i'm van joenls and i'm happy. >> from the right, i'm s.e. cupp and i'll wait to see. join us tomorrow for another edition of "crossfire." erin burnett "outfront" starts right now. coming up next, news. republicans and democrats reach a crucial budget deal tonight. who won? who lost? we have the details for you. plus an historic gathering of world leaders in south africa today. did president obama's handshake distract from nelson mandela's memorial? and a family of six found alive after two days lost in the freezing wilderness. great news. we'll go to nevada for the latest. good evening, everyone. news, there is a budget deal in washington. bipartisan negotiators announced

less than an hour ago that two months of talks have finally produced something they could all agree on. >> i think disagreement is a clear improvement on the status quo. this agreement makes sure that we don't have a government shutdown in january. it makes sure we don't have another shutdown scenario in october. it makes sure that we don't lurch from crisis to crisis. >> and it's a good thing since the deadline was friday. tell me the details. >> first it is modest. both of these lawmakers agreed on. but it is a deal and let's sort of step back and take the temperature of that. the fact that you have a senior republican ask a senior democrat standing side by side announcing a budget deal which hasn't happened, this kind of deal in almost 30 years. which is pretty remarkable. having said that, it is modest. it eliminates the arbitrary spending cuts for two years.

>> the sequester cuts. they're gone. >> at least part of them are gone and they're replaced with more flexible spending cuts that congress can work toward. basically what the idea is there, that people who are upset about thing like defense cuts, conservatives, you can work around those. and maybe the democrats who are concerned about some of the cuts to domestic programs, they can work around those. paid for with additional money going to federal workers' pensions. that is something the democrats are not so sensitive about. >> that is a sticking point, especially with house minority whip steny hoyer. he represents the workers. >> he does and chris van hollen does. they were not there but everybody agrees they have to give something. the other thing the democrats are not concerned about, the fact that unemployment benefits, long term unemployment benefits are not extended here. it is not just democrats.

conservatives are really probably among the harshest critics of the deal which is fascinating, given that you have the vice presidential running mate in the 2012 ticket, making this deal of paul ryan. you already have some of the most prominent conservatives, marco rubio coming out saying this is the wrong way to go. lots of grassroots groups with a lot of support and money who are saying to conservatives, do not vote for this. there will be a meeting tomorrow morning among house republicans which will be critical to sort of gauge the temperature to make sure there is enough support among house republicans. paul ryan said he feels confident there will be. we've seen that movie before. >> we know that some conservative republicans are opposed to this deal. some liberals are upset with it. jim dean, howard dean's brother who runs democracy for america said by failing to include an unemployment insurance extension, the budget dealers have declared war on christmas and potentially sentenced millions of struggling americans to a very bleak new year calling

those who agreed this deal to be he ebenezer scrooge ill person it aors. that's from the left. >> that's right. obviously, you are going to have a lot of people on both sides throwing bombs at something that is bipartisan. that is the nature of a bipartisan bill. as we take a step back and look at this, we haven't had anything like it in a very long time. the nature of compromise. you heard it from paul ryan in his press conference standing next on patty murray. they don't each have everything that they want but they have something and a baby step is much more than we've had in a very long time lurching from crisis to crisis. >> let's to go john king along with cnn contributors. john king, what's the reaction to this deal from the white house and from congressional republicans and democrats that you've spoken to? >> let's start with the white house. the white house is very happy.

i'll read this from an official who would not be named. we're happy. it is a good package. balanced. great to avoid governing by crisis. we don't love all of it but that's what you get in compromise. this deal announced by, as dana noted, once a hero of the right. now the latest exhibit. the hot potato in what is a civil war between governing conservatives and those who believe the best approach is confrontational. the tea party doesn't hike this. john boehner and the establishment do like this. here's one telling piece. speaker boehner said i like this deal. his deputy, leader cantor likes it. >> it will be interesting to hear what the number two senate republican who also faces the teem challenge, what he has to same john, this is a big departure from washington.

taking up negotiations right up to the deadline. we're a few days ahead of it and we have a deal before the deadline. not three days after the deadline. do you see this as a as a result of the october shutdown? >> this is a step in the right direction. i think members remember the political pain that came after the 16-day shutdown. and especially republicans. those a are responsible for governing in the house don't feel like re-creating that. another shutdown loomed if this deal didn't come through. the far right and the far left are unhappy. that's usual lay good sign. the fact boehner and obama back it, that's a positive sign. there will be a lot of sniping and cross fire. that's one of the reasons why paul ryan spent much of the press conference trying to make the case that he wasn't a conservative sellout. >> for marco rubio, the republican of florida rejecting the deal saying we need a government with less debt and an economy with more good paying

jobs. this fails to accomplish both goals. he doesn't like that it eliminates the sequester cuts. paul ryan predicts this will pass. do you think that's wishful thinking or most republicans would go for this. >>? i don't think paul ryan would make that claim unless he knows there's solid support. with you there will be sniping. people are positioning themselves. the irony is the more sol i had this deal looks, the less costly it is. if you're on the conservative side, to criticize the deal. it is true as john said. there are people who lernl from the shounl experience but there are others who say wait a second. obama care has been a big debacle. we can be confrontational not and pay a price. i think that's a mistake and paul ryan is getting it right but you'll have some people in a cost-free kind of way who will lodge criticisms. >> it is a modest deal.

no major, major deficit reduction. it certainly does reduce the deficit. nothing like a grand bargain. it doesn't address the debt ceiling. the debt standing at $17 trillion. it doesn't really address any of the major contributors to the growing debt. is this even though i don't want to jinx some accomplishment that might be achieved here. is this still even though it is a compromise and people coming together, kicking the can down the road even though it is an accomplishment of some sort. >> that's the defining question. it does addiction big questions. it doesn't have tax reform. it doesn't have a lot of things republicans want. it doesn't get to the big drivers like entitlement spending, medicare, social security and the like. it kicks the big questions down the road. is it a down payment in they at least got into a rule. they say we didn't give up the

store. we made a reasonable principle compromise. does that get a bigger one to build the trust? or does this back huge lightning rod. we are so close to 2014 and we are saying do i have to stand with the white house anymore. how this debate plays out will give us a hint on whether you can go back for more. given that you pass this and go right to 2014, i would be a skeptic that you will get anything big in the short term. >> all right. thank you so much. we appreciate it. still to come, vice president biden meets with the families of the sandy hook victims today. has the white house kept the promise thes made to prevent future massacres? plus, a family of six found alive and well after two days lost in the frozen wilderness. we'll take you to the scene tonight. and what's your favorite part of the holidays? all i want for christmas is coming up. i'm beth...

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innovations that work for you. that's health in numbers. unitedhealthcare. has the white house done enough to prevent future sandy hooks? nearly one year since the devastating massacre, vice president joe biden met 28 families who lost loved ones in the sandy look shooting. he pledged $100 million for a health initiative as one way to stem gun violence. it is part of a litany of promises the president has made

over the past year. >> in the coming weeks, i'll use whatever power this office holds to engage my fellow citizens from law enforcement to mental health professionals to parents and educators. in an effort aimed at preventing more tragedies like this. >> in the recommendations we provided on monday, call for executive actions he could sign, legislation co-call for, and long term research that should be undertaken. >> we need everybody to remember how we felt 100 days ago and make sure what we said at that time wasn't just a bunch of platitudes. that we meant it. >> so let's keep him accountable. has the obama administration done enough to fulfill all the promises they've made to those families? let's bring in the form he president of the brady campaign. and the editor-in-chief of global grind.com. paul, major failures this year for those who want to pass more

regulations and restrictions on guns. they failed to expand background checks, any sort of ban on those women's called assault weapons, semi-automatic rifles also failed. probably even if it had passed, it wouldn't have passed the house. has the president failed the families of newtown and all the many other@families on the one issue of guns? >> the sad reality is that a year since the sandy hook shootings, while we've made some progress in some states, we've got some executive orders from the president moving forward, the crucial things, to strengthen our background check system, to make it harder for felons to get guns, nothing has happened there. taking weapons of mass destruction off the streets. i think the sad reality is that as time has gone by, there isn't the emphasis from the white

house. when i headed the brady campaign, we gave the president an f for his first year in office because he hadn't done enough. his response to the sandy hook shooting was a good one in terms of what he called for. within a year we were able to get legislation through congress and i think what we need now is some focus from this president and the vice president to reach out to the other side. if we can shake hands with castro, cut deals with both sides, if we can deal with the countries in the middle east, certainly we can get the gun owners and the nra to realize that nobody wants dangerous people to have guns and there are steps we can take. >> the president and the white house when addressing this, they talk about addressing this in a holistic way. not just gun further restrictions on gun ownership but also, addressing the mental health system. talking to hollywood about the culture of violence. michael, at the whole picture,

do you think president obama has done everything he can do in. >> look, i've sat with the president, the vice president during the time of talking to thousands of people in the white house about these issues. i know what is in this man's heart. i know what is in the president's heart. these men want to get this done. to the gentleman's point about reaching to the other side, when will they reach out to us? 11,380 people have been killed by guns since newtown. when are the republicans in the house going to reach out to those families and say enough is enough. the president is doing everything he possibly can to get this done and the nra are stopping every republican in the house from voting in favor of his bills. >> i want to raise the issue if i could about the mental health initiative that joe biden talked about. $100 million. if you look at the budget cuts that have taken place across the states since president obama

took office. obviously that's a as a result of the economic downturn, not president obama taking office. there have been $4.35 billion in budget cuts. in the last year since newtown, there has been increased funding for mental health programs in 36 states, washington, d.c. i'll start with you. are we doing enough on that front? >> no, we need to do a lot more with mental health. i'm glad to see this promise today from the vice president. clearly more needs to be done. one concern i have is a lot of people just want to blame gun violence in this country on mental health. and that i think overly stigmatizes. sometimes by definition you think anybody that could do a mass shooting has to be crazy or have something wrong with them. recent study have shown people with mental ill rns only 4% more likely than the rest population to get involved in violence.

when we find people with mental illness who's aren't taking their medicine, who are abusing drugs or abusing alcohol, then you do see 20%, 25% more likely for violence. when we put money into mental health treatment, we're doing it for the outpatient treatment. making sure people are taking the medicine they need. that's an important point. clearly we need to do something with regard to gun legislation. and i agree the other speaker. that i know the president and the vice president care deeply. i've talked to them both. what i'm afraid has happened is that the politicians too many times are keeping some of the politicians that advise them are telling them to stay away from the issue. since i am a we haven't seen the focus on this issue that we do need. >> i know you talk about the gun lobby. in chicago, mayor rahm emanuel is working with the nra and other firearms advocates to talk about ways in which penalties can be increased for people who commit crimes with guns. as has been pointed out, the

number of individuals who commit crimes who have mental problems is very small percentage. a the love it is criminals who have guns. should being president extend a hand to people who otherwise disagree with him on guns to talk about stiffer penalties for those who commit crimes with guns? >> sure. i think the president should have every person at the table, every group at the table have these conversations. let's be clear. we no longer have to have this rhetoric of being tough on crime. we have to be smart on crime. you look at the mental health issues that we have. just last month we saw the governor's candidate in virginia, his son couldn't get a bed in a meant health facility. he ended up killing his father and himself. on a good note, on the affordable care act, finally mental health is no longer a preexisting condition that you can deny someone coverage for. it is being treated like a physical illness. so they are making good head way on this but they certainly need

partners. >> all right. thank you so much. i appreciate your time. i should disclose that about 15, 20 years ago i worked for the brady center. still to come, after two days lost in the frozen wilderness, a family of six is found alive and well. we take you to the scene. plus an historic gathering of world leaders. did president obama's actions steal the spotlight from nelson mandela? ty little girl like for christmas? i'm thinking the ford fusion... ho, ho, ho!....the what? i need a car that's stylish and fashionable... especially in my line of work. now do you have a little lemonade stand? guys, i'm in fashion! but i also need amazing tech too... like active park assist... it practically parks itself. and what color would you like? i'll have my assistant send you over some swatches... oh... get a fusion with 0% financing for 60 months, plus $500 ford credit holiday bonus cash during the ford dream big sales event.

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here's a good news story. we don't get to do a lot of these. now an update on the family who

went missing in the nevada wilderness. they've been found alive and we're seeing the first glimpse of them. this video shows one member of the group being brought on a stretcher to pershing general hospital. the group which included james and christina along with their two children and her niece and nephew had vent sburd the mountains on sunday to play in the snow. but they never returned. it prompted a frantic search that spanned more than 6,000 miles. stephanie elam is in nevada where the hospital is being treated. what are their conditions? how were they found? >> reporter: it is an amazing story when you hear it, they were all found in good condition. they're in here getting treatment but there are no frostbite issues, we're being told. apparentlily the parents did their best to keep the kids warm by warming rocks, starting a fire outside the car, warming the rocks and putting them in the car. we're hearing the dad here also had a candy bar in his pocket

sole they divvied that up and that's what they were eating and living off of the last couple days. >> thank god they're okay. do we know what happened? how did they end up strand in the mountains? >> reporter: where we are, it is pretty rural where we are and they were west of here heading back toward reno. it was a very wide wilderness filled place. and they were off road a little bit. what seem to have happened is that they went into a soft area and the car tipped over. so they were in this soft snow. couldn't get out. basically huddling together over this time. they said they could hear, we're hearing reports they could hear that there were people searching for them but could not get to them but knew that somehow someone would rescue them. >> thank you. what a nice story to be able to give people good news about this missing family. still to come, the largest gathering of world leaders in decades. did president obama's actions distract from nelson mandela?

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a memorial for the agss. it was the largest gathering of

world leaders in recent history. presidents, prime ministers, royals joined tens of thousands. president obama got the attention right from the start when he stemmed on to the stage and shook hands with cuban president raul castro. obama was join by carter and bush. >> people of every race and every walk of life, the world thanks you for sharing nelson mandela with us. his struggle was your struggle. his triumph was your triumph. your dignity and your hope found expression in his life and your freedom, your democracy is his cherished legacy. >> despite the heavy rain, the memorial was a celebration of

mandela's life which included a marching band and by american gospel singer kirk franklin. thousands dangsed and cheered as huge posters of mandela hung from the stadium where he made one of his final appearances during the world cup in 2010. the congressman led the delegation from the u.s. and i spoke with him after he posted this picture on facebook ask wrote, our group leaving the stadium after an awesome day. i asked if it was a fitting tribute to nelson mandela today. >> as i looked at the stage, i thought, how appropriately it reflects who mandela was. here was a guy who sat in prison and began the negotiations between the white rulers as well as the black people of south africa who were being oppressed and was able to negotiate an agreement, a settlement between those two parties. and yet even upon his death and in his tribute, we had a world stage that began with president obama, the leader of i would

argue the finest democracy on the face of the earth, and was finished by raul castro, the president of cuba. clearly leaders who represent completely different ideologies. leaders from countries that don't agree on a whole lot but who agree on one thing. that is that nelson mandela is someone worthy of their praise and someone who inspired each one of these political figures from across the spectrum. >> it may not surprise you to know while you were caught up in this very moving event of international significance, there was a the love politics going on in washington, d.c. some reaction already to president obama shaking hands today with cuban president raul castro. one of your colleagues, senator marco rubio, republican from colorado blasted the shake saying if the president was going to shake his handled, he should have asked castro about those basic freedoms mandela was associated with that are denied

in cuba. what's your take on this? was that has not shake a mistake? there are obviously, obviously a point that marco rubio is making about the lack of freedoms in cuba. what's your take? >> well, i think maybe people are receiving a bit much into their shared presence on the stage. as i said in my opening, clearly these men who don't share a lot in common. we have the prime minister of inld. we had leaders of all kind of countries on that stage. i think what was important today was to foerks what unites us rather than what divides us, not only the elected leaders were united by. the same thing that 90,000 people in the stadium were united by. a man who brought a divide nation together. a man who led by example. who did not allow the wrongs

done against him, the wrongful imprisonment of 27 years. much of it in isolated. so many people could have been brought down by spite. >> you've been very effusive of your praise for nelson mandel. a you tweeted, honor to be leeing the delegation to honor the george washington of our time. you've been criticized for some critics. do you think marco rubio and those talking about this handshake are wrong? they're missing the point of the day? >> i'm not going on get into criticizing my colleagues at a time when i'm telling people that we should be focused on nelson mandela and not what may have happened at the ceremonies. instead, focusing on what his life means to all of us individually. what we can be inspired by. and that's what i and my congressional delegation have been focused on.

>> our thanks to congressman shock. was president obama's greeting with raul castro just a handshake? just politeness or wasett something more significant? the white house said it was not a preplanned encounter but many are calling it a symbolic moment. allen was arrest in the cuba in 2009 and he's been imprisoned ever since. the government there is accusing him of trying to destabilize the government. thank you for being here. he with appreciate it. our thoughts and prayers have been with you for the last four years. what went through your mind when you saw that in. >> i thought what a meaningful place to have a handshake like that, to have a has not shake between world leaders who basically have nothing in common. i think we need to not put too much meaning behind it. >> congressman, republican from new jersey mentioned this today

mentioned your husband and said instead of making grand gestures that only validate tyrannical regimes, the united states should be working tirelessly to bring cuban prisoners like alan gross home safely. do you agree? >> i think we have to make it really clear to the president that it is his job, it is up to him to bring alan home. and i think that there needs to be negotiation, and you don't get anywhere unless you begin negotiations. and i think the talk of the has not shake was irrelevant considering what needs to be done. it has been four years. >> how is he? how is his health? how are his spirits? what have you heard? >> he's lost since he's been there, over 100 pounds. he has very severe arthritis. it is very difficult for him to walk. he is losing hopeful that's the worst part about it. alan is a very degrgreggarious

lushy guy. he has held on as long as he could but he is feeling like his country has just forgotten him. he worked for the u.s. government. he was working on a u.s. government project and he feels that they just dropped him there and left him off. >> one criticism i've heard over the way the obama administration has handled this is that there are three cuban prisoners in american jails accused of being spies. and as happens with some countries, there might be some sort of swap. that certainly is the way that israel does it with palestinians, et cetera. it is a way the u.s. has done it with the soviet union when there was a soviet union. i've heard there are hard liners in congress who would make such a negotiation difficult. is that a fair assessment? >> i think there is some truth

to that. but regardless of what they say, that's not important. what is important is what our leader of this country is doing. what is the secretary of state doing? what is our president doing? they can do whatever they want. they don't have to succumb to people who don't want to talk to cuba. >> judy gross, thank you for being here. we hope that your prayers are answer soon and we'll be continuing to stay on top of the story. >> thank you. now for the diplomatic stage craft of the memorial. presidential historian douglas brinkley. thank you for joining us. we talked about it last night and here it is. the handshake with castro wasn't president obama's only diplomatic move. he literally embraced the president who called u.s. tactics a quote, breach innational law and took the step of canceling a u.s. state dinner that was to be held in her

honor. whether it is the has not shake with castro or the embrace, strategic moves or just being polite on the dais? >> both. of course, he's the president is being polite. if he would have stiffed raul castro, refused to shake his handled, that would have made a lot of news ask would have been an ugly moment for nelson mandela and brazil and tuesday have been doing a lot of intelligence over the surveillance over brazil. it may have been a healing hug. i don't think the president could have handled the situation much better than he did yesterday. and i believe that alan gross needs to be freed. if that handled shake is the beginning of maybe getting him free from cuba, it was worth it. >> absolutely. let's talk about memorial protocol.

i know you've been all over the recall would. they were blowing instruments. they were repeatedly the interrupting speakers. this didn't seem inappropriate for the setting. it seemed a celebration, a party, but it certainly wasn't what a lot of people were expecting when they turn on to watch a memorial. >> certainly not in the united states. we tend to have a little more solemn occasion. there's laughter. the speaker tell something of interest. you can at times get so distracted from the background noise. it was hard to follow president obama's comments and other world leaders. so in that part of it, it lost a little of its grandeur. it may have made since if you were there in the stadium. this was a world event and people watching it probably came away a little bit frustrated that you couldn't actually hear the speakers as well as we should have been able to. >> let's talk about president

obama's eulogy for nelson mandela. very anticipated. huge global audience. let's take a listen to one small excerpt. >> it took a man like madiba to free not just the prisoner but the jailer as well. to show that you must trust others so they may trust you. to teach that reconciliation is not a matter of ignoring a cruel past but a means of confronting it with inclusion and generosity and truth. he changed laws but he also changed hearts. >> you've covered a lot of speeches. what do you think about this one? >> it was excellent. and because you knew barack obama was speaking from the heart, you knew he actually loves nelson mandela and it was one of a big moment for him just to be there and be part of that atmosphere. so i don't think the president could have done a better job

representing us. for that matter i think all the speakers did a good job making mandela's spirit alive. i was thinking "time" magazine may be coming up with who is the man of the year. it might be pope francis or person of the year. but nelson mandela, after you licensed to it yesterday. he seems to have union tied world in a very rare way the last few days. >> doug brinkley, thanks so much. news, we're expecting news on the family found alive after two days in the nevada wilderness. we'll bring it to you live. every day we're working to be an even better company - and to keep our commitments. and we've made a big commitment to america. bp supports nearly 250,000 jobs here. through all of our energy operations, we invest more in the u.s. than any other place in the world. in fact, we've invested over $55 billion here in the last five years - making bp america's largest energy investor.

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the money and power of general motors, the automaker announcing its new ceo, a woman named mary barra will be the first female to run one of the three u.s. automakers. the story of how barra moved into the drivers seat of america's largest car manufacturer. >> muscle, power, grit. when you say cars and manufacturing, that is what may come to mind. but now make way for this.

woman. general motors attempted mary barra to be the company's next ceo starting in january. she is the first female to lead one of the big three auto makers and the workers she'll be overseeing, mostly men. just 21% of the nation's autoworkers are women. for barra, the auto industry was a no brainer. she was simply following in her father's footsteps. >> automotive is kind of in my blood. i grew up in southeastern michigan. my dad was dye maker at general motors for thine years. from the days you stood outside the dealerships looking at the new vehicles, that was how i was raised. >> at 18 she took a job at gm to help pay her college tuition. she boring her way up to global product development overseeing major launches like the cadillac cts. and even though she grew up at gm, she has a different way of thinking. >> she's recognized the way it worked in the past wasn't

working. there needs to be less reliance on cost cutting and more on what the company supposed to do, building great trucks and cars. >> now she will join other top women in business. yahoo!'s melissa myer, and facebook's cheryl sandberg. the depart you of her predecessor marks the end of the government motors. he is the last ceo appointed under the treasury's watch after the government this week sold its remaining shares of gm. the automaker is now in the drivers seat of its own company. and barra is seizing the moment. >> opportunities will arise that you simply cannot imagine today. be open to those opportunities when they occur. >> cnn, new york. >> thank you so much. also in money and power, another shake-up in the corporate world. lulu lemon announced its founder is refining. chip came under fire for

announcing that the yoga pants don't boring for some women's bodies. >> some women's bodies actually don't work for it. it is really about the rubbing through the thighs, how much pressure is. there over a period of time. >> the outrage over wasn't much of app apology at all. >> i'm sad. i'm really sad. i'm sad for the repercussions of my actions and the people of lululemon who had to face the blunt of my actions. i take responsibility for all that has occurred and the impact that it's had on you. >> earlier, on the lead i spoke with assistant managing editor at "fortune magazine" and asked her about wilson's comments. >> we've seen this before in some executives, especiallily, i think founders and entrepreneurs tend to be, let's just say,

kwaurk ki sometimes. it's not uncommon. but i think the right thing to do is move him out of the scenes, and put in someone who can run this business. i mean, this company is big and it's important and nowhere near the size of the company when he founded it. he's long ago, you know, been in the behind the scenes but now this is really making it official. i think it's important. i think that lululemon's customers and shareholders need to see this happen. >> when i first heard the comment he made about women's thighs and you need a certain thigh, not a fat thigh to be the right person for a lululemon pants, yoga pants, i thought, boy, this guy doesn't know who his consumers are. >> exactly. this plus the mary barra story, i might be bias, but i think this is why we need more women in ceo roles. it's just -- it's -- there are tactical behaviors between men and women you see in the ceo

position. >> the management changes did not farewell for lululemon or gm today. shares of both companies closed lower by more than one percent. >> i'm sad -- >> still to come, we take a look at some of our favorite christmas classics from years past and try to figure out why they just don't make them like that anymore. stay with us. ♪ (train horn) vo: wherever our trains go, the economy comes to life. norfolk southern.

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we are standing by for doctors to give an update any minute now on the family found alive, thankfully, after spending two days lost in the freezing nevada wilderness. when that press conference starts, we'll bring it to you live here on cnn. now, jingle bells, jingle bell rock, winter wonderland, these are the songs we hear over and over again this time of year. they are among the dozens of car rolls recorded in every style and genre possible. wonder why it's so hard for new christmas songs to catch on? as you're shopping, spreading cheer, you're likely to notice something, you're jingle bell

rocking to yourself. humming, probably the same one frost last year and the one before, too. white christmas by bill crosby. check. the classic duet, baby it's cold outside. >> i really can't stay. ♪ baby, it's cold outside that's. >> that was from 1949. this year's twist it's swung from the gang by duck dynasty. ♪ it's cold outside >> reporter: now the twist is who is belting them out but no new song seem to break the candy cane ceiling. >> even though we have the top stars of today writing original christmas songs, none of them broke through. >> reporter: he wrote a piece for slate.com. he points out that the latest modern holiday song to stick was, well, take it away mariah

carey with all i want for christmas is you. ♪ all i want for christmas is you ♪ >> it's not that there are no more gad christmas songs coming out. we as a culture stopped embracing the new ones. it's been 19 years since mariah carey released "all i want for christmas is you". >> the wait stresses christmas wrapping, that came out in 1981. it's hard to write a new standard. clinic argues big pop names haven't and we the public stopped embracing. maybe rightfully so. remember in 2008 lady gaga released christmas tree. ♪ the only place you'll want to be is underneath my christmas tree ♪ >> reporter: and 2010 cold play released christmas lights. ♪ still waiting for the snow to

fall, doesn't really feel like christmas at all ♪ >> reporter: how about 2011? justin bieber's missile toe? ♪ i should be making a list, i know, under the missile toe ♪ >> they want to do something with youth. >> reporter: she's assistant professor of music business. she's worked in the industry for years from everyone from gloria estaphon. >> artists do this at a point where they are trying to harken back to things they did at the beginning of their career that were wildly popular. >> reporter: are we no longer willing to embrace new christmas songs? we are going to have stars regurgitating classics like the little drummer boy. ♪ berrum

>> reporter: we'll see what holds and if anything sticks. >> thanks so much for joining us. "ac 360" starts right now. rchs this is breaking news on a deal to head off another government shutdown. details could be an issue as could getting it through congress. we'll have more on that shortly. first, we have a story that's good news with new strings attached whatsoever. two adults and four children rescued after two days stranded in the bitter cold of northwest nevada. that upside down in a ravine is their jeep, which skidded off the road on sunday and what for all intensive purposes 21 below, how they made it and in a moment one of the rescuers, he and his partner were the first to reach the scene. before we do that,