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Massacre Suspect's First Court Appearance; Aurora Grieves Over Theater Massacre; Theater Massacre Suspect In Court

Aired July 23, 2012 - 12:00   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Guys, we're going to take to a live presser now. Thanks to our affiliate KMGH. Let's listen in.

CAROL CHAMBERS, ARAPAHOE CO., COLORADO DISTRICT ATTORNEY: In other parts of the world. So, we want to provide information in a variety of ways including through the press if that's acceptable.

You saw what happened today in court. There is what is called a Rule 5 Advisement, where the judge basically told the defendant what constitutional rights he could expect to have in this case. You heard the judge say that there was a probable cause determination.

In Colorado, we do an initial probable cause determination to make sure that there's kind of an overview of the evidence so that the court knows that there's enough evidence to continue to hold the defendant. The defendant is being held without bond at this point in time. Eventually, there will be a preliminary hearing and proof evident presumption great hearing to -- and we will ask the court the continue holding him without bond.

So, are there any questions?

REPORTER: Do you --

REPORTER: I was a reporter (INAUDIBLE) from CBS and I was part of the media that was actually in the courtroom, and I was struck by the fact that he seemed to have no emotion, and did not follow what was going on and I don't think that I ever saw his head turn when conversations were being made. Is he on a medication or something? Or is he aware? Can you tell us something that would affect his demeanor that seemed (IANUDIBLE) --

CHAMBERS: We would have no information about that. That is something that would not be shared with us.

REPORTER: As the district attorney here, and long time prosecutor, from the outset, does this seem as though it is a slam dunk case given the evidence that you have amassed so far?

CHAMBERS: I would say there is no such thing as slam dunk case. It is a case where we are still looking at the enormous amount of evidence, and we would never presume that it would be slam dunk. We will work very hard on this case to prosecute it just like we would any other case.

REPORTER: Talk about what he is being held, what he was arrested on?

REPORTER: Carol, I am aware that you are not the (INAUDIBLE) officer of the case, but if it was your decision, would this be a death penalty case?

CHAMBERS: I don't think that is a case that can be made in the abstract. There is so much that victims have to take into account, and victims will be impacted by that decision in an enormous way for years if, if the death penalty is sought. That's a very long process. That impacts their lives for years.

And so they will want to have and we will want to get their input before we make any kind of a decision on that.

REPORTER: How much did he say do the victims here?

REPORTER: Can you tell, he was arraigned, first appearance today on the charges of he was arrested, what is that charge?

CHAMBERS: Well, this is not an arraignment. Arraignment comes later on down the line. The charges on which the court found probable cause included first-degree murder.

REPORTER: Could the federal law be applied to this case? Could there ultimately also be a federal trial?

CHAMBERS: Theoretically, that -- there are ways that could happen, but that's very speculative.

REPORTER: Do you anticipate an insanity defense?

CHAMBERS: I don't know that we're anticipating anything right now. I think we have to really look more at what information we are given and sort it all out and then make some decisions.

REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE) seemed protective safety in jail?

CHAMBERS: That is my understanding, that he is being held in isolation.

REPORTER: Is it the first time you've seen him? And what was your reaction?

CHAMBERS: It was my first time seeing him and it is important that we treat him as we would treat any other defendant coming into the criminal justice system.

REPORTER: And, Carol, at what point, I know that you said that you want to talk to victims before you determine whether or not it's death penalty. But can you tell us where in the process that comes and with what we should be looking for?

CHAMBERS: It comes -- the death penalty decision has to be made 60 days within the arraignment, so it is months down the line still. But we will, over the course of these months be talking with all of the victims, developing relationships so that they know who we are and who they can talk to, and that will take some time in this case.

(CROSSTALK)

CHAMBERS: We are managing all these victims with as many victim advocates as we can get. We are using victim advocates from other offices. We are using PIOs from other offices so each family has somebody else they can rely on if they need to, but we also have a place on the Web site, and our Web site is DA18.org and people can go to that Web site and let us know what their e-mail address is and we can send out mass e-mail alerts to this group of victims if they want to do that.

REPORTRER: Carol, there have been a number of high profile cases in this district and can you tell us where this ranks for you and your staff?

CHAMBERS: I don't know if we rank cases. You know, they are all important to us, and we want to give each and every victim the attention and each and every case the attention and the resources that it needs.

REPORTER: How many charges do you expect to file?

CHAMBERS: I think that's unknown at this point in time. There is the potential for many, but we haven't made those decisions yet.

(CROSSTALK)

CHAMBERS: We don't know that yet.

REPORTER: How long is the life span you see this case having?

CHAMBERS: That is so unpredictable, and I would have no idea.

REPORTER: Would you consider domestic terrorism charges?

CHAMBERS: That would not be something that we would normally consider in state prosecutions.

REPORTER: If you talk to the victims and the mood is not to go for the death penalty, do you have discretion or does the state have discretion to go against that or are you bound in some way to follow the witnesses?

CHAMBERS: It will be ultimately be the decisions by the prosecutors on the case.

(INAUDIBLE)

CHAMBERS: That's nothing -- we don't have a lot of information on that and nothing we could speak to it if we did.

Does anybody else on the team have anything they want to say?

REPORTER: How long do you expect this to go to trial?

CHAMBERS: That is also very unpredictable. It's going to depend on the number of motions, the availability of the court. It will -- nothing in the court system moves all that quickly, and so --

REPORTER: So, months, a year?

CHAMBERS: At least a year I would say.

(CROSSTALK)

REPORTER: Carol, what sort of information are you still trying to figure out? Obviously, you learned quite a lot in the first couple of days and where from now are the questions that you still have that you are trying to get answers to?

CHAMBERS: Well, we still -- it's still a very active and ongoing investigation. We are still doing subpoenas and search warrants and so I don't -- we are still looking at this case from every angle, following up on every information that the media has obtained that would be of interest to the officers. So we are still very much partnered with the Aurora Police Department on finding information.

REPORTER: And speaking of the matter of media, do you anticipate a change of venue request because of all that unfolded here?

CHAMBERS: We certainly know that that would be an issue that will be brought up to the court.

REPORTER: The jumpsuit that we saw him in today, is that the standard color that a suspect or inmate wears in the county jail here?

CHAMBERS: I would refer that to the sheriff's department, I don't know how they dress people.

(CROSSTALK)

REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE) charges that were filed where there were 12 deaths here but could be 24 --

CHAMBERS: Yes. There are different ways that someone can commit first-degree murder and one of the ways is after deliberation, but if another way is extreme indifference, and they are just two different ways, and so somebody can based on the conduct involved can commit both of those offenses.

REPORTER: The assessment of the family is that they are cooperating with the investigation, are they?

CHAMBERS: I have no information about that.

REPORTER: The deadline for when you can file charges, when is the nick of time?

CHAMBERS: There is no deadline in the rules of when you can file charges, and in this jurisdiction, it is traditionally after 72 hours, but there are special circumstances to ask for longer, and this is clearly one of those cases. So, the filing of the charges is set for next Monday morning.

REPORTER: When is the next appearance?

CHAMBERS: Next Monday morning at 8:30? Nine-thirty.

REPORTER: Will the defendant be there for that?

CHAMBERS: That would be directed at the defense attorney.

REPORTER: That's a preliminary hearing?

CHAMBERS: No, the next hearing is the filing of the charges, and that's where we give the defendant, the defense attorneys the actual charges that the defense, the defendant will be facing.

REPORTER: Because so many charges --

REPORTER: And in the change of venue, do you believe it's the victims' rights to have this trial here because of everything unfolded here?

CHAMBERS: I don't think it's the victim's right. Certainly, I'm sure it's their preference to have it close to their home, and where it's most convenient for them, but all considerations will be weighed by the court.

REPORTER: Because there will be so many charges, how long do you think that you will be amending them, adding and removing and that sort of thing?

CHAMBERS: Well, we are trying to get it right the first time. But as we will be continuing to get more information -- in a case like this, the investigation doesn't stop. It will continue up to trial. And so, and as we find more information, we want to make we've got the right charges. So, I couldn't predict that. But it's certainly something that we are willing to do if necessary.

So, maybe one more question.

REPORTER: Can I ask a non-legal question to you? I know that we've been in court and watched the proceedings. But considering the nature of what has unfolded and how it has affected this community, what is the mood of the team about this case?

CHAMBERS: Our team is -- it's just a difficult type of case to be involved in.

REPORTER: Why?

CHAMBERS: And I think that everybody is -- just has been working like the police. They have been working all weekend to get done what needs to be done. I'm not sure they have stopped to consider how it is impacting them yet at this point. I think we want to get everything that we can as quickly as we can.

If there's anybody out there who knows something about this who hasn't talked to the police, please contact the Aurora Police Department or contact us, and we'll get you in touch with the right people.

Thank you.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: Yu have been watching and listening to Colorado's district attorney. That was Carol Chambers talking about what will come next. Clearly, this is a big story that we are following here in the United States as well as around the world in this hour of NEWSROOM INTERNATIONAL.

What are we looking at here? Well, what you have seen on the screen there is the suspect, the movie theater massacre, his first court appearance, and you saw it there live. He is James Holmes. He went before a judge, and this is the first look at the suspect.

Since this shooting rampage that left 12 people dead and 58 wounded. It is the talk of the country. It is simply the talk and the story around the world. James Holmes, we saw, we got a good look of what he looked like here and his hair was dyed bright red and orange. He sat quietly next to the attorney in the courtroom, and really a bizarre situation that is taking place there.

I want to bring in a number of the players who have been following this. Don Lemon who has been outside of the courthouse. Jim Spellman, who's been inside of the courthouse. Also, we're going to bring in our legal contributor Paul Callan out of New York. And then later, Poppy Harlow to talk a little bit more about some of the victims in this case.

But, Don, I want to start off with you here, because we've seen for the first time what James Holmes looks like, and it was really kind of bizarre and very disturbing as a lot of people took a look and saw the guy had very little emotion. At one point, it looked like he was drugged.

What do we know about his state of being in his first court appearance?

LEMON: I'll talk to you about the reports that are out there first and also about the inmates who had just been released said about him. And then, you should probably speak to Jim about inside of the courtroom, because he was there and saw him face-to-face.

They are saying when he was in jail, he was acting very erratically, that they had to place him in solitary confinement. He was very erratic, acting very erratically at the place of the solitary confinement. That he was spitting at police officers and just spitting through the door of his cell. And that his eyes were rolling back in his head and that he was acting very strangely.

And they were saying also the inmates that were just released that the inmates in there were very upset with him and they placed him in solitary confinement so that the inmates would not try to harm James Holmes or take James Holmes' life.

So, it's bizarre behavior and you can see his eyes, sort of he is closing his eyes. You don't if he's tired, he appears to be drugged. But that's the red hair we are hearing about. That he dyed his hair bright red, because he's a dark haired guy from all of the pictures that we have seen.

Did he appear to be strange in the courtroom to you? Did you see that?

SPELLMAN: Well, you know, first, he shuffled in with the shackles on his legs, wearing flip-flops and white socks and this burgundy jumpsuit, clearly with a vest of some sort underneath, similar to a bulletproof vest and hand shackled with a hunched down demeanor.

I'll tell you, you hear about horrific the attack was, and this is the man alleged to have done it. And to me, he looked like a defeated person. He looked glum. He looked kind of out of it.

And I don't know that we ever know what to expect when we finally lay eyes on somebody like this, but that wasn't it for me.

MALVEAUX: Jim, tell us a little --

LEMON: And, Suzanne, we haven't heard anything like this that he was on any medication or that he ever acted strangely before. But to see this, I mean, this is the first time we are seeing him, and it does appear to be some odd behavior.

MALVEAUX: Jim, tell us who was inside of the courtroom. Was his family actually there for the initial appearance or any of the victims' families there?

SPELLMAN: There were definitely victims' families there, and I will tell you that group of victims' families stared straight at Holmes the entire time and never once saw them look at the judge, the defense attorneys or the prosecutors, because they stared at him the entire time. There were no vocal outbursts. We didn't hear Holmes say a word and we did not hear anything from the family members.

I'm not sure if any of James Holmes' family was there or not. I couldn't tell one way or another. But those family members, definitely their eyes straight on him the entire time.

LEMON: And some of them are out here now, Suzanne, and maybe making the way up to the camera and I keep looking over, because they are over in the media horde, but we know that Alex Teves is a 24-year- old who died in the shooting. His dad is going to come on CNN to talk about his son. And they gave us a new picture today, but he was in the courtroom.

So, there are some victims here and some family members of the victims here as well.

MALVEAUX: All right. I want you guys to hang with us, stay with us if you will. We are going to take a quick break. We're going to get back to both of you to talk a little bit about what it felt like to be inside of that courtroom with this alleged killer and also, what we are expecting some of the family members who will go before the cameras and the microphones to talk about just what has happened and how this has been, this horrific experience. You are talking about 12 who were killed inside of that movie theater, 58 others wounded.

We are going to take a quick break and we'll go right back to that scene.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: We are following the first appearance of James Holmes. He is the suspect in the massacre that occurred outside the Colorado -- inside the Colorado theater, rather.

I want to bring down two of our correspondents, anchors who are down at the scene, on the ground there, Don Lemon, who is outside of the courthouse, and Jim Spellman who was inside at the time of the court appearance.

Jim, first of all, if you will, set the scene for us. What it was like when he first walked in, when he shuffled in and he was shackled? How did that room respond inside to his presence?

SPELLMAN: Well, first before we could go into the courtroom, two layers of extra security that we had to get wanded and double- checked our names. There were two deputies then who walked into the room. He entered through a door in the back next to the bench. He came in and sat down immediately in the juror's box. He was wearing brown slip-on sort of flip-flops and white socks and this burgundy sort of like medical scrubs, jumpsuit -- clearly with some sort of vest underneath.

And he was shackled at the legs and the arms. So, he kind of shuffled. He looked around a little bit and then he sat down. And I didn't see him look anywhere else again except more or less straight ahead generally speaking towards where the judge is.

Everybody immediately in the courtroom, the journalists, as well as the family members that were on the other side and court personnel, all were craning their necks to get a look at this guy. And throughout the rest of the time, he really gave us not many more clues -- the sullen look, kind of bobbing a little bit, a little bit out of it for sure.

But from my point of view, no real indications that this was the same person that could have pulled off this, you know, this major attack. It just seemed like a small person, you know. Did not seem like a powerful person.

LEMON: Suzanne, it's important to point out, too, that this wasn't -- he wasn't charged with anything in this hearing. And we didn't hear, because there was an audio problem. We had a little bit of a jump there.

SPELLMAN: Yes.

LEMON: He was Mirandized. They read him his rights in the court. This was just an information --

SPELLMAN: The judge began by Mirandizing him, you have the right to remain silent, et cetera. And then they said that state has probably cause to charge him with first degree murder. But they said the actual date to charge him as next Monday.

The search warrant in this is sealed and they kept it sealed in this. So we don't know the exact details off what is going to be, you know, in the -- what they used to charge him with.

And, of course, it's still an ongoing investigation. It was only Saturday night that they were able to get to the computer and everything else in his apartment. So definitely a lot more work.

That's why it's usually 72 hours to charge somebody from their initial appearance. They asked for an extension and neither side objected so they're going to get a week to put it together.

Most likely, though, if you know Carol Chambers, the D.A. here, she is going to go for the death penalty. And then the defense will probably plea insanity. That's why they wanted to have that mental capacity hearing as well.

SPELLMAN: And there's two elements to that. There is whether he's competent to stand trial and then there is separately whether they're going to use any type of mental issues as a defense. So he could be found competent for trial, and then still use the insanity defense later on down the road.

MALVEAUX: All right. We're going to get back --

LEMON: And we kind of wonder, Suzanne, like you were talking, you were asking about his behavior. Some people were wondering if it is a put-on and maybe, we are not sure, because if he is declared mentally incompetent, then the death penalty is off of the table. So, our viewers, you should be aware of that.

MALVEAUX: All right. I'm going to get back to you guys. I want to bring in Paul Callan, our legal analyst, to talk about what both of you have been discussing.

Paul, first of all, do we know where the suspect James Holmes is now and where he is being held in custody, and what are the circumstances around his being held in terms of the quality of life? I understand that he is now in solitary confinement and has been behaving quite bizarrely.

PAUL CALLAN, CNN LEGAL CONTRIBUTOR: Well, normally a murder suspect would be held in the county jail. He's, of course, at the courthouse now. We were advised that prior to being at the courthouse, he was in the county facility. This is where everybody charged with a serious crime is held.

He was held in solitary confinement because of concerns that he might be in danger from other prisoners. This is not unusual. Pretty much across the country in a murder case, this sort of thing happens in advance of trial. He'll probably remain in a facility or one like that until he is tried.

MALVEUX: Now, we heard from the district attorney, Carol Chambers, and she said that the filing of the charges are not going to happen until next Monday. I believe that's July 30th. What was the point, what was the purpose of this first court appearance today?

CALLAN: Well, this is unusual. In most American states, the police arrest a suspect, and then usually within 24 to 48 hours, he is arraigned in front off a judge, and the charges are announced. There is a plea of guilty or not guilty.

Colorado has a different procedure. It's called a Rule 5 Advisement. It essentially allows the prosecutor to continue an investigation for at least another 72 hours in a particularly complex case. This, of course, is such a case.

However, any American citizen who has been placed under arrest has to be produced before the judge. What the prosecutor did here was present evidence, although it didn't happen in court. This was behind the scenes presentation, a written presentation to the judge supporting probable cause on one murder count, one first-degree murder count. And the judge said, I find there is reason to hold him, and then both sides agreed to defer the actual arraignment probably until next week, Monday.

So that's the way it works. It is a little different than we are accustomed to seeing in other states.

MALVEAUX: Paul, we're going to get into a lot of the details in terms of where this goes forward. We're going to take a quick break and then we're going to come right back to you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: The first court appearance of the suspect James Holmes. He is suspected of being responsible for the massacre that occurred in the theater in Colorado just days ago, leaving 12 people dead and 58 injured. His first court appearance before a judge, William Sylvester.

Let's listen in. This happened approximately 50 minutes ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUDGE WILLIAM SYLVESTER: We call the people versus James Holmes, 12CR-15-22. Appearances, please.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Your Honor, (INAUDIBLE) on behalf of the state.

SYLVESTER: Hi, Kyra. Good morning.

DANIEL KING: Good morning, Your Honor. Daniel King, D-A-N-I-E- L K-I-N-G. Tamara Brady, T-A-M-A-RA B-RA-D-Y, Colorado state defenders office appearing for Mr. Holmes who is in custody.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Good morning.

SYLVESTER: Good morning.

Mr. Holmes, this matter comes on for what we call an initial advisement pursuant to Rule 5.

Deputy, if you could please step back.

You have the right to remain silent. If you make any statements, they can be used against you. You have the right to be represented by an attorney and if you cannot afford one, the statutory guidelines will appoint one to represent you at no cost to yourself, and your plea must be voluntary, not a result of undue influence or coercion.

Technically, you have a right to be advised of the charges. And you have a right to be advised of the charges. The duty judge has made a preliminary determination of probable cause to believe you have committed the offense of first-degree murder which is a class I felony under Colorado law. Ordinarily, individuals are entitled to bail. Given the nature of the charges, you are currently held on a no-bond- hold.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: I want to bring in the legal analyst Paul Callan to talk about this.

And, first of all, Paul, just you look at the appearance of James Holmes, it's quite alarming actually. When you look him, he looks like he is bobbing his head a bit. He looks a little out of it. Certainly not typical when somebody is facing these kinds of charges.

What do you make of his condition at his first court appearance?

CALLAN: Well, you know, I have been in court and seen a lot of defendants arraigned in murder cases, and I was very, very surprised by his appearance. He was sort of flat, unemotional and did not react to the charges. Of course, you have the bizarre red hair.

But what really struck me was that brunette seated next to him and standing next to him is Tamara Brady, his assigned lawyer. And usually at the arraignment, there's sort of an active interplay between the lawyer and the defendant. And he is saying, you know, what's happening now? You usually see them asking questions of their attorney.

At least the part that was televised, I didn't see any of that. There was no sort of communication with her. He just nodded his head, looked straight ahead, very unemotional. So, he didn't look like your garden variety, if there could be such a thing, defendant in a case involving violence and murder.

MALVEAUX: And Paul, is it possible, I know he is being held, is it possible that if he is taking some sort of drug that they would have administered those drugs to him? Because it almost looks like he is on something?

CALLAN: It's possible, but highly unlikely. They would be very, very leery of administering any sort of drug that might affect his ability to understand the charges against him. We will hear more details later on when medical information is released, but my bet is that he was not medicated, and that this is his appearance.

Now it may relate to his being tired and we don't know how long he was interrogated. We don't know what went on in the prison system. But I am betting his appearance was not drug-induced in any way.

MALVEAUX: All right. Paul, we're going to get back to you in a minute. We are starting to get some sound now. There are the victims of the shooting -- we want to remind you exactly what happened here.

We are talking about someone who went into a packed movie theater, a midnight showing, opened fire, tear gas, just a number of horrific things that unfolded in that theater, leaving 12 people dead and 58 injured.

Well, now, you have members of those family members coming forward. They are talking about their loved ones. They are talking about what they are experiencing right now, and some of them are actually there at that court appearance, got a chance to see through closed-circuit television just what this alleged murderer looks like.

I want to go ahead and play a little bit of sound. This is from the family members of some of these victims who are now speaking out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID SANCHEZ, RELATIVE OF SHOOTING VICTIM: And she is really, she's really, like I said, she's been, you know, really not wanting to and she shouldn't have to explain anything to the media right now. She has to concentrate on what is going on right now. She needs to have this baby delivered and she needs to take care of her husband and everybody needs to pray for them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: That is the father-in-law, I'm told, David Sanchez, the father-in-law of one of the victims of that shooting. I want to bring in Poppy Harlow, because Poppy, I know you have got information on two fronts, information first about the apartment of James Holmes -- and there was a lot of information coming out about how it was booby trapped.

And then also you have been talking to a lot of those family members, who are going through this experience now, just trying to figure out whether their loved ones is injured or whether or not they have been killed? Where do they go next? How do they pick up the pieces? Tell us who you have been speaking to.

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, absolutely, Suzanne, we are here at the site. Behind me you see the movie theater where this tragedy unfolded. I have spoken to a number of different victims, family members, their dearest friends about this. They have been in a state of shock and disbelief.

But I do want to get to that apartment, because I think this is so important as we talk about and look at those images from the courtroom today, and we talk about the 12 people that were murdered in those early hours on Friday morning and the 58 that were injured.

We still have 17 in the hospital right now, eight of them in critical condition at this hour. So we don't know what is going to happen to them, we are hoping for the best, but you have to think of that.

But also think about this apartment. I spent all of Saturday from 3:00 am on at the apartment complex of James Holmes. And in the words of the police chief here in Aurora, Colorado, Dan Oates, he said, "Make no mistake. This apartment was designed to kill."

James Holmes, in this apartment, what we are told by authorities, this apartment was rigged with everything from more than a dozen IEDs, self-made explosive devices, that were tied to what they are deeming to be liquid accelerants. There were devices with black powder in them, things that I was told by law enforcement officials were meant to really fuel any explosion, to make it worse.

And who would go in that apartment? Likely a first responder. Or we even know that a neighbor from downstairs went up to inquire about the very loud techno music that was blaring out of the apartment. She decided last minute, Kaitlyn Fonzi (ph), not to open the door, not to go in. But if she did, she very likely would have been killed.

So the thought here that not only did this massacre happen behind me and 12 people were killed, but also that the apartment was booby trapped to kill more people. I wonder if we still have Paul Callan, what he thinks that could mean in terms of charges that will be filed on Monday, you know, in addition to those that were murdered and injured.

MALVEAUX: And, Poppy, explain to us -- remind our viewers what that search, that investigation was like, because it was very unusual the way that they searched that three-story building. You actually saw what seemed to be a ladder that was going up to the window. They did not go through the front door as they would typically do if you were to enter somebody's residence.

HARLOW: They didn't, because they sent robots in . What they did was that they sent in robots with video cameras to get an assessment of what was inside that apartment. Obviously, they didn't want to send any individual in once they realized that it was booby trapped. They got a lot of video.

They flew in chemists from Washington, D.C.; they flew in bomb experts, FBI, ATF, local police and fire were there, all of the experts on scene, they assessed the situation. Then right before noon on Saturday, they detonated a device to basically -- what it was, it was a device with water in it that basically sort of eliminated the rest of them being detonated.

They eventually took all of those self-made bombs and put them into a car and took them offsite. And then they still have not, to the best of our knowledge, allowed people, residents of that building at 1690 North Paris Street in, because they are gathering evidence.

And you heard that bomb. That happened around noon on Saturday. They yelled "Fire in the hole" three times, and then they detonated that device.

Then after that, after the robots and after they did that successfully, they did put individuals into the apartment, but it was perilous. Moment by moment, we, the press, were getting briefed every hour. But imagine for these responders who had to be there and take care of it what they were dealing with, and this is in addition to the murder of all of those victims.

Poppy, we are going to take a quick break. We're going to get back to you on other side. I want to talk a little bit more about what you have been reporting, but also get to some of the families of those victims of this massacre. I'm going to take a quick break and then we will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Hollywood has not officially released any box office results from the movie "The Dark Knight Rises," certainly out of respect for the shooting victims in Colorado. Immediately after the shootings Warner Brothers cancelled the red carpet premiere in Paris, and now the studio has cancelled more publicity events overseas.

I want to bring in Kareen Wynter to talk a little bit about how they have responded, how they've reacted to this and if there is any reaction to first seeing the court appearance here of James Holmes.

KAREEN WYNTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We haven't gotten any reaction yet. We've been looking out for statements from the studio, even stars who've been tweeting about this really since this tragedy unfolded.

But it is quite understandable, Suzanne, that really out of respect for the victims, Warner Brothers Studios has cancelled even more promotional events for the film, telling us, "Due to the tragic events in Aurora, Colorado, Warner Brothers Pictures has cancelled the previously scheduled personal appearances by the cast and filmmakers in Mexico and Japan on behalf of "The Dark Knight Rises."

Now I will add, Suzanne, that, you know, the film's special screenings and fan promotional events will still happen, just without any glitzy bright carpet scenes, meaning no stars will attending.

Also, in addition to the U.S., "The Dark Knight Rises" opened in 17 countries over the weekend. Let me tell you about some numbers here. And this is according to "The Hollywood Reporter."

The film earned $70 million overseas. It took in just over $60 million in the U.K. and $50 million in Australia as well as South Korea. Spain is estimated to have earned about $4 million with another $3 million in Hong Kong.

However these numbers have not been confirmed by Warner Brothers at this moment, the studio, which is owned by CNN's parent company Time Warner. They're expected to do so later this afternoon. I spoke with exhibitor relations. They track all the box office receipts and they tell me that they should have those numbers by around 1 o'clock, 1:00 pm our time today, Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: And Kareen, we know this is a franchise -- this is a very popular franchise. Do they have any sense of how this is unfolding, compared to the last movie, "The Dark Knight?"

WYNTER: You know, that is a really interesting question. Well, here in the U.S. the film, the last film, "The Dark Knight," earned $158 million its opening weekend, but estimates for this final installment were much higher, in fact, around $190 million, due to several factors -- increased ticket prices, Suzanne, the fact that the film is playing on about 50 more screens than last time.

But if the current reported total of $160 million by "The New York Times" sticks, that would be less than expected.

I want to underscore something really important here, that it is way too early to draw this lower-than-expected tracking when it comes to box office numbers to the unfortunate events in Colorado.

Of course, it seems logical that a lot of people -- entertainment may not have been on their minds this weekend. Their hearts and the prayers may have been with those who've lost loved ones.

So a lot of people may have just chosen to sit this movie out, see it another time, we just cannot say for sure until those numbers come in and again, Sunday the estimates were not released. The actuals are expected today so we will be able to kind of draw a bigger picture once that comes in. And we'll have it for you, Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: All right. So some of these events canceled. This movie cancelled and some events that are related to it. Kareen, thank you very much. We're going to take a quick break and we're going to have more details about the first court appearance of the suspect of this massacre.

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