Newtown. Newtown. Newtown. Newtown. How many more . Reporter performers and artists now joining with 800 mayors calling for a plan to end gun violence. But Wayne Lapierre, the chief executive officer and public face of the National Rifle association, made clear on nbcs meet the press that his organization will oppose legislation adding new restrictions to the sale of weapons or highcapacity ammunition magazines. Look, i know theres a media machine in this country that wants to blame guns every time something happens. I know theres an antisecond amendment industry in this town. I know theres political leads that for 20 years always try to say it is because americans own guns. Im telling you what i think will make people safe. And what every mom and dad will make them better, if when they drop their kid off at school in january is if we have a Police Officer in that school, a good guy. Reporter as the last of the newtown Massacre Victims are laid to rest, the nra has taken the position that Armed Security officers in schools are a major part of their solution. I have found the statements by the nra over the last couple of days to be really disheartening because the statements seem not to reflect any understanding of the slaughter of children that happened in newtown, connecticut. Heres what bothered me. The nra spokespeople have been following deal with every possible cause of gun violence except guns. Barbara starr joins us live. There have been hardcore outrage. What are opponents saying . What they are doing, miguel is making the point none of this is really new. School districts across the country have grappled for years with the question of security on school grounds. There have been this debate has been going on for some time. But these advocates of more gun laws, the opposite of the nra, also offer this point. They remind everyone, there was an Armed Security officer at Columbine High School the day of that 1999 massacre and that person could not stop that event. What they say is controlling gun violence now requires a package of solutions, Mental Health solutions for those who are mentally ill, gun laws and potentially more for schools a package of Solutions Beyond the schoolhouse door. Miguel . A tough question in washington but what can only be described by a rant on friday by Wayne Lapierre what is your sense of it . The tone of it the fact he blamed anybody but didnt see any role for the nra to really play in this, how did that play, you think, in washington . Reporter well, the media machine that he referenced, i think you can well imagine, a good deal of the press corps found themselves perhaps scratching their head about that one. Some people, of course, do support the nra and mr. Lapierre. I think the real question, as you say, is one now of political muscle. Will those who want to see more gun laws enacted have the political muscle now to get the votes for some new legislation, either on banning weapon sales or banning the highpowered magazines or will the nra be able, even after all of this and the growing sentiment by all accounts across the country, will they still have the political muscle that they have had for so many years to push back against any new legislation . Very interesting. Thank you very much, Barbara Starr in washington. The navy is investigating the death of a Senior Member of one of its s. E. A. L. Teams in afghanistan. Cnn has learned commander joe price play is committed suicide. Price commanded s. E. A. L. Team four based in Virginia Beach and it conducted counterterrorism investigations in afghanistan. His family has been notified. The navy says there is nothing to suggest that price was involved in any militaryrelated investigations or controversies. In india, there are growing demonstrations after a 23yearold woman was gang raped on a bus. The protesters are growing angrier over the number of rapes in the capital and the Inadequate Police response. Authorities have tried to ban protests in new delhi but that ban has calmed nothing. Public outrage over the violent rape last sunday has only grown. So far, six suspects have been arrested and now some lawmakers are wanting rape to be treated as a capital crime. Hawaii has never known a more represented son than daniel inouye. He won a medal for heroism in world war ii wipe out a machine gun nest that pinned him and his men, even though he had been shot and lost his right arm. He served even though many japaneseamericans were kept in internment camps. The first family attended todays funeral and so did his longtime friend, senator harry reid. To everything, there is a season, a time to every purpose under heaven, a time to be born and a time to die. You see, this was danienian inouyes time. He led a full and productive life. He was 88 years old and he lived each of those 88 years to its fullest. Inouyes accomplishments are legendary. At his death, he was the senates longest serving member, second only to robert byrd of west virginia. Back here in the u. S. , the president is spending the Christmas Holiday with his family in hawaii. Cnns Brianna Keilar is there. There is no official word when he is coming back to the mainland but as that fiscal cliff deadline gets closer what do you think will happen as it rolls on . Reporter no official word the president will return to washington, i think that is the expectation. As you know, miguel, the senate will convene on december 27th, thats thursday. And in a perfect world, what the white house would want to see is the senate take up some sort of measure to avert the tax hikes that will hit people earning 250,000 or less. Thats what they would want. That of course, would require some buyin from Senate Republicans and ideally, as the white house would say that would then pass the house. Now, thats lot of sort of wishful thinking, you might say, especially considering some of the pessimism we are hearing from democrats and republicans about whether the u. S. Is going to go over the fiscal cliff. Some folks think that perhaps senator mcconnell would not negotiate something with Senate Democrats if he wasnt sure that it was going to pass the house, that it would get by at least some of the republicans who would need to get by to pass. But i think the white house is hoping that he will kind of buck House Republicans and agree to work something out so that something can pass the senate. But its very much up in the air, miguel, and not certain that we are not going over the fiscal cliff at this point. Sounds like a very dangerous game, a very complicated game of chicken, the highest levels. What is your sense of it . You spent time with the president , know washington well. Do you think someone is going to blink . You know, if youd asked me a couple of weeks ago, i would have said i didnt think that the country would go over the fiscal cliff. I think its very much a possibility at this point. I was sort of surprised that, honestly, a deal wasnt worked out. So i think at this point, too, the white house would have told you behind the scenes that ultimately, a deal would be stru struck, but i dont think the confidence is there i think some of the pessimism you are seeing genuine. Theres still on very is juice lay chance to work out some sort of agreement, but even so, there are a lot of things that will kick in with the fiscal cliff that even if you deal with, for instance, the tax like are supposed to kick in, unemployment is set to unemployment extensions are set to expire at the end of the year, whats called the dock fix, sort of makes sure that doctors are paid what they should for folks who are on Government Health care that is set is to expire. Theres also spending cuts that you are set is to kick in there are a lot of things that will happen because of the fiscal cliff. It is very complicated. And right now, a solution is unclear. You are making my head hurt, brianna. No offense whatsoever. Sorry. Have a daiquiri out there looks absolutely gorgeous. Try to have some fun. Aloha. Thanks very much. Thanks, miguel. If lawmakers fail to reach a deal by the end of the year, how will automatic tax increases affect your bottom line . We are breaking it down. And is Actor Ben Affleck consider a run for the u. S. Senate . We will have his answer to questions put to him today. And a teenage girl shot by the taliban for going to school, we will have an update for you on malala off salve zani. Is still no deal in sight on the fiscal cliff. The president is holding firm on tax cuts for the wealthiest americans. Republicans say that must come with Government Spending cuts. In a plan b by republicans failed to make it to a vote and that has sparked some criticism from within the party. Two years ago, Speaker Boehner promised to restore that process around which our entire government was designed. And so far, he has failed to fulfill that promise. I fault him for that. Steven moore is the senior Economics Writer for the wall street journal. Necessary chicago. Steven what do you make of congressman mcclintock and a lot of congressmen out there that mr. Boehner has lost control of his own party . Well, he certainly did, miquel, temporarily last week. Almost everybody expected that plan b, as you described it, to past. And it had to be pulled at the last minute. That was an embarrassment for the speaker. He couldnt line up the votes in his own caucus that mean there is a lot of divisions even among the republicans about the best way to plead and i think, miguel, this means john boehner has to come up with plan c now. Because as you just mentioned, we got about a week left and i still believe theres a chance, i would not put the odds too low, that maybe on december 30 or december 31, they get a deal done this is the way washington works, folks, like a teenager doing his homework, right . They always do it very very last minute. Havent given up hope is there a deal struck before the end of the year. 11 p. M. On new years eve, they are gonna come up with something . Could be. It could be. I want to make this point, too, if i may. Look, i dont think its a disaster if it happens after january 1st. It would mean that all these tax goes up but republicans and i think the president made the case that any deal thats struck is going to retroactively make sure that the tax cuts take place on january 1st. So, it would cause a lot of confusion, no question about it and disruptive, but i think in the long term, the difference between making a deal say on december 31st or making in the middle of january thats not such a big deal in my opinion. Do you think given when they make that deal, do you think the tax situation for americans, see in their paychecks almost immediately . Well, yeah, if we dont have that deal in hand before december 31st americans are going to start to see money withheld from their paycheck, you know, far in excess of what they have in past years. I mean, we are talking, miguel, for a middle class family that makes between 45 and 75,000, depending on their financial circumstance about a 2500 a year tax increase, going to be very significant for people. The point im making, it will be they will get that money back if they reach a deal because it will all be made retroactive january 1st. This just isnt a very good way to run a first world country, right . Its amazing that no business, no investors, no worker has any idea in ten days what our tax system is going to look like. Thats big problem in terms of doing planning, if youre an employer or figuring out how your going to invest it is very disruptive and into the very good way of doing business in washington. Companies have been compensating for this eventuality for quite some time now though. What happens if we do go over that cliff . Will we see a big effect in the overall economy . Well, you know, look, i think that raising taxes on anybody is a really bad idea, given the kind of fragility of this economy. Its still not, you know, firing on all cylinders, far from it. Im one of these people who believe the best thing would be to extend the tax cuts for everybody six months or a year until they get it resolved f it does happen, i think there will be a little bit of a slow down in the first few weeks of the year in terms of economic activity. You saw what happened with the stock market on friday after there was no deal. The stock market dropped by about 150 points. No question wall street wants a deal here. L the eternal amount mist, steven moore, thank you vet. Keep the champagne cold. Keep your fingers crossed. All right. Going off the fiscal cliff will have some very real consequences for just about every american taxpayer. We will take a look at that, straight ahead. Welcome to chevys yearend event. So, the 5. 3liter v8 silverado can tow up to 9,600 pounds . 315 horsepower. Whats that in reindeerpower . [ laughs ] [ pencil scratches ] [ male announcer ] chevys giving more. Get the best offer of the year 0 apr financing for 60 months plus 1,000 Holiday Bonus cash. Plus trade up for an additional 1,000 tradein allowance. Hurry. Bonus cash ends january 2nd. As we look at the week ahead, we would like to be focussing on the joy christmas supposed to bring. For many of us is a season of worry with the fiscal cliff hanging over all of us. If congress and the white house doesnt reach a deal to reduce the deficit, automatic spending cut goes into effect and taxes practically on everyone will go up come first of the year. We want to focus on the tax part of the equation and joining us is todd shownen berger, managing partner at land colt capital. Todd, many people will be hit with the alternative minimum tax if no deal is struck. What exactly is is that and how will it affect me, you, everybody across the country . The amt, alternative minimum tax was put in place by congress, actually meant for the very wealthy of america, the very wealthy tax filers so that they were not taking full advantage of too many deductions and credits. The problem is there was never indexed for inflation so each year, congress those pass an exemption so therefore it protects middle class families. But its part of the entire fiscal cliff negotiation, nothing has been passed. So we are looking at maybe 30 million americans, 30 million to 100 americans that could be deeply impacted by the time springtime rolls around. What about other tax cities in understand theres three other taxes we could get hit with. What are they . Talking to steven moore about t you clearly the federal income tax, your going to see a we are going to revert back to the 2000 tax schedule you so the top tax rate will bounce up to 39. 6 . Then you look at the dividend tax rate. Right now, its at 15 it can jump as high as 43 . Capital gains taxes from 15 up to 20 . So, you could see that the implications, the negative implications just to wall street but also to those individuals that you are living on a fixed income. So this impacts all americans, not just the wealthy americans. This goes top and bottom to everybody involved. And what about the payroll tax holiday . If that expires what does that mean for our paychecks come january . Well, the very first paycheck, cnn viewers want to know this, the very first paycheck they will receive in 2013 will be reduced by 2 . Now that may seem like a nominal figure right at the start, but as long as you continue this throughout deep into 2013, youre looking at real numbers here. I mean, somebody that is making 50,000, like steven said, they are looking at anywhere between 2 and 3,000 extra in extra tax. So that payroll tax holiday is critical and these the Immediate Impact to americans and thats just a few weeks away. All right. And there was some talk about payroll employees putting that off until maybe the end of january. You really do think it will hit the very first day of january in your first check into january, youre going to see it . Absolutely, miguel. Look, we are going over the cliff. I love the optimism from people like steven, i respect him. But realistically though, you have so much money that still needs to be negotiated. We only have a few days left, everybody is out of town right now. Realistically, we are going over the cliff and therefore, you have Payroll Processing firms right away, like adp that have been told that those payroll checks immediately are going to be hit with that extra 2 . Yes, all americans are going to see it in their very first paycheck in 2013. Oh, joy. Thank you very, very much for being with us in the days before christmas. Have a greeted one. Happy holidays. Happy holidays. The recession has already been pretty tough on a lot of Small Business owners now some of them are saying uncertainty about the fiscal cliff is more than they can handle. Emily schmidt explains. Climb on. Reporter there are people who make overcoming obstacles, even those towering 40 verier if the val feet high easy. These rock climbers are the heart of the climbing center business. I think with climbing, you have to trust your partner and you have to know that they are holding your rope. Reporter this takes team work, which is where she is frustrated by all the talk of another cliff looming in washington. Theres so much uncertainty, not just for me as a Business Owner but for our members, for our clientele. Reporter with negotiations stalled on the way to divert the fiscal cliff, she has put plans to expand her business on old. She is worried because going over the cliff will cost middle class families an estimated 2,000 a year, money people wont have to spend here. Its always challenging when your nee a recreational type of environment because thats sometimes the first thing that people consider, you know, when they are evaluating their finances and what am i going to spend my money on . The fear that i have is that were going to lose some customers, we are gonna lose our shoppers and we have been here for ten years. Reporter for Clothing Store owner lindsay it has been a rough few years since the recession. Now she says sher terrified we are on the verge of tumbling back in. I think the effects of them not coming up with a plan is gonna be devastating and i see a huge