prevent another newtown. are they armed and dangerous? or on to something? empress. famous fashionista. high school junior? meet the young lady driving the conversation on everything from feminism to pop culture. and she can't even drive yet. ♪ you might just make it after all ♪ >> and made it after all. the women of the revolutionary "mary tyler moore show" together again for perhaps the last time.

good evening, and thanks for joining us. in the wake of tragedies like the shooting spree at sandy hook elementary school, shock and sor row are often followed by

frustration that evil prevailed if only one could have been there to intervene. in mare co county, arizona, sheriff joe arpaioa hen posse of gun-toting civilians are the guardians of good, or so they believe. but not everyone believes. my co-anchor terry moran reports. >> reporter: at a high school just outside phoenix, arizona, a mad man stalks the hall. it's just a training exercise, but this is every parent's worst nightmare. >> on the ground! these men are learning how to fight the next school shooter. >> can't wait that long. >> reporter: and oddly enough their coach .is 19 0s action film legend steven segal. >> for every second that goes by, i told you, you could have dead children. >> reporter: he knows a thing or two about simulated shooting. but he's not acting here. he's a full fledged member of

maricopa county's official posse, under the leadership of sheriff joe arpaio. >> we'll be training, trying to neutralize domestic terrorists without firearms and with firearms. >> reporter: the county's posse will protect the county's schools. it's the highest profile gambit from the man they call sheriff joe. >> if we have to take action, we will take action. if there's some type of catastrophe that's going to happen. >> reporter: and the stakes are higher than ever. >> a caller is indicating she thinks there's someone shooting in the building. >> reporter: five minutes is all it took for the horror to unfold in newtown, connecticut. so now the great debate is joined. how can we protect our children? this week, the national rifle association offered at least one answer -- arm teachers. >> that is an appropriate resource that a school should be able to utilize. >> reporter: but back in arizona, sheriff joe has decided to take matters into his own hands.

>> we are here to protect the children. that's the main mission. >> they came across the border, they are criminals. >> reporter: if you haven't heard of sheriff joe arpaio, that's hard to believe. >> i'm running for my sixth four-year term. >> reporter: arpaio has been a publicity machine on immigration, prisoner rights, gun control, you name it. this man has found his way into the national conversation. >> guns killing kids? that didn't happen when i grew up. >> reporter: and now he's got an angle on school safety. t nra makes a call for guns in school. are you doing the nra'sed by bidding? >> i don't copy other people. they copy me. >> reporter: arpaio's idea, arm citizens enlisted in his 3,000 member sheriff's posse patrolling the mostly rural

schools of maricopa county. >> a gang of guys without proper supervision endangering the community rather than protecting it. >> maybe they're watching too many cowboy movies, but the concept is the same. instead of going after horse thieves, we go after car thieves. >> chamber open. magazine inserted. safety is on. squeeze it ready. you don't want a hole in your roof. >> this one of 500 he's certified to carry a weapon. it's not glamorous. >> this is pretty much as it goes all day long. it's pretty random and sometimes pretty monotonous. >> 38-year-old father of three, mike works as a radar technician out at the airport. like every other member of the arpaio posse, he's a volunteer. >> some people take up pottery. some people take up poker playing. >> reporter: he doesn't enter the grounds, he just goes around

the surrounding area. >> it's essentially a commune i can patrol. >> reporter: but gun control advocates say armed civilians anywhere near a school could be a recipe for disaster. some of the parents we spoke with from a school on the posse's watch agree. >> you have people that have weapons on them that can murder other people and they're volunteers. they're not police officers. and i honestly worry about instances like what happened in florida with travon martin. >> reporter: this is rent a cop stuff, geezers with guns people say. and you're risking kids' lives more than protecting them. >> we give them law enforcement training. in fact, i'm going to do more. >> reporter: it's the same training you get in the police academy? >> not exactly. they don't go through that many hours. you can through all the training you want. >> reporter: arpaio has built his posse over the years and assigned them all kinds of tasks from patrolling malls during holidays to investigating

obama's birth certificate to hunting down undocumented immigrants. >> for 3 1/2 years, they're in front of this building calling me nazi, hitler. >> reporter: the obama administration's justice department has filed a suiting accusing arpaio of a pattern of unlawful dpis christmas nation. activists call it a reign of terror and they worry the sheriff's school posse will be part of it. >> i get on the other side here. >> i saved their lives? where. >> you saved my kids lives. they were on drugs. >> you getting this? >> reporter: everybody knows sheriff joe, like the hispanic mom who thanked him for jailing and straightening out her wayward sons. >> thank you. you made my day. i get a lot of heat from the hispanic community. >> reporter: at 80 years old, he still likes all the attention. but is his school posse just pr? or a real solution.

maybe both. >> i want everybody to know we're out there, our armed posse. if they want to call me a publicity hound, good. >> a very interesting report from terry moran. our thanks to terry. well, next, fans of this girl, she runs a media empire and she's just getting started. meet her next. ♪

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>> she's obsessed with fashion, friends and fun. but this is not your typical 16-year-old. front and center at fashion week from an early age, she now presides over a media empire including a hugely successful online magazine that has some calling her the voice of a generation. juju chang found out what makes heretic. >> she's like a female andy warhol. >> reporter: she's a pint size fashion guru that created the blog style rookie. she's graced magazine covers, been a muse. >> one of my other favorites is this mo hairish vest. >> there she is hanging out at fashion week at the tender age of 14. >> when you were sitting there, you were going through what you call your awkward phase.

was that hard? >> no, it was awesome. because i was oblivious. these are supposed to be the most beautiful people in the world, and i just really short an awkward and wearing oversized clothes. and i just think that's -- i think it's funny. i think it's great. >> reporter: and now at the ripe old age of 1 -- >> i feel like a warrior. >> reporter: she has established herself as a sort of oracle for the inner workings of the teenage psyche. she even give a ted talk on it. >> you can't d smart and pretty. you can't be a feminist who's also interested in fashion. >> reporter: but at 7:30 on a friday morn, sh's just your average high school junior getting ready for school. >> is there a murmur that goes up through the -- >> i don't think anyone cares. my school is really big. >> reporter: i heard you're really low key at school. >> i have weird outfits but i save them for out of school. >> reporter: but tabby leaves a

double life. when she launched rookie, her online magazine, it got a million views in its first week. >> it's weird to sit in school and think i have a deadline, all the e-mails i have to get back to. and, you know, only one person will see my homework, my teacher. but all these other people will see my article. that's a weird balance to figure out. >> this is your room. >> yeah. >> reporter: from the little corner bedroom. you launched an empire. >> reporter: it all started here. her slightly cluttered girly bedroom in suburban illinois is filled with vintage accessories and pop culture paraphernalia. >> this is a fleet wood mac record. >> you had a major stevie nix phase. >> it's eternal. >> the birds. where did you get this? >> my friend gave it to me. >> reporter: she gets her bojo look from mom who's an artist. her sdad a retired high school english teenager. five years ago, tabby started

posting photos of herself in e eclectic a vant guard outfits. >> i thought it would be fun to chronicle my interest in fashion as it was developing and changing. here's her closet. so many of those vintage works emerged. piano. >> i feel the color yellow doesn't get enough love. tens of thousands clicks later, she was dubbed the luckiest 13-year-old on the planet. but she also drew snarky criticism by showing up to shows like this. >> my basic rule is it should be really cool on its own. >> her bff grace says she's the same girl she was when they were 6. >> i don't think she sleeps a lot. >> reporter: the latest phase of her career expands beyond fashion to the arts and crafts. essays and serious girl talk about broken hearts, eating disorders and sexuality. so you're telling me that

12-year-olds are talking about losing dhtheir virginity. >> some of them are. we don't wright about it for sex value. i think about the conversations i have with my friends or that i overhear. >> reporter: how does rookie compare to "17" magsz. >> there's a general tone that can feel condescending in a lot of brieting or movies or tv shows. >> "rookie" tries to be an honest forum for the issues facing teenage girls and is published on a schedule tailor made for a high school student. >> my dad said how are you going to do this? you're at school all day. i said so is everyone else. so we'll do it when we all get home. >> reporter: the show star's john hamm gave rookie readers hysterical tips.

>> my boyfriend wants to do something but he doesn't want to. i'm going to have to know what this stuff, stuff is. >> the uber literate style conscious teen does admit to having weak spots. >> do you drive? >> no. i'm a horrible driver. >> reporter: do you have a license? >> no. i failed my test. >> jimmy: what's that like? you're a teenager with employees. >> right. it absolutely would not work if the people work on it didn't respect the intelligence of teenagers. >> reporter: the truth is teenagers are a complicated bundle of contradiction. >> being a teenager is kind of inevitably horrible. there are moments of gleaming joy and beauty and feeling connected to your friends and even some of the angst can feel good in a weird way. i think a lot of the sadness or angst or any problems teenagers deal with are often sort of brushed aside because they are

teenagers. people think it's just a phase. >> reporter: just because i'm hormonal doesn't mean these are my real feelings. >> some parents have asked me, is it okay to give my daughter? i feel like those are already things that, like, 12, 13-year-olds know about and are talking about with their friends. and here's at least one person's honest account of it. >> reporter: it's that kind of raw honesty that makes her an inspiration to girls like these. they've come out, many with their moms to a one-year anniversary party for "rookie." >> thank you guys for coming. >> they're celebrating a superstar. who is simply one of their own. i'm juju chang in oak park, illinois. >> well, next. reunited and it feels so good. they made the world safe for "sex and the city." the women of the ground breaking

"mary tyler moore show" return to television together. coming up. oh, she only uses tide vivid detergent plus boost for her whites. now, up until a week ago she used chlorine bleach. yeah, because before it was salt, lemon, milk. well actually... that part's true.

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>> it's hard to believe it now, but in the 1970s, the idea was all but scandalous. television series focused on the never married mary richards. it revolutionized tv and paved the way for every female lead who came after. tonight as they deal with the terminal illness of one of its own, the women of the mary tyler moore show sit down with katie couric.

>> it's too fancy for my atlantic city ladies. >> long before carrie and the gang -- >> i'm not the ladies. >> yep, you're the lady. >> before "girls" there were those other girl, mary rhoda, phyllis, suanne and jeorgette. they could turn the world on with their smiles. >> you've got spunk. >> their apartment battles. >> this is my apartment. >> their vibrating beds. >> yet the fierce five were together again to film an episode of hot in cleveland and to reminisce. >> what is it like for you all working together after 40 years? >> heaven. >> and none of us has changed. >> gravity has taken over a little bit. >> when you think back on the show, why do you all think it resonated so much? >> it reflected women.

>> and then that ever popular question, how come a girl like you isn't married? how come you're still single? >> the writing was fantastic. >> you don't put on your hats, you can't. have any dinner. >> your characters were all so fun and funny and interesting and imperfect. tell me why you think people were so attractive, first of all, to rhoda? >> because they recognized themselves. >> eat something. >> i can't. i've got to lose 10 pounds by 8:30. >> a friend of mine once said mary is who you wish you were. rhoda is who you probably are. and phyllis is who you're afraid you'll become. >> we try to be very truthful in our family. you're not her aunt. >> what about suanne? >> she was the neighborhood nymphomaniac. >> they don't make men like this anymore. >> they don't make dip like this anymore. >> the recent disclose shu cloc

valerie harper has an inoperable brain tumor. >> i hope i get through friday. >> a lot of people honestly would get into bed and put the covers over their head. >> don't go to the funeral or until the day of the funeral. say why me and rage? let it there be, go there, and move on from it. >> reporter: the mood of the reunion wasn't sad. it was a celebration of old friends and a shared past that made tv history. >> this makes me think what a luckily woman you are. to be working with the people who are your very good friends. >> i look around these girls and my heart fills up with so much happiness and love and celebration and what life really is. ♪ you might just make it after all ♪ >> i'm katie couric in los angeles. you can see more of katie's

exclusive interview monday on "katie." love that show. thank you for watching abc news.