"dateline" friday. good night and thank you for joining us. i'm chris jansing in aurora, colorado where a vigil is set to begin. president obama is set to arrive here in aurora in this hour. he will meet with victims, those still hospitalized, and the families of those killed. 12 killed callously early friday morning ranging in age from 51 to the youngest, just 6 years old. with the story of the littlest victim, veronica moser breaking

hearts around the country as well as here in aurora. >> when you hear that a 6-year-old child is among the victims, looking at your beautiful family. >> she's six. that's why i can't let go of he her. >> tomorrow morning, all eyes will be on the suspect, 24-year-old james holmes as he makes his first court appearance to answer for his alleged role in one of the worst acts of violence in our nation's history. we are also getting new information late coming in on the conditions of the 24 people still in area hospitals. more on the investigation to find out why someone would inflict pain on such a community. we'll have all that for you in our special coverage. but first let me get you updated on the new information about the suspect's apartment and the crime scene that it has become. we just learned from the aurora police department they finished processing james holmes' apartment as a crime scene.

they collected all the evidence. because of the explosive material, though, that could be there as a reindividusiduaresid people in that apartment building are not being allowed to move back in. only to get personal items, not to state. the theater is still being processed it will remain closed for at least another week. let me bring in chaville jackson who was in that theater friday morning, not injured but saw it all happen. and one of many planning to come here tonight for the vigil. thank you for being here. >> thank you. >> you were telling me you feel lucky. >> i feel lucky. i'm blessed. god was with me that night to help me get out of the theater and keep my life intact, right now to be talking with you today. >> you saw the suspect come in. you saw him unleash the grenade. >> yes, he walked in as if it

was like any other day. like he was just walking into school or something. came in the doors, walked in. popped the top off the tear gas. you hear it going, and, like, the gas releasing. when he threw it across the theater. i look up, see the smoke coming out of it. people are thinking nothing, glued to the screen. when it explodes, that's when the panic started to happen. a big bang like boom. >> he's in the first row. you're in the second row. how long from the time you saw him come in that exit door did you think something here is very wrong? i'm in a dangerous, even life threatening situation. >> it took until his tear gas exploded for me to be like, yeah, this isn't right. >> you just dove under the seats. >> when the tear gas exploded, everybody was looking around like what's going on. i looked back, looked back at the person and he's pulling out his shotgun ready to fire. i seen the muzzle flash. it was into the crowd.

i'm looking. he's shooting three times. after the third shot i dove behind the seat. luckily enough, i was sitting behind the exit and i was able to escape. >> you and your other family members were able to get out what has it been like for you since then? how are you doing? >> i'm actually doing pretty okay. i'm still pretty shocked to know this is really happening in the world. i'm wondering what the world has come to and where the love is at. why are people thinking to do this at this time. >> you posted on your twitter feed about going to church this morning and then you'll be coming with some friends to this vigil here tonight. what do you hope happens here and what would you like to see in terms of the healing? >> i want to see a message being given out to the world to not hate and to love more. we need to love more, come together as one, as a whole. hate should not even be part of

it. that's all the devil wants to see, to see people hating other people. god put us here to love each other and not hate. >> we are glad you are okay, chayviel jackson. the 12 people that they will be remembering here tonight as well as the other 58 injured, we want to take the time to tell you a little bit about each person who lost their lives here. the littlest victim, veronica moser, just six years old. four days before she died she was bragging to her family members about how she was learning to swim. her 25-year-old mother ashley remains hospitalized, seriously injured. she has three gunshot wounds. she has been told about the loss of her daughter. 24-year-old alex teves just earned his master s degree in counseling. he is a graduate of the university of denver.

jessica ghawi who grew up in texas loved hockey in that football-loving state. 24 years old, an aspiring sportscaster. 27-year-old alex sullivan was celebrating his birthday at the movies with a group of friends. today would have been his first wedding anniversary. matt mcquinn, also 27. he died saving his girlfriend. diving on top of her. three men in that theater gave their lives to save their friends. samantha yowler, his girlfriend, was shot in the knee. she is expected to recover. at 23, micayla medek, had quite a sense of humor. she was an employee of subway and liked to call herself a sandwich artist. john blunk was just 26 years old. he saved his girlfriend. he's a navy veteran. he has two children and a little later on we will be talking to a

member of his family about the loss that they are feeling. 18-year-old a.j. boik was a local. gateway high school. petty officer third class john larimer, 27 years old. he just joined the navy last year. he leaves behind four siblings. 32-year-old rebecca wingo had two daughters. as a single mom she was trying to make a better life for them. she had enrolled in a local community college and was working at a restaurant to help pay for that. and 51-year-old gordon cowden, in a theater that was largely filled with young people and a story punctuated with young victims, he had taken his two teenage daughters to see the new batman movie and would not survive. and finally 29-year-old jesse childress. he is an airman at buckley air force base. an athlete, denver broncos season ticket holder. he also died shielding a friend.

earlier today i spent some time right across from that movie theater, a memorial has sprung up where so many people have come and in the mourning, as i was talking to them, a lot of them had not planned to come. they said they had a feeling they had to be there. they were drawn there. among the most poignant stories i can recount to you is a family, a mother, a father, three young children including a 6-year-old, the same age, of course, as the youngest victim. i asked them why they were there and brought their children. >> we needed to pay our respects. i just feel awful. i needed to do something. >> our community is greater than this tragedy, coming together as a community and show respect. one deranged man can't take our community away from us. >> it's really amazing to see what -- how the community is

pulling together. as i was walking up, i was thinking whatever he was trying to accomplish, he got the opposite. because people clearly care. it means a lot to me. i'm glad i came and got to see that. >> when you hear a 6-year-old child is among the victims, looking at your beautiful family -- >> she's six. that's why i can't let go of her. she's probably a big part of why i'm here. >> what do you tell your children? >> we told them -- we kept it very vague. we don't give them details. that somebody did something crazy and hurt a lot of people. and we're -- we continually reassure them that we will keep them safe. but that we are very sad for the people this did happen to. >> we hear stories from the families of the victims who say the outpouring has been tremendous and that the

president is coming today. does that help with the healing? >> it certainly can't hurt. >> up the road from that makeshift memorial, you see white crosses brought here from a man from illinois who also brought crosses to columbine, just 13 miles down the road. still to come live from aurora, details about the suspect, james holmes, including a brand new report on how he got his hands on gear fit for warfare. [ donovan ] i hit a wall. and i thought "i can't do this, it's just too hard." then there was a moment. when i decided to find a way to keep going. go for olympic gold and go to college too. [ male announcer ] every day we help students earn

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>> i think there's going to be some fear when you're watching a movie and thinking some psycho will come in and shoot people. i think it will impact people

when they're having fun with their family. thinking about what bad things can happen. lorena gonzalez, one of the many people who went to the memorial across from the theater today and trying to make sense of the senseless. we still don't have an answer to why. what was the motive? but we are getting more information about the suspect. mike taibbi has some new information on the gear the suspect was wearing when he entered the theater. mike, what can you tell us? >> reporte . >> as you said before, the forensic examination of the apartment was done yesterday, but that apartment remains secured as a crime scene for the foreseeable future. one of the crime scene personnel said what he saw was evidence of an intricate and sophisticated plan. a lot of the sophistication was how the suspect put together his arsenal and collected the gear he had when he was apprehended in the early morning hours of

saturday morning. we got ahold of one of the receipts for some of the gear purchased online. it was from a kansas, missouri distributor. this was one of several suppliers that was used by a marketer of guns and ammunition and tactical gear, they shipped him $306 worth of gear, including a ballistic vest, carriers for a weapon and ammunition. maybe part of the answer of the question about how you accumulate 6,000 rounds of ammunition, the kind of gear that you only see in war zones, head to toe gear, that's what he had. the chief was saying a lot of that material was purchased online and shipped to his home or to an address that he had on campus at the university of colorado medical campus. we talked to people at the college, who confirmed that the school is cooperating with the

police investigation of holmes' allege use of a campus address to have some of this material sent. that's what the police are looking into now. chris? >> mike taibbi, thank you. let me bring in rick hahn, former fbi supervisor and bomb expert. let's talk about a few things that have been removed from james holmes' apartment. 30 spherical canisters in the living room, 60 explosive and chemical devices improvised grenades, when you think about the complexity of what was in that room, the danger that it posed obviously to the experts who had to de-fuse it what does it tell you about this suspect? >> chris, this individual that set that room up or apartment to be a mini armageddon.

he wanted that to be suddenly hell on earth. explosions going off. fires starting. so many different items in the place that it would be uncontrollable by first responders. >> there were also about three jugs in the living room filled with what appeared to be a combination of liquid and gunpowder. one official called it improvised napalm. a lot of this stuff is being packed up and will be sent to quantico, virginia for testing what kinds of things will they be able to find out? >> they'll be able to identify the different types of accelerants that may be used, the different types of powders, if there's additional explosives in there, even if they have been removed from their containers. they should be able to trace them and identify the manufacturer and perhaps who the seller of that particular item was. they should be able to piece together a long history of how longaccumulating these

things and where he got him. >> rick hahn, former fbi supervisor, thank you very much. even as all this information is coming out and we await the first court appearance tomorrow, this is focusing on healing. this is a day of healing, again at the location where there will be a vigil tonight. all around this community we've seen signs of this community coming together. miguel almaguer is here with more on that. you and i have had a lot of opportunity to speak to people. there does seem to be a determination to not let this be for nothing. >> certainly. we attended a church service today where they read the names of each of the individuals who lost their lives, all 12, followed by a moment of silence and prayer for the victims. this is a small community. aurora is considered one of the safest cities anywhere in the country. the third largest city in the state of colorado but really a safe place. we talked to so many people who said this has been their community for years, they were so shocked and saddened by the

news, they comforted each other today, they spent time in church services, and talked about the victims. even though they may not have known them personally, they were connected by somebody who knew somebody who was there, somebody planning to go to the theater. this is a popular movie theater in the center of their community. if they had not had a direct connection to the massacre, they certainly knew somebody who did. >> i was surprised by how many people -- even people who dunt li didn't live in aurora, they said that was my movie theater, very new, modern movie theater. the mall was also very popular. tell me about some of the acts you heard that people have done. you and i were talking earlier about how the hospitals have been overwhelmed with people wanting to come and donate blood. >> everybody was going through the names of the victims and survivors which had been published by a lot of didn't outlets. everybody seems to have found somebody they had known or wanting to help, whether it was donating blood, money to a charity, trying to rally

together for that sense of community here. they felt connected to each other and to this incident as a whole. they wanted to do something to help out the victims, to help the survivosurvivors, even thei families. just down the road, the 12 crosses that popped up, people who were not connected to this crime and don't live in the city have come and paid tribute to those who lost their lives here. >> a lot of people live here who came from different parts of the country, but we are also seeing notes from people from other states, from other communities. those crosses that came from illinois. and i stopped in to get a sandwich today, and there was a jar, you know, right there at the cash register saying this money will go to help support the families of those who died. >> in church today there was mention of 9/11, of the shootings that happened in columbine, one of the deadliest

shootings before this incident in this state. this is a large massive shooting that took the lives of 12 people, 70 people injured. couple hundred inside that theater. so, there's a sense of connection to what happened here. a sense that can be felt across the country. >> miguel almaguer, it is good to have you here. thank you very much. and jonathan blunk was one of the 12 victims who lost his life on friday. he leaves behind two young children. my conversation with their mother after the break. ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] everyone likes a bit of order in their life.

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[ male announcer ] febreze. eliminates odors and leaves carpets fresh. ♪ >> i was here the year columbine happened. i'm just so overwhelmed. some day i will have to explain to her, like, why things like this happen. it just breaks my heart and makes me so angry. >> there's so much heartbreak here in aurora, colorado. president obama hoping to help with the healing. he is in the air right now,

coming here to colorado where he will be meeting with family members of the victims and survivors of that deadly shooting. earlier today i spoke with chantelle blunk, her husband jonathan died in the shooting, leaving behind two children, a 4-year-old boy and a 2-year-old girl. she began by talking about how she's explaining the unthinkable to those two small kids. >> just tell them that daddy loves them and that he's not going to be coming back but he's going to watch over us. sorry. that, you know, we have lots of pictures of daddy and lots of stories and lots of people that loved him. and daddy was a hero. he fought for our country. he just wants them to be happy to know he loves them. >> reporter: we do know a little bit about your husband from the things we have read. that he was in the navy.

he served aboard the "u.s.s. nimitz" in san diego. tell us what else we should know about this man who was taken from you, from your children, and from so many people far too young? what can you tell us about him? >> johnny had that superhero mentality. just wanting to always be there for everybody, whether it was small or big, he just wanted to help and save people all the time. he was hard working. very smart. just outgoing. and always laughing. always wanted to make everybody laugh and always challenging and always wanting to be better in life in everything that he does.

>> when was the last time you had a chance to talk to him and -- you know, there's so much promise important so many of has to lives that were cut short, what were his plans? >> we talked on wednesday because we were getting ready for him to come here and we were planning family dinners. what we were going to go do together. the park. catch up on family time, being together. >> reporter: and your children, i know that they are with you there today. tell us about them and do you see johnny in them? >> oh, my gosh. i do. haley has his smile. and you can tell when she is going to do something like crazy or something, she has this little smirk just like her dad would have. this little cheesy, devious little look on her and will just laugh and run away as he would.

my son has his exact blue eyes. when i look at his smile -- when i see her smile, i see him. when i look at my son, i see his eyes. so much of johnny in their personalities and -- and in their looks. and everything. >> reporter: where were you? how did you find out? this happened in the middle of the night. when did you learn about his death? >> his boss, mark, called me. that morning he told me he would be at the movies. he was going to see the movie. and he never came to work and wasn't answering his phone. so that whole day i was calling the hospitals and hotlines and

they would give me numbers and i would call those numbers. and nobody would give me anything. they just said his name is not on the list. and then later that afternoon, i got a call from the fbi and they told me that between 7:00 and 8:00, they were releasing names and if i -- if -- if i got a phone call, he was either one of the people that were missing in the ruckus or one of the people in the hospital. and if -- if agents came to my house that he was one of the deceased. so i was on my porch when i had three vehicles pull up to my house and people get out and then i was hoping they were somebody else. and when they asked for me, i knew it.

>> chantell blunk and her husband, the father of their two children was killed in this senseless tragedy. we have just learned that the president is in colorado, air force one touched down just moments ago at buckley air force base which is also home to two of the victims. more on the president's visit coming up after this short break. iciency. i bought the car because i could eliminate gas from my budget. i don't spend money on gasoline. it's been 4,000 miles since my last trip to the gas station. it's pretty great. i get a bunch of kids waving at me... giving me the thumbs up. it's always a gratifying experience. it makes me feel good about my car. i absolutely love my chevy volt. ♪

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air force one at buckley air force base landed just moments ago. president obama will be visiting with shooting victims and their families, also state and local officials here in aurora. he will leave just before the memorial vigil service where i am at aurora city hall. that begins at 6:30 tonight local time. joining me now is msnbc political analyst jonathan

altar. we have seen this role before for president obama, for presidents past, where they have to pay the role of consoler in chief. he generally was considered to have done a very important job back in arizona when gabby giffords was shot. but it's even more complicated than that, isn't it? if it was only as simple as saying i'm sorry t would be quite a different story. >> you know, these are challenging occasions for any american president, chris. and we've seen that president obama is good at this. it requires a certain kind of human connection that he's capable of providing. it requires the ability to say the right words at the right time. and convince people that you are connecting to them. he's been able to do that. but this particular occasion is more difficult than, say, when he's meeting the families of

soldiers who have died in iraq or afghanistan. on those occasions he can summon a kind of patriot ic framework for the consoling. certainly for police or firefighters killed in action, he can do the same thing, talk about service. the randomness of this, the senselessness of this makes it harder for a president or anybody trying to console people to find the right words. >> and we see the door to air force one opening. we expect to see the president shortly, jonathan. but there is also the political aspect of this. not just that it's coming in the middle of a campaign, but inevitably when we see a shooting like this the questions about gun control come up, really more than that about the role of services in this country, and the questions that are being raised, legitimate questions about how someone like

this could go unnoticed. how a single individual could wreak so much havoc and few people, jonathan, seem to know much about him. >> that's true. we are just beginning to get the details on the assailant. i do think that that conversation, which is a very important conversation to have, and which the national rifle association should not be able to squelch, that conversation has to wait a few days. this is not the time, certainly for the president to engage in that conversation. he's here in his role as, really, chief mourner of the united states. and it's something that presidents for a long time didn't really have to do except on quite rare occasions. and now they have to do so more regularly. if they don't show up it's

considered to be a lapse. so he really needs to be here, not just for political reasons, but out of a sense that people throughout the united states are traumatized by this. and they need his presence. >> jonathan, thank you. i also want to bring in two reporters who have been covering the tragedy here in aurora. marly slauson and denver post reporter curtis lee. mary, how important do you think it is for the families to have the president here? >> it's a symbol of national outpouring, of support and compassion for the victims of this very unexpected crime. >> there we see the president coming off air force one. >> so i think that the president is trying to show there's a nation full of people who support the families of these victims, feel their pain and share in that pain. >> is it possible to even quantify the shock that is here?

i was here for columbine, hear people talking about this and the inevitable questions being raised, but you're in a mall, you're in a movie theater. parents with little children. >> absolutely, chris. a number of people here in the community go to that movie theater here in aurora, they are just shocked, saddened, don't know what to think. it's incomprehensible that you can go to a movie and a gunman can walk in and begin to shoot. it's just the shock that goes with that. a number of people in this community are just very taken aback by this whole situation. >> one of the things we wanted to talk about, it's been important for the families, mary, is the good that has come out of this. i was saying earlier, i went into a local sandwich shop and there was a jar collecting money for families of the victims. we hear about the blood being donated, the people coming together. i know there was a particular story that you had reported on, curtis, about the red robin store. >> yes. >> what's going on there?

>> there's a red robin in aurora, one particular one, where about a dozen employees went to the movie, wanted to see the midnight premiere. this was something they loved to do. they went about a dozen, they went to this movie. eight were shot. one was killed. one man was killed. the bartender there. five -- two were released immediately from the hospital. five are still in the hospital right now. it's just red robin, the whole franchise has gathered around, started fund-raisers for these folks from california to pennsylvania. just a tragedy. >> beyond, obviously the president, mary who will be here and meet with many of these family members, and some of the people who did survive. i want to ask you about what's going on behind me. we see the tents being set up. they are getting ready for this vigil. there will be music, prayers. the governor will be here. the mayor will be here. how important is this? >> it's very important.

i was at a similar vigil last night for one of the youngest victims, 18-year-old a.j. boik, to know they're not suffering in this pain alone is an important step in healing, properly grieving after such an incident. >> and you can't look at the victims and not think of promise. because so many of them are so young. the most obvious, 6-year-old little girl. but so many of them, in their teens and 20s. the vast majority of them in their teens and 20s, seemingly with their whole lives ahead of them. >> absolutely, a number of them in their 20s, mid 20s, my age, their lives cut short going to a movie theater. >> when you're a journalist you tend to cut yourself off and do

your job. but you're not just a reporter here. you are somebody who lives and works in this community. what is this like for you? >> in aurora, it's socially and economically diverse. a lot of immigrants who come to colorado come to aurora to live. it's tragic seeing what's happened. columbine, this happened a while ago. more than a decade ago. here in denver an in aurora, there's been a string of shootings as of late that have effected this community. this adds to it. >> in the end, do you think something good will come of this? do you think, mary, that the wishes of these family members -- i know you've spoken to them, i've spoken to them, they just don't want it to be in vain. what good can come of this? >> i think it inspires the friends and family to live better. everyone i've spoken with has repeated again and again i won't take my life in vain, i'll appreciate every moment after this. i think that's been a strong lesson for the members of this

community. >> mary slauson and curtis lee doing amazing workovering this story. thank you very much for taking the time to come over and be with us. >> thanks, chris. >> when we come back, we'll speak with an organizer of tonight's vigil whose family also has been torn apart by gun violence. [ female announcer ] the power of green coffee extract is now in our new starbucks refreshers™ -- a breakthrough in natural energy. made with real fruit, starbucks refreshers™ are delicious low calorie drinks you can feel good about. ♪ rethink how you re-energize. ♪ get a boost of natural energy with a new starbucks refreshers™, in three ways. natural energy from green coffee extract, only from starbucks.

we are back live in aurora, colorado where we are preparing to honor the victims. there has been a lot of speculation about james holmes'

mental state. this is how the governor described i h d his mental stat. >> he was almost like a terrorist. he wanted to take away not just the people in that theater but from the country, our ability to enjoy life, go to a movie theater, which for most of us is a refuge where we can get away from some of the pressures of life. i'm not sure it's a human issue in some way. how are we not able to identify someone like this who is so deeply, deeply dis turned. >> joining us now, scott robinson, legal analyst from new york, psychologist jeff gardier. jeff, i know there are so many people asking the question that we just heard from the governor, how is it that we are not able to identify someone who, like this, is so deeply, deeply disturbed? is there an answer? >> i think there is an answer. as we get to know more about this individual, we'll find out

that there were red flags there. there was something about his mental status that may have showed that he was suffering from some sort of mental disorder and was very unstable. i think even his parents probably had some real issues with trying to get him to get some sort of mental health care because obviously this is a person, with this kind of rage, with this kind of destruction action that he's taken, was purely and certainly had some real, real mental health issues. >> so, scott, even if we find out that he has mental health issues. is there any doubt in your mind that they will try for an insanity defense? how does this public defender who just got this case approach it? >> the defense doesn't have a choice. they don't have identity as an issue. they don't have premeditation as an issue. it's clear this is the perpetrator and the crime is first degree murder. they have to take the only tool

they have, that's the insanity plea. >> what would a psychiatrist hired by the defense be looking for? it starts with if he's even competent to stand trial. beyond that, if you're looking for an insanity defense, what kind of questions would a psychiatrist be asking? >> a psychiatrist or a psychologist would want to look at whether there was any history of mental health issues. probably want to know if there were auditory or visual hallucinations. whether he had broken with reality before. just the anger in itself, just having some sort of severe personality disorder is not going to get him off on this as far as not guilty by reason of insanity. he is going to have to be a full-blown paranoid schizophrenic with command hallucinations, flat affect, all of those things which we're not

really seeing now. your attorney is right. they're going to have to go for this insanity plea, but i doubt it right now from what we're seeing that it will be successful. this guy was extremely know if to qualify for an insanity plea. they will do the plea, but i don't know if he will be able to get off on this one in that way. >> and, scott, we're a little bit away from that, from pleaing and knowing what the charges are, but he will be in court tomorrow. what will happen with james holmes when he appears in court? >> probably only he will be advised of his rights. probably will not be charges for him to be advised about. certainly it's a little early for the defense to raise competency. i suspect that it will be a relatively nonevent type of legal proceeding, except we have 12 dead and 58 wounded. >> and colorado law, we will know about the charges fairly

quickly? is it 72 hours? >> it's 72 honors. it's honored in the breach as it is written, but we should have charges by thursday. judges pretty easy going about giving extensions of time to the prosecutor in cases that deserve a lot of attention like this case obviously does. >> i want to thank you, scott robinson, legal analyst, we want to thank you for bringing your 30-plus expertise in law. jeff guardere, always good to see you. >> my pleasure. >> people trying to cope, trying to understand what is really not possible to understand, how someone could inflict this on a community, on these individuals, we have been spending a lot of time talking to members of the community. we've been going to the local memorial, to local restaurants and just talking to people, to get their impressions. here is a few of the people we talked about -- talked with over the last few hours or so.

>> it's like terrorism. you know, you get scared, you start to worry about the kids. like my daughter. first thing i did was get up -- when i first saw the news at 5:00 in the morning. first thing i did was go knock on her bedroom door, make sure she was home. you know, and then i told her, you know, see if -- check on your friends. see if anybody was there. >> we're down here, because we're just devastated that this would happen. and we felt like we wanted to come down and honor the people that died. we're absolutely devastated. we've been in colorado selveral years and it's too common here. after columbine, it just keeps happening and it has to stop. it just has to stop. >> and so a little later this afternoon, we are expecting thousands of people to come here

to aurora and there is going to be a vigil. the skies are threatening, i hope the rain holds off. with me now, one of the organizers, colorado state representative rhonda fields. thank you for being with us. >> thank you. >> before we get to the vigil, i think your back story is important. that your son and his fiancee. >> correct. >> shot and killed. on the way to court. they were going to testify in a gang trial. and so you understand what a lot of these people are going through. i have to ask you, when you heard about the shooting what went through your mind? >> and this is all too -- it's so urgently, so rapidly to have somebody be snatched from you. >> i know it's so important to you that you are able to help with the healing process. tell us about what's going to happen later here? >> yeah, today, what we want to do is bring the community

together as a way to heal. and so there is going to be prayer, some songs, there is going to be some speeches. my understanding governor hicken loop will speak, and the mayor, and some rabbis. and i have been asked to pray for the city as well. >> as someone who knows what it's to go through such a sudden and horrible tragedy, what can something like this do? >> what happens, people want to come together when there is tragedy. as you notice, on friday, people coming together. oh. >> my goodness. are we still -- people don't want to be at home. >> i saw that earlier today. in the days before, people coming to the theater, and they were bringing flowers and they

were bringing stuffed animals, wanted to desperately to be able to do something, tell me about your community. tell me what you are hearing from them? >> i think people are in shock. i think it's a common, every day thing to do, going to a movie. when you hear about victims, not only ones that lost their lives, but those injured in the hospital, it's hard to comprehend and when you look at the shooter, what he did in his apartment, it's hard to comprehend how someone could be so evil and have this reckless disregard for life. >> today, as we've been talking to family members, they want good to come out of this. can good come from this? >> absolutely. i think you are seeing a little bit by that, by having the city organizing this event, making sure we have the right people in place to honor the victims, and

i think beyond what happens today, when all of the lights and the cameras and the media is gone, the true story is going to be how do we rebuild, restore our community, make steps. >> a short time ago, we saw air force one landing, the president on his way to speak to some of the families of the victims, some of the victims themselves. how important is that? >> i think that's very important. i want to make sure that we have a president that is approachable and that's available in the community, when crisis likes this happens. >> i want to thank you, state representative rhonda fields. i know are you busy, a lot to deal with, and now the rain as well as you have thousands of people potentially coming and we appreciate you taking the time. >> thanks for having me. >> and we're here waiting. we'll be back in one hour, and have more of this covering. we are also going to be watching as president barack obama is on the ground. but coming up next, special edition of "meet the press," including an interview with

colorado governor john hickenlooper. i'm chris jansing, i'll see you at 7:00 eastern, 5:00 local, from aurora, colorado. thank you for watching.

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