good evening. this was another sad day for tucson, arizona. tonight, we're just now seeing the first images from inside the hospital where last night president obama and the first lady went from room to room, comforting victims and families. and there was great sadness today at the funeral of the 9-year-old girl killed while waiting to see her congresswoman. not far away, congresswoman gabby giffords, shot in the head by that gunman on saturday morning, continues to defy doctor's expectations and we learned more about her condition today. first, however, the first of several wrenchingly sad goodbyes in tucson. lee cowan is live in north tucson tonight outside the church where the service today was held. lee, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. it goes without saying that sometimes words just fail in situations like this. christina tay already green was, as the president pointed out, uncommon in so many ways. really the symbol of everything that is good. and while today was certainly a chance for the community here to say their goodbyes, it was also a chance to celebrate what she gave in her short nine years, and what she continues to give. they lined the streets for christina taylor green's final trip. today, the flag was used to bid her farewell. the small signs of her custom made casket, blessed by the monks who donated it, said it all. >> she began her life with a tragedy on 9/11, and her life was ended with a tragedy here in arizona. but it was nine good years in the middle. >> reporter: a gentle spirit by every account, christina had been adopted by a nation and a president who, last night, grieved as a father, too. >> in christina, we see all of our children. so curious, so trusting, so energetic, so full of magic, so deserving of our love. and so deserving of our good example. >> reporter: a growing memorial outside her school encapsulates everything she was. an artist. an a-student. a dancer. the only girl on her little league baseball team, just elected to her student council. who never saw her 9/11 birthday as a grim day, but as she told her mom, as a day to make a change. >> that there would be an end to terrorism, there would be an end to war, hatred, disrespect, that somehow everybody would be come together, thak lie did. >> reporter: which is why that flag is so fitting. what happened inside the church was rightfully private, except what her parents wanted the world to know. >> she would want to say to us today, enjoy life. live it to the full. don't squander it. make the best of it. ♪ >> reporter: and back at that safeway, where christina spent her last saturday on earth, thoughts turned not to what was lost, but what she has yet to give. >> she knows that her parents are sad, but she's telling them it's okay. >> reporter: brian, it should be pointed out that congresswoman zbiffords' husband has only let her side at the hospital twice. once last night to attend that memorial with the president and then again to attend christina's funeral, the first of six that will be taking place here over the next couple of days. >> lee cowan covering for us tonight. thanks. and about congresswoman gabby giffords' condition, we got that first end case that she was improving last night when the president revealed she had opened her eyes for the first time. nbc's kristen welker joins us now from university medical center with more on what we've learned since then. good evening. >> reporter: good evening to you, brian. doctors say the congresswoman is moving her arms and legs. they say she's even close to sitting upright in a chair. but they also caution she has a long recovery process ahead. >> this is a major milestone for her, and we're hoping that she crosses through many more. >> reporter: even doctors are marveling at congresswoman gabrielle giffords's progress. dr. michael lemole was in her hospital room along with her husband and congressional colleagues when giffords opened her eyes for the very first time. >> i think it was a combination perhaps of the unexpected but particular that prompted her to open her eyes and look around. >> reporter: dr. lemole says he was encouraged by the fact that she seems to be tracking movements with her eyes. >> so think about it. when you first wake up in the morning, your eyes aren't focusing. then the eyes come together and start to focus. we're just starting to see those signs. >> reporter: giffords has also moved both arms and both legs. staffers tell nbc news, at one point she started playing with her husband's wedding ring. now physical therapy has begun. >> her legs are off the side of the bed and we start exercising her balance, getting stimulus to the brain. >> reporter: but there are still concerns. doctors are watching out for pneumonia or blood clots. >> the breathing tube is the next major milestone at this point, as well. we may or may not take the breathing tube out in the next several days. >> reporter: still, they say just five days after being shot in the head, the congresswoman couldn't be doing any better. >> miracles happen every day. in medicine, we like to very much attribute them to either what we do or others do around us. but a lot of medicine is outside of our control and we're wise to acknowledge miracles. >> reporter: the congresswoman remains in critical condition here. there are still four other victims here from saturday's shooting. they are all in fair condition. brian? >> kristen welker in tucson tonight for us. when congresswoman gabby giffords first hoped her eyes, it wasn't while president obama was in the room, it was while new york democratic senator kirsten jill gillibrand. the two couples recently went out for a pizza dinner and i asked the senator to describe that moment in the tucson hospital room last night when her friend opened her eyes for the first time since the shooting. >> we were so happy to see her and we just told her that we were so proud of her because she was inspiring a nation by her strength, by her courage, by her fight. and we started talking about all the things we plan to do when she got better. we have to have another double date, we're going to take you out for pizza. so we were trying to tell her how we wanted her to know we were with her every stef of the way. i was holding her hand and she was moving her arm and leg, and you just see she was really becoming alive and she started to try to open her eyes and you could see her eyes just, you know, slowly coming open and her husband then couldn't believe it. we didn't know she had never been able to open her eyes for a length of time. he said gabby, gabby, open your eyes and he's urging her on. you could just see the will going from him to her that you can do this. and then she is struggling, struggling and she opens her eyes. then he's just, almost beyond himself because he's so excited. he said, can you see me, if you can see me, you know, give me a thumbs up. we're watching her and saying gabby, you can do it. everyone who loves her is around this hospital bed, her mother, father, doctor, her husband, her friends, all these people are there to say, gabby, we're with you, and she doesn't just put a thumbs up, she raises her entire arm. so the biggest thumbs up she could have given. the doctors couldn't believe what they were seeing. they were saying this is unbelievable progress to see this. and we just were streaming tears. we were so excited and so happy and couldn't believe that she was trying to hard to communicate with us. just the strength and the courage she was showing at that moment was truly the most inspiring moment i had ever witnessed. >> have you any doubt you'll see her on the hill? >> no doubt. the funny thing was, her husband, just a couple nights before i called him to check in to see how he was doing. he says, you know, these doctors don't know gabby. she'll be up and walking within two weeks. >> senator gillibrand of new york, a long-time friend of gabby giffords. among several lawmakers in the room last night, mark kelly, an active duty navy captain and nasa astronaut, is supposed to command an upcoming mission of the space shuttle scheduled to launch on april 19th. today, nasa named a backup commander, astronaut rick sterko who will train with the crew and be ready in case captain kelly isn't able to rejoin the mission. there is new information tonight ant the alleged shooter, jared lee loughner. our own mike taibbi joins us from that safeway in tucson, the scene of the shooting on saturday. mike, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. first, a new development in the case. police here in tucson say a man walking his dog this morning found a black bag containing 9 millimeter ammunition, believed to be the same bag that randy loughner described his son carrying the morning of the shootings. and officials from pima college spoke with nbc news about their former student. from pima community college, more than 50 pages of records covering four major incidents in the past year involving jared loughner, including seven separate contacts with campus police. saying things like why don't we just strap bombs to babies? and fears that confrontations initiated by loughner might become physical. no surprise to classmate alex. >> i was scared myself. i mean, he just had this aura that was creepy and unpredictable. >> reporter: school records show he was warned several times about his disruptive behavior. teachers, classmates and police noticed his confused look and bizarre talk. some thought he was on drugs. earlier last september, police said there might be a mental health concern. then came a youtube posting that start, this is jared from pima college, my genocide school where i'm going homeless because of this school. and i haven't forgotten the teacher who gave me a b. that triggered a police visit to the loughner home and immediate suspension. >> and at that meeting, both the mother and father were present. what they understood and didn't understand, you know, i really can't answer. >> reporter: the campus police chief says without a specific threat aimed at anyone by loughner, the college did what it was allowed to do. >> absolutely. we followed all of our processes and policies, absolutely. >> reporter: also today, the cleanup at the crime scene has been completed. businesses reopened, and at least some sense of normal si here has returned. there have also been some visitors to the loughner home who have tried to talk to the suspect's parents. a couple of clergymen and even eric fuller, one of the shooting victims. >> i thought i would try to come over here and forgive them. i know that sounds crazy. >> reporter: loughner's atlanta, mary mitchell, thinks that the accused parents also deserve forgiveness or at least compassion. she said they have to live with this the rest of their lives. >> mooishg part of our team in tucson tonight. when our broadcast tonights here in just a moment, a natural disaster that's left chaos in its wake and a rising death toll. later, listening to young people who have been deeply affected by what they've seen, the events in tucson, arizona. e, no one person has all the answers. so td ameritrade doesn't give me just one person. questions about retirement? i talk to their retirement account specialists. bonds? grab the phone. fixed-income specialist. td ameritrade knows investors sometimes need real, live help. not just one broker... a whole team there to help... to help me decide what's right for me. people with answers at td ameritrade. get up to $500 when you open an account. you don't get 100% daily value of any vitamins. unless you do this. but total is the cereal that gives you 100% daily value of 11 essential vitamins and minerals and crunchy oat clusters. total. are you getting 100%? and the life you want to live. with rheumatoid arthritis, there's the life you live... fortunately there's enbrel, the #1 most doctor-prescribed 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disaster, another one this time deadly floods and mudslides in brazil near rio and the pictures from the scene are at times difficult to watch. at least 400 people have died, and dozens more are missing. tonight, our report from nbc's mark potter. >> reporter: floods in the mountains north of rio left in trapped, including this woman and her dog. from a next door building, rescuers threw a lifeline. holding her pet, the woman jumped in, but was overpowered by the current. by clinging to the rope, she survived, but the dog was sucked away. another small town, residents ran into the streets, fearing building collapses. and in this neighborhood, a father is pulled from the rubble. then a cheer breaks outs a his 6-month-old baby is also found, alive. as the death toll climbed into the hundreds, even rescuers were lost. in this town, three firemen were buried by mud as even more heavy rain is predicted. mark potter, nbc news, miami. in brisbane, australia, about 35,000 homes have now been affected by the flooding, sweeping through the queensland area. at least 20 people are dead there, dozens missing, and officials are describing a rebuilding effort of "postwar proportions." back in this country, cities up and down the east coast are getting back to normal. some more quickly than others after this week's snowstorm. in the boston area, a state of emergency was lifted by lunchtime today. major highways are clear, although many smaller roads are still slick with black ice and snow. more than two feet fell in some parts of massachusetts. atlanta, meantime, still struggling. schools are still closed, major roads still icy. folks are using whatever they can find, including we saw today golf clubs to break up the ice. when we come back, some breathtaking images of a volcano roaring back to life. also, jfk making new history tonight on demand. just joined? new year's resolution! we want a healthier lifestyle... so we can have more energy to do more stuff. healthy lifestyle? 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