Transcripts For WBAL Today 20110109 : vimarsana.com

why did this happen? this morning, new information on the victims, the suspect,nd why police want to find this man. today, sunday, january 9, man. today, sunday, january 9, 2011. captions paid for by nbc-universal television good morning, everyone. welcome to a special split edition of today on this sunday morning. i m lester holt live in tucson, arizona. i m jenna wolfe inside studio 1-a here in new york. what a horrible tragedy. lester, i understand details are still emerging there this morning. a lot being sorted out this morning, jenna. it happened at this shopping center behind me where congresswoman gabrielle giffords was hosting a sidewalk gathering for constituents. a gunman walked up, opened firen oh her and then on the crowd. six people were killed. among them a 9-year-old girl and a u.s. district judge, federal judge. at least 13 others were injured including congresswoman giffords. she was shot in the head but remarkably survived after undergoing brain surgery. she remains in critical condition this morning, but doctors say they are hopeful. meanwhile, authorities have one suspect in custody. his name is jared loughner. he s 22 years old. at this hour officials are searching for someone who they think may have been associated with the suspect. there is the picture they are hoping someone will recognize and call with information. coming up, we are going to get the latest from here in arizona. we ll have a conversation with two people who helped subdue the shooter until police arrived, jenna. lester, we are going to take a closer look this morning at some of the victims of the shooting including the youngest, a 9-year-old girl born on the day of the 9/11 attacks. she had just been elected to her school student council and went to see the congresswoman because she was interested in government. so a sad story there, lester. all right. we want to begin our coverage with nbc s miguel almaguer. he joins us with where the investigation stands. good morning to you. staggering numbers, lester. at least six people are dead. another 13 injured. the fbi and the sheriff s department is conducting a joint investigation. this morning they believe they have the gunman in custody, although as you mentioned, they are looking for another suspect. they say the congresswoman was the target. panic and chaos outside a suburban tucson grocery store. saturday, just after 10:00 a.m., a gunman begins his rampage. congresswoman gabrielle giffords was meeting with her constituents when she was shot in the head at point blank range. the gunman turned his semiautomatic pistol on the crowd. there were eight pops and a frenzy of people. i was behind a pillar. i saw a man lying on the ground. all i heard was get down . reporter: witnesses say bodies were everywhere. the most grimly injured, air lifted. some survivors drove themselveses to the hospital. several are in critical condition. congresswoman giffords was able to communicate with doctors while being rushed into surgery. she was shot through and through on one side of the head. it went through her brain. reporter: the suspect is jared lee loughner, a 22-year-old with a criminal history. he may have an accomplice and police are looking for this man for questioning. we are not convinced that he acted alone. there is some reason to believe he came to this location while with another individual. reporter: investigators are looking into youtube and myspace accounts reportedly registered in loughner s name, but the online rants make little sense. the bloodshed could have been much worse. he probably would have shot other people had he not been tackled by two people. reporter: investigators quickly sealed off loughner s neighborhood, just minutes from the crime scene. it s extremely creepy to know he lived so close to me and he wants to shoot somebody. reporter: although police believe the congresswoman was targeted, the other victims appear to be random. among the dead, a prominent 63-year-old federal judge, a 30-year-old aid to giffords who was engaged to be married, and a 9-year-old girl, the youngest victim. obviously, our hearts go out to the family members of those who have been slain. reporter: re-elected to her third term in november, giffords met with the public on a regular basis. shortly before she was shot, she tweeted, please stop by to let me know what s on your mind. outside the hospital saturday night, tears and a tribute. you cannot kill hope with a bullet. reporter: a community praying together for the survivors and also remembering the dead. on saturday, doctors said they were optimistic about the congresswoman s recovery. we hope to have updated information on that later on today. even as late as yesterday there was a scare outside of her office. it turned out there was a suspicious package there, but it was not a threat. all right. miguel, thank you very much. eventually jared loughner was subdued by people in the crowd. i am joined by two of those people. one, joe zamudio and dr. steven rail. they held loughner down until authorities arrived. good morning to you. thanks for coming on with us. doctor, you were in the crowd to see the congresswoman. you saw the shooter? i saw the shooter. there really wasn t much of a crowd. there was nothing in front of the table. i had arrived and walked in front of the table, took a look at congresswoman giffords and then continued to proceed around to the side of the table. she was there wearing a red blazer, talking to a couple. there was another two people behind the table. you saw loughner. what did he do? i looked up just as he was shooting her. and then he, without hesitating, continued to spray the people close by with bullets. there was really no place for them to go. it was kind of a constricted area. joe, you were nearby. you heard the shooting. when did you decide to step into action? as soon as i heard the repeated fire where he was just dumping bullets, i just started running. i didn t really think about it. i rounded that corner, ran down the breezeway and saw them in contact, wrestling with him and that s when i got there. doctor, you were wrestling with him. was he saying anything? i didn t hear him say anything except maybe, you re hurting my arm. there were no political statements or anything. you two were on top of him, had he been disarmed? they had the firearm out of his hands. when he was shooting was it clear to you he was aiming for the congresswoman initially? yeah. she was the first target, definitely. he did not hesitate. continued just to, at point blank range, just to shoot bullets into people. how did you stay safe during the initial shooting? well, initially after the sort of sudden shock of it, instantaneously i then ducked behind a concrete pillar that was there. as he moved around that pillar then i laid on the ground. i sensed he was coming around, so i laid on the ground as if i had been shot. joe, when you were running up as shots were being fired how did you stay out of harm s way. like i said, the shots had been fired when i rounded the corner. i mean, there was no more real danger for me. i didn t know until later that he also had a knife on him. we came i just came running up to him. i carry a firearm. so i wasn t really afraid. dr. rayle, you were a former emergency room physician. correct. i understand it took several minutes for ems to get here. what did you do in the meantime? in the meantime, i checked on some of the people. i assisted with cpr. there was another colleague of mine who was attending to patients. dr. david bowman. i took a look at congresswoman giffords. she was conscious and moving. i mean, she wasn t communicating at all. she was halfway sitting up. one of her staffers had his arm around her. she had a lot of blood on her face and what looked like an entrance wound on the left side of her forehead. thank you so much for sharing your stories. we appreciate having you here. thank you. jenna, back to you in new york. lester, thank you. this unfolded at a gathering hosted by arizona congresswoman good-b gabrielle giffords. president obama calls her a public servant and someone warm and caring. for more we are joined by kelly o donnell on capitol hill. good morning. reporter: good morning, jenna. the first thing to know about gabrielle giffords is how well-liked she is regardless of political party here. respected for her political skill and her personal warmth and, jenna, as a reporter i can tell you she s always been approachable. her public life began about ten years ago and she just started her third term in congress. first amendment. congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion reporter: when the constitution was recited on the house floor thursday gabrielle giffords read a telling portion. or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and to petition the government for redress of grievances. reporter: grievances and voter outrage have been part of giffords public life. does gabrielle giffords represent your values? reporter: last march, vandals damaged her tucson district office after the health care reform vote. giffords talked about that on msnbc. are you afraid? are you fearful today? you know, i m not. we have had hundreds and hundreds of protesters over the course of the last several months. reporter: but giffords, i a conservative democrat, was concerned about heated campaign rhetoric from the tea party. we are on sarah palin s targeted list. but the thing is the way she has it depicted has the crosshairs of a gun sign over our district. when people do that you have to realize there are consequences to that action. reporter: sarah palin was among dozens of national figures to offer condolences after the shooting. we all pray for the victims and their families and for peace and justice. reporter: the president called her a friend. she is not only an extraordinary public servant. she s someone who is warm and caring. she is well liked by her colleagues and well liked by her constituents. reporter: arizona senator john mccain, traveling in south america, said the gunman is a wicked person. the shooting of congresswoman giffords and the deaths of other individuals is a terrible tragedy and one that has shocked me and our nation. reporter: 40 years old, married to shuttle astronaut and navy captain mark kelly who is set to command the final shuttle mission in april. stop by. we need you to get out the vote for tuesday. reporter: giffords november victory was a nail-biter over a tea party-backed republican. giffords earned a graduate degree from cornell, ran the family s automotive business before serving four years as an arizona state lawmaker where she became friends with governor brewer. i am just heartbroken. gabby is more than just a colleague. she s actually a friend. reporter: giffords also earned a fullbright scholarship and on issues she was strongly in support of additional forces along the border because her district includes 114 miles of the border with mexico. jenna? kelly o donnell. thank you. once again, here s lester. jenna, thanks. congresswoman giffords survived but tragically, six people died at the hands of the suspect. for more on those whose lives were lost we want to turn to nbc s kristen welker from outside tucson s university medical center. good morning. reporter: good morning to you, lester. ten people are still recovering here at the university medical center including congresswoman giffords. this is the same spot where dozens came to mourn and pay their respects to those who were lost overnight. reporter: an outpouring of grief from a community torn apart. their tears and prayers for the ones they lost in saturday s tragedy. members of their tucson family gone but not forgotten. among them were a federal judge, john roll, who has served america s legal system for almost 40 years, and a young girl who was barely 9 years old. reporter: the judge was 63-year-old john roll, chief judge for the united states district court for arizona. he had stopped by congresswoman giffords event just to say hello. we have brought numerous cases in front of judge roll. he was a very fair and honest, often humorous judge. reporter: his other titles, father of three, grandfather of five, and friend to many. i have never met a more sincere, fair-minded, brilliant federal judge or any judge for that matter in my whole life. reporter: just 9 years old, christina taylor-green was the youngest victim. she was a beautiful strong little girl. reporter: loved ones say the 3rd grader had gone to giffords event to learn more. her birth date may have helped fuel heresy vick passion. she was born on 9/11 and featured in a book of babies born the same day. she came in on a tragedy and now she s gone out on a tragedy. but the nine years in between were very special. reporter: an impromptu vigil was held at a local high school for gabriel zimmerman. i remember hoping it wasn t true. reporter: the 30-year-old worked with the congresswoman in community outreach. he was recently engaged. reporter: despite the bloodshed of the day, songs of resilience filled the air by night. the community, forever changed. now those three who were also lost are dorthy morris, dorwin stoddard and phyllis scheck. five here are in critical condition, five in serious condition. we are expecting the medical officials here to update us on their recovery process in the next few hours. lester? deep sorrow this morning here. kristen, thank you very much. once again, here s jenna. this morning 22-year-old jared lee loughner is in police custody. many questions remain unanswered as to what his motives were. nbc s justice correspondent pete williams join us from washington with more on the investigation. good morning. reporter: good morning. we may learn more about one avenue of inquiry and that is whether he acted alone or whether someone else knew what he was planning to do, but based on the suspect s recent internet writings, a picture is emerging of an emotionally disturbed young man. the man accused of firing the shots is a college dropout who was rejected by the u.s. military. law enforcement officials say he s jared lee loughner, age 22, who grew up in tucson and went to public schools there. two years ago military officials say he applied to enlist in the army but was found to be unqualified. for what reason, they won t say. in a series of rambling writings on the internet he offers a tortured world view. the county sheriff says loughner is mentally unbalanced. i had no reason to believe that the person was insane. was he unstable? i would agree with that. reporter: his internet postings say the government is engaging in mind control and brainwashing by controlling grammar. read the constitution, he says, to understand what he calls all the current treasonous laws. he says every police officer in the u.s. is operating unconstitutionally. we have a very challenged individual who has issues concerning government and probably conspiracies which suggest current problems on his part. reporter: there is nothing about the current decisions like health care. a friend from high school says loughner asked her a question when she visited tucson three years ago and then complained she couldn t answer it. he answered a question which made no sense. he said, she didn t understand it. i don t understand what it is with politicians. they don t get it. reporter: a former classmate at pima community college in tucson said loughner often disrupted a math class with nonsensical outbursts. another friend from college says loughner called friday night out of being contact since last spring and left a voice message. hey, it s jared, we had some good times together. see you soon. a pima college spokesman says loughner quit school after he was suspended for posting a disturbing video on the internet. the spokesman could not recall whether it was threatening. and then early saturday morning he wrote on his web page, quote, good-bye, please don t be mad at me. investigators say he had only a minor scrape with the law before this. a drug charge that was dropped. they say there is no record so far of his having threatened members of congress or other elected officials in the past. jenna? all right, pete williams. pete, thank you. we ll have much more from tucson right after these messages. j-e-l-l-o j-e-l-l-o j-e-l-l-o [ child giggles ] i went to the dentist. he was poking around, he found the spots, and he said, are those spots sensitive? he recommended that i use sensodyne. i noticed it was working when i was drinking cold things and i wasn t even thinking about it. i never thought a toothpaste could fix that problem. we have much more from tucson coming up. first we want to talk about the storm getting ready to pound the southeast. janice huff has that. it s starting in texas this morning with heavy rain and thunderstorms around the houston and corpus christi area and then north of that in the colder air. dallas has rain for now, but it will change to snow and ice for you later. we are expecting the really tricky weather, the snow and ice, to extend from dallas over to little rock, memphis, birmingham and atlanta in the next 24 hours. a very good sunday morning to you. frigid outside at the airport. only headed into the 30 s with blustery conditions. by tuesday we now here s jenna. janice, thanks. and we re back after these messages. man: getting across town to a job interview is stressful enough without being late. i want guidance that takes me where i need to be, without any problems along the way. i feel the same way when i do taxes. turbotax has a unique gps feature that guides me step-by-step. and calculations are guaranteed 100% accurate, so i know it s done right. they even offer representation in case of an audit. which helps me reach my maximum refund, guaranteed. try turbotax online now. you don t pay unless you re satisfied with the results. still to come on today, our live coverage in tucson continues with an interview of the former classmate of jared loughner. plus, the miraculous survival of congresswoman gabrielle giffords. insight into how doctors saved her life. but first, these messages. ast, we can bring the whole gang. is caesar home? we get double miles every time we use our card, no matter what we re buying. thank you! thank you very much! 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[ stir it up playing] stir up a smile with hershey s syrup. good morning. i m sarah caldwell. it is 8:26. here is a look at our top stories this morning. two people, including a police officer, have died after a fight broke out at a baltimore nightclub. one other officer and three women are also wounded. police spoppeded to a call about a fight at the club responded to a call about a fight at the club shortly after 1:15 this morning. some officers fired weapons and investigators are trying to determine if there was civilian gunfire. we want to ask the people of baltimore to keep these families in prayer. we have been here all night. this was a horrible incident that we pray i pray that we would never lose another officer , yet here we are again. the second officer is expected to recover. no arrests have been made. dozens of people have been taken to the police station and are being questioned. another fatal fire in baltimore city. this one happened in the 400 block of shannon drive. firefighters arrived to find a two-story brick home with heavy smoke coming from the building. once inside investigators found the body of a bottom. a woman. her pets, a dog and a cat also died in the fire. her husband had no injuries. a young man stabbed in the chest on edmon street in aberdeen. police are searching for people who may have been with the boy at the time. if have you info weather-wise today, winds are already gusting between 25 and 35 miles per hour. that meaks the real-feel temperature in westminster 5 degrees this morning. 6 is the wind chill in frederick. feels like 13 downtown. generally the low teens on the eastern shore. the actual temperature in the 20 s. with winds how long, it makes it feel a lot worse. today s forecast does give us plenty of sun, so it will be pretty, but maintained only in the low 30 s. so pr 32 degrees and still cold, but on tuesday that snowstorm affecting places like mississippi and alabama today will be headed in our direction, and it is something we are watching very closely. thank you, sandra. we have the purple on now for the game for the ravens game today. thank you for joining us. we re back on this sunday morning, january 19, 2011, with a special split edition of today inside studio 1-a. i m jenna wolfe. and i m lester holt reporting live in tucson, arizona. i m at the scene of the deadly shooting rampage that s rattled not only this community but the entire nation. and, jenna, we should note as you look across the parking lot behind me there is not only a police investigation, the fbi obviously is heavily involved here. at this hour, we know that six are confirmed dead. at least 13 others are injured including arizona congresswoman gabrielle giffords. police have one suspect in custody. he is identified as 22-year-old jared lee loughner. we re going to get more insight on who he is when i talk live with a former classmate of his. but police say they are still searching for another man they say may have been associated with loughner. there is a picture of him. coming up, we ll speak live to the mayor of tucson for the latest on that investigation and how his community is holding together less than 24 hours after this tragedy unfolded. jenna? meanwhile, here in new york, we ll have more on congresswoman giffords. she was shot once in the head. as of right now, she remains in critical condition after undergoing brain surgery last night. coming up, more on how she survived and her prospects for a recovery. lester? all right, jenna. we want to begin this half hour with more on 22-year-old jared lee loughner. he s now in custody. katie parker is a former classmate of his. good morning and thanks for joining us. good morning. thank you for having me. tell me what you know about him. you went to high school and college with him. describe him to me. jared was a funny guy. he was very caring and political and he loved music. you say political. was he outspoken in his political views and did anything strike you? i mean, he was outspoken, but nothing that would trigger or make me think of a trigger to make him do something that he did yesterday. did he talk about though anything regarding present anti-government views or any particular issue that s been on the front burner? not when i knew him, no. you said he was caring. a lot of people say he s been somewhat detached and a bit of a loner. did you detect any change in his personality? i personally haven t seen him in three years, but the last time i saw him, as i look back on it, he was getting a little different. and when you have heard on the news yesterday that he was the suspect in this shooting, what was the first thing that went through your mind? describe your emotions and your feelings. i was in complete disbelief that someone that i knew personally could be capable of something so evil. and we have reported about some of his videos, the youtube postings, the myspace postings about some of his views about government. had you seen any of the social network products? i haven t, no. i haven t talked to him in three years. when i knew him, i mean, he he gave me his manifesto once, but that was the only thing to signal he was getting a little radical, but that s about it. did he ever talk about guns and to your knowledge did he have any weapons? not when i knew him, no, sir. all right. caitie parker, thank you for talking with us. we appreciate your time with us. we want to send it back to new york and get a check of the morning headlines. jeff rossen is in stud-1-a. good morning. president obama called the shooting a tragedy for the country. he s now sent the fbi director to the scene in arizona to head the investigation. nbc s mike viquera has more. the president learned of the unspeakable act minutes after the shooting in tucson, arizona, when the chief of homeland security and counter terrorism at the white house, one of his top aids, john brennan, and the deputy chief of staff, jim mecina told him what happened. he embarked on calls and had a meeting in the situation room with the homeland security secretary, the fbi director, his national security adviser and the attorney general. then he made a call to gabrielle giffords s husband, of course the u.s. navy captain and astronaut mark kelly. left a message for him. then called the arizona governor jan brewer. we heard a somber statement from her yesterday. she served in the arizona state house with gabrielle giffords. he called leaders of congress and members of the arizona delegation. so a series of calls, a lot of concern. then the president appeared before cameras in the state dining room and had this to say. gabby was doing what she always does listening to the hopes and concerns of her neighbors. that is the essence of what our democracy is all about. reporter: and, as you mentioned, jeff, he has dispatched the fbi director to arizona to help coordinate the law enforcement investigation there. the president saying they were going to get to the bottom of what happened yesterday in tucson. jeff? mike, thanks. want to turn now to other newsfollowing. in baltimore, two people were killed overnight including a police officer at a nightclub shooting downtown. another officer and three women were hurt. the gunfire broke out at a fight outside club select. so far, no arrests. this morning we have an update to a story we have been following closely on today. police found the body of a missing louisiana dancer and now have charged her ex-boyfriend in the murder. deb bra flores went missing when she failed to show up for work last month. her ex-boyfriend, 32-year-old jason griffith is being held without bail. there could be more arrests coming. heavy snow causing problems in ohio. nearly a foot fell saturday causing whiteout conditions and a mess on the roads. today, it s the deep south bracing for more ice and snow. finally lastyear s super bowl champs will watch the big game from home this year. a stunning upset. the seattle seahawks with their meager 7-9 record pulled off the unthinkable beating the new orleans saints 41-36. in another heart-stopper the jets beat the mighty indianapolis colts 17-16. talk about a nail-baititer. it came down to a winning field goal to end the game. congratulations to the winning teams. jenna? jeff, thank you very much. janice is on the plaza with another check of the weather. good morning. good morning, jenna. i braved the cold because we have a nice crowd that came out. they said see, like this woman. she s saying hi. say hi to everybody. hi, maddie. it s grandma! grandma s here. and aunt marie. another grandma! okay. i think we covered it now. thanks for coming down. let s check the weather and see what s happening. it s a very chilly morning on the plaza. brave souls. watch out across the southern states. you have an ice and snowstorm brewing over eastern texas. right now there is rain and thunderstorms over southeast texas and southern louisiana. to the north you will see ice spreading from dallas all the way across the carolinas and georgia by tomorrow. places like atlanta and charlotte will see ice and snow, a very good sunday morning to you. frigid outside at the airport. only headed into the 30 s with blustery conditions. by tuesday w and now here s jenna. thanks. as we reported congresswoman gabrielle giffords is in critical condition after undergoing brain surgery last night. for more on her survival we turn to dr. nancy snyderman. good morning. good morning. doctors say the congresswoman was shot through the brain. right. it s hard to believe she would survive that. how is that possible? most people don t survive it. a through and through of the brain, the mortality rate is at least 90%. what s fortuitous in this situation is the bullet reportedly went through a part of the brain that didn t hit any spinal fluid, major arteries. reports are that it went through the temporal lobe. that means it went in just above her ear and out through the forehead. in here and out here. the reason that s important is because this area has to do with speech. and the frontal area has to do with organization, affect, how you present yourself to people. as a congresswoman who must think about what she s going to say, say it, organize those thoughts and then have a certain way of presenting, i mean, certainly if she makes it through the next 72 hours and survives, that s great. then it raises issues about quality of life and survival of those kinds of skills. speech and affect. are we fairly certain that because we know where the bullet went in and out, that s the kind of life she may have or the damage that may have been done? those are thing it is doctors will be looking at. when you are shot in the brain, one of the first things people do is they start going through things. can you hear me? can you see me? can you follow my finger? squeeze. do you have sensation? all of those neurological things. when she comes into temergency, operating room and intensive care she will be monitored carefully. one to make sure the brain doesn t swell. if it does the tender tissue pushes against the skull. that can cause further damage. and every hour, neurological checks to be sure she s remaining stable. once she gets through 72 hours, then there will be further evaluations for the damage that s done. the problem is not just the bullet going in. it s that there is a vibration effect from the bullet and so that can hurt surrounding brain tissue. then things like bleeding have to be carefully monitored. the reason they have her in critical condition is because they are watching her so carefully for the next 72 hours. so she ll survive this, but we have to see how much damage was done? i think people are guardedly saying, yes, she ll survive. the fact that she s made it this far now and didn t die on the spot. as for prognosis, that s going to be hour to hour and day to day. dr. snyderman, thank you. now we ll head back out to arizona and lester. jenna, thanks. i m joined by the mayor of tucson, arizona. bob walkup. thanks for being with us. good morning. i wonder if you re hearing anything from the hospital, have any late word on the congresswoman s condition? yes. i have been up to the hospital. the information that we have is that she s in the same condition as she was yesterday. we are still very guardedly optimistic. she is in recovery. this next 24 hours are very critical. i was able to talk to her husband. he is with her, by her side and there is no change. i think that s still good news for her. let me also ask you about the investigation itself. the sheriff noted that this alleged shooter may not have been alone. they are looking for another man. do you have any further update on that? no. other than that is the information that i have. there is a website that has a picture that has been released to the public. there is no doubt that this individual will be identified. i m very confident, very quickly. the sheriff is very competent about what he does and his force is doing everything they can to really understand what happened. mr. mayor, we saw the pain that was evident on the faces of people at the vigil last night. this community has obviously been heavily rocked by the tragedy. what are you telling the people of tucson about this? well, i tell you, i was here at midnight last night and there was a candlelight vigil maybe you can see it in the background. there were some 20 people. i talked to them and i think that what they are concerned about is what s happening throughout this community. the return of stability to the political process and the pain and suffering that people are going through, we have to come together as a community, as a city, as a state and as a country. i think that s what people are concerned about. maybe this is a tragic lesson that we are all trying to get our minds around. the return to civility is what people are pray iing for. they are praying for the people who are fighting for their lives. you talk about the return to civility. the sheriff talked about rhetoric, prejudice and bigotry in this state. is there a risk that there is a jump to conclusion that this may be the act of simply a deranged or disturbed person and not truly an anti-political act? oh, absolutely. i think that we know something about the shooter and i think that is a very clear condition that he was in. but there still is concern about the last couple of years. again, the economy and people have been suffering in this country. we see signs of recovery. people going back to work. i think it all rolls into people are unhappy with their quality of life and from a political standpoint, you know, our job is to look out for our people. that s what gabby is the best at, by the way. getting out with her people, having the curbside town halls, as she called them. she is a wonderful person and very charming and we love her dearly. we re praying for her, but civility is still a concern that we all politically have around here. i think in this country. we ve got to return to that. well, you are clearly tapping into a conversation that will be had a lot in the coming days after this tragedy. tucson mayor bob walkup. we appreciate you speaking to us this morning. thank you very much for your time, sir. you re very welcome. we re going to be back with more from arizona right after these messages. 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stelara® patients saw at least 75% clearer skin at 12 weeks. and 6 out of 10 patients had their plaque psoriasis rated as cleared or minimal at 12 weeks. stelara® may lower your ability to fight infections and increase your risk of infections. some serious infections require hospitalization. before starting stelara®, your doctor should test for tuberculosis. stelara® may increase your risk of cancer. always tell your doctor if you have any sign of infection, or have had cancer. alert your doctor of new or worsening problems including headaches, seizures, confusion and vision problems. these may be signs of a rare, potentially fatal brain condition. serious allergic reactions can occur. tell your doctor if you or anyone in your house needs or has recently received a vaccine. with 4 doses a year, after 2 starter doses, it s stelara®. we re back now with more from arizona. yesterday s shooting here in tucson happened not even 24 hours ago and for now, coping with the grief is all many can do. nbc s michelle franzen now on a community and a nation still searching for answers. i once was lost but now am found reporter: songs, somber solidarity and prayer as dozens gathered outside the hospital where representative gabrielle giffords fights to survive a gunshot wound to the head. messages of hope. you cannot kill hope with a bullet. you cannot kill love with a bullet. reporter: along with mixed emotions of disbelief and grief. i m horrified. reporter: the theme at several candlelight vigils held in arizona and on capitol hill. i m disturbed, not just by violence, but by violent rhetoric and the lack of respect for our fellow citizens. reporter: the shootings outside this tucson grocery store just as giffords met with the residents she represents, rattling nerves and shattering another layer of security. i am just heartbroken. gabby is more than just a colleague. she is actually a friend. she has always been a noble public servant. reporter: and across the nation, shock a public servant could become a target of a violent attack. it is a tragedy for arizona and a tragedy for our entire country. reporter: the attack has renewed a call to quell the heated rhetoric playing out against the political and social landscape. the dialogue has to be toned down. i think it s gotten out of hand. reporter: and now out of respect for those killed and injured, many from politicians democratic and republican goes out. this is about family. reporter: to everyday citizens are taking pause. was lost but now i see reporter: michelle franzen, nbc news, new york. and, jenna, i have covered more mass shootings than i even care to think about. in each case everyone says let s make sense of this and try to figure it out. sometimes you can t make sense of it because of the individuals involved. you add the political element here. it was a u.s. member of congress here. this has opened up many difficult questions people are wrestling with today. one of the questions is obviously when we talk not just about the violence but as we heard about the violent rhetoric as well. i think people will be looking closely now at things like this leading up to events as well. a very tough day all around. yeah. they will. that s why there is such a search for the alleged shooter s writings. trying to figure out if he had a political motive. it seems now to be largely anti-government rants and certainly no mention of the congresswoman. but the police, fbi now involved here. everyone trying to search the writings, get a better handle on what happened and why. yes. again, a very, very sad day. we ll be right back with much more of today. but first, these messages. the other big news of the morning, a major storm that s brewing in the south, threatening to bring what could be crippling amounts of snow and ice starting today. for more on that we turn to the weather channel s eric fisher in atlanta. doesn t look like the storm has hit you yet though. good morning. reporter: good morning, jenna. hard to fathom what will happen here. we have blue sky overhead and it s cold. we fell into the teens last night. the storm is on the way. things are moving smoothly here in atlanta. the morning flights are fine. it s people getting home that will be the concern. snow should start to fall before midnight tonight. delta plans to cancel hundreds of flight. airtran, same story tonight into the day tomorrow. looks like 6:00 is the hour where most of the delays and cancellations are going to pick up. this storm is going to affect people from eastern texas to north carolina. if we see over six inches of snow which is possible it will be the third biggest storm in atlanta s history. jenna, back to you. all right. eric, thank you. we will be back right after these messages. d. there was a lot of information out there. but it was frustrating trying to get the answers i needed. then my company partnered with unitedhealthcare. they provided onsite screenings, healthy cooking tips. 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( announcer ) turning complex data into easy tools. we re 78,000 people looking out for 70 million americans. that s health in numbers. unitedhealthcare. nothing starts your day like honey roasted, honey bunches of oats. the perfect balance of crunchy flakes and clusters, with a kiss of golden honey. delicious. and the same calories per serving as special k original. so, try honey roasted, honey bunches of oats! heck try em all. time now to check in on what s coming up this morning on meet the press. david gregory is in washington. good morning. good morning. certainly more coverage on the shooting rampage in arizona. it grips the nation, leaves gabrielle giffords clinging to life this morning. we ll get the very latest. then five of representative giffords colleagues in the house will join me to talk about her work and our political climate. plus senator harry reid, all this morning on meet the press. david, thanks. that will do it for us on this sunday morn. our thanks to jeff rossen and janice huff. and i will see you tonight on nbc nightly news for all of the developments from here in up next, senator ben cardin is our sunday q&a guest. and what authorities say in the face of another violent night in baltimore, in which two people, including a police officer are shot dead. shot dead.