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Shooter's Computer Badly Smashed; Closer to Cliff, Closer to Deal; Helping Students Replace the Trauma

Aired December 18, 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: Hi, everyone. I'm Brooke Baldwin, live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta. My colleague, Don Lemon, is standing by for us in Newtown, Connecticut, where, of course, we'll check in with him here momentarily.

But the story this week, it just breaks your heart to see there -- these funerals going on for these itty-bitty children here. Two more young victims being laid to rest today. Services for six-year-old Jessica Rekos were held at St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church there in town. As her relatives grieve, they are also trying to help her brother Travis understand why he can't play with his best friend. He wants to know where is his best friend. We found out Jessica loved horses. She loved watching horse movies, drawing horses. Apparently she'd asked Santa Claus this Christmas for a new pair of cowgirl boots.

Also today, six-year-old James Mattioli was buried. The funeral also held at St. Rose of Lima Church there in Newtown. The family posted a public obituary on the funeral home's website. And so just part of it. They called him, quote, "our beloved prince. They say James loved school and spent hours and hours playing hockey."

Students in Newtown, they are back in school today. But to be clear, not the students of Sandy Hook Elementary School. Students at other schools, they are seeing more police, more counselors on hand. Just being in town the last couple of days, there are a lot of -- a lot of police officers just sitting in the driveways of a lot of these schools here. Clearly security being beefed up in this town right now.

Teachers union says classes will discuss the shooting in an age appropriate manner. It's not clear yet, though, when Sandy Hook Elementary School will resume class. But when they do, it will certainly be at a different school in the neighboring town of Monroe.

And I just got back from Newtown this morning. And during dinner time last night, I was invited to spend some time with these two volunteer firefighters. They're with Newtown Hook and Ladder. And they went into emergency mode, of course, early last Friday morning. They are Rob Mana (ph) and Ray Corbo. And they told me they served their community now for more than 20 years each. But the day they got that call, they say it was like nothing they had ever seen before.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: How long have you all been volunteering as firefighters? RAY CORBO, NEWTOWN HOOK & LADDER, 1ST ASST. FIRE CHIEF: I've got 21 years in.

ROB MANA, NEWTON HOOK & LADDER: I'm at a little over 25.

BALDWIN: And where were you Friday?

MANA: I was working probably about 2,000 feet from the school, on a stone wall in a good business district down in the center of Sandy Hook. So my response time was very quick. I was there very soon.

BALDWIN: So you were there?

MANA: Uh-huh.

BALDWIN: Did you have any idea what you were walking into?

MANA: No.

CORBO: Not at all. As a matter of fact, we were just talking about that. We had a fire call a few minutes ago and we were talking about that on the way back. And your -- you get the initial dispatch and you really don't know what you're coming into, but for the most part you're ready for it. And this time that's not the case.

BALDWIN: You're never ready for this.

CORBO: No. No -- I don't think anybody -- anybody anywhere, if they tell you that they were ready for something like this, they're not being honest with you.

BALDWIN: I don't want to get into specifics, but help us understand, in the school, were people panicked, were they screaming, were they running? What did you see?

MANA: It was very chaotic and very emotional, probably the best way to describe it.

BALDWIN: Kids emotional? Teachers emotional?

MANA: Everybody was emotional.

BALDWIN: What were they saying?

CORBO: The law enforcement was pretty emotional. It was everybody. This effected every single person that was there, immediately. It was -- you know, it was -- I shouldn't say immediately. Very early on it was determined that this was bad, really, really bad.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: And I also asked these two men about one moment over the last however many hours it's really seared into their memories, when they told me, as many people did, it was the parents. It was those parents Friday morning. The parents waiting for their children. The children who would never come home. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CORBO: As the children were coming down the street, you know, little by little, classroom by classroom, or however they were, you know, doing it, you know, all holding hands, parents were claiming, you know, their children. After a little while, it was not -- once they claimed their kid and signed them out, I'm not exactly sure how they worked it, but, you know, they left. The ones that didn't -- you know, you noticed there's some that are still sticking around. And that's when you realize that they're probably not going to be leaving. They're going to, you know, they're going to get the confirmation soon enough that, you know, they're not going to be grabbing their child and hugging them and taking them home with them. They're going to -- their life is changed forever.

BALDWIN: You realized that in that moment?

CORBO: Yes. That was something that, like I said, a couple of times, we had to go back down to that staging area and, you know, you look around and you make sure there's nobody else in distress that might need our assistance, and you notice this -- you know, you know its parents been right there in the front of the line for two hours now and there's no more kids around to, you know, take home and, you know, you know this is bad, they're not -- they're going to get some bad news. And I'm sure that they at that point knew it, but, you know, there's that shred of hope that there's somebody hiding in a closet or, you know, they missed, but ultimately that wasn't the case for any of them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: And, you know, as it was tough for them to recall those moments, I do just want to let you know, we had a lighter moment at the beginning of the interview when Rob and Ray talked to me about something that's really putting a smile on a lot of kids' faces in Newtown this week. Would you believe that teddy bears by the truck loads, they told me. Not just by the garbage bag load, the truck load, they're being sent to them from fire and EMS crews all across the country just as a way for them to help out in Newtown. So you'll hear Rob and Ray talk to me about that and how that's actually helping them heal. That's next hour.

And I know a lot of you, a lot of you are reaching out to us and asking how you can help the people affected in this sweet sleepy community in Connecticut. And you can. So we have put a list of charitable organizations on our website. Just go to cnn.com/impact. Cnn.com/impact for more on that.

We are getting some new information here on the details of this investigation unraveling as far as this computer that the shooter apparently smashed in his home before going out on this grim rampage on Friday morning. Deb Feyerick is live for us there in Newtown with more on that.

Deb, what are you learning? DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brooke, we can tell you that investigators were here at the home for about an hour or so this afternoon. They pulled out just a little while ago. They've been returning to the house periodically as they get new leads and as they get wind of new developments. We don't know what exactly those are.

We can tell you that we've confirmed with the medical examiner, H. Wayne Carver, that, in fact, toxicology tests were performed on Adam Lanza. Those toxicology reports expected back in about two weeks. And at that point the doctors will know better whether he had any sort of drugs in his system. And what those drugs may have been. Whether he may have been taking any sort of drugs for psychological problems, or any illegal medications as well. The medical examiner was told by investigators that Lanza had Asperger's syndrome and the medical examiner is just trying to really run that to the ground to see whether in fact there was something else that may have been going on. Some sort of other psychiatric problem that may have caused this violent spree.

Now, the bodies of Adam Lanza and his mother, both of them autopsies were completed on that. The autopsy reports showing that Nancy Lanza was shot here, in her home, as she slept, in her bed, four times in the head. And then it appears that Adam Lanza tried to destroy his computer, destroy the evidence. The computer that investigators found was smashed into pieces. The hard drive badly damaged according to a law enforcement source. And they're having trouble trying to retrieve some of the information off of that. Almost as if Adam Lanza was trying to erase his steps leading up to this crime.

Now, also, we are told that the autopsy showed that after the horrible spree at the school, Adam Lanza took his own life. A single gunshot wound also to the head.

What's so interesting about all of this is that the mother, Nancy Lanza, was in charge of any unreimbursed psychiatric or psychological expenses for her son, as well as prescription medications. Any unreimbursed expenses there. So, again, another indication that there was something more going on, that she was the one who was really trying to manage whatever it was he was wrestling with, the demons that he was -- that he appeared to be struggling with over the course of the last three years.

And, you know, Brooke, what is so astonishing to me, having covered a number of tragedies, terrible tragedies like this, is that Adam Lanza, the last three years of his life, they're basically a mystery to almost everybody. He seems to have disappeared after courses he took in 2009 at a local university. But after that, very little is known. The mother was trying to mainstream him. Moving him from school to school. But the last three years, they really -- there's just -- there's so little information.

BALDWIN: So bizarre.

FEYERICK: It is really like any -- it's unlike any other sort of shooting -- shooting tragedy that I've reported on. BALDWIN: It's so bizarre that he's such a mystery over the last couple of years. And in talking to people in and around town, you know, so many people so badly want to understand if there is any kind of connection between the shooter and the school. And so far, you know, so far as you're saying, you know, nothing. I know investigators are working hard.

Deborah Feyerick, thank you so much.

BALDWIN: We've just now learned --

FEYERICK: The one thing we --

BALDWIN: Oh, Deb, go ahead. Jump back in.

FEYERICK: The one quick thing that we do want to clarify, and that's, again, this is also what's so fascinating. You would think it would be just as easy as going to the school records and saying, oh, yes, well of course he was here. The school has not been able to confirm that. Officials haven't been able to confirm it. But a woman that we spoke to here in town says that her daughter and Adam Lanza were classmates at Sandy Hook Elementary in the first and third grades. So even that is sort of this -- sort of a little mystery that we can't kind of, you know, check off to know why he targeted that school.

We can tell you, Brooke, and this is kind of important, and a little bit sad. This morning, you know, from this house, here's the house, school buses kept passing this house. They were picking up children. And we do know, Brooke, that at least two of the children who died, they live really within -- less than half a mile from this house. So those school buses, those children, they were very much part of this neighborhood where Adam Lanza was living.

BALDWIN: Passing by the crime scene tape. How do you explain? Do you explain? I know it's tough for parents right now. Deb Feyerick, thank you so much.

I do want to pass this along as we're getting this news just into us here at CNN talking about here these students at Sandy Hook Elementary School. We're now learning here from the superintendent of schools that these little kids will not be going back to class until after the holidays. There -- people were wondering if it would be before or after. After the holiday break. Let me just quote part of this letter. The superintendent there in Newtown says, quote, "we need to tend to our teachers and students need to feel comfortable after this trauma in this new place." She goes on to say, quote, "teachers may be calling you to invite you to visit Chalk Hill (ph) with your child this week, to walk around, and see the classroom and get familiar with this new Sandy Hook home." That's where they'll be headed, of course, after holiday break.

Tough time for so many people there in this town. And with just two weeks left here, totally switching gears, we'll take you back to Newtown live in just a moment. But with two weeks left before the fiscal cliff deadline, John Boehner has come up with a plan b. Details on that plan, next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Fourteen days now. Fourteen days until we hit the fiscal cliff. We have a frenzy of movement in Washington, but still no deal to stop across the board tax rate hikes and government spending cuts certain to slow the economy.

Let me just do a quick reset here so we can all understand where we stand. So this time yesterday, we were reporting a major concession on the part of House Speaker John Boehner. His very first offer of higher tax rates, higher rates for anyone making more than a million bucks a year. Well, quick as a whip here, the president gave some as well. He moved his bar for the tax hike from incomes starting at a quarter million dollars, that with a his earlier stance, to incomes beginning a bit higher at $400,000 a year.

The president also offering significant spending cuts, including cuts in Social Security payments to better off seniors, plus a promise of health savings further down the road. I know, I know it's a lot to follow. Bottom line, though, things seem to be moving along, perhaps in the right direction. But then Boehner tossed a bit of a curveball here. And for that let's go to senior congressional correspondent Dana Bash.

You're going to walk me through this here. And let's just hold off, if you would, on this Boehner plan b. Tell me, first, just what the speaker said today about the president's latest offer, because a lot of Democrats seem to think that the president gave more than he actually should have.

DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Oh, absolutely. A lot of Democrats think that, particularly not just on spending cuts, but the kind of spending cuts. I've heard from a Democratic source that the president's liaison here got an earful from progressive Democrats in a meeting this morning for giving on the whole issue of -- a technical change, which would effectively make people's Social Security checks smaller.

But bottom line from the Republican point of view, they say, the speaker told his caucus this morning, that the president's not giving enough when it comes to spending cuts and when it comes to revenue. That he wants a virtual one to one ratio. And the way they do the math, the Republicans do the math, they say they don't think they're getting that. That's why he's pushing this plan b.

BALDWIN: OK. So walk me through plan b and why.

BASH: What plan b is, is the speaker will try to craft legislation that they hope to put on the floor as soon as this Thursday, so in two days, which would keep tax cuts where they are for everybody making up to $1 million a year. Households making up to $1 million a year.

Why is he doing that? The reason is because it's a tactical move. He and the Republicans want to try to push the president to give more on those spending cuts. To give -- to force the Republicans to give less, so to speak, on tax revenue. So it's definitely a tactical move. The Democrats are laughing it off, literally. I've heard from Democratic sources that it's more of a punch line than a compromise. It's unclear still if Republicans can even get the votes in the House -- and we're told that -- I'm told by Republican sources that they're going to have yet another meeting later today at 5:00 Eastern of House Republicans to try to what they call whip the votes and make sure that they have the votes for this. There's probably going to be a series of votes for political moves on Thursday, but they're not even sure of that.

And then when you talk about the Senate, where it would have to go next, Democrats who run the Senate there say that they just simply don't think it's going to pass. So we're going to see a lot of -- a lot of to'ing and fro'ing and vote taking and at the end of the day it's going to be for political reasons, nothing more.

BALDWIN: OK. So punch line, compromise. One thing we can agree on, 14 days. Fourteen days. Quickly, Dana, 30 seconds, what happens next?

BASH: Boy, your guess is as good as mine. I just saw something for the first time in my e-mail that said "merry cliffmas." So, I'll just leave it there.

BALDWIN: Oh, no, don't let that joke begin. No! OK.

BASH: If it weren't so sad, we would be laugh, but we're not.

BALDWIN: All right, merry cliffmas. I don't want to be saying that. Let's have a deal. Let's have a deal. Dana Bash, thank you so much. We'll check back in with you.

As we mentioned, of course, we'll continue on with the other stories of the day. We'll also continue following the aftermath of those horrendous, horrendous shootings in Newtown, Connecticut. Don Lemon will join me from Newtown after this quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: And I'm Brooke Baldwin at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta, joined by my colleague there in Newtown, still flanked by so many people, Don Lemon, in Newtown. It's amazing, you know, being there, not only the people from within town who are walking around and placing the teddy bears and petting the dogs who are in town to make the kids feel better, people are coming from counties away. I saw somewhere there from Brazil. It's tremendous.

DON LEMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Someone from -- I saw someone from Alabama. And, of course, you know, Brooke, there's media from everywhere all over the world. And look how this -- you've seen this memorial here. Look how it's going. It's really a makeshift memorial that sprouted up Saturday. And when we got here, when you and I first got here, it was like just candles, a couple of candles and people started bringing more, teddy bears and teddy bears. As a matter of fact, this is -- come on over here.

This is Wendy and Philip. You guys are from New Brunswick, New Jersey. PHILIP: Yes.

LEMON: You have a whole bunch of teddy bears that you collected. Who did you collect them from?

PHILIP: Mostly friends.

LEMON: Yes, show -- I mean just a box full of teddy bears and she's got a bag full of teddy bears as well and in both hands and there are some teddy bears that are out here that are just, you know, plain and not covered. Some of them, like this one, covered in plastic because they're trying to preserve them. But, again, everyone has been coming out.

I want to show you, even people just -- these aren't -- I showed you guys earlier on Saturday night when they first got here, the comfort dogs. These dogs are just from the community. They're Spencer's dogs, right?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: From over in Reading.

LEMON: Yes. He came from Reading to bring in -- and this is Miss Bonita (ph) and that's Mr. Big (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Correct.

LEMON: And you've been giving the children rides on the dogs?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Smiles, rides, any type of laughter we could bring to them. They really get a kick out of them.

LEMON: Why did you do it?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because being a neighbor to this community, and you feel helpless, you know, you've got to help in any way you can.

LEMON: Who's a good boy? They are so cute and cuddly. And the kids get on them. They ride them. And what happens?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And they just laugh and giggle.

LEMON: Yes. Yes. And it's the first smile. Every time -- the first time I saw a dog here, they were really the first smiles that I saw on anyone's faces.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Absolutely. And it just -- it starts with making eye contact after seeing the dogs and the smiles happen and then --

LEMON: Hey. Yes. You can't help but smile when you see these guys and they're so nice. Everybody's petting them.

But, listen, I want to remind our viewers too about what's going on here, because there are people like Spencer and there are people like Philip and Wendy who are coming to help out. But I want to take -- the kids at Newtown schools, they've gotten back to school, but not the Sandy Hook schools. Not sure when the Sandy Hook schools are going to go back, but they're going to see extra counselors, they're going to see extra police officers on hand when -- at schools today and until they go -- break for the Christmas holidays.

And also the teachers union here says they're going to have people to talk to the students, but only when it's age appropriate that they'll talk to them. But again, not exactly sure when the Sandy Hook students will go back.

I want to bring in now Wendy Torrel. Come on in here, Wendy. Wendy is an author of a children's book. And your book is called "Guardian of Dreams," right?

WENDY TORREL, AUTHOR, "GUARDIAN OF DREAMS": Yes.

LEMON: Why is this a good resource for kids? Show -- and show the book.

TORREL: It's a good resource for kids because it was written after 9/11 when children were having a lot of nightmares. And given what's happened here today, there's going to be a lot of kids who are going to be dealing with that issue in volume again.

LEMON: And you said kids who have dealt with a lot of trauma in their lives, and that was the impetus behind this? That's why you did it?

TORREL: Absolutely. Absolutely.

LEMON: You find it helps?

TORREL: Yes, I have. I've gotten a lot of feedback from counselors and parents who have used the book to help their children deal with their issues and disappear that nightmare away and actually create another image in its place.

LEMON: And, Wendy, I understand you're a former New York City police officer?

TORREL: That's correct.

LEMON: Yes. And how did you prepare when you were a police officer for traumatic events like this? Because Brooke Baldwin has been talking to the rescuers and they are very emotional. They can't believe what they saw. So how did you prepare when you were doing that?

TORREL: It's not really something you can prepare for. And really it's the -- it's in the moment. You really don't have that opportunity to deal -- to express your emotions at that -- in that moment in time. And it's only afterwards really that you have a chance to process it.

LEMON: I understand that yesterday you met with grief counselors at various schools.

TORREL: At the grieving center, yes.

LEMON: At the grieving center. And tell us about that. TORREL: Basically I donated some books there so that they had the opportunity to use that with the kids in being able to -- as a tool for them to use the book that they can help them cope with what's been going on.

LEMON: And it's important to be here because --

TORREL: It's important to be here -- it's important, I think, to find out how you can contribute in a way that's going to be helpful to the community here.

LEMON: Yes. Let's see the book. Open it up a little bit. Is it pictures or stories or what do you have?

TORREL: It's a -- it is a picture story. And it's a story about a rabbit who wakes up from a nightmare.

LEMON: Yes.

TORREL: And the nightmare being a female horse. So it's a play.

LEMON: And any resource --

TORREL: Helps it to disappear the nightmare away.

LEMON: Yes. Any resource that children can get at this point is important.

TORREL: Absolutely. Absolutely.

LEMON: Thank you, Wendy Torrel.

TORREL: Thank you.

LEMON: We appreciate it. And thank you, Spencer, and to all the folks who are here.

Brooke, it's -- I mean, you've been here. It's amazing. I was sitting having lunch just a moment ago and someone walked in just with a box of these. He printed them himself. It says, "we are Sandy Hook. We choose love." And every single person in that restaurant said, I want one for my school. I want one for my business. I want one to put in the window of my home. And that's what they're doing here. They're choosing love instead of having the community be remembered for this horrible event, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Yes, it -- it is quite something to watch on TV, but to be there in person and see the memorials, talk to the people, it's stunning. It's gut wrenching. Don Lemon, we'll come back to you here momentarily.

But, of course, part of this story, we have to talk about gun control. The debate rages once again. In fact, if you look at some of these pro gun rights folks, NRA, for example, FaceBook, crickets, they've actually deactivated their FaceBook site, no tweets. Not a lot from them the last couple of days. And, in fact, we've just learned, according to "Forbes," we'll have this conversation coming up next, you know the Bushmaster rifle, one of these military-style rifles that the shooter used on Friday, teachers may have actually been indirectly giving to this company that makes this rifle. That's next.

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