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‘Children are dying’: lawmakers argue as protesters in Nashville demand action
Amid national grief and anger over the Nashville elementary school shooting in which three children and three adults were killed, members of Congress clashed angrily in Washington while protesters demanded action in Tennessee.In Washington, while speaking to reporters on Wednesday evening, Jamaal Bowman, a Democrat from New York and a former school principal, called Republicans “gutless” for refusing to support meaningful gun control reform.Thomas Massie, a far-right Republican from Kentucky, overheard.“What are you talking about?” he asked, adding: “There’s never been a school shooting in a school that allows teachers to carry guns.”Massie is one of many Republicans to have released, often as holiday cards, images of family members holding assault weapons.Bowman responded: “Carry guns? More guns lead to more death. Look at the data. You’re not looking at any data.”The New Yorker told the Kentuckian states with open-carry laws have more gun deaths. Massie told Bowman to calm down.“Calm down?” Bowman asked. “Children are dying!”Elsewhere in the Capitol, Jared Moskowitz, a Florida Democrat, responded angrily to Marjorie Taylor Greene, after the far-right Georgia Republican advocated that teachers be armed.Moskowitz said: “You know, there are six people that are dead in that school including three children because you guys got rid of the assault weapons ban. Because you guys made it easy for people who … are mentally incapable of having weapons of war, being able to buy those weapons and go into schools.“… Did the good guys with the guns stop six people from getting murdered? No. But you know what? AR-15s, you’ve seen what those bullets do to children. You know why you don’t hunt with an AR-15, with a deer? Because there’s nothing left. And there’s nothing left of these kids when people go into school and murder them while they’re trying to read.“You guys are worried about banning books? Dead kids can’t read.”On Thursday there were angry scenes in Nashville, as protesters gathered at the state capitol while the Republican-dominated legislature took up work for the first time since the shooting.Chants of “Save our children!” echoed in hallways between the senate and house chambers, with protesters inside and outside the building. Some filled the senate gallery, including children who held signs reading “I’m nine”. Most were removed after some began yelling: “Children are dead!”There were quieter scenes on Wednesday night, at a candlelight vigil.The victims at the Covenant School were Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs and William Kinney, all nine years old; Katherine Koonce, the head of the school, who was 60; Cynthia Peake, a substitute teacher who was 61; and Mike Hill, the school custodian, who was also 61.Speakers including lawmakers and religious leaders led prayers and gave condolences. The first lady, Jill Biden, was there. The Republican governor of Tennessee, Bill Lee, was not.Nashville residents offered musical performances. Sheryl Crow, who has called for gun control reform, sang I Shall Believe. Margo Price performed Tears of Rage. Ketch Sector, of Old Crow Medicine Show, performed Will the Circle Be Unbroken?The Nashville police chief, John Drake, expressed gratitude to officers who killed the shooter.“Many of us hoped and prayed these evil acts we saw would never happen in Nashville,” Drake said.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionShaundelle Brooks, whose 23-year-old son was a victim of a shooting at a Nashville Waffle House in 2018, was present.“I know what it’s like to be a parent – what it feels like, like you’re drowning and can’t move, and that weakness and that hole that comes in your stomach,” she told the Associated Press.Another parent, the actor Melissa Joan Hart, said in an Instagram message she and her husband helped kindergartners to safety on Monday.“We helped all these tiny little, little kids cross the road and get their teachers over there,” Hart said, fighting tears.Hart, 46, also said her family lived near Sandy Hook elementary when that school, in Connecticut, was attacked in December 2012. Twenty young children and six adults were killed then.In Nashville, officials continue to seek a motive. The 28-year-old shooter, Audrey Hale, was a former student of the Covenant School. Police said the school reported no issues when Hale was a student.Police said Hale was a transgender person. On Tuesday, Drake said Hale had been put under a doctor’s care for an “emotional disorder” but police had not been contacted. He also said Hale purchased seven guns and hid them. Three guns were used in the attack. Drake has said the shooting was “calculated”. Officials have said Hale had weapons training and seemed to be prepared to face law enforcement.On Thursday, authorities released 911 calls that captured the terror inside the school. Callers pleaded for help in hushed voices as sirens, crying and gunfire were heard.One caller told a dispatcher she could hear gunshots as she hid in a closet. The caller noted a pause in the shots. The dispatcher said two other callers had reported shots at the school.“I think so,” the caller said, as children could be heard in the background. The caller said she could hear more shots. Muffled thuds could be heard.“I’m hearing more shots,” the caller said. “Please hurry.”Another caller said: “I think we have a shooter at our church … I’m on the second floor in a room. I think the shooter is on the second floor.”Another man said he was with a group including several children and they were walking away from the school. The tension and confusion were obvious, adults speaking over each other, with children in the background.
Associated Press contributed reporting More - in Elections
Are We Stuck in This Political Stalemate Forever?
Not since Joe Biden first claimed his desk in the Senate half a century ago have either Republicans or Democrats governed the nation through more than one or two election cycles. The score in the past dozen presidential contests is a flat-out tie — six to six. Control of one or both houses of Congress has ping-ponged back and forth since the 1980s as well.The longest stretch of partisan parity in U.S. history has trapped us in a political stalemate with little hope of breaking out. As a result, problems that have long plagued the nation — economic inequality, undocumented immigration, climate change, the undermining of democratic values — persist.A true realignment could shake us from the festering gridlock. But what would it take for one party to dominate American politics again?From the 1820s, when mass elections began, there have been just three periods of prolonged one-party dominance: the Democrats under Andrew Jackson and his disciples; the Republicans for long stretches from McKinley to Hoover; then the Democrats again, for extended periods from Franklin Roosevelt to Lyndon Johnson. The first was unique, fueled by a populist appeal to ordinary white male voters and support for Southern slaveholders. But each of the other two was brought on by a profound, utterly gutting economic crisis: a prolonged depression in the 1890s and another one just under four decades later.These were consequential eras. Jackson killed the central bank, and one of his Democratic successors, James Polk, provoked a war with Mexico. During the early 20th century, Republicans enriched homegrown industries and turned the federal judiciary into a dedicated foe of unions. New Deal and Great Society Democrats embraced a growing labor movement and enacted such pillars of the welfare state as Social Security and Medicare, while moving to dismantle racism under law.In many ways, however, our politics remain stuck in the long 1960s. Progressives and conservatives still battle over some of the big issues that roiled the nation half a century ago — affirmative action, the right to abortion, rights for gay men and lesbians, environmental protection and the content of education — with little lasting movement in either direction.Ending our current partisan stalemate may require a crisis on the scale of those that began or ended the earlier sway of majority parties. But even without, say, a financial debacle or outbreak of civil conflict, there may be ways for a party to achieve at least short periods of dominance.Back in 1952, the pollster Samuel Lubell argued there was a “sun” party that set the nation’s agenda and a “moon” party that “shines in reflected radiance of the heat thus generated.” Ronald Reagan’s two landslide victories did not thrust the Democrats into lunar orbit — they ran the House throughout his tenure and took back the Senate in 1986 — but Mr. Reagan did install his brand of conservatism at the center of the political solar system for the next quarter-century.Both George Bushes gained the White House running on Mr. Reagan’s three-part message of a strong defense, a smaller welfare state and “traditional” values. After Democrats lost the House in 1994, Bill Clinton embraced much of that economic gospel too. Famously declaring, “The era of big government is over” and calling for a balanced budget, he signed a “welfare reform” bill that cut back payments to single mothers in need and repealed the law that protected against stock speculation and other risky financial ventures. Not until the Great Recession of 2008 did most Democrats begin talking more like New Dealers and less like budget hawks.To achieve what Mr. Reagan did, a presidential nominee today would most likely have to break with some aspects of his or her party’s orthodoxy, taking stances that would surprise and appeal to voters they have failed to win over before.A project like this has already begun in some corners of the right. Stung by losing the popular vote in the past four presidential contests (and seven of the past eight), a growing number of Republicans now lambaste corporate power in tones that would have shocked Mr. Reagan and his allies in the Chamber of Commerce. “Big business is no friend to conservatives — that’s been clear for years,” Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri recently charged. “And it’s increasingly no friend to America.” The influential right-leaning magazine Compact has published articles opposing abortion and transgender rights, as well as pieces endorsing unions in language Bernie Sanders would appreciate. If enough working-class voters across racial lines are happy with this blend of cultural conservatism and economic populism, the G.O.P. might be able to secure a majority again.To accomplish the same, Democrats might have to emphasize a tougher stand on curbing violent crime, an issue that greatly concerns working-class voters of all races. But to do so would estrange progressives, who have increasing clout in the party. So Mr. Biden may have to rely on scaring both Democratic loyalists and independents about the dangers posed to the nation if they fail and the Republicans take back the White House and the Senate.Violence by supporters of Donald Trump following a possible indictment in New York City and perhaps elsewhere would help them make that case, as would Republican candidates around the nation afraid of saying anything to anger the ex-president’s zealous admirers. Would this be enough to bring about a new era in American politics? Probably not. But it could allow Democrats to bind their opponents to the legacy of a failed and unpopular figure as their New Deal predecessors once did to Herbert Hoover.History has few true lessons to teach, but attention should be paid to continuities. The Civil War and two of the longest depressions in U.S. history caused immense pain and left their mark on the nation for years to come. The partisan politicians and social movements that best explained why a crisis took place and compelled the government to respond to it effectively were able to define the next political era, whether for good or for ill. The 2024 election will provide a good test of which party’s leaders, if any, are equipped for that challenge.Michael Kazin (@mkazin) is a professor of history at Georgetown University and the author, most recently, of “What It Took to Win: A History of the Democratic Party.”The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips. And here’s our email: letters@nytimes.com.Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook, Twitter (@NYTopinion) and Instagram. More
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Six urgent questions TikTok’s CEO needs to answer for US lawmakers
TikTok’s chief executive, Shou Zi Chew, will be questioned by lawmakers in Washington on Thursday with the app’s US future in severe doubt. The Biden administration wants TikTok’s Chinese owners to sell their stakes in the business or face a complete ban in the US. TikTok is owned by Beijing-based ByteDance.TikTok says such a move would not “solve the problem”. Under a plan dubbed Project Texas, which the White House now appears to have rejected, TikTok is moving its US user data to third party servers and is allowing its source code to be scrutinised by Oracle, a US tech firm which will also vet its app updates.For the White House and many US lawmakers, this does not go far enough to answer concerns about whether TikTok’s data, from more than 1 billion users, can be accessed by the Chinese state and whether TikTok’s recommendation algorithm could be manipulated by the security services in order to influence what users see.Here are some the questions that Chew, a Singaporean former Goldman Sachs banker, could be asked at the House energy and commerce committee hearing, which starts at 10am ET Thursday.Has the Chinese government ever sought to access TikTok user data?The regular answer to this question by TikTok is no. “TikTok has never shared, or received a request to share, US user data with the Chinese government. Nor would TikTok honor such a request,” Chew will say on Thursday, according to written testimony released by the committee. Indeed, the energy and commerce committee’s press release states that as well as asking Chew about TikTok’s privacy and data security practices, it will ask him about TikTok’s “relationship with the Chinese Communist Party”.Suspicions about the use of TikTok data, which critics say could be used to create profiles of people of interest like government employees, centre on Chinese security laws. These include the National Intelligence Law of 2017, which states that all organisations and citizens shall “support, assist and cooperate” with national intelligence efforts. The shooting down of a Chinese spy balloon off the east coast of the US in February has not helped. Trust was also severely damaged last year by revelations that ByteDance employees had used TikTok to spy on reporters.Will TikTok shed its Chinese ownership?TikTok says the Biden administration has asked its Chinese owners to sell their stakes in the business. TikTok is owned by ByteDance, which is located in Beijing and its ownership is divided as such: 60% by external investors including KKR, the US private equity firm; 20% by employees and 20% by its founders, Zhang Yiming and Liang Rubo, who carry stronger voting rights than the other shareholders.TikTok points to the fact that its US user data is stored on Oracle servers but the only option now appears to be a sale, which could raise around $50bn. However, the Chinese government could object to a deal that would put a prized tech asset in foreign hands, including TikTok’s successful recommendation algorithm. When Donald Trump tried to ban TikTok, and sell control of its US operation, he was stymied by legal action brought by the app and we can expect any renewed attempt at a ban to end up in court.Can the Toutiao app interfere with TikTok data flows?A former TikTok risk manager turned whistleblower has told congressional investigators that the Project Texas plan is deeply flawed. The former employee has shown the Washington Post a piece of code that shows TikTok could connect with systems linked to Toutiao, a Chinese news app owned by ByteDance. The whistleblower claims this could allow for interference in the flow of data from US users. TikTok says the Toutiao code does not link back to China.The whistleblower claims he was fired after warning Chew in a letter that senior TikTok managers were “intentionally lying” to US government officials about how the Project Texas controls had been tested and verified.Are US data controls much weaker than the company says they are?Another TikTok whistleblower has told the office of Republican senator Josh Hawley that TikTok’s access controls on US user data are much weaker than the company says. According to a report by Axios, the whistleblower allegations suggest that TikTok overstates its separation from ByteDance and uses Chinese software that could have backdoors. In a letter to the US treasury secretary Janet Yellen, Hawley details the whistleblower allegations including a claim that TikTok and ByteDance employees can switch between Chinese and US data at the click of a button.TikTok says the whistleblower allegations describes tools that are “primarily analytic tools” that don’t independently grant direct access to data. It adds that neither TikTok nor ByteDance engineers have access to US user data stored by Oracle.Can Project Texas answer lawmakers’ concerns about TikTok?The committee on foreign investment in the US, a multiagency task force that scrutinises foreign investments in American companies, is so unconvinced by the Texas proposals that it has demanded TikTok shed its Chinese ownership. But aside from taking the Biden administration to court, it is the only option that TikTok has. Alongside Oracle storing US user data, the Texas proposals include Oracle looking at TikTok’s source code and vetting its app updates, Chew will argue that Project Texas, and not a sale process, is the answer to lawmakers’ concerns.“The idea behind Project Texas is it won’t matter what the Chinese law or any law says, because we’re taking US user data and we’re putting it out of their reach,” Chew told the Wall Street Journal last week.What is TikTok doing to protect children from harmful content?The committee chair, Cathy McMorris Rodgers, says tech companies like TikTok use “harmful algorithms to exploit children for profit and expose them to dangerous content online”. So although data security will feature strongly in the hearing, expect questions about the protection of children online. TikTok has over 1 billion users worldwide and more than 100 million in the US, many of them under 18. According to the Center for Countering Digital Hate, TikTok’s recommendation algorithm pushes self-harm and eating disorder content to teenagers within minutes of them expressing interest in the topics.TikTok announced a “comprehensive” update to its content guidelines this month, including placing age restrictions on “mature content” such as videos of cosmetic surgery. It will also make content that is inappropriate for a “broader audience” ineligible for recommendation in its main For You feed. Expect Chew to refer to these guideline updates. More
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House Republicans Target Bragg Ahead of Expected Trump Indictment
Three Republican committee chairmen sought to use their investigative power to involve themselves in the Manhattan district attorney’s criminal inquiry into the former president.ORLANDO, Fla. — House Republicans rallied around former President Donald J. Trump on Monday ahead of his expected indictment by a Manhattan grand jury, using their investigative power to scrutinize active criminal inquiries targeting him as at least one other G.O.P. lawmaker endorsed his 2024 presidential campaign.Three Republican committee chairmen demanded on Monday morning that Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney who is said to be close to indicting Mr. Trump, provide communications, documents and testimony about his investigation, an extraordinary move by Congress to involve itself in an active criminal inquiry.“You are reportedly about to engage in an unprecedented abuse of prosecutorial authority.” wrote Representatives Jim Jordan of Ohio of the Judiciary Committee, James R. Comer of Kentucky of the Oversight and Accountability Committee and Bryan Steil of Wisconsin of the Administration Committee. “If these reports are accurate, your actions will erode the confidence in the evenhanded application of justice and unalterably interfere in the course of the 2024 presidential election.”They demanded “all documents and communications referring or relating to the New York County District Attorney Office’s receipt and use of federal funds.”That office receives very little funding from the federal government, according to its most recent budget, but the letter also served as a warning to the F.B.I. and the Justice Department, which is also considering prosecutions of Mr. Trump.The letter was House Republicans’ latest effort to use their investigatory powers to defend Mr. Trump. They have authorized a new subcommittee to scrutinize criminal investigations into Mr. Trump’s conduct and quietly wound down a congressional inquiry into his finances and conflicts of interest as president.The Justice Department has so far resisted what federal prosecutors view as unnecessary intrusions into their work, citing longstanding department policy. Mr. Bragg was anticipated to be unlikely to allow Republicans access to materials related to an active case.“We will not be intimidated by attempts to undermine the justice process,” Danielle Filson, a spokeswoman for Mr. Bragg’s office, said on Monday, adding: “In every prosecution, we follow the law without fear or favor to uncover the truth. Our skilled, honest and dedicated lawyers remain hard at work.”Still, Mr. Trump’s lawyers have quietly urged the Republican-led House to interfere. Last month, Mr. Trump’s lawyer Joseph Tacopina wrote to Mr. Jordan calling on Congress to investigate the “egregious abuse of power” by what he called a “rogue local district attorney,” according to a copy of the letter obtained by The New York Times.But Representative Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the top Democrat on the Oversight and Accountability Committee, said it was Republicans who were abusing their power. “These committee chairs have acted totally outside their proper powers to try to influence a pending criminal investigation at the state level,” he said in a statement.The news of the Republicans’ letter came as House G.O.P. lawmakers, who have gathered for a retreat in Orlando to plot out their policy agenda, were facing fresh political calculations about how to position themselves as Mr. Trump confronts new challenges and a potentially divisive presidential primary looms.Representative Anna Paulina Luna of Florida, who has been loyal to both Mr. Trump and Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, announced her official endorsement of Mr. Trump’s presidential campaign on Monday, indicating that the expected indictment had pushed her to unequivocally choose sides.“I support President Trump,” Ms. Luna said in a statement to The New York Times. In explaining her support, she said that Mr. Bragg was “trying to cook up charges outside of the statute of limitation against Trump” and that “this is unheard-of, and Americans should see it for what it is: an abuse of power and fascist overreach of the justice system.”.css-1v2n82w{max-width:600px;width:calc(100% – 40px);margin-top:20px;margin-bottom:25px;height:auto;margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto;font-family:nyt-franklin;color:var(–color-content-secondary,#363636);}@media only screen and (max-width:480px){.css-1v2n82w{margin-left:20px;margin-right:20px;}}@media only screen and (min-width:1024px){.css-1v2n82w{width:600px;}}.css-161d8zr{width:40px;margin-bottom:18px;text-align:left;margin-left:0;color:var(–color-content-primary,#121212);border:1px solid var(–color-content-primary,#121212);}@media only screen and (max-width:480px){.css-161d8zr{width:30px;margin-bottom:15px;}}.css-tjtq43{line-height:25px;}@media only screen and (max-width:480px){.css-tjtq43{line-height:24px;}}.css-x1k33h{font-family:nyt-cheltenham;font-size:19px;font-weight:700;line-height:25px;}.css-1hvpcve{font-size:17px;font-weight:300;line-height:25px;}.css-1hvpcve em{font-style:italic;}.css-1hvpcve strong{font-weight:bold;}.css-1hvpcve a{font-weight:500;color:var(–color-content-secondary,#363636);}.css-1c013uz{margin-top:18px;margin-bottom:22px;}@media only screen and (max-width:480px){.css-1c013uz{font-size:14px;margin-top:15px;margin-bottom:20px;}}.css-1c013uz a{color:var(–color-signal-editorial,#326891);-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;font-weight:500;font-size:16px;}@media only screen and (max-width:480px){.css-1c013uz a{font-size:13px;}}.css-1c013uz a:hover{-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;}How Times reporters cover politics. We rely on our journalists to be independent observers. So while Times staff members may vote, they are not allowed to endorse or campaign for candidates or political causes. This includes participating in marches or rallies in support of a movement or giving money to, or raising money for, any political candidate or election cause.Learn more about our process.Ms. Luna indicated to Politico last week that she would lean toward Mr. Trump in a presidential matchup against Mr. DeSantis. But her full-throated endorsement underscored the forces pulling at Republicans as Mr. Trump riles up his base to support him in what he is framing as a politically motivated indictment.Mr. Trump, until now, has been more ignored than embraced by House Republicans who have preferred not to choose sides in the still-developing 2024 presidential primary.Ms. Luna, 33, was elected in November after being endorsed by both Mr. Trump and Mr. DeSantis, who also campaigned with her in the general election and called her a “principled fighter.” In the past, while trying to stay out of the brewing dogfight between the two Republican leaders, she has noted that “it’s not uncommon now to see Trump-DeSantis 2024 flags.”But with Mr. Trump claiming he would be arrested on Tuesday and agitating for people to “protest,” and Republican leaders rushing to defend him, Ms. Luna came off the sidelines.“I’m sick of the press trying to create an enemy out of someone who actually had our country in a good place from an economic and policy perspective,” she said. “Save me the virtue signaling. Trump 2024.”At the retreat here on Monday, Republicans across the board denounced Mr. Bragg and defended Mr. Trump.Representative Mario Díaz-Balart of Florida said on Monday that Mr. Bragg was a “rogue, left-wing, radical prosecutor who now has decided for political reasons to go after a former president.” He said he condoned peaceful protests in response and added of the expected indictment: “We’re used to seeing that in third-world countries. That’s something that doesn’t happen in this country.”Speaker Kevin McCarthy of California also said on Sunday that Mr. Bragg was politically motivated but argued against protests. “It’s interesting to me that he spent his whole time as a D.A. lowering felonies not to prosecute,” Mr. McCarthy said of Mr. Bragg. “Republicans and Democrats alike hate this kind of justice.” (Ms. Filson said homicides and shootings had declined under Mr. Bragg.)In an interview, Representative Elise Stefanik of New York, one of Mr. Trump’s most fervent defenders and the only party leader to endorse him, said the expected indictment “only strengthens President Trump moving forward.” And she did not discourage people from protesting, as he has urged them to do. “I do believe people have a constitutional right of freedom of speech to speak up when they disagree,” she said.Ms. Luna, a member of the House Freedom Caucus, was one of the few freshman lawmakers to join a group of rebels who voted against Mr. McCarthy during his protracted fight to win the gavel in January. She did not attend the retreat in her home state.But in a lengthy statement, Ms. Luna accused President Biden of overseeing a “botched withdrawal from Afghanistan” and pursuing a “soft-on-China approach” and charged that his family corruptly profited from the Chinese government. “And yet people are clutching their pearls and still parroting the ‘orange man bad’ mentality?” she said.Most House Republicans have remained neutral in the 2024 presidential race. Last week, Representative Chip Roy of Texas pre-emptively endorsed Mr. DeSantis, even though he has yet to officially start a presidential campaign. And Representative Ralph Norman, Republican of South Carolina, endorsed Nikki Haley, the state’s former governor.A handful of Trump loyalists, including Ms. Stefanik and Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, have endorsed the former president. But most have seen little benefit to expressing a preference in the race at this early stage.That decision has been that much harder for members of the Florida delegation — until the expected indictment prompted at least one of them to intensify their defense of Mr. Trump.“DeSantis is a great leader for Florida,” Ms. Luna said, “and I will continue to support him as my governor.”Annie Karni More
