Hey guys. So, um, obviously we just had a, a very, uh, heartbreaking but also very gratifying visit here in Minneapolis with the parents, the principal, the pastor of the children who died in this terrible school shooting about a week ago. Uh, it was obviously a very sad moment, but also in a lot of ways, a very rewarding moment that these parents opened up their lives, opened up their hearts.
They told me about their kids. They told me about their families. They told me about the community supporting them, and that was just an amazing thing to see, an amazing thing to witness, an amazing thing, uh, to get to be a part of. Um, there are a few things that I, I, I, I take away from this. The first is, as the parents themselves told me, why do we talk so much about the brutal maniac who shot up this school and not enough about the innocent children who lost their lives and were full of life, and were people, people with hopes and dreams in their own rights?
I wish that we talked a lot more about Harper, who was a beautiful young girl. She had a beautiful smile, the kind of smile that would turn a bad day into a good one, and was very proud of the fact that she just had her first, uh, communion a couple of years ago. She was one of the children who lost her life.
I also wish we talked a little bit more about Fletcher. Fletcher is a very rambunctious, was a very rambunctious and energetic kid, was a beautiful kid, had an incredible head of hair, and his parents, actually, his dad for the first time, revisited the chapel with me where his son lost his life. And that was the first time that he'd been in the chapel, uh, since his son was taken from him.
We should talk more about these kids. We should talk less about this, this shooter. We should talk less about the crazy person who took these children from us. We should talk about these kids, their hopes and their dreams, and the fact that they had a full life ahead of them. That was cut short. But I, I wanna make just a few more comments and I'll take a couple of questions.
So, number one, you know, I, I, uh, I've had a lot of good days and a lot of interesting days, and a lot of, a lot of things have happened to me since I've become the Vice President of the United States. I have never had a day that will stay, stay with me like this day did, because I really felt like these, these parents in the midst of the worst grief for their entire lives, they opened up their lives and they opened up their hearts and they made me part of it. So I'd ask a couple of things straight from the parents and straight from the families to my fellow Americans.
First of all, while two kids lost their lives, there's still one kid that's in very serious condition. And every single family, the, the, the family of Lydia, who luckily recovered, but we visited her in the hospital, the family of the two who died, Harper and Fletcher, all three of those families said, "Please say a prayer." So to my fellow Americans, if you're the praying type, say a prayer for this innocent girl who's actually in surgery right now, that the swelling will go down, that she will be okay, because she's still in a fight for her life.
And every single family to a person is desperate that the death toll, which currently is at two, stays at two. And I think if you're a praying type, you ought to say a prayer for this innocent young girl. The second thing that I'd say is, look, um, I, I, speaking to my, my fellow Americans who are parents in particular, there is nothing that you can say that can take away the grief that these parents are dealing with.
There is no word that can possibly describe the feeling or the emotion or the heartbreak. One of the ways that I'm gonna try to honor these parents and the children that they lost is by being a better dad and hugging my kids tight tonight and making sure that they know that their dad loves them, because there are two families who are not gonna get that opportunity ever again.
And if you do have kids, if you're lucky enough to have a son or a daughter, make sure that they know that you, they love you. Make sure that you hug your kids tight, because there are families in Minneapolis and won't be able to do that ever again. So with that, I'll take a couple questions.
Sir. Governor Walz said that he was gonna call a special legislative session to consider potentially new gun laws. What would you like to see state lawmakers do? What action would you like them to take?
Well, I saw that news and I talked a little bit about that with the families today. Look, I'm not gonna tell, um, the, the Minnesota lawmakers or the Governor exactly how they should respond to this tragedy. I, I, I think that there are, obviously, there is a strong desire from across the political spectrum to do something so these shootings are less common.
I, I think that it's important that they actually take steps that are durable, that are gonna work. But, but besides that, I'm not an expert in Minnesota law. I won't pretend to be. I, I would just say take the concerns of these parents seriously. I think all of us, Democrat, Republican, independent, want these school shootings to happen less frequently.
Hopefully there's some steps that we can take to make that happen.
Mr. Vice President, I know the parents want us to honor the lives of their children, and can we do that while we look into the root cause of some of these shooters? For example, this shooter was emulating the national shooter who also identified as transgender, who also targeted Christian kids. What can we learn from that and should we be investigating people who are experiencing gender dysphoria and are exhibiting signs that they might be targeting kids?
Well, certainly we should be investigating people who are planning on targeting kids. And I think that one of the unfortunate lessons of this particular shooting is that this person who showed clear signs of derangement slipped through the cracks. And I actually talked to the families about this. I talked with the principal and the pastor about this.
Uh, there is broad recognition, and it's interesting, every single parent I spoke to wants something to happen. Every single parent I, I talked to, you know, we didn't talk a lot about politics as such, but I get the sense they came from a wide diversity of political perspectives. But every single one of them are, they were rational, reasonable people despite their grief.
I mean, I can't imagine what I would be like in this moment of heartbreak. And all they ask is that we look very seriously at the root causes, that we look very seriously at ways to prevent crazy people who are about to shoot up a school from getting access to firearms. These are things that a lot of us have talked about for a very long time.
These parents are grieving, but they certainly want us to look at everything that we can possibly to, so the next family doesn't have to deal with this.
On the Venezuela vessel, uh, you know, vessel strike.
Yeah.
What, what legal authority were you guys working under and will there be an after report on the strike?
Well, I'm sure there're gonna be a after report. I mean, the legal authority, and I wanna talk about these kids, is that there are people who are bringing literal terrorists, who are bringing deadly drugs into our country. And the President of the United States ran on a promise of stopping this poison from coming into our country.
Another question.
Did you speak to Weston today? Weston, the young man --
I did.
-- that had, uh, something in his neck, shrapnel from the bullet?
Yeah, Usha and I spoke to him. He had just got outta surgery, so we weren't able to see Weston, but we did talk to him on the phone. Just a little boy, thank God, full of life, happy, recovering well. And uh, you know, I, I told him, I guess he has a 15-year-old older brother. I said, "You can tell the vice president, from the Vice President of the United States, that your older brother has to be nice to you for at least the next week." Weston was very excited to hear that, but just a really beautiful family, and I'm glad that he is doing well.
Is there more you can share with us about the president said he'd be sending in the National Guard to Chicago. Do you know how many members of the National Guard or when exactly that's going to happen?
I'll, I'll let the president speak to that. I mean, look, there are no immediate plans, but the president has said he has the legal authority to protect American citizens, whether that's in Chicago or Washington D.C. Obviously, as the president has said, we want the governor to be a partner here. We would love it. Democrat and Republican, if we had governors who were willing to actually be partners in cutting down crime in our country.
Unfortunately, it looks like that's not what we have in JB Pritzker. But outta respect for the families that I visited today, we'll sort of leave it there on the national conversation. Again, I, I'll just say one final thing. I'm gonna repeat it. Hug your kids. There are two families who are heartbroken and devastated.
There are no words that we have that are possibly gonna make them feel better, but what we can is honor them by being the best moms and dads that we can be. So if you're an American who has that opportunity, hug them tight. God bless you guys.
Can we get Mrs. Vance's reaction really quick?
See you guys.