It’s been a week since the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., that left 17 people dead. And in that short amount of time, the teenage survivors have started a movement to turn up the pressure on lawmakers for gun control reforms.
Florida State Representative Jared Moskowitz says we shouldn’t be surprised by how quickly they mobilized.
“This is what America looks like,” he said. “This is how we’ve brought major change in this country before. Groups have risen up and demanded the system change. It just so happens that it’s kids. Maybe we’re not used to that...but if the adults in the room are failing, then let’s listen to our children.”
On Tuesday, just days after the shooting, Florida lawmakers voted down a motion to take up a bill that would ban assault rifles, reflecting the state’s historical reluctance to enact gun control reforms.
“Florida is, unfortunately, the Petri dish for the NRA,” says Moskowitz.
The legislator urged President Trump to live up to his campaign promise and make America great again. He said the commander-in-chief can’t use pushback from Congress as an excuse for not getting things done.
“Just sign an executive order and ban bump stocks,” he said. “Just sign an executive order and deal with background checks.”
The tech-savvy teenagers of Parkland have leveraged social and traditional media to mobilize people across the country. They’ve organized a national “March for our Lives” protest for March 24.
For full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/florida-state-legislator-partisanship-on-gun-control-wont-cut-it).
A resurgent Joe Biden scored sweeping victories across the country with the backing of a diverse coalition and progressive rival Bernie Sanders seized Super Tuesday’s biggest prize with a win in California as the Democratic Party’s once-crowded presidential field suddenly transformed into a two-man contest.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 785 points and bond prices surged after an emergency interest-rate cut by the Federal Reserve failed to reassure markets racked by worries that a fast-spreading virus outbreak could lead to a recession.
HotelPlanner CEO Tim Hentschel told Cheddar that the travel industry is taking the worst hit it has seen in nearly two decades thanks to the coronavirus outbreak paralyzing multiple countries.
Stocks are whipping up and down after the Federal Reserve swooped into the market with an emergency rate cut in hopes of shielding the economy from the effects of the fast-spreading virus. Tuesday's surprise move gave stocks a strong, brief boost, but it took just 15 minutes for the gains to evaporate.
Chairman Jerome Powell said at a news conference that the virus “will surely weigh on economic activity both here and abroad for some time.” It was the Fed's first rate cut since last year, when it reduced its key short-term rate three times.
The Federal Reserve will cut interest rates by a half-percentage point in its first emergency rate cut since the Great Recession in response to the spreading coronavirus.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Tuesday, March 3, 2020.
Dow Jones skyrockets on hopes central banks protect the economy from the coronavirus outbreak.
Anthony Scaramucci, the founder of SkyBridge Capital and former White House communications director, has an optimistic view of the markets going forward despite the headwinds of the COVID-19 outbreak and President Trump's handling of the health crisis.
Amy Klobuchar is ending her Democratic presidential campaign, plans to endorse Joe Biden.
