1、Jan. 9, 2011 Good evening. The gunfire that erupted in a Safeway parking lot here echoes across the country tonight. Six people were killed, 14 wounded, when a young college dropout with a history of strange behavior took a point-blank shot at Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords as she greeted constitu
2、ents. We have our full team covering the story tonight. Heres the latest. Surgeons say they are very, very encouraged by the fact that Giffords is able to respond after a bullet passed straight through her brain. Federal charges have been filed against the shooter and we have learned about two new h
3、eroes. The woman who knocked the weapon from the gunmans hand after she was shot herself and the young man who put his hands on the congresswomans wound, it may have saved her life. We begin right here in Tucson with our colleague, Dan Harris. Dan, were getting a real picture of that the horror of t
4、he first few minutes. Late today, were getting our first real taste of the chaos inside the room when the shooting happened, when we got the first listen to the 911 tapes. We need more than one ambulance. Theres more than one person down. On the tapes, you can even hear the shock in the voices of th
5、e normally calm emergency operators. Did you say Gabrielle Giffords was hit? Oh my! Um, shes hit. I do believe shes breathing. She is breathing. She still has a pulse. And weve got one dead. Theres multiple people shot. OK. Oh my God. Today, the local sheriff revealed that in the midst of the mayhem
6、, there was another hero who took action against the shooter, a woman who tried to grab the weapon out of the suspects hands. When the gentleman was attempting to change magazines, a woman went up and grabbed the magazine and tore it away from him. The sheriff said that the actions of that woman pav
7、ed the way for two men to ultimately subdue the shooter, potentially preventing many more people from being shot. The doctor treated Representative Gabrielle Giffords gave an optimistic update, saying that shes responding to simple commands. This is about as good as it gets. The doctors stressed, th
8、ought, that the situation is still precarious. At the Congresswomans synagogue today, prayers for healing. We spoke with her rabbi who spent last night at the hospital with representative Giffords and her husband, the astronaut Mark Kelly. In the last 24 hours, we have been hearing so much about thi
9、s love story between Mark and Gabby, how is he doing? As well as can be expected, but hes a very strong man. And hes surrounded by a lot of strength. George, just one more note on those 911 tapes which we listen to together today. I was really struck by one of the calls, I think we both hear, from a
10、 man named Manuel Hernandez, who was trying to tell the operator that he was trying to give her information as he was helping people who were bleeding and in some cases, dying. It was just incredible. Both have such persistent mind. She got a lot of information out of him during that call. OK, Dan H
11、arris, thanks very much. The FBI director Robert Mueller said today that Congresswoman Giffords was definitely the target of the shooter. His team is working with local officials here and the investigation is moving fast. So, David Kerley picks up that part of the story in Washington. David? Good ev
12、ening, George. Tonight, a clear picture that this was a lone, angry, disenfranchised young man who was solely responsible for these deadly shootings. As you mentioned, the director of the FBI is in Tucson, the first time in 15 years that the head of the FBI has been on the scene the day after a grue
13、some crime. As agents worked at the crime scene, tonight, authorities have filed five counts against 22-year-old Jared Loughner, including attempted assassination of a Member of Congress. On the scene, the FBI director suggested that he was a lone assassin. There is no information at this time to su
14、ggest any specific threat remains. It turns out that the second person of interest was just a cab driver who dropped loughner off. Tonight, the FBI said it found in Loughners home safe an envelope with the words, “I planned ahead,“ “my assassination“ and “Giffords”. Also in the safe, a thank you let
15、ter from Giffords after the two met 3 years ago at a similar community event, a meeting Loughner may not have been satisfied with. He told me he asked her some questions that made no sense to me, but he said “I cant believe she doesnt understand. Politicians dont get it”. I was like “Okay, whatever,
16、 Jared, just passing it off”. But I now have known that was probably a trigger. A large part of this investigation now involves combing the internet. Loughner left a trail of postings, anti-government rants. The last was a note saying good-bye to friends, adding “dont be mad”. Its a picture of a tro
17、ubled young man, rejected by the army after high school. There were minor drug arrests. But then, a serious downward spiral this fall. He was kicked out of community college, told he needed a mental health review before he could return. About the same time, the last day of November, he legally bough
18、t the gun used in the shooting at this store. Neighbors said they had no idea that Loughner was so troubled. This guy seemed to be a loony. The things that he put on the internet and nobody noticed that, there might be a concern. The FBI director admits today that over the past decade, its become mu
19、ch easier to spread hate speech on the internet. That doesnt present a challenge for the FBI. And George, we do want to point out that Loughner will make his first court appearance tomorrow afternoon there in Tucson. OK, David, thanks. As the investigation proceeds, 13 of the wounded are here at the
20、 university hospital behind me with Congresswoman Giffords. Theyre the lucky ones. In all, there was 6 dead. One was a federal judge, John Roll, 63. He just wanted to say hello to the Congresswoman on his way to Mass. One a pastor, Dorwin Stoddard, 76 years old. And one just elected to her student c
21、ouncil, she wanted to meet her Congresswoman. Christina-Taylor Green was just 9 years old, born on September 11th, 2001. She was proud of that. The sad irony of that birthday struck her parents. She came into the world on 9/11 and then at 9 years old she leaves it all on this terrible day. She was a
22、 passionate girl and tenacious. When she didfocus on boom, she is 100 percent. Like most little girls, she loved to dance, but she was the only girl on her little league team. Baseballs in a blood. Our families have fallen for the baseball. Here is her grandfather, Dallas Green who managed the Phill
23、ies when they won the 99 World Series. Christina is beautiful inside and out. She had a beautiful soul in heart, and she was so kind and she wanted to help others. The intense passion and tolerations, and on the other side, she has the caring and sensitivities to others, and she has both. I hope Ive
24、 talked to her. I think people should know more about Christian. She was an amazing little girl, and she got robbed. She was an amazing girl. But to Congresswoman Giffords now. Its almost impossible to believe that a bullet could pass your brain without killing you. But that Congresswoman has surviv
25、ed and today her doctors are cautiously optimistic. When you get shot in the head and a bullet goes through your brain, the chances you are living is very small and the chances of you waking up and actually following commands is even much smaller than that. So this so far, its been a very good situa
26、tion. Dr. Richard Besser joins us now from New York, our medical editor.Isnt it amazing, Rich? How could someone survive this? You know, George, it is incredible. Its a combination of luck and excellent medical care and I take heavier on the luck. The bullet went straight through the left side of he
27、r brain from the back to the front and hadnt been off by ensuring the angle by a few degrees. The picture would be very different if it will hit critical structures and she likely would have died. What are doctors most worried about now? Well, the big concern in the first few days is swelling. If yo
28、u think of this, the skull is the balloon box, the brain in there, if it swells, the increased pressure would actually cut off the blood flow, and she would die. To manage that, theyd actually remove the left side of her skull, and that way the brain can swell. When the swelling goes down, they can
29、put this skull right back on. And the doctorsI heard one doctor said today they were not gonna know for sure about recovery, could be up to seven years with trauma victims like this. But, is a full recovery possible here? You know every neurosurgeon weve talked to has seen cases where theres been a
30、full recovery. The doctors here are being very careful to respect her privacy and they havent shared all that they know. So, its too soon to give a prognosis. But it really isnt too soon to be hopeful. OK, Rich, thanks very much. It is an amazing survival story and Congresswoman Giffords is also a p
31、olitical survivor. Shes won 3 elections Christiana Amanpour is here with me now. Christiana, the amazing thing about this is she always says that with a smile and shes made friends on both sides. She has, she made a point, say, that as a former Republican shes now representing Democrats in a Republi
32、can district. But also, she has a reputation as a pragmatic moderate and all the people weve been talking to say that she really does create real friendships, both personally and politically. Gabrielle Giffords is the rare politician whos respected and liked by colleagues in both parties. A Democrat
33、, shes now been elected three times to serve her largely Republican district. She does not fit easily into political categories. Shes just a absolutely delightful person, so it doesnt make any difference for the R&D while we are trying to do the best job we can. Shes a gun owner and champions gun ri
34、ght, a motorcyclist who sided with bikers wanting to ride without helmets. Shes argued for troops of the Mexican border but opposed Arizonas tough new immigration law and she passionately back health care reform, a Fulbright scholar, CEO of her familys tyre company. In 2007, she married space shuttl
35、e commander Mark Kelly, making her the only Congress member with an active duty spouse. And, of course, Mark Kelly continues his vigil at her bedside in the hospital just behind us, and he is also meant to command the last final shuttle mission to the International Space Station. A sound couple. Chr
36、istina, thanks very much. The shooting had barely ended before the repercussions began, and the debate about what this all means for our politics and our culture will go on for some time. David Wright has a first look at where it stands today. Although the shooter in this rampage appears to have act
37、ed alone, many feel there is blame to go around. Well, I think, with the doomsday of the United States of America Today, Tucson sheriff took aim at Arizonas permissive gun laws. I have never been a proponent of letting everybody in this state carry weapons under any circumstances that they want. And
38、 thats almost where we are. Others blame the toxic political culture, us versus them. We have a society where people are almost trained to hate our government. There is a great deal of animosity toward government and elected officials. But we have created a monster. Congresswoman Giffords has encoun
39、tered that monster before. In 2009, someone left a gun at one of her town Hall meetings on health care reform. Are you still going to get the out there publicly talking about health care? Congresswoman refused to let the strong feelings of her constituents intimidate. My belief is you got to do your
40、 job. So if youre gonna represent people, youve got to get out and understand what theyre thinking. Giffords is fond of joking her district, includes the OK corral. Tombstone: the town too tough to die. She counts herself a supporter of gun rights. In fact, she owns a Glock 9MM like the weapon used
41、to shoot her. But Giffords herself has been critical of inflammatory political rhetoric. Last spring, she spoke out after Sarah Palins political action committee put her district in the “crosshairs”. When people do that, they got to realize there is a consequence to the action. Days earlier, someone
42、 shot at the glass door of her office here in town. Thankfully in that instance, no one was injured or killed. David Wright, ABC News, Tucson. After the shooting of congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords come new questions tonight about whether members of Congress should have more security. In most cases,
43、 they travel with no security at all when theyre out in their districts. And so, John Karl was back on Capitol Hill tonight with late word on an extraordinary bipartisan call about security and about this week ahead. John, what you learned? A quite of call, David. This was with Boehner and Pelosi, t
44、he Democratic and Republican leaders, and 800 members and staff on this call to talk about those things, a lot of talk from the leaders, this being the unified response of one Congress, not two warring parties but one Congress to this tragedy. To that end, as you know, they have canceled all busines
45、s next week, all regular business. Instead, they will meet on Wednesday to have a resolution honoring Gabrielle Giffords and the other victims of the shooting. And also, David, there will be a security briefing with all members. The FBI and the Capital police talk about their own security. Coming mi
46、dweek. And John, you and I first touched on this last night. Here, we need to be a lot of talk about security, but is it realistic to think that more than 500 members of the House and Senate could actually have their own security when theyre out in their districts? Well, 535 members. When they go ho
47、me, sometimes they have six to eight events a day. Extraordinary! And many of them are saying that they dont want security to come between them and their constituents, including the one Democrat we spoke to today. One Democratic leader had this to say. And I think we need to recognize that we are a
48、representative body and our title, representative, is a meaningful one and we need not build the security cocoon around us so significant that the public doesnt feel like they can have access to us. Tonight, hundreds of flights have been canceled in Atlanta, the countrys busiest airport, as a massiv
49、e winter storm makes its way across the South. 10 states now dealing with fierce ice and snow tonight. And “Good Morning America” Sam champion is in Atlanta tonight. Sam, good evening Good evening, David. Southern cities like Birmingham, Memphis, Atlanta here could expect anywhere from one to two inches of snow every winter. Theyll get that tonight. Memphis is expecting about five inches of snow. But the ice with this storm, thatll be the real problem. And well show you how those areas are already treating. The last time Atl
