>> tonight, tragedy in tucson. a gunman shoots arizona congresswoman gabriel gabrielle giffords and kills others at a public event, including a federal judge and a nine-year- old girl. >> i am katie couric with a special edition of the "cbs evening news." also tonight, doctors say the congresswoman is in critical condition, but they are hopeful. >> i am about as optimistic as you can get in this situation. >> we will have more on giffords and on the alleged gunman who is in custody tonight. captioning sponsored by cbs >> from cbs news world headquarters in new york, this is the "cbs evening news" with katie couric. >> couric: good evening, everyone. it was gunfire that shattered

the city of tucson, arizona, stunned the nation and shocked the political establishment. a gunman fired into a crowd at a public event outside of a supermarket, critically wounding congresswoman gabrielle giffords and killing or wounding several others. here is what we know. congresswoman giffords was shot in the head, but doctors are now optimistic about her prospects. a 22-year-old gunman is in police custody, his motive still unknown. at least six people are known dead, including a federal judge, and a nine-year-old girl. at least ten others have been wounded. at the white house today, president obama condemned the shooting of a lawmaker he called a friend. >> she is not only an extraordinary public servant, but she is also somebody who is warm and caring. she is well-liked by her colleagues and well-liked by her constituents. >> karen brown is in tucson

shooter. >> representative gabrielle giffords was hosting a local town hall meeting outside of a supermarket in northwest tucson when, according to law enforcement, a gunman in the crowd shouted something and then started shooting. >> congresswoman giffords was shot once in the head. >> she was shot through and through on one side of the head. it went through her brain. >> the suspect has been identified as tucson native 22- year-old jared lee loughner. in recent youtube videos, he rambles about the abuse of government power. >> bystanders tackled him after he fired multiple rounds, killing a nine-year-old girl and a federal judge, as well as wounding many more. >> loughner is now in police custody. >> this is a dynamic event and it's still evolving.

>> eyewitness ken penner was walking into the shopping center when he heard the shots. >> you just saw people on the ground. there was a lady coming in completely covered in blood. bullet holes in the windows where giffords was standing. >> the meeting had been well publicized and was routine for the three-term democrat. she sent out a tweet at 10:00 a.m. local time as the meeting started. in the past, giffords had been a target of violent protest, apparently for political reasons. in march of last year, the front door of her arizona political office was smashed in shortly after she cast her vote for the health care bill. doctor say giffords is out of surgery, in critical condition and responding to commands. >> and i can tell you at the current time period i am very

karen, thanks very much for that reporting report. joining us by phone from tucson is an eyewitness to the shooting, dr. steven rail. dr. rail, you were at this event. can you tell us from your perspective what happened? >> i just went over there to meet congressman giffords with a friend, and i had walked in front of the table, saw her wearing a red tailored jacket and smiling and talking to somebody else. i proceeded to the side of the table, and a few seconds later i looked up and saw her being shot, and the gunman began just spraying everybody at point- blank range. it wasn't like he was picking people out. he just began shooting at everybody who was close to him and it was kind of a constricted area. >> and how many people, about, were at this event? >> there were only about 20 to 25 people, so probably at least half of the people were shot. and the gunman was apprehended by, i believe, one of her aides who tackled him, and i did help hold him down as well.

and then i rendered some aid to some of the people that were shot, but there were several that were clearly mortally wounded right away. >> and can you tell me a little bit about the shooter's behavior when he was tackled or prior to his being tackled? was he saying anything? yelling anything? >> i did not hear him yell anything. he just seemed to be-- he had a determined look on his face. and he just began shooting. he was wearing dark clothes, a little bit shabby, shabbily dressed, and he really, i think he really thought he would be getting away. >> and tell us a little bit about the congresswoman's condition. she was described as gravely wounded. now doctors are saying they are very optimistic about her prognosis, but can you tell us about the extent of her wounds at the time? >> yes. i did briefly check on her. she was conscious. i was very encouraged, because she was sitting. someone had propped her sitting

up, was tending to her, and i could see she had blood on her face and a head wound, but she was moving her extremities and was conscious, so i was very encouraged that it was not a fatal wound. >> and tragically we heard there was a nine-year-old girl on the scene? >> yes, there was. she was being given cpr but again, c.p.r. in a gunshot trauma is a last-ditch effort kind of thing. >> couric: it was fortunate you were there to administer aid to some of victims, and thank you so much for talking to us tonight, dr. stephen rail we so appreciate your time. >> thank you, katie. >> couric: the shooter's motivation is still unknown, but as karen brown just told us, this is not the first time that congresswoman giffords has come under attack. congressional correspondent nancy cordes is in washington tonight with more on the congresswoman and her career. nancy, i understand during the election campaign, as we heard, she did-- her office anyway, came under fire. >> that is right, katie. shortly after her health care vote. and she told us at the time that her main concern was for her staff.

she is known here on capitol hill for a caring, bubbly personality, which may have helped her to avoid the fate of many of her fellow democrats and win re-election in her tough district. >> gabrielle giffords was sworn in for her third term wednesday- - a conservative, blue dog democrat who previously served as a state legislator, and as c.e.o. of her family's automotive tire business. >> and liftoff of endeavor. >> her husband of four years, navy captain mark kelly, is an astronaut who is scheduled to command the shuttle endeavor when it launches in april. his twin brother, scott, is currently in command of the international space station, where he has been informed of the shooting. >> the family connections fueled her interest in space, and in congress, she sits on the science and technology committee as well as armed services and foreign affairs. her fellow arizonan, senator john mccain, said whoever did

this, whatever their reason, they are a disgrace to arizona, this country and the human race. >> i am just heartbroken. gabby is more than just a colleague, she is actually a friend. >> giffords was one of 20 democrats whose districts were lit up in crosshairs on a sarah palin campaign website last spring. giffords and many others complained that someone unstable might act on that imagery. >> the way that she has it depicted has the crosshairs of a gun sight over our district. when people do that, you have to realize there are consequences to that action. >> palin posted this note on her facebook page today: on thursday, as dozens of house members read the constitution on the house floor, it was giffords who was randomly chosen to read one of the documents most recognizable passages, the first amendment. >> or abridging the freedom of speech. >> u.s. capitol police sent an

e-mail to members of congress today warning them to take "reasonable and prudent precautions regarding their personal safety and security." speaker boehner said an attack on one who serves is an attack on all who serve. katie. >> couric: all right. nancy cordes reporting the very latest from capitol hill. thanks so much, nancy. >> one of the victims was the chief federal district judge of arizona, john roll. ironically, he had received death threats himself just two years earlier. joining us now is jan crawford, our chief legal correspondent. jan, what do we know about judge roll? >> katie, judge roll was widely respected and had been the chief judge of the federal court in arizona for the past five years. he was appointed by a george h.w. bush when he was president, but he was a moderate. now he also lived through fallout for making some unpopular rulings. it was just two years ago that he received multiple death threats, and he was temporarily assigned a security detail after he had ruled that a group of illegal immigrants could go forward with their lawsuit against an arizona rancher.

at the time, he told the "arizona republic," "i am a very strong believer that there is nothing wrong with criticizing a judicial decision, but when it comes to threats, that is an entirely different matter." and, jan, do we know that the shooter was targeting the judge, or did he even realize the judge was at this event? >> no, katie, and judge roll may have been at the wrong place at the wrong time. we don't know a motive at this point. chief justice john roberts today in a statement called him a wise jurist who had "selflessly served arizona and the nation," and he said his death today was "a somber reminder of the importance of the rule of law and the sacrifices of those who work to secure it." >> all right, jan crawford in washington. jan, thanks very much. we will have more of course on this developing story throughout the course of the broadcast. for now, we turn to the wikileaks investigation and the revelation today that a federal court has ordered twitter to turn over any information it has about communications by website

founder julian assange and others. as dean reynolds reports the government's move is raising questions about privacy and freedom of speech. >> in a subpoena first issued last month but unsealed this week, the justice department argues that accounting information from twitter, the microblogging phenomenon that lets you text the whole world, is relevant to the ongoing criminal investigation of wikileaks. >> twitter is under orders to hand over private messages, billing addresses, and more, involving wikileaks founder julian assange and alleged supporters. including not only the u.s. intelligence analyst bradley manning, for allegedly handing supplying classified data to wikileaks and an icelandic parliamentarian, a dutch computer hacker and an american computer programmer. the government wants twitter logs from november 2009 to the present, apparently in the belief that they might reveal vital information on internet

addresses and physical locations that could give prosecutors reasons to bring charges. >> i condemn the action that wikileaks has taken. it puts at risk our national security. >> denouncing the move, assange said he believes other american internet companies, such as facebook and google, may also have been ordered to disclose information. >> what this is is really an attempt to intimidate. you have the department of justice, u.s. department of justice, really trying to intimidate people who are working with wikileaks. >> assange and wikileaks denied their publication of 250,000 state department cables put the lives of spies or diplomats at risk, but merely reveals embarrassing and hypocritical actions by the u.s. and its allies. >> even if you think what the people are doing is wrong, that is why the first amendment exists, to protect unpopular people engaging in unpopular speech.

>> now, the subpoena of its records was unsealed at twitter's request, and as the company said in a statement today, which i will read, "we are not going to comment on specific requests, but to help users protect their rights it is our policy to notify users about law enforcement and governmental requests for their information." katie? >> couric: all right, dean reynolds from chicago tonight. thank you, dean. we will have more on the shooting in tucson today right after this.

onstar. safely connecting you in ways you never thought possible. live on. you can do this... get the ball, girl. hmmm, you can't do that. but you can do this. bengay pain relief + massage with penetrating nubs plus the powerful pain relief of bengay. love the nubs! you should get some custom fit orthotics. dr. scholl's custom fit orthotic center. it recommends the custom fit orthotic that's best for your feet. and footcare scientists are behind it. you'll get immediate comfort... ... and, you could save a couple hundred bucks. for locations see drscholls.com

you won't believe your taste buds. you won't believe it's fiber. benefiber. clear, taste-free, and dissolves completely. what a beautiful way to get fiber everyday. that's the beauty of benefiber. you struggle to control your blood sugar. you exercise and eat right, but your blood sugar may still be high, and you need extra help. ask your doctor about onglyza, a once daily medicine used with diet and exercise to control high blood sugar in adults with type 2 diabetes. adding onglyza to your current oral medicine may help reduce after meal blood sugar spikes and may help reduce high morning blood sugar. [ male announcer ] onglyza should not be used to treat type 1 diabetes or diabetic ketoacidosis. tell your doctor if you have a history or risk of diabetic ketoacidosis. onglyza has not been studied with insulin. using onglyza with medicines such as sulfonylureas may cause low blood sugar. some symptoms of low blood sugar are shaking, sweating and rapid heartbeat.

call your doctor if you have an allergic reaction like rash, hives or swelling of the face, mouth or throat. ask your doctor if you also take a tzd as swelling in the hands, feet or ankles may worsen. blood tests will check for kidney problems. you may need a lower dose of onglyza if your kidneys are not working well or if you take certain medicines. [ male announcer ] ask your doctor about adding onglyza. extra help. extra control. you may be eligible to pay $10 a month with the onglyza value card program. >> couric: we are continuing to cover that shooting in tucson, arizona, earlier today that killed six people and wounded ten. joining us from st. luke's roosevelt hospital, an orthopedic surgeon.

doctor de noble, we heard doctors in tucson talk about this bullet going through and through congresswoman giffords. it sounds like an-- obviously a very, very serious wound. so can you tell us about that some? what does it mean, "through and through?" that's a commonly used medical term? >> well, what it probably means is that the bullet went through one side of the cranium, through the brain in some fashion and out the other side. that is generally the way it is described. the only question is, what structures in the brain were injured? and without seeing any kind of imaging and knowing what the experts already know myself, it is hard to comment, but the fact that she survived the injury is actually a fairly good sign. >> couric: how unusual is that to survive this kind of bullet wound? >> it is, i mean, it is fairly unusual, although it does happen, and again, it all just depends on what structures in the brain were injured, what levels of the brain-- obviously there are different areas of the brain that are critical to life, and, you know, depending on what

was injured it will have, it will be determined. >> couric: we also heard early on from our eyewitness and also from doctors in tucson, she was, in fact, responding to commands. so the fact that she was doing that, that is a very positive sign, is it not? >> that sure is. i mean, that is exactly it. if in fact she was responding appropriately, that means she had some brain function to begin with. i think the critical issue is, you know, dealing with the swelling and all of the medical stabilization that is going to have to go on. >> couric: and how long will her recovery be? is that too difficult to say? >> it is too difficult to say. any kind of brain injury, you have to really wait. time usually is the determinant for whether these people do well or not. >> couric: all right. dr. peter from st. luke's hospital. thanks so much, we appreciate it. and we will be back right after this. even, a busy man.

his day starts with his arthritis pain. that's breakfast with two pills. the morning is over, it's time for two more pills. the day marches on, back to more pills. and when he's finally home... but hang on; just two aleve can keep arthritis pain away all day with fewer pills than tylenol. this is steven, who chose aleve and 2 pills for a day free of pain. and get the all day pain relief of aleve in liquid gels. i knew for years before i quit that i needed to quit and i went online to find a way. ♪ what really excited me about chantix -- it's a non-nicotine pill. i didn't want nicotine to give up nicotine. while you're taking the medication, for the first week, you can go ahead and smoke.

[ male announcer ] prescription chantix is proven to help people quit smoking. when i was taking the chantix, it reduced the urge to smoke. [ male announcer ] some people had changes in behavior, thinking or mood, hostility, agitation, depressed mood and suicidal thoughts or actions while taking or after stopping chantix. if you notice any of these symptoms or behaviors, stop taking chantix and call your doctor right away. tell your doctor about any history of depression or other mental health problems, which could get worse while taking chantix. if you develop serious allergic or skin reactions, stop taking chantix and see your doctor right away as some of these can be life-threatening. don't take chantix if you've had a serious allergic or skin reaction to it. dosing may be different if you have kidney problems. until you know how chantix affects you, use caution when driving or operating machinery. common side effects include nausea, trouble sleeping and unusual dreams. ♪ it feels wonderful. i don't smoke. i don't smoke. [ male announcer ] it's a new year. so, ask your doctor about chantix.

and find out how you could save money on your prescription go to chantix.com to learn more and get terms and conditions. you won't believe your taste buds. you won't believe it's fiber. benefiber. clear, taste-free, and dissolves completely. what a beautiful way to get fiber everyday. that's the beauty of benefiber. >> as the northeast cleans up from a second snowstorm in two weeks, another winter threat could be heading its way from the southeast, where a storm is expected to drop up to six inches this weekend. elaine quijano has the very latest. elaine? >> good evening, katie. this weekend residents here in the region coped with yet another snowstorm, but forecasters say even more rough weather could be on the way.

>> across the northeast this weekend, residents dealt with another dose of cold reality. >> yeah, welcome to danbury. >> friday, falling snow and a rush-hour traffic accident temporarily shut down part of inner state 84 in connecticut. >> not much fun here. >> in new york's hudson valley, snowy road conditions made even experienced winter weather drivers cautious. >> even with the chalk and the four-wheel drive, i was fishtailing all the way down. so, you know, maximum travel speed 20 miles per hour. >> today, there were similar scenes in philadelphia, as motorists traveled down slushy, slippery roads. >> amidst snow showers that stretched from pennsylvania to new jersey to new york. >> with memories still fresh of the christmas weekend blizzard that paralyzed parts of the east coast, forecasters are warning of more punishing weather ahead. >> the big story is coming in the upcoming seven to ten days, with all of the cold and snow that is going to invade the united states again. >> weather experts predict a storm system brewing near the

gulf of mexico will pick up steam late this weekend, bringing drenching rains and a dangerous mix of ice and snow to parts of the south. >> this is the arctic hound howling, and in this case its bite is as bad as its bark. >> forecasters say that same system is expected to head north, hitting the mid atlantic and the northeast starting tuesday. just how severe that storm is will depend on the track that it takes as it moves up the east coast. katie. >> elaine quijano, here in new york. elaine, thank you. >> the unclaimed remains of 20 u.s. armed forces veterans were buried today with full military honors. the service at a national cemetery on new york's long island was with the largest of ever of its kind. they all died with no known relatives to claim their remains. >> and still ahead here on the "cbs evening news," the very latest on the tucson shootings.

discover customersl are getting five percent cashback bonus on travel. it pays to switch, it pays to discover.

you should get some custom fit orthotics. dr. scholl's custom fit orthotic center. it recommends the custom fit orthotic >> couric: updating our top you'll get immediate comfort... ... and, you could save a couple hundred bucks. for locations see drscholls.com just got more powerful. introducing precise pain relieving cream. it blocks pain signals fast for relief precisely where you need it most. precise. only from the makers of tylenol. precise. you can turn ordinary chicken into luscious, delicious, and scrumptious. with recipes from campbellskitchen.com, and campbell's cream of chicken soup. campbell's.® it's amazing what soup can do.™ nothing beats prevacid®24hr. just one pill helps keep you heartburn free for a full 24 hours. prevent the acid that causes frequent heartburn ..

>> couric: updating our top story now, a gunman shot arizona congresswoman gabrielle giffords and several others today at an outdoor event in tucson, arizona. congresswoman giffords is a democrat just beginning her third term in the house. she is 40 years old and the wife of astronaut mark kelly. police have a suspect in custody, identified as 22-year- old jared loughner. his motive remains unknown at this hour.

at least six people are dead, including a federal judge and a nine-year-old girl.

a gunman opens fire on a congresswoman ...and the crowd waiting to meet her... the latest on gabrielle giffords condition... the death toll... and new information about the man in custody members of congress shaken by the attack... how they're reacting to news of the shooting. members of congress shaken by the attack in tucson, arizona. how they're reacting to the news of the a shooting with a congress woman. taking back the streets. oakland's new mayor gets down to work on the first weekend on the job. cbs cbs 5 eyewitness news is next. [ bell rings ] what are you doing, friending somebody? yeah. you got time for that? you got time to earn more on your savings, online at capitalone.com. that's new school banking, baby! instead of earning squatootski...