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Obama Renews Gun Control Debate; Principal Died Trying to Stop Massacre; School Looks Beyond the Tragedy; The Mother Who Dies, The Son Who Killed

Aired December 17, 2012 - 09:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, CNN ANCHOR: God has called them all home. For those of us who remain, let us find the strength to carry on and make our country worthy of their memory.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: A tough thing this morning.

Happening now in the NEWSROOM, amid one man's unspeakable cruelty, tales of courage are emerging from Newtown, Connecticut. As gunshots drew nearer, teacher Victoria Soto put herself between the gunman and her students. Her family tells us how she should be remembered.

President Obama comforting the relatives of those killed and delivering what he calls the love and prayers of a nation. We'll hear some of his emotional speech at last night's vigil.

Part of that message, a call to action. President Obama vowing to prevent another massacre. Today the debate over gun control seems to have a tone of determination.

A special edition of NEWSROOM begins right now.

And good morning to you. I'm Carol Costello here in Atlanta. Joining me shortly, Don Lemon. He's in Newtown, Connecticut. But let's begin here, shall we?

We'll begin with the latest at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Today the first of the funerals get under way. This afternoon 6-year-olds Jack Pinto and Noah Pozner will be the first of the 27 victims laid to rest.

We're also learning more about the remarkable acts of heroism. One teacher, Ann Marie Murphy, died while shielding students with her body. Another read to her kids to distract them from the gunshots exploding outside their room.

Last night in Newtown, President Obama met with survivors and the families of those killed. He vowed to prevent another massacre and called for a national discussion on gun violence.

More on the gun control debate in just a moment. But first the president's message to a community in anguish. Here are some of the president's comments from last night's vigil.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: I am very mindful that mere words cannot match the depths of your sorrow, nor can they heal your wounded hearts. I can only hope it helps for you to know that you're not alone in your grief, that our world too has been torn apart. That all across this land of ours we have wept with you.

We've pulled our children tight. And you must know that whatever measure of comfort we can provide, we will provide. Whatever portion of sadness that we can share with you to ease this heavy load, we will gladly bear.

Newtown, you are not alone.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: The president's words are providing a measure of comfort for the families of those killed. After last night's vigil, we spoke with the parents and siblings of Vicki Soto. She's the first grade teacher who was shooting her -- who were shooing her students away from the door when the gunman burst in and shot her.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARLEE SOTO, VICKI SOTO'S SISTER: I appreciate all his kind words that he did say about my sister. She was a hero, and she still is.

DONNA SOTA, VICKI SOTO'S MOTHER: I'd just like everyone to know that she was just a beautiful, beautiful young lady. She had such passion for teaching and for life, and especially for her family. She was extremely close to her siblings that are sitting with me, and her cousins, and loved them dearly and wanted to be a teacher from the time she was 3.

That's all she ever wanted to do, and she just loved her kids. She just talked about them all the time with such fondness and caring, and she just adored them. And I have no doubt in my mind she did everything she could to protect every single one of them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Investigators say Vicki Soto almost certainly saved lives by acting so quickly.

The Newtown tragedy is the nation's fourth mass shooting in just the past two years, and in the aftermath of each, conversation naturally turns to the issue of gun control. This time, however, the tone seems different. Listen to the president's resolve in his speech last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: In the coming weeks, I'll use whatever power this office holds to engage my fellow citizens from law enforcement to mental health professionals, to parents and educators, in an effort aimed at preventing more tragedies like this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: CNN's Dan Lothian is at the White House this morning.

So, Dan, the president vowed action, but he offered no specifics. So what kind of reforms could he push for?

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, and I think, as some people have pointed out, maybe during that service was not the time for the president to be laying out any specifics, but a couple of things that we could see the president do, first of all, you know, there's the assault weapons ban which expired in 2004. That had been in place for 10 years.

The president during the 2008 campaign said he supported it, but there was no real movement in that area. And in fact, the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence said after the president's first year in office was a, quote, "abject failure," when it comes to this issue. So we could see the president put more pressure on lawmakers to reinstate that assault weapons ban.

But perhaps the president could also focus on strengthening mental health laws that would prevent those with, you know, difficult mental health issues to -- from getting these dangerous weapons and then carrying out, you know, these mass shootings. Those are some of the areas where we could see the president push. But, again, we haven't heard the president lay out any specifics, and it really hasn't been a big priority for the president during his first four years, and when it comes to Congress, there have been some bills, some gun related bills, that have been put forward but really went nowhere.

There is some indication now that this is something that lawmakers could start looking at, but we'll have to wait and see -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Dan, sadly, we have been down this road so many times, too many times. Nothing ever changes and I mean that as far as gun control laws go, as far as help with those with mental illness, more money being poured into psychiatric centers or counseling centers that may help these people. Nothing ever is accomplished. Is the tone different this time?

LOTHIAN: Well, you know, the tone is always different after a mass shooting. We heard the same thing after Aurora. The president has been involved or had to deal with four mass shootings during his presidency, and there's always a lot of tough talk, and this debate really intensifies in the days following these mass shootings, but then nothing really happens.

And so we do see a slightly different tone where you hear lawmakers talking about going up to Capitol Hill and really pushing forward on something, but we don't know. We'll have to wait and see. Right now there are a lot of other pressing, big pressing issues that are also critical here in Washington. There's the fiscal cliff obviously that needs to be resolved before the end of the year.

And so we'll have to see once those issues are dealt with, whether or not there will be this serious effort to deal with guns.

COSTELLO: We'll see. Dan Lothian reporting live from the White House this morning.

Looking at that picture there beside Dan. We're actually awaiting a news conference from Newtown. Authorities expected to brief reporters any moment. When that begins, of course, we'll take it live for you.

Let's head to Newtown right now to check in with Don Lemon.

Good morning, Don.

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR/CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Carol, good morning to you. Yes, we are awaiting a news conference and they have been giving those press conferences just about every day, a couple of times a day, updating the public on exactly what's happening here in Newtown, giving specifically as many details as they can, not releasing a timeline, but yesterday releasing information about the guns, about the victim, and about the suspect as well.

You know, by all accounts Sandy Hook principal Dawn Hochsprung, she did everything, everything she could to prevent Friday's rampage. She had a new security system installed in the school. And when that wasn't enough, she confronted the gunman herself while yelling to teachers to lock their doors.

CNN's Gary Tuchman talked exclusively with her heartbroken family.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Principal Dawn Hochsprung was quite a bit younger than her husband George, but when they got married 10 years ago, both for the second time, she with two daughters and he with three, George was marrying his boss.

GEORGE HOCHSPRUNG, DAWN HOCHSPRUNG'S HUSBAND: When Dawn and I met, she was the assistant principal at our school, (INAUDIBLE) Elementary School, and I was a seventh grade math teacher at that time. And I just fell in love with her.

TUCHMAN: George made the big decision. The time had come to propose.

HOCHSPRUNG: She turned me down five times.

TUCHMAN (on camera): So you asked her to marry you, but she turned you down?

HOCHSPRUNG: Five times.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Five times.

TUCHMAN: So what happened the sixth time?

HOCHSPRUNG: The sixth time, I waited until it wasn't such rough sailing.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): Indeed, George had been popping the question on a sailboat they both together.

HOCHSPRUNG: We got married on a -- on a sloop of the Mystic.

TUCHMAN: Beth, Amy and Ann are George's daughters from his first marriage. Erica is Dawn's daughter from her first marriage. Her other daughter Tina was out while we were at the house. They were a blended with very close family, the loving grandchildren.

HOCHSPRUNG: When I built this beautiful house in the Adirondacks, our dream, and the dream was a chronological dream. It was going to be Dawn's house because I was going to die and I was going to be gone. I'm much older than Dawn. It was going to be Dawn's house and Dawn's grandchildren and all these children could use the house on the lake, and it would be wonderful. We built rooms downstairs for kids. And it was going to be Dawn's house ultimately. With all -- with all the children. All the children. And now it's me. I can't -- I don't think I can do that.

TUCHMAN (on camera): I want to -- I want to reiterate to you, George, you have these beautiful daughters and son-in-laws and grandchildren, and everyone will be here to take care of you. Is that right, ladies?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Of course.

HOCHSPRUNG: My job has always been to take care of other people.

TUCHMAN: It's all right if some people take care of you for a while.

HOCHSPRUNG: No one has ever taken care of me.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, stop being so stubborn.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, we are now.

(LAUGHTER)

TUCHMAN (voice-over): While Dawn was the principal at Sandy Hook, George still taught at the middle school where they met. In the middle of day, Friday, this is how George found out what happened.

HOCHSPRUNG: All the kids came up with a computer and said something has happened at Sandy Hook school, and your wife has been killed.

TUCHMAN: George raced out of school and into a nightmare. Like all the families of victims, they want to know more. And on this day, they have learned more. Two teachers who survived told George they were having a meeting with Dawn when the shots started ringing out.

HOCHSPRUNG: Dawn put herself in jeopardy, and I have been angry about that. Angry until just now, today, when I met the two women that she told to go under shelter while she actually confronted the gunman, and she could not -- she could have avoided that, and she didn't. I knew she wouldn't. So I'm not angry anymore. I'm not angry. I'm not angry anymore. I'm not angry. I'm just very sad. Very sad. They said we were at the meeting. There were gunshots. Somebody shot the window. Somebody came in, into the -- not into the office, but into the building, the foyer of the building, and Dawn told us to go hide, and she and at least one other teacher ran out and actually tried to subdue the killer. I don't know where that comes from. Dawn was, what, 5'2".

TUCHMAN: Everyone here was so proud, no one more so than Erica, who said her mom was always there for her daughters.

ERICA LAFFERTY, DAWN HOCHSPRUNG'S DAUGHTER: Every game she was there. Every practice she was there. All of my sister's cheerleading stuff, she was there. Every dance competition. She was doing homework on the bleachers, but she was there. And she was my rock. My rock.

TUCHMAN: And now she is a hero, too.

(On camera): Final thing I want to ask you is, what would you say to your mom right now?

LAFFERTY: Come back. Just come back.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: CNN's Gary Tuchman with Dawn Hochsprung's family.

And, Carol, as we wait on that press conference, I heard you talking to our Dan Lothian. Wouldn't it be great if they were holding a press conference so that people wouldn't have to deal with this, about some sensible gun rules in this country and we wouldn't have to deal with what the Hochsprung family and many other families are dealing with now -- Carol.

COSTELLO: A lot of conversations have to go on, Don, not just about gun control, but about mental illness, about so many other things.

LEMON: Absolutely.

COSTELLO: That we just don't talk about, at least in any in depth way.

Don Lemon, we'll get back to you.

As Don said, we're still awaiting that news conference from Newtown, Lieutenant Vance from the Connecticut State Police, and the medical examiner, both expected to brief reporters. That will happen at any moment. When it does, of course, we'll bring you back to Newtown.

One of the biggest unanswered questions in this tragic shooting, who were Nancy and Adam Lanza? What kind of life did the mother and her son live before the shootings in Connecticut? We'll take a closer look.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Sixteen minutes past the hour. We're still waiting for the news conference to begin at Newtown. Authorities are expected to brief reporters at any moment now. We'll take that live as soon as it starts.

But, first, a check of some of the other stories we're following this morning.

Three months after the deadly attack at the U.S. consulate in Libya, the State Department expected to receive an independent report on the incident today. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ordered the review. It will be presented to Congress before a private briefing this week. The U.S. ambassador to Libya, Chris Stevens, and three others were killed in that attack on September 11th.

It looks like House Speaker John Boehner is putting more on the table to avoid that fiscal cliff. A source close to the talks tells CNN, Boehner is offering to raise the debt ceiling, something Republicans oppose. He's also proposing higher taxes for those who make a million bucks a year or more. President is pushing for higher taxes for those making $250,000 a year.

In money news, some 6 million credit cardholders will get a welcome gift, a refund. Discover, American Express and Capital One giving back $435 million as ordered by the government as part of a crackdown on deceptive practices. The refund should be out by the end of March.

And in the weather, parts of the Pacific Northwest are getting hit by the worst storm in six years. You're looking at Mt. Rainier. A tow truck driver was killed on Sunday when he was run over by another car in near whiteout conditions. This storm could drop three feet of snow on the area.

Back to Newtown now. The big question: what's next for the students at Sandy Hook Elementary? When will they be returning to classes? Can you imagine sorting through all that?

CNN's Sandra Endo has been doing just that.

What have you found out, Sandra?

SANDRA ENDO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, when a tragedy like this happens, you hear experts talk about how it's so important for students and children to retain a sense of routine and a type of normalcy, and that's what school administrators here in Newtown are certainly hoping to achieve for a lot of the students.

At Sandy Hook Elementary School, that remains a crime scene, so students there cannot return to class. But what administrators are trying to do, Carol, they're trying to work out a plan with a neighboring town in order to accommodate the students of that elementary school. So, Sandy Hook Elementary School students will likely go to Chalk Hill School, which is in Monroe, about seven miles from here as early as this week.

Today, all Newtown schools are closed so that staff can talk to experts on how to talk to students and how to deal with this tragedy that hit this town. And tomorrow, all classes are expected to resume for those schools -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Sandra Endo, reporting live for us it this morning.

We're also learning more about the man police say was responsible for the shooting at Sandy Hook and his mother.

Don Lemon joins us once again from Newtown with that part of the story.

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you, Carol.

Police say Adam Lanza's first target on Friday was his mother. And some who knew Nancy Lanza call her a reasonable neighbor, a friend who -- a personable and reasonable neighbor. A friend who -- one of her sons call her a "social butterfly".

But it's a different story for her son Adam. Nancy pulled her son out of the school district and home schooled him. Those who knew Adam remember him for not standing out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARSHA MOSKOWITZ, NEIGHBOR/BUS DRIVER: Basically, he was a quiet, shy kid. He stood out to me because of the fact he didn't interact with too many other kids on the bus. So, that's what I thought of him. I didn't drive him that many years because he was older, I believe, when I had him.

This is going back a few years. So, I don't recall everything, but that did stand out, the one thing about it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: The more we learn about Adam Lanza, the more confusing it becomes.

CNN's Brian Todd looks deeper into who he was.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): His motive for this unspeakable act is still not clear. Law enforcement officials say that. And in digging for details about shooter Adam Lanza and his family accounting emerge that are confusing and conflicting. A neighbor who knew him in recent years describes him as troubled but listen to this account from a young man that knew him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was just a kid.

REPORTER: Just a kid?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just a kid.

REPORTER: Never antisocial?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. REPORTER: Troublemaker?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, definitely not.

REPORTER: Noticeable? Did he just kind of blend into the background?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. Nothing that would warrant any of this.

TODD: Ryan Kraft says he baby sat Adam about 10 years ago, when Lanza was 10 and Kraft was 15. He described Lanza as focused, quiet, introverted. He never saw evidence of violence, Kraft says, but says Lanza did throw the occasional temper tantrum.

RYAN KRAFT, BABYSITTER FOR ADAM LANZA (via telephone): It's generally stuff, like, you know, we have to put him to bed and he wouldn't like that. And we had to stop watching TV and he wouldn't like that. You know, normal stuff that a kid would do about I guess at 10 years old. Most kids get out of that phase, and that wasn't the case for Adam.

TODD: Kraft was only a year older than Adam Lanza's older brother Ryan. He says their mother told them to let Ryan do whatever he wanted. But as for Adam --

KRAFT: What I remember clearly is that Nancy always asked me to always be with him in the room no matter what, like don't go to the bathroom, don't ever leave him without supervision.

TODD: Kraft says Adam had a contentious relationship with his mother, Nancy. She split from the boy's father, Peter Lanza, who is described by the job networking Web site LinkedIn as tax director and vice president at G.E. Energy Financial Services.

But Kraft says Nancy was an engaged mother, always setting up play dates for his two sons and taking part in neighborhood activities. Neighbors and friends say Nancy Lanza enjoyed gardening and had taken time off from a job in finance.

GINA MCDADE, NEIGHBOR: Just like anybody else in this neighborhood. You know, decorate the house and the house was always, you know, pristine. I mean, she was like any other housewife.

TODD (on camera): But like her son, there are gaps in Nancy Lanza's story that still need to be filled in. She owned the weapons that Adam Lanza used in the killings, including a semi-automatic rifle, according to a law enforcement source, and it's not clear why she purchased them.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: All right, Brian. We're still awaiting that news conference from Newtown Lieutenant Paul Vance, expected to brief reporters at any moment. You see the producers and reporters there and the microphones set up. We'll bring that to you when we get it here live on CNN.

We're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Now is your chance to talk back on one of the big stories for the day. The question for you this morning, what can be done to prevent another Newtown?

That's a tough question. It requires thoughtful discussion, something that seems impossible when it comes to gun violence. But as the president says, what choice do we have?

The blame game has already begun. Mike Huckabee, pastor and FOX News host, says our godless schools are to blame.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE HUCKABEE (R), FORMER ARKANSAS GOVERNOR: We ask why there's violence in our schools, but we've systematically removed God from schools. Should we be surprised that schools have become a place of carnage? Because we've made it a place where we don't want to talk about eternity, life, what responsibility means.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: CNN contributor and Tea Party supporter Erick Erickson says in his column today single parent homes lead to violence. Many are also blaming violent video games and movies. After all, 11 violent movies are now in the theaters just one week before Christmas, the day we celebrate Christ's birth.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I am simply a customer trying to conduct a transaction.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Last chance, fancy pants.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Very well.

(GUNSHOT)

(MUSIC)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Including Quentin Tarantino's movie "Django Unchained."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QUENTIN TARANTINO, DIRECTOR: It's just a horrible tragedy. What are you going to say about it? I mean, it's horrible. But, yes, at the same time, no, I don't think it has anything to do with that. This has gone back all the way down to Shakespeare's days, all right, when there's violence in the street. The cry becomes blame the playmakers.

And, you know, I actually -- I think that's a very facile argument to pin on something that's a real life tragedy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Republican lawmaker Louie Gohmert blames too few guns, saying if the principal had had a gun, she could have taken out the shooter and prevented a rampage.

Or maybe there are too many guns. Senator Dianne Feinstein plans to introduce legislation banning assault weapons.

But we'll that or anything else stop this kind of carnage? The talk back question for you today, what can be done to prevent another Newtown?

Facebook.com/CarolCNN, Facebook.com/CarolCNN, your responses later this hour.

And, of course, we're still waiting for that news conference to begin in Newtown. We're expecting Lieutenant Paul Vance to be behind the microphones at any moment now.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)