[Cuomo:] Welcome back to NEW DAY. For the first time we're hearing from the father of Sandy Hook Elementary shooter. And his words are stunning. Peter Lanza is telling the "New Yorker" something I don't think I've ever heard from a parent, even in a situation like this. He says, "I wish my son had never been born." National correspondent Susan Candiotti is here with the very latest this morning. Susan?
[Susan Candiotti, Cnn National Correspondent:] Hi, Chris. In a revealing interview, Adam Lanza's father, Peter, wishes he had pushed harder to see his son who refused to meet with him for two years before the rampage at Sandy Hook. Peter Lanza saying he doesn't think the shooting could have been predicted and adds this, "You can't get any more evil."
[Candiotti:] Peter Lanza, the father of Sandy Hook shooter Adam Lanza has broken his silence saying, "With hindsight I know Adam would have killed me in a heart beat if he had the chance." In his first interview since the horrific shooting in Newtown, Connecticut nearly 15 months ago, Lanza tells the "New Yorker" magazine he has met with two families of his son's victim saying, "A victim's family member told me that they forgave Adam after we spent three hours talking. I didn't even know how to respond."
[Anderson Cooper, Cnn Anchor:] Twenty little children, six adults.
[Wolf Blitzer, Cnn Anchor:] Unimaginable horror grips the nation.
[Unidentified Female:] Police have now identified the school shooter as Adam Lanza.
[Candiotti:] Lanza says when he realized what happened, he called his wife at work, telling her over and over, "I think it's Adam. It's Adam." Lanza says he knew his son had problems but he was difficult to treat. In his words, "He did not want to talk about problem and didn't even admit he had Aspergers." Lanza also describes changes he saw in his son. "It was crystal clear something was wrong. Aspergers makes people unusual, but it doesn't make people like this." Authorities later found that Adam had holed up in his room, windows covered by black garbage bags seen in these photos. Peter Lanza says as things got worse with his son, Adam's mother, Lanza's ex-wife Nancy, cared for him primarily. In his words, "She wanted everyone to think everything was OK." He adds, "She didn't fear her son. She slept with her bedroom door unlocked, and she kept guns in the house, which she would not have done if she were frightened." These photos released late last year by the Connecticut state police show an open gun locker, several firearms, and lots of ammunition inside the home. Peter Lanza says he is haunted by his son, dreaming about him nightly, detailing one nightmare, being hunted like one of his son's victims. Lanza chose to tell his story with writer Andrew Solomon, who has written extensively about mental illness. They met a half dozen times since last fall. Peter Lanza plans to make no other statements about his interview and through a spokesman adds, he never intends to speak about it on camera. Chris?
[Cuomo:] All right, thank you very much, Susan. It helps the picture a little bit.
[Baldwin:] It does. There a lot of details in this "New Yorker" piece. Let's talk about a little bit more with forensic psychiatrist Dr. Michael Welner. And doctor, good morning.
[Dr. Michael Welner, Forensic Pyschiatrist:] Good morning.
[Baldwin:] I think the first thing, just reading this whole piece by Andrew Solomon is the fact that he opens this whole piece with a picture of the Lanza home, not a single photograph of Adam Lanza, of his other son, but not Adam Lanza. And the point that he is saying that he wishes his son had never been born. To quote him, "I'm not dealing with it. You can't mourn for the little boy he once was. You can't fool yourself." Just inside the father's brain, your reaction?
[Welner:] Well, I think it's refreshing to see the father of a killer and someone who's so destructive to be so frank and so candid and to own the depravity of what his son has done. In my experience, parents grieve for the children and for the victims that their loved one has killed. But at the same time, in the whole climate of let's blame this person or let's say it's this and let's say it's that, they'll walk away from the idea of just saying, "My son did an unacceptable mistake. There's really no explanation. There's really even no apology that can give. And as he did, "No, I'm not going to change my name. I'm going to live with this. I'm going to live with this burden. It's important for us as a society so that people who are so self- absorbed that they think about being this destructive, they can consider the impact on the father that they are a little closer with or the mother that they are on the siblings and on the legacy that they really want to saddle other people with their products of their anger.
[Cuomo:] Too objective, though, Dr.? I mean, he didn't see his kid for two years. He knew his kid was troubled, puts it on Aspergers. But we don't really believe that Aspergers is connected
[Baldwin:] No.
[Cuomo:] to violent actions like this. So how do you see it in terms of the window of insight into the continuing problem of how we manage people with profound mental illness?
[Welner:] Well, look, it's a great question you're asking. In a way, it's the question, although it's two questions. The first one is, is it too objective? Nobody has come up with a delusion or a hallucination driving this. So even though paranoia is always some quality that's present in people who carry out mass killings, it's not here. And yet what the police department has told us is that he was so identified with the pantheon of mass killers and and for those who become invested in the idea of mass killing, and we know that he was functioning so poorly, the fantasy and the plan becomes the one thing that person can organize themselves around. And this is someone he couldn't even pass a class, notwithstanding how bright he was, how capable he was. His function was limited, but he was able to do this. Now, the last thing is, why did it happen that day? That's the mystery. Nobody has come up with a psychotic explanation. The only triggers that we're aware of historically is that the mother was contemplating a move to Washington, which would have turned his world upside down. But we also know for a crime in which people billboard themselves, "Look at me. Here's what I wrote. Here's a picture of me with a gun." What did he do? He destroyed his computer.
[Baldwin:] Right.
[Welner:] The evidence is in what was destroyed. Is this for someone who was fantasizing or was writing about pedophelia, is this a child pornography that was discovered? Is there something on the computer that triggered his acting that day?
[Baldwin:] I we only have a little bit of time left. I think, though, the mother relation is fascinating, the fact that communicated in the home on e-mail. But he's frustrated. And this is why, you know, he is speaking out. He said the mental health professionals who saw him, his son, did not see anything that would have predicted his future behavior. Here we are near New York, one of the best locations for mental health care, and nobody saw this. I mean, the takeaway for this man who wanted to speak out and keep his last name is the fact that I want to help you other families so that this never happens again.
[Welner:] The takeaway for us mental health professionals is, are you asking your patients, "Hey, how do you react to these mass casualty events? Hey, do you ever think about killing strangers? Hey, what's your relationship to guns? Hey, do you have homicidal feelings?" You'd be surprised how often those questions get overlooked. And if you don't ask them, you're not going to hear about it.
[Cuomo:] So there's an instruction for the doctors, but also one of the parents. They were estranged as a couple, but parents know best. And you have to watch your kids. And when you don't and they're planning something like this, you would know before anybody else. Dr. Welner, thank you for the perspective, as always. Important on these stories.
[Baldwin:] Thank you so much.
[Cuomo:] We're gonna take a break here on NEW DAY. When we come back, breaking this morning, a new glimpse into how Americans view President Obama's handling of the crisis in Ukraine. John King goes inside politics with a new poll next.