Jenna Bush Hager was on the verge of tears when she discussed the mass shooting this week at a Christian private school in Nashville, saying she doesn’t understand how people worry about children reading Judy Blume books when they’re not safe in class.
The Today with Hoda & Jenna presenter, 41, reflected on the tragedy with fellow co-star Hoda Kotb on Tuesday, the day after an armed former student opened fire inside Al Ahed School, killing three adults and three children.
This is one of those mornings you start out with a heavy heart. You and I have jobs to do. We are journalists. We’ve interviewed people, but I think there are certain times when you’re like, you know, I just want to pop my press cap and be a mom.
Bush Hager agreed, saying, “Be human.”
Jenna Bush Hager, 41, was on the verge of tears as she discussed the Nashville shooting on the Today show on Tuesday.
Bush Hager told co-host Hoda Kotb that she has a friend in Nashville and “knows one girl who was nine years old and went to school yesterday and couldn’t come home.”
Kotb, who is mother to daughters Hayley, six, and Amal, three, shared how she believes “a lot of people have become insensitive” to the mass shootings.
“If it’s not in your town, you’re like, ‘Oh, what happened?'” where? How many people? Oh,” I explained.
Bush Hager shared that he has a friend in Nashville and “knows one girl who was nine years old and went to school yesterday and couldn’t get home.”
The mother of three has three children — Mila, nine, Bobby, seven, and Hall, three — with husband Henry Hager.
So when Henry got home from work, I said, “Oh my God, did you see this?” root.
And I had to whisper because I had a nine-year-old who was doing her homework, and the idea that any of us could send our kids on buses or walks or drop them off in carpools and never be able to cuddle them again is just beyond that, I continued choking.
Bush Hager also touched on the increasing number of book bans in libraries and schools across the United States
Bush Hager has three children — Mila, nine, Bobby, seven, and Hall, three — with husband Henry Hager
Children from Al-Ahed School are pictured holding hands as they head to the reunion site after the deadly shooting at their school on Monday.
“As a book lover I have to say, and my mother has said this as a librarian, we are concerned about giving our children Judy Blume and other books important to the history and fabric of our country, and are we not concerned about sending our children to schools where they are not safe?” she asked.
“I just don’t understand what happened to a country that I know you love and that you love,” she told Kotb.
Bush Hager added that a lot has changed since she was a teacher, and that “not that long ago.”
‘What was 15 years ago max?’ We didn’t do (active fire) drills. I was not afraid, and I taught in the most marginalized areas of this country. I wasn’t afraid to go to school.
Kotb said she couldn’t stop thinking about parents trying to find their children at school, remembering how she watched a panicked mother search for her four-year-old son, George, when she was on vacation last week.
Bush Hager shared her outrage that as a country we “worried about giving our kids Judy Blume” but “we’re not worried about sending our kids to schools where they’re not safe.”
Bush Hager notes that when she was a former teacher 15 or so years ago, she was never afraid and never had to do active shooting drills.
“I just don’t understand what happened to a country that I know you love and that you love,” she told Kotb.
‘You know the feeling.’ It’s as if you don’t see your son for three minutes. You’re like, “What happened?” She ends up finding George fine. But what I was thinking is when those parents were applying to that school, she said, “Where’s my kid?”
We’ve all had a minute’s fear of losing sight and how do you think this is the last minute, and imagine those parents lined up going to that school, thinking like, “Is my kid going to run at me?”
“There were mothers banging on the buses shouting their children’s names.”
Kotb said she would not allow her children to cross the street without holding her hand, explaining how she feared her daughter might be hurt that day.
This is how we are with our children. “We are protection,” she explained.
“But we can’t protect them where they need to be safest,” Bush-Hager said.
Kotb said she couldn’t stop thinking about parents trying to find their children at school, remembering how she witnessed a panicked mother looking for her son on vacation last week.
Kotb, who is the mother of daughters Hayley, six, and Amal, three, believes “a lot of people have become insensitive” to the mass shootings.
Police have identified Audrey Hill, 28, as the shooter who opened fire at Covenant School shortly before 10:13 a.m. Monday while armed with two rifles and a handgun.
The former student shot and killed six people, including three children, Haley Scruggs, William Kenny, and Evelyn Dechhaus, all nine.
The shooter also killed headteacher Dr. Catherine Consey, 60, alternative teacher Cynthia Beck, 61, and school guard Mike Hill, 61.
The responding officers shot and killed Hill at 10:27 am
Authorities initially used the pronouns “she” and “her” to refer to Hale, who was transgender and also went by Aiden, but the shooter’s preferred pronouns were he/him, according to the LinkedIn page.
