When we first arrived there, there was not a lot of security to guard. And there were three children that came out, one of them was, had a very bloody face. It was a very violent scene. And there were two other ones that they were, you know, they were in the arms of a state trooper. They did not move. Their face was very pale. It was very tragic. Reporter welcome back, everybody. Youre watching our special coverage of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting that happened 90 minutes north of new york city. I want to update you on the very latest we know. A couple things we are waiting for, we are expecting a press conference from law enforcement. They have been doing them regularly. They are now 90 minutes delayed or so on that. We are waiting to hear the very latest inside that scene because they have obviously closed down that scene. And its being treated as a crime scene. They have been trying to process the crime scene as the last thing they have told us. We are waiting on the update of that. It is 20 children between the ages of 5 and 10 killed in this terrible tragedy as well as six adults at the school. Including the schools principal and sky psychologist. The suspect is 20yearold adam lanza. Sources say he was armed with three guns, wore fatigues and had a military vest on. He got the guns from his mother. All five guns were registered to her. And she was found dead in her home not far from where we are right now. Parents and teachers, i think it is fair to say the entire nation is struggling with how to really understand how a gunman could open fire on a bunch of small children at an Elementary School. So we wanted to have a conversation about how to have that conversation. Dr. Eric fisher is a licensed clinical psychologist, an expert on posttraumatic stress disorder. Dr. Fisher, i appreciate you talking to us. Just a few moments ago i talked to a first and third grader. And one of the things they said to me is they dont really know what to do. They have been letting the kids dictate how much they talk or how much not to talk, but now that they know some of their first graders best friends have been massacred, they just dont know what to do. What would you advise them to do . Well, i think you do in some ways let your child take the lead and ask them what they know and what they are aware of. When people experience trauma, it is not often stored in the verbal centers of the brain but the nonverbal center of the brain. As kids work this through, they could have a lot of emotion but not have words. A lot of times we have emotions before we have words. And we have to see that everybody works through their grief and emotion differently. I encourage people to draw, to write, to color, to paint, to sing through their healing process. At this time, though, anybody whose been in this experience is going to need some professional help and support. Thats just an absolute. So the sooner they can get to somebody and consult with people who are experts and professionals in the area, the better they will be in the long run. Also as parents, make sure youre taking care of yourselves, too. If your kids see you worn and having a difficult time, some of that is going to be okay because they will see this is a human experience. However, it is important that you have an outlet as a parent to be there to support your kids and make sure youre consulting a professional if you need that. Too. Reporter i want to bring in dr. Sanjay gupta. Ur chief medical correspondent. You have done a lot of work in most traumatic stress. Are childrens brains capable of overcoming this more easily than adults or do you find the opposite, does it affect them for the rest of their lives . They both can be affected by posttraumatic stress disorder, but kids are resilient. The same sort of episodes are sort lived. So just as your guest was saying, a lot of times it could be very subtle things. A little bit of regression, for example, in terms of development and temper tantrums. Something that seems unusual, but oftentimes it could be more shortlived. I saw something very interesting, soledad, and we talked about this before. Sleep can oftentimes be one of the first big sleep can be a very powerful predictor overall of how someone copes in the longterm. So even last night, tonight, parents watching and making sure their kids are getting sleep. I know it sounds like a simple thing, but if you look at the study, its a powerful predictor how they will cope in the long rung. Reporter i want to go back to erik fisher, for people who were not here and whose children did not go through the trauma, and yet i think as any parent watching the story unfold from around the country, we are trying to figure out how do i tell my child honestly they will be safe in school when i cannot honestly say that. And as you know they know when youre lying and trying not to lie but you also want to give them reassurance. What do you do . Im careful to not make promises. I never tell my 7yearold daughter i promise because we cannot make promises over things we do not control. I really try to say this is what we are doing and these are the plans i have. Make sure you know you have an emergency plan if you get separated, whats your emergency call and wheres a safe place to go thats a Meeting Place or things like that. Those are things important to have in place. Because the more people feel like they have a plan, the less stress that occurs in a situation in the longterm stress. Dr. Gupta made a great point about watching sleep because of the stress hormones secreted when sleep deprived but you are not just looking how kids respond for the next month or year, but in the work of people with traumas as children, we are talking about the next 20 years. Even in these events, i have had to consult with clients to say turn off the tv. Dont watch it as they bring up huge triggers for posttraumatic stress. Reporter it is so interesting to hear the descriptions of the teachers so clearly heroes. Having the children hide in cubbies and try to protect them in a way that with a gunman roaming around, they cant really protect them in doing their all and being organized and bringing them to the firehouse. Thats amazing. Is that a way to focus . It breaks my heart, it is so upsetting, but at the same time it feels like one positive thing in this horrible thing is people were truly heroic. It is tough to talk about, but the whole notion of empowering yourself in some way. In a situation where you seem to have lost complete control. You have no longer to do anything all to empower yourself or the people around you. It may seem like small things, just singing songs to the children, hiding in closets, and not even being sure those will have a Significant Impact in terms of preventing the horror, but that empowerment goes a long way as saying, control your own feelings before controlling every ones feelings. You have been hearing these stories all day. Reporter let me ask you a question, sanjay, about what a Family Member of the shooter, adam lanza told investigators. He said that adam hadautism. My nephew is autistic and i have never heard to autism being linked to this violent behavior. We have linked it to smasz shootings before but not autism. What is your study . There are hardly any studies on this, but there were a couple from a year or two ago tha to show the link between this and any kind of violent behavior was the studies dont bear that out. Violent outbursts like any child or young person i have are there. There are some studies looking at empathy. Could there be limited empathy . But even the studies are limited. I will say, for example, the diagnosis of aspergers is not a diagnosis. As of this year that diagnosis is gone. So i guess i wouldnt reach too much into that. Reporter as we are waiting for information to come to us, erik fisher, thank you for joining us this morning with your insight. And sanjay, i appreciate your time. We are waiting for this press conference. There are now, what would you say, like 100 cameras at least here lined up for the state police and the Newtown Police officials to come out and update us on the very latest that they know. We also know a little bit more detail from the librarian at Sandy Hook Elementary School. She says the kids and the teen teachers were prepared on what they could overhear over the intercom. She talked a few moments ago on what she did to keep kids safe during the shooting spree. Listen. Everybody does what they have to do when confronted in a situation like that. And everybody that we practiced it, and they knew what to do, and you just think about protecting the kids and just doing the right thing. Reporter how long did you practice this . We have lockdown drills. I dont remember how many, but there are rules to have a certain number a year. So the kids know the routine. Everyone has a spot in the room where they are supposed to go to. Reporter can you describe that space for us . In the library it is between a couple bookcases with no windows. We went into a back storage room and locked the kids in there. Reporter how close were you there . We were like this close together. There was crayons and paper the storage room in the back. And we tore some up and gave them clipboards and had them color and draw pictures. There were three other adults with me. They were asking whats going on, we said we dont know. Our job is to stay quiet. It could be a drill or may not. Reporter you didnt know at that point . We knew because i called the office and she told me there was a shooter. My kids, friends of theirs have Little Sisters or brothers dead. Everybody in town knows everybody. Theres not going to be anybody affected by this. It is awful. Im just glad they were safe and they were worried about me because we were in lockdown and didnt know. The kids back home in high school were left watching it on tv. It was probably really difficult for them. Reporter did you know the mother . No. She was not into play there as far as i know. Reporter many people were saying how great the principal was. She was a personal friend and a wonderful mother. Reporter just devastating for people trying to make sense of what happened here. A lot of people still grateful their children survived and then all the parents who are mourning today. 20 children lost their lives in this terrible, terrible horrific shooting. We lost a lot of babies today in this town. And there are a lot of very sad families. 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And we are going to have to come together to take action to prevent more tragedies and prevent the politics. Reporter good morning. We are in newtown, connecticut, this morning. We are awaiting a press conference to get underway. They are gathered just to my left, but we are waiting for the folks from the state police and also the local police to update us on the very latest. The crime scene is just a half mile through that woods. Thats Sandy Hook Elementary School. And, of course, it was the sight and scene of so much chaos. We want to talk a little bit about what the president said. It was very unusual to see him so emotional and so choked up as he gave that brief remark about the shooting. Brianna kieler reporting for us from the white house. I have to say i have never seen a speech that he couldnt almost get through. And i think a lot of people would say the same thing. Reporter it was a very emotional moment for president obama, soledad. Something certainly remarkable, but there was Something Else in his comments that was also remarkable. If youre someone who listens to president obama and you really parse every word he says, as so many of us do, he talked about having meaningful action. This is significant. Because White House Press secretary jay carney was asked yesterday about what might happen in the wake of this tragedy. Every time, unfortunately, that there is a shooting like this, people start asking about what kind of legislation might congress be able to enable to enact to stop this from happening. A lot of times that means to be gun advocates saying something needs to be done. This has not been a priority for mr. Obama in his first time, but listen again today as he said it in his weekly address. As a nation we have endured far too many of these tragedies in the last few years. An Elementary School in newtown, a Shopping Mall in oregon, the house of worship in wisconsin, the Movie Theater in colorado, countless Street Corners in places like chicago and philadelphia. Any of these neighborhoods could be our own, so we have to come together and well have to make meaningful action to prevent more tragedies like this from happening. Regardless of politics. Reporter so what does that mean, meaningful action . We dont know. Does that mean he may try to pursue gun control legislation . Honestly, we dont know at this point, but i will tell you, soledad, that gun control advocates look at president obamas record on gun control and they say that its dismal. He got an f from the Brady Campaign in 2008 when he was campaigning and made a promise to pursue renewing that semiautomatic weapons band that expired in 2004. That never came to fruition. In july i was in new orleans as he gave a speech to the urban league where he talked about gun violence and having a conversation about it, but in an Election Year nothing ever happened to it. It is not really an appetite in congress and traditionally it is republicans who are more in favor of gun there are Many Democrats who are not in favor of pursuing new guncontrol legislation including the head of the senate, Senate Majority leader harry reid. Its really interesting to listen to his language and wonder what might come out of this. Its an open question at this point, soledad. Reporter yeah, i think an open question on a lot of fronts. Reporting from the white house, thank you. What exactly does meaningful action mean . Its what the president said is needed to stop gun violence. The tragedies raise the level of the debate about gun control. I want to read a couple of statements for you. Lets look at those. If you can scroll up. This comes from the National Rifle association, until the facts are thoroughly known, the nra has no comment. This comes from the National Shooting sports foundation. Actually, based here. They say this, can you scroll down again so i today that . Our hearts go out to the families of this horrible tragedy in our community. Out of respect for the families, the community and the Ongoing Police investigation, it would be inappropriate to comment. So from both of them, pretty much getting a big resounding no comment at this point. Want to get to California Republican congresswoman mary bono mack. Nice to see you again. Weve had an opportunity to talk about a lot of things the last year on my morning program. Youre a parent first and foremost. Whats your response to what has unfolded in newtown, connecticut . Hi, soledad. Thunderstorm watch for having me here. My response thank you for having me here. My response is the same as every american is having now, that is a bonechilling sadness. I think that we all grieve right now. I think theres a piece of every single parent right now with these parents and these families. And you know, youve done such a great job already this morning of exploring the what ifs and why not my school and thank god its not my school. And all of the pain and suffering that were all feeling now. As we wait for answers, why this horrific thing happened, why we decided how we decided as a down move forward to make sure it doesnt happen again. Reporter what do you think that means . Im going to warn you, were waiting for this press conference. Weve been waiting all morning. I 1995 jump in when youre talking and just interrupt for their start. But that hasnt happened yet. So what does meaningful action mean . What would you like to see . You support gun rights in this country. Youre a republican, and i think thats a position consistent with most republicans. What does meaningful action, that actually stops these kinds of shootings, look like to you . First of all, i am a republican who has had questions, too, about a number of the issues that have come before us about gun rights and gun control. For example, cop killer bullets or, you know, large magazines. Ive asked those questions. But where i keep getting to really quickly is the Mental Health issue. I keep wondering why these people snap. Especially in this instance, there these children were, as somebody said to me earlier, they were angels. They were absolutely defenseless. And what would make somebody snap so terribly to do something this heinous . So the question for me is not just gun rights but Mental Health. I agree that ive never heard this about autism. I dont know that there would be a link there. But i really believe that there are link t links to Mental Health. We need to discuss what we can do better in the Mental Health system. Maybe the answer then is both i dont know that youre going to get a lot of people who are going to be against giving people more Mental Health counseling, et cetera, et cetera. So i would agree completely on that front. Lets go back to gun control. What do you think