News for North Texas
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Obama: Many Americans Feel Helpless About Gun Violence (Video)

PBS NewsHour/YouTube
President Obma spoke Thursday about the mass shooting in San Bernardino, Calif.

President Barack Obama says it's possible the mass shooting in California was related to terrorism, but that authorities still don't know. He says it's possible it was workplace-related or that there were mixed motives.

Obama spoke in the Oval Office this morning. He's assuring Americans that authorities will get to the bottom of what happened. Obama is also calling for people to wait for facts before making judgments.

Obama says many Americans feel there's nothing they can do about mass violence. But he says, "We all have a part to play."

Obama says the nation must make it harder to carry out violence. But he's acknowledging the threat can't be eliminated completely. He says it will be important for all Americans, including state legislators, to see what they can do.

Video: Watch the president's remarks

Here's video courtesy of PBS NewsHour:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9lDVTLFdCg

The Associated Press reports on comments Obama made earlier to CBS:

President Obama says there's a pattern of mass shootings in the U.S. that has no parallel elsewhere in the world.

Obama commented Wednesday on the mass shooting at a California social services center in an interview with CBS News. Authorities say at least 14 people were killed and the motives of the shooters are not yet known.

Obama says there are steps the U.S. can take to reduce the frequency of mass shootings.

Obama is calling for the country to come together to make mass shootings a rare occurrence. He says the U.S. should never think mass shootings are a normal part of life.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHVpMmCu81M

Obama: 'A pattern ... of mass shootings'

Via WhiteHouse.gov, here's a transcriptof what Obama told CBS Wednesday:

"It's still an active situation. FBI is on the ground offering assistance to local officials as they need it. It does appear that there are going to be some casualties. And, obviously our hearts go out to the victims and the families. The one thing we do know is that we have a pattern now of mass shootings in this country that has no parallel anywhere else in the world. And there are some steps we could take not to eliminate every one of these mass shootings, but to improve the odds that they don't happen as frequently: common-sense gun safety laws, stronger background checks.

And for those who are concerned about terrorism, some may be aware of the fact that we have a no-fly list where people can't get on planes, but those same people who we don't allow to fly could go into a store right now in the United States and buy a firearm and there's nothing that we can do to stop them. That's a law that needs to be changed.

And so my hope is that we're able to contain this particular shooting, and we don't yet know what the motives of the shooters are, but what we do know is that there are steps we can take to make Americans safer, and that we should come together in a bipartisan basis at every level of government to make these rare as opposed to normal. We should never think that this is something that just happens in the ordinary course of events, because it doesn't happen with the same frequency in other countries."

San Bernardino: The latest

Here's the latest on the shootings from NPR:

After a mass shooting, a police chase and a shootout, a violent day in San Bernardino, Calif., ended in the death of two suspects, authorities say. Syed Farook, 28, and Tashfeen Malik, 27, were responsible for the Wednesday morning attack that killed at least 14 people and injured 17, according to San Bernardino Police Chief Jarrod Burguan. After initial concerns that there could have been a third shooter, police are now confident there were only two. There's much that remains unclear, including the motives of the shooters and the identities of the victims. 

Syed Farook's brother-in-law: 'I have no idea' 

Syed Farook's brother-in-law spoke Wednesday:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PVw8m41XAU