what he now says about the decisions he and his crew made on that day. a little different from before. >> tonight's interview from his home from the east bay. we'll see you again in about 30 minutes. the recovery. one week later an important step for the wounded congresswoman as tucson tries to move beyond the tragedy. >> the community will get through this. >> and a disturbing video sheds new light on the accused killer. guns for sale just miles from the site of the massacre. a gun show draws crowds and questions. under siege. new chaos and violence in a region that's key to u.s. security. tonight we're on the scene. and vanishing act. why the "titantic" is disappearing right before our eyes. captions paid for by nbc-universal television

good evening. on the road to recovery. this was a day of small but significant milestones in tucson, exactly one week after that brazen attack. doctors today were finally able to take congresswoman gabby giffords off a ventilator, removing the breathing tube that ran down her throat. they replaced it with another tube into her windpipe as a precaution. though still in critical condition, they may learn soon whether she is able to speak. also today the supermarket where the attack happened reopened its doors. a simple but as it turned out emotion-filled act. nbc's miguel almaguer is outside the store now with the latest for us. miguel. >> reporter: lester, good evening. this grocery store was a backstop for the bloodshed, a symbol of the tragedy and on this one-week anniversary a symb symbolic gesture to move forward.

no longer a crime scene but still a place of sorrow. at 10:10 a.m. >> join with us in a moment of silence. >> reporter: only sobs broke the silence. many here witnessed the bloodshed. today they pray for the dead. >> everybody was touched by this. everybody. >> reporter: as tucson remembers the victims -- >> we're examining the torture of students -- >> reporter: -- we know more about the suspect. >> thank you. this is jared from pima college. >> reporter: this is believed to be the voice of jared lee loughner, a rambling tirade recorded at pima community college a month before the shooting. >> this is now a genocide school where i am going to be homeless because of the school. >> when you're looking at this video by jared loughner, you're looking at someone who appears to be in the midst of a mental breakdown. >> reporter: the youtube clip is the latest piece of evidence gathered by investigators. it comes as they release the suspect's timeline before the rampage. november 30th they say loughner bought a glock nine millimeter

handgun. january 7th a roll of film is dropped off at a tucson walgreens. the day of the shooting just after midnight loughner checks into a motel. at 4:00 a.m. he writes "good-bye friends" on a social networking website. three hours later ammunition and a bag are bought at a walmart. then just before 10:00 a.m., jared lee loughner takes a cab to safeway. >> there is multiple people shot. >> reporter: 19 would be shot at this suburban strip mall, six killed. today the funeral for phyllis schneck, the 79-year-old great-grandmother who spent winters in arizona. across town at university medical center, where hundreds gathered today, jim tucker was discharged. two were in good condition. congresswoman gabrielle giffords, believed to be the target of the gunman, is now off a respirator but remains in critical condition. the memorial outside the hospital grows each day. >> we have to come together and stand with each other and show love to one another. >> reporter: a few miles away, a

smaller tribute, but for some a closer connection. this is where lives were lost and where a community tries to move on. and tonight a steady stream of people have come to this memorial. it will be some time until things return to normal but that's exactly what many are trying to do tonight. lester. >> miguel almaguer in tucson. thanks. the first medics to arrive at the scene of last saturday's shooting are now publicly telling their stories in a race to save lives. nbc's lee cowan has that. >> reporter: it was station 33, less than three miles from that safeway, that got the call first. >> 911, what's your emergency? >> there is a shooting at safeway. >> reporter: paramedic tony compagno was just two hours into the shift. >> all i saw was chaos. lots of people moving around. people on the ground. i'll admit it, when i first got up there, my mind went a little blank for a while.

>> reporter: it was shocking. he counted four dead right off the bat. he had two priorities. first congresswoman giffords. >> we all know where she was shot and she was the only one with that kind of an injury that was alive. >> reporter: at her side intern daniel hernandez told paramedic cole jackson he refused to leave. >> okay if you're going to stay. i'm going to put you to work. >> reporter: any helping hand was valuable. attention then quickly turned to little 9-year-old christina taylor green. cpr was under way. but her condition, tony feared was -- >> not good. >> reporter: refusing to give up, he dispatched two other paramedics to christina's side, who found themselves fighting thoughts of their own children back home. >> it just makes you sorry for the family and makes you realize what you have. >> reporter: within minutes, the victims were on their way to the trauma center. but for those paramedics, their day didn't end there. >> we were up three times after midnight that night running other calls. >> reporter: and amid all of that, tony says his heart was still all the way back at that safeway parking lot. not only with those who they

know that they did help but also with the families of those who they could not. >> but i want them to know we did everything in our power to do what we could. >> reporter: gabrielle giffords' recovery is testament to that. lee cowan, nbc news, tucson. meantime, the tragedy in tucson has heated up a national debate over guns, especially in arizona, where the laws make it easy for most people to own or even carry a gun. nbc's kristen welker is also in tucson for us where the gun culture was on display at an event there today. >> reporter: organizers thought about postponing that event but decided it should go on. and thousands turned out, many of them talking about gun legislation. gun control has re-entered the national conversation since last week's shooting spree. the topic was on the minds of many as they lined up for the crossroads of the west gun show

in tucson today. >> we've had the right to bear arms for a long, long time, you know. yeah, it's just part of the way things are around here. >> there's absolutely no need for people on the street to be owning assault weapons. >> reporter: gun show owner bob templeton says people are the problem, not the laws. he thinks loughner, who had been rejected by the army and suspended from college, should have never been permitted to buy a gun. >> it's an issue of making sure that we don't have guns in the hands of the wrong people. >> reporter: gun control advocates say the laws need to change nationwide and in arizona. >> the gun laws in that state are basically nonexistent. >> reporter: guns are permissible almost anywhere in the state including many public buildings, and it is legal for people to conceal those weapons and carry them around, just as loughner did last saturday. >> arizona is only the third state in the country to allow people to carry loaded, hidden guns without any permitting

process at all. >> reporter: shooting victim representative gabrielle giffords supported legislation that favored gun owners. but now members of congress are renewing calls for reform. new jersey senator frank lautenberg plans to introduce legislation that will bring back the assault weapons ban which expired in 2004 and which outlawed high capacity round clips. >> the shooter in the case of congresswoman giffords had 33 bullets in the clip. the destruction that he was able to cause hitting 18 or 19 people and killing six should never have happened. >> reporter: but many disagree. >> there's no evidence that any -- that any stiffer gun laws would have made any difference. >> reporter: but in a state like arizona, guns for many are a part of life. and while the nation remain divided over guns, tucson

residents say they are united by their grief over everything that happened here just one week ago. lester. >> kristen welker, thank you. overseas this was a day of new tension and violence in tunisia as that country in north africa swore in a new interim president. the long time leader was driven from power and has fled to saudi arabia. today john ray of our itn partner is in the capital tunis. >> reporter: if anyone is in control of tunisia tonight and it's a big if, it's the army. military helicopters are buzzing overhead. they're protecting government buildings and blocking off the main thoroughfares. but still these are dangerous and tense moments. after the chaos, the fragile calm in the capital imposed by the military, but the dangers remain great with reports of squads of men firing at random from passing cars. they are believed to be supporters of the president who has fled the country. there has been widespread

looting and some shop keepers have armed themselves with knives to protect their property. state television showed pictures of men arrested for raiding stores. they were forced to kneel in the streets and the weapons some were allegedly carrying were displayed for the camera. overnight police and troops were still rounding up people on the streets. one man was dragged away. it's not clear whether these were protesters or looters. amid all the tension, a jail in the holiday resort was set afire and dozens of inmates killed. tunisia now has an interim president and talks aimed at forming a coalition government that started with opposition leaders. but with troops on the streets and so much unrest still in the air, it may not be enough to end the wave of protests. the problem is many involved in drawing up the new reforms are the very same people closely associated, indeed part of the old reviled regime. as far as the protesters are concerned they achieved in just a few days what many thought was

impossible, the ousting of president ben ali. they i think will be in no mood for compromise. back to you, lester. >> john ray in tunisia tonight. in iraq today two american soldiers were killed and a third wounded when an iraqi soldier opened fire on them. it happened during training in the northern city of mosul. separately the military said another u.s. soldier was killed while conducting operations in central iraq. iran and its disputed nuclear program will be the center of a new round of talks next week between that country and six world powers, including the united states. those talks will be held in istanbul, turkey. meanwhile iran was playing its own version of nuclear show and tell today. nbc's richard engel is in tehran for us tonight. >> reporter: good evening, lester. in an unprecedented attempt to show openness ahead of nuclear talks in istanbul, iran is giving tours of two of its controversial nuclear sites to several foreign ambassadors. the united states has dismissed these tours as a public relations stunt. iran also gave nbc news a rare

interview with its chief nuclear negotiator. i met saeed jalili, chief nuclear negotiator, in his office in tehran. we sat for an hour. no questions were off limits. his main message, iran wants to open a new page with the american people. >> translator: we believe it is necessary that the people of the united states should look at the different issues from different angles. >> reporter: jalili did not rule out direct talks with the united states but insists economic sanctions are not driving iran to negotiations. >> translator: iran never withdraw from negotiations. truth of the matter is we have always invited them to return to the talks. >> reporter: in some of the clearest statements yet by a senior iranian official jalili emphatically denied that iran plans to build a nuclear weapon. can you say clearly iran is not and will not build a nuclear weapon?

>> translator: yes, we have bluntly and frankly announced we consider nuclear weapons illegitimate and could not work. >> reporter: iran's nuclear program has also been attacked by covert actions. this is the first time in detail iran has discussed the sabotage of its computers. you believe that it was the united states that was responsible for the cyber attack? >> translator: i have witnessed some documents and proof that they have showed their satisfaction in that. >> reporter: there were questions jalili would not answer directly. he wouldn't say how much uranium iran plans to enrich or if it will give more access to its scientists. nonetheless this is an iranian charm offensive ahead of talks in turkey next week. this is unusual, lester. iran is certainly trying to reach out. but what's unclear if this is just posturing or if iran is now seriously ready to engage in negotiations on its nuclear program. lester. >> richard engel in tehran. when "nbc nightly news" continues this saturday evening, haiti one year after the devastating earthquake.

my update on one of the hardest-hit towns. and what's eating away at the "titantic" 99 years after it sank in the north atlantic? and this is her sister tina, who i also helped do her first home loan. it was unbelievable how well it all fell together. kathy said, "well, let me give you rachel's number." easy. easy. easy. the whole loan process was simple and convenient! that's why i love quicken loans! [ male announcer ] and you'll be glad to know j.d. power and associates ranks quicken loans "highest in customer satisfaction." to learn more call 800-quicken or visit us at quickenloans.com.

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earthquake in that country. this week, the haitian government raised the death toll from over 250,000 to 316,000. last week on a trip back to haiti, i retraced some of my footsteps from a year ago, returning to the quake's epicenter to find a hard-hit town still desperately trying to recover. piece by piece leogane, the ground zero of haiti's earthquake disaster, tries to recover. merchants are back plying their wares in the street. even a few homes are being rebuilt. yet for most of the city time has stood still. thousands remain crowded in sprawling tent cities. a year ago we found stunned survivors erecting crude shelters in the sugar cane field. what seemed makeshift then today feels disturbingly permanent. >> it's day after day. if we eat today, good. if we don't eat tomorrow, okay. but you think this is a life? >> reporter: more than half of leogane's structures were

destroyed in the quake. some 6,000 here died. >> we're one year after and the needs are still emergency needs. people need clean water. people need to resettle in proper shelters. >> reporter: your family is buried here now. a region awash here a year ago today is awash in frustration. why is recovery going so slowly? >> i wish i knew. i heard a lot of money is being involved in leogane. but i haven't seen it. i see a lot of organizations driving around with new suvs but the work has not been done. >> reporter: the memories of what we all witnessed here in leogane don't fade easily but certainly one i will never forget is coming upon a pancaked house, totally collapsed house on this lot. and atop the rubble was a man and his neighbors. they were all trying to dig out his 2-year-old daughter. do you know this man? trying to find him, i show his picture to neighbors.

down him? his name they tell me is robinson lacroix. we track him down. i have thought about you for the last year. he told me he eventually found the bodies of his wife and child. do you remember what you were thinking and what you were going through at this moment? "i was thinking of the bodies, of finishing the job," he told me. "but i had to be powerful to do that because if i didn't do it myself, nobody else will." now a year later thousands share that same sentiment about the future of this shattered community. >> it is hopeless. if we stay like that, we're not going nowhere. we're going to stay here a year after year, year after year till i don't know. >> the u.n. says there has been progress in resettling victims and that 800,000 people now live in camps compared to a high of 1.5 million high after the quake. in leogane some 4,000 shelters

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have had to deal with the devastation on their own. in australia where parts of queensland remain under water, more heavy rain prompted new flood warnings today. they came as people were cleaning up the mess caused by weeks of flooding in the region. back in this country at an ohio ski resort today 80 people were stuck on a lift for about three hours after a power failure on the main lift. it happened at the alpine valley ski resort. fire department personnel used ropes to lower the skiers 15 to 20 feet off the lift and tonight all the skiers are safely off the mountain. there were no injuries in that. it was two years ago today the scene in the frigid hudson river here in new york. captain chesley "sully" sullenberger had just safely crash-landed u.s. airways flight 1549 after losing power in both engines. all 155 people on board survived. today sullenberger is retired and is writing a second book, this one on leadership. the pictures from that day still vivid. still a source of hope and

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>> reporter: in the north atlantic two miles below the sea the so-called unsinkable "titantic" rests in darkness. the water temperature a cool 29 degrees. since the wreckage was first discovered in 1985 scientific teams have wondered could the 99-year-old graveyard one day turn to dust? now experts at the dal how issee university at halifax, canada have concluded a unique species of microscopic bacteria is eating away at the "titantic." the bacteria halomonas titanicae named after the titantic consume iron particles. the bacteria consume iron creating so-called rusticles. it's devouring the debris here faster than ever seen on a wreck before. >> it's getting beaten up by currents in the deep sea, but also there's bacteria, actually microbial colonies eating away at the hull. >> reporter: on the recent

expedition to titant"titantic," cable from the remotely operated vehicle accidentally snagged the ship's railing. scientists say those crusty trails and the dust you see kicking up there is what the bacteria leaves behind after eating. >> part of what i'm hearing this time that shocks me is in 20 or 25 years we may start to see the decks of "titantic" collapsing. >> reporter: because the pictures are so stunning, people may not realize 40% of debris field, more than six square miles, remains mostly undocumented and unstudied. the first extensive mapping of the area just took place five months ago. >> iceberg straight ahead. >> reporter: experts say the popular movie only tells one version of why the "titantic" sank. it may be as the movie suggests the iceberg collapsed at the hull plating flooding the lower deck. but another popular theory is the iceberg caused rivets to pop allowing a whole section of the hull to give way. the unsinkable "titantic" now with the new foe. kerry sanders, nbc news, miami. and that's "nbc nightly news" for this saturday.

i'm lester holt reporting from new york. i'll see you tomorrow morning on "today" and then right back here tomorrow evening. good night, everyone. captions by vitac www.vitac.com good evening. i'm diane dwyer. >> and i'm raj mathai. the tragedyn