Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Shooting Suspect in Court; Tucson's Youngest Victim; Biden in Afghanistan; Three Years in Prison for DeLay

Aired January 10, 2011 - 16:00   ET

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

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: And we want to continue that coverage, and thank you for joining me. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

It's just after 4:00 here on the East, 2:00 in Arizona, where Jared Loughner is facing a federal judge inside of that building at this hour, at this moment.

And Jeff Toobin is with me to walk through the details of this significant first court appearance.

We are also learning a little bit more about who Jared Lee Loughner is, including some foreshadowing messages he wrote and left in his home.

And we were briefed earlier this afternoon about the condition of U.S. Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. Doctors say her condition has stabilized after being shot in the head Saturday morning. Seven other patients from the shootings scene are still in the hospital.

But I want to bring Jeff in -- because Jeff, I have a lot of legal questions for you with regard to this initial court appearance with this defendant here, and if we can just begin with what is the purpose of this appearance today, Jeff?

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SR. LEGAL ANALYST: Well, this is what's called an arraignment and it's really a very rudimentary, very basic kind of legal proceeding. The judge, it may probably just be a magistrate judge, not a federal district judge, will ask the lawyer and the client whether they have read the charges against them, whether they understand them. It is likely that the lawyer, Judy Clarke, will enter a not guilty plea for the defendant, and then they will put the case down for another status hearing a few weeks -- a few weeks from now.

Within 30 days, the United States government, the Justice Department will have to issue an indictment. So, there will likely be a lot of action in the grand jury, in the next few -- in the next couple of weeks. But today, it's very much pro forma. They'll enter a not guilty plea. They'll make sure he's represented, that he is comfortable with his lawyer.

He may -- Judy Clarke may ask for a psychiatric evaluation. She certainly will ask for that eventually, but it will be interesting to see if that, any kind of medical issues will be discussed today, because that's something when you have -- BALDWIN: Sure.

TOOBIN: -- an initial appearance it's sometimes dealt with.

BALDWIN: Jeff, let me ask you, just backing up, you say this judge, perhaps a magistrate, would be reading these five different federal counts I have here, these federal counts. And I'm just curious if that provides any opportunity for this defendant at all to speak.

TOOBIN: Usually not at an arraignment. It is possible that he will say the words "not guilty," but his lawyer certainly will instruct him to say nothing. There is nothing he can say that can help himself at this point, there's a lot he can say that can hurt himself both with prospective jurors and with, you know, broader society at large.

You know, assuming he is of a mental state to be able to listen to his lawyer, he will certainly follow his lawyer's advice and either say nothing at all or simply say the words "not guilty," or "yes, I understand the charges."

BALDWIN: Sure. And, you know, I want to remind everyone -- look, this is federal court, there can't be any sort of cameras or recording devices inside. But we do have a reporter. So, if there is an outburst, I just want to let everyone know, we will, of course, report that as soon as that happens.

But, Jeff, with regard to this courthouse, I know Ted Rowlands was telling us security is very, very tight and Loughner will be entering the courthouse, you know, underground, back entrance. And is the whole security -- is that really for Loughner's safety?

TOOBIN: Well, in any sort of high profile situation, there is a lot of security. Based on the evidence available, and as I say, it's only the evidence available, it doesn't suggest that he was involved with anyone else. Certainly, there is tremendous anger in the community of Tucson --

BALDWIN: Yes.

TOOBIN: -- not to mention the community of the United States at Loughner. So, the chance that someone could get in there and go after him is something that the authorities will certainly be concerned about.

But federal courts are very secure places, even on an every day basis. They all have metal detectors. They all have United States Marshals guarding them. So, I don't think security will be much of a concern. This is not going to be a place where anyone gets out of line.

BALDWIN: Who else, Jeff, do you expect to be in that courthouse?

TOOBIN: You mean in the courtroom for this proceeding?

BALDWIN: In the courtroom, in the courtroom specifically, yes.

TOOBIN: You'll probably have several prosecutors from the United States attorneys' office. They will be presiding over the case at least initially. One of the many issues that undoubtedly will have to be dealt with is will ultimately the United States Department of Justice in Washington take control of this case or will it be prosecuted out of the U.S. attorney's office in Tucson -- given how quickly this has all happened, I'm sure it's just the prosecutors from Tucson.

There will be Judy Clarke, who is the newly designated defense attorney for Mr. Loughner. He -- she is a very accomplished, very distinguished attorney from San Diego, a lot of experience in death penalty cases. She's what's called death qualified. I know that's a bizarre phrase, but that's a phrase that means the government has certified her as qualified to represent defendants in death penalty cases.

And she represented Ted Kaczynski, the Unabomber. She helped represent Zacarias Moussaoui, who was involved in the 9/11 conspiracy. Both of those cases the death penalty was on the table, and Judy Clarke succeeded, along with other lawyers --

BALDWIN: Sure.

TOOBIN: -- in getting both of those defendants life sentences. That experience is certainly likely to come in handy in this case.

BALDWIN: Jeff, before I let you go, I think for people, just to kind of understand this particular case -- I have this federal criminal complaint. So, you see , it's United States of America versus Jared Lee Loughner and there are these five counts, including, you know, attempting to kill Gabrielle Giffords. It includes you know, did unlawfully kill John Roll, the federal judge here in this case.

Explain the difference here, these are obviously federal charges. Notably absent from here is the 9-year-old little girl and those three other citizens who were killed. How do federal versus state charges come in here?

TOOBIN: Yes, that's one of the many legal complexities that's going to be spelled out over the next few months. What makes this a federal case is that federal officials, a congresswoman, several aides, a federal judge were shot in the course of doing their job. It is a federal crime to shoot federal officials while they are doing their job, and it doesn't mean just in the courtroom for the federal judge or in the halls of Congress. If they are doing their job anywhere in the country, that's a federal crime.

The murder of Christina Green, the 9-year-old girl, and the other civilians, that's not a federal crime. That is a state crime. Those crimes will be prosecuted in Pima County by the state of Arizona. Those crimes could also get the death penalty. It's not that they are any less serious.

BALDWIN: Right.

TOOBIN: They are just under a different authority. So, one of the things the defense is going to have to do is figure out and one of the prosecution is going to have to decide which jurisdiction goes first, whether plea bargaining will go forward with either of these jurisdictions or both or when. But certainly that's one of the big issues going forward legally, is: does the United States government go forward first or does the state of Arizona go forward first?

BALDWIN: Right. I just think it's important to point. They're obviously thinking of all the victims --

TOOBIN: Yes.

BALDWIN: -- not just those federal government victims versus --

TOOBIN: This is no act of disrespect --

BALDWIN: Right.

TOOBIN: -- Christina Green or any of the other victims. It's just that the federal court is going first.

BALDWIN: The legal complexities. Jeff Toobin, I think we'll be seeing you a lot on our TVs here in the next few weeks and months. Jeff Toobin, thank you.

And, you know, continuing on the story here. Former classmates of this alleged shooter say there were ample clues that something just wasn't quite right with Jared Lee Loughner. And we're working to piece together Loughner's life leading up to Saturday morning's shooting rampage in Tucson. You know, classmates at this community college Loughner last attended said they were afraid of him. He was kicked out of an algebra class because the teacher considered him a threat. Wait until you hear actually what that teacher told our own Drew Griffin.

Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BEN MCGAHEE, LOUGHNER'S FORMER MATH INSTRUCTOR: This guy was mentally disturbed. He was very isolated. I was scared of what he could do. I wasn't scared of him physically, but I was scared of him bringing a weapon to class.

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: At one point, did you try to get him removed from the collapse or did you get him removed?

MCGAHEE: I did. I tried two times at least. I think on the third attempt, he had said something about the Constitution, like violating his First Amendment rights. And I think that was the straw that broke the camel's back, that caused him to, you know, be kicked out of the collapse.

It was very shocking, but I was not too surprised that he committed such an act. I feel like he was going to plan something and I just thank God he'd given us the grace in the classroom that he didn't commit anything. That was pretty amazing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Loughner was later suspended by that community college after he posted this video online claiming the school was illegal under the U.S. Constitution. He did voluntarily withdraw from the school soon after that.

And the president and first lady observed a moment of silence today for the Arizona shooting victims. We're going to show you how the victims were honored today, in Arizona, and elsewhere.

Also, we're going to take a closer look at the life and legacy of Federal Judge John Roll, killed in Saturday's shootings.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: A moment of silence this morning for those killed and wounded in the Arizona shootings. President Obama, first lady as well, leading the tribute just outside of the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(BELL TOLLING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Now, a lot of other people are honoring the victims as well. One of them is far away but has a very close, very intimate connection with Congresswoman Giffords. Astronaut Scott Kelly is commander of the space station and his twin brother Mark is married to Congresswoman Giffords.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

SCOTT KELLY, NASA COMMANDER: Please join me and the rest of the ISS Expedition 26 crew in a moment of silence.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Kelly is halfway through a 5 1/2-month stay, far, far away on the space station. His brother is said to command the final shuttle flight in April.

Another remembrance here for another victim, this one at the school that 9-year-old Christina Taylor Green attended. This is Mesa Verde Elementary in Tucson, Arizona. Christina had just been elected to student council there. She was in the third grade. Children, you see them, the ribbons, balloons, candles, flowers, all in her honor.

And then there is this -- this is from city hall in Phoenix, Arizona.

(VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: You are looking at city employees, also elected officials gathered outside to honor Congresswoman Giffords. The city's mayor said the entire nation suffered a tragedy in the shooting, called on people to forget their differences and to come together as a nation. Saturday's tragic shootings in Arizona stripped the lives away from six people, one of whom was John Roll. He was a federal judge. But who was he really?

Joe Johns joins me from D.C. with more on that. Joe, what are you learning about him today?

JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, for one thing, Brooke, he was well-known in Washington, well liked. He was a conservative judge, nominated to the federal bench by the first President Bush, recommended for the job by Arizona Senator John McCain, who has called him a friend, and we do know that Roll spent decades in and around the Arizona courts.

He actually started off as the bailiff for the Pima County superior court, ended up as the chief judge for the district of Arizona. That basically means he did a lot of administrative work for the courts there. He'd actually been in contact with Representative Giffords to try to get control of a big backlog of cases in the state, Brooke.

BALDWIN: I heard he handled a lot of very sensitive cases, described, I think it heard this morning, described a judge's judge, highly, highly respected.

But the other part of the equation, Joe, is this -- you know, he didn't have any kind of security detail. And some people would think, hang on a second, this is a federal district judge. You would think he would have some sort of security and that apparently is not the case.

JOHNS: You know, you're right. There has been this ongoing debate about federal judges and whether they get enough protection. This murder is probably just going to add fuel to that.

The fact is a few years ago, the Congress actually increased judicial production. We'll probably get a better idea of whether people on the Hill are thinking about doing anything more when Senator Patrick Leahy of the Senate Judiciary Committee gives a speech actually tomorrow at the museum. It's this annual speech where he lays out priorities for the judiciary committee.

Now, the fact is, though, that Roll did have some security back in 2009. He basically certified a controversial class action lawsuit involving immigrants that caused some threats, if you will. But that only went on for about a month, the security did, and then it ended. You know, security for federal judges is pretty much determined on a case by case basis.

BALDWIN: So, that was just a finite point in time. You know, a lot of people are trying to put the pieces together, you know, who was where and why on Saturday morning. We just heard from Arizona Governor Jan Brewer talking about how Judge Roll was at mass that morning and then went to the grocery store.

Do you know, Joe, if it was in an official capacity?

JOHNS: Well, you know, that's -- you were talking to Jeff Toobin just a minute ago.

BALDWIN: Yes.

JOHNS: And that was one of my questions starting out today. Number one, it's unlikely he was targeted. The sheriff said Roll was in the wrong place at the wrong time. He'd apparently stopped at the grocery store, yes, to speak to Congressman Giffords. It's already been reported, he was working with her on the backlog of cases in Arizona.

But our reporting, helped along by our Supreme Court producer Bill Mears, indicates Roll heard Giffords was in the neighborhood, decided to stop by and see her, apparently wanted to stop and thank her for what we're told was signing a letter declaring a judicial emergency because the courts in Arizona are just so swamped with cases.

The prosecutors have taken the position Roll was engaging in official business, as Jeff just said.

BALDWIN: Right.

JOHNS: In that way, they can classify this as a federal crime as opposed to a state crime handled by state prosecutors.

BALDWIN: All right, Joe Johns, thank you.

I was just getting some information which I want to relay to you, the fact that we are hearing that the defendant here, this accused shooter, Jared Lee Loughner is in court. In fact, this just wrapped up -- this first initial court appearance just wrapping up. We've got a reporter in that courtroom, he'll hustle out, we'll get him in front of a camera and he can give us some of the play-by-plays as to what, if anything was said and heard inside that courtroom.

Also when we come back, we're going to hear from the parents of that 9-year-old girl, 9, who was killed in Saturday's shooting.

And states of emergency being declared, thousands of flights are canceled, as a winter storm barrels across the Southeast. Is a nor'easter now possibly in the works? We're going to check your forecast coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Welcome back.

And breaking news: we are now just getting word that that initial court appearance for this alleged shooter in shootings from Saturday morning in Tucson, Arizona, has just wrapped.

We want to bring in Ted Rowlands, who was inside that federal courthouse.

Ted, tell me what it was like, and did Loughner speak at all?

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, he did. In fact, he spoke a lot. He was -- he conducted himself with basically, he was very polite throughout this whole process.

He came in, I was sitting in the front row, and he came in and he seemed a little nervous, was looking up at the ceiling and his eyes were darting back and forth. He was obviously chained, both his arms and his legs were chained. He's wearing the prison distributed garb, it was tan in color. He had his head shaved.

But after he sat down and he talked with his lawyer, Judy Clarke, a little bit, you could se that he was acknowledging things that she was whispering.

When the judge eventually took the bench, he then went up to the podium and the judge engaged him pretty much right away and asked him, "Are you Jared Lee Loughner?" And he leaned into the microphone and he said, "Yes, I am Jared Lee Loughner." And from there, they went through the court proceeding, and he was very articulate, answered every question with a "yes" to the judge when they asked if he was understanding it.

And then took about 15 minutes in total, and he left the courtroom without any other incident, and really never looked out into the gallery, just focused on the judge, the ceiling or stared straight ahead. He didn't look at all at people in the courtroom. The courtroom was packed. But he never really wavered from concentrating on those particular things.

BALDWIN: Did he appear confident? Did appear nervous at all, Ted?

ROWLANDS: Yes, he appeared very confident. In fact, he understood everything the judge was telling him. The judge went through each one of the charges with him that he was facing, starting with the attempted murder of a member of Congress, Gabby Giffords. Then he went into the murder charges.

And at one point, the judge, when he was talking about the murder of the federal judge, John Roll, it seemed to me that the federal judge in the courtroom here really did take a pause when he said, "United States federal judge," and the judge on the bench here is Lawrence Anderson -- it seemed to me he was paying particular attention to the fact that this defendant had killed one of his colleagues as he listed these charges.

Then he listed all of the potential sentences, including the death sentence for the two murders. And in each instance when the judge would ask him a question, "Do you understand this, do you understand that," the defendant was very clear, he'd lean into the microphone and say "yes."

BALDWIN: You said, Ted --

ROWLANDS: So, it appears he had -- he knew exactly what was going on.

BALDWIN: Knew what was going on. You said polite -- polite is an adjective you used to describe him. Let me ask you this -- you said his eyes didn't really dart around too much, didn't really make eye contact with anyone. Do you know if any family members were in that courtroom?

ROWLANDS: There were no family members in the courtroom. It was all media, court personnel from inside the court, and then a ton of security. There were at least 15 U.S. Marshals in a very small courtroom, all along the sides, in the gallery, and at the entrance and the exits to the courtroom.

So, it was a very intimate setting, no family members, no friends or other people, it seemed, which had a vested interest to be there to support Loughner in any way.

BALDWIN: And, finally, Ted, when is the next time we will be seeing Loughner in court?

ROWLANDS: They had set a preliminary hearing for January 24th at 1:30.

One thing which came up which will be interesting to monitor is that the judge mentioned that none of the judges in the Tucson district wanted the case. They all recused themselves, and he says at the preliminary hearing, he will not be on the bench. And the idea is that the preliminary hearing will take place in this courthouse in Phoenix. However, there will not be an Arizona judge on the bench.

They're going to bring in another judge likely. They have to file some motions to accomplish this, but they will bring in another judge from somewhere else in the country to sit in this proceeding at the preliminary hearing, and for the rest of the hearings that are going forward.

Judy Clarke was given temporary permission, if you will, to defend Mr. Loughner and the judge asked Mr. Loughner, "Do you want her to be your judge?" and he said, "Yes, yes, I do," and said her name. He really did seem like he got everything. He was not scatter-brained at all. He was not having trouble focusing. He was all there mentally, definitely. A little nervous most likely, and didn't show a lot of emotion. Very robotic, if you will, but definitely, comprehending everything that went on in that courtroom.

BALDWIN: Do me a favor, Ted, just for people who could be tuning in right now, and this is so, so significant because we have been talking about Jared Lee Loughner ever since Saturday morning, ever since the tragic events unfolded there at the grocery store parking lot, and just do me a favor and recap exactly what happened, because this is the first time anyone has seen this young man since Saturday morning. Again, tell me what he looked like, what he was wearing, where his eyes were darting, and how he responded to the judge's questions.

ROWLANDS: He came into the courtroom in shackles. They waited until all the attorneys were present, and then he was brought in by the U.S. Marshals out of a side door. He was in a tan clothing, a tan prison clothing on, and he immediately, when he came in, was looking up into the sky. I was very close to him, so I could see that his eyes were darting back and forth, and he seemed very nervous at the beginning.

He came and he sat down with his attorney for awhile before the judge took the bench, and during that time, he stood very stiff in his chair, staring straight ahead, but she was talking to him, whispering in his ear and you could tell that he was acknowledging it because he was nodding his head. So, whatever she was saying to him, he was definitely not only comprehending but was reacting to it. That was the first indication that he was mentally there, if you will.

And then, as the proceedings start again, once the judge took the bench, one of the first things the judge says is, you know, are you Jared Lee Loughner, and he repeated, talking into the microphone, leaning into it with a very strong voice, "Yes, I am Jared Lee Loughner," and it went from there and throughout the whole proceeding, as I said, he got it. He definitely understood what was going on when they were talking about his ability to hire his own attorney or if he needed the U.S. government to pay for his attorney.

The judge asked him about that. The judge actually held up a form which he had filled out in his jail cell the preceding day, yesterday. The judge said, did you fill this out with the help of your attorney, and he said yes, I did, and then he said, is this your signature? I can't read it. I realize it's hard to sign something in handcuffs, but is this your signature? And, again, he leaned in and said "yes, it is my signature." So, it was a lot of back and forth throughout this whole proceeding where he totally got it.

BALDWIN: He totally got it. Ted Rowlands, thank you for some of the color inside of that courtroom. Appreciate it. One of the first people finally seeing this defendant here, this accused shooter, Jared Lee Loughner, in shackles, head shaved, eyes darting in this courtroom, understanding all these charges brought forth. Ted, thank you.

And you know, doctors taking care of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords say they are even more optimistic today than they were yesterday about her recovery. We'll get an update for you on her condition when we come back. But we're also going to hear from the parents of this 9- year-old girl. She was just elected on student council, third grade, killed in Saturday's shooting.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: The youngest victim of Saturday's tragedy in Tucson was budding politician, newly elected to her elementary school student council, eager to learn about government service. Her name was Christina Green. She was 9 years old. Casey Wian talked to her parents. Here's what they told him.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: She was born on 9/11 and died in Saturday's mass killings in Tucson. Christina Green's father says the nine years in between were very special.

JOHN GREEN, FATHER: Kind of does say something about our society that my daughter was born on a tragic day, and she went out on a tragic day. ROXANNA GREEN, MOTHER: She was a great friend, a great sister, a great daughter. I'm so proud of her. And I just want everyone to know and I think a lot of people that know us, knew Christina Taylor that, you know, we got robbed. She got robbed of a beautiful life that she could have had.

WIAN: Christina attended the event hosted by Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords because she had recently been chosen for student council at Mesa Verde Elementary School where families brought flowers and left a note that read in part "We are deeply saddened by the loss of this precious child."

JOHN GREEN: There's going to be a lot of those kind of moments that I have one this morning, just waking up. She -- she comes uhm and says "daddy, it's time to get up." She didn't do that this morning.

WIAN: John Green is a scout for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Christina's grandfather, Dallas Green, won a World Series managing the Philadelphia Phillies. She was one of the few girls who played at the Canyon del Oro Little League.

CLYDE TURPIN, PRES., CANYON DEL ORO LITTLE LEAGUE: Well, everybody knows what happened.

WYAN: League president, Clyde Turpin, tried to explain the tragedy to other players who knew Christina.

TURPIN: Fine little girl. I mean, a wonderful little girl. There was a young man who pulled me aside and said, you know, Christina was a classmate of mine and I think we should plant a tree out here.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Casey joining me now from Tucson. And Casey, I know that is so tough to have to go talk to parents who have just lost their 9- year-old, and I think it was the mother who put it perfectly, they were robbed.

WIAN (on-camera): Absolutely. It is one of the toughest assignments you get as a reporter, and this family is clearly, clearly struggling. One of the toughest aspects of all this is Christina has an 11-year- old brother, an older brother and her parents say that the two of them were very, very close, and this is, perhaps, hitting him as hard as it's hitting anyone. And this family, of course, is busy dealing with requests from the media this week and also planning for a funeral for their 9-year-old little girl, which is just absolutely unimaginable to anyone who's a parent.

BALDWIN: Horrendous. Have the parents, Casey, have they given any thought to a possible motive here?

WIAN: You know, when I asked them about the shooter and what they think about what happened, they said they have not given it any thought. They don't want to give him any sort of, I don't want to use the word publicity, but they don't want to give him any sort of justification or really a moment's notice. Clearly, though, the father, John, said that he was very angry at the situation that happened, and then the society that has allowed this to happen, but they are trying not to focus on the shooter and just focus on trying to preserve the memory of their little girl.

BALDWIN: Awful. Casey Wian, thank you.

Coming up next here, Gloria Borger will be joining me. She just wrote quite a compelling column about leadership, following a tragedy like this one in Tucson. I'll be talking to Gloria about that, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: I want to wring in Gloria Borger in Washington. She's joining me now with the latest from the Political Ticker. And Gloria, I know you just wrote this article about leadership. When we say leadership, we mean men and women who represent us, our lawmakers and all this talk about, you know, dialing down the political vitriolic rhetoric. How are we responding?

GLORIA BORGER, SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, it's very interesting to me, because I think that the leaders ought to be complimented right now. We spent a lot of time criticizing them for the rhetoric of the past, but take a look at what they've done now. You take a look at the new House Speaker John Boehner, one of his first acts was, of course, he came out. He spoke to the press. He had a conference call with all of his members who said an attack on one of us is an attack on all of us.

You don't see him going out on chat shows. I mean, he's been very deliberate and the most important thing he did was he said you know what? We're going to postpone the vote on health care reform, which as you know is a very contentious issue.

BALDWIN: Right.

BORGER: So that the Congress can deal with this. And I also believe the president of the United States has acted in much the same way, coming to the American people very quickly, talking about what he did -- what he was going to do, dispatch the FBI director immediately to Tucson to get this under control, to let the American people know that the elected leaders of this country are taking this very seriously.

BALDWIN: And it appears in glancing down here at the ticker this article that was written, it appears that Congresswoman Giffords was well aware that the rhetoric needed to be dialed down as well according to this e-mail.

BORGER: You know, it's interesting. We've seen clips of her during the campaign talking about how she had been targeted during the campaign, but what is stunning is that on Friday, the day before the shooting, that she wrote an e-mail to Trey Grayson. Trey Grayson has just been appointed to run Harvard's Institute of Politics. He was a republican candidate for Senate who did not succeed, and she wrote to him and let me quote to you from part of this e-mail, she said, "I think we need to figure out how to tone our rhetoric and partisanship down." BALDWIN: How about that?

BORGER: Yes, that seems unbelievable in light of what occurred. And so, I think now, as we look ahead --

BALDWIN: Yes.

BORGER: We have to say that being able to do that, to tone down the rhetoric as opposed to ratcheting it up may be the part of job description of newly elected politicians, because maybe the country will step back and say you know what? We don't know what the motive of this deranged shooter was, but we also ought to take a look at ourselves, all of us, and say you know what? We do know that some of this rhetoric is not healthy for the community.

BALDWIN: Well, here's a blank slate for the 112th Congress to that, Gloria Borger.

BORGER: And Gabby Giffords told us.

BALDWIN: Yes. And Gabby Giffords told us in this e-mail.

BORGER: Right.

BALDWIN: You can see that on Political Ticker. Gloria, thank you.

BORGER: Sure.

BALDWIN: And man accused in Saturday's deadly shooting in Tucson speaks in court. We'll get another update for you. That is ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Welcome back. Let's get you updated on some of the other top stories of the day here. First, there's Vice President Joe Biden, where is he? Afghanistan. He is there meeting with top U.S. and Afghan officials on this whole shift to an Afghan-led security. The U.S. plans to start withdrawing some of its troops in July. The vice president's trip comes amid questions about Afghan forces' ability to handle security and violence in that country. This is his first visit as vice president.

And a Texas judge today sentenced former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay to at least, at least three years in prison. A jury convicted DeLay in November on charges of conspiracy and money laundering. The charges stem from an alleged scheme to illegally funnel corporate money to Texas Republican candidates back in 2002. DeLay says he, quote, "can't feel remorseful for something I don't think I did," unquote. He is expected to appeal.

And the death toll from a plane crash in Iran has climbed to 77 now. That is according to state-run news agencies. About two dozen others were injured. The Iran air flight went down Sunday in the northwestern part of the country. Press TV is reporting bad weather forced it to turn back on its first emergency landing attempt and controllers just lost contact as that plane made a second attempt to land. Stay right there. More CNN NEWSROOM on the other side of this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Welcome back. You know, the Arizona shooting outside of a grocery store this past weekend has been nothing but tragic, and it's one thing to learn about it watching it on television, but it's quite another to imagine being there that Saturday morning. I want to bring in Wolf Blitzer who is getting ready to begin "The Situation Room" here in a couple of minutes. And Wolf, I understand you're going to be talking actually to a survivor of Saturday's shooting.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're speaking with a U.S. army retired colonel who was there, 74 years old, Bill Badger. He was there. He happened to just go. He wanted to see the congresswoman outside of that supermarket, and all of a sudden, he started hearing gunshots. Originally, he thought it may be firecrackers. They had legalized the whole firecracker issue in Arizona, but then he realized as a trained U.S. military officer, retired, albeit, that gunshots were being fired.

He got into action, and at one point, he's the one who brought the shooter down and held him down as he got reinforcements from others. It's a real heroic story, especially, Brooke, because he himself was shot in the back of the head. He has this huge wound in the back of his head. He's out of the hospital. He'll be fine. He's recovering from that wound, but his whole head was bleeding as he was holding down the shooter, and he tells this story. It's very riveting and you're going to hear it all of our viewers will hear it.

We're going to be speaking with him. We're going to be speaking with the chief neurosurgeon who's been dealing with the congresswoman, get the latest on what's going on with her, and we'll also speak with the press secretary to Congress, Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. He spent some time with the family last night at the hospital. So, we've got two hours of extensive coverage on the killing spree in Tucson, what happened, and we'll bring it to our viewers, that starts right at the top of the hour.

BALDWIN: We look forward to those interviews, Wolf. We'll see you in just a couple of minutes.

And also here in our final minutes, we are getting some new pictures, some new court sketches from inside that federal courtroom in Phoenix where this suspected gunman was recently in court here. So we'll pass those along, take a look at those together.

Also Chad Myers with another big story, snow, the latest on this massive storm system. Stay right there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: We told you just a couple of minutes ago, Arizona shooting suspect, Jared Lee Loughner, was in court moments ago, but I want to just recap for you what happened inside of that courtroom. Cameras aren't allowed. Recording devices aren't allowed. Therefore, we have these sketches. These are new court sketches we've just turned around.

And according to Ted Rowlands who I spoke with who was inside that courtroom, Loughner came in the courtroom in shackles, tan prison jumped suit, he's now shaved his head, seen nervous at first, eyes kind of darting back and forth, stood stiffly, looked straight ahead, nodding as he spoke with his attorney. Ted, who again I said was in the courtroom, says Loughner almost seemed emotionless, yet he also described him as polite with speaking with the judge, definitely understood what was going on, the questions that were being asked of him.

He responded to questions about his need for an attorney, his ability to pay, and Loughner told the judge he wants defense attorney Judy Clarke to represent him. No family, no friends inside that courtroom, security very, very tight, 15 U.S. Marshals presiding over this whole thing. Preliminary hearing has now officially been set for January 24th. And here's also a significant here, no Arizona judge wants to come forward and preside over that hearing.

So, what they're going to have to do is get a judge from another state to come in to Arizona to handle this. We're keeping our eye on that. Wolf Blitzer is going to pick up with a couple of significant interviews for to you push this story forward, but another big story we're looking ahead here, the weather, a massive snowstorm slamming the southeast. It is a mess. Look at this guy spinning out in his jeep, a mess in Atlanta.

The mayor declaring a state of emergency. The storm system now I'm hearing going to move up the East Coast. The northeast could get slammed with another snowstorm, maybe tomorrow, maybe Wednesday. Chad Myers, what are you seeing?

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It starts 8:00 tomorrow night for D.C.

BALDWIN: OK.

MYERS: It starts at midnight tomorrow for New York City. So, it takes four hours to go on up I-85. Here's what it looks like, the rain, the sleet, ending in Atlanta but still into the upstate of South Carolina into North Carolina as well. It has been an ugly day across the southeast. 1,950 Delta flights canceled today, almost 2,000 flights cancelled. You realize that's like 200 people on a plane, consider how many hundreds of thousands of people are not where they thought they would be.

BALDWIN: Look at that.

MYERS: These are the latest pictures I could get from georgianavigator.com. The site is so jammed I can't get the very latest. This one about 15 or 20 minutes old. This one a little bit less.

BALDWIN: Look at those tractor trailers.

MYERS: Tractor trailers trying to go around five lanes closed, I-75 northbound, just about where I live up north toward Marietta. And this is on the south side, this is 285, it has been a mess on the south side most of the day, the ice continues. It runs up the East Coast and New York City, you could get six to 12 inches of new snow. It starts in 36 hours, and it snows for a few days as it runs up the East Coast and even snows into Boston with one foot of new snow.

Now, I know the snow is getting dirty, and you want to get it all covered up with pretty white stuff again, but I don't think you really wanted 12 inches there, do you? Because this is what happens. And the problem in New York, the problem was going on in Atlanta right now. The snow is still coming down. Ice still coming down here. Live shot just popped up from WSB.

BALDWIN: You can't see anything.

MYERS: You can see the buildings way here down on the bottom. The deal is, Brooke, now the sun is about to set. Everything that's slightly melted and turned into slush because of some sunshine today will refreeze. It's about to get very ugly out there. People will just be skidding out. People have to stop their cars. These cars won't be able to move. They will abandon their cars and walk to other houses, because their car literally can't move any more.

BALDWIN: Tell me you're staying in a hotel and not taking 75 home, Chad Myers?

MYERS: I was trying to go home, but I'm not.

BALDWIN: No, no, no. Join the rest of us. We're all getting together for the football game tonight. Stay in a hotel. Let's play it safe. Chad Myers, thank you so much.

I'm Brooke Baldwin. Thanks for watching. I want to pass it off to Wolf Blitzer continuing the coverage to the tragedy in Tucson -- Wolf.