Florida Victim’s Mom Gives Tearful Plea on CNN: ‘Action! We Need It Now!’

The mother of a victim of the Florida shooting gave an emotional plea Thursday afternoon for President Trump to “do something” about gun violence, reducing a CNN anchor to tears.

19-year-old Nikolas Cruz allegedly shot and killed 17 people on Wednesday afternoon at Marjory Douglas Stoneman High School in Parkland. Law-enforcement officials have yet to establish a motive, but a Florida white-supremacist group claimed Cruz had trained with them last year.

In a taped HLN interview that re-aired on CNN, Lori Alhadeff—mother of victim Alyssa Alhadeff, 15—called on the president to reduce school shootings by enhancing security at schools and curbing access to firearms.

“President Trump, you say, what can you do? You can stop the guns from getting into these children's hands, put metal detectors at every entrance to the schools,” the grieving mother said. “What can you do? You can do a lot! This is not fair to our families and our children go to school and have to get killed.”

She continued, her voice rising: “I just spent the last two hours putting the burial arrangements for my daughter's funeral, who is 14. Fourteen! President Trump, please do something! Do something. Action! We need it now! These kids need it now!”

Immediately after the interview aired, CNN anchor Brooke Baldwin paused to wipe tears from her eyes.

“Hearing that mother, I'm sorry, it got me,” she said.