>> reporter: batman. comic book legend. lucrative franchise. block buster film star. for clinton caldwell, "the dark knight rises" was an obsession. >> it sounds like you're a fan? >> definitely. i've been a collector for 20 plus years. one of my favorite story lines was going to be the plot of this ticket. >> reporter: when did you buy the ticket? >> three weeks in advance. >> reporter: three weeks? >> yes. when i bought them, i put a picture up on my facebook saying 7/20/2012. are you ready? we are. >> reporter: thou sanlsands of s were ready, too. lining up hours early. >> i want to say it was like 10:30, 10:40 something like that. >> reporter: they were afraid they weren't early enough.

>> we're going to the theater and it's already like half full of people. so we're like oh, darn, it's still crowded. we weren't early. >> reporter: the couple settled in the middle of theater 9 for the 12:05 show. >> it was packed. >> corbind dates almost didn't get a seat at a. all. >> there were only a few seets on the very end in the second row. >> next door, "the dark night rises" was also playing. >> you could just hear the crowd just anticipating. you could feel the floor kind of shaking a little bit. you're walking in there and thinking yes, this is awesome. >> corbin dates watched the last theater fill in. >> i remember seeing a guy walk into the theater and he sat in the very first row to the far right seat. i didn't think nothing of it. just looked like a regular,

average person. alone. red hair. and it looked like he had red hair, yes. >> reporter: then date saw the man leave the theater. >> i looked over and i saw him get up and he was walking towards the emergency exit door. he opened the emergency door and he propped his foot in between. >> reporter: at the same time dates left his own seat rushing to meet a friend in the lobby as the lights dimmed in both theaters. >> of course, as soon as we see the movie start, me and david are squeezing each other's hands because we're so excited. >> the movie starts. >> yeah, everybody goes nuts. we all imagined ourselves as batman because he's anonymous. he's a man in a mask. he could have been anyone. >> reporter: what they didn't know was that outside theater 9, another anonymous man in a mask was preparing for the worst

masked shooting in american history. police say 24-year-old james holmes put on full tactical gear, including a helmet, gas mask and a vest like this, arming himself with three guns and hundreds of rounds of ammunition. 20 minutes after the movie started, dates saw that same emergency exit door open again. >> the way that this person swung into the door, it seemed like this person was probably acting like a villain. to swing to the door, to walk in, dressed all in black, a black cap, a black gas mask, body armor, weapon wrapped around his neck which i thought was fake. >> me and my husband at the time, we thaulgts ought oh, som pulling a prank. i hear this poof from down on my right. and then i see this canister go all the way up, arch over the screen and land about four or five rows below me. my first thought was oh, it's

some kind of a fireworks. >> come to find out it was containing a deadly -- like a toxic gasz. it was hard for us to breathe. >> reporter: smoke filled the dark theater as fear swept through the sold-out crowd. and then it got even worsz. >> i realize people were screaming in a terror. >> reporter: you were hearing shot sns. >> yes. >> reporter: constant? >> it was like a semi-automatic rifle. >> boom, boom k boom? >> yes, exactly like that. >> reporter: in rhythm? >> yes. >> reporter: the masked man calmly aimed and fired as terrified movie fans dove for cover. >> he shot off about six or seven and i hear people panicking. and we got down. i couldn't see any -- i didn't want to look. >> came down with his gun in my face. >> i told my friends, you've got to get down rk, get on the floo. >> i saw four or five people who

were limped and wounded. >> as we're crawling, we can hear the clips of the rounds just falling to the ground. some of them rolled up under the first row and they were burning our skin as we were crawling through them. >> reporter: next door in theater 8, clinton caldwell heard something strange. >> the theater jumped a little bit and my wife grabbed my arm and said that was way too loud. >> the gunman's weapons were so powerful, bullets were bursting through the wall. >> all of the sudden, we hear people kind of gasping. i look over my shoulder and there's a young lady getting helped down by a couple. she's holding her face like this. >> reporter: in theater 9, dozens of people were already down. and the shooter with three guns on him and a fourth in the car was only beginning his deadly rampage. ass, corporate card, verizon 4g lte phone.

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i tell mike what i can spend. i do my best to make that work. we're driving safely. and sue saved money on brakes. now that's personal pricing. aurora, colorado. inside century 16's theater 9, it was chaos. >> there's smoke. there's explosions. there's guns being fired. >> reporter: stephanie davies was putting pressure on the bullet wound in her friend's neck. >> there's blood.

there's death. >> reporter: piers ovaro and his friend were alsz shot. >> i'm shot. i'm shot. i said me, too, just stay down. and then he shot me a second time. >> on the floor, corbin dates was just trying to keep cool. >> people in front of me, they are freaking out. my friend behind me was freaking out. and then i'm thinking we need to stay dwooit. >> we're, like, 5-10 feet of this guy. >> yes. >> i thought he was going to kill me. >> he was standing, literally, directly above me. his -- i can feel his boot right next to my head. and i just had my face down on the ground. and i just stayed as still as i possibly could and i prayed and i prayed. >> it was a straight shot picking everybody off from one aisle to the next. >> josh nolan was sure he was going to die. clear in the gunman's sights. and then a miracle.

the semi-automatic weapon jammed. >> if that gun did not jam, i am full certain i that i would not be here. >> reporter: the shooter switched weapons and calmly continued firing. >> very methodical. he never once said a word. i never heard a single word out of him. >> reporter: on the floor, billy theo felt something behind her. >> and i reached behind he and it's the little boy that was sitting right next to me. so, literally, he's clinging to me. you know, i can feel he easter fied. >> at 12:39, word went out to local police. >> reporter: officers rushed to the scene arriving, they say, within 90 seconds.

>> reporter: inside the theater, at some point, the shooting stopped. and dates and his friend ran. >> i'm not hearing anymore gunshots. i told jenny, we need to bolt out of here now. >> david shoved his wife, billy, toward the door. >> he's pushing people saying go, go, go, move it, move it. he said that he felt the little boy grab his hand. so he was pulling both of us out the theater. >> on the upper part of the auditorium, there were bodies that were hanging over the chairs. >> and i crawled over someone and he wasn't moving. it was a guy in a white shirt and he was just laying there on his side. >> as i was running out into the lobby, a cop was kochling icom a shotgun. >> reporter: first responders would soon see the first signs of carnage.

>> reporter: outside the theater, the desperate hunt for the suspected killer. >> reporter: the suspect surrendered without offering any resistance. his hair was dyed red. he told police, "i am the joker." dozens of women, men or children lie wounded. dozens needed help. >> as soon as we're out, i looked behind me. and there's a guy right behind me holding the side of his neck and there's blood all over his face. just all over him. and that's the moment whenever i just -- i really freaked out.

>> reporter: in the parking lot, the struggle to save lives. >> so we get outside and that's when we saw the totality of everything, how bad it was. >> reporter: what did you see? >> there was a young lady, the first one i saw, kind of in a pink shirt. she was just peppered with blood, with wounds all the way down her left side. >> reporter: shotgun? >> yeah, that's what i immediately assumed was a shotgun. and the ambulances were still showing up. >> reporter: but not, it seems, fast enough, given the number of casualties. >> reporter: dozens of wounded, all at once, overwhelmed emergency responders. cops on the scene decided to p

improvise. >> we actually went ahead into our disaster mode. >> reporter: at university hospital, dr. camilla samson and her team were expected a handful of victims. >> the first one was coming out of a police car and that's when it triggered this was going to be something different. >> reporter: they pulled the first victim from the car. >> all of the sudden, we looked up and then tlfgs another car, and then another police car and then another police car. and within about 15-20 minutes, we had about 9 critical pashlts on our doorstep. >> reporter: across town, dr. gilbert paneda faced a similar scene. >> the first was a man with torn cat around his leg. >> a lot of them actually had

internal bleeding. those are really scary for us. that's what sets our gunshot victims apart from everyone we see. >> victims were talking one minute, unresponsive the next. >> there was shotgun blast wounds. injuries from the high caliber, obviously a powerful, high-velocity weapon. >> reporter: at six area hospitals, teams of e.r. professionals kept nearly all of the shooting victims alive. >> everyone that came to this hospital survived. >> reporter: at university hospital 22 of 23 patients made it. and that is what turned the aurora massacre into the aurora miracle. >> i got very emotional when i saw my patients. they're so resilient. they're so strong. the last picture i had in my head is them on a stretcher

critically injured getting rolled up to the operating room. >> reporter: the shooting was over. the injuries under control. and the suspect in custody. and, yet, the terror was far from over. >> make no mistake, okay. this apartment was designed to kill whoever entered it. [ male announcer ] while many automakers are just beginning to dabble

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just before midnight inside

the third floor apartment building at 1690 paris street, music suddenly began to play. loud music. downstairs, caitlin fonzy wasn't quite asleep yet. >> we heard the loud techno music coming from the upstairs apartment. it's really hod. it's really quiet up there. we never heard anything. >> reporter: music so loud it was annoying. caitlin fonzy decided to go upstairs and stop it. it was coming from behind the door of james holmes apartment. >> i went upstairs and knocked on the door and realized it was possibly unlocked. i thought about peering in there and just yelling at them to say hey, turn it down. and i just decided not to do that. i just had intrepidation. and the little boy told me to just let the cops handle it. >> it was a good thing she didn't get inside. >> make no mistake.

this apartment was designed, i say, based on everything i've seen, to kill whoever entered it. >> reporter: police say holmes had left behind a vicious boobie trap. more than 30 homemade explosives. 10 gallons of gasoline. all connected through a spaghetti wire nest triggered to explode by the first person who entered the door. >> if a neighbor or an unassuming pedestrian would have walked through that door, they would have sustained significant injuries and/or lost their life. >> reporter: by that time, james holmes was on the way to theater 9. it was part of a dance of death that police say was orchestrated by the suspect. he was armed at the teeth. elaborately prepared to kill and committed to as much death and destruction as humanly possible. an automatic rifle like this one. >> this is your standard meat

and potatoes a.r. 15. >> a shotgun like this one. two powerful handguns. and he was ready for mayhem. >> the suspect was dressed all in black. he was wearing a ballistic helmet. a tactical ballistic vest. ballistic leggings. a throat protector and a groin protector and a gas mask. and black tactical gloves. >> reporter: the combat gear, the vest, gas mask, ammo bags a bought with a few strokes of a keyboard for about $300. purchases with clear forethought. planning to kill. >> what he was wearing was designed that if he encountered some resistance inside that theater, it would offer some measure of protection. so he could keep going with his mission to keep shooting people. to keep shooting the patrons in there.

>> tom quintice is a cnn consultant who spent decades with the f.b.i. >> it was methodically planned and he was very meticulous in the gear that he purchased. >> reporter: he only had one thing in mind. >> to actually kill as many people as he could possibly kill in one shooting spree inside that theater. >> reporter: and all of it, every gun, every round of ammunition, the protective gear, all perfectly legal. >> you have nothing that would have come up in his background. you could hire a hundred detectives and not find one reason to deny him the ability to buy a lawful firearm. >> reporter: not only did he buy the weapons legally but over the internet with a few strokes of a keyboard, he bought thousands of rounds of ammunition and aftermarket extras to hold all of the magazines as well as his protective gear.

when the day broke, law enforcement returned to the apartment on paris street. we've all seen the pictures by now. a policeman poking the written d windows, finally breaking them and sending in a robot camera. >> i've personally never seen anything like what the pictures show us is in there. >> reporter: it took 36 hours to remove the traps that were in there and the danger of the bombs exploding which were dr driven to a secure location which police say this is what james holmes had planned for anyone complaining about music, anyone who would hope his apartment door and enter. >> we are hopeful that we have eliminated the remaining major threats. >> not only kill the people who were in the building and really close to it. but the fire and the damage that could have been done, people report that had the entire third

floor would have gone up in smoke. >> reporter: now the question is why. just who is he? and what could have triggered this deadly rampage? ♪ you want to save money on car insurance? no problem. you want to save money on rv insurance? no problem. you want to save money on motorcycle insurance? no problem. you want to find a place to park all these things? fuggedaboud it.

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the james holmes who looked

very different from his first court appearance is far different from the all-american boy. >> very nice family. very good neighborhood. very typical family. >> mai's house is just a few feet away from where the holmes family lives in suburban san diego. >> reporter: the last time you saw him, that was not the same person, demeanor that you saw in that courtroom on monday. >> definitely not. yeah. totally different. >> reporter: but who really knew him? no close friends have emerged and his family isn't talking. if there were warning signs years ago, no one saw them. as a child, he was known as jimmy to his classmates in northern california where he played basketball and soccer. >> the way i knew him, he was a very nice kid.

he excelled in academics. he was top of the class. and even back then, he was ahead of every student. >> so much ahead that all of these years later they all remember jimmy well. >> oh, man, he finished those tests way before i would. pretty much the rest of the class except for maybe one or two other students. >> if fifth grade, we put together a class web site and he kind of collaborated with it. he had computer skills back then as a kid, as a young kid. >> when i saw the photo of him with the black hair, i did not recognize him as the boy that i knew almost harry potter-like with oval glasses. >> reporter: an image that haunts him today. >> that's really disturbing. to be so close toing somethinge that bothers you to your essence. and, particularly, as a teacher, you're thinking this is one of my kids. and then you also think could i have done anything?

or did i see anything? did i miss anything? is, you know, could i have done anything to prevent this? did i do anything to cause this? and, you know, which the answer is no. >> reporter: by high school, the family was living in san diego. at westview high, holmes excelled and made the junior varsity soccer team. he attended a rigorous boot camp in neurobiology. this video showing him giving a presentation is in stark contrast to the images after the shooting. but, apparently, not all was well. his supervisor at the institute told the los angeles times holmes was socially inept and incredibly uncommunicative and wasn't a particularly good student. still, later in college at the university of california riverside, he stood out. at least academically. >> there's academic credential coming in and while he was here puts him at the top of the top.

very rigorous majors that includes heavily involved scientists to chemistry, the psychological aspects of how the neural systems works. it's one of our most rigorous majors. >> reporter: but even with all of his academic achievements, he apparently couldn't find a job right away. >> reporter: was he trying to get a job, do you know? >> when he graduated from the uc riverside, he come home and tried to look for a job. but job very hard to come by because of the economic downturn. >> reporter: in 2011, though, james holmes appeared to rebound. he was one of just six students accepted at the university of colorado's neuroscience graduate program and was awarded a $26,000 grant from the national institutes of health. >> the applications to the program is very competitive. we get more than 10 applications for an opening. we take about five or six

students per year into this program. >> reporter: for the last year, he has walked this campus, studied here, researched here, yet few knew him. least of all the campus police whose records show no trouble what so ever. >> we've had no contact with him on a criminal matter what so ever. as a police department. >> reporter: and if he had any close friends in aurora, no one is talking. one student who worked with him for three months told us i worked near him, but i wasn't close to him. i don't think anyone was close to him. another who sat in the same lecture class said i can't remember him uttering a single word. school officials have told everyone not to talk with reporters unless cleared in advance. one big, unanswered question? was holmes amassing that arsenal by accepting packages of ammunition sent to the school itself? >> if it came in by way of ups or fedex, nobody would know

about it. there are thousands of packages that come into this institution every day. >> the university says a package from holmes was delivered at the school on monday after the shooting. it was sent to a psychiatrist holmes was seeing. dr. lynn fenton, also the university's director of student mental health services. some say in that package holmes wrote about killing people. fenton did not respond to an e-mail or phone calls. in may, according to this class schedule, holmes was supposed to give a presentation on micro rna. on june 7th, he took the required oral exams and did poorly. three days later, he told the university he was withdrawing but didn't give a reason. holmes access to secure areas of the school was immediately removed. he applied online to june 25th to join this private gun range.

a half-hour drive from his apartment. the owner followed up on the application and listened to a voice message on the other end that he describes as "weird." almost like the person leaving t the message was drunk. he told cnn wierd and bizarre. it was james holmes' message. holmes was also recently on this web site. posting a picture in red hair. it is a sex site. adult friend-finder dot com. still, on the outside, james holmes appeared normal. jackie mitchell retches havimemg a beer with holmes at this local bar. it was just four days before the shooting. >> just an intelligent-looking guy. you don't know what a killer looks like, but it didn't look like him. >> reporter: few answers to what became of james holmes who

showed so much promise a dozen years ago. >> i would like to know what happened in that 13-year, 14-year period that led to this. it's obviously not the kid we went to school with. it's a real tragedy with what happened and what took place in the tragedy for his family and for all of the victims' families: it ee. it's a horrible thing what happened. i just wonder how this could happen and why. >> reporter: a question aurora is asking. coming up, a shattered community tries to recover from the tragedy. [ cellphone rings ] the wife. hey, babe. got the jetta. i wiped the floor with the guy! not really. i would've been fine with 0% for 36 months, but i demanded 60. no...i didn't do that. it was like taking candy from a baby. you're a grown man. alright, see you at home. [ male announcer ] the volkswagen autobahn for all event. we good? we're good.

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[ male announcer ] gillette. the best a man can get. ♪ amazing grace ♪ how sweet the sound >> reporter: sunday everyoning, less than 72 hours after the shooting stopped, thousands gathered on the lawn surrounding aurora's municipal center. >> wow! look around. isn't it amazing the outpouring of support for the victims, their families and our

community? ♪ was proud >> reporter: it was a massive vigil. time for hugs, tears and prayers. >> we weep with you today. but we weep because we have hope that tomorrow was going to be brighter. you are aurora. we are aurora. we grieve together. >> reporter: the main purpose? to help the shattered community find a way back. >> while our hearts are broken, our community is not. we will take this experience and use it to strengthen our commitment to each other. our aurora will be a model city on how to absorb and overcome a terrible and unexpected tragedy.

>> reporter: aurora, colorado. ten miles east of denver. before it was striving to be a model of resilience. it was a model of diversity. a rich mosaic of different cultures. half of the 325,000 residents are minority. >> i cover the aurora public school district. it's one of the school districts with the highest number of languages spoken in the entire country. it's more than 150. there are napolese communities, there's a big korean community. there's an african community. i think you can't find a place as american as this city in terms of diversity. >> reporter: when you grew up, was it as diverse? >> my recollections start growing up across the street from a palestinian family. my father is jewish. you know, they were my best friends growing up. it wasn't until i was older that

i thought this is a situation that's probably unique to aurora. and probably unique to the united states. >> and from this unique place came a unique response to the tragedy. hours after the shooting, jordan gawie, brother of jessica gawie talked to anderson cooper and raised an interesting idea. keep the word out of the media. >> i don't want the media to be saturated with the shooter's name. the more time he has, the less time he has to be remembered. >> reporter: it was an idea quickly embraced by the community. >> and i refuse to say his name. [ applause ]

>> at my house, we're just going to call him suspect a. >> reporter: it was a message that resonated across the nagsz. after meeting with the survivors and victim's families, even president obama agreed not to mention the shooter's name. that vow also hit home with a community all too familiar with tragedy. in the shadow of aurora just 20 miles away. >> i am in full support of this idea of not naming the shooter's name and not putting attention on the shooter. >> craig scott is a survivor of the columbine shooting 13 years ago. two of the 13 people who died in that tragedy were scot's friends. shot right in front of him. another was his sister, 17-year-old rachel scott,

murdered while sitting on the grass near the school entrance. >> it would have definitely helped me to hear the names of the shooters less. to see them less on the media. to see them less on the front pages of newspapers holding their guns. >> it's a move that may erase a killer's name, but it can erase the pain. one thing that can help, scott says, is spreading kindness. it's why his family created a foundation called rachel's challenge to try to prevent more school violence. but what helps most of all, he says, remember the lives of the victims. mckala medic. veronica mosier sullivan. alex sullivan.

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on the bottom of a dirt hill, across from that darkened theater, 12 crosses stand to memorialize those who were tragically lost last week. 12 lives. 12 futures. 12 names that must be remembered instead of that one name everyone wants to forget. we will remember them. >> alex sullivan. >> this is him. his name is alex sullivan. today is his birthday. >> reporter: before we knew for sure who had lived and who had died, alex sullivan was one of the first names we heard. in the hours after the shooting, his father desperately searched for his missing 27-year-old son. >> i cried because i know he's hurt. that's -- i know he's hurt. so i've got to get to him and find out where he is.

>> reporter: alex never made it out of the theater. he had gone there friday night with a group of friends. it was two days before his first wedding anniversary and the night of his 27th birthday. he tweeted, "oh, man. one hour till the movie. it is going to be the best birthday ever." >> i always saw him bigger than life. if you want to count a rich man by the people who know him and that call him friend, he was the wealthiest man i ever met. yeah. >> reporter: veronica moser sullivan. she was the smallest victim of this very big tragedy. and you have no doubt seen her picture. an adorable 6-year-old finding delight in a drippy ice cream cone. >> just a great little girl. >> reporter: she loved to read and play dress-up. jessica was at the theater for girls' night with her friend and mom. a mother still in the hospital devastated by the loss of her

adorable daughter. her father's reaction to the shocking loss, she is the last girl i will ever love. alexander j.boigt. everyone just called him a.j. 18 years old. he, too, was just getting his life started. family and friends posted this video on facebook have said he always brought a smile and a quick wit to every occasion. a.j. dreamed of becoming an art teacher. he was supposed to start art school in the fall. micayla medek. she also had dreams. three years awa from a college degree, the 23-year-old said on her facebook page, "i am a simple, independent girl who is just trying to get her life together while still having fun. >> reporter: john larimar. >> he was an outstanding shipmate. a valued member of our navy team

and an extremely dedicated sailor. >> larimar had his future mapped out. a 27-year-old petty officer in the navy, he was the fourth generation of a military family going back to his great grandfather who served in world war i. jesse childress. another military man. an air force staff sergeant. friends say childress worked hard by day, but liked to have fun at night. >> if there was a flag football team, he was always there to do it. he would go bowling every tuesday night. >> on friday night, he mixed work with pleasure. a comic book super hero fan, childress went to the movies with air force buddies. they say he was fatally wounded when he dove in front of a female friend. it wasn't the only act of heroism that night. alex teves, the 24-year-old arizona native is described as being all about life.

it's not surprised to those close to him to lose his life by helping others. that night, he blocked a bullet from hitting his girlfriend. she says there's no doubt that he saved her life. >> every ounce of my being, he did. i wouldn't be here without him. >> reporter: friends say he's also a hero by day. alex had just graduated from the university of denver with a master's in counseling. he had a passion for sports and an even bigger passion for working with children. >> he would take time, mentor kids in the community who, you know, didn't have dads or were just really hurting. >> matt mcquinn. the 27-year-old ohio native and his girlfriend, samantha yowler had been dating for years. his heroic act will be remembered by her forever. he threw himself in front of samantha. >> it's not surprising to me that his first thought would be her. and that's what a man does. he protects his loved ones.

and i'm very proud of him. i'm going to miss him. jonathan blunk. >> he layed up against me and he really told me what to do and saved my life. >> janson young says her boyfriend has always been a hero. at age 26, blunk had served five years in the navy and hoped to one day become a navy seal. those close to him remember his humor, spontaneity and love for his 2-year-old daughter and 4-year-old son. gordon cowden. he also left behind two children that night. their memories will be of a 51-year-old man who one friend called a true texas gentleman that loved life and his family. a quick-witted world traveler with a keen sense of humor. rebecca wingo, a hard-working,

single mother. she juggled the challenge of working while raising two young daughters. after 11 years in the air force, the 32-year-old was back at the school studying to help foster children and friends say she did it with a smile that lit up the room. jessica gawie. her smile has become familiar to many. she was the first name we heard when she was the first victim identified. boyfriend, jay meoff remembers. >> i guess, like a fire cracker, she was just exploding with personality and charisma and happiness. >> reporter: an aspiring sports caster, 24-year-old gawie used the last name redfield on the air. it was her fiery red hair that made those close to her know she would be a star one day. >> i've no doubt in my mind that she would have done it and she would have been someone that the whole world would have known for a different reason. >> but jessica, like 11 others, will now be remembered because

the unimaginable happened. for those left behind, there is morning. a fight to find meaning and a search for some kind of peace. a search to write words that turned out to be prophetic. words that in hindsight, have so much more meaning. words she wrote after surviving another deadly shooting in a toronto mall just one month earlier. >> i was reminded that we don't know when or where our time on earth will end. when or where we will breathe our last breath. i say all of the time that every moment we have to live our life is a blessing. every second of every day is a gift. i know i'd surely understand how blessed i am for each second i'm given.

>> tonight, a wife of the former president and ran for the white house herself. but she's not hillary clinton. >> say we do it all. two years of campaign help. where does that leave our family? >> sigourney weaver has a few things to say about real-world politics, as well. >> i think if you look at individual senators, there's so many individuals that i admire. >> also, the one thing you never thought he would do. >> it was a promise i made myself when i was ten. >> plus, unprediktble, dangerous, outspoken and very, very funny. >> all right, that's enough. off you go. we'll be right back. get off. russel brand. who knows what miegt happen.

this is "piers morgan tonight." >> good evening. imagine a world in which a first lady divorces a philandering commander in chief and loses to a less experienced rival and then becomes secretary of state. ridiculous. well, not quite that ridiculous, but this is the world of political animals. who better to play that secretary of state than sigorney weaver. she grossed $4 billion worldwide. she's played the toughest female character in movies of the "ali "alien" film. welcome. >> thank you so much. i'm very flattered. i'm delighted to be here. >> the $4 billion woman. that must make you feel great. >> i actually didn't know. now i'll know how to greet myself in the morning. >> that should be your number one thing on your calling card. >> i'll have a t-shirt made.