rampage at a movie theater in denver in july. 12 died, dozens more were injured in that attack. jury selection is set to begin in the perjury case against two former top penn state investigators. gary schultz retired and tim curley is on leave from his job, both charged with lying to a grand jury investigating sex abuse allegations on tuesday, an inquest into the death of singer, aim mmy winehouse, will be heard again. the finding was thrown out after they discovered the coroner that oversaw the inquest was not properly qualified barry bonds, roger clemons and sammy sosa will find out if they have made it into the hall of fame. the first time they have been eligible. allegations they used performance-enhancing drugs could hurt their chances. the inauguration of venezuela president, hugo chavez is scheduled.

he has been in bad health and it could be called off since his fourth cancer operation three weeks ago. you can also find me on facebook. that's it for me. deb feyerick in for don lemon. have a great week! hello, everyone. i'm deborah feyerick in for don lemon. a big announcement expected in you go wa. sources tell cnn that president obama will announce that chuck hagel is his nominee for secretary of defense. hagel has his share of critics, even within his own party. we'll have more on his expected nomination a few moments away. >> president obama signed into law today a $9.7 billion sandy relief package. the first legislative action. some were outraged after house speaker boehner canceled a vote on a much larger aid bill. sandy devastated parts of the northeast two months ago. lawmakers will consider a $51

billion aid package on january 15th. >> half of the residents of long beach, new york, remain homeless and still came out to say good-bye to a landmark. thousands witnessed the start of the demolition of the two-mile long brdwalk, damaged beyond repair by sandy. it will cost an estimated $25 million. the new bored walk should be ready in time for summer. five men accused of brutally gang raping and killing a woman in india will appear in court. the five are charged with murder, rape and kidnapping the 23-year-old woman last month. they will appear in a fast-track court designed to expedite cases. two men are now on their tenth day of a hunger strike in new delhi demanding capital punishment for the accused rapists the man accused in one of the country's worst mass murders goes to court. a judge will decide whether there is enough evidence for 25-year-old james holmes to stand trial. he faces more than 150 counts,

including first-degree murder and attempted murder in the aurora colorado movie shooting last july. 12 people were killed, dozens more injured. some of the victims are expected to testify in the week-long hearing. fire up the zambonis. hockey could be back in a matter of days. the national hockey league and the players association struck a tentative labor agreement today according to a statement posted on the league website. if players and owners approve the agreement, the nhl could play a 48-game schedule slated to begin as early as next week. let's turn now to washington where a senior administration official tells cnn just hours from now, president obama will name chuck hagel as the nominee to be the next defense secretary. he is a vietnam war hero and former nebraska republican senator known for his independent streak and willingness to buck his own party. that quality endeared him to democrats. it is also part of the reason his nomination is facing

criticism from fellow republicans. two of them spoke out sunday on the sunday shows concerned about his past views on key issues, including israel. >> chuck hagel, if confirmed to be secretary of defense, would be the most antagonistic secretary of defense toward the state of israel in our nation's history. not only has he said you should directly negotiate with iran, sanctions won't work, that israel must negotiate with hamas, an organization terrorist group that lobs thousands of rockets into israel, he was one of 12 senators that refused to sign a letter to the european union trying to designate hezbollah as a terrorist organization. >> chuck hagel's past statements and votes on iran and afghanistan are will go coming in fon congressional criticism. >> i am disappoint the president has nominated mr. hagel. i would urge the senate to oppose that. he came out against the surge the week i returned from iraq in 2006.

the war couldn't be won. no one told us that when we were fighting it in 2006. he delayed emergency funding for the troops in 2007. even after the surge completed in 2008, he said it wasn't because of the troops addition. >> let's talk more about the expected announcement of chuck hagel to be defense secretary. athena jones standing by in washington. chuck hagel has detract tors on both sides of the political aisle. he has critics in the gay and lesbian community. why are some in that community criticizing his nomination? >> back in 1998, then senator hagel called into question the suitability offer a nominee for an ambassadorship because he was gay. he called it an inhibiting factor that man was openly aggressively gay and questioned whether he could do an effective job. he apologized for those comments in december. it is still something that the lgb community is not happy about. >> when does this process get

started? do we know when the hearings will begin? >> they won't be able to happen until the president makes his official announcement, which, as you know, is planned for tomorrow. the first step is going to be hearings in the senate armed services committee. after hagel gets through that, assuming he gets through that, he will go before the full senate for a vote. we expect it to get started soon. >> he is a nebraska republican and also a vietnam veteran. interestingly, he is going to have to deal, if he is successful in being nominated, he is going to have to deal with the pullout of iraq and afghanistan of u.s. troops. also, he is going to have to deal with how to handle veteran affairs. it seems he does have things that are strong qualifiers for him to become head of the department. >> that's certainly what his supporters will say. they think that in the end, whether there is a fight in the senate or the armed services committee or very exciting hearings we end up watching, he could be confirmed because they don't feel that the senate is

going to vote down a kdecorated vietnam war vet. he has been a maverick and an independent voice. his supporters argue that he knows what he is talking about. as you mentioned, he will have to deal with the drawdown of troops in iraq and footer cuts to the pentagon budget separate and apart from those discussed in the sequester. he has to get over this first big hurdle first. deb? >> all right, athena jones for us there in washington. thanks so much. police in alabama may have prevented yet another school tragedy. this after a disturbing find at a teenager's home. dozens of homemade explosives and a journal full of plans to carry out an attack. it began when a teacher at russell county high school near georgia found the journal and called police. 17-year-old derrick shrout is faceings a felony charge of attempted assault. police discovered dozens of tobacco containers filled with

shrapnel and holes for fuses. he was one step away from turning them into live grenades. if not for the journal, no one may have discovered the plot until it was too late. >> the journal contains several plans that look like potential terrorist attacks and attacks of violence and danger on the school. and in particular, there were six students specifically named and one teacher. >> his classmates are shocked by the discover. >> that's crazy. i didn't think anything like that could happen at russell county. it is crazy. you have to worry about it still. maybe he has friends that want to do it. you never know. >> he could have got me in school for real. he could have got the whole school. he could have just got all of us at once if he really wanted. >> cnn affiliate, wtbn reports that the earliest entries in the

journal were written three days after the massacre in sandy hook, connecticut. police say shrout is a self-proclaimed white supremacist and learned to make the explosives through the internet. quiet in ohio, centered on the rape of a 16-year-old girl. a case has divided the small ohio town. two 16-year-old high school football players are charged with sexually assaulting the girl last summer. the alleged attack took place at several parties over the course of the night. i spoke to walter madison, attorney for accused teen, ma'lik richmond. >> had your client admitted to being there and admitted to being with this young woman on that night? >> subsequent to the photograph, there is evidence that she was conscious and capable of making decisions and speaking and exhibiting decision-making activity. again, the photo is out of

context. those are the things we must wait to see. >> a defense attorney for the other accused teen spoke to susan candiotti and claims a text message may be a crucial piece of evidence in the upcoming trial. >> i would like to bring up an interesting fact that we do plan on presented at trial is that my client received a text message from the alleged victim herself saying that she said, i know you didn't rape me. >> reporter: what? >> she texted my client the next day saying, quote, i know you didn't rape me. >> do you have that text? >> we do. that is something that's going to be introduced at trial. >> reporter: what did he reply? >> that's something that's going to be introduced at trial, yes. >> reporter: why do you think she sent that? >> because i dhoint she thinks

she was raped the fiscal cliff, not important. the debt ceiling, not important, at least according to newt gingrich. at least they are not to him. details on why newt says it is time for washington to take a good look in the mirror. 2013 is proving to be moore expensive for many americans. we will show you the top ten items that will cost you more this year. just use your maxperks card and get a case of x-9 paper for only 1-cent after maxperks rewards. find thousands of big deals now... ...at officemax.

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[ male announcer ] when diarrhea hits, kaopectate stops it fast. powerful liquid relief speeds to the source. fast! [ male announcer ] stop the uh-oh fast with kaopectate. let's talk politics with l.z. granderson and anna smith. good to see you both. happy new year.

let's start with the fiscal cliff and strategizing that newt gingrich did. he says the process has become a complete diversion from what's really important. >> we are now going to spend 60 days or 90 days fixated on the next big crisis and then the crisis will go down to the white house and then secret meetings and once again will produce 2400 pages no one will have read. it is exactly the opposite of healthy self-government. >> it is interesting, because he called it a distraction. newt gingrich criticizing the process. no one really seems happy with what happened or how it happened. is this how things are going to get done in washington these days, governing by crisis? let's start with you, anna. >> well, you know, i agree with that part that he just said. this is absolutely not healthy governing. i love newt gingrich. he was in miami over the holidays e was having a little diversion himself. i suspect when he was speaker,

he didn't very much like criticism of the type he is giving now. newt gingrich is a great ideas guy. not all are great ideas. some of his criticisms are valid. we are not doing this in a healthy, whole some, constructive way. we seem to be going from crisis to crisis to crisis, which is part of this destructive cycle. that being said, this is not a division. this was a real cliff. this was a real problem. i think john boehner deserves a lot of credit for having put so much into it, for having tried so hard to make a deal. for having herded his cats. it was not pretty. it was making sausage. it wasn't the straightest line between "a" and "b" but it got done. i think he deserves a lot of credit, even from his predecessors. >> l.z., i want to ask you that question. do you think there was a distraction? i think a lot of americans were shocked to find out within that bill there were so many other things nobody knew about, nobody

had a chance to read. this is almost passing bills and laws in the secrecy of night. we are just reading about the fallout and what the taxes even mean to all americans, l.z. >> no, it wasn't a distraction. keep in mind newt gingrich is almost 70. he will be 70 this year. he is rich. he can afford to say this whole conversation is a big distraction. i live in the midwest and report in the midwest and talk to every dem day people. let me tell you, the $2,000 that was at risk for the middle class americans, that wasn't a distraction. that's real money. this conversation we had was a very important conversation to have. i'm a little offended. actually, not a little. i'm a lot offended that a one-time elected official and someone who wanted to be our president described this whole conversation as a distraction. that talks to me about how aloof he was to the whole process to begin with. >> i do want to ask you the next question. i think a lot of people really

saw a nonfocusing on real issues. this sort of back and forth press conference that were going on all across washington. look, a lot of people say a lot of time was wasted. another thing that's really sort of troubled me about how it all played out. that was president obama's handling of negotiations. john boehner took a lot of criticism. as he said, he was able to herd his cats. it was like making sausage. he made some interesting points about the president in the wall street journal. in her words, john boehner, they knew how much he wanted a historic agreement on the great issue of his time. mr. obama couldn't have even make a deal with a man like that, even when it would have made the president look good. lz, did mr. obama miss a critical opportunity to extend an olive branch to the republicans, specifically john boehner, as a gesture of conciliation? what's missing is a picture of

the president with the speaker. that doesn't exist. this was sort of a deal. >> i read peggy's piece entitled. there is no "i" in kumbayya. it is not about extending olive branches but about doing your job. i was sick and tired of seeing both sides talk about how brave and how courageous they were. no one else in america is brave and courageous as much as these politicians for doing the very basics of their job. this whole conversation we had in terms of not raising taxes on the middle class was something that was resolved in the senate months ago. if she wants to talk about parties not doing what they should have been doing, the senate voted for a bill to not allow the taxes to go up on the middle class back in the fall. the reason why it went this long was because of boehner, because

of his party, and because of this sort of distraction politics they have been doing, the obstructionist. >> very quickly, ana, do you think that, in fact, it would have gone a long way for the republicans if president obama, rather than taught them basically said, with he know how hard it is and thank you? >> i think it would have gone a long way, no the only for the republicans. i think it would have gone a long way for president obama. listen, deb, we are just at the beginning of this. we have four more long years. he has a legacy he wants to build. he is going to have to work with republicans. it works better when you try to invest in building relationships and you put some capital and time and resources, real resources, in viinvestigating a building relationships in congress. that's what bill clinton did. that's why he was able to get things done. that's why i hope president obama does in this second term. not only with republicans. he needs to build relationships with a lot of the democrat

leaders in congress who complain bitterly and continuously. >> we have to wrap it up. let's just leave it at this. both sides have a lot of work to do to try to restore trust. i think that's what the american people probably are eager for. l.z. granderson, ana navarro, thanks so much as always. >> sg food, gas technology, we could all feel the cost. ahead, the top ten items that will squeeze your budget this year. i'm dr. sanjay gupta. this is a speicher box. one of these along with a cockroach could make you an expert on the brain. >> we try to make the tools simple enough that we use, things people are familiar with, cell phones and laptops. our equipment has one button on it. you just turn it on. >> we've been enlightened by the neuroscience and how our brain functions and getting a better understanding of muscles and brain. >> we're almost up to 100 high

schools. i'm greedy. we want that across all the country. we don't just want one kid. we want every kid. >> neuroscientist, greg gauge, on "the next list." ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] some day, your life will flash before your eyes. ♪ make it worth watching. ♪ the new 2013 lexus ls. an entirely new pursuit. at the doctor's office when they weigh you, and they have to move it over? my doctor does not have to do that anymore. [ male announcer ] for every 2 pounds you lose through diet and exercise

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a lot of the things we buy every day are suddenly about to cost a lot more. prices are jumping on all sorts of basics. josh levs is here to break it down. >> we have good news and bad

news. we are doing the bad news for now so i can lift you up later with the good news. our folks at cnn money have done a great job of looking and seeing what's ahead in how we are going to feel it in basic goods. americans are buying these every day. meat products in general, expect prices to go up 3% to 4%, a result of what's been going on in agriculture. there has been a drought. it has affected the corn supply. it is a basic in feeding cattle. that has led many people to reduce their cattle supply which creates a crunch. 3% to 4%. we avoided that dairy cliff that we could have phased with a farm bill expiration that was part of the fiscal cliff battle. dairy prices are still going up due to what's going on with agriculture in america. i expect about 4.5% up according to the department of agriculture. shipping is going up this year, 4% to 5%. fedex, ups and the postal service on a lot of basic

shipping rates. this is them passing their costs on to the consumer in many cases. public transit, a whole bunch of cities are increasing the cost of public transit, in some cases, substantially. you are going to want to take a look at what the options are if you are someone that uses public transit. look athe monthly cars and cars in some cases. you can get to last longer that will help you save. >> health care premiums across the country. a lot of you know this now, because your paychecks are being affected already. up an average of 6.3% across the country. this is about the spiraling costs of health care in this country. insurers passing that along. expect about 6.3% going up in your health care premium. one more. a new car. if you are in the market for a new car this year, many new car models have their prices going up even higher than usual. more than typical inflation in that industry.

keep an eye out. you want to keep an eye out for deals. that brings me to the good news. amid this bad news of what's coming more, there are new technologies you can use to save more money than ever. it is giving so many ways to save money. very few people have figured out how to use them. i am going to be right here next hour to show you how to use new technology to save money. you take a few hours. you get to know them. at the end of this year, i promise you, you will look back and see that you saved a bundle. >> all we have to worry about is the meat, moving and health. we'll check back with you top of 7:00, thanks with more than 12 million people out of work, friday's new job numbers show little has changed in the unemployment picture. many expect very slow growth all year long. some career counselors are urging their clients to do all they can to keep their current jobs even as they prepare for

what they hope will be more opportunities later in the year. tom foreman has today's american journey. >> roughly 12 million americans are without work, nearly 5 million for a half year or more. career counselors across the country are starting 2013 with a clear message. keep hanging on. >> it is a lot slower than we all would like. it is incredibly competitive whether you are working or not working. i think that individuals who have that advantage of having employment right now should make sure they are taking full advantage of that. >> that, they say, means three things. first, ask for opportunity. build your professional network inside and outside of your office. workers who go unnoticed are often the first to go out the door. >> they don't raise their hand. they don't raise their hand for the difficult projects. they don't ask for lateral moves. they don't ask for more responsibilities. they don't join teams. these are things that companies look for for people for the

longer haul. >> she works for the apollo research institute which promotes further education. that's what many job advisers say is the second key. take advantage of every training opportunity. >> good times or tough times should be looking at how you are going to be developing growing your skills, whether for your current employer or current position or perhaps it is something down the road. >> lastly, unlike the unhappy guys in the movie "office space" embrace all sorts of technology. >> by the year 2020, over 75% of jobs will have a technology component. they think that is very important for people to understand for longevity and for employment in the future. >> staying employed this year will be easier in some fields than in others, of course. for example, jobs in health care and business services like sales are expected to be plentiful. >> as 2013 goes on, the job

market is predicted to pick up steam. setting the stage for better days in the next new year. tom foreman, cnn, washington. well, living in fear, trying to escape, and suffering from more than just war. we take you inside one refugee camp along the turkey/syria border where people are trying to escape bombs and gunfire are now faced with a different kind of catastrophe. try running four.ning a restaurant is hard, fortunately we've got ink. it gives us 5x the rewards on our internet, phone charges and cable, plus at office supply stores.

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half past the hour now. let's take a look at the headlines. a big cabinet announcement expected tomorrow in washington. sources tell cnn president obama is going to name chuck hagel as his nominee for defense secretary. he has his share of critics, including federal republicans. they say his views towards israel as well as u.s. policy in afghanistan will get a close look during the nomination process boats, helicopters and divers are searches for is tallian fashion mogul victorio missoni. a small plane carrying missoni, his wife and others disappeared. he has worked with celebrity clients and his fashion house, zigzag stripes has annual sales estimated at $75 million to $100

million nelson mandela appears to be feeling much better. reports say his recovery from a lung infection and gallstones surgery are nearly complete. the former south african president was hospitalized for two weeks last month. the 94-year-old nobel laureate continues to receive treatment and is gradually getting back to his normal routine. five men accused of brutally gang raping and brutally killing a woman are charged with murder, rape and kidnapping the 23-year-old woman last month. the woman's brother tells cnn that the family would like to see a new hospital named after her to keep her memory live. bad weather is hampering efforts to move an oil barge that ran aground near alaska's coast. so far, no visible signs of leaked fuel and the royal dutch shell oil barge is upright. authorities want to move the barge about 30 miles north to get a better look at possible damage. it ran aground whether it had to

be cut free from a dug boat during a huge storm that whipped up 24 waives in sear ra, a scathing speech from president bashar al assad and more blood shed throughout his country. >> a syrian opposition group says at least 91 people were killed today nationwide. activists say at least five of the victims died when a mortar hit a bus. as the bombs were falling and the bullets flying, the syrian president lashed out at rebels during his first public speech in seven months. assad was affectionately mobbed by a crowd of adoring supporters in the capital. he told his people that syria is not undergoing revolution and as long as terrorists, unquote, are in the country, the regime will not stand down. >> translator: this is a

conflict between authority at power or between the enemies of the homeland. this is a conflict those who wanted to take revenge against the people to end and fragment syria. those are the enemies of the people. and the enemies of god. and the enemies of god will go to hell. >> assad also laid out a plan to end the war starting with foreign countries ending their support for what he calls the terrorists. it is winter in syria. for refugees, that means scavenging for anything they can to eat and stay warm and protecting the youngest ones from death, all this while they can see but cannot touch a safe haven so close in view. dick walsh reports from one camp where even the children are digging their way to safety.

>> reporter: they fled this far, almost to safety in turkey but still they dig. to these boys, dragged fast into manhood, it is no the really a game. it is an air raid shelter. we make kids so if the jets come and bomb us, he says, we put children here to hide them. of course, we will make it much bigger for 20-30 people. the holes are so they can see outside when the bombs come. they already have seen so much. we were sitting suddenly and the rocket comes making this noise, he says, a big explosion, an artillery shell. here, in salama, 8,000 of them fled everything they had hoping for something but finding the new free syria could give them little. 100 yards from turkey, they are not allowed into its bustling

camps. 80% of those here came hoping to cross into turkey but the turkist government stopped hosting over six weeks ago. people are furious and we can't provide a loss of their daily needs. what was temporary in summer is now looking permanent in frost. the distant thought of shelling a reason to endure even this. >> even though these people are just about 100 yards from the turkish border, they still have to bring what little plastic tent shelter they have under cover because of the intense cold approaching. you can still hear sometimes the shells in the distance reverberate inside this open, concrete hangup. the real enemy in the months ahead is going to be that bitter winter cold. >> for abdul carter al hassan's daughter, the cold came too fast. she wasn't sick, he says, she didn't have any problems at all.

we were out late that night playing with her. we woke up the next morning. her mother checked on her. she was curled into a ball from the cold. we buried her in the village. her sister is afraid of the cold. now, he burns plastic to keep warm. wood is in short tsupply and expensive. they have stripped nature almost bare here. even these plants cut down for food. trashed plastic gathered hungrily. the smoke cluttering a dense, reched world. after 21 months of this war, this is the best the world has done for them. nick payton walsh, cnn, salama, syria. >> love letters from world war ii discovered during a home renovation, they were hidden and apparently for a very good reason. that's ahead. this is america.

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a >> a rare find by a michigan man remodeling his home. a treasure trove of love letters found above a hidden duct. they belonged to a war veteran that used to live there.

>> sweetheart, it was hard to see you go this morning, knowing it may be the last time i shall see you for a time, which we don't know how long it is going to be before we see each other again. when we saw this, we were hoping it was, like, a bag of bonds or a bag of money but honestly, it was just really cool. >> two women, violet and pat, wrote the letters to their soldier. they discovered the world war ii vet later had married a woman named sadie, explaining why the letters were hidden in the basement. >> it is the case of a feline turned felon. this kitty was caught red-handed trying to help in a prison break. details on this bizarre case next.

brazilian prison officials say they have foiled a bizarre jail break plot. prison guards became suspicious after they spotted an oddly-shaped cat entering the prison. this is pretty extraordinary. >> we have heard a lot of bizarre stories but this definitely tops the list. this whole story unfolded in brazil in the northeast city of alagoas. the jail itself, the prison guards manning the jail saw this beautiful, black and white cat going in and out of the main entrance of the prison.

something wasn't right. you will see exactly why. take a look of this pictures. this cat had duct taped to the length of its bodied, a cell phone, saws, drills, a battery, a memory stick. why? this is crazy. you will see some of these inmates will go to extreme lengths just to find a way out of this overcrowded and very violent prisons. >> you know what's amazing? whoever taped up the cat did a good job taping the cat but they couldn't have added a little bit of fur to conceal it. it is kind of like not thinking through the plot all together. was this cat supposed to find one prisoner. was this like a homing cat like a homing pingeon. >> it wasn't your average nine lives cat. it is like a gangster cat. i can't think of any other way that something like this would happen if this cat wasn't properly trained to do this. the story is actually still under investigation. the more than 250 inmates that are in this jail are all being

held as suspects. i thought this was really interesting. authorities say it would be hard to find who is responsible, because, surprise, the catastrophe doesn't talk. >> they could potentially find bigger prints on the tape that is strapped to the cat's body and work backwards to find out who this person is tied to. this is not the only example of crazy prison breaks. tell me about some others. >> most recently, this past month, we had a guy in brazil, another brazil jail break attempt who took a broken shower pipe and tried to punch a hole through the concrete wall, was able to make this hole but didn't realize he was too big and wasn't able to fit through the wall. he got stuck. there is a picture of him half on one side of the wall and half on the other. the prison guards thought it was funny. they let him hang out there for a while and freed him and put him in the cell. >> i can see the prison guards having a conversation while this

poor man is half in and half out this whole. fascinating and so fun. it is incredible the lengths that people will go to. i guess, listen, they are in prison. you have got time on your hands. think of a way to get out as opposed to filing legal options. thank you so much. we always appreciate it. great story. pennsylvania's governor revisits the penn state scandal and goes after the ncaa in court. plus, lance armstrong is reportedly planning to come clean. we are going to examine the motivations of both of these intriguing stories next. and cut! very good. 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?

the national hockey league could be back in a matter of days. league officials and the players association struck a tentative labor agreement today according to a statement posted on the league website. that would end the more than 100-day lockout. it players and owners approve the agreement, the nhl could play a 48-game schedule slated to begin as early as next week. we have two more big sports stories to talk about tonight that reach far beyond the sports world. john wertheim is here to share his insights. he's a senior investigative reporter for "sports illustrated." let's talk about a story you covered both for "sports illustrated" and for us here on cnn and that's the jerry sandusky child abuse case at penn state university. this week, as you know, the pennsylvania governor sued the ncaa trying to overturn the tough penalties imposed in the

wake of the scandal. he claimed in part the ncaa was trying to prop up weaker teams. he also said it hurt students and businesses that weren't even tied to the scandal. so what is he doing? >> that's a good question. i mean, there are actually two suits. one was about divvying up the $60 million fine. the other is the governor's antitrust suit. it's really problematic. first of all, stepping back, the governor was the attorney general of pennsylvania during the sandusky investigation. avenues member of the penn state board of trustees before he game governor. to say now this is an antitrust violation, it really does have tinges of political expediency. this seems very dubious. >> he even goes so far as to say the reason the ncaa did this was in part because, you know, penn state has such a great team that clearly other teams needed to benefit and that's what this is basically. >> yeah, which is really just silly.

the ncaa has bigger fish to fry than that. i think also one reason penn state did not get the death penalty, the football team would be suspended, the one reason that didn't happen is because penn state showed contrition, issued a report, basically said we're willing to accept punishment and blame. this completely flies in the face of that. i don't even know if the governor of pennsylvania has standing and antitrust lawsuit on the grounds that there's all this collateral damage and the ncaa had it in for penn state is really borderline absurd. >> we're willing to accept blame as long as we don't have to pay anything. let's move on, let's talk about lance armstrong. "the new york times" reports that armstrong is thinking about coming clean about doping in the hopes of resuming his athletic career. he was given a lifetime fall last fall based on a mountain of evidence he was deeply involved in using performance-enhancing drugs. if he confesses after all these years, is it simply too late. will he just be slammed even more or is this a good strategy?

>> well, i mean, i think a lot of people are rolling their eyes and saying it's too late. you mentioned the mountain of evidence, but there were no positive tests in that mountain and if lance armstrong can come forward and talk to these authorities and explain how it was he was able to pass these tests, whether there were other agencies that were involved, whether there was a cover-up, that could have real value. obviously his motivations are he wants his band overturned. that's a little dubious. he was so defiant for so long, it's really disturbing to think that now he's coming clean, but i think if he cooperates, that could really have some real value to the investigators. >> so are you suggesting that he may even be looking to cut some sort of a deal that could make all his problems basically go away? >> yeah. i don't know about that. i think there are going to be a number of lawsuits that stem from this. i don't think his troubles are going away anytime soon. but he wants to compete not even

as a cyclist, mostly as a triathlete. that's not going to happen as long as this ban is in place. i think that's really what's motivating him. boy, again, there was so long, such a long period of defiance. for him now 15 years after these first accusations to come out and say mea culpa, i think that's an awful long time. >> not only that but he might want to come clean but he's also going to open himself up to significant perjury charges. >> exactly. >> any thoughts on the apparent end to the nhl lockout? >> well, 18 months ago we were going to miss nfl preseason games and it was a national catastrophe. it's great there's going to be hockey, but i think the fact that the public wasn't exactly clamoring for this should be pretty problematic for the leagues. good it's a season but a shortened season but you wish it hadn't come to this. >> john wertheim from "sports illustrated," thanks so much. always appreciate your insights. quick, what's the one phrase

you hope you never hear again. if you said fiscal cliff you're not alone. we'll take a look at some of the wonky metaphors associated with the battle in washington.

my guess is you are pretty psyched that you're not going to be hearing the term fiscal cliff anymore, right? you know, that's the phrase that swept the nation's capitol and airwaves over the last few months. it seemed the more arcane and wonky the budget mess got, the more washington reached to try to explain it. cnn's christine romans has more.

>> reporter: just like the yodeler in that cliff hangers game on the price is right, we did fall off a cliff. of a metaphor cliff. >> fiscal cliff. >> the fiscal cliff. >> over the cliff. >> so-called fiscal cliff. >> or maybe not. ♪ the hills are alive >> reporter: cue julie andrews in "the sound of muse i can." >> it's more of a slope. >> it's not a cliff, it's a slope. >> it's kind of a slope. >> reporter: hill, cliff, slope, be honest, it felt more like this. >> this place is starting to have the feel of the movie "groundhog's day." >> reporter: at least the movie made you laugh. this was more like "the hurt locker." >> congress set this time bomb. now they're scrambling to defuse it. >> reporter: in the end the cliff, slope, bomb, groundhawing day, call it what you will, it became a bill and a new metaphor. >> kick the can down the road. >> kicking the can down the road. >> kicking that can. >> kicking the can. >> we are done with kicking this