>>> possible plea deal, accused shoot inner the tucson massacre heads to court. will the judge agree he is mentally competent. >> here is what people will be talking about today. square read loughner due back in court in just a couple hours he is expected to plead guilty in last year's shooting in tucson. the question of his competency must be answeredder. here is karen brown this arizona with the latest for wjz. >> reporter: jared loughner is expected to plead guilty to killing six people and injuring 13 others including former congress woman gabrielle gifford it is shootings took place at a tucson shopping center, january 2011 but first, loughners attorneys must convince the judge he is mentally competent to understand the charges against him. >> i am sure the judge will talk to mr. loughner ask him some questions engage in some dialogue so that the judge is convinced he does understand, what is going on. >> the same judge said last year loughner was mentally unfit, to stand trial. loughner's lawyers are now hoping he will be sentenced to life in prison, instea

>> miguel almaguer, starting us off from tucson tonight. miguel, thanks. >>> in the milwaukee suburb of oak creek, wisconsin, investigators are still trying to figure out why that man opened fire in a sikh temple over this past weekend. tonight in colorado his step mother is speaking out. nbc's john yang has the story. >> reporter: when laura page heard police accuse wade michael page of the sikh temple shooting rampage she didn't recognize her former step son. >> he was a happy person and a happy child. what happened, god only knows, because i don't. >> reporter: page was married to wade's father for 20 years and lost contact with her former step son when he went into the army. she is puzzled by his reported involvement with white supremacists. >> when he lived in texas with us he had hispanic friends and he had black friends. you know, there was none of that. >> reporter: he was in two heavy metal bands associated with racist skinheads. law enforcement officials tell nbc news that searches of apartments where wade had lived turned up litt

nbc's miguel almaguer is in tucson. good evening. >> reporter: brian, good evening. today for the first time jared lee loughner was engaged with the judge. he answered with short answers,

nbc's jay gray reports from tucson. >> reporter: he was rushed back to the federal courthouse in tucson behind the tinted windows of this suv. once inside the courtroom jared loughner had nowhere to hide. his competent change of plea proceeding began with testimony from a prison psychologist who described loughner as a psychopath who heard voices and ranted incoherently when she first visited him after his arrest. but who now, after more than a year of treatment, has become quote human, crying for the victims of the killing spree, es vegsly 9-year-old christina taylor green. evidence she concluded that loughner was capable of understanding what he's accused of and competent to stand trial. judge larry burns agreed and quickly moved forward with a hearing to consider a plea agreement. prosecutors waiving the death penalty in exchange for a guilty plea and a sentence for life in prison without any possibility of parole. the judge described in detail the violent offense of the day six were killed and 13 injured and referred to all of the victims by name, as he read the counts aloud. loughn

in a tucson courtroom, a community got some measure of closure. jared loughner entered a guilty plea for the january 2011 shooting spree at an arizona supermarket. six people were killed and 13 injured including former congresswoman gabrielle giffords. a federal judge ruled that loughner was competent to stand trial. allowing him to enter the guilty plea. calling the pain and loss from the shootings incalculable, giffords and mark kelly said avoiding a trial will allow us, and we hope the whole southern arizona community to continue our recovery. another victim from the day agreed. >> i came within a, maybe a couple of inches of losing my life at the safeway. and that -- that kind of experience stays with you. >> reporter: loughner's attorneys had to persuade the federal judge to allow loughner to enter the guilty plea. a psychiatrist who evaluated him testified he showed signs of depression as early as 2006. he was diagnosed with schizophrenia. officials have been forcibly medicating him for more than a year. his psychiatrist said the treatment s

>> miguel almaguer, starting us off from tucson tonight. miguel, thanks. >>> in the milwaukee suburb of oak creek, wisconsin, investigators are still trying to figure out why that man opened fire in a sikh temple over this past weekend. tonight in colorado his step mother is speaking out. nbc's john yang has >>> when laura page heard wade michael page was accused of the sikh shooting rampage she didn't recognize her former step son. >> he was a happy person and a happy child. and what happened, god only knows, because i don't. >> page was married to wade's father for 20 years and lost contact with her former step son when he went into the army. she is puzzled by his reported involvement with white supremacists. >> when he lived in texas with us, he had hispanic friends and black friends. there was none of that. >> he was in two heavy metal bands associated with racist skinheads. law enforcement officials tell nbc news that searches of apartments where wade had lived turned up little of interest. they're exploring whether this was domestic t

bill whitaker's at the federal courthouse in tucson. bill? >> reporter: bob, judge larry burns, who has presided over this case since the beginning, said he saw a different jared loughner today. loughner, who shouted and ranted at a hearing last year today was quiet and subdued and spoke with a slurred but understandable voice. for most of the two-hour hearing, loughner sat calmly by his lawyer's side as his court appointed psychiatrist described his slow dissent into schizophrenia. he smiled just once when she mention it had name of his favorite prison guard. over the past year, loughner has undergone intensive drug treatment and counseling. today judge burns said: , when judge burns asked him if he knew what he was doing today, he answered distinctly "yes, i do." he then pled guilty to 19 counts of murder and attempted murder for this january, 2011, tucson shooting that left six dead and 13 wounded, including congresswoman giffords. to each count, loughner answered "i plead guilty." in exchange for his plea, federal prosecutors agreed not t

jared loughner admits to the tucson shooting spree that left six people dead and wounded former congresswoman gabrielle giffords. >> mr. loughner will spend the remainder of his natural life in prison. >>> seeking shelter, more than a million people in china are evacuated ahead of a powerful typhoon that left parts of the philippines underwater. >>> tangled up. a police officer is called in to rescue a bull moose wrapped in a a police officer is called in to rescue a bull moose wrapped in a child's swing set. captioning funded by cbs. >>> this is the "cbs morning news" for wednesday, august 8, 2012. >>> yes, i said moose. wait until you see that story. good to be with you. the rhetoric on the presidential campaign trail is heating up. this morning is the issue a flap over welfare work requirements and former president clinton is on this one. a just released poll carries good news for both candidates. manuel gallegus is in washington with more. good morning to you. >> good morning terrell. the latest poll shows that each candidate has certain advantages in key battleground states. for example,

now the tucson unified school district's take on this is that you weren't banned, you were boxed. >> what do they mean by that? >> they didn't really ban it. they just took it out of brown hands. they banned mexicans basically. they got rid of mexican-american studies. they put all of the books that they took away from the students, they boxed them and put them away. the catch-22 seems to be that anybody who's not from that ethnic studies world could teach it but that there would be disciplinary action as i understand it if anyone complains about those being taught. so in essence they've been, what i call a soft-banning. they're out of the picture. and -- you know, here's the situation, it's not about books. it's about ethnicity. it's about the power in phoenix -- what i call the "arpaiocracy." >> joe arpaio. >> joe arpaio. and governor brewer and that whole crowd i think. if the tucson school district does not comply with what the big boys, the big bullies tell them, you know, they're going to lose $15 million in funding. then what happens? so everybody's between a rock and a hard p

now the tucson unified school district's take on this is that you weren't banned, you were boxed. >> what do they mean by that? >> they didn't really ban it. they just took it outf brown hands. they banned mexicans basically. they got rid of mexican-american studies. they put all of the books that they took away from the students, they boxed them and put them away. the catch-22 seems to be that anybody who's not from that ethnic studies world could teach it but that there would be disciplinary action as i understand it if anyone complains about those being taught. so in essence they've been, what i call a soft-banning. they're out of the picture. and -- you kno here's the situation, it's not aboubooks. it's aboutthnity. it's about the power in phoenix -- what i call the "arpaiocracy." >> joe arpaio. >> joe arpaio. and governor brewer and that whole crowd i think. if the tucson school district does not comply with what the big boys, the big bullies tell them, you know, they're going to lose $15 million in funding. then what happens? so everybody's between a rock and a hard place. >> w

>> six dead in the tucson shooting that nearly took of life of gabby giffords. is america doing enough to keep guns from getting into the wrong hands? a no hold's barred debate. plus, governor romney on welfare. >> he'd ask the middle class. it's like robin hood in reverse. it's romney hood. >> tonight, the campaigns square off. and a day at the beach turns terrifying. my prime-time exclusive of the survivor of the cape cod shark attack. this is "piers morgan tonight." good evening. our big story tonight, inside the mind of a shooter. jared lee loughner, the alleged gunman of the tucson shooting that killed six people and nearly killed gabby giffords entered a not guilty plea in a court today. a judge ruled him competent to stand trial. this comes after news the psychiatrist who treated the alleged aurora shooter james holmes was so concerned about his behavior. an abc news reporter yesterday even contacted university police. in oak creek wisconsin, police saying tonight there are links between a white supremacist movement and this man. he was mentioned in a sma

in january of last year, investigators say loughner opened fire outside a supermarket in tucson where the congress won, gabrielle giffords, was meeting with the public. police say loughner killed six people and injured more than a dozen others including the congresswoman who suffered a wound to the head. doctors determined loughner suffered from schizophrenia and have been treating him for a year. before dead's hearing started a report on the case said he expected the judge to find loughner competent and accept a plea that will likely put him behind bars if life. earlier today, congresswoman gabrielle giffords' husband said he and his wife are satisfied with the proposed plea agreement that would likely help loughner avoid the death penalty saying "we don't speak for all the victims or their families but we are satisfied with this plea agreement. the pain and loss caused by the events of january 8, 2011 are incalcuable and avoiding a trial will help us continue with our recovery and move forward with our likes. what is the status of the hearing? >>reporter: the doctor is on the stand

. >>> the arizona man charged with opening fire on dozens in tucson has pleaded guilty. jared lofner admits to shooting and killing 6 people in january 2011. 13 others were oned wounded -- were wounded including gabby giffords. his plea allowedss him -- allows him to a ai void the death penl -- avoid the death penalty. >>> the 6 people shot and killed in a temple on sunday in wisconsin are being remembered. today the family of the gunman who was killed in the attack are are trying to make sense of what happened there. wjz continues to investigate his ties to white sue prem see here. here's mike hellgren. >> several watch groups say this was wade michael page's sound track of hate, music from his band. the southern poverty law center says he performed in baltimore and a maryland based record label distributed it. it's part of a troubling picture to emerge of the suspected sikh temple shooter who authorities say killed six people outside milwaukee before police killed him. >> his tattoos were his badges proving he was part of this skin head war >> it brought attention to u

up first, the shooting rampage in tucson, arizona, takes a dramatic step this morning. jared lee loughner now facing a lifetime in prison after pleading guilty to a shooting that killed six people and almost killed a former member of congress, gabrielle giffords. under the plea deal loughner will be sentenced to life in prison with no parole but will avoid the death penalty. the u.s. attorney prosecuting the case says loughner's mental state was a big factor in this decision. >> the doctors who have treated and observed mr. loughner since the shooting agree that he suffered from a severe mental illness. that is severe schizophrenia. at the time of the shooting and before the shooting. the fragility of his continued competency to stand trial was taken into account. >> we're live in tu san. we're used to seeing loughner's picture we just showed on the screen. you saw him in the courtroom yesterday. how did he look to you? >> reporter: he looked very different. at least his demeanor was very different. when he first came into the courtroom for the hearing, he did look out

in a tucson courtroom, a community got some measure of closure. jared loughner entered a guilty plea for the january 2011 shooting spree at an arizona supermarket. six people were killed and 13 injured including former congresswoman gabrielle giffords. a federal judge ruled that loughner was competent to stand trial. allowing him to enter the guilty plea. calling the pain and loss from the shootings incalculable, giffords and mark kelly said avoiding a trial will allow us, and we hope the whole southern arizona community to continue our recovery. another victim from the day agreed. >> i came within a, maybe a couple of inches of losing my life at the safeway. and that -- that kind of ys wit. >> reporter: loughner's attorneys had to persuade the federal judge to allow loughner to enter the guilty plea. a psychiatrist who evaluated him testified he showed signs of depression as early as 2006. he was diagnosed with schizophrenia. officials have been forcibly medicating him for more than a year. his psychiatrist said the treatment seemed to be helping

the tucson supermarket shooter pleaded guilty today. jared loughner killed six people in that attack and wounded a dozen others including gabriel giffords. the plea part of a deal with prosecutors. it means he will not die for his crimes. but will never again be a free man. >> pursuant to the plea agreement entered today, mr. loughner will spend the remainder of his natural life in prison with no possibility of parole. suffered from schizophrenia and they have been treating him for more than a year now. officers determined is he better now mentally competent that judge also asked loughner specifically about each person he shot and whether he intended to do it. over and over again jared lee loughner answered yes. the top federal judge in arizona john role. and a 9-year-old christina taylor green. today the family friend who brought her to the event where the shooting happened says she is happy with the deal while noting it does not bring back little christina. >> there is never closure because christina is never going to ring my doorbell

. -- the quakes were measure -- >>> former congresswoman gabby give fords back in tucson this morning. she -- giffords back in tucson. >>> the presidential candidates hit the road in key battleground states today. the romney-ryan team spreads out in most swing states, florida and iowa. president obama kicks off his bus tour also in iowa. tahman bradley with the latest. >> reporter: mitt romney's vice president selection of paul ryan is energizing conservatives. the gop ticket attracted huge crowds over the weekends and hopes that continues today as romney travels through florida and romney heads to iowa. the pick is putting ryan's controversial budget proposal front and center. >> we are going to reapply those principles and leave our kids a better future. >> reporter: democrats pounced moving aggressively to tie romney to the bunt plan that includes tax cuts for the rich and major changes for medicare. >> the president: they have tried this before. they have tried to sell thus trickle down theory before. guess what? it did not work. >> america will be in a death -- an -- [ unintellig

first the beginning of closure for the scarred community of tucson, arizona, jared loughner facing a lifetime in president on after killing 6 people and almost killing gabby giffords. the u.s. attorney prosecuting the case says loughner's mental state was a big factor in this decision. >> the doctors who have treated and observed mr. loughner since the shooting agree that he suffered from a severe mental illness, that is severe schizophrenia at the time of the shooting and before the shooting. the fragility of his continued competency to stand trial was taken into account. >> we're used to see loughner like we did in a photo now. did he look different to you yesterday? >> very, very different, zoraida. when he walked in, he had more of his hair grown in and when he looked at the public and family, some of the victims and reporters, he had an unusual look on his face, almost leak a bit of a sneer, but he was very calm in demean, this is different than what the public has seen before. the people sitting in court. in previous appearances and his very first appearance he looked down and

tucson for a competency hearing. if a judge finds that loughner understands the charges against him a plea deal could move forward tomorrow. alicia acuna is live in the tucson. hi. >> reporter: hi, patti ann. today could come down to how jared loughner handles himself and there are a lot of ifs. the doing nosed schizophrenic has not been in court for more than a year. he has been receiving treatment in a missouri mental hospital since last summer. the expectation is he is ready to enter a guilty plea. however loughner could change his mind or he could act out which could happen in the past. it is up to loughner and the judge. >> when a defendant enters a guilty plea that is going to send him away for life without the possibility of parole, this judge will ask a large amount of questions, many questions i should say, for purposes of making sure this is a voluntary plea. that he knows and understands the consequences of the plea. >> reporter: now this could be a long day. it could be a very short day, patti ann. if the

all eyes on tucson, arizona. we're glad with you're us. i'm jenna lee. gregg: i'm gregg jarrett in for jon scott. we're hours away from a major hearing in the jared loughman murder trial. at his competency hearing the loughner was declared mentally unfit. prosecutors have moved forward where both sides reached a deal where loughner would plead guilty to avoid death. first a judge needs to decide if loughner is competent enough to agree to a deal that would put him behind bars for the rest of his life. alicia acuna outside the district courthouse in tucson with the latest. how do we expect things to unfold today? >> reporter: hi, gregg. jared loughner's court appointed psychiatrist is expected to take the stand to testify that after more than a year of treatment in a mental facility, loughner is competent to enter a plea. now, if u.s. district judge larry burns agrees with that assessment, they move to a plea hearing which loughner will whenter a plea of guilty. doing this he avoids the federal death penalty and will receive life in prison. this is why th

showers should be numerous in arizona including tucson. as i mentioned, friday looks just as hot. >> all right, bill, thanks so much. >>> well, coming up, cisco drives, a bank scandal widens, and a nike t-shirt that has critics up in arms. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. >>> plus, the fur flies as lady gaga fires back at animal rights group peta. >>> perfection in seattle, a giant suspension, and a historic win for usa soccer. you're watching "early today." >>> good morning and welcome back to early today. i'm lynn berry, and here are some of your top headlines this morning. a passenger jet flying from jfk to moscow made an emergency landing in iceland after a phone call was made claiming there was a bomb on board. all peoples have been vak aaeee and are undergoing normal security searches. >>> the mayor of dallas has declared the city's west nile virus outbreak to be a state of emergency after more than 200 cases and ten deaths have been reported. >>> the husband of england's queen elizabeth prince philip is back

captioning sponsored by macneil/lehrer productions >> woodruff: the tucson gunman accused of killing six and wounding 13 people, including former congresswoman gabrielle giffords last year, will spend his life in prison. good evening. i'm judy woodruff. >> brown: and i'm jeffrey brown. on the newshour tonight, we have the latest on jared lee loughner's appearance in court today, and how he convinced a judge he was now competent to plead guilty. >> woodruff: then we follow the campaign money trail, who's raised what and from whom, and what are the presidential candidates spending it on? >> brown: ray suarez begins a special series about the impact of natural gas and oil surpluses in america. tonight he's in a north dakota town trying to cope with its sudden prosperity. >> woodruff: track and field heats up at the london olympics as gymnastics winds down. we get the latest from christine brennan of "u.s.a. today." >> brown: and we remember robert hughes and judith crist, two legendary critics of the arts whose deaths remind us of another era. >> warner: that's all ahead on tonight's ne

captioning sponsored by macneil/lehrer productions >> woodruff: the tucson gunman accused of killing six and wounding 13 people, including former congresswoman gabrielle giffords last year, will spend his life in prison. good evening. i'm judy woodruff. >> brown: and i'm jeffrey brown. on the newshour tonight, we have the latest on jared lee loughner's appearance in court today, and how he convinced a judge he was now competent to plead guilty. >> woodruff: then we follow the campaign money trail, who's raised what and from whom, and what are the presidential candidates spending it on? >> brown: ray suarez begins a special series about the impact of natural gas and oil surpluses in america. tonight he's in a north dakota town trying to cope with its sudden prosperity. >> woodruff: track and field heats up at the london olympics as gymnastics winds down. we get theatesfrom christine brennan of "u.s.a. today." >> brown: anwe remberobe hughes and judith crist, two legendary critics of the arts whose deaths remind us of another era. >> warner: that's all ahead on tonight's newshour. majo

has been rehabbing from her injuries in the tucson shooting rampage. her husband mark kelly says she will continue her therapy in tour son. >>> film director spike lee said president obama is not perfect and expectations were too high for his first term. lee blamed the republican congress for blocking anything the president tried to do to try to prevent him from win ag second term. >>> president obama is in chicago after yesterday's fund-raising power with donors. politico reports the president predicted a close race in this year's election but said, we're really well positioned to not just win but keep america moving florida. >>> michelle obama was at fund-raising events in california including at the home of gwenn stefani. she said he can't do it alone, he's not a spiderman, he's human and he needs your help. >> that's your morning dish of scrambled politics. >>> here is your first look at wow wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 13,207 after gaining 42 points on friday. the s&p was up three and the nasdaq added two. in overseas tradin

. >> man suspected in the tucson shooting rampage expected to plead guilty to the crime. today an order, confirmed jared loughner will answer the plea tomorrow it would result in a life sentence, january 11th shooting left 6 people dead, injured 12 others including gabby giffords. >>> mass shootings in tucson and colorado now wisconsin have gun control advocates calling once again on congress and president obama to take they gathered near the white house, to call for stricter gun laws. more needs to be done to ensure these mass killings are prevented in future. >>> news edge on maryland now. same-sex marriage advocates announced their biggest campaign yet. human rights campaign says it raised an additional $1 million for its cause. $250,000 going to maryland in an effort to help get a referendum on gay marriage, on the ballot bringing the total in the state to $1.6 million. >>> maryland's bill on pit bulls up for discussion during this special session starting thursday. some lawmakers want the breed to be defined adds inherently dangerous making owners liable for any bite

has been rehabbing from her injuries in the tucson shooting rampage. her husband mark kelly says she will continue her therapy in tour son. >>> film director spike lee said president obama is not perfect and expectations were too high for his first term. lee blamed the republican congress for blocking anything the president tried to do to try to prevent him from win ag second term. >>> president obama is in chicago after yesterday's fund-raising power with donors. politico reports the president predicted a close race in this year's election but said, we're really well positioned to not just win but keep america moving florida. >>> michelle obama was at fund-raising events in california including at the home of gwenn stefani. she said he can't do it alone, he's not a spiderman, he's human and he needs your help. >> that's your morning dish of scrambled politics. >>> here is your first look at wow wall seet will kick off the day. the dow opens at 13,207 after gaining 42 points on friday. the s&p was up three and the nasdaq added two. in overseas trading,

captioning sponsored by macneil/lehrer productions >> woodruff: the tucson gunman accused of killing six and wounding 13 people, including former congresswoman gabrielle giffords last year, will spend his life in prison. good evening. i'm judy woodruff. >> brown: and i'm jeffrey brown. on the newshour tonight, we have the latest on jared lee loughner's appearance in court today, and how he convinced a judge he was now competent to plead guilty. >> woodruff: then we follow the campaign money trail, who's raised what and from whom, and what are the presidential candidates spending it on? >> brown: ray suarez begins a special series about the impact of natural gas and oil surpluses in america. tonight he's in a north dakota town trying to cope with its sudden prosperity. >> woodruff: track and field heats up at the london olympics as gymnastics winddown. we get the latest fr christine brennan of "u.s.a.oday >> brown: and we remember robert hughes and judith crist, two legendary critics of the arts whose deaths remind us of another era. >> warner: that's all ahead on tonight's newshour.

meanwhile, three survivors of the tucson shooting are part of an ad campaign calling on the presidential candidates to address gun control. >> president obama. >> governor romney. >> we demand a plan. >> because 48,000 americans will be murdered with guns during the next president's terms. >> the campaign was produced by mayors against illegal guns. >>> it was an out of this world engineering spectacular that's being called unprecedented feat of technology. nasa's high tech roving scientific laboratory curiosity landed overnight. ready for the most ambitious exploration of the red planet. the mission, search for the basic elements of life. it didn't come without tense moments. teresa garcia's is in pasadena, california. good morning to you. >> good morning, terrell. you know, it was exciting, it was tense and there was a dramatic countdown inside the mission control room as each milestone was successfully ticked off during curiosity's seven-minute edl or entry, decent and landing. >> behind me is a replica of the rover. it's ready to begin an amazing scientific mission. nasa engineers ch

a federal judge in arizona says a plea deal has been reached with the suspect in last year's deadly tucson shooting that wounded former congresswoman gabriel gafrd. jared loughner is due in court today for a hearing to decide whether he's mentally competent to change his plea. nbc's jay gray has that story. >> reporter: it has been more than a year and a half since the storm of gunfire that ended six lives, injured 13, and forever changed this community. 19 months that included funerals, a one-year memorial, and a continuing struggle for the city and victims who survived, including former congresswoman gabriel giffords, the target of the attack. it's also been more than a year since we first saw this haunting grin of jared lee loughner, the man accused in the killing spree. time that the 23-year-old has spent in a federal mental hospital after being found incompetent to stand trial. initially, his court appearance later today was to consider treatment from doctors and psychologists and the use of psycho trophic drugs that made loughner stable enough to understand the murder and attempted m

her husband tweeting, moving back to tucson today. gabby has been waiting for that day for a long time. we are cheering her on. >>> and in london, the olympic games have come to an end. the after party now under way. and not without a golden moment for the americans. the dramatic drive. look a this. a golden dive right there. jeffrey kofman is in london tonight. jeffrey? >> reporter: good evening to you, david, yes, it is over. for team usa, it was 16 incredible days in sunny london that kept raining gold. >> the lob from lebron. >> reporter: the men's basketball dream team faced sobering reality in a series of tough matches but this afternoon, they triumphed over spain and today got the gold. no one expected david boudia to get gold. but look a this, a ten meter plunge close to perfection. >> he's got it! >> reporter: not bad for a guy who confessed he had a fear of heights. the champion from china was expecting to wear gold. when he had to settle with silver, he was shattered. the first american diving gold since greg louganis in 19

. >>> the man accused of last year's deadly tucson shooting agreed to spend the rs of his life behind bars. jared loughner pleaded guilty to 19 counts of murder and attempted murder yesterday included the attempted assassination attempt of congresswoman gabrielle giffords. karen brown reports. >> jarod lee loughner pleaded guilty tuesday to the 2011 shooting rampage that killed six people and wounded 13 others, including his intended target then congresswoman gabrielle giffords. a thinner expressionless loughner repeated i plead guilty 19 times, one for each count. >> mr. loughner will spend the remainder of his natural life in prison with no possibility of parole. >> a federal judge ruled that months of psychotropic medication and counseling to treat loughner's schizophrenia made him competent to stand trial and enter please. >> for some survivors it was little comfort. >> i'm glad he knows what he did. it doesn't change the facts. >> the plea deal spares jared loughner from the death penalty and spares the survivors and the victims' family from the pain of a lengthy trial. >> i grab

. >>> the man accused of last year's deadly tucson shooting agreed to spend the rest of his life behind bars. without the possibility of parole. jared loughner pleaded guilty to 19 counts of murder and attempted murder yesterday including the attempted assassination attempt of congresswoman gabrielle giffords. karen brown reports. >> jarod lee loughner pleaded guilty tuesday to the 2011 shooting rampage that killed six people and wounded 13 others, including his intended target then congresswoman gabrielle giffords. a thinner expressionless loughner repeated i plead guilty 19 times, one for each count. >> mr. loughner will spend the remainder of his natural life in prison with no possibility of parole. >> a federal judge ruled that months of psychotropic medication and counseling to treat loughner's schizophrenia made him competent to stand trial and enter pleas. >> for some survivors it was little comfort. >> i'm glad he knows what he did. it doesn't change the facts. >> the plea deal spares jared loughner from the death penalty and spares the survivors and the victims' family from the

it happened in january 2011 in tucson. among those injured, gabrielle giffords who was shot in the head. now, loughner is set to appear on a court hearing to determine whether or not he's competent to stand trial. if he's found competent, according to court filings, his lawyer has requested a change of plea hearing. now, currently loughner has pled not guilty. a guilty plea would stop a lengthy and painful trial for the victims. in addition to the former representative, there were six people who were killed. among them, a federal judge and a 9-year-old girl. kyung lah, cnn, tucson. >> let's bring in our legal contributor paul callan. paul, welcome. >> good morning, carol. >> jared loughner originally pleaded not guilty. if he's found to be sane and competent to stand trial, why would his attorneys then decide to change his plea to guilty even if it's only on the one charge? >> well, they're fighting the death penalty here, carol. the biggest thing that they face, if they go to trial and he's found guilty by a jury, is that

nbc's jay gray is live in tucson with more on today's hearing. jay? >> jim, yeah. he had closely cropped hair, wore a khaki prison jump suit. he spoke softly and answered briefly when questioned by the judge. but what jared loughner said inside the courthouse today spoke volumes. jared loughner was rushed back to the federal courthouse in tucson today behind the tinted windows of this suv. but this scarred community, the victims and their families, can't hide the pain that lingers more than a year and a half after the attack. >> it's never going to bring closu closure. >> no closure but during a competency and change of plea proceeding, perhaps answers. it began with testimony for from a forensic psychologist who treated loughner since his arrest. she described the 23-year-old as an aggressive yelling psychopath who heard voices and rambled incoherently at times when she first met him. after a year of counseling and treatment with drugs, he "has become human." she described loughner as crying for the victims of the attack, especially the child, that's 9-year-old kr

he then pled guilty to 19 counts of murder and attempted murder for this january, 2011, tucson shooting that left six dead and 13 wounded, including congresswoman giffords. to each count, loughner answered "i plead guilty." in exchange for his plea, federal prosecutors agreed not to seek the death penalty. u.s. attorney john s. leonardo. >> mr. loughner will spend the remainder of his natural life in prison with no possibility of parole. >> reporter: representative ron barber was shot that day. he was giffords' congressional aide who recently won her seat. >> my hope is that what happened today in this court can help all of us move forward and continue our healing process. >> reporter: suzie hileman was shot as she accompanied nine- year-old christina taylor green that day. taylor green was killed. >> it doesn't make it any easier to think about a dead nine-year- old. >> reporter: former congresswoman giffords and her husband released a statement today saying they are satisfied with the plea agreement, avoiding trial, they say, will allow them and arizona to move on. bob? >> schieffer:

. >>> the accused gunman in the mass shooting in tucson, arizona, was back in court today. jared lautner. karen brown with the latest from the courthouse in tucson. >> reporter: a judge ruled that jared lautner is mentally competent to stand trial. he pled guilty. tv cameras were not allowed. lautner appeared very different. pale, thin, gaunt. he sat still as a psychiatrist testified about his troubled teenage and college years when he allegedly heard voices in his head. the psychiatrist said lautner told a doctor he was remorseful for what he did. lautner told his doctor, quote, i especially cry about the child. apparently referring to nine- year-old victim, christina green, who was killed in the attack. jared lautner's attorneys hope the plea agreement will get the 23-year-old college dropout life in prison instead of the death penalty. survivors of the shooting came to court, but former congressman woman, gabby giffords, was not one of them. mark kelly said he and his wife are satisfied with the plea agreement and avoiding a trial would help them and the rest of the comm