we will remember chase kowalski. we'll remember that 6-year-old jesse lewis was learning how to ride a horse. it was only natural, his family had five of them, two miniatures, three dogs, a flock of chickens. his mother said he loved to tell stories and lived life brave and true. we will remember. we'll also remember 6-year-old james. he's being remembered as a sweetheart of a kid with such an innocent face. a face that we and they and everyone should remember. we'll remember the face of 7-year-old grace mcdonnell, a neighbor describes it as the face of an angel. she was her mother's little best friend. her family in a brief statement saying, our daughter grace was the love and light of our family. words cannot adequately express our sense of loss. we, too, will remember grace. and we'll also remember emilie parker, just 6 years old, emilie was a mentor to her two younger sisters ages 3 and 4. her father says -- her father said when they needed comfort they looked to emilie. they will remember her and so will we. we'

. >> reporter: chase kowalski had lost his two front teeth and was going to ask santa to bring them back. >> jesse, james, grace. >> reporter: emilie parker was the oldest of three girls. her dad says her laughter was infectious. >> she is an incredible person. and i'm so blessed to be her dad. >> jack. noah, carolyn. >> reporter: carolyn previdi. her parents told her she could have her own horse when she was 10. she asked santa for new could i girl boots and a hat. >> reporter: benjamin, avielle. >> reporter: many were saved by the actions of adults who died. principal dawn hochsprung, special ed teacher ann marie murphy. mary sherlach, the school psychologist. victoria soto's family says she barricaded students in a closet and stood between them and the gunman. >> she loved those students more than anything. and she didn't call them her students. she called them her kids. she loved they have so much. >> reporter: rachell deveano was helping kids with autism. her aunt says her boyfriend was planning to propose this christmas eve. kate snow, nbc news, sandy hook, connecticut. >> at that

that's another message that the pastor wanted to get out from chase kowalski's mother this morning. >> something you said struck me, jason. most churches across the country will ring the church bells 26 times. you said at the church where you're standing they're going to ring the bell 28 times, they're going to include the shooter and nancy lanza as well? >> reporter: that is correct. and i think from the church's point of view, it's not about getting into a debate about how many times a church bell should be rung. this is simply a day for remembering, remembering those who are hurting, for a loss, whoever that may be. >> jason carroll reporting live from newtown, connecticut, this morning. >>> on a day when church bells will toll for the victims of newtown the nation's most powerful gun lobby is speaking out after releasing a paper statement earlier this week the nra will unveil what it calls a major contribution to the gun debate in this country, so what is that? tom foreman is in washington to speculate. good morning. >> reporter: hi, carroll. we don't know what that means. there's

king ♪ ♪ glorious aol all victorious come and pray over us ages of age ♪ ♪ amen >> 7-year-old chase kowalskiaid he was always outside playing in the yard, riding his bike. he had just won his first mini triathlon. daniel barden was also 7. his family remembers him as always smiling, incredibly affection at and fareless. they say he earned his ripped jeans and missing two front teeth. 6-year-old dylan hockley and his family just moved to the area in january of 2011. he has an older brother jake. catherine hubbard also 6, the first grader's parents wrote in a statement, we are greatly saddened by the loss of our beautiful daughter. 6-year-old jesse lewis was described as a jokester at heart, a neighbor sayings if you were in a bad mood he could pull something out of left field and put a smile on your face. 6-year-old jack pinto loved wrestling. the newtown wrestling association tweeted out the loss of one of its younger members. jessica rekos was also. his father wrote on facebook. the family of 6-year-old benjamin weller left connecticut just before he was born and he has an older brother nat

more today, children, memorialized, six-year-old charlotte bacon and caroline prevety and chase kowalskianiel barton, danny was honored by firefighter who is lined the route of his funeral procession. his father's cousins are firefighters in new york city and he wanted to be one when he grew up and 27-year-old teacher vickie soto was remembered, hailed as a hero for hiding her kids in the clos eds. newtown high school girls basketball team, the defending state l.l. champions had their first home game since the shooting. they beat rival, mass hook, 64-44, but there were a lot of empty seats because a lot of folks are not ready to go to a basketball game in the wake of all of these shootings. >> greta: thank you. systemic failures at the state department, blamed for the four murders in libya. there will be new testimony tomorrow on benghazi. but senator john mccain says the report doesn't answerul -- answer all of his questions. you have seen -- i have seen the unclassified version. have you seened classified version? >> it is not very different than the unclassified version, all the basic

so was catherine hubbard and chase kowalski. jesse lewis was 6, too. as was james mattioli. grace mcdonnell, 7. anne marie murphy, 52. emilie parker, 6. jack pinto and noah pozner, 6. caroline previdi, 6. jessica rekos, 6. avielle richman, 6. lauren russ sue, 30. marry sherlach, 56. victoria soto, 27. benjamin wheeler and allison wyatt were also just years old. medical examiner wayne carver said all the victims were shot multiple times with a high-power rifle. >> i've been at this for a third of a century. and it's my sensibilities may not be the average man. but this is probably the worst i've seen. >> contrary to earlier reports, the gunman took three guns into the school. two semi-automatic pistols and an assault rifle. the alleged shooter, adam lanza took his own life at scene. his mother's body was found at her home in newtown. but investigators have not established any connection between nancy lanza and the school. a motive has not been revealed, though investigators say they are piecing together the puzzle now. >> our investigators at the crime scene, the school and s

chase kowalski, age 7. jesse lewis, age 6. james mattioli, age 6. grace mcdonnell, age 7. age 6. noah pozner, age 6. caroline previdi, age 6. jessica rekos, also age 6. avielle richman, age 6. benjamin wheeler, age 6. and allison wyatt, age 6. [ male announcer ] coughequence™ #8. waking the baby. [ coughs ] [ baby crying ] ♪ [ male announcer ] robitussin® liquid formula soothes your throat on contact and the active ingredient relieves your cough. robitussin®. don't suffer the coughequences™.

olivia engel, six, dylan hock lee, and madeleine hsu, chase kowalski, jesse louis, james mattioli, all years old. grace mcdonnell, noah pozner, six, karolina prividi, benjamin wheeler, six, and allison wyatt, just six years old. this has been special coverage of the connecticut elementary school tragedy. we will continue tomorrow, including the visit of the president of the united states. you're watching msnbc. i'm chris jansing. thank you so much for joining us. [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus presents the cold truth. i have a cold, and i took nyquil, but i'm still "stubbed" up. [ male announcer ] truth is, nyquil doesn't unstuff your nose. what? [ male announcer ] it doesn't have a decongestant. no way. [ male announcer ] sorry. alka-seltzer plus fights your worst cold symptoms plus has a fast acting decongestant to relieve your stuffy nose. [ sighs ] thanks! [ male announcer ] you're welcome. that's the cold truth! [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus. ♪ oh what a relief it is! ♪ [ male announcer ] to learn more about the cold truth and save $1 visit alka-seltzer on facebook.

chase kowalski, age 7. jesse lewis, age 6. james mattioli, age 6. grace mcdonnell, age 7. 6. noah pozner, age 6. caroline previdi, age 6. jessica rekos, also age 6. avielle richman, age 6. benjamin wheeler, age 6. and allison wyatt, age 6. ed" up. [ male announcer ] truth is, nyquil doesn't unstuff your nose. what? [ male announcer ] it doesn't have a decongestant. no way. [ male announcer ] sorry. alka-seltzer plus fights your worst cold symptoms plus has a fast acting decongestant to relieve your stuffy nose. [ sighs ] thanks! [ male announcer ] you're welcome. that's the cold truth! [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus. ♪ oh what a relief it is! ♪ [ male announcer ] to learn more about the cold truth and save $1 visit alka-seltzer on facebook. [ male announcer ] to learn more about the cold truth ♪ how advanced is the new ford fusn? well...it has outstanding performance and handling... ...and it offers a plug-in hybrid that gets a projected 100 mpge. of course, there's still one thing it can't do. introducing the entirely new ford fusion. it's an entirely new idea of wh

chaste kowalski. jesse lewis. james matoli. grace mcdonnell. ann marie murphy. and it looks that she was one of the faculty or teachers in the building. another child, first grader, emily parker. jack pinto. noah pausener. carol previti. jessica ricos. lauren russo, who, again, is either a teacher or faculty in that school. mary sherlock, another faculty or teacher or staffer, in that school. victoria soto, another member of faculty or staff. and benjamin wheeler, a boy in first grade. and allison wyatt, also in first grade. so it appears that most of these kids, what we are told by the medical examiner and confirmed by connecticut state police is that most of these children were in first grade, craig. we heard some pretty gruesome details during this press conference. some details about the gunshot wounds. the medical examiner telling us that he has been at this job for a third of a century and that he has never had to deal with anything like this before. as well as his staffers, he was convinced that this was also their worst experience and he tells us that on

chase kowalski was 6 years old. jesse lewis. james was 6 years old as well.ace mcdonnell, 7 years old. anne marie murphy, she was a teacher, 52 years old. emilie parker, she was 6 years old. jack pinto, also 6. noah pozner was 6 years old. caroline previdi was 6 years old as well. jessica was 6. avielle richman was also 6. she was killed yesterday. lauren was a substitute teacher, 30 years old. mary sherlach, the school psychologist, she was 56. teacher victoria soto was 27. benjamin wheeler was 6 years old. and allison wyatt was 6 yes old as well. we remember them all tonight and in the days, the weeks and hopefully the years ahead. a vigil in main street here in newtown. we're going to take a short break and be back in a moment. >>> the shooting in newtown is now if second deadliest school shooting in u.s. history behind the virginia tech massacre in 2007. after every event like this, the questions always are the same, what causes this kind of a shooting? how can this happen? how can they be stopped? i'm joined now by katherine newman from baltimore who wro

dana kowalski lives near the elementary school. >> i'm numb, still. i can't believe what happened.ear it happening but never here. in your backyard. >> reporter: over the next several days, there will be dozens of funerals and memorials here and, then the daunting task of trying to return to some sense of normalcy. >> what will it be, for the children who survive this and how will they walk into the school and move forward and how will they feel safe? who will they trust? >> reporter: many here know this is an enduring loss and the path forward will be a long one, chris? >> chris: molly, thank you. it is a parent's worst nightmare, you get a call, your child's school is in lock down, many famous in newtown got the call friday, calls that led to relief or despair. joining us now, is robert lacotta, his son, aden is a first grader, saved by his teacher and ran to safety and his daughter was also unharmed and also, joe and lynn and their daughter alexis, in the third grade at sandy hook. two days later, robert, how is your family doing? >> you know, we are taking it day by day, minute

chase kowalski, age 7. jesse lewis, age 6. james mattioli, age 6. grace mcdonnell, age 7. jack pinto, age 6. noah pozner, age 6. caroline previdi, ag

services were also held for two seven-year-olds-- daniel barden and chase kowalski-- and two six-year-olds, charlotte bacon and caroline previdi. but there re signs that the weight of crushing media coverage is wearing on the small town, even as revulsion over the killings reverberated through the business world. this week, a private equity firm said it would sell its stake in the company that makes the semi- automatic rifle used in the shooting. wal-mart also removed a website listing for a similar model and dick's sporting goods suspended sales of all modern sporting rifles, indefinitely. >> ifill: some reaction now to the president's remarks at a moment when governors and lawmakers are considering etheto ps new laws on their own. pat quinn is the governor of illinois and a democrat. he's pushing for a statewide ban on assault weapons and high- capacity magazines. the state senate recently rejected his bill. we invited several republican governors as well, but they declined our offer for tonight. governor quinn, two days before the connecticut shootings, the court of appeals in chicago k

chase kowalski always played baseball outside with his dad.known for his 1,000 watt smile. grace mcdonnell went every morning it is to bus stop with her mom. emily parker was 6 and a budding artist who always carried markers and pencils. jack pinto followed football and at 6 already had a team and a hero, victor cruz. noah posner has a sister assigned to a different classroom and survived on friday. noah called her his best friend. caroline previdi played soccer and hide and seek. jessica rekos was called the little ceo for the way she planned everything. benjamin wheeler's family moved from queens new york, to newtown connecticut for the promise of grassy lawns and good schools. that promise has been shatter and last night newtown prayed with the help of the president, but he knows there is no solace or answers, just pain. questions and prayers for the lost. >> let the little children come to me, jesus said. do not hinder them. for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven. charlotte, daniel, olivia, josephine, ana, dylan, mat lean, catherine, ch

emily parker who moved to connecticut with her family just a year ago and chase kowalski survived by his parents rebecca and steve. also among the dead school psychologist mary sherlock 56 years old. she planned to retire next year. and vicki soto 27-year-old first grade teacher. the first victim nancy lanza worked with young children. she died at home believed to have been shot dead by her own son. >> margaret do we have any idea yet when the police will begin to move the bodies from the school? >> reporter: well state police have identified the children and they are optimistic that they'll be able to release the remains to the family later today. but no specific time frame has been released just yet, anthony. >> margaret, it's almost impossible to imagine any sort of recovery after this but what's your view on how this community will come together since you've grown up so close to here? >> reporter: well, you know rebecca, everything has come to a halt this weekend. all school activities all sporting event,s, all social activities. as you can see behind me there's a sign on the doo

chase kowalski, he had just completed and won his first mini triathlon.ars old, loved math and riding horses and playing at his mother's farm. 6-year-old james mattioli, he was a happy child that would wait for the school bus at the bottom of the family's driveway with his dad and anne marie murphy, married, mother of four. she is described as being artistic and hard working. and another sandy hook teacher, 27-year-old vickie soto, many remembered for heroism under fire. she spent her final moments shielding her students from harm, hiding them in a closet before a gunman entered her classroom. her mother is not surprised by her daughter's actions. >> she was truly selfless, she would not hesitate to think to save anyone else before herself and especially children. she loved them more than life and she -- she would definitely put herself in front of them any day, any day for any reason. so it doesn't surprise anybody that knows vickie that she did this. >> soto's mother says teaching was all vickie ever wanted to do, since the age of three actually. to fin

rose engel, josephine gay, dawn hochsprung, dylan hockley, madeleine hsu, catherine hubbard , chase kowalskiarquez-greene, james mattioli, grace mcdonnell, anne marie murphy, emilie parker, jack pinto, noah ponser -- ponser, -- pozner, jessica rekos, avielle richman, laura rousseau, mary cher lack, victoria soto, benjamin wheeler, and allison wyatt. we're going to remember those people for a long time in newtown. we're going to grieve with them and their families. we're also going to take their memories, the beauty of those kids, the heroism of those adults and let it point us, let it point the strong, close-knit community of newtown, connecticut, let it point us to a way that we can survive. with that i'd like to yield to my friend from the third district in connecticut, representative rosa delauro, five minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady is recognized for five minutes. ms. delauro: i thank the gentleman and i thank him for the depth of his feeling and the work that he has done over the last several days to help bring some solace and peace to families who have been so struck b

. >>> chase kowalski completed his first little kid's mini triathlon. he was a cub scout who played baseball, enjoyed the kids workshop at the home depot as well, 7 years old. injo injoining us now, dr. drew pinske. thanks so much. how important is it first of all for these other kids, nearly 600 of them, to get back into a regular school routine? >> it's very important, wolf, that these parents tell their kids that they're going to be safe and they need to get back to their lives. important to give sorrow and trauma words, allow the kids to talk about these things and make sense of them. it's very important for all of us, the head of every household, the head of either community, to begin talking about healing, returning to a normal life, and an understanding that although we will not forget this, we're going to be okay, we are resilient and we're not going to let this happen to our kids again. >> i know you heard the president last night. you've heard a lot of other politicians speaking out right now. you've got some strong views. what do we need to d

chase kowalski, age 7. jesse lewis, age 6. james mattioli, age 6. grace mcdonnell, age 7.line previdi, age 6. gels ka rekos, also age 6. avielle richman, age 6. benjamin wheeler, age 6. allison wyatt, age 6. creamy cheese... 100 calories... [ chef ] ma'am [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. it's lots of things. all waking up. nnecting to the global phenomenon we call the internet of everything. ♪ it's going to be amazing. and exciting. and maybe, most remarkably, not that far away. we're going to wake the world up. and watch, with eyes wide, as it gets to work. cisco. tomorrow starts here. i get congested. but now, with zyrtec-d®, i have the proven allergy relief of zyrtec®, plus a powerful decongestant. zyrtec-d® lets me breath freer, so i can love the air. [ male announcer ] zyrtec-d®. behind the pharmacy counter. no prescription needed. ♪ ooh baby, can i do for you today? ♪ [ female announcer ] need help keeping your digestive balance? align can help. only align has bifantis, a patented probiotic that naturally helps maintain your digestive balance.

chase kowalski, 7 years old, caroline proviti, 6 years old, victoria soto, a teacher who died saving a child, 27 years old. and charlotte bacon, 6 years old. we came together on sunday, john and joe and rosa, myself, and chris, with the senators to be at that vigil where so many of the families were in the room for the first time collectively expressing their unmanageable emotion. permeating the air with the question that we can't answer, which is why. and we can't answer that question. but over time the urgency of that question has got to transform itself in the mind of every single american and certainly in the commitment of every single elected official to do all that we can to prevent what happened in newtown from ever happening again. that is something we cannot escape as a responsibility. we talked a lot about the things that we need to do. there is no justification for weapons that were made for the explicit purpose of killing lots of people quickly to be in the hands of civilians. there is no logic for not having comprehensive and intelligent background checks. if six months

they were chase kowalski, 7 years of age. james mattioli, 6. jack pinto, 6. carolyn previdi, 6. avielle richman, 6. benjamin, wheeler, 6 years of age. allison wyatt, age 6. catherine hubbard, 6. daniel, 7 years old. grace mcdonald, 7. emilie parker, 6 years. jesse lewis, age 6. ana marquez-greene, 6. noah posner, 6. jessica rekos, 6. josephine gray, age 7. madeleine hsu, 6. olivia engel, age 6. dylan hockley. those were the children. here are the names of the teachers. dawn hochsprung, avenlg 27. anne marie murphy, age 52. lauren rousseau, 30. mary sherlach, 56. rachel davino, age 49. madam speaker, these were real people, real victims, real children and real pictures of newtown, connecticut. the people of connecticut can relate to these victims of the assault and all americans can relate to some extent this crime that's occurred. at this elementary school. madam speaker, i have four kids and 10 grandkids, three of my daughters are teachers by profession. my wife is a first grade elementary school teacher. and no parent, no parent ever wants to bury their child. they just don't

today in newton, we will bury getting a pardon, seven years old, chase kowalski, seven years old, carolinefor vd, six years old, the tories soto, the teacher who died shielding a child, 27 years old. charlotte he can come in old. we came together on sunday, john and joe and rose, myself and chris to be at the vigil were so many families were in the room for the first time collectively expressing the unimaginable motion and permeating the air with a question we can't answer, which is why. but over time the urgency of the question has got to transform itself in the minds of every single american is certainly the commitment of every single official to do all that we can to read about what would happen in newton from ever happening again. that is something we cannot escape is a responsibility. we talked a lot about things we need to do. there's absolutely no justification for weapons made for the explicit purpose of killing lots of people quickly to be in the hands of civilians. there's a reason for not having comprehensive and intelligent background checks. if six months from now we gather an

chase kowalski, 7 years old, caroline proviti, 6 years old, victoria soto, a teacher who died saving a child, 27 years old. and charlotte bacon, 6 years old. we came together on sunday, john and joe and rosa, myself, and chris, with the senators to be at that vigil where so many of the families were in the room for the first time collectively expressing their unmanageable emotion. permeating the air with the question that we can't answer, which is why. thate can't answer question. but over time the urgency of that question has got to transform itself in the mind of every single american and certainly in the commitment of every single elected official to do all that we can to prevent what happened in newtown from ever happening again. that is something we cannot escape as a responsibility. we talked a lot about the things that we need to do. there is no justification for weapons that were made for the explicit purpose of killing lots of people quickly to be in the hands of civilians. there is no logic for not having comprehensive and intelligent background checks. if six months from n

kowalski, 7 years old. caroline previdi, 6 years old. victoria soto, a teacher who died shielding a child, 27 years old. and charlotte bacon, 6 years old. we came together on sunday, john and joe and rosa, myself and chris with the senators to be at that vigil where so many in the families were in the room for the first time collectively expressing their unimaginable emotion, and permeating the air of -- was a question we can't answer which is why? we can't answer that question. but over time the urgency of that question has got to transform itself in the minds of every single american and certainly in the commitment of every single elected official to do all that we can to prevent what happened in newtown from ever happening again. that is something that we cannot escape as a responsibility. we have talked a lot about the things that we need to do. there is absolutely no justification for weapons that were made for the explicit purpose of killing lots of people quickly to be in the hands of civilians. there is no logic for not having co

neighbors said 7-year-old chase k kowalski was always riding his bicycle and recently completed his first mini triathlon. jesse lewis had his favorite hot chocolate and breakfast sandwich before heading to school friday. now teddy bear memorials, a town remembers the children. grace mcdonnel, james mattiolli. josephine gay just finish celebrated her 7th birthday days before the shooting. noah pozner loved to read. his 6-year-old sister was in a different classroom. she survived the shooting. noah called her his best friend. benjamin wheeler, allison wyatt, madeleine hsu. >> one, two, three, ready, go. >> and that's ana marquez-greene as she hits every note singing "come almighty king" with her brother, isaiah, one of many voic voices silenced too soon. >> we're back in newtown, connecticut, in a moment. first this is "today" on nbc. >>> it goes without saying it's been an incredibly difficult and emotional weekend for people, not only there in connecticut but around the country. i think the emotion of it was driven home in that simple gesture by the president last night when he recited th

or parents like steve and rebecca kowalski, who lost their son chase. two days before the shooting chase was asked what he wanted for christmas and i understand he pointed to his two missing front teeth. any of us who have had the special blessing and joy of raising young children especially at holiday time can only imagine the unbearable sorry of these -- sorrow of these families who now and forever will have a child-sized hole in their hearts and lives. we offer them whatever small measure of comfort we can in knowing that you are not alone, that all across this country and world we pray for your healing and we hope that with time you and your families can come to understand and to live through the grief of this moment. we also think of other parents, parents who raised their young adult children to give back to their community and the next generation by being teachers. in addition to the heroics of the school principal, dawn hochsprung, school psychologist mary other students gave their lives. victoria soto and lauren rousseau and their parents taorb