berman, is recognized. mr. berman: thank you, madam speaker. i yield myself four minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for four minutes. mr. berman: madam speaker, i rise in support of h.r. 6156, the russia mull dovea jackson-vanik repeal and sergei magnitsky rule of law accountability act of 2012. the jackson-vanik amendment is is a good example of the power of legislation to promote positive change. in 1974 when it was adopted, the right to emigrate was being denied to many people in many nonmarket countries, most notably the soviet union. by limiting normal trade relations, jackson-vanik helped pressure countries to change their restrictive immigration policies and in the case of soviet union, to allow the immigration of soviet jews and many other groups previously precluded from leaving to go to the united states, to israel, and other countries. we continue to have very serious concerns about human rights situation in russia, but as the specific root causes of jackson-vanik no longer exists, it has been waived for russia every year since 1989. t

here's cnn's john berman. >> so, wolf, it took like 76 hours for the president's re-election to get subsumed in the whole petraeus/broadwell/alan/kelley mess. it may be the perfect introduction to the realities of re-election. it really is enough to give you second thoughts about that second term. >> reporter: president obama, you were just elected to a second term. what are you going to do next? go to disney world? doubtful. embark on immigration reform? possible. avoid the fiscal cliff? maybe. but if history has taught us anything, perhaps the first thing he should do is lawyer up. we're not suggesting the

first let's get straight to john berman. >> mitt romney is still pushing it.ting his vote in bell month, massachusetts. and then he has two rallies planned, one in ohio and the other in pennsylvania. jim acosty is live on mitt romn romney's press bus. is he headed to meet up with the candidate right now. jim, looking good. >> reporter: hey, john, thanks very much. looking good, despite a very long campaign that is finally coming to an end. we are on the romney press bus right now, waiting for the candidate to vote near his home in bellmont, massachusetts, then he will come here to bedford, massachusetts, where he will get on this charter bus one more time. the campaign says he won't be doing any rllys today, but visiting with some of his get out the vote supporters to make sure they are revitalized and rejuvenated on this final day of the campaign. let me show you around the bus, john. this will paint the picture of the day. we are used to seeing a much larger c er contingent of the p corps, the last of the mohicans, if you will. i've talked to a senior romney

all right, john berman, thank you.hat hotly contested battleground state of florida. we showed you the latest miami herald poll has governor mitt romney leading in the sunshine state by six points. latest "wall street journal" poll, though, has president obama ahead by two. mario diaz-balart is a republican congressman from florida, he serves on the romney campaign hispanic steering committee. thank you for talking with us. >> good to see you. >> appreciate that. >> in spite of that first poll i show you the obama campaign has said they're optimistic about their chances in florida. let me play for you a little bit of what david axelrod, he's the campaign senior adviser as you well know, this is what he said. >> we feel very competitive in the state of florida. there've been a spate of -- in fact, in all of these battleground state polls that have come out in the last 48 hours we, i think we're ahead in 90% of them, including florida. >> so he's sounding very happy about florida. how do you think florida is going to go?

john berman along with zoraida sambolin.the top cnn trend on the internet this morning. actor morgan freeman, he's known for his distinctive voice, shaw shank redemption. now he's lending that voice to fight -- to the fight to legalize same-sex marriage across the u.s. freeman narrates a new 30-second ad produced by the human rights campaign. >> freedom, justice and human dignity have always guided our journey toward a more perfect union. now, across our country, we're standing together for the right of gay and lesbian americans to marry the person they love. and -- >> that voice. >> i could just listen. just play it. all right. 15 minutes past the hour. the rolling stones are back in business. the world's greatest rock 'n' roll band took the stage sunday at london's o-2 arena to make their 50th anniversary. >> they played more than two hours, proving they can still give an audience palestinianty of, yes, satisfaction. it was also a reunion of sorts, bounding bassist bill wyman and former guitarist mick taylor joined the ban

my meineke. >>> good morning, everybody i'm alina cho. >> and i'm john berman.dad is off today. our "starting point," back in black. while you were sleeping shoppers came out in force. retailers couldn't be happier. >> except at walmart where a black friday strike threatens to

john berman is apparently in this program.cowl at because they're moving so much more quickly. passengers become a member by becoming part of a frequent flyer and then invited by the airline. or join global entry to be eligible. you're not guaranteed to enjoy the benefits every trip. members are randomly picked to go through the designated pre-check line. others are better able to skip the line. pre-check not available at all u.s. airports, but tsa plans to roll out more by the end of the year. keep a lookout in your city. and the clear card is back. after shutting down in 2009, clear has returned and is now in four airports, orlando, denver, san francisco, and dallas-ft. worth with more to come. clear allows travelers to bypass regular security lines. the process is simple, you swipe your clear card in a kiosk, verify your identity with a fingerprint or iscan and move through security. a few things to note, clear costs 200 bucks a year. while members do not have to pay to be part of precheck, there's a cost of about $100 to a

and i'm a work horse. >> berman was first elected 30 years ago.an has been in congress for nearly 16 years. is it painful to be in this kind of a battle? >> some of the people i'm closest to are on the other side and some of the people that were closest to him or on my side. it has the elements of a family fight. >> reporter: what a nasty fight it's become. with tempers flaring this october debate nearly exploded into combat. >> he came over to my table, called me a liar, nose to nose. i put my arm on his shoulder. >> he grabbed me. he challenged me to a fight. pushed me towards him. >> reporter: the video went viral. the berman campaign seized the moment and created a commercial. >> he's ineffective, mean and too angry. brad sherman is not fit to he want us. >> reporter: voters have been inundated with attack ads about sherman. >> he's violent. this one that he's an ostrich. >> reporter: this one says berman is a free loading politician. their combined spending has topped $10 million making at any time most expensive congressional race in califor

. >> reporter: as the election closes in, brad sherman and howard berman know it's time to close theth voters. from their names to their receding hair lines, they appear so similar voters may have a hard time telling them apart. >> they have rhyming names, they -- >> this man writes for the jewish journal. berman versus sherman, two jews, one district. >> in terms of their voting record they're similar. >> reporter: they're both lawyers. ucla alums, family men. but above all, they are both democrats. pushed into battle against each other by california's new top two primary system and redistricting that changed the electoral boundaries. after redistricting wasn't there some way you could have worked this out so you weren't facing each over? >> well, we had a great idea of what the other guy should do, but the other guy didn't listen. >> reporter: the 30th congressional district isn't big enough for both of you. >> that sounds like a western. >> he is a show horse and i'm a work horse. >> reporter: berman was first elected 30 years ago. sherman has been in congress for nearly 16 years.

our panel of journalists, steven sloan from "politico" and russell berman from "the hill." >> thank you for being here. i want to talk about your interpretation of the election and what it means for the direction of tax policy. >> we had a split decision appeared the president won by two points. he won by 7.2 years ago against a war hero. he had 9 million fewer votes. he is a lame duck now. he said he was interested in raising taxes a year from now on anyone. his physician from four years -- position from four years ago was that they would not raise taxes on anyone. he was very clear and no taxes if you made less than $250,000. this year august 8, he started with a new framework. my plan is that i will not raise taxes on anyone who earns less than $250,000 a year. he is only promising not to raise income taxes. this does not include energy taxes. also, heis only promising to protect income taxes for one year. nothing. raise taxes on the rich people to get you ready for everybody else picking up. the republican majority in the house was elected not for four years before the next 10. the

. >> i'm john berman. the first election results, they are in from the tiny towns of dixville notch. and in one of these towns, it's a result we've never seen before. >> the campaign trail extended. i'm christine romans. governor romney will keep pressing with two stops in the battlegrounds while president obama shoots hoops, an election day tradition. >> and i'm zoraida sambolin. the immense damage from hurricane sandy forcing an election day scramble. people voting by e-mail and different polling stations and in some cases literally moving the earth to have their voices heard. >> joining us throughout the morning, congressman randy forbes of virginia, delaware governor jack markell, jim clyburn, obama campaign senior adviser david axelrod, bob mcdonald, ted strickland and bob shrum, a democratic consult and the who worked on the kerry and gore campaigns. special election coverage here on cnn begins right now. >>> it is up to the american people right now. good morning and welcome to our special edition o

you have one, right, berman? the problem here, issues with the car's steering system and their electric water pumps. toyota says no crashes or injuries have been reported. that's good news. >>> and a shake-up at the long island utility company under fire for its slow response to super storm sandy. why is chief operating officer michael hervey is resigning at the end of this year. hervey has been the target of many angered residents left in the cold for over two weeks. he's been the target from andrew cuomo as well. >>> and this entrepreneur says he's in hiding this morning as police in belize try to solve a murder case. the very, very strange saga of security software tycoon john mcphee is coming up. >> very strange. very, very strange. [ lane ] your anti-wrinkle cream is gone... but what about your wrinkles? neutrogena® rapid wrinkle repair visibly reduces fine lines and wrinkles in just one week. why wait if you don't have to. neutrogena®. [ female announcer ] almost nothing can dampen a baby's mood, when he wa

i'm john berman. >> and i'm zoraida sambolin. it's 5:00 a.m. in the east. we begin with the latest on the aftermath of the superstorm hurricane ire hurricane sandy. most buses are up and running again and they are free of charge. but most of lower manhattan still has no power and temperatures are dipping into the 30s and 40s. >> and there are no heartbreaking picture as long the jersey shore barrier islands. houses picked up, some just buried in the sand and governor chris christie who toured the destruction with president obama said some parts of the shore may never look the same again. >> the death toll reached 124 people with 56 in the united states. at least 28 in new york. and close to 5 million customers are still waiting for the power to come back on. >> cnn has the entire disaster zone covered this morning. our correspondents spanned out across lower manhattan and all up and down the jersey shore. >> first, the economic capital of our country is slowly getting back to normal this morning even while facing extreme damage.

>> john berman, thank you. good history lesson for all of us. remember, you can follow what's

>> john berman, thank you.

welcome to "early start," i'm john berman. >> and i'm zoraida sambolin. nice to have you with us this morning. it's 5:00 a.m. in the east. up first, 63 days and counting until we head to the fiscal cliff. if these two men cannot find a way to compromise the impact on the economy could be catastrophic. president obama delivers a big economic speech in about eight hours, and he wants tax cuts for the wealthy to extire. house speaker john boehner drawing this line in the sand. >> raising tax rates is unacceptable. and, frankly, it couldn't even pass the house. i'm not sure it can pass the senate. >> white house correspondent brianna keilar is live from washington, d.c. for us this morning. brianna, speaker boehner seemed to be offering the president on olive branch earlier this week when he talked about the possibility of increasing revenue. but here he's taking a hard stance against tax increases. what does that say about the chances of a compromise? >> well, it may actually sound kind of like it's splitting hairs. but it's really two different things where

i'm zoraida sambolin. >> and i'm deborah feyerick in for john berman.tes past the hour. >>> well, five weeks until we hit the fiscal cliff and one by one top republicans are stepping up to say they're ready to break their no-tax pledge and to get a spending plan passed. something that's not sitting too well with the man they made that pledge to, conservative lobbyist grover norquist. listen to norquist getting personal and lashing out at republicans on cnn's "piers morgan tonight." >> the pledge is not for life. but everybody who signed the pledge, including peter king, who tried to weasel out of it, shame on him, as the new york sun said today, i hope his wife understands that commitments last a little longer than two years or something. but you don't tell the bank, oh the mortgage, wasn't that a long time ago? if you make a commitment, you keep it. >> cnn political director mark preston joins us live from washington. boy, mark, i just have so many questions. we were saying it's five weeks until we hit the fiscal cliff, or as i like to call it, the new

>> john berman.aid, berman, don't make us make your video of the fried turkey we talk about next year. he said, don't worry, baldwin, it's my brother-in-law, he's all over it. >> could be looking at that tomorrow. exactly. >>> so it doesn't matter whether you're sitting is at home this thanksgiving, maybe at a parade, maybe traveling. you need to know about the weather, so we have you covered there, coming up next. also, take a look. oh, it's exciting! they're getting ready. live pictures from the macy's thanksgiving day parade as the sun begins to rise over the city here, new york city. do you think walmart can get you a great deal on the items you want? i don't know! let's go see. vizio 60" smart led for $688. that's a $310 savings. that is amazing! the first and only place to shop this black friday. savings start at 8pm thursday, more electronics at 10pm. walmart. of green giant vegetables it's easy to eat like a giant... ♪ and feel like a green giant. ♪ ho ho ho ♪ green giant hurry in this friday

now. >>> good morning, i'm brooke baldwin. >> and i'm john berman.

berman just beat him down at the polls. palm springs area the 33rd district lost to raul luis. if you think the latino vote-- vote----the macks they boast both lost races. >> cenk: let's look at the composition of the house real quick. right now the race that has been called. seven are still being decided it looks like the republicans held onto the house but they lost seats in the house which a lot of people are not talking about. >> no, that's true. today the silver lining for the republicans is that they did in fact, hole on to the house. john boehner just today was saying that people voted for status quo in the house of representatives. one of them is that we spent so much time about the citizens united, the amount of money put into the presidential race and the senate races and it made the biggest difference in the house. so much money spent on a local level where it's hard to combat that level for a lot of these challenges and it made it difficult. theythe democrats did pick up seats in the house john boehner said he's

did all roads, in fact, go through the state of ohio, john berman?days we've been talking about ohio. we said the whole election could hinge in ohio. to a certain extent it did. it was only after we called the state of ohio for president obama that -- at 11:18 last night cnn was able to call the entire election for president obama. joined now by carol costello who is live this morning in columbus, ohio. carol, let's get a little bit of a different feeling there this morning. >> oh, things are so much calmer now. but as you said, john, it was ohio, ohio, ohio yesterday. voters were excited to get to the polls. i spent most of my day yesterday in hamilton county in the southwestern portion of the state near cincinnati and voter turnout was extraordinarily high. i'm now in columbus, which is the center of the state, and i decided to get the newspapers for you because i'm an old-fashioned kind of gal and i thought you'd want to see the headlines. the first one says obama wins ohio. can you see that? and a second edition will come out later today, the bes

john berman is with us as well.going to update us on some of the big stories. >> demonstrators in texas trying to block the keystone xl pipeline. others suspended themselves from a 50 foot tree. police used pepper spray to haul off four of the demonstrators. >>> vice president joe bide and and wife jill biden welcoming a group of wounded warriors to the naval observatory in washington for an early thanksgiving. the 26 guests are patients of the nearby walter reed national military medical center. they were selected because they can't make it home for thanksgiving with their families this year. >>> a federal judge in california has ruled that the city of santa monica can really ban a nativity scene that's been on display in palisades park for the last 60 years. in recent years, atheists protested against the theme so in june the city council voted to ban all private displays. but backers of the nativity scene, they sued. and the judge says, until the lawsuit is decided the city can go ahead with its nativity scene ba

sorry, berman. this is cairo. u.s.assy there, it is closed right now, no one being allowed in or allowed out right now. >> protesters are blocking the entrance and clashes are had happening very close by. reza sayah is joining us now. what's the situation there? >> reporter: there are still clashes taking place in the arteries and streets leading to tahrir square. a couple of these streets are very close to the u.s. embassy. as a precaution earlier today, the u.s. embassy announced its shutting its doors until further notice. we should tell you that these clashes are usually triggered by teenagers, trouble making element that is continue to throw rocks and debris at police. police responding with tear gas. sometimes police officers throwing rocks themselves. so the violence a little too close for comfort apparently for the u.s. embassy. they say the embassy is not a target. again, just as a precaution, they've shut their doors today. >> reza sayah in cairo today. before i let you go, a lot of talk about mohamed morsi p

it's john berman here. winning and losing campaigns for both democrats and republicans. for us mere mortals who are on the outside, what does it feel like? when do you know you're winning or losing and what are the signs? >> well, you know, i mean, winning, of course, is the best thing that can happen. losing is a near death experience. you know, the thing i remember more than anything is the 2004 campaign when we were on the plane coming back for our last day of campaigning with president bush. and we got the exit polls in about ten minutes before we landed. it's like the oxygen went out of the plane. because all the exit polls as you recall, john, had us losing big. and i remember we got down and i got back and the president called me about an hour later. man, what do you think about these exit polls. of course i put the best face on. but it looked really bad. that's my final message to everybody i talk to. you know, the exit polls have been traditionally wrong. polling is all based on modeling. everybody

it's john berman, austan.ident obama ran on is letting the bush tax expire for those making more than $250 thouchlt that was a hold-up in the last negotiations. will the president budge off of that? is there a number he would agree to that is north of $250,000? >> i'm not sure about that. you know, i'm not party to the negotiations. i do know the -- as you say, the main sticking point in the end -- they almost had a grand bargain deal last year, but the main sticking point was that the critics of the president wouldn't tolerate any revenue. and if they can work out some negotiation on revenue, i think that they will find the president is pretty open to a balanced approach that was like the bowles simpson fiscal approach or several others that say if you do more cuts than revenue, but have some revenues in there -- maybe they can sort it out. i would be encouraged. >> you think tax reform here, though, is the issue? that's what john boehner said we need to see. in reform you get more revenue, but not necessaril

i'm john berman. >> nice to see you. i'm zonaida sambolin. >>> the i realsraelis pounding targets while palestinian militants continue to launch rockets into israel. israel calls up reservists in preparation for war. >> ben joins us by phone this morning. egypt's prime minister paid a visit to gaza. somehow that going so far? >> well, it was originally planned it would be a three-hour cease fire while the egyptian prime minister was making this visit to gaza. according to our sources, it doesn't appear either side significantly reduced their level of military activity in gaza. certainly before the sun came up there was an intense air attack on gaza itself. it may have been lessened somewhat in the morning while the prime minister was touring gaza. but after he's gone, it's expected to get back to the same pace. >> there are elections coming up not too long from now in israel. palestinians are saying that may be part of the impetus for israel to be taking action. >> certainly this is what you hear oftentimes. tc it was th

we'll start with john berman. has a look at some of the stories making news. >> meanwhile, flights have resumed at laguardia after a lot of disruption from sandy. look at these pictures. it's impressive they got it open today. new york city's other two major airports reopened yesterday morning. this doesn't mean everything is back to normal. all three airports are running at reduced schedules. >>> cnn ireporter george dupont shot these stunning images in connecticut. both were just piled on top of each other at a boatyard on bluff avenue, and right near homes, practically on top of homes nearby. he's lived in the area for 30 years and says he's never seen anything like this. george actually traveled a couple towns over to send these pictures to us because he has no power. >>> the presidential election in the battle for the 4-year-old vote. both candidates are actually losing right now. this little girl just can't wait for the election to be over. >> just because i'm tired -- i'm tired of barack obama and mitt romn

another name that could pop up is congressman berman, the top democrat on the foreign affairs committeehe just lost to another democrat widely respected on both sides of the aisle and was endorsed in the race by republicans like john mccain. so that would be an easy confirmation process. john kerry you would have to replace him and maybe scott brown runs for his seat but i think john kerry or berman would be solid picks. >>shepard: on the federal reserve we hear about lawrence summers. >>guest: former clinton secretary was interested in it before better -- bernanke was tapped. and the vice chair of the central bank now, she would be the first woman to head the bank so she is probably the favorite in this game we all have to play. >>shepard: with the focus on women in the elections that would make sense on a bunch of different fronts. and the defense department with panetta saying that's it. >>guest: well, he will stay for a little bit and deal with this sequestration problem, until it is solved and you have to look at panetta's deputy and you have to look at the highest ranking member a

i'm john berman. >> and i'm zoraida sambolin.ight now. >>> good morning, welcome, everybody. our "starting point" this morning, the crucial employment report. the most critical jobs report of president obama's time in office will be released in 90 minutes. final report before election day. we'll take a look at the state of hiring and the unemployment number and the impact on the presidential election. plus the president and governor romney both take their final battles to the state of ohio. with just four days left to the election. how will voters there react to the new numbers? and sandy's destruction still far from over. millions of people still in the cold and dark. many don't have food. don't have a place to live. gas lines getting out of control they're so long. going to have live reports for you this morning. all over these stories with complete coverage from our own business correspondent christine romans. chief business correspondent ali velshi. sheila bair, the former chair of the fdic. grover norquist is the president o

john berman starts us off with a look at the top stories. >> good morning.ember that anti-islam filmmaker behind the crude and controversial short film "innocence of muslims." he's now talking from jail through his attorney to "the new york times." and nakoula basilly nakoula says he has no regrets about making the film or how he treated the cast. he said the cast signed contracts that howed changes to the script. in addition to deadly protests the film also led to nakoula's arrest for violating supervised release on a fraud conviction. >>> no report on what caused a fire aboard an 80 foot yacht in the water near miami beach. the vessel was completely engulfed in flames. three people on board jumped into the water and were arrested by the coast guard. there were no reports of injures. lucky there. >>> a popular prescription medication now under recall. 41 batches of atorvastatin calcium are being pulled from pharmacies because they may contain small particles of glass. this is the generic version of lipitor. the manufacturer ranbaxy says the recall affects b

john berman is stepping in. nice to have you all here.hat's a trick. >> he just walked out. >> there he is. getting some breakfast. let's talk about the past -- >> just come on. he's cnn after dark. >> come on in here. let's talk about that path. first of all, when you look and assess the loss for republicans, some of the ways that democrats try to paint republicans really stuck. so how do you move forward for the next four years? >> if you are the republicans, they need to move to the middle. they need to moderate both on social issues and on economic issues. 54% of voters in the exit polls thought mitt romney favored the rich. they did not think that was a good thing. obviously he hurt himself and the party hurt themselves with very severe things like banning funding for contraception, which was originally written into law. you need someone to modernize you to move you to the middle. reagan was great. but now you need someone to recreate it. >> there were some tonight. >> there were some who claimed that romney was not conservative enou

john berman looks ahead. >> reporter: remember when they all used to do that funny dance?bama was re-elected president. remember that campaign? it seems so long ago, so yesterday. now, 2016 is the new 2012. just ask joe biden, when reporters wondered when this was the last time he cast a ballot for himself. or last month at a phone bank. when the insurance rates go down. >> reporter: could the vice president be kidding? unlikely, there's nothing funny about joe biden. he might have hillary clinton to contend with. who can forget last month when she was asked by marie clare magazine if she was running for president. her answer, no, i'm not. you see that. she didn't say, i will not. no, that i am not. clearly, leaving the door wide open. she might as well started printing bumper stickers. even her husband practically announced her intentions. >> i have no earthly idea what she'll decide to do. >> reporter: how about other democrats? keep an eye on martin o'malley of maryland. it's not hard since he keeps turning up on this show, this one and this one. and republicans, paul r

and in last night's halftime show chris berman interviewed president obama and mitt romney.gin with mr. romney. >> this campaign process goes on a couple of years. lots of flights, lots of trips. what i found that surprised me is the more events i did, the more energy i seemed to get. >> in sports it's about winning championships. interesting in politics, it's not winning elections, it's making sure that you're delivering for the folks who sent you. >> speaking of sports, president obama predikded a victory for his chicago bears. >>> people in countries around the world pay a lot more attention to the american presidential election than you might thing. michelle is in london with more on that. michelle, good morning. >> reporter: absolutely, lynn. this has been the big story here. it's all over television. the coverage has been extensive and extremely thorough in newspapers and on the web. you think about it, virtually every major publication outside of the u.s. has a section on its website that is devoted to this election. that's hard for us in the states to have any compar