the massacre inside that colorado movie theater now appears to be only part of the horror that was planned. a law enforcement official who seen video of the suspect, james holmes' booby trapped apartment tells cnn it was rigged with more than 30 homemade grenades and ten gallons of gasoline. the source says that would have created a fireball knocking out walls engulfing the entire building in flames undoubtedly killing many more people. cnn's ed lavandera is joining us now once again from aurora, colorado. ed, what else are you learning? there are new developments emerging even as we speak. >> reporter: well, there's a great deal going on behind the scenes, but now there's a great effort to make sure that the principle players and many of the people involved in these investigations no longer speak publicly about what is going on. the judge issuing a gag order. ever since that has happened, it's become much more difficult to be able to report on this story and to keep up with what is going on. but we're told a few days ago by the police chief here in aurora that today, tuesday, would be the day defense attorneys would get a chance to go through the movie theater to do their own analysis inside the movie theater and gather their own evidence as they continue or begin the process of working on their case of to be able to defend james holmes, the 24-year-old suspect in this case. and then at some point tomorrow the theater would be turned back over to the company that owns it. and what happens to it after then is very much up in the air about whether or not when or if this theater will reopen. so we'll try to figure out how that plays out over the next couple of days, wolf. >> you've also been putting, ed, some of those dots together how james holmes allegedly paid for that huge arsenal that he had assembled. i guess within only a few months. >> reporter: well, that's one of the aspects we've been working on. if you start following the timeline, it was in june just a little more than a month ago that james holmes dropped out of that neuroscience ph.d. program here at the university of colorado. but according to authorities, it was during toward the end of that time that he had begun amassing the arsenal of weapons -- the four weapons he had bought in three local gun shops here in the denver area as well as 6,000 rounds of ammunition plus all of the materials that you detailed there at the beginning, wolf, about what was found inside of his apartment. a lot of questions, you know, how does a student like this pay for this? it's incredibly expensive. the grant that he was using to go to attend college here in the denver area gave him a stipend, a monthly stipend of almost $2,200 a month. his rent in the apartment complex we had shown you from what we've been able to gather could be anywhere between $600 and $900 a month. so had some money left over. and the question is whether or not some of that money, that grant money that came from the national institute of health might have been used to buy the weaponry and the explosives in this case. so that is a question we know investigators are also taking a much closer look at, wolf. >> ed, it's now been more than 24 hours since the victims' families and their families saw holmes in that courtroom. they've had a little sense to digest what they saw, that red hair, that dazed look from time to time, what kind of reaction are you seeing anecdotally from folks you are speaking with right there on the scene in aurora? >> reporter: i think from the people who have been most closely injured and hurt not only physically but emotionally with the loss of loved ones and that sort of thing, there is a great deal of, you know, people who are questioning whether or not who they saw there yesterday inthat courtroom is actually the real james holmes. many people who believe that he was putting on an act in some way, there's also a great deal of speculation that he might have been under the influence of some sort of prescription medication that he was struggling at times it appeared to stay awake. there are some people who think he might have been under the influence of meds. a wide range of emotions and reactions to that court appearance still from yesterday. >> ed lavandera on the scene for us. we'll check back with you. let's get a bit more now on what's going on. cnn's tom foreman has been investigating. tom, take us inside what was clearly designed to be a death trap, that apartment. you've been looking at how it was all assembled. >> yeah, wolf. this is really one of the great mysteries of the story. exactly what was the configuration inside this apartment. i want to talk about what we do know. look at this video from a few days back when authorities were trying to get in to this place. they were looking through the window moving very slowly. all explanations are because inside they were being met with an array of different explosives and triggers and potential problems. what do we know about what was inside that apartment? well f you look at this diagram here, it gives you some idea of what we're pretty certain of at this point. in the middle of the room were about 30 of these canisters, each about the size of a softball. this is the same sort of thing they use for fireworks displays that shoot up into the air. these we believe were packed with black powder. now, the way they were packed and the way they were wired would make the difference between whether or not they exploded or whether or not they just broke into a very, very intense fire. also around the room you mentioned ten gallons of gasoline. it wasn't in one place. our understanding is that it was in a variety of glass and metal containers around the room. in effect the design would suggest that it was to spread the fire much more quickly in many different directions. there was also according to the investigators a maze of wires running in all directions, all of this wire to the central core here. if we look at that video of what they blew up out in the plains there after they took it away, this gives you an idea of the burning and explosive force of what they took out of this room. you can see what that would do inside a normal apartment setting. this could be a big fire and cause an awful lot of damage. and the real trick to it all though, wolf, was the triggers. i spoke with a man from a company that sells this type of trigger, what we believe we're talking about here, and they're very, very common. this is the sort of thing you would have in your home for a home security system for example. it could be a simple trigger that is either set off by some kind of motion or by the passing over it, say a door with a magnet in the frame very much like your home security systems. they only cost a few dollars. and yet they're highly effective. that's what we believe the authorities broke up with one of these water gun explosives they have that will blow apart these things and keep them from blowing up. they had to be careful in that process because the spaghetti maze of wires out there to all the different potential triggers and ways of setting it off. they had to be careful, wolf, even if they stopped one trigger over here, there maybe another one here or here or here. that's why it took so long. when we ultimately get the schematic of this room, when we ultimately see what was going on there, i think we're going to see an amazingly complex contraption that presented all sorts of dangerous challenges to the investigators. >> yeah. i've heard conflicting reporting whether or not for example if you know anything about the ieds, the improvised explosive devices in iraq or afghanistan, you know they sometimes throw in nails to go out when the explosion goes to increase the intensity of the death, if you will. do we know of anything like that was in there? i've heard conflicting reports. >> i've heard the same things, wolf. i do not know it. and i think we should not report it. we simply don't know that to be the case. but obviously people are going to look at that because you're absolutely right. if you have these set up to actually explode, they are much more dangerous if on the outside is something that acts as shrapnel that tears through the room. something the most amateur bombmaker would know. see which degree of proof they find anything like that as they continue to go through this. >> thanks very much, tom foreman. in the wake of the massacre there are now new arguments over gun control. but old politics are marking the debate on capitol hill. kate bolduan is here in "the situation room" working this part of the story. it's intense up on capitol hill. what emerges from all that intensity remains to be seen. but what's going on? >> remains to be seen, but worth noting today democrat and republican they stood shoulder-to-shoulder today for an emotional moment on the house floor. away from the floor there was some talk of the need for more stricter gun control legislation in light of the tragedy. but what's also clear is that it's not going very far. >> as i said once before and as our governor said, we will remember these people who were hurt. and we will help them all along the way. >> reporter: a poignant moment of silence on the house floor honoring the victims of the colorado theater shooting. along with a renewed promise by some democrats to push for what they call common sense gun control legislation. >> i would just pose this question, how many more moments of silence do we have to have? how many vigils and prayer services do we have to have? >> reporter: house and senate democrats focusing this time on banning high capacity magazines. >> this has nothing to do with second amendment rights. this was made for military, for police. this is meant to kill as many people as possible in the shortest period of time. >> reporter: so why does no one expect any real action? democrats continue to blame republicans and the nra. >> we see what's in the house. and we see the power of the nra around here. >> reporter: republicans argue stricter gun control laws won't prevent tragedies. >> i think the widespread view is that somebody who is that unbalanced will find some way to do harm. >> reporter: house speaker john boehner even flipping the president's own message to his advantage. >> he's not going to use this horrific event to push for new gun laws. i agree. >> reporter: and the politics of gun policy remain exactly the same, a non-starter. top democratic leaders know that. openly recognizing they don't have the votes and don't sense the political will avoiding pointed questions on the issue tuesday. >> i'm not going to be debating magazine size and everything here with you today. >> what kind of gun control policy changes after aurora are you concerned losing to democrats? >> i'm concerned about the people who died there and getting all the facts as to how that happened, what mental health issues involved here are and how he acquired the guns. >> do you think republicans might be willing to work with you on gun control? >> you'll have to ask them. >> and while there was clearly some blaming and finger pointing going on on capitol hill, which is of course not new, virtually every democrat supporting stricter gun laws in so many words today made clear that until voters tell congress that is what they want, it's unlikely to go anywhere. it's unlikely to happen especially in an election year when gun policy has not so far ranked anywhere near the top of the issues the voters care most about what matters. >> you don't hear mitt romney talking so much about it. certainly don't hear the president of the united states talking about it. at least not now. thanks very much for that good report, kate. >> of course. mitt romney accuses the white house of -- i'm quoting the republican presidential candidate "contemptible conduct." and the obama campaign is now fighting back on another front. we're following new developments on the so-called ad wars. plus, the growing concern over syria's chemical weapons. what would it take for bashar al assad to unleash them on his own people? for paying your friend back for lunch...from your tablet. for 26 paydays triggered with a single tap. for checking your line, then checking your portfolio. for making atms and branches appear out of thin air. simple to use websites, tools, and apps. for making your financial life a little bit easier. to drive a car filled with as much advanced technology as the world around it. with the available lexus enform app suite, you can use opentable to make restaurant reservations... search with bing... and listen to pandora. presenting the 2013 lexus gs, rx and the all-new es, the leading edge of the leading edge. during the golden opportunity sales event, get great values on some of our newest models. this is the pursuit of perfection. i have to know the weather patterns. i upgraded to the new sprint direct connect. so i can get three times the coverage. [ chirp ] [ manager 2 ] it's like working in a giant sandbox with all these huge toys. and with the fastest push-to-talk... i can keep track of them all. [ chirp ] [ chirp ] [ male announcer ] upgrade to the new "done." with access to the fastest push-to-talk and three times the coverage. now when you buy one kyocera duracore rugged phone, for $49.99, you'll get four free. visit a sprint store, or call 855-878-4biz. [ chirp ] visit a sprint store, or call 855-878-4biz. i was in an accident. i lost my hands, my feet. shriners did a lot more than just heal me. they helped me put my whole life back together. (vo) send your love to the rescue. (vo) donate to shriners hospitals today. jack cafferty's here with the cafferty file. jack. >> wolf, with the election just three months away now and the economy continuing to struggle, a new poll suggests that americans overwhelmingly trust mitt romney to get the economy back on track. usa today gallup polls show more than two to one americans say romney's business background would help him make good decisions about the economy. pardon me. the obama campaign better take note. this is a poll that suggests the president's strategy of relentless attacks on romney's record at bain capital and his business background could backfire big time. with unemployment above 8% for 41 straight months, americans might not care so much what romney was doing ten years ago. bha they care about is someone fixing the economy today. in fact, a lot of voters probably find romney's business background to be a plus. meanwhile, the president has his own strengths over his gop rival in the same poll. the poll shows by a two to one margin voters say mr. obama is more likable than mitt romney. by wide margins voters say the president understands their problems better and that he's more honest and trustworthy than romney. which sets up an interesting dilemma come election day. are americans going to vote for the candidate who they think can fix the economy, the nation's top issue? or for the one they like best? and that's our question. is it more important for a president to be able to handle the economy or to be likable? go to cnn.com/caffertyfile, post a comment on my blog. or go to our post on "the situation room" facebook page. wolf. >> jack, thanks very much. he's been hammering president obama on the economy, but today there was a new line of attack by mitt romney. in a major foreign policy speech the presumptive republican presidential nominee accused the president and his administration of leaking sensitive classified information strictly for political gain. cnn's dana bash is in reno, nevada, right now. that's where romney addressed the veterans of foreign wars just a couple hours or so ago, dana, so what did romney say? >> reporter: well, wolf, from mideast policy to national defense cuts to the issue of integrity effectively, that is what mitt romney hit the president on. more sering rhetoric than we've ever heard before. and it was very careful to hit the issue jack was just talking about, the issue they think inside the romney campaign can hurt the most is credibility and trust. >> this congress is contempti e contemptible. it betrays our national interest. >> reporter: foreign policy is not a top priority for voters this year. so mitt romney decided to pummel the president on an issue they do care about, trust and credibility. >> exactly who in the white house betrayed these secrets? >> reporter: romney used his speech to blast the president for a series of national security leaks romney said were politically driven to help the president. hanging his stepped up attacks on new comments from the democratic senate intelligence chairwoman diane finestein. >> i think the white house has to understand that some of this is coming from its ranks. >> did a superior authorize it? these are things that americans are entitled to know and they're entitled to know it now. if the president believes as he said last week that the buck stops with him, then he owes all americans a full and prompt accounting of the facts. the time for stonewalling is over. >> reporter: that's the kick. here's the kicker. >> what white house would reveal classified material for political gain? i'll tell you right now, mine will not. >> reporter: feinstein reported being stewed. romney also stirred up a crowd pleaser for veterans of this audience warning against $50 billion in budget cuts to defense next year. >> we're just months away from an arbitrary across the board budget reduction that would saddle the military with a trillion dollars in cuts. severely shrink our force structure. and impair our ability to meet and deter threats. don't bother by the way trying to find a serious military rationale behind any of that unless that rationale is wishful thinking. strategy is not driving the president's massive defense cuts. >> reporter: despite romney's aim at the president, the reality is those cuts were not simply a presidential strategy. they come from a debt reduction compromise romney's fellow republicans voted for. >> did we get 100% of the discretionary cuts we were looking for? no. we got two-thirds. that's better than zero. >> reporter: 175 house republicans, 72% of them, voted for $110 billion in spending cuts. half of which come from defense. in the senate, more than half of republican senators 29 voted for the cuts. and this foreign policy speech was meant for romney to pivot to the world stage because he is about to go on a trip to europe and to israel. on those notes, wolf, there are a couple of highlights he accused the president of treating israel in a shabby way. and on iran he seemed to take a bit further step in defining his own policy saying he wants to have nothing short of full suspension of uranium. and one more issue i think is note worthy and that is afghanistan, he said that he wants to completely transition to afghan security forces by the end of 2014. wolf. >> you know, dana, in our next hour we're going to have a major debate between a romney and obama supporter of foreign policy. robert wex ler and dan see nor. they disagree especially when it comes to what romney said about president obama's position on israel. standby for that, dana bash on the scene in reno. earlier this month an expedition set out to solve the mystery of the flier, amelia ere hart. and later, secretary of state hillary clinton's dire warning about maas trosties going on in syria right now. do you see it ? there it is ! there it is ! where ? where ? it's getting away ! where is it ? it's gone. we'll find it. any day can be an adventure. that's why we got a subaru. love wherever the road takes you. wow, there it is. consider the journey of today's athletes. their training depends on technology. and when it takes a battery, there are athletes everywhere who trust duracell. they rely on copper to go for the gold. duracell. trust