boat, knows the waters well. tonight he's the only guy who knows precisely where the skid are. boats for miles around hover hoping for a squid bonanza. >> this is a traffic jam in the middle of nowhere. >> exactly. i tried to move the boat forward to give room and i couldn't. there's too many boats in front of me. it's awesome. >> reporter: 2013 is shaping up to be the year of the squid, a giant squid. a very distant cousin of the humble was seen for the first time in its natural habitat 2000 feet down off the coast of japan. squid isn't just for breading and deep frying anymore, in popular culture the squid agenda is alive and well and bends on world domination. you see galaxar in "monsters versus aliens." >> just a recap, i come and mean no harm and you will all die. that's all right. >> all hale galaxar.

viva la squid. i'm drew griffin at the cnn world headquarters here in atlanta. flu shot scramble. there is a run on vaccine on spots with an outbreak gripping the nation. one day later. a painful decision awaits the community of newtown, connecticut. a golden upset. did you watch? the surprise winner of best picture, "argo." >> argo, wean yourself. >> i haven't seen it yet. >> it's good. >> welcome to early start. i'm zorida sambolin. >> and i'm john berman.

the cdc says the only state spared widespread flu is california, hawaii and mississippi. in new york, getting a flu shot is tougher and tougher. there is a run on the vaccine at some pharmacies and urging care centers since governor andrew cuomo declared a public health emergency. elizabeth cohen joins us now. what do health officials mean when they use the word epidemic? >> it gets very technical. i'll boil it down here. basically, people are getting sick and dying from the flu in certain numbers. when those numbers get high enough, we call it an epidemic. i personally don't really care that much about that word. i'll tell you why. the flu season nearly always reaches epidemic levels. even if it's just like a moderate plain old, you know, normal season. so i think we shouldn't get focused too much on that word. we instead should focus on what we're seeing here which is what can you do to avoid getting the flu which is getting a flu shot and doing things like washing

your hands and staying away from people who look sick. john? >> it doesn't feel like just a normal flu season here. i have to tell you. a lot of people sick here in the office. a lot of people sick where i live. governor cuomo declared a public health emergency. so since we're talking about terminology, what does that mean? >> let me go back to what you said before. this is absolutely not, from what we can tell at this point a normal flu season. this is more like a moderate to severe flu season. what i'm saying is almost every year we have an epidemic. people are freaking out about the use of this word. it is almost every year, nearly every year there is an epidemic. that's why i don't get too into that word. getting to what governor cuomo did. he said there is a state of public health emergency. he's telling pharmacies, hey guess what? usually in other years we tell you don't vaccinate kids. they have to go to their doctor for that. this year, he said, go ahead and vaccinate kids. they're telling pharmacies they can do that. but it's interesting.

we put out several phone calls to many phone calls to pharmacies in new york and the pharmacies we called, none of them are offering shots to kids. they said, look, we don't usually offer shots to kids. we're not going to offer shots to kids. in addition, these same pharmacies said they didn't really have enough even for adults. they were running out of shots for everyone. but it's interesting that even though they can offer shots to kids, they've chosen not to. >> and as you said, adults having a hard time getting it, too. i know she had a hard time getting a shot. my wife had a hard time finding a shot. governor cuomo, we saw him getting a shot there. he got a lollipop after his shot so we're happy for him. elizabeth cohen, thank you for helping us. this is affecting a lot of people around the country. >> i have to tell you, i did check to see where they were giving the flu shots. i went to cvs. by today they should have a new supply of shots. and the independent pharmacies said by tuesday. so if you're looking for one, hopefully you can still get one.

three minutes past the hour. now to newtown, connecticut. it's been one month since the massacre felt around the world. it will be a day of remembrance for the 20 children and 6 adults gunned down at the sandy hook welcomery school. that shooting sparked a national debate over guns and gun violence. in newtown, connecticut, the fate of the school building itself is a very delicate subject. it was debated at a public forum last night. >> my 3-year-old thinks his school is broken and that we're going to fix it and, personally, my own opinion is i don't want to see the land and the building stay empty and broken. i want to do something with it whether it be a memorial park, i would support. that whether it be building a new safer school with top security. >> cnn's susan candiotti is live with more. i think saying this is a delicate subject is totally understating it. >> reporter: oh, sure.

and you know, we're beginning to hear a variety of opinions. first of many public hearings, forums here in newtown that will be held on this subject about the future of sandy hook elementary. we heard from a number of speakers including a lot of parents of sandy hook elementary, students who are going temporarily to another school. and some parents very passionately spoke about tearing down the school saying it's just hard, too frightening for the children to go back. and even for teachers, too. yet, other parents said, no, we should rebuild, put a memorial there as a sign of strength. strength that you see all over this town. this church lost nine of its youngest members at sandy hook. a vigil drew thousands that first night. and then there were the funerals. >> i was this far away from the families.

it was palpable what they were going through. >> reporter: how well are people healing? >> there is still a lot of pain. a lot of grief. when it's going to go away, i don't know. it might not ever go away. >> reporter: arriving daily to ease that pain, something that astounds the deacon and fellow per i perisioners. >> these are gifts, letters, prayer cards coming in from all over the country, all over the world. >> reporter: thousands of pieces of mail carefully sorted for each victim including the shooter's mother and the killer himself. what is this all a sign of? >> this is the world putting their arm around newtown and saying we're here for you in some way. >> reporter: like a huge banner that reads we are with you, newtown, filled with signatures hanging from an overpass. it's all the way from tucson, arizona, the site of the gabby

giffords mass shooting. down the street from the elementary school, a bouquet marks the spot with a make shift memorial once stood, now dismantled, composted, preserved for a permanent memorial. in this community, people turn to each other for strength. many with the same question. >> the main questions of why? why did this happen? how did this happen? >> seeking answers no one may ever have. and for now, no perfect answer on what to do about sandy hook elementary. >> and susan, newtown families are having conversations, difficult conversations about the future of gun laws in the wake of this tragedy. is there any consensus on what they want to see changed, if anything at all? >> reporter: i would say it's too early to have a consensus on these things. but certainly a large number of people are calling for stricter measures including a ban on

assault weapons and high capacity magazines. i spoke with a mayor yesterday and she said, you know, now is the time for change. >> the horror of knowing that these are innocent 6 and 7-year-olds who were so harmed and killed by a man who had a flaw in his judgment and had access to an assault weapon and other weapons as well. for many people like me i've long been an advocate of better controls over access to those kinds of weapons, this simply elevates our passion on that issue. >> reporter: and rate they are morning in the town hall behind me, there's going to be a news conference held by a group called sandy hook promise. we expect to hear some speakers, possibly relatives of some of the sandy hook victims who will be weighing in on the subject of gun control as well. many people calling for stricter measures. >> susan candiotti, we really

appreciate having you live in newtown, connecticut, this morning. thank you. later this hour, we'll talk with stephen barton who was wounded in the aurora, colorado shooting and a woman whose daughter was shot during the rampage at virginia tech. and we'll have "starting point" at 7:00 eastern time. >> and one many onth to the day since at sault, joe biden will meet with representatives to gather policy proposals on gun violence. the vice president's final recommendations are expected to be announced on tuesday. also in the house of representatives debate begins today on two bills address superstorm sandy relief. congress passed $9 billion in aid last week. the states and president are asking for another $50 billion. one of the house plans, however, calls for just $17 billion in what it calls emergency aid. the week getting off to a really soggy start in some parts of the country. heavy rain and flooding wash out roads in parts of west tennessee.

public schools and three counties are closed today because buses couldn't get to the students. and the national weather service saying an ef-tornado hit near paducah, kentucky, on saturday. it destroyed one church and blew the steeple off another. we want to check in with alexandra steel. >> good morning you to guys. here it is. here's the cold front. along it is all the rain. you saw that flooding in western tennessee. now that rain is in eastern tennessee. it's along and ahead of a cold front. it is moving eastward. a lot of variety of weather happening be it the fog in the northeast, dense fog advisories there until. >> caller: 8:00 this morning. it will be a morning affair. things will clear out through the afternoon. travel a lot better then. but all the way, look at that from maine to the mid-atlantic, washington and the delmarva have some fog. but really the story, the temperatures. incredibly dramatic, right? you find the front. here it s there is only one

little pocket of warmth here. they're wearing shorts in atlanta, georgia and parkas in los angeles. here's where the cold air is. high today in denver, 13 degrees. salt lake city, 12. so by 20 to 25 degrees below average. today is kind of the lowest it's going to go. we'll modify a little bit. salt lake gets up into the mid 20s by wednesday. vegas, everywhere in the west very cold. but temperatures will modify. a big variety of weather values around the kun troy day. >> all right. thank you very much. >> 11 minutes past the hour. the super bowl picture is almost set. somebody is gloating this morning. the four teams are left standing this morning. foxboro, new england beat houston 41-28. >> they were fantastic. >> the patriots got a huge performance from running back shane green. he scored four touchdowns all year before sunday. tom brady won more play-off games than any nfl quarterback.

he passed his idol joe montana. >> any quarterback ever in history, we should say. and atlanta, the atlanta falcons, they came this close to blowing a huge lead but they didn't thanks to that matt bryant field goal with no time left. atlanta blew a pair of 20-point leads. seattle just kept coming back. really, it looked like seattle would win. they jumped ahead with 31 seconds left. bryant hit that field goal. here it is again. the time running out. so the falcons will host the nfc championship game at home for the first time. so congratulations to them. >> all right. so here is your play-off picture. two teams will punch their super bowl tickets next week, atlanta plays san francisco at the georgia dome for the nfc championship. and new england hosts the ravens for the afc title. this will be a rematch of last year's title game which was won by who? >> the patriots won that. they went on to lose in the

super bowl. i should say the patriots lost a player and he broke his arm again. he's out for the rest of the playoffs. it will be a tough haul. >> that could be a problem. >> everyone is pulling for them. >> not everyone. >> speaking of other winners and losers, in an evening with a lot of winners, it was jody foster who was the talk of the golden globes. we'll tell you why coming up. plus, lance armstrong on the verge of making a tv confession, the latest word on his upcoming oprah interview. we'll have that coming up, too. 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.

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welcome back to "early start," everyone. the 70th golden globe awards had a surprise ending. ben affleck's "argo" beating out "lincoln." and there was a bit of redemption for affleck, too. it was in your face redemption. he won the best director prize just days after being snubbed

for an oscar nomination that many thought was a sure thing. michelle turner with more on the big winners and best moments from the golden globes. >> it's getting sloppy in here, everybody. look at how drunk glen close is. >> the golden globes are usually one party. and co-hosts kept the zingers coming for the ceremony's 70th anniversary. >> when it comes to torture, i trust the lady who spent three years married to james cameron. >> there were, you know, awards to be handed out. and guess who had the best reason to celebrate? >> "argo." >> the iran hostage thriller earned the night's biggest prize, best drama and ben affleck who didn't receive an oscar nomination this year was a winner as well. >> i don't care what the award is. when they put your name next to the names she just read off, it's an extraordinary thing in your life. >> lincoln's daniel del lewis

took the top act ago wards and both absoluted their directors, steven spielberg and catherine big low. >> steven spielberg, you've given me an experience that i will treasure until the end of my life. >> catherine bigelow, you've done more for women in cinema. >> and the film won best musical or comedy and earned honors for first time globe winner hugh jackman and supporting actress ann hathaway. >> thank you for this blunt object. >> and "homeland" took top honors. "girls" won for its creator and star lina denim. >> this isward for everyone who thought there wasn't a space for her. >> speaking of women, jody foster honored with the career achievement award provided the night's most emotional moment. >> i will continue to tell stories but it will be my writing on the wall and i want to be seen to be understood

deeply and to be not so very lonely. >> and former president clinton surprised everyone when he came out to salute "lincoln." in the end, they laughed, they cried, and, of course, the party continues. >> good night. we're going home with jody foster. >> that was one of my favorite moments of the night. and speaking of jody foster, it was quite a moment. jody foster has managed to keep her personal life private over the years. but, you know, during a candid moment during her award acceptance speech, she caught everyone off guard with this. >> i guess i just have a sudden urge to say something that i never really been able to air in public. so declaration that i'm a little nervous about. but, you know, i'm just going to put it out there, right, loud and proud. so i'm going to need your support on this. i am single. i already did my coming out

about 1,000 years ago. >> yeah, you expect the unexpected at the golden globes. now it has been widely speculated for years that jody foster is gay. but she never publicly addressed her sexuality until last night. now she never did say the words i'm gay during her speech, but she did acknowledge that she's out and she thanked her ex-partner in love sidney during the speech. it was definitely a moment. >> to say the least. i have to say my inbox was overflowing with people commenting on the jody foster moment last night. michelle turner in hollywood, thanks very much. nice to see you this morning. >> sure. >> it is 20 minutes past the hour. time for your early reads. >> we're going to begin with a story from "weekly standard" magazine. they're supporting that mark sanford will re-enter politics. now our very own peter hammy was the first to break all this back in december saying it was a done deal. now the standard is reporting that mark sanford will run for

the house seat that was held by tim scott. ""the weekly standard"" said he'll make this run official in the next few days. you'll remember that then governor sanford was reported missing and later admitted he had an affair with a woman in argentina. i bumped into him at the republican convention. he told me he missed being in the arena. sounded very much like a man way back in august who wanted to get back in the middle. >> i wonder thou is going to play out. will people forget? will people forgive? >> they certainly won't forget. you don't forget something like that. >> and he's engaged to that woman now. >> he? >> yes. all right. 21 minutes past the hour. will he or won't he? only lance armstrong knows for sure. when armstrong sits down for an interview with oprah winfrey today, he'll finally admit using performance enhancing drugs while winning seven tour de france titles. the confession after years of vehement denials is part of armstrong's plan to rehabilitate his public image. armstrong stepped down from

livestrong and dropped by sponsors after the u.s. doping agency released a huge file of evidence against him. he was also stripped of those tour de france titles. the oprah interview will air later this week. there are so many different publication who's are actually online and saying these are the questions that i want to ask lance armstrong. but, you know, i mean almost 100% sure he'll admit. >> he won't talk about specifics just in general. will he go far enough? >> and will it rehabilitate his image? >> we'll see. the flu adds misery in more ways than one. coming up, an eye opening break down the flu has on your family's finances. with so much noise about health care... i tuned it all out. with unitedhealthcare, i get information that matters... my individual health profile. not random statistics. they even reward me for addressing my health risks. so i'm doing fine...

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we're minding your business this morning. u.s. stock futures are trading mixed. the dow and s&p 500 are up slightly. nasdaq futures are down.

>> it is a big, big week for earnings. poppy is in for christine today to cover that for us. >> it's all about the big bang. looking at last week how we did on the s&p 500 closed up about .5%. investors were sitting and waiting. they want to see how the big banks are going to do. we'll hear from jp morgan chase and goldman sachs and bank of america and citigroup on thursday. then morgan stanley. a lot of questions about morgan stanley. that's a big one on friday. if you look at the 37 s&p 500 companies reporting this week, 22 of them are financials. and earnings growth is supposed to be very good, very strong. very different from 2008. if you look at what's expected, 8.7% for the financials. if you exclude the insurance companies because they got hit so hard by sandy, financials should rise about 30% from a year ago. so earnings are looking very good for them. wells fargo had record earnings on friday. but one thing i think is important to point out, big question is why?

some people are saying the big mortgage settlements are getting behind these banks. they're starting to see more revenue and some of the reserves put aside. let's not forget, these big banks are still announcing thousands and thousands of layoffs. so they're cutting back. that means more profitability. >> good news for the banks unless you work there. >> yeah. >> but if you're an investor, this is a big week for the banks. >> poppy harlow, thank you. >> it's muscle car for the modern age. the brand new corvette. it is ready to roll. we're going to share it with you. stay with us. in your car. now count the number of buttons on your tablet. isn't it time the automobile advanced? introducing cue in the all-new cadillac xts. the simplicity of a tablet has come to your car. ♪ the all-new cadillac xts has arrived. and it's bringing the future forward.

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scouring the everglades for snakes. really big snakes. the hunt is on in florida starting to day. >>isaster at sea one year later. a solemn remembrance of the scene of a cruise ship catastrophe. >> and dress rehearsal for the big day. stand ins for the president and first lady run through the plan for next week's inauguration. i wonder if the chief justice is doing a little rehearsing. welcome back to "early start," everyone. >> 31 minutes past the hour. it is monday morning. we're glad you're with us. so we begin with the flu epidemic. it's affecting all but three states now. the cdc says the only state spared widespread flu are california, hawaii, and mississippi. congratulations to all of you. in new york, getting a flu shot is tougher and tougher. some pharmacies and urgent cares centers since andrew cuomo declared a public health emergency. elizabeth cohen is joining us now live. elizabeth, what expectly do health officials mean when they

call this an epidemic? >> what they do every year, the centers for disease control, looks at the number of people who are getting sick and dying from flu and from pneumonia which is related to flu. when it reaches a certain level, they call it an epidemic. while this word is big and scary, i do want to note that typically every year there's an epidemic. this is not the only year. this is probably going to be a particularly bad flu season at the end of the day. this is clearly not a good situation. but as far as epidemics go, typically, it's an epidemic every year. >> so governor cuomo declared a public health emergency in new york. what does that do? >> you know, among other things, what it does is tells pharmacists you can go ahead and vaccinate minors. usually they say with minors, forget it. pharmacists can't do it. they have to go to their doctor. but what's interesting is that we called many pharmacies in the state of new york and they said well we know that we can vaccinate minors but we're choosing not to.

so it's unclear how well that particular directive is working. >> elizabeth, i tried to get a flu shot over the weekend for myself and for my children. we drove around from pharmacy to pharmacy. i should have made phone calls. and we could not find any flu vaccines. i haven't called the doctors office and they're out of the flu shot also. why is that that there are these shortages that are happening now? >> you know, we're told it's a distribution issue. in certain parts of the country, there are enough shots. and in certain parts of the country, as you have learned, there aren't. and i think it's probably pretty straight forward. the governor declares a state of emergency. people want to get flu shots. they're just weren't enough getting in there at the moment. not talking about tamiflu. that is different. talking now about vaccinations. so i think the bottom line lesson of this is we shall listen to the centers for disease control and get our shots when they become available when is october. i know i'm sounding judgy here. i can say this to you because you're my friend, but i took my kids to get a flu shot in

october. i didn't want -- i didn't want to face this kind of thing. i was surprised. i think several public officials went sort of, you know, got cameras and everything and they got their shots recently. and i got to tell you, i was thinking that worries me. why are they getting shots in january. >> i totally get you. i appreciate the judgments. maybe next year i'll be smarter. i have one last question. we're asking that a lot around here. i've been sick for a week. there are a lot of people sick. do we have the flu? are we contagious? and how do you know that it is the flu? >> you know, it can be tough to know whether something is the flu or some other virus. so i'll give you sort of one rule of thumb and then specifics. the rule of thumb is when it becomes a whole body experience, it is much more likely that it is the flu. so let's go over some of the specifics. flu, it's sudden on set. you feel perfectly fine and then you feel like basically you got hit by a bus. that's how people described it to me. body aches. you don't usually get body aches with a cold.

also fever. can you get with other viruses. fever is often a symptom with flu. and fatigue. when i say fatigue, i don't mean like i'm so tired. i think i want a nap. i mean like i cannot get out of bed. i've had several friends who had the flu this season and they were like can't get out of bed. like having trouble walking to the bathroom kind of fatigue. >> amen. thank you for all of that. we're going to heed all of your advice and warnings. elizabeth cohen live for us. >> you're in trouble. she is judging you. >> i deserve it. i totally deserve it. >> yes, you do. >> you have not vaccinated your children. >> we got flu shots in november. >> i thought you told me you had it -- your wife hasn't had a flu shot. >> three out of four of us had the flu shots months ago. it is 35 minutes after the hour right now. it has been one month now since life in newtown, connecticut, changed forever. 20 children and 6 adults were killed inside the sandy hook elementary school. community residents debated the

future of the building last night where the massacre took place. some favored demolition. some construction of a memorial and others said it should be renovated. >> and a somber occasion in italy. a cruiseship wrecked off shore a year ago sunday. there was a memorial plaque and wreaths and many, many tears. a boat horn tounded 32 times, one for each victim. the captain was on italian tv yesterday saying he is not responsible. he's accused of abandoning ship. he claims he just fell into a life boat. he could face manslaughter charges. the ship is still in the water on its side. it could be september before it is ready to be hauled off the rocks. cubans are eager to take advantage of looser travel rules taking effect today. now most cubans will be able to leave the island with only a passport. stay abroad for two years and even take along small children. the u.s. state department says it is preparing for possible increase in cuban visa requests.

a dress rehearsal in d.c. as preparations for next week's presidential inauguration kick into high gear now. stand ins for president obama and vice president joe biden as well as their wives took part in an elaborate preview. they watched the presidential escort from the capitol's east steps including the u.s. army band, old guard, fire and drum corps and honor guard members from each branch of the military. >> it is an unprecedented hunt for a potential man heater. hundreds of big snake wranglers are taking part in a florida competition meant to thin out that state's python population in the everglades. it kicked off over the weekend. so, john, how is the python hunt going so far? >> reporter: john, you may be able to tell i'm on the payment out here and, you know, you just never can tell where the pythons are going to show up. but it did go pretty well. for florida wildlife officials told me yesterday that they did

have reports of hunters getting some kills. exactly how many they don't know at this point. may have some results in today when the pythons, the remains of the pie thonz aythons are brouge station that's are set up around south florida for that purpose. to register these particular kills. now 700, more than 700 people signed up to go out during this month long hunt which did, as you mention, kick off on saturday. but quite frankly, it's not going to be that easy to find these snakes. >> can you go out there for days and days and days and not see one python. i don't care how much experience you have. it is going to take some luck. >> if we remove one snake from the ecosystem, we've done a good thing. so imagine if 700 people are out there and they all bring one snake that, is 700 less snakes we have in the ecosystem. >> you know, now they've recorded snakes down here in the

everglades up to nearly 20 feet long these pythons. they're not venomous but they're invasive species, a constrictor. and they are literally taking over many parts of the everglades because they have no natural enemy. john? >> 20 feet long. that sticks with you when you say that. there is some debate on whether hunting these pythons is actually humane. this is a spokesman from peta. reptiles have slow metabolisms which means when they're beheaded they can suffer up to an hour before they actually die. peta is asking if this hunt is going to go forward that they limit the ways they can be killed to ways where the brain is destroyed immediately so that they do not suffer. so how are officials there responding to these concerns? >> reporter: asked -- [ inaudible ] >> we appear to be losing john

in the midst of the danger with the pythons. we hope he gets his microphone back and stays safe. >> all right. this could cause heart palpatationses in car lovers. gm rolled out the 2014 corvette sting ray. it shares only two parts with the 2013 model. it is like the company built a totally different car. prince may need to rerecord his song. they borrowed parts from the 1963 model. officials say the sting ray is faster. it gets better mileage than the current corvette. no word on the price yet. if can you afford the 2013, can you afford the 2014. it will be in the showroom this fall. >> you bought the 2013, you may not shop for the 2014. >> up grade there. >> man, i like how you roll. we're going to go live to newtown connecticut where residents are banding together for a dip cause. what are you doing?

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. welcome back. 43 minutes past the hour. vice president biden will meet with members of the house of representatives as part of the task force that he's heading up on reducing gun violence. the task force is expected to make the recommendations tomorrow. it has been one month now since the newtown school shooting. a group of newtown residents called sandy hook promise will mark this very sad day by holding a news conference today. they plan to unveil a national grassroots initiative to reduce gun violence. the group will be joined by families of victims and survivors of other shootings as well. so among them, we have stephen barton, survivor of last summer's aurora movie theater shooting. he was shot in the face, neck, and chest before he was able to escape. stephen now works as an outreach and policy associate for mayors against illegal guns. he also grew bup tup ten minutem newtown. emily haus will also be there. her daughter was shot during the

virginia tech shooting. we're happy to report she survived. lori is the virginia organizer for the coalition to stop gun violence. thank you both for being with us this morning. stephen, i want to begin with you. what do you hope to accomplish today? >> you know, i'm here first and foremost to support the families and the community and to really support the this amazing grassroots effort that has sprung up through sandy hook promise. >> what are you hoping will come out of this? >> well, i mean, i think it's really important to remind the american public, you know, just one month ago 20 children were killed and 6 educators. you know, it's important to keep that in the forefront of people's minds as we move forward and try to figure out how we can prevent these things from happening in the future. >> lori, we all struggle with what do you say to the parents who have lost children.

you know more than anyone what it's like to be in the shoes of the sandy hook moms and dads. you're going to be meeting with the victims' families and fellow survivors today. what are you going to tell them? >> well, first, as stephen suggestsed, it's to offer my support and my concern and compassion. you know, every circumstance is different. every family is different. and the path they're on is particularly unique. they may be on the same path. but their reaction is their own. so i would never suggest or give advice to someone who's on that path. i can share my experiences, you know, what worked for my family, you know what are some of the challenges we faced in the aftermath of a mass shooting. but i'll just share my experiences and hope that that in some small way offers some support. >> i'm sure they're going to be grateful to have you. stephen, the gun industry has long opposed an assault weapons ban. any measure will face a high hurdle getting through congress.

here's what we're hearing the plan will include. realistically what do you think can get done? it's universal background checks, limiting high-capacity magazines, encouraging more gun violence research, strengthening mental-health checks. from this list, what do you think realistically will happen? >> well, i mean, i think all of those measures are valuable. but, you know, the bottom line is we need to have background checks for every gun sale in this country. right now 40% of gun sales are private. under federal law, there is no background check. there's no, you know, there's no check on who that person is who is buying that gun. so to me, i mean that's the most important thing. i also think that's probably the measure that has the most support. but just because opposing groups are challenging the administration on certain measures, doesn't mean they

should back down. as i said before, i mean lives are at stake. 26 people died a month ago. and 33 people are murdered every single day in this country with guns. we have to keep that in mind as we're moving forward. i think the administration is especially keeping that in mind. >> a lot of people are fighting for a ban on assault weapons. here's what the president of the nra said yesterday on cnn. i want you to listen to this. >> when a president takes all the power of his office, if he's willing to expend political capital, you don't want to make predictions. you don't want to bet your house on the outcome. but i will say that likelihood is that they're not going to be able to get an assault weapons ban through this congress. >> so stephen, as you work for the mayors against illegal guns, is that part of the platform? do you think that it actually has a chance? >> yeah, i do. certainly i do. you know, we saw exactly what

assault weapons can do about a month ago in sandy hook. so i think lawmakers haven't forgotten that. i mean it's an important measure. i certainly think congress will give it the consideration that it deserves. >> stephen barton, lori haus, i thank you very much for joining us this morning. very quickly, lori, how is your daughter doing? >> she is doing fine and she's a teacher herself. she teaches 5-year-olds. so this hit home to her and my family and n.in a very big way. we understand that impact. like stephen, we're working to do what we can to prevent gun violence in this country. >> i really appreciate your time this morning and your continued effort there's. stephen barton and lori haus, thank you. 49 minutes after the hour right now. we're going to talk about ben's revenge. snubbed by the academy, ben

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52 minutes after the hour now. let's bring you up to sped. the flu outbreak is widespread in all but three states. lucky states, california, hawaii and mississippi. but in new york city, there is a big hassle and involves trying to get vaccinated. there is a run on the vaccine since andrew cuomo declared a

public health emergency. >> another gang rape case rocks india. the latest incident happening over the weekend. seven men attacked a married 29-year-old woman after she boarded a bus. the bus driver speeding past her stop taking her to an undisclosed address where he and other men allegedly attacked her. she survived the attack but a similar attack in december cost a 23-year-old woman her life and sparked intense protests. >> so how do you get to the nhl? practice. hockey training camps are now open. players returning to the ice for the first time since the four-month lock out ended. the shortened nhl season, 48 games instead of 82, will begin on saturday. redemption at the globes. "argo" won best dramatic film and ben affleck won best director just days after his oscar snub. the night's other big winner, "les mis" winning.

best supporting actress, ann hathaway. >> all right. >> we have a packed hour ahead on "early start" including the python hunt is on in florida. haven't you always wanted to do this? we told you about the reward for the hunter who bags the biggest python. one was found with an intact deer in its stomach. >> didn't you always want to hunt giant snakes? >> i have. >> so are they in danger? >> yes. >> we'll ask a wildlife expert jeff corwin. >> and is there a draft on this train? no pants subway ride. >> i heard you participated in that. >> we're going to show the highlights. what are the low lights of that? >> first, he's a quarterback, tim tebow was supposed to be a now he also has his own viral touchdown move. move over tebowing. it's all about kaepernicking. it's coming up next. for his sm! pizza! [ garth ] olaf's small business earns 2% cash back

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welcome back. 58 minutes past the hour. we're taking a look at the top cnn trends on the web this morning. >> and what is trending, you know, tebowing so last year. now it's all about kaepernicking. the touchdown move has exploded all over the web. there it is right there. san francisco's second year qb has gone from backup qb to national sensation in a matter of months because he's very good. now his move is easy. all you have to do is flex your arm and kiss the gun. even though his legs actually did most of the damage yesterday. check this out. even pint sized fan sarah has it down in her new niner's wrap. >> can you do it?

>> i guess there is a joke. i can do it but i would get makeup on my sleeve. >> on your guns. >> i know that is a problem a lot of people don't have. >> 58 minutes past the hour. 6,000 people plus 34 truck loads of snow equals really good times. seattle's snow day may have set the record for largest snowball fight in the world this weekend. beating the republic of korea which set the record with 5,000 snow throwers. organizers trucked in 162,000 pounds of snow for the throwdown. >> long national nightmare is over. justice contint justin timberlake is back. he released the first single in seven years. the song is called "suit and tie." he collaborated with jay z on the song. take a listen. ♪ as long as i got my suit and tie i'm going to leave it on the floor tonight ♪

♪ going to show you a good thing ♪ >> you know, that reminds me -- >> that's why we timberlake for so long. it is on itunes. >> did you make out any of the lyrics. >> i don't know what he said. >> "early start" continues right now. one month later the day of remembrance and a painful decision. >> flu shot scramble. a run on vaccine in some spots with an outbreak still gripping most of the nation. sfwlirchlts the mfl's final four. atlanta and new england join the ravens, and the 49ers earning the right to play for a super bowl spot. they'll play next week. i can hardly wait. >> i'm very excited. >> good morning. welcome to "early start," i'm john berman. >> january 14th. 6:00 a.m. in the east. let's get started here. first up, all but three states in the grip of a flu epidemic. the only states spared

widespread flu are california, hawaii, mississippi. in new york getting a flu shot is becoming tougher and tougher. there's been a run on the vaccine many some pharmacies and urgent care centers since governor cuomo declared a public health emergency. senior medical correspondent elizabeth cohen joins us now live, and, elizabeth, what exactly do health officials mean when they call this an epidemic? people get confused and scared. >> both of those things happen. let me clarify and calm down at the same time. so what cdc officials do is they look at illnesses and how many people are dying, and when it reaches a certain level, a certain threshold, they declare it an epidemic, and i want to say that typically every year there's an epidemic. sometimes to make it sound like this year is different, typically of year is an epidemic. the words shouldn't make you scared. however, this is a bad flu season. that's clear. we shouldn't let words scare us. we should just be smart. get a vaccine. wash your hands a lot. stay home from work if you're

not feeling well. >> great advice. governor cuomo has declared a public health emergency in new york, so what does that do? >> you know, one of the things that it does is it tells pharmacists that they're allowed now to vaccinate minors because usually in new york state they're not allowed to vaccinate minors. this is a great thing. it should get more shots out to more kids. it's interesting. we called a large number of pharmacies in new york, and none of them were giving shots to kids. they knew they were allowed to, but they said, look, we're just not doing it. it's unclear exactly how well that part of his directive worked. >> let's get the children somewhere to get their flu vaccine. elizabeth cohen live for us. thank you very much. >> a couple of minutes after the hour. it's been exactly one month since the deadly shooting rampage in newtown, connecticut. the community has traveled annen easy road from mourning to healing affect worst day when 20 children, six adults were killed at the sandy hook element school. the fate of the school building

itself remains undecided. at a public forum last night some said it should be torn down, and others said that would be a mistake. >> my best memories were at sandy hook school, and i think that children in the future deserve to experience the same beautiful memories that i did. if we were to knock the school down, we would be preventing future children from experiencing the same memories. >> cnn susan candiotti is live now in newtown. what does the community want to do? >> well, you know, there are so many different opinions. you heard some of them there. remember, it's not about an a month since this happened. this was the first of many public meetings they will have on this subject. you heard a lot of things. for example, turn it into a planetarium. turn it into a peace center. some said destroy it. others said, no, it's a seen of strength. we have to keep the school and add a memorial too. certainly this is a difficult

time for the entire community, but this is a community that is helping each other to try to get back some sense of memorial si. >> reporter: a vigil draw thousands that first night, and then there were the funerals. >> i was this far away from the families. it was palpable what they were going through. >> how well will people healing? >> there's still a lot of pain, a lot of grief. when it's going to go away, i don't know. it might never go away. >> arriving daily to ease that pain, something that astounds deacon rick sinto and fellow parishioners. >> it's a month later. what are all these boxes doing here? >> these are the gifts, prayers cards, letters coming in from all over the world. >> reporter: thousands of pieces of mail carefully sorted for each victim, including the shooter's mother and the killer

himself. >> what does this all say? >> this is the world putting their arm around newtown and saying that we're here for you in some way. >> reporter: like a huge banner that reads "we are with you, newtown." filled with signatures hanging from an overpass. it's all the way from tucson, arizona, the site of the gabby giffords mass shooting. down the street from the elementary school a bouquet marks the spot where a makeshift memorial once stood, now dismantled, composted, preserved for a permanent memorial. in this community people turn to each other for strength. many with the same question. >> the main questions of why? why did this happen? how did this happen? >> seeking answers, no one may ever have. >> for now there is no single answer about what to do about sandy hook elementary school.

john. >> and, susan, of course, people all over the country right now having discussions, conversations about the future of the gun laws in this country. any sense what the people in newtown want to see changed, if anything? >> well, you know, just like they're having conversations about this around the country, they're doing the very same thing here. there is no single answer here. people have different opinions, but many are calling for stronger gun control measures, including a ban on assault weapons. i spoke with the first selectman here in newtown, the equivalent of the mayor. here's how she feels about it. >> the horror, these were 6 and 7-year-olds that were so he grievesly harmed and killed by a man who was flawed in his judgment and had access to an assault weapon and other weapons as well, so i think it's for many people like me who i've long been an advocate of better controls over access to those kinds of weapons, this simply

elevates our passion on that issue. >> and later this morning we will be attending a town hall right here in this building behind me. a news conference being held by a group called sandy hook promise. now, certainly they don't speak for the entire town, but a lot of people there will be weighing in on the gun control issue debate along with other things, improving school security, and improving mental health care in the u.s. back to you, jonathan. >> susan candiotti in new soun. soledad o'brien will be live from newtown beginning at 7:00 eastern time. one month to the day since the tragedy in newtown, vice president joe biden and other top officials will meet with members of the house of representatives this morning in a continued effort to gather policy proposals on gun violence. the vice president's final recommendations are expected to be announced tuesday. also in the house of representatives debate begins today on two bills that address superstorm sandy relief.

congress passed more than $9 billion in aid last week, but the states and the president are asking for another $50 billion. one of the house plans calls for just $17 billion in what it calls emergency aid. the week is getting off to a soggy start. very soupy here. heavy rain and flooding have washed out roads in parts of west tennessee. public schools in at least three counties are closed today because buses cannot get to the students. in china hazardous record high pollution levels in beijing have prompted what's called an orange fog warning. look at this picture. >> aptly named, right? >> schoolchildren have been told to halt outdoor activities in the worst polluted areas. the sale of masks have skyrocketed. last year heavy smog forced the cancellation of more than 700 flights at beijing airports. >> do you have a football hangover this morning? >> yes. a couple of really exciting playoff picks on sunday. new england beat houston 41-28. the patriots got a huge performance from running back

shane ver even. he scored three times. not bad for a third stringer who scored four touchdowns all year before sunday. tom brady has now won more playoff games than any nfl quarterback in history. he passed his idol, joe montana. >> tom brady is very, very good. >> you love him. google eyes. >> there it is last night. i see it again now. he is still good. >> it gives you goose bumps, doesn't it? >> absolutely. in atlanta it was a party act finish. the falcons came this close to blowing a huge lead. they beat the seahawks on that matt bryant field goal in the final minutes. they really almost blew it. atlanta it h two 20-point leads, but seattle kept battling back. it was like the falcons went to sleep. seattle jumped ahead with just 30 seconds left, but it was matt bryant who hit that 49-yard field goal to save them, and there was a huge sigh of relief all over atlanta. >> here's your playoff picture.

san francisco faces atlanta in the georgia dome for the nfc championship. baltimore tackles new england at gillette stadium for the afc title. >> this will be a rematch for last year's title game. the patriots, you'll remember, won that one on a missed baltimore field goal. i mean, both these games will be excellent. have i no idea who is going to win. these are some good, good teams. very nice. ten minutes after the hour right now. speaking of winners and losers, it was an evening with a lot of winners, but jody foster, it was jody foster who was the talk of the golden globes. we'll tell you why coming up. >> plus, an iconic american muscle car making a big comeback. we're talking about the corvette sting ray. we'll share all the details with you straight ahead. officeyour business needs...k... at prices that keep you...out of the red. this week get a bonus $15 itunes gift card with any qualifying $75 ink purchase.

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improve following her stay in a hospital for what the palace said was severe morning sickness. she's believed to be about 13 or 14 weeks pregnant right now. that baby due in july. you were born in july, and you are also a princess. it's fitting. >> so she's having a girl? >> no. >> i know. everybody is speculate, wondering is it twins? i was doing a little research. we said earlier 12 weeks. you said 12 to 14 weeks. >> the baby is about the size of a lime right now. they're trying to figure out. 14 minutes past the hour. welcome back to "early start," folks. hollywood is buzzing this morning, and it's not because people have been up all night partying after the golden globes. it's about ben affleck winning the best director prize just days after his big oscar snub. "argo" beating out "lincoln" and people are still talking about the speech that jody foster delivered in accepting a career achievement award. cnn's michelle turner has so much to talk about. she's going to wrap up on the big winners and the best

moments. >> it's getting sloppy in here, everybody. look how drunk glen close is. >> golden globes are usually one big irreverent party and co-hosts amy polar and tina fey kept the jokes coming. >> whether it comes to torture, i trust the lady who spent three years married to james cameron. >> the drinks and jokes were flowing, but there were, you know, awards to be handed out. guess who had the best reason to celebrate? >> "argo." >> iran hostage thriller "argo" earned the night's bigests prize, and director ben affleck, who didn't receive an oscar nomination this year, was a winner adds well. >> i don't what the award is. when they put your name next to the names that she just read off, it's an extraordinary thing in your life. >> reporter: "lincoln's" daniel lay lewis and jennifer chastian, and they both saluted their

directors. >> steven speilberg, you've given me an experience that i will treasure until the end of my life. >> catherine bigelow, you've done more for women in cinema that you can take credit for. >> "les miserables" won honors for first time globe winner hugh jackman and supporting actress ann hathaway. >> thank you for this lovely blunt object that i will forever more use as a weapon against self-doubt. >> reporter: on the tv side showtime's "homeland" took top honors. "girls" won for its creator and star lena dunham. >> this award is for every woman who felt like there wasn't a space for her. >> reporter: jody foster honored with the lifetime achievement award -- >> i will continue to tell stories, but it will be my writing on the wall, and i want to be seen, to be understood deeply, and to be not so very lonely. >> reporter: and former president bill clinton surprised everyone when he came out to

salute "lincoln," and in the end they laughed, they cried, and, of course, the party continues. >> good night. >> so the golden globe was a night full of surprises, and no bigger surprise than one that the audience didn't actually see. this happened back stage in the press room after "django unchained" quinton terrantino won. the movie has come under scrutiny for the liberal use of the n-word. quinton was candid in his response why he uses it so much. listen. >> if somebody is out there actually saying it when it comes to the word [ bleep ], that the fact that i was using it in the movie more than it was used back in the antebellum south in 1858, well, then they might have -- then feel free to make that case, but no one is actually

making that case. so, in other words, what they're actually saying is i should soften it. they are saying i should lie. they are saying i should white wash and massage, and i never do that when it comes to my characters. >> please, [ bleep ], no questions. all right. black people questions are all right, though. >> talk about double awkward moment there. that was don cheattle taking the stage of the press room after quinton terrantino left the stage. he won best actor for a tv series. both of the men actually using the word to reporters. i would have to say i'm not sure what don was doing, if he was taking a shot at terrantino or making light of the situation, but the whole thing was very very uncomfortable. >> there was a lot of controversy about this, as you know ol on-line. some people were counting how many time the word was said, and director spike lee, one of the

harshest critics about this saying that it was disrespectful to its ancestors. i suspect that that dialogue is going to continue, michelle. thank you so much for that. >> well, yeah. i think so. thanks. >> all right. 18 minutes past the hour. it's time for your early reads, local news that is making national headlines. we begin with a story from the conservative weekly standard magazine and blog. it is reporting former south carolina governor mark sanford will re-enter politics. our own peter hanby was the first to break this, that it was a done deal. sanford will run for the house seat that was once held by now senator tim scott. standard says sanford will make his run official in the next few days. of course, you will remember that in 2009 then governor sanford was reported miss and later admitted that he had an affair with a woman in argentina. >> he told me at the republican national convention that he missed the public arena. not sfrizing that he is getting back in. real see how the reaction is.

>> i'm sure. >> writing about a little red corvette. baby, you're much too fast. presence has not driven this. >> it's not red. >> silver. that's the new 2014 corvette sting ray. shares only two parts with the 2013 model, so it's like the company built really a totally different car. gm borrowed some details from the 1963 model, so there are some retro action going on there in that car. it will be in a showroom this fall. >> you know that song is going to be in my head all day long now. >> baby, you're much too fast. for an extended look, head to our blog cnn.com/early start. you can follow us on twitter and facebook. just search for early start cnn. clinical psychologist is on the frontlines of veterans' battles with ptsd. he developed a virtual reality therapy for vets, and now he is focussing on predeployment prevention. check out this preview on the next list. >> anybody that goes to war is going to be changed. it's just a reality.

on the other hand, ptsd is a significant challenge. it's not about being weak. it's about having an experience of stress that really has a newerlogical impact. >> we've seen hundreds of thousands of veterans that may be returning from iraq or afghanistan with post traumatic stress disorder. conservative estimates say one in five folks coming home. >> i want to prepare people to deal with stress better, and if that doesn't work out, to help them to fight through the challenges and the aftermath of stress. >> hi. i'm skip rizzo, clinical psychologist at the university of southern california, institute for creative technologies. >> check out the next list sunday, january 27th, at 2:00 p.m. eastern on cnn. >> coming up, wall street's big week with some of the largest financial firms in the country front and center. like a lot of things,

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>> u.s. stock futures are trading mick ed today. dow and s&p 50000 futures up slightly. in a case futures down.

>> ates big week for earnings. poppy harlow in covering that story for us. >> good morning. it's all about the big banks. last week was a fine week on wall street. s&p 500 closed up half a percent. a lot of people were sitting on the sidelines waiting, waiting or this week because coming wednesday we're going to get big earnings from jp morgan chase, goldman saks, and then thursday bank of america, citigroup. friday we're going to hear from morgan stanley. 22 of the 37 s&p 500 companies reporting this week. folks are all financial. the numbers are expected to be very, very good. we're seeing a big rebound here. if you look at the numbers, the expectations, the financials as a whole will be up 15.5% from a year ago, and if you actually take out the insurers, because they've been hit so hard from all those pay-outs because of sandy, the whole financial sector would be up 43% from a year ago. bank of america, i just want you to look at this stock because this company has gone through a roller coaster ride. bank of america up 70% from a year ago, but you've got a lot of those mortgage settlements

behind the banks. they paid out a lot, but now it's behind them. also, you have a lot of layoffs still, and that means they're saving a lot of money. they're doing better. it's coming at the cost of jobs. >> i want to talk about the flu for a moment because she's battling the flu here courageously. this comes at a cost. >> it comes at a big cost. this interesting cdc study came out because so many parents are having to stay home with their kids because they have the flu, so if your kid gets hospitalized, serious flu, costs about $4,000. you're going to miss 73 hours of work, $1,500 in earnings. even if they just go to the emergency room, the cost is going to be about $730. you're going to miss, you know, two, three days of work. you're going to miss that money, and, you know, one in three employees in the united states does not get my paid sick days. they're not going to necessarily take the time off. they go to work and get more people sick. keep in mind, mru shot, sometimes it's free.

sometimes it's up to $40. it's still worth it. >> there's still time to do so. especially for the little kids. thank you, poppy. >> sure. he is one of history's modern enduring mysteries. what happened to jimmy hoffa? coming up, the alleged mob boss who claims to know, and if are you leaving the house right now, you can watch us any time on your desk top or mobile phone. go to cnn.com/tvr. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] some day, your life will flash before your eyes. ♪ make it worth watching. ♪ the new 2013 lexus ls. an entirely new pursuit.

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the run on flu shots. the outbreak has some going from pharmacy to pharmacy, including myself, looking for vaccinations. >> don't call it a sequel. another "argo," but this one brought to you by the government of iran. >> will it be a tv confession? speculation surrounds disgraced legend lance armstrong's sitdown with oprah later today. everybody is wondering will he or won't he? welcome back to "early start." thanks for being with us.

>> about 30 minutes after the hour on this monday morning. thanks for being with us. today doctors are wondering when will we be over the peak of this season's flu epidemic? this map we're showing you here shows the latest e.c. data on flu outbreaks. 47 states have widespread activity. one of those states is new york. right here. the state's governor andrew cuomo has declared a state public health emergency. he also got a flu shot and encouraged new yorkers to do the same. a little late, i might say. here is new york city's health commissioner in the past. he worked for the centers of disease control epidemic intelligence service. nice to see you here. let's talk about the declaration from andrew cuomo, a state health emergency. what does that mean? >> it makes it so that pharmacists who normally can't give vaccine to people under the age of 18, cannot give it to children, so it makes it easier. >> people have gone around asking them if they will give it to kids. doesn't meep they have to, does

it? >> doesn't mean they have to. many have to change the protocols and order different types of vaccine, but over time we hope that. >> how bad is this in the city right now based on what you are seeing? >> we have the flu epidemic every season. this is definitely a bad season. we track it by the percent of people coming to hospital emergency departments with a flu-like illness. right now we're at 7%. ordinary times 2%, and other past seasons we're at 4%. there's a lot of flu out there. >> just anecdotally, a lot of people are talking about it. >> when do you know if something like this has peaked. >> we're still on the rise here in new york city. nationally cdc is tracking the number of illnesses, and they appear to be past the peak. you can say for sure we'll have several more weeks. >> so about 20% of full-time employees nationwide have paid sick leave, but only 75% of part-time workers don't. what kind of affect does that have on the spread? >> it's hard to say. we certainly recommend that

people who are sick stay home so they don't spread the infection to others. how they can do that, they'll have to work it out. >> there are a lot of questions everyone has about this personal questions. how can you tell whether it's a flu or a cold? >> it's tough to say. in general flu causes high fever. you feel awful, lousy. you have some sort of respiratory symptoms. if you've had the flu shot, you may still get the flu, but if so, you'll have a more mild illness. it may feel like a cold. >> 60% effective. >> 60% effective in preventing people from having a sevilleness. >> she's wondering if you haven't been vac sin alted if you can still get the vaccine if you are starting to feel sick? >> it's want too late to get the flu shot. shop around and find places that have it. pharmacists in new york city had run out because of the surge of demand, but there is still vaccine that you are reordering. shop around. >> even if you are sick already? >> if you are sick -- with a fever, you shouldn't be getting a flu shot now. if you haven't had the illness or the vaccine, it's time to get

it. >> you had yours way back in october. >> do it every year. >> you saw the picture of governor cuomo getting his flu shot just recently. what do you think? >> still plenty of time to get it. better late than never. we company expect to have this a few more weeks. >> dr. farley from new york city health department, thanks for being with us this morning. >> way to not call me out. 34 minutes past the hour. sflirchlts taking a look at the top cnn trends. usa today says when lance armstrong sits down for an interview with oprah winfrey today, he will finally admit using performance enhancing drugs while he was winning seven tour de france titles. the confession after years of vee meant denials is part of his long-term plan to rehabilitate his public image. armstrong stepped out from livestrong, a cancer charity that he founded, and he was dropped by sponsors after doping evidence was revealed. pages and pages and pages of it. he was also stripped of those tour de france titles. it's not "argo 2" but iran's

state media says it plans to produce a film in response to ben affleck's iran's drama. that's right. according to the "new york times" the iranian government will reply in a film called "the general's staff" that says will correct "argo's" historical inaccuracies. it tells the story of a cia-backed mission to rescue six american diplomats from tehran during the 1979 hostage crisis. >> and we are a step closer to the super bowl. just four teams left now. new england beat houston to advance to the afc championship game. they'll a rematch with the ravens, the falcons blew a couple of 20 point leads but managed to eek out a win against the seahawks with a field goal in the final seconds. boy, people just were having heart attacks all over witter and facebook. >> it was. it was good. it is a dawn of a brand new era for cuban citizens who want to

visit relatives in america. we're going to go live to havana for a look at the new looser travel rules. that's coming up.

welcome back. cubans are eager to take advantage of new looser travel restriction that is take effect today. the u.s. is bracing for them as well. patrick is live in havana to tell us more about what's going on here and what it means for cubans everywhere. patrick, what exactly are these easier requirements? >> good morning. when you think about cuba, there is just no end to the regulations, the red tape when it comes to living here. there's never a more hated regulation than the travel re strikzs in place since the beginning of fidel cast rose ae revolution that made it near impossible for people to travel, fly with their families. finally today is the first day that cubans will be able to travel with only a passport. they'll be able to stay abroad longer without losing their right to return. they're expected to allow many more exiles to be able to return here and perhaps bring back money to relatives here.

these are very popular, very long awaited reforms to the travel laws. >> everyone watches cuba and always tries to read the tea leaves to see signs of something more important, something bigger going on right now, so the question is why is cuba easing these restrictions right now? >>. >> it can be very good economically. cuban-americans in particular second back so much money, so the government here perhaps will let people leave and return a little more easily and it could mean an infusion of cash. in the end this is just a law that didn't work. even in the government admitted was something of a cruel law. it was keeping families apart, and really was immensely unpopular even amongst supporters here of the revolution in havana. >> what's the reaction? if it was a law that was widely criticized i imagine people there are pretty happy.

>> you know, john, we've been seeing over the last couple of days around here in havana some of the 200 new passport centers. the government has opened up and will be opening up many response to the 200 lobbyings where cubans passports, and the reaction we see now has been incredibly popular. >> this is good. they should have done it years ago, but at least now things will be easier, i suppose. >> translator: i sincerely think raul is doing things better than his brother, but they left him a lot of problems to fix. >> reporter: so, john, you know, very, very positive. still it's not going to be easy for cuban travel. you still need a visa to go to countries like the united states. you think about an airplane. the end is about $20 -- here in cuba, so just in the -- for many cubans to afford a plane ticket

they'll find a way to do it, people are eager to travel. >> they will find a way. no doubt about that. patrick in havana this morning. thanks for being with us. >> excited people there in cuba. soledad o'brien joins us now with a look at starting point. good morning to you, soledad. >> good morning to you. a special edition of "starting point" this morning. live from newtown, connecticut. it marks one month since that tragic shooting happened at sandy hook elementary school. you'll remember the lives of 20 first graders and six staffers that saw tragedy that day. it sparked the debate about gun control. this morning we'll be talking to several survivors of similar mass shootings, as well as john huntsman, joe manchen, connie mack will be our guest. we're talking about the flu this morning and vaccine shortages at many pharmacies. we're talking about the latest numbers. who is affected? where? what it all means for you.

then a big night for hollywood. we'll take a look at the most memorable highlights of the golden globes, including the most talked about moment of the night, which was jody foster's speech. what exactly was she saying? it's all ahead on "starting point." >> thank you, soledad. 43 minutes past the hour. a 43-year-old woman was trapped in an avalanche and not breathing, but authorities say the two went into the back country prepared. her male companion tracked her down wan avalanche beacon. he dug her out, revived her, and called for help. she was taken to the hospital and is in critical condition. >> afghan president hamid karzai expressed confidence that the after xwan people will accept imunit for americans who are left in place there after the 2014 withdrawal. karzai stated that he would take the issue to his people, but now he said that immunity is likely

to be a reality. thousands marched in the capital of moscow to ban adomings to american citizens. it was supposed to take effect this month, but it has been pushed back to next year now. opponents of the ban are fearing it victimizes the children to make a political point. since 1999 more than 45,000 adoptions have been granted to u.s. parents from russia. here we go again. we might find out today where jimmy hoffa's body is buried. an underboss says he knows what happened to the team for president who vanished in 1975. 85-year-old tony zurelli was in prison around the time of hoffa's disappearance. our affiliate said he would have been briefed on hoffa upon his release. he says original plans to bury hoffa in a shallow grave and later move him to a lodge in northern michigan, but he says they apparently just left him where he was. the truth is out there. >> how much money has been spent

trying to figure out where he is? hope you didn't leave your metro card in your jeans pocket? yes, it's that time of year again for the month pants subway ride. what started out as a small annual prank has now grown into worldwide pants-athon. ride nerz dozens of cities drop their drawers, board a train. the event was started by the group in prague. that's a picture of you, john berman. >> excuse me. >> that's a picture right there. >> 45 minutes after the hour right now. we are in the midst of a bizarre weather pattern. not to mention bizarre -- it's warm and getting cold and where it's cold, it's getting warm. alexander steel, make sense of it this morning. >> we've got temperatures 20 degrees below average from suburbs in denver. they don't need pants. they're in bikinis and bathing suits. from charlotte to atlanta, georgia, you were swimming

outside yesterday. here's why. it's a cold front. 2,100 miles long. extending from maine to texas. along a very heavy rain. this is the little pocket of warmth right here. it's kind of getting closer and closer and smaller and smaller every day. the peak of that heat was yesterday, and now temperatures will gradually cool down. along that front two to four inches of rain in the next really 48 hours or so. the heaviest rain you can see coming into north georgia and eastern areas of tennessee and western north carolina. it's kind of the stalling front. it's not going to really move anywhere. here's that. florida still will be warm the next couple of days. north carolina, 78 degrees. breaking a record. exceptional warmth. again, just in that little area. all that moisture around the northeast, incredibly foggy. travel will be quite an issue this morning. we have that dense fog advisory throughout 7:00 this morning. highs today, you can see where they're exceptionally cold.

minneapolis is 12. they should be at 24. it's not that exceptionally cold there. places like denver, salt lake city today all 20 degrees below average. as we head towards tnext couple of days, there's a rebound. salt lake city is 25 by wednesday. similar deal in denver, heading to 47, and only in the teens today. much warmer air. that's going to spread across the entire country. >> all right. thanks very much. >> you are welcome. >> 47 minutes past the hour. the hunt for huge snakes. coming up, the python challenge starts today. tv wildlife expert jeff corwin is joining us live coming up next. good morning. >> huge snakes. with the spark md from capital one,

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hunting to save the animals. it seems leak a contradiction in terms, but not in florida where giant burr meez pythons are threatening the delicate ecosystem of florida's everglades. they aren't native to the region, so the state is now asking for the public's help. until february 10th the more fish and wildlife conservation commission has declared open season on pythons many the

everglades. all you immediate to join is a $25 registration fee and an on-line training course. the person who kills the most pythons wins $1,500 and $1,000 goes to the person who bags the longest snake. one hunter on the difficulty of catching a python in the wild. >> you could go out there for days and days and days and not see one python. i don't care how much experience you have. it's going to take some luck. >> jeff corwin is a wildlife conservationist and the host of ocean mysteries on abc. we're going to talk to him in a moment about this. we're going to take a quick break and be right back.

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welcome back. 54 minutes past the hour. jeff corwin is a wildlife conservationist and the host of "ocean mysteries" on abc. we were talking about the hunt to save the wildlife in florida by actually declaring open season on pythons in the everglades. we appreciate you taking the time this morning to talk to us about that. first of all, if you could just explain why these pythons are such a threat to other animals in the ecosystem. >> basically it's come to this. the environment where these pythons now live is not used to them. these creatures have evolved from places like the rainforest in southeast asia or the african savannah, and the habitat or the grassland habitat that you find in the everglades just simply is not equipped to deal with these very new and very invasive species. basically these pythons are invaders, and they are eating everything they come in contact

with. >> you say these very new, are these pythons that were people's pets? >> likely that's how all of this originated. pot past 30 years people have been importing these snakes. a lot less lately. but during the 1970s and 1980s thousands and thousands of these snakes were brought in from asia and africa, and more often than not they either escaped because of hurricanes or people released them into environments where they shouldn't have, and these animals took over. they started out as pets, and then through negligence were released and, unfortunately, this ecosystem just really is not prepared to take on what these snakes do to the environment. >> jeff, how do you feel about florida's plan to have this open hunting season on pythons? >> well, it's certainly very drastic, but the truth is these snakes are having a devastating impact on this critical habitat

and the species that live there. many of these species are actually endangered, and, you know, snakes are a big part of my life. my career has been based on snakes, so i have mixed feelings about these snakes because, frankly, they've done nothing wrong. they're just doing what snakes do. something has to be done to manage this environment, or we could literally see some speeshys pushed to extinction because of the presence of these invasive snakes. >> ewe dealt with snakes. a lot of people are saying you have to kill them in a humane way. florida is asking would-be python hunters to kill the snakes that is they find in a humane matter. peta says reptile advisory slow metabolisms that says that when they are beheaded they can suffer up to an hour before they actually die. peta is asking if this hunt is going forward, that they limit the ways pythons can be killed to ways where the brain is destroyed immediately so that they do not suffer. as a biologist do you share their concerns? >> well, i think it's very important that we remember that

these snakes aren't the villain here. the true villains are the folks that lou negligence or through ignorance put those animals in this environment in the first place. we need to think about that. the truth is they're having a devastating impact, and we have to make a radical decision, and i think it's very important that we are both safe and humane when it comes to managing these animals. it is true. they do have very slow metabolisms, and if you don't dispatch them in just the right way, there could be lots of suffering. also, there's one other big factor we're forgetting. these are powerful animals. a large python that is ten feet long or larger could be very dangerous, and a bite from a large snake like this coast guard provide an infection. it can be potentially serious. >> i said that i wanted to join the hunt for pythons. i think i'm changing my mind thanks to you. jeff corwin, host of "ocean mysteries and" and the author of the