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Mass Killing in Tucson; Volatile Year in Arizona; Lawmakers Respond; Major Storm Brewing on the East Coast
Aired January 09, 2011 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Hello everyone. I'm Don Lemon at the CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta.
A lot of new developments in the mass shootings in Tucson, Arizona that killed at least six people yesterday and left Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords critically wounded.
So let's get you caught up with the latest information.
Doctors say Congresswoman Giffords is conscious and she remains in critical condition. All the other shooting victims have been moved out of the Intensive Care, six people died and 14 others were wounded.
The suspect, Jared Lee Loughner, is scheduled to appear in federal court tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. local time in Phoenix. Federal authorities have charged him with first degree murder and the attempted assassination of a member of Congress among other charges. Sources say he's been assigned a public defender.
Now, investigators today questioned a man, apparently, a cab driver, who may have been labeled a person of interest. He has been cleared of any involvement.
Let's go to CNN's Randi Kaye outside the Tucson hospital where the Congresswoman is being treated and others. So Randi, give us an update on the condition of the Congresswoman and the victims.
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Don good evening. Right now, the Congresswoman is sedated. What they're doing is they're -- they're keeping her sedated. The doctors here, and then they're bringing her out of that sedation every once in a while to check on her brain function. But they tell us from what they've seen today, they are very encouraged. Cautiously optimistic but still very encouraged although she is the only one here at this hospital still in the ICU, still in critical condition.
The other nine victims who are, three of them are in serious and six of them are in fair condition. The doctors' greatest concern right now about the Congresswoman is possible swelling of the brain, so what they did during the surgery is remove part of her skull so in case the brain does swell that would relieve some of the pressure.
But the good news is that the bullet they say did not hit any critical areas of her brain, so she does have some high brain function which they are very optimistic about. We are learning more today Don, about how this whole scene unfolded at that "Congress on the Corner" event yesterday.
Apparently, several eyewitnesses tackled the suspect. They're telling us some of the details today. New information coming out; they said that he came for war. That the only reason he stopped shooting was because he had actually run out of bullets. He was firing randomly. It wasn't as though he was picking people out of the crowd.
According to the eyewitnesses that we spoke with there is one brave woman who apparently helped tackle the -- the suspect as he was trying to reload; she grabbed the magazine, his old magazine that was empty. But apparently, he did get the new magazine into that gun but apparently it -- it -- the spring jammed and so the gun did not discharge.
The sheriff told us today that in that new magazine, there were 31 more bullets. So imagine what might have happened. Today the authorities did released the 911 calls, so listen for yourself to some of the chaos as it unfolded --
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hello.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hello 911. There was a shooting at Safeway at --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ok, what do you mean?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know it -- in know in (INAUDIBLE) where Gabrielle Giffords was and I do believe Gabby Giffords was hit.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: At Safeway sir?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes Safeway.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All right.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You ok.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What, somebody shot them sir?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. The guy, looked like the guy had a semi- automatic pistol and he went in he just started firing and then he ran.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ok.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We got pictures. We got --
(CROSS TALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ok. Can you describe him?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you describe him sir? What was he wearing?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was wearing a hoodie.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What color was the hoodie?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was black.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ok. What color were his pants?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Looked like he was wearing blue jeans and he was wearing a black sweater.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ok. Was -- is anybody injured? Did you say Gabrielle Giffords was hit?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She's hit.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ok.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I do believe she is breathing. She was breathing, she still has a pulse and we got two people and we got -- we got one dead.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ok.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And they are injured.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ok and there's other people that are injured?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's other people -- there's multiple people shot.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ok. Oh my God.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
KAYE: So chilling as you listen to that scene unfold there yesterday. And what's even more chilling Don, is that these people had nowhere to go. These victims were really sitting ducks. They were trapped just like the Congresswoman, behind this table that apparently had been set up for this event.
So, as the suspect was allegedly randomly shooting, they had absolutely no way of getting out of the way.
LEMON: Randi, we've been watching the pictures in the hospital and I can see behind you there are some folks there. Tell us about the vigil that people are gathering outside the hospital behind you.
KAYE: Well, since I've been here, Don, there has been a steady stream of people. You can see the crowd there behind me now. There -- there have been families coming with their children. And you can hear them sort of in a hushed voice, whispering to their young children. Why there are so much media here? Why there is a vigil here? Who the Congresswoman is?
There are pictures of -- of the Congresswoman, there are pictures of the -- the federal judge that was killed yesterday. There are messages that say, "Fight, Gabby, we love you."
It is really a very moving situation here. And -- and the collection of flowers and cards and photos and notes just seems to be growing as the evening goes on.
LEMON: CNN's Randi Kaye, thank you very much Randi.
Coming up on CNN --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R-OH), HOUSE SPEAKER: This inhuman act should not and will not deter us from our calling to represent our constituents and to fulfill our oaths of office.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Republican House Speaker John Boehner reacts to the shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and others. Was the shooting politically motivated? We'll discuss how Washington lawmakers are trying to tone down the political rhetoric in the aftermath.
And the gunman in Tucson, Arizona, is officially charged with murder. Jeanne Meserve is our homeland security correspondent; she is standing by with new details live from Washington.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: We are starting to learn more about the alleged shooter in the Tucson shooting rampage and we'll be getting our first look at him tomorrow.
Jared Lee Loughner has been formally charged now with multiple counts of murder and attempted murder in yesterday's mass killing.
CNN's homeland security correspondent, Jeanne Meserve joins us now with the latest. So Jeanne, I understand police have found a written message in his home.
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: That's right and what this appears to show is that this wasn't a spur of the moment decision by Jared Loughner, but there appears to have been some premeditation involved here.
In the statement of probable cause that was filed in court today, they talk about the search warrant that was executed last night at the home where Loughner lives with his parents. In there they found a safe and in that safe, they mentioned in this -- in this paper work two documents.
One was a letter that was from Congresswoman Giffords office on Congressional stationery inviting him to one of these "Congress on your Corner" Events, but it wasn't the one yesterday where she was wounded, but rather it was one back in 2007 held at a different location. And in addition according to this statement of probable cause, they found an envelope with some handwriting on it which said, quoting here from the court document, "I planned ahead my assassination the name Giffords" along with that appears to be Loughner's signature.
Now this statement of probable cause was filed today as five counts were brought against him. These are federal counts. Let me go through them for you.
The first: attempted murder of a member of Congress; that obviously is a reference to Gabrielle Giffords.
Secondly: first degree murder of Judge John Roll, a federal judge.
First degree murder of Gabriele Zimmerman, he was staffer for the Congresswoman.
Also the attempted murder of two other staffers: Pamela Simon and Ron Barber.
But however, FBI Director Robert Mueller made it clear in a press conference this afternoon that there could be additional charges at either the federal or state level against Mr. Loughner.
He does now have legal representation. We have learned that he's going to be represented by Judy Clark. She is well known as a roving federal defender. Amongst some of the other cases where she has played a part, the Unabomber case, Ted Kaczynski, she was involved in his defense.
Also, the defense of Zacharias Moussaoui; he was the Frenchman who was convicted of being a 9/11 conspirator. So a very well-known name, it's not clear if she's going to be present tomorrow for his initial court appearance. Back to you, Don.
LEMON: What are we learning about his background?
MESERVE: Well, you know, it hasn't pushed far beyond what we have learned earlier in the day. This was a young man who had left one high school. He tried to go to the Army. The Army had rejected him. He'd gone to a community college. He'd had something like five brushes with authorities on the college campus.
And he eventually was -- he left, he withdrew. That was last fall. We know that in November, he went and he bought a Glock and the allegation is that that is the gun that he used yesterday. This gun legally purchased, we're told.
And so in addition to that, we have of course the online writings that we have seen. Law enforcement is looking at those. They are looking at other evidence from his computer, from his cell phone. They are undoubtedly trying to interview people who knew him, friends, acquaintances, and reviewing more information from the scene. Including I'm sure, a surveillance tape.
We had that picture of that one individual who they were -- they were wanted to talk to. They did of course find him. Cleared him, it turns out that he was a cab driver who had driven Loughner to the scene.
Back to you Don.
LEMON: Listen, in the beginning, we heard from the sheriff that he was not cooperating. They -- they weren't getting much information from him. What are we learning now? Is he cooperating? Is he talking to authorities?
MESERVE: I've asked that question a couple of times today, Don. I haven't gotten an answer to it, so we don't know what the state of play is in terms of whether he's talking or whether he is still invoking his right to protect himself --
LEMON: And still no motive. No reason -- no one knows why he did this.
(CROSS TALK)
MESERVE: Nothing's clear. You know, I -- I've asked people repeatedly, or he found connections with other people, with a group. As yet, it just isn't clear. You know as we've discussed at length, there are these writings on the Internet, but they're a bit of a jumble. It's a little bit hard to figure out where he's coming from politically.
And so now, I think in terms of the motive, I think the closest thing we may have are these documents that were found in the safe. There may be more to them but in this initial court paperwork, they are not laying out chapter and verse.
LEMON: Our homeland security correspondent, Jeanne Meserve. Jeanne, thank you very much.
Lawmakers in Washington change their political tone after the Tucson shooting. Well, we'll tell you how and why they're doing it.
Plus, the sheriff handling the Arizona rampage says his state has become the Mecca for quote, "prejudice and bigotry". Is he right? We'll explore some history -- next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Arizona in the national spotlight after the mass killing outside a Tucson supermarket. The state has made a lot of headlines over the past year and it has taken a central role in some of the nation's most divisive debates.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: These words caused a firestorm.
SHERIFF CLARENCE DUPNIK, PIMA COUNTY, ARIZONA: Arizona I think has become sort of the capital. We have become the Mecca for prejudice and bigotry. LEMON: The Pima County sheriff and Arizonans have had one bumpy year. In August, the state enacted a highly controversial immigration policy -- the toughest in the nation -- requiring police to suspect the immigration status of people suspected of crime or pulled over for driving infractions. Critics called it racial profiling and the governor took heat for backing it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What does an illegal immigrant look like? Does it look like me?
GOV. JAN BREWER (R), ARIZONA: I do not know.
LEMON: Even though Democratic congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords' district borders Mexico, she strongly opposed the immigration law. But after she backed President Obama's health care reform law, her Tucson office door was smashed.
Giffords support also earned her a spot on a list of lawmakers that Sarah Palin wanted ousted. Giffords' district was marked on Palin's Web site with cross hairs.
She spoke about it in March on MSNBC.
REP. GABRIELLE GIFFORDS (D), ARIZONA: The thing is the way she has it depicted has the cross hairs of a gun site over our district. When people do that, you have to realize there's consequences to that action.
LEMON: And now that Giffords is fighting for her life from a near fatal gunshot wound, Arizona has become the catalyst for two new national debates: gun control and the power of words.
DUPNIK: I think we're the tombstone of the United States of America. That's the ridiculous state to where we have become.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: And you can better believe that Washington lawmakers are monitoring events in Arizona and some of them are joining the talk that we've been hearing about, toning down the political rhetoric.
Our senior congressional correspondent, Dana Bash, joins me now. So Dana, what are members saying? We know what a contentious year that Arizona has had. It's got to be paying close attention to this.
DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: They are paying very close attention. You know, Don, the last hour you and I talked about how there is this, you know, era of bipartisanship. Era -- I'm talking about the last 12 hours from Democrats and Republicans in the house.
But having said that it is important to note that Democrats in particular making the Sunday talk show rounds, came out really swinging. I mean it was not as overt maybe as you would think, but it was pretty clear what they were trying to do and that was to try to say, listen -- loud throat clearing -- everybody's got to try to tone it down and some not so subtle allusions to what you just mentioned there, Sarah Palin.
Listen to what the number two Democrat in the House, Dick Durbin, told our Candy Crowley and then what one of the Republican leaders in the Senate Lamar Alexander said after that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. DICK DURBIN (D), MAJORITY WHIP: Don't we have an obligation, those of us in public life and those who cover us, to say this is beyond the bounds? It may be constitutionally permissible, but it shouldn't be acceptable rhetoric. We shouldn't invite it on the radio talk shows or the TV at least without comment. We ought to say that just goes too far.
SEN. LAMAR ALEXANDER (R), TENNESSEE: We ought to cool it. Tone it down. Treat each other with great respect. Respect each other's ideas even on difficult issues like immigration or taxes or health care law. Do our best not to enflame passions.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: Now, Don, so far, again, this is just a day after this horrible, horrible tragedy happened. So far, that is exactly what members of Congress are doing. At least, we've talked before about the fact that they had this conference call, Democrats, Republicans, leaders on both sides, rank and file on both sides. Very much, I'm told by many, many people on the call, that it was very -- go ahead.
LEMON: And that's what I wanted to ask you about. What are they saying about security; about holding town halls; about getting out and going out amongst the public? If you're going to be a politician, you've got to get out there and you have to shake hands and you have to kiss babies.
BASH: Absolutely and look, I mean there has been absolutely no directive from anybody with any law enforcement authority telling any members of Congress not to do that. Just the opposite; they're just basically saying, proceed as you will, however, keep a look out. And they're asking -- they, meaning law enforcement officials as the Capitol are asking that each office in Congress have somebody designated especially in their district office back home to be in touch with law enforcement when they have events, especially open events.
But look, I mean I told you earlier I talked to Elliot Engel from New York. He told me that, you know, it wasn't that long ago that he had already stopped putting his public schedule online. He doesn't do it anymore.
Now Gabby Giffords did. The event that she was at, that was online and she tweeted about it beforehand. He says he doesn't do it anymore. And he says he wouldn't be surprised if other members of Congress don't do it.
Look, that in and of itself shrinks the accessibility because if people don't know where their members of Congress are, how are they going to find them? But that might be one ramification of what we are seeing.
Members are saying that they're going to keep talking to constituents, they're going to still do their job but at least in the short-term, it's hard to imagine things not changing a little bit.
LEMON: All right Dana Bash. Thank you very much Dana. We will see you again, a lot this evening.
We have some new information; I want to read over it first before I give it to you. I'll do it after the break.
But I want to move on and tell you this. There's other news out there today this evening, including a winter storm that's about to dump a lot of snow that may affect many of you. A live report is coming up next.
And more developments on the mass shooting in Tucson, Arizona; we'll take you back there for more live reports on some of the victims and the survivors of that tragedy.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: All right.
As I said before the break, we had some new information just in and it is concerning this Arizona case and the suspect here. Again, this is just coming in to CNN. CNN has confirmed -- an administration official confirms to CNN that Jared Lee Loughner, who is a 22-year-old suspect who is now in federal custody, that he was rejected by the Army for military service after failing a drug test, that he was rejected.
The initial news was that the Army confirmed that the suspect was never in the Army. He attempted to enlist in the Army, but was rejected for service and in accordance with the privacy act; they don't discuss why he was rejected. But the new news that he was rejected because he failed a drug test.
More information coming in on this story at every moment, so make sure you keep it right here, including this.
We want to update you on the congresswoman, Arizona congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords is conscious right now and she remains in critical condition at this hour. That's according to her doctors.
Giffords is one of 20 people shot outside a Tucson supermarket yesterday. The suspect, 22-year-old Jared Lee Loughner that I told you about, he is facing federal charges that include first degree murder and attempted murder. Loughner is scheduled to appear in a Phoenix federal court tomorrow and we will update you on that as soon as we know more and where. Six people obviously killed in that rampage.
A passenger plane has crashed in northwestern Iran. Iranian media says at least 70 of the 102 people on board the Iran air jet died. More than 30 others were taken to the hospital, some in critical condition. Snow and fog at the crash site made rescue operations difficult. Officials say the Boeing 727 was near its destination when it went down.
A major winter storm bearing down on the southeast; snow is already falling in part of Texas and Louisiana. Sleet is being reported in some Atlanta suburbs right now. Significant amounts of snow, sleet and -- here's the word that you don't want to hear -- ice are in the forecast.
The storm has the potential to cause major travel disruptions and power outages. I'll repeat that -- major travel disruptions. Keep that in mind. Watches and warnings are in effect across a huge area all the way from Texas to the Carolinas. And when I say major travel disruptions, I'm talking about one of the -- if not the busiest airport in the world in a city that's not used to dealing with snow.
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Right. We're talking about Atlanta. Now, one of the good things about this, Don, is that they're kind of being pre-empted with this thing.
They've already as of Friday started canceling a bunch of flights; in fact more than a thousand flights have been canceled for tomorrow ahead of the storm in Atlanta. We have hundreds of flights cancelled today in Dallas. And other cities could be impacted like Charlotte and Raleigh, North Carolina, back down the line (ph) and that can snowball into airports all across the country, not to mention, believe it or not, some of the models are now picking up this storm to become a nor'easter, so if you live in D.C., New York City, up towards Boston; this storm could impact you by the middle of the week.
In the meantime, it's certainly having a huge impact on travel. Icy roads all over the place, accumulating ice and snow; one of the worst cities being hit right now -- Birmingham, Alabama, we're getting reports of at least a sixteenth of an inch of ice. That sounds like such a miniscule amount to you and me. Any little bit on the roadways turns it into an ice skating rinks and there are multiple accidents being reported along Interstate 65 right now, all across the Birmingham area.
So this is the time to stay home. No more travel for you.
States of emergency have been declared in Alabama as well as Louisiana, ahead of this storm system. And we heard Don mention, the sleet in southwestern parts of Atlanta, the steadier, wintry precipitation is going to be picking up at any time. Bridges and overpasses are going to ice up first, so now is the time to hunker down and stay put and get ready for the major impact on this storm.
We also have a lot of snow beginning to accumulate across parts of Arkansas. A major accident on I-30 earlier today shut that down for a time. And now, Memphis is starting to get in on some of the snow. Take a look at this live picture from our affiliate, WMC, and look real closely. You can see those flakes a-flying in Memphis. Several inches can be expected by tomorrow morning and a winter storm warning is in effect, so lots of cars still out there. Look at that though. Your temperature is hovering around that freezing mark and there you can see that close-upshot of just how heavy and steady the snow continues to come down.
Now, let's talk a little bit about what's happening in the atmosphere and why it's so kind of iffy as to getting the snow and who's getting the ice. Our lowest pressure storm system has been way down here. Cold air has been in place for about 24 hours now. And so as that low pulls into the area and brings in that moisture, we start to get warm air that goes over the top of the cold air because cold air is more dense.
So, it starts to snow. It melts that warm layer, in that warm layer; and by the time it gets to the surface, it starts to freeze on contact on top of everything. So things like power lines, things like trees can come down and this could cause power outages for days for those of you that are going to get the worst of the ice.
And how much could we be talking about? Well, we could be talking about as much of a quarter of an inch to half of an inch, say around Birmingham, down towards Montgomery. Jackson, you've been seeing it for hours now and then we'll see it in to Atlanta as well as Charlotte, not to mention some of the snow mixing into these areas.
So a very major storm that's going to be impacting millions of people at this hour, through the day tomorrow, even into Tuesday for the southeast, but we'll be watching what happens with this thing next as it heads to the northeast. It could be trouble for a lot of people.
LEMON: Yes, and we want to know about the airport, and so we have wrangled the mayor of Atlanta to assure us that everything will be OK. He'll join us at 10:00 p.m. with a fresh update, a live update of what's going to happen at the airport if they are ready.
That's an important story, Jacqui, Thank you. Jacqui Jeras will be following that one and we're also following this.
When we come right back, we'll look at the victims of the tragedy in Tucson, including a special nine-year-old little girl. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Welcome back, everyone. Don Lemon at the CNN World headquarters in Atlanta here. The Pima County sheriff's office has released the names of those who were killed during a rampage in Tucson yesterday.
They are 79-year-old Phyllis Sheck. Dorwin Stoddard and Dorothy Morris, both 76 years old. Also, federal Judge John Roll. He was 63. Gabe Zimmerman of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords campaign and nine- year-old Christina Green. You know, earlier, the girl's pastor, Father Richard Troutman, talked to me about her. She was a member of the choir in his church. It's at St. Odilla's Parish in Tucson. Take a listen at our conversation.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) REV. RICHARD TROUTMAN, ST. ODILLA PARISH (GREEN'S CHURCH): She was you know, a nice little eight-year-old girl and she was there with her family and she was, you know, very bright and very quiet, but you know, somebody who paid a lot of attention and was a very good little girl.
LEMON (on camera): You guys have held masses as normal today and I understand that you did talk about it during services.
TROUTMAN: We did. We certainly did. And how this is an unnecessary death and how it must be painful for her family and how it's been a shock and as of yet, we have not made any arrangements for the funeral.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: CNN's Casey Wian now joins me by phone from Tucson where he has just spoken with the girl's family. Casey, what did they say to you?
CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (ON THE PHONE): Don, it was a really, really emotional conversation, as you can imagine. I spoke with John and Roxanne Greene, Christina's parents. And they are still, needless to say, devastated by this loss.
John Green, who's a big guy and a scout for the Los Angeles Dodgers, he broke down in tears when he described to me this morning how he didn't have his daughter wake him up like she normally does. Usually, she runs into his room and says, "daddy, daddy, it's time to get up." And that didn't happen this morning, obviously.
That's one of many things that's not going to happen in terms of their family and their relationship with what these parents describe as just a wonderful little girl. A straight A student, a Little League baseball player, a member of the student council who was actually at that event for Gabrielle Giffords because she was so interested in government at the age of nine years old. She wanted to go to a political event. Her parents say she was just a wonderful, wonderful child and they say the entire community not just their family has lost someone who had a really, really bright future, Don.
LEMON: One wonders where the strength comes from, Casey, to be able to speak after such a tragedy and so soon after a tragedy.
WIAN: What they said to me after I apologized for the intrusion of actually putting a camera in front of them and asking them all these questions about their recently deceased little girl, they said they wanted to pay tribute to their daughter and to the nine years that they had with her and this was the best way they knew how to do that. As I think we've been reporting, Christina was born on 9/11 and she actually died in another tragedy and, you know, as her parents say, they don't want her memory to be of those two horrible days. They want her memory to be of the wonderful things that she did in her all too brief time here on earth.
LEMON: I spoke with their pastor in the last hour here on CNN, Casey, and he said they were preparing for services. He wasn't quite sure when they would be and assumed they would be at his church. Did you speak to the family about the service?
WIAN: I did not speak to them about services. My sense is it's probably a little early right now. After we finished speaking with them, I know they planned to just sort of have a little bit of quiet time because they are so overwhelmed with dealing with not only the media requests, but just friends, family, well-wishers, everyone who's been in contact with them. We did not talk to them about services.
LEMON: So, Casey, let's really talk here. You know, you hate to call people and knock on their door. We've all done it as journalists. It just breaks your heart to do it, but many times, people will talk to you. Meeting that family today, describe to our viewers what that was like and what was going through your head as you were doing?
WIAN: What was going through my head was my own family. You know, I'm a father. I've got a 15-year-old daughter and an 11-year-old son. You think about what it would be like if something, god forbid, happened to one of your own children. And it's unimaginable.
And sitting there with two very wonderful people who just went through that. You have just nothing but sympathy and feelings for what they're going through. It's one of the toughest things that we have to do as reporters and but I'm glad I did it because we're going to give them an opportunity to tell a little bit more about their daughter and we'll put together a story for later on CNN tonight and I think we'll help them pay tribute to this wonderful little girl.
LEMON: Casey, thank you. Very well said and of course, our hearts, our thoughts, our prayers go out to Christina Green's family, so if you are watching, we are thinking about you and we look forward to your reporting. Again, thank you, Casey.
Joining me now on the phone is Representative Matt Heinz of the Arizona House of Representatives. He's also a physician there in the area. He's been visiting the hospital. What do you know about Representative Giffords right now? Her health.
DR. MATTHEW HEINZ, ARIZONA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES (ON THE PHONE): Hi, Don. I certainly wish these were different circumstances, but good to be with you. I don't have really too much other than what we already know. She continues to be in critical condition. And you know, it's a very, very serious injury and she's in the ICU with her family at her side. We're all still praying.
LEMON: Yes, listen, I know and you're very heartbroken about this. You are friends, you are colleagues. You were at the hospital until late into the evening last night. You are on your way back to the hospital now. We are hearing, getting reports from the hospital that she is still in critical condition, but she is communicating with doctors. That's good news.
HEINZ: That is my understanding as well. She's also moving. And that is phenomenal to hear. And very encouraging sign, again, great hope I certainly have a great deal of hope when I heard this surgeon, the trauma chief, explain he was very optimistic regarding her recovery potential. That's just a tremendous thing to hear a surgeon say.
LEMON: Yes. What's the evening been like for you for people who have been in the emergency room at the hospital waiting and wondering what the last 24 hours have been like? Can you convey that?
HEINZ: You know, it's actually really difficult. It's - and you know, I'm a bystander. I can't fathom, you know, what the family, (INAUDIBLE) what the family of Gabe Zimmerman, the judge, of this little girl, all these folks are just shell shocked and I think everyone is stunned. Everyone's pulling together and coming together and being supportive for each other and that's just the Tucson community and I, you know, it's a terrible circumstance, but we're pulling for everyone and hoping and praying and there's really not much else to do and right now. Let our doctors, the excellent team of physicians that all of these patients have, do their very best for them.
LEMON: Hey, listen. This is my last question to you. What's it like being in Tucson right now, being out and about, going to the grocery store, to the gas station, or getting coffee? What is it like there?
HEINZ: I haven't been doing a whole heck of a lot of that, but you know, it's a little surreal. Because you know, driving by a restaurant, it's full of people eating, drinking, carrying on and it's just - it's surreal. It doesn't feel like I'm in reality sometimes because there's such an intensity in this tragedy and it's just strange to see people going about their lives. But you know, that's what we have to do.
LEMON: Dr. Matt Heinz is a representative in Arizona and a friend of the victim of Gabrielle Giffords. Thank you so much, Matt, and give us an update once you get there to the hospital and you check with family and friends, OK.
HEINZ: Certainly, Don. Thank you.
LEMON: Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords is able to communicate as we said by following simple commands. That's according to her doctors in Tucson, our very own, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, will explain how that's possible after being shot in the brain. That's next.
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LEMON: Authorities have said that Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was a target. She was targeted in that attack in Arizona yesterday. She was shot through the brain at close range and yet, she is still alive. So, how does someone suffer a wound like that and live through it? That's the question.
We've got the man here for the answer. He's our chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta. So Sanjay, let's talk first about this. We were talking about the nature of the injury. You've brought in your models here. I was given this by one of my producers. This is what doctors are dealing with. This is a nine millimeter bullet and this is, I guess, the shards that can come from it. This is what they're dealing with here. And of course, this is the type of gun, the Glock model gun here. You, quite honestly, pull these out of people's heads and this is what they are working with.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and you can look at a bullet obviously that's not been fired and this is sort of the type of thing that can happen when it hits bone. You get a significant change obviously in the bullet. In this case, as you know, Don, she had what's known as a through and through injury, so the bullet actually came in and left the skull, and so, you know, there may be some remnants, but the vast majority of the bullet actually left.
LEMON: And that's because this bullet. This is a smaller bullet, so it can go through. If it's bigger bullet it kind of explodes.
GUPTA: Sometimes it can explode. It can have an explosive effect. But what we now know even as compared to yesterday when you and I last spoke is that she was actually - the bullet entered the back, the left side of the head over here and exited on the same side, the left side near the front. It did not cross from left to right. Very important point. They mentioned that a couple of times. It's important because the likelihood of someone doing well or having a more optimistic recovery, that means a lot.
If a bullet or the missile crosses over here, it really changes everything. Also, I just want to show you, Don, real quick if I can, you know, when you talk about this type of injury, you know, you have the bullet enter. The bones in here as well sort of start to act like little missiles. You know, they get pushed into the brain.
And in this case, the bullet exited but as part of the operation, you have to remove a lot of those bone fragments, stop the bleeding. And some of the tissue, some of the brain tissue has been damaged, you have to remove that as well. The surgeon also mentioned that because of the concern about swelling, other parts of the bone have actually been taken off. That bone is gone right now for her, it's saved, and so she will have a depression on that side of her head until that bone is placed back at some point in the future.
LEMON: I was just going to ask you what is it going to be like for her in the coming weeks right now?
GUPTA: Well, you know, it's interesting because, you know, I talked to some of the doctors. I've been hearing, obviously, what they say about her. They do seem genuinely optimistic about her. It's going to be a tough road, no question. Right now, she is under significant sedation. They're going to wake her up every hour or so to examine her.
LEMON: She's communicating. Good sign.
GUPTA: It's a very good sign and in fact, again, like we were talking about the fact that she's hearing a command, responding to it in some way. You know, when she came into the hospital, she was able to follow commands. At that time, we actually talked to one of the doctors who examined her at that point and this is what he said.
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DR. MICHAEL LEMOLE, CHIEF OF NEUROSURGERY, UNIV. OF ARIZONA: Once in the OR., we went through our routine procedure for this kind of injury. That consisted of controlling the bleeding, which thank goodness was not severe or excessive. Our next objective was to take the pressure off the brain, and that was by removing the bone fragments that were caused by the bullet fracture as well as some additional bones to allow the brain to relax. And lastly we remove any small parts of devitalized brain and I'm happy to say we didn't have to do a whole lot of that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GUPTA: And they talk about the fact that they would say hold up two fingers, squeeze the hand and she was doing that very convincingly, really reflecting that her brain, that her higher cognitive function was good.
LEMON: Just as you explain here, can you bring that in a little bit. Does this make a difference when someone comes in, if you have this sort of shrapnel or whatever, if the bullet is intact, does it make a big difference as to what's left in there? What's even in there?
GUPTA: You know, what's interesting is, if it's a through and through injury, it does make a difference. In part, if you think of it like this. You have a significant amount of energy that's coming from this bullet. If that energy passes through your brain and it comes out the front, some of the energy is going to dissipate in the air as opposed to within the skull cavity.
If all of that energy, that bullet is being sort of distributed in the brain, that's a much worse injury. So the fact that I goes through and through, in this case, is a better sign for her and obviously, you might still have some shrapnel as a result of the impact of the bone, but the force, it's the velocity. It's the energy that we're most concerned about.
LEMON: Thank you. I learned a lot and of course, all of this, we are hoping that she's doing well and is going to make a full recovery.
GUPTA: Right. And they said they're going to give updates every day. So we'll keep an eye on this.
LEMON: All right. Thank you very much, our chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta.
Listen, we have some developing news that we want to tell you about in this case. We want to go to CNN's Drew Griffin. Drew is joining us. Drew, I'm just getting the information here that you have just wrapped up an interview with Jared Loughner's, the suspect, former college professor. What did that the college professor tell you?
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS UNIT: His name is Ben McGahee and he said Loughner, as he pronounced it in class, was a problem from day one, Don. June 1 of last summer he came in for this math course that Ben McGahee was teaching and he immediately started making a disturbance, blurting things out in class. The math instructor said there were five - three or four disturbances in class before the professor actually had him kicked out of that class.
But I want you to listen to this one particular passage in which I asked the math teacher whether or not he thought this man was just disturbed or becoming increasingly potential for violence. This is what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BEN MCGAHEE, MATH INSTRUCTOR: He was a threat. He actually wrote something on the quiz that said "mayhem fest" and wrote that in big bold capital letters.
GRIFFIN (on camera): Mayhem?
MCGAHEE: Mayhem fest.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GRIFFIN: Mayhem fest, apparently a reference to a band, I am told. And the professor said that he was scared of this guy. Other students in the class were, quite frankly, scared of this guy. Again, it was repeated times he was creating random disturbances.
At one time, Don, standing up spouting about how the class itself was a violation of his constitutional rights based on the fact that he had taken the course before, flunked it and was now being forced to take it again. But the professor again was calling his dean, calling the campus police and eventually had to have this person removed.
Don, as shocking as it is, this person said when he read the newspaper yesterday, when he read the name of the person who is charged with this crime, he was not surprised at all.
LEMON: Hey, Drew, just as when you completed the interview and you were sending it back here to CNN with our campaign chairman, (INAUDIBLE) campaign chairman, it was a very interesting interview. You sat down with him and he said, "she will be back. She will be back." He also said she was afraid during the campaign season because it was such a contentious campaign season. Talk to me more about that.
GRIFFIN: Yes. It was a contentious campaign. The congresswoman had just gotten through what was her toughest election in Congress. She won by just 3,600 votes here. And Mike McNulty, the campaign chairman, I might add, for every campaign she's had, Don, six, said this last campaign had a lot of that going on.
There were protesters outside her office, Tea Party, protesters he said who openly displayed guns and he said that the congresswoman was concerned about that and showed a little more hesitation in going out to those crowds than she had in past elections although he said it was nothing more than what we were seeing across the rest of the country. But I did ask him, he had just been to the hospital. He had just been with the family. And I asked him did he think that the congresswoman would be back on the floor of the House and he became a little bit teary-eyed but insisted that she would be back because that, he said, is her mission in life - to work on issues for the people of her district.
LEMON: All right. Drew Griffin, thank you. Drew, we appreciate it. We'll see you little bit later on at CNN, and tonight at 10:00 p.m. Eastern on CNN. We'll be right back with a look at how the shooting in Tucson, Arizona, unfolded.
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LEMON: CNN has been following the mass shooting out of Arizona since the story broke. Here's how the tragic events unfolded yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VOICE OF JASON PEKAU, WITNESS: I heard about 15 to 20 gunshots in the parking lot. I came outside immediately. I did not see any vehicle or any people fleeing. I just saw people running, screaming towards where the shooting happened. Everyone screaming that it was Gabrielle Giffords.
VOICE OF JESSICA CHAPIN, KGUN REPORTER: There were about 10 ambulances here. There were three choppers. And they loaded people into them as soon as they could and got the 12 injured victims off into the hospital. We are told that Gabrielle Giffords was one of those injured.
DR. PETER RHEE, TRAUMA SURGEON: She is in critical condition. The neurosurgeons have finished operating on her and I can tell you as of current time period, I'm very optimistic about recovery.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I ask all Americans to join me and Michelle for keeping all the victims and their families, including Gabby, in our thoughts and prayers. Those who have been injured, we are rooting for them. and I know Gabby is as tough as they come.
GOV. JAN BREWER, ARIZONA: This is an unbelievable tragedy that the people of Arizona experienced today.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: That's how the events unfolded. Let's talk about our other big story now.
The storm has prompted officials in Louisiana, Alabama and Georgia to declare state of emergencies. Let's get the very latest from our meteorologist, Jacqui Jeras. Jacqui, we have been watching our camera here on top of the CNN Center. It's right behind me in the monitor.
We've seen occasional flurries coming across. JERAS: A couple of them. Actually, I prefer to see the flurries than some of the other things, Don. Because the southwestern suburbs of Atlanta in particular have been seeing sleet and some of that has been accumulating as well. So we are starting to get under the thickness of the storm system.
Our atmosphere is getting a little juicy out there. And so now we are starting to get some of the snow and sleet falling in the Atlanta Metro. It's been doing that all day west of here. Look at all the states, more than a dozen of them under a winter storm warning and ice warnings at this time. It is that ice that we are really very concerned about. We've been seeing that accumulating in parts of Alabama. There you can see it in Birmingham. Multiple accidents being reported here. And all it takes, Don, is a 10th of an inch of freezing rain to cause problems on the roadways. We are talking as much as a quarter to half of an inch in some of these areas. Back to you.
LEMON: All right. Thank you. We're going to be watching that. And again, at 10:00 we'll get an update from the mayor, finding out about the Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.
JERAS: Airport, yes.
LEMON: Because that affects the entire country.
Thank you very much.
In the meantime, I'm Don Lemon at CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta. Thank you for joining us. See you back here at 10:00 p.m. Eastern.
CNN's special coverage on the mass shootings in Tucson, Arizona continues from Washington right after a break.
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