with odor free aspercreme. powerful medicine relieves pain fast, with no odor. so all you notice is relief. aspercreme. i'm soledad point." thousands of people in the dark. thousands more stuck at airports. the latest on the blizzard that's now ruining holiday plans nationwide. plus, the house goes home for the holidays without a fiscal cliff deal. after dealing a huge blow to house speaker john boehner. has he lost his party? what will it cost taxpayers. >> what will it cost your 401(k). investors lose faith in washington. a rough friday before christmas.

is the fiscal cliff already here? church bells will ring 26 times for the victims in sandsy hook. one week after the terrible tragedy. friday, december 21st. "starting point" begins right now. good morning, a major political blow for house speaker john boehner, one that will affect his position. house republicans abandons him, and it forced the speaker to cancel a vote on plan "b" which would have extended bush tax cuts on incomes below $1 million. congressional correspondent dana bash there was and watched it unfold. walk us through what happened? >> it really was stunning. that is the perfect word,

soledad. i was watching all day, talking to republicans to try and figure out if the speaker had the votes. really hard to imagine he was so far out. so far out on this being a strategy. republicans want to prove that they won't let things go up. i was watching earlier votes. watching the speaker's team on the floor, trying to twist arms and trying to get republican votes, and clear from the expressions on their faces it was not going well at all, and all of a sudden they put the house in recess, which is effectively a pause button, and after that, we heard he was pulling the bill from the floor. there was a lot of emotion among republicans, especially those who are big supporters of the speaker. listen to steve la tourette,

fellow republican from ohio. >> it weakens the entire republican party, the continuing dumbing down of the republican party and we are going to be seen more and more as a bunch of extremists that can't even get a majority of our peen people to support causes we're putting forward. if you're not a governing majority, you won't be a majority. >> now, just by way of background, la tourette is very close with the speaker, and also retiring in part because of he is fed up with the way things go in washington. i was outside a meeting, and you could hear the boos inside, you could hear cheers as well. a lot of tension and very bad for the speaker with regard to his -- his own leadership. >> let's talk about that for a second, dana. i was going to ask you, what happens next? what happens next with the fiscal cliff and next for speaker boehner if he can't rally his own party for his leadership position and ability

to negotiate? >> let's start with that. a lot of answers to that will lie in what happens next with regard to any kin of big deal. as we approach december 1st, just around the corner. will there be a deal that is kind of done outside of him? maybe with the republican leader in the senate? and -- so he can step back and let things happen? something comes to the house, a majority of democrats could vote for it, and maybe enough republicans to get it over the top? even that could hurt his leadership. it's an open question. surprising given the fact that he has had a very, very difficult time. leading a very fractious caucus, particularly in 2010. a lot of people elected who simply came for one reason and one reason only, to cut spending, didn't care about

getting re-elected, didn't care about following leadership, and he knows how to legislate, know where is the votes are, and miscalculated this. a big question mark. where do we go from here? he'll talk to the president and congress for the most part is gone until after christmas. we'll have to reloy on negotiators and hope they can vote between christmas and new year's. other top story this morning is the travel nightmare before christmas. nasty weather in the upper midwest made it very difficult to get around and dangerous in some cases. later today, new england is expected to get slammed. right now, northeastern ohio is feeling the effects of winter's first major storm there. victor blackwell in the thick of it in cleveland this morning. good morning, victor. how is it? >> good morning, soledad. not so thick yet, but thickening. if you come here and speak with a person who is cleveland native, they would look around and say snow? what snow? the ground is wet.

just a dusting on the ground. but we have snow blakes blowing sideways, the fact that you can see this horizontal snow, that means there is strong wind. gusts are kicking up and that's the problem. let's talk about the airports, because here in cleveland, we know that there is no major problem, no delays. but in chicago, o'hare, last night, 350 cancelations. we'll get an update at 8:30 eastern on what today will look like. as more than 200,000 passengers are expected to travel through that airport, roads are difficult, a crash on wednesday in iowa, ended with two deaths, seven deaths across four states in this storm causing problems in the midwest, and tornadoes in arkansas and alabama as well. soledad. >> victor blackwell, in the thick of it, i see the flurries behind you. good luck. we'll keep checking in. >> it's coming. >> and i'm nice and toasty and warm inside today. >> you are. >> let's get to meteorologist rob marciano, tracking it all,

at the cnn weather center in atlanta. >> good morning, soledad. what happen yesterday, you will get a feel what's happening today. the totals won't be the same today. a foot and a half middleton, wisconsin. dubuque, iowa, a foot or more with blowing or drifting snow. and that caused some travel problems yesterday. 67-mile-an-hour wind gusts at the st. louis airport. right now, de-icing there because of the cold. other air traffic delays, ground traffic stops and laguardia, two-hour delays, and three-hour delays already at newark. those are just going to continue to pile up. bag storm, a lot of snow behind us. michigan, parts of indiana, blowing, drifting snow, wind gusts on the shores much lake michigan over 0 mil50 miles an . imagine the waves. all rain from trendon up through bridgeport.

some heavy at times. sleet mixing in and snow across parts of the canadian border, winds across a large swath. wind gusting to 50 miles per hour, enough to do some damage. snow totals expected in the next 48 hours or so. along the mountains and across the east side of the great lakes, mostly rain today. looking ahead toward next week. a chance of snow after christmas. let's get through today. >> exactly. my strategy. let's get through today, worry about it when we're there. the wind and rain so powerful in alabama, they uprooted a mercedes dealership's massive billboard. that's the billboard right there. send it crashing into an suv. 50 cars damaged. strong winds flipped some of the cars and downed power lines and debris damaged other cars as well. other stories to talk about this morning. good morning to up. >> thank you, soledad.

2 1/2 hours from now, everything will stop in connecticut and in states across the country. a moment of silence at 9:30 eastern. church bells will toll 26 times in their honor. poppy harlow is live in newtown. good morning, poppy. >> good morning, john. you know, at 9:30 a.m. eastern, many people will stop. we'll have a moment of silence in newtown in cities across america and around the world. the beautiful church bells will toll for all of the victims of the horrific shooting here. the governor here has asked for this to be a day of mourning, we can't understand what these families are going through, but we want to stand near them. president obama will also observe the moment of silence, and governors from at least 28 states have asked all of their residents to do the same. john, we'll bring that moment live on cnn, but the president has shifted to focus

additionally on gun control in this country. that debate raging in the wake of this tragedy. the white house releasing a video from the president, just this morning. the president acknowledging that he is a supporter of the second amendment, the right to bear arms, saying that most gun owners are indeed responsible. but also making very clear where he draws the line. >> here is what i think we should do. this week, i called on congress to take up and pass common sense legislation, that has the support of the majority of the american people, including banning the sale of the military saul style weapons and making sure criminals can't take advantage of legal loopholes to get their hands on a gun. >> that debate will rage on. we're expecting to hear from the nra, holding a press conference in washington later on today. today, john and certainly at 9:30, about this town, these people and these families. >> 9:30 a.m., a chance for us

all to pause and remember. poppy harlow in newtown. first lady michelle obama, writing an open letter published in "the hartford courant." as a mother of two young daughters, my heartaches for you and your families. like so many americans, wish there was something, anything, i could to say to ease your anguish." a major news conference today. the national rifle association will share its ideas on how to prevent future gun tragedies in its first statement after the newtown shootings. they pledge to make "meaningful contributions" to help make sure it never happens again. a u.s. citizen has reportedly been arrested in north korea, unclear what his crime may be. state media reports that the man entered north korea as a tourist on november 3rd. he was detained and they discovered evidence of some crime that he allegedly admitted

to. members of the swedish embassy, which looks after u.s. interests there, did visit him today. a femme friend says ted kennedy jr. is seriously considering running. some democrats think kennedy's name and money could help him beat scott brown in a special electi election. brown lost his race for re-election, but many suspect he could get in the race to replace senator kerry if he heads to the state department. pro hockey season is wasting away before our very eyes, nhl canceled games through january 14th because labor negotiations have frozen over. more than 600 games gone. prayers may claim the lockout is illegal and sue the owners. half the season gone. >> fans just left. >> what fans at this point? >> we have all given up on these

guys. >> john, thank you. christine, what do you have in business? >> futures down 150 point. bag sell-off expected in the stock market. stock futures down sharply. more than one percentage for all three major indices. world markets down as well. disappointed by the impasse in the fiscal cliff talks in washington. and the run on guns following the newtown shooting is intensifying. gun shops nationwide are selling out of military style rifles like the one used in the school shooting, including in newtown, connecticut. listen to what one shop owner told cnn affiliate wtic. >> i could sell more if i had them. i sold all i had. a kid come in here he yesterday, grabbed an ar-15 off the shelf, walked over, laid it down. i mean, that thing costs $1,200. >> one gun analyst i spoke to said there has been a spike in the semi automatic military style rifles. >> a sharp consumer preference

shift in the last several years to tactical rifles, modern sporting rifles from the bolt action rifles. >> he says it's because they are easy to shoot, have a high magazine capacity. statement reason why the military uses these types of firearms, the reason why consumers like them as well. the second most preferred gun on of mexican drug cartels as well. gun owners expect tougher gun laws on what has been the very fast growing part of the market. some of the major retailers that have taken them off the website aren't advertising them anymore, they are also selling out. >> taking them off the website. >> taken the advertising off, but they are still selling them in the store. gun enthusiasts are going and buying them up. >> thank you, christine. still ahead on "starting point," the gop implodes over plan b. just days until we go over the fiscal cliff. dnc chair debbie wasserman schultz will join us to talk

about whether it's possible if democrats and republicans can get together and negotiate. potential terror alert because of the movie "zero dark thirty" why some worry it will spark extremists to act, ahead. while a body in motion tends to stay in motion. staying active can actually ease arthritis symptoms. but if you have arthritis, staying active can be difficult. prescription celebrex can help relieve arthritis pain so your body can stay in motion. because just one 200mg celebrex a day can provide 24 hour relief for many with arthritis pain and inflammation. plus, in clinical studies, celebrex is proven to improve daily physical function so moving is easier. celebrex can be taken with or without food. and it's not a narcotic. you and your doctor should balance the benefits with the risks. all prescription nsaids, like celebrex, ibuprofen, naproxen, and meloxicam have the same cardiovascular warning. they all may increase the chance of heart attack or stroke, which can lead to death. this chance increases if you have heart disease

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walk it off santa. share videos instantly with s beam. on the galaxy siii and note ii. for a limited time get two flip covers for the price of one. exclusively at verizon. welcome back, everybody. john boehner's plan "b" has imploded. house republicans didn't even get to vote on it because there

wasn't enough support. the whole thing was called off. the house went on recess for the holidays. here is what the speaker said "the house did not take up the tax measure today because it did not have sufficient support from our members to pass. now it is up to the president to work with senator reid on legislation to avert the fiscal cliff." let's get to debbie wasserman schultz. great to have you with us. >> thank you, soledad. great to be here. >> let's start with reaction to what happened last night? >> well, you know, it's frustrating, behalfing, we've been at the negotiating table for weeks. president obama has moved in a mountainous direction toward the republican position, saying, no, we're not going to go with $250,000 in terms of raising the tax rates, we'll go with $400,000, $1.2 trillion in spending cuts and last night, even on the spending cuts plan of speaker boehner's plan "b," he was only able to pass it with

a lot of arm twisting by six votes. on the spending cuts portion. and we know what happened with the tax rates. people making more than $1 million, to be honest with you was actually a tax break of an average of $50,000 for people who make more than $1 million this is behaaffling and frustrating. i've had conservative republicans stop me at home in my district. look, i don't agree with you on everything, debbie, but you have to come together and they are right, we do. >> what's the path to that? what you heard in the statement from speaker boehner was that now it goes to senator harry reid. >> that's utterly irresponsible. that is the spoker throwing up his hands and abdicating his responsibility to come to the negotiating table, sit with president obama, work out the remaining really short-distance they had to go. it's -- it's really challenging

to understand why instead of continuing to do the hard work of the last few steps that they had to take to get to a deal, that the speaker in stead decided to jam us, and put something on the floor that they couldn't pass out of their own caucus. >> the democrats certainly in the house can't pass what they want, so take away is both sides have to come together. what is it going to take? ith not brap surgery. something has to happen and really, really soon to bring both sides together. what is the answer to that? >> the speaker needs to come back to the table and if the president's last offer was not enough for him, what happens, he needs to make a counter offer and what happens in compromise, you get ever closer together and can finally find common ground. you can't get to common ground if you're not at the table, and jam -- if you're not a

negotiator, a person you are not negotiating with in another way. that's not negotiating in good faith. >> a lot of what brings this whole thing. who is left holding the bag who gets blamed with. >> thwart. >> if you look who gets more responsibility, a cnn poll, who would be more responsible for the fiscal cliff, gop in congress, 48%, obama, 37%, both, 11%. as much as it looks like by a decent margin republicans will get the blame, still a massive percentage that blames the president and blames both. not good for anybody. >> this is not about blame. we could go back into session, right now, and pass the bill on what we agree on, 98% of americans and 97% of small businesses. >> the reason republicans don't

want to do that they feel that solves one part of it and doesn't deal with spending. >> but they could -- >> at the end day of the, you know, i'm not an elected official, but even i understand, it's taxes and spending and we have the nation's budget and the math has to work out. >> of course. >> and the spending no, leverage on the spending part of it if they go ahead and pass the tax part of the. >> last night, soledad, they had a spending cuts bill that their own speaker put on the floor that they couldn't pass -- that passed by six votes. it's mind bog licgling. last summer i voted for a trillion in subpoenaing cu ispe. to make sure we didn't default to raise the debt ceiling and not jeopardize the full faith and credit of the united states. that's a trillion in spending cuts that i spent my career opposing. i had to go home and sell it to my progressive constituents and say it can't be my way or the

highway. that's what president has been saying, what democrats have been saying, we're ready to vote for things that are painful for us that we actually would prefer not to do. the republicans need to be responsible, come together, realize we're all going to have to give something up so we can make sure we don't go over the fiscal cliff. make sure we have certainty for the middle class and all of the burden of the solution can't be balanced on the back of the middle class. >> 11 days to get it together. >> got to get it done. >> debbie wasserman schultz, thank you for being with us. >> thank you. >> thank you likewise and happy holidays. speaker boehner will hold a press conference at 10:00 a.m. this morning. no word exactly on what he's going to cover. we can imagine what some of the questions will be about. we'll get more details on the news conference and bring it to you in the hours ahead. still ahead this morning, an olympic athlete leading a double life. what this all-star runner was charging for. and it wasn't running lessons.

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welcome back to "starting point." a couple of stories to tell you about. including one a lot of people

talking about. suzy favor hamilton says depression drove her to work as a $600 per hour prostitute. she reported on the story first come out by smoking gun. she says it was a huge mistake. "zero dark thirty" according to "the washington times," the movie depicts some harsh interrogation tactics. the u.s. doesn't expect violent protests, but forces are always on alert. president obama's inaugural will be fesstive. the president is just holding two inaugural balls after sworn in january 12th. the ceremony on january 21st, and this is the fewest number of official parties in 60 years. the president had 10 in 2009. still ahead on "starting point, " a massive storm system has blanketed the midwest,

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good morning, welcome back, everybody. our team, round brownstein, the editorial director, and charles

blow, and nice to have you all. you look like the bobsy twins today. >> same shirt. yeah, yeah. >> oh, my gosh. >> i knew they would say, charles, what are you wearing? let's talk about bad weather, shall we? much of the country dealing with this nasty weather at the height of holiday travel. new england expected to get slammed by the same system ma making a nightmare. ohio feeling some of the worst effects. victor blackwell there in cleveland for us. how is it looking, victor? >> well, the snow, the big fat snowflakes we saw 30 minutes ago when we spoke, those have been replaced by the fine snow we're seeing, still horizontal. the gusts are coming at a quicker pace now. the big concern is for travel. the airport, checked in with

cleveland hopkins international. no delays, no cancelations, the chicago o'hare, that's where we'll see 220,000 people pass through today as they head home or meet family for christmas break, yesterday, about 350 flights were delayed, coming into or out of that airport. we'll get an update from them at 8:30 eastern on what's happening there. here in cleveland, an update from the ohio d.o.t. that several streets in and around cleveland are below freezing, just below it. 31 degrees is the surface temperature. salt trucks, plows, and drivers. if there is accumulation and that is expected in cuyahoga county, a winter storm warning for this part of northeastern ohio and we are going to see if it gets as bad as it has been in the other midwestern states, where there have been some fatal accidents over there. >> terrible in some of the places. victor blackwell, thank you.

we appreciate it. john berman with an update on other stories. overseas, the assad regime in syria, firing more scud missiles in the past few days. that's what nato secretary-general says this morning. he believes it's a sign the regime is desperate and about to collapse and more proof turkey needs protection. turkey started receiving patriot defense missiles to shoot down everything syria might send over the border. and they are working to beef up security at embassies around the world, this after the attack in benghazi, libya. >> we learned some very hard and painful lessons in benghazi, already acting on them. we have to do better. we owe it to our colleague who's lost their lives in benghazi and the security professionals who acted with such extraordinary heroism, that awful night to try and protect them, and we owe it to thousands of colleagues serving america with great

dedication every day and diplomatic posts around the world. >> and they blame the state department for poor security at the u.s. consulate which left mour americans dead. peter madoff sentenced to ten years for his role in helping his brother, bernie, cover up the most notorious ponzi scheme in history. as the existence of the ponzi scheme became obvious, peter helped his brother prepare more than $300 million worth of checks for family members and took out $200 grand in cash himself. instagram heard the cry from users loud and clear and dropped its advertising plan that allowed them to use images in ads without compensating them. members were outraged that they could be used without their permission or knowledge. >> that really seemed to be very unwise and took a little while

to turn that around. what? 30 days? >> they were going to wait 30 days. it took like 30 minutes. thousands of churches around the country will ring their bells this morning at 9:30 a.m. 26 times in honor of students and teachers killed exactly a week ago at sandy hook elementary school. the next guest says remembrances like this help a lot. peter reed's daughter mary, that picture with her siblings, killed five years ago during the virginia tech massacre. and peter reed joins thus morning. thank you, sir. we appreciate your time. many of the survivors of other tragedies told me that when something else horrible happens, it brings them right back to the day that they experience their own painful loss, and moments like this are just in credibly painful for you. i'm curious to know your advice for those with experience, with what you've experienced. what do you tell people in newtown? what do you learn from your

terrible last few years that could help them. >> good morning, soledad. i'm not sure if i have any special wisdom, but what you said is exactly right. and, unfortunately, now, those families in newtown are going to join this club that nobody wants to be a member of. where you do experience these things, when another tragedy happens. but for us, in the early days, in the weeks and months, getting by meant not trying to take too big of a chunk at a time. had to focus on the next hour, the next day, the next event and really relied on the love and support of family and friends and your community to get you through. and i think looking back on it, i would take away from that is

let those people help you that are trying to help you. you really need it more than you know at the time. >> they are going to ring the bells at 9:30 this morning. i'm curious if this is helpful. more painful for you -- they did similar things in the aftermath of virginia tech. do they help, not just the people who have lost the most, but everybody in the community, trying to heal too? >> i think overall, they are helpful. they are painful, but at the same time, they draw together the families and people who experienced the loss with the community and with a nation, the world that wants to support them, and so even if it brings you in our case, my case, certainly brings you a real pang

when it happens, the balloon release or bell ringing, whatever the event is, at the same time it's helpful because it draws you together with others who want to love and support you and that will be the experience that a lot of the families there in newtown as well. >> what -- we showed a picture earlier of your daughter with her siblings and a lot of the kids who died in this massacre in newtown, connecticut, also had siblings is there any advice for them? what worked with your kids to help them get through? what was horrific pain? >> well, i will say that it goes on and with the reexperiencing, even now with my own children, you know, they are concerned about what happened in newtown, thinking about it, worrying about it, and so that's

something that will go on for a while. but the very simple acts of being present for your kids, holding them close, making sure you love them and are there for them, those are some of the most important things you can do. the hard thing is when as a parent, you are grieving, at the same time you are trying to help your kids through their own grief, and a different level than you are. finding the right things to say and to listen to what your kids are take saving so you understand what they need, and so a lot of it is just holding your kids close, making sure they know love them, making sure they are there for them. addressing their concerns at their level. i think that's true for everybody, not just kids. you have to meet people where they are and nowhere you might want them to be.

>> there have been editorials that have talked about now is the time. this is the moment. this has been so awful, and it's time to make real change it wh it cops to gun laws and in some cases where it comes to looking more closely at mental illness. i was looking at some of the things in the wake of virginia tech and there were similar calls for changes that didn't come about. what would you like to see this time around? >> i would like to see what many of us have been asking for for a long time and people who -- who lost their loved ones to gun violence before me, the things that the president talked about. the things we heard mayor bloomberg talk about. the majority of gun owners and nra owners support, like improving background checks, dealing with the high-capacity magazines. it is important to address mental health issues.

i'm a huge supporter of that. and it has to be dealt with. i support campus safety issues. a website, 32nsi.org, addressing campus safety issues, but as a country, we don't have more mental illness per capita. don't have more depression, don't have more than other countries have. what we do have is more easily available firearms with high capacities to do tremendous amount of damage in a short period of time and those don't belong in the hands of people like the perpetrators of these tragedies. so while it's certainly too soon for the newtown families to even think about this. we need to address their needs where they are, even on tuesday, there were a couple of newtown individuals that -- that came down to d.c. and that sat with those of us who survived other tragedies and they are ready to

work with us to address those issues. >> father of a very tech vichti, mary karen reed. thank you for the time. >> thank you. >> you bet. at 9:30 a.m. eastern time, 26 bells will bring in honor of the victims of newtown. we'll take you there live when it happens. also ahead, we'll talk about politics, cory booker says he will not challenge governor chris christie, more about that, straight ahead. back in a moment.

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welcome back, everyone. apocalypse now. today is the day the world is supposed to end according to some people's interpretations or misinterpretations of the mayan calendar. many experts have debunked the myth. >> what time is it? >> it's already happened in some parts of the world. some parts of the world are already no longer here. >> for example, capitol hill. >> yes. "the new york post" reporting many people are stocking up on goods for emergencies. some people looking for one

final fling at parties, social media apparently. i swear this story is completely unrelated. he resigned as south carolina's governor after admitting he ran off to argentina to be with his mistress. now mark sanford is launching a political comeback he is going to run for a seat that was vacated by tim scott. mayor cory booker has revealed his plan for his political future. there had been speculation he would challenge republican governor chris christie. but that is no longer in the cards. >> i will explore the possibility of running for the united states senate in 2014. >> so booker hopes to replace senator frank lautenberg, a democrat whose temp ends in 2019. lautenberg has not said he's retiring yet. >> he does not look like he

needs to retire immediately. >> democratic party gets 40% of the votes, president obama for minority voter has a grand total of african-american senators? that would be zero. the party needs to be moving in this direction and finding ways to elevate. >> senator harry reid says he supports incumbents. >> i will do cory a favor. saw him the other night, what are you going to do? and i said every conservative's favorite liberal. could you please say that? he is a great guy. >> do i have time to ask about the fiscal cliff? i want to pick your brain for a second. what's next? >> john boehner accomplished something that was almost impossible. he impaled himself on an exercise that had no point. even if he passed this plan b, it was not going anywhere, and to me -- >> what does that mean for him and the fiscal cliff.

>> there are really only two options. option one is boehner has to violate the hastert rule. there is no place where these diagrams overlap. no place where president obama could sign that a majority of house republicans could support. either he can break that, do a deal primarily with votes along the line of a deal that president obama offered him. or going over the cliff and republicans can vote to cut taxes. >> we'll talk about this all morning. what happened last night, big story today. up next, really incredible images, floodwaters during sandy, the images that tell a story the way only a photo can. a look back at the year in pictures, ahead. and i relieve nasal congestion. overachiever. [ female announcer ] tylenol® cold multi-symptom nighttime relieves nasal congestion. nyquil® cold and flu doesn't.

2012 has been a year of many iconic moments both on the national front and the international front from the soaring human spectacle of the olympic games to the lowest moments of humanity's grieving. here to take a look back at the year is the co-founder and ceo of getty images, jonathan klein. nice to have you back. >> thank you. >> let's talk first about sandy

hook and newtown, connecticut, because i think often some of the most amazing pictures have not been the videotape that we've shown but sometimes the stills that can capture grief in a way that a moving picture cannot. the first picture that you have here is a vigil in sandy hook. >> the stills are just extremely powerful. i think they stop you in your tracks and i also think when you have events of such magnitude with the amount of coverage there's been, and frankly, the 7 by 24 coverage, sometimes in the photo we've chosen there's a stillness within the photo and you kind of step back and you stop all of the thinking and all the debates and all the politics and you focus on a couple of individuals in the image and it brings it home very powerfully. i remember with 9/11, people asked me what was my favorite 9/11 image and at the end of the day the one that i chose was of a firefighter at a funeral close

up, and strong man, just a tear down his face and that's all it needed. you don't need the explosions, you don't need the guns and you can get that message across and yeah, it's very difficult story to cover as you know better than most. >> from sandy hook elementary school to sandy itself, the big storm, the devastation captured in a photo, some thing, it makes you gasp and remember what it's about. this is stunning. >> that's an extraordinary photo. the story behind the first photo which was on the cover of "new york" magazine a dutch photographer here he got hold of a helicopter and he managed to take that shot which was extremely difficult shot to take as you can imagine and i think it sort of for us in new york, it really summed up the two cities, as i say no po, and

so po, south of power. some of the other images to show the extent of the devastation both on the coast of course as well as in the city and the fact is, it's a long time afterwards and i didn't think people across the country understand quite how devastating sandy has been and is continuing to be. >> it is interesting because so much of new york and even the surrounding states have recovered so fast. people focused on getting the power back. for a lot of people it's about rebuilding your house. the devastation as bad as we saw katrina for some individuals is terrible. >> and given katrina was awful but the massive population, the number of people impacted, and it takes a lot to bring new york to its knees and it was for that week, it was a very strange place. >> i like this picture of celebration in egypt and i think photos capture celebration better than videotape can ever do it. >> well i think what you see

over here is, makes me think back to the arab spring when it started and the hopes then and when you have a democratic election you don't always get the results you want in a democracy but you go with that and even as we speak they're now protesting against morsi, but that picture really, there were a number of images of the celebration which i thought were powerful and showed that sort of pent up demand for that vote. >> is that what you look for in a photo, it's not just beautifully positioned, if you will or framed picture but it says more because of course you see that picture of celebrations around morsi, we now know how people feel about morsi and kind of invests that picture with even more sort of emotion i think. >> yes, i think that's right. people always say what is an iconic photo. an iconic photo is something that absolutely captures the moment and when we think back to major events during our lives, either events of a human scale

with family, close human scale or those big historic events there tends to be a picture in our minds and there's something about that photo which makes it iconic. you can break it down technically, you can say it's the composition, but it's what it makes you feel. >> this picture of usain bolt winning his second consecutive gold medal in london and i'm sure in the london olympics you had so many photos of the thrill of victory you could have chosen. why this one? >> i think because there were a lot of stories in this these olympic games but bolt was the big story again, and it's very seldom that you'll have two olympic games where the same person is the big story device and the fact that he'd been written off and that personality that he has, that fooling around before the start of the race and chatting to the officials, and i think that he also plays for the cameras. you want sports folks who are,

who realize what they're doing is entertainment and they're camera friendly and he's particularly camera friendly. >> jonathan klein, co-founder and chief executive officer of getty images, nice to have you. we love it when you come by with your beautiful photos. it's a deal, appreciate it. still ahead on "starting point" republicans plan b for the fiscal cliff is d.o.a., dead on arrival so what happens next? plus how the lack of a deal is already affecting your money. and she's the first american miss universe in 15 years, rhode island's olivia culpo joins us live. 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 don't think so. [ male announcer ] for years, bob took warfarin, and made a monthly trip to the clinic to get his blood tested. but not anymore. bob's doctor recommended a different option:

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morning, welcome everybody. our "starting point" extreme weather, more than a foot of snow stranding thousands of travelers, the latest on a blizzard that's ruining holiday plans nationwide. plus the house goes home for the holidays without a fiscal cliff deal, after a huge blow to house speaker john boehner. has he lost the support of his party? look away from your 401(k). the stock market tumbles as investors lose faith in washington. is the fiscal cliff already here? america on top again, miss usa beating out contestants from all other countries, all other galaxies to become miss universe. we'll talk to her live straight ahead. >> it's friday, december 21st and "starting point" begins

right now. good morning, welcome everybody. our team ron brownstein, editorial director for "national journal" will cain a contributor for theblaze.com and co-anchor john berman sticks around with us. house speaker john boehner has a news conference this morning, going to happen in just about two hours at 10:00 a.m. eastern time there's no doubt a lot of the focus will be on exactly what it was that happened last night, house republicans abandoning speaker boehner forcing him to cancel the vote on plan b. now lots of folks are asking what happened in those negotiations and what are the implications of what happened in those negotiations? our senior congressional correspondent is dana bash, watching it unfold. did it feel like the train wreck it feels like this morning last

night? >> it did. you can see it in slow motion all day yesterday. i watched republican leaders, twisting arms, cajoling fellow republicans on the house floor and in the evening it became panic. it became clear the speaker had a high number of his fellow republican members willing to defy him and it was clear he didn't have the votes. i'm told it wasn't even close. what was stunning about this was how far out there boehner was with the plan b bill and how much of a miscalculation it was. every day since tuesday this week he argued the house will pass it to prove republicans want to keep taxes low for most americans, non-millionaires and as they decided to pull the bill there was a meeting, i heard boos from outside the door where boehner's allies lashed out at republicans for booing the speaker. >> this weakens the entire republican party, the republican majority. it's the continuing dumbing down of the republican party and we

are going to be seeing it more and more as a bunch of extremists that can't get a majority of our own people to support policies we're putting forward. if you're not a governing majority you're not going to be a majority party. >> just walking around and talking to rank and file republicans yesterday, it was clear even from some members of the leadership there were a surprising number of republicans who didn't want to take this vote to raise any taxes even on millionaires especially without spending cuts to go along with it. the speaker is not shying away from this big failure. he's going to have a press conference. >> he's going to have to. it's all we're talking about this morning. people have a lot of questions for him. dana bash, appreciate it. congresswoman nan hayworth from new york. explain to me why the speaker would hold this vote for something he doesn't have the support for but even if he did, wouldn't necessarily would have had an impact anyway?

>> soledad i have every bit of faith in the speaker and i've watched this entire process. he's really trying to do the best he can under the circumstances for the american people, for everyone, 100% of the people we're serving. he's faced with an exceedingly difficult challenge and the fundamental fact is this that we really do face a terrible decline in our economy if we don't have growth in the committee and the only way the growth rates, they are a way to keep the social net safe going and our defense going unless we have better than 3% growth in the economy. the way to do that is to provide tax relief and regulatory relief and the speaker's been doing all

he can to try to promote that cause. >> ron wants to jump in. >> congresswoman, ten years after the bush cuts were taxed there were fewer people working on the day they passed. the idea the tax cuts are a panacea is questionable. on the more immediate choice you face would you rather accept a deal that raised taxes on something lower than a million or would you rather go over the cliff and see where things stand in january. seems to be the only choice republicans have at this point. >> speaking only for myself but i think there is certainly a broad desire among the house republicans not to go over the cliff. what we want to do is provide every measure of relief we can. raising taxes in this economy and the president said it two years ago he was right. raising taxes in a bad economy

is a bad idea so we're trying to work as hard as we can to relieve as much of that burden as possible. >> the vote last night said we are not raising taxes on people $1 million and under. isn't the message we're not going to raise taxes. it did not pass. >> sure, well and in fact, we passed a good couple of months ago passed a bill to keep the '01 and '03 tax cuts going while we approach broad reform. i think that would be the best thing we can do but i know that the president feels very differently about that and the speaker needs to find middle ground. >> how does he find middle ground if the republicans are saying they will not compromise in any way no matter how high

that threshold is raised on taxation. is it part of governing, isn't it part compromising at some level giving away something that you love. >> right. >> is what's happening the republicans saying we will not, no matter how high you raise this bar give you the majority of the votes in the house for that. that what i'm hearing? >> we've seen this play out before the 112th congress. the majority of the house of representatives in 2010 was elected promising that they would do all they could to provide tax relief and regulatory reform and long-term growth in the economy and assurance that future generation also have great opportunities. that's still what we want to do so we've always been facing the challenge between what's ideal

and what's doable and that thing we find in all aspects of life. >> let me ask a question, ron, i'll ask you. sorry, so republicans said we will not raise taxes even if you're making over $1 million, you will not have your taxes raised. >> the question is a different deal might not need all the republicans to vote for it. at a lower threshold some democrats would vote for it. can john boehner hold his speakership if he brings a budget deal that a majority of republicans oppose and passes with democratic votes. could he hold his speakership if he did that? >> that clearly is an issue for the republican congress and the 11th congress to deal with. i have had great confidence in the speaker's ability to navigate very difficult waters

in terms of policy and politics. this will not be an easy job going forward. >> in a might be an understatement of 2012. >> great temperament and a lot of institutional knowledge and common sense. >> nice to see you congresswoman nan hayworth. have a nice holiday if we don't get a chance to talk to you before the new year. >> majority of republicans oppose, and pass with mostly democratic votes, could he hold his speakership? >> i don't mean to understate something but he's got some real challenges. >> why is everyone saying that today? i can't get a yes or no question. it's the phrase of the morning. we have to take a look at some of the other stories making news and john berman has it. flights canceled, people stranded, nasty weather in the midwest making it dangerous to get around. victor blackwell i think the wind is so strong it blew your

lights over. >> reporter: it did. we had to run and catch it. the wind is the real story. right now we're not seeing flurries. we saw snow from about 2:00 a.m. to just before 8:00 eastern, and we know that this is the break before what's over lake erie right now. that could bring more snow and start that accumulation. we found out from ohio department of transportation that the roads, some of the streets and interstates here and around cleveland are below freezing and that could start the accumulation that we have not seen yet. we're waiting for an update from the chicago department of aviation on what will happen at one of their busiest airports in the country, o'hare. 220,000 people expected to move through that airport. yesterday 350 flights there were canceled, another 150 at midway in chicago, again that update comes at 8:30 eastern. this has been a deadly storm, seven deaths across four states still, and at last check which

was yesterday, about 100,000 customers without power in the midwest because of this storm. we'll have updates as they come in. back to you. >> victor blackwell in cleveland thanks very much. look out for the light, victor. meteorologist rob marciano in the weather center in atlanta. where is the storm headed next? >> the center of it is pretty much right over victor, one of the reasons he's not getting a tremendous amount of wind. the huge storm affecting people from canada to the gulf coast and not only the snow but the wind and the rain affecting travel especially across the northeast. ground stops at jfk, laguardia and teterboro and three hour delays in new york. just gusted to 50 miles an hour at jfk. winds incredibly strong on both sides of the system itself. lot of snow dropping across parts of michigan and through northern indiana, ohio windchills in the teens and snow blowing sideways in spots with winds gusting 30, 40 miles an

hour. the rain shield is about to push through new york. you get a dry slot, upstate mix of sleet as well but mostly a rain event through the i-95 corridor. ponding on the roadways with the gusty winds the main threat from maine to central georgia and back through the ohio river valley, wind advisories and wind watches and warnings for potential gusts over 50, we've already seen that, miles an hour. snowfall forecast mostly east of the great lakes and in through the mountains. no snow expected across the cities but enough wind and rain to keep us busy today. >> rob marciano in atlanta we'll be follow the storm all day. the sound of silence in newtown. people in connecticut and around the country will open a moment of silence at 9:30 eastern time, exactly one week after the shooting at the sandy hook elementary school. church bells will ring 26 times to honor each of the victims, three more funerals will be held today.

connecticut's governor asked for this to be an official day of mourning. president obama plans to observe the moment of silence at the white house. he responded to petitions on reducing gun violence in a video message released this morning. he supports the second amendment but he'll do everything in his power to prevent tragedies like newtown from ever happening again. >> it's encouraging many gun owners stepped up to say there are steps we can take to prevent more tragedies like the one in newtown, steps that protect our rights and protect our kids. >> the nra will hold a news conference on the connecticut shooting in a few hours in washington. the gun lobby expected to share its ideas on how to prevent future gun tragedies after that horrible event one week ago, after days of silence the nra pledged to make meaningful contributions in the wake of the newtown school shooting. this just in to cnn, riot police firing tear gas in the egyptian city of alexandria,

according to state run nile tv, clashes broke out between pro and anti-morsi protesters today. pro hockey fans you're not going to like this. the nhl canceled games through january 14th, this is half of the schedule wiped out because of the lockout. there are arguments and negotiations. players could decide if they want to claim the lockout is illegal and sue the owners, still looking for a solution but doesn't look like it. >> highly dysfunctional professional sports. >> congress and the nhl. >> do they have grounds for a lawsuit? >> this is what happens in collective bargaining with these types of suits. what would happen if they win it could go to an arbitrator, one more step in the mess. >> thank you. still ahead, she is the first american to win the miss universe crown in nearly 15 years, newly crowned olivia culpo will join us live to talk about her big victory, coming up next. th me -- we're gonna save you money.

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>> welcome back. for the first time in 15 years an american has won the miss universe crown. >> and miss universe 2012 is --

usa! olivia culpo is the winner, miss universe! >> she's like shouting! yeah! olivia culpo, self-described cellist nerd fromry from rhode island, joining us live from las vegas. nice to have you back on the show. congratulations to you. how are you feeling? >> thank you. >> did you feel like i got this nailed, i'm going to win or were you worried about it and didn't think you were going to win. >> you are never certain you're going to win ever. i was with 88 girls around the world that were drop dead gorgeous. i had no idea i was going to win. i don't know how the judges choose. they were all gorgeous.

i did not think i was going to win. >> you were miss rhode island, how long ago was that? >> that was a year ago in october about 15 months. i can't believe it. >> you became miss rhode island, then on to miss usa and then on to miss universe, which is just stunning and i read about your miss rhode island competition where you had a dress that you bought for, you rented for $20, it had a rip in it. could you ever imagine -- >> yes. >> -- back then you'd be where you are today? >> no, absolutely not. i thought i was awful on stage. i had never done a pageant before. i decided to do it over the summer, i got my dress the night before, it was too short, there was a hole in the back of it and here i am today, i never would have guessed that this would be where i am today, never. >> i'm looking at pictures of believe you in a fabulous bathing suit and i'm wondering for people who think that and some of the criticism is, you're being judged for a great body

and you're being judged not necessarily on things that are of substance, how do you fight those criticisms or do you just not care? >> no, i think there's so much more to it and so much more that you're saying by these portions of the competition. swimsuit portion is confidence, doesn't matter if you're in the greatest shape or not the best shape out of all of the 89 contestants. it's about feeling comfortable with yourself, being confident with the things you are given. everybody has things they don't like about their body so i think there's a lot to be said for girls that are confident enough to walk on stage. it's supposed to inspire other women and also there's interview portion, there is the top five question which sometimes the questions can be a little silly i'll admit but it's not all about beauty. it's about brains and it's about your ability to be open to the audience and open to others, which i think is really important as a woman in society. >> olivia, sorry, miss universe,

do we need to refer to you as miss universe now? >> yes. >> no, but i have the crown right here. >> olivia, excuse me, miss universe. >> that would be miss universe to you. >> when you go into the pageants, is there like a handicapping? do you wonder oh miss jamaica she's the front-runner, i have to keep my eye on her or go in completely blind, i have the same chance as everyone else. >> well you have to go in with the idea that it doesn't matter if you win or lose. you can't ever compare yourself to other people but it's a challenge because of course you really are surrounded by beautiful people, so that is a challenge but you can't think of it as a competition against anybody else but yourself. you just have to go there and be the best that you can be, be comfortable with yourself, celebrate your differences and your uniqueness. that's what a pageant is all about and that's why it's more than just beauty. it's about dealing with what you

have, feeling good about yourself and inspiring others to do the same thing and also helping others. >> sounds a little like the morning table at "starting point." >> yes, inspiring others, helping others and wearing my bikini for confidence. i, olivia and i are showing women that it's all possible. i'm doing that next week in january, that's my new year's resolution because olivia inspired me. >> exactly, right? you have a beautiful body. >> flu season. >> that's right, olivia, i'm sticking with whatever you say. congratulations. it's been so much fun to get a chance to talk to you and the last year with all of your great wins we're really proud of. great news. >> thank you. still ahead we'll talk about gun culture, the military style assault rifles are now selling out following the newtown shootings. we'll tell you why experts say we're seeing this massive spike in sales.

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welcome back. i'm christine romans minding your business. stock futures down sharply more than 1% for all the major averages. the dow futures are down more than 160 points. world markets are down, they're disappointed by the impasse in those fiscal cliff talks in washington. the run on guns following the newtown shooting is intensifying now. gun shops nationwide are selling out of military style rifles like the one used in the school shootings, including in newtown, connecticut. listen to what gun shop owner ron randeau said. >> i sold all i had. kid grabbed an ar-15 off the

shelf, walked over and laid it down. i mean, that thing cost 1200 bucks. >> they're flying off the shelves. one gun analyst i spoke to explained the spike in demand for semiautomatic military style rifles. >> there's been a sharp consumer preference shift in the last several years to tactical rifles, modern sporting rivals from the traditional bolt action and hunting rifles. >> he says they shoot quickly and gun owners expect tougher laws on what has been a fast growing part of the gun market. soledad we don't track gun sales in this country but we track the background checks for them and i can show you in a graphic what demand we have seen for firearms, firearm background checks, one good measure of demand doubled over the past ten years. >> why don't we track gun sales? >> the aft is prohibited by congress from tracking gun sales in this country which is one outrage and the second thing is even though those are background

checks and it's the best data we can get, you can say i want to buy five guns you get one background check. >> first time gun owners that are then quickly becoming multiple gun owners so that's a fast part of the market. >> a huge portion doesn't do a background check at all. >> you're a gun show, i show up at a gun show, i'm not a gun dealer per se and want to sell my gun. >> lots of gun raffles. >> by the way the presence of a gun in the home a huge political divide on one side people have a gun at home, very different from those without. still ahead on "starting point" gusty winds and snow moving from the west toward the east, days before christmas and causing a travel nightmare. is facebook charging to you send messages? why you'll be paying to find new friends. we're back in a moment.

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welcome back, everybody. you're watching "starting point." a nasty storm is causing holiday travel mess. new england expected to get slammed later today by the same system that's affecting the midwest this morning. victor blackwell is in cleveland seeing lots of gusty winds and a little bit of snow on and off. how is it looking and going to look later this morning? >> well right now we're in the off version of that on and off snow, we're between chapter one and chapter two. chapter one of snow was about 2:00 a.m. to about 8:00 a.m. this morning with the flurries, then we're in this break, what comes next is right now over lake erie and we could see more snow coming. in cleveland the roads are below freezing we've been told by the ohio department of transportation from their websi website. they've prepared for that with brine and salt hoping to keep the roads from freezing over and creating icy conditions. the big question is what happens in chicago at their two major

airports. midway and o'hare. yesterday 500 flights were canceled at the airports. we're expecting an update in the next ten minutes from chicago's department of aviation on what will happen and what is expected today with all the people who planned to travel today whose flights were canceled yesterday. the wind has been gusting but we'll see what the snow does as it approaches in the next 50 minutes to maybe hour and a half. >> we'll be standing by watching for that. appreciate that, tick vor. the assad regime in syria firing more scud missiles in the past few days. nato's secretary-general believes the regime is desperate and about to collapse and more proof turkey needs from tex. turkey started receiving patriot

missiles from nato to shoot down anything syria might launch over the border. a moment of silence to honor the victims of the newtown shooting at 9:30 a.m. eastern, exactly one week after the 20 children and 6 adults were gunned down inside the sandy hook elementary school. states across the country will join connecticut today as an official day of mourning. president obama plans to observe the moment of silence in private at the white house. in a video message he's received an outpouring of support for tougher gun laws and some gun owners suggested steps to protect rights and kids. mr. obama says he'll do everything in his power to help with the increase. the movie "zero dark thirty" predicts harsh interrogation tactics which the movie claims

were used on muslim detainees. the u.s. does not expect violent protests but forces are always on alert. a dollar for do i know you? facebook is now testing a $1 fee to message users who are not your friends. that buck will guarantee thaw the message ends up in a person's inbox with their friends e-mails and not other folder which many people never checked. i didn't even know it exists, part of facebook's efforts to show investors it can make money on mobile apps. good luck with that. >> i don't know how i feel about that. that seems very weird. yes? no? everybody's like i can tell, no one cares about it, not going to happen. >> we're up in arms. >> it's not going to work. let's talk about the aftermath of the shooting at sandy hook elementary school. today it raises questions about how the media covered it and the general tone of journalism especially when there are tragedies that are recovering, many of the victims were

6-year-olds and 7-year-olds. all kinds of questions what is the appropriate age of a person to interview, is it a child? lots of questions about gun legislation. should reporters have perspectives that they bring to the conversation when they do those interviews. howie kurtz is host of "reliable sources" and lauren ashburn e contributor for "the daily beast" and you guys in the new year we need a shorter title for both of you. do you think it's okay to interview children in. >> no, absolutely not. i do not want to see it. >> mostly children were the eyewitnesses to this. it wasn't like a massive pool of adults but hundreds of children eyewitnesses. >> let the investigators interview the children. i just, these were babies, innocents and i just i don't want to see that.

i think it's an invasion of their privacy and i think even if the parents say so, what, if your mom says come on interview, let's do an interview, they're going to do it even if they don't feel comfortable doing it. >> on the broader question of journalists and their emotions i saw a lot of people on the air choking back tears and showing how deeply this tranl diaffegedd them. everybody told me they had to turn off the coverage, they were crying, that's the reason i don't think the story will fade, even though with a lot of reporters pulling out of newtown. this was a gut punch to people in the business. >> i always say you're wrong at least once on this show, howie, this is it right here. this is typical the media has a.d.d. right, we're going to go on to the next tragedy, next shooting. >> plan b. >> plan b, fiscal cliff. >> an anonymous woman said this

digital media first is where this comes from, "we kneeled to you help us beg people to stop calling the victims. they're in mourning. someone actually pounded on a friend's door and literally they were shouting, someone in this town has to start talking to us. this is our story. that's how we're being treated." the sense that the media is there and it's really stressful and annoying to the people who are trying to make their way through this tragedy. >> that's what we do, the famous song "get the widow on the set." you stick a mike in their face. >> i've never pounded on someone's door like that. >> not pound on the door, but that is what we are trained to do. you want the exclusive interview, you want to get the person who has the most information and get them on camera. >> in situations like this it's wrong. >> i do think there was a heavy media footprint. i do think they were starting to resent people and i think we need to pull back in terms of leaving the community alone. what i'm saying is the whole issue about guns and violence and culture, which the press has largely shied away from except

in the aftermath of tragedy this time i think is different. yong we'll let this go. >> after al gore's defeat in 2000, democrats made a decision. >> ran away. >> this was a losing issue, incorrectly reading the polls. the polls show although the country is divided in half, the half of the country open for democrats remains for gun control, but without a debate there's no place for the media to come in. >> do we have to rely on politicians to talk about issues they would rather duck in order for us to do our job and say this is important. >> it's a reasonable -- >> that's what happens in a presidential campaign, we talked about etch-a-sketch, binders full of women, big bird. how many times did you hear the words gun control. once. >> if they're not talking about it you're not covering it. there's a component of that, but i do believe that there is an

inflection point and there comes a point where people start to say why can't you talking about it. that's a different question to say than are you going to cover it. >> we're proceeding with the premise we don't have a gun control debate but the issue that captures my attention howie brought up i'm interested in the role of emotion in journalism and i don't think we can expect reporters to not be human, to not respond to emotion but at some point we also make a transition where emotion is embraced, emotion is embraced on this television set, not this particular, not my point but it becomes the point of journalism at some point. >> i wrote a piece about this in "the daily beast" and how in the beginning i felt reporters had that shield up. when you were headed to a tragedy, finding your laptop and power cord and getting the

information and on the set and it wasn't until i saw president obama get a tear in his eye that was almost a signal to journalists everywhere that it's okay to show some emotion. >> i think you're right, it is an inflection point. doesn't mean you'll pass legislation, but you'll have a more robust debate than we've had in the last dozen years what the options are, choices are and costs are. >> who knows if there will be legislative action. >> there will be a discussion. >> i think the extent to which journalists thinking about their own kids deeply affected by this, for some reason this cut to the core unlike even the other mass shootings. i think that emotion will power the debate. we have to be fair and can't push an agenda. >> soledad, i'd love to hear your opinion. you were there. you have small children. how did it affect you? >> i started crying through some interviews, it was painful and i think you identify if you have a small child and there are pictures of children to look exactly like your kids, exactly the same age you understand the terror they must have, you get

what their backpacks look like hanging up in a room, fully can see them huddling together. i can clearly visualize it. >> that's completely expected. from the journalist side of yourself do you try to turn that off? or share that? >> no, i don't think you turn it off. you want of it it frame your questions better. i don't know how anybody -- how do you sit down and write a eulogy for a 6-year-old? like honestly, i could not do it. i could not do it, and so i think it frames your questions for people. i have to say i talked to kids and i thought they provided in some cases you know with their parents' permission and i thought they provided really interesting insight and i thought would i let my kids talk to the media? probably not. but i feel like my job if the parents are willing to allow them to talk to me and usually i would talk to them like all together, that to them seemed to be the way that they wanted to

handle their children getting through this. it wasn't they were being ambushed. they felt if my kid can talk about what they saw that's our strategy for our family to heal. but one thing i would add, we all know whenever we go to the live things you bring a satellite truck, cables, you logistically mess up a community because we take up a lot of space and port-a-potties and the whole range of stuff but when we leave, the focus leaves, too. it's a double edged sword. >> that's what i said. now we're gone, it's out of the public eye. >> you're not anchoring from newtown, connecticut, you're doing weather stories and we'll talk about cory booker and the fiscal cliff and not spend two hours on newtown. we'll spend 30 minutes of a two-hour show. >> president obama has a different agenda, working on the fiscal cliff, plan b blew up in the republicans' face and now gun control is going to take a small piece of the pie. >> life goes on. >> next week it will be 15

minutes and the week after that eight minutes and the week after that four minutes and after that, 1:30. >> i'm very cynical about our profession and our ability to -- >> journalists do th all time, go into places where there's tremendous suffering all the time and they do this and they do it in a professional way and they talk to all sorts of people including children, and they get stories. this is not like -- this is local. this is an american tragedy but these tragedies happen all over the world and we send american reporters to cover the stories all the time. journalists can do this. >> it would be nice if it didn't leave the headlines if all of these things kept the conversation going. >> ultimately the political system -- >> the shootings in cities across the country. >> like chicago for example we never talk about that. still ahead we'll talk about cory booker. he's not going to challenge chris criesie for governor. and the u.s. embassy staff

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welcome back. mark sanford resigned as south carolina's governor after admitting he ran off to argentina to be with his

mistress. now he's going to run for the congressional seat he held almost a decade ago. the seat is being vacated by congressman tim scott. newark, new jersey, mayor cory booker is revealing his plans for his political future. he is not going to challenge governor chris christie. >> i will explore the possibility of running for the united states senate in 2014. >> explore the possibility. booker hopes to replace senator frank lawsuitenberg whose term ends in 2014. lawsuitenberg is 88 now. he hasn't said he's retiring yet.in 2014. lautenberg is 88 now. he hasn't said he's retiring yet. >> mark sanford would be more moderate than tim scott and cory booker, the democratic party heavily dependent on minority

voters, very few -- the republicans have done a better job of elevating minority officials at the top of the ticket in governor and senate races. cory booker would be valuable for democrats at national level. >> i think lautenberg has a lot left in him. >> 89, wow, he looks good, too. he doesn't look like 89. >> not a day over 75. no, seriously. >> all of the levels of candidacy, he's exploring the possibility of running right now, like several layers removes. >> thinking about the possibility of possibly exploring if he should one day run for the senate. coming up we'll say good-bye to a guy from our team, rob marciano, not without looking back at his work, that's ahead. grand cherokee's performance for specific weather and road conditions...

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you've seen him in the middle of tornado tornadoes, blown over by hurricanes, covering disastrous fires. after nine years rob marciano is saying good-bye to us today. rob is with us for a final so long. we're going to miss you. we started roughly about the same time. >> and you've been very patient with me over the years, soledad i thank you for that. >> not at all. we used to sit there and watch you, what is more interesting than watching rob marciano holding onto a tree because he decided to stand outside in a hurricane. it's insane. you're going to miss this gig i got to tell you. >> i'm desperately going to miss it. and my family at cnn, the entire organization afforded me so many experiences and opportunities i could never get anywhere else. it's been an amazing ride. i've grown as a person and journalist and going to miss you, soledad and the whole gang for sure. >> thank you, you're so sweet. i had nothing to do with that but i follow you on twitter so i'll take that. we have you, shots of you dressed up as a zombie, tell me why you were doing, like what

does that have to do with weather? >> speaking of becoming a better journalist that was one role i embraced. i've always been the guy like mikey, he'll try that, an assignment nobody else wanted to do, they would come to me so i would gladly do it and try to make the best of it. >> he's moving awfully fast for the average zombie. >> he's going to hollywood now. >> yes. ron, thank you for putting up with my stupid political questions. >> what are you going to cover in hollywood? come on, man. >> listen, you could argue there are plenty of disasters and storms to cover in hollywood. i have to switch gears a little bit. >> metaphorical hurricanes. >> "entertainment tonight" co-hosting, amazing opportunity there. it's going to be fun. >> we'll still follow you on twitter. >> please do, i'll be following and watching closely and in the words of lloyd lindsay young i

salute you. >> you're so sweet. all right, rob, take care. we love you. >> take care. "end point" is up next in a moment. fferent. 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.

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hurry in for a droid incredible 4g lte by htc for $49.99. so our "end point "today has to be about the fiscal cliff and what happens next. >> you've asked that question several times what happens next. ron has -- during the commercial breaks, several times that for every $1 you go up from 250 between 250 and 1 million you

lose one democratic vote to gain a republican vote. what i would suggest in the debate will be is $500,000 for republicans, is that better than giving up the debt ceiling? i think republicans are fighting to retain the power of the debt ceiling to get spending cuts sometime in mid-january. >> which is problematic in itself because the president is clear he's not going to negotiate the spending cuts as part of the debt ceiling. the basic question here, where do the diagrams overlap? are there any plans we get a majority of house republicans president obama could still sign in the ansr is no, so the critical issue of whether we go over the cliff is the same. maybe a deeper problem, maybe there's no problem where the ven diagram goes over 218. you go up on the tax threshold but lose one democrat for each republican you gain. it will be a rocky few weeks and maybe the markets have to put

pressure on washington. >> how much of a political problem is it for democrats if they cannot say that they are willing to raise taxes on folks $1 million and up? i have to imagine, right? >> democrats? >> republicans. yeah, i mean look -- >> i see that biting you later because your middle class voter is going to flee if someone can say accurately they wouldn't even raise taxes on millionaires. >> i think it's huge because the democrats were already going to be a little bit ticked off with the 400 because one of the only campaign promises that obama had in the campaign was 250 and they're already a little ticked off but the republicans let him off the hook because they said that not only do we agree with it, $1 million we don't agree. there's no number. >> national politics is fundamentally different than congressional politics. what we'll see over the next 10, 11