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Discussing the Connecticut Shooting; Examining the Deficit Reduction Talks; Hollywood Film Adgenda Changes Due to Connecticut Shooting

Aired December 18, 2012 - 15:30   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: "The Situation Room" with Wolf Blitzer coming up at the top of the hour, but, Wolf, you sat down with the man who's heading up the investigation here.

WOLF BLITZER, ANCHOR, CNN'S "THE SITUATION ROOM": I went over to the Connecticut state police headquarters about 45 minutes or so, arrived from where we are here in Newtown and I had a chance to speak to Lieutenant Paul Vance.

He's really become the face of this investigation. He's been doing these daily briefings. Doesn't do these daily briefings anymore. He wants to hold back a little bit.

But I did go to his office. We had a chance to sit down in his office, talk about what's going on and I asked him some sensitive questions.

We walked around a little bit, continued the conversation, how this is affecting him personally. Listen to this one exchange.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Was there one moment that stands out in your mind that you'll never forget the rest of your life?

LIEUTENANT J. PAUL VANCE, CONNECTICUT STATE POLICE: I think the crime scene itself is something that has made an indelible mark in all of our minds. The task of that responsibility of going to that crime scene, it's something that we'll never be able to erase.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Sounds like it's weighing on him.

BLITZER: Yeah, that crime scene. He said when he went into that school, that elementary school, and saw what had happened, moments after it occurred, and he saw those bodies of the young kids, saw the teachers, he says in all of the 39 years he's been a police officer, law enforcement, state trooper, he's never seen anything like that and it will weigh with him for the rest of his life. Like everyone, he's been moved.

And he also told me something I didn't know. I don't know if you knew this, but the Connecticut state police, they've assigned a trooper, one trooper to each family of the 26, so that that trooper will provide information.

Folks won't have to learn sensitive information from the media, for example. They'll be briefed and they'll have a chance to talk to someone. I think it's going to be important.

Look, you're never going get over this if you're a surviving family of what happened, but they're doing the best they can.

LEMON: And I was telling Kate, listen, the families are just dealing with tremendous pain right now. The journalists, the people who are covering it, the rescue workers, nothing, we're not dealing with anything like that.

But just -- I like to be transparent. In all honesty, Wolf, you were kind enough because you knew last night that we were all affected by this and you took a bunch of us out to dinner last night to give us a brief moment to talk about it and to sit down with each other and commune and that really helped, just talking about it.

BLITZER: Look, it's been tough on not only the folks here in this beautiful little community, but tough on everybody, law enforcement. Obviously the families, it's been toughest on them and I can't even begin to think what they're going through.

But everybody has been affected. All of us will be affected the rest of our lives by what we've seen.

LEMON: This is one of the hardest stories. You've been in warzones before. I've covered some really horrific stories, natural disasters or whatever.

But when you think about 20 little, really babies, kids, that -- how does that ...

BLITZER: You see those little pictures of those kids, you know, you -- I can't even look anymore. It's so hard.

LEMON: A school bus went by and we saw kids on it and then one of the kids in the front, crying, just a moment ago and, as the school bus is going by, the moving trucks with their things to take to the other school going in the opposite direction.

And the same thing with the funeral procession, those moving trucks going by the opposite direction.

BLITZER: Those little white coffins ...

LEMON: Yeah.

BLITZER: You know, that are burying these kids and ..

LEMON: Yeah.

BLITZER: It's awful.

LEMON: Yeah, it is. Brooke, we'll toss it back to you.

You saw some of it. The first two funerals were yesterday and you were here for that, as well. And you got to see some of the processions.

It's really -- no other way to describe -- it's horrific, heartbreaking. Heartbreaking.

BALDWIN: It is. And, not too far from where you two are standing, I sort of bumped into this first-responder. He'd been a firefighter with Sandy Hook since he was in high school and I started talking to him because I noticed he and a couple of other firefighters had box after box after box that they were opening.

So, inside all these boxes, these cardboard boxes, were wreaths, 26 of them, all delivered to the firehouse in Sandy Hook by a stranger.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Tell me what do you make of the wreaths? Just people you don't know, sending you all these wreaths to put up in your town?

JEFFREY THOMAS, CONNECTICUT FIREFIGHTER: I mean, it's ...

BALDWIN: What would you say to the people of Portland, Oregon?

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

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Wreaths sent all the way from Oregon.

So, we actually went back to those boxes there in the town square just to see who was the kind soul to send them and we found him.

He is Larry Teufel. He's joining me on the phone. He owns Teufel Holly Farm in Oregon. And, Larry, why'd you do it?

LARRY TEUFEL, OWNER, TEUFEL HOLLY FARM (via telephone): Well, it wasn't just me. It was our family, employees.

A group of us got together on Saturday morning after watching these events unfold and, you know, there's really just no words to describe this and we just felt we needed to send a message that we were hurting and we knew that there was people hurting there and wanted to send a message to the first-responders and the families of the victims that we cared.

And our family has been making wreaths for over 100 years. It's something we do, something we're pretty good at and we felt there was a dire need to do this.

So, we got together as a family, as a company. First thing Saturday morning, we went to work on this little project and got it done. BALDWIN: Do you have firefighters in your family? I mean, he told me that, basically, you know, in came this mass delivery from UPS of all these wreaths.

What specifically was it or perhaps it was nothing? Perhaps it was simply the story that touched you so much?

TEUFEL (via telephone): Well, it's just -- you know, there's just really no words for it. Just we're all -- you know, everyone I've talked to is really hurting from this, this tragedy.

And there's just -- it's really hard to describe. It's hard to imagine. You know, I have kids of my own. Our family has all raised kids in schools and just -- it just is very difficult for everyone.

So, we just wanted to let people know that we were thinking of them and we really cared and wanted to do something, so that was our way of sending a message.

BALDWIN: And, just finally, I'm sure the last thing you intended or I'm sure you meant to do this anonymously and forgive me, I happen to be in perhaps the right spot at the right time and I saw these firefighters unpacking these wreaths.

And, you know, in talking to this one firefighter, you know, just so simply saying thank you, just making him so warm, knowing that someone, all the way across the country, cared so much.

If anyone from Sandy Hook firehouse is listening, what would you want them to know?

TEUFEL (via telephone): Hey, I just think we're just like the whole rest of the country and a lot of the world. You know, we care. We do really care about them and, you know, they're in our thoughts and prayers and we wish them the best going forward.

BALDWIN: We join you in that same message. Larry Teufel, thank you so much.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ALI VELSHI, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: If tax rates rise for those making more than $400,000 a year, the economy will not be hurt.

From the CNN Money Newsroom, I'm Ali Velshi. This is "Your Money."

You are paying less for gasoline, Toyota's going to pay more because of another car blunder, Instagram intends to make a buck off your pics and the fallout from the shooting in Connecticut is starting to hurt gun manufacturers.

But first, two weeks to go before the country falls over a fiscal cliff and negotiations are picking up steam in Washington with three meetings in eight days between President Obama and House Speaker John Boehner.

The president has been insisting on letting taxes rise on those making more than $250,000 a year, the top two percent of earners.

After saying no to any tax hikes, Boehner has now agreed to let taxes rise on people making a million or more a year and the president's counteroffer? Raise taxes on those making more than $400,000 a year.

For some perspective, the top one percent of earners in the United States make $375,000 or more a year.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPRESENTATIVE JOHN BOEHNER (R), HOUSE SPEAKER: I think we all know that every income-tax filer in America is going to pay a higher rate come January 1st unless Congress acts.

So, I believe it's important that we protect as many American taxpayers as we can and our Plan B would protect American taxpayers who make a million dollars or less and have all of their current rates extended.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELSHI: Plan B is the idea that they'll put through legislation.

While Speaker Boehner should be commended for considering tax hikes on a token few, what should we make of arguments from his Republican base which say any tax hike on the rich will hurt the economy?

Well, conservatives insist that, once taxes are raised, the wealthy won't use their disposable income on spending in a way that stimulates the economy. Well, we all lose, they say.

I've got news for them. It doesn't matter whether you raise taxes on incomes of a million a year or $400,000 a year. People in those high- income brackets are not going to pull back their spending just because they see their marginal tax rates, the taxes on every dollar above the base line, go up by a few percentage points.

There's a cutoff point below which we all spend the bulk of our money on life's necessities -- food, shelter, education and investing for retirement.

Let's say for argument's sake that number is $250,000 a year, which might be generous. Above and beyond that level of income, you are likely saving, investing or spending on life's extras, not the necessities. It might be private schooling or travel or leisure or entrepreneurial pursuits.

While the rich may not want the taxes on every dollar above $400,000 raised by 4.6 percentage points, there is no strong argument that it is going to slow down how folks earning that much money here in the U.S. spend their money in a way that benefits the economy.

Doesn't mean we should increase their taxes. I'm just saying don't put too much credence in the argument that it'll hurt the economy.

On the money menu today, Americans are paying less at the pump. The average price for a gallon of unleaded regular gasoline is now $3.24 and that's the lowest it's been in almost two years. Demands for gasoline is decreasing as Americans move to more fuel efficient cars. Meanwhile, cheaper oil from the United States and Canada is coming online.

Speaking of cars, Toyota is in trouble again with U.S. authorities after failing to report a safety defect in the 2010 Lexus 350. The Japanese automaker agreed to pay a record $17.4 million fine for not coming clean on the defect with a floor mat.

Now, it's the largest fine allowed for a single investigation. Over the past three years, 63 incidents have been reported in which the mat allegedly trapped the gas pedal down, causing unwanted acceleration.

Toyota finally initiated a recall in June. That wasn't soon enough for authorities.

Starting next month, Instagram will start selling photos that members post on the site for use in ads. The photo-sharing site says it's changing its terms of service on January 17th, allowing it to give content to third parties.

For example, Instagram could let a major retail chain buy photos of people shopping in their stores to run in an ad. The move comes months after Facebook took over Instagram, the social networking site that is often questioned on privacy issues.

Finally, the fallout from the mass shooting at a Connecticut elementary school targets the gun industry. Pressure is mounting in Washington to tighten federal gun laws just days after the tragedy, but gun manufacturers are also starting to see the commercial fallout from the Newtown shooting.

Dick's Sporting Goods, a chain with stores across the country, announced that it is suspending sales of all so-called "modern sporting rifles" from its stores and removing them, quote, "out of respect for the victims and their families." Now, that refers to semi-automatic rifles like the Bushmaster used by the gunman in the attack.

Walmart has removed a semi-automatic rifle made by the same maker as that of the Bushmaster from its website, though it continues to sell the firearm in-store.

Investment firm Cerberus, which owns Bushmaster's maker, Freedom Group, said today that it wants to get out of the gun business.

Meanwhile, shares of Smith & Wesson, one of the biggest publicly traded gun-makers, has tumbled 20 percent over the last three days of trading.

Sporting goods retailer Cabella's has fallen 12 percent. Gun-maker Sturm, Ruger is about 15 percent lower. Over the last few years, virtually nothing has hurt the gun industry in this country, including numerous mass shooting incidents. This one, though, may be different and it's something we'll all be watching.

From New York, I'm Ali Velshi. Same time tomorrow.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: The killings in Sandy Hook Elementary School Friday morning may be changing Washington's agenda, but they have already altered Hollywood's schedule. In fact, the premiere of Quentin Tarantino's "Django Unchained" was supposed to be today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEONARDO DICAPRIO, ACTOR: He is a rambunctious sort, ain't he?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's your name?

JAMIE FOXX, ACTOR: Django. The D is silent.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: However, its distributor released this statement, quote, "In this time of national mourning we have decided to forego our scheduled event," end quote.

Replacing the premiere? A private screening for cast and crew. The R-rated movie about a freed slave who becomes a bounty hunter contains bloody scenes of shootings.

Director Tarantino and his stars addressed comments about Friday's shooting and movies containing extreme violence.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QUENTIN TARANTINO, DIRECTOR, "DJANGO UNCHAINED": It's just a horrible tragedy. I mean, you know, what are you going to say about it? I mean, it's horrible.

But, you know, at the same time, no, I don't think it has anything to do with them. But this has gone all the way back down to Shakespeare's days, all right? When there's violence in the streets, you know, 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 something that real-life tragic.

CHRISTOPH WALTZ, ACTOR, "DJANGO UNCHAINED": What I consider the really significant and dangerous aspect is the sense of -- the sensationalization of it and movies don't sensationalize. They just tell.

Who is it who sensationalizes it? It's the media. So, we have to keep these a little bit apart and look at them separately and not just muddle it all up and point fingers at the opposite side. I find that very important.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: So, that's "Django Unchained."

There is another film affected here. It's Tom Cruise's "Jack Reacher." It involves a sniper killing five people. Its red carpet premiere Saturday was cancelled and a fundraising screening at New York Lincoln Center is postponed

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Here is just a little something that hopefully will put a smile on your face when it comes to Newtown because, truckloads of teddy bears, garbage bags of letters, this is just some of the support that is just pouring into the small New England town.

And I spoke with these two first-responders, these volunteer firefighters, last night who told me, just the outpouring of support coming from fire departments and churches and people across the country, it's stunning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Are there notes attached to the teddy bears?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, there's so many coming. Not really, they're coming in ...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're coming in garbage bags.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... truckloads.

BALDWIN: Garbage bags and garbage bags ...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Full.

BALDWIN: ... of teddy bears as gifts to the children in the community?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah.

BALDWIN: And so what have you done with them so far?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've been trying to distribute them to the local church groups.

We were down at the Newtown Youth Academy. They had a bunch of the kids there today and distributed them there.

One of Ray's (ph) friends dressed up as Santa Claus and distributed the stuffed animals to the kids.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: And those two volunteer firefighters I spoke to at Newtown Hook and Ladder, they said actually the letters and the cards and the teddy bears, they're all getting in the distribution that's actually helping them heal, as well.

Healing, Don Lemon. Healing. Not moving on, but moving forward. That is what Newtown is now doing.

DON LEMON: Yeah. And listen, it's going to take some time. And, as we said, we can only just imagine. I can't really imagine what is going on, but I can show you here, the outpouring here.

Look at -- things have just been stacked on top of things. There are teddy bears and flowers under here and now, Brooke, they have erected a tent, put up an angel and a wreath right in the middle of this town. Look at the beautiful Christmas trees that they have put up.

I want -- just a short time ago, as you see people here lighting candles -- a rocking horse that someone has put here and put to all of the classmates -- "Emily, with love from all of her classmates" -- and a cross over here and people are continuing to come out just to show their support and show their love.

And as you said, Brooke, healing. Healing. It's going to take a while, but we pray that these folks will heal in time.

BALDWIN: Don Lemon, I thank you for your coverage there in Newtown. And to all of you, thank you for being with me.

I'm Brooke Baldwin at the CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta. We will take you back to Newtown for Wolf Blitzer. "The Situation Room" begins right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)