on the broadcast tonight, the tragedy here in tucson. the president leads a moment of silence for the entire nation as the accused assassin goes to court. and a member of congress fights for her life. tonight, as part of our coverage, we go back to the scene with two men who saved lives. and we meet a nurse who answered the call. we have it all tonight from tucson. "nightly news" begins now. captions paid for by nbc-universal television a special good evening to our viewers out here in the

western u.s. tonight. and tonight, we're about 100 yards from the saddest place in america, the now silent scene of that massacre this past saturday morning here in tucson. six dead, including a federal judge and a 9-year-old girl. 14 wounded, including a member of congress. president obama will travel here on wednesday for a memorial service for the victims. and earlier today, and far from here in washington, the president led the nation in a moment of silence as he appeared alongside the first lady at the white house. [ bell tolls ] members of congress and their staff members observed the same moment across washington on the u.s. capitol steps. and just two hours north of here in glendale, arizona, a moment of reflection at tonight's college football championship game.

tonight, we have our first look as well at the accused mass murderer. the sheriff's department here released his mug shot, it's ghoulish, grinning with a shaved head. he made his first court appearance here today in arizona, in phoenix to the north of here. our own miguel almaguer was there and starts off our coverage there tonight. >> reporter: brian, good evening. today's court appearance was short, it only lasted about 15 minutes. the suspect did not enter a plea, but he now has a prominent lawyer. jared lee loughner said little in court, had a knot on his forehead and looked straight at the judge as federal charges were laid out. loughner faces two counts of murder, two counts of attempted murder and one count of attempted assassination of a member of congress. court documents reveal part of the shooting rampage outside a tucson grocery store was caught on surveillance video. that could now be used as courtroom evidence. investigators say loughner was armed with 90 rounds of ammunition. before it was all over,

congresswoman gabrielle giffords was shot in the head. six others were killed. >> factually, it doesn't seem like there's a lot of wiggle room on the defense's side at this time. >> reporter: public defenders in the state recused themselves from this case because a federal judge from arizona is among the dead. loughner was assigned criminal defense attorney judy clarke, no stranger to high profile cases. her clients have included unabomber ted kaczynski, and susan smith, the mother convicted of drowning her two children. >> judy clarke is an individual who has had the skill and perseverance in her career to do really good work in the most difficult of circumstances. >> reporter: today, we learned more about loughner. law enforcement sources say he was fixated with gabrielle giffords, who he met in 2007 and he disagreed with her politics. court documents say inside loughner's home, investigators found an envelope bearing the words "i planned ahead.

my assassination and giffords." he had recently gone through some personal setbacks. the military rejected him after he admitted to drug use, and at pima community college, he put professors and classmates on edge. >> i said this is the sort of person that's going to show up one day in class with a gun and, you know, by then it's going to be too late. >> reporter: jared lee loughner was eventually kicked out of college. investigators have not yet released a motive for saturday's shooting. if convicted, he could potentially face the death penalty. he'll be back here in court in two weeks. brian? >> miguel almaguer to the north of here in phoenix. miguel, thanks. now we want to go to lester holt, who is here in tucson across town at university medical center with an update on congresswoman gabby giffords' condition tonight. lester, good evening. >> reporter: brian, good evening. as of this morning, officials said there were still eight

victims. the worst is congresswoman giffords. she is holding her own and that offers some reason for hope. doctors say two days after being shot through the brain, the congresswoman's condition remained unchanged today. and that ironically is progress. >> recovery at this phase in the game, no change is good. and we have no change. that is to say she's still following those basic commands. on top of that, the cat scans are showing that there is no progression of that swelling. >> reporter: it was clear from the start, this would not be a normal back-to-work, back-to-class monday. memorials and tributes abound. outside the hospital, outside the school 9-year-old christina taylor green attended. outside slain federal judge john roll's old high school. and in the arizona statehouse, where the governor replaced her planned state of the state speech with another message.

>> tragedy and terror sometimes comes from the shadows and steals our joy and takes away our peace. >> reporter: while the parents of the youngest victim, little christina, talked of the call that changed their lives. a call telling them that their daughter's trip with a neighbor to meet congresswoman giffords had somehow gone terribly wrong. >> i had received a phone call from my friend's husband, and he said that suzy and christina were at the university medical center, and i assumed immediately they might have been in a car accident. >> reporter: and you get to the emergency room and what happens next? >> i realized it was bigger than just a car accident. >> reporter: nurse nancy bowman and her physician husband just happened to be at the safeway when it happened and joined others treating victims. she won't forget the heroic effort to try to save christina. >> i don't know who that was, it must have been a medical person that was doing chest compressions on the little girl,

but she was so tiny that it just took a lot of care. >> reporter: bowman was trying to save judge john roll. >> my husband came back around after we had done cpr for several minutes for what seemed like an eternity. it just seemed like forever before -- before my husband got back to me and he finally said to me, you know what, honey? there's other people there bleeding that need your help and you can't help him anymore. so i just -- i just looked at him and i said, i'm so, so, so sorry. >> reporter: you know, tallying the physical wounds, the number of gunshots, that's easy, brian. what's hard is tallying the number of emotional wounds at this hospital and across this community tonight. >> oh, the stories are hard to watch, lester. thank you for your reporting

from across town here in tucson tonight. you saw president obama leading that moment of silence earlier. he also spoke today about the shootings and at one point he singled out those who played a heroic role here on saturday. >> i think it's important for us to also focus, though, on the extraordinary courage that was shown during the course of these events. a 20-year-old college student who ran into the line of fire to rescue his boss. a wounded woman who helped secure the ammunition that might have caused even more damage. the citizens who wrestled down the gunman. >> back to that 20-year-old college student the president mentioned. a congressional intern named daniel hernandez, credited by a lot of people for saving the congresswoman's life by jumping in, based on just a little bit

of health training, and treating her immediately, applying direct pressure to her wound, not letting her ever lose consciousness. late today, in fact, he received a standing ovation for his heroism during the governor's state of the state address in phoenix. earlier today, he had returned to the scene with us. he talked about what those critical minutes were like while he cared for his wounded boss while waiting for an ambulance. >> my main goal was not only to keep her engaged but also to keep her calm as much as could be done in that type of situation. because obviously she was in tremendous amounts of pain. but letting her know that i was going to be contacting her husband, mark kelly, as well as her family members to let them know what happened seemed to give her some comfort, and when i mentioned their names, she kind of held my hand and squeezed a little tighter than when i was talking about others. >> the picture of you on the front page of "the new york times" walking with the gurney, that's the congresswoman, isn't

it? >> yes. i was at that point just trying to make sure she had the emotional support she needed, because her medical needs were being taken care of and i wanted to make sure she knew she wasn't on her own and she wasn't going to be in a situation she would have to be alone at any point. >> what if it turns out that the day you were really needed to be on planet earth happened when you were 20? >> then i'll be glad that i was there. >> at the scene, we also met up today with retired army colonel william badger. he came to this shopping center saturday morning to talk with his congresswoman. he ended up helping to hold down the gunman and he carries a fresh bullet wound on the back of his head where one of the shots grazed him. >> and all of a sudden i heard bang, bang, bang, bang. when the shooting stopped, i got up. but i didn't realize it, but the shooter was as close as you are in front of me walking by in

front of me, but somebody had picked up one of the folding chaired, folded it up and they hit him with this chair and he went down like this. when his left arm came out, i was able to grab it with my left hand. i grabbed his wrist. and when i grabbed his wrist, i was able to come down with this hand right on his back and together, another individual, you know, every bit as old as i am, grabbed him on the other side, and had his right arm and just like this, we took this guy right to the ground. but i never did serve in combat. >> don't feel bad about that. >> i didn't serve in vietnam. >> but the point is, of course, all your years in service to the united states army, you come out a colonel. you come here to retire in tucson, arizona, and you get hit by a round at the safeway. what does that tell you? is there a bigger lesson in that? >> well, there is a bigger lesson in that. you know, something has to be

done with what's going on in the united states and in arizona in our country. >> just two guys, two of the people who stepped up, came forward on saturday morning and we can safely say people are alive today because of the actions of both of those men, and of course, others who were here. also tonight, one of the big issues that has emerged again in this tragedy is the issue of the nation's gun laws and whether things would be different here tonight if the laws were different. our justice correspondent pete williams with us from our washington studios tonight with that part of the story. pete, we should point out this gun was purchased legally. so was the magazine, the clip that carried extra rounds for him to fire. >> reporter: that's right. both purchased legally, but there's now a renewed call to bring back a ban on the kind of clip that he also bought that held the bullets. court documents say he loaded the ammunition for the gun he bought just over a month ago

into two high capacity magazines that can hold up to 30 rounds each. it was while he was changing those magazines to reload that he was subdued. gun control advocates say the high capacity clip enabled him to fire more shots before he could be stopped. they want to bring back a ban that limited clips to ten rounds. it expired in 2004. but opponents say such a restriction would not prevent such mass shootings, they say a determined killer could for example use more than one gun. the obama administration has little appetite for relaunching the gun debate, and with the house now in republican hands, that would be a tough sell, brian. >> all right, pete williams on that angle of this story in washington. when we come back in just a moment, the fierce debate over the political climate in this country and whether it contributed to this tragedy.

we're back now from tucson with more on the shootings here and the political fallout. a question was raised almost as soon as the news broke. has political speech in this country become too charged, too toxic, and did it play a role in this tragedy? our own andrea mitchell is in our washington newsroom for us tonight with more on that angle of this story. andrea, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. whether or not there is any connection between saturday's shooting and angry rhetoric, it certainly reignited the debate over political speech between right and left, with conservative commentator glenn beck tonight challenging the media to show leadership and everyone to denounce violence. >> nothing but violent rhetoric. >> reporter: on fox news, conservative commentator glenn beck accused the media of trying to destroy sarah palin. >> they're desperately using every opportunity to try to convince you that somehow or another, sarah palin is dangerous. >> reporter: his complaint, criticism that palin crossed the

line when she used gun imagery last year against 20 democrats, including gabrielle giffords. >> but this b.s. coming from the lame stream media lately about this, about us inciting violence. >> reporter: but this map le from palin's website targeted giffords' district and the others with the iconic cross hairs of a gun sight. giffords' tucson office was vandalized that week, and the congresswoman criticized palin's map with chuck todd and savannah guthrie. >> the way she has it depicted has the cross hairs of a gun sight over our district. when people do that, there's consequences to that action. >> reporter: after saturday's shooting, palin's team defended the map on a conservative podcast. >> we never, ever, ever intended it to be gun sights. it was simply cross hairs like you see on a map. >> reporter: still, they removed the map from their website on saturday, but today it was still up on palin's facebook page. today, palin e-mailed beck to say -- >> our children will not have peace if politicos capitalize on this to succeed in portraying

anyone as inciting terror and violence. >> reporter: beck has been criticized for comments like this about liberal activist michael moore. >> i'm thinking about killing michael moore. i can just be choking the life out of him. is this wrong? >> reporter: the issue blew up right after the shooting with the tucson sheriff's first briefing. he lit up the internet by blaming the media. >> the vitriolic rhetoric that we hear day in and day out from people in the radio business and some people in the tv business. >> reporter: in the wake of the shootings, a liberal blogger took down his recent post that giffords was dead to him for voting against nancy pelosi for democratic leader. today, we learned the day before she was shot, giffords' e-mail to republican friends saying "i would love to talk about what we can do to promote centrism and moderation. we need to figure out how to tone our rhetoric and partisanship down." brian? >> andrea mitchell in washington with that.

andrea, thanks for your reporting. up next, a monster storm that has much of the american south in a state of emergency.

this brutal winter is hitting home again. this time in the south where a powerful weather system is bringing snow, ice and sleet. we mentioned a state of emergency. it's been declared in half a dozen states. travel is treacherous to say the least. schools have been closed, a ton

of flights have been canceled. our own ron mott is with us tonight in the buckhead section of atlanta tonight. ron, good evening. >> reporter: brian, good evening to you. on a good day, this city could be a very tough city to get around. with all this nasty weather that's visited us, today was clearly not a good day. >> his engine began smoking. >> reporter: on atlanta tv, fire on ice. spinning tires erupting into flames. >> started overheating, and then that's when you guys told me that i was on fire. >> reporter: across the south from texas to mississippi to the carolinas, a major winter storm dumped as much as nine inches of snow and slush in places. >> i spun sideways over to where i'm at right here. >> reporter: work crews putting in overtime, shovels the same. for those traveling by air, grounded and frustrated, with more than 2,000 flights canceled. >> we had to scream and holler to get water and ice. >> reporter: on the roads, traffic slid to a standstill. at least three people killed in accidents. >> where's the salt? i should have brought ice skates. i could have got to work

quicker. i'm just upset. >> reporter: in little rock, a 14-mile backup turned interstate 30 into a truck stop. but of course, for those in the mood to play, today indeed was a good day. now the system heads towards the northeast, bracing for yet another winter wallop. >> this system is going to meet up with another system in the midwest, which will give it a little extra kick, and cities from new york to boston on the interstate 95 corridor between now and wednesday could see a foot of snow or more. >> reporter: overnight, parts of this region are expecting ice to accumulate on the snow that's already fallen. which means the tuesday commute could be just as dicey if not worse than what we saw here today, brian. >> ron mott in atlanta tonight. on wall street today, stocks lost a bit of ground. the dow closed down 37 points at the end of trading. when we come back here tonight, more on the tragic story that brought us here to tucson.

the sad focal point of this nation.

back here in tucson where the whole country has been

watching an ordinary saturday morning at a safeway and a walgreen's behind us here in a suburban section of tucson. people across the country are expressing their own grief over this and wondering what next. our report next from nbc's lee cowan. >> reporter: they lined up in washington today under the capital dome to put their thoughts in writing. condolences for the congresswoman's family and for what we all lost. americans everywhere were struggling to find ways to express their grief, their anger. flowers were left on steps. flags were lowered. there were hugs and prayers and a search for the right words. >> i'm stunned, i'm shocked, i'm horrified at this horrific act. >> reporter: emotions that echoed all the way to the vastness of space. the congresswoman's brother-in-law, an astronaut, had a view like no other. >> as i like out the window, i see a very beautiful planet that seems very inviting and peaceful. unfortunately, it is not.

>> you're on wgn. good morning. >> reporter: at times like this, we seek comfort in conversation. and today, the airwaves were full of those looking for a reason. >> people are blaming everybody else. >> reporter: some blamed extremist rhetoric. >> people do pay attention to it, and they regurgitate it back. >> reporter: others blame guns. >> it wasn't the gun, it was mental illness. >> reporter: whatever the reason, perhaps the hardest part of today's reflections is just what to tell the next generation. the lessons of free speech and open government -- >> congress shall make no law -- >> reporter: aren't always easy to understand or teach. so maybe that view from space offers the best perspective of all. >> we're better than this. we must do better. >> reporter: not a lot of room left for us not to get along. lee cowan, nbc news, los angeles. >> that's our broadcast for this monday night. thank you for being here with us.

i'm brian williams reporting tonight from tucson, arizona. we'll look for you again tomorrow night as always. good night. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com . we knew it would bepainful, but some say they can't bear any more with the new state budget case in the bay area. good evening, everyone. thanks for joining us. >> drastic spending cuts. that's the budget prescription from governor jerry brown. who compares his proposals to bitter medicine the state must now take. brown used a power point presentation tod