Bnsf railway. And by the bill and Melinda Gates foundation. Dedicated to the idea that all people deserve the chance to live a healthy, productive life. And with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. And. This program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Woodruff the renewed concern over Mass Shootings in the United States and how to prevent them was highlighted today in events ranging from an anniversary appeal to a Colorado Court hearing. The day began with solemn remembrance of an attack that left a lawmaker gravely wounded. Bells tolled across tucson, arizona, this morning in ceremonies broadcast on local t. V. The ringing two years to the day after a gunman opened fire at an outdoor political event for then congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords six people were killed and Gabrielle Giffords was shot in the head. She later Left Congress to focus on her recovery. The gunman, jared lee loughner, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life in prison. Now, in the wake of the latest mass shooting in newtown, connecticut, giffords and her husband, mark kelly, have opened a new campaign against gun violence. They appeared today in an interview with diane sawyer of abc news. I have a gun. Gabby and i are both gun owners. We are strong supporters of the second amendment. But weve got to do something to keep the guns from getting in the wrong hands. Woodruff the couple spoke of visiting newtown last friday where 20 children and six adults died at sandy hook elementary school. It brought back a lot of memories about what that was like for us some two years ago today. And you hope that that this kind of thing doesnt happen again. You know what . It does happen again. Woodruff and Gabrielle Giffords made her own oneword appeal. When it can happen to children in a classroom, its time to say enough. Woodruff kelly and giffords also announced in u. S. A. Today that theyre launching a Political ActionCommittee Americans for responsible solutions. They said they will raise the funds necessary to balance the influence of the gun lobby and will line up squarely behind leaders who will stand up for whats right. To date, the pair complained, congress has done nothing at all despite the string of mass killings. But since newtown, president obama has commissioned Vice President biden and an Administration Task force to find a way forward. Biden is meeting this week with various groups, including a representative of the National Rifle association. President ial spokesman jay carney. The n. R. A. Has certainly been one of the many groups invited. I would leave it to those groups themselves to decide whether to say whether to make any comment on their attendance in those meetings. Reporter the task forces proposals are due back to the president by the end of next week. After that the president will decide what he would like to pursue, what he believes is the right course of action. In addition to what he has already called on congress to do which is pass the assault weapons ban, pass legislation that would ban high capacity magazines, pass a bill that would close loopholes in our background check system. Reporter meanwhile, in centennial, colorado, this was day two of a preliminary hearing for james holmes who allegedly killed 12 people inside a Movie Theater last july. As the weeklong proceedings opened on monday, relatives of the victims said they were looking for clarity. Theres no way to understand this. Theres no understanding it. But wed like to at least want to know what happens. Reporter holmes is charged with more than 160 counts, including murder and attempted murder. The hearing will formally determine whether the case is Strong Enough to go to trial. For more on the hearings we turn to megan verlee. I spoke with her earlier today. Megan, thank you very much for talking with us. First of all, tell us about the testimony youve been hearing so far today. Well, today was devoted to two things. The first thing we heard in the morning were two 911 calls that came in at the very beginning of the attack. The first caller it was in fact the first call to 911, you cant hear the man whos called in, you juster that dispatcher saying whats your address, whats your address . I cant hear you. And in the background pretty much constant loud gunfire. The Police Officers that investigated the tape said he counted more than 30 shots in the 27 seconds of that call. The second 911 call we heard was a very disturbing piece of tape from a 13yearold girl who had gone to the movie with her cousins. She called in, reported theyd both been shot, one wasnt breathing. The dispatch tried to take her through c. P. R. , it was so loud she couldnt hear the instructions. The person that she was working on, the person who she was with, was Veronica Moser sullivan, the sixyearold who died in the theater. That was chilling testimony this morning, hard on some of the people in the courtroom to listen to, the victims and their families who were there. From that we went into a detailed description of the explosives found in james holmes apartment, how they were rigged up and what they were made of. Woodruff megan, we know james holmes is in the courtroom. What is he doing during all this and what are his Defense Attorneys saying . Well, since ive been able to see him holmes has been very unresponsive. Sits and listens to this, he doesnt seem to be moving much. Im not in a position to see his facial expression but he appears to be sitting still through all of it. His Defense Attorneys have taken the opportunity that they can to try and lay the suggestion of the insanity defense that everyone expects them to plead down the road. Today there was a moment there was an alcohol, tobacco, firearms and explosives agent who gave a timeline of all of holmes weaponry purchases, alleged purchases of ammunition and firearms and ballistic gear. At the end, holmes defense attorney stood up and said is there any process in the state of colorado that would keep a severely mentally ill person and that was her phrase severely mentally ill person from purchasing this equipment . And the agent said no. So obviously the defense is going to try to say yes, holmes may have made all these purchases, he may have been at the scene of the attack, he may have had these booby traps in his apartment but that does not mean that he can be held as sane and charged with found guilty in this case. Woodruff you also mentioned there are family members in the courtroom. How are they dealing with this testimony, both today and yesterday . Well, mostly theyve been very calm and quiet. Stoic i think is the word that keeps occurring to me. A lot of them are taking very complex notes but there are moments when the emotion comes through. On the first day of the hearing an officer describes finding Veronica Moser sullivans body in the theater and searching for a pulse and there were people crying on the family side. There was a woman who got up and had to leave. The officer himself actually broke down during that testimony. Today during the 911 calls you saw People Holding hands in preparations to hear that call. Is you saw people crying. At the end of it one woman stood up and kissed the back of the head of the man in front of her. So through it they were mostly quiet and observant but there were moments when the reality of these charges and events hit nerve the courtroom. Woodruff it sounds as if its pretty difficult to listen to a lot of it. Tell us a little more about what you heard yesterday. So yesterday the first day of the preliminary hearings starting out very abruptly. They called a paroleman named oviatt who was the first one to apprehend james holmes. He described a dense situation where he was running toward the back door of the theater with his gun drawn. He saw a man in ballistics gear standing by a car and originally mistook him for Law Enforcement because of the ballistics gear he was wearing and then realized that unlike everyone else at the scene this man wasnt tense, he wasnt shouting, he wasnt moving and thats when the sister decided something might be wrong, approached him, realized he was not an officer, ordered him on the ground and proceeded with the arrest. So we heard a lot about holmes arrest and that he was quite compliant and detached was the description of his state during the arrest. And we also heard descriptions in the theater. One officer said that there was so much blood at the back entrance of the theater that he almost slipped. Others described going in and choking on tear gas. Holmes allegedly threw a canister of tear gas in the crowd and being deafened by the sound in there. The movie was still running, it was dark, lit by strobe flashes from the emergency lights. There was a clack son going off and there were the screams of the wounded and the ringing of dozens and dozens of cell phones that people dropped when they fled. So the description inside the theater that night was very graphic and very compelling and a big part of the testimony yesterday. Woodruff thank you, megan verlee, for talking with us. Youre very welcome. Glad to do it ifill still to come on the newshour, the release of the lone suspect in the Benghazi Embassy attack; the boom in Online College courses; china clamps down on the internet and the press; and remembering sportswriter and political journalist Richard Ben Cramer. But first, with the other news of the day, heres hari sreenivasan. Sreenivasan a u. S. Army judge ruled today that the soldier in the wikileaks case was treated too roughly in the first nine months after his arrest. But the judge refused to dismiss the charges against private first class Bradley Manning. Instead, she reduced his potential life sentence by 112 days. Manning was arrested in 2010, accused of leaking thousands of classified documents. He was kept in a cell with no windows and sometimes, with no clothing at a marine corps brig. His courtmartial begins in march. The u. S. May not leave any troops in afghanistan for training duties after combat forces leave at the end of 2014. Deputy National Security adviser ben rhodes said so publicly today. U. S. And afghan officials are at odds over legal immunity for u. S. Troops who stay behind. Also today, nato announced an afghan soldier shot and killed a british soldier on monday in helmand province. Six other britons were wounded. The u. N. s World Food Program warned today that one Million People in syria are going hungry, as the countrys civil war intensifies. The agency blamed a lack of security and lack of access to a key port for aid shipments. Meanwhile, rebels battled Government Troops across syria today. And fighting erupted again in a Palestinian Refugee camp in damascus, killing five people. The wildfire threat in southern australia was unrelenting today. The flames have fed off hot, dry conditions, with temperatures hitting 113 degrees in some areas. Scores of fires burned in tasmania and new south wales, leaving widespread destruction, but so far no confirmed deaths. We have a report narrated by liam dutton of independent television news. Reporter with no letup, scorching heat and high winds, firefighters spent another day trying but often failing to keep the flames at bay. More than 100 homes and tens of thousands of acres of farm land have been destroyed in fires which have been out of control aloss large swath of southeast australia. And in several areas, fire crews were forced to pull out because temperatures were too high. The weather conditions are such that we cant do any active firefighting at the moment. The winds are too strong. Its just too hot and the fire danger is still far too high. Reporter the first week of 2013 has seen seven of the hot test 20 days ever recorded in australia and with the fire risk in some areas being graded catastrophic, the Prime Minister warned residents to take care. Its very important that people keep themselves safe, that they leave them to local authorities and local warns with. This is a very dangerous day. Reporter one of the worst hit areas is the island of tasmania. Staying safe there, for many, meant abandoning their homes to the flames. Im in an area where the danger zone is. Reporter in the small town of denali, although Police Believe they were friends and family, with a hundred people remain missing. While the weather is expected to turn cooler tomorrow, fire chiefs warn conditions are still highly dangerous. Sreenivasan 2012 was the hottest year on record in the continental United States by a lot. The National Climatic data center reported today the average temperature topped 55 degrees. That was a full degree more than the previous record, set in 1998. Usually, temperature records increase by about onetenth of a degree. The year was also three degrees warmer than the average for the entire 20th century. Unemployment across the euro zone countries has hit another record high, 11. 8 , in november. The European Union reported today the jobless rate rose more than a full percentage point from a year earlier. Greece had the single biggest yeartoyear increase, jumping seven points to 26 . Across the e. U. , some 26 Million People were out of work. Wall street was down again today as the market marked time, waiting for corporate earnings announcements. The Dow Jones Industrial average lost 55 points to close under 13,329. The nasdaq fell seven points to close below 3092. Those are some of the days major stories. Now, back to gwen. Ifill we return to the u. S. Consulate attack in benghazi, the only known suspect held in connection with the incident was released today in tunisia. His attorney said he was freed because of a lack of evidence. The attack, which killed u. S. Ambassador to libya Christopher Stevens and three other americans was seen by large crowds and captured on Security Cameras, but the culprits have remained elusive. Libyan witnesses have reportedly placed a local leader from the militant group ansar alsharia, at the scene of the attacks. He survived a vigilante assassination attempt this week and remains at large. For more on the status of the investigation, im joined by nancy yousef of Mcclatchy Newspapers. Welcome nancy. What do we know about this suspect . Hes a 20 somethingyearold tunisian who was arrested last fall. At the time the authorities said that they had strong suspicions that he was involved in the attack. Hes been held since that time but not questioned by either the libyans or the f. B. I. The agents didnt allow for this. Today surprisingly his lawyer appeared before a judge and said there was insufficient evidence to hold him and he was subsequently released even though members of congress and others have said they believe he was involved in the attack. So its really raised questions not only about his case but where the investigation broadly stands nearly four months after the attack libyan Authorities Say that they have had a problem arresting people that while they have suspects they have the authorities are afraid to arrest people because of their ties to the militias and so this case really raises broader questions about the status of the investigation into the attack that killed ambassador stevens and three other americans. I want to get to those broader questions but a logistical one first hichlt is it that a tunisian ends up being a suspect and hes being held in tunis for an attack that allegedly occurred in libya. According to the investigators weve spoken to there were upwards of 70 people involved in that attack and they were not just libyans, they were tunisians, egyptians, turks, jordanians weve heard and after the attack a lot of them fled to their native countries, many libyans are in hiding. Some are openly hiding in libya because they dont fear an immediate arrest. So while this attack happened in benghazi, there were huge militant groups operating within the country and traveling freely into libya. Ifill if this is true that there were dozens of suspects, some of them people are keeping an eye on them in different countries, who is in charge of this investigation . Well, its a libyanled investigation but the problem is the libyans who are in charge of the investigation some of them have only been in Security Operations for a year. And theyre not really experienced on how to conduct such a complex investigation. While theyre working with the f. B. I. This happened within the jurisdiction of benghazi and therefore the libyans have the authority over the case unless the libyan cans pull the case together it makes it hard for courts in other countries like tunisia to build a case because it hinges on what the libyans are able to pull together in terms of evidence, witnesses and all that has been exceptionally difficult in libya. The police themselves are afraid to arrest militia people who they suspect being involved in the attack and then on top of that you have a crime scene that was looted within minutes of the attack and no real professional evidence gathering that happened at the time. So all of that makes it very difficult for the libyans to put together a proper investigation such that it will lead to arrests and convictions. Not only libya but throughout the arab world where suspects may be hiding. It sounds extremely complicated and we saw the president , president obama,