Effort. Still the White House Press secretary jay carney wasnt ready to unveil specifics. Its a complex problem that will require complex solution. No single piece of legislation no single action will fully address the problem. So i dont have a specific agenda to announce to you today. One of the nations leading proponents for gun regulation, mayor michael bloomberg, said he is prepared to use his own personal fortune for this cause. Adding theres simply no need to wait for another tragedy to happen. If the massacre in tucson wasnt enough to make our National Leaders act, and if the more recent bloodshed in aurora, colorado, oak creek, wisconsin, portland, oregon and other towns wasnt enough, perhaps this slaughter of innocence at Sandy Hook Elementary School will at long last be enough. We have made our voices heard and hold washington accountable for facing up to the epidemic of gun violence in our country. If this moment passes into memory without action from washington, it will be a stain upon our nations commitment to protecting the innocent including our children. This is not a partisan issue. This is just a bunch of people who i think are cowed by the nra. As i said yesterday, do you think the nra has power . Just remember the number one priority was to defeat barack obama. Last time i checked he will be inaugurated again. Mayor bloomberg will be live on morning joe later this morning. Two leading democrats who have earned high praise from the National Rifle association are now rethinking their stance on guns. Last night senator mark warner of virginia became the latest to call for action. Ive been a longtime supporter of Second Amendment rights. You know, i believe every american has Second Amendment rights, and the ability to hunt and its part of our culture. I had an nra rating of an a. But, you know, enough is enough. My ive got im the father of three daughters. This weekend they all said, dad, how can this go on . And i, like i think most of us, realize that there are ways to get to rationale gun control. There wont be one perfect law that will stop a crazy person from doing evil things. But when we have close to 30,000, you know, killings a year from all types of gun violence, even if we save a few lives, we make progress. I can answer my daughters with a better answer than i gave them on friday night. Senator joe manchin of West Virginia who once appeared in a campaign ad shooting a rifle, declared its now time to act during a statement made by morning joe host and former congressman joe scarborough. Im a proud nra member, always have been. We need to sit down and move this dialogue to a sensible, reasonable approach. I dont know anyone in the hunting or sporting arena that goes out with an assault rifle. I dont know anyone that needs 30 rounds in the clip to go hunting. Millions of people are proud gun people and obey the law. Seeing the massacre of so many innocent children, its changed. Its changed america. Politicians can no longer be allowed to defend the status quo. They must be forced to defend our children. Parents can no longer take no for an answer from washington when the topic turns to protecting our children. Entrenched special interests will try to muddy the cause in the coming days. The cause of this sickening mass shooting like the others is no longer a mystery to commonsense americans. Blessedly there are more commonsense americans than there are special interests. Even if it doesnt always seem that way. I encourage anybody who missed it to go to nbcnews. Com to see all of joes comments. As for the national rival association, the lobbying group has been silent since friday. The nra has since taken down its facebook page, gone quiet on twitter and offered no comment on the shootings. What happened in connecticut did, however, prompt the largest petition on a white house website calling on the administration to immediately address the issue of gun control by introducing new legislation. As for the investigation in newtown, police say the gunman, 20yearold adam lanza did not leave behind any note describing a possible motive for the attack. So far officials have been unable to obtain information from his commuters damaged hard drive. Pete williams has more on the investigation. Reporter the police who found nancy lanza, adam lanzas mother shot to death in bed also found his computer. They say its internal hard drive had been removed and severely damaged. Attempts to get information from it, Law EnforcementOfficials Say, have so far not been successful. Experts say though it can be difficult, its not always impossible. I seen people try to damage a hard drive with a sledgehammer, screwdriver, throw it in the river, in most of those cases the Forensic Experts have been able to recover some data. Reporter as for the guns used in the shooting, Officials Say nancy lanza legally bought them in the past few years. Atf agents verified she and her son adam visited shooting ranges. Her friends say so, too. She had done this for adam partly to teach him responsibility and to get him out and interacting with people. He took great pride in the fact that he knew how to be safe with the guns and was very responsible with them. Reporter police say adam ha lanza was carrying hundreds of rounds of ammunition when he shot out a window to get inside sandy hook elementary, and he shot himself with a handgun only when he saw Police Coming for him. I can tell you the First Responders entered that school and saved many human lives. I can tell you it broke our hearts that we couldnt save them all. Reporter adam lanzas former teachers and Family Friends say he struggled with aspergers syndrome, Mental Health experts say it has no clear link to violence. A psychologist was assigned at his school to protect him, and he had another disorder, he was insensitive to emotional and physical pain. I was asked so many times was he bullied . Its impossible because we all watched him so closely. Somewhere after he graduated and went on in this world, sadly enough he lost all that support. That was Pete Williams reporting. We will have more from newtown later in the show. As always, let us know why you are awake, if you have any thoughts you want to share with us. Send us an email at waytooearly msnbc. Com. Still ahead this morning, president obama makes a counter offer to republicans on the fiscal cliff. The white house giving some ground on taxes, but will it be enough to find a compromise with just two weeks to go until the final deadline . If you want a piece of really good news, we have some for you. About a member of our nbc family. After being kidnapped and held for five days inside syria by an unknown group, Richard Engel and his production crew members have been freed unharmed. They are safely out of the country. Richard one of the best reporters on the planet, covering stories from egypt to north korea and we are extremely happy to have him and his crew safe. Well be right back. Id like to thank eating right, whole grain, multigrain cheerios mom, are those my jeans . [ female announcer ] people who choose more whole grain tend to weigh less than those who dont. Multigrain cheerios a regular guy with an irregular heartbeat. The usual, bob . Not today. [ male announcer ] bob has afib Atrial Fibrillation not caused by a heart valve problem, a condition that puts him at greater risk for a stroke. [ gps ] turn left. I dont think so. 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Get medical help right away if you develop any signs or symptoms of bleeding, like unusual bruising or tingling. You may have a higher risk of bleeding if you take xarelto® with aspirin products, nsaids or blood thinners. Talk to your doctor before taking xarelto® if you currently have abnormal bleeding. Xarelto® can cause bleeding, which can be serious, and rarely may lead to death. You are likely to bruise more easily on xarelto®, and it may take longer for bleeding to stop. Tell your doctors you are taking xarelto® before any planned medical or dental procedures. Before starting xarelto®, tell your doctor about any conditions, such as kidney, liver or bleeding problems. Ready to change your routine . Ask your doctor about onceaday xarelto®. For more information including cost support options, call 1888xarelto or visit goxarelto. Com. Welcome back. Lets return to the tragedy in newtown. Today residents, students and teachers beginning a new day after the first of the victims of the School Shooting were laid to rest. Two adults shot at the school on friday did survive and are recovering. Danielle leigh has more. Good morning. Reporter good morning. You may be able to make out a Christmas Tree just behind me. Its marking a memorial that has become the focal point of this little town. And many students today may drive past it as they head to class as they return to their routines for the First Time Since this shooting. It will be a reminder in many ways that some things will never be the same. Yesterday we had the first two funerals for the victims, those for jack pinto and noah pozner, among the services today, a viewing for the school teacher, vicki soto, who tried to shield her students. Its been amazing to see the support in this community. Many turning to picking up the pieces. That said at sandy hook, things in many ways are still on hold. That school is locked down as this investigation continues, possibly for months. Even though School Officials in the nearby town of monroe say they could have a school ready in about a day, its unclear when students will return to class. That picture of jack pinto from baseball, just never stops to move you. I did notice on danielles head there was not a hat orb a hood. Lets go to bill karins. I guess maybe its not raining in connecticut right now, but most of the northeast is wet. It was pouring there about an hour ago. Traveling up through new england, especially massachusetts from providence northwards up 95 through New Hampshire and maine, you will get drenched. Its a wet morning out there. Visibility is low. The fog is not as bad as yesterday. In baltimore, the airport was shut down at one point. Todays forecast, the heavy rain, hartford northward it will be moving out throughout the day. At least its warm. You have to feel bad for the ski lovers, the snowmobilers, anyone who has anything do with winter recreation. This has been a miserable start to winter. Where winter will be full force, a snowstorm heading from the rockies it will nail areas of nebraska, iowa and wisconsin. It looks to miss chicago. It looks like areas to the north and west of chicago will get snow. Thats tomorrow into thursday. The forecast today will be clearing it out during the morning in new england, the southeast looks just fine. Unbelievable how warm it is in the northeast. I was hoping for a bit of snow. Only a week of snow, its not looking good for a white christmas. Yeah, and im going skiing. There are new signs that the fiscal cliff negotiations are picking up and the two sides may actually be edging closer to compromise. This morning Speaker Boehner is expected to meet with House Republicans to share details of his latest meeting with president obama. The president obama delivering a counter proposal offering to raise tax rates on households earning more than 400,000 a year. Thats a step back from the 250,000 dividing line hes been calling for. A few days ago boehner had offered to raise taxes on those earning more than 1 million. People familiar with the latest plan say the president is also willing to reduce increases in Social Security benefits. However on medicare, the white house is resisting calls to raise the eligibility age from 65 to 67. The president is also pushing for a twoyear extension of the debt ceiling. Sad news out of d. C. , the second longest serving senator in history, Daniel Inouye died yesterday. He has represented hawaii in congress ever since it became a state back in 1959. He spent almost 50 years in the senate serving as chairman of the powerful Appropriations Committee and the senates president protem making him third in line for succession to the presidency. President obama praised the world war ii veteran and medal of honor recipient calling inouye a true american hero. He lost his arm fighting the germans in 1945. Harry reid remembered his colleague yesterday on the senate floor. I have never known anyone like dan inouye, no one else has. The kindness and that he has shown me during my time here in the senate has been something i will cherish always. A man who has lived and breathed the senate. If there were ever a patriot, dan inouye was that patriot. Daniel inouyes staff said his final world was aloha. He is survived by his wife, son and granddaughter. He was 88 years old. Republican congressman tim scott will be switching chambers next year becoming the first africanamerican u. S. Senator from the state of South Carolina. Governor nikki hayley selected scott to replace jim demint who is resigning in january to lead the heritage foundation. Mr. Scott will be the only africanamerican in the senate. Despite the historic appointment the congressman said he is focused on getting the job done on government. What i never heard on the campaign trail is beside the fact that youre black, or because youre black, heres what we want to do. They asked me questions about values and issues. Thats an amazing thing. It speaks to the evolution of South Carolina and our nation. It speaks to the heart of the good people of our nation, specifically of our state. I would say this, more importantly than the complexion that i have, i think back to growing up in singleparent household. I would love to speak to the single moms out there and say dont give up on your kids. It may get tough. It may be challenging. But all things are truly possible in this nation. The 47yearold is considered a Tea Party Favorite with a strong conservative voting record. Scott will face a special election in 2014 to serve out the final two years of senator demints term. Lets go to the world of business. Morgan stanley will pay a 5 million settlement for its role in facebooks troubled ipo. They were fined for violating securities law. Lets get a bit more on the world of business with kare karen tso. Good morning. Morgan stanley, as you recall, was a top underwriter for the facebook listing earlier this year. And the Securities Regulator in massachusetts has accused the company of improperly influencing analysts before that sale. This relates to tduring this tie period facebook had concerns about its revenue outlook. It was saying for the Second Quarter that numbers would come in at low end of forecasts, between 1. 1 billion and 1. 2 billion it had forecast. Because of this, the reason behind this, they were expecting more facebook users to be getting to the site through smartphones, and therefore effecteding the ad revenue. A Morgan Stanley banker organized phone calls with similar interests. T in addition to this the information communicated on the telephone call wasnt filed with the regulator with the u. S. Securities authorities on the night it was made. The authorities accused company of not telling all investors all the information. We know there are numerous recriminations after the listing as the shares tanked about 30 , and this is the major settlement thats taken place since then. Morgan stanley says theyre happy to have the matter behind them, but they have not admitted wrongdoing or anything went wrong with that listing. 5 million in some ways chump change for Morgan Stanley. Futures are higher this morning, also at the top of the hour on morning joe, in the wake of last weeks School Shooting the white house prepares to tackle gun violence in american life. The morning joe crew will break down the underlying factors and whether theres the political will in washington to address the issue. When we come back here, well check in on sports where cy young award winner r. A. Ridicke is packing his bags. New prilosec otc wildberry is the same frequent heartburn treatment as prilosec otc. Now with a fancy coating that gives you a burst of wildberry flavor. Now why make a flavored heartburn pill . Because this is america. And we dont just make things you want, we make things you didnt even know you wanted. Like a spoon fork. Spray cheese. And jeans made out of sweatpants. So grab yourself some new prilosec otc wildberry. [ male announcer ] one pill each morning. 24 hours. Zero heartburn. Satisfaction guaranteed or your money back. Lets turn to sports now. We do on this day need a little comedy. Lets do the jets, right . Theyre on the road against the titans trying to keep their slim playoff hopes alive. In the fourth quarter, jets down by four. Mark sanchez, double coverage, picked off by Michael Griffin. Well say his name again. T