. >> the crime, the confession and a warning about the next adam lanza. >> these people were ticking time bombs. >> this is a special "piers morgan live" inside the mind of a killer. >> good evening. it's been ten years since joshua cooke did the unthinkable. on february 17th, 2003, the then 19-year-old picked up a shotgun, pointed it straight at his mother and father, and pulled the trigger, killing them both. how could he murder his parents? why did he do it? for a decade, joshua cooke has kept the motive a mystery until now. for the first time, the killer dubbed the matrix murderer is speaking out about the crime that made headlines across america and put him behind bars for 40 years. this is more than one man's story of crime and punishment. joshua cooke thought about the massacres at columbine, sandy hook and aurora and tonight wants to speak directly to troubled people who might be thinking about doing something similar. he joins me for his first ever television interview. i ask by asking him about that winter day in 2003. you've had lots of time now to think about what happene

i'll talk to two teachers killed by adam lanza and they met with president obama and chris murphy about his war against the nra and, the growing leak investigation and privacy and security in america and takes on the obama scandals and the grill tonight, chris como and kate baldwin talk new day and much, much more. breaking news tonight on syria's use of chemical weapons. chris lawrence has the latest. >> piers, tonight there is a major policy shift from the u.s. towards syria as u.s. officials conclusively say the u.s. government has used chemical weapons and crossed the red line president obama set. they said quote following a deliberate review they used chemical weapons including sarin. it was used at least eight times over the past year and killed up to 150 people. now the u.s. has been providing non-lethal aid to those rebels, food, communications gear. they asked for missiles for anti tank weapons and hundreds of thousands of rounds of ammunition. they aren't saying what military support will be given but are confirming there is a move now to give the rebels direct military suppor

we know adam lanza was addicted to call of duty, we know the columbine killers, same thing. interviewed a guy who shot his parents and this is what he had to say. watch this. name is joshua cook. >> a lot of these shooter games, when i would play these games, i just -- it did a lot for me mentally where i could release my aggression with these games, and i could almost bring my fantasies to fruition the way i would just immerse myself in these games. sometimes i would play them 12 to 15 hours a day without leaving my room. >> i mean, it was pretty clear he felt there that this was a direct link. and my sense is if people are slightly disturbed to start with, these games can make them more disturbed and potentially trigger them doing something. i don't see how this, which is, you know, like an ar-15 shot in houston, looks a bit like it, fires like it, how is that not to a disturbed mind, and this is a sniper rifle. >> yes. >> how are these not going to make people like joshua cook, adam lanza and others, immediately i hate this. >> i agree with you. we had this discussion. >>

james holmes in aurora, colorado, adam lanza in newtown, jared loughner in tucson, arizona. all of these people it appears very clearly had mental issues. what should the gun control debate be right now, stephanie, keeping guns away from the mentally ill or limiting the sale of semiautomatics? >> well, you know, i think both, erin. i remember the last, you know, in newtown, we all said i think we all need to get away from our entrenched positions. it is mental health and guns, clearly. but you know, i think we need to point out that the vast majority of mentally ill people, erin, do not hurt anybody, you know. in fact, in newtown, the debate was the vast majority of people with asbergers like adam lanza had are much more likely to hurt themselves than anyone else. so i think we have to be careful about demonizing just the mentally ill. i think it is a deadly combination of mentally ill people getting access to -- you know, this guy had zillions of rounds, an ar-15 type weapon again. so, i think we have to look at every part of it. >> he did have 1,300 rounds of ammunition. >

police say the gunman 20-year- old adam lanza went to the school after killing his mother at their home. he killed himself as lice arrived at that school. >>> vice president joe biden will be in the bay area later today to attend a democratic fundraiser. he and his wife jill are scheduled to appear at a fundraiser at the san fransisco home of doug hick key at 6:00 tonight. tickets range from 500 to $12,000. they're planning to protest near the event. the visit comes one week after president obama's fund-raising swing through the bay area. >>> the two largest unions of civilian workers in oakland are a step closer to going on strike. members of the unions representing workers who trim trees, drive city trucks and engineers and mid level managers voted to authorize the strike. there was talk of a two-day strike around the 4th of july holiday. the workers say they have not had raises and are being asked to pay more for health and pension benefits. >>> 2300 b.a.r.t. workers say they're willing to go on strike after the b.a.r.t. board approved a new light budget last night. it makes replacin

all killed in a shooting rampage by adam lanza.ay, the families of the victims gathered to renew their push for tighter gun controls. >> pam: catherine heenan tells us about their successes and their setbacks. si >>jillian and carlee soto led the moment of silence in newtown today. >> catherine: their sister vicky was one of the teachers who died last december, she fought to save her kids, >> just like the other five educators. they fought to save sandy hook, and now we're fighting to save everybody else. the surviving sisters have joined with other victims' relatives in lobbying for gun control. some of them met with senators as well as the president and vice president this week, >>but their impact on capitol hill has been small. last april the senate tabled a proposal to expand background checks for gun purchases. on a state level, four states have adopted background checks. and five have banned high capacity magazines. far more states have looseened their gun laws. seven of them have closed their public records >> catherine: of

adam lanza's shooting rampage began on the 14th before he turned the gun on himself. proposalcre pushed the of gun laws. in april, the senate rejected proposals to expand background checks and ban assault weapons. according to cnn, five states have tightened gun laws since the shooting while more than a dozen have loosened them. families of the shooting victims returned to washington as a renewed push for gun control. nicole hockley, mother of dillon, said that they would not abandon their quest for change. it is important lawmakers remember that we are not going away on and we will not let paid into the background. it is too important, it is too common sense. those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. >> i'm juan gonzalez. we begin the news that the obama administration has decided to begin arming syrian rebels fighting president bashar al- assad after concluding his forces had used chemical weapons. the white house said thursday it has firmer evidence the government has used weapons multiple

adam lanza shot and killed his mother before the rampage. held a few days after the shooting. >> the president said that the united states economy is showing new signs of strength. >> because we have more good jobs to create. we have more kids to educate. with we have more doors of opportunity to open for anyone who is willing to work hard enough to walk through them. >> in this morning's weekly address the president pointed to the housing market, car sales and my jobs as signs of progress but warned that the economy depends on congress. as lawmakers return to washington the president said that he wants them to tackle legislation that includes immigration reform, easier home financing and a jobs bill tied to rebuilding extra fract you're. >>> the arizona woman jailed in mexico is grateful to be back home. >> it feels great. i'm so happy to be back home. and being with family and my lovely husband. >> she kissed her husband during this news conference. she credits widespread news coverage for her release. they went to mexico for a funeral whe

we saw it at sandy hook with adam lanza. we saw it at aurora. each time, disturbed young men who should never be allowed anywhere near these assault rifles and yet they're able to. >> well, so it's probably the health care professional not able to report to the local authorities or to the atf or the fbi that they just saw a patient that would harm the general public or themselves if they were to buy a weapon. so it's a failure of the health care system to not be able to report because they're too -- you know, the hippa privacy is too shielded and guarded information. but yet we're enabling these people with some type of a mental handicap to go out and buy a weapon and use it on themself or others. >> they're -- >> and, of course, it comes at a time when -- it comes at a time when the majority of americans seem quite happy that the nsa can access almost all their private data. so you have a complete hypocrisy here the ones who shout loudest about we can't infringe the second amendment in terms of background checks because of the information it ma

in other national news, tomorrow marks six months since adam lanza killed his mother and then drove tod killed 26 young children. mayors against illegal guns is holding rallies all over the country targeting politician who is have blocked efforts to restrict gun purchases. the nra is firing back with an ad attacking a man who the gun rights group once considered one of their own, senator joe m mancion. one of the parents in the group is mark barden, father of victim daniel barden. i spoke to barden about his son and his new mission. thank you so much for being here. before i start asking you about policy questions, how are you doing? how is your wife and your other two children, how are they dmog. >> we're just trying to get through every minute of the day a minute at a time. james and natalie a constant source of strength for us and i hope we can be that for them as well. they're immersed in their school activities, music, sports. we're just trying to maintain our family unit to the best of our ability and to be as present as we can for them. >> it was a very moving "washington post"

bushmaster ar 15 semiautomatic rifle, which is exactly the same type of weapon that was used by adam lanza at sandy hook and by james holmes, the shooter in aurora. when you come face to face with that, had you ever had much thought about guns before this? >> i know a bit about guns, and i have shotguns at a range, so i know what they look like, but i've never seen somebody out on the street with an automatic rifle the way it was -- it was aimed at first the girl that he hijacked and then myself. i have never seen that, of course. >> i think -- >> unless it was somebody on the s.w.a.t. team. >> i think to clarify, it was a semiautomatic, but i fired both the semiautomatic and the automatic, i would imagine from what i experienced at close range there's not much difference. they fire incredibly quickly, don't they? >> they fire incredibly quickly. eight bullets entered the car, right away. two hit me on the left side, three more hit me on the right side. and the rest exploded into the seats and the shrapnel went across my chest and one bullet went into my ear. it was very fast. >> i believe

i'll talk to two teachers killed by adam lanza and they met with president obama and chris murphy aboutstigation and privacy and security in america and takes on the obama scandals and the grill tonight, chris como and kate baldwin talk new day and much, much more. breaking news tonight on syria's use of chemical weapons. chris lawrence has the

police say of course this gunman, 20-year-old adam lanza went to sandy hook elementary school and conductedss shooting after killing his mother at their home. he killed himself as police arrived at the school. lighting candles to mark six months since the shootings. >>> 6:47. dozens of people were hurt in a florida sports bar when an outdoor deck collapsed throwing people into the water. about 100 people were on the deck of shuckers bar and grill in miami when the deck collapsed. witnesses heard a loud cracking noise and then everything disappeared in the water. a dive team rushed there pulling people out of the water. police say all the patrons of the sports bar are accounted for. investigators want to know what caused that collapse. >>> the most destructive wildfire in the state of colorado's history has become deadly. the fire started tuesday afternoon near colorado springs. it has since burned about 16,000 acres, destroyed 370 homes and now two people have died. high winds and smoke from the fire closed down two runways at denver international airport and flights have been diverted. fir

i'll talk to two teachers killed by adam lanza and they met with president obama and chris murphy aboutgrowing leak investigation and privacy and security in america and takes on the obama scandals and the grill tonight, chris como and kate

well, tomorrow marks six months since that shooting. 20 students and six teachers were killed when adam lanzaned fire in that school. >>> the fall out over the secret government surveillance of phone and internet traffic creating some rather unusual alliances. since edward snowden blew off the cover of the program there are some republicans that sided with the white house in defending it. the partisan lines blurred in the debate over privacy versus national security. i want to bring in our chief political analyst gloria borger. i want to you listen to what he said in defending the programs. >> i made it very clear this program does not target innocent americans in any way, shape or form. these programs have helped keep america safe. they are enhanced our ability to go after terrorists who want to bring harm to the american people, and frankly i am a little surprised the white house hasn't stood up and made clear on an ongoing basis how important these programs are. >> so how does the white house receiving this? on the one hand it seems like he is in lock step with the administration but on th

the victims were gunned down on december 14, after adam lanza killed his mother and then stormed sandy hook. police said lanza shot 20 schoolchildren and six educators, before shooting himself. today's moment of silence was followed by a day-long reading of more than 6,000 names, all victims of gun violence around the country since the newtown tragedy. the memorial was organized by mayors against gun violence, a group funded by new york mayor michael bloomberg that has been working with some of the victims' families. some of those families have been trying for months persuade lawmakers to back tighter gun control measures, including background checks. but that legislation failed to pass the senate in april. now, some senators, including some who voted no, are said to be discussing an amended bill. families came to capitol hill yesterday vowing to support it. >> we will continue to fight until congress stands up and does something to make us safer from gun violence. >> reporter: senate majority leader harry reid endorsed the effort, but had a warning. >> the writing is on the wall. back

. >> pam: twenty children and six adults died in adam lanza's shooting rampage. >> pam: today the familiesctims gathered to renew their push for tighter gun controls. >> pam: catherine heenan is here to tell us about their successes and setbacks. >> catherine: the tragedy brought us heartbreaking images. it also created a new group of dedicated activists. jillan led the moment of silence in newtown today. their sister vicky was one of the teachers who died last december, >> just like the other five educators. they fought to save sandy hook, and now we're fighting to save everybody else. >> catherine: the surviving sisters have joined with other victims' relatives in lobbying for gun control. some of them met with senators as well as the president and vice president this week, but their impact on capitol hill has been small. last april the senate tabled a proposal to expand background checks for gun purchases. states have adopted background checks. and five have banned high capacity magazines. far more states have looseened their gun laws. seven of them have closed their public records of w

and the three guns that the son had asked about were the same three guns that adam lanza walked in to school the next day. >> the very next day with those guns. >> yes. >> so this is part of the father's story about jesse. then we hear -- we read about sarah. this high school junior whose mother, emma, was a second grade teacher. she was in the building. how is she doing? i love her point. >> sarah was amazing. she was really, you know, day after day we're hearing these stories. it's a lot to absorb. sarah also, she's traumatized. and she knows it. and she talks like that, you know. but at the same time, she's so positive. and you hear it in her piece. she talks about even the next days after the shooting, she has these positive recollections. and she tells us the story about she calls senators and she says, no, i can't vote yet. so she has this amazing spirit. she's really incredible. >> then there's the doctor. who is not too far away. it was danbury, right? >> danbury. >> in the e.r. he's thinking, you know, i remember we all were sitting around the newsroom. we had heard about sho

police say the gunman, 20-year- old adam lanza killed his mother before going to that elementary school. he later killed himself as the police were moving in. >>> 8:18 today, a military judge is scheduled to consider the latest complication in the fort hood shooting trial. he plans to address major nidal hasan's objections to helping him while he serves as his lawyer. it would force them to act unethically. >>> the house expects to pass its version of a sweeping defense bill during a vote on capitol hill today. the bill reflects the growing outrage over the rising number of sexual assaults in the military. it includes a measure requiring a mandatory minimum sentence of two years in prison for any member of the armed forces convicted of rape or sexual assault. once completed, the house bill must be reconciled with the senate's version. >>> time is 8:19. police in oakland teaming up with the fbi to fight sex trafficking in the city. the tribune reports it's the first joint task force in oakland to focus on sex trafficking and exploitation. oakland police will have access to the fbi intens

instead, if these are released to the public, the only person who will learn from them is the next adam lanzar dannel malloy appears to be on board and he is no doubt under pressure to act here. connecticut's legislative session ends tomorrow. >>> plus, this, this change.org petition in support of the bill, house bill 6424, has surpassed -- we have been watching the numbers here, surpassing 80,000 signatures. one of the sponsors of the petition joins me now. she is the mother of dylan hockley who died at sandy hook elementary school. he was 6 years ole. thank you for being here. i am so sorry for the loss of your son. >> thank you. >> just begin with why you do not want officials to release the photos and the 911 recordings. >> these photos are particularly gruesome. this is one of the worst atrocities that happened in the united states. there is no reason and no public interest reason for these photos to be released. we're very concerned about political opportunists using these to advance their agendas for hoaxsters and truth conspiracyists to use these against us and harass us further. they

edward snowden caused people to america to discuss an issue, by that theory isn't adam lanza a hero.dy, hi buddy. >> caller: hey momma, you are looking beautiful this morning. >> stephanie: thank you. [♪ magic wand ♪] >> caller: trent franks doubled down on the stupid and is now blaming democrats for when he said that rapes don't cause pregnancy. that they are taking it out of context. >> oh, i see. >> stephanie: right. >> caller: and jim you live in a conspiratorial world. does this snowden thing -- does it pass any sort of smell test to you. >> no, it's very weird. >> caller: it is like they set someone up or have a fall guy? >> some limited hangout kind of thing. >> stephanie: i don't know, again, the specifics but that greenwald was talking to him before he went to work there. you are right. something is off. >> uh-huh. >> caller: the idea that a high school dropout who got kicked out of the army within three months has access to all of this data. >> yeah. >> caller: and i think it has to do with the english. because snowden goes to lord snowden. >> stephanie: ah. >> caller: so t

statistically more likely to be victims than perpetrators of violence, the presumed mental illness of adam lanzawtown shooter has brought it into the spotlight in control with the gun control movement. the president is expected to speak at the top of next hour and at today's event the white house will launch an informational web site and also a schedule of mental health summits going to be held at 151 v.a. health centers across the country. >> private first class bradley manning will face court-martial today accused of leaking documents to the wikileaks web site. the largest leak in history. he pled guilty to 10 of the 22 charges against him but not the most serious which is aiding the enemy. if found guilty, manning faces life in prison. he says he leaked the information to expose the american military's blood lust and disregard for human life in iraq and afghanistan. manning's trial is expected to last all summer. >>> as the i.r.s. faces its fourth congressional hearing today, we're now learning that the agency spent about $50 million on at least 220 conferences over a three-year period. one c

so much so that adam lanza walked into that school that day, fired over 150 rounds, shot 20 kids and not a single one of them survived. every kid that he shot died, in part because of the power of that gun. that same day a very sick man walked into a school in china armed with a weapon, attacked over 20 children, and every single one of them lived. that guy had a knife. assault weapons if we continue to allow them to ripple throughout our streets lead to these mass slaughters. high-capacity ammunition clips when somebody chooses to engage in one of these massacres allow more people to be killed and our failure over and over again to pass comprehensive background checks is unacceptable, given the number of criminals and the number of people with severe mental illness who are still allowed to get guns on the internet or in gun shows. six months and we've done nothing. but, you know, madam president i stand here, frankly more optimistic about human nature than i was six months ago not less optimistic. i might be less optimistic about this place about the united states congress, but i am