♪ ♪ ♪ captioning sponsored by cbs >> brennan: shock and anger in texas after police admit it was a mistake to wait more than an hour before confronting the gunman inside the uvalde elementary school. tonight, new details leave already-devastated families wondering if their loved ones could have been saved. >> of course it was not the right decision. it was the wrong decision, period. >> brennan: we speak to a parent who tried to rush inside the school himself. while police waited, trapped children called 911, begging for help. in the shadow of the shooting, the n.r.a.'s annual convention. protesters and major republican speakers rally to join the gun lobby in houston, just 300 miles away from one of the deadliest school shootings in american

history. red flag laws: the renewed focus on mental health and gun safety. could new laws prevent future mass shootings? americans hit the road. with tens of millions planning to travel this holiday weekend, tonight what you can expect at the airport and the gas station. plus, could severe weather create a travel nightmare? two more months-- expect more delays before shelves are fully stocked with baby formula, a warning to parents from the head of the f.d.a. deadly home explosion outside philadelphia. what caused the blast that killed at least five people? (♪ "taps" ♪) and "on the road" with a memorial day tradition heard from coast to coast. >> this is the "cbs evening news" with norah o'donnell, reporting from the nation's capital. >> brennan: good evening to our viewers in the west, and thank you all for joining us on this

friday night. i'm margaret brennan in for norah. there is growing outrage tonight after texas police admit to multiple failures in their response to the school massacre in uvalde, texas. today, we learned that the officer in charge at the time of the shooting ordered law enforcement not to enter the classroom where children were being terrorized by a gunman. those children were repeatedly calling 911, begging for police help while officers waited nearby. but the officer in charge believed the gunman had barricaded himself and was no longer an active shooter. it was a deadly decision. all this was taking place as desperate parents outside the school pleaded with the police to intervene. the texas governor tonight said he was misled about the police response, and is livid. now there's an investigation into not only the gunman, but how police responded to the massacre. and, of course, for the families

of the victims, this news is causing even more heartbreak. we have a lot to get to tonight. and cbs' lilia luciano will start us off from uvalde. good evening. >> reporter: good evening, margaret. well, the governor is livid, imagine those parents who learned today that there were 19 officers outside that classroom, one officer for every child that was killed. i heard from three parents today who said they will do whatever it takes for accountability and gun control. >> of course it was not the right decision. it was the wrong decision, period. there's no excuse for that. >> reporter: today, a stunning admission: the director of the texas department of safety said the decision to not immediately engage the shooter was deliberate. >> the on-scene commander considered a barricaded subject and that there was time and there were no more children at risk. obviously, obviously, based upon the information we have, there were children in that classroom that were at risk and it was, in

fact, still an active shooter situation. >> reporter: at one point, he said 19 officers were outside the classroom not moving on the gunman. inside, a desperate child repeatedly called 911, pleading for them to come in and save them. >> she's called back and said there were eight to nine students alive, student child called back, and was told to stay on the line and be very quiet. she told 911 that, "he shot the door." at approximately 12:43 and 12:47, she asked 911 to please send the police now. at 12:46, she said that she could hear the police next door. at 12:50, shots are fired. >> reporter: it is unclear how many of those eight or nine children survived. fingers are now being pointed at the school district's chief of police who mcgraw said instructed tactical teams from border patrol and ice to wait for nearly 50 minutes. >> a decision was made that this was a barricaded subject

situation. there was time to retrieve the keys and wait for a tactical team with the equipment to go ahead and breech the door and take on the subject at that point. ( screaming ) >> reporter: the revelation on the failure to act sooner comes after frantic parents stood outside the school during the shooting, begging heavily armed officers outside to help, as their children were trapped by the gunman. >> i was pissed at first. i'm more pissed than ever. >> reporter: jessie rodriguez's 10-year-old daughter anabel was one of the ones that was killed. >> they let our babies get slaughtered, sacrificed, while their asses were sitting behind a wall. >> reporter: we're also learning more details on how the gunman got inside. he crashed his car outside just before 11:30 a.m. and fired into the school. the school resource officer was not at the school at the time. the gunman, seen here in this

video, enters the school through a door that had been propped open by a teacher who called 911. he would fire more than 100 rounds from his ar-15-style rifle inside the school. tonight, texas governor greg abbott, who earlier praised the police response, changing his tune. >> the information that i was given turned out, in part, to be inaccurate, and i'm absolutely livid about that. >> reporter: 19 students and two teachers at robb elementary school should have been starting the first day of their summer break today. instead, their families are making funeral plans. federal law enforcement tells cbs news tonight that border patrol agents did press local law enforcement to go into the school and that they ultimately did so on their own initiative. margaret. >> lilia, thank you. >> brennan: lilia, thank you. today, the country's largest gun

lobby, the national rifle association, held its annual convention in nearby houston. it drew protesters and a former president. cbs' robert costa is there. >> reporter: a charged scene outside the n.r.a. convention, with antigun protesters clashing with supporters of gun rights, and tense exchanges with police. >> n.r.a. kills kids! >> reporter: the confrontations and the celebration of firearms just under 300 miles from the shooting in uvalde. the n.r.a. pressed ahead with the gathering, despite calls for it to be postponed. outside, children from texas schools honored those killed this week, and said they just want to be safe. >> i want to go to school and learn and be in a safe community. >> reporter: but inside, a different world and perspective from n.r.a. members. >> it wasn't guns that did it. it was a person. >> we have a problem where people who are getting mentally ill are not being-- they're

falling through the cracks. >> reporter: one booth in the bustling hall however, was vacated. daniel defense, the company that made the rifle used by the uvalde shooter, pulled out of the convention and argued the weapon had been criminally misused. they also had to lock their twitter page, which days before the shooting posted an ad with a toddler holding an ar-15-style rifle. keynote speaker donald trump called for hardening school security and addressing mental health issues, not gun control. >> the existence of evil in our world is not a reason to disarm law-abiding citizens who know how to use their weapon and can protect a lot of people. the existence of evil is one of the very best reasons to arm law-abiding citizens. ( applause ) >> reporter: a recent cbs news poll found that among republicans, the majority, nearly 75%, want laws covering the sales of guns to remain the same or be made less strict. though the n.r.a. has faced

challenges in recent years, gun rights groups remain powerful, spending $15.8 million on lobbying last year, five times more than what gun-control groups spent. while former president trump and texas senator ted cruz did appear in person, texas governor greg abbott did not. he sent in a prerecorded video. other performers and speakers here, they decided to bow out. margaret. >> brennan: robert costa, thank you. congress is on its memorial day recess until june 6, but some lawmakers are working through the break to find a compromise on new gun safety legislation. cbs' adriana diaz takes a look at one option getting renewed attention: red flag laws. >> reporter: sheila hole's son, brandon, was troubled, so when he bought himself a gun, she used indiana's red flag law to alert police. >> if you're going to red flag

anybody, that would be one person to red flag. >> reporter: police did take her son's gun away, but prosecutors did not pursue a red flag designation that would have prevented him from buying any more firearms. he went on to buy two assault rifles a few months later, and rifles a few months later, and used them last year to storm this fedex plant, killing eight, before killing himself. >> i won't grieve his death because he made a choice to take others. so, that's on him. i'll grieve for the victims because they did nothing. >> reporter: indiana is one of 19 states that empowers a judge to take away a firearm from anyone who poses an extreme risk to themselves or others, but hole says a red flag law is only effective when it's enforced. one study shows in connecticut, for every 10-20 firearms removed, a life is saved. and in california, there have been at least 21 cases where a red flag law disarmed someone threatening a mass shooting. >> red flag laws reduce the risu

of gun violence. it may not work 100% of the time, but if you can save even some proportion of those lives, that's had a real impact. >> reporter: in indiana, brandon hole didn't even have to be deemed mentally ill to be red flagged. do you think the victims would have been alive if this red flag law worked? >> i believe that 100%. >> reporter: after the shooting here, the law was streamlined to make the red flag process move more quickly. and, margaret, one idea being discussed in washington is a federal red flag law. federal red flag law. >> brennan: adriana, we'll be talking more about that. thank you. now to memorial day weekend. with pandemic restrictions mostly lifted, a.a.a. estimates about 40 million americans will travel. that's up more than 8% from last year. and air travel is expected to jump 25%. but inflation, especially high gas prices, are making those miles pricey. here's cbs' errol barnett.

>> reporter: it's go time. >> get out of town. get some nice, warm weather. >> reporter: millions are hitting the road for the unofficial start to summer. >> we left early this morning and traffic has been picking up the whole way. >> reporter: most travelers will drive this weekend in higher numbers than last year, but below 2019's record. >> we're going to go somewhereew in the motor home. it was going to take over $1,000 to fill it. so, we're going by car. >> reporter: also, the national average price for gas dropped a fraction of a cent from its all- time high, its first decrease in over a month. >> despite inflation there is a desire to get out. folks have just decided they're going to travel. >> we'll be on the road for fou days. >> reporter: for the kapke family, costly fuel won't stop them from their goal of showing sons neil and ross all 50 states before they turn 18. >> it costs about $130 to fill the car's tank up. it's an uncomfortable thing to have to do, but it's not going to deter us from hitting the road. >> reporter: other prices are

higher, too. according to a.a.a., hotel rates are up 42%, and airfare is up 6%. >> compared to pre-pandemic, i've paid more-- i'm paying more to fly today than i have flown to europe in the past or to the west coast. >> reporter: adding to the misery for air travelers, fewer flights on major airlines due to staffing shortages. and thunderstorms up and down the east coast today leaving some fliers delayed for hours. now, that poor weather also led the f.a.a. to issue several ground stoppages here at d.c.a., and baltimore and philadelphia and airports around new york city. air traffic is flowing once again, but more than 1,000ow flight cancellations with hopes, margaret, conditions improve over the weekend. >> brennan: errol barnett. safe travels to all. well, more severe thunderstorms are expected this holiday weekend. heavy rain and damaging winds are possible from north carolina

to new york. let's bring in meteorologist chris warren from our partners at the weather channel. good evening, chris. >> reporter: good evening, margaret. damaging winds and tornadoes possible with the storms that are developing this evening. and these are the storms that have been creating the travel issues that errol was mentioning. and now these storms are still marching through a lot of the southeast mid-atlantic and the northeast. this threat is going to continue, as we see with the future radar, over the next several hours. the threat is also going to be picking back up for more severe weather, potentially in the northeast, again tomorrow to kick off the holiday weekend. then the severe threat is going to increase in other parts of the u.s. as well, in particular, the northern tier with a potential for several tornadoes, margaret, here on sunday. >> brennan: chris warren, thank you. the head of the f.d.a. says parents will have to wait another two months until store

shelves are fully stocked again with baby formula. abbott's plan to reopen its troubled plant in sturgis, michigan, next week, is delayed. the f.d.a. says that could still be several weeks away. meanwhile, the defense department is airlifting what amounts to more than 27 million eight-ounce bottles of formula from australia to try and help the crisis. still ahead on tonight's "cbs evening news," the advanced u.s. rocket system that could be headed to the battlefields of ukraine. and what caused the deadly explosion that rocked a pennsylvania town?

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if you're 50 years or older ask your doctor or pharmacist about shingles. >> brennan: ukrainian officials say that russian forces have taken control of a city in the east of ukraine, and fear further russian advances in that region of the country. cbs' news has learned that in response to president volodymyr zelenskyy's request for moreod heavy weapons, the u.s. may send an advanced rocket system with greater range and fire volume than their current artillery. it can fire six shells at a time with a range of about 20 miles. tonight we've learned that four children were killed in a house explosion northwest of philadelphia. the children, between ages eight and 13, died, along with a 67- year-old woman. investigators suspect it was a gas explosion. "on the road" is next. (♪ "taps" ♪)

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>> brennan: on this memorial day, we should never forget the reason behind this national holiday. cbs' steve hartman previews what has become an annual tradition: "taps across america." here's tonight's "on the road." >> reporter: monday at precisely 3:00 your local time, a call will sound. (♪ "taps" ♪) and it will sound everywhere. it will echo past the fissures and fractures of our torn country and ask americans to set aside their differences and unite, if only for these 24 notes. ♪ ♪ ♪ musicians, get ready for the third annual nationwide performance of "taps." we originally started "taps across america" to move focus

away from the hamburgers and hot dogs and back to the real purpose of memorial day: to honor. and by the thousands, musicians have answered our call. 86-year-old paul freeberg of surprise, arizona, will be playing for a second year. >> because i love our country. so actually there was no way i could say no. >> reporter: the frisbee brothers of new castle, delaware, will be back again, too. >> a lot of men in our family have served in the army-- our great-grandfather, our grandfather and our father. >> reporter: and eagle scout ricky lazaro is returning, but . but he lives near he lives near uvalde, texas, so he'll be playing with a new purpose this year. >> it's deeply saddened me, sir. playing "taps" is the least i can do. >> reporter: the reasons they play are as varied as the landscapes on which they stand. some performers are heard by

hundreds, while others, like lauri williams of moriarty, new mexico, play for no audience at all-- at least, none apparent. >> i don't think it matters where you play, because those who need to hear it, hear it. >> reporter: so you're playing for those above. >> absolutely. >> reporter: and that's the audience, our omnipresent past, who we honor with this coast-to- coast concert. but, of course, it's also for the living who, this week especially, may need this 24-note reminder that there are still some things we all stand for and one thing that will forever bind us: our shared grief. steve hartman, cbs news, "on the road." >> brennan: for information about how to participate, head to cbs.com/taps. we'll be right back. 'll be righ.

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right now at 7:00. a fire gutting in east church that took decades to build. >> this has been a spiritual haven for us for many years. >> god's going to give us a big three. we believe and trust it. >> it's a cool start to the memorial dayweekend, but i am tracking a warmup in the forecast. and the countdown is on for warriors fans to score tickets. the dubs head to the nba fines and making history. i don't plan on coming out for the anthem going forward. but first, we are an fire watch right now. fire fighters made some quick o