on the broadcast tonight, live in tucson. the president is here to pay respects to the shooting victims and to this larger community. his speech, the reaction. we've covering it all as "nightly news" begins now. captions paid for by nbc-universal television special good evening to our viewers out west here tonight and good evening once again from tucson, arizona, where president obama has tonight helped to heal the wounds of this community, and the victims of saturday's shooting rampage. right now, the president is behind us here inside the mchale

center here on the university of arizona campus. earlier he went from room to room at the hospital, meeting with the victims and their loved ones, and that including congresswoman gabby giffords. at tonight's memorial, the congresswoman's husband is seated right next to the first lady. the president is playing an important role in this aching tragedy on this day when, again, we're learning so much more about what happened here. with us here tonight, as part of our coverage, lester holt and white house correspondent savannah guthrie, who happens to be from tucson here tonight, of course reporting on the traveling president. lester, beginning with you. this is a role we call on presidents to perform it seems like way more often these days than we should have to. >> it's a statement. when the president comes to town as a statement, you are not alone. we have all covered communities shattered by violence and there's a sense of isolation. no one wants their hometown plastered across the news as a

place of tragedy. it's a statement that america stands with you. it didn't just happen in tucson. the physical act did here, but all of us certainly feel the pain and the loss of so many people. and also the indignity, the insult of an assassination attempt on a member of congress. >> savannah, this president, this first lady, it's tough when you're president. you don't get to be good at it or bad at it. it's part of the job. but this visit tonight means so much to your hometown. >> lester said it so well, just to have the president here speaks to the magnitude of the loss that the people here in tucson feel. the president certainly does not relish a role like this, but the desire of the white house is for him to come here and bring people together and speak to this sense of loss. not just for tucson or this community, but just for the nation. and i think we'll see a

president who treats this as somebody who was invited to speak at a memorial service, who talks about the individuals who were lost, who talks about some of the heroism we saw that day and calls on america to reach its better sellen and to shine in this moment of tragic loss. >> one programming note for all of you who have tuned in to join us for "nightly news." the moment the president begins speaking, we'll be broadcasting it live not only for your time zone, but for the rest of the country. and lester, that brings us to the crowd tonight. they started coming on campus, camping out last night. they're in the basketball arena, the overflow is the football stadium. people have talked about catharsis. there was a small mass in a catholic church last night that had an overflow crowd. >> people want to be together at times like this. when we have personal loss, we have wakes, funerals.

it's the same thing for a city grieving together. people came to the hospital and laid out flowers. there was other places they've done that. each time we cover these things, we see people want some unifying moment which they can express their feelings, but also find something good out of this. that's why tonight you are going to see a lot of talk about the people who did -- ordinary people who did amazing things that day. whether it was cpr or just coming to the aid of other wounded people. >> and we want to give everybody an update on the condition of congresswoman gabrielle giffords, who is recovering from about as serious a head wound as you can get, a bullet that passed through her skull. the breathing tube has been taken out. they've reduced the amount of sedatives they are giving her so they can see more organically how she's coming to, how she's recovering. she's using grip strength and some hand gestures.

she has the use of both of her limbs. yesterday, what may sound minor, she scratched her nose in the neurologic treatment community, that's a big deal because of the signals and brain waves that have to happen in order for that to happen. and today, we got a report from her bedside, throughout this whole vigil in the hospital, very few people have been allowed to actually be there in the room with her day and night. they include, of course, her husband, the astronaut. and her chief of staff on capitol hill, pia carusone. this afternoon, at the hospital, she left the congresswoman's bedside briefly and came to talk with us. >> i kept her updated on everything that's going on and the work that our congressional office is still trying to do. it's a critical situation as the state and nation has heard. but also the doctors have said all the reasons to be optimistic. so there's a positive energy around here right now. as there should be. >> everyone is saying their money's on her.

>> yeah, absolutely. >> she has given some physical manifestations, every gesture she makes gets reported in the media. there was a thumbs up, there was two fingers allegedly. was it a peace sign? what have you seen? >> yeah, we'll have to ask her one day what that was, peace or victory? but just, as you said, she scratched her nose and she's put those two fingers up and squeezed her hand. so she's very much there, and we'll just have to see as these next few critical days go on how it develops. but it's been really difficult, obviously. the tragic scene to have unfolded in tucson, as we all know. my staff is dealing with the loss of a beloved colleague and the injuries of two very important members of our team. not to mention just the general impact that this is going to have on this community. it's probably the most difficult weekend of all of our lives. >> and you have a subworld that's taking place just within the hospital.

>> yes. >> because you have friends here, you have staff here. is it fair to say the only person that's logged more hours at bedside is her husband? >> absolutely. >> how is he holding up? >> he's okay. it's like you're in a dream state, it's like is this really happening sort of thing. he's a navy guy. he's an astronaut, commander of the shuttle. >> more squared away than most. >> very much so. he's developed a plan here and the plan is to stay positive and get all the resources we can lined up, do everything possible. and after that, some positive energy and prayer and, you know, the strong will that this will happen. >> have you any doubt that a year from now, two years from now, you will be in a meeting and you'll say to your boss, wasn't that something, your hospitalization? >> hard to say. i'm thinking one hour ahead, one day ahead at this point. but i certainly hope so. >> pia carusone, what a big job she has as chief of staff to the congresswoman.

remember, they lost a staff member, two others injured. what we're going to do now is pause our coverage here and just for a moment so we can bring in all the other nbc stations across the country, as we're getting ready to hear from the president inside the are. >> this is an nbc news special report. here is brian williams. >> good evening once again from tucson, arizona, where we continue our coverage after the awful mass shooting on saturday morning. we're going to take you inside the arena behind us tonight, the mchale center on the campus of the university of arizona, where so many of loved ones, of the victims, so many members of the tucson community are gathered, along with several recognizable vips. right now janet napolitano is speaking, she is the secretary

of homeland security. her remarks are going to conclude shortly. then we'll hear from the attorney general. we're coming on the air to bring you the remarks of the president of the united states who will follow the attorney general. our white house correspondent savannah guthrie traveling with the president happens to be a native daughter of tucson, arizona. savannah, as we've been saying, this is a crucial role for president obama and the first lady, because remember, walking through the hospital today, meeting with those victims, they've been a team in their comforting. >> no question about it. we talked about it, this is not a role the president wants to have to do, but it's a moment he feels he'll somehow be able to console this community that's in much pain. senior aides say that's how he approaches it. he knows this is a community feeling heartbreak, frankly stunned. the president wants to come in here, talk about some of the victims, remember them, and then also talk about some of the

heroism that we saw in this community, a way to lift up this community and remind it that it's still got all the core that makes this a great town, a great town to grow up in. and the president plans to really speak to that today. >> lester holt, we're getting ready to bring the attorney general up to the podium. a quick note about the role of presidents, having to step forward way too often. we come to a tragedy that's happened in our country and this is what we call upon them to do. >> people need to be led in their grief and to focus on the pain, focus what makes us better people through all this. >> the attorney general of the united states, eric holder, who will deliver brief remarks, scripture we're told and then the president of the united states. >> like janet, i will read words far beyond any that i might employ. a reading from the second letter of paul to the corinthians. since we have the same spirit of

faith as he had, who wrote, i believe. and so i spoke. we too believe and so we speak, knowing that he who raised the lord jesus will raise us also with jesus, and bring us with you into his presence. for it is all for your sake so that as grace extends to more and more people, it may increase thanksgiving to the glory of god. so we do not lose heart, though our outer nature is wasting away. our inner nature is being renewed every day. for this slight momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, because we look not to the things that

are seen, but to the things that are unseen. for the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. for we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from god. a house not made from hands, but eternal in the heavens. this is the lord's word. [ applause ] >> i think you can see by those who are in the program and by

the many dignitaries and elected officials in the audience how deeply our country was affected by the terrible events last saturday. we are truly honored to have the leader of our great nation with us here tonight. [ applause ] we are obviously saddened by the circumstances that have brought president and mrs. obama to tucson. but we are comforted -- we are comforted by their compassion and inspired by their determination to reach out and help. america has been blessed through its glorious history by visionary and committed presidents who often, at great personal sacrifice, step forward

to lead us to better futures and greater hope. barack obama assumed the presidency at a perilous time in our history. we are fortunate to have someone with his intellect, his energy and his heart to lead us forward. please welcome the president of the united states, barack obama. [ applause ] >> thank you. thank you. thank you very much. thank you. thank you very much. thank you. please, please be seated.

[ applause continues ] >> to the families of those we've lost, to all who called them friends, to the students of this university, the public servants who are gathered here, the people of tucson, and the people of arizona. i have come here tonight as an american who, like all americans, kneels to pray with you today and will stand by you tomorrow. [ applause ] there is nothing i can say that

will fill the sudden hole torn in your hearts. but know this, the hopes of a nation are here tonight. we mourn with you for the fallen. we join you in your grief. and we add our faith to yours that representative gabrielle giffords and the other living victims of this tragedy will pull through. [ applause ] scripture tells us there's a river whose streams make glad the city of god. the holy place where the most

high dwells. god is within her. she will not fall. god will help her at break of day. on saturday morning, gabby, her staff, and many of her constituents gathered outside a supermarket to exercise their right to a peaceful assembly and free speech. [ applause ] they were fulfilling a central tenant of the democracy envisioned by our founders. representatives of the people answering questions to their

constituents, so as to carry their concerns back to our nation's capital. gabby called it "congress on your corner." just an updated of government of and by and for the people. [ applause ] and that quintessentially american scene, that was the scene that was shattered by a gunman's bullets, and the six people who lost their lives on saturday, they too represented what is best in us, what is best in america. judge john roll served our legal system for nearly 40 years. [ applause ]

a graduate of this university, and a graduate of this law school. [ applause ] judge roll was recommended for the federal bench by john mccain 20 years ago. [ applause ] appointed by president george h.w. bush and rose to become arizona's chief federal judge. his colleagues described him as the hardest working judge within the 9th circuit. he was on his way back from attending mass, as he did every day. when he decided to stop by and say hi to his representative. john is survived by his loving

life, maureen, his three sons and his five beautiful grandchildren. [ applause ] george and dorothy morris were high school sweet hearts who got married and had two daughters. they did everything together. traveling the open road in their rv, enjoying what their friends called a 50-year honeymoon. saturday morning, they went by the safeway to hear what their congresswoman had to say. when gunfire rang out, george, a former marine, instinctively tried to shield his wife. [ applause ]

both were shot. dot passed away. a new jersey native, phyllis schneck, retired to tucson to beat the snow. but in the summer, she would return east where her world revolved around her three children, her seven grandchildren, and 2-year-old great granddaughter. a gifted quilter, she would often work under her favorite tree, or sometimes she would sew aprons with the logos of the jets and the giants she gave out at the church where she volunteered. a republican, she took a liking to gabby. and wanted to get to know her better. [ applause ]

dorwin and motty stoddard grew up in tucson about 70 years ago. after both were widowed, they found their way back here to be, as one of her daughters put it, to be boyfriend and girlfriend again. when they weren't out on the road in their motor home, you could find them up the road helping folks in need at the mountain avenue church of christ. a retired construction worker, dorwin spent a fair time fixing up the church along with his dog, tux. his final act of selflessness was to dive on top of his wife, sacrificing his life for hers. [ applause ]

everything -- everything gabe zimmerman did, he did with passion. [ applause ] but his true passion was helping people. as gabby's outreach director, he made the cares of thousands of her constituents his own. seen to it that seniors got the medicare benefits that they had earned. that veterans got the medals and the care that they deserved. that government was working for ordinary folks. he died doing what he loved, talking with people and seeing how he could help. gabe is survived by his parents, ross and emily, his brother, ben, and his fiance, kelly, who he planned to marry next year. [ applause ]

and then there is 9-year-old christina taylor green. christina was an a-student. she was a dancer. she was a gymnist. she was a swimmer. she decided that she wanted to be the first woman to play in the major leagues, and as the only girl on her little league team, no one put it past her. [ applause ] she showed an appreciation for life uncommon for a girl her age. she would remind her mother, "we are so blessed. we have the best life." and she would pay those blessings back by participating in the charity that helped children who were less fortunate.

our hearts are broken by their sudden passing. our hearts are broken. and yet our hearts also have reason for fullness. our hearts are full of hope and thanks for the 13 americans who survived the shooting, including the congresswoman many of them went to see on saturday. i have just come from the university medical center, just a mile from here, where our friend gabby courageously fights to recover, even as we speak. and i want to tell you her husband mark is here, and he allows me to share this with you. right after we went to visit, a few minutes after we left her room and some of her colleagues from congress were in the room,

gabby opened her eyes for the first time. [ applause ] gabby opened her eyes for the first time. gabby opened her eyes. gabby opened her eyes, so i can tell you she knows we are here. she knows we love her. and she knows that we are rooting for her to what is undoubtedly going to be a difficult journey. we are there for her.

our hearts are full of thanks for that good news, and our hearts are full of gratitude for those who saved others. we are grateful to daniel hernandez. [ applause ] a volunteer in gabby's office. and daniel, i'm sorry, you may deny it, but we've decided you are a hero because you ran through the chaos to minister to your boss and help keep her alive. [ applause ]

>> we are grateful to the men who tackled the gunman as he stopped to reload. [ applause ] they're right over there. [ applause ] >> we are grateful for petite

patricia maisch who wrestled away the killer's ammunition and undoubtedly saved some lives. [ applause ] >> and we are grateful for the doctors and nurses, the first responders who worked wonders to heal those who had been hurt. we are grateful to them. [ applause ]