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CNN Saturday Morning News

Colorado Theater Shooting; Two More Victims Identified; Dealing With the Emotional Pain; Hundreds Dead In Syrian Fighting; Remembering Colorado Shooting Victims; American Wanted in Bulgaria Bomb Attack

Aired July 21, 2012 - 06:00   ET

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

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN ANCHOR: From CNN world headquarters in Atlanta, this is EARLY START WEEKEND."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Oh, my God. Seven down in theater nine. Seven down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TUCHMAN: The largest mass shooting in U.S. history. A gunman opens fire in a Colorado movie theater wounding 58, killing 12. And we can now tell you two more of their names.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He had his hair painted red. He said he was the joker.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TUCHMAN: New details revealed about the suspected shooter. He lived alone, kept to himself. But James Holmes was also a one-time PhD candidate and an honor student. More on the man now in custody.

Plus --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I personally have never seen anything like what the pictures show us is in there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TUCHMAN: Trip wires, gas canisters, booby-traps. An apartment so dangerous law enforcement still can't get inside. We'll take you live to the suspect's building.

It's Saturday, July 21st. Good morning, everyone. I'm Gary Tuchman. Randy Kaye is on assignment in Colorado. She joins us live at 8:00 a.m. Eastern.

It was a little over 24 hours ago the nation first heard the news. A shooter opened fire inside a crowded theater. Twelve people dead, 58 others injured. As many as 11 of those are in the hospital in critical condition.

We'll get you out to the scene in just a moment. But first, I want to show you this picture. It comes from the adult sex site called Adult Friend Finder. Police believe this is James Holmes, the suspect in the shooting. But investigators haven't confirmed the picture just yet. Sources did say, though, that Holmes had dyed his hair red before the attack.

Our Poppy Harlow is at Holmes' apartment building where police are waiting to get inside the apartment. And Jim Spellman is at the theater.

Jim, let's start with you. What was the scene like there overnight?

JIM SPELLMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, last night, Gary, people started forming this kind of makeshift vigil with dozens of candles. And it's still burning now tonight. Nobody's there now, but it's sort of just one of those organic vigil sites that pop up.

Sunday night they're planning a bigger community-wide vigil here. I think that will be really important for the community here. You know, ever since Columbine, this community has really been very protective almost of that legacy. And I think this sort of ties into it and I think people are going to really use that as a healing opportunity and a chance to really sort of show their solidarity.

On an individual basis, today they have grief counseling available at a pair of high schools here to help people process the trauma.

Gary.

TUCHMAN: Jim, I feel so bad for the families of those who lost loved ones. I mean the bodies of their loved ones were in the theater for so long and they weren't given the exact word if it was their loved ones. Finally they got the word last night. Have the bodies of those who died been removed from the theater?

SPELLMAN: Yes. Around 5:00 last night, Gary, they were able to get all of the bodies out of there. You know, it just takes a long time for the coroners to come in and the crime scene investigators to come in and process these sites.

You know, I know it was very important to the police here to make that notification. They worked as fast as they could. But you can imagine with that many -- that much of a huge shooting site, that many bullets, that many shell casings, what a site that must be for them to process.

TUCHMAN: Jim, are police still inside the theater investigating?

SPELLMAN: Yes. There's still police over there for sure. The adjoining shopping area, they actually plan on reopening today. That -- the movie theater itself still roped off, still police in there doing their work, Gary.

TUCHMAN: Poppy, let's go to you now at the apartment. What's the scene like there right now?

POPPY HARLOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, it's obviously very, very quiet. My producer described it as sort of eerie. And it is, in a sense. And we will get a sense in about an hour or so when the sun comes up whether that's just because it's nighttime.

But what I can tell you is, that if you look over my right shoulder here, far in the distance, what you see is the apartment building of James Holmes, the suspected gunman. A source tells me his apartment was on the third floor, Gary, of this building. You know, it's right across from the medical school where he attended as a PhD candidate. Five of the buildings in this area have been evacuated. A few hundred residents, we're told, have been forced to leave.

But, again, that is because this apartment is supposedly booby- trapped, filled with wires. Police do not know what to expect. You've got ATF and FBI here. They sent in robots on Friday to try to assess the situation, get some video, see how bad it is before men and women in uniform try to go in there today to see what has actually happened.

Of course, the suspected gunman, James Holmes, told police when they arrested him right after the shooting in the movie theater parking lot that he had booby-trapped his apartment. That there were indeed explosives inside. And I wanted you to take a listen to a neighbor. The neighbor's name is Jackie Mitchell. He actually had a beer with the suspected gunman just last Tuesday. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JACKIE MITCHELL, NEIGHBOR: You couldn't see this coming. No.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What was he like?

MITCHELL: If you -- like I say, I don't know, if you looked at the mug shot on TV, the same guy you see on the TV is like the same guy looking at you. I mean just an intelligent-looking guy. So, I mean, I don't -- like I say, you don't know what a killer looks like. It don't -- it didn't look like him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: I can also tell you something very strange that police saw when they first came to Holmes's apartment is that there was techno music loud, blaring out of his one bedroom apartment. They believe that he had set it on a timer to start playing when he left for the movie theater, Gary.

TUCHMAN: Poppy, it's obviously still nighttime, but when it becomes daylight hours, is that when we believe police are going to start taking action and tell us what's inside and perhaps try to go inside?

HARLOW: That's when we believe -- I did speak to one source with Aurora PD who told me, you know, at this point, we're not sure who's going to go in. Will it be the local police? Will it be FBI? Will it be ATF? I think it's fair to assume you're going to have the most experienced SWAT team going in there I'd assume as the daylight hours approach, absolutely. We'll keep an eye on that.

But just to give you a sense of how complex, how unusual this situation is, take a listen to the Police Chief Oates and his assessment of this situation in this apartment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF DAN OATES, AURORA, COLORADO, POLICE: It is a very vexing problem how to enter that apartment safely. I personally have never seen anything like what the pictures show us is in there. I'm a layman when it comes to bomb stuff. I see an awful lot of wires, trip wires, jars full of ammunition, jars full of liquid. Some things -- things that look like mortar rounds. We have a lot of challenges to get in there safely.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: And he has said that, Gary, it could take days to get through this apartment safely. So it's obviously left this community really, not knowing if this apartment could explode at any time. But again, those around it have been evacuated. We'll keep a close eye on it for you all morning, especially as the sun rises here in Aurora.

TUCHMAN: Poppy Harlow, Jim Sepllman, thank you both very much.

Now, this morning, we're learning about two more of the victims who were killed in the theater. Alex Sullivan's family was searching for him frantically after the shooting. That's his dad. We saw him yesterday. He was showing people his photo. They now know that Alex was indeed one of the victims who was killed. He was celebrating his birthday by seeing the premier of "The Dark Knight Rises." Also, according to his FaceBook page, tomorrow would have marked his one- year wedding anniversary. Here's a statement from a family spokeswoman, "The Sullivan family lost a cherished member of their family today. Alex was smart, funny, and, above all, loved dearly by his friends and family. Today was his 27th birthday."

Another victim was 23-year-old Micayla Medek. Her family knew that she had been shot in the rampage, but did not know more than that. It took about 19 hours before law enforcement confirmed to Micayla's family that she, too, was among the 12 dead.

On the phone with us right now is Micayla's second cousin, Anita Busch, from Los Angeles.

Anita, thank you for joining us. We are so sorry about your loss. Please accept our condolences.

ANITA BUSCH, COUSIN OF VICTIM (via telephone): Thank you very -- thank you very much.

TUCHMAN: Can you tell us a little bit about Micayla and what kind of person she was.

BUSCH: Well, I knew, Greg, my cousin, who's a very decent human being, as good as they come. I had been a victim of crime myself and I know full well how his kind of evil shakes your foundation and belief in God. And when I was a victim of crime, Greg called me and he talked about God with me when I was a crime victim and it helped me.

So yesterday I called him and I said, do not let evil take away your faith in God. Do not let evil destroy your relationship to God. And he said Micayla also believed very strongly in God and had accepted Jesus Christ as her savior. So he was trying to get some small peace in that.

But he was kind of resigned early on that she might have been gone. The Medeks are a very tight family.

TUCHMAN: Anita, tell us how you found out about the tragedy and that Micayla was one of the victims. Like she was so young. She was just 23 years old. Do you know what she aspired to do with her life? Tell us about that.

BUSCH: Her family knew that she had been shot because a friend who had been sitting next to her in the theater called her father, my cousin Greg, around 1:00 in the morning. And the friend told Greg that Micayla had said, "I've been hit." And he could see blood on her through the haze of the tear gas. They were hacking and coughing because the gas was so bad. It was very cloudy. He and others tried to get her up and out of the theater, but she fell on the floor. And they were still trying to pull her out of the theater, but a cop came by and told them to leave. They didn't want to. But after that we had no idea what happened. And it was hours and hours of torture and agony trying to find any -- trying to find her and any word of her.

She was working at Subway at the time. She was going to school. They were very close. So we kind of set in motion trying to find her. Her sister, Amanda, who you have been running photos of on your network, she had been running from one hospital to another trying to find her. And I called my other cousin, Greg's sister, Jenny, in south Milwaukee, Wisconsin, who gave me a photo of Micayla that you have up now that could be helped to use -- to identify her. And I'm a former journalist, so I called friends in the media and in law enforcement and we were able to get a photo into the hands of an FBI agent at the scene directly outside the theater.

And then information just slowly, slowly came in. And we -- I heard from law enforcement that there were quite a number of people in critical condition that were not identified, so not to give up hope. And the family knew that Micayla had left her ID under the seat of her car, so it gave us some hope that maybe she was still alive.

We got numbers to pass on to the family. And then I heard from an AP, Associated Press reporter that there was an information booth of sorts set up at Gateway School. And Amanda, who is Micayla's older sister, who is so strong and so brave, she went there even though she was grieving and she refused to give up. And she was exhausted and she -- they hadn't heard anything at this point for about -- I guess it was 10 hours at this point. And she went and she still tried to find her. She wouldn't give up.

So when no word came, we hoped and we prayed. I know Greg was pacing the floor. I got a call from my law enforcement friend who said that the number of unidentified and critical condition at the hospital were only a handful now. It had dwindled down. And my friend was crying. And I've known her for 10 years and I've never heard her cry before, so I knew the situation was pretty dire. And I asked them what was taking so long and why couldn't they just go into the theater and find out if she was there. And I guess the FBI was waiting for the forensics teams to do their jobs and to clear out.

And by that time, everybody was going crazy not knowing. And we waited -- it was 17 hours by that time. And we had gone with no word. And it's agonizing. And I think that there's some -- needs to be some kind of different protocol set up so that the families don't have to go through this. Like a central place where they can give photos for identification so there's one central area in the future, if, God forbid -- I hope there is something -- that this doesn't happen again, but I hope there can be something put in place so the families aren't tortured like this. It was inhumane.

TUCHMAN: Anita, I am so sorry for all you and your family have gone through. I'm so sorry you didn't get good news while you were waiting all those hours. It's a terrible tragedy and Micayla sounds like she was a wonderful woman. And, Anita Busch, you're a wonderful second cousin to talk to us. Anita Busch, thank you very much.

BUSCH: Thank you.

TUCHMAN: We'll have more on the shooting rampage in just a moment. But this is just in to CNN.

Bulgarian authorities are looking for an American citizen in connection with Wednesday's deadly attack on a tour bus. Five Israeli tourists and the bus driver were killed when a suicide bomber blew it up. The suicide bomber was caught on surveillance camera. You see him there. The man apparently had a fake driver's license from the state of Michigan. We'll have a live report from Bulgaria with much more on this later in the program.

Dealing with the emotional pain from the movie theater massacre in Colorado. I'll speak with a clinical psychologist about counseling and treatments available for victims.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TUCHMAN: Friday's mass shooting at a Colorado movie theater has no doubt left witnesses, victims and their families traumatized. This morning, grief counselors will be on hand at a local high school to offer support. Someone who knows all too well about the emotional stress of such an experience is former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords husband, Mark Kelly. He told CNN's Anderson Cooper how helpful support can be.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK KELLY, GABRIELLE GIFFORDS' HUSBAND: Well, I think for the folks that were directly affected by this, the victims, the ones that were not killed and the family members, I mean it really helps to come together as a community. That happened in Tucson. I think these, you know, these towns tend -- like Tucson tend to rise to the occasion. And that support really helps those people that are experiencing this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TUCHMAN: Joining me now is clinical psychologist Jeff Gardere.

Jeff, thank you for joining us.

JEFF GARDERE, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: My pleasure.

TUCHMAN: And how does someone recover -- how does someone recover, Jeff, from an experience like this?

GARDERE: Well, from exactly what we just heard from Gabby Giffords' husband. It is about the support, communities coming together, families coming together. We do know that grief counselors are on the ground. They are working with the remaining victims, with the family members, so that debriefing will help them in processing what's going on.

But we need to be very clear that all of these people are still in a state of shock. So it's about offering them the support, letting them know that they have an ear and they have a shoulder. And whatever their needs are, physical and emotional, will be tended to. And that's just the beginning.

TUCHMAN: Jeff, it seems like a lot of people across the country are affected by the shooting. Is it normal for people to say, you know what, I don't want to go see this movie, I don't want to go see any movie anymore, I'm afraid to go into a theater?

GARDERE: It is absolutely normal for people to feel that way. It is important that they talk about the anxiety, that they talk about some of the stress and worry that they have around this for their children going out, for not being able to go to safe places anymore.

That being said, it's also important that we move on with our lives. So this weekend there may be a lot of people who may not be going to see this particular movie or any movie, and that's OK. However, they shouldn't make this some sort of an enduring behavior pattern. They have to get out. They have to take the risks. As we say, no risks, no reward. What we've learned now is that we've been very lucky in the United States that we can congregate in public places without fear for a long time. But now the reality, the world is about that there isn't that ultimate safety in everywhere that we go. Other parts of the world, people have been dealing with this for a very long time. So this is our new reality.

That being said, again, we have to talk about the fear, but not give into it all the time. So out of respect for the victims, I think a lot of people may not be going to any movie or this particular movie. But I think, at the end of the day, it really is about moving on with our lives, but always keeping these victims in our prayers and in our hearts. TUCHMAN: Jeff, let's talk about survivors guilt. In my years at CNN, you know, covering Oklahoma City and 9/11 and Virginia Tech and Columbine, you run across people all the time and they say, I can't believe I lived and they died. And you feel so badly for them. And you try to talk to them and you see it time after time. Why do people tend to blame themselves?

GARDERE: Well, again, we're talking about this whole issue of survivor's guilt. It's very real. A lot of folks think, oh, someone was able to avoid being killed or severe injury. But the fact of the matter is, they saw someone else going through it. And that is traumatic.

And then they ask themselves, wow, by the grace of God, how did I make it through this and this other person died, and they begin to feel that guilty. Sometimes they feel they could have done more. Or if they were in a different place, it would have happened to them.

So we see the survivor's guilt as being something that is very normal for people. They are going to experience this. They are going to feel that perhaps they didn't do more. They are going to feel that maybe they didn't deserve to live because somebody else was much younger or had more promise.

And, you're right, the way that we deal with it is by allowing them to talk about it, by allowing them to grieve and express all of those emotions and eventually they will see that what was meant to be was meant to be, even though it was horrific, but that they do have to move on with their lives and be strong and be changed by this in a very positive manner. It shouldn't be emotional baggage they carry around. It should be something that takes them to the next step of their evolution, come out of the trauma stronger than when they went in, even though it was unfortunate that they had to go through it in the very first place.

TUCHMAN: Clinical psychologist Jeff Gardere, thank you very much and thank you for your wise counsel.

GARDERE: My pleasure. Thank you.

TUCHMAN: We appreciate it.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg was the first politician to link the Aurora shootings with the gun control debate. He's calling for both President Obama and his Republican rival, Mitt Romney, to take a hard stance.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, 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) TUCHMAN: This is an issue that we really haven't heard much about during this campaign so far. The NRA got on the back foot issuing this statement. Quote, "our thoughts and prayers are with the victims, their families and the community. The NRA will not have any further comment until all the facts are known."

We want to hear from you this morning on gun control. Should there be tougher gun control laws in the United States? You can tweet me @GaryTuchmanCNN and I will read some of your comments on the air.

Another story we're following this morning, the historic drought. It's not just wilting crops across the country. Thousands of fish are also turning up dead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TUCHMAN: We will keep you updated throughout the morning on the movie theater shooting in Colorado. But now a look at other stories we are covering today.

As the Midwest suffers through its worst drought in more than 50 years, it's not only destroying crops, but killing fish too. This is a pond in Arkansas. The heat and lack of rain are drying up the pond and the fish are running out of oxygen, so thousands of fish are dying. Experts say this isn't too uncommon and some of the bigger fish may survive.

To Syria now. There's word that Syrian forces have launched an all-out assault on opposition strongholds in the capital Damascus after what has been an incredibly violent week. Opposition activists say nearly 1,000 people have been killed in fighting across the country in the past seven days. The U.N. failed to take action to stop the bloodshed. China and Russia blocking resolutions to slap tougher sanctions on the Syrian regime. CNN's Ivan Watson joins us from near Turkey's border with Syria.

Ivan, thank you for joining us today.

Rebel fighters and Syrian troops, are they right now battling for control of the Turkish/Syrian border?

IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: At this stage it looks like the rebels have made some gains there. For the third day, seeming to control the strategic border gate between these two countries. We were there all day yesterday, Gary. And there were a trickle of travelers coming through. Some of them Syrians clearly supporting the rebels, waving victory signs.

Others, Turkish businessmen who were angry that their trucks that had been stranded on the other side had been torched in the fighting and subsequent looting there. And one man saying there's no more Syrian border there anymore. No Syrian officials to stamp his passport when he went through.

That rebel hold of this strategic entry point could be shaky, though, because we're hearing from all of those travelers that there's a Syrian government army location only a mile or two away from there. So there could be more fighting around this key entry point into Syria.

Gary.

TUCHMAN: So, Ivan, you're saying it's a trickle, it's not a flood yet of people?

WATSON: No, no, a trickle at the Turkish border gate. And that's very different from what you see at Syria's border with Lebanon. There, the United Nations high commissioner for refugees counted between 8,500 and 30,000 Syrians coming across the border in a 48-hour period. Most of this coming after the fighting erupted in the Syrian capital starting last Sunday. Clearly people being driven out by the first serious fighting in the Syrian capital since this uprising began 16 months ago.

TUCHMAN: I mean this has been an incredibly violent week, Ivan. Where do you see the momentum right now? Is it with the government? Is it with the rebels? Is it possible to tell?

WATSON: Well, clearly the rebels have gotten some momentum and a push and a bonus from their side after this incredible bombing on Wednesday that killed now four senior officials in the Syrian government. The defense minister, the deputy defense minister, the head of the national security bureau, who died of wounds yesterday -- it was announced on Syrian state TV -- and notably the brother-in-law of the Syrian president himself, Bashar al Assad.

And what's interesting is that there was a state funeral for these officials on Friday, but the Syrian president and his brother were not at the funeral, according to Syrian state media, even though their brother-in-law was one of the people that was buried there. That's either a sign that they don't feel safe to go out, that they're worried for their own safety, or perhaps they're not in the capital anymore.

TUCHMAN: It's a terrible story, especially if you're a civilian in Syria right now.

Ivan Watson, thank you very much for joining us. We appreciate it.

Now it's time to go back to our top story, the shooting in Colorado. We will be taking some time to remember one of the victims. A young man who escaped tragedy just weeks ago but was caught in the chaos in Colorado.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TUCHMAN: Welcome back. I'm Gary Tuchman in for Randi Kaye this morning who is on assignment working on a developing story out of Colorado. Thank you very much for starting your day with us.

The story in Colorado is about way more than a troubled young man who opened fire in a movie theater. It's about the people he killed, the victims and their families. Those victims are still being identified and their families are still being notified. The very first name that came out of the chaos was Jessica Ghawi, Poppy Harlow has more. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

POPPY HARLOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A fiery redhead, passionate above all else in her personal and professional life, her brother Jordan tells us. Just 24 years old, Jessica Ghawi beginning life on her own. An aspiring sportscaster who lived in Denver and went by Jessica Redfield on the air.

(on camera) What do you want to tell the world about Jessica your sister who lost her life far too young?

JORDAN GHAWI, JESSICA'S BROTHER: I want her story to be told. I want her to be remembered and not this gunman. It's a tragedy but we need to focus on the victims.

HARLOW (voice-over): Jessica's grieving mother.

SANDY PHILLIPS, JESSICA'S MOTHER: I'll never have her to hug again or get a text message again or get a funny Facebook picture. That's the hard part right now. Just knowing those are things that I'm never going to get to experience again. I was blessed only for 25 years, but I was blessed.

HARLOW: She moved from her Texas home to Denver after begging her parents to let her pursue her dream job. She had been looking forward to this big night. Jessica's close high school friend Brent Lowek was visiting her to, quote, "Share a special screening of this Batman movie together." Brent's stepfather Dan Greene told us. Brent and Jessica were very close, he said.

Brent was shot in the backside and also suffered shrapnel wounds. His stepfather said he's undergone surgery but still has major injuries, though he's not in critical condition. Active on twitter, Jessica's last tweet came our midnight, saying, "Movie doesn't start for 20 minutes."

She had narrowly escaped tragedy just a month ago. A sad irony. Her brother and friends tell us she was at the Eaton Center Toronto mall visiting her boyfriend Jay, a minor league hockey player, when a shooting broke out in the mall food court just three minutes after Jessica left it.

She recounted the horror on her blog. "I was reminded that we don't know when or where our time on earth will end, when or where we will breathe our last breath. I say all the time that every moment we have to live our life is a blessing. I know I truly understand how blessed I am for each second I am given."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TUCHMAN: Poppy Harlow joins me now. It is just absolutely incredible Poppy that Jessica was in Toronto the beginning of June when that happened, and now she's in the movie theater. It's just such horrible luck. I know you spent a lot of time with Jessica's brother yesterday, he seems like such a smart...

HARLOW: Right.

TUCHMAN: ...compassionate person. Tell me how he's coping.

HARLOW: He is coping. He is the rock of his family. I can tell you that, Gary. He spent really a lot of afternoon and evening with us yesterday. He came in lieu of his parents saying, I'm here to bring Jessica home. He had that gut-wrenching feeling from early on yesterday that his sister had died. But I spoke with Jessica's father yesterday afternoon and he told me, I hope she's not hurt too badly.

So her parents were hanging on to hope. Jordan sort of felt the reality of it. Also, I want to give you a sense of just what an incredible family this is. Jordan rushed to the aid of someone who collapsed on scene, one of the workers in the media. As he's going through all of this, he runs because he himself is a firefighter and EMT, to help someone else.

So, he was just an extraordinary man. And he is going to wait here for his sister, he is going to bring her home to his family. Another tragic irony in all of this, the suspected shooter, 24 years old. Jessica Ghawi, 24 years old -- Gary.

TUCHMAN: Poppy, your piece was a very nice tribute to Jessica. Thank you for joining us. We'll talk to you a little bit later.

HARLOW: Thank you.

TUCHMAN: As police dig into what prompted a man to open fire on a crowded movie theater, I'll talk to a former FBI assistant director on what will the agency will play in the investigation?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TUCHMAN: Police are having trouble getting into the apartment of James Holmes, the suspect in yesterday's deadly shooting. Inside are trip wires and ammunition, lots and lots of ammunition. They'll try and get in there with the bomb disposal unit today, maybe very shortly.

Joining me now is Tom Fuentes, CNN contributor and former assistant director of the FBI. Tom, it's good seeing you. Is the apartment the top priority for police investigators right now?

TOM FUENTES, FORMER FBI ASSISTANT DIRECTOR: Good morning, Gary. I think at this point, there are several priorities. That is among the top priority, just to try to figure a way to safely get the investigators in. The first people that will be going in will be the explosives experts to try to render the apartment safe if at all possible. But it's an extremely dangerous situation for them. They can use remote video devices, such as this fiber optics on cables that they've been using, they can use infrared sensors, a variety of equipment that can help them understand what's inside there and view from outside the apartment what's inside there.

But at some point someone, someone -- a human being, is going to have to go in that location and they will be in extreme danger. And if you saw the movie Hurt Locker, it's one thing to neutralize an explosive device out in the middle of the street somewhere, where you can use a roll back, where you can view it from a number of angles. But to go into an apartment that's been booby-trapped is going to be just an extremely perilous situation for the investigator.

They want to get in there safely. They want to render it safe. They want to prevent an explosion or fire which will destroy other evidence, possibly his computer records or address books, other information that they would like to obtain and prevent the building from being burned to the ground on top of that. So there are a number of concerns regarding that apartment.

TUCHMAN: Is it possible that they might be forced just to blow it up to throw an explosive in there?

FUENTES: I don't think they will throw and explosive end but they'll try to use a robotic method first. And at some point, they will make a determination. But, you know, again, they're trying to prevent the destruction of the entire building. And depending what kind of chemicals are in there, if you were to detonate some kind of an explosion on purpose, you could just be dispersing dangerous material all over the building or outside the building to the neighborhood.

So that's why the most expert explosives personnel are there trying to make that determination. I think it was a correct call on the chief of police part to wait until today, to wait for daylight, to wait for a little more time to try to understand what they're facing.

TUCHMAN: And that takes a lot of courage, I will tell you. How will the FBI be helping investigators in Aurora?

FUENTES: Well, the FBI and ATF for that matter have been involved in this from the beginning. In the FBI's case, the initial determination was, is he a lone wolf, is he a domestic terrorist, is he a member of some organization bent on this kind of killing and destruction, or is he just a mentally disturbed individual who did this on his own? So, that would be in the first and foremost effort on the FBI's part.

Secondly, the FBI has, you know, many of the additional resources and equipment that would be needed. So, in this situation you would have the Aurora Police Department, Colorado State Police, the FBI, ATF, bringing all of their best experts and equipment to the scene to work together to try to resolve this.

TUCHMAN: One quick question, will the FBI be interviewing him too?

FUENTES: That's a good question. I don't know. And of course in our system, if he doesn't want to be interviewed, he won't be interviewed. He has to give permission. You're familiar with the Miranda rights. He has to give permission for law enforcement to talk to him. We don't know at this point if he is still giving information. Apparently he did tell the police early on that there were explosives in the apartment. But to the extent that he is still talking, probably not. And that may not occur probably.

TUCHMAN: I certainly should have prefaced that question with if he does indeed decide to talk. But we will see if he's talking. We will see if he's talked. Tom Fuentes, thank you very much for joining us. I appreciate it.

FUENTES: Thank you, Gary.

TUCHMAN: Well, are movie buffs still headed to movie theaters in light of Colorado shooting massacre. We're going cross country to find out.

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TUCHMAN: Thoughts of yesterday's Colorado movie theater massacre on the minds of many Americans this morning. But it looks like movie buffs are not letting one man sway their plans. In Virginia, one woman told USA Today, "We are talking about one terrible guy. It would be ridiculous to think he was stationing people at theaters throughout the country to shoot moviegoers."

(INAUDIBLE)

In Chicago, fans are thinking along similar lines, but police still say, they're giving special attention to theaters throughout the windy city. The same goes for Los Angeles where police said, quote, "Today, and in the immediate future, the LAPD will be providing high- visibility patrol to major theaters in Los Angeles, as well as other sporting events, concerts and crowded venues."

Families torn apart by the hail of bullets in Colorado. So what about the family of the suspected shooter? We'll find out how they are coping with the tragedy.

But first today, nearly one quarter of women in America have experienced severe violence at the hands of someone close to them. This week's CNN heroes ask survivors to dream their best lives.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JO CRAWFORD, COMMUNITY CRUSADER: When I was 13, my dad was very violent and attempted to murder my mom.

Hi, baby.

It wasn't until I was 55 that I came to work in a shelter and met a woman who had fled Chicago with two young children. She had no documentation. She did not legally exist. She said, can you help me? I need $40 to get all the documentation. It is totally forbidden but I gave her two $20 bills. And I'm thinking, I just changed three lives with $40. I had no idea that I had actually changed my life as well.

My name is Jo Crawford and I ask women survivors of domestic violence to dream their best life and I give them the means to accomplish the first step. This is what you want and this is what you deserve. The women are all out of a relationship for at least six months. They have to be free of alcohol and drugs. And they have got to have a dream. UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: I want to go back to school to do social services.

CRAWFORD: It's not a gift. She agrees to pay it forward to three other survivors.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: I'm going to be helping three ladies get their GED.

CRAWFORD: These women need to know that they deserve their dream and have the power to create it.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: I got so much help which enabled me to buy me a sewing machine and that may have realized I should be a person who not only receives help but also gives help.

CRAWFORD: I am so proud of you.

One woman can make a difference. But women working together can change the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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TUCHMAN: Across the U.S., prayers are going out to the victims of the Colorado shooting and to their families. But the nation is also looking for answers. Why did a seemingly normal well-adjusted young man open fire inside a crowded theater? It is a question that is likely also being pondered by James Holmes' family.

Our Casey Wian is at their home in San Diego.

CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Behind me is the home where a Colorado shooting suspect James Holmes lived with his family when he was in high school. This is a suburb of San Diego called Rancho Penasquitos. Very nice neighborhood, a place where neighbors say, people moved because the schools are so good. His mother remains inside the house. His father earlier today taken off by escort by San Diego police escort on his way to Colorado. And speaking with neighbors, including the next door neighbor, a gentleman named Tom Mai said, James Holmes, when he knew him, was a very normal kid with no rowdy friends.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM MAI, FORMER NEIGHBOR OF JAMES HOLMES: He's a very quiet guy. You know, shy. Nice guy, you know. No violence. I didn't hear any loud music from his family. Yes. So no loud friends.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIAN: We spoke with another neighbor, a woman named Julie Adams whose son actually played on the same soccer team in high school with James Holmes. Here's what she had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JULIE ADAMS, FORMER NEIGHBOR OF JAMES HOLMES (on the phone): The helicopters were circling the neighborhood. So, I pulled out the annual and I showed it to him. And I just showed it to him real quickly and then he headed off to work. And that's when he came back to me and said, oh, my gosh, I played soccer with him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIAN: No one from the family is speaking at this point. Neighbors and friends have been coming and going throughout the day, bringing food and cards, well wishes to the family here. Also there's been a very active law enforcement presence. San Diego police officers have been coming and going, keeping the media away from the property. Also plainclothes investigators spent a couple of hours inside. They would not say where they are from. Family releasing the statement saying their hearts go out to all of those impacted by this shooting, saying they are cooperating with law enforcement both here in the San Diego area and in Colorado.

Casey Wian reporting from San Diego.

TUCHMAN: There are startling new developments in a deadly suicide bombing. Authorities are now looking for an American in connection with the attack near a black sea resort. An update live from Bulgaria, next.

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TUCHMAN: A deadly bombing near a favorite tourist destination, Burgas, Bulgaria. Five young Israeli tourists and a bus driver are killed. Now authorities are looking for an American in connection with the attack.

Let's go right to CNN's Atika Shubert, she joins us by phone from Bulgaria. Atika, tell us the latest about the hunt for this American.

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on the phone): Well, we don't know that he is necessarily an American. What we do know, of course, is that the suspected bomber had a fake Michigan license on him. So that may be where some of those reports are coming from. Our source at the interior ministry has told us is that they believe there could be a second suspect. The reason they believe this is they've been speaking to several eyewitnesses who gave them description of the man with short hair, speaking English with a distinct accent.

That's very different from the person we have seen on security camera video at the airport who has long hair. And that's the reason why the Bulgarian Interior Ministry believes there could be a second suspect that helped with this attack and why they are now going from hotels looking for this person.

TUCHMAN: So, Atika, just to make it clear, they're not sure if he's an American. They're saying that he speaks English, so could he be a Brit, for example?

SHUBERT: That's right. They're not sure. All they know he exactly spoke English with a distinct accent. And they're trying to see if the second person is still in the area. There's also the possibility that he is a suspected bomber himself. They simply don't know because they're not able to identify the suspected bomber either.

TUCHMAN: Atika Shubert, we thank you very much for the update. And we'll be back with you later.

New information in Colorado. We will be right back.

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