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Funerals Begin For Newtown Victims; Dealing With Shooting Tragedy; Parents Must Reassure Kids; White House Briefing

Aired December 17, 2012 - 13:00   ET

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

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SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: Well, first the unthinkable happened. Today, Newtown, Connecticut faces what seems to be the unbearable, funerals for two of the 6-year-olds killed in the elementary school massacre. They are being held at this hour.

I'm Suzanne Malveaux in Atlanta with NEWSROOM's special coverage as Newtown remembers.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: And I'm Wolf Blitzer here in Newtown. The funerals will go on for days as 20 children and the six adults who tried to protect them are laid to rest. All of this following a moving and emotional service last night.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE.)

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BLITZER: It included a prayer sung by a rabbi, readings from the Bible and the Quran, prayers from Christian leaders and a promise from President Obama.

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BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: 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.

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MALVEAUX: Also last night, the crowd at the prayer service gave a standing ovation to the first responders who answered the call at Sandy Hook Elementary school.

I want to update you on the investigation, the developments as well, and in the aftermath of that massacre. Here is what we know now. Police say two people shot and wounded in the rampage are actually recovering. Initial reports indicated only one person who was wounded had survived. Well, investigators continue piecing together exactly what happened. They say they're not going to stop until they have interviewed every witness, analyze every piece of evidence, including each round of ammunition. Faculty members, they are meeting today. And schools in Newtown will reopen tomorrow. But classes at Sandy Hook Elementary will be suspended until further notice.

Well, they were first grade classmates. Funeral services are being held this hour for Jack Pinto and Noah Pozner, bright-eyed little boys whose lives were cut short by the massacre. They were two of the 20 children who died in the elementary school shooting on Friday. Sandra Endo, she's joining us from Newtown, Connecticut. Sandra, I can't even imagine what the families and the community are going through at this point. Tell us what we are learning about these two little boys.

SANDRA ENDO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, little Jack Pinto, Suzanne, was a big sports fan. He loved baseball, basketball and wrestling. He even won his first wrestling match and won a medal. And we're told that some of his teammates came to his funeral wearing medals as well. But his favorite sport was football. And his idol was New York Giants' receiver Victor Cruz. And over the weekend during the game, Victor Cruz wore a tribute to Pinto on his glove saying, today's game is for you, Jack." Here's also what he had to say.

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VICTOR CRUZ, WIDE RECEIVER, NEW YORK GIANTS: It was very emotional. Obviously, going in when a family is facing that much tragedy, you want to -- you know, you want to be someone that inspires them, and someone that can put a smile on their face in a time where, you know, it's tough to do that. So, it was definitely an emotional one going in, you know, and we wanted this victory.

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ENDO: Of course, a very, very emotional and sad day here in Newtown. Jack Pinto only six years old -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: Tell us about his classmate, Noah.

ENDO: Well, Noah, he is also six years old. He just turned six a month ago, and he will also be laid to rest here in Newtown. Here's what his aunt had to say, talking with CNN from Seattle.

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VICTORIA HALLER, AUNT OF SHOOTING VICTIM: Noah was extremely lively. He was really the light of the room. You know, he had a huge heart, and he was so much fun. A little bit rambunctious, lots of spirit. He loved playing with all of his cousins. He loved his twin the most of all and always said that he was -- you know, that they were best friends. He just -- you know, those big blue eyes. He was a gorgeous, gorgeous boy. And he could really get what he wanted just by batting those long eyelashes and looking at you with those big blue eyes. You know, you really couldn't say no to him.

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ENDO: Lives certainly taken too soon. And according to family members of Noah, he loved his little sister, his twin sister, survives him, and family members say they still don't know how to explain to her how exactly he passed away -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: I understand his twin sister was in another classroom, is that right? That they were not in the same class together because they separate twins. They don't actually allow them to be in the same class.

ENDO: That's right, she did survive the horrific shooting. And, of course, that's something a lot of these students here at Sandy Hook Elementary will have to deal with. They are still grappling with figuring out where to resume classes here in Newtown. Today, all schools are suspended. Tomorrow, most classes will resume but, of course. for the students at Sandy Hook, they will still have suspended classes until they can find another location.

MALVEAUX: All right. Sandra, thank you very much. It's such a loss -- Wolf.

BLITZER: It's a tragedy beyond belief or understanding. People want to know what could have driven a young man to kill his own mother and then gun down 20 young children and six adults? Inevitably, questions are being raised about his childhood and his family life. Our own Deborah Feyerick is here in Newtown. She's got more on what's going on and part of this investigation. What are we hearing about, for example, the computers found inside the home of the shooter?

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, Wolf, the one thing we all have to keep in mind is that much of the forensic evidence as to why this happened, the entire motive, is probably locked somewhere in this house. This is one of the first places that police came to immediately after the shooting. They allegedly found a computer. There are reports that, in fact, the computer was smashed. The question is when was that computer smashed? Was it smashed before this whole shooting spree began or was it what prompted him? And that's something that investigators are going to be looking into. While the state police would not confirm, they said they don't talk about evidence, what they did say is that they've got an excellent forensic team that's going to look into electronic data. That's pretty much as far as they'll go.

The question is why? First of all, the police also say there was no direct connection with the school. The gunman had no direct connection with the Newtown elementary school. So, why did he go there? That is one of the mysteries locked in his mind. What we do know is that there was some movement in the Lanza family, in what was going on in the home because we now find out that the mother apparently had made comments to friends that she was -- that this was going to be her last winter here, that she was planning on moving, getting away from here. Again, why? Nobody knows. Police will not be able to, obviously, find the answers since she was found shot dead in the head inside this home. And, of course, the mysteries there, they just sort of keep on coming, Wolf, as everybody tries to work through their grief and bury the children and the teachers who were victims of all this -- Wolf.

BLITZER: And, Deb, investigators are talking to people who knew Adam Lanza, the shooter. Tell us about that.

FEYERICK: You -- what's so interesting is, usually, after a shooting like this, a lot of information comes out on the gunman, why he did it. But the information that we have about him is that apparently he did not go to the elementary school. He did go to some high schools here in the area, but it seems like there was a lot of turnover, that he was going to a number of schools here. And at one of the schools that he went to, he was assigned a school psychologist, because not that they were worried about him as a threat to worry students, in fact, they were more worried that other students would be picking on him. So, that's why he was assigned to that.

Again, his demeanor very quiet, very, sort of, you know, anti-social. And you talk to so many people. A relative will say, Adam Lanza was a brilliant kid, that he was a really smart kid, but they can't tell you other details about him. He was a computer geek, but they can't tell you if he loved sports. So, details like that are missing and to find somebody who actually knew Adam Lanza and who can talk about Adam in his later years, that is really what's so difficult. And that's why investigators are hoping that the information that they seized from inside the house -- I don't know if you can see it, but there is a police officer standing there at the front of the door. Again, this is still a crime scene. They're still going through it. If they can get a lot of the information from the computer, then, perhaps, Wolf, we will have an answer.

BLITZER: A lot of questions and still only a few answers. Deb Feyerick, thank you.

The shooting has certainly many parents wondering how to explain all of this, this great tragedy, to their own children. We're going to talk with a psychologist about how to do just that as we continue our special coverage.

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BLITZER: These makeshift memorials are coming up all over in Newtown. Here, you can see people are just bringing teddy bears, they're bringing flowers, little bells, as you can see over there, even logos, to remember -- to remember the victims from Newtown, what's going on. Ashleigh Banfield is also remembering what's going on. She has a closer look at one of these makeshift memorials. She has a closer look at one of these makeshift memorials near a school.

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ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It didn't take long before this community began to start bringing Christmas trees to what's become a makeshift memorial not far from the school. And there are more than 20 of these decorated trees. Each one of them with stuffed animals and candy canes and bows and names and flowers. What you see mostly is the repetition of 20s, at least 20, whether it's candles that are brought out, they're out in collections of 20, to represent these victims. You also see the flowers that have been brought out from local florists. And it's just remarkable that the -- the sheer number of teddy bears that are here and stuffed animals. If you notice up here, one of the -- one of the permanent pillars, someone has brought out angel wings. And there's a sign below saying, we promise to never forget you. Just moving a little bit farther on, you see the real collection of where this makeshift memorial started. There's a tent now, but everything is so wet from the rain. There's just hundreds of teddy bears and flowers and messages and candles. The ones that are still burning are now under the tent. And if you look up here, you'll see why. This is the permanent sign for Sandy Hook school. It's just beyond here.

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MALVEAUX: Children in Newtown and cities nearby are still off of school today, but for the rest of the country, school bells rang this morning. Parents and teachers still struggling, probably going to struggle for a while now. How do they explain this mass shooting at an elementary school and whether or not this could even happen at their own child's school? Here's what one dad said on Friday.

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DECLAN PROCACCINI, FATHER: My kids are already asking, when is this going to happen again? You know, it was only -- it was only a week ago that we were talking about this type of situation and I said the chances of it happening are one in a zillion at Sandy Hook. And I was wrong about that.

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MALVEAUX: I'm joined again from New York by clinical psychologist Jeff Gardere.

And, Jeff, I might have to interrupt you if the White House briefing starts to go to that.

JEFF GARDERE, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: Sure.

MALVEAUX: But in the meantime, let's talk about this. I mean, what do you say? There are kids all over the country. They're getting bits and pieces of this story. They're probably afraid. They're probably very upset. How should parents communicate and reassure them that it's OK to go to school?

GARDERE: Well, first and foremost, Suzanne, we've got to let the kids know that, yes, they are safe. There are no guarantees in life at all. But they are safe in their schools. And the way that we can do that is taking them to school, spending some time with them and certainly the teachers have to spend the time hugging them and talking to them and reassuring them in addition, of course, to their learning their lessons of the day.

Secondly, I just think it's important that we listen to our children. It's not about lecturing to them, but knowing where they are, asking them, just throwing out little bits of information and try to pull them in and see where they are coming from, what their issues are, what the anxiety or the fear may be. MALVEAUX: Jeff, should there be a plan? Should you arm your child with a little emergency plan to help reassure them if there is a situation that is as tragic as that, or if they feel threatened in some way, like they used to teach us, you know, not to talk to strangers and that kind of thing?

GARDERE: Sure.

MALVEAUX: What can you do in a practical sense?

GARDERE: Suzanne, I really like that empowerment idea, and that's what I'm calling it, because we know the opposite of anxiety is action. And so by giving them a plan, by giving them some information on a piece of paper, who to call, where they should go, what are the safe havens, all of those things take a lot of that psychological energy away from worrying and more towards being empowered and doing something positive.

MALVEAUX: How do you know if your child is not doing well with this?

GARDERE: Well, it's very difficult to tell because I will tell you, as a father of many children and have little children, when I asked them about it, they didn't really want to talk. They were very silent about it. Suffering silently. So it's important that we realize it's not about their being so resilient if they don't want to talk. It simply is that they are processing it and therefore we can do things like get them to draw and play. But we'll also see they'll try to avoid school. They'll be startled by noises.

MALVEAUX: All right, Jeff, I'm sorry, I'm going to have to interrupt.

GARDERE: Yes.

MALVEAUX: We've got Jay Carney at the White House speaking on this.

GARDERE: All right, Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: Let's listen in.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Using the power of his office to push for tighter gun control?

JAY CARNEY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I appreciate the question. The president spoke last night at the vigil in Newtown and he spoke about the fact that the families of Newtown are not alone. And he also spoke about the fact that the kind of violence that occurred in Newtown occurs too often in this country, although what we saw in Newtown was particularly horrific.

He said that in the coming weeks, he would use the power of his office to engage the American people and lawmakers, law enforcement, mental health experts, educators and others in an effort to try to prevent these kinds of terrible tragedies from happening in the future. It's a complex problem that will require a complex solution. No single piece of legislation, no single action will fully address the problem.

So I don't have a specific agenda to announce to you today. I would simply point you to what the president said last night about moving forward in coming weeks. And I would look for him to do that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And the comprehensive solution, do you think it's fair and accurate to say that addressing gun violence, gun control, would have to be part of it?

CARNEY: I think that it's part of it, but it is far from all of it. And, as you know, the president has taken positions on common-sense measures that he believes should be taken to help address this problem, but he made clear that more needs to be done. That we, as a nation, have not done enough, clearly, to fulfill our number one obligation, which is to protect our children.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One more on this. As you know, we've seen these horrific moments come and go and that the debate about gun safety, children's safety, goes with it. Does the president think that he needs to capitalize on this, get this conversation going and see some action in the short term, or does he feel like he can get through the fiscal cliff, immigration and there's now a mindset and a will to get this done months down the line?

CARNEY: I don't have a specific time line for you for what the president will do moving forward. I would simply refer you to his remarks last night when he talked about the action he hoped to take to engage the American people in the coming weeks. I think that what happened at Sandy Hook Elementary School has clearly shocked the entire nation and has laid bare the necessity of evaluating the various things that we can and must do as a nation to try to better product our children.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Quickly on the fiscal cliff. The president said to the business roundtable recently that Republicans need to reach what he called a conceptual breakthrough on rates, tax rates going up, and then once that happens, a deal could come together pretty quickly. Does he feel he has that now that Speaker Boehner, he is talking about rates as part of the conversation?

CARNEY: I won't comment on specific reported proposals or counterproposals on internal conversations between the president and the speaker or the president's team and the speaker's team or with other members of leadership.

The president's insistence that rates need to go up on the top 2 percent was based on an economic reality, which is that in order to achieve a broad deficit reduction package that puts our economy on a sustainable fiscal path in the future, a certain level of revenue gleaned from the wealthy has to be met. And the only way to do that was through, in part, rates rising. That remains his position. So we have seen, since the election, a change in tone and, in some cases, a change in position from different Republicans, including elected Republicans, on the issue of first revenue and then acknowledging that rates have to go up. But, thus far, the president's proposal is the only proposal that we have seen that achieves the balance that's so necessary. And the balance is important because a plan that does not have it puts unduly the burden on senior citizens. Through -- or on middle class Americans, or on parents with disabled children, and that is not acceptable. Balance is essential because in order to move forward in a way that protects the middle class, we need to have the package include the kind of revenue that the president has talked about.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Last question. The president campaigned on taxes going up on households over $250,000. He was very clear and specific about that. When you were asked about that threshold over the summer, you said the president's position has been the same for a long, long time. It has not changed and it will not change. I know you don't want to talk about the Boehner proposal of $1 million, but I'm just asking about the president's stand. Is it still and will it remain that $250,000 is the threshold?

CARNEY: Well, I will say what I've said many times from here in recent weeks and months, which is that the only plan that we have seen that achieves the size and the balance that's required for sustainable -- for long-term deficit reduction, and putting our economy on a sustainable fiscal path, is the president's. And an element -- important element of that on the revenue side is allowing current law, when it comes to the top 2 percent, to remain in place, which would see rates on those wealthy Americans rise even as we extend, and in the president's mind, make permanent tax cuts for 98 percent of the American people, for the other 98 percent of the American people. That's the president's position. And again, it's not -- as I've said repeatedly, his position is not based on the notion that these rates have to go up because that's good in and of itself. It's based on the necessity of having enough revenue -

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MALVEAUX: Press Secretary Jay Carney weighing in on both issues here. Very important, of course, the fiscal cliff, the negotiations that continue between the president and House Speaker Boehner. The two leaders meeting earlier today at the White House to discuss it. Jay Carney saying that there is some room, some wiggle room, if you will, that the GOP Republicans giving a little bit more here, perhaps even tax increases for those who are making more than $1 million, but not less than that.

And also weighing in as well on the tragedy that occurred, the school shooting, the massacre there, saying that more must be done. We don't have specifics on how the White House is going to move that debate forward, but that they are engaged.

We're going to take a look at both sides of the gun control debate right after a quick break.

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MALVEAUX: Call for more gun control in the aftermath of Friday's devastating attack is spreading from online petitions to members of Congress who are now proposing new bills. These are the type of guns police say 20-year-old Adam Lanza had on him when he attacked Sandy Hook Elementary School on Friday. Police say that Lanza used a semi- automatic gun, like the one at the bottom of the screen there, to fire multiple magazines, each containing 30 bullets. According to "The New York Times," this is the same type of assault rifle used in the Oregon mall shooting and the Colorado theater killings. Van Jones (ph) is a CNN contributor, former special adviser to the president.

And, Van, good to see you. I know you're weighing in on this. You sent out a lot of tweets. Want to present both sides here. You've got a conservative Democrat, West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin, today who says, look, there needs to be a discussion, a serious discussion, about whether or not we need assault-type weapons on the street or whether or not they should be banned. On the other hand, you've got a group -- the Michigan Coalition for Responsible Gun owners arguing that actually having a gun saves people's lives. Here's what he says.

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STEVE DULAN, MICHIGAN COALITION FOR RESPONSIBLE GUN OWNERS: The shooter in the mall in Oregon was confronted by a legally armed citizen who pointed his gun at the shooter and then decided not to squeeze the trigger because he was afraid of missing and hitting bystanders. He was acting very responsibly. And the next shot that that shooter fired -- that the killer fired was on himself after he was confronted with an armed citizen.

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