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Jack Pinto's Funeral Under Way; Noah Pozner's Funeral Under Way; First Responder Opens Up; Senate Holds Moment Of Silence; Friends Of Gunman's Mother Speak Out; Remembering The Newtown Victims; School Security After Mass Killing; Syria's Vice President Calls For "Historic Settlement"; Obama, Boehner Meet At White House

Aired December 17, 2012 - 14:00   ET

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

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Brooke Baldwin live today in Newtown, Connecticut, where today the new reality is sinking in. Today, parents are living alongside an empty room of the child they lost. Left behind in that room, pajamas, favorite toys, books they always read together, parents who know this, even the smell of their child's pillow.

And these first responders being called heroes, but still day in and day out living with the images no one could have prepared them to see. Today, families are deciding on coffins, head stones, choosing songs that will play at the funerals of first graders.

Want to tell you about the two little boys who are actually being remembered right now. The funeral for 6-year-old Jack Pinto began just about an hour ago. Jack will be laid to rest today in Newtown Village Cemetery.

Just a little bit of background on this 6-year-old, jack adored football, his favorite player was New York Giants receiver Victor Cruz. Apparently, he watched Giants games while proudly wearing his Cruz jersey. Look at that cheek.

Cruz did pay tribute to his young fan by scribbling Jack Pinto, my hero. Here's the cleat. You can see it, R.I.P. Jack Pinto. On the other cleat during the game on the past weekend, on his glove, Cruz wrote, Jack Pinto, this one is for you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VICTOR CRUZ, NEW YORK GIANTS RECEIVER: It was emotional. I was fighting back tears a little bit to do it. And it felt, you know, felt good. Felt good to honor a family that was going through so much. They seem like a strong family.

I spoke to the older brother, and, you know, he was distraught as well. He couldn't say much, just how his brother was, you know, I was his brother's favorite player, and he was, you know, he was fighting tears. He could barely speak to me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: The 6-year-old Noah Pozner will also be laid to rest today in nearby Monroe, Connecticut. His aunt said, Noah sometimes batted his long eyelashes to try to get what he wanted, and he lit up everyone's heart.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VICTORIA HALLER, AUNT OF VICTIM NOAH POZNER: Noah was extremely lively. He was really the light of the room. 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 he was, you know, they were best friends.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Noah's twin sister, Ariel, went to Sandy Hook Elementary School. She was assigned to a different classroom than Noah, so she escaped the carnage. His twin sister escaped with their 8-year-old sister, Sophia.

We here in Newtown, we have been talking about how these families, all around this town and far away, counties away, how they're all coping with this tragedy from Friday morning.

But let me just point out to you, also struggling right now, the first responders who saw the scene themselves, who met the parents in those moments of confusion and the shock.

In fact, just a short time ago, the coroner here in the town, I noticed some wreaths, 26 wreaths being delivered here, and I talked to one firefighter. Here was his story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: How many wreaths are there?

JEFFREY THOMAS, FIREFIGHTER: Twenty six.

BALDWIN: Twenty six wreaths. Where did they get sent to the firehouse?

THOMAS: They were sent to the firehouse through UPS.

BALDWIN: Did you know they were coming?

THOMAS: No. No, they were -- the truck pulled up and she said I have a delivery of 26 wreaths. We unloaded them all and figured we would come up with a place to put them, try to keep them all together, shipped all far away from Oregon.

BALDWIN: How long have you been here?

THOMAS: Since Friday.

BALDWIN: Where are you based out of?

THOMAS: The Sandy Hook Firehouse.

BALDWIN: How long have you been at firehouse?

THOMAS: Well, we're going home tonight to sleep, but --

BALDWIN: Years, how many years?

THOMAS: Years, since high school. I'm 38.

BALDWIN: Since high school and you're 38. Did you ever in a million years think you would be experiencing this in your little town?

THOMAS: Nobody in this town would ever think that.

BALDWIN: Where were you when you heard?

THOMAS: Working, I work across town. We saw the helicopters.

BALDWIN: When you saw the helicopters, what did you think it was?

THOMAS: Not on the scale it was, one or two. We heard the principal at first and -- as time went on, we got the reports. And just didn't believe it and came down the road, it was just all surreal. Seeing all the cars, all this. It's tough.

BALDWIN: Where did you go once you saw the cars, straight to the firehouse?

THOMAS: Straight to the firehouse. From there, we just --

BALDWIN: Help us around the world understand what you, as a first responder, are going through.

THOMAS: Sadness, anger, guilt in some aspects.

BALDWIN: Why guilt? What could you have done?

THOMAS: Exactly. We were having counseling as a group.

BALDWIN: Can I get your first and last name?

THOMAS: My name is Jeffrey Thomas.

BALDWIN: Jeffrey Thomas since high school. Just finally, what do you make of the wreaths, just people you don't know sending you all these wreaths to put up in town. What would you say to the people of Portland, Oregon?

THOMAS: Thank you. It makes us feel warm to know this is -- it is amazing that people that far away care about us.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Two simple words, thank you. And we have also now learned that the U.S. Senate, members of the Senate, have now observed a moment of silence. I want to take a moment here, take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SENATOR HARRY REID (D), MAJORITY LEADER: I now ask that the United States Senate observe a moment of silence to honor the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy. Mr. President --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Just wanted to share that moment with you as we just learned that the floor of the U.S. Senate in silence, in memory of the lost lives here in Newtown, Connecticut.

Let me also keep you up to speed in terms of the investigation, a possible motive. Just in this last hour, we have new details from police that may complicate the search for a motive.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. J. PAUL VANCE, CONNECTICUT STATE POLICE: There was no connection between the shooter and the school according to the school authorities here in Newtown.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: None at all?

VANCE: According to the school authorities in Newtown.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: We have also learned about another survivor of Friday's massacre. Police say now not one, two adults were shot and wounded at the school, both adults now recovering from injuries.

I want to bring in Don Lemon who has been here for a couple of days here in Newtown. Don, let me ask you first, just about Nancy Lanza, the gunman's mother. You've talked to friends who knew her, what did they share with you?

DON LEMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They approached me the other night because they said they were hearing some things in the media that they just -- that just didn't ring true to them about Nancy Lanza and people were in some way, they felt, maybe blaming her for what happened.

They said, yes, you know, they said that the shooter did have Asperger's syndrome and that he, you know, he was someone -- a kid who kept to himself, but they say she was a responsible mother and in their estimation a good mother.

Four of her friends I talked to who all approached me and said, we need to talk about this woman, because she is among the victims and quite frankly this is a horrible thing, undeniable what happened to the kids, but they loved her and they want people to know about her. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Tell us about Nancy, we don't know much about her. JOHN BERGQUIST, FRIEND OF NANCY LANZA: Nancy was just a lovely woman. A great friend, you know, warm personality. You know, she would just make you smile when she walked into the room.

LEMON: You said you wanted to talk about her because there are some things you wanted to clear up.

RUSS HANOMAN, FRIEND OF NANCY LANZA: Well, I've seen a lot of things in the media about her being this survivalist wacko and that was not her at all. She was -- she did have guns, which she used very responsibly. She went shooting with mutual friend of ours who is a retired New York City police officer. So, you know, he taught her how to shoot, she was very responsible with the gun. She was very responsible person in general especially in terms of safety.

LEMON: And she took the boys to the shooting range. That's been talked about. She did take them to the shooting range.

ELLEN ADRIANI, FRIEND OF NANCY LANZA: From what I understand, yes.

LEMON: And what did you want to say about that?

ADRIANI: Again, I guess I want to just mimic Russ as far as her safety. Nancy wouldn't even answer a phone or a text or even look at her text in the car. If I got in her car, it was oops, seat belt, at the first ding or before the ding happened. So she was just very careful and cautious and responsible and in regard to, you know, leaving anything out, as far as a gun, just -- I can't believe that she would do that.

LEMON: Sebastian, what do you think? Tell us about your memory.

SEBASTIAN MORRELL, FRIEND OF NANCY LANZA: My memories of her, she was a very dignified woman. She had a lot of class, very proper, had a great moral compass. We just saw her, what, three weeks ago, my place, and I left and didn't say bye and she sends me a text, you didn't say bye to me. That's the kind of person she was, polite and nice to you. She was just a really good person.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: And, Brooke, they said, contrary to what people had been saying, she did not work for the school, did not volunteer for the school. She was thinking of moving because she wanted to find a four- year college so he could have as normal an adult life as possible.

BALDWIN: We're learning more him and some of the other victims. I want to talk about, we were here last night, for the president, this town was packed, difficult to move around, just because when the press president is in town, security is difficult.

I want to talk about the governor here, Dan Malloy, he said something that I thought was pretty poignant. He used this imagery, talking about how it is cold and we're close to winter and listen to what he said about the snowfall.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOVERNOR DANNEL MALLOY (D), CONNECTICUT: Let me assure you that in winter each time I see the beginning of a snowfall, I will be thinking of those 27 souls lost just a few days ago. Each time the day gets a little longer, I will think and dream of the lives that might have been and the lives that were so full of grace. And when the flowers start to come out of the ground, and when they rise up, I will know that we are in touch with those that we have lost in the last few days.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: It gives you goosebumps listening to it again. As we were watching from our live truck, watching them, that memorial and watching the governor, the snow started to fall.

LEMON: Right after that memorial.

BALDWIN: The snow started to fall.

LEMON: Isn't that amazing? The weather has been indicative of the way people feel, dreary, cold and wet. Some people say it is synonymous with tears. I think the whole country, America's heart is broken at this point.

BALDWIN: Absolutely. Don, thank you so much. We'll talk a little later.

And I know a lot of you are reaching out to us, to CNN, how you can help the people here affected in Newtown, Connecticut. You can just go to cnn.com/impact, cnn.com/impact to learn how you can give.

Of course, schools across the country are on heightened alert now after Newtown's tragedy. We're going to talk to one expert about whether current tactics, what is going on in schools today, drills your children may be going through, should they be changed including whether students should ever fight back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: One of the first details Connecticut State Police gave about the mass killing here in Newtown, as soon as officers got to Sandy Hook, they went right into the elementary school.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VANCE: On and off duty troopers responded to the call and with police immediately upon arrival entered the school and began a complete active shooter search of the building.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: That is a total switch in tactics and law enforcers say when it comes to what they learned in 1999, in Littleton, Colorado, the Columbine High School shooting, officers there were heavily criticized for not entering the building as they waited for SWAT teams to arrive. So we have learned from the past, what about the future? What will schools do in the wake of what happened here in Newtown on Friday morning? Ken Trump is a consultant from the National School Safety and Security Services, which helps school districts across the country, security and emergency preparedness.

So, Ken, welcome to you. I know you are here in Newtown, yourself. Just off the top here, what were your impressions of what you saw and experienced?

KENNETH TRUMP, PRESIDENT, NATIONAL SCHOOL SAFETY AND SECURITY SERVICES: Well, mine actually started as a father. I was on my kid's playground, supervising, volunteering at recess time, and 25 years of school safety experience went out the door as a punch in the gut when you hear it occurred at an elementary school.

And when I was in Newtown, I found it really hard to ask anybody what do you ask people? We know how they feel. I think that it's such a long-term recovery process. We know from other high profile incidents.

And I think another concern is the parents across the country are alarmed from -- about asking questions because our most vulnerable children have now become a target in one of our schools and people are concerned across the country. But they should send their kids to school.

BALDWIN: Ken, though, let me ask you, as we're hearing the stories from this principal in particular, who just installed this new security system, you had to ring the doorbell if you were coming to the school after 9:30 in the morning. You know, they seem to be doing all the right things here in Newtown. What is the takeaway for schools moving forward? Is in a takeaway?

TRUMP: Well, I want to propose a different way of looking at this slightly. Sadly the outcome was tragic. The new security system people have said didn't fail. I would say that it -- we certainly didn't have the desired outcome with no lives lost.

But a security system will either deter those who are deterrable or delay others. And I would like to believe it delayed even in seconds the shooter and that it gave an opportunity for some kids to get to a safe place. I think that any technology is an extra tool, but we tend to look for a quick fix.

Technology is going to deter or delay. A second -- seconds can mean the most valuable time. But I think look at the human aspect behind it. You have a principal and a school psychologist who didn't run from the gunman, but went to protect the children.

You have teachers who knew to lock down, staff trained, the security system. There are many of the best practices in place that were implemented. I don't know we need to totally throw out the playbook.

I know we need to continue to focus on the fundamentals and also look at resources that are dedicated to security, which have been cut back in recent years.

BALDWIN: Well, Ken, let me bring you back to your point, though you point out what the school psychologist and the principal were sort of lunging at this gunman. I read an article that Dawn Hocksprung, the principal, was shouting back at a teacher down the hall, close the door, lock it from the inside.

What is proper protocol, heaven forbid something else happens down the road, what should teachers, what should students do? Should they fight back? Should they run or should they hide?

TRUMP: Well, I think that there are going to be natural instincts that kick in as it did with the principals and we have seen elsewhere with teachers who have stepped in front of a bullet, who tackled gunman and taken other actions based on the scenario at hand.

The best practices have included to practicing lockdowns, doing evacuations, certainly some who have been instinctively got out of harm's way. I think we're stepping into some dangerous area if we start talking about teaching elementary kids to throw book bags and backpacks at armed intruders who come in because there are also situations that aren't active shooters, but hostage situations.

So do you have one kid stand up, throw a pencil and then get shot and killed by someone who may have been a hostage taker that could have been resolved. Lots of questions. Age appropriateness, autistic children, special needs, physically challenged, mobility of parent, how do you implement something like that?

So I think that we need to focus on a lot of the fundamentals, but and see if we can improve, but I think we also have to look at implementation and age appropriateness and other factors as well.

BALDWIN: Absolutely. I'm sure these are conversations being had across the country today and in the coming days in the wake of what happened here on Friday among school administrators, teachers and parents across the dinner tables with their little kids. Ken Trump, thank you for joining me. I appreciate it.

TRUMP: Thank you.

BALDWIN: We'll be back in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm John Berman live in New York. Back to Newtown in just a moment.

First, some other stories developing at this hour, Syria's vice president is reportedly calling for a national unity government with wide powers to bring about an end to that country's civil war. The comments come as a fresh round of violence shakes Syria.

It said to be taken after Syrian government planes bombed a Palestinian refugee camp near Damascus on Sunday. A UK-based human rights group says at least eight people were killed there. Meanwhile, Vice President Farouk Al Sharia told the Lebanese newspaper that neither the rebels nor the current government has the ability to reach an end point. An opposition group says at least 150 people were killed across Syria on Sunday.

South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley has announced that Congressman Tim Scott will replace outgoing Senator Jim DeMint. Haley said she was looking for a conservative fighter. He thanked his mother for not quitting on him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPRESENTATIVE TIM SCOTT (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: When you start out in a single parent household with a mom who works 16 hours a day, and you're looking at a future that doesn't look as bright and you're living in Charleston, South Carolina, you build the strength that comes from having appreciation and understanding that it is not about you, that it is about your faith, about your family, and I love my mother who is here with me, Frances Scott.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Governor Haley praised the outgoing Senator Jim DeMint calling him a conservative rock star. Scott takes the reins in January when DeMint leaves to lead the Heritage Foundation.

We have a big story coming out of the White House this afternoon. The president met again today with House Speaker John Boehner after Boehner made two apparent concessions toward averting the so-called fiscal cliff. This meeting was 45 minutes long this time.

Over the weekend, the speaker proposed raising tax rates on those making over a million dollars a year. CNN has learned he's also proposing a one-year extension of the government's borrowing limit, which could avert yet another ugly debt ceiling debate.

Meanwhile, congressional source tells us in exchange, Speaker Boehner is pushing for a trillion dollars in spending cuts including to Medicare, which so far the white house has opposed, and for now the president is also holding fast to his desire to raise tax rates on incomes beginning at $250,000. A lot less than the million dollars Speaker Boehner is proposing right now.

That's all for the news going on in Washington and around the world, Brooke, let's go back to you in Newtown.

BALDWIN: John Berman, thank you so much. Back here live in Newtown on this Monday, the tragedy here in Connecticut it has many Americans debating gun laws. And today one senator, who is a gun owner, is making some surprising comments about what Congress should do very soon.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)