His brain and from a close friend. Plus, the hero teacher, vicky soto. What she did for her kids. Later, in the face of horror, citizens around the world have come together to make a difference. Lets go outfront. Good evening, everyone. Im erin burnett in newtown, connecticut. Outfront searching for answers. Thats what weve all been doing, trying to understand how this happened and why it happened. Investigators in connecticut returned to the home of the gunman. The suspected gunman, 20yearold adam lanza, searching for evidence. So far, authorities have been unable to retrieve any information from his computer, which was found smashed to pieces in the house he lived in with his mother, nancy. Now, investigators have been trying to piece together an explanation for the crucial why, why did he do this, why did he shoot and kill his mother, why did he go to school a school that he had no link to and shoot 20 innocent children and six adults. The community is just starting to try to begin to heal. Most students began going back to school, trying to go back into a routine today. They went back to school. Police were standing guard outside the schools here. But the district superintendent said today that students and teachers from sandy hook elementary will not actually be going back to school until january, after winter break. There were also funerals today for two more 6 year olds. Jessica rekos and james mattioli. Well have more on those memorials later on in our show. First, we wanted to bring you the very latest that we know about the investigation. Our National CorrespondentSusan Candiotti has new details. She is outside the lanza home tonight. Susan, what can you tell us, the very latest that you have been able to figure out about why this happened . Reporter well, ill tell you, if the shooter in this case was trying to erase his digital footprint, he may have succeeded. Because investigators are telling us that that smashed computer that you referred to was so badly damaged, presumably by the shooter himself, that they are having a hard time retrieving data from the hard drive. But theyre not giving up. Theyre still working on it because they want to try to examine it for any emails he might have sent, for any writings he left behind, to learn about any websites that he might have visited. And also, today, we are learning the new gruesome details from the autopsy of nancy lanza, his mother. Were here in front of the house that she shared with her son and they are saying that she was shot four times in the head while she was sleeping in her bedroom, shot by her own son before he went on to that school to kill 26 children and adults. He died of a single shot. We also learned from the medical examiner that he said he was told that the shooter was diagnosed with aspergers syndrome. He says he is going to look into that more. Regardless, he says, that is not, that is not an explanation for the violence that happened here. And he is also waiting for the results of toxicology tests. Those of course will tell us what kind of drugs or chemicals he might have had in his system, but it might take a couple weeks to learn those results. Now, erin, among those people who are stumped about what happened is a former schoolmate of the shooter in this case and he, too, is trying to make sense of the senseless. Alan diaz may have been as close as anyone could come to being a friend of adam lanza when he was a sophomore at Newtown High School and diaz was a freshman in 2008. He was a very intelligent person. He really was. It was just like the way he acted around other people was just very withdrawn and just really quiet. Reporter a little different . Yeah. Reporter they were in the High School Tech club together, spent a lot of time on computers. Adam had his own style of dressing. He kind of had like the stereotypical nerd look, like khaki pants, belt, tuckedin shirt. Even had like little computer case, kind of like a briefcase instead of a backpack like everyone else. Even had a Little Pocket protector he had pens in. Reporter he doesnt know whether lanza was bullied. He kept to himself. We all kind of knew that like, you know, he had problems socially and we kind of had a feeling that there might have been something wrong with him, but obviously, we never asked, we never thought it was our place to do so. Reporter back then, his schoolmates mom once invited all his friends to the house to play video games. One was star craft, kind of a war games in space. Another was war craft 3 where as the ad says, survival is a matter of strategy. War craft 3 was really fun. He wasnt really into games. He picked up on it quickly. Reporter when lanza Left High School and was home schooled, diaz lost touch. But he ran into lanzas mother nancy about two years ago. I remember her like mentioning that he started going to the shooting range with her and my initial response to that was i never really imagined adam one to ever even hold a gun. Reporter why do you say that . I dont know, maybe because in my mind, i dont imagine shy, quiet people going to a shooting range. I never really can make that association. Reporter investigators are tracking how often lanza had been to gun ranges. They dont yet know how many so far. They have proven hes been to target practice about six months ago and for several years, mother and son went at least once together. Do you now think of him as an evil person . Because of what he did . At one point, he was a good kid. The events that he did that day may have been evil but before then, he was just another kid. At one point, he was a good kid. Adam lanza may have been just another kid to some of his classmates for many years, but he may have been dealing with some very serious issues that they could never have known about. Now, we now know how he died but what was going on with lanza when he was alive . An upcoming toxicology test may provide clues. It will determine, you heard susan refer to this, its going to determine what medications he may have been taking at the time he died, how recently he took them, whether he had recently perhaps suddenly stopped taking something. It will also determine perhaps whether he should have been formally diagnosed with asperger syndrome and whether there was any other condition that adam lanza may have suffered from that was not diagnosed or not known. I want to bring in dr. Oz. Hes been here to newtown and hes here to help us better understand the Mental Health issues that adam lanza may be suffering from. Dr. Oz, the more i hear about this, the more the Mental Health issue comes to the forefront. I know were going to find out in the toxicology test whether adam lanza was on medications and i know now that children can get diagnosed with disorders or issues and they automatically get medicated. What do you expect to find and what sort of side effects might you be thinking about when that toxicology report comes in . It seems like adam lanza had fallen off the grid for a few years so i would be surprised if there was a psychiatrist involved in his care that was prescribing medications. I would have anticipated that person to have stepped forward by now. We may not find that much in the toxicology. Something clearly snapped him, perhaps in the computer thats been erased or the folks having difficulty retrieving data from. There was evidence of what would have prompted this. Maybe he was worried about moving out of the area. He obviously was a fellow who, you mentioned aspergers, im not sure thats the diagnosis but he clearly was an antisocial person just based on the behavior at the last day of his life. That means that his brain is actually different most likely than most peoples brains, that the part of the brain that controls empathy, compassion, that was all gone. It was thinned out. So his ability to tell right from wrong getting back to your earlier question about evil, would have been destroyed and if he was on medications, whatever snapped him would have allowed him to do things that are unimaginable to any of us because he would not have had that normal natural restraint that most of our brains have. Dr. Oz, let me ask you about that. Youve talked looked into this, that research into the brains of people who have committed mass and horrific crimes shows that their brains are in fact different. You can look at it and show that its different, right . How so . Well, theres a part of the brain, the prefrontal cortex, that area behind the forehead, that part of the brain gets thinned out. We dont quite know why. Likely there were genetic issues that led to it not developing normally so these kids are awkward. Some may have aspergers and autism. Those are different issues. There, the kids still have compassion, they feel hurt when things dont go right, they dont want to hurt you. In the case of antisocial behaviors that many psychopaths who have had autopsies reflected, there is a structural change in the brain. This is a big challenge for us because think about this. The bushmaster rifle that adam lanza used, there have been three million of those sold. Which means there are three million guns out there where family members may have access taking that gun and doing a similar type of event. What worries me is the next adam lanza may be out there. Whether theres copycatting or a psychopathic desire to hurt folks, we need a Homeland Security approach to Mental Health in this nation because right now, we are not giving these parents, the nancy lanzas of the world, many options. Thats a stunning number, three million of those out there. We dont even know. Dr. Oz, adam lanzas mother reportedly tried really hard to help him fit in with the mainstream. She tried for years. He had a School Psychologist at least at one point. I wanted to play you just something that i spoke to a woman who actually wrote a blog and her blog was entitled i am adam lanzas mother, and she was talking about her own son who has Mental Health issues. She has had to basically charge him with battery, her husband did, in order to get him put into a Mental Health institution. I wanted to play you what she had to say and get your response. Here is liza long. The advice i got was that i needed to press charges so that we could create a paper trail again and he did get excellent followthrough care when he had to do juvenile detention as a younger boy. But i just dont feel like jail is the right place for my son. Im just really hoping that we can find another solution for him. Dr. Oz, what should someone like liza long do with a son that she loves . She says 97 of the time hes normal but the other 3 of the time hes threatened her and her family and her other children with knives. Yet there doesnt seem to be anything in this country to help. I read that posting on sunday and she is very nicely articulating the challenge all of these parents face. Her 13yearold son is most of the time a loving, adoring kid who she thinks has potential, she thinks she can help him. Unfortunately, 3 of the time hes acting out, hes violent just like adam lanza appeared to be violent certainly at the end of his life. So shes absolutely correct in calling us all out on the reality. The only way she can get help is to file police charges. You know how hard that is for a mom to file charges against a child when she knows its going to result in him being forcefully committed and probably throwing away the towel on that child. Its almost impossible, yet because we have rules appropriately crafted to protect people from being taken care of in terms of Mental Illness in an appropriate way, we pushed that pendulum so far to one side, we dont have the ability to force people to get help when they desperately need it. We have to revisit that issue as much as any other challenge were going to have coming to grips with this crisis that happened in newtown. Dr. Oz, thank you so much for your time and perspective. We really appreciate it. We need it now. Still ahead on outfront we have much more from newtown here today. We went and have the untold story of another teacher from the man who loved her. We will meet with a family. Their first day back to school. Why they moved here to newtown in the first place. Plus, why gun sales are soaring, soaring after the tragedy that happened just a few days ago here. In other news, the verge of a deal in the fiscal cliff negotiations. Crucial for this country. What does it mean . E something. Or you can get out there and actually share something. The lexus december to remember sales event is on. This is the pursuit of perfection. The lexus december to remember sales event is on. Why they have a raise your rate cd. Tonight our guest, thomas sargent. Nobel laureate in economics, and one of the most cited economists in the world. Professor sargent, can you tell me what cd rates will be in two years . No. If he cant, no one can. Thats why ally has a raise your rate cd. Ally bank. Your money needs an ally. Military families face, we understand. At usaa, we know military life is different. Weve been there. Thats why every bit of Financial Advice we offer is geared specifically to current and former military members and their families. [ laughs ] dad dad [ applause ] [ male announcer ] life brings obstacles. Usaa brings advice. Call or visit us online. Were ready to help. Advil pm® or tylenol pm. The advil pm® guy is spending less time lying awake with annoying aches and pains and more time asleep. Advil pm®. The difference is a better nights sleep. Nature valley granola thins pack the big taste of granola and dark chocolate into one perfect square, under 100 calories. Nature valley granola thins. More of our reporting from here in newtown ahead. A dad joins us and a family. But first, we go to washington. House Speaker John Boehner today announced his socalled plan b, thats what hes calling it. If he and the president dont reach a deal on avoiding the fiscal cliff. Dana bash takes a look at how that plan adds up and, well, what the president had to say about it. Reporter house Speaker John Boehner negotiating by phone with the president monday afternoon. The Speakers Office released this photo to show he is trying to cut a broad deal to reduce the deficit and avert the fiscal cliff even though hes also now pursuing what he calls plan b. Our plan b would protect american taxpayers who make 1 million or less and have all of their current rates extended. Reporter according to sources in the room, the speaker described this backup plan to House Republicans as a way to try to inoculate the gop from political blame if fiscal cliff compromise talks fail. His point was we have to face reality and the reality is the president was reelected, that taxes if we do nothing on every american are going up on january 1st. Reporter another goal of this new plan b tactic, try to force the president to agree that any package to reduce the deficit be equal parts tax increases and spending cuts. That at this point would be my version of a balanced approach. Reporter part of the republican strategy is also to call the democrats bluff. Just two years ago, high profile democrats came up with the idea of extending tax cuts for incomes up to 1 million. Now democrats think they hold the cards and say no way. Everyone should understand, boehners proposal will not pass the senate. Reporter the white house argues the president gave a lot of ground in a proposal leaked to reporters monday night, making concessions to the gop position on tax rate increases and spending cuts. In fact, a democratic source in the room tells cnn the president s Congressional Liaison got an earful at a meeting of House Democrats for agreeing to a change that would effectively make Social Security checks smaller. The president has always said as part of this process when were talking about the spending cuts side of this that it would require tough choices by both sides, and that is certainly the case if you want to reach an agreement. Reporter and there were several other areas where the white house says that they gave in to the speaker. First of all, when it comes to those tax rates, the president has campaigned for five years on raising taxes of incomes 250,000 or more. He bumped that up to 400,000 in income, and also in spending cuts, the white house says that they proposed 1. 2 trillion, but the republicans really quibble with that and thats why they say they are still pushing forward on this plan b and just moments ago, there was a meeting that lasted for more than an hour, trying to figure out if the speaker can even get the votes for that plan b and the votes are supposed to be on thursday. Now im going to go over to my colleague, john avlon, for more on this fiscal cliff deal. 13 days from the fiscal cliff, Senate Democrats saying that plan b is d. O. A. The question is really can president obama and Speaker Boehner come together. The good news is theyre both tough negotiators and both have been making significant concessions. So the question is what would that look like for most americans. Well, first of all, the president has said he would make the top rate 400,000 instead of 250,000. Significant concession. And saying hes open to chain indexing of the cpi for Social Security. That is hugely controversial with liberal democrats who say its essentially a concession on one of the most prized programs of the democratic legacy. The speaker, being open to raise not just revenue but rates. A big concession. And taking the debt ceiling limit potentially off the table for two years. Now, the problem is that the activists in both parties are howling at what they see are unacceptable concessions, saying that no deal is better than a bad deal. That is the challenge for both men in negotiations going forward. Other aspects, the president pushing for some stimulus spending for infrastructure, also extension of unemployment benefits. But the big thing for folks to focus on isnt just the shortterm patch but the protensipr potential for a big deal now, what we have come so close to having in the recent past. No matter how modest, it would be historic to see concessions on both sides. It would be a great way to begin the new year with the debt ceiling not on our backs in february. Erin . John, thank you very much. Up next, four days after the newtown tragedy, the nra has finally broken its silence. It was a total blackout, nothing on twitter, nothing on th