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First Live Pictures of James Holmes; Holmes Appears in Court; NCAA Hands Down Penn State Punishment; Interview with Olympic Gymnast Jordyn Wieber; Murder Trial of Former Police Officer Under Way; Victims of Aurora Shooting Are Remembered
Aired July 23, 2012 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, ANCHOR, "CNN NEWSROOM": And good morning, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips. It's 11:00 on the East Coast, 8:00 on the West.
Our first look at the movie theater massacre suspect since his arrest. James Holmes facing a Colorado judge this hour. Live cameras in the courtroom.
Penn State football escapes the so-called "death penalty," but the punishment just handed down by the NCAA may be even worse.
And Drew Peterson goes on trial for the murder of his third wife while the disappearance of wife number four is still an open case.
We begin with a "death penalty" for Penn State football. Well, not so much, but this is definitely going to hurt. Just this morning, the university got slapped with a massive penalty that will last for years to come.
Among the most brutal, a $60 million fine, a four-year post- season ban and a forfeit of all football wins since 1998. You know what that means? Joe Paterno loses his title as winningest coach in major college football history.
All of this in the wake of that child sex abuse scandal involving former assistant football coach, Jerry Sandusky. Rumors of the massive fine trickled out on Sunday, the same time Paterno's iconic statue on campus was wrapped in plastic, covered with a blanket and hauled away.
The NCAA just made the announcement in Indianapolis. Mark McKay was there for it. So, Mark, this is a huge blow to this school.
MARK MCKAY, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: A huge blow, certainly, to Penn State university, Kyra, but NCAA President Mark Emmert said that his organization needed to act and need to act quickly. He also added that no one feels good about this.
You touched on the sanctions handed down just a couple of hours ago here in Indianapolis on Penn State. Let me bring them out. You mentioned the $60 million fine. That will be paid in $12 million installments by Penn State University over the next five years and cannot come at the expense of other sports programs. That money will be paid into an endowment for programs that serve victims of child sexual abuse.
Penn State also vacating all wins by the football program from the years 1998 to 2011. The NCAA saying that 1998 is the year that the university's failures began.
A four-year ban on post-season play. No bowl games for the next four years for Penn State and scholarship reductions from 25 to 15, capped at 65 for the football program.
The president and the NCAA believes they have done the right thing in this case, all the while, remembering the victims.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARK EMMERT, NCAA PRESIDENT: This is just an unprecedented, painful chapter in the history of intercollegiate athletics.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCKAY: NCAA also saying today, Kyra, that everyone needs to be reminded, especially the universities themselves, that the presidents and the chancellors are the ones in charge.
PHILLIPS: Final thought, Mark, explain how these penalties are even worse than a "death penalty?"
MCKAY: Well, you think about the "death penalty," which the NCAA president Mark Emmert said was on the table, it was being considered. The "death penalty," of course, being the football program being banished, disappearing for a while.
He said, though, the sanctions here needed to reflect a change of the culture. He said, in addition to that, they do not want to bring harm to those that had nothing to do with the Jerry Sandusky case.
So, it's a sense of moving on. But, yes, this university has been hit hard over these past three months. They're hit even harder today, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Yeah. Mark McKay, thanks so much. And not only do the penalties mean that Joe Paterno has lost his title as winningest Division I coach, it also means that some players lost their own bragging rights.
Take a look at this. Evan Royster, who started playing for Penn State in 2007 and now plays for the Redskins, tweeted out, "Oh, crap, so I lost every college football game I ever played in?"
Twelve dead, 58 wounded and at least 17 people still hospitalized as the community of Aurora, Colorado, and the nation still grappling with Friday's movie theater massacre.
In less than 30 minutes, that gunman believed to be behind the carnage will make his first appearance in court today. Twenty-four- year old James Holmes will likely face first degree murder charges. Police say Holmes spent months planning out his alleged rampage, gathering his arsenal, executing his plan and pulling the trigger with, quote, "calculation and deliberation." His court appearance will come just a few hours before his family is expected to break their silence, as well.
Let's get straight to Don Lemon who is just outside the courthouse where Holmes will be facing a judge in half an hour. Don, this will be the first look at Holmes since his arrest.
DON LEMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It certainly will be. And, you know, even covering this story for days now, Kyra, it's just hard to believe as you were reading about the suspect, about what happened.
Yes, it will be the first time we'll get to see him. He has that red hair, as police say that he had when he was arrested. This is where he is now, they believe. That is the Arapahoe County Detention Center.
He's going to be moved from this Arapahoe County Detention Center underground. There's an underground tunnel and then he's going to be brought just over here to the right to the Arapahoe County Courthouse and that'll be the first time we get to see him.
Kyra, we should tell you that there are family members that are inside that courtroom now. Some in a courtroom, some are in a room that has been set aside for them. They're going to get to view it, view this hearing via closed circuit television.
Members of the media will get to find out exactly what happens to him and what his frame of mind was, possibly. So, the first time we'll get to see him and possibly hear from the people who are defending him.
PHILLIPS: I'll tell you what, Don. We're taking hits on your live shots. We're going to try to figure out what the technical problems are. So, stay with us because we're going to be talking to you a lot throughout this hour.
I apologize, Don. We just don't want to take a risk of breaking away from you again, so we'll come back to Don Lemon from just outside the courthouse as we await suspect James Holmes and his arrival there.
Meanwhile, President Obama is waking up in San Francisco this morning. He changed his original campaign plan so he could visit the mourning community of Aurora, Colorado, actually, on Sunday. The president briefly addressed the media after visiting with the families.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: I come to them, not so much as president as I do as a father and as a husband.
(END VIDEO CLIP) PHILLIPS: And Mitt Romney called the Colorado visit the right thing for the president to do. Romney also addressed the tragedy Sunday evening, saying, quote, "Our hearts are with the many people who have lost loved ones in Colorado and other places, but particularly, we are thinking of the people in Aurora, Colorado."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, do you remember your 16th birthday? It meant, usually, getting your driver's license or getting ready for prom. But for Jordyn Wieber, turning 16 means competing in the Olympics.
The Michigan gal was born to be a gymnast, training since she was just a toddler and taking gold in last year's world championships. But finding her balance outside of the gym has been the bigger challenge. She wants to be the best in the world, but you'll see by Randi Kaye's report, there's something else on her mind, as well.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: World champion gymnast Jordyn Wieber went it her own prom. Keep it part of the plan for the DeWitt, Michigan, native. Keep it normal, keep her grounded and keep her at home.
JORDYN WIEBER, USA OLYMPIC GYMNAST: I think it's really important. I've always tried to keep a good balance throughout my life with training in elite gymnastics and then also just being a normal 16-year-old just hanging out with my friends.
RITA WIEBER, MOTHER OF JORDYN WIEBER: We were lucky because our gym was 20 minutes away and we were lucky that our school district was willing to be flexible. And she hasn't gone to school in the mornings regularly since fifth grade. So, now, she only goes to school for one class in the afternoons, but, nonetheless, she's still there. She still gets to go, you know, to lunch with her friends and she still goes to some of the football games and she went to prom. And I just figured those were the kind of things that you can't really go back and redo.
KAYE: Dave and Rita Wieber knew they had an athlete in the family when she was very young.
R. WIEBER: Jordyn got involved in gymnastics because my husband and I thought she looked like a gymnast. From the time when she was about one, we thought she was really muscley.
Then when she was four, four-and-a-half-ish, she still looked really muscular, although it was getting more. So then I put her into more of a traditional gymnastic class like where they do all the bars, the beams and she's never been away from it since then.
KAYE: Now, the muscular toddler turned teenager heads to London, brimming with confidence after winning gold in the all-around competition at the world championships last year. J. WIEBER: It brought me a lot of confidence. It just kind of gives me a little extra motivation to do well this summer and I think -- but at the same time, I have to work just as hard as everyone else. I don't really get to take a break just because I did well at world championships.
KAYE: Wieber's dream is to become the third American to win gold in the all-around category in consecutive Olympics after Nastia Liukin at the Beijing games in 2008 and Carly Patterson in the 2004 games in Athens.
If it happens, family will have played a prominent role.
J. WIEBER: I wouldn't be where I am today without my family behind me, supporting me. They're always making so many sacrifices so I that can go to practice and I can travel to my competitions and everything, so I'm really grateful that they do that.
KAYE: For Wieber, winning gold would be a great way to say thanks.
Randi Kaye, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: The murder trial of former Illinois police officer Drew Peterson is getting under way today. The disgraced cop is accused of killing his third wife, Kathleen Savio in 2004. She was found dead in a bathtub.
Peterson is also the leading suspect in the 2007 disappearance of his fourth wife, Stacy Peterson.
Ted Rowlands is live outside the courthouse in Chicago. And, Ted, the trial is expected to receive plenty of attention, so what are you hearing about jury selection right now?
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, they just started, Kyra. There was a bit of a delay, so they're a little less than an hour into this process.
It is going to be a difficult process because this jury pool was the same jury pool that they selected two years ago. So, these people have been told for the last two years, don't read any newspapers, don't watch any television concerning this.
But two years has elapsed, so they're now going to have to now go through each one of these jurors and see just how well they have adhered to the judge's admonishments and then try to pick a panel of folks that don't know about this case, but specifically don't know about Drew Peterson's missing wife, Stacy.
That cannot come into this trial. It's not supposed to be part of this trial. It's going to be a difficult task to find 12 people that don't know who have a fourth wife that is missing and he's on trial for the death of his third wife. PHILLIPS: I mean, you bring up a good point. How are they going to set a fair trial? This has been all over the news, as you know.
ROWLANDS: Yes. Well, one thing that they may end up doing and probably this will be the case, people that say, yes, I have heard about that, then they'll be questioned by the judge, can you put that aside?
Can you during this process just put that on the other side of your brain, listen to the facts of this case and ignore the fact that you may know that he has another missing wife out there somewhere.
A tough task, but that will likely be the route that this judge will have to go to impanel a jury.
PHILLIPS: And, Ted, before I let you go. I mean, you remember covering the story, all of us, for months and months and months and he had no problem rolling up to the cameras talking and making statements and saying things.
How do you think that's all going to play out and weave into what he's facing now?
ROWLANDS: Well, the judge, the first thing is, how is he going to act in court? Because right now during the pretrial hearings when the jury's not there, he's all smiles and looking around the room.
When the jury is in the room, will he be focused, looking down and not scanning the room looking like he's enjoying himself? That will be the first thing. How does that play into it?
And then the second thing is how much of what he has done will have been seen by this jury. The bottom line is and outside the courtroom this morning his defense attorneys were asked, hey, people think he's a jerk. How will that play into this?
And they responded, if people were convicted for being jerks, our prison system would be full. They are anticipating that this jury will keep all of that to the side.
The judge in this case, however, did not allow them to play media clips. The prosecution wanted to do that because he thought that would work against Peterson and saying that would be prejudicial.
So it all comes down to which Drew Peterson will they see during this, what is expected to be a four-week trial.
PHILLIPS: Got it. Ted Rowlands, thanks so much.
And opening statements are scheduled to begin next week.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, we are keeping a close eye on the courthouse in Aurora, Colorado. James Holmes hasn't formally been charged in the Colorado mass shooting spree, but the suspect is scheduled to make his first court appearance any minute now. The 24-year-old former doctoral student is likely to face first-degree murder charges.
Stay with us right here on CNN. We're going to bring you live coverage, as soon as the process begins.
Meanwhile, while we're waiting for that, joining me live from New York, legal analyst Paul Callan. Paul, let's go ahead and talk a little bit about what to expect today. This is James Holmes' initial appearance, called an advisement, right? Explain what that is exactly.
PAUL CALLAN, CNN LEGAL CONTRIBUTOR: Well, it's a little different than what our viewers are usually hearing. We usually hear about a criminal arraignment in most states.
This is a proceeding that is before the arraignment. Basically, prosecutors will appear in front of the judge. They have the right to lodge a charge against him. They could just lodge one charge, something sufficient to hold him.
He can be then held for at least another 72 hours without bail and then, at that point, they can hand down more specific charges and a regular criminal arraignment will be set up, which will be a much more elaborate procedure with somebody entering a guilty or not guilty plea.
This is going to be kind of a fast, in-and-out sort of procedure. I don't anticipate that you'll see a lot happening at this first appearance.
PHILLIPS: So, OK, so, we're not going to actually -- so, you don't think we're going to actually hear the charges?
PHILLIPS: No. I don't, I don't even think that -- I don't think you're going to hear entry of a guilty or not guilty plea.
You're certainly not going to hear all of the charges. It's possible prosecutors could lodge an individual charge and you may hear about an individual charge.
PHILLIPS: Like first-degree murder.
CALLAN: Yes. And they're just looking to present him to a judge so that they have the grounds to continue to hold him as the investigation continues for at least another 72 hours without bail and then, when that's wrapped up, you'll see a whole host of charges asserted at a subsequent proceeding.
PHILLIPS: And then does it take, what, about a month for a preliminary hearing and then that's when we'll start to hear from witnesses?
CALLAN: That's right. After the criminal arraignment on whatever charges are eventually lodged against him, after 30 days, then we have a preliminary hearing in Colorado.
Once again, in a lot of states, you don't have this kind of hearing because the case has been presented to a grand jury, but in Colorado, it's likely that we will have a preliminary hearing at which time the prosecutor has to prove that he's got probable cause and a basis to hold these cases over for trial.
So, that's when we'd get our first detailed look at the case, unless, of course, it's waived by the defense.
PHILLIPS: All right, Paul Callan stay with us because we are keeping a close eye on the courthouse there in Aurora, Colorado.
James Holmes hasn't been formally charged yet in the Colorado mass shooting spree, but he is expected to make his first court appearance today. It should be happening any moment. We are following that live.
We're also going to talk about new details that we are finding out about the suspect and his past. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: And we're keeping our close eye still on that courthouse in Aurora, Colorado. We also want to welcome our viewers around the world, joining us right now.
We're talking about James Holmes, not formally being charged yet in the Colorado mass shooting spree, but he is scheduled to make his first court appearance any minute now.
The 24-year-old former doctoral student is likely to face first- degree murder charges and you will hear that first here on CNN.
Now, the victims. They were mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, even very young children.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOVERNOR JOHN HICKENLOOPER (D), COLORADO: John Blunk ...
UNIDENTIFIED MALES AND FEMALES: We will remember.
HICKENLOOPER: A.J. Boik ...
UNIDENTIFIED MALES AND FEMALES: We will remember.
HICKENLOOPER: Jesse Childress ...
UNIDENTIFIED MALES AND FEMALES: We will remember.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Those are just some of the names of the 12 victims who died from the shooting rampage in Aurora. The community held this prayer vigil yesterday and the president spoke just before the vigil after visiting with survivors and the victims' families.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) OBAMA: Words are always inadequate in these kind of situations. I come to them, not so much as president as I do as a father and as a husband.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Poppy Harlow was actually at last night's vigil and has been learning a lot more about the victims. Poppy, obviously, a lot of grief right now and you've spoken to a number of the family members and friends. Not an easy thing to do as a reporter, that is for sure.
POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM CORRESPONDENT: You know, Kyra, I think it's sort of unimaginable, still, for them. The sense that I get from the family and friends of those injured and those that have been killed is shock, disbelief.
But what we saw last night at that vigil that you just played part of is the beginning of a healing process here. That was one of the most touching parts of the whole vigil, I think, when Governor John Hickenlooper read off the names and the crowd responded, "We will remember," to all of them.
Also, the mayor of Aurora said the pain is still raw, but we will reclaim our city in the name of goodness, kindness and compassion and that really stood and stuck with me.
So, I talked to a lot of people at this vigil from here in Aurora about forgiveness and if they believe they can even start thinking about forgiveness right now. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Forgiveness isn't always for the person that you're forgiving that committed the crime, it's also for yourself and it's part of that healing. If you can't forgive someone and you hold it in your heart, then you're going to stay angry.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A six-year-old little girl was killed. That's my daughter. My daughter is one-year old and I have a three- year-old daughter myself and, so, I don't think he can be forgiven.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Part of the prayers this morning were not only for victims and their families and for first responders and for everybody that's helping, but for the shooter and his family because, for me, personally, and for our belief system, it's not our place to judge and not forgiving only puts us in a place where we can't move forward.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: Pretty incredible to hear people who have gone through so much saying that, for the most part, they believe that they can start to forgive, Kyra.
But I should note, we still have 17 victims in the hospital, eight in critical condition at this hour, so this is still far from over. Still really a perilous situation here, but last night this community, thousands of people came together. It was incredibly moving.
PHILLIPS: Well, we've been learning extraordinary details about the victims, Poppy, and we're going to talk more about that in just a few minutes, so stay with us.
According to a number of reports, the movie, the victims were there to watch when Holmes allegedly opened fire, "The Dark Knight Rises," opened worldwide taking in about $160 million. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: We want to welcome our viewers worldwide.
Right now you are seeing the first live picture. And I apologize. The attorney just stood up right there in front of the shooting suspect. Now the camera is pulling out into a wider shot. We'll stay on this live picture.
This is James Holmes. He hasn't been formally charged yet in that Colorado mass shooting spree. But this is his first court appearance that has just begun.
Here you go. You're going to finally get a close-up shot of the 24-year-old shooting spree suspect.
We had mentioned -- I tell you what, well, let's listen for a minute. Let's listen for a minute and we'll bring in Paul Callan. Let's take a listen.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Advise of the charges. You have a right to be advised of the charges. Preliminary judge made a deliberation of probable cause to believe you committed the offense of first degree murder, which is a class-one felony under Colorado law. Ordinarily individuals are entitled to bail given the nature of the charges, you're currently being held on a no bond hold. You also have the right to have a jury trial and preliminary hearing to determine whether it is probable cause to believe that you are the person who committed the offense.
Mr. Holmes, do you have any questions about that initial advisement?
Judge, we've advise Mr. Holmes (INAUDIBLE) --
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED JUDGE: Thank you, Mr. King. 181001, we are to enter a mandatory protection order and any violation of protection order can create a new criminal defense or attempt of court. It is the order of the court you shall not harass, molest, intimidate, retaliate against any witness to or any victim of the acts you are charged with committing, shall vacate the home of the victim, stay away from the home of the victims and stay away from any other locations the victims are likely to be found. You shall refrain from contacting directly or indirectly communicating with the victims. You shall not possess or control firearm or other weapon. You shall not possess alcoholic beverages or control substances. And it is the further order of the court you are not to commit any new offenses.
Ms. Pierson, if you'd approach, please.
Just signed a mandatory protection order. If you'll give a copy to Mr. Holmes and acknowledge it's received on the record.
Any questions on the charges which (INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are asking for an extended period of time, be it 72 hours necessary delays. So we will be requesting until next Monday, July 30th.
UNIDENTIFIED JUDGE: Mr. King?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Your honor, we do not object to that. If I may approach, I do have an application if I may get your signature?
UNIDENTIFIED JUDGE: You may.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Your honor, at that time, we will also file an amendment to the protection order in this case.
UNIDENTIFIED JUDGE: The court has signed the application for the appointment of a public defender. A public defender is appointed. We'll set the matter for formal filing charges this Monday, July 30th, 9:30, in this division.
Given the nature of the charges and the likely pleadings, I'm entering the initial case management order.
Counsel receive a copy of that order yet?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, sir.
UNIDENTIFIED JUDGE: Thank you.
Mrs. Pierson, did you receive a copy?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. (INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We'll make sure you get a copy. Essentially, what that is going to do in order to track the pleadings, all people's filings will be captioned with a "P" with a sequential number therefore, the defense will be a "D" with sequential number thereafter. I will identified by filings or orders with a C. In that we have had some filings already, the initial case management order, which I captioned C2, does list the orders and motions filed thus far. What I would like to do is recap them and make sure I'm not missing anything.
So far, we've got C1, which is the EMC decorum order that I issued. We have the P1 the motion to seal the search warrant, which was filed by the people. I did grant that. We've got outstanding D1, which is a motion for access to and preservation of the crime scene, which relates to access by the defense and their experts to the movie theater. We'll address that in a moment. We've got D2, A motion to limit pretrial publicity. Along with that motion, I did receive a proposed order, however, I am inclined to go ahead and just track rule 3.6 and 3.8 of the Rules Professional Conduct.
Mrs. Pierson, the people -- (AUDIO PROBLEM)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED JUDGE: Thank you.
The court will be issuing the order granting the pretrial publicity. We'll make sure counsel gets a copy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) the court, there is some difference between -- (INAUDIBLE) --
UNIDENTIFIED JUDGE: The defense (AUDIO PROBLEM)
PHILLIPS: We're having issues with the audio and we apologize for that. But I think the pictures speak a lot louder than any words at this moment.
You're looking at live pictures inside the courtroom and seeing 24-year-old James Holmes for the very first time since that shooting spree on Friday.
Paul Callan, I've got to bring you in on this because, look, you've been in the courtroom, you have dealt with suspects like this. What is going on? Is he tired? Is he delusional? I mean, I know we're speculating, at this moment, but he -- if you look at him, it's pretty chilling if you look into his eyes.
PAUL CALLAN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, yes. And it's, of course, the bizarre hairdo, which allegedly is his, trying to be the Joker from the "Batman" movie. What I'm noticing about him is very different from a normal defendant, if you can say a normal defendant in a murder case, is he's just -- he's totally unemotional. He's flat. People usually look very nervous. But let's go back to the sound here, I guess.
PHILLIPS: OK.
UNIDENTIFIED JUDGE: We do have the motion for access to the crime scene.
(AUDIO PROBLEM)
What is your position on that?
(AUDIO PROBLEM)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Participating later this week. We're no there yet. We still have a ways to go.
UNIDENTIFIED JUDGE: Are you in a position to give them reasonable access with 24 hours' notice?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED JUDGE: All right. The court will issue an order concerning that.
Anything further on that issue?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One piece of the apartment (AUDIO PROBLEM)
UNIDENTIFIED JUDGE: Did I misread your motion? Because I think you addressed the movie theater?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I apologize if that was the case, judge. (INAUDIBLE). We are asking and I will amend the plea -- (AUDIO PROBLEM)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Your honor, I assume they also want to be a part of the (INAUDIBLE) and that it is safe (INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED JUDGE: Thank you.
(AUDIO PROBLEM)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Your honor, we filed this morning a motion -- (AUDIO PROBLEM)
PHILLIPS: I want to bring our legal analyst, Paul Callan back in.
Paul, you and I are going to talk about what's going on right now and we're going to talk about what you're noticing here with James Holmes, the suspect. And we've got someone in the control room monitoring to see if this audio gets any better and if we can understand what's taking place, but we can't even hear what's being said at this point.
So, first of all, you were saying -- all right, does it seem like a solid connection to the audio. No. OK, let's hold off, guys, until we know we got it going for a while. If someone can monitor that.
Paul, let's explain to our viewers what's happening right now as we're seeing the suspect, James Holmes, for the very first time.
CALLAN: Well, most Americans know that when you're arrested, you have to be produced in court before a judge. You can't be held indefinitely in the United States. It's illegal in every state under the U.S. Constitution. This is a Colorado proceeding where he's appearing in front of a judge. They haven't decided on all the formal charges against him, but the judge is taking a preliminary look at the investigation and he's made a decision that there is grounds to continue to hold him with no bail, at least until what I'm hearing is Monday when prosecutors will probably come back with a more complete set of charges to advise the court about. And what I was saying to you before, Kyra, about arraignments, I've been in court with a lot of individuals charged with murder, both as a prosecutor and as a defense attorney, and I have to say, looking at him, very, very strange. I'm not just talking about the red hair. He is very flat in his presentation, totally unemotional. This is unusual. Of course, when someone is charged with a very serious crime, they really, they're engaged and they look very nervous. You see them consulting with counsel. He is simply looking straight ahead and looking down. There doesn't seem to be --
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIPS: He looks like he's out of it. He looks --
(CROSSTALK)
CALLAN: Yes.
PHILLIPS: -- I don't know, is he falling asleep? They wouldn't have him on any type of medication, right? I mean what we're seeing is -- is who he is without -- or is it possible that there could be medication involved? I should put that to you?
CALLAN: He's conferring with his attorney now. It is possible. There are two situations I suppose where he could be medicated. One is if he was medicated previously, taking some kind of psychotic medication, he may -- they may have continued that and permitted that. But, usually, at an arraignment, no drugs have occurred first. So, I think you're looking at a very tired individual combined with whatever his normal personality may be. I doubt it's drug-induced at this point.
PHILLIPS: We're going to try and re-rack the video that we were just able to roll on and we apologize to our viewers for not, we weren't able to listen to all the audio. We'll try to piece this all together. You couldn't take your eyes off of him because, you were saying it's not only the hair, but just the way he was acting and behaving. Let me ask you about that. I can't even imagine what this is like for his parents, as well. It's got to be crushing. This is the first time they're seeing their son since this happened on Friday.
But looking at a situation like this and trying to piece together all the facts, you know, kind of put me and put all of us in the mind set of an attorney. What are you thinking here? I mean, there's a lot of questions too. And you brought this up just a moment ago. Is it possible that he was on some type of psychotic medication and was it keeping up with that? I know there's a lot of questions about what was his medical mystery, his background and what was he dealing with? He went from star, brilliant student who was lecturing on neuroscience to dropping out of school, kind of disappearing from friends and family and becoming a loner and now since this happened we're hearing a lot of disturbing details of what was taking place in the past couple of months. What is this looking like to you as you are learning about all the details and now seeing him for the first time and putting this altogether? CALLAN: Well, you know, the first thing that's happening today, of course, he had an opportunity appointed. The public defender, apparently, from what I heard. The second thing you heard the judge say, there's a protective order. He can't contact anybody or reach out to anybody. Normally that would be sort of in a domestic violence or ordinary violence case if the defend go defendant got out you wouldn't want him contacting victims. He will remain incarcerated, I can assure you, throughout the entire criminal proceedings, regardless of what you hear in this courtroom.
Now, what's a defense attorney looking at? The first thing they're looking at, of course, is the possibility of an insanity defense, but before an insanity defense, the first thing a criminal defense attorney has to assess is, can the client actually stand trial? Is he competent to stand trial? The attorney will be talking to him, trying to decide two things. One, does he understand the charges against him and, two, can he provide any kind of meaningful assistance in his defense? If the answer to both of those questions is, yes, he understands the proceedings and can assist, he can proceed to the next step, which is preliminary hearings, trial and maybe insanity defense. But in a lot of these case, where there's severe mental illness -- which sometimes does manifest itself later in life. There are forms, for instance -- and I don't know if it applies here, but of schizophrenia, that manifest themselves in the mid-20s. So, it would not be unusual for that to happen with respect to a particular suspect. In that case, if he's incompetent to stand trial, he's sent off to a mental hospital. and, in fact, there could be years before this case is resolved. But, of course, we don't know the answer to that question because we haven't seen what he said to the police, and certainly we don't have the benefit of any medical analysis at this point.
But I can assure you, that's what the defense attorney is looking at first and foremost, what is his client's mental condition and how to protect his client while he remains incarcerated in Colorado.
PHILLIPS: All right, Paul Callan, stay with us.
You are seeing right now pictures, live pictures that just happened moments ago. The first time we were able to see 24-year-old James Holmes, the man being charged in that shooting spree at the movie theater in Aurora, Colorado. We are following this for you now.
We'll take a quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Unemotional, his unemotional eyes opening and closing and his head bobbing back and forth. It is the first look that we have gotten of 24-year-old James Holmes, the young man accused of killing 12 people and wounding 58 in that movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, overnight from Thursday to Friday of last week. This is the first time that we have seen him as he appeared in court just moments ago.
Inside that courtroom, our Jim Spellman. Jim, we had a hard time listening to what was happening inside of the courtroom, because we had audio issues. Our Don Lemon, also outside of the courtroom.
Spell out, Jim, what you heard the judge say. We got a little bit about the protection order. We can talk about that, but can you fill in the gaps for us that we could not understand when the audio was cracking?
JIM SPELLMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Sure. Probably the most important thing is that exactly one week from today, 9:30 on next Monday morning, is when they will charge him and arraign him. They went through a number of the usual kind of things that they do about this that it is a no-bond-hold, and ordered him not to have any communications with witnesses or victims in this case. So, he'll be, you know, held in jail, so he would have to do that by proxy, but they wanted to be sure that there would be no harassment or anything of witnesses.
But I will tell you, if you were looking for -- from my point of view, if you were looking for clues into what was going on with James Holmes, you did not get them today, because he looked bewildered and glum, and certainly not any super villain that maybe the hair -- he was trying to portray himself as.
DON LEMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And, Kyra, I heard you and Paul talking about the demeanor in the courtroom. You could see he was sort of out of it.
And, Jim, you and I have been getting reports of the way he was acting in jail and under solitary confinement, and some of the inmates wanted to get him. And he was spitting at the police officers and they were watching him. And he was under suicide watch, and sitting -- so when you saw him in the courtroom, his behavior, did he appear to be out of it to you?
SPELLMAN: Well, he seemed a little out of it. He made a little eye contact with us as he surveyed the scene when he walked in, but the rest of the time, he mostly looked straight ahead. He did not look at any -- there were a few of the victims' families in there and they stared at him the entire time and did not take their eyes off of him. He did not look back that I could see.
LEMON: You didn't see his mother or any of his family members in the courtroom?
SPELLMAN: Not that I could see.
LEMON: And, Kyra, the woman next to him, and Jim can talk about that, that is Tamara Brady. She is a public defender. And Daniel King is defending him. James O'Connor is their boss. But they are the people taking the lead on this.
And we will tell you that the district attorney here, Carol Chambers, will be holding a press conference live here in a couple of minutes. CNN will, of course, carry that for you. But it is going to be interesting, her prosecution on the case, because she is on term limits. She's almost up. She is a staunch defender of the death penalty, which is odd here in Colorado, because it is not a big death penalty state.
SPELLMAN: She has gone for it six times before and gotten two death penalty convictions before under her office. She has appointed four deputies to take on the case. That is unusual. It's the most that a spokesperson in there could ever recall being assigned to a single case. It is obviously complex, with this -- what are bound to be very at the very least 70 counts, one for each victim, so probably more than that. A very complex case and they need a big team on it.
LEMON: She is controversial and in the media spotlight a lot. And she is also has said some controversial things of billing the state for cases that happened in her county. And it is going to be an interesting prosecution to watch here.
I'm sorry, Kyra. Go ahead.
PHILLIPS: What about the protection order that the judge talked about, Jim? Can you talk about that and what that means?
SPELLMAN: Yes, that protection order is the order to not have any contact or harass any of the victims or the witnesses. There were a lot of stipulations to exactly what is in it, but that is the essence of it is to not try to deal with any of them. The defense also wanted to make sure that they had access not only to the movie theater, but to his apartment, and the prosecution assured them they would at some point later in the week be able to do that, of course, to build the defense.
PHILLIPS: Now, what about James Holmes' mom and dad? Did you see them in the courtroom? There are conflicting reports of whether or not they are in there or not.
SPELLMAN: I did not see them and nobody pointed them out to me. There were a lot of people in the court. It is possible, but I did not see them.
PHILLIPS: And, Don --
LEMON: They gave a statement, by the way, Kyra, in a couple of hours in San Diego, a couple of hours ago. The family gave a statement earlier saying they wanted their privacy and that they felt sorry for what happened. But they will give, in San Francisco, at least a spokesperson for the family, going to come out the give a statement on behalf of the family. But the family members were inside. One of them -- I think that is where you were going, Kyra, with Alex Teaves (ph), a 24-year-old, is that what you were going ask me, who died in the shooting?
PHILLIPS: Yes. Well, Don, I was going to say you have been learning more details about James Holmes and I am wondering, did we got to that all of that, because we went obviously straight inside of the courtroom. Did you get a chance to tell us everything that you have been able to obtain from your sources with regard to new developments about the background of James Holmes?
LEMON: Yes. When you were talking to Paul, I wanted to jump in and tell you guys what we had been hearing here. And Jim and I spoke about it. Just about how oddly he is acting when he is in confinement here, and that they had to put him in solitary. And they were also afraid he would take his life and afraid that other inmates were going to try to harm him, because they were so upset at what he did. The inmates, who were just released, came out saying that guy was acting crazy. His eyes rolling back in his head. He was spitting at the door and spitting at police officers in the jail, and they said this guy is really, really messed up.
But if I can finish my thought on the family. Alex Teaves (ph) family, again, Kyra, inside of the courtroom. His dad is in the courtroom and he will come out to talk to us here at CNN.
But, again, yes, bizarre behavior by this alleged gunman and not just here in the courtroom, but also in jail.
Jim, you saw the family members in the courtroom. Were there any audible, visible --
SPELLMAN: I didn't see hear anything or see him do anything, but intently staring. Whereas us, in the media, we looked at him and the judge and the defense -- looking around.
LEMON: How many family members?
SPELLMAN: It looked like maybe a dozen or so. It is hard to tell exactly where the family members ended and --
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: But, there was another room and closed-circuit, so there were more family members as well.
SPELLMAN: Yes, they created a room with closed-circuit television to have some privacy in there if they wanted to watch it that way. It is not a huge courtroom. And they did not have a lot of room for everybody who maybe wanted to be this there. But they did bring some of the family members of the victims directly into the courtroom.
LEMON: Kyra?
PHILLIPS: And, Jim, and, Don, what about with, there were reports out, that I was reading a quote in an article -- we have not reported it here on CNN, and that is why I wanted to throw it out to you guys -- about the protection he was receiving inside of jail. Apparently, another network was able to get a quote from someone who had just recently been released from where he is being held, and said that he, inside of the prison, had a bulletproof vest on or some sort of protective vest so he wouldn't get stabbed by other prisoners.
SPELLMAN: And when he came into the courtroom, I could see what I think that would most likely be that. He had a burgundy sort of scrub on, and you could see the vest underneath there, and of course, the legs were shackled and the arms as is generally the case in this sort of thing.
LEMON: And, Kyra, the family in San Diego, and not San Francisco.
PHILLIPS: Right.
LEMON: But, yes, you can see the vest under the prison uniform there. At first, we thought that maybe the woman next to him might be the mother, but no, it is not. It is Tamara Brady, who is going to be his defense attorney, and she is a public defender here. From all accounts from what I have read and heard about her and also about Daniel King, they are fantastic defense attorneys, and very professional and handled a lot of cases in this area.
SPELLMAN: When they are put in together of a case like this, they want to be sure that in a case like this, they want top notch representation, somebody experienced in the death-penalty. They have done it in this case.
LEMON: Yes.
And again, Kyra, protective custody, and they are painstakingly going through this, because there is so much police presence here and we had to go through several layers of the police officers asking and checking where you are going. But he was brought in and handcuffed obviously, but he was taken through a tunnel right underneath between the jail and the courtroom, taken there and then, of course, in court and now taken back.
SPELLMAN: And he sat in the jury box well away from not only the attorneys, but all of us in the courtroom as well.
PHILLIPS: Guys, let me ask you another question, because Paul Callan and I were talking about this when we were looking -- right now we're looking at some of the taped video of the moments ago, and watching James Holmes, and his head kind of bobbing back and forth and his eyes, you know, opening and closing, and that led me to ask Paul Callan, you know, is it possible that he could have been on some type of medication for psychiatric treatment and had not been on that medication possibly when this shooting spree took place. And now that he is in solitary confinement, he's in jail, and he is obviously has got people treating him. Have either one of you heard anything about the fact that he possibly could be medicated right now? Paul Callan was saying that is a possibility.
LEMON: No, nope, nothing in the background. And with the HIPPA laws, we don't know exactly about the medical records, but nothing. Everyone said that this is completely out of character for him. That he was an upstanding citizen until at this point. But you hear the same, he kept to himself, camp counselor.
SPELLMAN: And I spoke to a man who had -- who drank beers with him at a local bar just Tuesday, just --
LEMON: Yes.
SPELLMAN: -- a little more than 48 hours before the attack. He said he seems totally normal. They talked about the Denver Broncos. Just a regular guy at a bar.
(ENDED IN PROGRESS)
