I'm Brian Lehrer. This is my daily politics podcast from WNYC Studios. It's Thursday,

December 16th. Can we connect two of the biggest news events of the last few weeks that

usually get talked about separately, the deadly school

shooting in Michigan and the recent Supreme Court cases on abortion, separate news events

that we usually talk about separately, but Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy connected them recently.

Here are a few seconds of Senator Murphy on the Senate floor.

I listened to my Republican colleagues, come down here one after another today, and talk

about the sanctity of life at the very moment that moms and dads in Michigan were being told

that their kids weren't coming home because they were shot at school due to a country that has accepted

gun violence due to Republicans fealty to the gun lobby. Now, reforming the gun laws to require

background checks and limit the sale of assault weapons, at least those two things, has been a

core priority for Senator Murphy, maybe ever since the school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut.

Nine years ago this week, it was December 14th, 2012, 11 days before Christmas,

when gunman Adam Lanza killed 20 children in the first grade, plus eight adults,

including his mother, who had bought the AR-15 that Lanzah used. And even that didn't

move the needle in Congress on guns. Senator Chris Murphy joins us now on why he connected the dots

of those two news stories. We'll also talk about some other things going on. Little things like

preserving electoral democracy, China and Russia, tightening their alliance against the West,

cost of living, inflation, and that all Chuck Schumer wants for Christmas is getting Joe

Manchin to yes. Senator Murphy, always good to have you on. Welcome back to WNYC.

Good morning. Thanks for having me. A little bit for people who don't know you that well,

on your political grounding.

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