to the students. I think this is all possible without gun control.

HANNITY: All of it is. Strategically and tactically. Look, my guess, Manny, is you are going to have retired military, retired police or maybe active. I think you can even work in conjunction with local law enforcement to get this done and, again, it would be conceal carry. I think a lot of the students would become friends with these guys over time and Mark is right. We can get a lot of intelligence from them. But strategically, tactically, you surround the perimeter. You have a full threat assessment, security assessment. All -- we know the entry point at any point. And all of this, everybody gets in is known. Nobody that is unknown gets in to that school, period, end of sentence. It seems doable if we choose to do it.

MANNY GOMEZ, FORMER FBI SPECIAL AGENT: I totally agree. Having the experience of former military, former law enforcement, we just had a wonderful piece where the coach from this high school saved lives. This is a coach that knew these students. He was a father-figure perhaps. Certainly an adult figure to these young men and women. That is what we need. We need people that these young people will respect, look up to if they have problems. Whether it's an active shooter situation or on a more day-to-day basis. A drug condition, a criminal condition, a bullying condition, they will go up to these former law enforcement, former military role models and be able to discuss with them what they could do to help the situation. So it will be a win-win-win on a daily basis.

HANNITY: For everybody.

GOMEZ: Absolutely right.

HANNITY: If they are there every day. Look, I was a kid smoking in the bathroom. I got to know the janitors, everybody because they wouldn't rat me out for when I was young and stupid. But, in all seriousness, they are going to get to know these kids. Those kids are going to open up to them and all the things that the kids are saying post the shooting. This guys would heard it earlier. They have the training and knowledge and how to intervene in a situation like that.

GOMEZ: Agreed.

FUHRMAN: I agree, Sean. When you have somebody that is inside a system like a school, you have to not only have security, you have to be able to have investigative skills to be able to very effectively and sometimes under the radar investigate some of these problems that you see or that are reported to you. Just remember that all security from the protection of the President to anything that the FBI does, the Israelis, anybody will tell you, security is a layered event. It's not just one. You have layers of security. So you always contemplate a failure of one or something that fails or something that is taken out. You need a layer of security no matter what and a school especially.

HANNITY: All right. Thank you both. If every American demands this in their district, we will have safer schools. 1,000 percent safer. All right. When we come back we have a heated debate. Dan Bongino, Geraldo Rivera who is down in Florida as we continue, stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HANNITY: All right. Following yesterday's deadly shooting in the Florida. Democrats, members of the media so quick to politicize the tragedy. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JIM HIMES, D-CONN.: The pattern will be predictable. There will be a moment of silence. People will wish everybody thoughts and prayers and sympathy for the victims and then the congress of the United States will do absolutely nothing.

BRIAN WILLIAMS, MSNBC: And that city you are in, Washington, if you match it against public opinion polls of their constituents. Lawmakers in that City are failing American people every day.

TOM VERNI, CNN: I just really don't know what the body count needs to be before people in Washington, D.C. give a rat's ass about the people in this country and their children.

SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, D-CONN.: This one is the 18th school shooting just this year but also the day-by-day deaths that are preventable and we have an obligation to prevent -- Congress has been complicit. Congress bears responsibility.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: All right. Joining us now with reaction, Fox News correspondent at large Geraldo Rivera. Former secret service agent Dan Bongino. Geraldo last night we got a lot of reaction. This has to end. I share your passion and I know how sincere you are, then you went into AR-15 argument.
I don't want this to change into a gun debate, because I think we better transcend it quick. I will never convince you that on the issue of guns and I own AR-15's. You are never going to convince me, so, if we get rid of the AR-15, Virginia tech was the worst shooting in history and that was a pistol. Get rid of the AR-15 and get rid of the pistol. What about securing the schools? What about the retired military, trained, armed, police military guys securing the perimeter a real plan like we have for actresses and actors and politicians?

GERALDO RIVERA, FOX NEW ROAMING CORRESPONDENT: You know, brother, I totally endorse your campaign to harden our schools. I think that detective Fuhrman laid it out in very explicit terms with the layer defense and so forth and I can't top that. I'm 100 percent behind you on that Sean, but I think that people have to get their arms around a harsh reality. That in the state of Florida and many other states, a psycho, disturbed, expelled 18-year-old who is talking about being the next school yard shooter can legally purchase an AR-15, military style assault weapon. This is a kid who can't buy a beer in this state. I think that it is outrageous and illogical, Sean, and we have to remember one thing that AR-15 was banned. Sales of that weapon were banned in this country from 1994 until 2004.

HANNITY: That didn't help.

RIVERA: Under the Brady ban.

HANNITY: It didn't help.

RIVERA: For 10 years we didn't have it.

HANNITY: It didn't help.

RIVERA: Let us do something. We can't have the kid who is fermenting all this evil inside him have such easy access. Not only did he get the machine --

HANNITY: All right, Dan?

DAN BONGINO, FORMER SECRET AGENT SERVICE: Geraldo, listen, I appreciate your emotional, you know, involvement in this as well. It was a tragedy. But let's talk reality. The assault weapons ban, the Department of Justice's own study on the assault weapons ban said it did almost nothing to reduce firearms violence. So what you are suggesting to be clear here is, what? That legal law abiding American citizens like me, I own an AR, frankly, Geraldo, I like you, I respect your opinion, but I don't care about your opinion about what weapons I should have. Why should I be stopped, because you want to -- hold on, because you wants to reinstitute a ban that the Department of Justice itself said had almost no effect.

RIVERA: Have you heard.

BONGINO: Wait a second.

RIVERA: Hold it, Daniel, have you heard from the children in this school? Have you heard from the children going up to the news teams and telling them how disappointed they are in the adults? Have to do something. Get off the pot. The thoughts and prayers. If I hear one more politician tell me about the dead 17 kids are in their thoughts and prayers, I don't care about their thoughts and prayers anymore.

BONGINO: I appreciate that, I get it, I have got kids. You know what? You were a war correspondent at one point. I was a police officer. I have actually been shot at. And do you know what? I had a firearm to defend myself. You know, and suggesting somehow that we are going to make these kids some of whom are dead safer by disarming and making them sheep in a school and by stopping legal law abiding people from getting guns is not the -- entirely disingenuous. Moral high ground on that.

RIVERA: Hold on. I have been at Fox News for 17 years. I understand how my feelings on this are not in sync with the majority of my audience. I apologize for that, but you have to know how deeply I feel about this. When an 18-year-old who has been expelled from school whether he is orphaned or leaves his foster family or shooting in the backyard and he is telling other friends you is got to come see my guns, when that kid can go up to this gun seller here and legally purchase an AR-15 with 30 round clips, the standard clips and buy a half a dozen of them, and extra ammo, and this is the same kid, this is the same punk psycho loser kid, who can't buy a Budweiser, because is he underage, if everyone does see how illogical that is, then I feel sorry for people. Your embrace of the second amendment is so fervent and blind.

HANNITY: Remember, 32 -- the worse U.S. school shooting, 32 was a pistol. But, let me go back. I think I'm proving a point here. We're not going to convince either side in this debate. You're not going to convince Dan.
You're not going to convince me. We're not going to convince you. I think the answer, I will throw it to Dan first, is to protect the schools. Full security markups of every school. Secure perimeters. Entry point's only and armed retired military police. Dan?

BONGINO: Sean, it's the only way. I was a cop. When I used to sit in this cell, sometimes I would talk to the criminals we arrested on gun crimes. America, are you listening to me? Criminals don't care. They don't give a damn about your gun laws. As a matter of fact, they love your gun laws. Do you know why? They get to prey on a bunch of innocent sheep out there. I'm not disputing Geraldo authenticity or his genuine passion for his at all, I am simply suggesting the solution he presents is an irrational one that -- we both agree, Geraldo, this kid should have never been in possession of firearms. I'm simply saying your solution will not work it is entirely irrational.

RIVERA: I'm not going to back to guns. I have five kids. I have got a 12-year-old who is in middle school. I want her protected the way my money is protected in the bank. I want her protected the way we are when we go into airports. I want our most -- we always say what your most precious possession? My most precious possession are my children. We always say that let's put our money where our mouths are. I hope that the President as he is coming down and I know that he is coming here to Parkland, will also voice his concerns about this in a very deep and heart-felt way in a sincere way. I agree. But I definitely think we have got to look.

HANNITY: Geraldo, at the end of the day, we all agree on that point. And you can't tell me that if we can secure the airport, secure our planes, secure the Oscar's red carpet and everybody else that wants security, that we can't do it for our kids. That is a must. Good to see you both. Appreciate it. If you are a parent, you definitely want to see this next segment. We're going to tell you the warning signs to look for and others if you see it happening, see something, say something that actually happened this time. What should you be looking for, next?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HANNITY: All right. Like so many other horrific mass shootings, Nikolas Cruz displayed pretty disturbing warning signs to classmates and teachers including some behavior so bad he was expelled from school. Joining us is psychiatrist Dr. Daniel Bober is with us. And also radio talk show host Dr. Gina Loudon. Dr. Loudon, we got into this last night, all the signs were there. People.

GINA LOUDON, RADIO TALKSHOW HOST: They were.

HANNITY: People, you know, see something, say something. They said something. The FBI was brought in. The evidence was all over social media. The kids had an inkling that something was very wrong with this young man.

LOUDON: Sean, I have been on the ground enough here I have spoken with a lot of the students I spoke with my own children who go to school not too far from here. The thing they are saying yes they want something done as Geraldo said in the last segment, but I think we have to really think about what we can do. Taking politics maybe off the table and really honing in on what is practical to prevent the next shooting. And I would submit to you that it doesn't have anything to do with the things we are talking about. It has to do with the Marshall -- I'm sorry, the military like you are talking about. Coming, being available in the schools. Retired military, Sean. And maybe we can.

HANNITY: I'm not talking about military garb.

LOUDON: Take politics away. Take politics out of it do what we agree on, right? Let's find solutions for these students and then let's deal with the guns and mental health and all the other stuff on the table.

HANNITY: Doctor, let me go to you. I heard from everybody there is going to be a lot of grief counseling. But when you have got a kid that you have got to throw out of school, because he has ammunition in his backpack, it would seem in everybody's best interest, and I know some colleges offer this and maybe they have more of the resources to be able to do it, but it seems that schools should be able to intervene in a way to offer the mental health as soon as you see these signs.

DANIEL BOBER, PSYCHIATRIST: Sean, you know what? You know, a lot of people talk about mental illness, they talk about guns, you know, this was the perfect storm that came together. Only 4 percent of firearm homicides are committed by people with mental illness. Mental illness is really not a risk factor for violence. The people who are mentally ill are much less risky than they tend to be more the victims than the perpetrators. And as far as guns, we know that most people with guns are not violent people.
But if someone is hell bent on doing destruction and hurting a lot of people it's going to happen. So there is very little that we can do to prevent these types of instances.

HANNITY: I disagree in this sense and I will throw this to Dr. Loudon in the sense that we saw every sign and symptom, social media footprint. What the kids knew about him. Getting expelled from school.

LOUDON: So maybe we take.

BOBER: Hindsight biased.

LOUDON: Maybe we take what we know about this particular instance and we look for that perfect storm and those signals and we put that child in some sort of counseling. But I think that we have to consider that, Sean, 70 percent of Americans are diagnosable by the DSM5 today with some sort of mental issue. Are we going to revoke the right of the second amendment rights of all 70 percent of Americans? That would be a problem. Military rates even higher.

HANNITY: We got to pay attention to the symptoms. Thank you both. We appreciate your insight and you being back with us. We have more Hannity right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HANNITY: The race to politicize such tragedy, it's not new. We have heard all the arguments, this time it is time, we can protect all these students if we truly want to and there are people ready, willing and able to do so.
All right. We will have more on this tomorrow night. Thank you so much for being with us. Unfortunately, that is all the time we have left for being with us. The show will always be fair and balanced. We are not the destroy-Trump media. We also hope you set your DVR, you will never miss an episode.

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