is there civil recourse if you get dumped from the government and you don't have an option to get to the pile of money? >> very little civil recourse for this. you establish it there and get it from the fund. you know how courts work, a ashleigh? >> you're just out and dp you're sick and don't get accepted, you're out. >> you need that proof. >> that's heart-breaking and difficult do hear. you can see both points of view, right? the people who cheat and the people who don't. >> the honest people. >> always good to see you. >> thank you. >> stay tuned now i'm passing off the baton to my colleague with suzanne malveaux with "newsroom international." have a fabulous day. welcome to the "newsroom international." i'm suzanne malveaux. here's what's going on right now. the nation pulling back from the brink of economic chaos

after a late night vote in the house. now president obama back on vacation in hawaii. he is prepared to sign this new bill preventing the widespread tax increases and those deep spending cuts. >> thanks to the votes of democrats and republicans in congress, i will sign a law that raises taxes on the wealthiest 2% of americans while preventing a middle class tax hike that could have sent the economy back into recession and obviously had a severe impact on families all across america. >> so here are specifics on the bill. no income tax increases for couples making less than $450,000 a year. itemized deductions capped for those making 300,000 and taxes go up from 35% to 40%. the unemployment insurance will be extended for a year for 2 million people as well, but the deal does not address the automatic federal spending cuts

or the nation's $16.4 trillion debt deficit. the debt ceiling, rather. there's much more drama to come. dan lothian is board air force one on his way to hawaii with the president. dan, i want it to start off with you. ten hours, back in hawaii. is there a sense this is vacation? does the president feel relieved, or is this just a matter of getting ready for the next battle? >> reporter: well, i think it's all of the above. certainly there is relief. the president feels relief. the white house feels relief, and perhaps to blow off steam the president is the at a gym working out. but in addition to that relief, they also feel some frustration. the white house saying athat it didn't have to come to this. they're pointing the figure at republicans saying that their responsible for this kind of gridlock in washington. they realize that the american people are frustrated by inaction in washington.

so they're pointing the finger at republicans. republicans are pointing the finger at the white house saying they're also to blame. there's also this question being asked how will the president be able to carry out his second term agenda? he's talked about making immigration reform a top priority and dealing with gun violence. how to deal with those issues when facing impending fiscal matter. >> will the president take time off here? he has all the tools to get stuff done in hawaii, but do we have a sense how long he will be there, when elsign the bill or take a brakes? >> he's certainly taking a little braeak. this is part two. take two for the president. he was there and went home right after christmas, so he's trying to have a little fun. i was talking to jay carney earlier this morning, and he did not have any specifics as to how and when the bill would be signed. it could be auto pay.

we saw the white house do that before. the bill could be brought here, but nothing yet nailed down. as it to when the president will be leaving, we know that the first daughters have to be back in school the beginning of next week, so we expect the president will leave sometime at end of the week, perhaps during the weekend. >> all right. have to say a little jealous hearing those waves crash behind you there, dan. obviously, a break for the president and perhaps for you. we don't know yelt. we'll see how it goes. good to see you dan. we'll bring in lisa to talk about what we have seen. obviously, you know, over the holidays really quite extraordinary. up to the last minute, a nail-biter, if you will. a lot of people are frustrated to see how congress and they were all behaving. there's now another controversy that has come out of this, and this is because house speaker john boehner did not bring forward this vote on hurricane sandy disaster aid for new jersey and new york. it's got a lot of people who are

scratching their heads and are angry this did not happen. i want you to hear what one of the fellow republicans said against boehner. >> when katrina hit, ten days later, $60 billion. $100 billion altogether. now we have to hear from people in florida, louisiana, and texas and alabama and, yes, some people from california and the midwest, when they have a disaster, and we were there for them. the rules change for us, and it is now not an emergency and the federal government doesn't have a role in this? absurd, absolutely absurd! we demand nothing less than we have given the rest of the country, an emergency disaster means emergency and disaster. >> nobody wants a special favor. nobody is looking for a gift or anything else. when your people are literally freezing in the winter and they're without food, without shelter and without clothing and my own party refuses it to help them, then why should i help the

republican party? i will stand on the values and principles that i believe are true republican principles, but turning your back on people starving and freezing is not a republican value. >> lisa, what's the fallout from this? clearly a lot of people are frustrated, but you have a new congress sworn in as early as tomorrow? >> reporter: right. congress will be sworn in tomorrow at noon. they're getting organized even today. to be honest, i think, suzanne, that there are two things happening. there's the fiscal cliff fallout, a lot of republicans were not happy about the spending in the bill. behind the scenes they told our producer that they understood what speaker boehner had to do and they weren't holding it against him. then we have this hurricane sandy relief bill, and to be honest it seems the speaker's office is quickly trying to fix that situation if they can. they're meeting with members from new york and new jersey today at 3:00 again coming from our producer. i think they realized and it would be hard not to that they

angered many members and trying to figure out what they can do. they said speaker boehner's first priority in the next congress is the hurricane sandy aid. obviously, there are unhappy members and perhaps even more unhappy volters that they're going to have to speak to. we're going to hear from new jersey governor republican chris christie in the next hour as well, so that's going to have an effect on the lay of land for speaker boehner. >> has boehner released a statement? we know he's meeting with fellow republicans. has he said anything publicly about it? is he surprised this is coming about today? >> we haven't gotten anything like that, but we have heard from one of his aids that they intend it to make this the first priority. that's the message they put out right now. i would expect that we're going to get more material from them as the day wears on. i have a feeling they want to meet with members outraged over this, talk to them, and then see if they have a statement after that. that's just my guess. i think that we will learn a lot more about what happened and

hopefully why they didn't take the vote last night. >> thank you so much. the president is weighing in on this. the superstorm sandy relief bill controversy. he said when tragedy strikes, americans come together it to sppt those in need. i urge republicans in the house of representatives to do the same, bring this important request to a vote today and pass it without delay for our fellow americans. international markets reacting positively to the fiscal cliff deal, both asian and european markets made gains today. we'll bring in richard quest from london to talk about the boost we see in international markets. richard, you and i have talked about the fear and chaos. now it seems like we're over this, and there's some good news here, yes? >> yeah. i'm just looking at the numbers at the moment. the dow up 1.6%. in europe we see the footsie closed at 2.2 and you're seeing a strong rally on european and

u.s. markets. on the back of this. i would say this is classic relief. it is no more or less. they are breathing a sigh of relief that the worst excesses of the cliff were not realized, but you knew there was one coming, but, of course, nobody is fooled for one moment about the -- just the dog's breakfast of a deal that was put together. >> tell us about that. tell us about that. how do the newspapers -- what are the headlines in the newspapers on this? what did you call it? the dog's what? >> the dog's breakfast. okay. that's not necessarily my view. let me put it this way. the british daily telegraph says the most depressing aspect is if americans can't display more maturity, how will things ever get done? they called it a cobbled-together face-saver.

"the guardian" in the uk says america's government cannot continue to live with a system that spends so much. depressing start to the year. even the chinese got in on the act. economics and common sense do not lie. people in governments can overspend but not live like that forever. the reality is as follows, they did a deal to affect the worst of the fiscal cliff. in doing so, there are now three very clear time bombs waiting to go off. firstly, the spending cuts at the end of two months. secondly, you have the budget process itself that is waiting there. thirdly, you have, of course, the debt ceiling, $16.4 trillion. any one of those, probably all of them at some point is going to cause dislocation and

disturbances in the political process. >> that's very true. that's very likely, richard. talk about the other thing that we think is going to up happen, and that's what's happening in europe and throughout the world. you have portugal going over its own fiscal cliff. folks getting hit with a 30% tax increase, and you still have the impacts of greece. >> you do. you do. that's why this is all so dangerous and risky. portugal going over its own fiscal cliff orifice c fiscal earthquake with a 30% rise. the president of portugal referred that to the constitutional court to get a ruling because it's so austere and so dramatic. portugal, which is to one side. greece we still have to worry about bailing it out throughout the course of 2013. spain has very high unemployment and, of course, may or manlt go for eye further bailout. ireland is still in some trouble. you have bank bailouts and the european stability mechanism and you have banking union.

i am not for a moment suggesting that it's plain sailing on this side of the atlantic. i saw that this afternoon everything looked more complicated, and i wish i was in dan lothian's shoes in hawaii. >> don't we all. it's still a hot mess. thank you very much. we appreciate it. new york celebrating with a new year, the ball drop, of course, but iran, how did they ring in 2013? by launching warships, helicopters and a long-range missile into international waters. later, islamic fundamentalists burst into a church, gun down the people inside just for being christian. we'll tell you about a dangerous group in africa with ties to al qaeda. this is america. we don't let frequent heartburn come between us and what we love. so if you're one of them people who gets heartburn

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iran has long defied international pressure to give up it's nuclear program, and now iranian officials have announced they have test fired two long-range missiles. chris lawrence explains the possible fallout and the danger from these events. >> reporter: iran started the new year showing off new technology, including an upgraded missile designed to destroy warships. iran has been test firing a range of weapons near the strait of hormuz, including a air defense system designed to confront fighter jets, helicopters and drones. >> this tells me about their willingness to keep the pressure up, stay in a somewhat inflamed and confrontational mode. >> analyst michael ohanlon says the test didn't move the ball for the technology, but it sends the warning to the u.s. and nations in the region regarding any attempted strike on iran's

fu nuclear facilities. >> in the short term they like the idea of telling us they can escalate to make us think of it not as a pin-prick surgical strike but they can go into war. they want to get countries to rethink. >> a pentagon report this past summer found that iran's ballistic missiles were becoming more accurate, versatile and more deadly than ever. for years u.s. intelligence officials circled the year 2015. they believe by then iran could test an intercontinental ballistic missile with a range of 3500 miles. >> this gives them the ability it to attack a new european countries, which giving them a degree of political influence in a crisis they might not otherwise have. >> the latest intelligence report from congress was just released in the last few weeks. it reassesses that estimate and concludes iran is not likely to test an icbm in the nix years.

>> we're joined by chris lawrence in washington. chris, first of all, why the change? why is that? >> well, suzanne, basically the report says that economic sanctions are making it harder and harder for iran to get the necessary components and materials. it also shows that the iranians are not getting the help they need from russia and china, whose support has be dropping over the past ten years. remember, there's a big difference between having a nuclear weapon and actually having a nuclear missile to deliver it. you have to miniaturize that weapon to the point you can put it on the end of a warhead and you have to have the technology in that missile to fly very long distances accurately. it's a very, very tough technology to master back when the u.s. developed this technology. our own tests failed about a third of the time. >> sure. very important point you made, chris. you have them announcing the long-range missiles. iran also warned about preparing

to shut down the strait of hormuz if there were sanctions on the oil exports. what does that mean for the rest of the world? i imagine that's a significant economic development. >> they have threatened that many times before in the past, suzanne. those threats have distinguished over the last couple months, and the one thing to remember about that is a blockade works both ways. yes, you'd be keeping oil from going out to all these other countries and literally aaffecting the oil supply around the world, but at the same time iran's economy is very dependent on exporting its oil. so it would cripple their economy by stopping the exporting of oil. so it's not just a one-way street when you talk about mining the straight. >> chris, is there anything going on diplomatically when it comes to trying to convince iran to give up the nuclear program? we hear defiance from ahmadinejad from time to time. is there any progress? >> nothing public.

of course, you never know about the private channels being worked through envoys, through third parties. we know there's no direct contact between the u.s. and iran, but what some of the other partner nations in the region may be talking about to try to show that down, that still remains to be seen. by all estimates this is really going to come to a head sometime this year. >> all right. chris lawrence, thank you. appreciate it. he runs venezuela with an iron fist, and he's also fighting for his life against cancer. we're going to look at what happens if hugo chavez can no longer rule.

venezuela's president hugo chavez's health is called debt indicate now as he's recovering from his fourth cancer surgery in cuba. the public has not seen or heard from hi dreblgtly in threes weeks, and his vice president is fighting the rumors he's near death. >> a call for all venezuelans to play for president chavez. we know that our prayers are appearing chavez in his battle he's fighting, and that's precisely what he wants. he wants joy and optimism to make a reality the transformation he's fighting for. >> there were masses held for the president who's recovering from cancer surgery and they canceled traditional new year's celebrations and concerts to give people the opportunity to join the national call for prayer. >> translator: it's a medical prayer, a universal love and a planetary feeling for a good man

for a patriot and somebody who gives of himself to his people. >> reporter: the mood is somber among his supporters, especially since the vice president speaking from havana sunday said chavez's condition is delicate. >> translator: we were informed of new complications arising as a consequence of a respiratory infection that we knew of already. >> reporter: rumors of his failing health has spread on the social media like wildfire. on his twitter act he wrote, my fellow patriots, do not believe in ill-intentioned rumors. president chavez has spenlt the day calm and stable with his children next to him. the government has yet to inform the venezuelan people what kind of cancer chavez is suffering from. >> chavez wanted to keep this a secret and succeeded in that and

did it because he got treatment in cuba. the cubans are very good at keeping secrets. >> chavez has not seen in public since december 10th when he left for cancer surgery in cuba. unlike prior occasions, the socialist leader has not made phone calls to state media to let people know about his medical condition. >> raphael romo joins us. the piece you did, we see a lot of support for chavez. that real or a propaganda effort if you will? >> it's a combination of both. you see people who are truly loyal fans of hugo chavez because he transformed the poor classes with welfare programs. but you also see and venezuelans tell me this themselves a lot of people that work for the government and are expected to be fiercely loyal to the government of hugo chavez. >> what is the timetable here? i understand if he does not show up for his inauguration january 10th, there's the real possibility that he no longer

gets to the be the president. >> that's right. we spent a lot of time yesterday taking a look at the venezuelan constitution to see what would happen. if he doesn't show up before january 10th, and that's the key date because he's supposed to be inaugurated then, then the vice president is supposed to take office. now, the scenario number two is that if he is sworn in on january 10th but is ill afterwards or incapacitated to serve, then the vice president, who anything would also be nicholas, the current vice president, is supposed to call for a new election. there's he scenario number three, follow with me and bear with me. it gets kind of complicated. if he's not sworn in, then the leader of the assembly takes office, and he is supposed to call for an election within 30 days. scenario number four is that the national assembly may call president chavez temporarily absent and open up a period of 90 days in which we have this limbo situation where either the

vice president or the leader of the assembly are in charge or in power. but the bottom line here, suzanne, is we may be looking at the beginning of a constitutional crisis because chavez's loyalists say we will not accept anybody else but our leader, president chavez. >> it's interesting. it's a constitutional crisis but it seems as if the thinking is at least the vice president if he steps in, not going to see big changes out of venezuela and how that country operates and its relationships with the rest of the world. >> that's exactly right. they call it a 21st century socialism. that's what they have been trying to develop in venezuela. the changed that they have made to the constitution, they're all geared towards that goal. so not a lot of big changes. >> all right. we'll be watching. thank you very much, raphael. they are killing christians, burning churches and have tie to al qaeda. we go next to knee jeer ya and tell you about a group that has now killed hundreds of innocent people. fantastic experience. 30 shrimp for $11.99.

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to switch, and you could save hundreds. ♪ born to make mistakes liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy? it's a tragic milestone in syria. the u.n. now says the death toll from fighting there has jumped past 60,000. a syrian opposition group says at least 151 of those deaths happened today. about half were killed during a government air strike on a fuel station in a suburb of damascus. in northern syria rebel fighters stepped up their offensive to gain control of a key military airbase. islamist militants have killed 34 nigerians since christmas. most were killed attending church services. such attacks have been escalating across the northern section of the country.

now nigeria's military is fighting back at the group known as boco haron. david, tell us about this organization. what do they do, and why are they killing christians? >> reporter: well, suzanne, what they do right now is this reign of terror spreading across northern nigeria, the largest muslim section. in the last few days, since friday, in fact, suzanne as you described more than 50 killed, the majority christians and most of them attending church services in the wake of a christmas day massacre in northern nigeria where militants stormed two churches, killing people with guns and slitting some of their throats and burning down some churches. really brutal acts of violence in a reign of terror by this group which wants to form a sharia dominated law system, a

taliban-like government in the northern part of nigeria. they're not just targeting christians but government installations, police, schools. in fact, any institution of state and institution of christianity. >> david, why is this getting worse? why do you have this aum of a sudden? i know this is this organization wrecking havoc. you have this dramatic increase over the christmas holiday. why? >> reporter: well, part of it is cyclical. the last year at this time over christmas and the year before that there were attacks on churches. this is a very symbolic and obviously powerful statement they're wanting to make. they're able to go around any security that might be in place at churches or other institutions in the north and kill innocent christians, innocent nigerians. they have played a double game. both calling for negotiations with the group to end the

violence, and also the security forces under him cracking down on this. this is a complex story. the security forces are accused for really killings, murdering of people that might not be in this group in these regions. they say this is compounding the cycle of violence in this space in a very important country, a strategic country in africa. suzanne. >> very important story. appreciate it. more than 100 people died in superstorm sandy, more than 1,000 died in katrina. if you think climate change is to blame, the big question is how can we and what can we do to prevent more deaths in the future? we look at what it takes to go climate-proof. rhea, gas, bloati? yes! one phillips' colon health probiotic cap each day helps defend against these digestive issues with three strains of good bacteria. live the regular life. phillips'.

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aaccording to the national weather service, the u.s. gets more severe weather than any other country on the planet. every year we face on average 10,000 severe storms, 5,000 floods, 1,000 tornadoes and two deadly hurricanes. of course, some storms have left entire communities underwater. think new orleans in katrina. also think new york and new jersey in sandy. what chad myers says is there's a growing movement around the world to protect the cities from

the severe weather. tell us what's behind it. >> you have to understand where we are in the world and how our weather is so different here in america. first of all, we have the rocky mountains to the west. we have the gulf of mexico, very warm water here, and the cold air that plunges to the east of the rocky mountains, and that's where the tornado threat comes from. moisture here, dry air here, cold air here, and that is tornado alley. something else we have, a very large atlantic ocean allows big storms and hurricanes to come in at us at full throttle and full speed because the water is warm there. where do we go from here? how do we get ready? how do we get climate-ready if it gets warmer and the water goes up, if the ice melts and the water in the ocean gets another foot higher, how do we protect ourselves? the first place is new orleans. they built barriers and did a good job this year at protecting new orleans. those barriers did something else. they blocked the water from going into new orleans, but they also really increased the amount of water that went into

plaquemines parish. you have to watch what you do because you can't put a barrier and hope you stop all the water. over to rotterdam where they stopped the water coming down the river with huge big gates right there. they will close with surge from the north. this is it right here. those two gates right there swing together and stop the water from coming in. huge projects. i mean, significantly big projects when it comes to how much money this could possibly all cost here. >> chad, let's talk about the money, because the federal government invested in $14 billion in the flood protection system for south louisiana after katrina. now people are looking at new york and new jersey and, of course, there are some lawmakers certainly who are angry although the house republicans for not voting on what kind of funding should be in place to help folks there. what kind of costs are we talking about? >> to protect from what sandy did would you be quadrillions of

dollars. mother nature is so much bigger than we are. it's amazing how much damage mother nature will do, and it will work around what you try to protect in the first place. let's go to a different map here and show you what the columbia university project was about here. governor's island and the island of manhattan. they projected if we made a barrier island through here and a barrier along the east river putting in more barriers down to the south that the surge may not have been quite so bad with sandy. but it would also be a very large project and years and years and years in the making. that's not saying we shouldn't do it, because somebody has to put a stop to this. let's say you put a big barrier as people talk about sometimes across the bridges and you stop the water from coming up the east river and hudson river. what would happen? that water would be diverted somewhere else. it will get back towards the rock aways and into new jersey in the coastal shore. we try to stop one thing and

create something else. it's hard to climate-proof something. we talked about trying to climate-proof let's say, las vegas. what would we do? it doesn't rain there very much. lake mead is the at 52% of full pool, so it's half empty. it doesn't rain much. if you put more people in there, and if the climate changes we have to be prepared for this time of eventual change in our life sometime. this isn't 200 years from now, this is the next 20, 25 years. zo >> absolutely. we'll look for 2013 what kind of weather we'll get. it was extraordinary last year, chad. it was unbelievable. i guess the question is if we're ready for the next superstorm. cnn presents "the coming storms" sunday night at 8:00 eastern. to weather in outer space. this is an un all uadrantid m meteor shore tonight. the moon is particularly bright.

the stars fall aaround 11 p.m. in each time zone with the peak viewing around 3:00 a.m. or so. between 60 and 200 meterors pepper hour streak across the sky. worth checking it out. you think gangnam style is a big hit, wait until you hear "one-pound fish." the new song out of pakistan now taking the internet by storm. ♪ [ all ] 3, 2, 1...

[ male announcer ] as the year counts down, your savings can add up with the adt new year's sale. help protect your family with the advanced technology of adt starting at just $99 -- a savings of $300 plus 15% off accessories. but you must call before midnight january 2nd. more than a security system, adt can help let your family in from the cold even when you're away from home. adjust your thermostat remotely to help save energy and money. turn on the lights,

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2012, gangnam style was huge, right? in our song called "1 pound fish" getting millions of views on youtube. check it out. ♪ come on ladies 1 pound fish ♪ come and have a look >> all right. this guy who is singing made up this song to get women to buy fish in a london market. a customer posted the video on youtube, of course, so now it's getting is so much attention he now has aa record deal. this is the official video. check it out.

♪ come on ladies ♪ come on ladies ♪ come on ladies ♪ come on ladies ♪ 1 pound fish >> it was number 29 in the uk. he moved from london to pakistan nine p months ago. he was treated like a rock star when he visited his home in pakistan last thursday. good for him. people are making all kinds of new year's resolution. the most popular is getting control of finances. there's a new study in the "usa today" that finds that 21% of americans p made a pledge this year to manage their money better. we want to bring in clyde anderson to join us here. he were surprised, because more people want goat their money together than lose 10 pounds, get your body together. >> quit smoking and things like that. >>s why that? >> the result they end up sticking to their financial resolutions longer than weight loss or quit smoking resolutions. it's about the money. they want the money. >> you you got to have the

money. you can deal with 10 extra pounds. >> if i'm broke it doesn't work. >> tell us about the priority. >> the first priority is mind over money. we have to get our mind right and why do we want the money and what to do with the money. you have to think about it like that. a lot go to filling in the budget sheets. you have to change your mindset. that's crucial. >> you set financial goals. is it important to be very specific? should you be general? >> you have to be specific. you have to have a plan. a plan is crucial, and a plan is going to tell you what are my goals, one-week goals and my six month goal as well as my 12-month goal. once you have the goal the goal is bigger than a pair of shoes. i won't buy the shoes when i have this college tuition or vacation i want to take. make the goal and keep the goal in front of you. it's crucial. >> is it realistic. there are figures that say 1 in 6 americans are poor in this country. can you make a goal, can you get yourself out of poverty? can you actually change your

mindset and change your focus and say, i'm going to make it dramatically different for my family this year? >> you definitely can. change your mind and change your life. you have examples of people that persevered and people born in poverty or group up in poverty and they made a difference and a change. you need to follow the blueprint sometimes because it's possible, but it takes a lot of hard work. it's not easy this economy. >> what if you're unemployed? >> if you're unemployed right now -- that's why saving is so important. before you get to that point, realize unemployment is real. you really need to have six or 12 months worth of savings set aside to prepare for 245. if you're unemployed you have to be creative and think outside the box. you have to create a job if you can't find a job. you have to use your gifts and talents. a lot of people don't know how to put it together and have a business. it doesn't mean you have to be a sbree premuir and grow this big conglomerate but fill in the gap. >> a lot of people fall short of

goals because it's unrealistic. how do you know if you're taking too much of a bite and if it's in small pieces here and if you're realistic to move on to the next step and prevent yourself in giving up completely? >> exactly. that's what happens if you set the goals too big and you get discouraged. you want it to sell the goal and make sure ilgts realistic and we're setting smart goals. make sure they're realistic and you can measure them and see that you are progressing in that process. that's crucial. you know, do the elephant one bite at a time and you can get there. >> that relates to the weight loss as well. one bite at a time. that's the other thing. it's the financial piece and everybody wants more exercise and get better in shape as well. >> exactly. so many things you can do. maximize your 401(k) and do things like that and make sure you get you maximize your money and get a roth ira. you can put $5500 a year in a roth ira. start small.

save something. you have to save. >> all right. clyde, good to see you. happy new year. we're going on to try all those things. we'll get back to you. let us know how we did. >> i'll check in. >> thanks again. we'll look the at the big boards, stocks shooting up more than 200 points or so this morning. this morning the dow is up 215 points, and investors ringing in the new year with a broad rally.

in her hometown a teenage girl sparked a firearm storm. rebecca has decided to sell her virginity to the highest bidder. we traveled to the village to meet her and find out why. >> reporter: rebecca bernardo gets a lot of stares when she pedals around town on her red bicycle, ever since she posted a video on youtube last month. my name is rebecca, she says. i'm hear to auction off my virginity. she says she was motivated by desperation but inspired by another brazilian who has offered to sell her virginity through an australian website got widespread publicity and modeling contracts. we visited rebecca in her remote farming town to ask why she made the video that set off a firestorm and echoed around the country.

i made up my mind right after my 18th birthday, she says. that's when my mother suffered a stroke. the stroke left her bed-ridden, unable to feed herself or go to the bathroom alone. rebecca says she tried selling cosmetics and worked as a waitress, but the money barely covered the salary of a care taker for her mother. there comes a time where you have to make decisions to get what you want, she says. you have to be strong. the first day her video got 3,000 hits. the reaction in her hometown was swift and hostile. when she started the auction people in the streets threw coins at her says the local mechanic, but i never looked the at her differently. attitudes now have started to shift. this is a very small town. everybody knows everybody, but what's really surprised us is that most of the people we've talked to are sympathetic with

rebecca's desperate situation. neighbors remind us that rebecca's sister died years ago and she never knew her daughter. she has no one to go, no one to help, so this is the only solution she found they say. but rebecca's mother is devastated. what do you think she should do i ask? she could look for work and shouldn't prostitute herself. rebecca says she's received three bids, the highest for $35,000. a brazilian tv network offered to pay medical expenses if she called off the auction. now her desperation has turned to dreams. she wants enough money to care for her mother and start a new life in a different town but wouldn't say how much is needed. the tv deal fell through, and the auction is back on. it's a lot of responsibility to face alone, she says. i'm not really prepared.

in this town there's wide understanding the family needs help, but so far at least the help has not forthcoming. >> we want to bring in sasha. it's an interesting story. she's in a desperate situation. why didn't she take the offer from the tv station? >> reporter: well, suzanne, as you said, it's a complicated and difficult situation. the feeling we got is that she's very naive and she suddenly got a little ambitious. she made the first attempt and put up the video and the reaction was so much bigger than she expected she thought maybe i can do more than just help my mother? maybe i can make enough money to make a better life for myself. she's very naive and i don't think if she knows what she's getting into it. i wouldn't call her a gold digger but she sees she can get more out of this than she originally thought, suzanne. >> she seems very, very close to

her mother and wants to tear care of her and her mom doesn't approve of it. why isn't she taking the advice of her mother? >> reporter: well, it's interesting, suzanne. in brazil we should mention prostitution is legal. you can sell sex for money. so she's not doing anything illegal, and she was actually sitting right next to us as we were having this conversation sort of looked the at the floor while her mother said this. her mother had difficulty speaking. she kept saying what she's doing it wrong. what she's doing it wrong. this affected her. she tried to explain to her mother i feel this is the only thing i can do, mom. i don't have choices. whether or not that's true, it's the way she feels, suzanne. >> do we know if she does have any other opportunities? we know this tv station came forward and she's looking for a better life. is there a charity, is there a group organization, a neighborhood effort to help her shy of actually selling her

virginity? >> reporter: we certainly hope so, and that was one of the questions we had for all of the neighbors and the residents, most of whom were very sympathetic. a lot of them would end the conversation saying, well, i wouldn't do it, but i can see why she would. i asked them, well what should she do? i don't know. maybe the state could step in. that was all they came up with, suzanne. >> give us an update and let us know what happens there. clearly, there are people who are at least willing to reach out and try to be of some assistance. thank you very much. it's an year since the iraq war ended, but many people there feel like they're live inning a war zone. we'll hear from them in their own words. it . >> iraq is in our hands, maybe take 10, 20 years. that's okay. 30 years is okay, but in the end we will build a new, free iraq.

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second hour. one year since the departure of u.s. troops and the official end of the iraq war. since then violence in the region has continued. just last year's celebratory tone replaced this year by a more sober one. we asked what some iraqis think has changed since u.s. troops left and what the future looks

like for them. here's what they said. >> translator: a year since the american withdrawal, there have been many changes that the iraqi people feel freer and more relaxed. >> the iraqi troops are here in the city. nothing has changed. only the nationality has changed. >> translator: my message it to american troops, i thank them a lot for their perseverance and they came to help us and then they left iraq. >> translator: i thank them for what they did here. they rescued us from a dictator, saddam hussein. >> translator: they treated the iraqi people as if they were

dumb cattle, as if they were barbaric. they acted immoral. i believe the situation in iraq will advance and be better. as you can see now, the streets and buildings are better, but we're still not 100%. i'm suzanne malveaux. welcome to cnn newsroom. we're tracking reaction now after a late-night vote in the house pulling the nation back from the brink of economic chaos. president obama is back on vacation in hawaii. he's prepared to sign the new bill preventing widespread tax increases. here's specifics of the bill. no income tax increases for couples making less than $450,000 a year. itemized deductions are capped for those making 300,000. taxes on inherited estates go up from 35% to 40%.

unemployment insurance will be extended for a year for 2 million people. here's what else you need to know. you will be paying more taxes starti starting, $25,000 a year pays $42 more. people making $50,000 see $83 out of the monthly pack chij. if you're income is around $75,000 you pay 125 bucks a month in payroll taxes. those making 100 grand pay $167 every month. one big question after the fiscal deal was passed, how is wall street going to react? alison kosik aat the new york stock exchange. big rally for the opening bell. is it holding? >> it is holding. investors reacting how we expected. we see huge gains for stocks to kick off the new year and that's from big gains overnight from markets around the world and

that's about the deal to avoid the fiscal cliff. all 30 stocks ma make up the dow jones industrial average are moving higher. hewlett-packard and shares of caterpillar are leading the dow. they were two of the worst performers of 2012, so it may be bargain hunting going on. suzanne. >> tell us about what is not in the bill. >> okay. yeah, you have to remember that the automatic spending cuts, that can was kicked down the road another 60 days. it means another fight is on the horizon for the new congress, and the same set of spending cuts some say threaten economic growth and others say are necessary are still a possibility. these are 8% to 10% cuts to the budgets of most federal agencies and they include defense. the threat of the sequester, that's already having an economic impact, thousand, because government contractors have to plan for a possible slowdown in business. the second and bigger issue on the horizon is the debt ceiling, and any debate that's dragged out over whether or not the

country should continue paying its bills, that can impact the u.s. and also impact the global economy as well. some analysts predict that the u.s. credit rating could be downgraded again. it's chaotic and we remember how chaotic they got last summer, suzanne. >> you're dealing with the federal budget. you have a short-term budget that expires march 27th, so there's a lot of debate from now until that point as well and we suspect a lot of drama. >> of course. you you look at what the cbo has said, they said the deal that was reached on the fiscal cliff, what that's going to do is add $4 trillion to the federal deficit over the next decade as opposed to falling off the cliff if we did, which would have reduced the deficit by about $600 billion. what's happening because of that, there are lawmakers in congress that want deficit reduction in the budget because they didn't get it with the fiscal cliff. there's a process to the did you get. there are hearings, eventually a budget is drafted and voted on and signed.

the reality is that's supposed to happen. it probably won't happen because what lawmakers will do is what they've done for many, many years in the past. they don't create aa real budget. they just make another extension because the alternative is a government shutdown which would furlough government workers and cut services. again, it's more and more of the same of kind of continuing to just, you know, pass these extensions, kick the can down the road, procrastination is the word of the day for lawmakers. >> yeah. we have to come up with a better way of our government running. i mean, it really seems extraordinary, like one of the few places where that's acceptable to actually operate a kind of business like that. thank you. i appreciate it. shortly after the fiscal bill passed in the house. dan lothian was aboard air force one with the president and he's join you goes from honolulu. you get a break there and the president gets a break. i imagine this is short-lived because we have a couple things

that we were talking about. that is, of course, the debate over the debt ceiling, whether or not to raise that, and the budget that is to come. i imagine the president might be getting for the tied and ready for the battles ahead, yeah? >> reporter: that's right. perhaps that's why he headed straight to the gym after flying all night to pick up part two of his vacation. certainly the debt ceiling something that's looming in the next couple of months, and the president has made it very clear this is something that he will not negotiate on. why? b because he believes it was bad for not only the u.s. economy the last time around but the global economy and the president pointing out that if you have that kind of showdown again, that it could be much worse than the actual fiscal cliff. so it's interesting to see how he's able to deal with it when he's pointed out and made it very clear he will not negotiate on this. the other thing we're watching for is how the president will be able to carry out his second term agenda. he's made it clear that he wants

as his top priority to be dealing with immigration reform, also dealing with gun violence in the wake of the shootings in connecticut. there are a lot of questions about how the president can get it done when you have all these fiscal hurdles facing him in the next few months, suzanne. >> does he feel more optimistic about the new congress sworn in tomorrow, the 113th congress, whether or not there's more moderate or if he can work them any better than the previous one in terms of pushing forward his agenda? >> well, as one official told me, hope springs eternal. he they hope that they'll be able to work with this new congress. they're always looking for ways to move forward in a bipartisan way. we'll have to wait and see. the president has faced many challenges from republicans. they believe republica-- republ the white house is reason for all the gridlock. we'll see how it plays out over the next couple of months. as i pointed out, we have dual

tracks issues that take place. the president trying to carry out some of his second year agenda issues while at the same time these deadlines coming up, which are very important, and the american people out there are watching it all and getting very frustrated with the way washington is working. >> dan, i know it's hard to get the back story. you don't see the president if he's like, you know, out in the ocean or anything like that or on a suffer boarfboard. do we have any sense how long he's going to be there with the family? >> reporter: as you know, covering the white house for many years this is one of those things where they tend not to give you details about what the president plans to do on his vacation. in fact, when you look at the daily schedule that comes out, it says that the president is not doing anything public. as i said earlier, the president did head to the gym. we expect him being out on the golf course. that's what he likes to do in hawaii, and that's what he did during part one of his hawaii vacation. we expect him to do that as well. it's a chance for the president to relax with the family and head back to washington.

we don't know when but expect at the end of the week since the first daughters head back to school on monday. >> we expect him to be back here as well on the same time. get a little rest if you can if you get a break here. if you were to describe president obama's biggest challenge for the first term, it might be gridlock. with the new congress sworn in tomorrow, are the freshmen going to help push his agenda forward? n surprises him. morning starts in high spirits, but there's a growing pain in his lower back. as lines grow longer, his pain continues to linger. but after a long day of helping others, he gets some helpful advice. just two aleve have the strength to keep back pain away all day. today, jason chose aleve. just two pills for all day pain relief. try aleve d for strong, all day long sinus and headache relief.

out with the old and in with the new tomorrow in congress. john, good to see you. i know you were working really hard over the holiday like so many of us looking and watching to see if this deal was going to

happen here. we got a new congress coming in tomorrow. do we exct that they're going to be any more cooperative with the president and his agenda than the last one? >> there are rational reasons for optimism, and here's why. they were elected during the presidential election of 2012, and the at amoss fear and the message voters sent couldn't have been more different than in 2010. the big difference, of course, presidential elections bring out broad representative samples of the electorate. midterm elections are narrow and in ten seconds of the electorate and party members were angered toward president obama. they have an overwhelmingly bree preneural background and they got a message of problem solving from the voters. they want problem solving. hopefully they will affect behavior. >> tell us about the group here. you have two more democrats in the senate, eight more in the republican-controlled house. do we think there's more room

for compromise and they're the kind of group that's going to bhaf the same way the last did, which is procrastinate, p procrastina procrastinate. how will the behavior change if at all? >> let's hope not. the last-minute flurry of dealing to defuse the time bomb that congress set themselves for the fiscal cliff is inexcusable. they are going to have challenges early on, because right now we have kicked the can to late february/early march when the debt ceiling is coming do you and the sequestration cuts. there's a large focus to congressional activity coming together with the outlines of a grand bargain on deficit and debt and entitlement reform and tax reform. the president spoke about that last night. other high items are gun control so the early challenges will be there. this is not a hard core ideological bunch. the message from voters this time around is stop fighting and start fixing. that will hopefully adjust their

behavior and slightly more democratic tilt in the senate. they could adjust the balance of power in conversations as well. >> talk about how the congress will look different here. le you have a record number of women in the senate, 20 of them, there were 17 in the previous congress. a record number of latinos serving in the senate and first openly gay senator. it's more diverse. >> it is. slowly and surely congress is looking for like america, and that's a good thing, obviously. add to that list two specially notable senators. first of all, independent senator from maine, an gus king, former independent governor the to the state. 40% are independents like myself. we have a representative in the senate, someone who does walk the walk and talk the talk. the she could thing especially notable is tammy baldwin historic she's the first openly gay senator. but tim scott, appointed by nikki haley, but the first african-american republican in

the u.s. senate since ed brook elected back in the 1960s and the first republican senator from the south since reconstruction. so a very significant figure he'll be cutting in the coming years. another person to look for is ted cruz, a hispanic republican from texas. he's going to be a major factor for years to come. >> john, i know we've talked a lot about the budget deal and the debt ceiling, that kind of thing. that's immediate, the immediate things he has to focus on in getting done. do we know that big term items he can actually accomplish for the second administration, whether it's immigration reform or even something dealing with gun control? >> well, look, we know for a fact senator dianne feinstein of california is putting forward new legislation on assault weapons and high capacity magazine clips on the first day of the new congress. obviously, that national outage and reflection in the wake of newtown massacre creating impetus on move on that. immigration reform as you

mentioned. republicans hopefully get the message this election that they can't get an increasing percentage of the white vote and win. they need to reach out. so there's a real chance at getting comprehensive immigration reform, something that president george w. bush tried in 2007 and failed to do because conservatives in his own party undercut the effort. there's a ground to build on. the immediate thing is the countdown clock is on again. we have two months before the debt ceiling and the sequester cuts come due. my guess is the real impetus is to reason together on entitlement reform and tax reform, the outlines on the grand bargain and that's high stakes for the economic security of the country. >> that will take effort on the white house's part as well. john, thank you very much. good to see you. the head of the naacp is talking to us as well about the fiscal cliff deal. is it a good deal for the middle class? we're going to talk about the new face of congress. of course, they'll have more women and african-americans. we'll hear from the naacp

president and ceo up next. aig? we said we were going to turn it around, and we did. woman: we're helping joplin, missouri, come back from a devastating tornado. man: and now we're helping the east coast recover from hurricane sandy. we're a leading global insurance company, based right here in america. we've repaid every dollar america lent us. everything, plus a profit of more than $22 billion. for the american people. thank you, america. helping people recover and rebuild -- that's what we do. now let's bring on tomorrow.

taking a look at the big board, stocks shooting up more than 200 points this morning. right now the dow is up 228 points. investors ringing in the new year with a pretty broad rally. fiscal cliff deal, the senate and the house to individuals making more than $150,000 a year and coupling making more than 450,000? everyone is going to get hit, however, with a rise in the payroll tax. joining me now is naacp preside president. good to see as always. tell us about your reaction when you see this plan. we know the taxes are going up on the wealthy, but working

americans' paychecks are going to shrink because of this payroll tax rate that was allowed to go up. i want to give you a couple of examples here. americans earning $35,000 a he year will take home $700 less. those earns 100,000 lose about $2200. how do you think american taxpayers fared in this deal overall? >> there are things good for the short term and long term as well. in the short term the president kept a key campaign promise to extend tax cuts for 98% of the people. in this deal it's 99% of the people in this country. that's important because it keeps dollars going into our communities and helps keep this recovery going, this very kind of vulnerable recovery going forward. with regards to social security, you know, it really depends on how you see social security. those of us who know that this is an important program for

people to make sure they can survive, their families can eat when they get older. when somebody dies young to violence and they leave children or a surviving spouse, we understand that what we pay into social security we get back. so it's not a pure tax like an income tax where it goes for dense and this and so forth. it's more like a retirement contribution. most households in the span of the life will get more than they pay in. we see this as good for the short term and long term as well. >> let's talk about the big picture here, ben. it's a very challenging time for so many folks. if you look at the u.s. sense success, 49 million americans are poor. 1 out of 6 american here. does this plan help or increase the burden on people who are not doing well and particularly within the african-american community? >> you know, one of the key things here that is very important is that we extended unemployment insurance for the

lo long-term unemployed. that's important because 2 million people in our country every day beating the pavement trying to find a job. in our community, in the black community, the average length of unemployment is 27 weeks. that's exactly as long as it takes to qualify as being long-term unemployed. it's a week past six months. so for the average black person, long-term unemployment insurance is critical. for our communities it's critical, because every dollar that an unemployed person receives they can spend. they spend is very closely to where they live. that was critical, and i think frankly we saw it as one of the most critical things. >> and, ben, talk a little bit about the expectations here. the president has a second term, 93% of african-americans voted for him the second go-around. you do have unemployment rates for the african-american community still pretty high, 13.2%, 5 points higher than the average -- national average for all americans. are there higher expectations

for the president in the second term. >> this is a very weighty moment. you have the first black president going into a second term. it happens to come on the 150th anniversary of the emancipation proclamation. unfortunately, too many ways our struggle now is what it was back then. what black households talk about like 150 years ago is how do we get all our children access to good schools? how do we get beyond this persistent discrimination in employment? how do we make the justice system work for all of us? we're a country that leads the world in incarcerating people of all colors, but a black man in this country today is five times more likely to be incarcerated than a while man and five times more than a black man in south africa at the height of apartheid.

our hope for this president is he will go real hard at closing this divide between the haves and have-nots for people of all colors. also to deal head-on more aggressively with racial discrimination and to deal head-on with this new jim crow of mass incarceration. >> ben, do you have specifics here? you're very strong on this point. is there something specifically that you think about that you feel the president needs to do in that regard? >> one thing we would like to see and we've requested from the u.s. department of justice is that they actually offer an alternative to a report that president george bush won, if you will, george h.w. bush, has ag ashcroft issued late in the first term which was called the case for more incarceration. that ushered in this supersized period of mass incarceration in this country. it's time to have a report called the case for less inkars

rags. we've seen republican governors in georgia and texas sign off on bills to downsize the size of their justice system switches from failed tough on crime policies like incarceration for addicts to proven smart on crime policies like treatment for addicts. >> okay. >> so it's time for this president and his doj to take the lead on that issue and get us back towards sanity in the justice system that works. >> a final point. we're looking at a new congress that will be sworn in tomorrow. it is a dramatically different-looking congress and much more diverse. tim scott got the nod from the tea party and we have more than half the democrats in the house, women, african-american, hispanics, asian, we see a more diverse party if you will. does that give you any more optimism or hope this is the kind of group that your organization can work with it ferms of your own agenda for job opportunities and leveling the playing field? >> for us it's always about what's in folks' hearts.

we have cohen who gets an a on our report card, and we have a new senator like tim scott who is black gets an f every year. when i look at senator scott, i'm very glad that going into the 150th celebration, if you will. of the eman pags prok clags we have one black senator. we should have at least 10. when i look at him, you know, i say quite frankly what wuch my old coaches said about me in a sport i wasn't so good aat. he has nothing but potential. there's nothing but room to improve. we would hope that he would not continue to get fs on the naacp report card? >> is that because he's a republican or what's behind it? >> no. we have republicans that believe in civil rights. unfortunately, he's not one of them, and unfortunately his party as you know has really gone after so-called rhinos as they call them, these republican

whoe believe in civil rights again and again. so, you know, for instance, you take senator specter there recently. he was very good on the same sorts of justice issues i was talking about. you know, so there's an opportunity here for him to live up, to have him be the party of lincoln and frederick douglas and colin powell and jack kemp and arlen speblgter. >> we'll work on getting tim scott tomorrow to respond to some of your accusations. we appreciate your time. >> accusations? i said he had nothing but potential. >> your criticism, ben. in all fairness we will get him on the show to sforespond to it. thank you very much. we appreciate your perspective. >> happy new year. >> happy new year. we'll have more after the break. . [ horse neighs ] hold up partner. prilosec isn't for fast relief. try alka-seltzer. kills heartburn fast. yeehaw!

house members wrapping up the 112th congress, some on an angry note. they're slamming house republican leaders for failing to vote on a bill to provide billions of dollars in aid to victims of superstorm sandy. lisa is on capitol hill. i want to play for our viewers what some republicans are saying this morning. >> whethn katrina hit ten days later, $60 billion, $100 billion altogether. now we hear from people in florida, louisiana, texas, alabama and yes some people from california and the midwest, when they have a disaster, and we were there for them. did the rules change for us? it is now not an emergency? the federal government doesn't have a role in this?

absurd, absolutely absurd! we demand nothing less than we have given the rest of the country, an emergency and disaster means emergency and disaster. >> nobody wants a special favor. nobody is looking for any earmark or gift or anything else. when your people are literally freezing in the winter and they're without food and shelter and they're without clothing and my own party refuses to help them, then why should i help the republican party? i will stand on the values and principles that i believe are true republican principles, but turning your back on people starving and freezing is not a republican value. >> wow. peter king really angry about his own party. so what's the fallout here? you were saying the last hour speaker boehner is going to try to talk some folks? >> reporter: yes, and peter king is one of the most important people he'll talk to. that meeting we expect, suzanne, in about two hours from now at 3:00 here eastern. our producer reports from republican aides that the

speaker will sit down with the new york and new jersey delegatio delegations. i imagine he'll get an earful, and i imagine he will see the clips from in morning. we're interested what he will tell the delegate and why he decided not to hold the vote last night and also when he thinks a vote could come up. suzanne, we know that the speaker through one of his spokesman has said this would be his first priority in the next congress. suzanne, there's a big he asterisk there. the house is not planning to meet for days right now during january, and peter king on cnn is worried that the soonest this package could come up orrized is not until february. he we don't know and we're waiting to see what the speaker says after the meeting. >> did he give he any sense or splangs why they didn't hold the vote? because there was so much attention paid to averts the fiscal cliff? is that one possibility? >> reporter: we don't have an official explanation. there is a lot of conjecture

that the fiscal cliff deal got in the way. that there was a spending bill that republicans didn't like that was hard for them to swallow, and that following it up with the hurricane sandy bill, which was $60 billion in unpaid for spending, politically would have been uncomfortable to say the least and that republicans may not have been happy with that situation. we don't know the reasoning. certainly we know republicans don't like spending that isn't paid for, and there it was. we had two big bills right in a row. >> finally, the president leased a statement urging them to vote on this today. do we have any sense that that is something that is possible or likely, that the statement what tragedy strikes america comes together to support those in need. i surgery republicans in the house of representatives to do the same, bring this important request to a vote today and pass it without delay for our fellow americans. possible that could happen? >> reporter: no, it won't happen. the house is adjourned until 11:00 tomorrow, and we don't know this house will come back, new congress starts aat noon

tomorrow. they're wheeling out some of the christmas tree, so not a cheerful holiday the at the capitol. >> lisa, thank you very much. coming up in 30 minutes, new jersey governor chris christie is holding a news conference on this very issue. superstorm sandy, the recovery em efforts and, of course, the controversy. a flu shot can help avoid you getting sick, right? not everybody wants it. >> i just feel like it's a toxin that i don't want in my body. there are side effects with that. there are no guarantees that it's going to protect you. >> so now refusing to get a flu shot cost that woman and seven others their jobs. [ male announcer ] your favorite foods fighting you? fight back fast with tums. calcium-rich tums starts working so fast you'll forget you had heartburn. ♪ tum tum tum tum tums

get a flu shot or get fired. that is a choice a group of hospital workers in indiana actually face. six of them refused, and they got the ax. two other workers quit in action to this rule. we want to bring in elizabeth cohen to talk about this. the rules are different, right, for those who are in hospitals, those who are in hospices providing care for sick. how does this work? >> right. the way it works is hospitals will say, you need to get a flu shot, because you could give the flu to one of your patients. if we get the flu, it's not a big. when someone is who is in the hospital or in the hospice gets

the flu, that can be really serious, an average of 36,000 people a year die from the flu and many are hospital patients. the hospital is saying, look you can have your personal belief palencia about a flu shot, but if you want to work here you can't get our patients sick. >> is there an alternative? could she have done something different short of the flu vaccine and still keep her job and say, i'm protecting myself and the patients who i deal with? >> not really. you could wear a mask, but a mask isn't going to work as well as a sack zeen. masks are hard to ware all the time. what do people do? they're uncomfortable and take them off. they don't work nearly as well. the hospital says we're doing it for the safety of your patients. you can have your personal beliefs and can't work here. >> is this something that most people that go into the profession they know? they realize this is required on a health care worker and these are things i have to do? >> yes. this shouldn't be a big shock to

people. eight years ago hospitals said wait a second, we have very few vaccinated, a big chunk is not vaccinated. we need people vaccinated. if you look at 2002, 38% were vaccinated. that number went up to 67% in 2011. if you went into nursing 30 years ago, you didn't anticipate this. that's what happens as science e evolves and things change. requirements change. >> i want to talk about another subject because everybody is talking about it. the hannah storm, the fire that explodes from the girl. what happened in that situation to her? a lot of people think is this uncommon to be in that kind of situation where it's dangerous and don't realize the gas is on and v an explosion. >> you have the gas on, and you think it's lit. what happened in this situation is she came back and it wasn't lit. she went to relight it and all of this propane had been gathering during that time. propane is heavy, and it was

just sitting there. of course, you can't see it, but she was not lighting just a small amount of gas at that point. she was unknowingly lighting a large amount of gas and han explangs. when you light a propane grill and if it goes out and doesn't work, you can't just relight it immediately because you've got much more gas in front of you you. >> we're looking at the pictures of the injuries, the burns to her face and she said her blouse was on fire and she had to rip off her shirt but her hand and face. how is her recovery going? she's back on air, and it looks remarkable that that was three weeks ago. >> she had first and second-degree burns and was treated in a facility that specializes in this. she got immediate care and yelled out to her 15-year-old daughter mommy is on fire and call 911. they got her great care quickly. that's important. they're going to watch out for infection and dehydration. when you're burned -- it's a big chunk of her body, you can be

dehydrated easily. fluids and infection control are important. three weeks, she's done great. it's terrific. i think it's great she released those pictures and shown people what can happen. you're dealing with an insend yaer device, right? >> it really is a public service for her to put that out there and warn people. thank you very much, elizabeth. really appreciate it. for more on all of it, go to cnn.com/empoweredpatient. it's a new year and top two resolutions, getting your finances in order and getting your body back in shape. how to shape up one day at a time. we have got that next.

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with odor free aspercreme. powerful medicine relieves pain fast, with no odor. so all you notice is relief. aspercreme. losing weight and getting in shape, how do you keep the commitment to a healthier lifestyle after the novelty wears off? joining me from l.a. jerry anderson. i know you have some guns there. you have a seven-day solution. >> i'm trying. oh, definitely have a search-day solution to your new year's resolution which is fantastic. a lot of people start their programs, and they don't know where they're going and abandon them in 20 days. we have the seven day solution for you. let's jump in. >> what are we doing monday? >> no meat on monday for breakfast, lunch or dinner. you save 300 to 500 calories if

you do that monday. go meatless monday. it's fantastic. it will get you into a healthy mindset. sets up for tuts. what about tuesday? >> toning tuesday. tone up on tuesday and get some weights and do some curls and shoulder presses and right at home. don't even leave the house. grab your weights and work out. tone up on tuesday and take a shower and go to work. >> it was a water bottle. anything in the house. that brings us to wednesday. what are you doing on wednesday? >> wednesday focus to walk. walk around your neighborhood, your house, at work. start out wo 10 and go to 20 to 30 minutes. there is it is. you got your goal met. walk on wednesday. >> thursday what do we set up? >> this is a biggy. let's go thighs on thursday.

we want to work those thighs on thursday. we want to stimulate the metabolism. we want you to do some squats, then do front squats and go into the lunge. go ut that. that turns juror body into a fat-burning machine. he'll be sizeling like fajitas. unbelievable. >> those are big muscles to work out. take us into friday. >> definitely. fiber friday, jump into the fiber. don't even worry about no fried chicken on friday. go with fiber on friday. most consume 15 grams of fiber a day and get up to 35 grams of fiber. start with oatmeal and whole wheat cereal and fruit and vegetables and grains and build up and have some air-popped popcorn and put water in it. fiber on friday. >> you're killing me on fridays. i love my fried chicken. what about on saturday? >> i knew i would get on friday. saturday we want a superset on as a result. it will kick your body into a

fat-burning mode. do four exercises at once. do shoulder presses, curls, bent over rolls, squats, take a deep brett, five, four, three, two, one and back on it. keep your body burning fat like crazy, and don't let up. this is your solution to your new year's resolution. >> what do you do on sunday? >> you're going to relax a little bit. you're not burned out. i want you to -- on sabbath sunday relax and go to church, yes. a lot of people don't reach their goal because they don't have the right mindset, and the bible says let this mind in christ be in you. change your mindset. you can do all things through christ, so make your mindset up and do it. don't just chillax but rebuild your spirit to make sure you achieve your goals. that's why meatless monday is awesome. >> i like your calendar and try it for a week and let you know how it goes.

is that fair enough? >> most definitely. follow it, now, and check back with me. i want to make sure on fiber friday, i don't want to see you eating no fried chicken on friday. >> i will try to give it up. it's a tough thing to do, jerry. we'll get back to you on this. >> remember, you reap what you eat. >> all right. good lesson. good message. we'll see if we can hold this for a week or so. thank you very much, jerry. there is a battle brewing on capitol hill. we're following it. it's not about the fiscal cliff anymore. it's actually about funding for the victims of superstorm sandy. it is turning republican against republican. i spoke to governor christie and governor cuomo and mayor blumbe bloomberg. we can't believe this cruel knife until the back was delivered to our region. ok... little did i know that one week later i wasn't smoking. [ male announcer ] along with support, chantix is proven to help people quit smoking.

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superstorm sandy killed 113 people, left millions without power, devastated parts of new york and new jersey. the senate passed a $60 billion relief package to provide long-term aid for infrastructure repairs. well, the house was expected to vote on the bill yesterday, right? but fiscal cliff discussions took up most of the day. the storm relief was never even brought to a vote. the bill will not be voted on until after the new congress is sworn in tomorrow. the house has failed to take up the bill. it is drawing loud protest from new york congressman peter king. watch this. >> what was most galling about

this is that within ten days of katrina, we gladly voted $60 billion and went over $100 billion ultimately. it is now nine weeks since sandy struck long island, new york, new jersey, and we have not gotten a penny from the united states congress. and we played by the rules. and last night the speaker of the house of representatives walked off the floor, didn't even give us the courtesy of a notice, he told an aid to the majority leader who told us that we ended up telling the majority leader, i believe. so some dysfunction in the republican leadership, the speaker, for some reason, is taking it out on new york and long island and new jersey. it is a disgrace. i was tracing the speaker all over the house floor, trying to talk to him and his staff and kept tell me wait until the vote is over, wait until the fiscal cliff vote is over, everything will be taken care of and then he was gone. he wouldn't -- he refused to meet with us. he yelled at congressman, i'm not meeting with you people. he wouldn't tell us why. he decided to sneak off in the dark of night. >> and we have learned that

republican peter king and some others will be meeting with speaker boehner this afternoon as they sort all of that out. and we'll see if there is more of an explanation coming from the speaker and his office. we're also going to hear from one man who lost his home during superstorm sandy as we wait for the new jersey governor chris christie, he's also going to be reacting to the fact that this bill did not come up on the house floor and his area very, very hard hit by that storm. he'll be speaking live in just a few minutes. 

house of representatives could have voted on a $60 billion aid bill for the victims of hurricane sandy, but members adjourned before taking up the package which had already actually passed in the senate. so now the bill is in limbo, at least until noon tomorrow. that is when a new congress convenes and senate majority leader harry reid today is chastising the republican-controlled house for putting off the vote, even if it is just for a few days. here is what he said. >> there are tens of thousands of people, tens of thousands of people in new york, tens of thousands of people in new jersey, and other parts of the northeast, who have had their lives turned upside down. now, i am dismayed and really saddened that the house of representatives walked away last night, didn't even touch this after we spent so much time here on the floor doing something to help the beleaguered part of our

country. >> and a joint statement about the sandy bill. it reads in part, this continued inaction and indifference by the house of representatives is inexcusable. when american citizens are in need, we come to their aid. the people of our states can no longer afford to wait while politicians in washington play games. and we have also learned that president obama has now reached out directly to governor christie of new jersey on the issue. we're also going to hear from the governor of new jersey, chris christie, moments away now. i want to bring in ray martin. he lost his home in the rockaways neighborhood in new york because of hurricane sandy. and, ray joins us on the phone. ray, i assume watching some of the developments here, when you heard that congress decided not to vote on this, what was your feeling about that? >> well, the initial feeling, of course, is anger. it is unconscionable that a sandy relief bill hasn't passed. it has been two months since the

storm hit. it devastated any coastal community in the tristate area of new york. if you travel just out of those areas, it is business as usual. it seems to be the case in washington, d.c. as well too, business as usual. life is anything but as usual in our town, in our coastal community. the destruction is evident wherever you go. there is debris everywhere. the beach erosion is unbelievable. the houses that were right up against the coast basically have been destroyed. no train service into our particular area in the rockaways. the fact that much time has passed and congress has not acted on a bill. it is mind boggling. >> and, ray, i want our viewers to know we have been looking at pictures of your neighborhood. we also looked at pictures of the destruction of your home and

your community there. people really trying to get their lives back together. what is it like for you now? how are you living? are you living in -- have you moved? are you in temporary housing? what is it like for you? >> well, i was lucky enough to have a place to go. my mother lived just 15 minutes away from me. i have four young kids. so we were able to go stay with her. but it was cramped quarters. there were seven of us staying in a small three bed-room house but i was very lucky. many of my neighbors, not just the ones with their houses destroyed by fire, but many had flooding up past their basements and first floors, my community was displaced. thousands of families were displaced. i'm lucky enough that i had a place to go right away and afforded me to get some temporary housing. i've moved back down to my community into a house that can accommodate my family, but there are many people that are still living in