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shooting. >> i agree with that. in that context he called on people to avoid the blame game. that's been one of the most disturbing aspects of what's happened, is that people have been taking the idea of civility, the idea of tolerance, and using it as a weapon in their ideological battles. and, you know, that is both ironic and disturbing. and the president criticized that in this speech. i think he deserves credit for that. so, you know, i'm just not sure that in a memorial service like this addressing the news cycle, addressing the issue of the day, which this is definitely the issue of the day, was the right approach. i think there might have been other settings to do that. but what he said, i think, was constructive. >> doug brinkley, do you think this was kind of the obama of old during the campaign, sort of some of the tenor, some of the cadences that he used? >> part of it. some of it seemed like a little bit of a teleprompter speech
rarely and both debbie and i are just -- we're sitting there in awe of her of her strength and courage and what she was able to communicate to us and it was an extraordinary moment in both of our lives. >> just so you know viewers on the left side are watching the president and mrs. obama about to board air force one. senator, how long -- did she keep her eyes open? were her eyes still open when you left? >> about 30 seconds? how long? yeah. and how long did she keep it open? maybe 30 seconds, maybe 60 seconds. it was just moments that it was -- it was open and then she -- you could see she was focusing and then when asked if she could see she responded possley and though it was -- and the doctor said, you know, after that moment she's like she needs to rest and so, you know, we said our good-byes and said we'd be back so it was a moment but
president obama brought the crowd to its feet tonight when he departed from the prepared text of his speech to reveal that congresswoman gabrielle giffords, shot through the head on saturday, opened her eyes today. house minority leader nancy pelosi was there in the hospital room when happened and joins us now by phone. congresswoman pelosi, what was that moment like? >> well, it was, as you can just imagine, a glorious moment of my colleagues, congresswoman debbie wasserman schultz and senator kristen gillibrand and i were invited by the family which we considered to be an honor being there with her parents and husband, mark kelly, it was a girl power moment because we were -- tried to -- amusing, reminding of things she was going to come back to when she came back to the congress, and then she opened her eyes and her husband -- she looked at her husband and responded to comments that he made.
from the president's remarks, did you hear what you wanted to hear? >> anderson, i was overwhelmed with seeing the woman that was standing behind me that actually grabbed the magazine out of the gunman's hand. i loved what president obama said in that we have to be civil to each other. we have to make our children proud of us. we need to honor our -- the 9-year-old girls and boys in this world and do the right thing. and so for that, i was very grateful. it was a gracious speech. my 13-year-old even stayed awake through the whole speech, so it had to be very, very inspirational, but i was overwhelmed by seeing the people that i was actually standing in line next to, talking to, as the shots rang out. >> well, mary, tom, emma, i appreciate you being with us.
focusing on what happened before, but was focusing on the debate that sprung up and the tone of the debate that sprung up since the shooting. >> no, i agree with that, and in that context he called on people to avoid the blame game. that's been one of the most disturbing aspects of what's happened is that people have been taking the idea of civility, the idea of tolerance, and using it as a weapon in their ideological battles. and, you know, that is both ironic and disturbing. and the president criticized that in this speech. i think that he deserves credit for that. so, you know, i'm just not sure that in a memorial service like this, addressing the news cycle, addressing the issue of the day, which this is definitely the issue of the day, was the right approach. i think there might have been other settings to do that. but what he said, i think, was constructive. >> doug brinkley, do you agree that this was kind of the obama of old during the campaign, sort of some of the tenor, some of the cadences that he used? >> part of it. some of it seemed like a little
and we're back, president obama departing tucson tonight after speaking to a capacity crowd on the university of arizona campus. it was really part memorial service, part kind of pep rally, remembering the victims of saturday's shooting, calling on the country to live up to our better angels. we're going to talk to the panel momentarily but want to play you an extend portion from selected portions from the president's speech tonight in case you missed it. here it is. there is nothing i can say that will fill the sudden hole torn in your hearts. but know this, the hopes of a nation are here tonight. we mourn with you for the fallen. we join you in your grief. and we add our faith to yours, that representative gabrielle giffords and the other living
>> i think you can see by those who are in the program and by the many dignitaries and elected officials in the audience, how deeply our country was affected by the terrible events last saturday. we are truly honored to have the leader of our great nation with us here tonight. [ applause ] we are obviously saddened by the circumstances that have brought president and mrs. obama to tucson but we are comforted by their compassion and inspired by their determination to reach out and help.
so i am incredibly lucky. >> yeah. well, incredibly brave. i mean just amazing you saved your daughter's life. briefly, mary, what was it like being there tonight? from the president's remarks, did you hear what you wanted to hear >> anderson, i was overwhelmed with seeing the woman that was standing behind me that actually grabbed the magazine out of the gunman's hand. i loved what president obama said in that we have to be civil to each other. we have to make our children proud of us. we need to honor our -- the 9-year-old girls and boys in this world and do the right thing. and so for that, i was very grateful. it was a gracious speech. my 13-year-old even stayed awake through the whole speech, so it had to be very, very inspirational, but i was
those things that will help, for us, we feel like the country won't forget her. >> john, you just came from a meeting with president obama. what did the president say to you? >> he expressed that there are no words, and to stay strong and believe in our country. and we've -- one thing we promised him is we would do that. we did take our family to christina and dallas and roxanna and i went to d.c. right after he got elected and we had such a wonderful time in washington, d.c., and, you know, we're going to -- >> we're going to go back. and michelle -- >> invited us. >> invited us, invited dallas to come in and see everybody. so i think he was excited about that, and we would be proud to be a part of that. i know christina, you know, her -- that's something she would have loved to do.
[ applause ] >> president obama, a rousing speech in front of a capacity crowd. everyone telling everyone to live up to the best and the fallen, the heroes and ourselves. joining us now david gergen, douglas briskly nk brinkley. what did you think? >> when he said gabby opened her eyes, he carried that throughout a lot of the speech, i was like david gergen earlier, a little put off by the atmospherics, 14,000 cheering people, but the president i think worked his way into that atmosphere. so by the end of it, you could almost feel people hugging in the excitement and love and warmth in the arena. so tucson, it really was a