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American Morning
Tragedy in Tucson: Giffords Gunman in Court Today; Parents of Christina Green Speak Out About Daughter's Tragic Death; Man Takes Bullet to Save Wife's Life; Hero Intern Speaks Out; Protecting Our Lawmakers; Time To Cool Political Fury
Aired January 10, 2011 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Hello there, and good morning to you all on this Monday, January 10th, from New York. I'm T.J. Holmes. I say good morning to Kiran Chetry this morning as well in Arizona.
Hey, there, Kiran.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, T.J. We're here in Tucson this morning for a special edition of AMERICAN MORNING. We're right outside the university hospital live this morning here. And inside, of course, is Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. She is still in the fight of her life after a gunman opened fire on Saturday shooting her, as well as several other people. She was shot in the head. Six other people killed, including a 9-year-old girl, Christina Green.
You know, the city really in shock. We were on a vigil last night, and people just wanted to gather around and share collectively the way that they were feeling. They're certainly comforted to know that the entire nation, as well, is mourning this tragedy, searching for answers, of course, and praying for the recovery of their very popular congresswoman, also doing some pretty deep soul searching about the political climate in the country right now.
Here's what we know at this hour just to give you an update. Congresswoman Giffords is still listed in critical condition. She is still sedated after getting emergency surgery to save her life, but doctors are very optimistic about her chances for a recovery. The suspect, meantime, 22-year-old Jared Loughner, is now charged with murder officially. He is due in court today, 4:00 Eastern Time.
Meantime, his Internet ramblings are giving us a bit of a picture of what may have driven him to kill. Law enforcement sources are also giving us new information about where he may have gotten his ammunition. They say he bought it at a Wal-Mart just a few weeks ago, but that he had been turned away as he tried to buy ammunition at a first Wal-Mart because of, quote, "his strange behavior."
President Obama, meantime, has called a national moment of silence for the victims of the rampage. It will take place at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time today, and flags are flying half-staff at the White House, the U.S. Capitol, as well as other government buildings.
We want to start or coverage this morning giving you an update on the investigation and also a look inside the mind of this accused shooter and the chilling 911 calls on Saturday. Susan Candiotti has been covering the story for us and she joins me this morning.
Hi, Susan.
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kiran. Yes, police are still trying to piece together every aspect of what happened before the shooting, during the shooting and, of course, afterwards. And part of that means examining every piece of what led up to this. They're still trying to find a motive. No one still knows exactly what happened. But we are getting a chilling look of some of the inside information and look and from witnesses about what happened that day.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
911: Hello? Hello?
CALLER: Hello, 911 -- there was a shooting at Safeway.
CANDIOTTI (voice-over): The calls to 911 paint a picture of the chaos that unfolded as a crazed gunman opened fire outside the Safeway grocery store.
CALLER: It looked like the guy had a semiautomatic pistol and he went in. He just started firing, and then he ran. There were multiple people shot.
911: OK. Oh, my God.
CANDIOTTI: 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 a 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 isn't commenting on his motive.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I will say and will emphasize, there is no information at this time to suggest any specific threat remains.
CANDIOTTI: 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 also 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.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was physically removed after probably the third or fourth week.
CANDIOTTI: To return to campus, Loughner was told he would have to present a doctor's note stating he would not be, quote, "a danger to himself or others." (END VIDEOTAPE)
CANDIOTTI: And Loughner will be making his first appearance in court later today. That is his first time appearing before a judge to look into, and he's charged with, as you know, several counts of murder and attempted murder. We'll see whether he has anything to say, but it's not really 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 recuse themselves.
CHETRY: Speaking of the representation, it's very interesting, the person who's going to be representing Loughner is no stranger to some very controversial and very high profile defendants.
CANDIOTTI: 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 involved in some very high profile cases. For example, she represented Zacharias Moussaoui. Many people regarding him as the 19th hijacker on 9/11. She also represented Ted Kaczynski, the Unabomber, and on her own time, represented Susan Smith, who as you recall was charged with murdering her own children. So this is a woman who's had a lot of experience and I guess you could argue in the case of Ted Kaczynski was able to help him avoid getting the death penalty.
CHETRY: Right. They say she was instrumental in getting him life as opposed to the death penalty.
CANDIOTTI: That's right.
CHETRY: All right. We'll continue to follow, of course, the legal developments on this. Susan, thanks so much.
CANDIOTTI: You're welcome.
CHETRY: Meantime today, this is a community in mourning over the loss of six people killed here on Saturday. And we've focused a lot, of course, on Gabrielle Giffords, the congresswoman from the area. But we want to show you the other six people. The six people, rather, who lost their lives. John Roll, federal judge, Dorothy Morris, Dorwin or Dory Stoddard, as he's known to friends, Phyllis Schneck and Gabriel Zimmerman. He was a staffer, a 30-year-old staffer of the congresswoman, and 9-year-old Christina Green. She was a little girl interested in government which is why she was the congresswoman's gathering on Saturday. And she was also just recently elected to student council at her school. Her family obviously distraught after this senseless killing.
Our Casey Wian had a chance to speak to her parents about their devastating loss.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): She was born on 9/11 and died in Saturday's mass killings in Tucson. Christina Green's father says the nine years in between were very special.
JOHN GREEN, FATHER: Kind of does say something about our society that my daughter was born on a tragic day and she went out on a tragic day.
ROXANNA GREEN, MOTHER: She was a great friend, a great sister, a great daughter. I'm 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.
WIAN: Christina attended the event hosted by Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords because she had recently been chosen for student council at Mesa Verde Elementary School, where families brought flowers and left a note that read in part, "We are deeply saddened by the loss of this precious child.
J. GREEN: 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.
WIAN: 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 who played at the canyon Del Oro Little League.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, everybody knows what happened yesterday.
WIAN: League president, Clyde Turpin, tried to explain the tragedy to other players who knew Christina.
CLYDE TURPIN, PRES., CANYON DEL ORO 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.
WIAN: Dorwin and Mavy Stoddard shown here in the 1997 picture attended the Church of Christ. Dory, as he was called, built this room for parishioners with small children.
MICHAEL NOWAK, MINISTER: And they both fed the needy, housed the needy, gave money to the needy and gave clothes to the needy. So they were very important to us.
WIAN: Saturday, Dory was shot and killed. He pulled Mavy to the ground, his body covering hers. She was shot three times, but survived. Their minister had this message for fellow parishioners.
NOWAK: And I'm on town, I mean is to not take this as an anger against anybody, but a way to be drawn together and encourage each other and be there when Mavy gets out of the hospital.
(END VIDEOTAPE) WIAN: Family members tell us that Mavy is doing remarkably well and could be released from the hospital, Kiran, very soon despite the fact that she's got three gunshot wounds to her leg.
CHETRY: We were at a vigil last night and, you know, a lot of people were there with their children and a lot of them said, you know, this could have been my kid. And just devastating for the parents and for the family of little Christina.
WIAN: When you speak to the parents of someone who's lost a child like that, it makes you think of your own children. You just can't imagine what they're feeling and what they're going through.
CHETRY: A devastating loss, so senseless. Had a lot of people here just wondering where to go from here. Casey Wian for us this morning. Thanks so much.
A number of brave men and women, by the way, are being hailed as heroes in the wake of this tragedy this morning, for their actions during Saturday's shooting that probably saved more lives. It includes a young man, Daniel Hernandez. He was a brand new intern to Congresswoman Giffords' office. And when those bullets rang out, Hernandez ran toward them and likely saved his boss's life. He knew what to do. The 20-year-old spoke to our Ted Rowlands and provided a first-hand account of the tragic attack. Here he is in his own words.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DANIEL HERNANDEZ, GIFFORDS INTERN: I heard the gunshots and I knew that people had been injured, most likely. So I ran towards where the congresswoman was. So I heard shots and then I ran towards where she and some of her senior staff were.
When I got there, I saw that there were people who had been injured. I then tried to see who had a pulse still, 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 also 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 have 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 that she could breathe more easily.
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Comforting her, how did you do that?
HERNANDEZ: Just letting her know that I was there, that she was going to be OK. 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 just 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 that someone was there holding her hand.
ROWLANDS: Did you save her life?
HERNANDEZ: I don't think that I did. I think it was emergency services. People have been referring to me as a hero. I don't think that that's 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.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Here's 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.
And, T.J., it just is amazing that he, you know, knew what to do. He ran into those gunshots. He didn't know whether this suspect was able to reload or not. And his sole purpose was to try to do everything he could to make sure that she made it until she got to the hospital.
HOLMES: Yes. He certainly helped out, had some first aid training that just triggered in, as well. So looking forward to hearing you talk to him a little later. Kiran, thank you. 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 certainly talking about on Capitol Hill right now. How do you protect our lawmakers? Is there really 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 drastic 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.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHERIFF CLARENCE DUPNIK, PIMA COUNTRY, ARIZONA: Arizona, I think, has become sort of the capital. We have become the mecca for prejudice and bigotry.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Coming up, we were going to be talking live. Our Kiran Chetry talking to Sheriff Clarence Dupnik this morning 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 about this storm's impact not just on the south, but no matter where you live, it could be affecting you. Rob Marciano tracking this for us. It's 12 minutes past the hour. Stick around.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: 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 still in intensive care recovering after a gunshot wound Saturday that took the lives of six others and injured dozens more.
Now, from the halls of the Capital to the streets of Tucson, Arizona, colleagues, friends and constituents have all been touched in some way by Gabrielle Giffords including my next guest, Arizona State Representative Steve Farley. He has known the congresswoman for 14 years and he actually holds her old seat in the Arizona legislature, and he joins us this morning.
Thanks so much for being with us this morning.
REP. STEVE FARLEY (D), ARIZONA STATE HOUSE: Thank you.
CHETRY: I know that you're also close with the family, as well. How are they holding up in the midst of all of this, the friends and family of Gabby?
FARLEY: They're very optimistic about what's happening. They are very, very strong. That's where Gabby gets her strength and where she's going to fight through this thing all the way.
CHETRY: 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?
FARLEY: I was very - very, very happy to hear yesterday that she is moving hands on both sides of her body and that she is responding to simple commands and the nurse here is just saying is miraculous.
CHETRY: Yes. After taking a bullet right to the head, it is amazing that - that she is - that they're so optimistic for her recovery and thank goodness. You see a lot of people here pulling for her.
Also, there were - 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?
FARLEY: I met Ron in the hospital room. I saw Pam in the hospital room. They're both good friends and they're 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 - is doing the same thing. The kind of people that Gabby gathers around her are these incredible, amazing, charismatic type A people who are so dedicated and - and they're - they're amazing.
I did want to say something about Gabe Zimmerman, who was such -
CHETRY: He's the 30-year-old staffer who unfortunately lost his life. FARLEY: Yes.
CHETRY: How are all of her other colleagues dealing with the loss of Gabriel?
FARLEY: It's very, very tough. Gabe was one of the most kind people I've ever met. He was so hardworking and so dedicated. And 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 tragedy to all of us in the future of Tucson that Gabe is no longer there to help us with it.
CHETRY: How has this tragedy affected your thoughts as a - as, you know, a lawmaker, as well, and others who want to be able to have an open dialogue with their constituents? I mean, is this changing the way that all of us relate in some way to our elected leaders?
FARLEY: 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've crossed a threshold. Saturday, we went from the past to the future. And because people are not c calling out for avenge or hatred or anger, there's a spirit of love and hope and reconciliation that is floating over this entire region and that is where we will get the strength to move forward and change the divisiveness of our politics, to move forward and help the entire nation change the divisiveness of our politics.
I believe we can take the spirit of this horrible tragedy and convert it into something that will move us into a whole another century, a whole another American reclamation of democracy and become one nation once again.
CHETRY: So do you think that some of the ratcheted up levels of rhetoric and - and poison terms of words contributed in some way to this tragedy?
FARLEY: I don't want to get into the blame of what actually caused the shooter to happen, because this is truly senseless. But I do know that Congresswoman Giffords has been on the front lines of a lot of threats, a lot of angry words - and more than words coming at her, obviously. And we cannot allow these types of - our differences to divide us in any violent ways. We cannot let that 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. We are not like this here in the United States of America. And we will move past this with strength and resolve and reconciliation and love. That's where we're going.
CHETRY: Well, our thoughts and prayers are with all of you dealing with this. I know it has not been easy and I know that, you know, taking it one day at a time on very little sleep.
Thank you for joining us this morning, State Representative Steve Farley and a friend of Congresswoman Giffords. Thanks.
FARLEY: Thank you.
CHETRY: Coming up, it's a delicate balance for every lawmaker. You have a public life and you also have to worry about your personal safety, of course, as this tragedy illustrated. This morning, Congress confronting some questions about its own security.
And also, after the tragedy here in Tucson, one congressman says that we're in a very dark place right now. Is the discourse in this country becoming dangerous?
You're watching a Special Edition of AMERICAN MORNING live from Tucson, Arizona. It's 20 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: It's about 23 minutes past the hour now. Welcome back here to this AMERICAN MORNING.
The shooting out in Arizona has a lot of gun control advocates now speaking up and trying to seize this moment to push maybe for tougher gun control laws in this country. New York Democrat Caroline McCarthy, she is promising to introduce legislation maybe as early as today. You may remember, her husband was killed, her son wounded by a gunman on a Long Island railroad train back in 1993.
Now, the congresswoman is calling for a ban on so-called extended semi-automatic ammunition clips, like the ones used in Tucson. These are extended clips that allow for more ammunition in these guns. Now, they were illegal under the Assault Weapons Ban that expired back in 2004.
Now, as we know now, there was a lot on the agenda. Though, 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. Well, that and other things are being put on the back burner right now. The thing on the forefront of most people and the Congress' mind, safety, their own safety amid now an increased number of threats and now what we've seen in Arizona. So how in the world do you protect 535 members of Congress?
Our congressional correspondent, Brianna Keilar, is with us this morning live on Capitol Hill. Brianna, good morning to you. And anything short of giving every single member, and we're talking about 535 of them presidential-esque Secret Service security 24/7, what do you do?
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And this is what's so interesting about this, T.J. is 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 on the call, there weren't any really specific security recommendations, but there were - there were some.
for instance, just a reminder that these members need to be vigilant, that they need to designate someone back in their home district to be in charge of dealing with security issues and also that they need to reach out to local law enforcement or if they're here in Washington, U.S. Capitol Police, if they feel there's a safety concern.
This is very unusual. One Democratic member on this call said that he's been in Congress 22 years, he's never have - been on a conference call like this led by Democratic and Republican leaders. We're going to be seeing more specifics when it comes to security, T.J., probably on Wednesday. There's going to be a security briefing. Same players here, U.S. Capitol Police, Sergeant at Arms, FBI, they're going to be making more specific recommendations to members of Congress and to their staff members who deal with security issues.
HOLMES: All right. Brianna, also, I think some of them are talking about possibly, you know, need more security provided for them. Are some of them taking it upon themselves to take care of their own security? And what I mean by that is carrying guns.
KEILAR: That's right. And we heard from one Republican from Utah, Jason Chaffetz, who says that he has a concealed carry permit. That he uses it sometimes, he'll have a weapon on him from time to time. And that he said in light of what happened to Congresswoman Giffords, he's more likely to do this. There are reports of other members of Congress doing this as well.
One of the other things that he also suggested he might do is propose that the U.S. Marshall Service be made available to members of Congress and this is something that he's seriously considering proposing in his role as a subcommittee chairman.
And the other thing I want to tell you, T.J., though, there's different points of view here. Adam Smith, for instance, from Washington, he's a Democrat. He describes Congresswoman Giffords as his best friend here in Congress. He has said, you know, there's really only so much you can do. We are public servants and we can't be going to these constituent events or these events in our district with six or seven armed guards.
HOLMES: All right. Brianna Keilar, this is a tough one for them. They depend on and pride themselves quite frankly on their constituents having that close access to them certainly -
KEILAR: That's right.
HOLMES: -- around campaign time.
Brianna Keilar, we'll continue to check in with you. Thank you so much this morning.
Now, of course, the shootings out in Arizona now have a lot of people talking about was this heated political rhetoric. Was it to blame, really, for what happened out there? At least one person is suggesting 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.
Also, Congresswoman Giffords certainly beating the odds already, surviving a bullet through her brain and having doctors actually come out and say there are encouraging signs. How is this possible?
Our doctor, Sanjay Gupta, our neurosurgeon. He's going to join us more with the prognosis.
It's 27 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: 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 Monday, January 10th. I'm Kiran Chetry.
Hey, T.J.
HOLMES: Good morning to you once again, Kiran.
And I'm T.J. Holmes. We're going to be checking in with Kiran plenty out there for more coverage of what's happening in Arizona.
Meanwhile, let me give you an update on what's happening this morning. Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, she is still fighting her life this morning. She's in critical condition. She's sedated. This all, of course, after that gunman opened fire on Saturday, shooting her in the head, also killed six other people, among them, a 9-year-old girl and a federal judge.
Giffords' campaign chairman tells CNN he is confident that the congresswoman will survive. Also, 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, also first degree murder for the deaths of Judge John Roll and Gabriel Zimmerman. Also, charged with the attempted murder of Giffords assistants, Pamela Simon and also Ron Barber.
Other big story we are keeping an eye on today is weather. This is something you're going to have to know about. You need to be aware of today, certainly, in the South. But other places around the country, this could affect you, as well, but in particular, in the South.
The streets and runways, covered in sheets of ice and inches of snow. Cars as -- you're seeing some of the video here, have been sliding off of these slick roads. This is all in the Atlanta area in particular.
And listen to this: 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.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It is a lot. And the amount of snow that we've gotten here in Atlanta is certainly a lot for Atlanta and the South in general. This is going to go down certainly in a top 10 storm, maybe even higher than that.
The road conditions, as you -- 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 interstates. And some spots of the interstates, people have pulled over and abandon cars. At one point last night, it was gridlock. I mean, it's been just a nasty, nasty go of it.
As far as the airport is concerned, here's a live picture for you. As you mentioned, hundreds of flights canceled today. The airport not officially shut down yet, but you definitely 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 some live traffic cameras, from 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 I had wide open city streets. You get more cars on the road, there's less room for error, just stay home if you can.
And it's not just Atlanta. It's over in Birmingham. It's back through Little Rock. They had snow in north Dallas yesterday. So, this is encompassing a wide swath of real estate and it's 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 just across parts of the Carolinas and Georgia. This doesn't include places like Little Rock and north Texas. But there you go, nine inches in Graham. Greenville has seen six inches. Hartsfield has seen about 3.7. We got about 4 inches here. And the radar is showing what we've got more moisture coming in.
So, snow and sleet this morning, another couple of inches expected, and 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. And 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. HOLMES: All right. You said it best, crippling. We do appreciate you, Rob Marciano. We're going to continue to check in with Rob throughout the morning for what you need to know. Rob, thanks so much.
For now, though, I want to hand it back out to Kiran, who's standing by for us for our special coverage in Tucson.
CHETRY: T.J., thanks.
And we're going to get an update in the investigation into the shootings here in Tucson, Arizona. We're going to talk to Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik. He's going to be joining us live after the break.
Also, this anger in America -- did the heated political discourse 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.
It's 34 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome to our special coverage this morning. We're live in Tucson, Arizona. We're actually outside of the University Hospital here where Congressman Gabrielle Giffords is still in critical condition after Saturday's shooting. Of course, it left a nation stunned. Six people were killed and 14 others injured.
The suspect, Jared Lee Loughner, 22 years old, is not cooperating with investigators according to our sources. He has been charged, though, with five counts relating to that shooting, including attempting to assassinate a member of Congress.
Joining me now with the latest on the investigation is Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik.
Thanks for joining us this morning.
Do you have an indication where this is?
SHERIFF CLARENCE DUPNIK, PIMA COUNTY, ARIZONA: Well, it's winding down. You know, initially, we were concerned that there might others involved and we have since determined that that's not the case. So, it's taking on basically a routine structure.
We are still investigating him intensely, and I can tell you that without any details that he specifically targeted the congresswoman. We have eyewitness testimony and we have documents to prove that, and he's a very troubled individual.
CHETRY: When you say troubled individual, I know there -- we had a chance to speak to and we're going to speak to again a little 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, in fact, it went as far as getting him removed from that community college.
When somebody raises that many red flags, what is the next step? Should law enforcement have been contacted at that point?
DUPNIK: Well, 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 that at this moment, if we were to go through our files, we would probably come up with thousands of red flags.
CHETRY: So, you're saying that you can't act beforehand --
DUPNIK: Well, we have a legal system that doesn't allow us to act before the fact.
CHETRY: If it went to the point where he was let go of a -- I mean, dismissed from a university and they said, listen, you got 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?
DUPNIK: Well, I think law enforcement had some information up at the college about some of his behavior.
CHETRY: We also understand that he was attempting to go buy some ammunition at one Wal-Mart and was turned away because of his behavior and then apparently succeeded in buying ammunition at another Wal- Mart. When something like that happens, is there any type of notification process as well to authorities?
DUPNIK: Not normally -- unless the behavior is very bizarre.
CHETRY: Also, you had spoken out very passionately in the wake of this, talking about how, you know, 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 feel that -- do you still feel that way today, a few days out?
DUPNIK: 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.
CHETRY: So, do you think it's basically just up to people themselves to watch what they say and realize that words have consequences? Or are there any type of legal avenues?
DUPNIK: 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.
CHETRY: 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?
DUPNIK: 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.
CHETRY: What do you mean by that?
DUPNIK: Well, if you look at the history of Tombstone, everybody carried a gun and shootings were common.
CHETRY: Gabrielle Giffords herself, the congresswoman, referred to the O.K. Corral culture. Do you think that that makes it a more dangerous place?
DUPNIK: 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.
CHETRY: Well, Sheriff Dupnik of Pima County, Arizona, thanks so much for joining us this morning. I appreciate your time.
DUPNIK: Thank you very much.
CHETRY: Take care. Good luck.
DUPNIK: Thank you.
CHETRY: Still to come: lawmakers are calling for a toning down of the political language in Washington and across the country. One congressman says that we're in a very dark place right now. Jim Acosta next on how the toxic talk could be affecting the country.
Also 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.
You're watching a special live edition of AMERICAN MORNING live from Tucson, Arizona, this morning.
It's 43 minutes past the hour.
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CHETRY: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING.
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle say that they're shocked and they're 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 constituents 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 as a wake-up call.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We tell people of the United States --
JIM ACOSTA, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): When members of the House took turns reading portions of the constitution last week, Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords got the first amendment.
REP. GABRIELLE GIFFORDS, (D) ARIZONA: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof or abridging the freedom of speech.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now, wait a minute, now wait a minute.
ACOSTA: But in recent years, those free speech protections have allowed Americans on the right and the left to say just about anything they want.
REP. ALAN GRAYSON (D) FLORIDA: The Republicans health care plan for America, don't get sick.
ACOSTA: The political rhetoric got so heated during the health care debate, protesters brought gun to town hall meetings. Some in Congress including Giffords found offices in their districts vandalized. Last March, Giffords objected to having her district placed in the cross hairs by Sarah Palin's political action committee. In this map, pointing out certain health care supporters.
GIFFORDS: When people do that, you got to realize there's consequences to that action.
ACOSTA: Congressman Jim Moran says Giffords told him just over a week ago, she was still troubled by that map.
REP. JIM MORAN (D) VIRGINIA: 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.
ACOSTA: Over the weekend, a Sara pack representative told an online radio host it's all a misunderstanding. VOICE OF REBECCA MANSOUR, SARAH PALIN AIDE: We never, ever, ever intended it to be gun sites. It was simply cross hairs like you'd see on map.
ACOSTA: But just after the election, Palin tweeted about the map, referring to the bull's-eye icon used to target the 20 Obamacare-lovin incumbent seats. Trying to make sense of the rampage, Pima County sheriff put some of the blame on the public discourse.
SHERIFF CLARENCE DUPNIK, PIMA COUNTRY, ARIZONA: 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.
ACOSTA: Was it a national mind-set?
REP. EMANUEL CLEAVER, (D) MISSOURI: We are in a dark place in this country right now. And the atmospheric condition is toxic.
ACOSTA: Or the mind of a mad man?
SEN JON KYL, (R) ARIZONA: We really don't know what motivated this young person, except to know that he was very mentally unstable.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA (on-camera): Investigators haven't said whether any political rhetoric motivated the gunman in Tucson. Still, Pennsylvania Congressman, Robert Brady, plans to introduce a bill that would make it a federal crime to use violent imagery that threatens or incites 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.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Jim, we do appreciate you this morning. We'll continue to check in with our Kiran Chetry who, of course, is on the scene in Tucson as we have this special split edition, 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 just 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 actually had to be removed from class, physically, at some point. One of his former teachers is going to be joining us next hour to talk about that, live.
Also coming up, we also too often think about this heated rhetoric. We think about Democrats and Republicans going at it up there on Capitol Hill, but you have to remember all of these members of Congress are also friends, colleagues, they're 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. It's 10 minutes to the top of the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HOLMES: All right. About seven minutes to the top of the hour now. It is no small miracle that Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords is still alive, survived having a bullet go through her head at close range. She is in critical condition this morning. Brain swelling now a bit concern for the doctors. We want to bring in our chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, a neurosurgeon, as well.
Sanjay, we're going to talk to you about her current condition, but I want to talk to you first and help us understand. I want to talk to you about the word "luck," because doctors say the reason she's alive, yes, the medical staff helped out, but they said a major reason is luck. So, if you can, Sanjay, 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?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, as you might guess, T.J., the odds typically aren't in someone's favor with this type of injury, but there are some things that really 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., you've been following this along, she was able to follow commands prior to even going into the operating room.
Meaning, someone was telling her to do something like raise two fingers. She was able to hear that, 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.
And it's one of those things in neurosurgery that we know, but the lay public may not. 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. So, these things sort of, you know, tip the odds, if you will, T.J., in her favor.
HOLMES: You know, it was incredible to hear the press conference taking place in some of those doctors talking about how this happened, but it is just remarkable, again, for the lay person, just to hear a point-blank range that shot to the head and someone survived and can possibly be doing OK, have a good prognosis down the hill. So, talk to me about that.
Certainly, how is she doing right now? You certainly talked about her being able to respond through nonverbal communication. How is she doing now? I mean, what are we looking at for possible recovery down the road?
GUPTA: 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. So, if she gets out of the operating room, obviously, a breathing tube, going be quite sedated, pain medications. And yet, you know, when they come over to her and say something like hold up two fingers, she was able to do that.
So, again, a very good sign and that was in the immediate time period after the operation. Also, you know, what they do now is in the patient -- in intensive care unit, she is, basically, in sort of a heavy sedated state. They're calling it a medical coma, giving lot of 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 commands, all the things that we're talking about before. And 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 weaker -- not weak, I should say, on one side of the body versus the other. I should point out, as well, T.J., that as part of this operation, one of the biggest concerns is swelling of the brain. And that's something that's going to need to be monitored for a few days, certainly, maybe even longer than that.
Doctors have already sort of anticipated that during the operation, not only did they remove bone fragments from where the bullet went in, but they also took out 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 doing this operation called the craniotomy as they taking that bone out. It will stay out for a period of time, and they will put it back in at some point when they're convinced there's no more risk of swelling, T.J.
HOLMES: 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 be able to break this down to a lot of us. Thank you so much. We'll continue to check in with Sanjay.
And to our viewers, you can check in with Sanjay, as well. He's been blogging about Congresswoman Giffords' condition, how doctors are treating, and how she's managed to survive such on serious injury. You can check it out at CNNhealth.com.
We're getting close to the top of the hour, quick break. We're going to have more top stories coming your way, but also, a lot of our coverage this morning. Again, our split edition of AMERICAN MORNING this morning as our Kiran Chetry is live in Tucson with the very latest on what's happening after the shooting at Congresswoman Giffords fighting for a life this morning. Stay with us.
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