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Interview With Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter; Movie Theater Tragedy
Aired July 20, 2012 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There were bullet holes in some people's backs, some people's arms.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All I hear is just gunshot after gunshot and just women and children are screaming.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have approximately 50 who are hit.
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: The suspected shooter is caught, but so many unanswered questions still remain. As police piece together details of the crime, the president speaks to the nation.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If there's anything to take away from this tragedy, it's the reminder that life is very fragile.
BALDWIN: The news is now.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN: Life is very fragile indeed to quote the president.
Welcome back to our breaking news here on CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin.
We have a lot more new details emerging here with regard to that mass shooting, that absolute tragedy that unfolded inside the Century 16 movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, just outside midnight Mountain time.
A gunman opened fire during a packed midnight screening of the "Batman" movie The Dark Knight Rises. New numbers here as far as injures and wounded, the toll right now, 12 dead, 59 wounded. And the scene, as you can see, absolute chaos as the gunman entered the theater through an exit door not long after the movie started, tossed two devices to distract the crowd and then opened fire.
We learned just this past hour exactly how heavily armed he actually was.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAN OATES, AURORA, COLORADO, POLICE CHIEF: There is pretty significant evidence that he used the AR-15 within the theater, the shotgun within the theater and a .40-caliber Glock.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: The magnitude of the horror unfolded as police rushed to the scene.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We got another person outside shot in the leg, a female. I got people running out of the theater that are shot.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get us damn gas masks for theater nine. We can't get in it. We need rescue inside the auditorium, multiple victims.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I got seven down in theater nine, seven down.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have got a child victim. I need rescue at the back door of theater nine now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Child victim. Did you hear that?
Minutes, hours after the shooting, witnesses began to come forward giving us the first glimpses of the absolute terror and bloodshed inside that theater.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just pointed the gun at me. I was terrified. So, I dove into the aisle. And then at that point, he started shooting people behind me, and I had bullets that were on my forehead.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was this one guy who was on all fours crawling. There was this girl spitting up blood. There were bullet holes in some people's backs, some people's arms.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For like 10 minutes or 15 minutes -- it was one or two minutes, but it was just horrific.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Here he is, the suspected gunman in custody, his name James Holmes. He's 24 years of age.
How did police arrest him? Listen to this. It turns out he never made it out of the theater parking lot. Police say he surrendered without a fight. We are learning just a little bit more about him at this hour, such as the fact he was Ph.D. candidate in neuroscience at the University of Colorado. We're told he was in the process of withdrawing from that university.
Right now, police and federal agents are gingerly trying to enter the third-floor apartment of Holmes'. Police say it has been booby- trapped.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OATES: We're not sure what we're dealing with in the home. They appear to be incendiary devices. There's some chemical elements there and there are also some incendiary elements. They're linked together with all kind of wires. As a layman, it's something I have never seen before. We have a lot of very smart bomb techs up there trying to figure out what we're going to do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: I want to bring in Ed Lavandera. He's live for us in Aurora, Colorado.
Ed, let's just bring up. That was the police chief out of Aurora, Dan Oates.
Let's talk a little bit about as what you know with that apartment. He said it's an active and difficult situation and it could take hours, if not days, for that community to be secure.
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, at this point, they are just still trying to figure out what exactly they are dealing with inside James Holmes' apartment. They don't really know what they are dealing with at this point and obviously they have to take every precaution.
What is interesting is that apparently it was James Holmes himself who alerted authorities and told authorities of what was inside or what could be inside. And that's why they are proceeding with such caution.
And officials say they have seen enough evidence from outside the apartment that gives them reason to be concerned and reason they need to approach this cautiously. They have evacuated several buildings from around that apartment. Obviously that continues to be a dangerous situation while James Holmes right now is sitting in the municipal jail here in Aurora, Colorado.
BALDWIN: We also learned a little bit more as far as this timeline goes, the police chief saying that hundreds of calls came in within 60 seconds after this happened. Police arrived on the scene. Then they arrested him pretty quickly, pretty calmly. Tell me more about that.
LAVANDERA: What is interesting is the police station is about a half- mile away from where the theater is behind me.
According to the police chief, the first officers arrived on the scene within a minute or a minute-and-a-half and then shortly after that James Holmes was taken into custody. This is the front of theater you see behind me over here, Brooke. His car, he was found standing next to his car behind the theater.
And the timeline is, is that James Holmes walked in -- from all the witness statements that we have heard, he walked in through an exit door that was to the right side of the movie screen. He had thrown in a couple of canisters which had some sort of -- I don't know if it was tear gas or what it might be but it was definitely some sort of irritant is the way it's been described.
And that distracted people and then the gunfire erupted. Now, these witness statements have been kind of very sporadic as far as how long the shooting lasted, how many rounds people heard. Authorities say they have no way of calculating just how many rounds have been -- were fired in this attack.
But what one witness did tell me was is that, all of a sudden, everything stopped and that James Holmes was just standing there calmly as if nothing really happened and then he was taken into custody. The one interesting thing that we asked the police chief about and what we still don't have a clear answer is, we presume that that exit door could not have been opened from the outside.
Now, somehow, that that door was opened. The police chief was unable to explain or unwilling to explain perhaps at this point what they have learned so far as to exactly how James Holmes entered. Was the door propped open? Had he come in earlier in the day and opened it up somehow?
That's really the question I think that remains unanswered, how that door that presumably would be locked from the outside just be able to exit through, how he was able to get in through that door. That remains the big question at this point.
BALDWIN: Right, the how. I was talking to an eyewitness not too long ago who said that he saw somebody in the theater, picked up his cell phone, got a call, went to the exit door and appeared to have propped it possibly and then not too long after the suspect gunman came back through. Was it the same person? We don't know yet.
Let me take you back to the weapons, because the police said they will have no idea right now.
(CROSSTALK)
LAVANDERA: Real quick, Brooke, on that note. On that note, the police chief is saying that at this point they are confident -- because that story has been out there circulating among many of the witnesses that someone had helped him open up the door from inside -- the police chief here just saying a short while ago that as far as they can tell right now they believe he acted alone and didn't have any help.
They are still saying they will investigate further, but at this point they strongly believe that's the case.
BALDWIN: Got it. Got it.
Hey, quickly, do we know yet if these weapons, they're myriad weapons he had, did he have them legally?
LAVANDERA: Well, as far as the weapons are concerned, I have been told that officials are beginning the process of investigating of just exactly how he obtained these weapons and where they came from and how they were purchase and if there's any irregularities with all of that. And that is one of the main things and one of the quickest things that investigators will do here in the next few hours. You can presume that that process is ongoing as we speak.
BALDWIN: Ed Lavandera, excellent reporting. Tough, tough story to cover. We appreciate you in Aurora.
And speaking of guns, after every incident like this, gun control eventually comes up in conversation. In this case, it took only a matter of hours. Want you to listen to what New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said just this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL BLOOMBERG (I), MAYOR OF NEW YORK: Soothing words are nice, but maybe it's time that the two people who want to be president of the United States stand up and tell us what they're going to do about it, because this is obviously a problem across the country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Bloomberg is the co-chair of Mayors Against Illegal Guns, which has more than 600 members and that includes the mayor of Philadelphia, Michael Nutter, who joins me now.
Mayor Nutter, welcome. There's so many people out there I know who will think it's just too soon, too early after tragedy to start talking gun control. You don't agree.
MICHAEL NUTTER (D), MAYOR OF PHILADELPHIA: Well, Brooke, first, let me send out on behalf of the city of Philadelphia and the U.S. Conference of Mayors our deepest sympathies to the families of those who were killed and certainly all who were injured.
The impact on Aurora and Aurora Mayor Steve Hogan and certainly nearby Denver Mayor Mike Hancock, I cannot imagine what they are going through right now. We will keep our prayers and thoughts on those families who lost loved ones and those who are injured.
Unfortunately, and maybe not on the news every day, but the issue of gun violence is ever-present with us every day in virtually every city across the United States of America. It is -- this is a great tragedy, and, again, we need to keep the focus on those who were killed or injured.
But you can't really escape the fact that more reasonable gun regulations and procedures need to be in place, a strengthening and tightening of the national background check system. I don't know why any civilian would ever be able to purchase an assault weapon or the parts that go with it.
We're told again, listening to your report, body armor, numerous weaponry. We're talking about 12 people killed, 59 injured. That's a lot of firepower in a very short period of time. This is a national crisis and a national issue and it needs to be addressed. BALDWIN: I think a lot of people agree with you. But the thing is, we heard from President Obama and Mitt Romney very, very early this morning releasing their statements. We saw them giving public addresses with regard to this tragedy.
Their hearts and of course prayers going out to the people of Aurora, but the thing is, Mr. Mayor, neither, neither men mentioned gun control in their statements. My question to you is what has to happen for Washington to reinstate the assault weapons ban which expired back in 2004?
NUTTER: Well, it's evident that on the gun issue and a number of other issues, Washington and certainly in the Congress, specifically, has been quite dysfunctional.
I'm not going to give the president or Mr. Romney specific advice today about what they should be saying, but I do believe that statements at an appropriate time, maybe when the funerals have taken place, both I would encourage to speak out specifically on this issue.
And as your graphic maybe of the previous show demonstrated, there's been a number of -- multiple people killed in assaults like this just in 2012. So, Washington, all elected officials at the local, state and federal level need to get much more serious about guns.
This is not a trip down the Second Amendment trap door. This is about reasonable regulations to protect people. Children were killed early this morning. Adults were killed. And this violence takes place on our streets in America every day.
And we just need to come to grips with it and make the tough call to save people's lives. I thought that's what public service was all about.
BALDWIN: Yes. It's interesting the word you use to describe Congress as dysfunctional.
I just want to share a few more numbers, Mayor Nutter. This is the Pew Research Center did some polling on gun control. This was just back in April. And they found 72 percent of Republican voters think it's more important to protect gun ownership and to control guns. Only 27 percent of the Democrats agree.
Why hasn't your party, the Democratic Party done more to legislate guns?
NUTTER: Well, I think whether at the state level and certainly at the federal level, this is purely a recognition of at times the fear that many feel from primarily the NRA.
Any right-thinking regular citizen wants to be safe. Again, I'm a big supporter of the Second Amendment. But I think I have a First Amendment right not to be shot. The one has no relationship to the other. And so the NRA has a disproportionate level of influence with regard to in some states the state general assembly and with the Congress at the federal level. We're in the business of saving people's lives.
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: But people would disagree with you, Mr. Mayor, because...
(CROSSTALK)
NUTTER: ... work within the Constitution.
BALDWIN: In terms of saving people's lives, I was at Virginia Tech. I covered that horrendous school shooting. You have what happened to Congresswoman Gabby Giffords. There are so many in between.
NUTTER: Absolutely, Columbine.
BALDWIN: Columbine, which is 22 miles away from Aurora. This has to stop.
NUTTER: It must stop.
The American people, their voices need to be heard. Many members of Congress are not representing the interest of their constituents. They are representing the interest of special interests. Until we can break that stranglehold that primarily the NRA has on our elected officials, regardless of party, Democrat, Republican, independent, regardless of whether you're in the House or in the Senate, the people of America need to speak up.
We took extraordinary measures to make ourselves safe as a result of 9/11. You almost have to take everything off to get on an airplane. We know what it takes to sacrifice in order to be safe. But we as a country seem not to be able to deal with the issue of guns and gun violence. And whether it's who gets them, how they get them, are they legal, are they not legal, these are serious issues. The American people, their voices must be heard.
I don't know what it will take ultimately. But we know that 12 people were killed and 59 were injured in a variety of levels by someone who maybe should not have had had those weapons in the first place, who maybe if we would strengthen the national background check system -- and of course we have to get more information on all of this.
BALDWIN: Yes, we do. We do.
NUTTER: But the American public needs to speak up. Mayors across the country have been dealing with these issues. I recognize and appreciate the work of Mayor Bloomberg. And Mayors Against Illegal Guns, the U.S. Conference of Mayors has spoken up on this issue as well. It's time for the American public to be heard also.
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: We're going to have to keep the conversation going and look for action as well.
Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, appreciate it.
NUTTER: Thank you, Brooke.
BALDWIN: It's just mind-boggling, 71 people hit by gunfire last night in Aurora, Colorado, 12 of them killed. But there are 59 survivors right now.
We're going to take you the hospital where a number of them are being treated. Also, I will speak with a doctor who is treating those survivors.
But, first, I want to show you some new video just into CNN. The flag, here it is, the flag of the White House just ordered lowered by the president.
We will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: The terror in Aurora, Colorado, hit everyone but the range of injuries as you would imagine is various.
Again, gunfire hit a total of 71 people. I want to get new information here on some of these survivors at one of the hospitals. I want to talk to Dr. Frank Lansville.
He's with the Aurora South Hospital.
Dr. Lansville, I know these are just, this is just one of those days you pray you never have to deal with and you're faced with this right now. If I may just begin with sheer numbers, how many patients are you treating and give me an update on their conditions.
DR. FRANK LANSVILLE, AURORA SOUTH HOSPITAL: An update we just received, we have seen a total of 18 patients so far, 12 of which suffered from some sort of a gunshot wound injury.
Seven of those patients have been admitted to the hospital and six of those have gone to surgery, I think one of which is still in surgery as we have this conversation.
BALDWIN: If we're talking 18 patients, how many would you say -- and forgive me for my lack of medical speak -- but how many would say are in the clear?
LANSVILLE: We have actually had three recent patients present to our facility. I do not have an update on their status at this time.
But we had a total of eight of patients that were able to be discharged home and are very stable at this time.
BALDWIN: OK. Dr. Lansville, I don't know when you came on this morning or this afternoon. I don't know if you can tell me what it was like in the wee hours of the morning when you all started receiving these patients, but I'm sure you have talked to someone who has if you weren't actually there. Can you walk me through just the scene at the hospital?
LANSVILLE: Actually, I was there. I was called in at 1:00 this morning, along with another emergency physician and four trauma surgeons who arrived within 20 minutes of the calls going out.
BALDWIN: Wow.
LANSVILLE: And we all presented to the department to manage patients.
They were being managed very well by the two emergency physicians who were on staff at the time, appropriately receiving the initial patients who arrived by police cruiser and then another influx of patients that arrived by ambulance.
We were able to stabilize them and get the most critical patients to the operating rooms in a very quick fashion.
BALDWIN: You bring up something that I just want to bring kudos to the Aurora Police Department. I know there were so many victims of these gunshot wounds that so many police officers took the victims in their own cars to these nearby hospitals to get treated.
When you listen to the police chief talk about the different weapons that this young suspected gunman had, the two Glock handguns, an assault weapon, tear gas, I can't even begin to imagine the injuries that you're dealing with. Can you talk to me about some about what you have been seeing specifically?
LANSVILLE: Well, surely you mentioned the tear gas. We did have several victims of tear gas that were certainly stable. They were seen, decontaminated and discharged.
The others patients what I would describe as horrific type gunshot wounds to various parts of their bodies. And again those most significant patients have already gone to surgery and are in some sort of state of either recovery or the intensive care unit.
But actually the department did very well and was actually very efficient and despite the chaos it functioned in a very calm demeanor. I think they knew they had a job to do and did it very well.
BALDWIN: It's incredible in these moments of duress and tragedy how people just do their jobs and they do them quickly and they do them to the best of their ability.
I thank you, Dr. Frank Lansville, for calling in. And I'm sure you have quite a team here as you are now in your 12th or 13th hour of work.
We appreciate you calling in. Thank you.
Coming up next, for one of last night's victims, it was her second mass shooting in less than two months -- the heartbreaking story of Jessica Ghawi next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Back to our breaking news.
Being part of a mass shooting is something no one in their lifetime should have to experience, but for one of those killed, it was actually her second mass shooting in less than two months.
Her name, Jessica Ghawi. She actually went by Jessica Redfield on air. She was an aspiring sports journalist. Just in early June she visited the Eaton Mall in Toronto and barely missed the attack there that left one person dead, seven people injured. After the Canada shooting, she blogged -- quote -- "My receipt shows my purchase was made at 6:20 p.m. After that purchase, I said I felt funny. It wasn't the kind of funny you feel after spending money you know you shouldn't have spent. It was almost a panicky feeling that left my chest feel like something was missing, a feeling that was overwhelming enough to leave me to head outside in the rain to get fresh air, instead of continuing back into the food court to go shopping at Sport Chek. The gunshots rung out at 6:23. Had I not gone outside, I would have been in the midst of gunfire."
Her most recent communication will break your heart. It's tough for me to get through this. Ghawi's last tweet, this was from Ghawi and this friend named Jesse (ph). It reads: "Movie doesn't start for 20 minutes."
Joining me by phone, Peter Burns, a friend who worked with Jessica at a local sports radio station.
Peter, I read some of her blogs after what happened in Toronto and just how she talks about how life was such a blessing, it just gives you chills. I want to talk here a little bit about her brother who I know you have been in contact. His postings and his top posting actually talks about call he got at 2:15 Central time.
Let me read this and then we will talk here. He writes: "I received an almost hysterical and almost unintelligible phone call from my mother stating that my sister, Jessica Ghawi, had been shot while attending the midnight showing of 'the Dark Knight Rises' in Colorado."
My question to you, Peter, is, I understand you have been in touch with their mother. Can you share whatever you can about that conversation?
PETER BURNS, FRIEND OF JESSICA GHAWI: Well, obviously, Jessica, I kind of feel responsible for one of the ones bringing her over here. We worked together in San Antonio for Ticket 760, one of the sports stations down there.
And she was just such a vibrant, go-getting intern. She wanted to be a part of everything. I moved out here about two years ago to Denver and really enjoyed it. And she would always ask, hey, how was it going and how can I help? And, finally, she says, hey, I think I want to move out to Denver. I love hockey. I want to be around sports. And it seems like you're loving it here and why not, so kind of a brave, brave soul she was.
What she did was she kind of dropped everything and enrolled in school here and really didn't know anybody outside of myself here in Denver, because she said...
BALDWIN: Wow.
BURNS: ... hey, I want to do this.
And part of the thing talking about her heart is that she had a little bit of heart ailment that she's always battled. And I think when she had serious issues, she really looked at it and said I'm going to do everything. She even went skydiving after that, saying I have no idea what's going to happen. Let me live my life and do it at the hardest.
BALDWIN: Wow.
BURNS: That's why she moved here. And even after the Toronto shooting, I know she was shaken up at that, but she goes, hey, there must be a reason.
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: Did she talk to you about that, Peter?
BURNS: Yes, she did. She was definitely shaken up by it.
But it was kind of one of those things it was like it even reaffirmed I'm so glad I'm not just sitting here, not necessarily wasting my life, but I'm so glad I'm doing every challenge I want and working so hard at it.
And after that shooting, she was like, this goes to show you like I want to do everything. I want to be the person first -- the first intern there, the hardest-working intern to be involved in journalism. And she was so outgoing that way. That's why it's just such a complete tragedy about somebody so young and so vibrant can be taken away like that.
BALDWIN: Quickly, how old was she, 20-what?
BURNS: Twenty-four.
BALDWIN: Twenty-four. Twenty-four.
I hate that we're talking about Colorado, always talking about Colorado so much with the wildfires and now we are with the shooting.
And speaking of the wildfires, correct me if I'm wrong, Peter, but was she not taking her time to, what -- what was she doing, getting hockey equipment to victims of the fire?
BURNS: This was unbelievable.
BALDWIN: Oh. BURNS: About a week -- a week ago, we had dinner right before I left the country, out of town for a little bit, and she said, hey, I want to talk to you. I don't know how to set up a charity. I want to do a charity for everybody that lost their sporting goods and their hockey gear, predominantly, in the wildfires.
And she says, I don't know how to do this. I know all these people. I can make a phone call. I've already done all the leg work of who will help, but how do I set it up? And, so, you know, we were talking about how to set that up.
And the one thing I can remember is, you know, she looked me square in the eye and says, I want to make sure my name is not part of this. And she did that. And she says, I don't want people to think I'm doing this to get a little p.r. or a press release that goes out or any kind of publicity. We just want to do this.
And that just speaks volumes about the type of person and character that Jessica was and the reason why her family has asked myself and her brother to speak on her behalf and on behalf of all these victims.
There were so many great things that these people accomplished. And we'd rather celebrate that life, honestly, than to give this suspect one ounce of airtime anywhere.
BALDWIN: Just reading her Twitter page. She sounds like a sweet, spunky young gal. Peter Burns, we appreciate you coming on and we will celebrate her. Condolences to her family. Appreciate it.
BURNS: Thank you very much.
BALDWIN: And Ghawi was actually one of three Texas victims in this Colorado shooting. Her boyfriend, Brent Lowak, was also with her at the movie right around midnight.
He was injured and our San Antonio affiliate, KENS, just spoke with this young man's father a short time ago. And I want you to listen as he talks about his son's condition.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LARRY LOWAK, FATHER OF SHOOTING VICTIM BRENT LOWAK: He's in surgery. He's still out. We don't know about -- I just talked to the nurse and he's awake and he's -- thank God, he's awake and you know.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: The elder Lowak is obviously still in shock, hearing the news that his son was shot and his son's girlfriend is dead. And I want to let you know Anderson Cooper will be speaking with Jessica's brother tonight, "AC360," 8:00 Eastern.
Be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BALDWIN: The precarious situation at this apartment complex of the suspected shooter not over yet. The shooting spree happening after midnight inside of this Aurora, Colorado, movie theater. You see these pictures, these bomb squad.
Police, still there, still at the suspect's apartment which they said could still become another killing zone.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHIEF DANIEL J. OATES, AURORA POLICE: Our investigation determined that his apartment is booby-trapped with various incendiary and chemical devices and apparent tripwires.
So we have an active and difficult scene, there. It may be resolved in hours or days. We simply don't know how we're going to handle that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Mike Brooks, HLN law enforcement analyst, you've been through this ...
MIKE BROOKS, HLN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Oh, yeah.
BALDWIN: ... p.d. and et cetera. I couldn't get my eyes off these pictures today because you see the guys. They appear to be all guys, sort of poking through some of these windows on the third floor of this, you know, suspect's apartment.
If we're hearing from this police chief that there are booby-traps and tripwires, why go through the window?
BROOKS: Well, if you're going to come through the front door, that's where the booby-traps and the tripwires most likely are, so use an alternate entrance. And that would be the windows.
If you set something up to be tripped by law enforcement coming through the front door if they had served a search warrant there, where would you expect them to come in? The front door. You probably wouldn't expect them to go through the window.
Now, how did they find that out? We don't know if he gave them that information because ...
BALDWIN: No, apparently, he did. He said ...
BROOKS: He said something about explosives. Right. Exactly.
So, you know, did he tell them exactly what was involved? Because when we first -- this was first unwinding, if you will, I saw a SWAT officer on top of one of their trucks with what looked like either a mirror or some kind of listening device that he was running all around the window.
Then we saw the Aurora fire department tower ladder and they took a pipe pole and they knocked the window out to break the window and pulled the frame out. And I saw the guy who looked like a special agent or bomb tech from the FBI, looking in, either taking pictures or using some other kind of technology to find out, OK, what do we have here?
Because what you want to do, a lot of times you take that picture, go back with the other bomb techs and say, how are we going to attack these different devices that we have inside?
BALDWIN: What if you're running the scene? You're the boss, Mike Brooks, and you're up there with these guys. How do you proceed? How do you penetrate the apartment? Through the window? What are you looking for?
BROOKS: The first thing I'm going to get is search warrant just to make sure the search is legal. And then there's no hurry. Take your time. Look in and see what you're got.
Because Chief Oates said that they were sophisticated booby-traps, so you don't want to injure yourself.
And, also, as this thing was unfolding, I saw the action to the fire department. They had trucks pulled up to the hydrant with a supply- line and you had firefighters in full protective equipment and self- contained breathing apparatus and they pulled lines. And you could see they were going in through the door, just in case something did happen they could knock that fire down.
BALDWIN: Speaking of patience, the chief saying this could be hours or days, so they're taking their sweet time.
BROOKS: There's no rush. There's no rush whatsoever. You've got the search warrant. The bomb techs are good. They know what they're doing and they will get this resolved.
BALDWIN: OK, Mike Brooks, thank you, as always.
BROOKS: Thank you, Brooke.
Reaction? It is pouring in from folks all around the country, including one victim from another tragic shooting in Arizona that killed six people there. Former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords and her husband, Mark Kelly, responded to the Colorado tragedy.
Let me read their statement. "Gabby and I were horrified to hear of the tragedy in Colorado last night. Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: I've got some news here, some breaking news with regard to this horrendous shooting in Aurora, Colorado. The suspected gun man, 24-year-old James Holmes carried multiple weapons, according to police, assault rifles, shotgun, handguns. We have just learned he owned the guns legally. Federal law enforcement officials say all the guns were legally purchased at Bass Pro Shops and Gander Mountain Guns in the last several months. That is new.
Also, quickly, because of this, because of multiple mass shootings, we're talking gun control. We're going to talk in Congress. We're going to talk to our senior congressional correspondent, Dana Bash, about that precise topic right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Just hours after the Colorado shooting, gun control advocates got political. I want you to listen to New York City mayor, Michael Bloomberg.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, MAYOR, NEW YORK CITY: Soothing words are nice, but maybe it's time that the two people who want to be president of the United States stand up and tell us what they're going to do about it because this is, obviously, a problem across the country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: I want to bring in our senior congressional correspondent, Dana Bash. Dana, hang on, because I do just want to read before we talk. This is a statement from the Brady Campaign. It's a campaign to prevent gun violence.
They say this today, quote, "This tragedy is another grim reminder that guns are the enablers of mass killers and that our nation pays an unacceptable price for our failure to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people. We are outraged."
I know the mayor is against illegal guns, Michael Bloomberg. I talked to Philadelphia mayor, Michael Nutter, calling Congress sort of dysfunctional when it comes to letting the expiration of the ban on assault weapons. This is a hot topic. What now?
DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The candid answer is, not much. Despite what the mayor said, Mayor Bloomberg said, I don't think we should expect very much to happen at all by way of gun legislation.
And the reason is just, bottom line, is for Democrats, they believe it's bad politics and have believed that, Brooke, since about the year 2000 when Al Gore was running for president.
It was right after a big, big, big fight on Capitol Hill about gun legislation. He was at the forefront of it. He talked about it on the campaign trail and he did not do well in some of those critical areas of the country where gun rights is a big, big issue, even and especially among Democrats and independent voters.
And so Democrats said maybe we should drop it and not put it so high on our priority list. And that's why on the past decade and plus actually maybe 12 years we have seen very little, if any movement from the Democrats. Those are the ones who pushed this legislation to begin with because they just don't think it's good politics.
BALDWIN: I want to play some sound because we heard both from the president and Romney speaking about this tragedy. And we'll listen to what they did and what they didn't say, depending on your prospective. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: If there's anything to take away from this tragedy, it's the reminder that life is very fragile. Our time here is limited and it is precious.
MITT ROMNEY, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Grieving and worried families in Aurora are surrounded with love today and not just by those with them and holding them in their arms. They can also know that they are being lifted up in prayer by people in every part of our great nation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: So, no talk of gun control in either of those addresses today. Mayor Bloomberg, critical of both candidates, keeping to his -- his words were "the soothing words." The Brady people are onboard. The NRA is quiet. Which candidate has the most to lose?
BASH: President Obama. There's no question about that. Look, I mentioned Al Gore and rural districts and red states. Look at the states that he feels he really has to win that he did win last time.
Virginia, forget it. I mean, there are so many Democrats and independents who are very, very, very much in favor of gun rights. Ohio is another example. And the list goes on. He simply can't talk about it.
You mentioned that the president and the Republican presidential candidate didn't talk about it. I got statement after statement -- we all did here -- on our BlackBerry from members of Congress, even Democrats and virtually none of them even mentioned the idea of gun control.
And that just speaks to the fact this is not a topic that most people will want to touch because they know it can't pass.
BALDWIN: Wow. Dana Bash in Washington. Dana, thank you.
The gunshots, the car, possible bombs, police continue to search for clues in the Colorado movie theater shooting.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: All right, back to this horrible story out of Aurora, Colorado. The latest numbers we have, 12 dead, 59 wounded. These are the latest numbers we have from this midnight shooting inside this packed screening of the new Batman movie, "Dark Knight Rises." Colorado authorities are not speculating on a motive for the massacre by the suspected gunman. Here he is, 24-year-old James Holmes, in the process of withdrawing from PhD neuroscience program at the University of Colorado, but he was, according to police, very much so armed last night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHIEF DAN OATES, AURORA, COLORADO, POLICE: Mr. Holmes was apprehended outside his white Hyundai parked in the back of the theater and he was apprehended with three weapons in the car and one was left at the scene inside the theater.
The weapons are as follows -- an AR-15 assault rifle, a Remington 870 shotgun, 12-gauge shotgun, and a 40-caliber Glock handgun. We believe those three weapons were used in the scene and another 40-caliber Glock handgun found in the car. We're not sure if that was also used in the scene.
I imagine I will be asked how many rounds are fired. My answer is, we have no capability right now of calculating that number. There were many, many rounds fired.
Our best available count on injuries, as of right now, is that 71 people were shot and that 12 are deceased.
We believe that as part of this assault Mr. Holmes set off two devices to distract the crowd. They ignited in some form and released some sort of irritant or smoke.
And we know his car was parked nearby in the back.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Right this moment, here they are. Authorities, FBI, police, ATF, they are very, very carefully approaching and trying to enter that third floor apartment of the suspected gunman.
When police got there they did confirm they found it has been booby- trapped.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OATES: We are not sure what we're dealing with in the home. They appear to be incendiary devices. There are some chemical elements there and there are also some incendiary elements that are linked together with all kinds of wires.
As a layman, it's not something I've ever seen before. We have a lot of smart bomb techs up there trying to figure out what we're going to do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Again, the very latest information from Aurora, Colorado. Police puts the number of dead in that movie theater shooting at 12, 59 people wounded.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DARIUS HARVEY, WITNESS: I laid down at first to take cover and then I helped my friends that I was with get out and we jumped out off the back of the seats and went into the back exit door.
So, I saw people from a lady being pregnant and I saw people from a father having his kids with him, kids that are like 4-years old. And then I saw even grown men, actually, a teacher of mine was actually there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: That was Darius Harvey. He was watching the new Batman movie in that theater in Aurora when a gunman burst in and started shooting. He is one of the lucky ones. A dozen people are dead, 59 wounded.
This incident now the largest mass shooting in the history of the United States because of the number of people killed, but also injured.
The governor of Colorado puts into words, also today, what's going through the mind of just about any parent anywhere in the country today. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOVERNOR JOHN HICKENLOOPER, COLORADO: There's not one of us that doesn't read or hear this story, certainly anyone who has children, and think about it being your child in that movie theater, your cousin's child or your neighbor's child.
And that reality makes the pain and the grief too intense for words, but we can't let it keep us from our lives.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Thank you for being with me today. Our thoughts and prayers go to those in Colorado. I'm Brooke Baldwin.
Now, to Wolf Blitzer. Your "Situation Room" begins now.
WOLF BLITZER, HOST, "THE SITUATION ROOM": Brooke, thanks very much.
