Joe Biden Shares His Message of Hope After El Paso and Dayton Shootings; Interview with State Representative Joe Moody (D-TX) on Trump's Planned Visit.
JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: The shooting now stands at 22. Two more died yesterday. They're parents, they're grandparents, they're brothers and sisters now gone. And if you think the pain has dulled it all, I spoke to a resident this morning who talked about the culture of fear and hate, and the fear it strikes in their hearts today. This is a community reeling and it's a community that the president will now visit tomorrow, an arrival that threatens to divide a city still trying to pull itself together. El Paso's Democratic Party has sent an open letter asking the president to cancel his visit. The trip is being planned as the conversation begins over actions to take to prevent shootings like these, and yet again those conversations racked bipartisanship. Today we'll take a closer look at those ideas and the ones that came before them. We're going to ask the question, we're going to show you evidence of which gun laws have worked, have made a difference, which haven't as well. We want to try to change the conversation, look forward. Right now, it's a conversation that is of course taking place in Dayton, Ohio, the scene of the second mass shooting this past weekend. The president will also visit that crime scene tomorrow as people there continue to mourn the deaths of nine people. The district where it happened reopens today and while police continue to search for a motive behind the massacre, we're learning disturbing new details about what the gunman shared online prior to the shooting. Joining me now is CNN's Drew Griffon. He is in Dayton with more on the shooter and his online writings. Drew, what are we learning this morning?</s>DREW GRIFFIN, CNN CHIEF INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: And really the emerging story here, Jim, is the mental health warnings, years of them, that have been apparently missed or ignored. First to his Twitter account which is very left-leaning. He's retweeting support for groups like Antifa and violence against police. He's also supporting the more progressive you might say candidates in the Democratic Party. This according to a Twitter account that has now been removed from Twitter that CNN has confirmed is the shooter's account. But we go back to high school where fellow students tell us that this shooter was removed from school by police because of a kill list and a rape list that he had in school at the time. He was able to come back to school and appeared normal after apparently some kind of a counseling or treatment. But then just recently a girlfriend has come forward in saying just in recent months she was dating this shooter who she says had suicidal thoughts and fascinations with mass murder. All of this taking place while people knew this shooter had guns, was training with guns, had a fascination for guns. So, it's all pointing to the story that we've heard so many times before, Jim, that there was some sort of mental health problems in this person's head that people just kind of ignored -- Jim.</s>SCIUTTO: Yes. How often is that the case where you see those red flags, prior red flags that were ignored? So as you've been looking at this, are there any police records, school records that would confirm that authorities had knowledge about his apparent mental health issues prior to this attack?</s>GRIFFIN: Well, from the time that he was an adult the only arrest records we could find are a couple of traffic tickets and one DUI arrest when he was a 21-year-old. But going back to high school, we know the police pulled him off a school bus in high school and arrested him. That was all based on the kill list he was obtained. We also heard he relentlessly bullied one child. A mother said that she called and went to the school and demanded something to be done because of the bullying that her son had endured. We have asked those records from the local police department. They said they're expunged and under seal. We are now fighting with the school board to release what they know, and they are saying that that request is under a pending legal review -- Jim.</s>SCIUTTO: Drew Griffin on the story. Thanks very much. The president's upcoming visits to Dayton and here in El Paso are already generating controversy and some real public opposition. My next guest, Joe Moody, he's a Democrat who represents El Paso in the Texas statehouse. Joe, you have said, as other Democratic lawmakers here have said, that now is not the time for the president to visit. Why is that?</s>JOE MOODY (D), TEXAS STATE HOUSE: Our community is healing. There is a large segment of this community including myself that find the hateful rhetoric that the president has used about immigrants throughout the last several years, that we find that that's -- you know, that really makes him complicit in the violent acts that took place here, and that's hard for us to work through. And, you know, I think at a later time if he wants to come here and be repentant and talk about real tangible change, there's probably a time and place for that but it's just not right now.</s>SCIUTTO: I spoke -- I know that your voice is not solitary. I spoke to residents today and yesterday who said the same thing. A woman this morning told me that people, in her words, are going to go nuts tomorrow because they see the divisive rhetoric coming from the top. Do you expect protests, public protests to the president's visit?</s>MOODY: I can't see how that that doesn't happen. What I hope, though -- I know what I want to do to represent my community and that's to show love and pride in our community. I'm not ashamed that we're a community of immigrants. That's what makes us great. And so I want the pride to show through tomorrow, you know, if he does end upcoming, you know, and I hope that other people will do the same thing.</s>SCIUTTO: You know, the president and others have portrayed border areas like this as sort of a frontier between two hostile countries. In my experience here what I have learned and seen is just how integrated these communities are. I met a woman today whose husband lives on the other side of the border. I met a man yesterday who married on this side of the border and they're going back frequently there, relatives on both sides. They do business on both sides. That's the nature of this community, is it not? Not one that wants a giant wall, for instance, between the two of them.</s>MOODY: That's who we are. In fact, days before this happened you saw an artist went out to one of the border walls and put a seesaw.</s>SCIUTTO: Yes.</s>MOODY: Between them so that you could see how interconnected these communities are. It's just -- you know, it's heartbreaking when someone calls this a war zone or uses words like infestation or invasion.</s>SCIUTTO: Invasion.</s>MOODY: That's harmful. It's hurtful and it's hateful. And it leads to things like we saw in El Paso and I just hope that people understand that words matter and make a difference. And hopefully we can think about that going forward.</s>SCIUTTO: Let's talk about making a difference because Americans watching today, they've seen so many shootings like this. I've covered so many shootings like this. After each one we all ask the question, will this one be different, will change come? And based on the comments from the president, based on comments from GOP lawmakers I've spoken to, measures that have broad support even among Republicans, universal background checks, banning high capacity magazines, they appear to be dead in the water. As someone who's part of a community who just suffered a bloody crime here in the Walmart, what's your reaction to that?</s>MOODY: I hope that -- in Texas we've faced it several times. In Dallas we saw a shooter gun down police. In Sutherland Springs, in a church, in Santa Fe, in a school.</s>SCIUTTO: Yes.</s>MOODY: Each time we've taken small steps forward to address those singular incidents. We need to start thinking about this in a broader way. You know, I have carried the extremist protective border law in Texas. You can't even get it heard in committee. You know, that -- that's a shame. And hopefully what this will do is open up the conversation so that -- you know, these things aren't happening in a vacuum, they're singular incidents. This is a pervasive problem that we have to address.</s>SCIUTTO: Just look at the weapons that are out. Joe Moody, listen, we wish you the best. We're rooting for your community here. We see how it's reeling and please let us know how we can help.</s>MOODY: Thank you. Appreciate it.</s>SCIUTTO: Appreciate your time today. Well, caught up in this debate about how to stop gun violence are more than two dozen families now mourning the loss of their loved ones. This is personal for them. They're going to be suffering through this for years. Jordan Anchondo and her husband Andre, they're among the 22 people who were murdered here in El Paso. They were inside the Walmart with their 2-month-old baby son doing what many parents do this time of year, buying supplies for the school year. It's a time of hope, a new beginning. As the gunfire erupted Jordan shielded her baby with her body. Andre jumped in front of his wife.</s>MISTI JAMROWSKI, MOTHER OF JORDAN ANCHONDO: We pray a lot, and we have a lot of family and friends. The church is broken. Our lives are broken. You go to call her and you forget that she's not there, and you just keep on going because there's kids that need us.</s>SCIUTTO: In that one family there are now three orphans. In addition to the 2-month-old baby boy the Anchondos leave behind a 5-year-old and a 2-year-old as well. One family suffering -- one among many families. Still to come Joe Biden speaking to Anderson Cooper in the wake of these shootings. His reaction to the violence, his emotional personal response as well. And how should this country address the growing issue of domestic terrorism. Is law enforcement equipped to handle the threat? We will discuss coming up. We are also keeping a close eye on the markets today as the trade war between the U.S. and China heats up. The Trump administration labeling China a currency manipulator. That news sent the markets plunging. More falls expected today. Stay with us.