美国有线新闻 CNN 2012-12-23

 Welcome to CNN student news on this Tuesday, December 18th. Thank you for joining us. I'm Carl Azuz, today's show begins in Connecticut. The community of Newtown Connecticut is in mourning after a massacre 1 at an elementary school. Our complete coverage 2 of the story is in Monday's show at cnnstudentnews.com.

 
As police expand their investigation 3 into what led to the tragedy. People in Newtown are banding together and getting support from across the county. They are holding memorials and vigils for the victims, mourners are saying prayers for the victims, their familiy and their communities. The U.S Postal 4 Service has set up a place where people can mail their condolences and messages of support to Newtown. If you are interested in that, the address is "Message of Condolence", it's P.O Box3700, Newtown, Connecticut, 06470.
 
When president Obama spoke 5 at a high school there on Sunday night, he questioned whether Americans were doing enough to bring this kind of violence to an end.
 
"Can we truely say as a nation that we're meeting our obligations? Can we honest say that we're doing enough, to keep our children, all of them, safe from harm? Can we claim as a nation that we are all together there, letting them know that they are loved, and teaching them to love in return? Can we say that we're truely doing enough to give all the children of this country the chance they deserve to live out their lives in happiness and with purpose? I've been reflecting on these last few days, and if we're honest with ourselves, the answer is no. We're not doing enough, and we all have to change."
 
All right, but how. There are a lot of people out there in the media, from leaders, journalists to musicians and actors, sharing their theories on what led to this and how to prevent it. We'd like to hear from you, what are your ideas on how the nation can change to keep kids safer. Please share your thoughts, and only your first names on our blog at cnnstudentnews.com.
 
Some of the people who live in Newtown are sharing their thoughts on this, they are trying to turn some of the attentions that's focused on them to the issues that they believe should be addressed to prevent this from happening somewhere else. CNN's Kyung Lah reports on what some citizens of Newtown are saying.
 
You can hear their frustration 6.
 
"At the point, you buy body armor, shouldn't the FBI be at your door?"
 
These are questions asked before after Columbine and Virginia Tech, and again this year, in places like Aurora 7, Colorado and Clackamas, Oregon. This time, it's these Newtown residents who knew the children and teachers killed at Sandy Hook.
 
"We have the benefit and the misfortune of being on the national stage right now, this is a real opportunity for us to make a statement."
 
They have no political power in this room, just grief, grief channelled into a will to bring change.
 
"I think we need to talk about what's reasonable, I don't think it's reasonable for assault weapons in any way in our society except for military or police."
 
"With mental illness, shove it underneath 8 the rock, we can't do that anymore."
 
"We do something now, and live here with some proactive things, some actions."
 
What you are looking at is the birth of a grassroots effort from a town in pain, they've built a Facebook page calling themselves "Newtown United", they admit they don't know what they are doing, just that they have to do something.
 
"This is a trigger point or tipping point for us and our elected officials actually start talking to each other in a way that's respectful and results in real change, that will be huge."
 
The goal of "Newtown United" to prevent another town from suffering what this one is enduring will not go unheated. Kyung Lah, CNN, Newtown, Connecticut.