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Connecticut Elementary School Shooting; Preparing for the Interfaith Vigil

Aired December 16, 2012 - 18:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: People of all ages and faiths and religions pausing to remember -- pausing to remember and reflect and breathe together.

In the next hour, we're going to have this interfaith service in the high school just over my shoulder, where so many people will be gathered. And hundreds have already lined up -- already the hall inside is nearly full, but there are -- I can see hundreds more still lined up, waiting in the rain and the cold, hoping to get in, hoping to just be together. And I think we've seen that so much in the last day or so, people just wanting to be here and be together. People come from all parts of Connecticut just to come and be here, and witness what's happening here and drop off some flowers or a teddy bear or a toy or something, leave a remembrance and pause and reflect. People all around the world are doing the same.

I'm joined by, we have many of our colleagues, our correspondents all throughout this town covering the variety of different memorials that are taking place, and joined also right now by Wolf Blitzer, who -- Wolf, I know you talked to two religious leaders about the shooting. I talked to a number last night, a rabbi, a reverend. You talked to a local rabbi and a reverend as well. Both of them will be at that service tonight.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, they're both going to be there tonight. They're going to be leading the service. And I had a chance to go to the church yesterday and had a good conversation about God and how these horrible tragedies can happen in a situation like this.

And there are no easy answers, and the clergy, no matter how smart, no matter how powerful, no matter how astute can certainly -- can comfort. Both these rabbi and the minister, they were in the firehouse when the families of these 20 kids were told that their little boy, or their little girl, 6-year-old or 7-year-old, had passed away, had died, had been killed in this elementary school shooting. And they -- some of the parents were members of their respective congregations, and they tried to do whatever they could to console.

Let me play a little excerpt of our conversation at the church yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: So many people have said to me, reverend and rabbi, how can God allow something like this to happen? What do you say? REV. MATTHEW CREBBIN, PASTOR: One of the things I first say in this moment, this is not the moment to answer that question, at least not to the families that are in grief. I think there are answers. There are answers from my tradition that speak to suffering and how suffering can be transformative, how as a Christian, I understand that there are ways in which we can transform and be transformed by suffering.

But to be honest with you, that's not an answer -- that's not a question that I try to answer today because people don't need to hear what becomes an oversimplistic answer to something that is so deep and profound.

BLITZER: What will be the central message that you tell your congregants tomorrow morning?

CREBBIN: I will be preaching a message that, even in the midst of darkness, there is light. It's tragic that we are in the midst of the season for us as Christians, which is Christmastime and Advent, which is a holy time for us. But we also know in the midst of a season that we so often associate with joy and merriment, that it's also a season of darkness. In fact, the gospel of John tells us that the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness does not overcome it.

So, I'll be preaching a message that promises, even in the midst of these dark times, that we know that the light of God is with us and that we can be sustained in that and that we can see that light in each other and draw from that light that is a part of our faith.

RABBI SHAUL PRAVER, CONGREGATION ADATH ISRAEL: The most important thing that we can do as a reaction to this is to thrive. I set my banquet in the presence of my enemies. The enemy is the horrible event, and the banquet is continuing or thriving in life.

I lived in Israel for 10 years, and I saw the way that the Israelis would, you know, pick up and go right to the spot where something terrible had happened, and the message was we carry on, and we will carry on.

We have great schools in Newtown. This was an isolated incident. This event doesn't define us. We will continue to have great schools and be a great community. Matthew and I are great friends, and all the clergy are great friends, and we will recover.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Rabbi Shaul Praver and Reverend Matthew Crebbin. They will both be at this interfaith service. We have pictures of the school where the folks are now gathering. They will hear from the ministers, they will hear from the clergy, they'll hear from the president of the United States.

And we're told President Obama spent most of the day preparing his own remarks, speaking from the heart, speaking not only as president of the United States, but also as a father of two young daughters as well. The grieving families are all -- that so many of us can only think about right now, especially when we see those pictures of those 6- year-old and 7-year-old kids, the memorials, the services that are continuing.

Brooke Baldwin is joining us now with details on a few of the victims.

Brooke, this is a heartbreaking story for all of us.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is absolutely gut-wrenching, Wolf. And when you walk around Newtown and you see these memorials and you see adults holding the hands of their 4 and 5-year-olds who are carrying teddy bears, who are wiping tears away as they are placing these teddy bears down perhaps for young people they knew, perhaps for young people they didn't, but they want to pay respect. We want to pay respect.

As we talk so much about these little lives lost, all 20 of them, it is so important tonight, ahead of this memorial, for us to talk about the adults, and really the heroes at the school. I want to just begin by talking about Victoria, or as she went by, Vicki Soto. She was young herself, first grade teacher, 27 years of age. And so, what we know about her in terms of Friday morning is she heard those gunshots and she immediately grabbed her students and tried to move them away, move them away from that door when he entered the school.

She is actually believed to have had the foresight to have hidden some of her students inside a closet in that first grade classroom, and later police found seven of them, seven survivors, thanks to Vicki Soto inside that closet.

Let me read this quote from her cousin, Wolf. Quote, "She instinctively went into action when a monster came into the classroom and tried to protect the kids she loved so much. We want the public to know that Vicki was a hero."

Two other people, Wolf, from the school, you need to hear their stories. Frist, Dawn Hochsprung, the principal, 47 years of age. She'd been at the school for two years. When you talk to people who knew her, a friend said she's passionate. She always had a smile on her face.

She was just that kind of educator you wanted in charge of your students. Kids loved her. The friend, though, went on to say she was a tough woman but in the right sense tough.

And as I mentioned, she was a newer principal, and one of her priorities, which she, in fact, followed through on, was installing this new security system at this elementary school at Sandy Hook Elementary School so that, if there were to be a stranger or visitor to come to the school after those school doors closed at 9:30 in the morning, they would have to ring the bell. Security very important for Dawn Hochsprung.

Friday morning, she was in a meeting, according to a parent, with the school psychologist, and they heard the pop, pop, pop, and immediately sprang into action, and lunged for the shooter, and that is when she passed away.

But one report was, as she was lunging for this young man, there was a teacher down the hallway, who she yelled at, get in the classroom, close the door, lock the door from the inside, all of this from this principal lunging at the shooter.

She was married. She had two daughters, three stepdaughters.

Let me just read you this one tweet, Wolf. This was from her 30-year- old daughter, Christine. Quote, "My mom was taken tragically from me, but she went down in a blaze of glory that truly represents who she was."

Just two of the many names, Wolf, we're finally hearing a little bit more, the stories, how they want to be remembered in this tragic, tragic time in Newtown, Connecticut.

BLITZER: And we're only beginning to learn about some of the other victims of this tragedy as well, Brooke. Thanks very much.

So many people have come up to me on the streets here in Newtown over the past day or two and said they would like to do something to help. For those of you who would like to help those affected, here's what you can do -- you can go to CNN.com/Impact, CNN.com/Impact. And you can impact your world. We've got good ideas what you can do right here in Newtown and the area -- important, important information, CNN.com/impact.

Anderson?

COOPER: Wolf, thanks very much. You just heard Brooke Baldwin talk about Dawn Hochsprung, the principal of Sandy Hook Elementary, a longtime educator. She was a long time educator. She'd been at the school, I think, for 12 years. And we've been hearing so much about her just in the last couple of days.

And there's so many other people that we're really just starting to learn about. Dawn became the principal of Sandy Hook two years ago.

Lillian Bittman is the former chair of the Newtown Board of Education. She helped choose Dawn for that position. She joins me now.

Lillian, you knew all of the educators who were killed. You knew a number of the children as well.

LILLIAN BITTMAN, FORMER CHAIRWOMAN, NEWTOWN BOARD OF EDUCATION: Right.

COOPER: First of all, how are you holding up?

BITTMAN: My families, it comes and goes. The first day we were a mess and couldn't sleep at night. Just like everybody else in Newtown, I couldn't sleep. At 3:00 in the morning, I got up, powered up my computer, and half of Newtown was on Facebook.

You know, you do what you can. I just took a meal to one of the families. Everyone's doing that. The grocery store was -- the area where the dishes are that you buy to give is decimated. So everyone's trying to help now.

COOPER: What do you want people to know about this place, about this school?

BITTMAN: I was involved with Sandy Hook for 17 years with my children and with a program I run there, and this school is unique in the fact that, for instance, the parent community is so strong, there was never a time we had to beg for volunteers. We had sometimes to turn volunteers away because it was such an engaged community. The staff, the teachers -- everyone says, well, teachers love their children, and that's very true.

But in Sandy Hook you never doubted that this staff was committed to every child, no matter their ability rate, and that they were very focused on making sure that every child succeeded. Our motto at Sandy Hook was all children can and will learn well, and the teachers took that very seriously.

So, for me as a parent and as someone who worked in the school as a regular volunteer, it was a place of joy and love. And to imagine those little children having that violated in all of us, this ripples out beyond who's in the school today. The college kids that used to go to Sandy Hook, they're devastated.

COOPER: Yes.

BITTMAN: They're out there talking, trying to figure out what to do next. They're becoming activists in different areas.

So for this to happen to this school that was so connected through the years, not just who's there today, but we all feel so connected, it makes it much more tragic and much more violated.

COOPER: I always think teachers are heroes on any given day.

BITTMAN: Yes, I agree.

COOPER: But what happened on that day -- I mean, I talked to one teacher who, when she sensed something was going on, she didn't know what was going on, gathered her kids, sat them down in the corner as they had drilled, and read to them.

BITTMAN: Right. Was that Mrs. Vollmer?

COOPER: Right. Continued to read to them --

BITTMAN: Right. Consummate professionals always have the children foremost in their mind, which is true for teachers across the country, and I know that. But in following the drills, making sure all the drills we'd done, they all followed those procedures. And whoever in the office, one of the secretaries, left that intercom on, that's one of the biggest heroes of this night.

COOPER: That's how everyone knew something was going on. BITTMAN: Right, right. That's what I mean about this community. And where we go from here is we have to lead with love, and that's what I'm concerned about, that in the short term, leading with love to put our arms around the families.

Everyone across the world is asking, how do we help? You help with love.

But then you don't let little 6 and 7-year-old kids get trapped in their classrooms and gunned down by a mad man with no way out and not have that change the way we respond to this kind of violence. We have to go forward.

COOPER: Something has to change.

BITTMAN: Something has to change. I don't have the answers. But I think we've got to have a peaceful, loving discussion as a community and as a country and maybe at the world level about multiple issues -- mental health, gun control, and even how we build our schools.

Sandy Hook had that intercom in place after Columbine. You put that in. You could not get into that school.

He shot his way in through glass doors. Perhaps the schools need to be changed in how we structure materials. And I know, being a board member, everything is money. So we have to look at this.

But what I want is everyone to come at this in a loving way. We're so divisive any way as a country right now, but this should be a defining moment where we come together and we solve this problem together.

COOPER: I've had so many people come up and take me by the hand or the arm and say something's got to come out of this.

BITTMAN: Yes, we can't let them -- you can't let little children -- all the other tragedies we've had have been horrific, but now we're talking about babies, and gunned down with a weapon that didn't take any marksmanship at all, right? It's unconscionable this still happens in this country and this place of peace and love and joy where everyone felt safe, I had to smile.

I just was watching reporter, what you guys were doing now, every time you say Sandy Hook, what it resonates in me is childhood because of Sandy Hook school, and that's an innocence, and it's gone now. I mean, we'll get it back. This community will get it back.

COOPER: A lot of people have said that in Newtown, a couple of people came up to me last night and said, look, this is not who we are. We want this town to be known for who we are.

BITTMAN: Right. And that's love, and the caring and compassion.

COOPER: And we see that in the memorials that have sprung up everywhere.

BITTMAN: Right. It's more than people showing up. It's people really, truly bonding, whenever a family has a tragedy, bonding around that family, 9/11, you know, anything that's happened in Newtown, people rise to the occasion. That's wonderful for us, that's here. But we can't have this keep happening in the future or even in another Newtown school. I mean, who knows?

COOPER: I appreciate you being with us.

BITTMAN: Thank you. Thanks, Anderson.

COOPER: Thank you.

And, Wolf, we've heard that from so many people, want something to come out of this, want something to be done. Maybe we'll hear more about it tonight at this service we'll be starting around 7:00.

President Obama is here in Newtown, Connecticut, already this evening. Obviously, Wolf, he'll be attending that service and speaking at that service.

BLITZER: Yes, the folks are arriving at the auditorium, at the high school, right behind where you are, not very far down the street from where I am here in Newtown. And you see some of the dignitaries. If you look on the right part of your screen, you can see near the stage, Senator Joe Lieberman standing there. This is a different shot.

But Senator Lieberman, Senator Blumenthal, the other senator from Connecticut, Senator Murphy, the incoming senator, and you see clergy that have gathered to participate in this interfaith service. There's Senator Lieberman in the right corner of your screen. People have come from all over this state. They want to be part of this. They want to be a part of this memorial service, and people are just coming here to Newtown to do whatever they can.

Don Lemon is out in the streets watching what's going on.

Don, it started very slowly, what we saw, people just bringing some toys or some flowers, a Christmas tree, LEGOs. You've been showing it to our viewers. But, now, it's growing, as you say, very, very quickly. People want to show their respect.

DON LEMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, they do. I said exponentially, and it is growing exponentially. And not just from around the state, really, but from all over the area, tri-state area and beyond. I just want you guys to see this and our viewers to see.

Look at it, you see the pictures there of two little cherubs. You see the stuffed animals, dogs, Winnie the Pooh, and there's also flowers that people have been buying. I mean, just every second someone drops something off. There are candy canes that are here, the Christmas ornaments on the Christmas trees that are here, and really people from all over.

Let me -- let me introduce you to some of these people. We're going to walk through and talk. If they don't want to talk to us, we'll be very respectful.

You're from New York, Roman (ph)? You came all the way from New York why?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because I want to pay respect to the victims of Sandy Hook Elementary School, and it's very tragic. I think it's respectful to come and pay respect to the victims.

LEMON: You're from New York. So, again, not even from here. As we've been saying, coming from all over. People have been watching it on television, and rather than just watching, you want to be a part of it. You're from this town, though?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm from Southbury, the next town over.

LEMON: It's very odd. You meet people from all over. You're actually from my hometown, Baton Rouge.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's right. You walked up to me -- and, Wolf, we've been talking about and, you and Anderson have been talking about people coming up and, walking up to us and saying thank you for respectful coverage, and thank you for being here and showing the world what kind of town we are, what kind of state Connecticut is.

You guys are really banding together to help the people here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's correct, Don. I'm out here tonight just to show people how much we appreciate them coming out, praying for us, loving us the way they've been doing over the last couple of days. It's been amazing.

LEMON: Yes, I want to show you guys where we are. This is usually -- this is like shops. It's the center of town. It's the town square. Usually people come out here during the evenings or during the day and shop or come to the restaurants, but it's never, ever this busy.

I just want to walk through to show you the crowd of people who have gathered here. Right across the street, you see there's a big sign that says, "God bless Sandy Hook." And it's faith, hope, and love, and lighted Christmas lights over there. That's the street that leads up to the school. It's been blocked of by police officers.

And you see there, they put police officers and safety officers out here to make sure people are safe once they're out here.

I've been speaking to people there. There was a family here, Emmitt (ph) and his family, they dropped off stuffed animals just to add to the pile here.

I just want believe how many stuffed animals, how many people have come out and just dropped things off. There's Emmitt.

Emmitt, come talk to us. Your family, you're here, where are you from?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're from Monroe.

LEMON: The next town over?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

LEMON: Which is believed to be where the elementary school the kids are going to go to Monroe.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's correct. My son here Ryan attended that school. And, yes, that's my understanding is that's where they're going to be.

LEMON: The one here Ryan, and this is your wife?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My wife Jill.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, Jill.

LEMON: You're out here because?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To leave some stuffed animals that are our daughters, just to let everybody know we're thinking of them, and our hearts are with them.

LEMON: So, Ryan, you attend school in the area?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

LEMON: How old are you?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm 14.

LEMON: You're 14 years old. You can't imagine, I'm sure, the horrific event that these people suffered through and the kids here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, it was pretty shocking. I was home sick that Friday when it happened, and I woke up, and my dad was like there was a shooting, and it was just very scary. I didn't know.

My friends were texting me saying like they're in a lockdown and everything. My mom was at the high school helping at a blood drive, and they were just in a lockdown and everything.

LEMON: I would imagine that you can't -- it's unfathomable to think about your school district, the school district that neighbors yours. You feel safe at school usually, don't you?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, sometimes, but you never are really safe.

LEMON: That's the sentiment here. Usually kids take their stuffed animals, and they keep them forever and parents because they mean something, but you want to give this to these kids.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our daughter is the same age as so many of these victims. This is a tribute to those children, those young lives that were lost. It's not -- you can't put it into words. A lot of people have said that, but you really, truly can't put it into words.

LEMON: I imagine you're here because you don't want to feel -- everyone is saying, we feel helpless in some way. We want to contribute.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You do. You feel absolutely helpless and speechless and just feel numb, absolutely numb.

LEMON: Well, Wolf, there you have it. Just a few of the folks who are out here, really hundreds of people, if not thousands, have been streaming through here, through this makeshift memorial.

As we close, I just want to show you -- I mean, it's really a beautiful sight to see in such a tragic event, the outpouring and that people care so much that they would give such personal things like the teddy bears and the things that mean so much to them growing up, that they would give it to someone else just to show how much they care and how much they support the families -- the victims and the families and everyone around this area.

BLITZER: Don, very, very moving. A very, very moving tribute, very, very moving memorials. Very simple, but very powerful.

Once again, we're standing by to hear from the president of the United States.

We're told right now that the president, Sanjay, he's started meeting with families. He's come here to convey his condolences to families. He's been meeting with some of the first responders, and he'll be heading over to the Newtown High School fairly soon for the start of this interfaith memorial service.

You can see the ministers, the rabbis, the clergy -- they're getting ready right there. There on the left, you see the Reverend Matthew Crebbin, who we spoke to earlier. On the right, you see the Rabbi Shaul Praver as well. And, you know, they're going to be participating in this. All the faiths will be part of this.

Sanjay, you've studied, as a physician, how people grieve and the emotional and physical problems that can develop. When I spoke to the rabbi yesterday and the minister, they were in the firehouse where the parents were told their 6-year-old or 7-year-old was dead, and they started wailing and screaming. You went over there and you can only imagine.

I mean, what do you do? These people are still going through this.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: And they will go through it for a long time. Imagine, you know, the idea of a parent losing their child. Perhaps in their entire lives, it's something they won't get over. You know, it's just hard to even fathom, Wolf.

I will tell you there's different stages of grief. The disbelief, I think, that you're describing is very normal, first stage. Sometimes there's anger, and that anger and shock sort of together. But eventually I'm just so struck by Robbie Parker's comments yesterday --

BLITZER: The 30-year-old father, a physician's assistant.

GUPTA: And his daughter Emilie was one of the victims here. He already -- his acceptance and his forgiveness so soon after is remarkable to see. I think that's a stage that eventually people get to, this idea of acceptance. It does not come easily, and for some people it may not come at all, but I think that sort -- those are sort of the stages, I think.

You know, we talk about it in a medical sense, when someone is sick in a hospital, for example, or if you've lost a loved one in a hospital, but certainly in a mass tragedy like this, it's a lot of the same thing.

So, again, you know, we've talked about this idea -- and Don mentioned this idea, people sort of knowing that other people are going through the same thing, that they are not specifically sort of experiencing this together, I think, can make a huge difference for them.

BLITZER: I don't know what to say.

Our coverage will continue right after this. Remember, the interfaith memorial service will start with the president and the clergy and the families, the friends, the people of Newtown, Connecticut, at the high school right at the top of the hour.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Welcome back. I'm standing outside the high school in Newtown, Connecticut, where President Obama will be speaking, along with many church leaders. An interfaith service, rabbis, representatives from other religions as well, also, other politicians, people from the community.

You can see hundreds of people have already gathered in the high school. There's -- looks like hundreds more are still in the line outside. More people keep coming. Everyone just wants to be here, wants to be part of this and share in the grief together.

Jason Carroll is joining us now.

Jason, you actually talked with a church teacher who spent time with some of the kids who were at the school. How are they doing?

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, her name, Anderson, is Sue Vogelman. She has very strong ties to Sandy Hook Elementary. She taught there for 10 years. She is now a church teacher, and many of the students from Sandy Hook Elementary were in her classroom today.

And this was the first time that so many of the students were in a classroom setting since the tragic events on Friday. And we talked about how that was for her, how it was for the students. She said there was a lot of anxiety, anxiety on the part of the parents. Some of the parents were unsure about putting their children back in a classroom setting even if it is a Sunday school classroom setting so soon. Some of the children, she said, are at much different levels. Some of the children didn't know anything about the event. Some of the children did know. Some of the children knew some of the young boys and young girls that had been killed.

And so, we talked about all of those things in a very candid, very emotional conversation just a little earlier. I want you to listen to just a small sample of that conversation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARROLL: Sunday school was today. You had a lot of children here in this room. What was that like for you?

SUE VOGELMAN, TRINITY SCHOOL DIRECTOR: There was a little bit -- it was actually very scary because I spent yesterday trying to prepare for today, but you don't know what's going to happen. And then later on where we got to the part where we prayed, pretty much every child in here all had a prayer, and many of them were my friend Jack died. My friend Ben died. My friend Charlotte died.

So we prayed. We prayed. We probably prayed more than we've ever prayed before. And then some of them prayed for their mom and dad, and some of them prayed for butterflies because, you know, they're all at different places.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARROLL: Again, just a small sampling of some of the conversation we were having. I'll show that later tonight on your show, Anderson.

One of the other points she wanted to make about what was happening with her today was that she really felt strongly that what is helping her, some of the other teachers, and even some of the children get through all of this --

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Here you check your own feelings. You want to make sure you're not over talking the child, but also making sure you listen to them first. See what they know and then slowly start to fill in details. But you're absolutely right. I mean, these are the conversations that are going to be happening I think frankly all over the country over the next couple of days.

BLITZER: And as we speak right now, the President is still comforting people and some of the family members who have suffered so much. I can only imagine how those conversations are going. What does even the President say to a mother and a father who lost a 6-year-old?

GUPTA: Yes, I don't know. I can't 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.