Yeah, i dont know. I cant imagine what those conversations are like. I think simply being there, simply showing the support, simply again having people come together. You know, i think suffering in silence, suffering in isolation, you know, dealing with this anguish i think probably makes it that much harder. So i think that he can help with. Let me reset whats going on right now, and i want to welcome our viewers not only here in the United States but around the world. Were standing by for the start of this prayer vigil, this interfaith prayer vigil that will take place here at the Newtown High School. You see the folks are gathering. Theyre trying to comfort each other. Were watching whats going on as the president of the United States. He has arrived here. He flew from the white house, from Andrews Air Force base outside of the white house in suburban maryland, flew to hartford and then drove. The weather here is not good right now, so he could not chopper could not come over by marine one. Had to drive from hartford, an hour, hour and a half drive from here, and were in newtown watching whats going on. All of these makeshift memorials have just sprung up. You cant you can virtually not even drive through the small streets of newtown right now its so, croso crowded. People are bringing candles, flowers, candles, teddy bears, legos. Were getting ready for what will be a very, very emotional Memorial Service. Im wolf blitzer reporting here from newtown. Anderson cooper is right down the street. Hes near the high school. Hes joining us as well. Anderson . Yeah, thats right, wolf. Im actually right right outside the high school. You see the inside of the auditorium there and really full to capacity. A lot of people still outside looking like theyre letting some more people in. Im not sure what part of the high school theyll be in. Theyll probably have some overflow rooms available. We also understand the president is already inside the high school, has been meeting with the families of those who have lost loved ones and trying to offer them some comfort and listen as much as talk, im sure, in cases like this. Often just listening to parents talk about their child, about what their child was like, sharing stories and sharing in that grief. Our Jessica Yellin, our chief White House Correspondent is also here with me. Do we know what the president is going to be saying tonight . Im told that hell talk about the nations obligations to our children. Theyre not getting more specific than that, but i think that that means both as families, as parents, and, you know, personally to connect with your loved ones, and probably maybe a broad reference to our obligations to take action. Again, we dont know what the president really means by that. Is it some sort of political action. But, you know, in these speeches, the president is very good, anderson, about finding moments of heroism to talk about resilience and the american spirit and moments that sort of connect us to whats good about our spirit. And so that we find something positive in all of this. And there are certainly many moments that we know of already from what happened in that school on that day, teachers like victoria soto who essentially seemed to have sacrificed her life in order to protect her students, telling the gunman that the students were not in the classroom when she had hidden them. And i have talked to teachers who were, you know, literally they knew something was going on, didnt know what it was, and they sat their kids down, got them in the corner and read to them all during the shooting and just trying to keep their kids calm and keep them their minds diverted until a s. W. A. T. Team arrived. Thats why its just such a chilling story, a chilling experience, because these were young children, and i think thats what the president has an obligation and he knows the challenge to connect with. The sense this was a community that did everything right. Look at what the school did with security they put in place, with how devoted these teachers were. I mean, two threw themselves at the gunman to block their way and it happened to them, and its an instance where you have its so senseless. Theres no way to explain even when the Police Uncover the motive. Theres no way to explain why this had to happen. And president obama speaking as a father tonight as much as as the president , as a father who no doubt had to explain to his own children what happened. Its such a good point, and, you know, when the times we see him get emotional, it is when hes talking about sasha and malia, and its interesting, the moment he choked up on friday when he was speaking about this tragedy was when he said, these beautiful children, these beautiful children, thats when he started to cry. And, you know, i have said it before, but that was the most emotional i have ever seen him in public, and it was a powerful moment for the nation of release for the whole nation and a way for everybody to express grief. He went to his own daughters dance rehearsal today. I dont know if he was planning to anyway, but, you know, its sort of i wonder if he just wanted to spend time with his kids. Do we know is the first lady with him . Shes not. Shes not. Shes not. His family is home tonight, but he did get to spend some time with the girls today. He is just one of the many speakers who will be talking during this service. Was to begin at 7 00 east coast time. It now seems like it may be delayed somewhat. Were not sure if thats because the president is continuing to meet with families or what the reason for the delay is, but obviously we will bring you the service in its entirety when it begins, and youre seeing the inside of the auditorium right now. Supposed to last about two hours, so its going to be quite a lengthy service. Theres a number of speakers, a number of readings from various religious texts. There will be some audience participation in those readings as well. I see a number of people who it looks like have been told that theres no more room, so it looks like a number of people are leaving this high school. Weve been seeing people come, but even as we see people leaving, we see more people arriving, more families arrivi g arriving, even bringing their little children hoping to get inside, but there are many places throughout this town where people can participate in a sense and can feel as if they are all part of this. Weve been seeing one of the makeshift memorials don lemon is at a few plblocks from the high school. I saw someone bring 26 balloons and tie them down at a memorial. People bringing whatever they can, little me mentos they feel are important. They just want to take a moment and pause and remember. Wolf . You know, anderson, sort of a very different circumstance indeed, and it reminds me in the aftermath of the Oklahoma City bombing when president clinton went out to Oklahoma City and delivered a really beautiful, powerful address that not only the people in Oklahoma City, but throughout the country and, indeed, the world, an address that resonated. This is one of those key moments for this president of the United States to do the same thing and as jessica has been reporting and as weve heard the president personally got involved. Hes an excellent writer, and he has worked hard in making sure that the words he will say tonight will he believes hopefully resonate not only with the folks out there, people watching here in the United States and around the world, but most importantly maybe bring a little bit of comfort, a little bit of comfort, and god knows these people are going through hell right now, the families of those who died, the 26 people who were ki8d lled so brutally friday morning. Sanjay is here as wp. Sanjay, this is a challenge for this president. Hes been reelected. Hes got four years ahead of him, but this is one of those seminal moments that historians in the future will look back at this speech and say, this was a moment that the president stepped up. That comforterinchief is terminology thats been used. Its a question of right now hes meeting with these parents, as you mentioned, wolf. Hes working on these remarks himself. My guess is having worked in that capacity in a white house before, you know, his remarks may change even after he meets with these parents and is so affected and touched by what hes hearing from them. So i think that the sort of what we hear from him i think is very much going to reflect that. Hes still meeting with them now, as you point out. This was supposed to start around 7 00, but he does not want to be rushed. He wants to have that time to meet with these families. We dont know what he is saying, and i dont know, as you said earlier, what he could possibly say, but thats whats happening right now. We saw those 26 glasses there, memorial to the 26 who were so brutally assaulted and killed friday morning. 20 children ages 6 and 7, all first graders, and six teachers, six teachers, all women, for no reason, no reason at all. We dont understand what happened, and now well hear from representatives of all the major faiths here in the United States and theyre gearing up. Well have music and well have powerful words. Reverend matthew krebin, the senior minister of the newtown congressional church, United Church of christ, he will open up. I had an opportunity to meet with him at his church yesterday and you see some of the clergy there, including the rabbi who is there as well. You see him wearing the skull cap with his back to us. He and reverend krebbin, they were both inside the fire hall where all the families gathered, the governor was there, dannel malloy, and at one point the governor started telling family members, parents, who was alive and who wasnt alive, and, you know, and both the minister and the rabbi said to me, it was one it was the most powerful moment, the shock, and these are clergy, theyre supposed to comfort. They didnt know what to do. These parents, they did not know, they were waiting, hoping, seeing children come out and hoping that one of those children would be theirs, but for so many parents that didnt happen, and the governor was the one, you heard this morning, wolf, that ultimately told them, conveyed that information, that horrible information to them. He felt it was his responsibility, governor malloy, his responsibility as the governor of the state of connecticut to deliver this horrendous news. No news could be worse. Children bury parents. Parents are not supposed to bury their children, and this is an unspeakable tragedy that has afflicted that has impacted this small opportunity. Under 30,000 people live here in newtown, and, you know, theyve all gathered here. You see representatives from all the faiths who have come to remember, to reflect, and they hope bring some comfort to those who are in mourning. You know, i dont know how i would behave, wolf. Im sure you dont know how you would either in a situation like this. I have been pretty amazed at how quickly people have come together. When you think about robbie parker, this 30yearold physicians assistant who lost his daughter emilie, i was, again, as i think so many people were, stunned and blown away by how forgiving he was, how compassionate he was, and how i mean accept eppsance is proba the wrong word but he had developed a plan to forgive and turn this tragedy into something that could be of comfort to families all over the country that may go through Something Like this, the loss of a child, wolf. Yeah. Theres nothing worse that any parent, anyone could endure than losing a child, and when we see the pictures of these little kids and we see their ages, we see their names, we appreciate i dont know if we could ever appreciate, but you begin to sense the enormity of the pain these parents and their loved ones, grandparents, are going through right now, uncles and aunts. You see the clergy there on the right of your screen. Thats senator blumenthal, the junior senator from connecticut, soon to be the senior senator from connecticut once senator lieberman retires and he will be leaving with the new senate sworn in in january. Don lemon is here on the streets of newtown himself where all these makeshift memorials have strong u sprung up. People just flocking to newtown. They want to do something. They arent sure exactly what they can do but they want to do something. Reporter and not just from the area. Tim is here. Wait until you guys see this. Tim is here and tim is from the chicago area, right . Correct. Lutian church charities. Reporter and these are comfort dogs you brought in yesterday. Yes. Reporter why . We brought them in to bring comfort to people during disaster times of loss with people. They just come in for people to pet. They have vests that say please pet me. Thats what youre doing right now. Reporter this is luther. Thats prince. Who is that . Thats ruthie, chewie. Or chewbacca. Reporter do you go around to different areas where people are in need to do this . Right. We do it in Disaster Response situations or situations like this and we place dogs in churches and schools. We have 60 dogs out there placed in six different states to do this sort of thing. Reporter get down here with me. Tim, if you want to see, look at the kids over here. Dave, go over here. If you look at the kids, this brings you joy to pet this dog . Definitely. Reporter yeah . A smile listen, i havent really seen anyone smiling out here and these dogs showed up and the kids started smiling. This is mare mom, kathy. When your kids saw the dogs, what happened . They lit up. They lit up inside and they were even more excited to hear that they were here to spread comfort and were religious, and we believe that having a sense of god being around us brings that kind of comfort. So its really exciting that people came from chicago. Reporter show the dogs. What are the ages of your kids . My kids are 13, 12, and 5. Were from massachusetts. Reporter and you also brought, you said, a sign. We brought the orange sign with the blinking lights. We just we felt like it was important because there werent really any good words to fix peoples grief, that if they saw an action, that people loved them enough to come and walk and remember their children that it would help. Reporter the sign says we are holding you close from massachusetts, but again when you look at, wolf, you know, the dogs that can bring a smile to the face of children and really to everyone, and when these dogs showed up here, everyone started to flock around these dogs. They started to pet them and they started to smile. And its just one of the ways here that people are coming together to help this community not only from the area but really from all over the country. You put smiles on peoples faces. Does that make you smile . We bring mercy and compassion and help people to deal. Reporter you couldnt help yourself when you saw what happened here . Wee see this all the time. If it helps people, thats what were about. Reporter go towards the dogs. You see everyone here walking up and these dogs have become the center of attention. I have to tell you, it does and theyre all around the memorial over here. It does warm my heart to see this because everyone has been so sad here, and as i said yesterday, i was talking to anderson i believe, that i havent seen faces like this, people who sort of have blank looks on their faces since i saw the rescuers, quite frankly, down at 9 11, and then these dogs really are helping. Yes. Reporter i wish there were more. A few weeks ago we were in new york city with the dogs and helping people there and then in new jersey, same thing. Walking them with children. Reporter how many other organizations are you aware of around the country that does this . Im not aware of any that has organized program that does this. Reporter the kids over here. You said youre not aware of what . Im not aware of any that does this, that breeds and trains their dogs and places them in churches to do this. Theyre at nursing homes, hospitals, wherever, but particularly in situations like this where you have a tragedy. Reporter yeah. Wolf, you know, one moment of just a little comfort here to the people who really need so much comfort and so much help and just a dog, a couple dogs are able to do it. I wish there were more. I wish there was more we could do for the folks here, but this at the moment, this is at least a little bit. You know, those dogs, im sure, are very comforting to some of the people who are there, don. Those are really moving reports youre bringing us, and were going to come back to you as we await the president of the United States, the clergy, theyre getting ready for this interfaith Memorial Service. Well hear music, well hear prayers, well hear passages from the psalms and well hear from the governor of connecticut. Well also hear from the president of the United States. This will be a very, very moving service, and we can only hope and pray that it will bring some comfort to those who are in mourning right now. Anderson cooper is watching whats going on as well. Anderson . Yeah, wolf. Were outside the high school where this service is going to take place. Im with Donna Morrissey from the american red cross. You have been here since friday. You came down from boston . I did, yes. Whats the red cross doing here . Im joined with 100 red cross volunteers providing food and water, assistance to not only the affected families but the First Responders and the whole community. One of our big pushes is to provide emotional support and counseling for those who are dealing with the unimaginable. In fact, tonight we were here, we handed out about 400 of these little puppies to the kids waiting in line. Just something they could hold onto, provide some sense of comfort to them. This is for the kids waiting in line to get into the service. We handed out about 900 blankets. Its cold, its rainy, and theyre really just dealing with such an unimaginable tragedy. We want to be here to just provide some level of support during these dark days. How do counselors what does a counselor say at a time like this . Well, many people obviously are overcome with grief, and thats normal for them to feel that way, and so we have counselors meeting oneonone. We have people providing resources just to be there in the moment. We have some people that are have been profoundly affected directly, have lost loved ones. Others that just are in a state of shock because, as you know, driving through this community, its, you know, quintessential sma