six people died that horrific day, including gabriel zimmerman a congressional staffer for our friend and colleague representative gabrielle giffords of arizona's eighth congressional district. now less than a year after this horrible day, it is fitting that the united states house of representatives, through passage of this resolution, properly honor the sacrifice and service of one of our own. gabe zimmerman served as community outreach director for congresswoman giffords. he was perfectly suited for this position, as anyone who knew him would tell you. that's because working as community outreach director married two great passions in his life, his drive to help individuals and a firm conviction that america's government needed to be open, accessible, and responsive to every american. ask any member of congress here what is one of the most valuable positions in their office, and they'll tell you it is our constituent outreach director. they listen each and every day to the concerns of our constituents, their problems, their suggestions, their complaints and then they work to help t

the house will consider naming a room in the capitol visitor center in honor of gabriel zimmerman, the aide killed in the january shooting that wounded arizona congresswoman gabrielle giffords. zimmerman is the only congressional aide to ever die in the line of duty. michele obama will welcome military families to the white house for the first viewing of season's holiday decorations, including two christmas trees in their honor. the white house's executive pastry chef will also unveil a gingerbread white house replica. america's oldest teenager, and dick clark turns 82. all day long you can stay on top of the latest developments in those stories and others as they break on msnbc. tonight be sure to watch brian williams with "nbc nightly news." >>> here's a look at what's coming up later on the "today" show. ann curry reports live from iraq where joe biden has made a surprise visit as u.s. troops begin to leave the country. and grammy-winning singer/songwriter neil diamond performs live in concert. >>> now keep it on this channel for continuing local news, weather, sports and more. i'm

zimmerman. he was an aid to congresswoman gabrielle giffords. zimmerman was killed in the shooting that wounded giffords. house majority leader eric cantor says lawmakers will vote next week on a measure that will designate a room as the gabriel zimmerman meeting room. >>> a new study that might make you think twice as you pour your kid apple or grape juice this morning. consumer reports claims it found high levels of arsenic in apple and grape juice it tested, up to 10% of the juices. dr. oz conducted his own study that found high levels of arsenic in apple jois juice. the fda criticized that study and says it's safe to drink. they now stand by that claim but are conducting more tests of their own. >>> first lady michelle obama will speak at an event urging more american families to fight childhood obesity. she's the keynote speaker at building a healthier future summit. the organization is working with government and private programs to improve family health. mrs. obama started her own campaign called let's move to fight childhood obesity. >>>

in support of congressional action dedicating the room in the capitol visitors center as the gabriel zimmerman meeting room. gabe and five others lost their lives on january 8 of this year in a parking lot in tucson, arizona, when a deranged man opened fire on innocent people. gabe was just doing his job. while i've never had the pleasure to meet gabe, i feel like i know a lot about gabe. he worked for gabbie giffords, a -- for gabbie giffords, who has become a good friends through our work on the science and technology committee in the last congress. she showed me something rare in washington, true bipartisanship. it says a tremendous amount about gabe that he had her trust and confidence. i also feel i know gabe because like him, i was a congressional staffer. i served in the offices of two texas senators, senator phil gramm and senator john cornyn, for nearly nine years. there is nothing i wouldn't do to protect my bosses. gabe was put in a position that no congressional staffer in american history has faced. asked to sacrifice his life for his boss and innocent people. when shots rang out,

bi-partisanship honoring the late staffer of arizona congresswoman gabrielle giffords, the house making a room, naming that room in the capitol after gabe zimmermanffer ever killed in the line of duty. 402 members cosponsored that resolution. >> it's incredibly important to gabby, to gabby's entire team that gabe, who was -- who she was so close to, and he was such a special individual -- bill: sure was. congresswoman giffords recovering from her injuries, that was the moment in early august when she appeared, unannounced, on the floor of the house. martha: very nice tribute to gabe simmer man. there is a custody battle about to get underway in this case we've been following here in "america's newsroom" of this missing mom, merck he will parker. she ace appeared after appearing on people's court. a hearing today will determine whether the twins should be returned to her x, the police investigating him as a primary suspect in her disappearance. rod wheeler is a former d.c. homicide detective. good to have you here. >> good morning, martha. how are you. martha: i'm doing well. dale smith jr. has hired an attorney. he refused to take a polygraph tes

gabe zimmerman, the aide who lost his life in the attack on congresswoman gabrielle giffords will havehonored on capitol hill. congress is set to approve a resolution naming a meeting room after him. >> it was special and important for gabe's family to do this because the idea that a name would be named after him that congressional staffers used, it would send a message to the entire congressional staff family about how important their service is was really important for them. >> zimmerman was giffords' director of community outreach. he and five others were shot and killed while giffords was meeting with constituents in tucson when she was shot, too. and those are your headlines. hard to believe that's almost been a year. i believe it was january 11th. >> yep. all right, with less than one month away from the iowa caucus, former speaker of the house newt gingrich leading the republican field at this hour in shocking fashion over the last few weeks. the latest real clear politics poll show him with 23% of the vote. followed by mitt romney with 21% of the vote and rick perry has 8% of t