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members and i understand that they're in separate rooms getting updates. what is it like right now inside that hospital? >> everyone's very citizens, some of them know that their loved ones have passed unfortunately. and other ones are waiting and seeing what happens after surgeries. right now everyone's just supporting each other. there's a lot of hugging, there's a lot of just listening, a lot of quiet contemplation and people are coming in who know the different family members and it really is important to emphasize this isn't just about gabby, it's about all the other people who were there at the time and how much this community can come together in a time of crisis. we know we do that here in tucson and we do that very well. the question is can we come together as a state and can we come together as a country and sort of put this harsh hyper rhetoric that has caused people who are a little unhinged in the first place to go over the edge. can we put that rhetoric behind us and come together and be one country again? this is one of those moments where there's a before and an after, and the after is what we have to work together and build towards. the spirit tonight of the individual, the spirit there waiting among the family and the friends, we are determined to move forward and change the game now. this country is something that deserves no less than the politics that rises above violence. >> reporter: are you expecting more updates tonight on her condition?
multiple murder investigation. the president -- >> as many of you are aware, earlier today, a number of people were shot in tuscon, arizona, including several who were meeting at a supermarket with their congresswoman, gabrielle giffords. we are still assembling all the facts. but we know that representative giffords was one of the victims. she is currently at a hospital in the area. and she is battling for her life. we also know that at least five people lost their lives in this tragedy. 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. i've spoken to arizona governor jan brewer and offered the full resources of the federal government. a suspect is currently in custody but we don't yet know what provoked this unspeakable act. a comprehensive investigation is currently under way. and at my direction, director bob muller is en route to arizona to help coordinate these efforts. i've also spoken to the democratic and republican leaders in the house. gabby giffords was a friend of mine.
to do sort of in the longer run. >> it depends on the severity of the injury as to how long the surgery is, correct? >> yeah, how severe, how much of the bone, how much of the head was actually involved. >> so probably for her, i guess about four hours, because it happened around noon and then they held a press conference about 5:00, 5:30, saying that she was out of surgery and they were going to take her to icu. so probably -- >> that sounds about right. get the patient to the hospital. they have to obviously do a cat scan. anesthesia is involved, getting the operating room ready. the operation is two to three hours possibly. >> that's typical. time, getting her to the hospital and getting her to the right place and probably to the right facility that can treat her for this type of injury. >> speed, obviously, very important. she got very, very quick care, very important. she's relatively young. we talked about this earlier. that's going to work in her favor. the type of injury -- it sounds like it was a type of injury
hospital? >> you're talking about gabe zimmerman, yes. and i did. and my heart goes out to her. my heart goes out to his family. a tremendous advocate for the people of arizona and a tremendous representative of congresswoman giffords, we lost today, along with many others. he will be missed. >> the sheriff of pima county had some pretty staunch things to say, pretty tough things to say about the political environment, about why someone might want to do something like this, saying that arizona had become a hotbed for bigotry and hate. as a representative, do you understand where he's coming from? what do you think of his words? >> don, i heard those remarks myself. and i think that he is very, very correctly calling attention to some of the vitriol and some of the way we're talking about
unstable apparently have no trouble obtaining a firearm and using it. >> and i want to bring donna in, that he came to this location with another individual. and there's reason to believe that the other individual in some way be involved. >> we want to go right to cnn's ted roeldz. you're hearing stories. people are waiting to hear about their loved ones at the hospital where you are.
1:15 local time here, and as we heard earlier, she was following commands during the period after the surgery. so they look at that as extremely positive. they say that she is here with her parents and her husband, mark kelly, the nasa astronaut is also at the hospital at her side. he flew a charter jet from houston to be with his wife and she is at her side at this hour. really the new information is that she's still doing well, very five critical and five serious patients here at the hospital at this time. she continues to be responsive and following commands and she has her family by her side. >> but she's listed still in critical condition obviously in intensive care, but she's coming out of the anesthesiology, is that what's going on? >> yes, she started coming out they estimated about 1:15 local time and is now completely out of anesthesia and is with her family at this time. we are obviously awaiting the press conference with the sheriff's department starting at the top of the hour for more information, but at this point, more good news, if you will about the congresswoman's condition. >> are they saying anything, ted, at the hospital when they'll have another update from the doctors, another briefing at the hospital? >> reporter: they are not, they're not scheduling anything at this point. however, we have been in contact with a liaison at the hospital frequently so we're getting good updates as they occur and we'll
constituents outside the store when it happened. giffords was shot in the head and is now listed in critical condition following surgery. but her doctors say -- her doctor says he is optimistic about her recovery. federal judge john roll was among the six people killed. authorities say he had stopped by the congresswoman's event just to say hello. police named 22-year-old jared lee loughner as the suspected shooter. the sheriff says he may not have acted alone and tonight a manhunt is on for another person of interest. police also recovered a glock 9 millimeter handgun. next here on cnn, we'll hear from a person who was on the scene when shots were fired this morning at an arizona shopping center. these are live pictures at the vigiloutside the hospital where the congresswoman is and so many of the other victims. we're hearing some are still in critical condition, some still being treated. a vigil there, a makeshift memorial has been created. back in a moment. gr d t ?gaue
congresswoman would recover, would be back at work and would be going strong. >> rodney glassman, former vice mayor of tuscon and a close personal friend with the congresswoman, thank you, sir. we are looking at live pictures now outside of the hospital there in tuscon. and there is a vigil. and there are people who have been gathering here all day starting earlier. look at the amount of candles and probably well wishes there in that parking lot at the hospital in tuscon, arizona. live pictures. we're going to continue to show you those scenes throughout the evening here. there's much, much more to come. want to talk know about the president. president obama spoke out about the mass shooting in tuscon saying the federal government will do what it can in this
millimeter. what are the odds of surviving and for doctors to be optimistic, that's saying a lot? >> it is. and they have a lot more information now. obviously at the time someone is shot, you're sort of collecting information, trying to see exactly where the bullet hit, how much penetration there was. was this more of a glancing shot or was it something that penetrated deep into the brain? sometimes it can cross one side of the brain to the other. these are all important things that people collect in terms of data at the time. >> i heard you say something and i heard during a press conference that she was obeying commands, listening to commands. what might it be like. what might they be telling her? >> they might say something like raise two fingers or something like that to really get an idea, is she able to hear? is she able to process that information and then able to execute a command based on that. obviously if she can do all those things, it tells you a lot if someone can follow commands and it's one of the first things you check when someone comes out of the operating room. 4 she goes to the hospital, probably got a cat scan, goes to the operating room, has the surgery and now everyone's sort of trying to figure out how well is she going to do.
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