Speed Reads

tonight on CNN

The NRA is going to join CNN's town hall with the Parkland shooting survivors

CNN is hosting a town hall Wednesday with survivors of last week's mass shooting in Parkland, Florida. The National Rifle Association will be there too.

The NRA accepted CNN's invitation to partake in the town hall and will be represented by spokesperson Dana Loesch, CNN reports. Loesch will join Florida lawmakers Rep. Ted Deutch (D) and Sens. Bill Nelson (D) and Marco Rubio (R), as well as the students and family of those who survived the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, where 17 people were killed by a teenager armed with a semiautomatic rifle.

In the wake of the shooting, the teenaged survivors from the school have become vocal advocates for gun control, taking to various TV networks to make impassioned pleas for lawmakers to defend children against gun violence. They have also slammed politicians for taking money from the NRA, as the organization has historically been opposed to assault weapons bans and other reforms suggested by the Parkland survivors.

The students have additionally encouraged voters to vote politicians who take money from the NRA out of office. CNN notes that Rubio is one such politician, as he received nearly $10,000 from the NRA's Political Victory Fund in the 2016 election. While the NRA and Rubio accepted the invite to join the town hall and face the Parkland survivors, CNN says two other notable figures did not: President Trump and Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R).

The town hall is titled Stand Up: The Students of Stoneman Douglas Demand Action and will be hosted by Jake Tapper. It airs at 9 p.m. ET Wednesday.