joining me now on the phone is rabbi shaul praver. he's been with families at the fire house that chris just referred to that has served as a kind of staging area. rabbi, what's the scene been like there today? >> it's a horrible, horrible day in newtown. every parent's worst nightmare came true today. and we're just getting news now of other children that didn't make it. and these are children that are so loved by their parents, so innocent and their death is so senseless. >> this is an elementary school. we're talking about children between 5 and 10 years old, rabbi, am i correct? >> that's correct. >> wow. this -- and i mean, this is an awesome, awesomely painful day for the parents. and you're trying to comfort them. do we know any kind of details about the adults? and have we been able to confirm any of the reports about the numbers? we have 20 children, i believe, and six adults? >> i don't really have firsthand knowledge about that. all i know is that i received a call from monsignor robert weiss. they called from the office an

joining us now on the phone is rabbi praver, a rabbi in the area in connecticut. you're at the firehouse where parents have been brought. is that right? tell us what is going on there. >> okay, we're all gathered here at the firehouse. first, we were speaking with the teachers to tafind out the students who were absent, not absent, and there is another room where there are parents whose children were taken to the hospital after the shooting. and they're waiting for the governor to return to provide further information about their condition. >> has the governor been inside that firehouse with you, speaking to parents? >> yes. the governor was with us and is coming back at 3:00. >> these are parents who may have lost their children, who may have been killed in this incident. is that what you're -- >> yes, that's what i'm saying. their children were taken to a hospital, and there is a certain amount of children taken to the hospitals and a certain amount already, i think, might, well, i don't think they know conclusively, but many of them suspect, you know, that thei

on the right, you see the rabbi praver as well. they're going to be participating in this. all the faiths will be part of this. sanjay, you've studied, as a physician, how people grieve and the emotional and physical problems that can develop. when i spoke to the rabbi and the minister yesterday, they were in the fire there is house when the parents were told their children are dead, and they started wailing and screaming. you can only imagine. what do you do? these people are still going through this. >> and they will go through it for a long time. imagine the idea of a parent losing their child. perhaps in their entire lives it's something they won't get over. it's just hard to even fathom, wolf. i will tell you there's different stages of grief. the disbelief, i think, that you're describing is very normal. first stage. sometimes there's anger, and that anger and shock sort of together. but eventually i'm just so struck by robbie parker's comments yesterday -- >> the 30-year-old father, a physician's assistant. >> and his daughter emilie was one of the victims here. his

. >>> joining me now is rabbi shaul praver. your congregation suffered a loss. >> yes, noah pozner lost his life, as was ben wheeler. >> how do you make sense of this? >> it do not make sense. it's not god's act, it's the act of a crazed individual. many people have different reactions and different needs, but the most important thing is to be present, be with them. follow their lead and listen more than speak. >> have you had a chance to talk to that little boy's parents? >> yes. i was with veronica pozner most of the time while we were waiting for the news. >> right across the street? >> right over here. yes. across the street. yeah. it was very tough. we were hoping that they were just injured. we didn't know. but the governor came back with the bad news. >> what do you even say in a moment like that or are there no words? >> there's really no words. you want to listen and be very loving and empathetic at that tender stage. love is very powerful. it's felt very strongly. and you just want to let them know that you're there,

and rabbi praver. what do you want to come out of this? what do you want people to know?> i'm hoping, anderson, this will be the tipping point in our country. i feel that children are inundated with the culture of violence from a very young age. from the toys that we play with to the movies that we see and the tv that we see. that we can do better, and we can make games that are exciting that have a positive objective. and we really need to do that, because i think it's too commonplace, the violent reaction. of course, the individual is deranged but there's a part of me that thinks if we had more of a culture of peace that these kind of events would be less likely to happen. >> reverend, what are you hoping comes out of this? >> well, i'm hoping for our community that the community grows even closer and stronger. i know people have spoken about how close and strong it was before. but as you know, in a tragedy like this, we're very vulnerable. but i also have hope that we can become stronger and closer and care for one another in deeper ways. >> it's extraordinary just the

when i spoke with rabbi praver who's a rabbi in newtown, he and described what it was like when theseday when you were in firehouse with these families that stands out that you'll never forget in your life. >> yeah. unshakable images. that's when the news came from the governor that the children did not make it and the wailing of the parents and just sort of the groping and trying to reach for something intangible. it was horrific, terrible scene. >> sanjay, you can only imagine when he talks about the wailing, the groping, what was going on in that firehouse. how are these people going to cope in the years to come? >> losing a child is such an unnatural thing. you don't ever expect to bury your own children. so i don't know that they can ever fully recover from this. there have been -- there's been lots of studies. we've talked about some of this with regard to how long posttraumatic stress, for example, lasts. and for example, in people who have seen violence or been exposed to it so closely, even months, years later, significant percentage, up to 77% three months later had diagnosa