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Transcripts For KICU Bay Area News At 7 20121221

out toward st. helena. that's coming toward the yellow and oranges. and the windshield wipers are on full. head back toward the road. you will see light showers there. here is the deal. the showers will continue as we go into the evening hours and it will work their way south as we get into the morning compute. the morning commute is going to be wet. it is going be windy. there's a wind advisory out there now. when i come back i have the time line for what ux expect for your friday get a way forecast. >> it was another somber day, more victims of the tragic shooting were laid to wrest. friends and family gathered to say good-bye to six-year-old katherine hubbard this morning. six-year-old benjamin and allison were held today. in services mourners remember the teachers ann marie murphy and lauren russo. teams continue to search the home where adam plan s&a lived with his mother for -- police believe the 20-year-old tabunman spent most of his time playing video games in the week before the shooting. they're trying to retrieve information from the damaged computer and trace the history of the gunned used purchased by his mother. >> today joe biden met with law enforcement from around the country to reduce gun violence. the task force is considering ideas including reinstating a ban on assault weapons closing the gun show loophole and restricting clips. president obama has asked for the press to be readyby next month. bay area students mourning the students who died in the tragedy. students are talking about the violence. >> it happened about half an hour ago, dozens of teening all about a decade older but not much younger than the gunman himself, determined to prevent such a tragedy here. ♪ oh how he loves us. >> songs and prayer echo over the quad at heyward high school at that time when most teens are finishing finals and eager for holiday break fun, these students were thinking about newtown and the damage violence does in so many lives. >> they will never see their kids again. they have to put someone in the ground that they love so much. and like those kids never going to see christmas again. they will never see the families again. >> violence is a big issue i think in high school. the organizers graduated four years ago. she and many friends have lost loofed ones to gang violence over the years. so newtown's loss while different. it is not a stranger in homes. it is true. but there are young people, a generation of people that want to put an end to violence. >> one student wiped away tears telling us about fears she has about assaults at school. newtown was out of the blue but many teens live with the anxiety of on going threats. >> anything could happen. people could come to school with like weapons and you don't know that. >> since there's a lot of them, you don't know which one will come to you, which one has a weapon. >> what they have done and for what they always will do. >> students from surrounding high schools were invited to join in this vigil tonight. the message one of hope and faith for newtown and the bay area. we are live in heywrd ktvu channel 2 news. >> the connecticut shootings are focus on mental health. california is working to expand mental health services on college campuses and fund more suicide prevention hot lines. california democrats are also asking the obama administration to match state's dollar for dollar on mental health service spending. >> and other bay area mayors are signed a national letter calling on the president to enact strong er gun control law. the letter asks the president to ban assault weapons and high capacity magazines. they also want to eliminate loopholes and create a national background check. you can go to ktvu.com for more coverage. we have a tab at the top of the home page which includes a story about how first responders are coping. a deadly shooting outside of a hayward apartment complex. police say they received 911 calls for people who live at the complex on sleepy hollow at about 10:30 a.m. roosevelt foster was shot. police say the gunman got away. south state element t ri and martin luther king junior middle school went on lock down for about two hours z as a precaution. >> an east bay grandmother gunned down while walking home from the store. >> two candles and a few flowers lay near the area where friends and family say 48-year- old are mona was shot and killedful police say just before 7:00 last night, someone fired several shots along the block of international boulevard. a clerk asked we not reveal her identity. she heard the gunshots and people ran into the store for cover. >> as the guy ran in i thought they were trying to kill him. i thought they were going shoot everyone in here. >> she says the shooter never entered the store. but from a distance she heard his sister pleading for someone to call from help. he was later pronounced dead on the scene. officers believe she was caught in the middle of a gun fight as she was walking home from a store. >> i wish that they could do away with the guns all together. you know,. >> so you think getting -- >> they're in the wrong hands. >> it is all about drugs and gangs. gang stuff. >> you know, i wish it would stop. >> those we spoke with say they become immune to gun fire in this part of east oakland and feel something has to be done. but until then a beloved member of the community is gone too soon. >> at first i didn't believe it. i mean, you know, mona, she never bothered anybody. why would somebody kill her. >> police have not released a suspect o or a motive. however some in the community believe the shooter was aiming at a car passing by. the family is planning a memorial this weekend. ktvu channel 2 news. >> we have new information tonight where police are searching for a bank robber. police tell us the city bank on third street was robbed just before 5:00. the man got away with an undisclosed amount of cash, but tonight we have just received this surveillance photo of the suspect. the man there in the road hoodie is described as white in his 20s about 5'8" inches tall with a shaved head and tatoos on his hands, head and neck. >> police say that a hit and run driver killed a man out whacking his dog this morning. the accident happened at sutor and louisiana lose streets. that's where responders found the 644-year-old victim still holding his dead dog's leash. so far they have not released his name while they notify his family. no description of a suspect vehicle. >> a man on a dirt bike was struck and killed by an amtrak train. this have happened just after 11:30 between big break and the accident appears to have been an accident. the train had just left oakland and there were 92 passengers at the time. no one was injured. in oakland, at least two pedestrians were hurt in a car crash near foothill boulevard this afternoon. one of the people was pinned under a car following the crash which happened at about 1:00. one of the cars the silver mercedes ended you on the sidewalk. police are investigating and there's no word on then cans of the e pedestrians who were hurt. now to washington where house republicans abruptly canceled the vote on the gop fiscal cliff back up plan. house speaker john boehner said it did not have suffer votes to pass. lawmakers now have 11 days to avoid tax increases on all taxpayers along with across the board cuts in programs. speaker boehner said he plans to call the president and try to hammer something out. no action is expected until after christmasful. >> some positive economic news as u.s. home sales jumped to the highest levels in three days. the national association of realtors says the number of homes sold rose over 5 million last month. that's an increase of 14.5% from a year ago. low mortgage raising and rising employment. 5.5million indicates a healthy housing market. >> a late rally left -- the dow gained 59 points thanks in part to new numbers indicating stronger growth last quarter. nasdaq rose 6 points. numbers from the labor department today show requests for jobless benefits rose 361,000 americans applied for unemployment. the increase reverses four straight weeksover decline. >> >> customers will see the rates rise the next go two years as they upgrade natural gas lines following the pipeline explosion. the california public utility commission approved the plan this morning. the average bill will go up 8 $0.08 a month next year and $11.36 a month the year after that. it is less than the utility asked for. critics say pg&e will still make money. >> pg&e will profit, make money, $130 million because of what happened in san bernadino and they shouldn't be allowed to do that. >> the rate hike is about 40% of what pg&e had requested. in federal court a key hearing on a precedent setting case about medical marijuana. what's next. you can't freeze -- >> parents outraged this student without heat for days in one school. what the district admits it did that left children a little too cold in school. sent a firefighter to the hospitalful the fire was reported at 5:30 a three story building on broad street in the ocean view neighborhood. we are told the firefighter suffered smoke inhalationful nobody else was hurt. the red cross is hoping some of the 25 -- helping some of the 25 residents alert. >> after an armed robbery there. police say that a woman was held up at sun valley mall last night in the parking lot near may macy's just before 7:30. she gave the robber her credit card. he pushed her to the ground. he was driving an older model light colored small car. the federal government crack down on medical marijuana highlighted one of the largest dispensarys in the nation. this case is also making some history. medical pot makes oakland's health scepter more than $20 million a year. some hundred thousand patients, the federal government wants to seize this property and shut it down. >> today a federal court judge in san francisco held a key hearing. >> in california and in the rest of the country. they couldn't come up with any valid reason to bring this action against us so they said they were doing it because it was too big. >> the u.s. attorney declined an on camera interview. the larger the operation, the greater the likely of abuse, and marijuana in those who do not have a demonstrated need. what makes it unprecedented is the city of oakland siding with the dispensary which pays significant. to stop the tragic waste of resources on trying to shut down our legitimate regulations that are in compliance with california law. >> the dispense city landlords risk losing the buildings. the court could throw out this action on a statute of limitations, the dispensary wants a jury trial. >> the judge did not indicate when she will rule but they're cautiously optimistic that this land mark case will go to trial. >> ktvu channel 2 new. >> >> katherine announced today she's retiring as the superior court presiding judge after 12 years on the bench. the 55-year-old says she will step down february 1st. she was apointed back in 2000. she has no specific plans for the future but her name has been mentioned as a possible candidate for public office. >> the u.s. population is grower faster than it has been in five years but still at historic lows. grew by 2.3 million to just under 314 million this year. that's an increase ofless than 1% compared to a high of 2% in 1950. analysts say aiding baby boomers and lower growth rate also bring population growth down below half a percent. >> it is easier to save a copy of the entire history of tweets. >> they're rolling out the new tool and allowing them to down load the twitter archive from the very beginning users can review them on the profile but for people with a lot of ac activity to route a message to facebook friend. people who pay the fee would be sure that the message gets into the person's inbox not the folder marked other where it would normally go. it will reportedly start at # $1. a special store opened today where all the gifts are free to meet their own personal shopper. at the salvation army toy and joy shop. they say it is the only program in the city where gifts for teens up to age 16 including electronic, cosmetics and gift cards. we believe christmas doesn't end at the age of 12. it is hard for low income teen with toy distributions and handouts. they don't always get gifts they're excited about. we want to make sure they're not left out. >> participating families also got a gift card for a holiday meal. >> santa's elfs welcomed familys to a similar toy store. the sacred hard community service -- toys and books for almost 6,000 children who might not have much to celebrate this christmas. they said it felt great to know the children would be receiving a gift. students at one school spent the past few days battling the elements. mike e plains how thick winter coats didn't cut it and how bureaucracy got in way of a quick fix. >> this is brook field in east oakland. >> it is unaccessible. kids need to be warm. >> cold on the outside, frigid on the inside. no chilly that a parent said her child wears two jackets and stays in the car until the first bell rings. >> i sit in the car and keep the heater running until it is time for them to go inside. >> not one or two but for four days one section of campus home to a number of class rooms has been ice cold. students studying bundled up in jackets. there has been no heat. >> it has been so cold. they complain why the kids don't come to school. how do they expect them not to get sick. >> the spokesman. >> the department was unaware that the site was without heat. >> one says school officials toll him they submitted a work order earlier this week but it may have been lost. >> things that involve children should not be misused. kids should come first. >> a technician from the district aroved here and well he found the problem. he opened up this box and said that two breaker switches were switched the wrong direction. >> four daysover frigid temperatures aall gone with the flip of a switch. ktvu channel 2 new. >> >> tomorrow could be just another friday or it could be the end of the world as we know it. according to an ancient calendar, the end of the world will come on december 21st, 2012. it has been debunked over and over but it has not stopped some people from stock piling. we talked to employees who say they've seen a spike in business from those looking to buy survival gear. still others are celebrating if tonight is the last night on earth. >> so does rock-n roll really take a toll. new findings suggest for those who live the life it may be hazardous to their health. >> the rain has already arrived. we have the timetable as the storm heads through the bay area. >> and if you are on the go or just away from your tv. you can watch our new cast live on the computer or an a tablet. get the app or go to ktvu.com. >> creating blizzarden cans from kansas to washington. it is also creating havoc on holiday travel. flight versus been canceled and it is making a mess including a 30 car pile up many iowa. at least two people were killed. bill martin has been tracking the storm. you are looking at the commute. >> yeah, the commute is messy. it is friday morning. it is a get away and it will rain. you have a wind advisory. so give yourself some time. the system is tracking to the north. i have reports in santa rosa of rain heavy at times. here we are in santa rosa and you can see the showers have ended. there's showers occurring you are just not picking them up. the heaviest rain has been toward st. helensa. the rain showers will continue in the north bay and it will start to work their way south as we get into the evening hours. so i expect to see showersful you have a wet morning commute and you have winds. it has been breezy but the winds ramp up overnight. they're coming from the south. so they're hitting the bridges. you have the issue, last time we had a big storm. we had a big rig over. it is the storm that can knock over some trucks. it is real windily, maybe 40 miles per hour, maybe 50. so here is the forecast for late tonight. the showers start to progress. now it is midnight. rain fall accumulations are almost double what they have southful as we go into 5:00 a.m., the roads are wet and windy. that's 5:00 a.m. into 7:00 a.m., still wet, showers light showers, heavier in the north bay, a little break here and you still have wind. what happens at 9:00, that starts to break apart but you have santa rosa is wet and it starts to fall apart a little toward lunchtime. widely scattered showers, but that means your afternoon commute is going to be marred with scattered showers as well. in mountains a winter storm warning. from you plans to go to lake tahoe this weekend come back at 10:00 and we will do the forecast and the time line for snow up here because they're going to see he could maybe five to six feet of snow by sunday and monday morning, maybe more than that. it is a travel weekend. so when you think about the five day forecast, everybody is getting ready to go somewhere and the weather is not going to happen -- weather is not going to happen. i'm back here tonight and we will have the latest computer model and try to get you going on your tried and help you the rest of the weekend. >> thank you, bill. see you at 10:00. it seems musicians are living up to the phrase, live fast and die young. a study shows that they die young earlier than the general population. as for members of bands, british researchers studied 1500 to 2009. it showed american stars are more likely than british ones to die prematurely. thank you for trusting us. we are see you next time news breaks. we continue with 10:00 news. a man and his dog struck and killed by a hit and run driver. right now we are talking to the man's friends and neighbors. we will be here for you at ktvu.com. tmz is next right here on tv 36. 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Transcripts For KPIX CBS 5 Eyewitness News At 5PM 20121221

will be used to prevent future disasters adding insult to injury for current victims. >> they are picking up as though nothing happened and business as usual. [ crying ] >> i'm very sorry. i'm just really emotional. >> reporter: the puc commissioners say they were trying to strike a balance between punishing pg&e for past mistakes and encouraging the company to invest in safety. on the consumerwatch, julie watts, cbs 5. lawmakers are getting down to business on gun control in the wake of the connecticut school shooting. the gun violence task force headed by vice president joe biden met today for the first time to look for ways to prevent tragedies like the one in newtown. they will be look at firearms restrictions increasing mental health resources and the media's role in guns and violence. the president wants concrete proposals in time for his state of the union address next month. >> the president is absolutely committed to keeping his promise that we will act and we will act in a way that is designed even if he says we could only save one life, we have to take action. >> san francisco mayor ed lee pushing for stronger regulations on certain types of ammunition. he is proposing a citywide ban on commercial sales of hollow point bullets. he also wants police notified when anyone in the city buys 500 or more rounds of ammunition at once. san francisco police also announced plans for another gun buyback event afternoon last weekend's huge successful one. but cbs 5 reporter mark sayre shows us it may be impossible to keep one a huge spike in gun sales. >> this hand guard is attached by -- >> reporter: here at the bay area gun vault in mountain view the owner says business has been brisk. >> one of the most popular sellers, the ar-15 semi- automatic rifle. >> well, uhm, the government is wanting to ban certain types of rifles and they are very popular. and people have been caught on the fence of buying them are now pushed over to the edge where if i can't get them quick i will get them now. >> reporter: with fears of gun laws, gun owners an enthusiasts aren't taking chances. >> we have a ton of new buyers. people who never bought them before are getting one, may be the last chance. >> reporter: sam from sunnyvale says anytime something bad involving guns takes place, it often has negative effects on legal gun owners. >> is it going to be a rough road ahead? >> i think so. i think they should have some laws against it because you have some crazy people out there which screws it up for people like us that are normal. >> reporter: according to the fbi, inquiries to the national instant criminal background check system was at an all-time high this past november after president obama's re-election and with reports of brisk sales across the country now, it is possible december will be another record month. >> we have plenty of laws in place to keep the guns out of criminals' hands. i think what needs to be made more focused is on a national level, how to secure these weapons so people can't get them. >> reporter: in addition to what's happening on the federal level here in california a group of state senators is also taking aim at ammunition. the proposal a $50 fee requiring a permit to purchase ammunition that would be good for a year and it would require a background check. reporting live in mountain view, i'm mark sayre, cbs 5. the grieving continued in newtown today with more services held for the sandy hook shooting victims. two 6-year-olds benjamin wheeler and catherine hubbard were laid to rest. family and friends also said good-bye to 52-year-old teacher ann marie murphy. more funerals are scheduled tomorrow and saturday. victims are being tonight in the bay area. ken bastida and mobile5 are at a candlelight vigil and toy donation drive getting under way in san francisco. >> reporter: a lot of people have been trying to figure out what they can do, how to get personally involved, show compassion for the victims in newtown. so the cbs radio stations here in san francisco bay area have set up this toy drive tonight in conjunction with the san francisco fire department. they will be picking up toys, asking people to bring an unwrapped teddy bear or a great toy to give to needy kids here in the bay area and sort of pass the love along. and not only that but they are also expecting the san francisco bulls hockey team here tonight and the hockey team is going to be skating with 26 candles in memory of the victims and actually i'm here with erin, you're from newtown. >> born and raised. >> reporter: so what are the emotions like this week? >> uhm, it's overwhelming to be honest but i needed to come here tonight because it was -- felt right to be here to see everybody supporting our amazing town and our community has been really pulling together and it felt right to be here tonight and i have all my family here tonight my sister is here tonight and from newtown and it feels good to be here and to see everybody supporting our town. it's an amazing place to grow up. >> reporter: welcome to san francisco. we're glad you're here. and any little way we can help out, just say the word. >> awesome, thank you so much. >> reporter: erin from newtown, connecticut. that's the story here. back to you guys in the studio. >> all right, ken and erin, thank you so much. more on the newtown tragedy and the gun control debate coming up on the "cbs evening news" and anytime at cbssf.com. checking bay area headlines, a san francisco firefighter is recovering from smoke inhalation suffered battling a two-alarm apartment building fire. 25 tenants of the complex in the 100-block of broad street were evacuated into the predawn cold this morning. the response forced delays on the m-oceanview muni line. no word on a cause. morgan hill police have arrested a third suspect in the kidnapping of a handyman. richmond rodriguez, jr., turned himself in. police say rodriguez and two others beat up the handyman, forced him to fix disputed repairs at a relative's home. the handyman escaped. the three suspects now face charges of false imprisonment, kidnapping and assault. more than 5600 children were receive christmas presents thanks to today's toy giveaway at san jose's sacred heart community service. some of the parents waited in line all night in the frigid cold to pick out gifts. they were allowed to pick out three toys per child. some 17,000 toys and books were donated to make that event possible. that's not fair. they killed an innocent person. >> another life taken on a tough bay area boulevard. how neighbors are reacting to the death of a grandmother caught in the crossfire. >> and it is one of the most popular carmakers in the bay area. what the government says you need to know about toyotas in crashes. >> good news on the gas front. why those lower prices at the pump may be around for a while. ,,,,,,,, the shooting death of a man in the parking lot of a hayward apartment complex put two schools on lockdown. the man was killed about 10:30 this morning at the complex on sleepy hollow avenue near aldon gateway. there are no suspects about investigators are examining that silver jeep. south gate elementary school and martin luther king, jr. middle school were temporarily locked down immediately after that shooting. a grandmother is killed by a stray bullet walking to a neighborhood store. the bullet came from a gun battle near the corner of 97nd and international boulevard in east oakland. cbs 5 reporter da lin tells us it happened half a block from another high-profile murder. >> reporter: that gun battle happened across the street right there in front of that store between two groups of people. the clerk tells me she heard about eight shots and one of those shots struck a killed the grandmother who was walking on this side of international boulevard. reporter: the 49-year-old grandmother collapsed in front of a city run preschool head start. no kids were inside the building since the gun battle happened right before 7 p.m. last night. >> they killed an innocent person. i mean, it's retarded. >> reporter: the killing reignited anger among neighbors. it's the second high-profile killing on this block in two months. less than 50 feet away was where someone robbed and killed a popular business owner inside this metro pcs in october. last night's shooting killed ramona foreman, better known as mona. >> she was outrageous courageous person that do anything for you. loving, caring. >> reporter: the victim lived at this house a few blocks away from the crime scene. friends say she was walking to a store when the stray bullet killed her. >> this is a woman laying on ice in coroner's office and her grandkids will not see her again and her kids is not gonna see her again. >> reporter: homicide detectives are reviewing footage taken from these two surveillance cameras mounted at the head start building. >> vehicles leaving after a crime arriving before a crime, giving us some general descriptions of individuals that are involved in crime. we believe that videocameras in this case may help us as well. >> reporter: as a family friend honors the victims over the small makeshift memorial, please try to reassure neighbors by stepping up police presence along international boulevard. this is the 124th homicide victim of the year. no arrests in the case. live in oakland, da lin, cbs 5. gassing up not so painful lately. what driving down gas prices and why they could even go lower. >> it's the human that has to work the technology to make sure that we don't leave our tools inside of patients. >> and surgical instruments left inside patients? how technology is being used to stop those mistakes. challenges tonight after tw its most popular vehicles received poor ratings on crh tests. safety experts say the cam's ar off, the airbags did not deploy. and the prius -v- hybrid wan di - it toyota received poor ratings on crash test. the camry's steering was pushed so far off the air bag didn't deploy. and the prius v hybrid wagon didn't perform any better and earned a poor rating. honda accord sedan and suzuki got "good" in the crash test. tough to fill up the tank and we have seen this for weeks and we could see it for months. gas prices have fallen hovering about 3.50 average statewide. that's 25 cents less than last month. cbs 5 reporter don ford tells us the lower gas prices is a trend that could go into the new year. >> reporter: gas prices have been going down and folks like mike certainly noticed. >> i used to fill this car 65, $70 before. now it's 45. >> reporter: here at the am/pm in concord it's down to $3.15 a gallon. little cars, big trucks, and little trucks too, all squeezing to get every drip they can get. folks are lined up because they remember the big spike this prices just a couple of months ago when at some places it was over $5 a gallon. experts say at the time, it was due to refinery explosions and power outages. aaa's spokesman says it's not really a drop but a return to normal. >> what's happened is gas prices have started to settle from the volatility that we saw from all the refineries issues in august, september and october. >> reporter: folks coming in to get the cheaper gas say the price drop couldn't have come at a better time. >> we are going to be able to buy more presents for the kids. >> that's a good price. >> fill up and still shop. >> reporter: energy experts say enjoy the prices while you can. >> the best guess is we'll see gasoline prices stay about where they are through january and february. then when we get into march of course we start switching over to the summer blend of gasoline. and when that happens, we sometimes get another price spike. >> reporter: in concord, don ford, cbs 5. before that the rain is coming to town! >> here we go. >> the rain will precede santa claus. just make it hard but santa always arise, doesn't he? you will see a change toward christmas. but the next couple of days for all you stragglers who waited to do the shopping until now you will pay the price and need an umbrella. cbs 5 hi-def doppler now tracking rain in extreme northern marin, northern sonoma toward clearlake healdsburg and almost to santa rosa. here comes the rain and the rain is not going to let up for 3 1/2 days. preceding the rain, cloud cover. it got cloudy and breezy today. wind gusts to 30 miles per hour. livermore currently 54. concord 54. san jose 55. santa rosa 53. good news won't be as cold tonight because of that blanket of cloud cover. good news also if you are a skier. it may be tough getting up to tahoe this weekend as snow levels rise to 7,000 feet. but check out the snow. 12 to 36 -- one to three feet of new snowfall especially in the ski resorts above 7,000 feet in elevation, a little windy, too. wind gusts 45 miles per hour on i-80 and highway 50. winter begins tomorrow. 3:12 a.m. but the winter weather is just about here and the first couple of days of winter will be very wet. look at this huge storm. it's center due west of vancouver british columbia. but we have a cold front the first of about 3 that are going to move through. the first one will get here tonight. that will increase the rain also increase the wind. you're under a wind advisory at the coast and for the city of san francisco. we'll be wet and windy on friday especially friday afternoon. there is another one on saturday. there's another one on sunday. so shopping and travel over the holiday weekend will be poor because we are going to have a lot of rainfall around. our computers predicting how much rain will fall between now and tomorrow afternoon. it's a lot. inch and a half for san francisco and fairfield, nearly an inch for concord. so we'll get wet starting tonight and we'll stay wet for a while. so the rain is here by the morning commute tomorrow. rain on friday. rain on saturday. rain on sunday. but skies are going to clear for santa claus. the only mainly dry day will be christmas day and will be cleared out by christmas eve afternoon. highs tomorrow 57 for oakland. concord 53. san jose 54. wet in palo alto. pleasant hill and fairfield 53. low 50s for san rafael and santa rosa. here's your extended forecast. we are wet friday, saturday, sunday and monday morning but clearing out christmas eve night. christmas day, we're dry before showers return on wednesday and thursday. time to toss it over to roberta. paul, we are on our final few days for "food for bay area families" right here at cbs 5. tonight, our check presentation involves one of our youngest but one of our most important people donating and her name is sydney lohr 10 years old. i just have to say first off i have heard your story. you are my hero! tell me how usual making a contribution to "food for bay area families." >> well, for my tenth birthday, i donated money for the alameda county food bank by asking my friends to bring checks instead of presents. >> reporter: they didn't give you any presents? they just came with check in hand and gave it to you? >> yeah. >> reporter: what made you think of such an idea? >> well, my parents were talking one night about how some families don't have enough food to eat and i thought that was really sad. so... >> reporter: i'm glad that you have such a big heart. let me see this big check that you want to contribute to the alameda county food bank. >> it is -- $400! all from sydney loura from danville! we thank you. mike is here from the alameda county food bank. how many families will this feed? >> this will feed actually provided about 1,000 meals with this check. >> 1,000 meals! how does that make you feel? >> that makes me feel really good that 1,000 meals are going to be donated. >> reporter: can i give you a big hug? >> yeah! >> aww. >> reporter: if you want to help out, all you have to do is visit us online at cbssf.com/food. we'll be right back. alerts" for the elderly.,, ,,,,,,,,,,,,,, the c-h-p unveiling the pro we have amber alerts for missing children. now there are silver alerts for the elderly. the chp unveiled the program to find missing dementia and alzheimer's patients. starting next month families can get immediate help from law enforcement without waiting 24 hours. one big difference though, no alerts on highway signs. >> the overhead freeway signs won't be activated. additionally, there won't be necessarily a break in broadcasting programming on television. that kind of has to be determined by the tv station. >> california will join 30 other states that already have the programming. it may be one of the last complications we would fear from surgery but the problem of surgical objects left in patients is so bad, three california hospitals were cited today for leaving tools behind. dr. kim mulvihill reports. >> reporter: soon after this woman had a hysterectomy she had pain and a fever. the culprit? two surgical sponges left inside her body. >> it was a mistake. >> reporter: each year there are hundreds of cases where surgical items are mistakenly left inside patients. most of them gauze sponges. >> i think it happens every day somewhere in the world. probably every other day somewhere in the united states. i know we can do better. >> reporter: general surgeon dr. verna gibbs runs a project called no thing left behind. >> the goal is zero, not 50% reduction, not just do a little better. zero retained surgical sponges for at least a year. >> reporter: some hospitals have gone high-tech to help keep track. with the rf assure detection system, each sponge has a radiofrequency chip. doctors wave a wand and the system alerts if it picks up a signal. while the new technology is useful dr. gibbs says it's not a substitute for counting every sponge used during surgery. >> one sponge goes in every holder. everybody can see. so now we want to teach nobody can leave the operating room if there's an empty pocket. >> reporter: diligence is essential in the operating room. >> it's the humans that have to work the technology or work with each other to make sure that we don't leave our tools inside of patients. >> reporter: she needed a second surgery to remove the sponges. >> i was lucky because i went -- i did everything promptly. >> reporter: quick action was key. waiting longer could have caused serious complications. there are hospitals that have never had a retained sponge in years and others where it happens every quarter. dr. gibbs says it has to do with communications and culture in the operating room and that has to change to make things safer. dr. kim mulvihill, cbs 5. members of congress put aside partisan differences today to honor the late senator daniel inouye. today his body lay in state at the u.s. capital rotunda. a highly decorated world war ii veteran inouye represented hawaii since it became a state in 1959. he served nine terms in the u.s. senate. inouye died monday at the age of 88. now here at channel 5, we're remembering a legend of our own. ben williams became the first african-american tv reporter in the bay area when he started at kpix in 1966. his 25-year award winning career in television was spent entirely here at channel 5. ben williams passed away in past monday at the age of 85. he is survived by his wife of 59 years, vivian, a son, daughter and two grandchildren. ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, at the state capitol. but en though they have little experience here's what we're working on for the 6:00 news. they are the newest lawmakers at the state capital but even though they have little experience they will have prime leadership posts. the proof there is power in money and how that could affect all of us. and the doomsdayers say this is your last night on earth. tonight cbs 5 reporter mike sugerman checks in when the world should have already ended if we make it. tonight at 6:00. >> is that eastern time? >> we have rain tomorrow. >> yeah. well, maybe. maybe. [ laughter ] >> i don't know. captions by: caption colorado comments@captioncolorado.com snowstorm in the heart er america makes pre-holiday ghavel dangerous. hundreds of flights will be canceled on the busiest travel eyy of the season. dean reynolds is there. hopes are fading for the president's christmas wish-- a deal to avoid the fiscal cliff. nancy cordes on capitol hill. a new study says a drug taken by millions to prevent heart attack and stroke doesn't work and has serious side effects. dr. jon lapook has details. and remembering dawn hochsprung who gave her life to save children at the it sandy hook y ementary school, the kind of principal every kid would love.

Transcripts For KPIX CBS 5 Eyewitness News At 6PM 20121221

freshmen, a lot of these members have legal and business experience as well as in the political field and that can help them when they chair a committee so it's something to think about. these aren't 22-year-olds going into the office. >> those endorsing them, that's what they want us to look at their overall experience in life and what they bring to government. >> reporter: you have to look at them individually and some of them don't have experience with a committee that they were assigned to so that's why we were looking at this a little closer. >> it's going to be an interesting year in sacramento. thank you. in the wake of the connecticut school shooting, a top state lawmaker wants the white house to consider california as a model for dealing with mental illness. senate president pro tem darrell steinberg wrote to vice president joe biden urging him to use california's mental health services act as a model for nationwide improvements. it levies a special tax on higher earners to pay for housing, medication, therapy and preventative services. >> the fact is that it sometimes does take the public's attentio on the worst of worst circumstances to talk about and to act around how we improve systems that for far too long have been underfunded and ignored. >> now, steinberg also wants the federal government to match every dollar the states extend on mental health. a bay area gun buy-back program was so successful, there's now talk of using it as a blueprint for the country. cbs 5 reporter joe vazquez in the newsroom with details. joe. >> reporter: the organizers in oakland say they plan to take this thing statewide perhaps as early as next august with the financial support of cannabis clubs around california and then maybe even nationwide. they gathered some 300 guns this weekend and then since then 97 more including two machine guns. >> i think that people really, really, really are sick of violence in oakland and i think that this is a direct response. >> reporter: a few of days after the gun buy-back in oakland people say even more young people have come forward to sell back all sorts of weapons for $200 each. from handguns to rifles even one with a bayonet. many are more sophisticated than what the cops carry. >> among the recovered weapons, this guy, a mac 11 an uzi style machine pistol capable of going fully a.m. another young man turned in a machine gun, as well. this is a calico 9-millimeter also capable of going automatic with a choice between 50 rounds and 100 rounds magazines easily attached. >> when we saw the guns, we thought, oh, my god, we're so glad that we kept the door open. and we kept asking for guns. >> reporter: the man who put more than $100,000 behind the project, keith stevens, owner of the cannabis dispensary purple heart, says he is inspired to do more. >> with all the partners that we have in place and individuals reaching out from across the country, now we're looking at a national gun buy- back day as we often have a "national night out." >> reporter: mayor ed lee declared san francisco's buy- back effort a success with 300 guns also recovered over this past weekend. he also announced pros posing two new gun control laws for the city. one that bans hollow point bullets, another that notifies law enforcement when anyone buys 500 rounds or more of any type of ammunition. now marin county is going to do a gun buy-back. the district attorney says they will have it on martin luther king day in mid-january. he says not only are they buying back weapons, but get this parents, they say you can also sell your child's ultraviolet videogames back. clearly, you know, it's really strange, holding that weapon, those machine guns in my hand like that and you can see why they're buoyed by the success but they acknowledge there are still thousands of these firearms still on the streets and new ones being sold every day as well as videogames. >> thank you. san francisco police are already planning another gun buy-back. but cbs 5 reporter mark sayre shows us it may be impossible to keep ahead of a huge spike in gun sales. mark. >> reporter: well, juliette, not only is the renewed push to restrict guns coming from washington but there are efforts coming from sacramento and all of it coming together is enough to motivate many people to come to local gun stores hearing if they wait too long, it may be too late. >> this hand guard is attached by a delta ring. >> reporter: here at the bay area gun vault in mountain view the owner says business has been brisk. >> this is a one in seven barrel twist. >> reporter: one of the most popular sellers the ar-15 semi- automatic rifle. >> well, this the government is wanting to -- the government is wanting to ban certain types of rifles and they're very popular. and people that have been caught on the fence are buying them are pushed over to the edge where if i can't get them here quick i'm going to get them now. >> reporter: with fears of changes in federal gun laws and possible reinstatement of a federal assault weapons ban which expired in 2004 gun owners and enthusiasts are not taking any chances. >> so we have had a ton of new buyers, people that have never bought them before coming in to get them maybe the last chance to get them. >> reporter: sam from sunnyvale says anytime something bad involving guns takes place it often has negative effects on legal gu owners. is it going to be a rough road ahead? >> yes, crazy people screw it up for people like us who are normal. >> reporter: increase to the national instant criminal back check system was at an all-time high this past november after president obama's re-election. and with reports of brisk sales across the country now, it is possible december will be another record month. >> we have plenty of laws in place to keep guns out of the hands of criminals. i think what needs to be made more focused is on a national level how to secure these weapons so people can't get them. >> reporter: here in california a group of democrats are taking aim at the sales of ammo. the proposal on the table this week a $50 fee requiring money wants to buy ammo to get a permit, which would be valid for a year. that permit just to buy the ammunition would require a background check. back to you. >> absolutely. mark sayre in mountain view, thank you. new at 6:00 vallejo police are investigating a hit-and-run crash that killed a man and his dog. officers found them in a residential area at sutter and louisiana streets this morning. investigators say the man was still holding on to the dog's leash. police still looking for the driver. other bay area headlines, police are investigate the shooting death of a man outside a hayward apartment complex. the man was killed this morning on sleepy hollow avenue near aldon gateway. there are no suspects but investigators are examining a silver jeep. south gate elementary and martin luther king, jr. middle school nearby were locked down for two hours after the shooting. a japanese diplomat pleaded guilty to two domestic violence charges in a redwood city courtroom today. the man was accused of abusing his wife over several years. he faces up to a year in jail. he will be on probation for three years. he is the vice consul for japan in san francisco a san francisco firefighter suffered smoke inhalation battling an apartment fire in the oceanview neighborhood today. the two-alarm fire started on the second floor of the three- story complex before dawn. 25 tenants had to evacuate. no word yet on a cause. all right. dry now in san jose an across the bay area but we are on the verge of a wet few days coming. chief meteorologist paul deanno is tracking the storm. >> it is almost here. it is slow to arrive. when it gets here, it's going to be here for a while. we have a lot of rain coming. let's get right to it. high-def doppler radar is showing rain moving in and we are picking up light to moderate rain up 101 from santa rosa almost down to rohnert park through windsor and clearlake and tal stowing ga hidden valley lake and we're looking at lakeport where we are picking up heavy rain now and calistoga. wind and this rainfall, a wind advisory in effect for those of us in san francisco and along the coast. sustained winds overnight 35 to 50 miles an hour. the big story is the rain with us for a couple of days. napa county, you will likely see two to five inches of new rainfall. and contra costa county two or three inches of rain in total by friday. so the rain is here. just about here. we have have the christmas forecast coming up. >> they killed a innocent person. i mean, it's retarded. >> and every an innocent bay area grandmother caught in the crossfire even more troubling is where it happened. >> a major change for the marine sanctuary in northern california. >> and this could be your last night on earth if you believe the doomsdayers. the worries about the end of the world. northern california coast. the obama administration wants to nearly double the of two national marine a new plan would permanently ban oil drilling off the northern california coast. the obama administration wants to double the size of two national marine sanctuaries off the sonoma and mendocino coasts. cbs 5 reporter john ramos explains why some who make their living in those waters are concerned. >> reporter: it's easy to see why alfred hitchcock picked bodega bay for the setting of his movie "th birds." they are everywhere. the federal government just announced a plan to extend the sanctuary all the way up to mendocino county. >> this area is a national treasure. it needs and it deserves permanent protection from oil and gas exploration. >> reporter: the fear is that any oil drilling in these waters could lead to an environmental disaster like what occurred when the oil rig blew up off the gulf coast. no one wants to see that here. and it's been reported the sanctuary designation will only apply to oil exploration. but not everybody buys that. >> if they would stop there, we would be all right, i mean, with it. but we know it won't be stopped there. >> reporter: this area's economy relies heavily on fishing and despite what might be said at a press conference, some of the local fishermen are concerned about what this might mean for their livelihoods. >> anything that the government has out in the water that they want for themselves stops us from fishing. >> reporter: the fishermen say they have never seen a marine sanctuary that didn't restrict fishing. but those sponsoring the change say it will benefit everyone here. >> this is a matter of economic common sense. jobs and livelihoods hang in the balance. >> reporter: anytime uncle sam moves in, the locals get nervous. in bodega bay, john ramos, cbs 5. new details tonight about a former marine who posted himself outside of a elementary school in the modesto area. he says he did it to protect students in the wake. connecticut school shootings but the marine corps says craig is not who he says he is. he told reporters that he was a 10-year veteran who had been to iraq and afghanistan. it turns out he was in for less than a year and never left san diego. >> i'm in shock! i'm really in shock. that's very bad. because this isn't something to be playing around with. this is serious. it's scary. >> after the truth about p usley's service record came out he was asked to leave. a grandmother was killed as a result of gun violence on the streets of oakland. the woman was hit by a stray bullet at the corner of 92nd and international boulevard. cbs 5 reporter da lin shows us it happened half a block it another high-profile murder. >> reporter: it started out as a gun battle across the street in front of that store between two groups of people. the clerk says she heard about 8 shots one of them striking and killing a grandmother walking on this side of international boulevard. the 49-year-old grandmother collapsed in front of a city- run preschool, head start. no kids were inside the building since the gun battle happened right before 7 p.m. last night. >> they killed a innocent person. i mean, it's retarded! >> reporter: the killing reignited anger among neighbors. it's the second high-profile killing on this block in two months. less than 50 feet away was where someone robbed and killed a popular business owner inside this metro pcs in october. last night's shooting killed ramona foreman, better known as mona. >> mona, she was outrageous courageous person that would do anything for you. loving, caring. >> reporter: the victim lived at this house a few blocks away from the crime scene. friends say she was walking to a store when the stray bullet killed her. >> there is a woman laying on ice in the coroner's office and her grandkids will not see her again and her kids is not gonna see her again. >> reporter: homicide detectives are reviewing footage taken from the two surveillance cameras mounted at the head start building. >> vehicles there around the time of. crime giving us general descriptions of individuals involved in crime, we believe that videocameras in this case may help us as well. >> reporter: as a family friend honored the victim to over the small makeshift memorial, police tried to reassure neighbors by stepping up police presence along international boulevard. the victim is oakland's 124th homicide victim of the year. no one has been arrested. in oakland, i'm da lin, cbs 5. if you are flying out of san francisco tomorrow, be prepared for long lines. the airport expects 130,000 passengers to pass through the airport on what officials call the busiest travel day of the season. as we mentioned earlier, things could get ugly since we have a storm on the horizon. >> meteorologist paul deanno is tracking it. rain on the way. >> it's going to be a mess tomorrow. you have the rain and the wind just plan on taking some extra time to get anywhere this upcoming weekend. it's going to be soggy. our computer forecast model is predicting in color is showing how much rain, up to 4" by saturday night. no flood watches or advisories but there will be a lot of rain. just when your yard probably dried out, here we go again. cbs 5 hi-def doppler tracking some rain primarily north of the golden gate right now. we're talking right through the heart of sonoma county, southern lake county, mendocino county and also northern napa county, santa rosa getting wet now with moderate rain. it will take about six or eight more hours for that rain to make it to san francisco. now, ahead of that storm system, we had some pretty gusty southerly winds. but that helped us warm up today into the low 60s after a cold morning. san francisco up to 58 but napa, oakland, redwood city in the low 60s, gilroy hit 59 and tonight, because of the cloud cover, forget about the freeze. it will be much milder. fremont 44. concord 46. vallejo 49. napa 43 degrees. not the 20s and 30s like we've seen recently. so here's the low pressure system far away from us with the first of many fronts now piling into northern california. this pattern is going to be stuck with us until sunday night so we're wet, windy tomorrow as the first front moves through. but with low pressure not moving, there are more fronts and that storm track right towards us so it will stay wet until sunday night or christmas eve morning on monday. so we are going to be wet for the morning commute tomorrow. rain moving in north and south. rain heavy at times through sunday. the skies will clear though good news. santa claus going to be just fine. partly cloudy skies christmas eve night. 50s tomorrow, mid-50s san francisco, fremont 55. mountain view wet 56. fairfield concord livermore mid- 50s with rain likely. rain likely on saturday. rain likely on sunday for you last-minute shoppers. go buy and umbrella for yourself. monday the rain moves out. christmas day is dry. more rain moves in next wednesday and thursday. that's your cbs 5 forecast. thank you. it's not just for children anymore. how a system like the amber alert can help find the missing elderly. >> maybe i shouldn't have bought that 2013 calendar? it's end of the world as we know it! or is it? the roots of the rumor about doomsday. ,, ,, ,,,,,,,,,,,, today for the missing elder. the silver alert program ise the amber alert. but it's for missing people 65 yearsr older with alzheimers or dementia. starting in janua families with missing loveds the california highway patrol instituted a silver alert for missing people 60 or older who suffer from alzheimer's or dementia, like the amber alert program. starting in january loved ones can call police without waiting 24 hours. one big difference, no highway alerts. >> overhead freeway signs, those won't be activated. and additionally, there won't be necessarily a break in broadcasting a program on tv. that has to be determined by the television station itself. >> california joins 30 other states that already have this program. all right. despite assurances from nasa that the sun will rise tomorrow sun remain convinced that this is our last night in this world. so who is right? cbs 5 reporter mike sugerman went to the ends of the earth to find out. >> reporter: oh, whoa! it's going to happen tomorrow? i hope not. could be among the greatest hoaxes played on earthlings. no, it didn't. no, it hasn't. sounds like something out of hollywood. >> it is! >> there is no mayan prophecy. they didn't predict anything. >> reporter: the person from a planetarium knows enough to know that the 13th mayan calendar cycle ends friday 394.26 tropical years after it started. but the mayans didn't think the world would end then. >> doesn't predict nipping. it's just a rollover date just like the odometer in your car goes from 100,000 or 00000 to 1. >> reporter: the rumor apparently started sometime in the '80s. with the internet it spread. >> it's like when i say i get to the end of my tootsie roll, no tootsie rolls. they are all over. >> reporter: this man found that the hubbub had to be explained to his class. >> it means it wouldn't be at the end of the world. >> i don't think so either but that's what people are worried about. >> there's going to be a huge earthquake. >> reporter: that's harold camping and he is not talking about tomorrow but the last time the end of the world was coming back in 2011. he was sure of it! in case this doesn't happen, can we do an interview with you the next day? >> i -- it -- it is absolutely going to happen. >> reporter: we never got that later interview. the man had a heart attack. he survived but never got back to us. but just to cover our assets, we checked in where the world should have already ended. >> i saw absolutely nothing different. >> reporter: this person in india where it's already 12/21/12. >> live every day as if it's your last. >> reporter: good advice and maybe if that's what we learn from this non-end of the world it will have done some good. mike sugerman, cbs 5. we know there's rain tomorrow. >> you didn't cash out your 401(k). >> no. if i believed it i would have? did you? >> no. >> okay. [ laughter ] >> i'll be here tomorrow. coming up in the next half hour, we'll still be here, badly needed upgrades in the wake of the san bruno disaster. you're going to be paying for it. why pg&e still isn't completely satisfied. >> in newtown, connecticut, the two 6-year-old smoothing victims laid to rest today and the special speaker at the funeral for a teacher. >> how politicians put aside their differences today. honoring the late senator daniel inouye. ,, >> your realtime captioner: linda marie macdonald now at 6:30, another day brings more heartbreaking good- byes in a small connecticut town struggling to heal. nearly one week since the sandy hook shootings, newtown is still coping with a steady stream of funeral processions. more children were laid to rest today as makeshift memorials to the 26 victims continue to grow. randall pinkston reports. >> reporter: coming to newtown tonight, new hampshire police confirming that nancy lanza the first shooting victim of her son adam lanza, there was a memorial service for her today in new hampshire. meanwhile, here in newtown, more funerals for the victims of last friday's shooting rampage. a large portrait of 6-year-old benjamin wheeler stood outside trinity episcopal church in newtown, connecticut. about two dozen boy scouts lined up outside to honor the former cub scout. [ belmont stakes ] >> reporter: his was one of several funerals and wakes held today. earlier in the morning a hearse left another church with the coffin of 6-year-old catherine hubbard a little girl known for her love of animals. friday is a week since the massacre. for many in this grief-stricken town the loss hasn't sunk in. >> it's unfathomable. it's still, you know, even in look -- even look at all this it's unbelievable. it's is this really happening? >> reporter: family and friends also said good-bye to 52-year- old teacher ann marie murphy. cardinal timothy dolan the new york archbishop spoke at her funeral. while the memorial to the victims grow bigger each day, the investigation continues into what led to the rampage. on wednesday, investigators removed boxes from the home of shooter adam lanza as they searched for a motive. for survivors class resume after the holidays in monroe. the sandy hook building may never reopen. dan dayton attended the school as a child. >> i knew every part of that school. so it's been tarnished forever. >> reporter: school officials say the new school will be a fresh start for a community that's struggling to move on. police reveal that there were two bedrooms in the home where adam lanza shared with his mother and one of the bedrooms in the basement she kept her weapons in a locked box. he obviously got access to them. he also kept his computer games and hard drive there. police he destroyed the hard drive so they couldn't find traces of what he was thinking or doing in the hours before last friday's shooting. reporting live in newtown, connecticut, i'm randall pinkston, back to you. >> thank you. people in the bay area are also holding memorials for the newtown victims. cbs 5's ken bastida went to one in san francisco's financial district late this afternoon. >> reporter: all week long people in the bay area especially people here in san francisco have been trying to figure out a meaningful way to honor the victims of the newtown tragedy so tonight they held what's called night for newtown, the cbs radio stations from the bay area organizing a candlelight vigil and also a toy drive. people asked to bring a teddy bear for a needy child here in san francisco as a way of passing on the love. also, members of the san francisco bulls hockey team skated at the ice rink here with 26 lit candles to represent each of the 26 victims of last week's tragedy. at the embarcadero ice rink, ken bastida cbs 5. members of congress set aside their partisan differences today to honor daniel inoue. his body lay in state in the u.s. capitol rotunda today. a highly decorated world war ii veteran, he represented hawaii since it became a state in 1959. colleagues on both sides of the aisle paid their respects to the nine-term senator. >> he leaves behind a legacy of push leadership and private kindness that will not be forgotten as long as these walls stand as long as histories are written. >> for when this rotunda returns to life and the tour guides give their pitch, they will always speak of daniel inouye, the gentleman from hawaii and one of freedom's most gallant champions. >> inouye died monday at the age of 88. here at cbs 5, we're remembering a legend of our own. >> this complication called in hope is also historic. it's the first time an american college has stopped all its academic -- >> the "san francisco examiner" ben williams became the first african-american television reporter in the bay area in 1966. in fact he spent his entire 25- year career in television at kpix. he died this monday at the age of 85. us survived by his wife of 59 years, vivian, a son and daughter and two grandchildren. on-again, off-again work to prevent the "fiscal cliff" is off again. with 11 days to go, the house was supposed to vote tonight on speaker john boehner's plan b. about an hour ago, it was abruptly put off. house republicans said they weren't able to drum up enough support for a vote. it calls for an extension of the bush-era tax cuts for those making less than a million dollars and leave tougher fights for spending on future battles. if the voter for plan b ever passes in the house, it doesn't stand a chance in the senate. pg&e customers will have to help foot the bill for upgrades to our pipeline infrastructure. how much it will cost you, coming up on the consumerwatch. >> we are paying less for gas these days. that trend is expected to last a while. how low those prices could go. ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, ents -- to prevent the kind of explosion that kill ei pg&e is getting nearly $300 million to make improvements to try to prevent the kind of explosions that killed 8 people and destroyed a san bruno neighborhood. cbs 5's consumerwatch reporter julie watts tells us, that money is coming directly from customers. >> reporter: in the wake of the deadly san bruno pipeline explosion, pg&e is upgrading its infrastructure, upgrades will earn pg&e a profit and force pg&e customers to pay. >> the victims shouldn't have to suffer because pg&e's making a profit from this explosion. >> reporter: many were outraged when the california public utilities commission approved a $299 million rate increase to help pg&e pay for its pipeline safety plan. >> you allow a utility responsible for the deaths of eight citizens, friends and family, to profit as a direct result of that tragedy. >> reporter: the consumer watchdog group turn urged pg&e not to be allowed to make profit on its pipeline safety plans noting many of the required fixes are due to pg&e negligence but the pg&e spokesman says the company is paying for its mistakes, this money is for new improvements. >> what's important to know is it this funding was needed to meet new regulations so these are regulations that were put in place after san bruno. any work that needs to be done it meet existing regulations has been and will continue to be paid for by our shareholders. >> reporter: she says pg&e is actually disappointed in the puc's decision because the utility had asked for about 60% more. pg&e hoped to raise rates by $2 a month. instead there is 88 cents next year and $1.36 in 2014 money to be used to prevent future disasters adding insult to injury for current victims. >> they are picking up business as usual. as though nothing happened. i'm very sorry. i'm really emotional. >> reporter: the puc commissioners say they were trying to strike a balance between punishing pg&e for past mistakes and encouraging the company to invest in safety. julie watts, cbs 5. gas prices are now around 3.50 statewide. that's 25 cents less than last month. now energy experts say we could city this drop for months to come in the next year. in 2013 average prices will be as much as 20 cents a gallon lower than 2012. and this may come as a relief to drivers after just a couple of months ago, refinery explosions and power outages caused gas prices to jump over $5 in some places. a massive bay area toy drive brings thousands of toys to needy families. we'll tell you how you can add more smiles to children this holiday season. >> a lot of you will be driving this season or flying. a lot of you will be shopping this weekend. find out why the weather is going to play a major role in any of those activities coming up. >> ahead an update on 49ers cowboy. defensive tackle justin spence a visit with coach harbaugh in a moment. don't move. ,, ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, grinch stole christmas pres from the front of a home in concord. they arrested this man, danl new tonight, police say a grinch stole christmas presents from the front of a home in concord. they arrested this man, daniel price. they say security cameras caught him stealing those packages monday. police hope to return the presents to their rightful owners before christmas. thousands of bay area children will have a happier holiday thanks to the generosity of the community. today in san jose, needy families picked out free presents for their kids. cbs 5 reporter cate caugiran shows us some couples even camped out in the cold for some warm holiday memories. >> reporter: sacred heart has collected more than 17,000 ties every toys and books from the community and soon will be in the hands of more than 5600 children. now, it's part of the christmas toy box distribution. sacred heart does this event every year to help low income parents bring christmas cheer to their kids. doors opened at 10 a.m. and parents were escorted by hundreds of volunteers including san jose mayor chuck reed. the volunteers helped pick out three toys for kids. parents we spoke to have been here since 2:30 yesterday afternoon braving the cold elements. all for that christmas morning smile. >> what kept me warm was, you know, imagining their faces smiling and that's what kept my heart warm. >> reporter: there still is time to donate. the organization tells me they are in need of toys for teens and books for all ages. in san jose, cate caugiran, cbs 5. all right. meteorologist paul deanno is here now and we have some rain on the way. >> you know what, it's going to get us all in the holiday spirit. >> really? >> maybe, get the fireplace going, wrap the gifts, enjoy the times indoors with the family. it's going to be a mess outside for the next couple of days if you are traveling. it's going to be tricky. first up will be rain and wind overnight tonight. already was breezy today. sustained winds overnight tonight for the city and the coast up to 35 miles per hour with gusts up to 40, 45, even 50 miles an hour. us this, the wind advisory. now to the rain. almost into the bay area, north bay showers right now some moderate rain up and down 101 close to santa rosa. calistoga and clearlake and almost to saint helena. we'll zoom out and show you the entire bay area. much of it is dry. once the rain gets here it we'll be stuck with it through monday morning. outside livermore down to 28 degrees this morning, concord too. san jose 55. warmer tonight because we'll have the blanket of cloud cover over top of us. you may be frustrated going to the high country but once you're there, up to 4 feet of new snow or more especially above 7,000 feet. snow levels will be rising but the snow totals will be as well. windy on the drive up but it's going to be gorgeous and all of this preceding the beginning of winter which begins tomorrow likely while you're sleeping at 3:12 a.m. so what's causing all this? we have another significant storm system and a storm track aimed toward you. right toward the bay area. it's going to be for the next three days. there is the center of the low pressure about 700 miles away. problem is, we have this jet stream which is screaming right into northern california. and the cold front will take that past of least resistance into the bay area friday through sunday. so wet and windy tomorrow morning, wet saturday and sunday. if you are going shopping wet. if you are trying to drive or fly, wet. kinds of a mess so plan to leave early or taking longer to get there. futurecast predicting the rainfall totals from now through this time tomorrow, 2" of rain for santa rosa. that's a lot even more farther north in the mountains. an inch in san rafael but significant rainfall for the east bay and south bay. highs tomorrow, mid-50s. pretty close to normal. san jose 56. your average is 61. fremont 55. we're looking at 4 for walnut creek. pleasanton 54. san francisco 55. novato san rafael soggy tomorrow. 54 for walnut creek. saturday and sunday looking at rain likely with things clearing out a bit for christmas eve and christmas day before showers move back wednesday and thursday. so five of the next seven days are look be wet. let's talk more about the skiing because, man, is it going to be gorgeous up there. snow likely for the next couple of days. that is your forecast. time as to send things over to roberta. paul, i think it was hilarious. my guest said what, paul said wet, rainy and cool? >> yes. >> that's why she came indoors today. in cbs's continuous efforts for "food for bay area families" we invited to our studios tonight a law firm who has been coming every, single year. it's wilson. sasini, goodrich rosati. colleen ball is with the foundation. this is your ninth out of 10 years being here. thank you so much. >> thank you for having us. it's so important to publicize the need and you have been so great in supporting us in that. >> thank you. now this donation which is going to be a very generous one is from the employees. >> it's from our individual employees who have made donations as well as our charitable arm called the wilson sonisi foundation. >> reporter: you're doing so much for bay area families in dire need. 25% of children in the bay area are hungry and we are doing our efforts. let's see your donation. >> $70,000. >> reporter: whoo! yes! $70,000. i cannot thank you enough from the bottom of my heart and we want to remind people to help too. >> there are a lot of individuals and companies doing their part to help out. it's terrific. >> big christmas hug! and if you want to help out, it's cbssf.com/food. contribute to "food for bay area families." the drive continues and so does the newscast. we'll be right back after this. ,, ,, ,,,,,,,,,,,,,, days ago...that he expected defensive end justin smith play this sunday at seattle... 49er coach jim harbaugh told the media a couple of days ago that he expected defensive end justin smith to play this sunday at seattle. smith nursing an injured elbow hasn't been on the practice field and was nowhere to be found today. he is expected to be a game- time decision. meanwhile, 49ers safety desean goal son fined $21,000 for the helmet-to-helmet him on patriots tight end aaron hernandez. he said he incurred over $70,000 worth of fines. that hurts. i caught up with jim harbaugh about his christmas wish list on the coach's corner. >> i want to ask you something that's weighing on the minds of the 49er empire out there. what do you want for christmas? >> whoo! >> i only need two things materialistically, super bowl trophy, motorhome. once i get one of those two i'm all set. i would like to make a trip across the country. >> sunday you have a birthday coming up. i'm curious, growing up, did you feel cheated at all by having a birthday so close to christmas? i ask you because my sister's birthday is on christmas. she always felt funny. >> anybody with a birthday near christmas, you get one gift, happy birthday, merry christmas gift and a lot of people run out of money spending money on christmas gifts for everybody else. see so your birthday gets diminished. >> now that i'm in my late 50s here, it works out good because then people don't remember it's your birthday and it seems to sneak by without anybody knowing most of the time. >> all right. at this point, it seems colin kaepernick is entrenched as harbaugh's starting quarterback. with two years left on alex smith's deal the 9ers could be in the market to trade him. packers quarterback aaron rodgers doesn't understand why smith's career has taken so many turns. >> alex and i are buddies. we have, you know, both got drafted in 2005 nfl draft and he's been through a lot. i can't imagine the, you know, what you have to go through that many offensive coordinators just the turnover in coaches has been tough for him. >> he's a great quarterback. he just needs to go somewhere, where he gets appreciated for the skill thats has and hopefully gets a chance nexter. > >> rodgers' opinion seems small compared to those of two college basketball coaches who used their platform to speak out about the sandy hook tragedy this week. >> if we in this country as americans cannot get the people that represent us to do something about firearms we are a sad, sad society. >> i didn't vote for president obama. okay? but you know what? he as my president now. he's my leader. i need him to step up. >> this is our fault. this is my fault and your fault, your fault, all your faults. >> this has to be a time for change and i know this microphone is powerful right now because we're playing the fourth best team in the country. i'm not going to have a microphone like this the rest of the year maybe the rest of my life and i'm going to be an agent of change with the 13 young men that i get to coach every day. >> hm. that was syracuse coach jim boeheim and pat kelsey after his team played ohio state. yankees' cc sabathia in san francisco right now bowling right-handed because he is rehabbing his $161 million left elbow. the vallejo native's pitch-in foundation is having their annual christmas car va van outing. he and his wife are treating special kids to bowling and a christmas shopping spree to ensure the kids have a merry holiday. >> vallejo is near and dear to my heart. i have a lot of family here and i really deeply am rooted in the community so i care about what's going on. so the only time i can get a chance to give back and do whatever i can, i always have to take the opportunity. >> now, that guy has never forgotten where he came from. every chance he gets, he comes home to vallejo and just opens the wallet, whatever, and just simply gives. he gave an autograph to my middle son jake, had a picture together. it was -- he just kind of exudes joy, all 6'6", 200 pounds of him. >> did i see the bumpers after him? >> did not. >> i thought i saw that. >> still an athlete at the bowling alley. >> just to show the yankees he was bowling right-handed not left. don't get excited. >> for that elbow. >> can't violate the contract. >> see you at 10:00 and 11:00. captions by: caption colorado comments@captioncolorado.com ,, announcer: this is joey fatone. it's time to play "family feud." give it up for steve harvey! steve: welcome to the show. good luck, good luck. how's everybody doing today? thank you all very much. appreciate you, now. hey! welcome to "family feud," everybody. i'm your man steve harvey, and you know what? we got another good one for you today. returning for their second day, straight out of huntsville, alabama, it's the high family. [applause and cheering] and from louisville, kentucky, home of the derby, it's the miller family. [applause and cheering] everybody's here trying to win a lot of cash and the possibility at driving out of here in a brand-new car, right there.

Transcripts For CSPAN2 Key Capitol Hill Hearings 20131211

objection. mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent that at 9:00 a.m. tomorrow morning, all postcloture time on the pillard nomination be considered expired and the senate vote to proceed on confirmation of the pillard nomination. that upon disposition of the pillard nomination, the mandatory quorum required under rule 22 be waived. with respect to the cloture motion on the feldblum anonymous and the senate proceed to vote on the nomination to invoke cloture on the feldblum nomination. if cloture is invoked, all postcloture time be yielded back and the senate proceed to vet on the confirms of the feldblum nomination. finally, that president obama be immediately notified of the senate's action. the presiding officer: is there objection? the senator from iowa. mr. grassley: i object, and i'd like to state the reason i object. the presiding officer: the objection's heard. the senator's time has expired. mr. reid: mr. president, i would ask consent that the senator be allowed to speak for whatever time he feels appropriate. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. grassley: the reason i object for the majority -- or for the minority is to moving these votes. i think that we should follow what regular order we have left on nominations, especially after the way that the majority changed the rules on nominations two weeks ago. i yield the floor. mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: my friend, the distinguished senior senator from iowa, is what we're talking about here. the face of obstruction. not him but the republican caucus. stalling for no reason other than to stall for time. no wonder the rules were changed. no wonder the american people look at the senate as a dysfunctional body. a couple weeks ago, we voted to make it a functional body so that nominations can be confirmed for any president. the president is -- deserves to have his team. we have been wasting days, weeks and months on nominations. we have scores of people, positions that need to be filled. we're only dealing here with a handful. but -- so people understand the rules. we have changed a few of the rules the last couple of congresses. very little, but we have changed them. but under -- if you have a supreme court justice or you have a cabinet officer or someone of that level, they get 30 hours of time following the cloture vote. now, what are they supposed to do during that 30 hours? come and explain their position, why they oppose a person. now, mr. president, for virtually every one of these nominations, there hasn't been a single, single complaint about any of them. now, this culminated by virtue of the republicans in the senate making a decision that people who serve in the prestigious d.c. circuit court of appeals were entitled to have a full court. there is eight there now. they said that's enough. that is, some say, the most important court in america. some say more important than the supreme court. and the republicans arbitrarily have said we're not going to fill those spots. not because of the qualifications, not because of their education, their experience, their integrity. just because they don't want them filled. now, that's a new low. now, mr. president, i'm disappointed to have to inform the presiding officer and all senators tonight that because of this -- that is, because the republicans are wasting time, all this staff around here, police officers, all this staff and, you know, mr. president, some of them are getting paid overtime. why? because the republicans are wanting to waste more of this body's time, this country's time. i repeat, no wonder the american people feel about the senate as they do, because of the obstruction that is taking place unprecedented for five years. so we're going to continue to work tonight, remain in session as long as we need to. republicans are forcing us to waste a week on nominees, this week. they know will be confirmed. every one of them will be confirmed. there are no objections to the qualifications of these nominees, with rare exception, and there are only little squeaks here and there about what could be wrong with them. and the outcome of each and every vote that we will take over the next few days is a foregone conclusion. yet, republicans insist on wasting time simply for the sake of wasting time. there is no reason these votes couldn't take place right now or in the morning, and we could move to some important things. mr. president, i have senators come to me all the time. the chairman of the veterans affairs committee was here a few minutes ago, the distinguished junior senator from vermont. he has some important things that he wants to move on this floor. they passed some things in the house. that doesn't happen very often, but they passed something over there. they sent it over here dealing with veterans. he wants to bring that to the floor, have a debate on it, offer an amendment or two on it. can't do that because we are wasting time here on this senselessness. the junior senator from the state of delaware is here. he has spent weeks and weeks on manufacturing, which which has n some promise here in america in the last few years. jobs are being created. he working on a bipartisan basis with other senators, they have legislation they want to bring to this floor to talk about ways of improving manufacturing capabilities and capacity in the united states. we can't do that. we are here postcloture looking at each other, doing basically nothing as we have done for vast amounts of time because of republicans' obstructionism. the senator is -- yes, she is here. the senator from -- the chairman of the environmental protection agency. i had a meeting with her and the junior senator from the state of delaware -- i mean rhode island just a few minutes ago. mr. president, in the world today, we have something called climate change. it's here. climate is changing all over the world. we have global warming. are we doing anything legislatively to address that? no, nothing. she has a portfolio of legislation that she would like to take care of, and there is going to be zero done because we are sitting here under these lights complaining about -- again about wasting time -- the republicans wasting time. we could finish these votes now. we're going to work into the weekend. now, we had a break for thanksgiving. it was very -- very pleasant for me. i got to be home for two weeks. unfortunately, i had a death in the family that put a little cloud over things, and that's an understatement. christmas is coming. everyone should know that we are going to work until we finish the stuff we have before us this week. i'm going to file on a number of other nominees as soon as i get a chance, and we're going to finish those. if we have to work the weekend before christmas, we're going to do that. if we have to work monday before christmas, we're going to do that. if we have to work through christmas, we're going to do that. because i know the game they're playing. they have done it before. a lot of these nominations will have to be sent -- not have to be, but they will ask that they be sent back to the administration and we'll have to start all over on those again, but some of them we're not going to start all over again. we need a director of the internal revenue service i.r.s. -- of the internal revenue service. i think that's a pretty good idea. we need to fill chairman bernanke's spot. i think that would be important for us. we're going to do that before we leave. and if it takes -- if we have to work right through christmas, we will work right through christmas. and even if we are standing around most of the time as we have done a lot during the last five years, because of their obstructionism, looking at the lights, and that's about all we have to look at because we're not looking at substantive legislation as we should be. the only impediment to holding votes without delay and at reasonable hours is blatant partisan republican obstructionism. it's difficult to imagine a more pointless exercise than spending an entire week wasting and waiting for a vote. this is a foregone conclusion what's going to happen on every one of these votes. this is exactly the kind of blatant obstructionism and delay that has ground the senate to a halt and prevented congress from doing the work of the people over the last five years. i remind members that without cooperation, there will be roll call votes until perhaps after midnight tonight and as early as 5:30 in the morning. with just a little cooperation, the senate could stop wasting time and resources. the only way the senate can stop wasting time is if we get some reasonableness and clarity from the republicans. if there were ever an example of why the rules had to be changed here and how we tried doing to -- during two successive congresses to be reasonable, remember, remember we exercised, judges would only be opposed under extraordinary circumstances. there isn't a single judge that this man, the president of the united states, has nominated that have problems that are extraordinary. so i think it's a shame, mr. president, what is going on here. the presiding officer: the senator from delaware. mr. coons: mr. president, i came to the floor today to speak to a bipartisan bill, which i hope to take a few minutes to talk to, but first i have to comment on what's going on here or not going on here on the floor and the comments of the majority leader. i have just been a senator for only three years. as you know well, as the presiding officer, we were sworn in as a group of those elected in the class of 2010, and i just came from an inspiring event with the vice president who previously held this seat on behalf of delaware gave an award to the former majority leader, a real patriot, a veteran, former senator bob dole, and they talked about how compromise, printed compromise made it possible for senator mcgovern and senator dole, folks from opposite ends of the political spectrum to work together in the interest of hungry children here in the united states. and frankly, what i have seen in the three years that i have been here in the senate, the three years that we have served together on the judiciary committee has been a slow walk. there are minority rights in this body but there are also minority responsibilities. there are majority rights but also majority responsibilities. and i just wanted to add to the comments of the majority leader that the nominees to serve on the d.c. circuit, the nominees to many, many district court seats whose confirmations i have either presided over or attended were not objected to on substantive grounds, and i have real trouble with the idea that the three empty seats on the d.c. circuit do not need to be filled. i have listened to at great length the arguments about caseload and about workload, and as the chair of the court subcommittee of the judiciary, i presided over the presentation of the judicial conference's report on where we need additional judgeships and where we don't, and i will just note briefly and in passing that judge timtovich who presented this report did not suggest there was some need to reduce the d.c. circuit by eliminating these currently vacant spots. we could go through this chapter and verse. this has been debated to death here on this floor, but in my view, we have three excellent, qualified candidates. i regret that we have spent so much time burning the clock and that we have had to make changes that ultimately will make it possible for qualified nominees to be confirmed. it is to me a subject of some deep concern that we cannot work better together republican and democrat to move things forward, and if i might, i'd like to move in a moment to an example of exactly the sort of bipartisan bill that we should be able to move to here. that if there weren't this endless obstruction, if we weren't running out the clock on nothing, we might be able to get done together. an example of the sort of reaching across the aisle that used to dominate this body, when giants like dole and mcgovern served here and are no longer the case. they are no longer the daily diet of this body. we are no longer reaching across the aisle and finding ways to make our country more competitive, to create more manufacturing jobs in partnership with the private sector to responsibly reduce our deficit. i was encouraged as a member of the budget conference committee that we seem to be moving towards enacting a significant small in scale but significant in its precedence a deal for the budget committee that could allow us to go back to regular order for appropriations. but here as we waste hour after hour burning out the clock to confirm nominees, i wonder, i wonder, mr. president, whether we're going to be able to take up, consider, and pass substantive legislation. if i might for a few minutes, i came to the floor today initially to talk about the power of children o'advocacy centers. children's advocacy centers exist around the country in large because this congress passed in 1990 the victims of child abuse act, a bill that for the first time authorized funding for an important nationwide network of what are called children's advocacy centers. these centers help deliver justice. they help heal victims of violence and abuse, and we must act to continue empowering their service to our nation. today is a time we could work together to reauthorize that bill from 1990 and rededicate ourselves on a bipartisan basis to something that i think is one of our most sacred obligations: protecting our children, protecting the vic teufpls child abuse -- victims of child abuse and delivering justice for them. that is what this bipartisan bill does that was introduced today along with my colleagues senators blunt, sessions and hirono, a great example of being able to work together across the aisle. mr. president, as parents, as neighbors, as leaders of our nation, we have no more sacred obligation than protecting our children. in most of our cases, we dedicate everything we have as parents to ensuring our children's safety, to providing for their future. and that's what this bill is all about, about that responsibility. tragically too often, despite our best efforts, too many of our children fall victim to abuse. and we cannot guarantee their safety. but what we can do is ensure that when children in this country are harmed, that we can deliver justice without further harming them. thankfully children's advocacy centers for which this bill reauthorizes funding are critical and effective resources in our communities that help us perform this awesome and terrible responsibility. through this bill, we can continue to prevent future tragedies and deliver justice in ways that are effective and less costly than communities can deliver alone. this bill helps prevents child abuse proactively. just last year its programs trained more than 500,000 americans mostly in school settings in how to spot and prevent child sexual abuse. second, in my view most importantly, this bill delivers justice. children's advocacy centers increase prosecutions of the monsters who perpetrate child abuse. one study showed a 94% conviction rated for cases that carry forward to trial. and third, in many ways equally importantly, this bill helps to heal. child victims of abuse who receive services at a child advocacy center are four times more likely to receive the medical exams and mental health treatment they desperately need compared to children who are served by noncenter supported communities. no parent would ever want to have to go to one of these places or have to bring their child to one of these places. but those parents who have, under these tragic circumstances, nearly 100% of them say that they would recommend seeking help to other parents. so how do these advocacy centers achieve these different results of prevention, of justice and of healing? they're unique because they bring together under one roof everybody who needs to be present to help deal with the tragedy of child abuse, law enforcement, prosecutors, mental health and child service professionals, all focused on what is in the best interest of the child. through a trained forensic interview, they interview the child to find out exactly what happened. they ask difficult, detailed questions, and they structure the conversation in a trained and nonleading way so that the testimony can be used later in court. preventing what otherwise is retraumatickization -- retraumatizeation, making it possible for child victims to testify in a way that will lead to justice but without forcing those children to take a stand and to repeat over and over what they testified to once. prosecutors take the information obtained in the interview and they take it all the way through the court system while doctors and other child service professionals ensure the child is getting the help he or she badly needs and to begin the process of healing. one place, one interview. all the resources a victim would need to move forward to secure justice and to heal. in my home state of delaware, we have three children's advocacy centers, one in each of our counties. in the last year i visited the centers in wilmington and in dover and saw firsthand the extraordinary work that the professionals there do. these are places haunted by the tragedies that are described and recorded there. but the staff are welcoming, nurturing professionals, and the law enforcement and mental health and child service professionals who are there are deeply dedicated to making sure that they achieve justice and they promote healing. it was striking on my tours, my visits to see how strategically and thoughtfully each of these centers has been put together, how they have worked through every possible detail to enable obtaining the testimony needed to secure justice while enabling healing of child victims. this is critical in order to avoid retraumatizeation, a threat that is real for victims and for their long-term healing process. the centers in weuplg tone and -- weplg ton and dover in my home state show how these centers create the sort of nurturing but effective space to ensure we meet the needs of victims and secure justice. mr. president, as i know you know, in my home state of delaware, just a few years ago we saw exactly the kind of evil we most dread in this world. when a pediatrician, a man named earl bradley, who many, many delawareans trusted with their children's health and safety, was found to have sexually assaulted more than 100 of our children. delaware is a state of neighbors, and his horrific crimes against our children, our families and our communities affected all of us, and our attorney general, beau biden and his team, effectively led the investigation and prosecution of this monster. thankfully children's advocacy centers were able to play a key role in ensuring that the interviews and the assistance provided to the victims and their families were effective and that ultimately justice was rendered. as randy williams, the executive director of delaware's children's advocacy center in dover wrote to me, our multidisciplinary team work tirelessly and seamlessly in forensic interviews, assessments, medical evaluations and mental health services for every child referred to our centers. randy went on to say, i feel confident that our team's outstanding collaborative response was a direct result of the financial and technical assistance and training resources made possible over many years through the federal victims of child abuse act. in the end, dr. bradley was convicted on multiple accounts. over 100 victims were involved and he is now serving 14 life sentences plus 164 years in prison. mr. president, as a nation, in my view, we have no greater responsibility than to keep our children safe. as a father, there is nothing that keeps me up at night more than concerns about the safety and security and health of my own children. we must do everything we can to prevent sexual abuse of those most vulnerable and those most precious members of our society, our children. and when that tragedy strikes, we need to be prepared with the best services we have to foster healing and deliver justice. this specific bill is about upholding our responsibility to our children, to our families, and to this nation's future. it is at the very core of why we serve and of what we believe. i am grateful that this is a bipartisan bill, that this is a bill that can demonstrate the best of what this senate, this congress and this country is capable of. it represents the best of our federal commitment to targeted, effective and essential assistance, to state and local law enforcement, to our communities, and to our children. mr. president, i urge my colleagues to join with us because in the end no child should fall prey to physical or sexual abuse. no mother or father should have the haunting experience of finding an adult they trusted took advantage of that trust and horribly hurt their child and no country should tolerate these crimes when there are things we can do now, today on a bipartisan basis to protect and to heal our children and to ensure that justice is secure. with that, mr. president, i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from oklahoma. mr. coburn: i came to the floor to talk about several other things, but after hearing the majority leader and my colleague from delaware, i think the revisionist history needs to stop. you know, this place ran till 1917 under a process where any one senator could stop anything. and that was changed by a two-thirds majority of those present voting to a number less than that. and then through a period of time. the point i'm getting to is we're in this process because the rules weren't good enough to 0 accomplish what the majority wanted to accomplish. and the majority leader wanted to accomplish. the majority leader byrd didn't have any trouble when he had the same vote, number. majority leader daschle didn't have any trouble. frist, dole, none of them had any trouble. as a matter of fact, we've seen what has happened is the lack of effective leadership in building bipartisanship. the senate wasn't designed to be the house, as you all have recently made it. the senate was designed to protect absolutely minority rights. and what happened the week before we went on thanksgiving break actually hurt you more than it hurt the minority. because you now lost the ability to hold your own administration accountable. the majority leader said reasonableness and clarity. reasonable is compromise. reasonableness is allowing to have amendments on major bills. clarity is the ability of senators to offer their viewpoint on $600 billion bills. reasonableness would be to say that every member of this body ought to be able to contribute important ideas to the defense authorization bill. or to the farm bill, or to any other major piece of legislation. so we've gone down a road. it can be stopped. all this can be stopped. but it cannot be stopped without the recognition of the damage done to this body by the very frivolous act. the revisionist history i'm talking about is with the d.c. court. there's no difference in what the president is doing on the d.c. court than what roosevelt decided to do or attempted to do. everybody knows that the workload there is enormously small compared to all the rest of the courts. everybody knows there's also judicial vacancies that are much more important than those. what's the reason? is so that we can continue to have executive orders and bureaucratic rules and regs come through that are going to get challenged because they're not within the consent and the vision of the laws that are passed so that in fact they can be enforced by a stacked court. you can't claim anything other than that. we know that's what's going on. you know that's what's going on. and that's going to be there forever. that's a legacy of the obama administration. and it's a planned legacy. so it's not about what is claimed to be republican obstructionism. it's about changing the very nature of our country. it's about changing the rule of law. it's about whether or not the president will be an emperor or be the president. and my worry is we're moving fast and quickly towards an executive branch that has decided and has been stated so very proudly that if the congress won't do it, we're going to do it anyway. where's that fit with the rule of law? and we've heard that three times from the president. and, in fact, they're doing it. ignoring law. and so now the very court where those laws get challenged, we're going to stack it with his nominees. we refuse to admit that the very same point was made by senior members of the judiciary committee when the republicans were in charge. you can't deny that history. it's out there. senator schumer did it as well as others. knowing that the, that court should not be filled. we know it's going to get filled. we understand what's up. what's at risk is the future of our country and whether or not we'll really have balance between the powers of the judiciary, the executive, and the legislative branches in this country. and what we're seeing is a reshaping of that. and it's a dangerous trend. it was something our founders worried about. we have seen executive orders and executive privilege taken to new heights that have never been seen in this country before by this administration. so let's be clear what we're talking about. this isn't about obstructionism. this isn't about limited rights. you also very well limited your own rights in the ability to exextract information. you just heard senator grassley spend an hour on the floor talking about the lack of response from this administration. there's no tool for you to get answers anymore. there's no tool for any of us to get answers anymore because we can no longer hold any nominations, because they will go through. so there is no power -- we have given up one significant power to hold the executive branch accountable. not only that is we have diminished the minority rights that are part of what the founders created to force compromise. to force us to compromise, to bring us together. there is not ill will. there's damaged hearts in this institution today. we understand the strong beliefs on the other side, but we also don't understand the lack of moral fiber that's associated with avoiding and violating what has always been the tradition of the senate, which is you change rules with two-thirds votes of those duly elected and present vote. rule 22 still stands. it just has a precedent in front of it. so for the first time in our history, in this body, one group, because they couldn't achieve compromise and wouldn't compromise, have forced a changing of the rules, not through two-thirds of duly elected and sworn members, but by fiat by a simple majority. what's next? are we going to make it the house? that's what's next. that's coming. i know that's coming. and so consequently, what's going to happen in our country is you're not going to have significant deliberation. we're going to have laws changed at the public whim rather than long-term thinking and an embracing of what the constitution says. the whole purpose for this body was to be a counter to the house in terms of response to political and public demand, to give reasoned thought and forced compromise so that what came out of here was a blend of both what the public wanted but also what the public might have lost sight of in terms of a short-term view versus a long-term view. you're putting that at risk. it's coming at risk. the very country, the soul of the country can unwind right here in the united states senate. so what remaining powers do we have? as feinstein members? and you may get to find that out someday, is to use the rules that are there to our benefit. you know, in the past, nominations were agreed upon between the majority leader and minority leader and they were ferreted out and moved. most of these nominated. we have had 21 nominations come through the homeland security. i voted positively for 19 of them, against one, and voted present on one today. i'd say that's about 90%. i'm in agreement of moving the nominations. we actually force compromise on our committee. we actually work to compromise on our committee. but that's because of the leadership of senator carper, to create an atmosphere where you can have compromise and you can have back and forth. we don't have that leadership in the senate as a whole. the senate's never seen these problems, but it's not about the rules. it's about the leadership and who is running the place. so we can blame it. most of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle haven't been here for a long period of time. they have never seen it in the majority. they have never seen it work. 77 times the majority leader over the last seven years has filled the tree and barred amendments. that's more than all the rest of them combined in the entire history of the senate. is that about us or is that about him not wanting to allow the place to work? he's a good man, but the problem is is leadership matters. this place is not functioning. my time -- the time for my colleague to come is here and i will yield the floor, but i will just make one other statement that i think needs to be said. i believe that climate does change. i believe the climate is changing all the time. global warming has been disputed now. it's undeniable. it's not global warming. we're now into a global cooling period. and that's okay. you can have cooling, but the fact is is the science is still nebulous on all the claims that are being made. i have said before on this floor, i'm not a climate change denier, but i'm a global warming denier because the facts don't back it up now. and so we heard what the majority leader had to say about the importance of getting things through on climate change. there may be important things to do, but we ought to be doing them together rather than in opposition. and if that was the attitude that we would work together, if we would have an open amendment process, a truly open amendment process with the majority leader in picking our amendments, deciding what we can offer, pretty soon you're going to tell us what we can say on the floor, you're going to determine what i can say on the floor. that's the first step in this process. that's the ultimate gnat conclusion to this process that you have started. so it's about leadership. it's either there or it isn't. right now it's not there. i yield the floor to my colleague. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from nebraska. mr. johanns: thank you, mr. president. i appreciate the comments of the senator from oklahoma, and i would like to use his comments maybe as a springboard for some thoughts i have, not only on this nomination but the terrible mess that we find ourselves in today here in the united states senate. i'm a fairly new member to the senate. i came here just five years ago. i thought a lot about re-election and announced some months ago that i would not seek a second term in the united states senate. so you might say i don't really have a -- a fighter in this -- in this ring. i'm here for a limited period of time. i have already decided that. my interest is in seeing the senate chait that will be in the best interests of our country that will fulfill the vision that our founders had, a country where there would be freedom, where the minority would be able to voice their view as well as the majority. the process by which the house of representatives and the united states senate was put together was a very, very thoughtful process. they are founders -- our founders looked at our country and its future, and they decided that there needed to be a body where the population would be represented based upon numbers, based upon the population, and that became the house of representatives. now, for a state like nebraska, 200-some years later, that doesn't work very well. it's pretty obvious that our three house members can be consistently, routinely outvoted by a whole bunch of other states. california, new york, pennsylvania, florida, texas. i could go on and on. we have three members in the house. it's obvious that we're going to be on the loosing end of that. the other piece of that is that it's a majority-based body, so if you're in the majority with the rules committee, you pretty well set the rules. it just works that the majority, as long as they can keep their members together, they are going to win. that's just the way it works. and so about the only way you can change that is to change the majority. and so when our founders looked at that, they said we've got to have a different approach in the united states senate, and that led to the great compromise. now, mr. president, what we ended up with is just a remarkable system, if you think about it. if you think about it, nebraska in the united states senate is as powerful as california. nebraska is as powerful as pennsylvania because we each get two members. we are equally represented. but they also recognize that the pendulum would swing. sometimes one party would be in control, sometimes another party would be in control. and originally when the united states senate was set up, any one member of the body could come to the senate floor and object. or just debate something to death, and that pretty well was how it operated, and it operated for decades and decades that way. then came world war i and senators began to recognize that funding the war was going to be a very serious problem. there was a tremendous amount of affinity between senators and people back in the country where their ancestors came from, germany, and so they had to find a way to end debate. and so they finally after discussing this and debating it decided that the best way of doing that was to put something in place where you could literally take a vote, and i think back then if my memory serves me correctly, if two-thirds of the senators voted, they could -- they could end debate. and that's -- that was quite a change for the senate. the whole idea that a single senator wasn't going to be able to literally force issues in the senate was a very, very difficult issue. but that change was made and it operated that way for many decades following that. then in the 1970's, the decision was made that it would take 60 votes to end debate. it would pull the number down to 60. but it was always recognized that the rules could only be changed by a two-thirds majority. that was until just a few weeks ago. and something happened here in the united states senate that literally shakes the foundation of this country, and it shakes the foundation of this body. i guess if you're in the majority at the moment, you're probably saying gee, mike, it seems to work out pretty well. well, it won't work out very well for the history of this body, for this institution or its members and most importantly for the citizens of the united states, because it was the method chosen to change the rules that is the frightening piece of this. think about this. we came down here a few weeks ago. a ruling was made by the chair. and the majority leader said i will appeal that ruling. now, we all know if we have read the senate rules -- and i hope to goodness we have all read the senate rules -- that appealing the ruling of the chair, you can overrule the chair by a majority vote. well, let me repeat that. we bypass the rule that says it takes two-thirds to change the rules of the senate, and the majority said that we will appeal the ruling, and if we get a majority, we will overturn the ruling. and that's what happened, and that's where we find ourselves tonight. now, this isn't inconsequential and we're not trying to be arbitrary and capricious. but we're trying to make the point that this is a huge issue for the future of our country. let me point out what this now means for the united states senate. what this means is that if the majority leader, whoever that is, republican or democrat, does not like the way things are going, it can appeal the ruling of the chair. and overturn that ruling by majority vote because now the precedent is set. it's in our history. it's in our rules. now, some look at this and say, well, you need not panic. this only applies to circuit court nominees, district court nominees and executive appointments. so let's think about that a second, mr. president. let's say that we have a supreme court of the united states where there are four members that are pretty consistent in ruling one way. some might call it the liberal way. and you have four members that are pretty consistent in ruling another way. some might call it the conservative way. and there's one member of the united states supreme court that kind of moves back and forth. between the four over here and the four over here, between the four liberal members, between the four conservative members and whatever you want to call it. and that's pretty unpredictable vote. let's say something happens. maybe there's a health issue. maybe there's a decision by that member there in the middle to retire. i don't know. could be a whole host of things. that's the human condition. things happen to us. let's say we're in the last 18 months of an administration. the president is due to go up, the campaign has already started. you've got people showing up in iowa, new hampshire and south carolina and wherever else. they're raising money. they got the presidential races. they're organizing. they're doing all the things they need to do. and you've got republicans thinking, by golly, it's our time. we either keep the white house or we win the white house. you got democrats thinking the same thing. and you've got a president that all of a sudden has a supreme court appointment in smack dab in the middle of four members on one side and four members on the other side. and let's say that the majority, the majority has the ability to put somebody of their own elk into that position. whether it's republican or democrat or liberal or conservative. and they look at this and they say, you know, we could lose the white house. or we might not get the white house. and these are appointments for life. so it's not like we're appointing somebody for four years. these are appointments for life. and you know, we've kind of come to the conclusion as we've talked about it on our side of the aisle that by golly, it's in the best interest of this country if we can make this appointment. and you know what? we don't have 60 votes to get it done. we've counted the votes. looks like this is going to come out of the judiciary committee on a straight party line vote. what are we going to do now? mr. president, i know what will happen. you know what will happen. every member of the united states senate knows what will happen. i don't care if you're a republican or a democrat or a conservative or a liberal or a socialist or whatever you want to call yourself, we know what will happen. there will be a ruling by the chair. there will be an appeal by the majority leader and all of a sudden we'll have a rule where you can make a supreme court nomination. you can make a supreme court nomination, a nomination, a job for life based upon a majority vote. does anybody think for a minute that that isn't going to happen? does anybody think for a minute that the circumstances surrounding that won't occur? now, i guess if you're on the republican side of the aisle and it's a real strong conservative, that's going to the supreme court, maybe you'll look at that and say thank goodness, we saved the country. maybe if you're a democrat and it's a good, strong liberal that's going on to the supreme court, you say, thank goodness, we saved the country. and it was worth it. but you see, mr. president, here's the dilemma we find ourselves in. the dilemma we find ourselves in is that the majority of this body has now set the precedent, and you can't pull it back. there isn't any way now that you can unwind the clock and turn back the clock. now let me offer another thought. let's say we're a few years down the road, and you've got a piece of legislation, and your side of the aisle has decided that that piece of legislation is absolutely critical for the future of this country. maybe it's cap and trade. maybe it's another health care bill. whatever. and all of a sudden somebody says we've got to get this done. we're in the last 12 months of this administration. we're looking at the numbers. we're not going to win the white house again the way it's looking. the precedent is there. appeal the ruling of the chair. you see, mr. president, the point i'm making here is this. it's not that the rules were changed. the rules have been changed in the senate a number of times by the way the senate rules contemplate, with a supermajority voting to change those rules. now we have torn that up because now we have established a precedent. you know, i am in the process of reading senator byrd's "history of the senate." remarkable man. got to know him a little bit. he was still here when i came to the senate, before he passed. happened to be on the other side of the aisle, but i came to respect him so much. he would have never stood for this. he just never would have tolerated that this institution would be so mistreated by anybody, republican or democrat. boy, in his heyday, he would have been at his seat screaming at the top of his lungs about what we were doing to the senate with this vote, what the majority was going to do to the future of this great body. you know, in his "history of the senate," he talks about how important it is that there is this body where a minority view of the world can be represented. you see, if i were the majority leader, i guess i would like this to run efficiently and well oiled and smoothly and i was a governor, i was a mayor. days when i got my way were much better than days when i didn't get my way. i didn't like being frustrated by the legislature. i didn't like the city council telling me i couldn't get my way. i couldn't understand some days why they couldn't figure out that i was right. and one day i was sitting down with a state senator. he had been there a lot of years. i was complaining about the way that the legislature was treating me. i couldn't understand why the legislature wouldn't follow everything that the governor wanted done. he listened very, very patiently, and he looked at me and he said, you know, mike, nobody elected you king. and i think that's what bob byrd would have said. nobody elected any of us king. you see, our founders set this system up with the whole idea that we wouldn't have kings anymore. that there would be check and balance and that we would be forced to deal with each other sometimes more artfully than at other times, but that we would be forced to deal with each other. now the majority leader came down here and he said i don't understand this, and talks about this process. this process got started because he filed cloture on ten nominations. why aren't we working on this? if you look at the history of the senate over the last years -- i've been here, i've watched it, i turn on my tv in the office to see what's going on on the senate floor. you know what i see, mr. president? exactly what you see, what all of us see. we sit hour after hour after hour in cloture call -- or in quorum call hour after hour, when amendments are pending. i thought, i had this mistaken impression that every senator could file an amendment, that if i had a better idea on something, i could file an amendment. i'd get a hearing on the amendment. i'd be able to come down here and try to argue to my colleagues, pass my amendment. we haven't seen that kind of process for years under this majority. i didn't think it was possible to mishandle the united states senate when i came here. i looked at the books of rules and interpretations and volumes, chapter after chapter written about the rules of the senate, and i said to myself there's no way you could mismanage this body because these rules are as intricate as they could be. boy, was i proven wrong. you can mismanage this body. we've seen it. and that's where we find ourselves today. and at the end of the day, why did it happen? why did it happen? why are we putting ourselves in this position? you know, a former united states senator from nebraska who had been here, i think he was here three terms, he had a wonderful saying. when his party wasn't in power, he would say at speeches, ladies and gentlemen, let me remind you, the worm will turn. and it was his way of saying, you know what? i've been in the skwrofrt -- in the majority and i've been in the minority. and it will change because the people will send a message into this chamber just like they did on the health care bill. they will send a message that this is not the kind of country that they want. we somehow have to figure out how to put this back in the box. this nuclear option needs to be sealed up, hidden away and never used again. i don't care if the republicans are in the majority or the democrats are in the majority, this basically means today that all of those rules, all of those chapters written about those rules have no meaning whatsoever because there are no rules. if i don't like what's going on here and i am in the majority, all i have to do is appeal -- appeal -- the ruling of the chair and get my team to stand together, and we've changed the way the united states senate operates. and it is as simple as that. you know, i think at times in our history, we would like to think that we're the smartest people in the world, that we've thought of something that no other person has thought of in the history of this country. not true. if you read what senator byrd wrote about the history of the united states senate, many times united states senators, dissatisfied, hraougs personally -- losing personally because of a losing -- a ruling when the chair had an opportunity to appeal that ruling and then realized that was the wrong course of action because they would set a precedent that you could change the rules by breaking the rules. and that's exactly what happened a couple of weeks ago. that's exactly what happened. it isn't the fact that the rule has changed, although i disagree with where we ended up. it is the method by which the majority, democrats, have changed those rules. because that method now is precedent. it is now available to republicans and democrats, and it's wide open. i guarantee you in our lifetime we will see a supreme court nominee put on the supreme court by this method. i guarantee you that we will see whether it's in our lifetime or at some point after, we will see that you will have a situation where legislation is now done by a majority. and what does that mean for the country? well, let me give you a good example. the great compromise protected states like nevada. it protected states like nebraska and iowa. we all get two senators. we all get to come to the floor and fight for what we believe in. i will say what i would imagine every united states senator will say. i come from a beautiful state, the state of nebraska, where conservative people by nature -- we're conservative people by nature. i don't think you live in nebraska unless you have a pioneer spirit and you're conservative by nature. that's who we are. we signed -- kind of essentially believe that less good is a good idea. you know, when i was governor, people didn't want me running their schools. they had a school board. they thought they could make thoughtful, intelligent decisions about running their schools. i thought they could, too. that's the nature of who we are. do you realize that now on executive appointments, on executive appointments, district court judges and circuit court judges, that basically we get dealt out of this? let's say that i have a problem hueneme and i want to put a hold on that nominee until they come to my office and deal with me. everybody on both sides of the aisle gets the opportunity to use that. well, guess what? you just voted that away a few weeks ago. why would a republican administration deal with anyone in the majority, today's majority? why would they care? it doesn't make any difference. i went through that process. i was a member of the president's cabinet. you know, i would hope i would have the decency that if anybody asked me a question, i would answer the question or try to solve their problem or try to work with them, but quite honestly, why do they need to? how can you force that issue now? they don't need your vote. they can get through the process if their party is a majority of the united states senate. this body was never intended to operate that way. i want to spend a few minutes of my time talking about what i really think this is about. and this makes it an even more tragic story. the majority leader was here a few minutes ago, and he said, well, you know, if you're going to be like this, then we'll work on christmas. we'll work the weekend before. we'll work the day before. and i'm sitting there thinking well, what's new about that? what's even threatening about that? i mean, that's the way business is done. we sit in hours and hours and hours of quorum call, and all of a sudden ten nominees, you file cloture on two weeks before the break? i mean, it's kind of obvious to me. is it obvious to anybody else what's going on here? we're trying to force the issue. why didn't we start working on this weeks ago? why don't you run the senate 24/7 to move amendments, to give us an opportunity to vote on amendments? why sit hour after hour in a quorum call? but i think, mr. president, what this is really all about is this. you see, we had reached an agreement. remember that evening when we all walked down the hall, republicans, democrats, independents? we went in the old senate chamber, we shut the doors. no media in there. no staff in there. just us. talking about the senate. now, i'm not going to share a lot about what was talked about in there, but i thought it was a pretty good meeting. we've done that a couple of times. we did that on the start treaty and we did it on that evening a few months ago. it wasn't very pleasant. but, you know, over the next day or so, we shook hands, we said to each other okay, we get it. we don't want to get in the business of breaking the rules to change the rules. we understand the precedent that that is setting. once we put that on the books, like i said, you can't unwind the clock. so okay, here is what we're going to do. i must admit, i didn't like it very much. i thought we were giving up too much, but having said that, the alternative wasn't very attractive. and we shook hands like gentlemen do and we called a truce, and those were the rules we would operate under. everybody said well, we dodged a bullet on that one, and the senate will continue to function like it's functioned the last 225 years, as a place where the minority, whoever that might be at any given time, has a voice. the only body in the world that operates like that. like i said, i must disit i had qualms about it. i talked to my colleagues on both sides of the aisle about my qualms and at the end of the day, i -- i reached the conclusion that it was better than the nuclear option. so why did this come up again? if we had reached a deal, if we shook hands like gentlemen and women do, why did this come up again? i thought this was behind us. i thought we would make our way through nominations and work long hours and, you know, most of these are very noncontroversial, and i just thought that we had reached an agreement. but we had reached an agreement. we all know we had reached an agreement. so why did the majority -- why did democrats feel that all of a sudden we needed to revisit this? well, mr. president, the argument i want to make couldn't is this. i'm going to draw on a little bit of history. when i first came here, i sat in a chair over there. i will never forget. christmas eve day when we were brought in here to vote on a piece of legislation. now, christmas eve votes are pretty unusual around here. we all sat at our desk, we don't usually enforce that rule, but we all sat at our desk, and for people like me, i left this chamber very, very sad and discouraged on a pure party-line vote, a monumental piece of legislation that practically no one had read and was poorly understood. in fact, the speaker said well, we have to pass this to understand what's in it. no truer words were ever spoken. passed. not a single republican in the house or the senate voted yes on that legislation. you see, i kind of had the idea when i came here that there would be give and take, that i would get my idea, you would get your idea and at the end of the day, the senate was a body that would force compromise or the bill wouldn't pass. but something unusual had happened. the president was with a democrat. the senate had 60 democrats so debate could end. and the majority in the house was overwhelmingly democrat. it became very, very clear to me that my view of the world didn't matter, and it wasn't going to matter, because as long as they could sweeten this thing up and do deals and whatever else, my state was impacted by it. we all remember the cornhusker kickback. but at the end of the day, it passed. i could never figure out how that bill would work. it just didn't make any sense to me. i had been a governor. i had seen how failed medicaid was. 40% of the docs wouldn't take medicaid. i couldn't imagine how adding millions to that system was going to help poor people. it looked to me like it was going to hurt them. kind of like giving them the bus ticket and then saying after they have got the ticket, well, we're only running one bus in washington, d.c., these days. well, probably not going to be very successful. i looked at what was happening in the rest of the bill, and it just didn't make any sense to me. well, i think i know why we revisited this rule. because when the rollout occurred right about that time, all heck broke loose, because finally the american people realized how bad this bill was. in fact, there is one state out there, the state of oregon, they didn't sign up anybody because their system melted down. the exchange was a mess. people found out all of these promises. remember this one. if you like your plan, you can keep it, period. if you like your plan, you get to keep it, period. not only was that used on the campaign trail, we all get a little -- you know, we all get out on the campaign trail and hyperventilate here and there, but it was used by somebody in real authority, the president of the united states of america. went to the american people and said if you like your plan, you can keep it. now, i said how is that -- how does that possibly work, because the whole idea is you've got to force people off their plan to a different plan, but if you like their plan, you get to keep it. well, in 2010, the administration's own rule on this subject showed that as many as 80% of small business plans and 69% of all business plans would lose their grandfathered status. a very, very thoughtful united states senator, a guy by the name of mike enzi, put in a resolution of disapproval of which would have canceled that regulation. back then, he was able to get it to a vote. now, you would think that if you want to support the president of your party in his promise -- his pledge to the american people, if you like your plan, you're going to get to keep it, period, you'd vote with your president. you would think that would be 100-0. i don't know how republicans could be against that. i don't know how democrats could be against that. after all, that's what this person in authority promised the american people. if you like your plan, you get to keep it, period, he said, over and over and over again. it was like a broken record. you know how that vote went here? let me remind us. it failed on a party-line vote. democrats voted no on the resolution, if you like your plan, you get to keep it. my goodness, is that an embarrassment or what? what was the message that day? were they trying to say no, if you like your plan, you don't get to keep it? the president isn't being truthful with you? was that the message that day? what was going on? i mean, i was stunned by that vote. how could you be against the president's own promise? that was back in 2010. that information was available to the president and his people. back in 2010, and yet they kept saying it, if you like your plan, you get to keep your plan. one other estimate by the congressional budget office was i think generally we all respect they do good work for us, they do our scoring. said up to 20 million employees could lose their employer-sponsored insurance. wait a second. that information was available, too. so how is -- how is this promise worked out? this fall more than 4.7 million cancellation letters went out in 32 different states. now i've read the articles. i imagine everybody in the chamber read the articles. 4.7 million people got cancellation letters in 32 different states. the cancellation letter basically said, well, sorry, this big law got passed on a party-line vote, and you don't get to keep your plan, just like was predicted by the c.b.o. and the administration's own people. this should not be stunning to anybody in this body, but it was stunning to the american people. well, the president said oh my goodness, i think this is a problem. and so he said to insurance companies, you've got to fix this. you've got to get people their plan. if they like their plan, they get to keep their plan. and it didn't matter whether it was democrats or republicans in given states, they said, mr. president, you can't unwind that clock. and what i would say to that is wait a second here, i don't like this law, but it passed. i was sitting there the day it passed. it passed on a completely party-line vote. and people literally were caught in a situation, millions of them, where they realize they wouldn't get their plan. so, could the president solve that problem? no. it wasn't a policy fix. it was a political fix. that's what he was doing. he was literally trying to solve a political problem for the majority that passed the darned bill. i mean, it's unbelievable. many weighed in. the american academy of actuaries said this. changing the a.c.a. provisions could alter the dynamics of the insurance market. trading two parallel markets operating under different rules, thereby threatening the viability of insurance markets operating under the new rules. now, i'm as competitive as anybody. i've run a lot of elections. i understand the importance of being in the majority in this body. i especially understand that after what the majority did the last few weeks. you know, we went 225 years as a country and it was only in the last couple weeks that the majority said, look, we're tired of dealing with you, minority. we're going to get our own way. it reminded me of that day that obamacare was passed. it reminded me it was identical. it was identical. it was like johanns, get lost. we don't care what you think about this. we've got 60 votes. sit down, shut up. is that the way the united states senate is to operate? i don't think so. i don't think that was what was envisioned when this body was put together. and it's been forever changed. it happened because obamacare is out of control. it's not the web site. the web site was a mess. it just proved to us that the white house couldn't manage this. that's what it proved to us. but you can fix a web site. you can get smart people, they can go in and figure it out. that wouldn't be me, but many people in the united states who could be brought to bear to solve this problem, to deal with the web site. it's not the web site. although it's a huge embarrassment. it was a huge embarrassment for the white house. it was a huge embarrassment for the president of the united states. it was a huge embarrassment for kathleen sebelius. it was a huge embarrassment for the democrats who voted for this. but at the end of the day you can fix it. and i would guess they would fix it. i kept saying to people back home i think it will get fixed. how tough is that? how tough would it be to do it the right way the first time? but they didn't. it just proves they're not very competent. but what is happening here is that the wheels are coming off this policy because the policy never made any sense. when the president made this announcement, insurance companies, you fix it, america's health insurance plans said premiums have already been set for the next year. based on the assumption of when consumers will transition into the new marketplace. now who decided when they would transition into the new marketplace? the insurance companies did. the majority did. the white house did. health and human services d. they go on in their statement if fewer younger and healthier people refuse to purchase in the exchange premiums will increase and there will be fewer prices for consumers. let me say something that is obvious to everybody in this chamber. your premiums are going up. why? because young people are so turned off. young people are so turned off by what's happening here. i had a young person show up at a town hall. this was a year and a half ago. they said, you know, mike, here's kind of the deal. it's just my wife and i. we don't have children. we're both working. we're trying to get ahead. we don't make a lot of money. and we decided that the best plan for us was kind of a catastrophic plan. we'll deal with our day-to-day health care needs which incidentally aren't much because we're young and fortunately we're healthy. we've got a high deductible. i'm listening to that, and i said you know what? god bless them. this is america. they can make that choice. that was the best choice for them. they thought about it. they decided that the money that they were making might be better allocated someplace else. what a great country that you can decide that. well, what happened with this health care bill, mr. president? that decision was taken away from that young couple. they were ordered by the federal government under penalty to buy a given plan. i've not caught up with that young couple, but i'll bet they're mad as wet hens. i'll bet that they're looking at what happened to them and they're saying why. and we all know the little secret here. young people are paying more for coverage that they don't need to finance me in my 60's. does that make any sense? mr. president, i could go on and on about what is happening here with this health care bill. but it's not a sheer coincidence that gentlemen and gentlewomen in the senate reached an agreement months ago on the rules. we shook hands on it. we put that behind us. and all of a sudden right about the time that obamacare rolled out, all of a sudden that agreement wasn't valid anymore. and we got set up on a manufactured crisis to force a vote. and the method chosen to change the rules forever changes how the senate operates. in our history, many senators had the opportunity, many senators had the opportunity to change these rules. thought better of it. because they so respected and admired this institution that they believe there was a place for a minority, whether that senator was in the minority or the majority at the time. that's what happened here. and i will take another step. all of us know what this is really about. this is about control of this body. and all of a sudden, because of obamacare and the truth coming out about what a terrible piece of policy this is, it became evident that members over here wr-s in deep, deep -- members over here were in deep, deep trouble and were going to lose their elections if their elections were held now. and the majority had to change the conversation. so the agreement that we reached after that night we spent in the old senate chamber hashing through this, debating and discussing it basically got torn up and tossed out the window, and the majority forever changed how this body will operate and what this body is going to be about in the future. so, mr. president, what i say to you tonight is this, i am not planning on being here much longer. i've made that decision. you could say i don't have a boxer in the ring. you know, a year from now i'll be doing something else. some will be here. some won't be here. but at the end of the day what i'll remember about this time in the united states senate is that a precedent has set, been set that is vastly different than the way this senate operated for 225 years. a precedent was set that allows the majority to take control of executive branch appointments, circuit court appointments, district court appointments. it is a precedent that would allow a majority to take control of a supreme court appointment, and it is a precedent that will allow a majority, when it chooses to -- not if. i believe it's a question of when. that will allow a majority to take control of the policy making. so it is true when we say if you were attempting to change the conversation, majority members of the united states senate, away from obamacare to this, all you have done is reminded the american people that what you are really doing is abusing this institution in a way that, quite honestly, is going to be very, very hard to turn around. my thought is this. i felt very, very strongly that we can reverse what has occurred here. but we can't do it as a minority. we need the majority to back off. we need the majority to recognize that this body has existed through difficult times. it has existed through wars. it has existed through attacks on our country, and it found a way to operate. we need the majority to recognize that we reached an agreement. many months ago after an evening spent together in the old senate chambers, where we debated these things, and like gentlemen and women, we shook hands and put this behind us for this session. we can do the work of the united states senate. we can do the work for the american people. i have no doubt about that whatsoever. i'm very concerned, though, that we have put the united states senate senate in a position where it is a very, very vulnerable body now. any majority can now use this precedent to turn this into something that is entirely different than what anybody who founded this country believed it should be when the majority decided that it would bypass the requirement that rules would be changed by a two-thirds vote and do it by appealing the ruling of the chair, they put the united states senate? senate -- united states senate in a position where there are no rules. there are no rules. all you need is 51 members -- 50 if you have the vice president in the chair -- who decide to stick together and make that supreme court appointment. they can get it done. all you need is 50 members, if you have a vice president in the chair, who decides they stick together and they would do a legislative process by a majority vote. many, many times the nuclear option was discussed, it was debated, and senators much wiser than myself looked at the history of this great country and its history -- the history of this great country and its future and decided it was a step that should never be taken. that was until a couple of weeba couple of weeks ago, all driven by the fact that this piece of legislation called obamacare has turned out to be such a train wreck and that there was a need to change the discussion and change the topic and try to draw the people's attention away from that legislation. and that's how this rule got adopted. it's a sad time in our nation's history. it is a sad time in terms of what's going on. and what i would offer, mr. president, is my hope is that wise people will realize the problems that they have created for this country in the fighter, realize that the precedent -- country in the future, realize that the precedent they have set forever changes the way we operate and back away from what occurred. let's start doing the work of the senate. that means w means we work throh christmas? good. i'm here. if that means we work on weekends, if that means we work around the clock, fine with me. i'm good. i'll do it. i'll be happy to do it. but to try to streamline this process in a way that silences the minority is not right and it's not what this country should be about. mr. president, i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from connecticut is recognized. mr. murphy: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that after i finish speaking, that senator blumenthal be allowed to speak. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. blumenthal: thank you very much, mr. president. -- mr. murphy: thank you very much, mr. president. this saturday we're going to mark the one-year anniversary of the shooting in sandy hook, connecticut, in which 20 little six- and seven-year-old boys and girls lost their lives as well as six adults who worked in that school who were charged with protecting them. and senator blumenthal and i have come down to the floor today to offer some thoughts as we reflect on 365 days passed since the most horrific mass shooting that most of us have ever seen in our lifetimes. and i think back a lot on that day, being in the sandy hook firehouse as the parents realized that their sons and daughters weren't coming back from that school, and one of the things that i remember, mr. president, about that day is getting an awful lot of phone calls from my colleagues from all around the country, senators and congressmen who represented places like columbine and aurora and virginia tech and tucson. and they all called because they had been through this before and they wanted just to offer their condolences and a little bit of advice on how a community can try to get through these just awful, tragic, shattering incidents. and i sort of thought that day how awful it was that there were that many colleagues, that many representatives from across the country who could call and give me advice. what a tragedy it is that we are amassing this bank of expertise across the nation on how to respond to mass shootings. and it speaks to how far and wide the carnage and the devastation is from these mass shootings that are occurring. now it seems almost on a weekly or monthly basis somewhere around the country. it's not getting better, it's getting worse. you know, in 1949, i guy by the name of howard unra went through the streets of his town of east camden, new jersey, firing shots indiscriminately such that he killed 13 people. it was the nation's first mass shooting. now, we have unfortunately had a lot of mass shootings since that first one in 1949. but here's what's stunning. of all of the mass shootings that have taken place since 19 1949, half of them took place from 1949 to 2007. and the other half have taken place in the last six years. something has gone wrong. something has changed. the problem is, it's not this place. we're approaching the one-year mark of the school shooting in sandy hook and it will be a week of mourning. but here in the united states senate, it should also be a week of embarrassment. it should be a week of shame. that after one year passing since 20 little boys and girls were gunned down in a five-minute hail of furious bullets, that the united states senate and the house of representatives has done nothing to try to prevent these kind of mass atrocities in the future. so, mr. president, i want to come down here today not just to challenge this place to act but to tell you a little bit about what i've learned in the last year. i've learned a lot but i just wanted to distill it down to two pretty simple things that i've learned. i didn't work on the issue of gun violence when i was a member of the house of representatives. in part because my corner of connecticut didn't have tremendously high levels of gun deaths. now it is central to my mission as a united states senator. and what i've learned over the last year is that despite all the rhetoric that we hear from the gun lobby, when you change gun laws to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and to take dangerous military-style weapons and ammunition off of the streets, guess what happens? communities become safer. and the data tells us this. since 1998, the national instant criminal background check system has blocked more than 2 million gun sales from prohibited purchasers. that's up to 2 million crimina criminals, people with criminal histories that should not have bought a gun that were prohibited from buying a gun. the background check system works but for the fact that only about 60% of gun purchases actually go through the system because more and more guns are being bought in on-line sales, more and more guns are being bought on-line, more and more guns are being bought at gun shows. we know that background checks work because we've stopped 2 million people who would be prohibited from owning guns because they have a history of domestic abuse or serious felonies or mental illness. 2 million times we've stopped those people from getting guns. second, we can compare what happens in states with near universal background check systems versus states that have looser laws. i'll give you one statistic, for instance. in states that require a background check for every handgun sale, there is a 38% reduction in the number of women who are shot to death by intimate partners. deaths from domestic violence are almost 40% less in states that have near universal background checks. the same data exists for assault weapons as well. in 1994, we passed the assault weapons ban, and over the next nine years, crimes committed with assault weapons declined by two-thirds. now, there are legitimate arguments that there are other factors that contributed to that decline, but certainly a portion of that decline is connected to the restriction on assault weapons. 37% of police departments reported a noticeable increase in criminals' use of assault weapons since the 1994 federal ban expired. and, mr. president, when it comes to these high-capacity magazine clips, we don't need the data that's out there because common sense just tells us that if somebody decides to do mass damage with a high-powered weapon, they're going to do less damage if they only have 10 bullets in a clip rather than 30. adaaddadam lanza at sandy hook elementary school got off 24 bullets, killed 20 children and five adults in less than five minutes. in tucson, a 70-year-old retired army colonel and a 61-year-old women were able to subdue the shooter when he went to change cartridges. in aurora, the rampage essentially stopped when james holmes went to switch cartridg cartridges. when you have to reload multiple times, there are multiple opportunities for these mass shootings to stop. now, we should do things to make sure that the shootings never begin in the first place, but the carnage is much worse when these madmen are working in to shopping plazas, movie theaters and schools with 30-round clips and 100-round drums. but here's the second thing i've learned. mr. president, i've -- i've learned this as well over the last year. i've learned about the amazing ability of good to triumph over evil even when this place doesn't act to change the laws. i've learned that despite the evil of those five minutes in sandy hook, the community of newtown has amazingly found a way over and over and over again to bring so much beauty and goodness to essentially cover up and drowned out that horror. i've seen these kids' memories become the inspiration for literally thousands of acts of generosity and kindness. daniel barden was just a genetically compassionate little kid. he was that kid that always sat with the kid in school who didn't have anybody sitting next to them on the bus or in the classroom. when his parents would take him to the supermarket, they'd be all the way to their car with their groceries, they'd look back and daniel was still at the door holding open the grocery store door for people that were leaving. his parents started up a facebook page that just challenged people to engage in little, small acts of kindness in daniel's memory. it had about 40,000 likes at the last time that i had checked, and the stories are endless on there. a woman who bought coffee and doughnuts for a firehouse in new york state. a missouri woman who helped restock a food pantry in daniel's honor. a woman in illinois who paid for a stranger's meal and just wrote "love from daniel barden" on the bill. jack pinto was a really active 6-year-old boy. he enjoyed playing sports of all kinds. he was buried in his new york giants jersey. his parents, dean and tricia pinto, have raised money and put some of their own money in to pay for hundreds of children all around the country to have access to the same kind of opportunity to play sports that jack did, despite the fact that their families might not have the resources that the pintos do. jessica rico loved animals. she loved whales and horses mo most. and so her parents started up a foundation, the jessica ricos foundation, and they have provided yearlong scholarships for horseback riding lessons for students who wouldn't otherwise have the resources to be able to have the opportunity to enjoy horses in the same way that jessica did. and this week, an effort is underway in newtown and across the nation to inspire people to every day do a different act of kindness as a way to pay tribute to the one-year anniversary. these charities that have sprung up in the wake of newtown, they're doing amazing work to change people's lives. just the small acts of kindness that maybe we all do in trying to pay tribute to the memory of those kids and those adults. that makes a difference. but, mr. president, charitable acts and changes in behavior, they are just necessary, though insufficient, responses to the scourge of gun violence that plagues our nation. this place has to change the laws, do something. because you don't want to be next. you don't want to be sitting on a train station platform, as i was on december 14, when you get a call that 10 or 20 or 30 or 40 kids or adults have been gunned down in your state. and you certainly don't want to get that call when you had a chance that you didn't take to do something to prevent it. i got calls that day from my colleagues all across the country because there aren't many corners of the nation that haven't been touched by gun violence. 11,000 people have been killed by guns just since december 14 of last year. and when one person is killed, psychologists tell us that there are at least 10 other people who sustain life-altering trauma as a result of that shooting. so just imagine when 26 kids and adults die in a small community. so i want to leave you, not with my words, but with the words of a mother from sandy hook who represents the scope of the trauma that has been the reality for sandy hook for the last 365 days. sandy hook is recovering but very slowly. the charities and the acts of kindness, they make a difference, but there is a lot of head shaking in that community as to why this place hasn't risen to the occasion, shown the same type of courage that those families have and done something to change the reality of everyday and exceptional mass violence across this country. here assess what this mother writes. heartthese are here words, in an letter -- "in addition to the tragic loss of her playmates, friends and teachers, my first grader suffers from ptsd. she was in the first room by the entrance to the school. her teacher was able to gather the children into the tiny bathroom inside the classroom. there she stood with 14 of her classmates and her teacher, all of them crying. you see, she heard what was happening on the other side of the wall. she heard everything. she was sure that she was going to die that day, and she didn't want to die at christmas. imagine what that must have been like. she struggles nightly with nightmares, difficulty falling asleep, being afraid to go anywhere on her own. at school she becomes withdrawn, she cries daily, she covers her ears when it gets too loud, waits for it to happen again. she is 6. and we are furious. we're furious that 26 families must suffer with grief so deep and so wide that it's unimaginable. we're furious that the innocence and safety of my children's lives have been taken. furious that someone had access to the type of weapon used in this massacre. furious that gun makers make ammunition with such high rounds and our government does nothing to stop them. furious that the ban on assault weapons was carelessly left to expire, furious that lawmakers let the gun lobbyists have so much control. furious that somehow someone's right to own a gun is more important than my children's rights to life. furious that lawmakers are too scared to take a stand. she finishes by writing this. i ask you to think about your choices. look at the pictures of the 26 innocent lives taken so needlessly and wastefully, using a weapon that never should have been in the hands of civilians. really thick. changing the laws may inconvenience some gun owners, but it may also save a life, perhaps a life that is dear to me or you. are you really willing to risk it? there must not be another sandy hook. you had a responsibility and an obligation to act now and to change the laws. i hope and pray that you do not fail." i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from connecticut. mr. blumenthal: thank you, mr. president. many words have been spoken since newtown, including the very powerful words of my colleague just now, but the plain, simple fact is no words can capture what i feel about that day. no words ever will capture that day or the days and weeks and months afterward when we have grieved and healed and resolved that we will do everything within our power to make sure that that kind of massacre never happens again. but equally important that the deaths by gunfire are reduced or prevented. those 26 senseless, unspeakable deaths of 20 beautiful children and six great educators, but also the 194 children who have been killed by gunfire since new town. among the 10,000 or more deaths caused by gunfire person by person. a tragic river of senseless deaths that we had the power to prevent, the power in this body and the power in this nation. as much as we should be shamed and embarrassed by the failure of the act, we also must have hope and resolve that we will act. history is on our side. and the example of courage and strength provided by those families ought to give us the resolve and the determination to act, and likewise the examples of courage and resolve by father bob weiss who had a service in saint rose of lima on the evening of december 14, one of the most moving public experiences i will ever have, and as i said then, the world is watching newtown, the world has watched newtown. it has watched first selectman pat lodra who has led newtown with her own courage and strength and determination, including coming here as my guest on the night of the state of the union to be an example for all of us about what a public official can do by her own example, leading by her own example. we will mark this saturday morning at saint rose of lima the one-year anniversary, a service that senator murphy and i will attend. i have warned since virtually that day a -- worn since virtually that day a bracelet, and i wear it now. it says "we are newtown. we choose love." if there is a message for all of us in this chamber, it is that we continue to choose love, and we are all newtown. our town is newtown. all of our towns are newtown. and i see this bracelet literally from the day, the time i wake in the morning to when i go to bed, and it will always be an inspiration for me. inescapably our hearts and minds go back to that moment when we first learned about this horrific, unspeakable tragedy. of course, i went to the newtown firehouse that day, and the sights and sounds of grief and pain are seared in my memory, and they will be with me forever. so will be the stories of the children whom we lost. allison mcdonald and grace wyatt who loved to draw pictures for their families and planned to be artists. chase kowalski, a cub scout who loved playing baseball with his father. jessica rikos who wanted to research orca whales and become a cowgirl. and we will never forget the heroism and the bravery of the educators like vicki soto and ann marie murphy. vicki soto is in this picture, and her brother carlos came to a service today here in washington. he has continued and so have his sisters to come to events that provide impetus and movement and momentum to the effort to stop gun violence. vicki soto and ann marie murphy literally shielded their students, sought to save them with their own body. dawn hocksburn and mary scherlock ran unhesitatingly toward the danger in their school and perished doing so. there are heroes in this story. it is not only about bad people who use guns improperly and illegally. it is not only about evil. it is also about good, and the good includes the first responders and police who stopped the shooting when they came to the school and ran toward danger and toward the gunfire and thereby ended it when the shooter took his own life. it is also about anna marquez greene, a beautiful girl who loved music and flowers, loved to wear a flower in her hair. and she was described by bishop leroy bailey as a beautiful, adoring child. that picture evokes the stories of all those children, beautiful, adoring. a future and a life ahead of them. and for all those stories and the tears and the teddy bears and tributes that were outside the firehouse, newtown has refused to be defined simply by tragedy, refused to be locked in its past. it has moved forward because newtown is not just a moment. it is a movement. it is not just a moment in history defined by tragedy. it is a movement to make the world better. it is a movement to make america safer. and that is the movement that we have articulated and sought to advance. those families, including neil heslen, who has come here numerous times for his son jesse, have been an example of courage. indeed, they have been profiles in courage. when neil heslen dropped jesse off at school on the morning of december 14, jesse gave him a hug, and he said -- quote -- "it's going to be all right. everything's going to be okay, dad," because jesse was that kind of kid, neil told the united states senate judiciary committee in his testimony. and his pride in jesse as well as his grief brought tears to all of our eyes. jesse was just that kind of kid. he never wanted to leave a baby crying. he never wanted to leave anybody feeling hurt. and jesse and neil used to talk about coming to washington, about meeting with the president. neil met with the president, but jesse was not there. at least physically he was not there. he was with all of us as we worked with neil to make america safer and make sure that newtown is not a moment but a movement toward a better, safer america. and i want to thank my colleague for the outpouring of feeling and support on the eve of that tragedy. it was a rare moment of bipartisan unison in feeling as well as words, and for a meeting with many of those -- for meeting with many of those families, i want to thank them as well because they demonstrated a graciousness and generosity. regardless of their views on any of the issues relating to gun violence and any of the bills on the floor, that graciousness and generosity i hope will prevail on this issue and again move us forward. and the acts of kindness and generosity that followed have been inspiring as well. the college students and firefighters who have come together to build playgrounds in honor of the sandy hook victims, bill lavin of new jersey on behalf of the firefighters has done yeoman work. there are now new playgrounds in their memberrary in norwalk, new london, fairfield, ansonia and westport and separateford. -- and separateford. they are distinct, reflecting the character of those children like ana marquez-greene. the newtown high school football team took time away from celebrating a perfect winning season to devote their efforts to the children and educators that we've lost, and the sandy hook run for families not only raised more than $450,000 for the sandy hook support fund, but it also broke the world record for attendance. in millions of actions large and small in connecticut, all around the country, the people of newtown and connecticut and the country showed what compassion and giving and kindness really mean in action. they chose to honor them by action. and often the compassion and kindness unleashed by the newtown tragedy took many other forms that were unheralded and unreported and unspoken, acts of kindness that were not in the newspapers or in the public view but simply acts that meant something to the recipient and

Transcripts For CSPAN Public Affairs 20130117

violence. a plan endorsed by philadelphia mayor michael nutter, who currently serves as president of the conference. the vice president speaking at 12:30 eastern, live on c-span. and at 6:30, pbs host tavis smiley, holds his annual forum focusing on poverty in america. former g.o.p. presidential candidate and speaker of the house, newt gingrich, and ohio representative, marshall fudge, are among the several panelists who will examine the issue and possible solutions. the discussion's entitled a vision for america, future without poverty. tomorrow night a look back at inaugurations from the past from harry truman's 1949 inaugural to president george w. bush swearing-in and speech from 2001. we'll see and hear presidents of the past 60 years on the day they officially took office. our coverage features universal news reels, footage from the senate recording studio, and presidential library supplementing our own c-span recordings. that's friday at 8:00 p.m. eastern. and c-span's coverage kicks off this weekend as president obama begins his second term. sunday the official swearing-in ceremony at the white house live shortly before noon earn. our -- eastern. oosh coverage sunday begin was your phone calls and begins with the president's 2009 inaugural address at 10:30 a.m. eastern. on monday the public swearing-in ceremonies, capitol luncheon, and afternoon parade down pennsylvania avenue. our live coverage begins at 7:00 a.m. eastern on c-span, c-span radio and c-span.org. throughout the day join the conversation by phone, facebook, and on twitter we are using the #inaug 2013. >> the greatest honor history can bestow is the title of peacemaker. this honor now beckons america. the chance to help lead the world at last out of the valley of turmoil and on to that high ground of peace that man has dreamed of since the dawn of civilization. >> we will embark on a bold new program, or scientific advances, and industrial progress available for the improvement and growth of underdeveloped areas. >> this weengd on american history tv, public radio's back story with the american history gods. they explore the history and traditions of presidential inaugurations. live saturday morning at 11:00 eastern, part of three days of american history tv. right through inauguration day on c-span3. >> next, newtown connecticut school superintendent janet robinson speaks as part of a panel testifying before the house democratic policy and staring committee, the meeting was held yesterday shortly after president obama announced a plan for producing gun violence. other speakers include philadelphia mayor, michael nutter, who you just saw, and the mother of a capitol hill staffer who was killed in the shooting that injured former arizona congresswoman gabrielle giffords in tucson, arizona in 2011. this is two hours. >> good afternoon, everyone. thank you-all very much for joining us on this very solemn and important occasion for the american people. just one -- over one month ago our nation was shocked and horrified by the news of the shooting at sandy hook elementary school in newtown, connecticut. 20 children, six teachers and educators were taken from us at gun point. an act of senseless and incomprehensible violence struck at the heart of our families, of our schools, of our communities across the country. earlier this month shortly after newtown, all members of congress took an oath to protect and defend the constitution and the american people. to protect and defend, that is our first responsibility. today leaders of the house democratic caucus have come together to fulfill that duty to confront the challenge of gun violence in our society to enact, to ensure the safety and security of our communities. under the leadership of congressman thomson, mike thompson, our gun violence prevention task force keeps growing in number. our colleagues are submitting recommendations for legislation, the task force is working with outside organizations, and sharing the latest information on gun violence and steps we can take and must take to end it. today to strengthen the efforts of this task force and our democratic caucus, we will hear from americans with personal and professional experiences with gun violence. and with critical expertise on how and why we must protect it. it's really an emotional occasion for many here. we thank them for sharing their grief to help other people be safe, to sharing their experience to help us all honor our oath of office. our witnesses hail from every walk of life, education, academia, law enforcement, and public service. we are stroorl grateful to have with us, dr. janet robinson, superintendent of schools of newtown, connecticut. dr. emily nottingham, mother of gabe zimmerman, all of you may know was the victim in tucson nearly two years ago. chief scott knight, police department from minnesota to give us a school from middle america, from rural areas. and mayor michael nutter, president of the u.s. conference of mayors who has been a leader on this issue for a very long time. your voices and your contributions are playing a critical role in our effort to take these long overdue actions. we look forward to hearing your ideas and testimony and answering the call to action on gun violence prevention. we are especially pleased to be doing so on a day when our president, as we continue to mourn with the families of newtown, has told us that the time for action is now. we must do everything in our power to stop such terrifying violence in the future. we recognize these challenges are not new, and as president obama said so eloquently in the days following the shooting, we can't tolerate this any more. these tragedies must end, and to end them we must change, he said. and today the president put his proposals on the table. he outlined 23 executive actions his administration is taking right now. he demanded action from congress on establishing universal background check system, restoring the ban on assault weapons, banning high capacity assault magazines, putting more police officers on our streets. we must address issues of mental health to keep weapons out of the hands of those in danger of doing harm to themselves or to others. these commonsense proposals, among others, represents steps we can take and must take right away to put a stop to the violence. as the president said today, this time must be different. we agree. we cannot permit any more time to go by without action. we owe it to the families of the victims in newtown and aurora, oak creek, tucson, virginia tech, columbine. the list goes on almost every day across our country in shootings across america. i'm very pleased to turn the meeting now over to the co-chairs of our steering and policy committee, congresswoman rosa delaura, and congressman rob andrews. we are pleased to be joined by our chair of the judiciary committee, congressman john conyers and the chair of our gun violence prevention task force congressman mike thompson. we thank you, mike, for your leadership. we are also joined by our distinguished whip, steny hoyer. with that i'm going to yield to steny for a moment and then to our co-chairs. >> i thank you very much, madam leader, and chairman andrews on the steering committee for scheduling this. obviously critically and very timely hearing and look forward to hearing from the witnesses. clearly all of us as the president indicated in his talk today and presentation of his program and signing of executive orders, we all feel the urgency of responding to the dangers that our communities confront when the distribution of guns and large capacity magazines and with the status of our mental health observations of folks who ought not have guns and make sure we know who is getting weapons of great danger to our community. so i appreciate the witnesses. i welcome them. it is obviously an extraordinarily timely hearing. witness the attendance and interest of the media and the public. thank you very much for being here. thank you, madam leader. >> chairwoman, delauro. >> thank you very much, madam leader. i want to say thank you to the leader for calling this hearing. i'm also pleased to join rob andrews, co-chair of the steering and policy committee and my other colleagues here today. i want to say a thank you to the distinguished panel for taking time to join with us. in fact it is such a distinguished panel. let me just for a moment i want to personally thank and acknowledge all of you, but i have to say a welcome to our visitor from connecticut, superintendent janet robinson of newtown. the public school system. and i know that janet has been working with families, children, teachers, first responders, and an unbelievable organization of the child study center in new haven, along with dr. marins, on ways to help people work through this tragedy with their students. i look forward to hearing more about this and to the testimony. last month at sandy hook a place where children should be safe to learn and to grow, the incomprehensible actions of a young man suddenly devastated a small town community. six adults, 20 innocent children, all of them between six and seven years old, were murdered in cold blood. we have seen similar acts of terror and evil in aurora and portland and littleton and blacksburg, oakland and tucson. all across our country. so we see the loss of life every day from gun violence all across this nation. after the unthinkable tranldy in newtown, president obama spoke to the country and he asked us, are we doing enough to protect our children? the answer he admitted is no. and that must change. that is why we are here today. today's hearing we'll hear from people who deal with the effects of gun violence every day. the wide range of experience and expertise from these panelists will facilitate a discussion on the common sense and constructive steps we must take to ensure these sorts of tragedies will never happen again. i have a letter from the teachers of newtown which i will enter into the record, but i will just share with you one sentence, and it reads, in our schools we need to strike the right balance to ensure that schools are nurturing while also safe. and we need to strike the right balance so that schools do not become armed for tresses -- fortresses where kids aren't able to be kids. the voice of educators is critical to ensuring that we find and maintain this balance between safety and learning. as we move forward during this difficult time, collaboration, communication, valuing the voice and experience of all the members of our community, teachers, educators, law enforcement officials, the affected families will be essential to making our schools and our streets safer, stronger, and more united. that's why we are here today to prevent another sandy hook. we'll all have to work together to end gun violence. i hope that we can continue that conversation today and how best to accomplish this and make our children safer. thank you. >> i'd like to thank our leader and my co-chair and my colleagues for this honor. we come to this room today from many different places and many different backgrounds. the last few months we have seen too many of our fellow countrymen gunned down on the streets of american towns and cities every day. i represent camden, new jersey, a city of 80,000 people, had 70 homicides last year. we have seen our neighbors die in shopping malls and movie theaters, college campuses, and horrifically, 31 days ago, an elementary school. we are bonded together in this room today by one common conviction and that is our belief that this is not inevitable. we can make choices to stop this from happening again. we believe that consistent with good medical practice we can improve our mental health system so that people who are demonized and tortured can get help. we believe that consistent with good law enforcement practice we can make our schools and our campuses and our public places safe in a responsible way. and, yes, we believe that consistent with the second amendment to the constitution of the united states and consistent with the common sense of the american people, that we can pass a law that makes it so that no one can own a gun that can fire 30 bullets in 30 seconds. and that no one who has already proven they are a risk to soinl will have opportunity to buy any gun at all. we look forward to the perspective of the witnesses on these very pressing questions. i thank our colleagues and i know we are going to hear from the ranking member of our judiciary committee, mr. conyers. >> thank you so much. it's important that we recognize that the president of the united states, the vice president of the united states, our leader pelosi here in the congress, and all of the members assembled here are committed to deal for the very first time this horrible gun violence that is going on and deal with it in a meaningful way. so i thank all of the witnesses for being here. i join with all my colleagues in the very importance of this matter. we have at least five members of the house judiciary committee here. and i just want to close with this one point that has now become important. and that is addressing the mental health crisis in our country in which so many people suffer from some form of a mental problem. so i applaud you all for being here, and i look forward to this very important call to action. >> thank you, mr. conyers. i would like to introduce the chair of the task force in the house of representatives, mike thompson of california. >> thank you very much, madam chair. leader pelosi, thank you for organizing today's hearing. thank you to all the witnesses who came to share this your expertise and experiences with us. as a hunter and gun owner, i believe we should protect law-abiding individual's second amendment right to own a firearm. as a dad and grandfather i also believe that we have a very important responsibility to make sure that our schools, our streets, and our communities are safe. and i know we can do both. one thing's real clear. now is the time for action. there's too much gun violence. and there's no set of laws that will end the horrific shootings and senseless acts of violence, but that's no excuse for sitting around and doing nothing. the time is now. as the chair of the gun violence prevention task force, i'm working on a comprehensive approach to reduce gun violence. i have met with everybody. republicans, democrats, gun right groups, gun safety groups, mental health exhe sperts, educational leaders, people from the -- experts, educational leaders, people from the movie industry, hunting and sportsman groups, law enforcement leaders, and the vice president of the united states of america, and with my constituents. we know this is a complex issue and in order to make any meaningful progress it's going to take a complex solution. but every idea needs to be on the table and everyone needs to be at that table in order for us to be successful. so thank you all for coming today. thank my colleagues for coming with your ideas. there's some great ideas out there. and i know that working together we can protect -- put public policy in place that will make our communities safer and at the same time protect law-abiding americans' rights to own a firearm. thank you. >> pervasiveness of this problem that many people in this room have felt in their own lives the heavy burden of the pain associated with this issue. some are on this dais and one we'll hear from is representative carolyn mccarthy from new york. >> thank you. i thank everybody for being here. each time there's a shooting, especially over the last -- i have been working on this issue for 18 years now, and everybody thinks that this closure for victims. there is never closure for victims. it never goes away. every time there's a shooting, each and every one of us goes through that moment when the tragedy happened to our family. my husband died, but my son was severely injured. left paralyzed. it was during that time that he was learning how to speak again, he asked me why? i didn't have the answer. and i'm saying this because it's grassroots, people like us, that unfortunately went through this tragedy, that we are the ones that want to do the best we can to make sure no other family goes through what we have already gone through. many here, they have already experienced that. i will say that this is the first time in a long, long time since president clinton that i actually have real hope that we can get something done to save lives. it's been a tough battle, and i would say to so many of the victims out there, there are times when we lose faith. there are times when we kind of want to give up. and all i can say is we can't give up. and the shootings have only gotten worse, and there are things we could have done so many years ago that could have prevented so many of these killings. not only the mass killings, it's also the shootings that happen every single day. since what happened in connecticut with those children and the teachers, 900 people have died from gun violence. i keep count. i keep count. because it's going to be up to all of us to try to talk to some of our members on both sides of the aisle that we as americans will stand with them if they stand with us on trying to reduce gun violence. they do not have to be afraid of the radical n.r.a. i say that because there are many gun owners in this country that are good citizens and they should not be tagged with some of these atrocities that are happening. and it's those that we have to call upon to reach out to their members of congress throughout this country because we are here to do the right thing. the president and the vice president are there to do the right thing. and they are going to use their office. but if we as americans don't also raise our voice, then this will begin another losing battle. we cannot afford to lose another battle. we have common sense issues to stop gun violence holistically, but when it comes down to trk the assault weapons -- to it, the assault weapons, large magazines made for our police officers and military, have no right to be on the street, and they do not. and i will say to you as our leader has said, we are all take the oath of the constitution of the united states. we have never tried to infringe on that to legal gun owners. in the package that our coalition which agrees with the president and vice president, can make a difference. we know we can't save every single life. i was a nurse for many years before i came here. and the best of the best couldn't save every single life, but that doesn't mean that we couldn't try to make sure that we did as much as we could to save those lives. that is what we are fighting for. it's heartening to see everybody here. and it was so heartening to see people this morning at the white house that really care about this issue and have been fighting this issue for longer than me. victims that i haven't seen in 10, 15 years still out there fighting. we can make a difference. because this time it is different. it is different because those children, those children are an example of what happens daily in this country, and it has to stop. we are americans. we are better than that. we are better than that. and we cannot allow a group, a small minority of this country, to stop us from doing the right thing. thank you. [applause] >> now it gives me great pleasure to introduce a newly elected colleague from connecticut who will introduce our first witness and that is congresswoman elizabeth evidenty -- esty from connecticut and in whose district sandy hook elementary school resides. and what we will do is to have all of the various members introduced -- introduce our witnesses and then we will proceed with the testimony. congresswoman esty. >> thank you so much to my good friend rosa delauro. and thanks to all of you for being with us here today as witnesses to what happened in our community of newtown, connecticut, and as a call to action for what we must do as a country. i'm honored today to have the chance to interdues janet robinson who has become a good friend, who is a true american hero who responded in a time of unbelievable tragedy. for five years dr. janet robinson has served as the superintendent of schools in newtown, connecticut. throughout her career she has shown a constant and loving commitment to education and emproving the lives of children. in addition to having served as superintendent of schools in three different connecticut communities, janet has served as a teacher, a school counselor, and a school psychologist. i met janet in the firehouse which was the emergency center of newtown, connecticut, on the afternoon of the shootings. janet was greefing. she was there with parents -- grieving. she was there with parents of children who didn't know if their children were going to come home. as we know 20 of them did not. and the next morning this brave woman sat around a conference table with the board of ed members of her community and began planning for how to protect those children and those families. how to reopen a school and get children back to learning. she is an extraordinary person. she was putting sandy hook community first, the teachers, the children, and those families. and thinking about what she did. she did it all the time with her heartbroken for her friends who were cut down on that terrible day. janet, i know you will provide invaluable expertise to us in today's hearing. you are an expert on children, on teaching, but most importantly and for our purposes today, you are an expert on the price of inaction. you are an expert because newtown has paid this price. your children pay this price. your teachers pay this price. your administrator pays this price. and the community paid a price. you speak with unquestionable authority on that subject. you have lived what has happened when we as political leaders don't act. you can speak to us here today on who these people were, tell us about don hochsprung, the extraordinary principal -- dawn hochsprung, the extraordinary principal and leader of that school. the extraordinary children, several of these parents who came today at the president's announcement, who these aides were, who these families are, and the extraordinary community that you are a member of. what we need to do here today and with your help and guidance, you need to help us about how to prevent tradgedirks how to save lives, how to ensure no other community endures what newtown, connecticut, has gone through. what happens now we could not prevent what happened then, but we can go forward. this is about what happens now. i want to thank you for your extraordinary leadership and courage in your community and in coming here today. thank you so very much. >> our next introducer is someone who bears both the physical and emotional scars of this issue. he stood by the side of our colleague, gabby giffords, on the day that horrific event in arizona. he has stood by her ever since. now he occupies her seat. congressman ron barber of arizona. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you, madam leader, for bringing us together to hear from this panel and to reflect on what we as a nation can do to prevent any kind of reoccurrence. it's my honor today to introduce emily nottingham. she's from tucson. emily and i have known each other for a long time, even before i knew her son. she worked for 30 years in the city of tucson as an administrator for affordable housing community development and social services and held that position until her retirement not too long ago. beyond that she has acted in many community organizations and i'm very proud to say she was one of the first people to join the advisory board for the fun for civility for respect and understanding, an organization that my family and i established shortly after the shooting in tucson. she's also an outdoors person as was her son, and is on the board of the arizona trail association and many other nonprofits. she's also the proud mother of two young men. ben and gabe zimmerman. when i was district director for congresswoman giffords, gabe was the first person we hired. he was my transition buddy. we worked in a small office. i called it an office, gabe called it a closet, but it was a place where we put together the management of congresswoman giffords' staff and offices early on. he was my go-to guy. a young man with such compassion and caring that it's just beyond pale to think he's no longer with us. he learned about service from his mother. she served as i said for many years people who are disadvantaged in our community. it was gabe who set up the congresswoman's meeting on that fateful day on january 8. he was killed at that event. he died right beside me as i lay after being shot myself. i will never, ever forget the image of gabe dying by my side. i know for certain that his last action was to come and try to help us, help congresswoman giffords, help me, help judge john role, and for doing that he was shot. some of us here in congress meet regularly in a room that is named in his honor, the gabe zimmerman room. and every time i go there for meetings, i remember this young man. his mother has been very active since. she's always been active in our community, but particularly active since the tragedy in tucson. she is willing and able to speak at any number of event and has done so, to lend her personal understanding of what it means to lose a son in a tragedy like this. we were shot with a glock, clip, magazine i should say, that had 33 bullets in it. i know we need to do something about that. i noemly wants to do something about it as well. it's my great honor to welcome emily nottingham to hear her testimony this afternoon. thank you. >> now hear from our colleague, keith ellison from minnesota, to the introduction of chief scott knight. >> thank you madam chair and madam leader, on behalf of my colleague, betty mccollum, and i i'm grad to introduce scott knight t. but i would be remiss if i did not mention that mayor r.t. rybeck, is here with us and mia rahim who tragically lost her father in an act of gun violence not more than a few months ago. thank you all for being here. chief scott knight started his career with the chaska police department in 1976 and has been a police chief since 2000. the city is located only a short distance from the twin cities. chief knight was appointed to the international association of chiefs of police executive committee and has served as chair of the iacp firearms committee from 2005 to 2012. he's been a leader in law enforcement's fight against gun violence and law enforcement is a key constituency if we are going to bring this spate of gun violence under control. chief knight has also not only been a leader to fight against gun violence, but also violence against officers and the illegal gun trade. in 2010 the iacp joined nine other major law enforcement organizations to form the national law enforcement partnership to prevent gun violence. chief knight was chairman of the partnership during its first year. in 2008 chief knight received the minnesota tcheefs of police association's president's award for his work on gun violence and other safety issues. officers safety issues as well. he has testified before congress before and is an expert in this area and we are very pleased to greet you here today, chief, thank you. >> our final introducer is my friend and neighbor from the city of philadelphia, congressman chaka fattah. >> thank you, mr. chairman. we are about to celebrate the life and legacy of dr. king and we are remooneded that on that balcony at the lorraine motel in memphis he was shot down. whether president reagan or president kennedy who were both shot, one killed and one almost fatally wounded, we are reminded here in washington all the time of the dangers of guns. that's why all of you went through the security protections to come into this building. and the supreme court that ruled that everyone has a right to bear arms also makes it clear you can't bring them into the supreme court. so -- that's because we actually know that guns are dangerous. and that -- as much as people may proclaim one thing, you have to look at the actions. on the floor of the house we saw members shot down once. that's why we have bulletproof things and other kinds of protections. mayor nutter is one who as someone growing up in west philadelphia, the best place in the world to grow up, as a former councilman and now as second term mayor of our city is in so many respects america's mayor now. he's the president of the u.s. conference of mayors. we worked together on gun buybacks. he's had to counsel families of police officers who have been killed, young children in our city. so as much as we might think about famous people who have been shot, there are literally dozens of children, over 50 a day shot every day in our country. mayor, it's good to see you and the good work of mayors against illegal guns. there's so much more that could be said, but it's much more important we hear from the witnesses. i want to welcome my friend and the leader of the united states conference of mayors here today. we await his testimony. thank you. >> thank you, colleagues. we are honored by each of your presence and we would like to begin with an woman with incredible character and courage, dr. janet robinson. >> thank you very much. i'm here to give am face to the children, the staff, the families of sandy hook in newtown, connecticut. on a beautiful winter morning in december, buses dropped off their precious cargo. nearly 500 elementary children who filed in their school with the expectations of all little children that good things will be happening today. and little in the way of cares. maybe what's for lunch today? will i have a chance to play with my friends at recess? in the first three classrooms in the front hallway, the little first graders' coats were hung up and the morning routines began with their circle time on the rug with their teacher. there they discussed the calendar, the activities of the day, along with an activity for responsive classroom. this was the typical routine of sandy hook elementary school, a place that excudes -- exudes caring, happiness, nurturing from the moment you walkthrough the doors. if you pass a child or an adult in the halts, you'll get a smile and cheerful greeting. children's work is posted in the halls so you know you are in a kid place immediately. sandy hook elementary school seemed like the safest place on earth in this quiet little suburban community. this school has been known for the superb education that students received for over 50 years and has been acknowledged as a vanguard school. not only has it been a high achieving school, but its tradition of caring about the whole child is well-known and part of that tradition. this school is an important piece of the fabric of this community. that morning was like every other morning. after all, routines are comforting for kids. until about 9:30. when a troubled young man carrying two guns, one of them an ar-15, assault rifle, shot out the glass window to buy pass the buzz-in system at the door and changed the lives of so many people in the next few minutes. he first went to the office directly across from the front door where normally three secretaries would be working. only one was there at the time and she flew under her desk dragging the phone with her. fortunately he didn't check. then he went back out in the hall where he was confronted by the principal, dawn hochsprung, the lead teacher, natalie hammond, and the school psychologist who emerge interested a meeting in a conference room. i can just picture dawn's indignation that someone would dare enter her school and put her babies at risk. it would be so like her to be the protective mother hen and never think of her own safety, but only of course of making him stop right then and there. i can visualize her trying to take charge of this unthinkable threat. dawn, ever the passionate educator, would do anything to protect her charges. that's where they found the bodies of dawn and mary rushing toward the attacker. natalie, fortunately, survived the attack with serious injuries. the shooter bypassed the first grade classroom on the left and began shooting in the second first grade classroom. killing the school's permanent substitute teacher, lauren, and all but one child who was clever enough to play dead and didn't even whimper. by this time the teacher in the third room had crammed at many children as possible in the bathroom, was trying to find hiding places for the others when the teacher took aim on her and her students. vicky soto, who was so excited to finally reach her dream to be a teacher, threw herself in front of her students. such incredible bravery from a young first grade teacher. ann marie murphy was the educational assistant for a young boy who was in special needs and she died trying to shield him. as was the case of rachel, a behavior therapist. none of these brave women were trained in combat. they were elementary school educators dedicated to educating their young children so their first response when confronted by this terror was to protect their children. thank goodness for our first responders, they arrived in three minutes, which is incredible in a town of 60 square miles, mainly country roads. they saved innumerable lives as the shooter carried enough ammunition to continue throughout the entire school. and this loving little elementary school was helpless in the face of this assault. 20 beautiful and innocent little first graders were lost that day in a senseless act. they were no match for a troubled person with an ar-15. at the firehouse where we had all gathered to try to sort through the event of the day, the true horror of the assault began to become apparent as parents came running, crying to the station looking for their children. as we released children to their parents, we began to realize we didn't have enough children. there were parents without children. it was then i was beginning to realize the magnitude of this horror. six dedicated educators were lost, including a phenomenal principal, dawn hochsprung. who took over the leadership of sandy hook 2 1/2 years ago. she was an experienced principal whose fashion for this important work was immediately evident. she had a vast knowledge, good instruction, and coached her already effective teachers to stretch even further for excellence. she truly enjoyed being an elementary principal and joined in the fun of the elementary school in guso -- gusto. whatever the theme day was, she was all in. she might show up at a district administrator's meeting in pajamas or fuzzy slippers, or dressed like a fairy princess. the students knew she liked to have fun as part of the learning. yet she was serious about ensuring that every child had a highly effective teacher. she, along with her colleagues lost that day, represent a huge loss to the futures of all those children they would have impacted in their professional lives. now we as a community are struggling to pick up the pieces and determine what this new normal looks and feels like. our sense of security has been chattered. innocent children and the people who teach them were gunned down. we are all forever changed. some families have a huge hole left by a 6-year-old who should be doing the funny, silly things that 6-year-olds do. families who have their children are still suffering through the nightmares and fears of sounds and strangers. children who are even fearful in their own classrooms. who knows what the long-term impact will be for those children who have had the innocence of childhood shattered. what do i say to the parents who want to be assured that when they put their children on the bus to school they will come home? how do i protect our students without creating fortresses? how do we let our children freely enjoy being children? i have heard that the measure of a society is how they treat their children. so help me give these children their futures. i would just like to share with you as one final thought a fourth grade student, congresswoman pelosi, sent you a letter. her name is ava. she says i am a fourth grade student in newtown, connecticut. after the shooting in my town i started an online petition asking for help from the president and congress to change the gun laws. it got a lot of support from all over america, but then i had to take it down because the police were worried about my safety. what everyone in newtown wants is for you to ban semiautomatic weapons and large capacity magazines and make everyone use guns safely. this is important so that a person cannot shoot many people at once and/or injure people badly. semiautomatic weapons and large capacity magazines end lives and put lives at risk. this ban will help prevent individuals, families, and communities from suffering the way we are now in newtown. in newtown's municipal center there are hundreds of thousands of cards and pictures from children and adults from all over america. it's so sad. i think the people should -- against changing gun laws should walkthrough the long howlway and read one card out of every box to realize how many people want this change. we would all appreciate anything you can do to help. sincerely, ava s. this is some of the thousands and thousands of cards and letters that are gathered in the hall. it's shows the support and feeling among the people in this country. thank you for doing what you're doing here. [applause] >> dr. robinson, that deeply wounded community is so fortunate to have a person of your strength and character to guide. we are so thankful you are with us here today and moved by what you said. >> thank you. >> the mayor of philadelphia, the president of the conference of mayors, if there are any other mayors that you would like to acknowledge, mayor, are you welcome -- i understand mayor marr of new jersey is here. welcome. [applause] if there's others, mayor, feel free to welcome them. 345euor nutter. >> leader pelosi and chairman delauro, chairman andrews, and all the members of the house democratic steering and policy committee. let me first say you make me very proud. i'm very proud of the opportunity to be with you and more importantly that you have taken the time to try to address these issues. i'm michael a. nutter, mayor of the city of philadelphia, president of the u.s. conference of mayors. we are joined by a number of -- we are joined today by a number of mayors. i know, saw earlier mayor ryback, mayor warren, and a number of us are also members of the organization, mayors against illegal guns, which has provided tremendous leadership by mayors bloomberg and manino. to all the mayors who are here, thank you for your leadership as well. i'm honored to appear before you this afternoon on behalf of the u.s. conference of mayors to discuss with you the views of the nation's mayors on what we must do to reduce gun violence in this nation and to make our cities andtowns, our streets, our schools, our theaters -- and towns, our streets, our schools, our theaters, places of worship safer places for all our people. again and again and again americans have been stunned by senseless violence and acts of violence involving guns. december 14, 2012 tragedy targeting young children in newtown remains incomprehensible. too many times during the last year mayors have expressed shock at a mass shooting. even more frequently, many of us must cope with gun violence that occurs on the streets of our cities every day. the u.s. conference of mayors has been calling for sensible gun laws to protect the public for more than 40 years. mayors and police chiefs from cities of all sizes have worked together in this effort for decades. we have done this because of the tremendous toll which gun violence takes on the american public day in and day out. let me share some additional numbers with you. every year in america more than 100,000 people are shot. 37,537 of them die, including 11,583 who are murdered. every year 18,000 children and teenagers are shot. 2,829 of them die, including 1,888 who are murdered. every day in america 2le 2 -- 282 people are shot and 86 die, including 32 who are murdered. every day 50 children and teens are shot and eight of them die, including five who are murdered. if this was disease killing that many people, if this were accidents killing that many people, if this were bags of tainted spinach killing that many people this country would immediately take swift action to stop that kind of death toll. but somehow, some seemingly paralyzed when it comes to guns and violence, but i would only repeat what congresswoman mccarthy said. this time is different. and it must be. gun violence disproportionately affects urban areas. our 50 largest metro areas have 62 center cities, and these cities account for 15% of the population, but 39% of gun related murders, and 23% of total homicides. philadelphia, like many major cities, has struggled to control gun violence for years. however despite our recent successes and employing more effective policing techniques, deaths due to gun violence have not dramatically fallen. but use one set of statistics to illustrate this point. last year the number of shooting victims in philadelphia was 1,282. this is actually down considerably from the year before. and was the lowest number since we began tracking shooting victims in 2000. however the number of homicides was actually slightly up last year. 331. seven more than the previous year. how are these two statistics possible? the answer is, is that the homicide victims have more bullets killing them. put it another way. there are more rounds being fired and more intentional head hots. so despite -- head shots. so despite better policing, when someone in philadelphia is shot, unfortunately they may be more likely to die even though there are fewer shooting victims. we had an 11% increase last year in philadelphia in head shots. we had a 30% increase in the number of bullets found at scenes measuring more than 20 rounds at a location. let me note that pennsylvania does not have stringent gun restrictions. when the city of philadelphia adopted stricter gun laws a few years ago, the state supreme court struck some of those laws down. that is why we need federal legislation, comprehensive t. common sense federal legislation for all of us to be safe. [applause] cities alone cannot reduce gun violence by themselves. we are doing everything that we can, but still losing the battle thanks to the proliferation of guns in our nation. philadelphia's story is not unique. mayors everywhere struggle with gun violence, using scarce city resources to fight it. resources which we should be using to educate our children, create jobs for our residents, and revitalize our cities. in an open letter to the president and the congress, sent just three days after the newtown massacre, we urged immediate action, and over 200 mayors signed on to that letter. we called on the president to exercise his powers through executive orders and the congress to introduce and pass legislation to make reasonable changes in our gun laws and regulations. specifically we called on congress to, one, enact legislation to ban assault weapons and other high capacity magazines being -- that is now being prepared by senator dianne feinstein and many others. two, strengthen the national background check system and eliminate loopholes in that system. three, strengthen the penalties for straw purchases of guns. today of course president barack obama and vice president biden released the administration's plan to reduce gun violence, both through new legislation and executive action. i was honored to be at the white house earlier today for that release and i can tell you that the administration clearly listened closely to the recommendations which the mayors have offered. the nation's mayors urge the congress to give that report full consideration and to move swiftly forward on the legislative action that it requires. we know that preventing gun violence, whether it is mass shootings in a school or murder on a street corner will take much more than just strengthening our gun laws. we need to reverse the culture of violence in our nation so that violent acts are not the first response of settling a difference or compensating for a wrong. we need to strengthen and more adequately fund our mental health system so we can identify troubled individuals earlier and get them the help that they need. lastly, in addition to -- in addition, i personally support the creation of a national commission on domestic terrorism, violence, and crime in america. which would examine the issues of violent crime and its prevention and put forward recommendations on what government can do on a local, state, and national level to reduce domestic terrorism, violence, and crime and prevent attacks such as those we witnessed in newtown, aurora, tucson, and at virginia tech. yesterday as mayor of philadelphia it i also announced and put forward for our city something i refer to now as the sandy hook principles. these principles are a called to action for corporations to heed the basic core values of american citizens in promoting the health, safety, and well-being of our communities. the objective of these principles is to influence the behavior of gun and ammunition manufacturers, distributors, and retailers by establishing a baseline standard for responsible conduct of their business. i shared these principles with many other mayors around the country and we expect and during our conference we'll be reviewing and discussing them in the days ahead. let me be very clear, however. strengthening our gun laws should not have to wait for any of these other actions to occur. the time for action is now. the nation's mayors pledge to work with you to build a safer america for our children and for all of our citizens. lastly, let me say this as a father. i find it reprehensible, disgusting, and outside the bounds of human killing knit -- dignity that the n.r.a. would place an ad on television attacking president obama's daughters -- [applause] >> even in this at times outrageous business of politics, which we are all engaged, we must have the sense to not attack the families and children of those of us engaged in public service. the n.r.a. has struck an incredibly new low in public discourse and that ad should be removed immediately. it has -- [applause] >> that ad has no place in the legitimate dialogue that must take place in order to make this country safer for all of us, especially our children. thank you, madam leader. [applause] >> thank you, mayor, for your powerful testimony. ms. nottingham, your son personified the selflessness of service that so many staff people who come here to serve our country do. we are very proud of him and we choose to continue his legacy of public service. we are happy today that you are here to share your thoughts with us. welcome. >> thank you for having me. it's fitting that we are holding this meeting near the gabe zimmerman room. gabe was my son and a congressional staffer who worked with your colleague, congresswoman gabrielle giffords. on january 8, 2011, a man armed with high capacity magazines and a semiautomatic weapon he purchased at a big box store shot the congresswoman then turned on the people in the line to see here. he murdered six, including my son, and injured 13 people, including congressman ron barber, with 31 bullets before he tried to reload his magazine. . only then did citizen heroes have the opportunity to tackle him to the ground and disarm him. on that will sunny day those people, including a 9-year-old on that will sunny day those people, including a 9-year-old girl not much older than the children killed in newtown were exercising their rights. their right to free of assembly, the right to freedom of speech. they were trying to be good citizens, participating in the democratic process. i'm sad beyond words at the death and injuries in tucson, aurora, newtown, and too many other places. i'm also angry that we, you and i, have made it so easy for these things to happen. we've allowed ourselves to overemphasize gun rights to the detriment of other rights, including the most important, the right to be alive. we've allowed our families to lose the feeling of safety at school, at their place of worship, at movies and, gabe, who had a palpable passion for social justice, would be furious. please, do not be swayed by the line that the only way to combat a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun. in fact, there was a good guy with a gun at the tucson shooting but he almost mistakenly shot the citizen hero who had tackled the shooter. i don't want to carry around an assault rifle to go to the grocery store to buy broccoli or take a grandchild to soccer practice. i'm here to encourage you to tackle this serious public issue with resolve, with facts and with the complexity approach that it requires. i fully understand that we can't stop every shooting. but if we can take action and save some of our loved ones shouldn't we do everything we can? we've known some of the solutions for decades but have failed to act. we need better access to and funding of our mental health systems. we need universal background checks and to take assault weapons and high-capacity magazines off the streets. we need the c.d.c. to fully research gun violence. i'm also here because i think it helps to bolster your resolve when you think of the victims as real people, not just statistics. gabe was like many of your staffers. young, idealistic it worked long hours on horrible takeout food and adrenaline. [laughter] he had plans that morning. picking a wedding location, helping his mom, that's me, hook up her tv, figuring out a birthday present for his fiancé. instead, he was shot in the head as he ran to help his boss by a man wielding weaponly solely to kill many people very quickly. have you ever had that nightmare where you knew you were supposed to be but couldn't get there? that was my january 8. as i searched hospitals to find my son who hadn't answered his cell phone and who i thought might be wounded. it took hours to find out that he died before he hit the ground and his body was still on the sidewalk where he fell. when you're disheartened by the number of steps that have to be taken, by the fears of others, by the politics please dig deep and find new heart. think for a moment about your young staffers, your children or grandchildren. now imagine that cell phone in your pocket is vibrating and the message says they have been murdered by a stranger with an assault weapon. imagine that. then shore up your resolve and keep working to protect your staffers, our children, our nation. we need you to not give up. thank you. [applause] >> thank you, miss nottingham. we aspire to equal your persistence and your commitment. thank you so much for that moving testimony -- and courage. we thank you for that moving system. this problem is prevalent in our cities but not only in our cities. our next witness knows that the sad national systemic affect of gun violence, chief scott knight. >> good afternoon. thank you, leader pelosi, for the opportunity to speak before the committee and thank you, committee members. i've been involved in firearms policy and legislation for a long time. i've been a police officer for 36 years and chief for 12. i'm a former chair of the firearms committee and the former chair of the partnership to prevent gun violence. for many years we have worked to try and stop the madness and advert the tragedies we're seeing. these tragedies occur every day with real people, police officers included, losing their lives or suffering injury due the inadequacy of our gun laws. law enforcement is on the front lines of the gun violence epidemic. in 2011, for the first time -- first time in 14 years more law enforcement officers were killed in the line of duty by guns than any other means. approximately 2,000 children under the age of 18 are killed every year by guns. how very sad that it has taken such horrific mass murders, including those of the 20 small children in connecticut to get our attention. this debate about gun violence has been inaccurately depicted as here pro gun or anti-gun. this has stifled debate and a discussion to prevent gun violence. law enforcement is not anti-gun. we own guns, we work with guns, we carry guns. many are hunters. many pursue hunting, sporting, conservation issues. we know that guns in dangerous hands have terrible consequences. we have seen the devastation caused by weapons with excessive firepower. federal law already deems certainly categories of people too dangerous to possess firearms. among them, felonies, fugitives, minors, and those who have been committed to a mental institution or adjudicated as mentally ill. the brady law enacted in 1994, established a national background check system. but those checks, as you know, are only required when someone is making a purchase from a federally licensed firearms dealer. a way around those checks is for a person to purchase at a gun show, an ad, or through a private party. we know, we've heard an estimated 40% of firearms are acquired through private transactions, meaning a prohibited person can and does obtain a weapon without a background check. after the tragedy in newtown, the gun lobby funded in part by the gun makers, proclaimed that the solution to, quote, a bad guy with a gun, is a good guy with a gun, unquote. but the real solution is to prevent the bad guy from getting a gun in the first place is to do a background check. that's something a good guy does. from 1994 when the brady law took effect to 2009, by the way that is the last public data we could get, nearly two million prohibited purchases were blocked. twor million. can you imagine? can you imagine what the current data might be? you can imagine if background checks were required universally. that's a lot of bad guys prevented from getting guns. that's good guys stopping bad guys. it is time to stop dangerous people from getting guns from any source. you can. congress must pass legislation requiring background checks for all purposes. we must also approve a national instant criminal background check system. known as niccs. states are behind and not reporting and too many states have not recorded records those who have disqualifying mental health issues. this must be fixed. assault weapons are not we need to ban high-capacity magazines. they are not legitimate sporting guns, nor were they designed for citizens to use in defending their homes. they were created to spray bullets in rapid fire on a battlefield, not on our streets. this kind of firepower in our communities is simply irresponsible and facilitates mass murder. banning high capacity magazines will reduce the number of bullets a shooter can use before they must reload. from tucson, years, to baltimore county, maryland, perpetrators have been taken down while they're changing out magazines trying to reload. semiautomatic assault weapons already exist. and three should be treated the same way that we treat machine guns. they should be registered and those persons should go through a background check in order to possess them. the proposal to arm teachers and volunteers in our schools is a distraction, and it is a -- and it is very dangerous. it opens a host of security issues. it is very difficult for a highly trained police officer to engage an active shooter. it takes a great deal of training and a great deal of training, something that our teachers, and our principals and our superintendents don't have the time and probably aren't inclined to do. police in schools, also known as school resource officers, help make schools safer by building relationships and trust and it's those relationships and trust, folks, that stop the bad guy before an event happens. we're not coming in after the fact. we have relationships to develop and glean information so we know when someone is in trouble, so we know when someone is struggling, and we know they are threatening to do something because time and time again we have the evidence of it and it's typically the school resource officer who develops that relationships and gets that information and stops that event. it happens every day. because nothing happened, it does not make the news. i also want to stress that the a.t.f. needs a director in place as soon as possible. it has been six years. [applause] it has been six years that post has been vacant. you know and i know a serious light needs to be shined on the tee hart amendments and they need to be repealed and removed. [applause] all across the country, law enforcement and the public are calling upon congress to strengthen our nation's laws. i dare say we're pleading. i ask that you heed our call and enact these very sensible measures that will prevent -- will prevent further bloodshed. thank you. >> thank you all very much for what has been a most extraordinary, a powerful testimony. and prescriptions for us to take back and thank you for giving us the strength and the resolve to help make these changes. we can't do it without you, and i think you know we hope that you know that we are with you in trying to make these changes. we are now going to move to questions. i will say this, i will introduce my colleague, mike thompson, to introduce a member who is one of his vice chairs on the prestrengths of violence committee. i want to -- we're going to have a one-minute question, and that's going to be true when we get to dealing with our members. mr. thompson of california. >> thank you, madam chair. it gives me great pleasure to introduce one of the vice chairs on the task force to prevent violence. someone who's on the judiciary committee, an expert in juvenile justice and next week he'll be holding a hearing with grace napolitano, our colleague from california on juvenile justice and mental health issues, the gentleman from virginia, mr. bobby scott. >> thank you. thank you, madam leader. thank you, mr. chairman. i just want to point out that we've already had recommendations from the president and vice president. we'll have additional recommendations and so we know that we're going to have a serious response to the tragedy in newtown. but in addition to the recommendations that we already have on gun safety and gun violence, specifically we also have to make recommendations to address violence generally and that must be done with a comprehensive approach. dr. carnell who is at the university of virginia frequently reminds us that if your school shooting prevention plan begins when the shooter is at the door, it's too late. so the youth promise act is one initiative that will replace the cradle to prison pipeline, the attorney general's blue ribbon commission report on how to reduce problems associated with children exposed to violence was published only a few months ago. it focuses on prevention and early intervention and uses the phrase evidence-based on virtually every page. it urges us to follow evidence and research and avoid slogans and feel good approaches that are not effective. and so if we do what we know what to do and agree that our recommendations will conform to evidence-based approaches and sound research, we can have confidence that our recommendations will make a difference and that our children across the nation will be protected. we have people from virginia tech that i'd like to recognize. laura and the others who want to stand up, those associated with the virginia tech tragedy too. lori. [applause] >> thank you. what we're now going to do -- first of all, this has been an outpouring of member support for this effort. we've had over 60 members of the house of representatives here. we are not in session. there are no votes. members have stayed because of their view of the importance of this issue and wanting to listen to your views. this is how we're going to handle the questions because there are so many. what we'll continue to do is as which have in the past is recognize members in the order that they come in to the hearing room. but we are going to ask members in batches of five to ask one question each. i will admonish, my colleagues, you will have one minute. and you're used to this -- to ask your question and then we'll have the panel answer those. honestly, what i'd like to do is do this in a 10-minute block of time so we can get around to as many questions as we can. the first grouping of questions are -- yes, madam speaker. >> if i just may, i want to join you in saluting the panel today. it was called a call to action, and you certainly have heralded that call. i know that the mayor has to get back to work in philadelphia. we're honored by the presence of all of you. but mr. mayor, if you have to slip out, we understand that you have to get there. i want to thank you now, since we won't be able to acknowledge you at the end, thank you, mayor. >> thank you, madam leader. [applause] >> i will ask the following five members to kick it off. that's congresswoman eddie bernice johnson of california, congresswoman joyce beatty. she's gone. representative holt from new jersey, representative frankel from florida, representatives velazquez from new york, representative bon meche from -- bon michie from oregon. -- bonamici from oregon. >> thank you, madam chair. my question is probably a broad one and widespread and probably directed to the mayor and the chief of police. with all of the budgetary restraints that we suffer throughout this country, and certainly here, do you think that you can have an effective program without federal funding? >> no. >> we will take all five questions at one time. mr. holt. >> thank you for the stories. they certainly make one cry, but they should make one angry and outraged and determined and complitted. -- committed. why is america so different in the statistics that you gave us, mayor nutter? >> you know, it's not that we have so much more mental illness or less mental health care than other countries or so many fewer armed police or so many more defenseless students or it's not only american youth who play violent video games. it's not that we have so little information about bad guys and yet we have so many more gun deaths. what is -- what are the major distractions in these arguments that we have to guard ourselves against? because clearly over the decades we've been distracted from fuelly confronting the problem. -- from actually confronting the problem. >> thank you very much, madam chair. and thank you so much, panelists, for your moving testimony. my home state of oregon is one of the few states that actually requires universal background checks for all firearm sales. however, the recent shooting at the shopping mall, the shooter killed two before turning the gun on himself. he had stolen his assault rifle. as we know, the newtown shooters used weapons owned by his mother. universal background checks are important, but what other steps can we take, how else can we address the situation that are not addressed by universal background checks? thank you. >> mr. moran. >> thank you. two things. columbine high school. we had an entire police school at virginia tech. but what i would like to principally focus on -- and i'll direct this to mayor nutter -- being from virginia, invariablely the n.r.a. points out philadelphia and d.c. and other major cities saying they have the toughest gun laws but look at all the gun crime. virginia is one of the major problems because what happens, even though governor wilder limited handguns to one a month, they reversed it, the virginia legislature. so now people will go in and whether it's a gun show or whatever, buy cases of guns, transport them up 95 and then find a convenient urban street corner, open up the trunk and sell the guns. so i'd like the mayor to address that phenomenon and why it demands federal legislation. thank you. >> mr. kildee one minute and then i'll ask -- i am going to ask the mayor to answer the question first because he'll have to leave. mr. kildee. >> thank you, panel. thank you for your presence here and your testimony. i represent flint, michigan, where over the last few years one in every 540 residents have been slain. an amazing statistic. i talked to our prosecutor today. he's concerned that the guns he sees on the street are held by teenagers. not a single one of them acquired legally. my question, and i suppose i'll ask you, chief, to comment on what federal support, local police chiefs, particularly places like flint and saginaw that i represent that have precious few local resources available, what federal support will be most helpful in dealing with this problem? >> mayor nutter. >> thank you, madam chair. i'll try to be really quick. madam leader pelosi and the two chairs, thank you for your accommodation with regard to my schedule and the opportunity. congresswoman johnson, you asked the question with regard to can we really -- we do what we do with what we have. but let me say this, and as part of my testimony, i talked about dealing with these issues at the federal level. in the aftermath of 9/11, the united states of america said we will do whatever it takes to make sure that we are safe flying. what i want is someone to say, we are going to do whatever it takes walking. i want to be safe in my neighborhood. i want my children to be able to go to school. i want the same comparable response to international terrorism to the daily domestic terrorism that i see and other mayors all across the country experience on a regular basis. that's funding, that's personnel, that's equipment, that's support, it's technology. it's a focus on a regular basis that domestic terrorism is as important as international terrorism. you almost have to take all your clothes off to get on an airplane. one guy had a bomb in his shoe and now all of us, years later, are still taking our shoes off. that's fine. i want to be safe on an airplane. i like to be safe walking in my neighborhood as well, and all of our children. so we can't do what we need to do without serious focused federal support, and that's what the commission is about. 9/11 commission told us what we needed to be doing to be safe in the air. we also need that same kind of response for safe on the ground. so that's the one answer. congressman holt, to your question. i think one of the reasons -- i do not believe that americans are that much more prone to violence. i don't think that philadelphiaans are that much more murderous than many other folks. but when you have almost as many guns as you have people in this country invariablely, they end up in the hands of folks who should not have them. we tried to pass in philadelphia, we did get this one done, the simple idea that you had to report your weapon lost or stolen. if you want to make a claim to your insurance company about your car, you have to report it stolen. the n.r.a. fought that, sued me on my 100th day in office back in 2008. one of the proudest moments of my entire political career. [laughter] so it is a distraction. and the distraction is the n.r.a. and their money and their intimidating tactics. we have to be prepared to fight back. many of the similar ways, not what i talked about earlier in terms of the disgusting ad. they have done their best to gut and underfund through congress the atfe, not confirmed a director, taken away their ability to accumulate information for law enforcement purposes. if you're going to solve a problem, you need to know what problem you're frying to solve and you need data and information. they have taken every possible step to block that agency or the c.d.c. or anyone else. we can put a person on the moon, but i can't assure that you're going for safe walking around the corner. we need data and information. gun locks and lockers. congresswoman bonamici. in connecticut, the person took his mother's weapons. one of the proposals out of what i released yesterday in philadelphia, the sandy hook principles, when you walk into -- i don't want to give anyone free fizzing -- you walk into a video store or electronic store, you buy a d.v.d. player, they immediately offer you the two-year warrant. when you walk into a gun store after the background check, which everyone should go through, they should offer you a gun lock or ask, do you have a gun locker in your house or your business where this gun is going to be stored? and that should be a part of the sale. and that's the only person who should be able to get access to that weapon. we know that the technology exists that you can in fact make guns in such a way that only the legitimate owner and operator can operate that weapon. that would cut down tremendously on the fact that in my city and many other cities across the united states of america, you can rent guns in stash houses across the city. you walk in, they show you an array of weapons, you pick out the one you want, you put your nun down, bring it back in a week, do whatever you do, you bring it back. mostly you bring it back because they know who you are. so guns circulate. they're already there. there's not -- at least in our city -- i know in chicago, in illinois, they have very, very tough laws in pennsylvania. we don't. we have one of the weakest laws in the united states of america. so in places where you have tough laws, they may be crazy but they're not totally stupid. they go across the county line, buy whatever guns they want, bring them back and engage in activity which is why we need federal legislation covering the entire united states of america. that's what we need. and straw purchases, the people involved in that fick business who -- and the many instances it could be a spouse, it could be girlfriend, boyfriend, whatever the case may be. person knows they can't buy weapons themselves, they go and have them buy it. they should have the hammer come down themselves. you need minimum sentences for people who walk around with unland weapons. if you look at new york and commend governor cuomo what he did yesterday, but in new york city, a very famous athlete a few years ago walking around with his own weapon unland, shot himself in the leg and did two years in prison. this is serious business. we have too many young people, too many teens with too great of access to these weapons and no one seems to care whether or not they have them or not. those are illegal guns that should not be on our streets and we need to step up and law enforcement activity and snatch those illegal guns off the streets of america. all of this conversation -- and i had one last night with someone who clearly needs a serious background check herself, this notion that somehow after 236 years created in the city of philadelphia that somehow the government is going to do something that causes everyone to be armed, that we're marching down the street coming after guns, is a whole lot of nonsense. people who are not dealing in the reality of what i and the chief and many others face on a daily basis. we have real jobs with real challenges and real responsibilities trying to make our folks safe. we need to cut out the nonsense and have serious conversation about these issues. and i thank you. >> thank you very much, mayor. >> thank you, mr. mayor, very much. [applause] our next group of five -- and we'd ask the people try to adhere the one-minute. committee assignments may be based on adherence to that. the first is ms. barbara lee of california. then ms. lujan grisham. mr. hank johnson. mrs. davis and mr. david scott. the witnesses, when you're responding to this group of five, if you'd like to comment on the earlier questions, please do so. >> thank you very much. first, let me thank the panel for your extraordinary testimony. also, my heart felt condolences goes to the families of your loved ones and to the entire newtown community. my constituents in my district, especially -- i'm from oakland, california -- send their thoughts and prayers also to you. in many ways, part of the community which i represent has been and continues to be a war zone. 15 of my constituents were shot just last week. chief knight, could you just please give us an idea of what cities and police officers and mayors confront in terms of daily gun violence? >> ok. next is ms. lujan grisham. >> thank you. i, too, want to add my appreciation for the incredibly touching and courageous remarks today. i can tell you that i have renewed resolve because of your courage and dedication and compassion and recognize that this is the day to commit from this day forward that we need comprehensive federal reforms so that we're doing something meaningful about the gun violence in this country. in fact, i come from a district in new mexico where we have significant gun violence and tragedy. many of it -- the questions i would have asked have been asked today. so i have a new question which is, in the aftermath of this incredibly horrific tragedy in newtown -- and notwithstanding -- i want to make sure i recognize there have been others -- what can we do in congress today to help the healing of newtown and make sure that we have continued support for those families and your community, dr. robinson? >> thank you. mr. hank johnson. >> thank you. my condolences to doctors robinson and nottingham and also to the representatives from the virginia shooting. my sincere condolences. we live in a culture of violence. the question is, how do we change from a culture of violence into a culture of education and a culture of peacefulness? it takes money. we in congress have that ability. preventing mass shootings by way of banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, certainly something that we should do. we need to get at the issue of violence that affects us with respect to handguns used primarily in inner city areas to kill people. i'm not advocating for a ban on handguns. don't get me wrong. but i will say we need to address the issue of violence in our culture. and i'd like to know what kinds of resources are available to help students and to help people in the community, adults, who have emotional or mental disorders and whether or not we need to put more resources into that area. >> thank you, hank. susan davis. >> thank you very much. thank you for being here, for your amazing testimony. i want to just follow-up on the mental health question as well. because -- i don't know if you could identify and perhaps, chief knight, immediate steps that cities and schools can take to identify potentially dangerous individuals. we know that many, many people who would benefit from mental health treatment are actually incarcerated because there's no other place for them to go. on the other hand, california, for one, has had a civil commitment standard procedure for involuntary commitments. sand i wonder whether you any that's an important thing to look at as we look at options that communities would have. >> thank you. david scott. >> yes, thank you. yes, thank you. dr. robinson, i'd like to direct this question to you. the national rifle association has said that the best way in response to what happened at your school in newtown was to arm the teachers, put armed personnel in each of the schools. i'd like to get your response. how would you respond to the n.r.a. on that? and then secondly, why you feel strongly that a large part of the answer to this is to deal with these weapons of mass destruction, as we call them, with these high-capacity weapons, those two points, please. >> thank you, david. thank you for your patience. a wide variety of questions. we'd ask your panel to answer. remember, if you'd like to comment on something but, rosa, did you -- >> i was going to go to dr. robinson. she has to leave for an airplane. >> thank you. representative grisham, thank you for your question. it's a sensitive question. we are -- we realize now we are in the midst of this and looking back there are phases of this dealing with this trauma. if i would name this i'd call this the start of a recovery. it's still painful. mental health is a big piece. part of what i have come to realize is when you lost your whole sense of safety, you start to look for things that are concrete and give you visible signs of safety. parents are looking to see police are out in the street. that there is a police car out there and police in the building. parents are coming in demanding that there be f.r.o.'s in all of our elementary schools, which we didn't have. you know, people seem to need that. some of my teachers are saying, you know, i need escape ladders in the room and i need to have the door chain and new locks. they're creating a list of things they think they need to have to feel safe because they've lost their personal sense of safety. congress could take a real critical look at the unique situations that happen. in these traumatic events. arizona, wherever. people go through these processies and they're in different places and there's a lot of grieving and the mental health support is very necessary. and we do a great job of bringing in traumatic experts, counseling and so forth, and then they go away. and i think my people need support for a long time. and i don't think that when these people go away, they start talking about a transition plan -- we can't stop transition. we are not there. we need more long-term kind of support when a traumatic incident occurs. that is mental health and that is also visible signs of security so we can keep going. representative scott, your question on n.r.a. arming teachers. i come from a military family. my husband was a navy pilot. we do not keep guns. i have great respect for guns. my dad used to teach me how to shoot. iffer great respect for them. if you remember what the chief said, it is to take the great deal of training for a police officer to shoot a weapon in action. teachers are teachers. if you think about elementary teachers, elementary teachers just love kids. they are not going to go packing and sit on the floor and read to the kids with a gun at their hip. there was some very insensitive individual who will go unnamed that immediately after this -- and i did not watch tv after this -- made some claim that if dawn had a weapon in her desk, she could have taken action. she was not at her desk and no good principal is. what about the athlete that shot himself in the foot? how many little kids can get injured with inexperienced elementary school teachers walking around with guns? it is not even logical. now, my people tell me they need to see right now. i couldn't know if it's long term. they need to see armed policemen. i think it is that loss of security that is important. at least temporarily we will be able to accommodate that. your third party question had to do with high capacity. he shot every one of these little 6-year-olds three to 11 times. that wasn't necessary. and we could -- had he had a single shot or -- i know nothing -- a gun -- and all those -- that ammunition, maybe dawn and the people come out could have stopped him. you know, they were determined. they didn't have a chance with a semiautomatic weapon. and little 6-year-old bodies not having a chance. so that's the depth of my feeling. did i miss anyone? >> miss nottingham, did you have a comment? and then we'll go to the chief. >> i just want to echo the idea that, a, people need support after mass shootings or after major tragedy for a long time. there -- it is not a -- there is not a quick recovery, and that should be understood and recognized. secondly, to address just one aspect of the idea of moving to a culture of education rather than a culture of violence, one of the things that we've been working on in tucson through the funds for civility, respect and understanding, is anti-bullying programs in schools. because where we learn about violence, we model violence, children learn very young. if we're going to address this through an educational aspect, then we should look at additional support for anti-bullying activities in our schools. >> from my world view, some of these overlap, so i'm not necessarily going to be surgical. i will answer, i think, most of these questions. firstly -- and they asked about funding. please do. here's a way we use it, and we talk specifically about school resource officers. in my city, city of 25,000, the lion's share of the public schools with our district are in my city, and i have private schools free. because of funding and what it is in today's world and the economy and education, we know how they're strapped. i have four s.r.o.'s at one time. i now have one. that's not a desired situation by the school or by my department. yes to the funding piece. to the mental health piece, the s.r.o.'s, they know the kids. they know when they don't look right. what's going on today? they have friendships and they talk. someone else will say, have you seen his facebook page, or i am being taken down, bullied on facebook and all the things that lead us to mental health issues. and in regard to mental health issues, today, the officer on the street gets called because someone is having an episode of some nature and maybe a family member calls or maybe a co-worker calls or maybe they're just out and about having some sort of episode. the officer comes, evalue waits and determines, something is going on. this person needs to be seen. they've committed no crime a lot of the time, but you can't believe. so they in minnesota and i think this is similar throughout our country execute what's called the 72-hour hold. a lot of people say, good. the situation is resolved for 72 hours. this individual will receive some sort of care and diagnosis that will determine what is the next step but that is not true. the 72-hour hold only gives the authority to say whether you want to or not you are going to have to come with me or this paramedic crew and you're going to this hospital. upon arrival, often, because it's not acute or the history is not known, a host of legitimate reasons, the e.r. physician or whomever is seeing that person, releases them right then and they're -- out they go. yes, that's a problem. and you're right. my peers will tell you jails have become de facto institutions because a lot of these people then immediately -- some crime happens. if they're out something will. so now they're in jail. do we think they're getting treated there? we know they're not. i hope that goes to your question. the question about -- >> chief, can i just interrupt you for one second? i know that dr. robinson is going to catch an airplane. again, we want to say thank you to you. our hearts, our thoughts, our prayers are with you and the newtown community, and we will do what we need to do. thank you, dr. robinson. [applause] sorry, chief. >> no, i am sorry. to the question about someone legally owns a weapon and then another person gets their hands on it, a family member or whatever the situation, yes, that happens. we know it happens. there should be, along with reporting lost or stolen weapons, there should be legislation, i think, that requires the safe storage and the separation of weapons and ammunition. so they are not available to anyone who might come upon them. just so you know, the footnote, it wasn't that long ago that smith and wesson was giving gun locks out with their weapons. and they were villeified, villeified by the industry. guess what they stopped doing? it was a business decision. folks, it was a prudent business decision to stop it. now, where's the sanity in that? it doesn't exist. of course it doesn't. you know, in regard to the daily violence that we see, we see it and unfortunately in my city very few murders, but we have a lot of suicide. we have a lot of accidents. in fact, in the past 12 months, we've had four people who have gone through the permitting process shoot themselves and they're accidents. two of them were demonstrating that the weapon was unloaded. and so we're dealing with gun violence all the time. again, which doesn't make the news, is my officers are taking guns off of people all the time because nothing happened, thank god, it's not a news worthy item. here's a little bit of scott nicte's history, and my peers will tell you this across the country. i started in 1976. at that time the officer had a reinvolver. in the car, if needed, was a shotgun. typically a 12 gauge. and that was the weapon to go to if it really got heavy. well, today, over time we went from that shotgun because, folks, it wasn't adequate. it was no longer adequate to the threats the officer was facing on the streets and we moved to an mp-5 .09 carbine rifle. we're leveling the field a little bit. we're not getting ahead. we're leveling the field a little bit. today my officers have ar-15's in their cars. now, do you think i'm doing this because i want to? do you think i got a lot of money? do you think it's sporting? i'm doing it because i am forced to to provide my officers the tools they need to keep you, my family, my community and themselves safe. it's not simply because it's a new sexy weapon that they need to acquire? i hope that goes to your question. i hope i touched on all the questions. >> thank you. actually, this is the last traunch of questions here and sheila jackson lee from texas, and nita lowey from new york. there you are. sorry, gwen, i didn't see you. congresswoman gwen moore and veesy. -- veasey. he may have left. so ms. jackson lee, mrs. lowey and ms. moore. one minute. >> let me acknowledge to dr. nottingham our deepest sympathy but respect for such a young man and such a hero, to your son. ternl to the tragedy that we've witnessed in newtown and elsewhere, to the chief. i also want to acknowledge two people in the room who experienced gun violence, parents who lost their son, -- to gun violence. [applause] i come from texas and i will hold this up. "at top of gun world." i want everyone to know what you just said and what many have said, we are not after people's guns. the store's name is houston armry, and the headline says they're strictly controlled by the united states government. not only that, someone said, suppose someone breaks and takes their guns, and they said because they're in a vault, tell me be about being outgunned as a police officer and the importance of storing and securing guns. you mentioned it earlier, but storing and securing guns in people's homes which i this is enormously crucial. >> mrs. lowey. >> thank you very much. i fickly want to thank dr. nottingham as a mother and a grandmother. i can't imagine sitting next to my friend, ron barber, the pain you feel. i don't have any questions. i just want to ask for your help and all those who are listening today. we all have been listening to the recent polls. 88% of american people support closing the gun show loophole. 76% support universal background checks. 65% support banning high-capacity magazines, etc., etc., etc. we've heard your wisdom today, and i just hope we can work together to use the american people to get legislation passed through both the senate and the house. new york passed tough legislation just this week. we can do it with your help and i thank you for appearing here today. thank you. >> thank you so much. and ms. moore. >> thank you so much. i join so many others in awe of you who have turned your pain into some actionable plans for curtailing this violence. i just don't know if i could do it. and so i really appreciate your appearing to help us sort through these things. i think part of what makes all of us feel so helpless is because who -- you know, how do you prepare when your sleepy little town like newtown, connecticut, anticipating that someone will come in and shoot 26 people? you just -- you just don't necessarily prepare for that as you might think of some big city where that might happen. but there are -- i'm talking about domestic violence now. we know every single day there's going to be some woman who is going to be killed because there are restraining orders that are put out there, and a woman whose spouse has a firearm is five times more likely to be killed. now, we have federal laws prohibiting misdemeanor or felony, folks with felonies from having a firearm, but what do you think? i have a bill. what do you think, chief, of maybe a grant program we could give to the states to, number one, sort of align their domestic violence laws and identifying who these people are with federal law and to give them grants so that as soon as that restraining order is put down, number one, they seize the firearms right from them today, you know, no need to go to a psychiatrist, nothing. if you got a restraining order, we get your firearms that day. and until a judge lifts that order at some point. and that it would be put into the ncis immediately so that you can't get the gun. thank you. >> thank you very much. mr. barber, one minute, comment, question. >> thank you. can you hear me? there we go. i have a question with regard to mental health services and people with mental health needs. before i want to correct something i've been saying for a few days that is now incorrect. i was saying that those of us who were shot on january 8 were shot in 45 seconds. i learned yesterday from the u.s. attorney that 33 bullets were discharged in 19 seconds. i think it just emphasizes all the more need to do something about high-capacity magazines. my question to you about mental health. we have a bill in play that hopefully will go to first responders and educators, police chief and emily, if you will, what more can we do to provide good information, practical information to those who might come into contact with folks with mental illness so we can help get them the treatment they need and perhaps prevent these kinds of tragedies? >> thank you, mr. barber. >> the question about gun storage and particularly in the home venue, i think one of the issues -- this is a personal opinion, but tested in the field, if you will, our country has a solid hunting and sporting tradition, but it was waning and we have a lot of people now with guns that didn't grow up in such traditions and culture and frankly they don't hunt. with that comes the lack of respect for a weapon, first of all. secondly, this -- this idea -- and we see it all the time of guns unsecured, loaded in a home under a pillow, in a night stand, on top of the refrigerator, wherever it is, that anyone can come along, especially a child, and pick up . frankly we need legislation that makes it a crime. we could say after the fact -- through via social services, unsafe environment, is that really getting at the particular issue? i don't think it does. and sometimes they to be a little creative to do it. in regard to domestic violence, absolutely. and here's what we could do with that. first of all -- forgive me for saying the obvious, but nics, you know, is a wonderful thing. i'm sorry. ncic. well, they're both wonderful things. anything with a serial number goes in there, too, like a toaster, if you have one. it's not necessarily a go-to database to get where we want to get. i think you are right on. they should go in the ncis system. what we need is funding for crisis teams because a lot of times, even on guns, and often is the case, are not involved but someone needs some help, and an officer rolls up at 3:00 in the morning and they are very limited in the resources that are available to them. if there is funding for properly trained crisis intervention people, there we go. now we got something. now it is the mental health e.r., if you will and the officer doesn't have to try and be creative or drive away, god forbid, because there's nothing they can do. and i'm sorry. was there another question that i'm -- >> while he's thinking, i just want to add one thing. and i am not an expert in mental health. but i do just want to say that in any compre hencively package, including appropriate funding for increased access to mental health services and increased mental health services is absolutely crucial. we don't want to have to solve our problems by tackling a shooter after they've run out of bullets in a high-capacity magazine. what we want to do is stop them from ever feeling the need to pick up that gun. so if we can include mental health in a comprehensive package i think is absolutely crucial. >> let me say thank you and i want to ask you if you have some closing remarks you want to make. startling statistic, ms. nottingham, i just found out is that 67% of adults, 80% of our children who have mental health issues are not being treated for those issues. i have to look over and over again because i thought the numbers were so staggering that no one would believe me. we got the citation on it as well. let me just ask you if you have any closing remarks before i turn it over to the leader. >> thank you for listening to us and stay the course. >> i would like to say this -- thank you. you know, i have over the years met with a lot of you and i know where your hearts are. i know where your hearts are and i thank you. thank you. what a great day this was leaving the white house and coming to this and thank you. i would say this. there are those who say that the gun lobby has caused great fear among your colleagues, and maybe they would rather do something, but because of this fear, they all go with the gun lobby. . i would like to just suggest this. for that individual, not you folks, but for that individual who's struggling with that fear, that's not fear. that's inconvenience, that's maybe a little heartburn. fear, fear is what went through the hearts and mind of those 20 first graders in connecticut. that's fear, ladies and gentlemen. and the suggestion that people should be afraid of the gun lobby, when in fact you know america's behind you on the gun background checks and all these other issues, how is that fair? it is just becoming educated. [applause] >> madam leader. >> thank you very much. i thank you, congresswoman delauro, and congressman rob andrews, the co-chairs of the steering and policy committee. i thank all of our colleagues. this is the biggest show of members that we have had for any hearing by far. and i might add there's an overflow of room of folks who have been listening to the proceedings. most of all i thank our witnesses for sharing their stories, their experience. you honor us with your generosity of spirit and time to be with us because i know you have big demands, especially at this time, for your opinions. i did want, as i mentioned earlier, a call to action. gun violence prevention, a call to action. so i'm going to yield my time to the gentleman from california, mr. thompson, because he has the responsibility to lead us into action legislatively here. once again, chief knight, dr. nottingham, thank you so much for honoring us with your presence. [applause] >> thank you, madam leader. and chairs for holding today's hearing. and thank you for allowing me to help construct sensible gun laws that will help to prevent gun violence. nothing said today is earth shattering. nothing said today is going to take anybody's guns. nothing today is going to threaten any hunters or any gun collectors. people came forward today and called for background checks and i don't know how anyone could be against that. everybody wants to keep guns out of the hands of criminals. if you don't have background checks, you can't do it. the whole idea of assault magazines, people coming with 30 shells in their magazines, 20, even 15 shells in their magazine, as i've already said, i'm a hunter. the federal law, the federal law restricts the number of shells i can put in my shotgun when i go duck hunting. no law restricts the number of shells somebody can put in an assault magazine to go out and do whatever types of misdeeds that they want to do. enforcing the existing laws, that's what they say is a no-brainer. enhance school security, fixing the holes in our mental health system, all important things, all things that we have to do. and the leader's right, it is a call to action. and it's time to act. it's time that responsible gun owners stand hand in hand with a passionate and compassionate congress to make sure that we make our streets safe and it's something we can do and the time to act is now so thank you all very, very much. [applause] >> i think it's important to note to our witnesses that, for the course of the hearing as you know, scores of members were here but our distinguished majority democratic whip has been with us the entire time as has our distinguished ranking member of the judiciary committee. so we're very honored by your presence and a tribute. >> if i can say, i wasn't asked whether i had any questions but i was going to answer, i have no questions. but i have unbelievable respect and admiration for your courage and insights. thank you very much. >> thank you. [applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2013] >> we expect to hear more about reducing gun violence coming up at about 12:0. vice president joe biden who headed the president's task force and reported back to the president will be speaking at the u.s. conference of mayors gagget, in washington. the event happening one day after the white house announcing their detailed plan on reducing gun violence. the mayors meeting in washington, philadelphia mayor michael nut who are can currently serves as president of the conference will introduce vice president biden. that's set for 1:30 eastern. we'll have it -- 12:30 live eastern. we'll have it live. our inaugural weekend coverage will start tomorrow night. looking back at inaugurations from the past, beginning at 8:00 p.m. eastern with ronald reagan's 1981 inauguration. bill clinton and his first from 1993. dwight eisenhower after that, 1957. at 9:00 p.m. harry truman's 1949 inauguration. richard nixon from 1969. ronald reagan, also john f. kennedy after that from 1961, obviously. george h.w. bush in his 1989 inauguration. linden johnson follows that. jimmy carter from 1977. we finish up with george w. bush from 1991. all of that getting under way tomorrow night at 8:00 p.m. eastern. >> we'll start sunday at 10:30 a.m. eastern with your calls and more and a look back at the president's 2009 inaugural dress. and then on monday the public inaugural ceremonies. our coverage starts at 7:00 a.m. the swearing-in is at noon. we'll cover that. the luncheon, the parade and more. and throughout the day of course you can continue to join us by phone, facebook and twitter. we're using the #inaug2013. while we wait for vice president joe biden we will go back to the issue of reducing gun violence in a round table discussion from this morning's "washington journal." host: this morning we've been talking with gun owners and getting their views on what the president had to say. what do you think of the proposals that the president made yesterday? guest: i think they're very encouraging. they're historic, really. and i think they can make great strides in reducing gun violence in america and they also are completely compatible with the second amendment so i think that law-abiding gun owners should be happy with them. these are restrictions that will keep guns out of the hands of the bad guys while allowing law-abiding citizens to get their guns and it will reduce crime. host: how will these proposals keep guns out of the hands of bad guys? in your view. what specifically will do that? guest: to begin, universal background checks. current law only requires that background checks be performed by licensed gun dealers. at least 40% of gun sales take place by private sellers without any background check, no questions asked. and that's a gaping hole that enables felons, dangerously mentally ill, domestic violence abusers to get guns very easily. it does not prevent law-abiding citizens from getting guns, just prevents people who we already recognize should not have guns from getting them. host: a what about the emphasis on mental health that the president proposed? guest: i think that's important and i think what the president did was basically said we need to look at this problem. he directed the attorney general to look at that time more closely and to provide better mental health services. as he said, it should not be easier to get a gun than to get adequate mental health treatment. so that's certainly part of it. we want a comprehensive solution. most americans, most gun owners believe in a comprehensive solution to this problem and these are all sensible steps along the way. guest: we've had some gun owners call in this morning saying that the limit on magazine size will not be effective. host: that closing the loophole is a bureaucratic nightmare. would you outlaw gun sales at the brady center? is that where you all are headed? guest: absolutely not. that's never been our view. we think there are sensible things we can do which respect the second amendment, which allow law-abiding citizens to get guns. yet prevent gun violence. we should have an honest discussion about the risks of guns in the home so people can make an informed decision about whether to bring a gun into their home, but they certainly have that right and the second amendment has been construed by the supreme court to protect that right. host: should there be a limit on the number of guns that people or the types of guns that people can own? guest: certainly types. military-style assault weapons, for example, have no place in civilian hands. law enforcement will be the first ones to tell you that. that does not affect hunting rifles, sort of conventional handguns that people choose to have for self-defense. yet it prevents these mass killers from mowing down many people in a short amount of time. i mean, i've heard it said in recent days that the assault weapons are merely cosmetic features. that's not true at all. they are actually functional aspects of the gun which are only useful to engage in mass assaults on people. to basically spray fire randomly and kill a large number of people in a very short amount of time. host: do the states -- what role in your view should the states play? we just -- our last caller in that first hour said, he doesn't mind registering with texas but he doesn't think the federal government has haas any business knowing what kind of gun he has, etc. guest: well, the federal government has a major role because the fact is that guns are so easy to transport from one state to another that even if you have one state like california, for example, or new york that has a strong, sensible gun laws, it's farrell easy for people to get guns in states that have weak gun laws and traffic them onto the streets of new york or los angeles or chicago. and that's what we've seen. so we really need strong federal measures. and most gun owners support this. 74% of n.r.a. members support universal background checks. host: have you -- do you talk regularly with the n.r.a.? do you deal where them regularly at all? do you have a dialogue? guest: we are open to have a dialogue with anyone in candor. the n.r.a. is less open in having a dialogue with us and you saw that they for quite some time refused to meet with the president. eventually met with the task force. but there are members of the n.r.a. which i think is more important, the members of the n.r.a. are reaching us out to and we're reaching out to them and those people are law-abiding, responsible gun owners who want the same things that we want and that families across america want. which are safe communities, safe schools. so that's important. because the n.r.a. really does not speak for gun owners. the n.r.a. doesn't even speak for its own members. they are speaking for an industry. host: do you have an opinion at the brady center on armed school guards increasing the number of armed school guards? guest: that's really a distraction. when you've heard it proposed, it's proposed as a way to avoid the dialogue about whether we should have background checks for all gun sales. whether civilians should be able to buy ak-47's or 30-round, 50-round ammunition magazines which are used in mass shootings. so that's where the conversation should be focused on, that's where the president directed it and that's where the american people are on this issue. host: todd in new buffalo, michigan, on our independent line. you are first up. with john lowy of the brady center. please go ahead. todd? i am not hearing anything. are you hearing anything? all right. we're going to move on to jimmy from in parisburg, virginia, on our democrats line. jimmy, good morning. caller: good morning, how are you, c-span? host: good. caller: i just got a comment. i've been thinking about this thing. i watched the president. he's got an excellent idea. and i think that the n.r.a. should have a federal marshall or several of them to go around these gun ranges and have the people that own the gun ranges have these weapons behind lock and key and if they want to go and rent one to shoot for that day, they can do that and i believe if they got them behind lock and key it will be a great thing and that's not taking the rights away from nobody. they got the right to go in there and shoot it. not unless they got it in a mind they got in mind they want to shoot a bunch of folks but i don't think they will if they go to the firing range and just have the n.r.a. have them locked behind the lock and key and people want to use them, if they got the money to use it, you go ahead and use it. that's what i think. host: well -- guest: well, i think it's interesting. if you ask people who own assault weapons why they have these weapons, they will tell you the major reason is what's called plinking which is basically just shooting stuff. shooting targets, shooting cans, what have you. and i really believe that most gun owners, even who own assault weapons, are willing to give up their hobby of plinking. maybe plink with a different gun, if it will save the lives of those, for example, children, like the 20 that were killed in newtown. host: a tweet here -- guest: well, we'll never know. but certainly the ban on high-capacity magazines could well have stopped it. i mean, that was -- and the assault weapon ban. without that fire power, the shooter could not have committed the havoc that he did and also may not have even initiated it. what we've seen in many of these mass shootings is people don't start them unless they are armed to the teeth with these military-style weaponry. host: does the brady center have an opinion on concealed carry? i'm thinking of aurora, colorado, movie theater, if somebody had had a gun in that theater? >> well, we think -- guest: there should be sensible restrictions on concealed carry. law enforcement has a role. and in california, new york have sensiblely as where law enforcement can make a determination of whether someone is too dangerous to carry a concealed weapon. as opposed to florida where you have someone like george zimmerman who killed trayvon martin. someone who had a dangerous record. yet under florida law, law enforcement had to issue him a concealed carry permit. but i think we have to be careful in looking at concealed carry holders as a panacea. because tucson, i think, is the best example. the shooting that killed a handful and almost killed gabrielle giffords. there was a man who was carrying concealed weapons at tucson and he almost shot one of the heroes who stopped the shooter. fortunately he didn't. but it shows that that isn't what stopped the shooter. host: how did you get involved in this issue? guest: i've always had a passion for a number of social issues and gun violence in particular is just such a vast social public health problem in this country. 100,000 people are shot every year in this country. and each one of those victims bears a number of other victims, family member, friends, who are affected as well. so you have millions, and millions every year. and yet until recent days, it's not really given the attention that it should be. so i think -- i'm very, very encouraged. i've been at the brady center for 15 years and i've never been more encouraged than the past few weeks where this country has this really dedicated appetite, demand for some sensible solutions. host: jon lowy is a graduate of harvard and the university of virginia school of law and glen is our next caller from tampa, florida, republican line. glen, good morning, you're on the "washington journal." caller: good morning, c-span. i'd like to ask, isn't the universal background check basically to put law enforcement on private citizens? host: what do you mean by that? caller: well, if i do a background check here in my living room to sell somebody a gun, that's like me having to enforce the law. guest: actually, it would just apply the same ruleses that govern your sales if you go to gun stores now. for private sales. and this has been the law for a few years in california and it works very well. what simply happens is that if you want to sell a gun or buy a gun in a private transaction, you can arrange the transaction and the prites and then you'll go to your local gun store and perform the background check. so it does not put you in a position of law enforcement. it gets you into a gun store, if you're a gun enthusiast, that's probably not much trouble, and it's well worth it. if it prevents some dangerous people, felons, domestic violence abusers, dangerously and mentally ill people from getting guns, which it will do, and that's what it's done in california and that's what the brady laws -- and the brady law, by requiring background checks at license sellers has stopped over two million dangerous people from buying guns. and it will be much more effective if it's expanded to all gun sales. host: mike in rocky mountain, north carolina. independent line. caller: good morning. how are you all this morning? host: good. caller: i listened to obama yesterday. some of the things he said were sensible. i can understand the medical part of the background check. that is something that is truly needed. as far as some of the other things he said, i disagree with a lot because i'm an up and coming gun smith. i'm going through the process, just finished my schooling. i'm getting ready to go through the a.t.f. stuff now. and, you know, a lot of the laws that i'm reading that are governed under the a.t.f., a lot of this stuff is covered. but instead of the president using his time and everything to try and fight taking guns away from people who have them, that time and money should be spent in fighting the black market and the people who buy them illegally instead of spending time to do the other. but i mean, it's just, that's my feeling. guest: well, first of all, mike, the president did propose more serious penalties for gun trafficking which is exactly the problem that you've pointed to which i agree is very important. but requiring universal background checks is not going to take guns away from anyone. it will simply stop people like felons, the dangerously mentally ill from buying guns. so if you look at the polls, again, 74% of n.r.a. members support that, about 95% of the general population supports universal background checks. so that's something that will fully respect your second amendment rights yet it will reduce crime. host: "wall street journal" lead editorial this morning. they write -- that the conceptual problem begins with the definition of assault weapons. mr. obama certainly didn't define it. the ban that was imposed in 1994 -- guest: that's just not accurate. first of all, the features of an assault weapon are not cosmetic. they're functional. i mean, for example, under the bill that i think will be introduced in congress, if you have, for example, a semi-automatic rifle that can take a detachble magazine, and that can be a high-capacity 30, 50-round magazine, and has a pistol grip, that is an assault rifle. that's not cosmetic. the significance of the pistol grip is that it's used to fire from the hip. literally shooting from the hip. where you are not eyeing your target. that is meant to spray fire, to hit a lot of people very quickly. and while these are semi-automatic weapons, not automatic weapons, they can fire actually almost as quickly. you can empty a 30-round magazine in about five seconds using a semi-automatic assault rifle. and additionally, the federal bill that lapsed in 2004 did prevent crime and prevented the use of assault weapons in crime. there was a 66% drop in the use of assault weapons in crime after the assault weapons ban was enacted. and after it lapsed, we saw a spike in high-capacity magazines used in crime, in the sort that is used in these mass shootings. it is effective. it can be more effective if it lasts more time, where you have the grandfathered stock of guns sort of leaving circulation. host: minneapolis, democrat, good morning. caller: good morning. host: we're listening. caller: hello. i don't own a gun. i have a right to own a gun. i'm in school for criminal justice. so i will be ariel sharon able to carry a gun. but -- so i will be able to carry a gun. but thigh my thing is that the guns that are killing people are illegally obtained. it's not the people that have the right to carry the guns. but the thing is that's what we have to stop. but until people stop obtaining guns illegally, what do we expect? because the people that have the guns, that the right to, they want to -- they're upset because they want to the law to do better background checks. that's fine because the shooting that just happened with the school, because it was his mother's gun. so, he got his mother's gun and then the man earlier said that, well, what's wrong with selling my neighbor a gun because his daughter is going to college? well, what about the background check on the person that's going to college? or the guy in colorado. he was in college. he thought he was fine. it's not that they're not passing it. it's mental health and if there's people obtaining guns from people that have license to carry, we have to do something about that. and you can't be mad that the government's trying to step in because we as a people haven't been doing our job to keep our guns safe that we are purchasing legally from the people that are getting the guns illegally. host: all right. thank you. guest: you discussed a lot of very important points. let me try to just address one of them. which is about gun owner responsibility. and that was one of the executive orders that the president proposed yesterday. which was a campaign to promote responsibility and safety among gun owners. and we at the brady center think that's very important. one of the initiatives that we're actively involved in is public education campaigns to change social norms, to educate people about the risks of guns, to educate clinicians about what they should know about the danger of their patients with guns. and to also educate the public about what they can do to prevent gun crimes before they happen. to alert authorities. and so there are a lot of sensible proposals that we can do to get at all aspects of this complex problem. we need comprehensive solutions. there's a lot of aspects to it. host: mr. lowy, this tweet has come in. host: is there a definition for that? guest: i think what he probably means is a gun show. sale. which is -- i'm not dodging it, but it's actually not going to be relevant for the current debate. because we sort of have gone past that. a number of years back people talked about closing the gun show loophole which was to require background checks at gun shows. but the problem with that is that it's still left open, internet sales, and sales out in the parking lot of gun shows which if you close the gun show loophole you can still do those sorts of sales without background checks. we don't need to bother with the definition for gun show because it won't have legal significance, if we can require background checks for all gun sales, that will close the gun show loophole. it will close the internet loophole, the classified ad loophole and it will have all gun sales under one playing field. i mean, let me give you just one analogy. i mean, our gun sale system today is similar to if we sold controlled substances where you would say, the law requires you to get a prescription from a doctor and then go to a pharmacy to buy drugs. except when you don't want to do that. in which case you can go to some guy on the street and buy all the drugs you want without a prescription, no questions asked. that's legal too. that would be crazy. that is the law today regarding gun sales. that's what the president and most americans want to stop. host: gary tweets in -- host: the part of that i was looking for to you address i guess is the constitutional part. the president brought it up yesterday. the gun owners and rights folks bring it up as well. where do you -- where does the constitution in your view come down on this issue? guest: well, the second amendment has been claarified very recently by the supreme court in a couple of decisions. in 2008 in the heller decision where the court struck down washington, d.c.'s gun ban and then in 2008 where it dealt with chicago's gun ban. and in those cases the court held that there is a second amendment right of law-abiding citizens to have a gun. at the same time, however, reasonable gun laws are constitutional. the court was very clear about that. justice scalia, no great liberal and in fact a hunter and gun owner himself, listed a number of laws as examples which are stuelingsal -- which are constitutional. there's no question that background checks, assault weapons ban, all the proposals the president's mentioned are clearly constitutional. host: jon lowy is the legal action project senlter with the brady center here in washington, d.c. and dawn is a republican in canton, georgia. please go ahead. caller: yeah. i'd like to give you a little bit of my background. i grew up in a society where -- a rural community. and it was not uncommon for us when going through ag school and associated f.f.a. that we brought our guns actually on the school buses to go trap shooting and skeet shooting. and i'm 50 years old. but society has changed a lot. i went into the service, served my country well. i ran one of the largest arms rooms in fort bragg. was very conscious. i own my federal arm fire license, my manufacturing license. i'm also the father of five children. i've also owned ar-15's, multiple hunting guns. i've never owned a pistol. it's been my belief that pistols were only created for a single purpose -- to kill people. the thing that i see lacking is, number one, responsible training in gun ownership. number two, i have a mentally ill son. that i took care of for a number of years and have learned quite a bit about the mental health profession. it was my responsibility as a gun owner to ensure the safety of my firearms having a mentally ill child within my home. and if we look at the specifics of all these situations that have occurred in recent times with these mass shootings, and the adage goes, guns do not kill people, people kill people. you have to get to the crux of the core of what actually transpired in newtown. you have a mother that was acquiring assault rifles, semi-automatic pistols and other firearms with a mentally ill child within their home. it was her responsibility, no matter what situation, to ensure that those firearms were secured. even admitting that she did not trust her son to be alone with other individuals. and what happens in these situations, it's not the gun that was the actual problem. it was a failure in our society to recognize mental health issues and the stigma that if you're mentally ill you are almost bullied to the point where if you're mentally ill you don't want to go get help because society looks down on these people. host: i think we've got a lot on the table. let's get a response from mr. lowy. guest: first of all, thank you for your service to our country. and it certainly sounds like you are one of the responsible gun owners. and i should say that that's most gun owners. most gun owners are responsible and take the danger of firearms very seriously and treat them carefully. unfortunately when you have a few who are not so careful, it can lead to great tragedies, as you note, at newtown. and so that's why part of the solution, the comprehensive solution to this problem, has to be public education which the president noted and as i said we are very involved in. and however we do have to recognize that, guns may not kill people but people with guns kill people. and the fact that it is so easy for dangerous people to get guns leads to quite a bit of the deaths that we see in this country. most of the 100,000 who are shot in america are not shot in these mass shootings. like newtown, that make the headlines. and in many of those cases measures like universal background checks will prevent quite a number of those shootings. host: robert, parkersburg, west virginia. independent line. good morning. caller: yeah. i just want to say a couple things there. number one, i am a gun owner. very responsible with the guns that i do have. and i do have an a.r. and i use it for hunting purposes. not just planking. and -- host: very quickly, what would you hunt with an a.r.? caller: i've got an ar-10 which is a 308 caliber and i do hunt dear with it. host: when you say an ar-10, how large are the magazines that you use? caller: i've got a 20-round clip with mine but it wouldn't bother me to back it back to a 10-round clip. they're trying to take that weapon from me. host: and are you opposed to that? caller: i don't agree with taking the a.r. i don't think that's going to cure your problem. with this. the mass shootings. the other thing i wanted to touch on was, as far as the number of deaths from gun violence, how many of them are created from an a.r.? compared to pistols and assault guns? host: mr. lowy, comments for that viewer. guest: well, first of all, robert, i mean, these guns like ar-15's do enable many of these mass killings. that isn't to suggest that everyone who has one of these guns is irresponsible. you certainly sound like someone who is very responsible. there's no question that at newtown, columbine, at the aurora, colorado, movie theater sheeting, high-capacity magazines often paired with assault weapons enabled many, many people to be shot in a short amount of time. and so i think most gun owners would agree that even if they're responsible, even if they are not the problem, they can do without those guns. shift to any number of rifles, shotguns, handguns which you could hunt with and just to prevent this sort of problem in the mass shootings. host: virginia texan tweets in -- guest: well, requiring background checks would simply make sure that the person who is buying the gun is not a convicted felon. dangerously mentally ill or a domestic violence abuser. so that really seems like a small price to pay for society, to get government involved. and, again, 74% of n.r.a. members agree that universal background checks is the sensible solution that should be the law in america. host: bobby, alabama, democrats line. bobby, you're on the "washington journal" with jon lowy of the brady center. caller: good morning. i'd like to -- i asked the guy if tony two's rifles that look like assault rifles, that they have a high-capacity magazines like 25 rounds, capacity rounds, i have five grandchildren and we go out and we do plink. we have targets that are specifically, you know, class plinking targets. you get five grand kids and one grandpa out there trying to load the shells for five grandchildren, you know, it kind of gets wearing on an old man. are they going to try to ban those too? my oldest granddaughter killed her first dear ever with a 1022. they will kill a dear. and there's a few other things i'd like to say. i don't really think that the average guy like me that works -- still works, as old as i am, can afford the prices that they're raising on these guns now after this scare that the president's put in to everybody. i mean, that's all you hear at work everywhere. i guess it's everywhere in the united states at this time. i'd just like to know, is this a employ to raise the guns up? could you do that and keep me from buying one without making a law. i couldn't buy a $3,000 a.r. but i have one, but my children and grandchildren at a very young age, just like my grandfather and my uncle, it was a policeman all his life, i went to vietnam, and as a security policeman, you're talking about teaching you how to shoot a gun and showing you what a gun will do and the dangers of, you know, mishandling a weapon, i mean, it's frightening. as a child it was frightening to me and that's why i used it on my children. i showed them what a gun would do to a full bottle of a gallon of water. of course i had their ear muffs on. do i all that right stuff. little earmuffs. they all taught that i had to wear. that you're going to shoot my guns, you're going to wear ear plugs and you're not going to touch these guns unless i'm here. my guns are locked up, 24/7. i had an incident where one of my brothers got in a fight and he come while i was at work wanting one of my guns to go back to this guy's house and my wife said definitely not and i can't open his safe anyway. and i agree with what the man said, the host said earlier on the earlier show, about hunters in the u.s. 700-something million guns and if you take all of the guns away, i'm not saying you try and take all our guns away, but i seen something on a website, blogger website, what country would -- with two million soldiers would want to come into this country knowing that we got hunts that are got 700 million weapons at their disposal? wouldn't be that -- wouldn't that be a deterrent? host: thank you for calling in. guest: well, nobody's talking about taking your guns away. i mean, what we're talking about are proposals like requiring background checks for all gun sales. or preventing the sales of assault rifles. high-capacity magazines moving forward. so nobody's taking you or your grandkids' guns away. and as far as the guns that you use, if you're hunting, i mean, maybe there's confusion about the terms here. if you're hunting my guess is you are not using pistol griff and your grandkids aren't using the pistol griff -- pistol grip. you're eyeing your target and i think the offensive features that define an assault weapon would not be used -- useful for hunting and you may not even have a them in guns we're talking about in which case they may not be covered by the ban and if you do have them, i think could you get a very similar gun without these features that are not useful for hunting and you and your grandkids can do your pastime of hunting. host: this is from the "wall street journal." many similar articles this morning in the papers. host: i'm sure you've seen what harry reid has said. guest: i think they're wrong. i think, you know, we've never seen the sort of enthusiasm on capitol hill. i was in capitol hill all day yesterday. and i think it reflects public demand for some sensible solutions. and particularly after sandy hook. it's going to be extremely difficult for a politician in any district to stand up to their constituents and explain why they fought for the right of felons. and dangerously mentally ill, to be able to buy a gun, no questions asked. they fought for the right of ak-47's. and ar-15's and 30-50-round ammunition round magazines to be on streets of our communities. that is a losing proposition for any politician because the vast majority of americans reject those ideas. and they know we can have sensible solutions that prevent gun violence while respect the second amendment. so the tide has changed. we have gone beyond a tipping point and there's just tremendous momentum and i think that will carry the day here. host: what percentage of american families, american households have firearms? guest: it's been declining for some time. and the numbers that i've seen have been a minority within the 30's and 40's, these are based on polling data surveys, we don't have precise information. but there's a significant amount but it is a minority of the population. host: in the brady center's viewpoint, which states are doing the best when it comes to your point of view? guest: well, california has been probably the best and new york, as of a few days ago with governor quomeow's package of very important measures, has moved up to or on par with california. i don't know who would be first. what they do in those states is they require background checks for all gun sales. they have sensible restrictions on the sort of fire power that civilians can have. they have sensible restrictions on who can carry concealed guns in public. law enforcement is involved and that can be different depending on the jurisdiction. if it's in the city, there may well be fewer people who can carry. rural area, you're going to have more. and there are a number of other things that prevent gun trafficking as well. host: roger, texas, republican line. jon lowy of the brady center is our guest. caller: good morning. obama's got an agenda. it's obvious. he'll ask catholics who undergo abortions and birth control, he has already attacked the first amendment right and you're telling me that he doesn't intend to take anybody's firearms? when in four years you're going to see the fall of the obama nation. and that's what it is. an obama nation. i've never seen a more arrogant president than the one we have now. host: and we will take this. did you want to respond? guest: briefly, i mean, i think that it's important to know that, first of all, president has been clear about what he wants to do and it does not involve confiscation. it involves the sensible forms that he outlined yesterday. but also we have a supreme court in this country and the supreme court held that there is a second amendment right of law-abiding citizens to have a gun in the open for self-defense and that whatever your fears are about what congress could do, what any president, this or any other president could do, that second amendment governs and so that should put your fears at rest. host: this is a magazine that came up with a series of recent ads for guns and her was one for a bush master. consider your man card reissued. in the brady center's viewpoint, should there be restrictions on ads for firearms? guest: well, i think they should be accurate. like any ad. i'm not sure if it's inaccurate. it may be over the top. but some ads that we think are problematic are ones that talk about guns being your responsibility as a parent and promising that it will provide more security for your home, without informing people of the great risks of bringing a gun into your home. it's because people should have an informed decision. they request make a decision to bring a gun into their home but they should be well aware of the risks as they are with any other product. basically guns should be treated like other consumer products. that pose a risk. that may have some benefits but also have risks. so we need full information. we need to lift some of these restrictions that have been imposed on congress and on center for disease control and others that prevent us from getting full information about what are the best ways to prevent gun violence. host: what's the current standard or law when it comes to liability for gun manufacturers? guest: well, there was a law passed in 2005 at the behest of the gun lobby. which restricted liability in some ways and its scope is contested in the courts. but it basically provides some negligent gun companies to get off the hook when they were negligent with any other product, including a b.b. gun, that they could be held liable. as a result there are victims of gun violence who are really victims of negligent conduct, who have been thrown out of court. their civil rights have been denied. fortunately representative adam schiff from california is introducing legislation which would undo the damage from this law and it would essentially say gun companies are not going to be discriminated against, they're not going to be held to an unkuhly -- undulyy high standard. however if they're negligent, if they create a defective product they should be liable lee like any other manufacturer, seller. that makes a lot of sense and we hope that will be passed by the congress. host: and according to the a.t.f. in 2010 there were 5.4 million firearms manufactured in the united states. 2.2 million of those were pistols, 1.8 million rifles. shot buns -- guns, 743,000 and revolvers, 558,000. last call for our guest comes from mike in texarcanaa, independent line. caller: good morning. host: we're listening. caller: thank you for taking my call. let me give you a little background. i'm a 61-year-old disabled vietnam veteran. i suffer from severe post traumatic stress disorder. i probably should not own a weapon. i have a 3030 caliber winchester that i hunt dear with. i have a muzzle loader by powder and an old-style single-action pistol. and in my particular situation, i don't deal with stress very well and i turn to anger pretty quickly. so i guess i'm trying to tell that you people with severe posttraumatic stress, whether they're ex-military or not, should probably be disqualified from carrying a weapon. my second thing is -- host: before you go to your second thing, would you give up your weapons voluntarily? caller: yes, sir, i would. with the help of my neighbors, i would. host: have you thought about doing that? caller: yes, i have. host: but you still own them at this point. caller: yes, sir. i at night lay in bed and wonder about this about using them on my own self. the second thing i wanted to know was, the basis of this whole argument is the second amendment. if appalls me that the obvious ignorance of people that do not know what the second amendment even says. they just know what the n.r.a. tells them or their neighbor tells them. the second amendment, if you read it, i wish y'all would read it because it's very short, it was for a regulated militia. in school and in the military, i learned what regulated is. it's regulation. it's rules, you have to live by those rules. anybody who has a bunch of ar-15's and ak-47's and fight the government, i feel sincerely sorry. ask the people in waco how that worked out for them. they had multi-round weapons. how did that work out for waco? you think -- stand by. we have weapons that you wouldn't even believe in that can wipe out a city block in a second. and so you think you're keeping your guns to fight an invasion of an invading army. for heaven's sake, people, wake up. read the second amendment and see what it says. most of the people haven't even read it. host: that's mike in texarcana, arkansas. final comment. guest: well, mike, thank you for your service to our country and i do hope that you seriously consider what's the appropriate thing to do with your guns, for your sake and for your family's sake. you seem very insightful about what is the correct decision for you personally. and i hope you follow through with that. and as far as the second amendment, the basic point is that the second amendment allows for reasonable regulations of guns. allows for safety laws and it also recognizes that the president pointed out yesterday that we have other rights as well. we have rights to live in safety. we haveritis to peaceably assemble. and the second amendment can't be interrupted in a way that infringes on those rights. there's a balance we can strike which respects the second amendment rights of law-abiding citizens, allows for sensible public safety laws, supreme court's made that clear. and that's where the american people are at, that's where most gun owners are at. and i think that's the sort of sensible reforms, the universal background checks, that we're going to end up with at the end of the day. in this congress. host: and we have been talking with jon lowy of the brady center here on the "washington journal." thank you for your time this morning. >> thank you. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2013] >> vice president biden headed the president's task force on gun violence. michael nutter, the mayor of philadelphia, seated at the dais now. he will introduce the vice president. he's currently the president of the u.s. conference of mayors. we'll have the vice president, vice president biden, live here when he gets under way on c-span. until then, back to the conversation on gun violence from this morning's "washington journal." host: this is the president's plan to protect our children and our communities by recusing gun violence. this may be 20 pames long. so it's kind of an executive summary-type thing. but, we went through and we picked out all of the money items where money was specifically mentioned and very quickly i want to run through some of those money items. and this is to improve incentives for states to share information. it's written that the department of justice will invest $20 million in f.y. 2013 to give states stronger incentives to make more data available including criminal history records and records of persons prohibited from having guns for mental health reasons. that's one mention of money. help communities across the country keep 15,000 cops on the street. the president is calling on congress to act on the administration's $4 billion proposal to help keep 15,000 cops on the street in cities and towns across the nation. and a couple more money proposals. congress should provide an additional $14 million to help train 14,000 more police officers and other public and private personnel to respond to active shooter situations. another money issue. and the administration is calling on congress to provide $10 million for the centers for disease control to conduct further research including investigating the relationship between video games, media images and violence. better understand how and when firearms are used in violent death. congress should invest an additional $20 million to expand a system to research gun violence protection. it's to expand a system from the current 18 states. put up to 1,000 new school resource officers and school counselors on the job. the program will give $150 million to school districts and law enforcement agencies to hire school resource officers, school psychologists, social workers and counselors and other money items. and finally this money item, the administration is proposing a new $50 million initiative to help 8,000 more schools train their teachers and other school staff to implement the strategies that have been discussed. now, we want to hear from you on the mental health aspects and we're going to begin with a call from chris in springfield, missouri, democrats line. chris, good morning, you're on the air. caller: good morning, thank you for taking my call. i can say i've had a little experience. i've had a gun shoved in my face and several times through businesses and personal things. and i've always wondered whether or not the real fact of it is when somebody even thinks about or is going to shoot somebody, that's probably generally a mental health problem. i mean, just to think of somebody who murders somebody, they have to be crazy just to even think that. but i think part of the other reason is i agreed with your previous caller that maybe it's time we compare to the regulations instead of worrying about taking our rights away, we think about it from the aspect of an automatic. when you -- you have to have a license to drive, you have to have a license to own an automatic, you have to take a test. test. nobody

Transcripts For CNNW Fareed Zakaria GPS 20121217

>> oh, god exalted in full of compassion, grant perfect peace in your sheltering presence among the holy and the pure to the souls of all of our loved ones that perished in that horrible day. they have gone to their eternal home, master of mercy, we beseech you. remember all of their worthy and righteous deeds that they performed in the land of the living. may their souls be bound up in the bond of life eternal. there is no death, just transformation. may they rest in peace. and let us say amen. >> amen. please, be seated. and let us unite our hearts in prayer. oh, god of love and mercy. we come before you this night with broken hearts. we offer you our tears and our pain, our anger and our sorrow. oh, lord, there was a hole so large we wonder if even you and your greatness can fill it as we grieve and mourn for those who are lost. each light that sits before us is a light that's been lost to our world. so many innocents, so many brave, lord, all we can do is throw ourselves upon your tender mercies, trusting that you hear our prayers. we know those who are lost, because they are ours, lord. not names on some list, but our mothers or sisters, our brothers or friends, kindred all, because if we did not know them ourselves, we know someone who did. and so we pray, lord, for all the souls lost and all the families and friends who are so torn by grief. for in this moment, we are all your children, a family related by your love. so help us to care for these families in their sorrow and for each other in ours. may they feel the healing embrace of a neighborhood, a town, a state, a nation, a world. help us to forever remember that we embrace the grieving as our own and bring us together as one family to live together in peace and amity. help us to share the lights that stand before us. help us to carry them out into this world and share it with a world so in sorrow and so in need. for we pray all of this in the name of your love as we all say amen. >> we invite you to join with us in psalm 23 in whatever way you know it in your heart. doesn't have to be the words we're offering here. the lord is my shepherd, i shall not want. he maketh me to lie down in green pastures. he lead me beside the still waters. he restore my soul. he lead me in the path of righteousness for his name sake. though i walk through the shadow of death, i will fear no evil, for thou aren't with me by rod and by staff they comfort me. thou prepare us the table before me in the presence of my enemies, thou anoint my head with oil, my cup runneth over. surely, goodness and mercy that follow me all the days of my life, and i will dwell in the house of the lord forever. >> let us pray. god in heaven, we thank you for your presence with us here on earth. we know that the children who were lost in this tragedy first belonged to you before they belonged to us. and we commit their souls to you, to your loving, eternal care. we thank you, lord, that they are now in a place of no more sickness, no more sadness, no more suffering, and no more sorrow, as there is finally no more sin in the presence of you, their savior and ours. dear lord, as we leave the children that we have lost in your hands, we ask that by your grace, you would empower us to bless and comfort the children who are still here in our hands. please be with them in a special way as they grieve the loss of siblings and friends. life will never be the same for them. we ask that you would help these precious little ones to carry the spirits of their lost loved ones in their hearts as they go along living their lives to its fullest, according to your will for each of these girls and boys. and lord, we ask most of all that you would use us to be a source of your healing in the midst of their wounds. that you would use those of us whose children are crying for hope as a source of your hope in the midst of any hopelessness, as you are the god of hope. use us to replace their anxiety with your peace, as you are the god of peace. and please, fill their hearts with the sense of your love, your presence, your power, and most of all, a sense of your care. not knowing what the future holds, but knowing that you hold it, as you hold these precious little ones who are still with us today in your hands through our hands. and lord, we ask this all in the name of the one who said, unless we become like little children, we cannot enter the kingdom of god. make us all childlike and not childish. and our thoughts and our words and our attitudes and actions and behaviors not only before others, but before you, that we may look to you for better days ahead and that we may fulfill your purpose for us on this earth. for we pray all of this in the name of our precious lord and savior, jesus. amen. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> in the name of god, the compassionate and the merciful, the muslim community at the al hedaya muslim center in newtown, connecticut, and throughout the nation, joins with our fellow americans, dealing with those who died in the senseless tragedy and praying for them and their families. we ask god to ask those lost a special place in paradise, and we ask their families to be granted the strength to endure the unendurable. it is in such times of almost unbearable loss that we seek the comfort with our creator and that artificial divisions of faith fall away to reveal a nation of mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, sons and daughters all united in a desire to bring healing and renewed hope. the koran, islam's revealed text, tells us that god's mercy and compassion are without limit and always available for those who ask. god says, when my servants question you about me, tell them that i am near. i answer the prayer of every person who calls on me. chapter 2 verse 186, the koran -- in the koran, god also says, give glad tidings to those who endure with patience, who when afflicted with calamity say, we belong to god and to him we shall return. such are the people on whom there are blessings and mercy from god. chapter 2, verse 155 to 157. so let us all, of every faith, of every background, pray for god's comfort at this time of heartbreaking tragedy. barely, with every difficult, there is easy. barely, with every difficulty, there is ease, chapter 94, verse 5 through 6. amen. >> a prayer for the first responders. let us pray. holy god, many of these men and women you called into service when they were just children. they wanted to be police officers and firefighters and care for those that were in need, lord. you gave them gifts for their life to serve. you asked them to pay a high price for all the skills that they have been given, for the strength that they have. you equipped them. you gave them a willingness to learn, to train, to study. you gave them a willingness to serve in the middle of the night when a call would come in. and you gave them the willingness to respond when this town needed them the most. lord, we thank you for those in this town that responded, but we thank you also for those throughout the state that came when the need was given. we thank you, lord, for their gifts and their strength and their courage. so we ask you, lord, to walk with them in the days ahead, to surround them with your angels, to give them people who will listen to their story, to listen to what they saw that was not for anyone to ever see. lord, we place each and every one of these men and women in your care, but we will be faithful to them. we will care for them. we will continue to equip them, and we will keep them ever in our prayers. amen. >> for the mothers and the fathers and the brothers and sisters, the grandparents. for all of you today. this is a sacred text from the baha'i faith. it was written as a letter to a mother who was mourning the loss of her child. i've adapted it for this evening. although the loss of a child is indeed heartbreaking and beyond the limits of human endurance, yet one who knoweth and understandeth is assured that the child had not been lost, but rather have stepped from this world into another, and you will find them in the devine realm. that reunion shall be for eternity, while in this world, separation is inevitable and bringeth with it a burning grief. praise be unto god that thou has faith. turning thy faith to the everlasting kingdom and believe in the everlasting world. be not disconsulate. do not languish. do not sigh. neither wail, nor weep, for agitation and mourning deeply effect the soul, their soul, in the devine realm. >> that beloved child address from the hidden world. oh, thou kind mother and father, thank devine providence that i have been freed from a small and gloomy cage, and like the birds of the meadows, have soared to the devine world, a world which is spacious, illumined and ever joyous and jubilant. therefore, lament not, oh, mother and father, and be not grieved. i am not of the lost, nor have i been obliterated and destroyed. i have shaken off the mortal form and have raised my banner in this spiritual world. following this separation is everlasting companionship. thou shalt find me in the heaven of the lord, immersed in an ocean of light. >> god, we call you by many names. modern eye, great spirit, higher power, devine one, but however we address you, you are always father and mother to us all, and we are your children. we are your family. we ask your blessing, lord, upon the counselors and the clergy and all the caregivers among us. they have great passion for what they do and when everyone does their passion, we arrive at compassion, and we thank you. we know that you're most aware of their needs. they, too, become tired and sometimes close to burning out. how much we need one another. when you call jeremiah or amos or baruk and all your precious apostles and prophets, they hedged at first. but each time, in turn, they gave their yes and they followed you. knowing that you were always among them, always supporting them. they were conduits for your eyes and your ears and your voice and your hands. they were the clay knowing that you always were the potter, and they were rezsilient in your hands. when jesus felt the need to get away for some respite himself, he went to the mountains or into the wilderness or out to the seashore, and the great numbers of people in need always followed. tired and drained as he was, he looked on them with compassion. anoint all your people, lord, all those who minister to you as they minister to one another and especially this week as they minister to the body, mind, and spirit, to the whole community of sandy hook and newtown. a model for the nation, a model for the world, and we thank you for the world's support, calling, e-mailing, texting their love and their commitment to be one with us. use them, lord. take the passion that each one has and transform it totally, completely into your spirit of compassion. and we ask this all, amen. amen. >> newtown is a place that loves children above all. families move to newtown because we are a caring and loving community. we are also a place that has great pride in our schools, pride that propels the students in those schools with their outstanding teachers and administrators to high achievement and great personal worth. the horror that was visited upon our sandy hook school was not deserved. it was an angry and desperate act of a confused young man. there's no blame to be laid on us, but there is a great burden and a great challenge that these families devastated by unspeakable harm know and trust that we love them and will do everything we can to help them heal. i know that newtown will prevail, that we will not fall to acts of violence. it is a defining moment for our town, but it does not define us. we are newtown, a special and caring place. we are defined by acts of courage, by acts of love, and by our continuing commitment and love for our children and families. it is my pleasure, ladies and gentlemen, to present to you governor dan malloy. [ applause ] >> pat, thank you for all of the great work that you have done for this community in the last three days, to the police chief, and to the superintendent of schools, thank you for your great service, as well as to all of the first responders. thank you. when i came in to the hall, one of the first songs to be played on the piano was "amazing grace," which is fitting for any number of reasons. it's become an anthem for first responders, it has great words, it also speaks of the power of faith. "amazing grace" was written by a former sea captain engaged in the slave trade. and those profound words that "i once was lost but now am found" speak to us on a day like today. when we are called upon, dare i say required to be invested in our faith, a faith so evident in this room and in this community at this time. a faith that is, after all, at its very core, a gift from god. a faith in which we find comfort and hope and compassion. a faith in which we are given the power to go on. to survive that which has befallen this community, these families, these spouses, that which has happened and is unimaginable and unthinkable and was never, we thought, intended to be visited upon us here in connecticut or in newtown or in sandy hook. i choose to think about the fact that in the coming days we will officially enter winter. and that is always to be followed by the spring. let me assure you that in winter, each time i see the beginning of a snowfall, i will be thinking of those 27 souls lost just a few days ago. each time the day gets a little longer, i will think and dream of the lives that might have been and the lives that were so full of grace. and when the flowers start to come out of the ground, and when they rise up, i will know that we are in touch with those that we have lost in the last few days. we will go on. we will find strength. faith is a gift, as is our ability to support one another in our greater community. to all of you, i extend my most profound condolences on behalf of all of your fellow citizens for what you have seen, wt you have witnessed, and what you have personally experienced. we will move on, we will never forget, we will in many ways be made stronger for what has transpired, and we will get better. we are blessed today to have with us the president of the united states, who upon meeting with pat and i just a little while ago, said that the most difficult day of his presidency was friday when he heard the news of that which had befallen this community. i assured him that connecticut, newtown, and sandy hook are strong, and i welcomed him on your behalf to our community. i now introduce the president of the united states. [ applause ] >> thank you. thank you, governor. to all the families, first responders, to the community of newtown, clergy, guests, scripture tells us do not lose heart. though outwardly we are wasting away, inwardly, we are being renewed day by day. for light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all, so we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. for we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from god, an eternal house in heaven not built by human hands. we gather here in memory of 20 beautiful children and six remarkable adults. they lost their lives in a school that could have been any school in a quiet town full of good and decent people that could be any town in america. here in newtown, i come to offer the love and prayers of a nation. i am very mindful that mere words cannot match the depths of your sorrow, nor can they heal your wounded hearts. i can only hope it helps for you to know that you're not alone in your grief. that our world, too, has been torn apart. that all across this land of ours, we have wept with you. we've pulled our children tight, and you must know that whatever measure of comfort we can provide, we will provide. whatever portion of sadness that we can share with you to ease this heavy load, we will gladly bear it. newtown, you are not alone. as these difficult days have unfolded, you've also inspired us. with stories of strength and resolve and sacrifice. we know that when danger arrived in the halls of sandy hook elementary, the school's staff did not flinch. they did not hesitate. dawn hochsprung and mary sherlach, vicki soto, lauren russeau, rachel davino, and ann marie murphy, they all responded in how we hope we all would respond in such terrifying circumstances, with courage and with love, giving their lives to protect the children in their care. we know that there were other teachers who barricaded themselves inside classrooms and kept steady through it all and reassured their students by saying wait for the good guys, they are coming. show me your smile. and we know that good guys came, the first responders who raced to the scene helping to guide those in harm's way to safety and comfort those in need, holding at bay their own shock and their own trauma, because they had a job to do and others needed them more. and then there were the scenes of the school children helping one another, holding each other, dutifully following instructions in the way that young children sometimes do. one child even trying to encourage a grownup by saying, "i know karate, so it's okay, i'll lead the way out." as a community, you've inspired us, newtown. in the face of indescribable violence, in the face of unconscionable evil, you've looked out for each other. you've cared for one another. and you've loved one another. this is how newtown will be remembered, and with time and god's grace, that love will see you through. but we as a nation, we are left with some hard questions. someone once described the joy and anxiety of parenthood as the equivalent of having your heart outside of your body all the ti time, walking around. with their very first cry, this most precious, vital part of ourselves, our child. suddenly exposed to the world the possible mishap or malice, and every parent knows there's nothing we will not do to shield our children from harm, and yet we also know that with that child's very first step and each step after that, they are separating from us. that we won't -- that we can't always be there for them. they will suffer sickness and setbacks and broken hearts and disappointments, and we learn that our most important job is to give them what they need to become self reliant and capable and resilient, ready to face the world without fear. and we know we can't do this by ourselves. it comes as a shock at a certain point where you realize no matter how much you love these kids, you can't do it by yourself. that this job of keeping our children safe and teaching them well is something we can only do together. with the help of friends and neighbors, the help of a community and the help of a nation. and in that way we come to realize that we bear responsibility for every child, because we're counting on everybody else to help look after ours. that we're all parents, that they are all our children. this is our first task, caring for our children. our first job. if we don't get that right, we don't get anything right. that's how, as a society, we will be judged. and by that measure, can we truly say, as a nation, that we're meeting our obligations? can we honestly say that we're doing enough to keep our children, all of them, safe from harm? can we claim, as a nation, that we're all together there, letting them know they are loved and teaching them to love in return? can we say that we're truly doing enough to give all the children of this country the chance they deserve to live our their lives in happiness and with purpose? i've been reflecting on this the last few days, and if we're honest with ourselves, the answer's no. we're not doing enough. and we will have to change. since i've been president, this is the fourth time we have come together to comfort a grieving community torn apart by mass shootings. fourth time we've hugged survivors, the fourth time we've consoled the familyies of victims, and in between, there have been an endless series of deadly shootings across the country, daily reports of victims, many of them children, in small towns and cities all across america. victims who much of the time their only fault was being at the wrong place at the wrong time. we can't tolerate this anymore. these tragedies must end. and to end them, we must change. we will be told that the causes of such violence are complexed, and that is true. no single law, no set of laws can eliminate evil from the world or prevent every senseless act of violence in our society, but that can't be an excuse for an action. surely we can do better than this. if there's even one step we can take to save another child or another parent or another town from the grief that's visited tucson and aurora and oak creek and newtown and communities from columbine to blacksburg before that, then surely we have an obligation to try. in the coming weeks, i'll use whatever power this office holds to engage my fellow citizens, from law enforcement, to mental health professionals, to parents and educators, in an effort aimed at preventing more tragedies like this, because what choice do we have? we can't accept events like this as routine. are we really prepared to say that we're powerless in the face of such carnage? that the politics are too hard. are we prepared to say that such violence visited on our children year after year after year is somehow the price of our freedom? you know, all the world's religions, so many of them represented here today, start with a simple question. why are we here? what gives our life meaning? what gives our acts purpose? we know our time on this earth is fleeting. we know that we will each have our share of pleasure and pain, that even after we chase after some earthly goal, whether it's wealth or power or fame or just simple comfort, we will, in some fashion, fall short of what we had hoped. we know that no matter how good our intentions, we'll all stumble sometimes in some way. we'll make mistakes, we'll experience hardships, and even when we're trying to do the right thing, we know that much of our time will be spent groping through the darkness, so often unable to discern god's heavenly plans. there's only one thing we can be sure of, and that is the love that we have. for our children, for our families, for each other. the warmth of a small child's embrace, that is true. the memories we have of them, the joy that they bring, the wonder we see through their eyes, that fierce and boundless love we feel for them, a love that takes us out of ourselves and binds us to something larger. we know that's what matters. we know we're always doing right when we're taking care of them. when we're teaching them well. when we're showing acts of kindness. we don't go wrong when we do that. that's what we can be sure of, and that's what you, the people of newtown, have reminded us. that's how you've inspired us. you remind us what matters. and that's what should drive us forward in everything we do for as long as god sees fit to keep us on this earth. let the little children come to me, jesus said, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven. charlotte, daniel, olivia, josephine, ana, dylan, madeleine, catherine, chase, jesse, james, grace, emilie, jack, noah, caroline, jessica, benjamin, avielle, allison. god has called them all home. for those of us who remain, let us find the strength to carry on and make our country worthy of their memory. may god bless and keep those we've lost in his heavenly place. may he grace those we still have with his holy comfort, and may he bless and watch over this community and the united states of america. [ applause ] [ applause ] >> on behalf of the newtown clergy association, we are so grateful to our president for spending time with us and for reminding us that we are not alone in this time of tragedy, that there's not just a country standing behind us, that there's a world standing behind us. those words i know as difficult as they were to hear for some, brought much consolation to all. i want to thank our governor and all the state officials who have been by our side since day one. they have been a remarkable reminder to us of their humanity and their care for us. but most of all, i want to thank an incredible first-select woman who's led us through the most dark periods of our lives. in the storms of the past years ravaged our community without power for days, i thought those were the hardest days of pat's life, but when i saw her friday in front of sandy hook school, i realized that she'd met the most dark days. pat, to you, to dr. robinson, we thank you for being leaders to us through these difficult times. and now this final part of our prayer is for us, the people of newtown. >> these are the words of the apostle paul as he writes to the church at rome. what then shall we say in response to this, if god is for us, who can be against us? he who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for all of us, how will he not also along with him graciously give us all things? who will bring any charge against those whom god has chosen, that is god who justifies, who is he that condemns? christ jesus who died, more than that who was raised to life, was at the right hand of god and is also interceding for us. who shall separate us from the love of christ, shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword as it is written for your sake, we face death all day long, we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered. know in all these things we are more than conquerers through him who loved us, for i am convinced that neither death, nor life, neither angels, nor demons, neither the presence, nor the future, neither any powers, height, nor depth, in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of god that is in christ jesus our lord. >> and so we stand now in prayer for ourselves. our hearts are broken, but our spirits are strengthened by the power of god's goodness and his ever-creating love and by the generous hearts of a community who truly cares. we have shown to the world our compassion.

Transcripts For CSPAN2 U 20121217

Transcripts For CNNW CNN Newsroom 20121217

and make our country worthy of their memory. >> a tough thing this morning. happening now in the news room, amid one man's unspeakable cruelty, tales of courage are emerging from newtown, connecticut. as shots drew nearer, teacher victoria soto threw herself between the gunman and her students. her family tells us how she should be remembered. president obama comforting the families of those killed and how he remembers the love and prayers of a nation. we'll share his speech from last night's vigil. part of the speech, a call to action. president obama vowing to prevent another massacre. today gun control seems to have a tone of determination. a special edition of "newsroom" begins right now. good morning to you. i'm carol costello here in atlanta. joining me shortly, don lemon. hees in newtown, connecticut. let's begin here, shall we? we'll begin with the latest at sandy hook elementary school. today the first of the funerals get under way. 6-year-old jack pinto and noah pozner will be the first of the 26 victims laid to rest. we'll also learning more about the remarkable acts of heroism. one teacher, ann marie murphy, died while shielding students with her body. another read to kids to distract them from the gunshots that exploded outside their room. last night in newtown, president obama met with survivors and the families of those killed. he vowed to prevent another massacre and called for a national discussion on gun violence. more on the gun control debate in just a moment. but first the president's message to a community in anguish. here are some of the president's comments from last night's vigil. >> i am very mindful that mer words cannot match the depths of your sorrow, nor can they heal your wounded hearts. i can only hope it helps for you to know that you're not alone in your grief, that our world too has been torn apart. that all across this land of ours we have wept with you. we've pulled our children tight. and you must know that whatever measure of comfort we can provide, we will provide. whatever portion of sadness that we can share with you to ease this heavy load, we will gladly bear. newtown, you are not alone. >> the president's words are providing a measure of comfort for the families of those killed. after last night's vigil, we spoke with the parents and siblings of vicki soto. she's the first grade teacher who was shooing her students away from the door when the gunman burst in and shot her. >> i appreciate all his kind words that he did say about my sister. she was a hero, and she still is. >> i would just like everyone to know that she was just a beautiful, beautiful young lady. she had such passion for teaching and for life, and especially for her family. she was extremely close to her siblings that are sitting with me and her cousins and loved them dearly and wanted to be a teacher from the time she was 3. that's all she ever wanted to do, and she just loved her kids. she just talked about them all the time with such fondness and caring, and she just adored them. i have no doubt in my mind she did everything she could to protect every single one of them. >> investigators say vicki soto almost certainly saved lives by acting so quickly. the newtown tragedy is the nation's fourth mass shooting in just the past two years, and in the aftermath of each, conversation naturally turns to the issue of gun control. this time, however, the tone seems different. listen to the president's resolve in his speech last night. >> in the coming weeks, i'll use whatever power this office holds to engage my fellow citizens from law enforcement to mental health professionals to parents and educators in an effort aimed at preventing more tragedies like this. >> cnn's dan lothian is at the white house this morning. dan, the president vowed action, but he offered no specifics. what kind of reforms could he push for? >> reporter: well, i think, as some people have pointed out, maybe during that service wasn't the time for the president to be laying out any specifics, but a couple of things we could see the president do, first of all, there's the assault weapons ban which expired in 2004. that had been in place for ten years. the president during the 2008 campaign said he supported it, but there was no real movement in that area. in fact, the brady center to prevent gun violence said after the president's first year in office was a, quote, abject failure when it comes to this issue. we could see the president put more pressure on lawmakers to reinstate that assault weapons ban. perhaps the president could also focus on strengthening mental health laws that would prevent those with difficult mental health issues from getting these dangerous weapons and then carrying out these mass shootings. those are some of the areas where we could see the president push. but, again, we haven't heard the president lay out any specifics, and it really hasn't been a big priority for the president during his first four years, and when it comes to congress, there have been some bills, some gun related bills that have been put forward but really went nowhere. there is some indication now this is something lawmakers could start looking at, but we'll have to wait and see, carol. >> dan, sadly, we have been down this road so many times, too many times. nothing really changes. i mean that as far as gun control laws go, help for people with mental illness, more money being poured into psychiatric centers or counseling centers that might help people. nothing is ever accomplished. is the tone different this time? >> reporter: the tone is always different after a mass shooting. we heard the same thing after aurora. the president has been involved or had to deal with four mass shootings during his presidency, and there's always a lot of tough talk, and this debate really intensifies in the days following these mass shootings, but then nothing really happens. we do see a slightly different tone where you hear lawmakers talking about going up to capitol hill and really pushing forward on something, but we don't know. we'll have to wait and see. right now there are a lot of other pressing, big pressing issues that are also critical here in washington. there's the fiscal cliff obviously that needs to be resolved before the end of the year. so we'll have to see once those issues are dealt with, whether or not there will be this serious effort to deal with guns. >> we'll see. dan lothian reporting live from the white house this morning. looking at that picture there beside dan. we're actually awaiting a news conference from newtown. authorities expected to brief reporters any moment when that begins. we'll take it live for you. let's head to newtown right now to check in with don lemon. good morning, don. >> carol, good morning to you. we are awaiting a news conference. they have been giving those news conferences just about every day, a couple times a day, updating the public on exactly what's happening here in newtown, giving specifically as many details as they can, not releasing a timeline, but yesterday releasing information about the guns, about the victim, and about the suspect as well. you know, by all accounts sandy hook principal dawn hochsprung, she did everything, everything she could to prevent friday's rampage. she had a new security system installed in the school. and when that wasn't enough, she confronted the gunman herself while yelling to teachers to lock their doors. cnn's gary tuchman talked exclusively with her heartbroken family. >> reporter: principal dawn hochsprung was quite a bit younger than her husband george, but when they got married ten years ago, both for the second time, she with two daughters and he with three, george was marrying his boss. >> when dawn and i met, she was the assistant principal at our school, and i was a seventh grade math teacher at that time. i just fell in love with her. >> reporter: george made the big decision. the time had come to propose. >> she turned me down five times. >> reporter: you asked her to marry you, but she turned you down? >> five times. >> reporter: what happened the sixth time? >> the sixth time, iwate y wait until it wasn't such rough sailing. >> reporter: indeed, george had been popping the question on a sailboat they owned together. >> i popped the question on a sloop on the pacific. >> reporter: beth and ann are george's daughters from his first marriage. erica and the teenager. >> we built this beautiful house in the adirondacks, our dream. our dream was a chronological dream. it was going to be dawn's house because i was going to die. i'm much older than dawn. it was going to be dawn's house and dawn's grandchildren and all these children could use the house on the lake, and it would be wonderful. we built rooms downstairs for kids. it was going to be dawn's house ultimately. with all the children. all the children. and now it's me. i can't -- i don't think i can do that. >> reporter: i want to reiterate to you, george, you have these beautiful daughters and son-in-laws and grandchildren, and everyone will be here to take care of you. is that right, ladies? >> yes. >> of course. >> my job has always been to take care of other people. >> reporter: it's all right if someone takes care of you for a while. >> no one has ever taken care of me. >> stop being so stubborn. >> reporter: while dawn was at sandy hook, george still taught at the middle school where they met. in the middle of day, this is how george found out what happened. >> the kids came up with a computer and said something has happened at asandy hook school, and your wife has been killed. >> reporter: george raced out of the school and into a nightmare. like all the families of victims, they want to know more. on this day, they have learned more. two teachers who survived told george they were having a meeting with dawn when the shots started ringing out. >> dawn put herself in jeopardy, and i have been angry about that. angry until just now, today, when i met the two women that she told to go under shelter while she actually confronted the gunman, and she could not -- she could have avoided that, and she didn't. i knew she wouldn't. so i'm not angry anymore. i'm not angry. i'm not angry anymore. i'm not angry. i'm just very sad. very sad. they said we were at the meeting. there were gunshots. somebody shot the window. somebody came in, into the -- not into the office, but into the building, the foyer of the building, and dawn told us to go hide, and she and at least one other teacher ran out and actually tried to subdue the killer. i don't know where that comes from. dawn was, what, 5'2". >> reporter: everyone here is so proud, no one more so than erica, who said her mom was always there for her daughters. >> every game she was there. every practice she was there. all of my sister's cheerleading stuff, she was there. every dance competition. she was doing homework on the bleachers, but she was there. and she was my rock. my rock. >> reporter: and now she is a hero too. final thing i want to ask you is what would you say to your mom right now? >> come back. just come back. >> cnn's gary tuchman with dawn hochsprung's family. carol, as we wait on this press conference, i heard you talking to our dan lothian. wouldn't it be great if they were holding a press conference so that people didn't have to deal with this, about some sensible gun rules in this country and we wouldn't have to deal with what the hochsprung family and many other families are dealing with now, carol. >> a lot of conversations have to go on, don, not just about gun l kro, but about mental illness, and so many things we just don't talk about, at least in any in depth way. don lemon, we'll still get back to you. we're still waiting for that news conference from newtown, lieutenant vance of the state police and the medical inspector. one of the unanswered questions in this tragic shooting, who were nancy and adam lanza? what kind of life did the mother and son live before the shootings in connecticut? we'll take a closer look. have a good night. here you go. you, too. i'm going to dream about that steak. i'm going to dream about that tiramisu. what a night, huh? 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[ applause ] ♪ [ male announcer ] life brings obstacles. usaa brings advice. call or visit us online. we're ready to help. 16 minutes past the hour. we're still waiting for the news conference to begin at newtown. expected to brief reporters at any moment now. first a check of some of the other stories we're following this morning. three months after the deadly attack at the u.s. consulate in libya, the state department expected to receive an independent report on the incident today. secretary of state hillary clinton ordered the review. it will be presented to congress before a private briefing this week. the u.s. ambassador to libya chris stevens and three others were killed in that attack on september 11th. looks like house speaker john boehner is putting more on the table to avoid that fiscal cliff. a source close to the talks tells cnn boehner is offering to raise the debt ceiling. something republicans oppose. he's also proposing higher taxes for those who make $1 million a year or more. president pushing for higher taxes for those making $250,000 a year. in money news, some 6 million credit card holders will get a welcome gift, a refund. discover american express and capital one giving back $435 million as ordered by the government as part of a crackdown on deceptive practices. the refund should be out by the end of march. in the weather, parts of the pacific northwest are getting hit by the worst storm in six years. you're looking at mt. rainier. a tow truck driver was killed on sunday when he was run over by another car in near whiteout conditions. this storm could drop three feet of snow on the area. back to newtown now. the big question, what's next for the students at sandy hook elementary? when will they be returning tos c classes? can you imagine sorting through all that? cnn's sandra endo has been doing just that. what have you found out, sandra? >> reporter: when a tragedy like this happens, you hear experts talk about how it's so important for students and children to retain a sense of routine and a type of normalcy, and that's what school administrators here in newtown are certainly hoping to achieve for a lot of the students at sandy hook elementary school. it remains a crime scene, so students there cannot return to class. what administrators are trying to do, carol, they're trying to work out a plan with a neighboring town in order to accommodate the students of that elementary school. so sandy hook elementary school students will likely go to chalk hill school, which is in monroe, about seven miles from here as early as this week. today all newtown schools are closed so that staff can talk to experts on how to talk to students and how to deal with this tragedy that hit this town. tomorrow all classes are expected to resume for those schools. carol? >> sandra endo, reporting live for us it this morning. we're also learning more about the man police say was responsible for the shooting at sandy hook and his mother. don lemon joins us once again from newtown with that part of the story. >> thank you, carol. police say adam lanza's first target on friday was his mother. some who knew nancy lanza call her a reasonable neighbor, a friend who -- a personal and reasonable neighbor. a friend who -- one of her sons call her a social butterfly. it's a different story for her son adam. nancy pulled her son out of the school district and home schooled him. those who knew adam remember him for not standing out. >> basically, he was a quiet, shy kid. he stood out to me because of the fact he didn't interact with too many other kids on the bus. he was older, i believe, when i had him. this is going back a few years. i don't recall everything, but that did stand out. the one thing about it. >> the more we learn about adam lanza, the more confusing it becomes. cnn's brian todd looks deeper into who he was. >> reporter: his motive for this unspeakable act is still not clear. law enforcement officials say. in digging for details about shooter adam lanza and his family, accounts emerge that are still confusing, sometimes conflicting. a neighbor who knew him in recent years describes lanza as troubled, but listen to this account from a young man who knew him. >> he was just a kid. >> reporter: just a kid? >> just a kid. >> reporter: never antisocial? >> no. adam's got -- no. >> reporter: trouble maker? >> no, definitely not. >> reporter: noticeable? did he just kind of blend into the background? >> yeah. nothing that would warrant any of this. >> reporter: ryan kraft says he baby-sat adam lanza about ten years ago when lanza was 10 and kraft was 15. he describes lanza as focused, quiet, introverted. he never saw evidence of violence, kraft says, but he says lanza did throw the occasional temper tantrum. >> just general stuff like we had to put him to bed and he wouldn't like that or stop watching tv and he wouldn't like that. normal stuff kids do, but i guess the a10 years old normal kids get out of that phase, and that wasn't the case for adam. >> reporter: kraft was only a year older than lanza's older brother ryan. his mother said to let ryan do what he wanted. but as for adam. >> nancy asked me to always be with him in the room no matter what. don't go to the bathroom. don't ever leave him without supervision. >> reporter: kraft says adam had a contentious relationship with the mother nancy. she'd split with the boy's father, peter lanza, who's described as the job networking site linked in as tax director at ge financial services. but kraft says nancy lanza was an engaged mother, always setting up play dates for her two sons and taking part in neighborhood activities. nancy lanza enjoyed gardening and had taken time off from a job in finance. >> just like anybody else in this neighborhood. decorate the house, and the house was always pristine. i mean, she was just like any other housewife. >> reporter: but like her son, there are gaps in nancy lanza's story that still need to be filled in. she owned the weapons that adam lanza used in the killings, including a semiautomatic rifle, according to a law enforcement source, and it's not clear why she purchased them. brian todd, cnn, washington. >> all right, brian. we're still awaiting that news conference from newtown lieutenant paul vance, expected to brief reporters at any moment. you see the producers and reporters there and the microphones set up. we'll bring that to you when we get it here live on cnn. we're back in a moment. ♪ [ male announcer ] with a select terrain dial that adjusts the jeep grand cherokee's performance for specific weather and road conditions... ♪ ...even heavy snowstorms... won't keep you from getting to work. our apologies. ♪ to the number 1 club in the world. the potential of manchester united unlocked. nyse euronext. unlocking the world's potential. now is your chance to talk back on one of the big stories for the day. the question this morning, what can be done to prevent another newtown? that's a tough question, something that requires lots of discussion, something that seems impossible when it comes to gun violence. as the president says, what choice do we have? the blame game has already begun. mike huckabee, pastor and fox news host, says our godless schools are to blame. >> we ask why there's violence in schools, about you we've systematically removed god from schools. should we be surprised that schools have become a place of carnage? we've made it a place where we don't want to talk about eternity, life, what responsibility means. >> cnn contributor and tea party supporter eric erickson says in his column today single parent homes lead to violence. many are also blaming violent video games and movies. after all, 11 violent movies are now in the theaters just one week before christmas, the day we celebrate christ's birth. >> i am simply a customer trying to conduct a transaction. >> last chance, fancy pants. >> very well. [ gunshot ] >> including quentin tarantino's movie "jango unchained." >> it's just a horrible tragedy. what are you going to say about it? it's horrible. but, yeah, at the same time, no, i don't think it has anything to do with that. this has gone back all the way down to shakespeare's days, when there's violence in the street. the cry becomes blame the play makers. i actually -- i think that's a very fascile argument to pin on something that's a real life tragedy. >> republican law maker billy gomer says it's too few guns. if the principal had had a gun, she could have taken out the shooter and prevented a rampage. or maybe there's too many guns. senator dianne feinstein plans to introduce legislation to stop assault weapons. the talk back question for you today, what can be done to prevent another newtown? facebook.com/carolcnn. your responses later this hour. of course, we're still waiting for that news conference to begin in newtown. we're expecting lieutenant paul vance to be behind the microphones at any moment now. we'll be right back. ♪ [ male announcer ] this is karen and jeremiah. they don't know it yet, but they're gonna fall in love, get married, have a couple of kids, [ children laughing ] move to the country, and live a long, happy life together where they almost never fight about money. [ dog barks ] because right after they get married, they'll find some retirement people who are paid on salary, not commission. they'll get straightforward guidance and be able to focus on other things, like each other, which isn't rocket science. it's just common sense. from td ameritrade. good morning. thanks so much for joining us this morning. i'm carol costello in atlanta. with me today, don lemon in newtown, connecticut. >> good morning to you, carol. we're still awaiting the news conference from newtown. lieutenant paul vance expected to brief reporters at any moment now. you see they're getting ready. we'll carry that for you live right here on cnn. for now we'll give you the latest on the shooting at sandy hook elementary school. this afternoon 6-year-olds jack pinto and noah pozner will be the first of the 27 victims laid to rest. and we're also learning more about the remarkable acts of heroism. one teacher, ann marie murphy, she died while shielding students with her body. another read to her kids to distract them from gunshots exploding outside the room. and last night president barack obama met with the families of those killed. he vowed to prevent another massacre and called for a national discussion on gun violence. >>i itright now we want to conte the discussion we started with talk back. what can we do to prevent another newtown? it's not a democratic or republican problem because we're all subject to gun violence. but merely saying we need gun control is too simplistic. we have many other problems. let's bring in cnn contributor will cain. i'm going to have to interrupt you guys. we're going back to newtown because the news conference just started. lieutenant vance. >> we'd like to deliver to you a message from the superintendent of schools relative to educational process here in the town. we'll start off with the lieutenant about the schools right now. >> good morning. as you know, the healing is still going on. the schools are working very closely with all the faculty, students, and parents to try to be respectful and resume what normalcy we can after a tragedy such as this. all the faculty is meeting today at newtown high school to try to plan further on how to handle it best and address the needs of the students and faculty involved in this horrendous, horrendous tragedy. there will be no school today. the plan is to try to resume normalcy for school classes tomorrow, except for those members of the sandy hook school. they will be excused, of course, until further notice, and they're developing plans on how to best handle that as we speak. >> thank you, lieutenant. we're continuing the line of communication with the troopers and officers assigned to the families as we begin the services. additional troopers have been assigned to work each one of the funeral services with local officers and other police partners. we're asking the media again, at the families' request, to please respect their privacy as they go through this extremely difficult time. as i stated, state police major crimes detectives have been working 24 hours a day since this tragedy occurred and will continue to do so indefinitely as they continue to answer questions surrounding this tragedy and how and why it occurred. they're continuing to interview witnesses, as i've stated previously, and i cannot overstate there are many, many witnesses that need to be interviewed. we will not stop until we've interviewed every last one of them. we are holding both crime scenes, the school and the secondary crime scene, indefinitely. we've seized it under search warrants, and we're going to hold those locations until we've completed our work and we feel it is appropriate to let them go. so as not to read anything into that, it is common practice to do that, to hold on to the crime scene as long as it's needed for investigatory purposes. we had begun processing the evidence, analyzing the evidence. as i stated yesterday, just to use an example, the weaponry, every single facet of the weapons will be analyzed. every single round of ammunition will be looked at and examined for any kind of physical evidence. i alluded yesterday to the volume of rounds, for example, that, in fact, were seized and recovered. each singular round will be examined. it gives you an idea of the painstaking length of that process. all the evidence will be processed. we'll continue to analyze every single piece, and, again, i cannot detail the content of any evidence or even what that evidence is for public consumption. i want to restate again, thank you for helping us in this, but any threats, any information intended to mislead investigators in this case will, in fact, be completely and thoroughly investigated, and if appropriate, prosecuted if anyone attempts to threaten or mislead this investigation. as you know, there were a couple yesterday, and those too are active criminal investigations. teams of state police detectives and newtown detectives have been assigned to investigate those as ancillary criminal cases, if you will. the crisis teams are still in place. i want to give you that phone number again. there are many people in the town, and this phone line is open to anyone, anyone who needs to discuss anything or needs support from professionals. they're staffing this line from the hospital. the number is 203-270-4283. at this time, i will entertain some questions. again, please keep in mind that there are certain areas that we just cannot go down at this point in time. yes, ma'am? >> richfield schools are currently under lockdown. is it all related to sandy hook? >> what i'll do is i'll address that. i'm aware of that situation in the town of richfield. the local police department is handling that situation. there's a report of a suspicious person that may, in fact, be armed. we're not sure what the situation is. we sent appropriate personnel in that direction to assist richfield, but richfield is handling that situation. there's been no updates other than that. >> do the schools feel safe right now? >> the schools, again, are safe with the ridgefield officers and ridgefield police department with that. >> you're saying you're interviewing every witness. obviously, that includes children. can you talk about how you're handling that? >> i don't want to get into detail. it's a very, very tender, tender issue. i can tell you that any interviews with any children will be done with professionals, with parents, and with investigators, as appropriate. the investigators will determine how, when, where, and why we'll do this. again, understand we will handle that extremely delicately when the time arises. >> lieutenant, have you had any medical or mental health professionals come forward to say whether they were treating adam lanza? if there are any out there with such information, would you ask them to come forward? >> certainly, we would encourage anyone with any information to come forward that can assist us in this investigation. when i talked about the weaponry and the historical analysis, all the weaponry involved, the same thing holds true with the suspect. we will go back to the date of birth. we will continue on through. we will answer every single question determining any kind of medical condition, any kind of issue whatsoever that may have been involved in. i am not at liberty to discuss medical content. i'm not at liberty to discuss any of the information so far uncoughed, bu uncovered, but suffice it to say, i want to say we will cover every single facet. >> there are reports that law enforcement was concerned about adam lanza previous to this. do you have any insight into that? >> no. we've been in discussions with newtown police, and there was no previous contact or concerns prior to this tragic event. yes, sir. >> can you tell us more detail on how he proceeded to get in the school and what he did once inside. >> i can't do that. it's too difficult to discuss. i'm not going to lie to you, it's too difficult to discuss. i can tell you, as i've been telling you, the suspect forced his way into the school before and as he began to take human life therein. i simply don't want to -- and it's not appropriate for us to go any further with that. yes, ma'am. >> are officers still talking to gun shops and gun ranges to find out information about whether lanza tried to possess other firearms. >> good question. we're not only checking the weaponry, but atf is working with us. newtown is working with us. other agencies working with us searching every database, every record, searching everything we can possibly uncover. again, if anyone had any contact with the suspect at any range or any location, we want to talk to them if we haven't reached them yet. yes, sir? >> has any progress been made in trying to ascertain some information from the computers you found smashed. >> i can tell thaw our computer crimes unit, working with the forensic laboratory, are working nonstop examining any evidence that was seized at any location, literally. whether it be cell phones, computers. and i'm not naming anything that was seized. i'm saying all that electronic evidence will, in fact, be analyzed. we certainly will dissect it, if you will. >> did adam leave any evidence at the home? >> i can't discuss the evidence. >> is there a separate survivor? reports that there are two survivors. >> yes, there are two adults that were injured in the facility, in the school, that suffered gunshot wounds and are recovering. >> why did he have his brother's i.d.? >> i don't have any information about what he was carrying at all. >> no information about how he got his brother's i.d.? >> no information about what he was carrying at all. >> was there a surveillance system inside that school? >> i'm not aware of that. i'm sorry. i don't have that information. >> about what should happen with the school after it's no longer a crime scene? >> that will a town decision, the town leaders. again, we are possessing that school. we are holding that school as a crime scene indefinitely. and i can't even tell you what that means. i don't know how long that will be. i'm suspecting months. at that time, it's up to the town officials to determine exactly what's appropriate with that facility and with that building. yes, sir? >> can you talk about how the two survivors are helping at all if in this investigation? >> we provided the survivors with the same conduit we provided all the other victims in this case, and that is law enforcement escort, if you will. our investigators will, in fact, speak with them when it's medically appropriate, and certainly they will shed a great deal of light on the facts and circumstances of this tragic investigation that we're undertaking. >> lieutenant, would you talk about the tremendous amount of ammunition that he had with him. you alluded to that yesterday. the governor talked about that yesterday as well. do you now believe that he had much wider intentions inside that school that were thwarted because of the efforts of law enforcement? >> i think what's important is that i can't speculate what would have occurred. that would be wrong on my part. i can tell you that the faculty, staff in that school did everything that they possibly could to protect those children. i can tell you that the first responders that got to that scene with the active shooter team entered that school and saved many human lives, and i can tell you it broke our hearts we couldn't save them all. so quite frankly, there are the victims, the families in this situation that really are a focus of our attention right now. we'll leave that there, please. >> is there any added police presence in other schools around this state. >> that's what i've done under the leadership of the governor and the educational commissioner and law, all the local officials. many, many schools are showing law enforcement support and security, and i must state very emphatically, very emphatically, that it is not funny. it is not a joke. it is not acceptable for anyone to make any kind of inner threat or make any statement relative to the security and the individual schools, respect what's occurred here. i would ask people to respect what's occurred here, and certainly we're going to do our best to ensure security statewide. law enforcement will do so as well as the professionals at each and every educational institution in connecticut. what i'd like to do now is tell you that i don't want to keep coming. we'll come here every day. lieutenant and i come here every day if it's necessary. i don't want to come and just tell you everything's under investigation. our next briefing we'll have will probably be about 12:00 noon today, just before 12:00 noon if we can get here to bring you up to date with anything we have. but we're going to -- we're going to start scaling back the briefings, and we'll put everything that's necessary applicable to this investigation on our website. we truly believe that keeping you here is probably somewhat counterproductive. i would restate again, please, the families have requested privacy during the services, and i know you folks have been great. i would ask you to continue to do so. we'll see you just before noon. thank you. >> can you give us some numbers on investigators and staff involved in this investigation. >> i can tell you significant. well over a couple hundred troopers and detectives and local police officers. in addition to local police officers, newtown police, federal agencies, federal agents. a total number, i would just be grasping a number out of the sky literally. >> lieutenant vance from the connecticut state police. you heard that he said there's increased security in part provided by the educational system of connecticut and in part provided by police departments across the state. extra security at all of those schools, which leads us back to our question. how do we prevent another newtown? front and center, how do we protect our children in schools these days? so let's bring back our contributors. will cain, l.z. gran der soders don lemon. l.z., you had a very touching column about how parents can keep their children safe. what conclusion did you come to? >> sadly, the conclusion i came to as a parent was it's virtually impossible to ensure that my son or anyone's child will be protected from any harm that can happen once they're out of our sights. as i was dropping my son off this morning, i watched him walk all the way into the building, and it literally took every effort in me not to get out of the car and walk him personally to the building, and he's 16 years old. you know, when you see something like this, you see the little lives that were taken, i don't know how any parent can have peace when their child is not near them. so it's very, very distressing, and we're really hoping that the conversations that have begun to happen this weekend don't end once all the funerals have been held. that true legislative power comes from this. >> we'll see. will, i'm going to ask you a tough question. i know at least two school districts in pittsburgh, pennsylvania, have given security officers in schools permission to carry guns today. is that the answer? is that how we keep kids safe? do we arm school security guards? do we arm the principals? >> carol, that doesn't -- from a common sense, instinctual level, no, that doesn't ring as appropriate to me. here's the deal. just like l.z., i dropped my son off at school this morning. my son is 5 years old. he's right in this age range. it's impossible to escape the emotion of this moment. it's impossible to look at this in strictly rational terms. that being said, i think that our focus on guns, it just -- it's too narrow. it doesn't stand up to critical thought. here's the deal, carol. gun violence is, quite honestly, it's down from a peak in the 1990s. and yet these mass killings are up. six of the deadliest 12 have happened since 2007. so if guns are somewhat constant, what is the determining factor? what has changed? we must figure out a way to address mental health, analyze mental health. something has changed in our country in the last 40 years. the process of deinstitutionalizing mental health or the rise in psychotropic drugs. this seems to be the only thing that i can pinpoint now that is the delineating factor, and that's where we must focus. >> let's head to newtown, connecticut, and don lemon, what are people there saying? >> let me -- listen, for the past three days, i have been on the verge of tears every second, and most of the people here have been crying 24 hours straight. yes, we need to address mental health, but mental health in this particular issue -- let's not get it twisted -- is a secondary issue. if someone who has a mental issue did not have access to guns that should only be available in war zones, we would not be dealing with this. who needs a bullet piercing, armor piercing bullet to go hunting? who needs an assault rifle to go hunting? you can't even use the prey that you kill with an assault rifle if you indeed do it. no one needs an assault rifle to go out and shoot a deer. no one needs an assault rifle that's capable of shooting 10, 20, 30 rounds off at a time to shoot a duck or to shoot quail. it does not make sense. the first thing that we need to do, according to everyone who is here, even gun enthusiasts, is talk about what we're doing with assault rifles. why should guns that should only be available in war zones, why are they available to people who are mentally healthy and people who are not mentally healthy? that's the issue that we need to deal with. so to say that gun violence is down does not make sense. to me, it's insulting to everyone who lost a loved one here and who was dealing with that. it doesn't matter if gun violence is down. 20 children are dead here and 6 adults are dead, and the mother of a person who was not mentally -- who is mentally challenged in some way is dead. so to say that gun violence is down -- we need to talk about mental health, yes. mental health is a secondary issue. we need to get guns and bullets and automatic weapons off the streets. they should only be available to police officers and to hunt al qaeda and the taliban and not huntchildren. >> we are going to have to wrap this up. thanks so much. >> thank you. quick check on some of the stories making news today. 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[ applause ] ♪ [ male announcer ] life brings obstacles. usaa brings advice. call or visit us online. we're ready to help. more coverage on the connecticut shootings in just a minute. first a look at other top stories. independent revie board will present a report to the state department on benghazi. the most detailed explanation yet from september 11. a gunman escaped after shooting and i will killing two police officers in topeka, kansas. the police responded to a report of suspicious vehicle outside of a grocery store last night. fiscal cliff negotiation talk, house speaker john boehner offered to extend the debt limit for a year. republicans have been opposed to raising the borrowing cap. boehner proposed higher tax rates on the wealthiest americans in order to reach a deal. 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(together) happy. i love logistics. happening now. how can we prevent another newtown? gun control? better mental health services? putting god back in our schools? we will talk with connecticut senator joe lieberman. investigators dig importances. who was the man police say was behind these deadly shootings? this tragedy could have been, if you can believe it, a lot worse if not for the teachers at sandy hook elementary school. they are being called heroes for their action when the shootings began. you will hear from one of them. a special edition of "newsroom" starts now. ♪ good morning. thank for being with us. i'm carol costello in atlanta. with me today, don lemon, newtown, connecticut. good morning. >> good morning to you. we are going to begin this hour with the latest from newtown, connecticut. minutes ago police held a briefing to update reporters one topic wrestling with the question of when or even if kids can return to sandy hook elementary. >> there will be no school today. the plan the s to try to resume normalcy for school classes tomorrow except for those members at the sandy hook school. they will be excused, of course, until further notice. they are developing plans on how to best handle that. >> today the first of the funerals get under way. this afternoon, 6-year-olds, jack pinto, and noah pozner will be the first of the victim to be laid to rest. one teacher, anne marie murphy died while shielding students with her body. another read to her kids to distract them from the gunshots exploding outside of their room. and last night in newtown president obama met with survivors and families of those killed and vowed to prevent another massacre and call for a national discussion on gun violence. more on the gun control debate in just a moment. first the president's message to a community in anguish. here are some of the comments from last night's vigil. >> i am very mindful that mere words cannot match the depths of your sorrow nor can they heal your wounded hearts. i can only hope it helps for you to know that you are not alone in your grief. that our world, too, has been torn apart. that all across this land of ours, we have wept with you. we pulled our children tight. and you must know that whatever measure of comfort we can provide, we will provide. whatever portion of sadness that we can share with you to ease this heavy load, we will gladly bear it. newtown, you are not alone. >> reporter: we are going to be back here in newtown in just a few minutes. for now, i'm going to hand it back over to carol who is in atlanta. i watched it here in a tavern not a dry eye in the house. it was such a moving memorial last night. >> it really was. the president talked about doing something. he sort of intimated gun control was part of that something. how did you take that, don? >> reporter: i think he had some very strong language on gun laws. i don't know if gun control is the right thing -- i think what the president is saying and most people are saying, it is not about taking away anyone's second amendment rights. it is about having a sensible, non-politicized conversation about our gun laws, takinging a second look at them. i think that's appropriate at this point. >> okay. don, after what happened in newtown, schools are struggling with gun control. guns in general and how to keep kids safe. one way armed school security guards. according to the pittsburgh gazette, at least would pittsburgh area school districts will allow armed guards to patrol their schools. the superintendent told the paper, quote, it was our intent to do this anyway. the must have town shooting caused us to think about it and work over the weekend to expedite that process. gun advocates are also for it. >> i wish to god she had an m-4 in her office locked up so when she heard gunfire pulled it out and didn't have to lung heroically with nothing in her hands but takes him out. >> he mentioned an m-4. if you are wondering what an m-4 is, here is a picture of it. an assault rifle used by the u.s. military. joining us now is connecticut senator joe lieberman. good morning, senator. >> good morning, carol. >> i'm just going cut right to the chase. is that the answer, senator, more guns? >> i don't believe it is. obviously security at school buildings is important. but this -- as the president said, very eloquently last night is a very complicated problem. but the fact that it is complicated doesn't mean we can't doing in about it and i thought the president issued a call to national action preceded by discussion when he said that it is time for these tragedies to end. i mean, clearly part of it has to be -- to make it harder to -- for people who shouldn't have guns to have them. and to keep some guns that are military guns and not hunting or sports guns out of the hands of most people in our country. but it is more than in a. it is about balance and the culture. mental health services. it is about spotting these kids who fit the profile, troubled young men, who everybody in hindsight says i should have noticed this. how we make sure we notice it before they strike and get them help so that -- so never strike and hurt anybody. >> senator, i think a lot of people out will think, you know, these tragedies happen. we hear big talk from politicians, what they don't -- they don't have the political will or courage to really change things. >> i don't blame people for thinking that because -- that's the record. you know. the last thing we really adopted a law on guns, for instance, was in 1993 or '94, the brady act named after jim brady, president reagan's press secretary, who was disabled by gunfire when hinckley ride to kill president reagan. that took seven years to pass. we had an assault weapons ban that passed at about that time, had a ten-year life as a statute and not a consensus to reauthorize it. that's why i think what the president said last night is so important because i think he was saying he wants -- he's committed to doing something about violence in our society and in this second term. it is why i'm proposing a commission to make -- once you appointed commission, they hold hearings. they talk to people. eventually they produce a report with recommendations. that's some small guarantee we won't walk away from this. >> i think when people listen to that and say that's great, you want to point a commission and we will talk about these things. oftentimes, nothing comes of it. i want to ask you about the nra because the nra remained silent on this issue. we haven't heard word one. facebook page is down. why do you think that is? why isn't the nra coming out and standing up for itself when so many out there are blaming the nra for what happened in newtown, connecticut? >> yeah. well, i mean, obviously you would have to ask folks from the nra. let's just hope it is out of respect for this tragedy. but, you know, from the president on down, we all have to engage the nra and people we know who have guns and want to keep their guns and remind them just as don lemon said a moment ago, none of these proposals will take guns out of the hands of people who have them now. this is all about trying to limit access to guns by people who shouldn't have them. based on their records. and to keep military weapons off of the commercial market. that shouldn't inhibit anybody's right to hunt, target shoot, or even to defend themselves with a gun. i think -- this murder of 20 pure, innocent children is a tipping point. i'm proposing this commission so we don't lose the anger and hurt we have now before we really get something done about this. i don't want the commission to be an excuse for not doing something. if the president can do something now executive order, god bless him. if congress can get together soon and get something done, god bless congress. but -- >> even after gabrielle giffords, one of your own, who is still damaged to this day because somebody got ahold of a gun who shouldn't have, nothing happened even after that. >> you are absolutely right. i mean, i go back to columbine in 1999. i actually proposed after that a commission very similar to this. john mccain and i and others did. got adopt medical the senate and was dropped in a conference committee. never even convened. but we have -- all got to be angry. this is not us and them. us against the nra or us against the entertainment industry. this is all of us. this is a question of how we all protect ourselves from wanton violence and most fundamentally how we protect our children. again, i want to say -- i was heartened by the president's words last night. they were strong and he was moved. i happened to be at a bill signing at the white house friday morning when he first learned about how extensive the slaughter was in newtown. he was so visibly moved. i think he's -- he's struggled with this over the weekend. i think this is going to be a centerpiece of his second term. when you think about it, 12,000 people killed in this country every year with illegal guns, wow. if we can do something about that to reduce that number, that will be a remember legacy for president obama and anybody who supports these efforts. >> senator lieberman, thank you so much for joining us this morning. >> thank you, carol. >> how do we talk about this tragedy? don lemon will join us again from newtown, connecticut. hi, don. >> reporter: thank you, carol. one of the most difficult things moving forward in this tragedy is how to explain what happened to children. chief medical correspondent dr. sanjay gupta joins us. you are a father. i'm an uncle, great uncle. i can't even -- i have been on the verge of tears almost every minute here. as a pear, i heard you explaining how you talked to your girls about this because they are asking. how do you explain this to your kids? >> yeah. i was skyping. i was here with you. you know. and -- you know, one of the first questions, just inside my 7ier old asked, she immediately asked for the names. names of the children. i thought that was interesting because we talk about humanizing and kids, they just do that instinctively. we obviously are trying to put the these things in context for people. these are tough conversations. people talk about the loss of innocence. you have to be honest. in medicine we say you check your own pulse before going in to treat a patient sometimes. here check your own feelings to some extent. you don't want to overtalk to the child and frighten them more than necessary. up want to be honest. question will come up. my 5-year-old will ask today because they are going to hear about it. social media ask otherwise and say is their school safe. you know, you have -- it didn't happen in daddy's school, it didn't happen in mommy's school. this obviously happened. >> reporter: is your wife limiting watching television at home? >> she is. the types of stories i cover she does that often. i think this one in particular. >> reporter: i think what people -- you know, what -- obviously the death of children. but it is a time of the year as well. these are kids who in a week who believe in santa claus, who are going to be -- bolting down the stairs towards that christmas tree going look at what santa brought me. now instead the parents are not going -- did i get my kid the right present? did i go too far, too much? did i not go enough. instead these parents are picking out coffins. that's what i thought about this morning when i woke up. brothers and sisters are not figuring out what am i going to get little jane. how am i going to go to this funeral for my sister and brother. >> i don't know what to say, don. you are absolutely right. you know, i think -- you know, i don't even know how to respond to that. i think -- some of these things are unprecedented and so horrific that certainly as scientists we want to provide answers to things and -- you know, look at how these sorts of things have been handled in the past. i know after other school shootings, three to four months latest, the children had post-traumatic distress. it exists in children. we think about it in adults. it can be -- they behave differently and may regress in terms of behavior, nieces or nephews may start to regress in terms of development. sleep -- it sounds so simple but sleep is such an important component. you can predict -- such a powerful predictor of how they will cope is if they are getting sleep. something the parents can do is check in to make sure your child is sleeping well with all that's going on. yeah. i mean, i don't -- i don't know -- it is the holidays, as you say. i'm sure some of the parents already purchased the presents for these children. and they went home to see those presents lying under the tree. i can't -- you know, i mean, look -- it is -- i don't know what to say. i don't know what to say about that. you hug your kids tighter, i guess. >> reporter: and everyone. everyone you care about. everyone you may have a beef with that you still -- you tell them, i love you, care about you and i'm glad you are in my life. >> this was happening yesterday. walking around this town, people were coming up to me. they see a little bit on tv and feel like they know you and just give you a hug. i think the idea that people -- you know, feel like -- look, we are going through this together. the worst thing would be to suffer in silence or isolation. i don't know what to say. but i'm here with you. you know, as -- it is a really important thing. here's what's going on in the crisis centers as well. >> reporter: people need it. every hug yesterday i accepted and embraced longer. thank you, dr. sanjay gupta. glad you are here. we will move on in this tragedy. how do you move forward in newtown and elsewhere? we are going to hear from one of the hero teachers who saved lives in the chaos. that's next. i always wait until the last minute. can i still ship a gift in time for christmas? yeah, sure you can. great. where's your gift? uh... whew. [ male announcer ] break from the holiday stress. ship fedex express by december 22nd for christmas delivery. ♪ we have been before. mass shooting followed by calls for better gun control. but nothing much seems to happen. but good newtown be the tipping point? >> i'm going to introduce in the senate and the same bill will be introduced in the house a bill to ban assault weapons. it will ban the sale, transfer, the importation and the possession, not retroactively, but perspectively and it will ban the same for big clips, drums or strips, of more than 10 bullets. so there will be a bill. >> there might abbill introduced but does not mean that bill will pass. let's bring in dana bash. i talked to senator lieberman and he says this is the tipping point. in the coming weeks we will see some movement on gun control. what are you hearing? >> you know, the sentiment definitely seems to be different. i mean, over the -- here's the reason why we haven't seen movement on gun control, significant movement on gun control, for the past decade. it is because democrats who have been the party who have pushed it million about 2000, they shied away from it. the reason is because they really felt that they were hurt politically in red states and even in not so red states by the being so overtly for gun control. and so they pulled back politically. it has changed in the past 24 to 48 hours. there's month question. more democrats, not just dianne feinstein who is a senator who has been in office for decades from a blue state, it is also others like joe manchin. he has an a-rate prosecuting the nra. he's very much pro-gun. he used himself, shooting guns, and in political ads, west virginia, obviously is a very pro-gun state. even he says it is time to talk about it. listen to what he says. >> i just came with may family from deer hunting. i never had more than three shells in a clip. sometimes you don't get more than one shot anyway at a deer. it is common sense. it is time to move beyond rhetoric. we need to sit down and have a common sense discussion and move in a reasonable way. i ask all my friends in the nra. i have been an nra member and always have been. we need to sit down and move this dialogue to a sensible, reasonable approach to fixing. it is part of it, not all of it everything has to be on the table and i think it will be. >> he didn't explicitly say he would vote for or support senator feinstein's bill she will introduce on day one of the new congress which would ban assault weapons. assault weapons ban expired back in with our. nobody did anything to reinstate it. he did say that as a hunter, he said, you don't need 30 rounds to kill a deer. that's something that we might hear from more and more -- even democrats who previously had been against my gun control. >> we will see what happens. dana bash reporting live from capitol hill this morning. let's head back to newtown. hi, don. >> reporter: families are calling the teachers at sandy hook elementary school heroes. anderson cooper spoke to one of those teachers. janet balmer. about what it was like inside of her classroom. >> reporter: explain again, you knew something was going wrong. how? >> well, i mean, we were in our classroom and we heard what sounded like gunshots, noises. >> reporter: you heard that on -- >> there was a loudspeaker that -- >> reporter: p.a. system. >> p.a. system was not working in the way it normally is because you don't usually hear things unless someone is making an announcement. there were noises that didn't sound correct. so there was no -- telling us it was a drill. we thought something was not right. we took the children and went into a lockdown. we go to a certain place in the room. we pulled the blinds down. we locked the classroom doors. and we cover the window at the door. >> reporter: this is something you practiced. >> about a month or so before. make sure we do that, you know, we -- go to a safe place. and typically when it is a drill they tell us, okay, then we even exit the building, fooling certain path. and if there was an emergency we go down to the sandy hook firehouse and gather there. which is what we did that day. you know, we knew that. >> reporter: you sat the kids down. >> we sat in the cubby away from the door so no one could see us, read them a story and talked to them. they kept saying we are here for how long. it will be always longer. you know. when they are 5 you tell them whatever you do to get -- keep they will safe and calm. >> reporter: this is what i have been thinking about all weekend, though. the courage for you to be able to just sit there and read a story and keep them calm. >> i think the adrenaline kicks in and you do what you have do. there were two other people in the room helping me with pulling down the blinds. i was focused on the kids. just keeping them safe and i'm not about to tell them i think something is very bad or remember wrong. so we waited and waited. you know, it seemed like a very long time and maybe it was 20 minutes, half an hour. i'm not sure. there were knocks at the door. it was -- police. someone telling us that we had to leave. didn't want to open the door at first but we did. you know, they said have the children walk, hold hands, cover their eye it is they could because, you know, he didn't say why. he said have them cover their eyes. at 5, covering your eyes and walking isn't so easy. i just -- had them, you know, look towards the wall and we went down the hall and out of the building. and, you know, we got on the sidewalk and i said boys and girls, remember the adventure we had, we all walked to the firehouse, you know, we are going to do that now again. >> reporter: in responding to people calling her a hero, vollmer said she did what she needed to do to keep the children safe. we will be right back. one of the big stories of the day. the question for you this morning, what can be done to prevent another newtown? that is a tough question. because it requires thoughtful discussion. something that seems impossible when it comes to gun violence. as the president says, what choice do we have? the blame game has already begun. mike huckabee, pastor and fox news host, says our godless schools are to blame. >> we ask why there is violence in our schools but we systematically removed god from our schools. should we be so surprised schools would become a place of carnage because we have made it a place where we don't want to talk about eternity, life, what responsibility means. >> cnn contributor and tea party supporter eric ericson says in his column today, single parent homes lead to violence. many are also blaming violent individual yes games and movies. after all, 11, 11 violent movies are now in theaters just one week before christmas, the day we celebrate christ's birth. >> simply a customer trying to conduct a transaction. >> last chance, fancy pants. >> very well. >> including that one. quentin tarantino's "django unchained." >> a horrible tragedy, you know. what are you going to say about it? it is horrible. but, you know, at the same time, no, i don't think it has anything to do with that. but this is going back to shakes peier -- shakespeare's days. i think that's a very facile argument. >> republican lawmakers, louie gomer, blames too few guns say if the principal had a gun she could have taken out the shooter and prevented the rampage. maybe there are too many guns. dianne feinstein plans to introduce legislation banning assault weapons. but will that or anything else stop the carnage? talk back question for you today. what can be done to prevent another newtown? facebook.com/carolcnn. your responses, later this hour. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 when i'm trading, i'm so into it, tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 hours can go by before i realize tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 that i haven't even looked away from my screen. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 that kind of focus... tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 that's what i have when i trade. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 and the streetsmart edge trading platform from charles schwab... tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 ...helps me keep an eye on what's really important to me. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 it's packed with tools that help me work my strategies, tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 spot patterns and find opportunities more easily. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 then, when i'm ready... act decisively. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 i can even access it from the cloud and trade on any computer. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 with the exact same tools, the exact same way. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 and the reality is, with schwab mobile, tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 i can focus on trading anyplace, anytime... tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 ...until i choose to focus on something else. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 trade at schwab for $8.95 a trade. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 open an account and trade tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 up to 6 months commission-free online equity trading tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 with a $50,000 deposit. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 call 1-800-786-7803 tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 and a trading specialist tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 will help you get started today. five days later, i had a massive heart attack. bayer aspirin was the first thing the emts gave me. now, i'm on a bayer aspirin regimen. [ male announcer ] be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. [ woman ] learn from my story. before you begin an aspirin regimen. boproductivity up, costs down, thtime to market reduced... those are good things. upstairs, they will see fantasy. not fantasy... logistics. ups came in, analyzed our supply chain, inventory systems... ups? ups. not fantasy? who would have thought? i did. we did, bob. we did. got it. we are all looking for answers after must have town. some people believe tragedies like sandy hook aring a direct result of removing god from our society. former arkansas governor mike huckabee said as much. >> we ask why there's violence in our schools. but we have systematically removed god from our schools. should we be so surprised schools would become place of carnage because we have made eight place we don't want to talk about eternity, life, what responsibility means. >> let's talk about that with father thomas reese. thank you, father, important being with us today. >> thank you. >> i'm going to ask you the big question first. why does god allow these things to happen? >> well, that's -- if i knew, could answer that in a simple sound bite, i would be a genius. this is an issue that people have been struggling with for centuries. all religious believers struggle with this question. i think part of it is what we think about god. do we see god as this abstract being that is in control, micro manage it is universe? i mean, the god of greek fills on perfects? or do we look at the god that's portrayed in scriptures where we see a god of compassion. a god that, you know, sometimes doesn't get what he wants. bad things happen and he -- weeps over it. he weeps over what happens to his children. this is the god for me. the god that jesus showed us. a god who is suffering, a god who is compassionate towards his friends, who wept when lazareth died. he doesn't always get his way and that's when these kind of tragedies happen. >> let's go back to what governor huckabee said. he said rae moving god from our public schools and society in general, that's to blame for the evil that happens in this world. do you agree? >> well -- as a catholic priest, i obviously believe in the importance of having religion and god in schools. that's why we have catholic schools. but to think that somehow magically that will solve the problems of violence and bullying or will somehow cure people who have mental diseases and disorders or will somehow deal, you know, take care of dysfunctional families, mine, that's totally absurd. and it also misses the point that, you know, how do we talk about god and religion in public schools in a pluralistic society where there's lots of disagreement? it is interestg, almost 50 years ago, 1963, when the supreme court said that public schools should not promote devotion, should not be having prayers, it said we should teach about religion. we have been, you know, had lots of conversations among religious leaders about how to do that and how to do that in a constitutional way. because we immediate to know more about religion. >> then, you know, another question i have been wonder being. when people talk about personal liberty, they always say god and guns as if god and guns are synonymous, are equal. where does that come from? >> well, i mean, i think -- you know, we have liberty but we also have responsibility. with freedom comes responsibility. and as -- as a nation, i mean, i personally think, you know, were do we immediate assault rifles? we don't immediate them to shoot deer. we don't immediate these weapons that are weapons from war as sports weapons. i think we should deal with this in a rational way. and, you know, but it -- it is all of these things. it is dealing with mental disorders. it is dealing with the amount of weapons that are out will in society. it is dealing with dysfunctional families. all of these kinds of things need to be, you know, part of the solution. but, you know, again, you know, for the freedom we have is also the freedom to reject god and to sin and to do violent acts and that's part of the human condition also. >> pear thomas, thank you so much important being with us this morning. i can talk to you all day. thank you so much. we will be right back. questions? anyone have occasional constipation, diarrhea, gas, bloating? yeah. one phillips' colon health probiotic cap each day helps defend against these digestive issues with three strains of good bacteria. approved! 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[ female announcer ] live the regular life. progressive direct and other car insurance companies? yes. but you're progressive, and they're them. yes. but they're here. yes. are you...? there? yes. no. are you them? i'm me. but those rates are for... them. so them are here. yes! you want to run through it again? no, i'm good. you got it? yes. rates for us and them -- now that's progressive. call or click today. ♪ a town and a nation in mourning. but at the same time, a pew families here in newtown are overwhelmed with grief and gratitude. this couple had would children inside of the school and they both made it out alive. they say their son ran past the shooter and escaped. now the couple is grappling with the challenge of telling him his teacher is gone. >> he's reassuring himself she is going to be okay. he really, really, really cared about his teacher. he was very close with her. she really loved them. he keeps saying i really hope she's okay. i hope it is not her. he missouri that she's been hurt but doesn't know the end result. he missouri the kids that he saw getting shot, he doesn't know the outcome. so i think he's reassuring himself in his 6-year-old mind, i know he is processing it, but -- i think he is reassuring himself. telling himself it is going to be okay. >> aaden's teacher was victoria soto who placed herself in front of her students before the gunman shot her. 27 years old. how do you talk to any child who has been traumatized? how do you talk to them? let's ask psychologist wendy walsh. she joins us from los angeles. good morning to you. >> hi, don. >> reporter: where do you begin? >> well, you begin, of course, by doing the -- obvious physical things, keep them safe in their surroundings, as safe and normal as possible. letting them have free play. letting them play in a familiar surroundings and in their home and with their regular toys. and you let them lead. now, remember, kids aren't verbal. they are not going to suddenly turn did and go to mom, i have fears at night and anxiety at night. you will watch how they play with their toys and watch how they do artwork. remember, children are less verbal than adults when expressing things and have you to give them all of the tools possible. and it has to be about gentle reassurance and the most important piece is that parents have to contain themselves, don, because if we are -- you know, sobbing in a pool of tears, that's the cue to them they should be feeling more distressed than they are. it is really important parents contain themselves. >> reporter: how does a parent dashes person there parents here say -- if a kid says mommy, is bobby going to come back? or what do i do with jane's christmas present? i went and bought it and she's not here. how do you -- what do you do in that particular situation? >> every family is different in how they explain death to a child. depending on the age of the child, it may only have a slight ability to understand really what death is and what permt is. parents have to think, these are -- these are the really prickly times of parenthood where you have to explain death to your child. death of someone is who very close, maybe even a family member, can be very, very difficult. don, as you know, i two daughters myself. i had to explain this to them. i'm -- i'm following the large group on twitter that are doing 20 acts of kindness as a family, as a way to honor the spirits of each of the 20 children who died. therefore, yesterday we bought some things for foster children for christmas. we made a toiletry kit for a homeless man. we did a -- food drive and donate to a food bank. we have three down and 17 more to go. this is a way to allow my children to grieve and to take positive steps at the same time toward healing. >> reporter: yeah. i have to say, you know, these are remarkable parents, wendy, but it would be hard to be -- i would imagine a good parent and take care of your child when you are trying to take care of yourself, no parent wants to lose a child. how -- how do you balance that as a parent? >> look, right now most of those parents are still in complete shock, don. this trauma is going to work its way through their body and through their brain and in many different ways. the thing about post-traumatic stress disorder, whether it is in the children or the parent or anyone who witnessed or people watching it on tv, it is for everybody, it is different. some people become very active. they take to facebook and twitter and try to solve problems. other people get very distracted and rye to avoid the feelings and get busy doing a lot of other things. some other people, the lucky artists in the world, can create some very provocative, compassionate art. we all deal with trauma in different ways. it is really important to remember that because of this, children's brains can heal very well. not all these children are going to have post-traumatic stress disorder. many of them may heal very well. maybe easier than the parents and adults. we don't know what the outcome is going to be in the short term, though, we want to be calm, reassuring, and loving. >> reporter: you are absolutely right. when i was younger, it was much easier to get over things. now you realize that, you know, life is short. it is tougher sometimes to really get over it. you realize someone is never coming back as an adult. thank you, dr. wendy, we appreciate it. [ male announcer ] research suggests cell health plays a key role throughout our lives. one a day men's 50+ is a complete multivitamin designed for men's health concerns as we age. it has 7 antioxidants to support cell health. one a day men's 50+. it has 7 antioxidants to support cell health. meet the 5-passenger ford c-max hybrid. when you're carrying a lot of weight, c-max has a nice little trait, you see, c-max helps you load your freight, with its foot-activated lift gate. but that's not all you'll see, cause c-max also beats prius v, with better mpg. say hi to the all-new 47 combined mpg c-max hybrid. today will not be an easy day in the classroom. students return to school. as parents worry about their safety. ca you spoke with several parents who were taking their children to school this morning. what did they tell you? >> yeah, at sandra day o'connor elementary school in mesa, arizona, outside of phoenix. there was a lot of concern by parents who are bringing their kids to school today. the first day of school after that tragedy in connecticut. this is a very middle-class community. it is a community not that far away just a year ago from tucson where a mass shooting happened. six people killed. congresswoman giffords injured. these folks have some experience with these mass shootings. we asked them what their thoughts are on gun control. and just like the rest of thenition, parents here are very divided. >> there should be more gun control, yes. >> reporter: why do you think that? >> well, you know, guns are -- guns are in the wrong hands, very dangerous. >> guns don't kill people. people kill people. >> definitely should be a gun control issue. should be no guns out there. lot of crazy people don't know how to handle guns. >> i don't think taking guns out of civilians who are good contributing members of society are the answer. >> reporter: that father you heard will, matthew, he's actually an assistant pastor at a local church. he says the answer, he believes, is more people should be armed. here's something you hear a lot from gun advocates here in arizona and in other places. that if that teacher or school officials in connecticut were armed, that maybe so many children would not have been killed. we also talked to the principal at this school about security measures that he may be taking in the wake of what happened on friday. he said nothing special but they did go through and review their security procedures here at the school, found doors that maybe that were open that should have been locked. the parents we spoke with said they are not concerned about security here at this school today but they are very concerned about the issue of gun control nationally. >> you talk about the desire for guns. i would -- i would think gun shows across the country, maybe the -- canceled some of them? >> reporter: well, that's not exactly true. as a matter of fact, my colleague was at a gun show in ventura, california, over the weekend. and will be bring you a report that includes some of the sneaks were attending that gun show later in the day on cnn. they were telling us that this was about as busy as they had ever seen that gun show. obviously some of these gun enthusiasts and people that believe in gun ownership wanting to get their hands on more weapons because they fear that tighter gun control regulations are coming in the wake of the shooting. [ female announcer ] what if the next big thing, isn't a thing at all? it's lots of things. all waking up. ♪ becoming part of the global phenomenon we call the internet of everything. ♪ trees will talk to networks will talk to scientists about climate change. cars will talk to road sensors will talk to stoplights about traffic efficiency. the ambulance will talk to patient records will talk to doctors about saving lives. it's going to be amazing. and exciting. and maybe, most remarkably, not that far away. the next big thing? we're going to wake the world up. ♪ and watch, with eyes wide, as it gets to work. ♪ cisco. tomorrow starts here. ♪ lot of you watched football this sunday while the nfl marked the deaths of the sandy hook victims with a moment of silence before each game. this is from green bay, chicago. >> at this time please stand and join in a moment of silent reflection for the victim, their fami families, and loved ones. >> but there were other much more touching tributes. victor cruz, mine, just -- breaks your heart. >> i know. it is a heartbreaking story. you know, couple of teams in close proximity to newtown, giants patriots offering tributes as well. i want to start with a poignant moment, though, that took place in st. louis. this was prior to the vikings/rams game. you see the players in april giant circle inside of the circle, two head coaches and two number 26es from both teams holding hands in prayer. representing the number of school victims. sunday nature at gillette stadium, foxborough, massachusetts, it is the patriots, new england's only nfl team, paying tribute by lighting 26 white flares. wes welker's helmet. newtown is 60 miles north of new york city. this is the story you are talking about. it involves the giants. they wore the letters shes. the most personal tribute, involved victor cruz. the favorite player of one of the murdered children. 6-year-old jack pinto. cruz has been in contact with the pinto family and he spoke following the game along with his head coach. let's listen. >> seem like a strong family. i spoke to -- spoke to the older brother and, you know, he was distraught as well. i told them to stay strong and i will do whatever i can to honor him. >> we felt terribly about it. i'm sure the whole nation does. it is not just us. but being close to home, it did -- the players were greatly upset about it. and -- many of the players have rung children. they can empathize parents of the young children killed. >> jack pinto's funeral is this afternoon. and according to victor cruz, the family is considering burying the child in cruz's jersey. >> will victor cruz go to the funeral? >> that's -- that was the plan. i would imagine if possible he is going to attend. >> just really heartbreaking. it really is. we are all trying deal with it in our own way. victor cruz trying to deal with tonight his way. give some comfort to the family. >> right. you know, athletes grieve like everyone else. this is their expression of that grief over the weekend. >> thanks so much. >> thank you. we will be right back. we understand. at usaa, we know military life is different. we've been there. that's why every bit of financial advice we offer is geared specifically to current and former military members and their families. [ laughs ] dad! dad! [ applause ] ♪ [ male announcer ] life brings obstacles. usaa brings advice. call or visit us online. we're ready to help. talk back question today a tough one. what can be done to prevent another newtown? we immediate a ban on assault weapons and more restricted handgun use. month self-respecting hunter worth his salt needs an ak-47-type weapon. we need to have a physiological test for everyone that buy as gun. people are unstable and have mental illness should be banned from getting guns. i think he meant psychological. maybe we should be talking about all the violent video games our children are watching. they start shooting people with the game. when they play the games they become numb to the value of real life. we immediate better security any location where we live our children. keep the classrooms separated from the administration. maybe by secondary security doors, swipe cards to open, enter and exit. this from nancy. no assault rifles when the constitution was written and i can't believe the writers intended the right to bear guns that can mow down hundreds of people down at a time. many states cut their funding of state mental institutions, society has to reap the repercussions for that. thank you so much for joining the conversation. more than a thousand of you

Transcripts For CNNW The Situation Room 20121218

that is scarred forever. most newtown students went back to school for the first time since the massacre with police standing guard. two more young victims are buried, and the man involved in the investigation tells me about the horrors he saw inside the sandy hook elementary school. >> the crime scene itself is something that has made a mark in all of our minds. the task of that responsibility with the crime scene is something that we will never be able to erase. >> there will never be a good enough explanation why 20 elementary students were gunned down but we all need answers. i'm wolf blitzer reporting from newtown connecticut. state police is working around the clock. their investigation of the school massacre is very methodical and very, very painful. joining us now, lieutenant paul vance. he's become the face, the spokesman of this investigation. the connecticut state police. lieutenant vance, we're here in your office in middletown, connecticut. i know it must be hard on the journalists so it must be so much more hard on the men and women that work at the connecticut state police. what has it been like? >> it's been a horrible, tragic scene. the initial response was just horrific. the men and woman that risked their lives going in there trying to stop the aggression, trying to stop the shooting and carnage and rescue as many people as they could truly put their lives on the line but even more so, the faculty, the staff, the teachers that tried and did protect many of those children. there's good and bad but our hearts are just simply broken just due to the fact that 26 people died in that building. >> how are the men and women of the connecticut state police, the first responders, how are they doing? >> they are working through this. we provide counseling and employee assistance to them. they are human beings also but we have to work through these types of things. the day will come where we will sit down and truly hit a wall and have to really talk it out. but it's what they are trained to do and the men and women have risen to the occasion and they are working 24 hours a day and will continue working until we rectify and answer all of the questions around what happened. >> which raises the question, what happened? why? how could this happen in the middle of connecticut in a beautiful little town? i guess the key question is, why? do we have an answer? >> we don't have an answer yet. we've got a number -- a number of major crime detectives, our forensic people, we have all our experts, all of our expertise, we have our toolbox wide open and we've got everyone involved. and it's not just us. we're being assisted by the newtown police, federal police is helping us. we've got to answer those questions. we've got to determine how and why this happened. we've got to put this puzzle together and paint a crystal clear picture to try to answer you will of the questions surrounding this case. >> in your mind -- and you know a lot more than the rest of us, in your mind, do you have a pretty good idea why this shooter went into the school and killed those kids and teempers? >> not at all. we're way too early and i know that sounds almost four days after the fact but we're way too early. we've got so much work to do. so much evidence to examine, so much additional interviews to conduct. it's going to be time consuming but we've got to do all that work. leave no stone unturned. >> when you say no interviews, i assume you're talking to his family members? are they cooperating? >> absolutely. >> and they have their ideas? >> sure. >> do we know if he was under medication, if he had a mental illness, do we know issues like that? >> i don't know personally. i do know the best way i can explain it is, we have teams and detectives that will look at that facet. we'll have teams and detectives that will look at the weapons, the weaponry and trace them from the minute they came off the assembly line until the time we seized them, who's hands they were in. all the answers, the ammunition, where it was purchased, by whom, all of that stuff. and we truly have boots on the ground, good old shoe leather police work. men and women are going to go out there and get these answers. >> is there a, as best as you know, a suicide note? >> i do not know. i do know that we've executed search warrants at the secondary crime scene which was a private residence. we did extract a great deal of evidence. that i do know. >> from the home? >> yes. >> where the shooter lived? >> that's correct. >> with his mother? >> that's correct. but i don't have a detailed notice of what that evidence is. i just know that it's extremely helpful. >> because the reports are that his computer had been damaged, the hard drive had been damaged and you're trying to come up with some soef waited way to come up with information on that hard drive? >> it's interesting that that information is out there. the way we do these types of cases is, i am the only spokesman relative to this investigation. the only person who has personal knowledge of what we can and can can't say. i don't even know what was seized in that house. the investigators have not provided me with that information because we don't detail the evidence. but suffice it to say, if there was a computer there, any electronic evidence there, it was seized. we have a forensic laboratory that can analyze that evidence. any forensic evidence that is was seized at that scene can go to our scientific lab. certainly we'll examine it all and hopefully it will help us to a conclusion. >> in your mind, do you have any idea why he killed his mother? >> i don't. >> is his father helping you? >> i'm sure we'll talk to family members as this case evolves. there's certain steps and strategies that we have in this case, certainly the first was right in newtown itself, getting as many answers as we can for the families of these deceased victims. one thing that we did do is we provided a trooper with each family. that he was like an umbilical cord to afford these victims' families direct contact to this investigation so that any questions or any issues that they might have, we would certainly be able to instantaneously give them answers and help. we didn't want them to see, for example, something on the news about this case without them knowing firsthand. we're going to continue to do that. >> 26 troopers dealing with 26 families? >> that's correct, sir. >> so there's a trooper assigned to each family. his older brother, i assume you're talking to him, he's cooperating? >> we've reached out overstate lines and had assistance from outside -- >> because he was living in hoboken, new jersey? >> yes and certainly they are assisting us wherever we require. >> it's a tough one. have you ever had anything as tough as this in your career? how long have you been with the connecticut state police? >> i just started my 39th year and this is the most horrific incident i've ever been involved in. >> i was over at the firehouse yesterday. i walked around. you had just left. i was hoping to meet you there but you had just left. you know, when you think about what was going on inside that firehouse, as the families were getting there down the street from the elementary school and word was beginning to reach everyone that there were dead kids. >> yep. >> inside, what was that like? >> people responded about the scene and about the situation. they responded to come and retrieve their children and when they couldn't find their children, fear set in, panic set in, pain set in. it was fear of the unknown and when the notification was finally made, it was absolutely heartbreaking. >> you were there at the time? >> yes. >> and the governor notified the families that their little 6-year-old or little 7-year-old was dead? >> that's correct. >> what was it like there? >> it's something no one wants to experience. it was just heartbreaking. terrible. >> a lot more kids and teachers could have been killed. >> no question. >> there was still ammunition he had available, is that right? >> there was immense amount of ammunition available, yes. >> potentially he could have killed -- >> hundreds. >> really? when you think about that and then all of a sudden -- i guess one of the most difficult things -- you want to talk to eyewitnesses but a lot of the eyewitnesses were kids. >> that's true. >> and how does law enforcement ask a 6, 7, 9-year-old what happened to bobby, carol? >> you look at the whole big picture. our investigators will make a determination as to who needs to be interviewed. srnly there were two people that were wounded that survived. >> both educators? >> both educators. >> how are they doing? >> we are told that they will survive and they will be huge in helping us reconstruct this event. and we'll talk to the educators in the facility. we'll talk to all of the appropriate witnesses to cast information on to this case. we may or may not talk to children. that's to be determined as to -- >> because you don't want to aggravate -- they've gone through hell to begin with. >> absolutely. we cannot and he will not damage these children any further. they have lived through hell and we're not going to add to that. if we can get around it, we will. >> usually when you have a mass shooting like this, there are a lot more injured than killed. in this case, there were 26 killed, two injured. isn't that -- that's pretty -- i mean, i can only assume, he was deliberately, not only wanting to hurt, he wanted to kill. >> that is what it appears. that's exactly what it appears. and -- >> each one of these kids was shot multiple times. >> that's the medical examiner's report, yes. and as i said, the rounds and high-capacity clips that were with him, it could have been much worse. >> stand by for more of my interview with lieutenant paul vance. that's coming up in the next hour. we talk about the emotional toll that the massacre investigation has had on him and all of the other men and women in the connecticut state police. lus, more information coming up about the investigation. much more of the interview in the next hour. we also have gruesome new details about the way the gunman's mother nancy lanza was killed. the state medical examiner reveals autopsy results. and a former classmate talks about adam lanza and how his mother taught him to use guns. >> he started going to the shooting range with her and my response to that was, i never really imagined adam wanting to ever even hold a gun. ♪ the weather outside is frightful ♪ ♪ but the fire is so delightful ♪ nothing melts away the cold like a hot, delicious bowl of chicken noodle soup from campbell's. ♪ let it snow, let it snow meet the 5-passenger ford c-max hybrid. when you're carrying a lot of weight, c-max has a nice little trait, you see, c-max helps you load your freight, with its foot-activated lift gate. but that's not all you'll see, cause c-max also beats prius v, with better mpg. say hi to the all-new 47 combined mpg c-max hybrid. share "not even close." share "you owe me..." share "just right." the share everything plan. shareable data across 10 devices with unlimited talk and text. hurry in for a droid razr m by motorola for $49.99. bit by bit we're learning more about the sandy hook elementary gunman, 20-year-old adam lanza. one of his former classmates says lanza was once, once, a good kid. quiet, shy, not the type you would ever expect to commit a massacre. allen diaz spoke exclusively to susan candiotti. >> he had this typical nerd look, khaki pants, shirt tucked in, a computer case instead of a backpack like everyone else. he even had a pocket protector that he had pens in. we all kind of knew like that he had problems socially and we kind of had a filing that feeling that something might have been wrong with him but we never asked. obviously it does because, you know, he's a very big part of this event. i'm not really sure what to think of it. >> sadly, he's the reason for it. >> yeah. >> we're going to have more of that interview and a report from susan candiotti. that's coming up in our next hour. the autopsy reports on adam lanza and his mother nancy are providing gruesome new details about their death. we're joined by deborah feyerick. deb, what are you learning? >> reporter: >> reporter: you know, it really goes to the heart of the investigation investigators were here for about an hour, hour and a half. they continue to gather evidence and follow leads. the medical examiner today told us that in fact nancy lanza was shot in her bed as she slept four times in the head by her son. the computer that was recovered by investigators, it was can completely smashed. the hard drive shattered. therefore, investigators are having a hard time retrieving information from that computer. and so the investigator, the only person that can could have potentially testified what was going on in her son's mind, nancy lanz za was shot and killed. you lost a key piece of evidence and witness as to what may have been going on. the bodies of the alleged gunman and his mom, they are not being released just yet. they have not been picked up and the family says that they are not going to be picked up until they are -- they are not going to be informed about that until the bodies are actually buried. they just don't want to run into any kind of problem. take a close listen, wolf police investigators returned to the home of the gunman tuesday. investigators are having a hard time retrieving data from a bad dee damaged computer found inside the house, according to a law enforcement source, because the hard drive was shattered. not only does it appear adam lanza tried to erase the digital foot steps, he shot the only witness that could have fully explained what was going on inside him. his mother nancy, shot four times in the head as she slept in her head, likely early friday, the autopsy shows. under the terms of her 2009 divorce agreement, she was the one responsible for paying her son's psychiatric or psychological expenses, plus costs of any prescription medications not covered by insurance. the medical examiner is waiting for results of toxicology tests performed on adam lanza to see if he was on any medications or drugs that may have potentially added to the rampage. they are also working with investigators to determine if lanza was correctly diagnosed with as berger's or whether anything else -- >> now, we are told that by a friend who we spoke with last night and who had done work inside the home that in fact nancy lanza had a gun lock box kept in the basement of her home. she told a friend that she actually took adam to the gun range because she didn't want to leave him alone and therefore they would go together because she was worried about him. what's so interesting, wolf, about three years ago, back in 2009, that's really the last time we have any hard record of any classes he took, any courses he was enrolled in. after that, right at the time that the divorce was finalized, it seems as if adam lanza fell off the face of the earth. there's no record of what he did, who he met with. we've had a very difficult time finding friends who knew him from the period 2009 on. so he existed but he existed in a world that really nobody knows about, wolf. >> deborah feyerick, thanks very much for that report. let's dig a little deeper. kate bolduan is joining us here in newtown as we've put the latest information of adam lanza's mentality health into a proper perspective. joining us is dr. drew. dr. drew, the medical examiner says he was told that adam lanza had been diagnosed with asberger's syndrome. what does that have to do with violence because as far as i know that has nothing to do with violent behavior. you're a psychiatrist. >> i do deal with this a lot. it's a neurobiological, and not thought of as a mental disorder per se. one of the characteristics is not picking up on social cues, sometimes so severely that they have difficulty emphasizing with people but categorically is not associated with violence until there are other things going on. you have to wonder what the second hit was here that caused him to retreat so severely to the point that he was in the home, isolated, and a young adult unable to be left alone by his mother to the point that she takes him to the shooting range, that's bizarre. by the way, mom is going to play a big role here. there is not a mental health professional that would say to take to a shooting range to enhance his self-esteem. there's something going on here with mom as well. we're going to find out. >> yeah, i think you're absolutely right. but what medication normally would be associated with asperger's syndrome? because we heard sanjay gupta, sensitive medication, when you go off of it, that could cause some problems. >> it causes trouble but not premeditated violence. it can cause agitation and extreme fluctuations of mood but this is unlikely to be something specifically related to medication. asperger's medication, no, not typically. sometimes there's something called chemical containment to help people contain focus, being able to manage better. yes, the severely autistic spectrum sometimes gets into those medications and you have to wonder whether this is further down the autistic syndrome. and by the way, these words like asperger's are going to almost have no meaning going forward. there is something that is really troubling me. we are being held hostage by privacy issues. so many people are talking about the inability to enroll national gun laws because of fear of suits by the legal system for, god forbid, anybody asking questions about somebody's previous history if they want to have a weapon. and i think this is ridiculous. it's why we have problems like this. it's why doctors can't do their jobs and why parent are stuck with kids like this at home and why we can't get action on gun laws. >> and dr. drew, when you're looking at adam lanza, what in his medical history do you think investigators should be focusing more on? what are they looking into to paint a more complete picture of the person that we are talking about? and when you talk about -- and what about the toxicology report? what should they be looking at when that comes in? >> that is absolutely correct. i think the two areas that are going to give us the most information is his life online because very often people that have are difficulty with intimate connection with others, they have quite a rich life out there in the cyberspace and it can be bizarre and they can fuel some of these horrible sorts of preoccupations and violent tendencies. it doesn't cause them but the online life is going to be very revealing and for sure the tox kolgs are going to be critical. there's two big questions here. did somehow the medication either coming on or going off, maybe he was prescribed medication and didn't take it. we're going to find a lack of medication in his system or, god forbid, he got on to some illicit substances, like a methamphetamine and that could easily explain how somebody could flip into this kind of an agitated state. >> and looking forward for the community here, we know some students are heading back to school. we heard some parents how difficult it is is for the kids to be heading back to school. the young children at sandy hook, they are not going to be starting back to class until after the holiday break in january. from your perspective, when do you think it is the right time for children to be going back to class after they've experienced such trauma at school? >> yeah: to come extent, we have to kind of leave it up to the kids a little bit. if they really feel uncomfortable leaving the home and want to stay with their family, that's what they should do. i definitely think holiday at home with their family, safety, normalcy back in their life, there is is question whether they should go back into that particular environment where that happened. some kids may want to do that to regain a master ree what happened to them. others may be mortified and triggered by it and should not be forced to do so. ultimately each child is going to deal with it differently. trauma and grief are chaotic experiences. each of us out there, i challenge any one of you who has been watching this story not to agree with me that the feelings that wash over us are chaotic and unpredictable and range from rage to misery to sadness to disgust and that's normal. these things are going to continue to rush over us for weeks to come and it's incumbent upon us to take action, service will help us, create some concept of faith, whatever that concept is for you and then finally connect with people that love you and know you. stay with them and stay close to them. >> dr. drew, what should parents be looking for right now? because sometimes trauma -- posttraumatic stress disorder, that takes a while to go into effect. what are the signs that parents should be looking at with their kids right now? >> yeah. listen, all of us -- and particularly those in proximity to the trauma -- are going to have an acute stress reaction and that is normal. i don't know how many of your viewers notice you're not sleeping right, you're preoccupied sleeping about this thing. you may have chaotic feelings that come over you. you may have panic if you're predisposed to that. this is the time to intervene, right now, so this does not progress to a posttraumatic stress disorder which is an ongoing persistent disorder that has a different set of symptomatology and treatment associated with it. kids may regress, the younger kids may return to things like wetting their bed, they may withdraw, may be agitated, may have a change in their eating habits. the one caveat that i give to parents do not expect your kids to talk about this and process. kids try to pak sense of things in their own way. let them go about it their own way. i heard a beautiful way of conceptualizing, that god needed some wonderful angels and he called for them and he has this lovely group of angels with them. he needed them, he asked for them, and he got them. and that child was given a gift, a way to conceptualize and understand something that is frankly not able to be understood in any rational way because this was a completely irrational act. >> dr. drew, excellent, excellent advice. we really appreciate it. thank you very much for joining us. >> thank you, guys. appreciate it. my pleasure. and please be sure to watch dr. drew on call, week nights at 9:00 p.m. on our sister station hln. there's other news happening in "the situation room," including newtown beginning the grim business of burying the children whose lives ended far too soon. like a lot of things, trying to find a better job can be frustrating. so at university of phoenix we're working with a growing list of almost two thousand corporate partners - companies like microsoft, american red cross and adobe - to create options for you. not only that, we're using what we learn from these partners to shape our curriculum, so that when you find the job you want you'll be a perfect fit. let's get to work. the national rifle association has just released its first public statement since the killing there in newtown on friday morning. i'll read it to our viewers from the nra. the nra is made up of four million moms and dads, be sons and daughters, and we were shocked, saddened, and heartbroken by the news of the horrific and senseless murders in newtown. out of respect for the families and as a matter of common decency, we have given time for a mourning, prayer and full investigation of thes before commenting. the nra is prepared to offer meaningful contributions to help make sure that this never happens. that's the first public statement since the killings here in newtown friday morning. the nra also says it will hold a major news conference this coming friday, december 21st, in washington, d.c. of course, we'll cover that as well. there has been another deadly shooting in colorado. police say four people are dead in a murder-suicide. lisa sylvester is monitoring that. what do you have, lisa? >> wolf, it's a disturbing story of a woman's 911 strategy. it happened in colorado. authorities say as the call for help came in, a dispatcher heard gunshots, a man saying he was going to kill himself, and then another gunshot. a s.w.a.t. team later found two men and two women dead at the scene. at an nbc team kidnapped in syria is free and unharmed and expressing relief today. richard engel says his crew was captured last week as they crossed from turkey into syria. he believes his kidnappers were militia loyal to the syrian government. the average price of regular self-serve gasoline in the u.s. is now $3.24. the price has fallen every day for almost a month and it could fall to levels not seen in two years. analysts credit in part the better economy and continued high unemployment. wolf? >> lisa, thank you. two more families here in connecticut burying their children. their funerals and their stories. that's ahead. copd includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema. spiriva helps control my copd symptoms by keeping my airways open for 24 hours. plus, it reduces copd flare-ups. spiriva is the only once-daily inhaled copd maintenance treatment that does both. spiriva handihaler tiotropium bromide inhalation powder does not replace fast-acting inhalers for sudden symptoms. tell your doctor if you have kidney problems, glaucoma, trouble urinating, or an enlarged prostate. these may worsen with spiriva. discuss all medicines you take, even eye drops. stop taking spiriva and seek immediate medical help if your breathing suddenly worsens, your throat or tongue swells, you get hives, vision changes or eye pain, or problems passing urine. for almost a month and it could their funerals and their nothing can reverse copd. spiriva helps me breathe better. (blowing sound) ask your doctor about spiriva. for almost a month and it could their funerals and their a girl who loved horses and a boy who loved to swim, thurp buried here in newtown. jessica rekos and jam mat yolly, they were both 6 years old. cnn's don lemon is joining us here in newtown. how sad is this, don, because you were speaking to a lot of people in this wonderful community. >> it's really sad. the one good thing that is coming out of this is that people are coming together and people are showing us their support. you can see how high the stuffed animals and flowers, be it's all packed in here. people put up a cross and christmas trees and a rocking horse. wolf, let's learn a little bit more about the 6-year-olds who loved life so much. the first one is james mattioli. he was 6 years old and was jumped to as jay. he was a fan of wrestling, that he liked math and hair gel and he was in love with his big sister anna. he would often sing at the top of his lungs and loved the outdoors. he loved diving into pool, riding his bicycle and he was proud that he didn't need training wheels and we can all remember when we were that age and once you didn't need training wheels, we were all little tykes them. also, jessica rekos was known as the ceo of her family. they called her the boss. she ruled the roost. she was a ball of fire and a planner and her family promised her she would get a horse by the time she turned 10. but this christmas, according to her mother, she was looking forward to getting a pair of could you girl boots. this is how her mother talked about it. >> it's still not real that my little girl who was so full of life and who wants a horse so badly and who was going to get cowgirl boots for christmas isn't coming home. >> and of course, that's the mom. the mom's name is christina. i can't imagine how she was even able to garner the strength to do that interview. but, again, there are people now you see here who are paying their tributes in their own way, people who may not have been able to go to the funeral today, they are dropping off flowers and coming here just to console each other and this memorial, this is just one of them, wolf, that you and i have seen. one of them that is just growing. you can feel the love out here and you can feel that people want to come here just to show their support and to really hug each other. every single person who has been coming up to us has been wanting to hug us saying that, you know, we're glad you guys are here. usually when the media comes to town we're not so happy to see the media but we're glad that you're here and showing the world that this community is not going to be remembered for a tragic event but remembered for the love that they showed each other and are especially showing each other in this memorial that they've erected in the middle of newtown. >> don, you've definitely been speaking to a lot of people from the town and many people coming in from out of town to show their support. what are you hearing from folks about where things go from here, or even in the short term being what the next two weeks looks like. >> you know what, they don't know. of course, two more today and they say right now it's day by day by day and as we have been out here talking to people and they have been coming here, some of the processions -- one of the processions came by today and you could see the people in that procession. you could see the herses and the moving trucks, you and i saw that, they were moving the things from this school to the other school where it's going to be temporarily. they passed each other and it was quite a thing to see one thing moving on and the other thing, the parents and family members and loved ones going to lay their little loved ones to rest. it was -- it was just unbelievable to see. i don't even have the words for it, kate. >> so heartbreaking for all of us. don is going to be back in the next hour. we're going to continue this conversation. here's the question. is the white house ready to get serious about gun control? if so, the white house press secretary today gave us a little bit of an idea about how the president is going to respond. stand by. asks what it feels to drive a jeep grand cherokee, tell them it's like being nestled in an eight-way, adjustable, heated and ventilated seat surrounded by a 500-watt sound system while floating on a suspension made of billowy clouds. or you could just hand them your keys. ♪ ♪ before friday's appalling gun violence, gun control was almost on nobody's agenda in washington but now it has become a priority for many lawmakers. brianna keilar is joining us with more on this debate. where is it heading, brianna? >> reporter: wolf, it's heating up. the nra is having a press conference tomorrow. that's also a sign that this debate is heating up and it's no coincidence that that comes on the heels of the white house detailing some of the steps it wants to take on gun violence. today, for the first time, the white house got specific on how the president will tackle gun violence. >> is he actively considering measures, be it gun laws or mental health measures right now? >> well, he is actively supportive of, for example, senator feinstein's stated intent to revive a piece of legislation that would reinstate the assault weapons ban. >> reporter: the white house says the president would like to close the gun loophole and look at measures that address mental health. critics have said that the president has not led on gun rights and they say it's time to find a bipartisan solution. >> i think most republicans are willing to have a very serious conversation and find out what the second means in the 21st century. >> i think you're trying to turn this into a political theater thing. >> reporter: but the president is appearing to act more aggressively on the issue. he called west virginia senator joe manchin, a pro-gun rights democrat who once started his own campaign ad pushed by president obama. he says it's time to act on violence. the president met with vice president joe biden, arnie duncan, kathleen sebelius, and attorney general eric holder. a demonstration of the comprehensive approach the president wants to take in combatting the problem. observers of this debate also say president obama could exert his executive authority to bypass congress and do some things on his own. that could include share information, a better sharing of information between federal, state, and local law enforcements about potential illegal gun purchases. i mentioned we talked about that gun conference. that was on friday, not tomorrow. i misspoke. >> they just issued a statement, brianna. thank you very much. that gun control debate is about to inten fi big time in washington. the founding fathers had no idea that they were kicking a hornet's nest by guaranteeing americans the right to bear arms. they started a fierce debate that goes on today. we're going to talk about the legal ramifications coming up with jeffrey toobin. also, adam lanza has been described as a loner and one man is describing about this man that carried out this horrific rampage. i always wait until the last minute. can i still ship a gift in time for christmas? 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[ male announcer ] break from the holiday stress. ship fedex express by december 22nd for christmas delivery. it's lots of things. all waking up. ♪ becoming part of the global phenomenon we call the internet of everything. ♪ trees will talk to networks will talk to scientists about climate change. cars will talk to road sensors will talk to stoplights about traffic efficiency. the ambulance will talk to patient records will talk to doctors about saving lives. it's going to be amazing. and exciting. and maybe, most remarkably, not that far away. the next big thing? we're going to wake the world up. ♪ and watch, with eyes wide, as it gets to work. ♪ cisco. tomorrow starts here. there may be no more constitutional couldn't verse yee than the right to bear arms and the devil is in the details and for decades americans have argued which arms we should be allowed to bear. jeffrey toobin is author of "the oath" and senior legal analyst. he's joining us from new york. here's what the constitution, the second amendment says, you know this well. a well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. over the years, as you well know, jeffrey, this has gone through a lot of interpretations. most recently in 2008. >> very dramatically different interpretations. before 2008, for 100 years, that first clause, the so-called militia clause, was read by the supreme court and other courts to trump the right to keep and bear arms. that amendment was interpreted for decades as giving individuals no right to keep and bear arms. in 2008, that changed on a dime. the united states supreme court in a decision called hellar said that the second amendment gives individuals the right to keep and bear arms but what arms, where you get to keep them, that's still very much up for grabs. >> so what restricts are legal? >> well, let's start with what restricts we know are illegal. it is illegal now for a government, a local government or the federal government to ban the possession of handguns within the home. that is what the heller case was about. the government can't do that. but it starts to get murkier when it's about other weapons than handguns and outside the home. it seems pretty clear that automatic weapons, semiautomatic weapons, assault rifles, those can be regulated. the issue of whether they can be regulated in terms of can you have concealed, carry them in a concealed way or carry them openly is also an open question. but this is an area of where the law is changing a lot and tends to be moving in the direction of less regulation of firearms. so that's something congress is going to have to think about if and when it decides to pass any law. >> jeffrey, listen to what dr. drew pinsky just told me this hour here in "the situation room." i'll play the clip and then we'll discuss. >> so much of what people are talking about is the inability to enroll rational gun laws because of fear of suits by the legal system for god forbid anybody asking questions about somebody's previous history if they want to have a weapon. and i think this is ridiculous. >> so are privacy laws part of this problem, as he's suggesting? >> i think what drew is saying is that the nra and other groups that oppose regulation and registration of guns, they are saying, you know, you can't invade people's privacy by asking them questions about, do they have a mental health history, do they have a criminal record? and, you know, that is an objection that has been raised. i don't think it's constitutionally significant. but it might be politically significant. you know, gun owners are a very powerful group in this country and they don't want to have their privacy infringed on so that's one argument used against any sort of gun control. i don't think it's a constitutional argument but it's a political argument that a lot of people -- it carries a lot of weight. >> here's something that justice scalia said shortly after the aurora, colorado, mass killings. i'm going to play the clip. >> yes, there are some limitations that can be imposed. what they are is what society understands are reasonable limitations. the amendment does not apply to arms that cannot be carried. it doesn't apply to canons. i suppose there are handheld rocket launches that can bring down airplanes. it will have to be decided. >> did you get a clue there from what kind of gun restricts justice scalia might be open to in. >> not many, it sounds like. remember, he said hand held like stin gstin ger missiles. maybe yes, maybe not. he was obviously just talking off the cuff but it's indicative of how up in the air the rules are here. i think most of us assume that the government can ban stinger missiles. if you're standing by an airport with a missile that can shoot down a plane, i think most of us are recognized that that's something that the government can regulate. but justice scalia seems up in the air about it. i think that is just an indication of how much the heller can case has thrown all of these rules up in the air and i wouldn't want to be in a position of guaranteeing one way or another how the supreme court is going to rule on gun control at this point. >> and neither would i. jeffrey, thank you very much. jeff toobin is our senior legal analyst. sandy hook students may dread the day they must return to school, at least some of them. now officials are trying to give them a little bit more time to cope with this tragedy. let's say you want to get ahead in your career. how do you get from here... to here? 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[ male announcer ] be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. [ woman ] learn from my story. with olay, here's how. new regenerist eye and lash duo the cream smooths the look of lids... softens the look of lines. the serum instantly thickens the look of lashes. see wow!... eyes in just one week with olay. school officials are planning for sandy hook students to go back to school in january. >> that's right, wolf. we have received a letter detailing students to return to chalk hill in a neighboring town. police will be in hand both inside and out when they resume school. students at the other schools went back to class today within the newtown public school system. mary snow has been following that. mary, what are you learning? >> reporter: kate, as you know, as this community mourns and the o outpouring of support continues, newtown school district reopened its doors for the first time since the tragedy on friday. this is a community still on edge and at one element ree school a call was made, they didn't talk about the nature of that call but it was enough for school officials to tell students to stay home at that one school. but elsewhere, school did resume two hours later than normal. school buses rolling once again as newtown struggles to resume a sense of normalcy but it is anything but normal. funerals were held nearby. police presence were stepped up. in the midst of it, some parent welcomed getting back to a routine in the classroom. >> it's exactly what the kids need after such a, you know, terrible tragedy. a lot of them do know what's going on. and they need somewhere, you know, to get their thoughts back to the fun stuff. >> reporter: but its also meant that kids from other schools who had been shielded from what happened would now return and potentially hear about the grim events that had transpired at sandy hook elementary school. >> when i picked my daughter up from school on friday, the first words out of her mouth were, pa, why are you picking me up? we're having such a great day. and i need to thank the teachers and the staff for doing their best to shield my child from what happened. >> reporter: before return aring to class, schools encouraged parents to talk with their kids to talk about the shootings saying that staff can't control what children hear from others. >> when a crisis likes this happens -- >> reporter: wendy is a grief counselor in town who has been advising parents on how to talk to their kids. >> children don't need details. all they need to know is a fact. that a bad thing happened, people were killed, and we are making our schools very safe and this doesn't happen very, very often and we are working that it never will happen again. >> reporter: and to prepare for students returning, the district met with staff from bus drivers to teachers on monday. among the things they cautioned them about, the dangers of getting too emotional in front of children, something that can be overwhelming for the kids. >> that's terrifying for children because we are supposed to be the strength for them. we provide security and safety and predictability and if the teachers fall apart, that's going to scare them. i'm wolf blitzer in newtown, connecticut. we'd like to welcome our viewers from the united states and around the world. today students took their first tentative steps towards some semblance of normality. most of the schools reopened but not the sandy hook elementary school. we learned today that the students of that school, the site of friday's last shooting, won't resume classes until january. also, the connecticut's medical examiner revealed that nancy lanza was shot four times in the head while she was sleeping. he also says adam lanza died of a single gunshot wound to the head fired from a handgun. significantly, the medical examiner also disclosed that he's been told lanza was diagnosed with asperger's syndrome. officials say they are working to determine whether that diagnosis was correct. our national correspondent, susan candiotti, spoke with an acquaintance of the la lanzas a she's joining us now. >> reporter: wolf, this is the home where the shooter adam lanza lived with his mother and whether police say he shot and killed his mother as she was sleeping in her bedroom. as you indicated, he shot her four times in the head. and among the many people that are trying to figure out what went wrong, what made this young man do what he did are people who went to school with him. i spoke with one of those young men very recently. among the steady stream of people drawn to this memorial honoring victims, a former schoolmate of the alleged killer. when you think of this, does your mind also go to your friend? >> obviously it does because, you know, he's a very big part in this event. i'm not really sure what to think of it. >> sadly, he's the reason for it. >> yeah. >> yeah. >> alan diaz, when he was a sophomore at newtown high school and diaz was a freshman in 2008. >> he was a very intelligent person. the way he acted around other people was just very withdrawn and just very quiet. >> a little different? >> yeah. >> they were in the high school tech class together, spent a lot of time on computers. adam had his own style of dressing. >> he had like the stir ohio typical nerd look, like khaki pants, belt, tucked in shirt, even had like a little computer case, a briefcase instead of a backpack like everyone else, even a pocket protector that he had pens in. >> he doesn't know whether lanza was bullied. he kept to himself. >> we all kind of knew that he had problems socially and we kind of had a feeling that there might have been something wrong with him but obviously we never asked. we never thought it was our place to do so. >> back then, his schoolmate's mom invited them over to the house to play video games. one was starcraft, kind of a war games in space. another was war craft 3 where, as the ad says, survival is a matter of strategy. >> war craft 3 bass realwas rea. he actually picked up on star craft very quickly. >> reporter: when lanza quit high school and was home schooled, he lost touch. >> i remember her mentioning that he started going to the shooting range with her and my initial response to that was, i never really imagined adam one to even hold a gun. >> why do you say that in. >> i don't know. maybe because in my mind i don't imagine shy, quiet people going to a shooting range. i never really can make that association. >> investigators are tracking how often lanza had been to gun ranges. they don't yet know how many so far. they've proven that he was at target practice six months ago and for several years mother and son went at least once together. alan's older sister went to school with the shooter's older brother and friends with his mother who went to her bridal shower last year. >> why her? she was just -- thank you. yeah. it was a shock. always a happy person. >> do you now think of him as an evil person because of what he did in. >> at one point he was a good kid. the events that he did that day may have been evil but before then he was just another kid. >> until something made him snap. now perhaps, wolf, perhaps we might get some answers from toxicology tests. this is blood work that the medical examiner's office is doing as part of the autopsy which might tell us whether he had any drugs or chemicals in his system, adam lanza. however, there is another troubling aspect of this investigation. we are hearing that the computers that are currently being analyzed by the state police with help from the fbi, that there is is difficulty doing that, having a hard time because the computer was so badly smashed and the hard drive nearly destroyed that investigators are having a very difficult time trying to retrieve any information from it. information, for example, on what internet sites he might have visited, any e-mails he might have set, any websites he might have visited. and so that, too, might have given them answers but now we don't know know whether they will be able to do that. wolf? >> learning a little bit more every single day but there's still so much more to learn. susan candiotti, thank you. today, connecticut's governor signed a proclamation to make this friday a state of mourning. he's asking for a moment of silence at 9:30 a.m. that's about the same time that adam lanza showed up at the school and started shooting. today i spoke with the man who has become the public face of this investigation, the connecticut state police lieutenant, paul vance. >> lieutenant vance, in your 39-year career, how do you prepare for the enormity of a tragedy like this? >> training. training. constant, constant training, things you hope you will never have to use, just like the side arm, you hope you never will have to use it. you have to train, you have to prepare because when you get to a scene or a situation, even a scene of this ma na tud, you have to act. there's no time. >> because you have emerged as the chief spokesman. you are telling people not only here but all over the world what's going on. it must take a toll on you. >> it does. but our training prepares us to work through those issues, to go through something like this is devastating. it's truly devastating because we're only human and we think about the families. we think about these children. we think about the people that lost their lives. we think about the teachers that protected their children. and all those things, you're processing but you have to shove it aside and move forward and do what you're trained to do. >> and you met with these families of these 26 victims, 20 kids, six educators. that must be one of the most difficult things you've ever done in your life. >> i was part of it but, quite frankly, the people that were assigned to work with them and the one on ones, if you will, the interviewers that had to interview people, those are very, very hard jobs, very hard things to do. there are so many people that have played such a major role in this whole situation that it spread amongst many. >> was there -- i know the whole thing has been painful. it's been painful for all of us. i can only imagine what the families are going through. but was there one moment in your mind that stands out that you will never forget the rest of your life? >> i think the crime scene itself is something that has made an indelible mark. it's something that we will never be able to erase. >> you mean when you walked into that sandy hook elementary school and you saw bodies of little kids on the floor? >> that's right. yes. >> how can you even -- that must be so shocking. that must be so traumatic. >> it's an inlegalable mark that will never go away. >> you never saw anything like that before in your life? >> no. >> and you've been to a lot of crime scenes? >> yes. >> this was the worst by far? >> yes. >> we want to make sure this doesn't happen again. it will happen again. i know that. you know that. what can we do to reduce the chances of this happening again? >> well, i think everyone's looked at this scene, this situation, we're all prepared even when we were younger for fire drills, we prepare for emergencies in the school. i think that's a constant thing that we're always going to do in our educational system, review, rereview, look at it, make sure to continue to make our most precious children as safe as we can make them. we have to. we worked through 9/11 and we continued. life went on. i don't want to simplify anything but we've got to work through this. >> do we need a national commission to take a look at school safety? >> that's above me. i know on a local level, i'm sure our town leaders, state leaders are all going to continuously look at school safety to ensure that our children are safe. >> lieutenant vance, let me thank you for what you and the connecticut state police have done. you've been a real source of strength to all of us and as journalists, americans, as citizens, you've done an outstanding job. >> thank you very much. i appreciate that. >> thank you. >> across newtown, this was a back to school day unlike any of these parents or students have faced before. and listening to a neighbor who has a truly amazing story to tell. >> they said, we can't go back to that school. we can't go back. >> we can't go back? >> our teacher -- our teacher's dead. mmmm tasty. and cut! very good. people are always asking me how we make these geico adverts. so we're taking you behind the scenes. this coffee cup, for example, is computer animated. it's not real. geico's customer satisfaction is quite real though. this computer-animated coffee tastes dreadful. geico. 15 minutes could save you 15 % or more on car insurance. someone get me a latte will ya, please? 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[ all ] i'm with scottrade. with a deep breath and prayers for safety, most of newtown parents sent their children back to school today. cnn's kyung watched a normal routine that has utterly changed. how did it go? >> it changed forever, not just for people in this immediate area but all through the entire connecticut region because if you're a parent and you have a child heading to school, you certainly felt what happened at this elementary school, especially for one family, you know, who is trying to resume normal life. nothing new at the govai house, just another morning brushing teeth, readying the baby except everything has changed. >> how can't you think about it? like it's so close to you. >> reporter: what is it like to send your child off into the world? >> you know, i -- after friday i -- i wanted to just put them in a bubble and home school and not ever send them off. >> reporter: but sending their children off to school is exactly what parent in this area are doing. here in newtown, the first day back in class has meant the children are walking by satellite trucks and the funerals of fellow children. they are trying to return to a fellow routine when nothing here is ordinary. >> this is my town going through this. it's tough and i want to be there for them. >> reporter: megan lives a town away in new milforn now but she grew up here in newtown. she married here, baptized here. her father taught at sandy hook when megan was a child. >> i'd naturally like to keep my kids in a bubble but you can't do that. they need to experience school and everything that helps them grow and mature and it's important. >> reporter: so they keep going. police officers are at both these boys' schools like they are across the region. the news continues to play out but in the background, not this family's focus. >> have a good day. >> by, mom. >> in a way, it's kind of showing them that, you know what, you didn't win. we're going to win this by continuing to do things as normal as possible. >> have the best day ever. i love you. >> showing your kids that, you know what, it's okay. we're going to go on with life. >> see you, brent. >> we're going to keep doing things the way we did it last week. we're going to win. >> reporter: just by living. i mentioned the police presence. it has varied at different schools from the elementary school to the high school. i counted three patrol cars at the high school. parents said that they are glad for their kids to go back but it's certainly a very difficult day, wolf. >> very difficult, indeed. i hope that everyone is just trying to get back to normal, though it's not going to be easy. kyung lah, thank you very much. whether or not they admit it, there are many heroes in newtown, the teachers at the school, the first responders, of course, but also the people who happened to be in the right place at the right time. >> that's absolutely right, wolf. gene rosen lives down the street. friday morning he discovered six terrified children on his front lawn who told him that their teacher had just been killed. rosen spoke with cnn's erin burnett. >> when you saw those children on your yard, did you have any idea that something was wrong? >> i had no idea. i thought they were doing a skit, cub scouts, girl scouts or just practicing because they were just sitting so nicely but then i saw a man in a very agitated way saying, it's going to be all right and he kept raising his voice are and i thought that was so strange and i came to the children and they were crying and waling and mortified and a school bus driver was with them and i invited them into the house. they said there was an incident at the school. i had no idea what it was. >> and the children, how did they find the words to tell you? they told you that their teacher died? >> they told me. they just started talking. the two boys mostly talked and they said, we can't go back to that can school. we can't -- >> we can't go back? >> our teacher -- our teacher is dead. what are we going to do? we don't have a teacher? and i was -- i could not take that in. i could not -- i could not accept that. and i just kept listening to them and then they talked more and the boy said, oh, no. it was a big gun and a small gun and then i knew -- and then they said there was blood. there was blood. and then they said her name and i prayed that it wasn't that teacher and it was. it was that -- >> vicky soto? >> it was that very pretty 27-year-old teacher. i don't know how they fled. i don't know if they ran all the way down the boulevard, the street next to the firehouse, i don't know how they got to my house. they were so brave and they were so good and they -- i brought down some toys from my grandson's toy chest and i gave them some juice and we called their parents. they were very brave and very good and i was amazed. i was -- i was astounded at what they were telling me. >> i know you're a psychologist by training but you talk about being a grandfather. just the grandfather, that was you at that moment. >> that's what trained me. being a grandfather. i felt like i was with my grandchildren and i felt perfectly happy with them. that's what trained me. my granddaughter and my grandson and they were with me and i felt comfortable. they were very sweet and they calmed down a little but they were so -- they kept repeating that they can't go back to the school because they don't have a teacher. >> and their grieving is going to be hard for the adults to understand. it will be intense. it will be different. what message do you have for those children that came on to your yard? >> i want to see -- i want to be reunited with them. i want to see those children and i want to tell them how good and brave and strong they are. i want to tell their parents that. >> it's such a sad story. >> so sad. >> heartwrempbling story about these amazing kids who witnessed something so horrible. when we come back, the search for answers. the clues. medical investigators are looking for. we'll be right back. 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[ male announcer ] break from the holiday stress. ship fedex express by december 22nd for christmas delivery. in newtown, connecticut, people are searching for answering. sanjay gupta reports there's one place medical investigators will start. the past. >> first thing you notice when you look around newtown, everyone has that questioning look. why? what did we miss, if anything? no answers yet, just hindsight. to try and make some sense of the tragedy here in newtown, connecticut, medical investigators will often look for evidence of patterns. i'm not talking about looking at clothing styles or musical preferences or lifestyle but rather evidence of specific plans. that could give some clue as to what was happening in a person's mind or brain. it's hard to know because thankfully there are relatively few tragedies like this one. but a close look at the ten most analyzed massacres in history provide some insight. according to this report, doctors typically start by placing these killers into three categories. traumatized, psychotic, psychopath particular. in 2005, a 16-year-old killed nine people at a school in minu minnesota. a look into his past revealed a horrible past and virginia tech shooter killed 32 people. six were murdered in arizona and 12 lives were taken in an aurora, colorado, movie theater. in each case, the shooters showed psychotic behavior. 13 people were killed in columbine. one was a textbook psychopath and we know now he even laughed while gunning down his victims. looking back, none of them had snapped. they had all left clues pieced together after it was too late. hindsight. we still don't know much about this shooter that lived in this home but there is something else to consider, what medications, if any, he was on. i'm specifically talking about antidepressants. if you look at how other shootings like this have happened, medications were a common factor. i want to be clear, not that antidepressants can't be effective but there's a vulnerable time between when someone starts and stops these medications, could lead to decreased judgment and making someone out of touch. none of this is an execution and it's never just one thing. none of these behaviors will fully predict or explain why. but soon again there will be hindsight that might just help prevent another tragedy. in a seven-year period there were 181 episodes of drug side effects. often it was him or herself suicide. it was very difficult for these people to get treatment in the first place. back to you. >> sanjay gaup upta reporting f us. thank you. sandy hook students won't go back to school until next month. we have a guest who knows what they will be feeling as she survived columbine high school. they are now reaching out to folks here in newtown. to offering you tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 low-cost investment options-- tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 like our exchange traded funds, or etfs tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 which now have the lowest tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 operating expenses tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 in their respective tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 lipper categories. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 lower than spdr tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 and even lower than vanguard. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 that means with schwab, tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 your portfolio has tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 a better chance to grow. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 and you can trade all our etfs online, tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 commission-free, from your schwab account. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 so let's talk about saving money, tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 with schwab etfs. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 schwab etfs now have the lowest operating expenses tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 in their respective lipper categories. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 call 1-800-4schwab tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 or visit schwab.com tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 to open an account today. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 funding is easy tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 with schwab mobile deposit. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 investors should consider tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 carefully information d#: 1-800-345-2550 contained in the prospectus, d#: 1-800-345-2550 cluding investment objectives, d#: 1-800-345-2550 risks, charges, and expenses. d#: 1-800-345-2550 you can obtain tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 a prospectus by visiting d#: 1-800-345-2550 w.schwab.com/schwabetfs. please read the prospectus tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 carefully before investing. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 you can stay in and like something... or you can get out there and actually like something. the lexus december to remember sales event is on. this is the pursuit of perfection. yeah we both relieve coughs, sneezing, aches, fevers. and i relieve nasal congestion. overachiever. 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>> wolf, it's hard to remember the specific days. i feel like in the immediate days following the shooting at columbine, the days blurred together. it was still that feeling of disbelief and shock, complete and utter shock. and at some point along the way it turned into experiencing just a wide range of ee mowings with such intensity, from fear to anger to sadness to guilt. just trying to wade through those as a 16-year-old girl who had faced reality of death underneath the table at columbine. it's just -- it was so hard to do at 16. i cannot even begin to imagine what it looks like for these kids who are 6 and 7, just mere babies. >> so how did you learn to cope with the tragedy that you eyewitnessed? >> for me, i really had an amazing support system. my family, the community of littleton, my school friends, of course the administrators, teachers at columbine. i had an amazing church community. personally i had faith that i was able to stand on and none of it was easy. it was the darkest days of my life as i was scared to close my eyes because i would relive the events, i would hear the sounds of the guns. i would hear the killers' voices. i could smell the smells of the library. yet it was a journey. it was a process. i can't remember one day where things suddenly got better but it was really a progression. it was time that it took to heal. it was coming together and really supporting one another. just as i see the people of sandy hook doing, the people of newtown, conne newtown, connecticut look so close-knit and that's really crucial at this time. >> and one thing that many are so concerned about the children whol survived this tragedy here is how they are going to cope when they realize and probably have at this point that they have lost their friends, 13 people were killed at columbine. did you lose any friends? >> i did. i knew several of the students, the teacher, mr. sanders, he was my coach for softball, basketball, track. what's so hard is going back and you have an empty chair next to you or we go to graduation and you know that you have classmates that are supposed to be graduating with you. it's -- it leaves a void that cannot be filled and for these young kids, i think what breaks my heart the most is these young kids can't understand that that happened at their school and the bad guy is gone. they are going home and they think that the bad guy is in their room or in their house and it's hard for them to contextua contextualize that and even after the cameras are gone and the people disappear that they are still not alone. that there's a nation still grieving. that unfortunately there's other survivors out there who can relate, who love them and are not going anywhere and i think that's what we need to remember. we have to be there in the long term when these kids do begin to realize the reality of what is happening and that we cannot forget this community. we have to continue to stand behind them, support them, do whatever we can to lend a hand because that's when things get real is when you feel isolated and alone and reality sinks in. >> we hear you're coming to come to newtown. how do you want to help? >> i do. i want to come not because i feel like i have anything that i can say that -- there's no five-step plan to walk through tragedy and through trauma. i want to wrap my arms around people, cry with them, hear their stories, just grieve with this community. but we hope to come again when all of the cameras are gone and the world kind of goes back to the day to day, we want to come, we want to bring teddy bears and just love on the community there. just as we were loved on at columbine and in the littleton community. >> and everybody wants to know why, why something like this could happen, why something like columbine can happen. if we find out that the survivors here, the families find out why, will that make a difference? will that help? did it help you? >> you know, i'm not sure that we still know why the two killers that columbine did what they did. i'm not sure we ever have answers to some of these questions. because i think if we really knew that we would see these things come to an end and, unfortunately, even as you said before, wolf, they continue to happen. i'm not sure if -- i mean, answering a kbe isn't going to bring back these 26 amazing lives that we've lost. some it may bring some consolation, it may bring some understanding. but the fact is that there's 20 beautiful children who were taken all too soon and sick adults who as well were taken all too soon from this earth. >> crystal, thanks so much for sharing your story. i'm sure you will be a source of comfort for a lot of the folks here at newtown. we appreciate you joining us. >> thank you so much for having me. >> thank you. there's a growing debate over violent video games at the same time. what you need to know, what you can do to protect your kids. that's next. begin. tomato, obviously. haha. there's more than that though, there's a kick to it. wahlalalalallala! smooth, but crisp. it's kind of like drinking a food that's a drink, or a drink that's a food, woooooh! [ male announcer ] taste it and describe the indescribable. could've had a v8. police say adam lanza brought four weapons, four weapons to the sandy hook elementary school here in newtown and now calls for changes to gun control laws are growing louder and louder. after days of silence, one voice finally joining the conversation is the national rifle association, better known as nra. emily schmidt is joining us with more of this story. what is going on? >> wolf, the nra has said almost nothing since last week's shooting. late this afternoon, that all changed with this statement saying, out of respect for the families and as a matter of common decency, we have given time for mourning, prayer, and investigation of facts before commenting. now the nra is set to hold a news conference on friday, one full week after the shooting. it could be a test of the nra's clout in a political landscape potentially altered. >> from all of us here at nra.com, our hearts go out to the people of newtown, connecticut, and the folks who are grieving tonight after the horrendous murders at sandy hook elementary. >> the statement is a departure from how the nra has handled previous gun-related tranl dees. until the facts are thoroughly known, nra will not have any comment. that was almost identical to the comments following other high-profile shootings. the nra is prepared to offer meaningful contributions to make sure this never happens again but has not gone into detail what those contributions may prove to be. >> i'm sure there's going to be a quick, quick lively debate coming up. we'll see what happens at the news conference that the nra is holding this friday in washington. emily, thanks very much. questions are being raised over the role that violent video games might have played in this tragedy as well. people who knew the gunman say he enjoyed playing those violent video games, like one called starcraft. is there any link between the games and real-life violence? our senior medical correspondent elizabeth cohen is joining us with more on this. this debate over violent video games has also intensified. >> it is intensifying and if you look at the literature, there's a real conflict over whether or not these games can actually make someone violent some of the studies say, no, they are not. they get the difference between reality and fantasy. they get that these are just games but other studies show that there is an association. one study was really interesting, one group played violent video games and the other group played nonviolent video games and they staged a fight and the folks who had been watching the violent video games were less likely to help out. they were slower to try to help the people who were fighting and stop the fight and their conclusion was that perhaps in some way they had been desensitized because they felt that the fighting really wasn't that bad. after watching the games, the real-life fight didn't seem that bad. wolf? >> you know, elizabeth, a lot of parents are watching their -- maybe their kids play a lot of these games all the time. so what can they do if they begin to get worried about their kids spending an awful lot of time with these violent games? >> you know, i think if parents are worried, they -- i'm going to go out on a limb here as an empowered parent and say, no. i don't like these games. there's a million things you can do. stop playing them f you feel like your kids are playing them and it's okay and i would urge to you do these three things. know the rating of the game that they are playing and watch it online. if your child is playing this game, watch it yourself. they may be playing it for hours on end. also, have them play the game in a common family space. they shouldn't be in their bedroom doing it. you don't know how long they are going to go on and play this game and what else they are playing. do it where else you can watch them. also, monitor your child. if your child is having fights at school, if your child is not doing well at school, if the teacher is telling you that your child is having behavioral issues, then you should pay attention to that and remember there might be a link to these games. wolf, a psychologist gave us a really great piece of advice. they said, parent don't always notice these behavioral changes but say grandma comes to visit and says something is off here. listen to the people you see on occasions, they may notice the changes better than you. >> that's a good point. thanks very much, elizabeth, for that. at the top of the hour, we're going to have the very latest on the investigation here in connecticut. what exactly is going on? later, a boyfriend remembers a teacher-turned hero who lost her life trying to stay her students. i always wait until the last minute. can i still ship a gift in time for christmas? yeah, sure you can. great. where's your gift? uh... whew. [ male announcer ] break from the holiday stress. ship fedex express by december 22nd for christmas delivery. by december 22nd we are gathered here today to celebrate the union of tim and laura. it's amazing how appreciative ople are when you tell them they could save a lot of money on their car insurance by switching to geico...they may even make you their best man. may i have the rings please? ah, helzberg diamonds. nice choice, mate. ...and now in the presence of these guests we join this loving couple. oh dear... geico. 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance. it's lots of things. all waking up. connecting 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. while much of president obama's attention certainly has been focused on his administration's response to gun violence, what has happened here in connecticut and understandably so, he's also been talking with the house speaker john boehner about a deal to try to avoid huge tax increases, the massive spending cuts scheduled to hit in just 14 days. cnn's senior congressional correspondent, dana bash is outside a meeting of house republicans. there's been ups and downs. what's going on? what are they discussing, dana? what's the very latest. >> house republicans are meeting right down the hall from where i am right now. they're talking about whether or not they have the votes for a doomsday kind of proposal that the speaker first proposed this morning. this has been something that republicans have been mulling for weeks. but because right now we are one week away from christmas and it was now or never. house speaker john boehner negotiating by phone with the president monday afternoon. the speaker's office released this photo to show he is trying to cut a broad deal to reduce the deficit and avert the fiscal cliff, even though he's also now pursuing what he calls plan "b." >> our plan "b" would protect american taxpayer, who make a million dollars or less and have all of their current rates extended. >> according to sources in the room, the speaker described this backup plan to house republicans as a way to try to inoculate the gop from political blame if fiscal cliff compromise talks fail. >> the point was, we have to face reality. the reality is that the president was re-elected, that taxes, if we do nothing on every american are going up on january the 1st. >> reporter: another goal of this new plan "b" tactic, try to force the president to agree that any package to reduce the deficit be equal parts tax increases and spending cuts. >> that, at this point, would be my version of a balanced approach. >> reporter: part of the republican strategy is also to call the democrats' bluff. just two years ago, high-profile democrats came up with the idea of extending tax cuts for incomes up to $1 million. now democrats think they hold the cards and say, no way. >> everyone should understand, boehner's proposal will not pass the senate. >> reporter: the white house argues the president gave a lot of ground in a proposal leaked to reporters monday night, making concessions to the gop position on tax rate increases and spending cuts. in fact, a democratic source in the room tells cnn the president's congressional liaison got an earful at a meeting of house democrats for agreeing to change that would effectively make social security checks smaller. >> the president has always said, as part of this process, when we're talking about the spending cut side of this, that it would require tough choices by both sides. and that is certainly the case, if you want to reach an agreement. >> reporter: now, as far as this republican plan "b" proposal, which again, they're discussing the down the hall, as we speak, a republican senator i talked to said he believes that this is important to do to sort of get the tax rate issue, the very divisive tax rate issue, off the table, in the hopes that when the votes are taken and you see that probably none of this can actually pass, it will clear the way, finally, for the president and the speaker to get that broad $2 trillion deal to reduce the deficit and avert the fiscal cliff. wolf? >> they still have plenty of work to do, the president and the speaker. not only bridging their gaps, but making sure they've got their own people on board to support whatever compromises they achieve. dana, thank you. cnn's anderson cooper has spoken with the parents of one of the victims. they told them how they intend to live their lives to honor their little girl's memory. anderson will join us with their story. that's coming up in our next hour. i always wait until the last minute. can i still ship a gift in time for christmas? yeah, sure you can. great. where's your gift? uh... whew. [ male announcer ] break from the holiday stress. ship fedex express by december 22nd for christmas delivery. what starts with adding a friend... ♪ ...could end with adding a close friend. the lexus december to remember sales event is on. this is the pursuit of perfection. we're here in newtown, connecticut. it's a small new england town. many people say they moved here because of the fabulous schools and because it's a safe, sbrimt community. in the face of the horrible reason we're here, though, the town is showing remarkable, remarkable strength right now. all of us are so impressed. don lemon is here in newtown as well. he's at one of these many memorials that have sprung up throughout the town. it's pouring rain outside, now, don, but tell our viewers what's going on. >> reporter: well, the people are dropping off things and there's hardly any room here. and before i show you around a little bit, wolf, i want to talk to you about two of the youngest victims, two of the victims who were laid to rest today. little james mattioli and also little jessica rekos, both of them 6 years old. i want to tell you about james first. fondly known as jay in his family, and he was such a fireball. he liked wrestling and math, he loved to fix his hair, he liked hair gel, but more in love with his bigger sister, whose name was ana. they say what they're going to remember about him most that he often sung at the top of his lungs and he couldn't wait until he was old enough to sing on stage. he said he loved the outdoors, diving into pools, riding on his bike, and he was so happy that recently he didn't need his training wheels to ride his bicycle. and then there is 6-year-old jessica rekos, who's known as the ceo of her family and they called her the boss because she liked to plan everything. and her mom also spoke about her. take a listen. >> it's still not real that my little girl, who's so full of life, and who wants a horse so badly, and who's going to get cowgirl boots for christmas, isn't coming home. >> reporter: my god, the strength of that mother. she wanted a horse by the time she was 10. sadly, wolf, she didn't make it. but they said she was going to get cowgirl boots this christmas, and that's what she wanted more than anything, besides that horse. but sadly, that's not going to happen. so many stories, so many stories like that. two of the people who are young victims, who were laid to rest today. wolf? >> don lemon watching this story, doing a very, very excellent job for us. don, thank you. thank you so much. a lot of tough conversations here in newtown, connecticut, today. many of these conversations so, so painful, as so many students who went back to school faced their fears after the shooting massacre. we're learn gruesome new details about the way the shooter, adam lanza, and his mother, nancy, died. she was in her pajamas when he killed her. and in the wake of this tragedy, a fierce new push for gun control from a club no one wanted to join. >> i'm the father of daniel mauzner who was killed in the massacre at columbine high school. >> our daughter, jessica redfield ghawi was killed in aurora on july 20th of this year. i'm wolf blitzer, reporting from newtown, connecticut. we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. right now, police are working around the clock to solve the mystery of why the 20-year-old adam lanza gunned down 20 students and six educators in this small town. we're learning about details from the investigation. our national correspondent, deborah feyerick, has more. >> reporter: wolf, investigators are getting closer. however, they have yet to understand the exact motive. police investigators return to the home of the gunman tuesday. investigators are having a hard time retrieving data from a badly damaged computer found inside the house, according to a law enforcement source, because the hard drive was shattered. not only does it appear adam lanza tried to erase his digital footsteps, he shot the only witness who could have most fully explained what was going on inside him. his mother, nancy, shot four times in the head, as she slept in her bed, likely early friday, the autopsy shows. under the terms of her 2009 divorce agreement, she was the one responsible for paying her son's psychiatric or psychological expenses, plus costs of any prescription medication not covered by insurance. the medical examiner's waiting for the results of the toxicology tests performed on adam lanza to see if he was on any medications or drugs that may have potentially triggered the deadly rampage. the medical examiner also working with investigators to determine if lanza was correctly diagnosed with asperger's or whether anyone else was at play. a family friend, who had worked on the lanza home, tells cnn, nancy lanza had pushed hard to mainstream her son, mixing him in with other students, apparently unsuccessfully. the friend says while he was in the home earlier this year, he did see adam lanza, but lanza refused to engage in any sort of conversation or even make eye contact. it appears as there's no record of adam lanza from 2009 on. that was the last time he was registered in any sort of class. the last sighting, a couple of months ago, back at a shooting range where his mom took him, because he didn't want to leave him alone. wolf? >> deborah feyerick, thanks very much. a very small step back to normal today. most of the newtown students, they returned to school for the first time since the massacre with police standing guard. kate balduan is here watching what's going on. you have some new information about this return to school? >> return to school for the sandy hook elementary school students. in a letter to both family and staff, the school superintendent said that they will not be returning to class until after the holiday, in january. there had been some questions this week on when they would. in that letter, the school superintendent, janet robinson wrote this in part, wolf. she wrote, "we need to tend to our teachers' and students' needs to feel comfortable after this trauma in this new place." in the meantime, some 50, 75 people have been working around the clock in this new building, it's chalk hill middle school, they're converting entitle sandy hook elementary school. and we have a picture to show our viewers what they're doing and the progress they're making. they're replicating the sandy hook classrooms down to the desks that the students had at sandy hook, even down to the crayon boxes and the materials they had in the desks at the time. and we're showing that picture to really show the progress that they are making. we spoke with a fire marshal wolf, today and he said monroe will be ready to hand over the building to newtown officials later this week. and of course, when students do return to this new building to start back, the new sandy hook, is what we can call it, they can rest assured this will be one of the most secured schools in the state, at the very least, because they will have police both inside and out. >> and it's only about seven miles away from here? >> it's a short distance. it's a school that had been closed last year, due to declining enrollment in that town. people call it a godsend that they had this building really ready to go and they're just upgrading things that they need to get ready for an elementary school. >> and we're talking nearly 600 kids, grades kindergarten through fourth grade, who had attended the sandy hook. >> and it's absolutely fine. this facility, i believe they told me it fits 700 students in this facility. they can easily fit in the elementary school students. as soon as the fire marshal signs off on the new security systems, the door locks, fire alarms, sprinklers, that kind of thing. >> good information. we wish all these students the best and their parents as well. now let's see how that first day back at school went for a lot of these students here in newtown, connecticut. cnn's mary snow has been covering this part of the story for us. mary, update our viewers. >> reporter: and you know, wolf, in talking about the efforts to open that new school for the sandy hook students, we've seen trucks moving though supplies, but there were about 5,500 students in this school district. and today the district opened its doors, schools opened their doors for the first time since friday's tragedy. school buses rolling once again, as newtown struggles to resume a sense of normalcy. but it is anything but normal. funerals were held nearby. police presence was stepped up. cameras fixed on this grief-stricken town. in the midst of it, some parents welcomed getting back to a routine in the classroom. >> it's exactly what the kids need after such a, you know, a terrible tragedy. a lot of them do know what's going on, and they need somewhere to, you know, get their thoughts -- >> can we go inside now? >> -- back to the fun stuff. >> reporter: but it also meant that other students who had been shielded by what happened will now return and perhaps hear about the grim events that happened at sandy hook elementary school. >> when i picked my daughter up from school on friday, the first words out of her mouth were, pa, why are you picking me up? we were having such a great day. and i need to thank the teachers and the staff for doing their best to shield my child from what happened. >> before returning to class, schools encourage parents to talk with their kids about friday's horrific shootings, saying the staff can't control what children hear from others. >> when a crisis like this happens -- >> reporter: wendy davenson is a grief counselor in newtown who's been advising parents on how to talk to their kids. >> children don't need details. all they need to know is a fact. that a bad thing happened, people were killed, and we are making our schools very safe and this doesn't happen very, very often, and we are working that it never will happen again. >> reporter: and to prepare for students returning, the district met with school staff from bus drivers to teachers on monday. a crisis intervention expert spoke to them. among the things he cautioned about, the dangers of getting too emotional in front of children. something davenson says can be overwhelming for the kids. >> that's terrifying for children, because we are supposed to be the strength for them. we provide security and safety and predictability. and if the teachers fall apart, that's going to scare them. >> reporter: and wolf, as you can imagine, the counselors are on hand for students, staff, and also parents. wolf? >> reporter: mary, thanks very much, mary snow, reporting. >> thank you, mary. still ahead, the white house is getting specific for the first time about the president's promise to do something about gun violence. also, a loving tribute to a substitute teacher who died doing what she loved. lauren russeau's boyfriend shares her memories. after this horrible tragedy, calls for changes to gun control laws. they are certainly growing louder and louder. and until just a few hours ago, the national rifle association had been largely silent since friday morning. but in a statement this afternoon, the group now says this -- "out of respect for the families and as a matter of common decency, we have given time for mourning, prayer, and a full investigation of the facts before commenting. the nra is prepared to offer meaningful contributions to help make sure this never happens again." that statement from the nra and they say they'll have a full-scale news conference friday. >> the nra will be holding a news conference on friday, as wolf says. and no doubt the staunchly anti-gun control group will try to make its voice heard by lawmakers. before last week's appalling violence hear in newtown, gun control was on almost really no one's agenda in washington, but that might be changing at this point. cnn's white house correspondent, brianna keilar has been looking into this. so brianna, we have heard talk of gun control measures before. what's different this time around? >> reporter: the sense, kate, is that this is different. president obama has been criticized now for days, because of gun control advocates for being too vague about how he wants to tackle this problem. now the white house is detailing some of the things that president obama wants to do. today, for the first time, the white house got specific on how the president will tackle gun violence. >> is he right now actively considering measures, be it gun laws or mental health measures, right now? >> well, he is actively supportive of, for example, senator feinstein's stated intent to revive a piece of legislation that would reinstate the assault weapons ban. >> reporter: the white house says the president would also like to close the gun show loophole, ban high-capacity ammunition clip, and look at measures that address mental health. critics have charged the president with failing to lead on gun violence, even as republican supporters of gun rights, like ohio congressman, steve latourette, say it's time to find a bipartisan solution. >> i think most republicans are willing to have a very serious conversation about what this means and they're taking a second look at what the second amendment means in the 21st century. >> reporter: did the president feel like he was behind all of this? >> i think you're trying to turn this into like a political theater thing. it's not how the president views it. >> but the president is appearing to act more aggressively on the issue. he called west virginia senator joe manchin, a pro-gun rights democrat, who once showed in his own campaign ad, shooting the cap and trade bill pushed by president obama. >> i'll take dead aim at the cap and trade bill. >> reporter: he now says it's time to act on gun violence. the president met with members of his cabinet monday afternoon. vice president joe biden, education secretary, arne dun n duncan, health and assume services secretary, kathleen sebelius, and eric holder, a demonstration of the comprehensive approach the president wants to take in combatting the problem. observers of this debate say president obama could exert his executive authority and bypass congress to go it alone on certain things like better sharing of information between federal, state, and local law enforcement on potentially illegal gun sales. things like restricting the sale of certain military-style weapons, wolf. of course, the assault weapons ban, that is something that he would need to cooperate with congress on, wolf. >> brianna keilar over at the white house, thanks very much for that report. by the way, a connecticut congressman who was just elected to the united states senate is very emotional about this massacre in his district. that's understandable. he's standing by to talk with us. we'll speak with him when we come back. trees, like our tender snow crab paired with savory garlic shrimp. just $12.99. come into red lobster and sea food differently. and introducing 7 lunch choices for just $7.99. but they haven't experienced extra strength bayer advanced aspirin. in fact, in a recent survey, 95% of people who tried it agreed that it relieved their headache fast. visit fastreliefchallenge.com today for a special trial offer. connecticut's congressional delegations sponsored a vigil, a vigil for the victims here in newtown, connecticut. also, democratic representative chris murphy went to the floor of the house of representatives to give an emotional speech, thanking his colleagues for their support and praising the people of newtown. >> the closeness of newtown makes it hurt more, but the closeness of newtown will also make us heal as well. >> congressman murphy is joining us from washington right now. he'll be leaving the house next year to take up his new job as a just senator from connecticut. and as you just told us, senator-elect, you'll also be heading back here to connecticut very soon to grieve with many folks here. thanks for taking the time to be withes you. >> well, thanks for being there. >> go ahead. >> how do you think your community here, and i know your congressional district represents the community here in newtown, how do you think they're holding up? >> well, listen, i think there's been a blankness to a lot of the faces in newtown. you've seen it. people are just trying to understand this. that being said, you know, there's so many resources that have come to town, whether it be grief counselors or people to help get the students back to school. i mean, people do feel a sense of love coming from connecticut, coming from their community and coming from the whole nation and i hope they felt a little bit of that last night when the house of representatives stopped to honor the victims. but this is going to be a very long process. i was at the first funeral of so many on monday, and the little twin sister of noah pozner hasn't quite grasped yet that she had lost her brother. and you imagine that over the coming weeks and months, there are going to be people who finally start to realize this hurt. even when the tv cameras leave newtown, we're going to need a lot of help and a lot of support to help people who are going to be grieving over a very long time. >> i know you were being briefed on the investigation. do you have a better sense of why this shooter, this killer, went to the sandy hook elementary school? >> i don't. i'm learning at the same time that everyone else is. and i think a lot of people in sandy hook are asking those questions of why. and some people have asked the state police, well, why are you spending so much time on the motive if you already know who the killer is? you're not preparing for a trial. but people want to get as much information here as they can. they're not going to get answers to all of these whys, but if we can get a little bit better view into this motive, i think it will allow people to rest a little bit easier having all that information at their fingertips, if it exists. >> i want to read you a letter that one of your constituents sent to you, as well as to senator blumenthal. he's also the neighbor of the shooting victim, ann marie murphy. in part, he wrote this to you in the letter. he said, "the people of your state have been assaulted and murdered. we demand that you take leadership in pursuing new gun control legislation. be the leader that this country is sorely lacking. have the courage to stand up for those kids that were murdered." what do you say to him? what has this tragedy -- how has this tragedy changed your views? >> i say this, that my priorities as connecticut's next u.s. senator changed on friday. i am now going to spend my time as connecticut's newest u.s. senator leading the fight to combat gun violence. i'm going to be standing with dianne feinstein and with joe manchin and with mark warner to pass an assault weapons ban. i'm going to be leading a conversation about how we combat the rising culture of violence in this country. you know, my tenure as a united states senator from connecticut changed on friday and i'm going to answer that call. right now, i'm spending most of my time with my constituents in newtown, grieving. but i am going to be a leader to make sure that the memories of those 26 people do not go on in vain. that they have a senator and that they have people in washington who are going to make sure that we do everything within our power to make sure that this doesn't befall any other community, anywhere else in this country. >> you know, there have been a few republican governors, bob mcdonnell of virginia, for example, congressman, who floated the idea that school officials, perhaps, should be armed. and not just police officers who may be at schools, but school officials. is that a good idea? >> it's a ridiculous notion. the fact is that newtown did everything right. they had prepared for emergency drills. they executed them with perfection. they had a security system, that frankly wasn't going to hold up against someone with that kind of weaponry. our focus should be on keeping these kind of dangerous assault weapons out of his hands. making sure that nobody can walk in with 30 rounds in a clip and trying to prevent the tragedy in the first place. the answer is not to arm america and arm america's schools. the answer is to try to get the guns out of the hands of people who would do this kind of violence. we've got to look in a totally different direction than where some of these people are trying to point ous. >> congressman murphy, thanks so much for joining us. good luck. this is going to be a tough assignment for you and a tough assignment for everyone here. i think i speak for all of us. we've been thoroughly impressed by the people in newtown who could not have been warmer and more welcoming and have been excellent in dealing with the enormity of this crisis. congressman and senator, thanks very much. >> thank you very much. still ahead, as newtown buries some of its children, a glimpse at the hard road ahead from parents who lost sons and daughters in other mass killings. just going to a friend's wedding and watching her dance with her father, there's no way to stop the tears. >> to know what we're never going to have those simple joys, ever again. sts cell health plays a key role throughout our lives. one a day men's 50+ is a complete multivitamin designed for men's health concerns as we age. it has 7 antioxidants to support cell health. one a day men's 50+. progresso. in what world do potatoes, bacon and cheese add up to 100 calories? 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[ male announcer ] returns are easy with free pickup from the u.s. postal service. we'll even drop off boxes if you need them. visit usps.com pay, print, and have it picked up for free. any time of year. ♪ nice sweater. thank you. ♪ the tragedy here in newtown hits painfully close to home for so many families scarred by other mass shootings. some of them went to washington today to try to help push for new gun laws. lisa sylvester is picki ining u this part of the story. lisa? >> wolf, these families, they all have a message. they have been through hell and they want gun violence to stop. one dad who lost his son in columbine wore the very shoes his son was wearing that day. others brought pictures of their loved ones and they all have their own deeply heartbreaking stories. >> i'm the father of daniel mauser, who was killed in the massacre at columbine high school. >> my sister was a freshman at virginia tech. she followed me there. >> our daughter, jessica redfield ghawi was killed in aurora on july 20th of this year. >> reporter: a club no one wanted to join. each one directly touched by gun violence. columbine, aurora, virginia tech, tucson. peter reid's daughter was a freshman at virginia tech. >> god forgive us as a country if it takes a literal slaughter of innocents in a holy season to wake us up. >> reporter: the slaying of 6-year-olds and 7-year-olds in newtown, connecticut, has been described as a game changer in the debate over gun control. the brady campaign to prevent gun violence invited families to washington to press congress to renew the ban on assault weapons and pass other gun control measures. >> the only place that this is a contentious political debate is in that building behind us. and there's a disconnect between what the american public wants on this issue and what our electelect ed officials are doing about it. >> reporter: the national rifle association put out a statement saying, "we were shocked, saddened and heartbroken by the news of the horrific and senseless murders in newtown. out of respect for the families and as a matter of common decency, we have given time for mourning, prayer, and a full investigation of the facts before commenting." the nra is prepared to offer meaningful contributions to help make sure this never happens again. friday morning, andre put his young son, who he calls bear, on the school bus, headed for sandy hook elementary school. >> he was a classroom helper. he was sent from his classroom to turn in attendance sheets the to the principal's office. he and another little kid. together they went into hallway, and when they were nearing the principal, the principal's office, they heard gunshots, miss clemens, which who we'll ever be thankful for and will never be enough, she pulled them in her own classroom and barricaded the door. >> reporter: his son survived, but 20 other children did not. >> why our politicians are not doing something about this problem? i think they are too deep in their partisan bs. >> jessica ghawi died in the aurora movie theater shooting. her parents say they feel a pain that is beyond words. >> just going to her friend's wedding and watching her dance with her father, there's no way to stop the tears. >> to know that we're never going to have those simple joys, ever again. >> and those stories are so, incredibly heartbreaking. a number of conservatives in congress have also said, you know, maybe it's time we take a look at this issue again. the national rifle association has been lying low for the most part, since this incident, but the nra announced today that it will have a news conference on friday. wolf? >> thanks very much, lisa, for that report. today, connecticut's governor signed a proclamation declaring this coming friday a day of mourning in the state. he's requesting that residents statewide participant in a moment of silence at 9:30 a.m. that's about the same time that adam lanza showed up at the school and started shooting. today, i spoke with a man who's become the public face of the investigation, of the sandy hook school shooting. the connecticut state police lieutenant, paul vance. lieutenant vance, in your 39-year career, how do you prepare for the enormity of a tragedy like this? >> training. training. constant, constant training. things you hope you never will have to use. just like the sidearm that i wear, you hope you'll never have to use it. you have to train, you have to prepare. because when you get to a scene or a situation, even a scene of this magnitude, you have to act. and there's no time. >> because you have emerged as the chief spokesman. you're telling not only people here, but all over the world, what's going on. it must take a toll on you. >> it does. but our training prepares us to work through those issues, to go through something like this is devastating. it's truly devastating, because we're only human. and we think about the families, we think about these children, we think about the people who lost their lives. we think about the teachers that protected their children. and all those things you process, but you have to shove it aside and move forward and do what you're trained to do. >> and you met with these families, of these 26 victims, 20 kids, six educators. that must be one of the most difficult things you've ever done in your life. >> i was part of it, but quite frankly the people who were assigned to work with them, the one on ones, if you will, the interviewers that had to interview people, those are very, very hard jobs, are very hard things to do. there are so many people that played such a major role in this whole situation, that it's really spread out amongst many. >> was there -- i know the whole thing has been painful. it's been pacinful for all of u that have been here. was there one moment that stands out in your mind that you'll never forget the rest of your life? >> i think the crime scene itself is something that has made an indelible mark in all of our minds. if you were tasked with that responsibility of going into that crime scene, it's something that we will never be able to erase. >> you mean, when you walked into that sandy hook elementary school and you saw the bodies of little kids on the floor? >> that's right, yes. >> how do you -- how can you even -- that must be so shocking, that must be so traumatic? >> it's an indelible mark. it's never going to go away. >> you've never saw anything like that before in your life? >> no. >> i mean, you've been to a lot of crime scenes. this was the most horrific? >> definitely. >> by far? >> definitely. >> so let's look ahead now. we want to make sure this doesn't happen again. it will happen again. you know that. i know that. what can we do to reduce the chances of this happening again? >> well, i think everyone's looked at this scene, this situation. we've always prepared, even when we were younger, for fire drills. we prepared for emergencies within the school. i think that's a constant thing that we're always going to do in our educational system. we review, we look at it, we continue to make sure how we can make our most precious children as safe as we can make them. we have to, we worked through 9/11 and we continued and life went on. i don't want to simplify anything, but we've got to work through this. >> we need a national commission to take a look at school safety? >> that's above me. that's above me. i know that on a local level, i'm sure our town leaders, our state leaders are all going to continuously look at school safety to ensure that our children are safe. >> lieutenant vance, let me thank you for what you and all the men and women of the county state police have done. you've been a source of real strength to all of us, as journalists and as americans, as citizens, in learning what's going on. you've done an outstanding job. >> thank you very much. appreciate that. >> thank you. >> he has been very strong and very much the face, throughout this entire ordeal. >> i spent some quality time over at the connecticut state police headquarters about 40 minutes or so from here. a very decent guy. >> a very, very good guy. stand by for more of our coverage on the connecticut shooting, as well as some of the other top stories today, including a reporter's hostage ordeal in syria. nbc's richard engle is sharing his story. ok 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. ♪ but the fire is so delightful ♪ nothing melts away the cold like a hot, delicious bowl of chicken noodle soup from campbell's. ♪ let it snow, let it snow a team of nbc news journalists is finally safe and free after being held by kidnappers in syria. ivan watson has the latest details from turkey. >> reporter: wolf, the looks on the nbc news team say it all. the looks of relief, smiles, and exhaustion as well after a harrowing five-day ordeal inside syria, after being kidnapped by men on a roadside, a gang of men with guns, just about ten minutes' drive into syrian territory last week. take a listen to what nbc news foreign correspondent richard engle says about how they were treated during this time in captivity. >> they took us to a series of safe houses and interrogation places and they kept us blindfolded, bound. we weren't physically beaten or tortured. it was a lot of psychological torture. threats of being killed. they made us choose which one of us would be shot first. and when we refused, there were mock shootings. they pretended to shoot gazi several times. and when you are bind folded -- and then they fire the gun up in the air, it can be very traumatic experience. >> wolf, richard engle says that he was being held by a pro-government shibaha militia made up of men that he and his other captives identified as shiite muslims who threatened to kill the majority in that part of syria. they were also trying to exchange the nbc news team for captive iranian and lebanon citizens in the custody of syrian rebels. the only way that the nbc news team escaped was after their captors ran into a syrian rebel checkpoint late monday night. a gun battle ensued. two of the kidnappers were killed, and the syrian rebels rescued the nbc news team. they are out, safe and sound, unharmed. but there are many more people who are still missing inside syria, wolf. it has been a plague of kidnapping and hostage taking there. there are no less than 21 journalists and 18 other citizen journalists currently missing, according to the organization reporters without borders. many ordinary syrians being held for ransom as law and order continues to break down in that war-torn country. wolf? >> ivan watson, thanks very much. and it underscores, kate, just how dangerous these assignments are. you know, so happy that these nbc journalists got out. >> so, so thankful that they got out, wolf. you're so right. other stories that we are watching today. on capitol hill, a deal could be taking shape to avoid the fiscal cliff, now just two weeks away. our lisa sylvester is here with that and more of today's top stories. hey there, lisa. >> hi, there, wolf and kate. well, as americans edge ever closer to huge tax hikes and deep automatic spending cuts, both sides are offering compromises today. house speaker john boehner proposed a short-term plan, higher tax rates on millionaires, but the white house and democratic leaders say that doesn't go far enough. president obama is standing firm on higher rates for people earning more than $250,000 a year. and the woman who had an affair with former cia director david petraeus will not face federal cyberstalking charges. paula broadwell was under investigation for sending allegedly harassing, anonymous e-mails to tampa socialite jill kelly, a friend of petraeus and his wife. in november, petraeus resigned as cia director after revealing his affair. sources tell cnn, though, that broadwell still could face charges for possessing classified material. and the photo-sharing website instagram and warning users that starting next year, it may sell photos to other companies and keep all of the cash. the change in the terms of use explains users won't be compensated in any way. users cannot opt out of the new provisions and the only way to avoid them is to delete your instagram account altogether. and there is good news at the gas pump and it may be getting even better. the average price of regular self-serve gasoline in the u.s. is now $3.24 a gallon. the price has fallen every day for almost a month and experts say it could fall to levels not seen in two years. analysts credit in part better fuel economy and more telecommuting. kate and wolf? >> thanks so much, lisa. >> thanks very much. at cnn, we're very concerned about respecting the privacy of people who lost loved ones here in newtown and are very, very concerned about that. but some relatives and friends are eager to speak out and to talk, to make sure the world knows who these victims were and why they were so loved. cnn's erin burnett is joining us now with a little preview of what you have coming up in the next hour. what do you have, erin? >> there are some people who do want to talk. and as you well know, talk about this community and how it feels and how tight-knit it is and how they don't want it to become a name that becomes synonymous with a horrible act. we're going to be talking with one dad who has four kids. a 4-year-old, actually, who's about to go to sandy hook next year, and he is dead set that that child is going to go to sandy hook. and it's pretty amazing. he and his wife moved here from california. number one reason, for the schools. he's going to join us to talk about that. his older sons was brothers with jack pinto's brother and they were at that funeral yesterday. they're going to talk about that. vickie soto was a teacher for one of his daughters, she was a substitute a few years ago when his daughter was there, but so memorable, that her daughter still remembers her. we'll be talking with them, and also with the family who moved here from newtown from australia. reason number one, they thought it was the safest town in america, reason number two, for schools. their two boys just went back to school today and their whole family will be with us at the top of the hour. so a special program coming up. >> we've heard this many, many times, just how great the school system is here. and will continue to be, of course, after this. >> you've been doing a great job with these personal stories, erin. we're really looking forward to the next hour. thanks so much for what you're doing. >> thank you. >> thank you, erin. a mother whose daughter died in her first grade classroom describes meeting president obama. what she shared with the president and what she says she prayed for with him. anderson cooper sat down with her. he'll join us live. that's next. certainly impossible to imagine the pain of some of these parents here in newtown, connecticut, are feeling right now. facing the fact that they must bury their 6-year-old or 7-year-old child. our own anderson cooper is here for us on the scene. anderson, you sat down with the family of grace mcdonnell and have more of that touching interview coming up. share some of it with our viewers. >> reporter: you know, it was lynn and chris mcdonnell. their daughter, grace, 7 years old, was killed on friday. they have a son, jack, who's 12 years old. and they actually contacted us. they reached out to us the other day and asked us to come by their home and just spend some time with them and learn about grace and they wanted a lot of people to know about their amazing grace. and so we're going to be bringing you that extensive interview tonight on "a.c. 360." but i want to play you just a little bit of what they said. they talked about meeting president obama the other night. and grace was a prolific artist. she was, for 7 years old, she was incredibly talented artist. and she drew a picture of an owl and they gave that picture to the president. and he said he would cherish it. and that really gave them comfort, that the president would take time to learn about their daughter. here's more o of what they had to say. >> it was a very private meeting, but when he walked in the room to greet us, it was just a dad. he's just a dad, coming in to meet a dad and a mom and a son. and we really felt that. we felt his support and it was really, it was really special. and we shared some special things about grace with him and her art. grace's dream was to live on the beach and be a painter. and so we offered him one of her paintings, which he said he would treasure. so that gave us great comfort, too. but, really, just felt like a dad surrounding us and feeling our pain. and you know, when he walked in the room, i realized, he has to go to so many families today, and this is not the first time he's had to do this. so, i have to look at him and pray for him for strength. >> they, of course, weren't able to see grace in the wake of the attack. they were advised not to view her. but when they went in to visit with her and the casket, the casket was all white, and it really brought home to them the reality of what was happening. and they brought crayons and magic markers, and lynn and chris and jack drew all over the casket. and they wanted to color it all, and all the things that grace loved. peace signs and flip-flops, and reminders of hawaii and other places they had visited. and they said by the time they left the the entire casket was colored, and that also has given them comfort and grace, they are going to be remembering grace, a wake on thursday, a funeral on friday. but it's amazing how strong they are and we'll be playing more of that interview tonight, wolf. >> they really reached out to you, anderson, because they want the world to know how wonderful grace was. they want to share that story with everyone. and it's not all that unusual, because a lot of times parents who lose someone in a situation like this, i remember at virginia tech, they want to speak out and express how much they loved their child. >> you know, it helps to talk. it helps to talk, it helps lynn to talk and it helps chris to talk and even jack, 12-year-old jack, who obviously we didn't interview on camera, it helps him to talk about grace. so even before we sat down for the interview, i spent a lot of time there honestly just hugging and holding hands with them and just looking at all the pictures of grace and hearing the stories about her. i think it really, it does help them to talk and to let other people know about their beautiful little girl. >> every one of these stories we cover, anderson, is unique and distinctive. i don't know about you, but for me, i never really experienced anything like this, because these 20 kids were 6 and 7 years old, all of these. the teachers and them, it's been so powerful, so awful for me. i'm sure it's been like that for you as well. >> i feel privileged to be here. i think there is an extraordinary sense of this community coming together, extraordinary support for these families that are facing the unimaginable, and you know, it's not just, wolf, you know, this past weekend and today and this week, when the funerals are going to be taking place. a lot of this, when the media leaves and when the world's attention kind of moves on, life for people here has stopped. the world has stopped. and though the rest of the world may keep spinning, it will not keep spinning here in newtown. i think for these families, that's going to be another hurdle when the adrenaline kind of fades away and they're left with just the day-to-day horror of the reality of their loved one not being with them. >> see you in a little more than an hour from now, anderson. thanks so much for doing this. thanks so much for what you've been doing. a popular tv show pays tribute to the newtown, connecticut victims. this is something that is very, very moving. we'll share it with you when we come back. g such a great year in the gulf, we've decided to put aside our rivalry. 'cause all our states are great. and now is when the gulf gets even better. the beaches and waters couldn't be more beautiful. take a boat ride or just lay in the sun. enjoy the wildlife and natural beauty. and don't forget our amazing seafood. so come to the gulf, you'll have a great time. especially in alabama. you mean mississippi. that's florida. say louisiana or there's no dessert. brought to you by bp and all of us who call the gulf home. progressive direct and other car insurance companies? yes. but you're progressive, and they're them. yes. but they're here. yes. are you...? there? yes. no. are you them? i'm me. but those rates are for... them. so them are here. yes! you want to run through it again? no, i'm good. you got it? yes. rates for us and them -- now that's progressive. call or click today. can i still ship a gift in time for christmas? yeah, sure you can. great. where's your gift? uh... whew. [ male announcer ] break from the holiday stress. ship fedex express by december 22nd for christmas delivery. i'm going to dream about that steak. i'm going to dream about that tiramisu. what a night, huh? but, um, can the test drive be over now? head back to the dealership? [ male announcer ] it's practically yours. but we still need your signature. volkswagen sign then drive is back. and it's never been easier to get a passat. that's the power of german engineering. get $0 down, $0 due at signing, $0 deposit, and $0 first month's payment on any new volkswagen. visit vwdealer.com today. young survivors of the school shooting are getting therapy and they are getting some comfort in a rather unusual way. here's cnn's gary tuchman. >> reporter: nine golden retrievers on the march. making their way into a recreation center in newtown, connecticut, for an emotional rescue, to help comfort the children who survived the attack at sandy hook elementary and other children in town. therapeutic canines were sponsored and trained by lutheran church charities, transported in a van for a 900 mile ride from illinois. let me give you a quick introduction to all the dogs here. this is chewie. this is ruthie. abby. prince. luther. maggie. hannah. barney. and shammy. these are the comfort dogs. what is a comfort dog? >> a comfort dog is one who brings comfort to other people. when they're suffering or hurting or bring happiness to people, helps people process their grief. >> reporter: they are specially trained? >> they are specially trained. these are all trained service dogs. we don't use them with disabled but we use that training and then we train them additionally to work with all different age groups and people. to some people, we have seen this with children, it brings a sense of calmness in a time of confusion for them, during this period. to some, it helps them process their grief. they'll start crying and they'll hug the dog. and to some children, they'll come up sad and they'll walk away happy. >> reporter: do you know that luther is incapable of being mean. luther is a friendly dog. >> hayden loves dogs. >> reporter: when does training begin to be a comfort dog? >> five and a half weeks. we buy puppies at five and a half weeks, turn them upside down -- >> reporter: turn them upside down. if they are turned upside down and they flail, they can't be a comfort dog? >> right. our initial screening is if they can be relaxed in that position, then we start the next process which is a trainer that works with them one-on-one for the next eight months to a year. >> reporter: where else have your dogs been? what other disasters? >> our dogs a month ago when sandy hit, we were out in new york and new jersey. we have been in indiana with the floodings. we had dogs out in joplin, missouri. this is luther. he's a comfort dog. you can pet him. says right here, please pet me. >> reporter: how do you feel when you see a child come up to one of your dogs who has been in this kind of situation, have a big smile on their face? >> tears. they smile, i cry. >> reporter: amid the continuing sadness here, there were a lot of smiles. >> what a story. erin burnett "outfront" starts in just a moment. but we leave you this hour with this very powerful musical tribute to the victims, tribute that aired on the nbc show "the voice." ♪ i've heard there was a secret code that david played and it pleased the lord but you don't really care for music do you ♪ ♪ it goes like this hallelujah ♪ ♪ hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah ♪

Transcripts For CNNW EarlyStart 20121220

♪ dashing through the snow >> it is holiday travel, folks, threatened by a blizzard. >> you have to put up with the snow and the singing. >> the once promising talks b bogged down again with less than two weeks to go. >> and getting to the bottom of the benghazi fiasco. hearings set to start in a matter of hours from now. good morning you to. sorry about the singing this morning. welcome to "early start." >> it's 5:00 a.m. in the east. she's been singing all morning. we're going to begin with this storm. the cause behind all the singing. it is a big one. it is pounding the nation's midsection and threatening to derail holiday travel plans for millions of americans. what bad timing. a blizzard warning in effect for half a dozen states. colorado has already been clobbered at 156 mile stretch of interstate 70 had to be shut down in both directions yesterday. look at that. the storm is also hitting iowa hard overnight packing wind gusts over 50 miles an hour. the wind part of the real problem here. some places could see a foot of snow or more. emergency management officials as far north as wisconsin offering this advice to early christmas travelers. >> i think the first thing you should think about is changing your plans for thursday. >> you know, a lot of people getting on the road today and tomorrow for the christmas season. they have to deal with. this. >> and traveling with kids, you know, the delays start at airport, no fun. >> it could be sunny and 70 degrees and traveling with a kid ain't easy. but it's so bad in was was that the governor there already issued an executive order declaring a state of emergency before the storm even arrives. let's go to meteorologist alexandra steel who is tracking this storm from atlanta. what does it look like? >> of course, colorado yesterday. texas yesterday. the roads be it the wind storms or whatever we saw. today it's i-80 through iowa. iowa will be virtually shut down. let me show you pictures from wisconsin. you can see, of course, you heard what the governor is already doing in advance of the storm. the storm is coming in toward you, no question about that. so what we're seeing and what we've already seen, that's where we are. again for the most part. nebraska is out of it. but hastings already eight inches on the ground. this is really this was phase one of the storm. we're getting into phase two of the storm which means more snow and incredibly stronger winds. so eight inches in hastings. iowa, seven inches. iowa will see an incredibly rough day. here's where the blizzard warnings are. we're going to see a virtual shutdown of the state. the snow will be coming down. winds will be gusting to 50 miles per hour. here's what we're expecting, 6 to 12 inches of snow. then into graeen bay, northern wisconsin could see a foot plus in terms of snowfall. so incredibly amount of snow today. more than we saw yesterday. and the winds will be so much more powerful. places like chicago, a rainy start. but then late this afternoon and into tonight we'll see a change over from that rain to snow. and then look at this tight pressure gradient. it winds up and you can see, guys, the closer those lines are, the lines of equal pressure, the stronger the winds. the winds we've already seen have been strong. but the winds, the strongest yet to come. so today the midwest will be incredibly hard hit, guys? >> what day does it get out east? >> it gets to the east coast before the weekend, actually. so today we're fine. into friday night and saturday night. but it moves quickly and just a rain maker. >> all right. alexandra steel, thank you very much. >> we were laughing about it, but this creates that black ice and really treacherous driving conditions. folks, be careful out there. so what happened? what happened to the progress on the fiscal cliff negotiations? it is 12 days to go and a political stalemate has set in. president obama and john boehner appear to be digging in heals. he says take the deal. meantime, the speaker intends to put his plan b up to a vote in the house today. it would extend the bush era tax cuts up to $1 million. if some democrats block it, the president becomes responsible for the tax hikes that kick in when the nation goes over that fiscal cliff. cnn political editor paul stein houser is in washington this morning. your job is to explain all of this to us. >> it really seems like a way they're playing a game of political chicken right here. you heard the president and house speaker come in front of cameras within two hours of each other. both men were really talking against each other. it was not very optimistic. you're right, optimism of earlier in the week dissipated. take a listen to what both men said. well, we don't have that sound. both men really talking against each other there. here's the sound. >> the president's offer of $1.3 trillion in revenues and $850 billion in spending reductions fails to meet a balanced approach. i hope that the president will get serious soon about providing and working with us on a balanced approach. >> at some point there's got to be i think a recognition on the part of my republican friends that take the deal. you know, they will be able to claim that they have worked with me over the last two years to reduce the deficit more than any other deficit reduction package. >> the president made his comments after an event on gun control after an announcement on gun control. mr. boehner, his news conference lasted 56 seconds. he stormed off after making his comments. does he have the votes for plan b? also, where do the negotiations for a wider settlement stand? of course, if will is no agreement by the end of the year, the country falls off the fiscal cliff, that means higher taxes for almost all americans and massive spending cuts. >> the other question is how do americans feel about this? and you have brand new poll numbers to share with us. i can only imagine. >> we do have brand new poll numbers. this is a national poll coming out right now at this hour. as other polls indicated, americans are siding more with the democrats. take a look at this. which party should compromise more to get a wider deal, to get bipartisan solutions? nor people say the republicans should compromise than the democrats. and who would be more responsible if the fiscal cliff occurs? the so-called blame game. once again, more people would blame republicans. 48% say republicans and congress would be to blame. 38% say the president. 1% say both sides would be at blame. >> again, 12 days to go before that fiscal cliff. paul steinhouser flif washington, thank you. other big news in washington. they're dealing with the fallout from that report on benghazi. one state department official resigned, three others on disciplinary administrative leave after a review cited systemic failures in leadership and management deficiencies. tuesday department officials are set to testify at 8:00 a.m. eastern time this morning. and we now know that next month secretary of state hillary clinton will testify before the house foreign affairs committee about the attacks on benghazi as one of her advisors told the chairwoman of the panel. clinton is said to be feeling better after suffering concussion in a fainting spell. that's good news. seven minutes past the hour. president obama is now declaring a gun control or that gun control is a issue in his second term. he insists he'll use all the powers his presidency to push through meaningful reforms. >> the vast majority of responsible law abiding gun owners would be some of first to say we should be able to keep an irresponsible, law breaking few from buying a weapon of war. i'm willing to bet that they don't think that using a gun and using common sense are incompatible ideas. >> he also said that the dialogue, he'll have dialogue but he's not going to have a lot of dialogue. he's going to push things through very quickly. vice president biden is tapped to spear head to push new gun control laws through congress. >> he wants them back next month. south korea elected its first female president. park is the daughter of a military dig dater. park is promising greater engagement with north korea. >> it is show time for u.p.s. today's peak shipping day will be the busiest in its history. the men and women in brown will deliver 28 million packages in the united states. that's about 300 parcells every second, folks. tomorrow is the deadline. >> it feels like they're shipping a lot of coal to washington right now with this fiscal cliff thing. check your stockings there in washington for that. it is nine minutes after the hour. detectives investigating the newtown school shooting retracing the steps of the gunman's mother in the days before the attack. we'll tell what you they found. >> and the new trend among america's teenagers that you parents are going to want to hear about. ♪ [ male announcer ] how could a luminous protein in jellyfish, impact life expectancy in the u.s., real estate in hong kong, and the optics industry in germany? 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>> and tomorrow, sandra, of course, is the one week anniversary of the shooting. what's being planned for that? >> reporter: obviously, it's going to be a very sad day for residents here as they remember the exact time, 9. 30678 9:30 is when the gun shots rang out. to commemorate that moment in time, we understand that church bells across this area will ring 26 times, 20 times for the children who were killed and six times for the teachers and the staff and the faculty members who died in that tragedy. so, again, a very important moment for this town as they reflect on what happened here a week ago. >> that's right. another day of reflection, another somber moment for newtown, connecticut. san drashgs thanks very much. later i have a story, three of the little girls that were killed attended this dance studio. and these teenagers actually taught them dance classes and summer classes. so they wanted to remember the girls in a positive light. and so they share all these amazing stories. we're going to bring that to you shortly here. it is 15 minutes past the hour. let's get you up to date. christine romans has the top stories. the top story, weather. the season as first major winter storm dumping a foost snow. up to a foot of snow in the great planes. a live picture to you from our affiliate wisn in milwaukee. also a stretch of interstate 70 had to be shut down in both directions from colorado to kansas. a blizzard warning is in effect in half a dozen states. in a rare move, president obama phoned the secretary of army to personally express concern about reports of abuse at the daycare center at ft. mier in virginia. this week two workers at that facility were charged with assaulting a child. and a review of all the workers there found several with questionable backgrounds including records of sexual abuse of a minor, sexual assault, and assault. an annual survey of drug abuse among teenagers finds that marijuana use leveled off after rising stead fli that age-group for four years in a row. for example, the study called monitoring the future finds of 6.5% of 12th graders say they smoke marijuana daily. that is down slightly from last year. remember this picture of the monkey in the jacket in an ikea earlier this month? the woman who owns the animal will be in court today trying to get darwin back. the owner claims toronto animal services seized him illegally after he got out of her car. he's been living in an animal sanction wary since then. >> i wonder if he kept the coat? >> a horse in palm beach, florida, jumped a fence, took a dip in a swimming pool. veterinarians gave the 30-year-old horse a sedative. firefighters attached a harn toes andy and used a tow truck to lift him out of the pool. when it's all over, andy didn't have a scratch on him. had a nice refreshing dip in the pool. >> i'm sure he enjoyed every moment of it. >> all right. 17 minutes after the hour. time for your early reads. the local newsmaking national headlines this morning. we're going to start with the tampa bay times. guns were pulled off the shelves of a lone star pawnshop after the sandy hook school shooting. the owner says he'll lose half of his business but he's doing this for his daughters. >> my daughter at this point associates firearms with evil people because of what she sees on tv and what she sees at school. my conscience overrides the need to make the money. he also said he couldn't bear think about selling the gun that might end up being used in another massacre. thousands of miles away, but hitting a little too close to home, the sacramento bet talks about a marine who called himself to duty. called himself to duty to guard an elementary school in modesto. he was responding to a facebook post urging soldiers to be posted at every school, of course, in the wake of last week's tragic shooting. another retired marine dug his fatigues out of the attic and answered the call in tennessee. he wasn't getting paid and he was not armed. several parents came up thanking him for his service. and for stepping up to make the children feel safe. >> it is a statement though, that has come to this. >> yeah. i know. i know. i'm grateful that they're doing. that for an expanded look at our top stories, head to our blog. can you also follow us on twitter and on facebook. just search for early start/cnn. >> as our leaders in washington bicker at the edge of the fiscal cliff, your tax returns hang in the balance. find out what happens to them if there is no deal. we'll tell you about it coming up. it ain't pretty. make a wish! i wish we could lie here forever. i wish this test drive was over, so we could head back to the dealership. 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[ male announcer ] yes, you could business pro. yes, you could. go national. go like a pro. ♪ 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. try align to help retain a balanced digestive system. try the #1 gastroenterologist recommended probiotic. align. good morning, new york. look at that great shot. come over after two strong days of gains, u.s. markets closed lower yesterday. stock futures are down this morning as fiscal cliff talks stall in washington. >> so here's the deal. you can see a delay in getting your tax refund next year unless congress moves on the fiscal cliff soon. this is going to hurt all of us. christine has details. >> we're already there. tax season starts in a couple weeks. you're going to start getting 1099s at the end of january and you have companies -- the government can't change in just one week or two weeks. if you're talking about having to make retro active tax changes, i mean it's really a mess. i want to talk about the amt in particular here. you know, the irs acting director warned congress about a real problem with not passing an amt patch. if the amt patch goes away, every year we patch this amt. amt was meant to make sure that rich people paid a minimum amount of tax now because of the way congress designed it in the infinite black wisdom. it gets middle class people every year. there is a patch to make sure you don't get slammed with amt. 30 million more people would pay the amt. 100 million tax refunds would be delayed. stephen miller sent a letter to the house and senate. tax writers saying this is going to be unexpectedly higher taxes for many taxpayers who simply aren't aware of their new tax liability. it will be a total and complete mess. 100 million tax refunds delayed, 30 million more people have to pay the amt. >> you've been looking into the business of guns all week. there is just fascinating stuff going on. >> a billion dollars in profit this year. one forecast, a billion dollars in profit this year for this industry. kint ov i can't overstate how big, powerful and profitable it is to make the guns you're looking at on your screen. the traditional bolt action rifles and guns you think as a big part of the industry, the fastest growing part of the market are the sport rifles. there is a coolness and hipness factor in owning the military style rifles. there is huge soaring demand for those. there are more gun shops in america than there are super markets and mcdonald's restaurants locations combined. think of the impact of this part of the -- you don't talk about it every day. it's a huge industry. it is prevalent. when we were putting the statistics together, i see mcdonald's everywhere. i don't see gun shops everywhere. but i'm not looking for it. i mean it's just a pervasive part of the american culture. we are the leader in guns. we own more guns than any other country in the world. and we lead the world in gun violence as well. gun stocks yesterday by the way bounced back. i told you they were three hard days for the gun makers. yesterday investors said these have been punished enough. now we see value again in these stocks. in part because sales are up. it's been a ten-yaer trend of rising sales. sails right n sales are up right now as people want to protect themselves and get ahead of what they think could be restrictions coming down the line. so big bounces back for the stocks. i told you yesterday the smith & wesson had a record second quarter for profit. when you look at gun sales over the past decade, as the economy moved side ways, gun sales have been up, up, up. it's been a really powerful industry. and a profitable, profitable industry. investors make make $1 billion this year. >> remember tim tebow? >> who? >> the jets seemed to have forgotten about last year's nfl sensation. we'll take a closer look coming up. i feel bad. nyquil what are you ? 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[ female announcer ] tylenol® cold multi-symptom nighttime relieves nasal congestion. nyquil® cold and flu doesn't. as part of a heart healthy diet. that's true. ...but you still have to go to the gym. ♪ the one and only, cheerios a winter blast just before get away day. snow falling from kansas to wisconsin with blizzard warnings in effect. >> tiny dancers taken way too soon. ballet instructors share memories of three talented young victims of the newtown tragedy. >> search for answers in the benghazi attack. twin hearings on capitol hill amid word of a shake-up at the state department. welcome back to "early start," everyone. i'm john berman. >> 30 minutes past the hour. we're going to talk about holiday travel plans for millions of you. >> screwed up. >> it could be on hold this morning thanks to a huge winter storm that is whipping throughout midwest. there is a blizzard warning in effect for half a dozen states. take a look at. that the storms stretching from colorado to wisconsin. some folks in chicago are on my facebook this morning saying it is awful there. the rocky mountain state will be battered. 156-mile stretch of i-70en with colorado and kansas sut down in both directions by heavy snow. that was yesterday. this system is packing wind gusts over 60 miles an hour. parts of iowa could see a foot of snow or more today. wow. it is so bad, in fact, that the governor of wisconsin has already declared a state of emergency in his state. meteorologist alexandra steel is live from the weather center. my goodness. what else is in store for today? >> let's talk about what we saw yesterday. we talked about denver and what happened in texas with that blinding dust storm. all right. this is what it looked like through colorado. colorado yesterday one of the hardest hit places on i-70. today, it's i-80 through iowa. literally iowa virtually shut down today. blizzard conditions really will prevail throughout much of the day. here's a look at what we have. hastings, nebraska, yesterday, eight inches of snow. today, this morning the snow is over. but 35 mile-per-hour wind gusts. blowing snow. temperature right now feeling like 5 degrees below zero. so behind the snow, incredibly blustery and cold. the story for today will be really phase two of this storm. we're going to watch the snow move in. snow gets heavier. accumulation totals get into the double digits. and the winds get even more powerful. you know, we talked about chicago, 7:00 tonight we're going to watch that rain in chicago change over to snow. and then the wins gear on up to get to 50 mile per hour gusts. sustained in the 20s and 30s. so an awful night tonight to travel in chicago. tomorrow morning, here's where we're seeing the rain. there is even a severe side to this. so tomorrow morning in new york, in washington, baltimore, all these airports tomorrow morning just slammed with very heavy rain. not snow, just rain. and then friday moves out the afternoon except for boston and northern new england. but still, behind it, cold and windy. no matter where you are in the midwest or northeast. so that's how we're going to see this thing move through today. but there is also a severe weather impact today. tornado watches now issued through noon. we're going to see that south of atlanta, charleston, probably atlanta could be into potentially very strong storms today. >> all right. alexandra steel live in atlanta, thank you. >> there is a lot going on in washington today. a hearing in the deadly benghazi consulate incident. this after a review of this indei incident. three more people are on administrative leave from the state department. this independent review examining september's attack blamed systemic failures in leadership and management deficiencies. the review found a lack of leadership left the u.s. consulate insecure and vulnerable. u.s. ambassador to libya and three other americans were killed in the attack on september 11th. our foreign affairs reporter has the latest on this. you know, yesterday it said no one, you know, breeched their duty. you had a sense some heads were going to roll inside the state department. >> that's right. it's a major shake-up, john. even though the panel found that these people didn't legally breech their duty, they found deficiencies and they identified in the report four individuals, the assistant secretary of state for diplomatic security eric boswell, his deputy charlene lamb if you remember was sicite in a lot of documents for denying security requests and another gentleman raymond maxwell at the policy shop which the panel showed didn't show a lack of ownership of the issues and another gentleman in the diplomatic security department. it's really, you know, i think there could be more heads to roll, if you will. >> so this is, in fact, a big broad shake-up. interesting you say that there could be more from this coming up. two state department officials are testifying on capitol hill today, correct? >> that's right. the deputy secretaries of state, as you know, secretary clinton still suffering from a concussion and won't testify. but very interesting who's going to be chairing the meeting. the current chairman of the senate foreign relations committee john kerry who is tapped to be the next secretary of state. so it's going to be a difficult balance while he has to be hard on these gentlemen, but also show a little support to the department which he did yesterday. let's take a listen. >> i think that the department has taken a huge step forward to address lessons learned from benghazi which are important to everybody. you know, there's 70,000 employees over there. there are 275 different posts. it's a dangerous world we're in. i think that this report is going to significantly advance the security interests of those personnel and of our country. >> a lot of questions still, john, about whether secretary clinton will testify. we understand her staff has told congressional committees she will be back in january and is prepared to give testimony herself. >> all right. thank you very much. 35 minutes past the hour. 12 days inform the fiscal cliff and negotiations are the a stalemate. there is growing ranker between president obama and john boehner. he ups the ante when he calls for plan b which extends the bush era tax cuts on incomes under $1 million. he promises to veto the bill if it ever reaches his desk and to complicate matters. it's no the clear he even has votes to pass plan bs there a way to untangle this mess? is that my first question for you? can you untangle the mess? >> personally, i don't think i can do it. what happened to the optimism from earlier this week? both gentlemen making comments yesterday and both seem to be playing a political game of chicken in a way. the president after making gun control comments, he talked about the fiscal cliff about two hours later the house speaker went in front of cameras for 56 seconds before walking off. here's a taste of what both men said. >> tomorrow the house will pass legislation to make permanent tax relief for nearly every american. 99.81% of the american people. then the president will have a decision to make. he can call on senate democrats to pass that bill or he can be responsible for the largest tax increase in history. >> at some point they have to take me out of it. take out their votes and think about what's best for the country. if they do that, if they're not worried about who's winning and who's losing, i think we can get this done. >> the big question, as you said, does house speaker john boehner have enough support from his own coalition from his own party to pass plan b today and will plan b derail the negotiations for the larger deals to try to avert the fiscal cliff. >> you know, you're not giving yourself enough credit. you could untangle this mess. you just don't have the power to do it. you have new polling data for us this morning on how americans feel about this? >> yeah, a brand new poll. we asked americans which party's policies are too extreme? take a look at these numbers. they're very interesting. more people say the republican party has too extreme views and opinions. 53%, only 37% say that about the democrats. a different story two years ago. one other number to look at in the fiscal cliff negotiations, approval ratings for both men. look at the approval rating for the president, 52%. the house speaker, his approval rating is lower at 34%. those numbers are interesting as both men try to negotiate to avert the fiscal cliff. >> thank you. it is 38 minutes after the hour now. coming up, gone but never forgotten in newtown, connecticut. the conversation with three of the young victims. instead of focusing on how they died, she's chosen to take inspiration from how they lived. , there's big news. presenting androgel 1.62%. both are used to treat men with low testosterone. androgel 1.62% is from the makers of the number one prescribed testosterone replacement therapy. it raises your testosterone levels, and... is concentrated, so you could use less gel. and with androgel 1.62%, you can save on your monthly prescription. 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[ male announcer ] one pill each morning. 24 hours. zero heartburn. satisfaction guaranteed or your money back. welcome back. we continue to learn more about the young victims and their lives and extra curricular activities outside of their schools. three of the young girls, jessica ricos, charlotte bacon and olivia wrangle were students at dance et cetera. i had a chance to talk with their dance teacher and some of the teenage girls who helped give lessons to those little girls. >> memories from a dance troop of three little dancers. >> there's a pit in my stomach. >> when the dance teacher heard about the shooting, she ran to her studio to check the student roster. >> and then when i finally got to the office, i combed through to see who was 5. at that time they were saying it was a kindergarten class and would was 6. >> on saturday, her worst fears confirmed. charlotte bacon, olivia wrangle and ricos were all dead. where were you when you found out the names? >> i was here. >> you were here? >> i was here. >> so was i. >> we all were here. >> saturday. >> we kept classes and rehearsals going. >> to keep everything as normal as possible. >> how did you get through that? >> it was hard. the little girls were all with us and we were trying to stay strong for them and not show all the motions we were feeling. it was so hard. >> especially knowing that some of the children they were teach hg lived through the trauma of the day before. yet amazed by their resilience. >> we tried to keep details from the conversations with the little ones. but to keep it honest and let them know why we're sad. and then they would give us a hug. >> owe live why and charlotte were part of the dance school's musical theater program. olivia loved to sing "good morning baltimore" from "hair spray." >> i'm heard the expression of a smile from ear to ear. she had this beautiful smile and her cheeks, like, those cute baby cheeks. you just want to go grab them. >> charlotte just had such a big personality. you know, even when we were singing in theater class, she would be acting out what we were saying. she made up her own little dances every time we were singing our songs. and she would just so spunky and full of energy. >> jessica, they remember, as a focused and determined little ballet dancer. >> it was 9:15 in the morning. i didn't want to get up. i remember her walking in and her smile and hearing her laugh and just having her hugs around me just so tight. >> the girls know there will be more hard days ahead. >> it doesn't seem real yet. and i don't think it will until we have that musical theater class again and i realize they're not going to walk through that door anymore and we'll never get to hear them sing. >> the young dancers believe their art will help them get through this. >> we will. we will dance every dance we perform. we will sing every song that we sing and remember them and know that they're souls are here with us. and that they always will be. and, you know, in our darkest of time, there will be a light shining on our path. and our light will be jessica, charlotte and olivia. >> i have to tell you, originally we were just supposed to talk to jen. jen said the girls need a voice. they need to talk about these little girls. they need to share their memories because it's part of their healing process. and as difficult as that was, john, to sit down for the girls, the laughter that they were having remembering these little girls and keeping their memory alive the way that their parents would want to keep ate live and the way that they need to was really, you know, it was really something they needed. they all walked out in a better mood. >> it is very moving. just as a reminder, every aspect of life in this town going on in the weeks, days and months, there will be an absence. every new thing that happens, there is an absence everywhere they go. >> all the teenagers there don't live in the communities. they're in neighboring communities. yet, they're all tied in to somebody. they know somebody who died. so it really the extended family all over the place that is really reeling with pain. and i'm glad that we had an opportunity to share, you know, these little girls' lives because they really did have full lives, full of beautiful lives. >> nice to see. all right, we'll be right back. i can't stop eating 'em! what's...that... on your head? can curlers! tomato basil, potato with bacon... we've got a lot of empty cans. 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[ male announcer ] it's practically yours. but we still need your signature. volkswagen sign then drive is back. and it's never been easier to get a passat. that's the power of german engineering. get $0 down, $0 due at signing, $0 deposit, and $0 first month's payment on any new volkswagen. visit vwdealer.com today. thnch . this is a live picture of milwaukee. i hef 70 in colorado reopened in both directions last night much the storm expected to dump a foot of snow in some places from the rocky mountain state as far north as wisconsin. that is milwaukee. it's coming down. 36,000 people without power right now in des moines, by the way. 35-car pile yurp on tup on the d express way left one person dead. the chain reaction car crash start the when a tractor-trailer struck several cars and then caught on fire. the expressway was shut down for hours in both directions while police carried out their investigation. phoenix plans to add an important addition to the skyline. it's going to build an observation tower that will reach 420 feet into the sky, accessed by glass elevators. it will provide visitors with panoramic views of the city and surrounding mountains much the developer hopes the tower becomes a symbol of phoenix and destination for tourists. >> interesting design. >> i know. it really is. have you ever seen a sand storm in phoenix? it will be cool to see a sand storm from that tower. >> thank you so much, christine. all right. so you were waiting for the day that tim tebow would be a starting nfl quarterback. you're going to have to wait a little bit longer. the quarterback question for the struggling jets has been resolved. tim tebow is not the answer. >> tim can play, you know, quarterback through our traditional things. but to me, i was just -- i just kind of made a decision that in my gut i feel best thing for our football team is for greg to be our quarterback now. >> so the greg he's talking about is greg mcelroy who will start in place of the struggling mark sanchez. mcelroy leap-frogged tebow to go from the third string to starter leaving t-boy with the clipboard still. >> tim tebow is not happy about this. "the new york daily news" is reporting that he will ask to be traded when the season is over. there is so much to talk about here that is why we're so glad we're joined by our anchor from "sports illustrated".com. what's going on here? they traded for this guy. big splash. and they just don't want to put him on the field. >> it finally turned into the complete circus that we all thought that it was going to be at the beginning of the season. but you have to look at what the jets their future, they're putting greg mcelroy on the field. writing is on the wall at this point. tebow is not back in 2013. that's pretty much proven by this move. can you almost put it in stone that he'll not be back next year. they want to see if greg mcelroy can challenge for that starting quarterback job with mark sanchez and maybe another veteran quarterback that would bring in to have a true quarterback competition in the jets locker room. tebow out the door. >> there are a lot of people surprised he was ever even there. there is a high ranking nfl personnel evaluator who spoke on condition of anonymity. and he said tebow attempts to play quarterback despite poor footwork, throwing platforms, release timing and progression and he goes on and on. so not as surprising, right? >> it's surprising. he was number two on the depth chart all year long. and you try to put him in the nontraditional offensive packages, it just wasn't working. you could tell things were coming out from practice, tebow didn't look so good. the jets lost faith in him. if you're going to go with tim tebow like the denver broncos did last year, you have to completely l lly tailor make hi defense around him. you have to throw out your entire game plan and put in one specifically for tebow. we saw it work last year in denver. but they ended up getting rid of him. you need to have an offensive coordinator or team that is committed to running that offense or else it's not going to work. >> just one little comment from tim tebow. he said in response, some things are hard to understand. they're trying to do the best they k and i understand that. which is about as angry as you ever see tim tebow. >> right. those are fighting words. i mean whatever you think about tim tebow, whatever you think about his ability to be a quarterback, no one can deny he has been the epitome of class during this entire debacle. they put him on punt coverages. i mean this is a guy who is a first round draft pick, a starter last year, led six game winning drives and led the broncos to the playoffs last year. he was on punt coverages. he had to gain 20 pounds. he had to change the entire way he plays. he's been nothing but class. >> they got what they wanted. they're on the back page of the tabloid. >> that is true. >> maggie gray, thanks for being with us this morning. so we have a packed hour ahead on "early start" including sending children to school in body armor. sales of things like bullet proof backpacks are surging 500% after the tragedy. but parents and the company selling it are saying. >> and a giant winter storm is threatening travel plans across the country. whether you're planning to fly or hit the road or even if you had a sleigh it would be hard. how much snow can you expect? we're tracking the storm live. >> sanchez in jeopardy? not yet. plus, nasa's new threads. the space suit of the next generation that might make you say to infinity and beyond. >> love how you say. that. >> but first, we knew it all along. the truth behind this viral video of an eagle swooping down and snatching a baby. we'll tell you about it coming up. excuse me, sir i'm gonna have to ask you to power down your little word game. i think your friends will understand. oh no, it's actually my geico app...see? ...i just uh paid my bill. did you really? from the plane? yeah, i can manage my policy, get roadside assistance, pretty much access geico 24/7. sounds a little too good to be true sir. i'll believe that when pigs fly. ok, did she seriously just say that? geico. just click away with our free mobile app. try running four.ning a restaurant is hard, fortunately we've got ink. it gives us 5x the rewards on our internet, phone charges and cable, plus at office supply stores. rewards we put right back into our business. this is the only thing we've ever wanted to do and ink helps us do it. make your mark with ink from chase. welcome back, everyone. it is 58 minutes after the hour. or two minutes before the hour if you use that. john berman here. taking a look at the top cnn trends on the web this morning. >> i'm impressed you can think that fast. >> just like that i figured that out. >> it's one of the videos that looks too strange to be true. guess what? it is. take a look. it looks like an eagle swoopes out of the air, picks up a baby and then drops him. so turns out that's really a well done fake. it is orchestrated by students studying 3-d animation in montreal. they made the baby and the eagle. can you believe it? >> that is impressive stuff. >> brilliant, kids. brilliant. >> i wonder if that whole lord of the rings things was made up. >> coming up on "starting point," we'll talk to the three students behind the hoax that are now soaking up the viral fame. love. that. >> they deserve some. friendly neighborhood spiderman dropping by the oval office. this is a picture of president obama playing with a kid in a spiderman costume that is spreading all over the web. it is just phenomenal. we're seeing more and more of these things. the white house is trying to show the lighter side of the prs facebook and twitter accounts yesterday. you know, you can't mess with spider-man. your spider sense is tingling. >> you know you guys are all just grown-up kids. "early start" continues right now. good morning, everyone. john berman along with soar riae s sambolin. a tornado warning in mobile, alabama. let's go right to alexandria to tell us more about this. >> good morning, guys. this is all part of the same blizzard that we're seeing, of course, through iowa and wisconsin. on the southern side of this incredibly energetic system we have severe weather and the threat of it through the day. here's where that tornado warning is. this is the cell, this very strong thunderstorm capable of producing a tornado. the cell moving northeast at 45 miles per hour with its sights set on mobile. so this cell moving northeast 45 miles per hour, tornado warning for mobile county. actually in the whole southeast we do have a threat and a tornado watch posted through noon this afternoon. so again, in the southeast, this very voracious system. but on the northern tier of it we saw the video and have seen it throughout the day, yesterday what happened in colorado. the storm system now is moving east. here's where the really quadrant of concern is. iowa, you can see right i-80 through des moines, biggest cities impacted today, des moines, madison, green bay and then chicago late tonight. the swath where the heaviest snow will be, you can see it delineated in the purple between about 10 and 12 inches of snow. so this is really phase two of this storm. we saw the snow. today we'll see more snow. we saw the winds yesterday and last night. we'll see stronger winds today. so it's kind of even energizing further still. here's the radar picture, the northern tier, but of course where the snow is and the blizzard conditions. this is the swath of that. we do have blizzard warnings in six states meaning the snow is coming down but it's the invisibility and incredibly strong winds that make this a poirlous sca o perilous scenario today. there's that severe side from chicago all the way down to st. louis. again, green bay to des moines, that's where we'll see a foot of snow today coupled with incredible winds that we'll see throughout the day pick up in earnest through tonight in chicago. >> all that snow coming down is taking down power lines as well. there are 36,000 people without power in iowa this morning. thank you for that. we'll continue checking back in with you. >> and the weather system is causing a tornado warning in mobile, alabama. so guys, if you are down there, stay alert. other news, president obama and house speaker john boehner butting heads over the fiscal cliff negotiations. only 12 days to go now and it seems like a political stalemate has set in. the president has challenged republicans to, quote, take the deal and stop finding ways to say no to him. meantime the speaker intends to put his plan b up to a vote in the house today. this would extend the bush-era tax cuts on incomes up to $100 million. if it passes and senate democrats block it, which they will, boehner says the president will become responsible for the tax hikes when the nation goes over the fiscal cliff. that's what boehner is trying to suggest here. the president suggests otherwise. paul steinhauser is in washington this morning. whatever progress we had seemed to have stopped short. >> reporter: yeah, the optimism has gone away and both men are playing a political game of chicken. the president making his fiscal cliff comments after announcing some gun control efforts. john boehner coming in front of cameras two hours later. he spoke for 56 seconds before leaving. here's a taste of what both men said. >> the president's offer of $1.3 trillion in revenues and $850 billion in spending reductions fails to meet the test that the president promised the american people, a balanced approach. and i hope the president will get serious soon about providing and working with us on a balanced approach. >> you know, at some point there's got to be, i think, a recognition on the part of my republican friends that -- take the deal. you know, they will be able to claim that they have worked with me over the last two years to reduce the deficit more than any other deficit reduction package. >> reporter: the big question for today, of course, does john boehner have enough support from his own party to pass his plan b and will plan b basically side track negotiations for a larger settlement. john, as you know, if there's no agreement by the end of the year, that means basically tax cutin -- or tax increases for all americans. >> yesterday paul brown from georgia told me he was leaning against voting for it. he is a very conservative republican. however, the speaker may have some cover from grover norquist who says that republicans can go ahead and vote for it if they want. on the subject of public opinion, though, we have some brand spanking new poll numbers to talk about how americans feel about all this. >> reporter: we do. these numbers are interesting and they also indicate that americans seem to be backing the democrats more or at least feel more in favor of what the democrats are doing than republicans. take a look at this first number. which party should compromise more? americans feel the republicans should. also who would be more responsible if there's no deal. more people would blame the republicans in congress. only 38% blaming the president, about one in ten blaming both sides. >> again, if you're looking ahead to the big events today, it is this house vote on speaker boehner's plan b. thanks, paul. today the fallout from that damning report on benghazi. one state department official has resigned, three others on disciplinary administrative leave, this after an independent review examining september's attack cited systemic failures in leadership and management deficiencies. two state department officials are set to testify before house and senate committees at 8:00 a.m. eastern. we know next month secretary of state hillary clinton will testify before the house foreign affairs committee about the attacks in benghazi. that's what one of her advisers told the chairwoman of the panel. clinton is said to be feeling better after suffering a concussion and a fainting spell. less than a week after the newtown school shooting tragedy, president obama is declaring gun control a central issue of his second term. he's plans to bring sweeping new gun control proposals next month. he will use all the powers of his presidency to enact meaningful reforms with the vice president leading the charge. >> this is not some washington commission. this is a team that has a very specific task, to pull together real reforms right now. >> the team consists of officials from the justice department, homeland security, health and human services and the department of education. detectives investigating the newtown school shooting retracing the steps now of the gunman's mother in the days right before the attack. what they found coming up. plus gun violence and the tale of two different societies. one reporter shares her unique perspective. it will make you stop and think. that's just ahead. 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this is big news. new details coming to light about the days leading up to the newtown massacre. friends of nancy lanza, the shooter's mother, saying she was in new hampshire taking a vacation at a hotel. that's about a four-hour drive from newtown. they say she felt comfortable enough to leave him alone for three days. the morning after her return is when she was found dead. take a look at this photo. all but one of the students in this first grade class picture were killed. the little girl in the middle played dead. another reminder of the enormity of this tragedy. and there's no ebld to the outpouring of support. people gathering to mourn and honor the victims. sandra endo is following all of the developments for us. good morning to you, sandra. >> reporter: good morning, zoraida. five more funerals here today in newtown. three children and two teachers. 6-year-old allison wyatt, 6-year-old benjamin wheeler, 6-year-old catherine hubbard, lauren rousseau and lauren murphy will all be laid to rest here. last night we saw lines wrapped around churches in the freezing cold. people waiting in line to say their final goodbyes and that, unfortunately, has become the daily ritual here in newtown, zoraida. a lot of people still wondering why, searching for answers. we know from the connecticut state police, they say that the full and complete state police report won't be completed for months because they have to go through the pain staking task of interviewing all the victims. that means the survivors and the children that witnessed the shooting as well. that's certainly going to take some time. it's a very delicate situation, according to law enforcement officials heres are and so they want to make sure they go through the thorough task of interviewing everybody. so that will take several months to come, zoraida. >> sandra, tomorrow 9:30 a.m., one week since this tragedy happened. i would imagine that they have something planned to commemorate this. can you tell us about that? >> reporter: absolutely. 9:30 is when the gunshots rang out here in newtown at sandy hook elementary, and the governor here calling for a moment of silence. not just here in connecticut, but across the country in terms of support for the victims and the victims' families. he's also asking area churches to ring their bells 26 times for the victims. so certainly a very important and poignant time for residents here in newtown tomorrow at 9:30. >> sandra, i cannot tell you how grateful we are to have you out there. thank you for that. john? >> these are some statistics that a lot of people of talking about. in 2008 japan had just 11 gun-related murders. the u.s., 12,000. so should america look to other countri countries' gun policies now? we have someone with a unique perspective on this. cnn's own kyung lah. >> reporter: i moved back to the u.s. this summer. for the last five years, i was living in japan as cnn's tokyo correspondent. in that entire time, i never covered a shooting. there weren't any. this is my third mass shooting i've covered in just six months. >> kyung lah is on the scene for us at that apartment complex. she's got more on this part of the investigation. >> reporter: in this brief time, i've heard this question again and again by those victimized, most recently from a frustrated newtown resident. >> why are we so different from so many other industrialized countries that have so little gun violence and we are just -- what makes us so different? why is that? >> reporter: i don't have the answer, but i can compare japan and the u.s. in japan, there are almost no guns. the average person just can't get one. and i have to tell you, it's the safest place i've ever lived. here in the u.s., gun ownership is considered normal. 40% of americans own one. there are enough guns here to arm every single man, woman and child, about 300 million firearms. but these mass shootings, which are now a part of our american narrative, follow a familiar pattern. the shock, national outrage, memorials, funerals. then the conversation fades. the rest of the world wonders why. >> i've seen too many of these massacres. i've been here for 12 years and there is never anything more than a brief conversation. and i think people outside of america just can't understand that. >> reporter: but it's not all about guns. remember japan's tsunami. in the wake of the disaster, people lined up for food and water. there was never any violence, no rioting, no crime. it's about society. individual rights are second to the community's needs in japan. here in the united states, the constitution, including the second amendment, is considered sacrosanct. we saz americans prize freedom, the good and the bad. >> it's about freedom. freedom works both ways, you know. if americans would waive their freedom to buy any kind of guns any time, anywhere in any situation, then that would have given these kids at the elementary school the freedom to live. >> reporter: i met these three men who fought for freedom in iraq and afghanistan. these men of war were so disturbed by the newtown shootings that they came here on their day off to donate christmas trees at the town hall. they wonder what is this national security that they're fighting so hard for? >> to come home to what you think is safe and to experience the same thing here, it's troubling and it's -- it brings such sorrow to everyone, the whole army. >> reporter: none of us have the answer, but maybe the deaths of the shooter's mother, 20 innocent children and their brave teachers will this time keep a vital american conversation going. kyung lah, cnn, newtown, connecticut. tonight our guest, thomas sargent. nobel laureate in economics, and one of the most cited economists in the world. professor sargent, can you tell me what cd rates will be in two years? no. if he can't, no one can. that's why ally has a raise your rate cd. ally bank. your money needs an ally. welcome back. right now the season's first major winter storm is dumping up to a foot of snow in the midwest and great plains. this blizzard has knocked out power to tens of thousands in iowa this morning. a blizzard warning is in effect in half a dozen states and 36,000 people are already without power waking up in the des moines area this morning. a wannabe terrorist who didn't have the cash or the bomb. a 20-year-old florida man in jail on terror charges this morning. federal prosecutors say he wanted to attack a landmark in new york to avenge deaths in afghanistan, but he didn't have the money or the materials to make it happen. he is a u.s. citizen who was born in pakistan. his brother was also arrested. there are stronger privacy protection this morning for children who go online. the federal trade commission updated privacy rules to make it harder for companies to collect personal data when children use websites, mobile phones, apps, smartphones or tablets. parents have greater control over their children's information. it's show time for u.p.s. the carrier says today's peak shipping day will be the busiest in its history. the men and women in brown will deliver 28 million packages in the u.s. that's about 300 every second. tomorrow is the deadline to make sure your gifts arrive by christmas eve. sometimes a horse just wants to take a little dip. of course getting him out of the pool is another story. firefighters in palm beach county, florida, had quite a challenge after a horse jumped a fence and wound up in the pool. after given a sedative, firefighters used a harness and tow truck to pull him out of the water. he is just fine. a second-grade teacher in rhode island said school officials didn't let him speak at a meeting so he spoke through youtube. >> i've had it. i quit. i would rather leave my secure $70,000 job with benefits and tutoring connecticut for free. >> that's stephen round. he said the providence school system is turning students into good test takers rather than good learners. >> i think the video explains it all. it was purely frustration. it just got to the point where i can't stand by and watch kids not learn. and i have the key to help them and the administration won't let me use it. >> providence school officials say they're sorry that he wasn't satisfied but they didn't comment on the specifics of that resignation. "early start" is back in 60 seconds. new york, new york. >> good morning. how are you this morning? >> the financial center of the universe. we are minding your business this morning. after two strong days of gains, u.s. markets closed lower yesterday and stock futures are flat again this morning as these fiscal cliff talks in washington seem to be going nowhere. >> aren't you tired of it? 100 million people could see a delay in getting their tax refunds unless congress moves on the fiscal cliff soon. christine has the details. >> the urgency is felt among small business owners, big business owners, payroll software companies, the irs, anybody who has to handle a paycheck or a tax return for next year. look, the tax season starts in just a few weeks and we don't know if there's going to be another amt patch, the alternative minimum tax. this will affect millions and millions of people. what is that amt? this was a tax designed to make sure that wealthier people paid a minimum amount of tax. because of the way congress designed it so poorly, every year it has to be patched to make sure middle class people don't have to pay a bunch of taxes. 30 million more people would pay the amt if the patch goes away and 100 million tax refunds could be delayed in this crazy tax scramble to figure out what to do after we either go over the cliff or we go over the cliff for a little bit and then the cliff gets fixed. so this is a very big deal. the irs acting director has sent a letter saying there could be lengthy delays of tax refunds and unexpectedly higher taxes for everyone. so that's still a very big problem. amt patch, the drama is just killing me. >> i'm shaking my head because i don't think these things are factoring into the negotiations. i simply don't think the politicians are weighing these considerations right now. >> i've been calling it congressional malpractice. i mean they write these laws that are crazy that we have to patch every year and now they can't fix the problem that -- don't get me started. >> since we know you know better, tell us the one thing we need to know about our money. >> home values are up. i'm going to leave you on a high note. home values are up more than 5% this year. the best year for home prices since 2006. the last time home values stood where they are right now, may, 2004. we're going to get existing home sales data at 10:00 a.m. eastern today. here's what you need to know about home prices. places like phoenix, san francisco, san jose, denver, very didn't year for home prices. double-digit price increases. phoenix is up 20% on home prices. philly, atlanta, new york, chicago, these places saw either flat or slightly lower home prices over the last year. >> i want to switch gears here in light of what happened in newtown. you've been working really hard on guns. >> i have. i've been looking into the industry. >> a lot of money. >> look, a billion dollar industry. like $3.5 billion in sales. a billion dollars in profit in this industry. fastest growing part of the industry are these tactical rifles. modern hunting rifles. the things like the ar-15 style weapon that was used to kill teachers and children in that school. just a little hint about how pervasive the industry is in our lives. there are more gun dealers in america than there are supermarkets and mcdonald's combined. we buy guns, we have guns, we have the highest number of guns, we have the most gun violence, and the cost of guns, the cdc has tried to figure out how much guns cost. the medical costs of treating fatal gun injuries and the economic damage cost to lives. cdc said 2005 was $37 billion. $37 billion. stocks of those gun makers i told you how they have been down for three days. they were all up yesterday. investors are saying, look, people wanting to buy guns, we're armed to the teeth in this country, there's huge demand for it and so investors yesterday were saying that that sell-off in the stocks is over done. >> it's one of those stories that's so difficult to come up with a really good conclusion here. kyung lah had this really great piece on the heels of that. >> an analyst who -- a wall street analyst who covers the gun industry told us there is a hipness and coolness factor to these big magazines and to these what i would call a military-style big semiautomatic rifle. there's a big demand for that kind of gun. regular americans want to own those guns because it's cool. >> christine romans, thanks very much. another big story that we're following at this moment is the weather. i can tell you this, we were telling you about tornado warnings in mobile, alabama. those have expired or are expiring at this point. but we're looking at right now pictures from milwaukee, wisconsin, where there is snow on the ground and people covering snow on the ground, as you can see. it's going to get much, much worse there today. we'll tell you how much worse and where else is going to be affected coming up next. this 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[ male announcer ] with free package pickup from the u.s. postal service the holidays are easy. visit usps.com. pay, print, and have it picked up for free before december 20h for delivery in time for the holidays. you can even give us special instructions on where to find it. free package pickup. from the u.s. postal service. because it's nice to have an extra pair of hands around for the holidays. a winter blast just before getaway day, folks. snow falling from kansas to wisconsin with blizzard warnings in effect. >> it is getting ugly out there. meanwhile, the search for answers on the benghazi attack. twin hearings today on capitol hill amid word of a shake-up at the state department. plus, has it come to this? bulletproof back packs and body armor for little kids. so really it's an interesting story. we'll share that with you. welcome back to "early start." >> it is nice to see you this morning. it's 31 minutes after the hour. it's nice to see you unless you're stuck somewhere watching because you're snowed in. >> at an airport. >> holiday travel plans for millions of americans could be on hold this morning thanks to this huge winter storm that's whipping through the midwest. the blizzard-like conditions have already knocked out power to tens of thousands of people in iowa this morning. there's a blizzard warning in effect for half a dozen states and the storm is stretching from colorado all the way up to wisconsin. the rocky mountain state, colorado, already been battered. 156-mile stretch of i-70 shut down in both directions by the heavy snow yesterday. this storm is packing a lot of wind too. wind gusts 60 miles an hour and higher in some places. parts of iowa, the whole state being hammered, could see a foot or more of snow today. the governor of wisconsin is already declaring a state of emergency there in advance of the storm's arrival. so if you're looking to get out of town before the big holiday rush, good luck. meteorologist alexandria steele is live from the weather center in atlanta. what is in store for us today? >> there's so much. this is so incredibly powerful on so many fronts, john. not only the blizzards that we're going to see and have seen through iowa today and also into wisconsin. it's really des moines, green bay, chicago tonight. around 7:00 we'll see this rain change over to snow. but the snow won't be the worst part, it's the 50-mile-per-hour winds. so incredibly tough travel. but also there's a severe side to this. so here's the warm side. along this warm side some incredibly powerful storms as well. already this morning we have had a tornado warning for mobile. you can see this whole thing in the red box is the tornado watch box. it's mississippi, alabama and portions of louisiana. just very strong powerful lines of storms. we had a tornado warning for mobile but right now if you're driving on i-65 toward atmore this is that incredible storm that had that tornado potentially embedded in it. so blizzard conditions, near a foot of snow with it. here's the quadrant of it, des moines through green bay. that's where the heaviest snow and blizzard conditions will be today. we'll talk about when it moves out coming up in just a bit. happening today, the women gau -- benghazi consulate incident hits capitol hill. so far there has been one resignation and now three more are on administrative leave at this state department as well. the independent review examining september's attack blamed systemic failures and leadership and management deficiencies as well. a lack of leadership left the u.s. consulate insecure and vulnerable. the u.s. ambassador to libya, christopher stevens, and three other americans were killed in that september 11th attack, as you very well know. elise labott has the very latest for us. this is a major shake-up, elise. >> reporter: it is, zoraida, although the report found none of the officials were legally in breach of their duty but it found a lack of leadership and recommended that these people have some disciplinary action. that's why the assistant secretary, the top security official at the state department for diplomatic security, eric boswell, resigned. so did his administrative leave, his deputy, charlene lamb who testified before congress and was cited in a lot of documents, denying repeated security requests. so she and some other officials placed on administrative leave. but my understanding is they won't be back at work. >> elise, there are two state department officials that are testifying today. what are we expecting there? >> reporter: well, as you know, it won't be secretary clinton. she was originally scheduled to testify, but she's still suffering from a concussion, so her deputies, bill burns and tom nyes will be testifying before the senate foreign reegsz committee and later this afternoon before the house international affairs committee. very interesting who will be chairing that hearing this morning, john kerry the chairman of the senate foreign relations committee, tapped to be the next secretary of state booenwe understand. so he's trying to walk a fine line of being tough on these gentlemen and also showing some support for the department. take a listen about what he said yesterday about why it's so important to make sure the state department gets the resources it needs. >> the report specifically calls on resources. there's a need to put about $2.5 billion a year over a number of years into efforts to strengthen our security status in various critical places. >> reporter: so if it is john kerry, as we expect, he could be back before congress in a few weeks to ask for some of those resources during his confirmation hearing. >> yeah, he is walking that fine line. elise labott, live for us, thank you very much. the other big story in washington, of course, the stalemate over the fiscal cliff negotiations with only 12 days left to go. there is growing rancor between president obama and house speaker john boehner. rancor is such a good word. there is lots of it there today an it's getting worse. the speaker expected to call for a vote in the house on his plan b which extends the bush era tax cuts on incomes under $1 million. the president has criticized that bill and said he'd never sign it. it's not even clear that the speaker has enough republican votes to pass this plan b. i want to turn to paul steinhauser in washington for the latest on this. good morning, paul. this doesn't seem to be going many places this morning. >> reporter: it sure doesn't. what happened to the optimism from earlier this week? we heard a lot of rancor from both the president and from mr. boehner yesterday. the president making his fiscal cliff comments after announcing some new efforts on gun control. about two hours later, the house speaker went in front of cameras and talked to just 56 seconds. here's what both men said. >> the president's offer of $1.3 trillion in revenues and $850 billion in spending reductions fails to meet the test that the president promised the american people, a balanced approach. and i hope the president will get serious soon about providing and working with us on a balanced approach. >> at some point there's got to be, i think, a recognition on the part of my republican friends that -- you know, take the deal. they will be able to claim that they have worked with me over the last two years to reduce the deficit more than any other deficit reduction package. >> reporter: the big question, john, as you said, does the house speaker have enough support from his own party to pass that plan b. he did get some support yesterday from grover norquist who backed the plan, gave it his blessing. will this plan b vote side track the bigger negotiations to avert the fiscal cliff. john? >> the speaker furiously trying to secure the votes he needs. you also have news about public opinion on this new polling data. >> reporter: a national poll just out about 90 minutes ago. we asked which party's views may be too extreme, its opinions too extreme. you can see more americans say republicans rather than democrats. that was a very different story two years ago. finally one more number. the approval rating, president obama, 52%, john boehner, just 34% of americans say he's doing a good job as house speaker. >> paul steinhauser in washington where there is a lot of rancor. thanks very much, paul. it is 38 minutes past the hour. new details coming to light about the days leading up to the newtown massacre. friends of nancy lanza, the shooter's mother, saying she was in new hampshire taking a short getaway at a hotel. that's about four hours away from newtown. they say she felt comfortable enough to leave him alone four days. the morning after she returned, she was found dead. would you send your child to school in body armor? sales of things like bulletproof backpacks surging. 500% after the tragedy in connecticut. coming up, what some parents and the company selling it are saying. ta! santa! ho, ho, ho santa! want to see some magic? watch this! merry chr... 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[ female announcer ] tylenol® cold multi-symptom nighttime relieves nasal congestion. nyquil® cold and flu doesn't. welcome back. 42 minutes past the hour. in the days following the shooting at sandy hook elementary in newtown, there's been a surge, a demand for little known products that can literally bulletproof your children. >> from backpack inserts to bullet resistant toddler pants, parents are going to extremes to keep their kids from becoming statistics. >> reporter: it is a disturbing sign of the times. >> you guys make inserts for children's backpacks. >> that's correct. >> reporter: bullet resistant inserts. >> that's correct. >> this is one of them? >> yes. >> show us how they work. >> this is our military grade product. >> reporter: coo rich brand says in the last week sales have jumped 500% and are still climbing. desperate parents seeking ways to protect their kids in the most extreme situations. the material will not stop high velocity rounds like the ones used in newtown, but three shots with a 9 millimeter at point blank range -- >> all of the kinetic energy and penetration was actually absorbed with our armor. >> three small holes. the armor is a little stiffer. and the rounds are inside here? >> that's correct. >> reporter: and amend two is not alone. in boston bullet blocker, in austin, texas, bulletproofme.com says sales are up 50%. even the colombian designer has a request for bullet resistant gaurmentes for a toddler. >> people do say that you're profiting off of terror and horror. >> and that's the last thing that we wanted to do. i mean this was something that we put out there at the request of parents trying to meet the needs. >> reporter: amendment two says it's proprietary material lends itself to a product some teachers have asked for, a protective blanket. >> because of the lightweight nature of the material the company uses, they say it can be used as a mat in a school and in an emergency for protection. >> reporter: at salt lake city's get some, guns and ammo owners say protective gear won't stop a killer. only another gun will. >> i think if you knew every teacher had a gun, you'd think a little differently about your plan. >> reporter: utah has allowed teachers to carry concealed weapons. the law is yet to be tested. but after newtown, anything seems possible. >> our thanks to miguel. this is innovation and ingenuity you never want to think about. >> now you wonder do you, don't you, what's the answer. it is 45 minutes past the hour. let's get you up to date on the other top stories. blizzard warnings in six states this morning. the season's first significant winter storm slamming the midwest and the great plains right before the holiday. word this hour that the storm has already knocked out power to 36,000 customers. that's in iowa. and they are getting the brunt of it right now. the storm is expected to dump up to a foot of snow in some places as far north as wisconsin. benghazi report fallout. one state department official resigns, three others on disciplinary administrative leave this morning after that independent review examining september's attack cited systemic failures in leadership and management deficiencies. tuesday officials are expected to testify before house and senate committees later this morning. president obama found the secretary of the army to personally express his concern about reports of abuse at the day care center at ft. mier in virginia. this week two workers at the facility were charged with assaulting a child. a review of all the workers found several with questionable backgrounds, including records of sexual abuse of a minor, sexual assault and assault. about three hours from now, the casket carrying the late senator daniel inouye will lie in the house capitol rotunda so the public can pay their respects. he was a world war ii hero, witness to pearl harbor and second longest serving senator in history. he represented hawaii from the time it became a state. his fun yeral is tomorrow. in south korea, the country's first female president has been elected to office. she is the 60-year-old daughter of a former military dictator who led back in the 1970s. she is promising greater engagement in north korea. let me give this a try. to infinity and beyond. take a look at the new threads at nasa. these are well. these streamlined white and green z-1 space suits could soon replace the bulkier one astronauts wear now. they could enhance astronaut capability and mobility during space walks. also nice green flare there. >> well, kids buzz lightyear is coming to life. i'm loving this. it's my favorite. it isn't rocket science, it's good ole country know-how. how to use moon shine to launch a rocket. coming up, the star of tv's rocket city red necks is going to join us live. ld truth. i have a cold, and i took nyquil, but i'm still "stubbed" up. 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[ 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. we want you to meet a really interesting man. he is a former nasa scientist who's worked for the government for the past 25 years. >> now he's the star of the hit show "rocket city rednecks" where he and his team solve engineering problems using good ole engineering ingenuity. they're helping build a steam catapult to launch a car forward just like an aircraft carrier catapult. take a look. >> this thing hopefully if it works right, it's going to give you a little bit of a jolt. jay and i got in the car, we buckled up, default our helmets on, we're ready to go. here we are in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. do you hear the guys in the background? yeah, yeah, we're loving that. so the show's second season premieres tonight on the national geographic channel. dr. travis taylor joins us now. welcome. very nice to have you. >> good morning. >> this jay leno moment, were you a little worried that was going to back fire on you? >> well, we didn't want to kill the nation's talk show funny man. then my dad took me aside and said, on, you better not kill jay leno. but i asked jay, i said, jay, we're going to get kind of a jolt from this. do you think you can handle it? do you have any health issues i need to know about? he said, well, i pulled 7.3 gs with the blue angels. >> so you worked with the department of defense and nasa for 25 years, had above top secret clearance. you hold five degrees. optical science, engineering, physics, aerospace engineers, astronomy and electrical engineering and are currently completing a second ph.d. in engineering. >> i completed that. >> you're a showoff, let me say that. you're a showoff. >> why this show with all of these degrees? >> well, that's a really good question. i was talking to my family about doing this show, the idea was we want to get the next generation interested in science and math again. we want to get the kids back into it seeing that it's cool. so we can have that next generation of people like neil armstrong. >> the term "redneck" means a lot of different things to a lot of different people and they're not always nice. but you embrace it. >> absolutely. we've looked up several different origins, but the true one is the southern farmers, share croppers, they had everything they had on their farm. if something went wrong, they had to fix it with the things they had so they were hard-working family centric folks. >> so one of the things that you've used is to create a moon shine powered rocket. let's look at this. >> we're pouring moon shine into the rocket's fuel tank. and then very carefully we insert that fuel tank into the rocket, which, by the way, is loaded with explosives. it's going, it's going, it's going. >> my first reaction is this is a waste of some good moon shine, but second, how do you come up with these ideas? >> the first american in space went into space on moon shine. i bet you didn't know that, did you? it was about 80% moon shine and 20% water. >> you're being serious? >> i'm being serious. >> you have this deadpan delivery. >> explain what you mean there. >> well, alcohol is a really good rocket fuel when you mix it with liquid oxygen or nitrous oxide and makes a very good rocket motor. so that's what they used for the first rocket that put alan shepherd in space. >> i've got to tell you i'm a believer. i sat and watched this with my 14-year-old and we just kept on watching and watching and watching and he was learning in the process. so congratulations, i think this is remarkable. have you ever had any close calls? >> well, we did build a submarine out of a fertilizer tank -- >> what could possibly go wrong? >> well, my dad wasn't real happy when me and my nephew got in there and we went underwater. we hit about 16 feet and that turns out to be the crush depth of some of the pieces we were using. so we sunk the thing like twice in 30 seconds. it was a little scary but we were fine. we got out. >> dr. travis taylor, you have to come back and teach us science because that would be the most fun science class in the history ever. >> absolutely. pleasure to do it. >> thank you very much. coming up, we knew it all along. the truth behind this viral video. an eagle swooping down and snatching a baby. later on "starting point" what is the deal with tim tebow? why the nfl's most celebrated backup can't get in the game, even with the starter riding the bench. five days later, i had a massive heart attack. bayer aspirin was the first thing the emts gave me. now, i'm on a bayer aspirin regimen. 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[ female announcer ] tylenol® cold multi-symptom nighttime relieves nasal congestion. nyquil® cold and flu doesn't. with odor free aspercreme. powerful medicine relieves pain fast, with no odor. so all you notice is relief. aspercreme. welcome back. 57 minutes past the hour. looking at the top cnn trends. >> it looks almost too strange to be true. guess what, it is. it looks like an eagle swoops out of the air, picks up a baby and then drops him. so it turns out that's a really well done fake. it is orchestrated by students studying 3-d animation design in montreal. they made the baby and they made the eagle. i love that. >> such good technology. >> you're going to meet them. coming up on "starting point" we'll talk to the three students behind the hoax who are soaking up all the viral fame. >> this is going viral too. friendly neighborhood spider-man dropping by the oval office. this picture of president obama playing with a kid in a spider-man costume is spreading all over the web. it was posted on the president's facebook and twitter accounts. one of the writers was joking that spider-man was mad because he makes over $250,000 a year. he's worried about his taxes going up. >> that is so sweet. that is it for "early start." thanks for being with us today. >> "starting point with soledad o'brien" starts right now. good morning, welcome, everybody. our starting pointing this morning, a winter thrashing. a giant winter storm is threatening holiday getaway plans nationwide. a foot of snow up north and we're watching for a possible