Transcripts For CNN American Morning 20110110

p.m. eastern time. meanwhile, his internet postings are giving us an idea of why he sought to kill. he bought ammunition at a walmart a few weeks ago. but he had been turned away earlier because of his strange behavior. president obama has called for a national moment of silence taking place at 11:00 a.m. eastern time today and flags are flying half-staff at the capitol and other government buildings. we want to give you a look inside the mind of this accused shooter and the chilling 911 calls on saturday. hi, susan. >> hi, kiran. police are trying to piece together every aspect of what happened before the shooting, during the shooting and after the shooting. they're trying to find a motive. no one still knows exactly what happened. but we are getting a chilling look at some of the inside information and look and some witnesses about what happened that day. >> hello? hello? >> 911, there was a shooting at safeway. >> the calls to 911 paint a picture of the chaos that unfolded when the crazed gunman opened fire outside a safeway grocery store. >> he went in, he just started firing and then he ran. there was multiple people shot. >> okay. oh, my god. >> the man who allegedly called the trigger, 22-year-old jared lee loughner has so far been charged with just the crimes related to victims who were federal employees, including two counts of murder for killing a federal judge and congressional aide and attempted murder charges for killing two other aides and the attempted murder of congresswoman giffords. loughner isn't talking in custody and the fbi isn't commenting on his motive. >> i will say, and emphasize, there is no information at this time to suggest any specific threat remains. >> investigators did reveal what can be a key piece of evidence. discovered in a safe in loughner's home, a letter from congresswoman giffords, thanking him for attending a similar neighborhood event back in 2007. investigators say they also found a separate envelope with what appears to be loughner's signature and the following words, i planned ahead. my assassination. giffords. loughner's past included a troubled time at pima community college where he was first suspended and quit last october after what the school said were multiple run-ins with campus police. >> he was physically removed after the third or fourth week. >> to return to camp yuts, loughner was told he would have to present a doctor's note stating, quote, he would not be a danger to himself or others. and loughner will be making his first appearance in court later today. that's his first time appearing before a judge and he's charged with several counts of murder and attempted murder. we'll see whether he has anything to say. it's not expected that the hearing will last very long at all. after all, it's just a first appearance and there's so many more things to come. there might be a detention hearing later on and another judge had to be brought in because of the fact that a federal judge was murdered, so many people know him, there's a connection there and other judges had to recrew themselves. >> speaking of the representation, it's very interesting, the person who is going to be representing loughner is no stranger to some controversial and high profile defendants. >> that's right. and she's been a federal public defender for quite some time. her name is judy clark and as you indicated, has been indicated in some high profile cases. she represented zacharias mussaoui. she also represented ted ka coincidenceky and on her own time, represented susan smith, who as you recall was charged with murdering her own children. in the case of ted kaczynski was was able to help him avoid the death penalty. >> we'll continue to follow, of course, the legal developments on this. susan, thanks so much. meantime today, this is a immunity in mourning over the loss of six people. we've focus on gabrielle giffords, but we want to show you the other six people. john roll, federal jauj, dorothy morris, dorwin stoddard, 9-year-old christina green, gabrielle zimmerman and phyllis schenck. christina was recently elected to student council at her school. our casey wyan had a chance to speak to her parents about their devastating loss. >> she was born on 8911 and died in saturday's mass killings in tucson. christina green's father says the nine years in between was special. >> it does say something about our society that my daughter was born on a tragic day and she went out on a tragic day. >> she was a great friend, a great sister, a great daughter. i'm so proud of her. i want everyone to know and i think a lot of people that know us and new christina taylor that we got robbed, she got robbed of a beautiful life she could have had. >> christina attended the event hosted by gabrielle giffords because she got voted to student council at her elementary school. >> there's going to be a lot of those kind of moments that -- i had one this morning, just waking up. she comes up and says, daddy, it's time to get up. and she didn't do that this morning. >> she was one of the few girls who played at the canyon delora little league. >> fine little girl. i mean, a wonderful little girl. there was a young man who pulled me aside and said, you know, christina was a classmate of mine and i think we should plant a tree out here. >> dorwin and marty stoddard attended the church of christ. >> they both fed the needy, housed the needy, gave money and clothes to the needy. so they were very important to us. >> saturday, dory was shot and killed pep pulled movie to the grouped, his body covering hers. she was shot three times, but survived. >> to not take this as an anger against anybody, but a way to be drawn together and encourage each other and be there when she gets out of the hospital. >> family members tell us that mavi is doing remarkably well and could be released from the hospital, kiran, very soon despite the fact that she has three gunshot wounds to her leg. >> we were at a vigil last night and a lot of people were there with their children and a lot of people said, you know, this could have been my kid. just devastating. >> when you speak to the parents, it's devastating. >> a number of great pollen and women, by the way, are being for their heroes. daniel hernandez was a brand new intern to congresswoman giffords' office. when those bullets rang out, hernandez raced towards them and likely saved lives. >> i heard the gunshot and i knew that people had been injured, most likely. so i ran towards where the congresswoman was. so i heard shots and ran towards where she and some of her senior staff were. when i got there, i saw there were people who had been injured. i tried to see who had a pulse, see if people were still breathing. i was only able to check two or three people before i noticed that congresswoman giffords had been injured severely. so then she became my first priority, not just because of her position, but because of the severity of her wounds. she had a shot to the head. so i tried to make sure that i picked her up so that she wasn't in a position where she could as fixate in her own blood because of the position that she was originally in, making sure that i was holding her up so that she was sitting in an upright position so she could breathe easily. >> comforting her, how did you do that? >> letting her know that i was there and she was going to be okay. the way she was communicating was by grabbing my hand and squeezing. once pima emergency services came and i no longer was providing the care, my main concern was trying to make sure that she knew that someone was there with her, no matter what happened, that she knew someone was there holding her hand. >> did you save her life? >> i don't think i did. i think it was emergency services. people have been referring to me as a hero. i don't think that that is something that i am. i think the people that are heroes are people like gabby who are public servantes and who have dedicated their lives to public service. >> here is a picture right now where you can see daniel. he is with congressman giffords, by her side as she's being taken away on a stretcher to that waiting ambulance. at 7:40 eastern, we're going to be speaking live to daniel hernandez about his quick thinking and about his bravery in the midst of that unspeakable tragedy. it is just amazing that he knew what to do. he ran into those gunshots. he didn't know whether this suspect was able to reload or not. and his soul purpose was to try to do everything that he could to make sure she made it until she got to the hospital. >> yeah. he certainly helped out, had some first aid training that triggered in, as well. we're going to check in with kiran here in just a moment. plenty more coverage coming from the scene out there. also something we're going to be talking about this morning, you're talking about and they're talking about on capitol hill right now. how do you protect our lawmakers? is there a practical way you can protect every single one of them? we're talking about 535 of them as they fan out across the country to their home district. can you really do that? well, congress now considering some distractist measures possibly this morning. also, not quite sure about a motive yet in this tragedy. but the sheriff out there in pima county, maybe he has an idea, at least he thinks he has an idea of what may have led to this tragedy. >> arizona, i think, has become sort of the capital. >> coming up, we were going to be talking live. kiran chetry talking to the sheriff live coming up. also another big story to keep an eye on today is going to be the weather. it is not just a messy commute out there for a lot of people this morning. it's down ride dangerous. and of all places, the south. we are talking about ice and snow. we're talking about, as well, some 2,000 flights canceled. we'll tell but this storm's impact not just on the south, but it could be affecting you. rab marciano trabing this for us. if you've got pain? you need the patch. (announcer) icy hot patches. targeted no-mess relief. icy to dull pain. hot to relax it away. pain's no match for the icy hot patch. welcome back to a special edition of american morning. we're here in tucson, arizona, we're in front of university hospital where right now congresswoman gabby giffords is in critical condition. she is in critical care recovering from a gunshot wound from saturday that took the live of six others. tucson arizona colleagues, friends and constituents have all been touched in some way by gabrielle giffords including my next guest, arizona estate representative steer farley. he has known the congresswoman for several years. he joins us this morning. thanks so much for being with us this morning. >> thank you. >> i know you're close with the family, as well with. how are they holding up in the midst of all of this? >> they're very optimistic about what is happening. they are very, very strong. that's where gabby gets her strength. >> her husband, mark kelly, a nasa astronaut, he's been here by her side at the hospital, as well. have you had a chance to get any updates on how she may be doing? >> i was very, very happy to hear yesterday that she is moving and on both sides of her body and that she is responding to verbal commands. >> after taking a bullet right to the head, it is amazing that she is -- that they're so optimistic for her recovery. also, there were several others injured, as well, but she's the most serious at this point. some of the others as we talked about are expected to recover? >> i met ron in the hospital room. i saw pam in the hospital room. they are both good friends and they are doing very well. ron is alert, he's wondering and worrying about everybody else. he's still issuing orders as the chief of staff from his hospital bed. pam is doing the same thing. the kind of people that gabby gathers around her are these incredible type a people who are so dedicate and had they're amazing. i did want to see something about gabe zimmerman. >> he's the 30-year-old staffer who unfortunately lost his life. >> yes. >> how are the other staffers dealing with his death? >> it's very tough. we know that he was shot down as he was rushing to help, just as daniel hernandez was. daniel survived, gabe did not. it is incredible to us that gabe is no longer there to help us. >> how has this tragedy affected your thoughts as a lawmaker, as well, and others who want to have an open dialogue with their constituents? is this changing way that all of us relate in some way to our elected leaders? >> well, in the feeling that i've gotten from the spirit of tucson and the spirit of southern arizona the last few days since this has happened, i see that we have crossed a threshold. saturday, we went from the past to the future and because people are not calling out froer veng or hatred or anger, there's a spirit of love, hope and reconciliation that is float over this entire region and that is where we will get the strength to move forward, to move forward and help the entire nation change the deviciveness of our politics. i believe we will take the spirit of this horrible tragedy and convert it into something that will bring us to be one nation again. >> do you think that the ratcheted up levels of rhetoric and poise in terms of words contributed in some way to this tragedy? >> i don't want to get into the blame of what i think caused the shooter to do this. but i know that congresswoman giffords has been on the front line of angry words coming at her. we cannot allow these types of -- our differences to divide us in any violent ways. we cannot allow that to happen. we are much better than that as a state. we are much better than that as a nation. we are not like this here in arizona and we are not like this acid a nation and we will move past this with strength, reconciliation and love. >> our thoughts and prayers are with all of you dealing with this. i not has not been easy. thank you so much for joining us this morning states representative steve farley and a friend of congresswoman giffords. thanks. >> thank you. coming up, it's a struggle for balance for every lawmaker. this morning, congress confronting questions about its own security. and also, after the tragedy here in tucson, one com congressman says we're in a very dark place right now. is the discourse in this country becoming dangerous? it's about 23 minutes past the hour now. welcome back here to this "american morning." the shooting out in arizona has gun control activists now speaking up and triez to seize this moment for tougher gun control laws. maryland democrat mccarthy is pushing for legislation as early as today. her husband was killed, a son wounded by a gunman on a long island railroad train in 1993. now the congresswoman is calling on a ban for so-called extended automatic semi ammunition clips. these are clips that allow for more ammunition in these guns. they were illegal. as we know now, there was a lot on the agenda. congress was just getting under way, a lot on their plate including taking up a repeal of the president's health care reform bill. that was supposed to happen this week. that and other things are being put on the back burner right now. the thing on the forefront of mocht people in congress's mind, safety, their own safety amyself an increased number of threats and now what we've seen in arizona. how in the world do you protect 535 members of congress? brianna keilar is with us this morning live on capitol hill. brianna, good morning to you. anything short of giving every single member, and we're talking about 535 of them presidentialesque secret service security 24/7, what do you do? >> and this is what is so interesting about this, t.j. you have all of these members of congress with the exception of democratic and republican leaders, no one has security unless there's some specific threat and they ask for it. rank and file members like gabby giffords do not generally have security. what we saw yesterday was a conference call, 800 people on this conference call, members of congress, their staff members, their top aides, their spouses and they were talking with the u.s. capitol police. they were talking with the sergeant at arms. the fbi was also on the call. and according to some members of the call, there weren't any really specific security recommendations, but there were some. for instance, just a reminder that these individuals need to be vigilant, that they need to did he go designate somebody back home to deal with security issues and they need to reach out to local law enforcement the, or if they're here in washington, if they feel there's a safety concern. one democratic member on this call said he's been in congress 2 1/2 years, he's never been on a conference call like this led by democratic leader peps we're going to see more specifics probably on wednesday. there's going to be a security briefing. they're going to be making more specific recommendations to members of congress and to their staff members who deal with security issues. >> brianna, also, some of them are talking about possibly, you know, need more security provided for them. are had some of them taking it upon themselves to take care of their own security? and what i mean by that is carrying guns. >> that's right. and we heard from one republican from utah, jason chafis, who says that he has a concealed carry permit. that he uses it sometimes, he'll have a women on him from time to time and in light of what happened to congresswoman giffords, he'll do this more often. one of the other things that he might do is propose the u.s. marshalls service might be made available to congress and this is something he's considering proposing in his role as a subcommittee chairman. the other thing is, there's different points of view here. adam smith from washington, he's a democrat. he describes congresswoman giffords as his best friend here in congress. he has said, you know, there's only so much you can do. we are public servantes and we can't be going to these constituent events with six or seven armed guards. >> brianna keilar, this is a tough one for them. they pride themselves with having a close contact with constituents. >> that's right. >> technically around election time. now, of course, the shootings out in arizona have a lot of people talking about this heated political rhetoric. was it to blame, really, for what happened out there? at least one person is suggestioning that it did have something to do with it and that is the pima county sheriff. we'll be talking to him live coming up this morning. congresswoman giffords beating the odds already, survive ago bullet through her brain and having doctors come out and say there are encouraging signs. how is this possible? our doctor, sanjay gupta, our neurosurgeon will join us with the prognosis. receiving the bronze star, that was definitely one of my proudest moments. i graduated from west point, then i did a tour of duty in iraq. when i was transitioning from active duty, i went to a military officer hiring conference. it was kind of like speed dating. there were 12 companies that i was pre-matched with, but walmart turned out to be the best for me. sam walton was in the military, and he understood the importance of developing your people. it's an honor to be in a position of leadership at walmart. i'm captain tracey lloyd, and i work at walmart. ♪ good morning to you once again. we're here in tucson, arizona, 4:30 local time, 6:30 in new york. it's a special edition of "american morning" on this january 10th. >> good morning. i'm t.j. holmes and we'll be checking in with kiran out there with what's happening in arizona. meanwhile, let met give you an update. congresswoman gabrielle giffords is still fieding for her life. she's in critical condition. killed, six people, among them a 9-year-old girl and a federal judge. her doctors have said they are optimistic about her recovery. meanwhile, the suspect, 22-year-old jared loughner, he is due in court today, around 4:00 eastern time. he is now charged with the attempted murder of a member of congress, first degree murder for the death of judge john roll and gabriel zimmerman and charged with the attempted murder of giffords aides, pamela simon and ron barber. we're looking at the weather today, as well. certainly in the south and other places around the country, this could affect you, as well, but in particular, the south. the streets and runways, covered in sheets of ice and inches of snow. several have been sliding off of these slick roads. this is all in the atlanta area in particular. some 2,000 flights have been grounded already. rob marciano is outside in atlanta centennial olympic park, atlanta. hey there, rob. give us an idea. that's a lot for the south. >> it is a lot. and the amount of snow we've gotten here in atlanta is certainly a lot for atlanta and the south in general. this is going to go down serm in a top ten storm, maybe even higher than that. the road conditions, as you pointed out, are not good. behind me, we're in downtown, basically. the roads are passable because we have had snow and then sleet overnight. no freezing rain yet. and that's key because we don't have a coating of ice just yet, but that's expected to come later on today. but what you see here, this street right here is replicated throughout the city. and not only on the city streets here, but on the interstate. some spots of the interstates, people have pulled over and abandon cars. at one point last night, it was gridlock. as far as the airport is concerned, here is a live picture for you. as you mentioned, hundreds of flights canceled today. the airport not officially shut down yet, but you want to call ahead because odds are, you are not getting out if you're traveling in, out or through the atl. couple other shots for you as far as live traffic cameras, georgia department of transportation, snow covered roads and it's still coming down now. it's just not advised to come in. when i drove in here today this morning, i have an all-wheel drive vehicle, it wasn't too bad. but in the industry streets, you have less area for error and if you can, stay home. they had snow in north dallas yesterday. this is heading east and north and it's not going to be done here for another day. let's go to the maps and show you some of the snow totals that have come in across parts of the carolinas and georgia. this doesn't include places like little rock and north texas. there you go. 9 inches in graham. greenville has seen 6 inches. hartsfield has seen about 3.7. we have about 4 inches here and the radar showing we have more moisture coming in. snow and sleet this morning, another couple of inches expected. then turning to freezing rain this afternoon and temperatures, t.j., stayed below freezing. probably through tomorrow morning. so this is not going to be one of those things where it melts immediately. it's going to be the same here, up the road in greenville, up towards chattanooga and charlotte, as well. so not an isolated event and definitely on the crippling side as far as the south is concerned. t.j. >> all right. you said it best. crippling. we appreciate you, rob marciano. we'll continue to check in with you for what you need to know. thank you so much. for now, i want to hand it over to kiran. >> t.j., thanks. we're going to get an update on the shootings here in pima, county, tucson, arizona. also, the anger in america, can the heated political recourse and rhetoric contribute to this tragedy? there's a lot of reaction coming from washington and districts across the country. we'll explore, coming up. twoib to other special coverage this morning. we're live in tucson, arizona, outside the university hospital here where congressman gabrielle giffords is still in critical condition after saturday's shooting. of course, it left a nation stunned. 6 people were killed and 14 others injured. the suspect, jared lee loughner, 22 years old, is not developing with investigators according to our sources. he has been charged, though, with five counts relate to go that shooting, including attempt to go assassinate a member of congress. joining me now with the latest is pima county sheriff clarence dufner. do you have an indication where this is? >> it's winding down. initially we were concerned there were others involved and we have determined that is not the case. so it's taking on basically a routine structure. we are still investigating him intensely, and i can tell you without any details that he specifically targeted the congresswoman. we have documents and eyewitnesss to to prove that and he's a very troubled individual. >> when you say troubled individual, i know we had a chance to speak to and we're going to speak to again later one of his professors at a community college who was pretty disturbed by some of the things that he said and that he scared other students and it went as far as getting him removed from that community college. when somebody raises that many flags, what is the next step? should law enforcement have been contacted at that point? >> let me say that because i hear this all the time about red flags. and it's true. every time we have serious incidents like this, there are red flags in the past. and i can tell you if we were to go through our files, we would come up with thousands of red flags. >> so you're saying you can't act beforehand -- >> well, we have a legal system that doesn't allow us to act before the fact. >> if it went to the point that he was dismissed from a university saying, listen, you have to bring a doctor's note saying you're mentally sound to come back, at some point should they have given a heads up to law enforcement? >> i think law enforcement had some information up at the college about some of his behavior. >> we also understand that he was attempt to go buy ammunition at one walmart and was turned away because of his behavior and apparently succeeded in buying ammunition at another walmart. when something like that happens, is there any notification process to tlorts? >> not normally, unless the behavior is very bizarre. >> you had spoken out passionately in the wake of this talking about how part of the political discourse may or may not contribute to violent behavior and there were some who said you shouldn't have said that, that perhaps it wasn't the time or place to speculate about whether or not he was driven politically. do you still feel that way today, a few days out? >> let me say this. i was driving home from california when this incident occurred. gabby giffords is a beautiful human being. and hopefully there are angels behind us protecting this young lady. she is an incredible public servant, without fear, in my judgment. judge john roll is as fine a judge as there is anywhere in this country and he's a fine, fine human being. both are personal friends of mine. and i was very, very angry when this happened. i think i am only expressing what a whole lot of people in this country feel, that the anger that is generated against government and public officials and elected officials is partly responsible for these kinds of incidents. people who have troubled personalities are very susceptible to this kind of anger in our country. it's a sad thing. >> do you think it's mainly just up to people themselves to watch what they say and realize that words have consequences or are there any type of legal avenues? >> i don't think there are any legal avenues at all. speech is free in this country. but i don't think it's without personal responsibility and without consequences. >> also, much has been made about arizona's gun laws, saying that they're some of the most lax in the country. as a sheriff of a county here in arizona, do you think that gun control or any legislation having to do with that would make a difference? >> well, at this point, probably not. but we still have legislators who are introducing more lax -- as a matter of fact, we have legislation being introduced as we speak which will allow teachers and students at universities to carry weapons concealed. now, that is just insane. that is insane. the universities ought to be allowed to control their own campuses and this is -- but that's the -- this is arizona. we are, as i've said before, the tombstone of the world. >> what do you mean by that? >> if you look at the history of tombstone, everybody carried a gun and shootings were common. >> gabrielle giffords herself referred to the ok corral culture. do you think that that makes it a more dangerous place? >> certainly. there are a lot of people who are not very well disciplined, a lot of road ragers out there, if you will. and when these people have a gun in their pocket and they get angry, they pull them out. we've seen a lot of shootings involving road rage. >> sheriff dupnik, thanks so much for joining us this morning. i appreciate your time. >> thank you very much. >> thank you. good luck. >> thank you. one congressman says we're in a very dark place right now. next, how the toxic talk could be affecting the country. coming up in our next hour, he ran toward the gunfire, a 20-year-old intern just five days into the job with the congresswoman, perhaps saved her life. we're going speak to the young man who was there by her side as gabrielle giffords was taken to the hospital. let's get chinese. should we order panda blossom, panda moon... how about chinese at home with wanchai ferry? you can make it in just 14 minutes. mmmh, orange chicken. great. i didn't feel like going out anyway. 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[click] that's still meatloaf. - very good. moving on. - we are insurance. - ♪ we are farmers ♪ bum di bum bum bum bum bum ♪ [ female announcer ] in a perfect world, we wouldn't need to filter our water. the same water that flows freely, untouched, the way nature intended, would flow into our homes. that's why there's brita, to make the water we drink, taste a little more, perfect. reduce lead and other impurities with the advanced filtration system of brita. welcome back to "american morning." lawmakers on both sides of the aisle say they're shocked and saddened by the shooting rampage in arizona. in fact, as one congressman put it, quote, we're in a very dark place in this country right now. but many say they will continue to meet with their constituentes and in their urging fellow politicians to dial it back a bit, to refrain from negative campaigning and over the top language. our jim acosta has more on what many say are a wake-up call. >> we tell people of the united states -- >> when members of the house took turns reading portions of the constitution last week, congresswoman gabrielle giffords got the first amendment. congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof or abridging the freedom of speech. >> now, wait a minute, wait a minute. >> but in recent years, those free speech protections have allowed americans on the right and the left to say just about anything they want. >> the republicans health care plan for america, don't get sick. >> the political rhetoric got to heated during the health care debate, protesters brought gun toes town hall meetings. some in congress found offices in their districts vandalized. last month, giffords objected to having her district placed in the cross hairs in this map pointing out certain health care supporters. >> when people do that, you have to realize there's consequences to that action. >> giffords told him just over a week ago, she was still troubled by that map. >> she was not going to be intimidated. she never indicated to me that she was scared, that she -- but she was troubled by the environment that exists in many parts of the country, particularly in her district. >> over the weekend, a sara pack representative told an online radio host it's all a misunderstanding. >> we never, ever, ever intended it to be gun sites. it was cross hairs like you would see on a map. >> but just after the election, sayre rave palin tweeted about the map trying to make sense of the rampage, pima county sheriff put some of the blame on the public discourse. >> to try to inflame the public on a daily basis, 24 hours a day seven days a week has impact on people, especially who are unbalanced personalities to begin with. >> was it a national mind-set? >> we are in a dark place in this country right now. and the atmospheric condition is toxic. >> or the mind of a mad man? >> we really don't know what motivated this young person, except to say that he was very mentally unstable. >> investigators haven't said whether any political rhetoric motivated the gunman. still, pennsylvania congressman robert brady plans to introduce a bill that makes ate crime to incite violence against a member of congress, a law of that kind, of course, could be subject to a court challenge on the grounds of free speech. t.j. >> jim, we appreciate you this morning. we'll continue to check in with kiran as we have this special coverage this morning on this "american morning." also, a lot of people asking questions about this alleged shooter, the suspect, jared loughner. we're learning more and more about his troubled past including some things that you won't believe that took place in his classroom when he went to community college out there in arizona. it got the attention of police out there. he had to be removed from class physically at some point. also coming up, we too often think about this heated rhetoric. we think about democrats and republicans going at it on capitol hill. but you have to remember all of these members of congress are friends, colleagues, coworkers, as well. we're going to be talking to two of the closest people to gabby giffords coming up this morning. stay with us. ♪ i hate suburbia and the bourgeoi-sie ♪ ♪ but i really love my bank ♪ i hate-- didn't quite catch that last bit. i said i really love my bank. right... is there a problem ? it's not really raging, man. uh, we were hoping for more raging ? well, you said write from the heart. yeah... don't do that. at ally, you'll love our online savings account. named the best of 2010 by money magazine. ally. do you love your bank ? all right. about seven minutes to the top of the hour now. it is no small miracle that congresswoman gabrielle giffords survived after having a bullet go through her brain at close range. we want to bring in dr. sanjay gupta, a neurosurgeon, as well. i want to talk to you first. and help us understand. i want to talk to you about the word "luck." doctors say the reason she's alive, yes, the medical staff helped out, but they say a major reason is luck. so sanjay, if you can, for the lay person, understand that how when somebody gets a bullet through the head at close range, they not only survive, but the doctor can come out and say he's optimistic about her recovery. how is that possible? >> well, you know, as you might guess, t.j., the odds typically aren't in someone's favor with this type of jury. but there are some things that sort of tip the odds a bit and, you know, part of them was the fact that she got care so quickly, she was taken to the hospital quickly and into the operating room quickly. as you know, t.j., she was able to follow commands prior to even going into the operating room. someone was telling her to do something like raise two fingers, she was able to hear that and process that and then execute the command. that showed a pretty high degree of neurological function. and also one of the important things from a neurosurgical perspective is as devastating as this injury is and was, the bullet, the trajectory of the bullet stayed on one side of the head. that's so important. it's one of those things in neurosurgery that we know, but if a bullet passes from left to right or right to left, that makes things significantly worse. that did not happen in her case. and so these things sort of tip the odds, if you will, t.j., in her favor. >> and, you know, it was incredible to hear the press conference taking place with some of those doctors talking about how this happened. but it is remarkable, again, for the lay person, to hear a point-blank range shot to the head and having an okay prognosis. how is she doing right now? you talked about her being able to respond through nonverbal communication. how is she doing now? what are we looking at for possible recovery down the road? >> well, you know, what was most striking, i think, when i was listening to these press conferences was, you know, pretty soon after she got out of the operating room, doctors were talking about the fact that she was still able to follow commands. she gets out of the operating room, obviously, a breathing tube, going be quite sedated, pain medications. and yet, when they come over to her and talk about hold up two things, she was able to do that. again, a very good sign. that was in the immediate time period after the operation. also, what they do now is in the intensive care unit, she is basically in sort of a heavy sedated state. they're calling it a medical coma, giving these medications not only to keep her comfortable, but to sort of put her brain at rest, as well. let the brain relax a little bit after this. that's important in terms of her recovery. but the way these medications work, t.j., is as soon as you stop giving the medication through the i.v., the effect wears off and the patient can wake up at that point for a brief period of time, they can examine her, talk to her, see how her brain is working, ask her to follow demands, all the things we're talking about before. from what we're hearing and from what the doctors have been saying, she's been doing very well in that regard, clearly showing good high cognitive function, moving both sides of her body well. we heard reports of that today. not weak on one side of the body versus the other. i should point out, as well, t.j., one of the biggest concerns is swelling of the brain. that will need to be monitored for a few days, serm, maybe even longer than that. doctors have sort of anticipated that during the operation, not only did they remove bone fragments from where you bullet went in, but they also tack utah more bone on the left side of her head so as to allow the brain into swell into that area. if the brain swells, t.j., because of the hard skull, it has nowhere to go and that can be a catastrophic situation. doctors providing extra room by performing this operation called a cranioectomy. >> this has been absolutely fascinating to hear how this is even possible and to see how she's been treated, certainly some excellent treatment she's been getting. it's good to have you, sanjay, to break this down. thank you so much. we'll continue to check in with sanjay. to our viewers, you can check in with sanjay, as well the. he's been blogging about gabrielle giffords condition. getting close to the top of the hour, quick break, we'll have more coverage coming your way. kiran chetry is live in tucson with the latest on what's happening live after the shooting. hey, guys. printer's out of ink. just shake it. [ rattling ] [ male announcer ] need ink? this week at staples, spend $40 on ink and get a $10 visa prepaid card via easy rebate. that was easy. good morning to you all on this monday, january the 10th from new york. i'm t.j. holmes. >> good morning, t.j. from tucson, arizona, it's kiran chetry. we're live outside of university hospital in tucson, arizona, where inside congresswoman gabrielle giffords is fighting for her life. here is a look right now at a makeshift memorial set up. you see the sign peace, not -- and then it showed a gun site. six people were killed and several others issued. they're getting some comfort in knowing that the entire nation is with them this morning searching for answers in the tragedy and praying for recovery. also, some deep soul searching about the political climate that's taking place in this country right now. here is what we know at this hour in terms of the investigation and in terms of the conditions of those injured. congresswoman giffords is still in critical condition. we heard from sanjay about just how complicated and tricky the days after this surgery are for her. she had that emergency brain surgery to save her life and now they're just waiting to see how the recovery happens. meanwhile, the suspect, 22-year-old jared loughner is now charged with murder and he's due in court 4:00 p.m. eastern time today. his internet ramblings are getting a bit of a picture in what drove him to kill. i just spoke with the pima county sheriff who says it is clear that he was targeting the congresswoman, congresswoman giffords. a source tells us that he bought ammunition at a walmart two weeks ago and he had to try two different stores because he was turned down at the first walmart. the only detail we have there is because of his, quote, behavior. meantime, president obama has called for a national moment of silence for the victims westbound of the rampage. this will take place at 11:00 a.m. eastern time this morning. you can see the flags at half-staff. susan candiotti joins us now. she's been following the investigation and looking more into the mind of the accused shooter as well as the chillinging 911 calls in the moments after that attack. good morning, susan. >> good morning. there is indeed frightening paperwork that's been found in loughner's home. after talking to classmates and teachers, you certainly get a picture of a very troubled young man. >> hello? hello? >> 911, there was a shooting at safeway. >> the calls to 911 paint a picture of the chaos thaun folded as the crazed gunman opened fire outside the safeway grocery store. >> ittings looks like he had a se semi automatic pistol. he went in and he just shot. >> okay. oh, my god. >> 22-year-old jared lee loughner has so far been charged with the crimes that are victims of federal employees, including attempted murder charges for killing two other aides and the attempted murder of congresswoman giffords. loughner isn't talking in can you tell custody and the fbi isn't commenting on his motive. >> i will say, and i will emphasize there is no information at this time to suggest any specific threat remains. >> investigators did reveal what could be a key piece of evidence discovered in a safe in loughner's home, a letter from congresswoman giffords thanking him for attending a similar neighborhood event back in 2007. investigators say they also found a separate envelope with what appears to be loughner's signature and the following words -- i planned ahead. my assassination. giffords. loughner's pass includes a troubled time at pima community college where he was first suspended and then quit last october after what the school said were multiple run-ins with campus police. >> he was physically removed after probably the third or fourth week. >> to return to campus, loughner was told he would have to present a doctor's note stating he would fought be, quote, a danger to himself or others. >> a danger to himself or others. well, the college never got that note and now the college dropout, jared lee loughner is the source of untold misery. >> you know, it's interesting because we talked to the pima county sheriff moments ago and i said with the track record that this suspect had, should law enforcement have been notified. and he said, you know, if that was the case in terms of, quote, red flags, we would have to investigate thousands of people. so it's a tough situation. >> it is. >> in the meantime, you're learning more about who is going to defend t loughner. >> we're learning that the government is likely to assign an attorney by the name of judy clark. she's been around for years and has handled a lot of high profile cases. she represented zach rye ya eed moussaoui. she represented ted kaczynski. she also, on her own, represented susan smith who, of course, was accused of murdering her own children. so this is a woman who has been around and could be key to this case. it's not clear whether she will be here in time for his initial appearance in court, but she is likely to get this assignment. >> and you said you don't expect much to come out of today's appearance? >> it's pretty much paperwork, a shuffling of paperwork. he's making his first appearance. he's only been charged with a complaint. there still is an indictment expected to come and that's not ready yesterday. >> susan candiotti, thank you. >> you're welcome. today, this is a community in mourning over the loss of six people killed here on saturday. we want to show you the faces on of this who lost hr lives on saturday. federal judge john roll, doorny morris, dorwin stoddard, phyllis schneck and gabriel zimmerman and 9-year-old christina green. she was interested in government, which is why she was at the congresswoman's gathering. she had also been recently elected to student council at her school. casey spoke to her parents about their devastating loss. >> she was born on 9/11 and died in saturday's killings in tucson. christina green's father says the nine years in between was very special. >> it says something about our society, that my daughter was born on a tragic day and she went out on a tragedy i day. >> she was a great friend, a great sister, a great daughter. i was so proud of her and i just want everyone to know and i think a lot of people that know us and knew christina taylor that, you know, we got robbed. she got robbed of a beautiful life that she could have had. >> christina attended the event because she had recently been chosen for student council at the elementary school where families brought flowers and left a note that said in part, we are deeply saddened by the loss of this precious child. >> there will be moments. i had one this morning, just waking up. she -- she comes up and says, daddy, it's time to get up. and she didn't do that this morning. >> john green is a scout for the los angeles dodgers. christina's grandfather, dallas green, won a world series managing the philadelphia phillies. she was one of the few girls that played at the canyon del oro little league. the league president tried to explain the tragedy to other players who knew christina. >> fine little girl. i mean, a wonderful little girl. there was a young man who pulled me aside and said, you know, christina was a classmate of mine and i think we should -- we should plant a tree out here. >> dorwin and marvie stoddard attended the church of christ. dory built this room for parishioners. >> they were very important to us. >> saturday, dory was shot and killed. his body covering hers, she was shot three times but survived. their minister had this message. >> and i'm going to say not to take this as an anger against anybody, but a way to encourage each other and be there when mauvi gets out of the hospital. >> family members tell us that mauvi is recovereding very well, and could be released from the hospital very soon despite the fact that she has three gunshots to her leg. >> it's just so sad for these survivors, as well. they sursurvived, but what they be going through is hard to imagine. >> in mauvi's case, she has a lot of community support, congregation there, looking forward to her getting out of the hospital. her husband brought her down and covered her up and may have very well saved her life. >> so sad. thank you. a number of men and women are being hailed as heroes for their action during and right after saturday's shooting. that includes a young man by name of daniel hernandez, a brand new intern to conwoman giffords' office. when those shots rang out web ran towards them and likely saved his boss's life. he spoke to other own ted rollins and troid his own account of this tragic attack. >> i heard the gunshot and i knew that people had been injured, most likely. so i ran towards where the congresswoman was. so i heard shots and ran towards where she and some of her senior staff were. when i got there, i saw there were people who had been injured. i tried to see who had a pulse, see if people were still breathing. i was only able to check two or three people before i noticed that congresswoman giffords had been injured severely. so then she became my first priority, not just because of her position, but because of the severity of her wounds. she had a shot to the head. so i tried to make sure that i picked her up so that she wasn't in a position where she could asfixate in her own blood because of the position that she was originally in, making sure that i was holding her up so that she was sitting in an upright position so she could breathe more easily. >> comforting her, how did you do that? >> letting her know that i was there and she was going to be okay. she was alert and conscious, but she wasn't able to speak. so the way that she was communicating was by grabbing my hand and squeezing. once pima emergency services came and i no longer was providing the care, my main concern was trying to make sure that she knew that someone was there with her, no matter what happened, that she knew someone was there holding her hand. >> did you save her life? >> i don't think i did. i think it was emergency services. people have been referring to me as a hero. i don't think that that is something that i am. i think the people that are heroes are people like gabby who are public servants and who have dedicated their lives to public service. >> in this picture, you can see daniel. he is standing there with the red shirt and blue sweater on. he has his hand on her hand as congresswoman giffords is being taken away on a stretcher to the ambulance. coming up, we're going to speak with daniel her unanimous dizzy about his quick thinking and his bravery. he said they've always known daniel was a gift to them, and now the rest of the world is going to get to know that, as well, not only because of his heroics on saturday, but because of the way he has been with this campaign and with this office over the past several months. >> good to have him close by. looking forward to hearing from them. going to be hearing a lot more from you out there, kiran. thank you so much. again, we'll be heading back to tucson here in just a moment for more of our special coverage of what happened out there, including the new information we're getting about the suspect, jared loughner, 22-year-old young man. apparently, judging by all the people that knew him in the past, he was disturbed, to say the least. you'll hear more about some of his classmates, including his teacher. you'll hear from his former teacher and hear about the day that he had to be escorted out of his classroom by police. a lot of questions are now turn to go our members of congress and how do you protect all of them? literally, all 535 of them and their families when they're outside of the protective washington bubble? how do you protect them? we'll be getting into that. things started changing immediately. then i wrote a letter to the food stamp office. "thank you very much, i don't need your help any more." you know now, i can actually say i bought my home. i knew that the more i dedicated... the harder i worked, the more it was going to benefit my family. this my son, mario and he now works at walmart. i believe mario is following in my footsteps. my name is noemi, and i work at walmart. ♪ by giving me ginormous discounts with these: how can expedia save me even more on my hotel?t. unpublished rates. which means i get an even more rockin' hotel, for less. where you book matters. expedia. welcome back to a special edition of "american morning." we're live in tucson abdomen arizona, outside of university hospital why congresswoman giffords is still in critical condition. people have been talking about this nonstop and wanting to show in some way how much they care. there's only one word to describe how a lot of people are feeling in tucson this morning and that's numb with 16 people dead and 14 people injured and a congresswoman still fighting for her life, everyone is trying to figure out why this senseless attack happened here this weekend. >> this city is very much in shock. >> it's just -- i'm just overcome with emotion. you know, it's shocking to all of us. >> a get well balloon and flowers placed at the corner of the safeway shopping center where police continue their investigation into the mass killing that has stunned this city of more than a half million people. across town, a special service held at the synagogue that congresswoman giffords attends. >> when we come together in this way and we see the gathered strength of our community, then that gives all of us more strength. >> emotions were very raw at an evening vigil. a large crowd attend outside of giffords' office. this man, who brought his 4-month-old son was friends with gabe zimmerman, one of giffords stafforders who was killed. >> it doesn't matter if you're a republican or dem. no one deserves this type of justice, ever, ever. and i don't want my son the to grow up in this kind of world where violence is okay, because it's not okay. >> some held signs pleading for tolerance. >> let's discontinue the hate for words in politics. let's end the wars. let's come together. >> a crowd coming together, singing for peace and understanding. >> you know within t.j., it was very touch to go be out there yesterday and to see how many people came out there. a lot of people brought their children and the crowds say we don't want to be known for violence and divisiveness and for, you know, bitter feelings. we want the be known as a community that protects our own, that comes together, and that's why they felt it was so important to be out there last night to gather in front of her office. as we saw from some, he said i did not even vote for her. but she does not deserve this. it's too bad more people don't have that attitude before something happens. we can disagree, folks, but we can get along just fine. kiran, we will talk to you a bit more. there is another issue we're following this morning. a dangerous, messy commute this morning in parts of the south. we're talking about ice and snow crippling parts of the region this morning. rob marciano is tracking all of this for us. we're back in just a moment. ♪ ooh, ah la, la, la ♪ ♪ ooh, ah la, la, la ♪ ♪ ooh, ah la, la, la ♪ ♪ ooh, ah la, la, la ♪ ♪ ooh, ah la, la, la ♪ ♪ [ dance beat ] [ male announcer ] join theladders.com. we don't just post the $100k+ jobs. we give you the tools and guidance you need to be irresistible. well, it's 20 minutes past the hour now. you've been hearing a lot about congresswoman gabrielle giffords lately, unfortunately for the wrong reasons. maybe you didn't know the name before, but you know it now. around capitol hill, the name she was known by was simply gabby. joining me now, two people who do work with her on capitol hill, congressman ted poe and congresswoman debbie wasserman-schultz. congressman, let me start with you. people with all the coverage, certainly on health care, the coverage oftentimes and people talking heads on tv, americans hooem here, democrat, republican and just hear you all sometimes going at it. but people forget that you all are colleagues, coworkers and, in fact, friends up there on capitol hill. >> that is exactly correct. gabby and i were friends in fact, friday we were talking about a mutual concern of border security and she had invited me to tucson to go down to the arizona border. i've invited her to texas. we've worked on issues and even though sometimes we do disagree. >> congresswoman, you all spent a lot of time together. >> we have. and i know in the future we're going to continue to spend a lot of time together. our families have vacationed together. our kids know -- you know, mark's kids, we spend personal time together in washington. she's a wonderful and special person. >> and congresswoman, a lot of people the have been looking for a way to label this, what happened out there, if you will. but i'm wondering what your reaction was and what you think now, did you consider this domestic terrorism? was this an assassination attempt, was this a murderus madman? i guess what were your thoughts initially about what exactly this was? >> initially, it was hard to know what it was and we have to be careful about labelling it. you know, violence is violence. and it was a horrific act. it seems, at least from the initial reports so far, that he planned to attack gabby and i mean, i think he used the term in the documents they found assassination. more importantly, though, we all have to keep in mind that words matter and in terms of civility and tone, we have to -- we have to try to set an example going forward. and if we set an example, and i know -- and i'm sure that ted will agree with this. ted and i are very good friends and have workedtogether, despite disagreeing. we have to set an example so that the outside world, the media, the shock jocks, other people who were insight people like this person potentially are more measured and careful about how we disagree. >> and congressman poe, i assume you would agree to that. but another part of this conversation is turning to the safety of you all, our lawmakers up there. but you all pride yourself on going back to your districtes and people able to get up close and personal with you. in fact, that's how you do your job. that's how you campaign and get re-elected in coffee shops and whatnot. how can you change who you are back in your district and protect yourself at the same time? >> well, i don't intend to be intimidated and to not see people that i represent. i don't know that any member of congress will be intimidated. we want to be around the folks that we represent to hear from them, to listen to them and to dialogue with them on concerns, whether we agree with them or not. we're going to continue to do that. we will re-evaluate all of our security precautions. we take appropriate personnel with us if we feel like we need to. but we are going to continue to represent the american people. when we get off those -- when we leave congress at the end of the day on friday, we all head to the airport, go back home and start seeing people and i think we'll continue to do that. >> congresswoman, do you agree with that or do you see some changes possibly that need to be made among you all when you go back home? and again, you all pretty much open yourself up and anyone in your district to an extent has access to you. >> i completely agree with ted. we cannot allow incidents like this to intimidate the public or intimidate us into continue to go be able to get up close and personal with our constituents. but that having been said, members of congress, because we have staff around us, because we want to protect our constituents, need to not be cavalier about our security. and on wednesday, that's why the republican and democratic leadership are bringing us together to pass a resolution honoring gabby giffords and the other members of this tragedy and to get us together with our security experts so that they can remind us and counsel us on how best to keep ourselves safe and our staff and the public safe, as well, when interacting with us. but i'm leaving here from this interview, t.j., going right to a public event. so we're not going to let this stop us. >> and congressman poe, what is the update, the latest you have gotten about how congresswoman giffords is doing? >> she's doing well, considering what has occurred. i think she's a feisty woman and i think she will pull through with this because that's just her personality. so we'll just need to continue to pray for her. >> and congresswoman, i heard you laugh there when you said a feisty woman. it sounds like you agree with that, as well. some people are not surprised that she made it through and make a full recovery, some would say. >> gabby giffords has the heart of a lie yn and she's a fighter. if there's anybody that can pull through an injury like this, it's gabby giffords. we're all praying hard for her and know she's going to make a recovery and come back to us. >> there was a "new york times" article that struck me over the weekend asking whether or not this incident was going to pull us back from the brink of all that nasty rhetoric or this was going to push us over the edge. if you all can, quickly wrap that up for me. which direction do you think? could this push us over the edge in some way in let something people out there think there might be copycats, things like that, to think this is now an open season on -- not maybe congress people or frankly, flib who you disagree with politicalpy. congresswoman. >> we have to do everything we can to set an example and come together and i'm hopeful that we're going to be able to have an event, ted, and if you would work with me on it to bring the republicans and democrats in congress in a meaningful way so we can find ways to achieve common ground and work together and reset the tone of civility, i think that will help. >> i agree with that. civility is in order. debbie and i disagree on a lot of things. we get along well and we need to set the example so that they cannot use that as an excuse to commit violence against any member that's an elected official, maybe a member of congress or elected official or someone else. >> down the road, we certainly hope to have you two back and maybe this tone will continue down the road. thank you both, congresswoman and congressman, thank you for being here with us this morning. certainly our hearts and prayers go out to your friend and your colleague, as well, congresswoman giffords. thanks so much. >> thanks, t.j. >> and i want to turn it back to tucson. kiran chetry from the scene live. >> hi, t.j. behind me is where congresswoman giffords remains in critical condition fighting for her life afterthat shooting. we'll update you on how she is doing. and also a little later, bullets rang out and he explaining into action. her 20-year-old intern less than a week on the job used his bare hands to stop blood from pouring out where the bullet had pierced the congresswoman in the head. he knew what to do because of some first aid training and he could have very well saved her life. we'll speak to him ahead. jared loughner, his troubled past, we talked to a former teacher who said jared had to be escorted out of his classroom by police. [ male announcer ] breathe, socket. just breathe. we know it's intimidating. instant torque. top speed of 100 miles an hour. that's one serious machine. but you can do this. any socket can. the volt only needs about a buck fifty worth of charge a day. and for longer trips, it can use gas. so get psyched. this is a big step up from the leafblower. the 2011 chevrolet volt. it's more car than electric. it's the bottom of the hour here in "american morning." out in tucson, gabriel giffords is still in critical condition. doctors say they're encouraged that she was able to communicate and follow simple commands. a gunman shot her in the head, killing six other people including a federal judge and a 9-year-old girl. the suspect, meanwhile, 22-year-old jared loughner. he is now charged with attempted assassination and murder. he is due in court today around 4:00 eastern time. the fbi says he he revealed his plan on an envelope saying, quote, i will follow my plan. other stories we need to tell but this morning, the weather. a deep freeze in the south. streets and runways covered in sheets of ice and snow across the southeast. cars have been sliding all over the place, as you see in this video here. mainly in the atlanta area. but still, not just atlanta. a lot of places are having problems. some also, some 2000 flights have been grounded already. rob marciano is outside this morning and a tough drive in for a lot of folks in atlanta who are at least attempting it. >> that's true, t.j. although the wide open city streets, you've got more room for error. as they get more congested and we get more slick, it will be a dangerous go. we aren't seeing much in the way of plows. there are 16 truck necessary atlanta total. four-wheel-drive certainly would help. you go into grassy areas, you're looking at 3, 4 and 5 inches of stuff. we have turned now to sleet and eventually to freezing rain. so far, 3,000 people are without power across georgia. i expect that number to increase as we ice down the snow on these tree limbs and the limbs continue to come down. northern alabama, southern parts of tennessee, mississippi, arkansas, northern texas still seeing some light, freezing drizzle. the bulk of the heavier snow now across at this-85 corridor, up to greenville, up through charlotte, eventually, and there are your temperatures. divided line between freezing and subfreezing, there sibisn't one. we will start to see warm air intrusion, but not until this afternoon. so sleet will continue and then the ice potential, 0.2 to 0.3 inches of ice here along the i-80 corridor. guess what? we're hoping this is going to go out to sea. it will go up to the northeast, a potential snow event for new york to boston come wednesday. t.j. >> looking forward to it. rob marciano this morning, we'll continue to check in with him. we want to turn now and check in with bonnie schneider in the extreme weather center. bonnie, a lot of people are keeping an eye on these airportes and we know the biggest in this country is atlanta and that's where a lot of this snow and ice has hit right now. >> that's right, t.j. three of the five runways at atlanta airport are open, but no flights have come in or out. we currently have delays in charlotte, north carolina the, for at least an hour. that's mainly for arriving flights. but look for those delays to increase as we go through the day. when we take a look at perspective delays, you can see we have them for well over an hour into areas across the nooef northeast and the southeast. this storm system is working its way into that region. look for delays tuesday into wednesday, as well, particularly into wednesday when this storm gets going in the northeast. we're monitoring delays possibly in houston and denver. currently, there are 1900 planes in the air right now and you can see the snow and ice behind me. that is where the storm system is across much of the u.s. back to you. >> bonnie schneider, keeping an eye on things for us, we appreciate you. rob, you, as well. now back to kiran chetry handling our coverage from tucson this morning. >> hi there. again, congresswoman gabrielle giffords is in a room behind me still in critical condition in the intensive care unit. but she very well could have been one of the people who lost their lives in that shooting on saturday if it weren't for a hero in the crowd, as he's been called today. daniel hernandez, her 20-year-old intern ran into the danger, ran into the shots, rushing to the congresswoman. what he did in those crucial moments may have a saved her life. we're going to talk to him, coming up. welcome back. we're here in tucson, arizona this morning. it's just been two days since the shooting rampage took place outside the safeway. we're beginning to learn a bit more about the suspected gunman, jared loughner included his troubled past. he was told if we wanted to return to the college, he needed a doctor's note saying he he was metally sound. our next guest, ben lay fee was one of his teachers. he was there when loughner had to be escorted out of class. so you were teerchg an elementary math session. >> jared was a pretty quiet person. he seemed like he had -- just a bright, red face, like he was shaking and kind of seemed like he was under the influence of drugs. so from the other students, what they could tell. i couldn't zoom in personally since i was kind of focusing on teaching the class. >> and he struck you as somebody that you were worried about. you recounted in one interview, that when you would turn your back to the chalkboard, you thought, what if he had a gun? >> right. he was saying how can you deny math instead of accepting it and that's throwing me for a loop there. i was very concerned. >> and so you brought that to the attention of the community college officials. >> counselors. do you have to come back to them several times to get them to take this seriously? >> several times, including the dean, as well, until we took final action. >> what was that final action? >> to ask him to be removed from the classroom. >> here is one of the students, as well. she said we have a mentally unstable person in the class that scares the living crap out of me. he is one of thoughts whose picture you see on the news after he has come into class with an automatic weapon. everyone interviewed would say, yeah, he was in my math class and he was really weird. she also went with as far as to say she sat by the door with her purse handy. this is a terrifying e-mail now ta we know what happens. >> uh-huh, absolutely. i just -- i don't know what to say. i did wish jared the best, you know, when he left our classroom and i know his family is probably hurting very deeply as well as he is and i wish all the victims, you know, the best and their families. >> absolutely. and as you look back on this, i mean, do you think there was anything else you could have done? you notified the campus one notified the dean. campus police did get involved. was there anyone else that may have been done to prevent this? >> i think i did the best that i could. i used my intuition to the best of my ability. kudos to the counselors and to the dean for taking action. >> i mean, is there a part of you that thinks this may have very well happened in your own class? >> before this time, no. this was the first incident where i was really concerned about students. i felt like pima community college, you know, always had great students and it always does. even when i come back to class this semester, i look forward to teaching a great class. so definitely the college, you know, is not responsible at all for this. >> it certainly is a tragedy that this happened and that there were some warning signs, it seems, from people who had day-to-day contact with him, like you. ben mcgahee, thank you so much for joining us this morning. i appreciate it. thank you. you're welcome. when we come back, we'll talk to a hero in the crowd. 20-year-old daniel hernandez rushed into the danger zone rushing to gabrielle giffords' side and may have very well saved her life. ♪ client comes in and they have a box. and inside that box is their financial life. people wake up and realize i better start doing something. we open up that box. we organize it. and we make decisions. we really are here to help you. they look back and think, "wow. i never thought i could do this." but we've actually done it. 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[ male announcer ] breathe, socket. just breathe. we know it's intimidating. instant torque. top speed of 100 miles an hour. that's one serious machine. but you can do this. any socket can. the volt only needs about a buck fifty worth of charge a day. and for longer trips, it can use gas. so get psyched. this is a big step up from the leafblower. the 2011 chevrolet volt. it's more car than electric. well, in the midst of saturday's killings that happened in tucson, some heroes have emerged. one of them was 20-year-old daniel hernandez, an internal for congresswoman gabrielle giffords. dan sl with us now. i want to put up that picture quickly so we can see what happened in the aftermath of the shooting that took place outside of that safeway. there you were. you see your hand over the congresswoman's hand as she's being rushed quickly into that ambulance. there it is. it's such a chilling scene. what was going on right then and there? >> at that time, the emergency medical services had come in and maid sure that they had taken care of her medical needs. so i then saw my job as trying to take care of her emotional needs, letting her know that she wasn't along loan, trying to keep her calm. >> at that point, was she talking? >> she wasn't talking. however, she was alert and conscious. she was being responsive to the questions that i was asking and the way she was communicating was by squeezing my hand. >> tell us what happened immediately when those shots first started ringing out. according to the first hand account, she was talking to a couple and then the shot happened and then the firing continued. what did you do at that point? >> i was actually at the back of the line. i was helping to kind of manage the flow of people. the event that she was asking was one of her congress on your corner events where she would talk to tonights one-on-one. we were trying to make sure that we were doing it as orderly as she could. i made sure that i was trying to take care of everyone in the back. so i was about 30 to 40 feet away when i heard the first gunshots. >> then what did you do? when i heard the first gunshots, i assumed if there was a gunman, the congresswoman would likely be a target. i made sure i ran towards where she would be as well as her staff. if there were any constituents, i would assume if she was a target, there would be other injuries. >> what did you see when you get to the congresswoman? >> when i got to the area, i saw a few people on the ground. so i first tried to make sure that those people who still had pulses and still had visible breaths were treated partnership only got to see two or three people before i actually noticed that the congressman had been hit. she had been hit severely. she had an injury to her head. she then became my first and only private. >> what did you do at that point? you had first aid training. >> yeah. in high school, i was put through a certified nursing aide program. i had some basic triage skills. those kind of kicked in and i made sure that i lifted up the congressman to make sure that she was breathing properly and i tried to make sure any windows she had i applied pressure so we could stem the blood loss. >> did you worry that this guy who was out there, he could shoot me? >> i don't know if the gunshots were still going on as i was running towards the congresswoman. my only concern was trying to help those that needed help. after i got there and i saw that the congresswoman had been injured win saw that she was injured badly and i wanted to make her my first and only priority. >> as i understand it, ems, they had to secure the scene first before they were able to move in safely. did you at any point think that she wasn't going to make it? >> no. gabby, if you've asked anyone in southern arizona is known for being a fighter, whether it's fighting in congress or fighting for her life now. there was never any doubt in my mind that she would pull through. she's still going to pull through because she's a fighter. >> this has to be overwhelming for you, the range of emotions. people are calling you a fighter. your beloved congresswoman and friend here in intensive care, still critical. how are you right now? >> i'm doing fine. i think my main concern right now is making sure that we're taking care of those people who lost family members, taking care of their emotional needs as well as those who are still in intensive care, because it's not just the congressman. there were various other people who were injured and making sure that all of those people who were injured and those who lost family members are in our thoughts and in our prayers. >> also her staffer, gabe zimmerman, 30 years old, loyal and the -- >> much beloved. >> a loving man lost his life. what has it been like dealing with that as well as the other congresswoman's injuries? >> losing anyone is a big loss, but gabe is one of the -- gabby always tells us she has a great skill to attract people and then the planet work for her office. because she is one of the best. so losing someone like gabe is a real loss. not just to her staff but also the entire community. >> is this going to change the way that congress people deal with their constituents in the future? what are you guys thinking moving forward? >> i hope this doesn't change the way things go. i hope this will encourage people to become more involved in the democratic process. because this is an isolated incident and we shouldn't take this as something that will continue to happen. we should see this, move on and make the appropriate improvements to security to make sure that everyone is secure, but also making sure that we engage as many people especially those representatives elected to represent their constituents. >> you are an amazing young man. thanks for joining us and good luck. i know it's going to be a long road ahead. thank you so much. great to talk to you. t.j. >> everybody here has been commenting that guy is just 20? certainly a sharp guy and we look forward to seeing more from him down the road. thanks so much. we'll check in with you throughout the morning. we're going to have much more on this story live from tucson including two more people who may have saved dozens of lives. one of them tackled the shooter. the other grabbed his hand as he was reaching for another clip. you'll hear from them. also a lot of people are asking, a lay person, how in the world do you survive a bullet wound to the brain? congresswoman giffords is in critical condition but is fighting for her life and some doctors are even saying that they are optimistic about her recovery. we're going to ask the hospital's chief neurosurgeon about the road to recovery. up next they want to be out among the people, they pride themselves on that back in their districts but some lawmakers are thinking twice about their safety this morning. two politicians saying they will be armed even. we'll be live in washington with a look at what could change. [ male announcer ] in the event of a collision, the smartest thing you could do is cut the fuel supply... ♪ ...unlock the doors, and turn on the hazard lights. or better yet, get a car that automatically does it for you. ♪ ♪ as we come up on five minutes to the top of the hour you're taking a live look at the capitol in washington, d.c. where the flag as you see is flying at half-staff as ordered by the president of the united states in honor of those who were injured, also killed in that arizona shooting, one of those being congresswoman giffords who is in critical condition as we look at her work space, her office there. the u.s. capitol. everybody is hoping she will hold on as doctors give prognosis that is pretty good for somebody shot in the head. she is doing okay at this point with some good signs that possibly she is going to be able to pull through and recover. later this week, though, security briefing for all members of congress. going to be conducted by the fbi and capitol hill police. already there are calls that there need to be drastic changes to protecting members of congress. some calling for armed guards for each member. a couple of lawmakers saying they will arm themselves. our brianna keilar is live. it's one thing when they are there on the capitol and have police inside that washington bubble. when they fan out to districts they pride themselves on getting up close and personal with constituents. >> reporter: that's right. one of the things that these members have like congresswoman giffords is a lot of access for their constituents. let me tell you there was a conference call yesterday, 800 people on this, led by democratic and republican leaders, lawmakers, their spouses who as you can imagine are very concerned about safety as well for their families, and there were law enforcement officials, top aides to members of congress, the u.s. capitol police, the sergeant at arms in the house, the fbi was also on the call. and just to give you a sense of how unusual this is, one member said that he had been in congress for 22 years and never been on a conference call like this with democratic and republican leadership. part of the call about updating members here about their colleague congresswoman giffords. a lot had to do with security. there weren't specific security recommendations, according to congressman adam smith who a democrat of washington on the call. but we know that aides say it was stressed to these members they need to be vigilant, they need to designate for a staff member to be in charge of security concerns. if they have any concern they need to reach out to u.s. capitol police in washington or their local law enforcement because t.j., most of these members rank and file members, they do not have any type of security contingent. >> something a lot of people may not realize that most have absolutely nothing. they go into these shops and diners in their district and any one has access to them. some are now talking about the possibility of arming themselves. >> reporter: we spoke with one member, a republican of utah, jason said that he had a concealed carry permit that in light of what's happened in his concerns especially for his family, that he's going to think about carrying that more. he said one of the big concerns has to do with the security of his house. he's talking about maybe proposing through a subcommittee that he is the chairman of saying that the u.s. marshal service should help out with members of congress the way they do with federal judges. also congressman smith, who talked to cnn, who describes himself as a very good friend of congresswoman giffords, he says there's only so much you can do. we are public servants and we cannot be going to all of these events with six or seven armed guards. >> brianna keilar on capitol hill where all of the talk is about congresswoman giffords and how to protect members of congress, so many things put on the back burner. our special live coverage is going to continue after the break. stay with us. top of the hour. good morning to you all on this monday, january 10th. welcome to a special edition of "american morning." i'm t.j. holmes in new york. hello to kiran chetry live from tucson, arizona. hello to you. >> hi, good morning to you. we're live outside of the hospital, university hospital in tucson, arizona this morning and just behind me congresswoman gabrielle giffords is fighting for her life after gun man oppose opened fire on saturday shooting her in the head, killing six other people including a 9-year-old girl. you're looking at a picture of the makeshift memorial that people have come by to put pictures and candles, flowers and american flags outside of the hospital. i talked to some police who have been here who said they have seen it grow over the past couple of days. this morning doctors are going to update us on her condition. she is still listed as critical. she is responding when they bring her out of her medically induced sedation. they are due to give a press conference, update from the public affairs office at 10:00 local time. 12 noon eastern time. meantime, gabrielle giffords' campaign chairman tells cnn he is confident that the congresswoman will survive. giffords husband release add statement saying many ever you offered help. there is little we can do but pray for those struggling. if you are inspired to make a positive gesture consider two organizations that gabby has long valued and supported. tucson's community food bank and the american red cross. again, a statement from her husband who is said to be keeping a bedside vigil at her hospital bed at her side throughout this. meantime, the suspect, 22-year-old jared loughner now charged with murder, he is due in court today at 4:00 p.m. eastern time. we start our coverage this morning with susan candiotti covering this from the beginning. she got an inside look at the mind of the accused killer and also the chilling 911 calls in the wake of the shooting. good morning. >> one of many questions is what allegedly pushed this troubled college student over the edge. was he acting on his own? the fbi has been talking to a lot of people about this. even extremist groups. so far they say the indication is he was operating on his own. >> hello. hello. >> 911, there was a shooting at the safeway. >> the calls to 911 paint a picture of the chaos that unfolded as a crazed gun man opened fire outside the safeway grocery store. >> looked like the guy had a semi-automatic pistol. he went in. started firing. and then he ran. there was multiple people shot. >> okay. oh, my god. >> the man who allegedly pulled the trigger, 22-year-old jared lee loughner, has so far been charged with just the crimes related to victims who were federal employees including two counts of murder for killing a federal judge and congressional aide to attempted murder charges for killing two other aides. and the attempted murder of congresswoman giffords. loughner apparently isn't talking in custody and the fbi is not commenting on his motive. >> i will say and emphasize there is no information at this time to suggest any specific threat remains. >> investigators did reveal what could be a key piece of evidence. discovered in a safe in loughner's home, a letter from congresswoman giffords thanking him for attending a similar neighborhood event back in 2007. investigators say they also found a separate envelope with what appears to be loughner's signature and the following words -- i planned ahead. my assassination, giffords. loughner's past includes a troubled time at pima community college where he was suspended, then quit last october after what the school said were multiple run-ins with campus police. >> he was physically removed after probably the third or fourth week. >> to return to campus loughner was told he would have to present a doctor's note stating he would not be a danger to himself or others. and given that 2007 letter that congresswoman giffords sent to loughner, it appears as though programs his anger had been simmering for a very long time. >> we heard from pima county sheriff, he said that he believes she was targeted, that she was the precise target of this suspect. what's going to happen in court today? he's still not cooperating with police, correct? >> as far as we know he is not cooperating with police. this is really you know, a run-of-the-mill appearance. you have to, once you are charged, make a first appearance with the tirs 24 hours so that's why he will be in court. it's not clear at this time whether the defense attorney who will be appointed to represent him, more likely than not, will even be in court at this time. she is someone who has a lot of experience in high profile cases including the unabomber, so she's seen cases like this. she may have a huge team of representatives by the time this is over. it's a big case. >> of course. these are the federal charges could be state charges as well. >> that's right. >> thanks so much. appreciate it. we're learning a few other facts about the accused shooter and his troubled past. military officials tell barbara starr that jared loughner was rejected by the army over a failed drug test. a law enforcement source tells us that he bought ammunition at a walmart a few weeks ago and had to try two different stores after he was turned down at the first because of his, quote, behavior. also while there is still no clear motive pima county sheriff clarence dupnik suggests that the political climate in this country may have put some of our officials in grave danger. he called arizona the capital of prejudice and bigotry and explained those comments to us here earlier on "american morning." >> you still feel that way synod. >> i think i am only expressing what a whole lot of people in this people feel. that the anger that is generated against government and public officials and elected officials is partly responsible for these kinds of incidents. because people who have troubled personalities are susceptible to this kind of anger in our country. it's a sad thing. >> the sheriff also said that it's clear that congresswoman giffords was the shooter's primary target. again, as we heard susan elude to that letter, the 2007 letter when apparently the congresswoman and the suspect made contact, that he was programs unhappy with the response that he got. of course they are continuing to piece together and backtrack the back story on how much he may have had contact with giffords' office before this saturday shooting. >> yes. still piecing all of this together. we should learn more maybe as well this afternoon. of course he is expected to be in court, his first court appearance later this afternoon. so kiran, thank you. we'll check in throughout the morning for our special coverage. also we have been talking so much about the congresswoman. congresswoman giffords of course. rightly so. she is fighting for her life. we also want to remember the six people who were killed there on saturday. here they are. john roll, the federal judge. dorothy morris. dor win stoddard, gabe zimmer man. also among the dead 9-year-old christina green. she was interested in government. she was there at this weekend's gathering because she was excited to meet her congresswoman. casey wians spoke to her parents. >> it does say something about our society that my daughter was born on a tragic day and she went out on a tragic day. >> she was a great friend, a great sister, a great daughter. i was so proud of her. i just want everyone to know, and i think a lot of people that knew christina, that we got robbed. she got robbed of a beautiful life she could have had. >> christina was one of the few girls who played for her community's little league team. her father also a scout for the los angeles dodgers. her grandfather, dallas green, won a world series managing the phillies and you third father speak on her being born on a tragic day and dying on a tragic day. she was born on september 11, 2001. president obama has call forward a national moment of silence at 11:00 a.m. eastern time. flags also flying at half-staff at the white house also at government buildings across the country today and yes indeed, the capitol as well where congresswoman giffords worked. her colleagues call her a fighter. she is still fighting for her life. so far she has been beating the odds after taking a bullet to the head at close range. most of us were asking the question, how is this possible? also what is the prognosis? the medical experts will be breaking this down for us coming up. also two witnesses in the shooting in tucson. they could have easily become victims. they ended up actually helping to stop the shooter. they'll join us live this morning as well. one other big story we're watching, that we need to let you know about, a dangerous snow and ice storm in the south. pretty much shut down some parts of the south this morning. thousands of flights have been canceled. roads are dangerous now. rob marciano and bonnie schneider are live for us with the latest conditions, that's coming up. thing under the gas cap, thing... do you even have a name? well, it doesn't matter. because it's about to change. there's a cheaper, cleaner way to fuel up now. the volt plugs into any socket, and fuels up at home. sure it could use gas, but for most commutes you won't need much, if any. so from now on, fuel tube... we'll just call you...plan b. the 2011 chevrolet volt. it's more car than electric. welcome back to a special edition of "american morning." 12 minutes past the hour. i'm kiran chetry here in tucson, arizona. amid the gun fire saturday heroes emerged, brave men and women put their lives on the line to save others including daniel hernandez. we spoke to him a few moments ago. a new intern to congresswoman giffords' office. he's pictured there with her hand on the congresswoman's hand as she's being taken to the hospital. earlier i spoke with daniel about what happened in the moments after the attack. >> when you got to the congresswoman. >> i got to the area where the congresswoman was expected to be i saw a few people on the ground, so i first tried to make sure those people who still had pulses and still had visible breaths were treated. i only got to see two or three people before i noticed that the congresswoman had been hit. and she had been hit severely, she had an injury to her head. she became my first and only priority. >> did you at any point worry this guy could be out here could hit me? >> i don't know if the gun shots were still going on when i was running toward the congresswoman. my only concern was trying to help those that needed the help. >> so quick and brave action by hernandez may have helped the congresswoman somehow survive. a lot of us can't picture how you survive a bullet to the brain at close range. she is still in critical condition in a medically induced coma. the hospital is expected to brief us at 10:00 local time. right now i'm joined by dr. michael lemole here at the university medical center and our own surgeon and chief medical correspondent dr. sanjay gupta is going to join this conversation as well. thanks for being with us. can you give us an update on the congresswoman's condition? >> i was able to assess congresswoman giffords. she is holding her own. no change is good in this instance. because she was already functioning at a fairly high level and she's still doing that. >> what is the importance of her being in this medically induced coma? >> that gives her a break between examinations, that allows her to not experience the discomfort of all of the lines and the breathing tubes that she has in position. >> you talked about the importance of watching this swelling, that's going to be key to knowing about the long term recovery, right? >> correct. >> how many days out until you know she is in the clear? >> most people peak swelling from this around three days after the event. it can go on longer than that. that's why we say we're cautiously optimistic but she is still critical. >> responding to commands, how do you determine whether there has been actual damage to the brain? >> well, we do is we'll ask her to carry on a series of commands, show me a thumb, wiggle your toes. if she's able to do that it implies several centers in the brain are working from hearing the sound to processing it to deciphering it to then carrying out the command and passing that information on to the parts of the brain that control the body. not only do those each of those centers have to work but they have to kplun kate with one another. >> when i read the early reports about this, and some of the quotes from the doctors who operated they had to remove devitalized parts of the brain but there were few. does that mean that you had to take out some brain matter? >> well, where the bullet enters and exits we usually have brain that is no longer alive. we want to remove that so we don't have an excessive infection risk. we want to minimize anything deeper because there could be if you will, working connections in the brain and those might come back on line. >> i want to bring in sanjay now. sanjay, of course this is your area of expertise for a lot of people it's just unimaginable that somebody could be shot point blank and have the bullet pass through the brain and still be in this condition. the optimistic situation we're in which is that she may very well recover. >> yeah, it really is. it's remarkable. i think it speaks to a lot of people's efforts on the ground including dr. lemole performing that operation quickly and effectively. one thing i wanted to ask as well was, i don't know if you get a sense doctor at this point, she's following commands. does she seem to follow equally on her body. is she weaker on the right side of her body because of this injury? >> you know, i don't want to go into the specifics, the family asked me to be very discreet so for that reason i can't go into that. >> i got you. in terms of where you go from here, what in the coming days and weeks are going to be the vital milestones you need to see happen? >> i think the next big milestone is when dr. reid decide she is is safe enough to pull out the breathing tube to manage her own airway. that will be a huge step forward. >> sanjay, it's interesting another high profile brain injury, james brady i think you said had a perhaps graver injury and he has managed to recover so incredibly. >> yeah. it's true, and quite remarkable sometimes the type of recovery after these injuries. the odds at the time of injury are not on the patient's side, in terms of just simply surviving this let alone function. but i think that based on everything that we're hearing obviously this sounds like not only will she survive but the function probably is difficult to predict but at least optimistic given how well she's doing this soon after the operation. >> it is amazing. you guys are miracle workers. dr. lemole you have to go into surgery, you have a busy day ahead with the briefing as well. thank you for your time. >> thank you for having me. >> sanjay has been blogging about congresswoman giffords' condition. you can check that out at cnn health.com. sanjay, thanks so much. up next crowd member who is took the alleged gun man down, tackled the suspect, able to get away from him an ammunition clim he was trying to reload. they kneeled on him until more help arrived. we'll talk to some of the heroes live next. easier. see? it even has bing right here. so...the second my flight gets canceled, i can quickly find the nearest... airport hotel. i'm in, i'm out, and i'm done. so now i can actually look up and make sure i get off this thing. vo: now for a limited time get a samsung focus for $99.99 at at&t. ♪ excuse me... your change. >> welcome back to the most news in the morning. special edition of "american morning" right now when we're live in tucson, arizona. we're spending a lot of heartbreak and despair after saturday's shooting. there are also stories of people who risked their lives to make sure the suspected gun man could not do more damage. my next guests could have been victims. joining me is dr. steven rail and patricia maisch. thanks to both of you. patricia, let me ask you first about what the scene was like for you. the gun shots rang out. you like many others dropped to the ground. did you even know who was shooting at that point? >> i did not. i was about 20 feet away from gabrielle when i heard the shot. i knew immediately it was gun fire and i decided to drop instead of running and becoming a possible target and then i could see him out of the corner of my eye spraying the people as he walked by and was waiting because he shot the woman right next to me, was waiting to see what it felt like to be shot. >> you thought at that point i'm dead. >> i did. or at least injured. and but instead, two gentlemen had struggled with him and got him to the ground, and then they started yelling get the gun, get the magazine and i was able to -- he was laying next to me so i was able to kneel up and able to take the magazine away from him. he had pulled it out of his pocket and it was on the ground. he dropped it and i was able to get it before he did. >> my god. it's just unbelievable to hear. how were you able to think clearly at that point and know what to do? >> i think you just react. you just do it. >> steven, you also were one of the people that helped subdue him. what was that like knowing that this was clearly a dangerous person, somebody who had injured and killed people and there you are trying to hold him down. >> just didn't want him to get away. there were a couple people on him and i joined in holding him down at that point. and he was struggling somewhat but he was very sort of impassive, not really emotionally reacting. >> he was still making moves to get his gun reloaded? >> not when i was there, no. >> at that point the gun was away from him. >> it was away from him. >> what was it like, was there panic? was he saying anything? was he saying anything to the people holding him down including you? >> he did not say anything other than ouch, you're hurting my arm to somebody holding his arm. other wise he was almost just sort of cold and not participating at all. he was sort of staring into the distance, you know. >> how long was all of this until law enforcement and the ambulances were able to get to the scene? >> after i knelt on his knees i noticed that one of the first people that had gotten down was bleed, had a gunshot wound to the head, so i asked another gentleman to kneel on his legs, i went in and got towels from safeway and made a compress and held it on his head until the police came. so it seemed like about five minutes. everything was very fast but i believe the police were there within about five minutes. >> how are you guys doing after all of this? two days out, knowing that six people were killed, that others are still fighting for their lives in the hospital? >> it's a horrible thing and the horror of it is really hitting me i think more today as time goes on. the first day there's the adrenalin and the confusion, and now real life is sort of setting in for me and really hitting me hard. >> what about you, pat? >> i'm so thankful to be alive, and so sorry for the other people that that's my main concentration is getting back to living life and feeling sorry for gabby and her family and her husband and other people. i feel very fortunate, so i think i'm doing okay. >> how does the community on the larger aspect, heal from this? we were at a vigil last night and people are gathered outside of the congresswoman's office, crying, saying you know, this isn't us, this is not what we want to be remembered for. we're a loving community, not a violent one. >> right. >> i was very shocked that it happened in tucson. >> it was a very peaceful event, very quiet. it was such a shock when he began shooting. >> we wish you guys the best of luck. and i know there's a lot of people who owe you a debtch gratitude in the midst of this unspeakable tragedy. thank you for joining us. >> thank you. >> t.j. >> thank you. we'll continue to check in with you this borning. as you know among those killed saturday a federal judge, john roll, among the six killed there. coming up, we're going to talk to one man, matt bowman who says he owes so much of what he knows in the legal profession to judge roll. also a major story we're covering is the weather. snow, sleet, ice, you name it, it's causing fits for folks down south this morning. thousands of flights have been canceled. we're checking in with two of our meteorologists, rob marciano and bonnie schneider. a number o. it's a paint and primer in one -- so it goes on bold, and looks even better. it means 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[ male announcer ] breathe, socket. just breathe. we know it's intimidating. instant torque. top speed of 100 miles an hour. that's one serious machine. but you can do this. any socket can. the volt only needs about a buck fifty worth of charge a day. and for longer trips, it can use gas. so get psyched. this is a big step up from the leafblower. the 2011 chevrolet volt. it's more car than electric. good morning again everybody. thank you for being with us. i'm t.j. holmes. we'll check in with kiran chetry live out handling coverage of the tragedy in tucson, arizona. an update on what's happening with congresswoman gabrielle giffords. she is fighting for her live this morning, still in critical condition, doctors still encouraged in part because she has been able to communicate and follow some simple commands. we did get an update from her doctor live here a moment ago who said she is, quote, holding her own, and also said there is really no change overnight in her condition, and at this point no change is a good thing. that's the update there. meanwhile, the gunman, he opened fire on saturday, shooting her in the head, killing six other people. including a 9-year-old girl and a federal judge. giffords' campaign chairman telling cnn he is confident that she will survive. more about the suspect now, what we know. jared lounler is his name, 22 years old, charged with attempted assassination and murder due in court today. fbi says he revealed his plans on an envelope that said, quote, i planned ahead, end quote, also had the words quote my assassination. also the congresswoman's name was on the envelope. another story affecting people, it's a deep freeze in the deep south. streets, runways covered in sheets ever ice and snow. this is across the southeast. cars as you can imagine trying but they have been sliding all over the place. not a lot of cars are out on the roads. not a lot of people braving it. some of the folks trying to get into or out of atlanta you got a problem because some 2,000 flights have already been canceled. rob marciano is outside atlanta's centennial olympic park for us. hello to you again, rob. >> good morning, t.j., flights that aren't taking off and people that aren't used to the snow or driving in the snow and a city that is ill prepared for this. we're talking about 16 sand trucks in atlanta total. less in the way of flows so the roads haven't been taken care of. now the sleet and actually starting to get more in the way of freezing rain is coming down so the snow that came in last night is starting to get a little bit crusty and more side the roads just in the last hour look at this road how glazed over it's gotten with just a few cars passing over. so we've got issues here as far as getting around not only atlanta but across the south. some of the maps as far as where the snow is going now. it's moving to the east, growing in expanse and intensity getting into green industrial and charlotte, and the rain or freezing rain snow line is the i-20 corridor there. this is a devastating snow and ice event for alabama, mississippi, little rock and north of dallas as well. temperatures slow, slow to warm up. it won't be till this afternoon till we get close to freezing. i think we'll stay subfreezing tonight. it's not going to melt. we'll get a glazing like we're seeing now, this is the computer forecast, of glazing of additional ice accumulation in these spots from .1 to .3 inch of rain through the next 12 to 48 hours. and then, this combines with the snow across the plains. to make for a nor'easter from the delmarva up through boston potentially a foot of snow in some of those spots tomorrow night into wednesday. t.j., 3,000 people so far without power in georgia. i expect that to climb as the ice continues to build. >> rob, we appreciate that update. i want to turn from rob outside to bonnie schneider in our extreme weather center. keeping an eye on the airports. a lot of flights canceled already. >> that's right. we are anticipating more to be canceled as we go through the day. surprisingly our current airport delay map says no delays. with all of the cancellations that's why we're not getting reports of delay those we've seen some in charlotte where the storm will get cranking today and tomorrow. here's a look at expected -- to let you know what's ahead. new york city, boston, you know today isn't going to be as bad due to the wind. i expect the nor'easter to get cranking on wednesday. delays for the southeast, atlanta, low clouds, freezing rain. memphis, we saw five or six inches of snow, dallas, low clouds, freezing drizzle. also low clouds in houston, delays expected in denver due to snow. so we're tracking that as well. we're also monitoring of course the weather and we're going to have more on that. >> bonnie schneider, we appreciate the update. rob as well. at 33 fast hour i want to head back out to tucson and our coverage of the other big story today, that shooting rampage in tucson. hello again, kiran. >> hi there. we're talking to so many who knew the congresswoman and not just a team but a family, that's how congresswoman gabrielle giffords' team describes themselves. that family was torn apart when the gunman killed one member of the staff, hurt two others and gravely wounded the congresswoman. we'll speak with the spokesman for congresswoman giffords ahead. [ male announcer ] in the event of a collision, the smartest thing you could do is cut the fuel supply... ♪ ...unlock the doors, and turn on the hazard lights. or better yet, get a car that automatically does it for you. ♪ ♪ >> welcome back to a special edition of "american morning." we're live in tucson, arizona this morning, following a tragic events that shocked tucson and of course the nation this saturday. congresswoman gabrielle giffords is still fighting for her life after a gunman opened fire at a constituent meeting she was holding outside of a safeway in tucson. she as we know was shot in the head. she is still in critical condition this morning. along with congresswoman giffords some of her staff members were shot, one killed. joining us is c.j. karamargin, thanks for being with us. >> good morning. >> i know a lot of you are remembering gabe zimmerman, 30 years old, beloved staffer who was killed in this shooting. how is his family doing? >> understandably taking it very hard. it's a very difficult time. >> what about for the other staff as i know you have two others recovering right now in addition to congresswoman giffords. >> right. ron barber, our district director, our leader in the district and pam simon, constituent representative for the congresswoman. both are doing well. the prognosis is good. pam told a colleague that i owe her dark chocolate. >> if she is doing well enough to joke around that's a good sign. >> it is and she will get the dark chocolate. as much as she wants. >> in terms of the congresswoman you talked about hearing good signs. she was asked to respond to commands. >> right. she held up two fingers and there was a discussion among the staff of whether or not she was giving us the peace sign or the victory sign. we decided it was both. >> you guys have shown remarkable courage in the face of this horrible tragedy. what is taking place right now in terms of your office and in terms of the future for the congresswoman? >> we're still trying to figure that out. but we are hopeful, we are praying for the best outcome. but our strength comes from gabrielle giffords. the tenacity that we're showing, the determination that we're showing, we get from her. we derive from her the same way she derives strength from the community. you can see the outpouring behind us. things like this say a lot about tucson and they say a lot about gabrielle giffords. >> you know, we remarked a lot how arizona over the past year certainly made headlines. for being at the center of a lot of very, very fiery debates. over certain issues from immigration to gun rights and on and the health care debate you guys were targeted. your office vandalized in the wake of that vote. how is all of this, how is all of this coming together for you as you try to figure out what you do next? >> you know. on one level it's a surreal experience. we are involved in government service because of public service and the desire to do good, make our country a better place. that is congresswoman giffords desire. i think as we go forward those are the guiding lights that we will use. hopefully to light the way for us. >> do you think that public discourse is going to change? you think the way people communicate, the way they disagree on issues will change in >> i don't know. i know congresswoman giffords has said there are consequences to our rhetoric and we have to be mindful that there are consequences to our rhetoric. we can have a discussion without making it personal. we can disagree without being disagreeable. both president obama and speaker boehner and other leaders put it well, there is no place for acts of violence or intimidation like this in our free society. our society depends on free exchange of information. congresswoman giffords has said that being a representative is not just a job but a job description. and that means she needs the flow of information from her constituents and that's what she was doing on saturday morning. >> well, hopefully she will make a recovery and will be back soon. thank you so much for joining us. we appreciate it. >> kiree six people were killed them john roll. you see his picture. everyone talking about his deep roots and commitment to the arizona community. that's what they lost. coming up talking to a man who lost a friend and mentor. [ male announcer ] breathe, socket. just breathe. we know it's intimidating. instant torque. top speed of 100 miles an hour. that's one serious machine. but you can do this. any socket can. the volt only needs about a buck fifty worth of charge a day. and for longer trips, it can use gas. so get psyched. this is a big step up from the leafblower. the 2011 chevrolet volt. it's more car than electric. 43 past the hour now. district judge john roll was killed during saturday's rampage. being remembered for a calm demean e deep knowledge of the law, also no stranger to violence and threats. he received death threats for work on controversial cases and a 2009 was under 24-hour protection. matt bowman was a law clerk for judge roll. he is an attorney in washington. he joins us now. thank you for being here. sorry for your loss. we hear so much about how much he meant to the community. tell me what this man meant to you. >> well, thanks for having me and let me express my condolences to the judge's family, his courtroom family and ask viewers for prayers for them and the families of all of the victims. the judge was truly a mentor and example for all of us. we law clerks we would join his chambers out of law school and be behind the scenes for two years. and he went out of his way to set an example of professional quality and ethical integrity that taught us what it means to be a great lawyer as he was. >> give us an idea for most of us who don't follow the judiciary, don't follow the path and careers of a lot of federal judges. how was he viewed by his peers? >> everyone he encountered and i think if you look at the people who are coming out and talking about him, everyone loved and respected him. in his chambers he dealt with a lot of people on a daily basis, both jurors to lawyers to other judges and judges in the appellate courts, he treated everyone with the highest level of courtesy and respect and dignity that he felt they deserved because they were human beings and that showed through the people who encountered him, everyone loved and respected him and he will be sorely missed. >> i know you didn't necessarily talk to him on a daily or weekly basis since you got finished clerking for him in 2005, but do you remember the last time you did talk to him? do you remember what that conversation or interaction was about? >> well, we would be in touch once in a while if someone was applying to work for him who i knew, i think maybe he called me this summer to discuss someone. but he also was greatly dedicated to his family and the family of his staff and he shared the same birth date, not the same year, of my wife. he always remembered that date. and we would exchange notes throughout the year if i was involved in an important case or if he was, and it's really hard to think of him not being there any more. >> matthew, did he ever express to you any concern about his personal safety? >> you know, when i was there, there wasn't any particularly controversial or dangerous case but he lived his life not really worrying about that. if a precaution needed to be taken he took it. but he really lived his life focused on the people that came into his life. his dedication to god, to his family, to his staff and to really everyone he encountered. that was his focus and he did it with each and every person he encountered and put everything into giving his attention and care to them and his intellectual talents to the cases in front of him. >> last thing for you, certainly you knew him in a way most people didn't at all. a lot of people just learning, even learning the name of judge roll and learning a little about him now. you leave me with this thought now, what more so do you think you would like people to know who maybe didn't know him about his brilliant legal career, that is so celebrated it sounds like but you mention his family and his faith. >> i think what really i draw from judge roll's life is that he not only balanced his career and his family but he put his excellent attention into every component of his life, his devotion to god, his family, his humor, his decency to his staff, everyone he encountered and his passionate beliefs but also the courtesy and respect he showed to everyone no matter what side of the courtroom they were on. >> matthew bowman, former clerk for judge roll. we appreciate you taking the time out and letting us learn about judge roll. sorry for your loss. thank you for taking the time. >> you're welcome. >> 48 past the hour. coming up here we don't exactly know a motive yet in this case on this suspect, this shooting suspect. some are saying the rhetoric in our politics has become a little too toxic and dangerous. we're going to take a closer look at that. our political debates too nasty and dangerous? ?????????????????? 51 minutes past the hour now. a live look at capitol hill, the u.s. capitol in washington now. see the flag flying at half-staff. president obama ordered the flag to fly as a mark of respect for the victims in tucson, arizona. i had a chance to speak with congresswoman giffords communication director. he heard the flag was at half-staff in remembrance of gabe zimmerman he said he teared up knowing that the rest of the nation also mourns their loss here in tucson. meantime, republicans and democrats alike say that they are shocked and saddened by this shooting rampage that happened here in tucson and as one congressman put it we're in a dark place in this country right now. many politicians say they will continue to meet but they are urging colleagues to dial back the discourse to refrain from some of the negative campaigning and over the top language. jim is live in washington with more on what many believe really is a tragic wake-up call, jim. >> reporter: yeah. this is a tough one. authorities have yet to say what drove the tucson suspect to go on a rampage but almost as soon as the shooting ended a national soul searching began from the sheriff in arizona on the case to members of congress, concerns are raised about the nation's sometimes toxic discourse and whether it's too dangerous. >> we the people of the united states. >> when members of the house took turns reading portions of the constitution congresswoman giffords got the first amendment. >> congress shall make no law establishing a religion or pribting the free exercise thereof. >> wait a minute. wait a minute. >> in recent years those free speech protections have allowed americans on the right. >> you lie. >> and the left, to say just about anything they want. >> the republicans health care plan for america. don't get sick. >> the political rhetoric got so heated in the health care debate protesters brought guns to town hall meetings. some in congress found offices in their districts vandalized. last march giffords objected to having her district placed in the cross hairs by sarah pail lin's political action committee. >> people do that, they have to realize there are kons as to that action. >> congressman jim moran said giffords said she was still troubled by that map. >> she was not going to be intimidated. she never indicated that she was scared, that she -- but she was troubled by the environment that exists in many parts of the country, particularly in her trikt. >> over the weekend a representative told an on line radio host it's all a misunderstanding. >> we'd never ever intended gun fights. it was cross hairs like you see on maps. >> after the election palin tweeted about the map. trying to make sense of the rampage pima county sheriff put some of the blame on the public discourse. >> to try to inflame the public on a daily basis, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, has impact on people especially who are unbalanced personalities to begin with. >> was it a national mind-set. >> we are in a dark place in this country right now. and the atmospheric condition is toxic. >> or the mind of a mad man zlxt we really don't know what motivated this young person except to know that he was very mentally unstable. >> we still don't have all of the answers. investigators haven't said whether any political rhetoric motivated the gun man in tucson. a pennsylvania congressman plans to introduce a bill that would make it a federal crime to use violent imagery that insights violence against a member of congress. that kind of law as you know could be subject to a court challenge on the grounds of free speech. >> you know, as you said, the motivations in the mind of somebody who was mentally unstable to say the least, we're never going to know that. but it certainly is a topic of conversation a lot of people saying you know, it was getting dangerous out there. and even here behind me at this make shift memorial you see a peace sign, it says peace instead of, then the gun sight. it certainly is something that's going to be talked about for days and weeks to come. >> absolutely. i think whether or not this had anything to do with what happened in tucson, people in washington have taken this as you said earlier, as a wake-up call to cool it down. tone it down. kiran. >> all right. jim acosta for us, thanks so much. just a quick wrap up from here in tucson, arizona this morning. behind me congressman gabrielle giffords is in a hospital room still in critical condition in the icu, after the gunshot wound to the head though doctors are very optimistic saying that everything has been going well and that her recovery hopefully will continue on

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