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I'm Father Michael Sheeran, the president of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities.

This is an open letter to President Trump and the members of Congress.

Our grief and solemn prayers are with the victims, the families,

the friends of our sisters and brothers in Parkland, Florida.

Ours is a national tragedy. Yet we have hope because we have watched in admiration and awe

as the poised articulate young survivors of the Parkland massacre have beseeched adults

to fix this plague of gun violence in America. It is not lost on us that none

of them were even born when the Columbine High killings in Littleton, Colorado

claimed 13 lives. And yet the shootings have gone on and on.

We adults have repeatedly failed to fix this singularly American phenomenon.

Now we must listen to our youth. We must not cruelly disparage them in this time of trauma and grief and anger.

As Pope Francis has said, "Dear young people, do not bury your talents, the gifts that God has given you.

Do not be afraid to dream of great things."

Ending the horrific mass killings in our schools and streets is a great thing we are all called to do.

Now we urge you, as President and Members of Congress,

to listen and to fix this indeed.

For more infomation >> An Open Letter to President Trump and Members of the United States Congress on Gun Violence - Duration: 2:22.

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United States Congress Honors Billy Graham - Duration: 1:42.

I think we have over 20 speakers that

are going to the floor of the House of Representatives

and just speaking about the personal impact

that Reverend Graham had on their life, or just the impact

that he's had on the entire nation and the entire world.

Today it was just a sense of awe and respect.

Even those who weren't in there to speak,

you could see on their faces a sense of reverence.

Seemed to be nothing partisan in there, but just

a universal respect for somebody who is--

I mean, he'd be the fourth civilian

to lay in a state of honor in the rotunda.

It's incredible because we live in a city that's

full of monuments to people who have

had a tremendous impact on America, on the world,

to freedom.

If you think about that the platform

that they're going to set his casket on

was the same platform that Lincoln sat on.

That in itself shows the reverence

that this nation gives to him.

I mean, we have suspended the rest of the week.

The House chamber closes.

Members of Congress will assemble on that floor simply

to walk down to the rotunda and be there

when they bring that shell of a man who is already in heaven

rejoicing with his Savior.

His message was simple.

God loves you.

He loves you personally.

He walks with you.

He's there with you.

He knows the pain that you're going through.

And he knows the joy that you'll find when you finally get

to that relationship with him.

For more infomation >> United States Congress Honors Billy Graham - Duration: 1:42.

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The Little Guy about the US school shootings - Duration: 1:47.

Today, Senne is going to give a presentation about his holiday.

Right, Senne?

Last week, I went to Disney World in Florida.

A bit cooler than an indoor playground. Right, Billy?

I pity that boring vacation you had.

There are approximately 20 million people in Florida.

Compared to last week, however, there are 17 people less,

because there was, once again, a school shooting.

It was already the 18th shooting at a school in the US.

This year.

And me, I am being punished for accidently smashing a window?

That really puts things in perspective, doesn't it, Miss?

In Florida, they're now processing this in their own American way.

They've already completed phase 1:

expressing collective outrage.

Now they've entered phase 2:

the call for change.

Just a few more days, and then we enter phase 3:

Doing nothing and waiting for the next idiot with a gun.

That's what people call a vicious circle.

Like the love life of Miss Evelyn.

Your new boyfriend isn't much of a prize, huh.

He's just as big a loser as all your former loser flings.

Fortunately, we live in Belgium.

Here, you can't just buy a gun and shoot people at a school.

Yes, Adil, I know what you're going to say...

Belgium has Barco and FN Herstal,

who build guns and weapon systems

used to blow up entire schools in the Middle East.

We're being hypocrites if we criticize the American weapon policy.

But those aren't Western kids, Adil.

Our mommies and daddies don't care as much, then.

Might I suggest we continue with the lesson now?

Billy needs it.

Otherwise, he'll never be able to end 4th grade.

Except with a machine gun.

Thank you for your attention.

Thank you, Senne.

For more infomation >> The Little Guy about the US school shootings - Duration: 1:47.

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Russia's sights are set on U.S. elections. Can states secure their voting systems in time? - Duration: 7:14.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Russia's government has set its sight on undermining American democracy

and attacking the U.S. election system.

The scope of the Russian efforts were recently outlined in indictments filed by special counsel

Robert Mueller.

The threat they pose has been confirmed by the heads of all the U.S. intelligence agencies.

Yesterday, the leader of the National Security Agency testified before the Senate that President

Trump has not granted any additional authorities to respond to this threat.

We get reaction now from David Becker, the founder of the Center for Election Innovation

and Research, and Denise Merrill.

She's the secretary of state in Connecticut.

She oversees the state's elections.

Welcome to both of you to the "NewsHour."

David Becker, to you first.

In sum, what did the Russians do to election systems in this country in 2016?

DAVID BECKER, Founder, Center for Election Innovation and Research: Well what, we know

from testimony from the intelligence community and elsewhere is that they attempted to probe

or scan several state systems, probably most notably voter registration database systems.

Almost all of those scans and probes were unsuccessful.

There was one instance in Illinois where they successfully accessed voter data, about 70,000

records or so, in June and July of 2016, but no records were altered or deleted.

We also know from the intelligence community and from multiple investigations all around

the country that there were no successful efforts to change votes or change vote totals

or tallies throughout the United States.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Denise Merrill, what about what happened in your state of Connecticut?

We know there was an effort made by the Russians there.

DENISE MERRILL, Connecticut Secretary of State: Yes, we were one of 21 states, apparently,

that were scanned at least by Russian I.P. addresses.

Again, our firewalls and our systems held.

They were trying to get into our voter registration database, which I think is similar to what

happened in the other states.

I think the good news is, they didn't get in.

And I think that's pretty much true in all the other states, with that one exception

that David mentioned.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And, Denise Merrill, staying with you, what evidence or belief do you have

right now that that they are continuing to try to do that in this 2018 midterm election

year?

DENISE MERRILL: Well, I do think the threat of Russian interference in our elections is

real.

I have become convinced of that, not only by what has happened, but what could happen.

I think, as we're all on alert now that there could be other attempts, I honestly think

that the biggest goal that they have at this point is to sow distrust in the American public

in their elections.

That may be the most dangerous thing of all.

JUDY WOODRUFF: David Becker, why are U.S. election systems vulnerable?

DAVID BECKER: Well, the more we rely upon technology, all technology has some vulnerabilities

to it.

And that's why it's important to have systems in place to double-check the technology.

So, for instance, paper ballots, auditable ballots that can be audited after the election

are very, very important.

The good news is that about 75 percent to 80 percent of Americans currently vote on

paper, and that number is increasing as Virginia has moved to all paper.

Pennsylvania is about to move to all paper.

And about 17 states are considering ways to improve their audits.

Systems like that are very, very important to make sure that we can trust the electronic

machines that are counting our votes.

But the good news is, most states are doing it, and even more states are moving in that

direction.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And, David Becker, just to clarify, this is a state-by-state situation,

right?

There's no federal election overlay, as I understand it.

DAVID BECKER: That's right.

In a major federal election, we not only don't hold one election or 50 elections.

We actually hold about nearly 10,000 elections, because all of the local jurisdictions are

actually running the elections.

That does give us some protection against hacking, because it's difficult to hack into

8,000 to 10,000 different systems.

But we do have to be vigilant.

Secretary Merrill is exactly right.

Russia is trying to do this.

The intelligence community is unanimous in that determination.

And their goal is probably not actually to change vote totals, but rather to get us all

to lose confidence in our own election system.

So it's very important that we all understand that the election officials, like Secretary

Merrill and her colleagues, are working very hard with the with federal agencies and other

agencies to secure the election systems, as they have never done before.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Well, Secretary Merrill, Denise Merrill, what is it that Connecticut needs?

What do you need in your state to be sure that there's not interference this year?

And how much support, what kind of support are you getting from the federal government

to make sure that that happens?

DENISE MERRILL: We, of course, as a state, already have a lot of equipment in place,

cyber-hygiene, the kinds of firewalls, I guess you would call them, against this sort of

thing.

But we are getting help now from the Department of Homeland Security.

They do have resources that can help, not enough of them, and not enough to go around.

So I think we could use more of that.

Some states are much further along than others as well.

And, of course, you know, there are some federal laws that came into play after the 2000 election,

which was the last time this sort of thing came up with the hanging chads and so forth.

And the Help America Vote Act did provide much of the funding that you're seeing in

place for the current election systems.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Right.

DENISE MERRILL: They're getting older.

So, at some point, we should look at replacing some of that.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And I think what we have seen in the news in the last few days is questions,

concerns about whether the federal government is taking this seriously enough, doing enough

to help the states.

And I just hear you say, Denise Merrill, that you're not getting all the help you need.

DENISE MERRILL: No.

And I'm not sure it's DHS' fault.

I think they are trying to be helpful, but they have limited resources.

And I was rather surprised, but not entirely surprised, to learn of the statements by the

FBI director, I guess it was yesterday or today, that he didn't have direct authority

to act to prevent some of this.

So, I am concerned about that.

I think the state officials, election officials all over the country are on alert.

We're ready, willing, and able to help.

We're very familiar with this risk assessment kind of thing.

We have been doing it for years in elections.

This is just a new venue and a new kind of a threat.

And I'm waiting for a direction from them.

I think they could be immensely helpful.

We're doing better.

We have a great communications system we're developing, but they could do more for us,

yes.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Right.

Very quickly, in just a few seconds, David Becker, what would be most important to help

states around the country harden up their systems, so they're not vulnerable?

DAVID BECKER: Well, there's unprecedented cooperation between the federal government

and the states and the local election officials, but the one thing they really need right now

is resources and funding.

There's no finish line in cyber-security.

When you improve cyber-security, the bad guys get better, too.

So, there needs to be better funding streams, both at the state legislative level and perhaps

through Congress, provide the sources to Secretary Merrill and her colleagues and all of the

election officials at the local level as well.

JUDY WOODRUFF: David Becker with the federal Center for Election Innovation and Research,

and Secretary of State Denise Merrill from Connecticut, we thank you both.

DENISE MERRILL: Thank you.

DAVID BECKER: Thank you.

For more infomation >> Russia's sights are set on U.S. elections. Can states secure their voting systems in time? - Duration: 7:14.

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In a First, Openly Transgender Recruit Signs Up for US Military - Duration: 1:02.

For more infomation >> In a First, Openly Transgender Recruit Signs Up for US Military - Duration: 1:02.

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Lake County Teen Granted Asylum In U.S. - Duration: 0:24.

For more infomation >> Lake County Teen Granted Asylum In U.S. - Duration: 0:24.

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Former CIA Director Brags About US Foreign Election Meddling - Duration: 5:39.

For more infomation >> Former CIA Director Brags About US Foreign Election Meddling - Duration: 5:39.

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Community comes together for annual U.S.-Japan Friendship Concert - Duration: 1:38.

Students from Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, along with local Japanese students from the

surrounding communities, came together to perform at the 8th Annual U.S.-Japan Friendship

Concert at Sinfonia Iwakuni Concert Hall.

The annual concert made its debut in 2010 as a way to foster and strengthen the relationship

between the air station and the surrounding communities.

The children performed a wide selection of musical pieces.

"The performances were great.

You could hear anything from traditional Japanese drums, to 80s music to 70s music.

It was a variety of different music and I think the audience really appreciated that."

The concert featured school choirs and musical instrument ensembles.

Mr. Perez says the students were able to make connections through sharing music.

"Music is one of those things that translates over cultural barriers sometimes.

To see the students rehearse together, and the connections that they make, hopefully

they can see the similarities in each other.

In music it's easy to do that."

The students gathered for a final joint performance to conclude the concert.

The young musicians performed "It's a Small World", and for some it was a unique

experience.

"I think it's a once in a lifetime experience.

Even though we are able to play in Japan, we don't really have the opportunity to

play in this environment."

During the course of past eight years, the concert has grown from 100 students to more

than 300 students from eight different schools.

Reporting from Iwakuni, Japan, I'm Marine Cpl.

Nichole Stoehrer.