with family and friends in other states, wherever they can land, they have. >> ray, if you could, we're running out of time here, we only have about 30 seconds, if you had something to tell the lawmakers in washington, in terms of what you need, what would you say? >> i say get it done now. forget about the port that has to be added on to a bill like this. pass a relief bill right away. if it doesn't happen, communities like mine are going to be suffering much longer than they need to. >> ray marten, rockaways, thank you very much for taking the time to tell us what life has been like for you. obviously still very much struggling in that community there and folks who really need some assistance. they're bringing their message to washington. more of "cnn newsroom" with don lemon. thank you very much, suzanne. i'm don lemon in for brooke baldwin. huge day of news to tell you about, including a big day on

wall street. the dow skyrocketing after congress comes together on a deal that prevents tax hikes for the majority of americans. but don't get too happy just yet. this deal only sets up a nastier showdown in the coming months. we'll break that down in a moment. but first, this. we're going to start with superstorm sandy. at anytime now, any minute, new jersey governor chris christie set to hold a news conference on the fight over aid to victims of superstorm sandy. these victims may have to wait for months for help, because your congress just cannot get it together. unless, unless a meeting this hour provides a last minute fix, house lawmakers will leave town would the passing an aid package to help sandy survivors rebuild their homes and their lives. lawmakers from areas affected by sandy are furious that the senate-passed bill may die. republican congressman peter king says it is all speaker boehner's fault. >> speaker boehner is the one. he walked off the floor. he refused to toll us why.

refused to give us any indication or warning whatsoever. i'm saying anyone from new york and new jersey who contributes one penny to the republican congressional campaign committee should have their head examined. i would not give one penny to these people based on what they did to us last night. i would say -- i'm talking about the people in my neighborhood that i see, people are out of homes, people are living in devastated homes, people without jobs, people lost their businesses, their clothing, their life-long possessions. absolutely disgraceful. people in my party, they wonder why they're becoming a minority people. they're writing off new york. their writing off new jersey. they have written me off and they'll have a hard time getting my vote. i can tell you that. >> let's go to governor christie speaking right now. >> -- were damaged or destroyed. nearly 7 million new jerseyians were without power, some for up to 14 days. nearly 600 state roads were closed. 127 shelters, over 700 evacuated

citizens, all regional mass transit and hudson river crossings were closed, all new jersey schools were closed, some for weeks. tens of thousands of businesses were damaged or destroyed with many still closed. our jersey shore was devastated. with the loss of homes, public buildings, and iconic symbols of new jersey culture, and economic vitality destroyed. tens of thousands of our citizens entered 2013 unsure of their future. as they spent the holiday season displaced from all that was familiar and comforting. 31 days for andrew victims. 17 days for victims of gustav and ike. ten days for victims of katrina. for the victims of sandy, new jersey, new york, connecticut, 66 days and the wait continues. there is only one group to blame

for the continued suffering of these innocent victims. the house majority and their speaker, john boehner. this is not a republican or democratic issue. national disasters happen in red states and blue states and states with democratic governors and republican governors. we respond to innocent victims of natural disasters, not as republicans or democrats, but as americans. or at least we did until last night. last night politics was placed before hosts to serve our citizens. for me, it was disappointing and disgusting to watch. on january 19th, 2010, i took an oath to serve all the people of new jersey, without regard to race or ethnicity, gender or political affiliation. and for the last 1,079 days i have worked as hard as i could to be loyal to that oath. whether under the pressure of dealing with a legislature of

the opposite party, or the scrutiny of a hotly contested election, i have always put the people of new jersey and my oath ahead of petty, personal politics. last night the house of representatives failed that most basic test of public service and they did so with callous indifference to the suffering of the people of my state. if you want an example of how nonpartisan this issue should have been, i offer this for your consideration. near midnight last night conservative congressman chris smith of new jersey and former speaker nancy pelosi of california both spoke on the floor in concert with each other and in support of this aid package. one for the record books, i suspect. on the equities, this should be a no brainer for the house republicans as well, both new york and new jersey used the international firm of mckenzie

and company to quantify the damage to our states, our professional staffs have spent countless hours with congressional staff providing leadership and backup documentation for all of the damage claims. governor cuomo and i have spent hours and hours speaking to individual members of the house and senate, to answer their questions. we worked with president obama and his administration and satisfied them of the urgent need of the $60 billion aid package. this was good enough for 62 united states senators of both parties to vote for this package. this was good enough for majority of the house of representatives. it overcame all the factual challenges, it just could not overcome the toxic interl politics of the house majority. finally, new jersey and new york are perennially among the most generous states in the nation to our fellow states. we vote for disaster relief for other states in need, we are

donor states, spending -- sending much more to washington, d.c. than we ever get back in federal spending. despite this history of unbridled generosity, in our hour of desperate need, we have been left waiting for help, six times longer than the victims of katrina, with no end in sight. americans are tired of the palace intrigue and political partisanship of this congress, which places one upsmanship ahead of the lives of the citizens who sent these people to washington, d.c. in the first place. new jerseyians and new yorkers are tired of being treated like second class citizens. new york deserves better than the selfishness we saw displayed last night. new jersey deserves better than the duplicity we saw displayed last night. america deserves better than just another example of the government that has forgotten who they are there to serve and

why. 66 days and counting, shame on you. shame on congress. despite my anger and disappointment, my hope is that the good people in congress and there are good people in congress will prevail upon their colleagues to finally, finally put aside the politics and help our people now. that's the only hope we have left, for the good people to prevail upon the others. one thing i can assure the people of this region is this, governor cuomo and i will not stop fighting together to see that justice is done, and that our citizens suffering is finally addressed by this congress. questions. matt. matt. >> -- internal strife within the

party and who have you spoken to today to try to get a sense of whether -- >> well, listen, it is hard for me, matt, from this distance, to speculate about the specifics of what caused this. all i can tell you is this, we were given assurances by everyone, by we, i mean myself and governor cuomo, over the weekend, that this was going to be done. we got continued assurances as late as last night at 9:00 that as soon as the vote on the fiscal cliff was over, that the rule would be discussed for voting today on the aid package. and so it is hard for me to tell. all i can tell you is this was the speaker's decision. his alone. and i can tell you that our representatives down in congress on both sides of the aisle in both new york and new jersey, were working with unrivalled bipartisanship together. as to who i've spoken to today,

the president called me earlier today to assure me of his continued support that this was going to continue to be a priority for the administration. i spoke to majority leader canter today. i think eric was working as hard as he could to get this done for us throughout the weekend and the early part of this week. and i had a conversation with the speaker this morning where he informed me he would be meeting this afternoon with members of the new jersey and new york delegation from the republican party. so as to what's gone on, i think you have seen a lot of palace intrigue down there and i think unfortunately folks are putting politics ahead of their responsibilities. and, you know, listen, i understand it is challenging as a politician to stop playing politics. but we have jobs to do. and i've been confronted with this situation a number of times, in the time i've been

governor. you do the right thing for the people who sent you there. enough with all the politics. michael. >> governor, is it that they don't want to pass a bill to spend money at the same time as they're challenging the obama administration -- spending? >> you have to ask them. i was given no explanation, michael. i was given no explanation. i was called at 11:20 last night by leader cantor and told that authority for the vote was pulled by the speaker. and our delegation asked for a meeting with the speaker at that time, they were refused. i called the speaker four times last night after 11:20, and he did not take my calls. so you have to ask the speaker. >> governor, what is the real consequence of this? it is not just a sense of our feelings are hurt -- >> sure, i mean, listen, every day that we don't begin to get

this aid are days we can't help people get back in their homes, get businesses reopened, get our economy moving in this state again. those are the real consequences of it. inability for people to plan about what their future is going to be. it's absolutely disgraceful. and i have to tell you, this used to be something that was not political. you know, disaster relief was something that you didn't play games with. but now in this current atmosphere everything is the subject of one-upsmanship, everything is a possibility eric potenti , a potential piece of bait for the political game. it is why the american people hate congress. it is why they hate them. and governor cuomo and i are as frustrated as two people can be because unlike people in congress, we have actual responsibilities. and we have responsibility to

make things happen. >> is there any hope between now and tomorrow? >> i doubt it. i think most people have gone home. brian? brian? >> -- speak with the speaker today and the speaker is being reported on the radio today that he would expect to pull the vote on this in a few weeks. with that assurance from him, is there really a substantive difference if you have to wait another few weeks for this money as opposed to the vote coming -- >> i would be happy to pay it tomorrow for a hamburger today. i was being assured all weekend that this was going to be done that this was done. my help was enlisted in rounding up votes and i spoke to members from all over the country. i spent most of new year's eve and new year's day on the phone with members of congress from all over the country soliciting their support and vote for this

package. so i'm not going to get into the specifics of what i discussed with john boehner today. but what i will tell you is there is no reason for me at the moment to believe anything they tell me. because they have been telling me stuff for weeks. and they didn't deliver. and it is an appropriate time, by the way, for me to say that i have to give real credit to senator menendez, who worked extraordinarily hard in making this happen, and he deserves great credit for it. and to give real credit to both the republican and democratic delegations in the house. they worked seamlessly together. i was on the phone regularly with congressman lo bondo, and congressman pallone who were taking the leads on this from the republican and democratic sides and they all worked tirelessly on this.

>> okay. we -- we just lost the -- >> they deserve great credit. the difference is, brian, it ain't done until it's done. we learned that at 11:20 last night, being assured for days it was going to happen. so, you know, that's the difference, brian. if it gets done in a couple of weeks, again, every day that goes by, talk to the people down in union beach. talk to the folks in toms river. talk to the people in lavalette. ask them for another two weeks matters to them and their lives. those are the people that i'm concerned about. those are the people i care about. not the politicians in washington, d.c. who will say whatever they need to say to get through the next day. [ inaudible ]

>> yes. and they should too. and all i can tell them is that when i said at the end here, governor cuomo and i are not wallflowers. we are not shrinking violets. and we have resources at our disposal too and we're going to continue to work together and fight together to make sure that this happens. and i still believe it will happen because i do believe there are more good people in congress than bad. and that eventually this will happen. but if the people of new jersey feel betrayed today by those who did this in the house last night, then they have good company. i'm with them. [ inaudible ] >> i'm exercising one of them right now. matt. >> as far as -- said, i don't know what he means, i don't know what the options are, i would suggest the governor -- is there any sort of legal option you

have? >> none that i've been made of aware of by counsel's office or the attorney general at this point. >> a follow-up, congressman king suggested new yorkers and new jersey don't donate to congressional republicans. do you agree with that? >> i think you to be a little more specific than that. there are some people who have been extraordinarily helpful. so, you know, but certainly at the moment, i wouldn't be, you know looking to do much for house leadership. >> governor, there was some last minute work by a congressman to come up with an alternative. $27 billion, $33 billion long-term infrastructure. is that the way it will ultimately play out? >> i don't really care how they split it up. i think that was an effort by

leader cantor and the congressman who took the co-lead on this to come up with something that could pass. i think the theory was that there were many people in the republican caucus who would vote, a majority or more, that would vote for the $27 billion, less that would street for the additional 33, by splitting it up they get with democratic votes for the 33, they would get to a majority of the house. i think that was the strategy that leader cantor and the congressman came up with and given what i heard throughout the weekend, from leaders in the democratic party and the house, and by the republican members that i spoke to, i am absolutely confident that the bill would have passed. >> would you take $27 billion today? >> no. no. yeah. [ inaudible ] >> completely ridiculous. we sent a ton of information down there, enough that leader cantor who is not known as

someone who is a spend thrift was satisfied to be the person leading the way on this. this is like no nothings out there who, you know, read a press clipping out of the ap about some stuff that was put in there by the senate that amounted to about $400 million in a $60 billion package that all of a sudden says this say pork package. those guys should spend a little more time reading the information we send and a little less time reading the political talking points put together by their staff. and they know who they are. >> if you don't want an honest answer, don't ask chris christie. going in on congress, saying he felt betrayed. felt betrayed before? he also said some members of congress are liers and that's why people hate them. but he's putting the blame right on the doorstep of speaker boehner. and by the way, speaker boehner is set to meet with republican peter king and other republican lawmakers from the affected states at 3:00 p.m. eastern.

if we have news from that, we'll bring that to you. i want to bring in now democratic congresswoman nita lowey of new york. she joins us from capitol hill. congresswoman, what did you make of that press conference? he did not mince words. >> i felt governor christie told it like it was. told it like it is. and he and governor cuomo have detailed a careful remedy from sandy. in fact, the numbers that i got originally in a meeting were over $80 billion carefully documented. the administration sent us a carefully documented plan. we thought last night we had a deal. we were told it is 99.9%. we didn't think about that extra percent that this was going to come to the floor and we can vote for it. we have been working in a bipartisan way. there is no space between the democrats and republicans in the house of representatives from new york, new jersey and connecticut. little pennsylvania, on this issue. and it was deeply disappointing.

and this is why everyone is so angry that this bill didn't come up. >> congresswoman, who does it behoove speaker boehner to put this vote up? i don't understand it. >> you'll have to ask speaker boehner. you'll have to ask mr. cantor. you'll have to ask any of their lieutenants as to why this didn't come up. we were promised. we thought we would have a vote. we know the urgency of it and certainly governor christie and governor cuomo have made it absolutely clear. the people of our communities don't understand the politics. i'm not going to explain the politics. all i can tell you, that the democrats and republicans were working closely together and we had a commitment to get this bill on the floor and we had the votes to pass it. the republicans were working very hard to get those votes and we had almost 100% of the democrats. >> congresswoman, i want to put this up on the screen, house appropriations chairman hal rogers says fema has plenty of

money. he says fema has enough money to last until at least late february, march, anyway. what is your reaction to that? >> this bill has got to pass. as a long time member of appropriations, i want to assure you that the way these people are going to get relief in new york, new jersey, connecticut, a little of pennsylvania, is getting this bill passed now. frankly we're going to be here for a little more than two weeks in january. there is a lot of work that has to be done. full of the new year. unless this passes now, i think this $60.4 billion is in jeopardy. we need to pass the bill 27-33, put together and get these commitments out there. i'm not talking about sending all the money in one great big check. that's not how it works. you need a commitment. so that hospitals that were destroyed, transportation systems that were destroyed, beaches, houses, people have to

plan. there are a lot of economic damage. people are losing millions of dollars. we have to get this commitment out there. we have to pass this and i am urging the leadership on the republican side to get this vote no later than friday so we can begin the new year in a positive, bipartisan way. nancy pelosi, steny hoyer, the leaders of the democrats are willing to work together with speaker boehner, mr. cantor, to get this done. it has to happen and it has to happen now. >> congresswoman, thank you very much. you heard what governor christie said. 66 days and counting people are still waiting on aid. thank you. >> and, remember, remember, we got the money out to katrina within ten days. and it was bipartisan cooperation. we have to do this now. >> thank you, congresswoman. have a great day. appreciate you coming on. next hour, we're going to talk to minority whip steny high and

senator chuck schumer on this same thing. a quick programming note for you, from sandy to katrina, massive storms seem to be far less rare events, but are we ready for the next superstorm? be sure to watch our special report, the coming storms this sunday night at 8:00 eastern only here on cnn. coming up, speaking of the fiscal cliff deal, we talked about a bit earlier, there is a lot of special interest money included and some of it raising eyebrows today. we're back in 90 seconds. [ male announcer ] this is sheldon, whose long dy setting up the news

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we're still awaiting word on when president obama will sign the american taxpayer relief act of 2012. wall street, however, didn't need the oval office sign on. within the first hour of the opening bell, stocks soared 215 points. the dow jones is now up 233 points and no doubt investors are happy the nation won't plummet over the fiscal cliff. the hundreds of billions of dollars in tax hikes and spending cuts that were to hit if no deal was reached. >> taxes were going up when all americans on january 1st and we made permanent the bush tax cuts for 99% of americans. i think that's an important thing to do. >> the house passed the bill 257-167 with nearly all the nays coming from republicans.

there is much more in the 157-page bill. and that's why jamie dupree is here with me, the radio news director for the washington bureau of the cox media group. jamie, thank you for joining us. there are a lot of tax breaks, what is called extenders, dozens and dozens of them including 340 million for film production, nascar gets a $70 million tax benefit. tell me about some of the other ones. are they all special interests here? >> they're not all special interests. but a lot of them, don, do have to do with business. there is a very popular rnd credit. a lot of them are very bipartisan. there is stuff in there for energy tax credits, some for two and three-wheeled electric vehicles, but, for example, there is one on the personal level for people who live in states that do not have a state income tax, for example, they're aloud under one of these extenders to write off on their federal tax forms the state sales taxes that they pay since they're not able to write off

any state income taxes. but it is mainly business tax breaks, a lot of them have been extended over the years. the nascar tax break you talked about that was put in at 2004 corporate tax bill, went for a couple of years, extended again. i went back and looked at my stories covering this, they keep coming up. there was a story from december of 2010, one from december of 2009, one from 2007. we tend to only pay attention to these special breaks that get stuffed in the bills only at this point in time, then we forget about it until congress extends them one or two years later. >> and these are not new, jamie. >> no, they're not, don. again you go back to 2004 corporate tax bill, why the nascar provision began. you can go back two years ago and see a laundry list of them. no shock to have this list of tax extenders be part of this fiscal cliff deal, to a lost people outside of d.c., wait a second, what does this have to do with the bush tax cuts. but to us in the capital, we were waiting for this and some other things to get put in. it is going to be the last

legislative vehicle leaving the station this year and that's what happened with it finally getting aproved last night in the house. >> this act, jamie, also establishes a long-term care commission. what is that about? >> there was one little interesting piece and i was sort of surprised by it when i saw it at 3:00 in the morning on new year's day after the senate voted that repealed part of the obama health law. it was a plan that had been pushed by senator edward kennedy while he was alive and in the congress that would set up a long-term care program, known as the class act. but the administration had admitted earlier in 2012 that it just wasn't going to work financially. they decided to repeal it as part and set up a long-term care commission to figure out what to do on a very important subject to a lot of americans, don. >> jamie dupree, thank you very much. today in new jersey, one district putting armed guards in every school. we're about to speak live with the mayor about how it is all going down. [ slap! slap! slap! slap! ] ow! ow! [ male announcer ] your favorite foods fighting you? fight back fast with tums.

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students from the sandy hook elementary school in newtown, connecticut, will return to class tomorrow. their new school in the nearby town of monroe has been renamed sandy hook. school officials discussed the transition about an hour ago. >> the teachers have met this morning. the parents of some of the children have been walking through and at other times we have an open house as they walk through today. the children are coming in, they're so excited to see their teachers. and the students coming in completes a circle. >> the new sandy hook school will have a larger staff and parents are welcome to visit tomorrow. the school has been refurbished with desks, book cases, and other furniture in hopes of making the students more comfortable, returning to class

after the tragic shooting just last month. gun control is a huge topic after the newtown shooting. the number of fbi background checks for gun purchases last month set a record 2.8 million background checks. today, armed police officers watched over students returning to school in marlborough, new jersey. the armed cops are controversial and, remember, the nra wants armed officers in every school across the nation. marlborough mayor pushed to add the armed officers in his schools. and in his town. he joins us now by phone. how much money does it take to pay for armed guards at every school in marlborough? who pays for it? >> that will be coming out of the board of education's budget. the reason why we felt it was necessary to put our police officers -- these aren't armed guards hired from third parties, this is from our police department, who are very familiar with the schools, is in order to bring a calmness to the

community until we could fully assess the security situation based on what we're going to learn from newtown, connecticut. >> so, mayor, where are the armed officers placed in the school? >> well, for security reasons we can't tell you exactly where they're located. but we have nine public schools, and our police officers who are all emergency response team trained, meaning they're the first to show up if there is an active shooter scenario in our school system, will be in our schools for the next 90 days at least until we can make a determination of security protocol and what needs to be changed. >> how does one armed officer cover an entire school? >> well, these police officers are trained in order to deal with situations such as active evolving shooter scenarios. the school has other security measures which are in place, which i'm not at liberty to speak about, but having a police

officer with a side arm in the school gives a level of safety, protection, comfort to our students and our community. >> you say, mayor, you supported arm guards in school before newtown. what obstacles did you face before newtown to putting armed guards in school. >> no, not before newtown. before the nra came out with its recommendation. what happened in newtown, don, is that the unfortunate events up there changed school security. and i think every elected official in the country has to take a careful look about their school system, how security is put into place. you have a choice right now. you can do something or you can do nothing and hope it doesn't happen in your school district. we made a collective decision together with the board of education and the police department that we had to do something now as we wait for law enforcement report out of newtown in order to address the security failing of that school. and that's what we're waiting for. during that waiting period, we're more comfortable having

our able police force in our schools than not in our schools. now, marlborough township has always had police officers in our schools, so this isn't something so new to our children that they should be concerned about. >> mayor jonathan hornic, thank you. >> thank you very much, don. the fallout continues from the jerry sandusky case. the ncaa imposed stiff sanctions and a $60 million fine against penn state university. now, pennsylvania's governor is taking the ncaa to court. this is $100,000. we asked total strangers to watch it for us. thank you so much. i appreciate it. i'll be right back. they didn't take a dime. how much in fees does your bank take to watch your money? if your bank takes more money than a stranger, you need an ally. ally bank.

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the courts say former penn state assistant coach jerry sandusky deserves 30 to 60 years in prison for molesting young boys. but pennsylvania governor tom corbett says penn state doesn't deserve the punishment it got for sandusky's crimes. today, corbett announced a lawsuit against the ncaa. >> our complaint states that the ncaa forced penn state's new president to agree to its sanctions under threat of the death penalty for the penn state football program for four years. >> you'll recall in july the ncaa fined the university $60 million, stripped 14 seasons of football victories from the late head coach joe paterno and then

banned penn state from bowl games for four years. and reduced football scholarships. all of this was for the university's reported inaction while sandusky violated his victims, in some instances on campus. let's turn to sara ganim, who has won a pulitzer prize for her reporting of this case. why sue now? >> that's an interesting question, don. initially governor tom corbett said it was the right thing for penn state to accept the sanctions. he said part of the corrective process is to accept the serious penalties imposed today by the ncaa. that was back in july. today he said he felt this lawsuit this federal lawsuit was the right thing to do and he said he filed it specifically after the football season so it wouldn't stop the momentum of the football team. that's what he said today. >> what is the governor hoping to achieve through this lawsuit? >> he wants t s the sanctions away. he wants the wins returned. he wants the scholarships

returned and he wants the fine, the $60 million fine returned. but he did say he hopes penn state on its own would take the $60 million and still give it to charitable organizations that help victims. he felt that was their responsibility morally, but said what he didn't agree with was the ncaa telling them that they had to do that. >> sarah, how is the ncaa responding? >> pretty harshly. governor tom corbett had harsh words. i'll read to you the statement from the ncaa. they said not only does this forth coming lawsuit appear to be without merit, it is an affront to all the victims in this tragedy, lives that were destroyed by the criminal actions of jerry sandusky. while the innocence that was stolen can never be restored, penn state has accepted the consequences for its role and the role of its employees and is moving forward. today's announcement by the governor is a setback to the university and its efforts. >> sara ganim, thank you very much. next hour, we'll talk with governor tom corbett. he's going to join us live to

discuss this case. your new year's resolution might be to lose a few pounds. now a new study suggests you might want to keep them. pros and cons of being slightly overweight. our senior medical correspondent elizabeth cohen spells them out next. that's double miles you can actually use. tragically, their buddy got sacked by blackouts. but it's our tradition! that's roughing the card holder. but with the capital one venture card you get double miles you can actually use. [ cheering ] any flight, anytime. the scoreboard doesn't lie. what's in your wallet? hut! i have me on my fantasy team.

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extra pounds over the holidays, excuse me, you might not have to worry so much about it. according to a new study, being a little overweight might help you live longer. elizabeth cohen is our senior medical correspondent. i'm going to live to be 150 then. >> oh, please. you're one of the most fit people i know. >> it sounds counterintuitive. help us understand this. we can ditch our diet. >> we have been preached at all these years, get down to a normal weight, you don't want to be overweight, it puts you at a higher risk for heart attacks, et cetera. this study is very interesting. we should take it with a grain of salt. what it found is that for some people -- or this is the conclusion you could make, for some people you can be technically overweight by the bmi chart, but maybe your blood pressure is fine, your cholesterol is fine, you don't have diabetes, so you may be just as healthy or perhaps more healthy than someone who, say, is 5 or 10 pounds lighter than you. it is not 100% all about the weight. >> to maybe mom's right. you look better with a little

meat on your bones. you know how mothers say that. >> that's right. moms do say that, that's true. that's true. >> what exactly is overweight then? >> right, overweight by the bmi chart is -- take a look at numbers, this explains it. let's say you're 5'4", you would be overweight if you were 150 and 170 pounds. less than that is normal, more than that, obese. 5'10", 180 and 210 would be considered overweight. this is for both men and women. so that gives you an idea of what constitutes overweight. >> all right. so bottom line is then, bottom line, what is healthy, elizabeth? >> the bottom line is that weight is important. and certainly if you're way off the charts if you're severely obese, you are definitely putting your health at risk. there is no question there. however, there are other things you want to -- if you're in this gray zone this overweight zone, there are other things you want to pay attention to in addition to your weight. you want to find out what is your blood pressure, what is your cholesterol, especially that bad cholesterol, your blood

sugar to find out if you're at risk for diabetes and fat distribution, some people have a lot of fat right around their belly, got that big old waistline, that is particularly dangerous. where the fat is is also important. pay attention to those things, not just the number on the scale. >> if your fat jeans don't fit like mine anymore, you need to slim down. >> i think part of it is how you feel. i think that's important. it is not just the number on the scale. it is how you feel. >> thank you, elizabeth cohen. >> thanks. >> appreciate it. to find out whether you're overweight, you can go here, go to cnn.com/empoweredpatient. cnn.com/empoweredpatient. up next on cnn, it is one tech writer says his industry is about to see some big changes this year and they involve all the gadgets you use. we'll tell you what to watch for. hunger smart shakes. they have carb steady, with carbs that digest slowly to help minimize blood sugar spikes. [ male announcer ] glucerna hunger smart. a smart way to help manage hunger and diabetes.

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all right, replacing credit cards with the swipe of a phone, siri voice control, touch screen pcs, 2012 has been a big year for technology. but those in the know tell us 2013 is going to be even bigger. so eli patel joins us, the managing editor of "the verge." in your cnn.com article, you said this, here's the brutal truth of the smartphone market. the only companies that make any money are apple and samsung. microsoft, sony and google's own motorola, are they stepping up

this year? >> they have to step up. otherwise there might not be anything left in the market for them to take next year. if you look at when steve jobs introduced first iphone, in 2007, he said we think we're five years ahead of the competition. now it is five years later and the entire market has changed. the era of the pc, the desktop pc you have at home, even the laptop computer has really changed people's usage moves to smartphones and tablets and other mobile devices. because apple and samsung are the only companies making serious money in those arenas, they're in control of the market, how the market looks. so microsoft has been furiously racing to catch up. windows 8 has changed, designed for pcs with touch screens. they have windows rt on their own surface tablet. relaunched windows phone 8. and those have to pay off for microsoft this year so it can become a player in the race on par with apple and samsung

mobile. >> let's get the specific on apple. they have been setting the bar high for the last couple of years. can they keep the momentum -- there is rumors of apple tv as well. >> you know, the apple tv rumors are interesting. cescoming up in a couple of days. for apple to put out a tv that lets you get rid of your cable box, there is going to have to be serious change in how the cable industry works. so we're going to see some developments there. i'm not particularly confident that apple can show up with a product like the ipod or the iphone or the ipad and make a splash in the same way with the tv. a lot of industry work to do. but apple's bigger problem is that they have put out now a few products that just haven't been successful on a software level. the iphone 4s launched with siri. the iphone 5 launched with the maps app, which was so buggy

that tim cook had to apologize for it. so apple really needs to step back into the leadership role and the software space. if you look at what i've done with my iphone, with what a lot of people i know have done with their iphones, i've replaced apple's mail compliant with g-mail, maps client with google maps, got rid of the youtube app. they need to start building apps best in class again. so, you know, their customers don't have iphone google services. >> thank you very much. you saw it here live on cnn, new jersey governor chris christie blasting house speaker john boehner, but not allowing the house to vote on relief for sandy victims. very soon, boehner is expected to meet with lawmakers from new york and new jersey. stay right here. power down your little word game. i think your friends will understand. oh no, it's actually my geico app...see? ...i just uh paid my bill. did you really? from the plane? yeah, i can manage my policy, get roadside assistance, pretty much access geico 24/7.

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i want to talk about the civil war in syria and the staggering loss of life there. the number of people killed in almost 22 months of fighting is much higher than we knew. 60,000, 60,000, that's according to a new analysis by the united nations human rights commission. this is the first time the u.n. figure has topped the 45,000 deaths, estimated by groups opposed to syrian president bashar al assad. and there is no letup in violence. more than 150 people were killed just today, the majority in and around damascus and areas

pounded by syrian government warplanes. one of the deadliest air strikes was this one, on a suburban gas station. the air attacks come as rebels fight a heated battle with government forces over a key air base. i want to bring in jim clancy. i want to start with the government attacks today in and around damascus. what is the government's goal here? >> the government is extremely concerned. they're losing their grip on the suburbs of the capital. all of this is within ear shot of the presidential palace. but it is really -- i think it is only fair to say it to admit what is going on here. they are targeting civilians in whatever numbers they can find. the regime obviously frustrated, they have not been able to strike with any significant effect on the free syrian army, on the rebel and opposition groups and they have turned to civilians who are lining up, whether it is for bread or

whether it is for fuel, some 75 people known to have been killed in this incident alone. it reflects the pattern that we're seeing here, don. a pattern of increased casualties. we were looking at a thousand casualties a month at one point. and now it is probably more than a thousand a week. we have been well over 100 for almost as long as i can remember. >> in announcing its analysis of the human toll of the war, the u.n., human rights commissioner, says there has been a proliferation of serious crimes including war crimes and most probably crimes against humanity by both sides. and she says, collectively we have fiddled at the edges while syria burns. can anything be done to deal -- to dial back the brutality here? >> there is -- it is going to be very, very difficult because both sides are so entrenched. you have the islamists, the more militant fighters that are out there, that are very successful, you have other smaller groups. as they begin -- as people on both sides lose family members,

suffer casualties, what is built into that is revenge and resentment in the worst of kind, the worst kind that can possibly be imagined. and they strike out like this. war crimes are being committed. there is little doubt about that. crimes against humanity, you can argue the whole thing is a crime against humanity. the diplomatic efforts are simply going nowhere. this is a death embrace between these two sides. neither willing to give up. and it is unclear what, if anything, the outside world is going to be able to do to bring it to a halt. >> a group, the united states recently designated as a terrorist organization, is among the rebels fighting for the syrian military base. are there concerns about who will run syria if assad falls? >> there are concerns, but, you know, here, when you don't have any skin in the game, when the u.s. hasn't participated or helped the rebels in any meaningful way, just how much influence do they have? there is some people within that

recognized government, alternative government if you want to call it, of syria right now, that are listening to the united states. but they're not controlling what's on the ground. today it is the fighters on the ground that are controlling things. now, things can turn very quickly against them. i think a lot of syrians are quite nervous, uncomfortable, with some of the kinds of fighters they see. but at the same time, trying to protect their children against these air strikes, when they're trying to protect relatives against reprisals, they'll take anybody that they can get. and they will support them. when it is all sorted out, though, the u.s. is going to have less, not more influence on the ground. >> cnn's jim clancy. jim, thank you. top of the hour. i'm don lemon. brooke baldwin is off today. huge day of news including a big day on wall street. the dow skyrocketing after

congress comes together on a deal that prevents tax hikes for the majority of americans. but don't get too happy. this deal only sets up a nastier showdown in the coming weeks. we'll break that down. first, new jersey governor chris christie is unleashing his fury right at congress. christie is angry because a house did not even vote on a $60 million aid package for hurricane sandy victims. >> every day that we don't bin to get this aid are days we can't help people get back in their homes, get businesses reopened, get our economy moving in this state again. those are the real consequences of it. inability for people to plan about what their future is going to be. it's absolutely disgraceful. and i have to tell you, this used to be something that was not political. you know, disaster relief was something that you didn't play games with. but now in this current

atmosphere, everything is the subject of one upsmanship, everything is a possibility of -- a potential piece of bait for the political gain. and it is just -- it is why the american people hate congress. >> pretty strong words. speaker boehner set to meet with congressman peter king and other republican lawmakers from the affected states this hour. democratic house minority whip steny hoyer joins me now from capitol hill. congressman hoyer, house appropriations chair hal rogers says fema has plenty of money. he says fema has enough money to last until at least february, late february, march. what is your reaction? >> fema does have an -- and has said that. he's right on that. as hal rogers knows, better than probably anybody else, he was for a $27 billion bill, his committee, which dealt with a lot of other agencies, not just way beyond fema, in terms of

helping communities rebuild, and helping small businesses recoup their losses and try to get back into business, helping families directly. so while the statements that fema has said it has money through march is true, there are billions and billions and billions of dollars that are necessary right now coming from other agencies. so while what mr. rogers says is true, he knows full well that that's not enough. furthermore, i was shocked last night and deeply saddened that we didn't put the relief bill that was passed through the united states senate in a very strong bipartisan vote on the floor last night as it was represented to me, the day before and the night of last night, it would be the majority -- >> mr. hoyer. >> yes, sir. >> why didn't it happen? that's what everyone is wondering. you said you were shocked it wasn't put up for a vote.

why didn't it happen? >> i talked to the speaker just before the vote occurred on the fiscal cliff bill. and i asked him, i said i've got to tell my members to stay here for the vote. is this bill going to come on the floor today or tomorrow? and he said, well, we'll have to make that determination after this vote. that's the last time i talked to the speaker. the next i heard was from peter king of new york who was told by mr. cantor who was told by a staffer of the speaker that they had decided not to put the bill on the floor. i don't know the reason. whatever the reason was, it was not justified. so many members pointed out when we had the katrina damage, which was also a very broad-based natural disaster -- >> ten or 11 days. >> we acted within ten or 11 days, $60 billion.

>> yeah. >> we acted with alacrity. we're now some 60 plus days later and we haven't acted. it is a tragedy. it is unacceptable. and i would hope the speaker would bring this legislation forward in the next few days. while leaving one congress to go into another, this ought to be a priority and we ought to do it this week. >> congressman hoyer, couple of other questions for you. some house republicans oppose the sandy aid package saying it covered many unrelated items that have nothing to do with sandy, like repairing fisheries in alaska or repairing the smithsonian institution's roof in d.c. what do you say to them? did you personalitily work y p address any of those concerns? >> they were taken out. they wouldn't have been part of the legislation. they were taken out. that was not an issue. they were taken out of the bill.

it was going to be offered on the floor without those provisions in there. we didn't argue about that. this is directly about people in the states of new jersey and new york and connecticut. new jersey and new york in particular, that saw their people ravaged and put out of their homes, put out of business, put to the -- trying to fend for food. that's what this is about. not about those other unrelated items that were taken out of the bill by the appropriations committee. >> does this say anything about mr. boehner's speakership in the future, if he will be able to hold on to it having made this move? >> i think the speaker did the right thing last night with respect to making sure that we maintain some degree of fiscal stability in our country, that we made sure that working americans didn't get a tax increase, that middle class americans wouldn't see a tax

increase this week this month. i think he did the right thing in allowing us to vote on a bill which made sure that 2 million people on unemployment wouldn't be -- >> what about this particular issue? >> what i think happened last night was that this issue perhaps became too hot to handle because it was an emergency, as these emergencies are, it was unpaid for. and i think he may well have been concerned about his members who were going to say this is an additional effort by the speaker to -- which would result in adding to the debt. but as i pointed out on the floor, if your furnace goes out and it is 30 degrees in your home, and you don't have $10,000 or $5,000 in your pocket to pay for a furnace, you go out and borrow the money, you put the furnace in to maintain health and life in your residence. that what we need do in an emergency and then, yes, we need to pay for that over time. >> yep. thank you for your time. >> thank you very much.

in case you didn't hear governor chris christie's fury, live right here on cnn, here's a little taste. >> in our hour of desperate need, we have been left waiting for help six times longer than the victims of katrina, with no end in sight. americans are tired of the palace intrigue and political partisanship of this congress, which places one upsmanship ahead of the lives of the citizens who sent these people to washington, d.c. in the first place. new jerseyians and new yorkers are tired of being treated like second class citizens. new york deserves better than the selfishness we saw on display last night. new jersey deserves better than the duplicity we saw displayed last night. america deserves better than just another example of government that has forgotten who they are there to serve, and why. 66 days and counting, shame on

you. shame on congress. i was given no explanation. i was called at 11:20 last night by leader cantor and told that authority for the vote was pulled by the speaker. and our delegation asked for a meeting with the speaker at that time. they were refused. i called the speaker four times last night after 11:20, and he did not take my calls. so you have to ask the speaker. >> governor what are the real consequences of this? it is not just a sense of our feelings are hurt. are there real tangible consequences? >> sure. every day we don't begin to get this aid are days we can't help people get back in their homes, get businesses reopened, get our economy moving in this state again. those are the real consequences of it. inability for people to plan about what their future is going to be. it is absolutely disgraceful.

governor cuomo and i are not wallflowers. we are not shrinking violets. and we have resources at our disposal too and we're going to continue to work together and fight together to make sure that this happens. and i still believe it will happen, because i do believe there are more good people in congress than bad. and that eventually this will happen. but if the people of new jersey feel betrayed today by those who did this in the house last night, then they have good company. i'm with them. >> i want to tell you, later on this hour on cnn, we are going to be showing you -- hear from new york senator chuck schumer on long island, visiting sandy survivors. stay tuned for that conversation. a quick programming note for you, from sandy to katrina, massive storms seem to be far less rare events, but are we ready for the next superstorm? be sure to watch our special report "cothe coming storms" th

sunday night 8:00 eastern on cnn. up next, we mentioned the fiscal cliff deal. well, there is a lot of special interest money included. and some of it raising eyebrows today. this as a dow skyrockets over the compromise. we're watching it in this hour. so, the 5.3-liter v8 silverado can tow up to 9,600 pounds? 315 horsepower. what's that in reindeer-power? [ laughs ] [ pencil scratches ] [ male announcer ] chevy's giving more. now through january 2nd, no monthly payments until spring for qualified buyers. get the silverado for 0% apr financing for 60 months plus $1,000 holiday bonus cash. plus trade up for an additional $1,000 trade-in allowance.

wall street didn't need the oval office signoff. within the first hour of the opening bell, stocks soared 215 points. the dow jones is now up 235

points and no doubt investors are happy the nation won't plummet over the fiscal cliff. the house passed a deal to avoid it with fwhenearly all of the n coming from republicans. beyond keeping income tax rates at the same level for 98% of americans, here are some other main points. the alternative minimum tax is now adjusted for inflation for good. so millions of americans won't have to pay it. benefits for the long-term unemployed will be extended and the bill delays those big automatic spending cuts by two months. turn now to jill schlessinger, editor of cbs moneywatch.com, the stock market, the reaction, is this a one-day rally or is this real? >> i'll tell you tomorrow, okay? how about that? look, we're very relieved that certainly in one went off the cliff and i think that this rally is really about the street saying the worst case was averted. but, you know, wall street

suffers from short-termitis like crazy. this can turn around next week. remember this is probably a light volume week because of the holiday in between. and there is some sense that people were putting money back to work that was on the sidelines, just in case of a disaster. now, that said, it is better than expected news that it came together as well as it did. and i think a lot of people went away on their vacations from wall street thinking they would not be a deal until january 15th. one day, don't trade on this, but just delight in it. we had a great year last year in stocks, s&p up 13%. a good first session. >> what is this bill do for the economy overall, jill? >> you know, i think if people lose sight of what is happening here, it is when you have tax increases on 160 americans in that payroll tax expiring, that cut that expired, we are going to see about half a percent shaved off of gdp this year. if we add into that government cuts that will likely happen because of the negotiation over

the sequester, we're looking at about a drag of growth of about 1%. why is that such a big deal? hey, the u.s. economy is only growing by 2% or 2.5% anyway, so 1% growth hit is significant. so when we think about balancing our books and trying to get the country in financial order, it does mean there will be a drag on growth. that's why some economists say this is not the right time to stop the spending side. >> okay. let's focus on the alternative minimum tax. after years of temporary fixes, this bill provides something permanent, just how big a deal is this? >> well, you know, the amt is such a funny little tax. it started back in 1969, meant to be a way to close loopholes on wealthy americans, actually, just to limit their -- maybe their deductions and personal exemptions. so it almost came in as a second tax code that affected wealthier americans. the problem is it was never indexed for inflation. so we got more and more middle class americans ensnared in the

amt. so this is very good news that it is finally a permanent fix to the problem. without this patch, we would have seen something like 31 million folks having to pay amt next year. many of those people, middle class. i think this was an important one. it did cost a few bucks. i think when we talk about fixing some of the things, we always have it remember there is a cost on the back end. >> jill schlessinger, thank you. >> take care. the fallout continues from the jerry sandusky case. the ncaa imposed stiff sanctions and a $60 million fine against penn state university. now pennsylvania governor tom corbett is taking the ncaa to court. he joins me live next.

the courts say ex-penn state assistant coach jerry sandusky deserves 30 to 60 year for molesting young boys. tom corbett says penn state does not deserve the punishment it got for sandusky's crimes. today he announced a lawsuit against the ncaa hoping to stop a round of sanctions against penn state that included fining the university, stripping 14 seasons of football victories from the late head coach joe paterno and banning penn state from bowl games for four years and reducing football scholarships. all this was for the university's reported inaction while sandusky violated his victims, in some instances right on campus. joining me right now is governor tom corbett. governor you initially supported the sanctions. what changed? >> well, don, i initially supported the sanctions because i thought to myself if you belong to an association, you have to play by the rurals of

the association. but the more we began looking at the rules and so see exactly what the ncaa did, we realized they didn't have the authority through the process that they went through in their own association bylaws to do exactly what they did. this was not an incident that has anything to do with competition and with fairness on the playing field or on the courts, this is something that is already being addressed by the criminal court system, by the civil court system, by the university itself before the ncaa ever got involved. dealing with the victims and we can never forget the victims in this, and i'm the last one that is ever going to forget the victims in this, my background has been protecting victims of child proceedators. i think the ncaa who set the rules have to play by their own rules. if you read the lawsuit, it is an antitrust action because this is a trade association that was not playing by its rules. in fact, at some point tried to change the rules afterwards that the executive committee could usurp the infractions committee and what they're allowed to do

in regard to its member players. >> so how do you respond to that? >> this is an important distinction. >> how do i respond to it? what i say is that the ncaa actually violated its own rules in taking the action the way it did and did not have the authority. now, the university is addressing as well they can everything that has been brought up throughout this period of time. i suggested in my press conference today that their commitment of $60 million be kept and continued here in pennsylvania to work with those people who are out there working to prevent child abuse and child predators. we have a lot of agencies in pennsylvania. we need more. we need to keep that money here. but this is not about the money. this is about the principle that the ncaa has taken actions that have well gone well beyond their intended purpose to harm the citizens of pennsylvania, the economy of pennsylvania, and the reputation of penn state university. >> governor, i want to put this

up. the ncaa responded to the lawsuit saying, not only does this forth coming lawsuit appear to be without merit, it is an front to all the victims in this tragedy, lives that were destroyed by the criminal actions of jerry sandusky. penn state has accepted the consequences for its role and the role of its employees and it is moving forward. today's announcement by the governor is a setback to the university's efforts. >> it is not a setback to the university's efforts. and it is not an affront to the victims of this. as i said earlier on, you know, i began this investigation and i will not do anything to harm the victims. but we are dealing with that and the university is dealing with that. but at the same time, the ncaa put themselves into a situation where they had no authority to do. this had nothing do with competition on the playing field, keeping a level playing field. this had something to do with the ncaa seeing a chance to take a shot at penn state in a

situation that -- >> governor -- >> very bad for what happened. >> governor, i have to interrupt because we have to get to capitol hill and congressman peter king speaking. thank you, tom corbett. >> -- remaining $51 billion will be voted on, and voted on and hopefully voted for. this is basically the same as we were promised yesterday or today. this is the package we were looking for. for whatever reason, the speaker decided not to bring it to a vote this week. we disagreed with that. that's in the past. between friday morning and january 15th, two votes will bring in $60 billion that is absolutely necessary for new york, new jersey and connecticut. so as far as i'm concerned, i think i can speak for all members of new york and new jersey delegations, it was an extremely positive meeting. >> congressman, i'm sorry, we're live now, i wonder -- to make sure we have it right, $9 billion this friday? >> $9 billion on flood insurance

this friday voted on. and then on january 15th, the first full legislative day, additional $51 billion will be voted on and that will come to a total of 60, which is what the total was in the bill that was supposed to be voted than week. >> did the speaker explain why he put off -- >> again, it is in the past. the speaker made the decision in view of all the controversy over the fiscal cliff it wasn't appropriate to bring this up last night or this morning. that was his decision. we disagreed with it. made it clear last night. that's in the past. all i care about is my constituents, the constituents in new york and new jersey were absolutely devastated. clearly the speaker responded and that's all i -- i take him at his word. he and the majority leader both in full agreement. >> why not do the whole 60? >> it is just a question really of the timetable. $9 billion is going on suspension calendar and then we have to actually introduce a bill and start all over.

that will be done in one day on january 15th. >> timeline for how long it will take to go back? >> one thing at a time. my job is the house. and this should be fully resolved in the house by january -- >> congressman, you were extremely critical of the house speaker and his leadership. extremely. tomorrow there is going to be a vote for speaker. will you vote for john boehner? >> yes, i will. >> are you satisfied with this approach? like she said, you were very upset about this. >> sure. this procedure is laid out is fully acceptable and fully satisfactory. this is a -- this will give us the full $60 billion that is required. yes, obviously. congressman smith? >> thank you very much. this was a case where a very unified new york and new jersey delegation kept making this substantive case as to why there is $60 billion is absolutely critical and the speaker opened up the meeting by telling us,

you know, what happened, it will happen on january 15th as i'm sure peter told you a moment ago. the flood insurance suspension will come up on friday at about 9, a little over $9 billion. we had unprecedented solidarity. made our case on substance. we all red tad the information t came down from governor christie and cuomo line by line. this is all about people who are in dire straits who are -- who have lost their homes, their businesses. as i pointed out on the floor, 100,000 new jerseyians filed for unemployment insurance attributable to superstorm sandy. it is a -- it is devastation the likes of which we have never seen in our part of the country. so we do have support. robbie will offer the amendment for the $33 billion, it may be different, but it will get us to the $60 billion, a two-step process. >> chairman rogers will offer

his $27 billion amendment, foll. following his amendment, i'll offer the $33 billion which will make the $60 million, the round number. i feel that the assurances we had from both the speaker and the majority leader eric cantor are iron clad. i think we're going to proceed. and i think that this recognizes the heartache and misery that both of our states, the region have suffered as a -- it has been as the governor emphasized, governor christie and in his press conference within the last hour or two, it has been over 66 days. i think it is about time congress responded. i'm pleased that the speaker and the majority leader have listened to our pleas. >> why not have voted on the senate bill and have it all done today? >> that was our hope, but, you

know, it will happen. that's the bottom line. and it will happen at the amount that we think is required to meet the legitimate needs of the people of new jersey, new york and points north. >> we asked congressman king, the speaker tell you the reason why he abruptly yanked this from the calendar? >> as peter probably said, he alluded to the fact that there was so much going on, but did not give a specific reason. you might want to ask him that. for us, it is about getting critical aid to people who are suffering. we all have been out to meet the people in an ongoing fashion. i've never seen devastation like this. you all have covered it. you know how bad it is. this money is needed to rebuild and to rebuild and to provide the recovery that will get us to that next stage. >> congressman king is going toing to vote for john boehner as speaker tomorrow. will all of you? congressman graham, you said --

>> absolutely. i want to be clear about something. i will vote for speaker boehner and i stated behind, i didn't come to the press conference, because i wanted a moment to actually look in the eyes and shake hands with not only the speaker, but with eric cantor. i can tell you that both of them shook my hand and gave me their word that this vote will go forward as planned. and that they will be there for us. i also want to emphasize that i think the one thing getting lost here, i had discussions with speaker boehner literally for almost nine weeks now about the sandy disaster and the people in need. and i want to be clear. i don't think i've ever questioned where his heart was. there is no question the speaker always wanted to help the people of new york and new jersey. i don't agree with his call to delay this -- to delay the vote. i don't. i don't support it at all. i think it was the wrong call. it was his call to make. it wasn't because he didn't want to help new york and new jersey

t was because of the timing issue and he didn't think it was right for his conference to take that vote at that time. but it was never because he doesn't want to help new york or new jersey. i want to make that clear and i don't think that was ever in question. but i did disagree with delaying this vote. i think we all did. but now it is done, we have to do the very next best thing which is not waste any more time and we have gotten that solid commitment and i can tell you, i stayed behind to make sure i personally got it, not in a conference room of many, but individually and that's good enough for michael grim and i believe my constituents will understand that. >> is it the pushback that made them change their mind? >> whatever it was, it was done, it's done. that's it. we're getting what new york and new jersey need and that's all that counts. >> did the speaker say anything about governor christie's comments, highly critical of the speaker's leadership? >> no. i think everything -- right now, this is a very intense 24-48 hours, we're all big boys, we understand that. all that counts is the bottom line. the bottom line is we're getting the results we need and speaker

and majority leader have committed to follow through on it. that's all question ask for. >> can i ask you, you said you're all big boys, you were all in the two meetings republicans had yesterday about the fiscal cliff, listening to your colleagues. you even were some of the -- had complaints yourselves about too much spending in the government and the fact that there should be spending cuts that went along with that fiscal cliff deal. do you understand politically why the house speaker after having those meetings made the decision he did about not putting a bill on the floor with $60 billion in spending that is not paid for. >> he's the speaker. he had to make the decision. we agreed with it. and, again, that's all i'm concerned, that was a lifetime ago. i know it was last night, but bottom line is, we're going forward, getting what we believe is necessary. and to me there is no reason to question what happened before. as long as we have the commitment and we did, we got the commitment, that's all that -- >> pushback from your fellow republicans? >> what happens happens. so long as there is 218 votes on

january 15th, all of us will be satisfied. >> did you guys avow your support to speaker boehner? >> it never came up. >> i think one thing that new york and new jersey has always done, we have been through tough times, we look forward. we're not going to look back and see what could have been. we could -- could have been until the cows come home. what matters is what we do going forward. people are suffering right now. small businesses are going under. we have an economic calamity waiting in the wings if we don't rebuild new york and new jersey. that's what we're focused on doing and we just got the commitment of not just our speaker, but our leader, and that's what we're focused on is making sure that we will have the votes and the support come january 15th. >> hal rogers said last night that obviously he was pushing this bill through, but he also said that fema thought that they had enough money until february or march. do you all disagree with that? >> bottom line we need the $60 billion. fema is part of what we need the funding for. the community blocked

development grands, essential. to rebuild, you need that funding and that's what is going to be included. >> right. >> it is there. you can't do the engineering studies, can't -- particularly on the building that is going to be required and to go to construction phase. this is a very complete package that has been very well thought out, vetted very well by new york, new jersey, the others, by omb, so we have something that we can really be very proud of in terms of legislation that will help huge numbers of people in both states and further north in connecticut. >> if there is one thing we can put to rest right now, there are no earmarks, no pork in there, i see that being reported today. everything that was questionable is out. everything in that bill relates directly to sandy, and directly related to the superstorm, so the stories that are going around are things that may have been in the senate bill are not in the house bill. >> are you going to take back or

suspend your comments that new yorkers shouldn't give contributions to republicans and did that concept come up at all? >> we don't discuss contributions in the government building. >> good answer. >> well said. >> well said, chairman. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> several new york representatives, new york and new jersey area representatives, among them peter king who blasted the house speaker and his comments earlier today, about not voting on that sandy relief package, $60 million last night. wolf blitzer joins me now from washington. wolf, you heard our dana bash ask the members if they were going to vote for the house speaker, i think tomorrow when he -- the vote goes up, for his re-election. do you think it is in jeopardy? >> no. i don't think it is in jeopardy. i think the speaker will be -- assuming he wants it, i believe he does, i think that the republicans will rally around the speaker, even though many of them disagreed with his vote yesterday in favor of the fiscal

cliff senate legislation, including his number two eric cant cantor, agreed, voted against it. kevin mccarthy voted against it. did get support from paul ryan, the republican vice presidential nominee, the chairman of the house budget committee. so there is a split within the house reason leadership. i suspect that john boehner will get the speakership. i don't think there is going to be necessarily an open revolt, led by eric cantor, anyone else against john boehner. look, he's got his own style of speaker, not the speaker that demands everyone line up completely around him. he tells the republican caucus go ahead and vote as you please and then we will move on. so that's a different style than some of his predecessors. but he thinks he's doing the right thing and i suspect he will get himself re-elected as speaker of the next house, the 213th congress. >> you heard chris christie, i'm sure, governor chris christie, he said he felt like he was betrayed. he had harsh words. what did you make of his

comments? >> he was tough, brutally tough, chris christie. he blasted the republican leadership in washington. he's furious that last night they didn't go ahead and pass the legislation, the spending to help the victims of the superstorm sandy. and he was blunt. look, earlier in the day we heard peter king, the republican congressman from long island, make similar statements, and several other new jersey and new york lawmakers blasted republicans their own leadership. now they have seen at least for the time being to have patched it over. they think they have a commitment from the speaker, from the majority leader to go ahead and pass this legislation, pass the funding. we'll see if they have the votes to do it. as you know they want $60 billion, a lot of republicans in the house, they think $27 billion, maybe $30 billion, more than enough, they also want to ma sure if you appropriate that kind of minh yoney you pay it, you find ways to cut spending elsewhere to pay for 30

or $60 billion. not a done deal yet. we'll see what happens when there is actually a role call on the floor of the house of representatives, the new house, which will be sworn in thursday at noon. but these guys did emerge from their meeting with the speaker and the majority leader. reassured, you heard a very different tone from peter king and company, emergiing from the meeting. we heard from them going into the meeting. >> absolutely. wolf blitzer, thank you. appreciate your analysis. speaking of that meeting, and peter king and the rest, let's go back to dana bash. she was asking tough questions, you asked about the speaker. you have details on the vote. dana, we hear $9 billion will be voted on friday, and then on the first legislative session, the first day of the legislative session, $51 billion will be voted on then. >> reporter: that's right. that will be january 15th. at the end of january 15th, assuming all goes as planned now, new york and new jersey and other sandy affected areas will get the $60 billion that was requested and that was already

moving through congress. so this is something that happened very quickly. this meeting didn't last very long, don. they went in at 3:00 eastern and they came out about 20 minutes later. the house speaker joined by eric cantor, told them a plan, they clearly already had in motion. so as wolf was saying, a very, very different tone here. they were absolutely furious. that is an understatement. i think the lesson here is, you know, do not anger new yorkers and people from new jersey who are already really upset and really angry because you will get a backlash and that's exactly what happened. and what was most noteworthy to me was the kind of anger that came from the speaker's fellow republicans, never mind the democrats, who are from that region. >> yeah. well, i have to say chris christie was the picture and sound of the day because he -- first it was peter king who let the house speaker have it. and then chris christie comes up afterwards and goes far beyond

what peter king had to say about john boehner. >> reporter: it was unbelievable. i was e-mailing with people here on capitol hill, republican sources saying have you ever seen anything like this. and the answer was no. he was not only slamming republicans, not only slamming the house republican leadership, but very, very personal, very pointed against the house speaker. remarkable, saying he called the house speaker four times at 11:30 last night, didn't get a call back. so very pointed. but let me just sort of give you -- make sure our viewers understand why this really happened, the politics behind this. and it is because all day long, and what i was trying to get at with these members who had this press conference, all day long, yesterday, the house speaker was really getting pummeled by his rank and file republicans in meetings about the fact that this fiscal cliff package, which finally passed last night, didn't have enough spending cuts in it. so he -- the speaker, made a

last minute discussion after the toxic vote that went on last night to say, you know what, i'm not going to do this. it does not make political sense for him to put a vote on the floor that has $60 billion in new spending that is not paid for. he ended up leaving. it was certainly a surprise to all of these members from the region and also to the house majority leader eric cantor who had been shepherding this through. so that's the back story of how this happened. >> all right, dana bash, thank you very much. and, dana, why is it always the new yorkers and new jerseyians so outspoken. after the break, senator chuck schumer joins me. boy, i wonder what he's going to have to say about this mess.

congress going down to the wire, again, to help hurricane sandy victims. we just learned the house will vote friday on a $9 billion bill to help sandy victims and by january 15th on another $51 billion. speaker boehner met with congressman peter king and other republican lawmakers from the affected states this hour. and new york senator charles schumer joins us by phone from long island, new york. is this enough? voting on part of the package on friday and then part later on, are you okay with that? >> it would have been better had they voted on the full package today. that didn't happen for all the reasons that dana bash and others mentioned. and at least it provides a clear path to having the $60 billion signed into law by the end of january. are there going to be still some bumps in the road? that always happens in the congress. but now we see a total change in attitude of the speaker, not just pulling the bill, but

making an effort to get it moved rather quickly. and that is very positive development. and i think in fact the results of what has happened in the last day where the whole nation really, not just new york and new jersey, was just sort of outraged that we were leaving these people in the lurch, homeowners, small business owners, hundreds of thousands of people in new york and new jersey, who have been hurt so badly by sandy, they actually make it a little easier to get the whole bill done. >> and, senator, it seems no one could understand it. me as a bystander, lay person looking at this, and especially many lawmakers, for one, new jersey governor chris christie just ripped john boehner earlier. i want to get your reaction after this. >> every day that we don't begin to get this aid are days we can't help people get back in their homes, get businesses reopened, get our economy moving in this state again. those are the real consequences of it. inability for people to plan

about what their future is going to be, it is absolutely disgraceful. and i have to tell you, this used to be something that was not political. you know, disaster relief was something that you didn't play games with. but now in this current atmosphere, everything is the subject of one-upsmanship, everything is a possibility of -- a potential piece of bait for the political gain. and it is just -- it is why the american people hate congress. >> pretty harsh words. you know what he said that got my attention, when he said i feel betrayed by members of congress. if you -- have you ever felt betrayed? those are strong words. >> yeah, well, look, he said it right. he didn't say it explicitly but this is aimed at all the republicans, his own party, the hard right people who don't believe in disaster aid anymore. and the bottom line is i was just -- i just want to sort of

put in real perspective, i was just out at long beach, long island, a middle class community, firefighters, police officers, teachers, average folks, 35,000 people, hardly a house that wasn't severely damaged, water came in from three different sides. and they were just shocked. i went out there to reassure them we would get something done. but christie is right. you can't get a contract, to sign a contract to redo your house unless they know there is going to be federal dollars of reimbursement behind it. you can't get a bank to give a small business a loan unless they know that they're are goin to be federal dollars behind it. it stops recovery in its track and you have so many homeowners waiting to rebuild, living with relatives, this is two months after the storm happened. and without this aid, it just -- it is devastating for them. average folks. and i think that governor christie hit a cord.

this is something that has never been political, that has never been in dispute, and you can't let a group of 50 or 100 hard right people who don't believe in 100-year tradition of disaster aid run the show here. secretary -- speaker boehner learned that the hard way. >> senator chuck schumer, thank you. >> thank you. we'll be right back. humans. even when we cross our t's and dot our i's, we still run into problems. namely, other humans. at liberty mutual insurance, we understand. that's why our auto policies come with accident forgiveness if you qualify, where your rates won't go up due to your first accident, and new car replacement, where, if you total your new car, we give you the money for a new one. call... to talk to an insurance expert about everything else

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get a flu shot or you're fired. that's the new policy at goshen hospital south of south bend, indiana. there are some exceptions,bend,. and there are some exceptions for religious and personal beliefs, but not everybody was

given a pass. a hospice nurse who strong beliefs led her to skip the shot and now she is out of a job. >> i just feel like it's a toxin that i don't want in my body and there are side effects with that and there are no guarantees it will protect you. >> six nurses were fired and two quit rather than take the shot, and meantime the hospital says the health and safety of the patients is their top priority. elizabeth cohen, our medical correspondent back again. these nurses treat some of the sickest patients. >> people think of the flu as a nuisance, and you are sick and miss some work, but people who are sick enough to be in the hospital get the flu, it can kill them. on average in this country, 36,000 people die from the flu, many of them are hospital patients. so a nurse might say, oh, it's

against my personal beliefs and i think it's a toxins, which it's not, by the way, and the hospital is saying have your own beliefs there but we don't want you to work in the hospital because you might pass the flu on to our patients. >> is this becoming more common nationwide? >> yes, hospitals realized a minority of the health care workers were getting vaccinated. take a look at these numbers. if you go back to 2002, only 38% of health care workers were getting a flu vaccine, and in 2005 they said let's change it and in 2008 the numbers went out and they got more aggressive and firing people and in 2011, those numbers went up to 67% and i expect to see the numbers going higher. >> is there an alternative to not getting the flu shot? >> not really for the health care workers, they could put on a mask so they would not breathe on the patients, but a mask is

not a sure thing as the flu shot, and people take them off because they are uncomfortable, and there's not a good substitute to getting a vaccine. an arizona woman accused of killing her boyfriend. her trial started today and she said she will walk out of the courthouse free. hear why next. people are always asking me how we make these geico adverts. so we're taking you behind the scenes. this coffee cup, for example, is computer animated. it's not real. geico's customer satisfaction is quite real though. this computer-animated coffee tastes dreadful. geico. 15 minutes could save you 15 % or more on car insurance. someone get me a latte will ya, please?

never mind the mugshot and forget the flawless composure, arizona prosecutors say this woman should die by execution. today she went on trial. she initially said she was not at the scene of her boyfriend's slaying but changed her story, and take a listen, if you would. >> i witnessed travis being attacked by two other individuals. >> who?

>> i don't know who they could. i could not pick them out in a police lineup. >> so 27 stab wounds, and a splash to the throat and a bullet to the head of travis alexander, and after a digital card that emerged showing the dead body and the couple having sex on the day of slaying. she now says she did kill travis alexander and did so in self defense. "in session"'s beth karas is watching that trial in phoenix. >> reporr: the capital murder trial is under way in arizona, and the jurors selected before the holidays returned today to hear opening statements. jody arias is accused of the murder of her ex-boyfriend in june of 2008. she is accused of stabbing him in the hearted, and slitting his throat, and shooting him in the head.

now, friends of alexander found his body five days after he was killed in the master bathroom and they immediately pointed a finger at jody arias, the ex-girlfriend they say was stocking him and causing him problems, but when police talked to arias she denied having anything to do with it and denied seeing him for months but that story changed to what she is asserting now at trial which is self defense. she says she was abusive towards her and she killed him in self defense. now, among the evidence the state has pointing a finger at jodi arias is her blood mixed with his in this bloody scene in the bedroom and they found a digital camera in the wash something machine and the sim card had photos they were able to retrieve, and those include

him and jodi together just hours before he was killed. the state is seeking the death penalty. and just moments away from the closing bell. the dow up some 276 points. at a dry cleaner, we replaced people with a machine. what? customers didn't like it. so why do banks do it? hello? hello?!

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