as the feet and there is a reluctance to go down that road. >> but there is pressure to show that you can govern. >> there is also the pressure of the 2012 presidential election which already seems to be under way. there are probably some candidates lurking waiting for the moment. governing a complex country is not easy, but it's going to be fascinating as we watch this play out. >> so after the vote to repeal this law, what will we hear from house republicans? >> it seems they will attempt to pick it a lot in various ways. they have talked about trying to block the law. we expect a broader spending fight to be going on. any fight over money for health care may be a small portion of this wider battle of how to address the nation's fiscal

issues. republicans say they want to take discretionary spending back to 2008 levels. that would be very painful cutting when you consider how small portion of the budget there is to work with. once we get past the initial statement, republicans see it as one of the f -- one of the mandates of the november election. but once they get past that, maybe the real discussions will start. >> you asked about oversight and his credentials when it came to that. what did you hear in his answer -- he did not see anything controversial or objectionable. >> i thought that was telling. chairman issa de has tried to walk the line in going after policies without making a personal and we will see -- i think every step of the way

there will be investigations that will end up being framing against the administration. how that unfolds, i don't know if we will see ranking member waxman being as generous as he was. >> it seems like those kinds of things can be used to energize your base and he called on democrats to work with him. >> they can be used to energize the base but one thing is watching how the two parties have learned from modern history. republicans realize they overreached when they went after bill clinton. while the base may be energized, the crucial independent voters need to win elections get very frustrated very fast when they see political food fight going on and they would rather see substantive investigations and politically-motivated jabs. that is one thing they are keeping in mind. democrats have learned how the

republicans fought hard in the minority in there trying to do the same thing out of the gate. >> you have seen as last week in congress, the democrats have this aggressive voice on health care vote and some of the process is unfolding in the late house will conduct its rules. for those who watched congress and the democrats in the majority over the last two years, seeing this aggressive democratic approach is something different and it shows how easy it is to be in the minority. >> thank you for being part of the conversation. >> there is a live picture of the u.s. capitol on a cold evening in washington d.c.. the flag is at half mast by order of president obama today. the president has ordered that

tomorrow at 11:00 eastern, he has asked americans to observe a moment of silence to honor the victims of the shooting in tucson, ariz. yesterday. over the next 90 minutes or so, we're going to try to catch you up on some of the evidence. we will star with the speaker of the house talking about the attack on representatives gabrielle gifford in tucson, arizona. here are the speaker's remarks. >> thoughts and prayers are with congresswoman gifford's family today and we're also praying for john roll and others who were

taking from us so senselessly. among those was a member of her staff and i have asked the flags at the capitol be flown in half mast. an attack on one who serves is an attack on all the surf. place in our society. i want to commend the federal, state and local officials as well as the capitol police for all their efforts, and i have told the fbi director that the house stands ready to assist in anyway possible. last night, the majority leader announced the normal business of postponed so that we can take necessary action regarding yesterday's events. the majority leader will announce a revised schedule. to the members of the house and their staffs, and i ask you, on

this saturday, that we keep gaby and her staff in your prayers. public service is a high honor, but these tragic events remind service comes with a risk. this in human act should not and calling for, to represent our oaths of office. no act, no matter how heinous must be allowed to stop us from our duty. >> speaker boehner says the house will be in a pro forma session on tuesday and all significant legislative votes will be postponed by a week. we expect house to approve a resolution honoring the victims of the tucson shooting.

florida rep, debbie wasserman- schultz, spoke about rep giffords today. >> by every indication, the fighter that she is, showing the full strength, she, from what i was told by her staff last night, she woke up, responded to mark's voice, moved her arms and legs. >> this is her husband. >> yes. her husband. then, they served -- and they sedated her again. for anyone who has ever met her, she is the most open, warm, sweet woman. the best way to describe her is she is the kind of person who tries to see good in everyone. even when she is in the midst of the kind of strife that is going on in southern arizona with the

immigration laws and the battleground, she always looks on the bright side. >> surgeons at university medical center in tucson, ariz., said rep gabrielle gifford remains in critical condition but is responding to commands. about one hour or so, we will open up the phone lines again and take some more of your calls and get your reaction to the news of the last 24 hours or so. let's bring you the hospital news conference with spoke about the condition of the representative and other victims. this is about 25 minutes.

>> good morning and thank you for being here. in a few minutes, i will turn the microphone over to our front-line doctors. these are the folks i think you want to hear from the most about the condition of the 10 patients we now have in the aftermath of yesterday's tragedy. before i do that, i want to make a few brief comments. i promise i will be brief. i want to thank the first-line responders who were on the scene yesterday. law enforcement officers, paramedics, the flight crews and ambulance crews, you all made a

difference and you all save lives. i want to thank the doctors and our trauma team. i have always held our people here in the highest regard. they have always inspired me, but i have never been so proud of in my life as a rose to the occasion in almost combat conditions. i want to thank our emergency physicians to roads to the occasion yesterday to help out in this crisis. all of our nurses and our staff, including our social workers, clergy, and all of our support group. yesterday was a challenging day for tucson, the state of arizona, and the nation. but we will get through this. i am convinced after i saw the way people pulled together yesterday. in one minute, i will turn the microphone over to dr. rhee. we plan to do daily updates at

10:00 a.m., mountain standard time. we will hang around the have questions afterward. i know there are a lot of questions. i would like to thank the mayor for being with us today. the dean of the college of medicine for joining us here today and i would like to introduce the president, the president of the university of arizona and he would like to make a few brief remarks and he will turn it over to dr. peter rhee. >> thank you, kevin. i will be brief because the individuals you want to hear from are the gentleman on my right in the white coats. i want to acknowledge the first responders, all of them were engaged in a critical time line that occurs from the first incident to getting people into the operating room and into the hands of these exceptional individuals.

another individual i want to mention is the chair of surgery. he will have a worker to to say. he joined us three and half years ago and has built an extraordinary team in surgery. you will hear from him later on. i think it is safe to say this team is second to none. the time line, the rapid response to have had here has shake -- has saved lives. you will hear from the chief of neurosurgery and the chief of trauma, critical care and emergency surgical care. i offer on behalf of the entire university, our appreciation and thanks for the remarkable skills of these individuals. the university of arizona is proud to be associated with ua

health care. >> thank you. i will be very brief. this is a sad day for the families, the community, for the state of arizona and for the nation. our hearts go out to the families of the victims. this is something we are rarely prepared for, but yesterday, we were fortunate enough to have the doctors here. within one hour, six patients were in the operating room and we had for trauma surgeons in the operating rooms, to neurosurgeons were here and we had a cardiovascular surgeon here. it took 38 minutes for the most critically injured person to be transferred to the operating room and it is my great pleasure

to introduce the two individuals that are crucial in the recovery of the victims to you now, dr. peter rhee who has served our eager -- to assert our nation with great distinction in afghanistan and iraq and the chief of neurosurgery who joined as a year-and-a-half ago. it is always a readiness and willingness of people ready to support us, not just physicians, but people in the operating room. everyone else did a marvelous job yesterday. i think everyone in the state can be proud of what happened here in a very short time yesterday. >> i am the, medical director here at the university of arizona university medical center. we suffered a tragedy here. i never thought i would experience something like this in my own backyard and i have a lot of sympathy and empathy for the patients who came through

and their families. this is a very trying time for us, so our condolences to the patients and their families. my update is going to be fairly short period we had a combination of 11 patients we have seen here at the hospital. the first one was a 9-year-old child who came in dead. we tried to resuscitate her, including surgery, but we were unable to resuscitate her and bring her back. we had five patients brought to us in serious condition. of those patients, we had an additional five patients who were not in such a critical situation. we ended up doing six surgeries and that included a variety of things in a trauma, combat scenario. it was a mass casualty in some senses and we were doing things in the chest, abdomen,

cardiovascular, an orthopedic in nature. we are happy to state that only one patient remains in critical condition, and i think we will be able to discuss that in more detail and give you more information. the rest have been moved out of icu. we have 3 in serious condition and at three that have been discharged. the one patient in serious condition is the congresswoman. at this time, i will turn it over to the chief of neurosurgery and he can give you more information. >> thank you. i'm the chief of neurosurgery here. i want to reiterate our thoughts and prayers go out to the families of all those affected here. let me reiterate what a lot of people have said, which is the incredible effort. it is a team effort at a level one trauma center and that kind of resources nabal's this effort. everything from the physicians,

support staff, nursing, the doctor and his team were able to get the patient to the operating room in 38 minutes. the staff that helped, not the least of which, my partner operated back to me, the anesthesiologist and the support staff. this effort is possible because of these resources. let me take you back to the sequence of events to clear up some of the information out there. congresswoman giffords was shot in the head. when she arrived here, the reports were she was able to follow commands, that is tuesday -- that is to say responsive to verbal communication. we quickly got her back to the operating room, within 38 minutes. once there, we went through our routine procedure for this kind of injury. that consisted of controlling the bleeding, which think this was not excessive.

our next objective was due to take the pressure of the brain. that was by removing the bone fragments caused by the bullet fracture as well as additional bone to allow the brain to relax. lastly, we removed in small parts of a real vote -- up -- we did not have to do much of that. at that time, she returned to the icu. when we talk about gunshot wounds to the head, the length -- the things they're most concerning is if the bullet crosses from one hemisphere to the other. if the bullet crosses through the geometric center of the brain. i am happy to say that was not the case in this instance. because of that, congresswoman giffords is able to communicate with us through following simple commands and we're very encouraged by that. we are still in critical condition. brain swelling at any time can take a turn for the worse, but i

am cautiously optimistic. at this time, i will turn back to dr. rhee. >> she came in and was following simple commands but was not verbalizing at that time before the surgery. after surgery, she was under anesthesia and was hard to say whether she was in a coma-type state. but what we lightened up the anesthetics, we were very happy and optimistic because eventually, over the course of the evening, she was able to follow simple commands. this is a very early in our course and we don't know what her deficits will be in the future. we will be able to give you those updates as we go along and we have been happy with the hospital course. the blood transfusions have helped. we have been able to use hypertonic saline and we are all very happy at this stage. with that, i will open it up for

questions. >> has she verbalized at all? there was a reunion of sorts with her husband last night. can you talk about that? >> we cannot get into too much more detail than we already have. but right now, she can not open her eyes from a mechanical standpoint, she is also on a ventilator, so she cannot speak at this time. >> can you explain what a simple command is? >> it could be anything as please squeeze a hand or show us to fingers. we take those kinds of simple commands for granted, but it implies a high level of function in the brain. >> this was not a grazing wound to the brain, this was a devastating wounds that travel the entire length of the brain on the left side. he is downplaying some of the

efforts. they saved a life. they save the patient's life. with the function she had before the surgery, that tells us how much injury the bullet did. but the fact she had a lot of preservation before surgery, making this a situation as well as they can, and as time goes on, the effects from the blood itself will have some degeneration of brain cells and matter. we have to see what happens later on. >> is it a good sign she has made it through the first 24 hours? >> let me take you through a couple of times things -- a couple of time point. with that shot once, we have a primary injury, the damage done by a bullet and we cannot undo that unfortunately. then there is a secondary injury, caused by subsequent smelling -- consequent swelling

trade that we can try to mollify. if she is able to follow commands, that implies the brain circuits are working and that is very important. the more we see them working after the surgery, the much more encouraged we are. >> where did the bullet hit in the brain? >> it went through on the left side from the back to the front. >> what does the left side control? >> in most people, the left side controls their right cited strength and a sensation. in most people, it controls their speech functions and their ability to understand speech or make speech. that includes the end -- that includes the ability to understand simple commands. >> how long was the surgery? >> the surgery took about two hours. the was an extension at the end where we perform a decompression because one of the fractures with affecting the eye socket. that did not take much longer. >> when are we talking about the

prognosis -- how long might the congresswoman have to be in the hospital? how long does a recovery like that a core is a lifetime of recovery? >> we do not speculate on the degree of recovery because we have seen the full gamut. it is really not productive. in neurosurgery, we talk about recovery on the order of months and we don't even close the books on it until we are several years out. there is a general rule that the faster you recover, the better you will be. but that does not apply in all individual cases. it is not uncommon to be in the icu for at least a week, a hospital for two or three weeks, and there will be a rehabilitative phase which could take weeks to months. setting an actual fast date is not productive. >> [inaudible]

>> it is going to be our brain functions. it is important to get a clean assessment of the brain. the drugs we use are very manageable and short lasting. we can get a really good assessment. resting between those times and when we wake her up for the examinations, how she responds is what we will be able to base our prognosis on. everybody is going to be cautious about over calling it, but i'm optimistic. i was optimistic yesterday when i saw the brain and the amount of injury that had gone through. but this is about as good as it's going to get. when you get shot in the head and a bullet goes through your brain, the chances of you living are very small. the chances of the waking up and actually falling commands is actually much smaller than that. this has, so far, been a very good situation. we do not know which direction

she's going to go and it's very precarious at this time. >> [inaudible] >> we always do cat scans and we did a cat scan before the first surgery. that tells us as surgeons or we have to focus our efforts. i cannot go into details for obvious patient privacy issues, but it shows the track of the bullet through the left hemisphere. it was not through some of the critical trajectories which would have made recovery much more difficult. >> what happens when the brains swells? >> normally, when the brain swells, like when you sprain your knee and fuel -- and fluid accumulates and it's very tense and there's a tremendous amount of pain. the brain will go through that same situation but when it gets tense in there, the blood flow to the neurons and brain cells get compromised. in this kind of situation, the doctor took the skull off and

kept it off. right now, on half of her brain, she does not have a skull. it is preserved in the hospital and we can plant it again later on. that is part of the progress we have made during neurosurgery. the experience we have learned in the military about letting the brain, after penetrating,, swell and not be constrained in the cavity has helped a lot and it played an important factor here as well. if we run into trouble in the next few days, we have tools. we can use medical agents to drive out the brain and literally put a tube into one of the center fluid spaces to measure and relieve pressure is necessary. but because she looks good right now, there is no need for that. >> [inaudible] >> brain swelling is the biggest threat at this point. >> you say the bullet went through the back -- did it come out in the forehead? >> from a trend that perspective, doctors are very

leery to say for sure, but the experience we have, it looks clear to me that most likely, in my opinion, went from the back to the front. >> [inaudible] >> she is in a medical, right now. we have induced that, but we frequently they occur up to see what her progress is. to make sure something catastrophic has not occurred while she is asleep. >> we turn off the sedation and that allows her brain to kick in and function at its highest level. >> it puts you into a pharmaceutical, and put you to sleep like an anesthetic. within minutes, we can examine how it is. she is not suffering from being operated on and being on of the ventilator. >> could you try to explain in layman's terms, how your brain can function at a near-normal level with a whole all the way

through? what is maybe compensating in some way? is there unimportant stuff in the brain? >> i don't want to give you my opinion, so i will let the experts tell you. >> this question borders on speculation for recovery and i don't want to go into much detail. suffice it to say, there are obvious areas of the brain that are less tolerant to intrusion. it does not mean we are using 10% of our brain or there is other parts of the brain that are not important. it means the brain is able to recover from those injuries as opposed to areas we call eloquent. you see where i am going -- i don't want to go down this speculation road. at the same time, we are cautiously optimistic. >> with a penetrating brain injury, it is always surprising to label what you think any

bullet going into the brain means instant death. but there is a lot of capacity the human body has and the ability for us to compensate. >> you have said in many cases that bullet wounds to the head are fatal. what do you attribute a person being alive to? >> i treated to five things. -- i attributed to five things. first, the paramedics got us to work quickly. we have a system in place and this place works like a finely tuned machine. everything at that time works well. we got here quickly. the trauma surgeon who treated her did everything right. we got her quickly windup -- we got her quickly lined up and into the operating room as fast as we can. the anesthesia staff got her ready for the surgery and all of these things, including post operative care, every body gets

part of the credit. the other part is also what and what the blood actually hits when she first got hit. -- fortunately no one that should not have died died. everyone has survived is doing relatively well. we were able to transfer everyone from the icy use it to the ward status, an indication of how well they are doing. they are all recovering well and so far we're extremely happy with the prognosis of all those other individuals. it was not just one person but on mass casualty that we had here in tucson. this hospital due to their constant practice and experience was able to pull this thing through and the medical community contributed heavily to this.

>> i notice he is on a bill in tater -- but the letter right now. -- she is on a ventilator right now. >> she could not say any words. >> [inaudible] >> this does not compare. this is not really are mass casualty. i have all the people that i could possibly want. this is a luxury for me. in this trauma center in southern arizona, we are the only one in this is as good as it gets. i sought act of violence in the wars as well. i am not a political person. i'm just a public servant. >> [inaudible] >> sometimes when we have these kind of injuries, we have the tech office spall and relax the brain. the fractured a lot of the work

force so it was just removing the pieces and extending that. that is probably the simplest way to say it. we typically will protect the brain with an artificial laser. we put it back when the brain has relax efficiently. that may take several months. every case is individual. >> thank you very much for coming in your attention today. i will turn this over to the doctor this point. >> i want to thank you again for coming. most of the interviews will go through cady reilly. will have another medical bulletin tomorrow at 10:00 at the same location. we will keep you apprised of any changes in the conditions of any of the victims. we will keep this very open and transparent and we will share information with you. and i think at this point, we're very happy to say that we have

one critically injured person, and the rest of the patients are doing better. we will see you tomorrow and that there are any questions, we will be available. thank you for coming. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] >> fbi director robert mueller was sent to tucson to head the investigation of yesterday's shootings that killed several people and seriously injured other, including representative gabrielle peppers. he said it was too early to determine a motive of the suspect in custody. joining him as puma county sheriff of -- is pima county sheriff clarence dupnik. >> i am sheriff tonette. -- sheriff dupnik.

there are a dozen or so agencies involved in this case. they have been working hand in glove and joined at the hip. the investigation is still far from over, but it is progressing very smoothly. at this time i was like to introduce director mueller from the fbi. >> thank you, sheriff, and good morning, everyone. first let me express my condolences to the families and of the gabrielle giffords, judge john role, and the other victims of this senseless tragedy. this is attacked georgia and a ticket -- an attack not only against this, one child was there to learn how our

government works. other members of the community meeting with their elected official for the first time or were simply running errands on what otherwise would have been an ordinary weekend. carol lee loughner are was subdued by brave, quick thinking individuals at the scene. he was taken into custody by sheriff's custodies it -- sheriff's deputies and an alice in federal custody. formal charges are expected this afternoon. we're working around the clock to learn as much as possible, gather the facts, determine why someone would commit such a heinous act, and whether anyone else was involved. and while we do not yet know all the answers to these questions, i can assure you that teams of professionals are working toward a single goal, and that is to

piece together the facts, answer those questions, and ensure that justice is done. we're working closely with the pima county sheriff's office, the u.s. marshal service, u.s. capitol police, and others in this ongoing investigation. given this tragedy, all logical precautions are in place to best to ensure the safety of other public officials. but i will say and i want to emphasize there is no information at this time to suggest any specific threat remains. for those of us on the ground and for all of us, the works goes on and we will continue to dedicate all necessary resources to every level of this investigation. and to do everything we can to ensure that our elected in officials and the citizens we serve are safe.

with that i will be happy and i am sure the sheriff would be happy to answer any questions you might have. the gentleman right here. >> los angeles times, wanting to know about the motive you have learned that? >> as you can expect, the investigation is barely 24 hours old. it is a little bit early to speculate on those motives. my expectation is that there will be of filing in federal court this afternoon that may elaborate somewhat on that. again it is early in the investigation to get some definitive answer. let me go to the next -- yes, ma'am? >> what you think about the relative ease with which people can get guns? >> i am not one to comment on

those particular rules. in this particular case, we do have information that he purchased of what happened in november of last year. -- a weapon in november of last year. we're following up on that. yes, sir? >> [inaudible] someone may have assisted or participated? what will the formal charges be? >> as regard to accomplices, that is something that we are closely looking at. we are pursuing all leads. we get pushed out a photograph of an individual that appear to be entering the safeway with mr. -- with the suspect, and we're hoping to identify that individual.

we do not have any belief that this time that that individual was a participant in this shooting. it is someone we need to identify, and as i say, we have put out that photograph. second question? second part of the question. i do believe he will be charged with the assault on the congresswoman, but the killing of a judge roll, and the assault on the other staffers. these are preliminary charges. as the investigation goes on, they may and will be additional charges the will be filed. >> [inaudible] >> i cannot get into the details of the time in custody. the next couple be the filing of a complaint, quite probably this

afternoon, with formal charges, and after that an additional appearance. i am not sure when that will occur. i do not think that has been scheduled yet. yes, ma'am. >> [inaudible] >> again i cannot get into the details of the interim action with him after he was arrested by the pima county sheriff's officers. >> have you been able to find out where he got a weapon? >> it was purchased in november of last year, 2010, and it was a clock 9 millimeter -- glock 9mm. the request direction was to tell me that the investigators -- be sure that investigators

had everything they need to conduct the kind of thorough investigation that needs to be conducted here. this is a joint investigation. the fbi and other federal agencies along with the pima county sheriff's office, we have been working together at the command center cents late yesterday afternoon. his concern was that everything be done to assure that the individual or individuals are brought to set -- justice and no stone remains unturned to that end. >> [inaudible] >> i know there discussions between the united states attorney in the district attorney in terms of how he would outline these charges. i would defer to them in terms of what charges are being brought or charges that may be

brought either in federal or state court down the road. yes, ma'am, and back. >> i think the -- correct me if i am wrong, share. >> i do not know where you heard that. we said that there was a 9-year- old girl that had been shot and was deceased. where that ever mention you're talking about came from, i have no knowledge. that is not correct, no. >> cominco -- yes, ma'am, right here. >> [inaudible] >> we do not believe so. yes, sir, right here in the black. it was purchased at gun shop. not certain of the city. we can get to that information

afterwards. yes, sir. >> [inaudible] >> the package to which you referred to not contain any explosives. it is premature to determine that it is in no way related to the circumstances relating to congresswoman deferred -- giffords, but we have that package and we will be running it through our laboratory to determine dna, fingerprints, and the like to make sure it did not have anything to do with it. and we will determine the purpose of leading the pack is there and who did. yes, sir, right here. >> [inaudible]

>> his postings at youtube [inaudible] >> i can tell you with regard to the record, minimal. with regard to the postings, there have been some posting that the news media has because they are widely shown on the internet. in the course of the investigation, we will give everyone of those postings. any activity he had on the internet, whether e-mail or other communications, and we will be looking at every one of those associates to determine whether they present a threat. >> any involvement with a group such as american renaissance, any information on it? >> i have seen some allusion to

that in the media. let me put it that way. that is something that we would continue to look at and focus on in the 4. >> the course of the investigation. >> in the history of contact in the congresswoman? >> i believe that we have an indication that he attended a similar event back in 2007. the specifics of that would quite probably come out in the course of the legal proceedings. yes, way in the back. >> [inaudible] >> the sheriff talked about problems with hate speech going on. [inaudible] >> i think it is premature to

say to what extent -- what the motivations were of the individual in this particular case, and necessarily draw generalizations off of that. i will say whether international terrorism or domestic terrorism, a ubiquitous nature of the internet means that not only threats he but hate speech and other insightful -- inciteful speech is much more readily available than it was 10 or 15 years ago. that is a challenge for us, particularly when it results and a lone wolves were loan offenders undertaking attacks. let me see. >> [inaudible] extremist for it -- websites or " says. >> we're still doing the

analysis. >> [inaudible] >> it appears that the target was the congresswoman. yes, sir. >> [inaudible] >> i think you have it accurately. we do not believe that he fired any shots or was a shooter. we do want to identify him to determine what he may have seen or whether he had any secondary role as an accomplice. that, i am not certain about. >> [inaudible]

>> i could not hear. >> [inaudible] >> as we have shown in the photo we have put out, it shows the individual in safeway near the individual that has been detained. yes, ma'am. >> sense judge roll was a member of the judiciary here, [inaudible] >> those are issues to be discussed down the road. >> we will be able to take two more questions for the director. anyone here can answer your questions. we have a congressman from phoenix who attended yesterday's press conference and has come today. we have the chief of the marshal service. we a people from the sheriff's department and from the fbi.

two more questions for the director. >> thank you, sir. the individual in the pink back there. >> [inaudible] >> that is an issue being discussed in the halls of congress amongst all the agencies as to how we can increase security against such threats as we see here. i can tell you that when we at the fbi are referred complaints from a member of congress, we pursue them and we pursue them to the and until we're certain that the individual or individuals do not constitute a continuous threat. i know that capitol police, the sergeant at arms, are working

with congressmen and senators to vote inform them of the course of the investigation but also as to what steps may be taken in the future. not that i am aware of. but bc, when more. >> which you characterize this as an act of political terrorism? to get that charges be filed today are based on the assault of the congresswoman, the killing of the staffer, and the assault on the other staffers. and the killing of judge roll. i am not going to preclude the possibility that additional charges would be brought of domestic terrorism as the investigation continues. thank you very much, folks. >> i am david gonzales,

assistant district attorney. >> [inaudible] >> any questions pertaining to the actual shooting, a leak to the sheriff or the fbi. my role in this and the u.s. marshall's role in this is the protection of the judiciary and to determine if there were any organized plot on judge roll or any other judges in arizona or nationally. >> have you determined whether or not that is the case? and what position he was in relation to that? >> i'll leave that to the sheriff. >> i think that director address the question as to whether it was a glock 9mm, but i like to amplify on the weapon and how it

was secured and the bravery of not just two people, but three people. i do not have the names of the people involved. but when the gentleman ran at the ammunition from his first magazine, he was attempting to change magazines. a woman, we have the name of but i do not have come out when up and grab the magazine and tore it away from him. while he was trying to put another magazine and, he was successful in doing that, which also had 31 bullets and aunt, there would get in a huge greater catastrophe has he been successful in doing that. fortunately the spring in the magazine failed and the tw a gentleman were able to get away from them and said to him until the law enforcement people arrived.

gen there is some confusion about the number of casualties. is there anyone that has a definitive pronunciation? >> the information we have right now is that there are six deceased, and a total of 20 people shot. including the six victims. laughter. -- loughner. i not know how he pronounces it. the polish pronunciation is lo ughner. >> you say that there is a woman coming up. >> she grabs the magazine. he is able to insert the other one but it does not fire. and to man, and are able to get

the weapon away from him and throw away. she was also wounded when she did this. >> when she was doing what? >> she was trying to get the gun away from him. >> any indication that he was saying good-bye to friends or family? [inaudible] >> when the investigation is completed, we will be a better position to answer that question more specifically. >> the timeline leading up to the shooting? >> i think the shooting began around 10:00 a.m., maybe 10 minutes after 10:00. we do not know how he got there at this point.

you could probably call most murders a hate crime. >> what is your current view on the person of interest? >> we're still searching for this person of interest, but we're satisfied more in our own mind that this person may not have been involved in this at all. but we still need to talk to him to verify that. yes, it is. >> [inaudible] >> when you say documented, exactly what is your? i do not know the answers to those. >> were those threats to law enforcement? >> i cannot answer that

question at the moment. i cannot answer that question. i think there is no question about that. as the director has mentioned, there will be meetings taking place by only about the people in washington and how they are protected in washington, but as most did you have come to the conclusion now, local law enforcement, unless there specific requests or specific intelligence that there may in the problem, are not even aware of the numerous appearances by elected officials that take place every day. >> i know you did not want to give details. have these threats been in recent months? >> yes. >> [inaudible] >> that is correct.

>> he found a route -- he fired a round of 31? >> did. >> did he describe her in any way? >> we can make that information available to you after the conference. >> yesterday you said you believe that you may believe that someone else is involved. >> i am not saying either. after the press conference and the attorneys and the officers at some collaboration about this issue, we decided to release this picture as a person of interest. based on information we have developed sense, it would appear to us that the person may not

have been involved at all. but we still need to verify that and we are still actively seeking this individual. >> the 2007 event, was that in tucson? >> what i can tell you is that there was some correspondence between giffords office and him about a similar event. he was invited to attend. >> the office invited him to attend that event? and yes. 2007. i do not know. i do not know. i don't know. >> [inaudible] >> pardon? >> [inaudible] >> only when there are threats. if i understand that correctly.

>> [inaudible] >> no, he was not. he had some issues that he wanted to discuss with the councilwoman. she was nearby where he lived. he took the opportunity to just go discuss some business with her. >> do you now another the person of interest is? >> we do not. we're reasonably certain that we're going to find out. i am not in a position to address that issue right now. >> the judge in where he was in relation to all this? >> he was very near gabrielle. i do not know the answer to that. >> in the surveillance tapes

your and the process of reviewing? >> i am not able to discuss that. >> you have known several of these people for a long time. tell us about your personal feelings. >> it is very hard. i vacillate between extreme sadness and sorrow in shock, and extreme anger. >> [inaudible] >> could u.s. the question again? -- you asked the question again? >> i think that when the rhetoric about hatred, about mistrust of government, about paranoia of how government operates, and to try to inflame the public on a daily basis 24

hours a day, seven days a week, has impacts on people, especially who are unbalanced personalities to begin with. i do not know. >> [inaudible] >> i do not know the answer to that question. >> your observations about the state of arizona gun laws? >> i think we are the tombstone of the united states of america. >> was that a reference to the town? >> i have never been a proponent of letting everybody in this state carry weapons under any circumstances that they want. and that is almost where we are. the legislature at this time is proposing that students and

teachers be allowed to have weapons in the schools and in college. no, colleges ought to be run by the college president, not the arizona legislature. but that is the ridiculous state to where we have become. and we have one more question. >> [inaudible] >> yes, she was shot. before grabbing the weapon. >> [inaudible] >> that is an everyday issue for the entire united states, for the entire world. we have a very serious problem in this community. back in 1960 when i was a young cop on the beach, we put the mentally ill people who were threats into a system that incarcerated them. today they are out on the street and we are paying a price for

it. thank you very much. >> will there be any more briefings today? >> we will have to address that information when it becomes available. breedings formally like this? not likely. press releases, yes. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] >> here is an update. federal prosecutors have charged a suspect in that shooting with attempted assassination and four other charges. he is charged with one count of attempted assassination of a member of congress, two counts of killing an employee of the federal government, and two counts of attempting to kill a federal employee. the first assistant public --

public assistance and the arizona says that they are working to get a lawyer appointed for the suspect. his first court appearance will be monday, tomorrow afternoon in phoenix. coming up in a few minutes, we will open up our own lines. c-span and get some of your calls and your reactions to the event. in the meantime, an event from earlier today with john larsen speaking with reporters on capitol hill after conference call with house members about their plans this week following the shootings in tucson. he later went -- spoke with reporters. it is about 10 minutes.

>> thank you. we just concluded a joint democratic caucus and republican conference. long called which -- if come call with more than 800 participants. they included members of congress, their spouses, chiefs of staff all who have been certainly caught up in the events of the last day and certainly our thoughts and prayers and hearts go out to the victims.

earlier this afternoon, i had an opportunity to go over and speak with gabrielle giffords staff, who obviously like all of us are concerned and certainly again with the death of gabes of german -- gave zimmerman and the other colleagues being injured, of course the tragic loss of life of the judge, a little girl, and suddenly their condition of congresswoman cabriole efforts. as has but -- gabrielle of efforts. as has been set on a conference call, such an incredible gifted, talented, sincere, gracious

incredibly gifted individual -- certainly this is the kind of senseless thing that leaves everyone a cast and wondering why, especially we want to commend the leadership of speaker boehner in taking all appropriate action and working with leader polelosi, who spoke with mark kelly today, and conveying that to the members of congress. it was certainly a extraordinarily helpful. also to hear from gabrielle chief of staff, who is out there in arizona, and we

felt the program as well to make sure that we have staff members who are such an interco part -- intergral park, and someone who gave their life in the duty of the duty of their country. we did hear from the sergeant of arms and chief morris, and we also heard from the attending physician's office, we heard from dr. christina maliki yawning -- who also talked in medical terms, technically. we will be having representative kantor and hoyer going over the schedule and we appreciate the great sensitivity involved in dealing with this issue, an

expression of concern that there will not be of vote this week. there certainly will be attributes that will be put forward for those who lost their lives, and the continued health and fervent prayers and well wishes for gabrielle and all the victims as well with regard to their recovery. we will be holding a joint caucus conference on wednesday that the speaker has called for, and again we thank him for the house, for the people of arizona, and the country. i think all members on the phone conversation and subsequently hopefully out of this tragic circumstance that greater

comity with in the house and the discourse that takes place all across this country and camaraderie that we hope will ensue in no way that we are all in this together to improve the lives of the people that we are sworn to serve. with that, i will take a few questions and then we will go. >> talk about what the sergeant of arms set on the call. will there be updated security? >> we will have of -- there were bullets and they were released, some problems in getting some of the e-mails that were discussed, but he very specifically went over some concerns. those concerns will be both -- that can we have more than 800 people on that phone call. we did have some technical difficulty initially on. if we will be printing those out, but they will be reviewed at the combined conference and

conference. we're concerned about spouses to make sure that they get the information and we have quite a few -- and number of new members to congress who were not here during the anthrax scarce or 9/11 circumstance. we want to make sure that spouses know how to contact. the search it arms talked about coordination with local security and how we should go about that. chief morris as well, of very specific recommendation for members, what to do, that will be outlined in detail for them and then passed out on wednesday. >> what are some of the specific recommendations? >> the primary thing here is to make sure that all members are coordinating their efforts with

local police officials. a lot of members do that routinely. but also designating as we do it -- because of the procedures since 9/11, every office has a specific coordinator for that. more suggestions emanated from cult members as to what we can do. the speaker has called for a meeting for more thorough review of all of these measures, and obviously we will take those up on wednesday. but we're sure that many of them will be forthcoming. >> [inaudible] >> the condition that was discussed by her staff was -- pretty much if you heard the latest medical bulletin, but the discussion was that it was hopeful.

clearly -- i am not a medical doctor, and the attending physician's office and the doctor did an extraordinary job of explaining those details. this is a day by day -- and what he did say is that there will be daily updates with respect to all of the people involved, but certainly there is keen interest -- >> i think the members will take all precautions. i do think that members will continue to hold congress on the corner public forums. that is their responsibility, " we are sworn to do. i thought the speaker was very eloquent and the way he express that to date.

i think he epitomized what members of congress feel about the service to the public. >> [inaudible] >> extraordinary. as you have all witnessed in talking to other members, gabrielle giffords is a pretty extraordinary member. when someone engenders that kind of feeling among members, i think there is just such a feeling of cooperation and graciousness. enserlinglling -- h recalled going home with their frequently because she would stop in dallas and the outpouring of concern of members, how we can help going to tucson going -- in this time. it is the kind of things that shows congress at its best, to

be quite frank. people coming together and when something like this happens, not unlike what happens in the spontaneous breaking out of people singing -- god bless america on the steps of the capital after 9/11. it is spontaneous and sincere. i think people get it. i do. i certainly am hopeful that it will on several fronts. >> did you have a call like this after 9/11? >> the speaker in leader then convenes in the ways and means room because of the concern about the capital that existed at that time. but yes, there was that kind of opportunity. i hope we build on this and build on it successfully. and most of all we pray for

those who lost their lives and also prey heartily for those we want to pull through here. >> she told people she was concerned. have you heard anything about that question and >> i have not but that may or may not be true. we're trying to avoid -- that was the other point that bill may. there is a lot of misinformation out there. we want to try not to feed into that. i do not know. but, thank you very much. host: and there is a live picture of the u.s. capitol here in washington this sunday night. you see these numbers of for a while. we've been getting your reaction and we were stopped this time around in milwaukee with nicholas on the line for republicans. caller: i want to congratulate

you people. you were helping to save our nation. at this critical time. i am are attired forensic expert and i was self-employed but i work for law enforcement. i have seen a lot. several years ago i read that there are 500 million guns in the united states that are not military or police. 500 million. one time i was living in florida and a former police officers said, yes, there are guns across the street, there are guns there -- he was pointing to the houses. all the people have guns. it is a real serious problem. and families are in danger because sometimes someone may drink or take drugs and the family and there is a gun and they shoot.

you read often that people in bars, they come with a gun, they have a few drinks, and then they shoot them. host: we appreciate your call, milwaukee. let's move on to springfield, ill., crackdown on line for independents. caller: isn't it ironic little girl that was killed was born on 9/11/2001? suddenness that state of affairs. critics such a sad state of affairs. i do not even own a weapon. i think that we had more swift justice in this country, we wouldn't drag these things out because they cost money and years to get these people to get any kind of real justice. we ought to go back to -- i do not mean to be cruel, but back to olden times when things were meted out of a little faster, maybe we would get to these people but would not think they

could get away with that. host: california on our line for democrats. you are on c-span. caller: might take -- my name is michelle and i am the president of a human-rights group. i live in tucson but i am in california right now. i cannot believe what has happened to my beautiful town. my heart is with the giffords family and the rest of the families. we're tired of so much violent crime. in arizona, anyone can buy a gun. they do not need permits. arizona has so many criminals, and our

nation is in danger. we cannot walk on the streets anymore. we live in arizona, even in california, no matter where. this country is not a safe country anymore. we do not have the security. host: we're going to move on and thank you for the call. we have 10 minutes left for your phone call this evening. we're getting your reaction to some of the events and what you think about some of the remarks by the sheriff there in tucson, is political rhetoric playing a part in some of this? we will move on to los angeles with simon. you are on c-span. caller: my name is simon. i have one question. why this sarah palin sell the books and she has the security guard and ms. giffords' does not have anyone helping her?

host: on a line for republicans, go ahead. caller: it's unfortunate the debate the last year-and-a-half has had such vitriol. i hope the media takes a moment and examines the victory of, particularly from folks likeglenn beck. as a republican, i have been so disappointed. we can look back at some of that rhetoric. i think the sheriffs. was absolutely right on. -- the sara's point was absolutely right on. i feel so terrible for all the victims here. again, i hope that the media at large examines is so, but to kill the rhetoric over the last two years from folks like glenn beck, sean hannity, and the like. host: you can see on your

screen representative giffords on the floor of the house. richard, you are on c-span. caller: i was a republican for 30 years and i left the party and 10 years ago. i am calling on the republican line. i think the sheriff in arizona should be commended. he will probably lose his job but he spoke his heart, his mind, and i think people that listen to the michele bachmans and the sarah palins to be in sight to -- incited to these that. we probably saw some unbalanced person who took a lot of that -- you got a problem, pick up a gun -- and that is what we are in this country. sarah palin says i had got you in my sight. michelle bachman said lock and load.

it is really sad and i feel for these people that were shot and killed. 9-year-old girl, what a tragedy. i'm a performer and armor, i served in vietnam, i have not tested on since 1971. quite that -- i have not touched a gun since 1971. this guy had an automatic. what is that all about? some pushe getting back to the sit sheriff's words. if you miss some of our coverage, we have bet on a website. of a few minutes left to get your reaction to the events of today and yesterday. let's go to utah and talk to reggie on our line for republicans. caller: as someone involved with someone, has been involved with someone that involve project studies criminal law, i can feel for the families of the 9-year- old girl that has died. it brings back a couple of years

ago what happened in our city in salt lake city, the shooting, just like senator difference getting shot, we had a gentleman that had mental problems that went after a group of people in a shopping center. the big picture, being a big supporter, like senator orrin hatch, hours senator here in utah, about the problems that we're having but they seem to forget that our crime and justice department is deteriorating. and we are not allowed to -- our peace officers are not allowed to put the funding of the proper equipment to properly perform their jobs and to do background checks on individuals. host: thank you for your call.

we will try to get a few more calls in a weekend. we have five minutes left. thus go to washington state on a line for independencents. caller: as far as what happened in tucson, we and individuals should critically think what we see on the television. some radio stations or televisions do not care what they put out. we as individuals should take responsibility for what we hear on the air. host: we lost that call. we will go on to louisville, ky. you're calling on the line for republicans. caller: thank you for taking my call. my thoughts and prayers are with the families of that congresswoman. i have seen her and her her and she's a wonderful person. the only wrong thing according to some people hit his voting

against nancy pelosi. will there is a woman where she was so angry at the congresswoman that she should kill her. i wondered if this inspired that man to do what he might have intended to do otherwise. i don't think the cup -- the congresswoman is really fantastic, and the other way i think someone could do that them is that she voted against pelosi, ok, but nobody else. host: 94 the call. we want to squeeze and a couple more calls. let's go over to kalamazoo, michigan. caller: hello. this is andre and i on the republican line but i am an independent.

i am going to kalamazoo valley community college. i feel that this is a sad point in time where events such as this can actually go on in america. i feel america is in a sad state with things like this happening. i'm very concerned about america overall. host: we appreciate the call. we will go to bill pass so, a itbel -- el paso. >> i have relatives in arizona. the discrimination against mexicans in arizona is out of hand. my relatives, they have degrees, they work there, and they're being discriminated against. i know veterans over there and there is discrimination toward every mexican-american in arizona. it is out of hand.

and there is no politician, not one politician, doing anything about it. host: north carolina, poll online for independents. turn down your tv. caller: this is daniel from kentucky. i would just like to say that everyone can see what is going on in america. there is an awakening to what opposed. there is something wrong, an underlying cause, and everyone seems to know it. maybe this tragic accident might awaken a few more people. host: time for one more call. hammond, indiana, bruce on a line for democrats. caller: appreciate being able to come on. apparently this man was upset and disturbed and it might that have much to do with the

rhetoric going on, but it is a miracle that it has not happened more even with famous people that are concerned, the way that our country is going, in thin we hear some of these radio talk show hosts mainly on the fox channel that come up with this rhetoric, and with today's internet, all they have to do is see someone like in bangladesh say something and then they put it on their network and say, this is the gospel, it is costing obama $32 billion an hour ago in india. host: we will have to leave it there. a lot of time for more phone calls and more of your reaction tomorrow on "washington journal." we will more about the shootings in tucson. also a discussion of the 112th congress with william kristol. we will look at the pocket of the supreme court. the supreme court.