victims of bernie madoff set to recoup half of the money lost by the jailed finance year. president obama signed into law an extension of bush tax cuts. welcome to bbc news broadcasting to our viewers in america and around the world. president mugabe says that the power-sharing deal with this opposition has run its course. the venezuelan parliament has voted to give the president hugo chavez special powers to deal with the aftermath of the floods. he will be able to pass laws by decree for 18 months. opposition groups have accused the president of trying to grab power. >> it is a decision that is outraging opposition parties. president hugo chavez given 18 months worth of decree powers. powers he says that he needs to deal with last month's deadly flood. his critics say the move will turn the country into a dictatorship. >> a preliminary vote went overwhelmingly in the president's favor. perhaps unsurprisingly, the final vote has now done so too. a decision made by the national assembly dominated by loyalists from his socialist party. following september's elections here,

this morning. >>> well, two years after ruining thousands of lives in a massive ponzi scheme, bernie madoff is still making headlines. take a look at the "new york post" madoff's final insult. he will not be attending the funeral of his son, mark, who committed suicide over the weekend. jeff rossen has the latest on all of this. it has really been a tragic twist to what is a tragic story for lots of people. >> yeah, it really has. bernie madoff apparently decided not to attend the funeral out of respect, he said, for his family. a fammy that has basically shub shuned him. his kids haven't spoken to him in years and bernie's wife, ruth, is furious with him and blames him for mark's suicide and now bernie madoff own grandkids may pay for his mistakes. at the madoff's connecticut estate, the family gathered monday, no comment as relatives came down the long, winding driveway. as they grieve mark's suicide, apparently depressed over the criminal investigation and lawsuits against him, his father, bernie madoff, has made a decision behind bars. he will not attend mark's funeral out of his consid

we have new details on what may have led bernie madoff's son to kill himself. and why madoff's 2-year-old grandson might now be liable for repaying the scam victims. >>> desperate measures. it has come to this. cash strapped cities now charging accident victims who need help. this woman was billed $1,500. they're calling it the crash tax. >>> and, the fur is flying. the american invader that has even the british royals up in arms. this is a fight to the finish. >>> good evening. people in the midwest are, of course, used to punishing snowstorms, but it has been a long time since they've endured anything like this. this is an epic blizzard, dumping a foot and a half of snow across the upper midwest, paralyzing travel, even bringing down the roof of the metrodome in minneapolis. check this out. unbelievable to watch. and now, this entire mess is heading east. the weather warnings and watches stretching from wisconsin to new york tonight. and right behind that storm, dangerously cold air that will push all the way down to the gulf coast. we're going to kick things

mine is just somewhat unique. >> reporter: kelly worked for bernie madoff. asn't a high-level employee. his salary of $125,000 a year was modest by wall street standards. but for almost 10 years, up on the 19th floor of madoff's firm, he worked on the trading desk as a liaison to brokerage firms. how do you feel about having been caught up in all that? >> i still have nightmares or dreams, you know, that you-- that remind me of working there. >> reporter: do you think-- obviously, you know, when they see the madoff name on your resume, do you think people are assuming you were part of this? >> i don't know what people think. i mean, i didn't have that type of a position. >> reporter: nearly two years ago, after madoff's $20 billion ponzi scheme collapsed, kelly lost his job and has not been able to find one since. do you think it's the recession or is it who you worked for? >> i believe it's definitely both. >> reporter: because of comment he's received from employers, like this one, "we'll need substantial convincing as to why someone who worked with the wor

bernie madoff 71, 72 years old serving a 130-year prison sentence. >> bernie madoff is not going to beng his son's funeral, right? >> there have been at least reports bernie madoff did not want to attend that funeral out of respect for his children and grandchildren. he apparently told somebody he was going to have a private ceremony in his prison in north carolina. but the truth is, there's no way of telling if the federal bureau of prison would even give him a furlough to get out because he hadn't been in that long. >> we also know -- it was obviously -- mark madoff worked for his dad's firm but then turned in his father. >> right. >> was he implicated in the fraud? >> well, there was an investigation and they checked him out and it's not clear at all that the investigation was over. but about the relationship, i mean, we know that it wasn't a good one. for one thing, mark madoff worked at the firm, turned him in. he confessed. there are also reports he hadn't really had any contact with his parents since that day when all of this happened two years ago. he still got sued, though, th

police say the suspect was someone she knew very well 37. >>> good evening, i'm diane dwyer, bernie madoff's son mark committed suicide this weekend. this weekend is the second anniversary of his father's arrest. police say no note was found but they tell brian mooar that madoff had apparently sent troubling e-mails to family members. >> reporter: two years to the day after bernie madoff's infamous arrest, his eldest son was found dead in new york of an apparent suicide. >> his father-in-law was there, called by mr. madoff's wife to check on the 2-year-old who was there and the 2-year-old was fine. >> mark madoff was found hanging in his upscale soho apartment. his 2-year-old son was asleep in a nearby bedroom. >> an autopsy will determine the official cause of death. mark madoff was facing a criminal investigation and a slew of civil lawsuits related to his father's multibillion dollar ponzi scheme. but mark madoff's lawyer called him an innocent victim. the 72-year-old bernie madoff pleaded guilty and is serving a 150-year sentence at this north carolina prison. meanwhile, a trustee and an

now bernie madoff's own grandkids may pay for his mistakes. madoff's connecticut estate, the family gathered monday, no comment, as relatives came down the long winding driveway. as they grieve mark's suicide, apparently depressed over the criminal investigation and lawsuits against him, his father bernie madoff has made a decision behind bars, he won't attend his son's funeral, out of his daughter-in-law and his grandchildren's privacy. it's not even clear if bernie madoff would even be welcome at the funeral. mark cut ties with his father since the story broke in 2008. ruth reportedly blames their convict husband for their son's death. sk sk . >> she claims that bernie madoff has blood on his hands, she calls him an s.o.b. and that he has totally ruined their family and the death of their son was the final straw. >> reporter: mark madoff pled poverty to friends, but in reality, he was still living a lavish life. his compound in connecticut, worth $2.3 million. his ocean front estate in nantucket seen here is worth $17 million. and the manhat

bernie madoff is serving a 150-year prison sentence and may be barred from his son's funeral according to the rules at the north carolina jail where he is. >>> mark madoff was the oldest son of the disgraced finance year who alerted police to his father's multibillion dollar scheme. his body was found this weekend exactly two years after his father's arrest. cnbc has been covering the story the past two years and has new information on the stunning and dark chapter to the bernie madoff saga. >> reporter: sources say 46-year-old mark madoff was increasingly distraught as the two-year anniversary of the scandal approached. early saturday morning his father-in-law found madoff hanged with a dog leash in his new york city apartment. madoff's 2-year-old son sleeping in the next room. >> mark madoff was found hanging from a pipe in the living room of the apartment. >> reporter: madoff and his younger brother andrew turned their father in to authorities after he confessed but the sons were never able it to escape suspicion they, too, were in on the scam. which they denied. a year ago the bank

it represents the proceeds of a bernie madoff investor who wasn't fleeced. he was one of the successful ones and became a target of the madoff victims' trustee. here is the word from the chief federal prosecutor from new york. >> a few minutes ago a manhattan federal judge approved a settlement agreement between my office and the estate of jeffrey picower represented by his widow, barbara picower. the agreement resolved a complaint we filed this morning seeking to recover the profits that the picowers received over the course of 35 years from bernard madoff, monies we now know were the proceeds of the largest ponzi scheme in all of history. >> $7.2 billion from one person's estate. jeffrey picower, he died october 25, 2009, just over a year ago. he was found dead in his pool by his wife. the coroner said it was a heart attack. his contribution means madoff victims now have recovered more than a third of the $20 billion they lost. you may have heard bigger numbers, but the actual cash that was invested, that was lost was about $20 billion, or about $65 billion

bernie madoff remains in prison serving a 150 year sentence. in less than three hours president obama will sign the bill extending the bush era tax cuts for two more years. it passed on a bipartisan vote late last night after getting hours of bipartisan criticism. john hendron reports. >> it was an all-night rhetorical assault. >> the greedy will prevail. >> the guns pointed at the head of our taxpayers. it will go off january 1st unless congress acts. >> after hours of heated debate, the house passed the bill extending the bush tax cuts and adding a few more, easily as it turned out. >> the yeas are 277, the nays are 148. the motion is adopted. >> the warning did not pass it were near apocalyptic. >> paychecks and jobs will burn while washington fiddles. >> our small businesses will be crushed. >> this tax increase will basically hit economic growth, hit prosperity in this country like a category 5 hurricane. >> the warnings about passing it were equally catastrophic. >> unemployed were being held as hostage. the 112 congress will say insuffic

bernie madoff remains in prison serving a 150 year sentence.less than three hours president obama will sign the bill extending the bush era tax cuts for two more years. it paed on a bipartin vote late last night after getting hours of bipartisan criticism. john hendron reports >> it was an all-night rhetorical assault. >> the greedy will prevail. >> the guns pointed at the head of our taxpars. it will go off january 1st unle congress acts. >> after hours of heated debate, the house passed the bill exteing the bush tax cuts and adding a few more, easily as it turned out. >> the yeas are 277, the nays are 148. the motion is adopted. >> the warning did not pass it were near apocalyptic. >> paychecks and jobs will burn while washington fiddles. >> our small businesses will be crushed. >> this tax increase will basically hit economic growth, hit pr in this country like a category 5 hurricane. >> the warnings about passing it were equally catastrophic. >> unemployed were being held as hostage. the 112 congress will say insufficie funds. it engangs th

. >>> the disgraced bernie madoff won't go to his son's. >>> the situation in north korea is oeskilating. richard lui will have an exclusive interview with someone who's been there more than half a dozen times. my doctor said most calcium supplements... aren't absorbed properly unless taken with food. he recommended citracal. it's different -- it's calcium citrate, so it can be absorbed with or without food. also available in small, easy-to-swallow petites. citracal.

estranged from him for two years. >> mark madoff and the younger brother andrew have not spoken to bernie madoffh madoff, the mom, since 2008 when bernie madoff was arrested. the brothers turned him over to the police. and to the fbi. so the question now is what happens to the criminal case? federal investigators say according to people familiar with the case they are still pursuing andrew madoff, the younger brother. no charges have been filed against either brother. they both denied involvement in the ponzi scheme. there's also the question about the money. . will the trustee still go after madoff's kids? the answer is yes. >> jeff, what about reports that the walls, if you will, were closing in even more on mark madoff. the there still could have been the federal investigation. >> just to bring you to the final hours of mark madoff's life. on friday afternoon, just days ago, he realized another lawsuit was filed against him. this time his wife and young children were named. sources close to him say he was visibly depressed by it. that was sort of the breaking point. that night, friday night,

there's been no public reaction from bernie madoff, currently serving a 150-year sentence in a federal prison in north carolina. >> i have no comment. i'm sorry, i can't help you. >> reporter: since the scandal broke, the pressure has not let up on mark or his brother, andrew who ran the firm's

>>> later the fallout from bernie madoff's ponzi scheme, a really tragic horrific development over the weekend. another life claimed, this time his son's. htness in my chest. so i went back to my doctor again. we chose symbicort to help control my asthma symptoms all day and night. [ man ] symbicort improves my lung function, starting within 15 minutes. symbicort will not replace a rescue inhaler for sudden symptoms. it is a combination of two medicines and should not be taken more often than prescribed. symbicort contains formoterol. medicines like formoterol increase the risk of death from asthma problems, and children and adolescents may have an increased risk of being hospitalized for asthma problems. symbicort is not for people whose asthma is well controlled with a long-term asthma control medicine like inhaled corticosteroids. once your asthma is well controlled, your doctor will decide if you can stop symbicort without loss of control, and prescribe a long-term asthma control medicine. be sure to see your doctor if your asthma does not improve or gets worse. symbicort is a good

>> he was -- he was in a very bad place. >> reporter: as bernie madoff's secretary for over 25 years, she saw mark and his brother andy grow up in the family business. she said she knew mark was having a hard time with the shame of being a madoff. >> i always knew that mark wore his heart on his sleeve and that he wanted to be liked. i can see him thinking that his family would be better off without him. and that makes me so sad because it's not true. but when you're that depressed you don't see it. >> reporter: was a shakespearean tragedy. mark was more interested in fly fishing than wall street. even when they joined the family firm, he was never part of what turned out to be the illegal part of the business. hours before he died, he wrote his lawyer "no one wants to hear the truth." >> he had to live for the last two years under the scrutiny, and people alluding to the fact that he should have known or he had to have known. well, you know what? he didn't. >> reporter: but the money stolen by bernie madoff allowed all of the family members, including mark, to live lives of luxury. a

>> bernie madoff's son is dead.exactly two years after his father's arrest and he knows something that investigators missed and why are more people tied to this case dying? that comes up next. ♪ express yourself ♪ [ female announcer ] the newest seasonal flavors are here. ♪ express yourself ♪ [ female announcer ] because coffee is like the holidays. it's better when you add your flavor. coffee-mate. from nestle. ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] print from any mobile vice so your ideas can be there even when you're not. introducing the new web-connected printers with eprint from hp. >> glad you're up. welcome to monday. ponzi schemer bernie madoff sits in jail while his many victims try to repair their lives financially and emotionally but even those close to him seem to still be suffering. his oldest son mark over the weekend hung himself two years to the day of his dad's arrest. this isn't the first death related to the madoff fallout. joining us is a man who knows the story inside and out. the author of "betrayal, the lif

there is word that bernie madoff has no plan to attend his son's funeral.why there may not be a funeral to attend. why there may not be a funeral to attend. >> if you have pictures, head over to fox news.com. /you report. ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] here's hoping you find something special in your driveway this holiday. ♪ [ santa ] ho ho ho! [ male announcer ] get an exceptional offer on the mercedes-benz you've always wanted at the winter event going on now. and stay connected with three years of mbrace service complimentary. >> one of bernie madoff victims calmed it the ultimate punishment for a convicted con man who shattered lives in the nation. his son mark killed himself two years since his father's arrest for running the biggest investment scam in the world. today no one claimed the body and we are hearing there may not be a funeral at all. mark madoff hanged himself with a dog leash as his two year old son slept in the other room. mark and andrew is not named in the scheme. but the trustee is suing the family for more than 200 million and relatives cou

bernie madoff serving a 150 year life sentence for the running of the most massive investment fraud andme victims include his friends, his death comes after the filing of multiple lawsuits again the former madoff business. and now, we will start first with the family of the no one claimed the body? >>reporter: the body is at the morgue in new york city and there is word from bernie madoff's lawyer that bernie madoff will not request to attend a funeral if there is one but that clears the way, removing bernie from all of this, clears the way for the family members who have been discussing whether they will have a funeral service, to now go forward and possibly claim the body. but as of yet, no funeral home, nobody, has come forward to claim the body from the medical examiner. >>shepard: and he says he will hold a private service in the risen. what about the lawsuits filed? >>reporter: he faced multi million dollar suits and that lives, the estate will include that and the estate includes the four children, and the lawyers claim they received some of the money that mark received, that the

were absolutely in a position to understand what was going on. >> reporter: it's not known how bernie madoff got the news in prison but he and his son had not spoken in two years. and the suicide may have been a message. >> i think bernie got the message. >> did he deserve to get that message? >> well, mark didn't deserve to die. bernie deserves to be where he is. i'm very angry. >> as for mark's mother ruth neither mark or his brother andrew had spoken with her either since the arrest. she blamed her as an enabler of their father's crimes and when she had to support either her husband or her son, she chose her husband. >> and we're joined by "the new york times," and brian you have the chronicles out. diana, friends say madoff was clear december upon dant. >> he seemed to navigate through the first-year anniversary with the publicity, with relative calm. but things were building. i think from blah we've been able to learn and the research that i've been doing. the drum beat of litigation was becoming an enormous burden. he's known to have been very upset about the fact that his children, be

. >>> cnbc confirms that bernie madoff will not attend his son's funeral.is lawyers say he will conduct a private service at prison. bernie madoff, we don't know if he was going to rerequest if a judge would let him do it, if the warden would let him do it. no matter what he's made the decision not to attend his son's funeral. the senate is up first on the obama tax bill compromise. and they're holding a key closure vote today to end the debate on the legislation which needs 60 votes to pass. this is essentially stopping any filibuster. ezra klein is an msnbc contributor and reporter for the "washington post." ezra, let's talk through the policy of this. you had a fascinating interview over the weekend with an economist from the bush era days. glenn hubbard. and he had some interesting takes on what should happen with tax policy going forward. tell me about it. >> sure. so glenn hubbard was the first chairman of the council of economic advisers. he helped write the tax cuts. he said, you know, i wouldn't support a permanent extension at this point. i said w

on this saturday, it was two years ago tonight bernie madoff was under arrest and we would learn of his epic swindle, cheating investors out of tens of billions. this morning, two years to the day, we learned his oldest son mark madoff hanged himself. brian ross has been on the story from the beginning and he's back tonight. what a turn. >> it was his life of privilege and luxury that ended two years ago today. and this morning, bernie mado ' madoff's son apparently timed i hihis suicide to the minute and hour of the anniversary. police found the body in madoff's manhattan apartment. his 2-year-old son in a different room. >> he was found hanging from a pipe in the living room. >> authorities said he sent an e-mail to his wife saying take care of our son. his wife became concerned that he was suicidal. >> mr. madoff's father-in-law was called to check on his 2-year-old, who was there, and he was fine. >> mark, who was more interested in fly fishing than wall street had only reluctantly entered his father's business. he denied any knowledge of the criminal scheme, but he was being sued f

bernie madoff was told behind bars about this. unclear what his reaction was. unclear if he'll ask to go to the funeral. ruth madoff, who reportedly lives in florida -- by the way, mark has not spoken to bernie madoff or ruth madoff, his mother and father, since 2008, when bernie madoff was arrested. she's apparently heartbroken by this and blames bernie for all of it, chuck and savannah. >> unbelievable. jeff rossen for us on this tragic story, and the fact that he did it, what a message he wanted to send, to do it on the two-year anniversary. >> clearly he wanted to say something even more than just the suicide. jeff rossen, thanks. >>> coming up, the president's tax cut deal facing its first critical test today in the senate. but that's not the biggest hurdle. the biggest hurdle still remains. >> we're not beginning to hold this thing up at the end of the day. >> well, that comment had congressman chris van hollen having to clarify later in the day. up next, he join us for "the daily rundown" interview for a little more clarification. >>> and move over, oscar

. >> george lost his life savings to bernie madoff believes mark is just another victim. >> i think it's extremely tragic. >> reporter: the medical examiner confirmed today the 46-year-old did take his own life. madoff's father-in-law discovered him hang from a dog leash in his posh manhattan apartment as his two-year-old son slept in another room and his wife was away at disney world with their daughter. a lawyer for his mother ruth madoff said simply ruth is heartbroken. there's been no public reaction from bernie madoff, who is currently serving a 150-year sentence in a federal prison in north carolina. >> i have no comment. i'm sorry. >> reporter: since the scandal broke, the pressure has not let up on mark or his brother andrew who ran the firm's trading division, which was separate from the division that oversaw the massive fraud. still in 2009, the court-appointed trustee in the case filed a civil suit against both brothers, trying to recover money from the victims. the lawsuit accused mark madoff of using $66 million he received from the firm to buy lavish properties in nantucket

. >>> two years to the day after disgraced finance ear bernie madoff was arrested his eldest son hanged himself in his apartment. he was found yesterday dead he was despondent over the news coverage over his fathers case and ongoing criminal investigation of family memberstruggling to find a steady job since his fathers arrest. >> he was estranged from his mother he felt she was siding with bernie madoff it has been a terrible life he had no apparent hope of his life getting better. >> i really don't think he was a party to it or if he was, it was so peripheral. >> mark and his brother andrew have said they were unaware of their fathers crimes. >>> a bay area man was the first person in the world to own the new nissan leaf. he joined an online waiting list and ordered the car in august it arrived friday night in petaluma. the leaf is 100% electric, first of its kind vailable for mass consumption. all for around $33,000 with tax credits it is about $20,000 to keep the car running you need an electrical charge within the next few months local air quality groups plan to have 400 stations i

and i would bet my life on it. >> reporter: but as bernie madoff's son, he led an extravagant lifestyle, paid for with tens of millions of dollars. a bankruptcy trustee says was stolen from madoff's investors. in a lawsuit, the trustee alleges if the family members had been doing their jobs, honestly and faithfully, the madoff ponzi scheme might never have succeeded or continued for so long. >> one of the theories is that some of these people were in control or were -- were absolutely in a position to understand what was going on. others simply benefited on a rather extravagant basis. >> we all would be living that -- if we were born into it and mark just assumed -- like you would or i would, that if your father was an extremely wealthy man, and he owned this brokerage firm, and you worked there, and he gave you all his money, you wouldn't think twice about it. >> reporter: for the last two years, the once picture perfect madoffs were a dysfunctional family. friends say mark was so angry about his father's crimes that he cut off all communication with him and also refused to speak with

what drove bernie madoff's son to take his own life two years after turning his father in. >>> saying good-bye to elizabeth edwards. friends and family remember. >> she was always a source of strength, a source of wisdom, a source of grace. >>> snowed in. a fierce blast of winter and where it's headed next. >>> and child's play. are parents pushing their kids into sports too hard and too soon? captions paid for by nbc-universal television >>> good evening. another stunning and dark chapter to the bernie madoff saga was written today when the oldest son of the disgraced financier who first alerted police to his father's multibillion dollar ponzi scheme committed suicide. the body of mark madoff was found in his new york city apartment this morning exactly two years after his father was arrested in a massive swindle, one that upended the live of thousands of investors and costing them tens of billions of dollars. cnbc's scott cohn has been covering this story. he joins us tonight here in new york. >> reporter: mark madoff always denied any knowledge of his father's scheme but the clouds

burning it down was the safest option. >>> mark madoff committed suicide today and his lawyer says bernie madoff's 46-year- old son is the latest victim of his father's monstrous crime and it happened on the second anniversary of the day his father's financial empire collapsed. terrell brown reports mark madoff was never charged in his father's scam but he remained under a cloud of suspicion. >> reporter: mark madoff took his own life, exactly two years after his father's arrest. >> mark madoff was found hanging from a pipe in the living room of the apartment. >> reporter: police say sometime overnight, the 46-year- old madoff e-mailed his wife, who was out of town, and she sent her father over to the apartment where she discovered the body and the couple's 2- year-old son was asleep in the bedroom unharmed. >> have you talked to your dad? >> i have no comment. i'm sorry. >> reporter: that was mark madoff in 2009. he and his brother andrew worked for their father's company. but said that they had no idea he was running a multibillion dollar ponzi scheme. and when it collapsed, bernard madoff confe

. >>> the son of bernie madoff committed suicide in new york city this weekend. mark madoff was the eldest son of the disgraced wall street executive and this weekend is the second anniversary of his father's arrest. mark madoff and his younger brother worked for their father but were never charged in the financial wrongdoing, although that investigation is still ongoing. earlier this week, lawsuits were filed against the madoff brothers and other family members, including mark madoff's children, his emwife and his wife. >> obviously, it's not easy having the last name madoff. >> this is the third suicide link to the bernie madoff scandal. >>> coming up next at 11:00, we'll show you a few ways to get the best deals on electronics this holiday. >>> birds that endsed up trapped bwi eer cans around their necks. ♪electronic santa song ♪electronic santa song verizon 4g lte. rule the air on the most advanced 4g network in the world. the contrast of infinite black... the clarity of fast-switching phosphors... the smoothness of 600 hertz... all come together to create wh

are named in a lawsuit by the trustee trying to recover billions of dollars lost by victims of bernie madoff'scheme. >> where is the money? that the brothers still seem to have. children in private schools. we can't help our grandkids with private school. >> reporter: madoff timed his suicide to coincide with the second anniversary of his father's arrest. mark madoff lost friends after the scandal. and those that knew him, tell us he had last hope and may have been considering suicide for some time. criminal charges were possible. lawyers say none were imminent. in an e-mail to his attorney, he said, no one wants to hear the truth. he added, take care of my family. the suicide inside his living room came as mark madoff tried to pull his life together. he thought that nobody else would hire him. so, he considered starting his own business in public relations. his wife, stephanie, told friends she has no plans to return here to the couple's apartment. the medical examiner confirmed madoff's death a suicide. the body will be released to his family, which is considering a small service in connecti

saturday was also the deadline for filing civil lawsuits, to recover money paid out over the years by bernie madoff. nearly a thousand such suits have been filed. and mark madoff was one of several family members named as a defendant in those suits, which are being brought through the court's bankruptcy trustee. diana henriques has been covering the story from the beginning, and is working on a book about the case. she joins us from new york. diana, as the deadline grew closer, did the suits start to pile up? did the pace of filings increase as saturday approached? >> it certainly did. not only filings of lawsuits but announcements of settlements ahead of that deadline. it almost seemed like we were getting two and three major store stories a day, substantial lawsuits for 100 million, 200 million, a billion dollars, settlements of half a billion dollars. 600 million dollars. it was quite a week actually. it ended with a grand flourish on friday with a major lawsuit seeking nearly $20 billion in damages from a whole assortment of defendants headed by a very flamboyant austrian banker. it was quite a

sk sk . >> she cims that bernie madoff has bloo on his hands, she calls him an s.o.b. at he has totally ruined their family and theeath of their son was the final straw. >> reporter: mark madoff pled poverty to friends, but in reality, he was still living a lavish life. his compound in connecticut, worth $2.3 million. his ocean front estate in nantucket seen here is wth $17 million. and the manhattan apartment where he hanged himself with a doing leash is worth $6 million. and now victims seek pay back for his admitted scam. his wife and young children as young as 2 years old may be on the hook for tens of millions. >> the victims of the bernie madoff ponzi scheme want their money back. and one of the things they have tried to do is to go after mark madoff's children seeking money they got through allegedly the bernie madoff ponzi scheme. so this litigation is going to go on. >> reporter: and federal investigators haven't ruled out criminal charges either. officials still want to know what the sonsnew about the ponzi scheme and whether they were involved. >> andrew is n

secured guard who wounded the gunman before he killed himself. >>> those who lost millions in bernie madoff's ponzi scheme are celebrating a huge win. the estate a florida philanthropist wil payback $7.2 billion to victims of the scheme. the money given back represents the money he made off of madoff's scheme over 35 years of investing. federal investigators say th is a huge win for those who lost so much. >> this settlement provides a significant measure of hope for many victims of bernie madoff's horrific crimes with close to $10 billion now recovered we have together collected close to 50% of the principal that victi lost to madoff's ponzi scheme. >>> he died in 2009. his widow said in a statement her husband was not involved in madoff's scheme but giving the money back was the right thing to do. >>> not everybody is so happy about happy meals, in fact one woman has filed a class action lawsuit against mcdonald's because she says it uses toys to get to eat unhealthy food. >> reporter: if happy meals had a home outside of their cdboard boxhis household in cincinnati might be it. leslie star

bernie madoff is serving a 150-year prison stence f his decades-long $65 billion scheme that swindled madoff left almost $2 million to a charity in his wife's name. >>> a royal caribbean cruise ship ran into a violent storm in the mediterranean sea, tossing passengers on board today. these are photos taken by passengers this morning. several folks got banged up. they were treated for cuts and bruises, we're told. this ship was on its way to al exandrea, egypt. 1,600 amecans are aboard that ship. >>> still ahead here tonight, first family getting into the holiday spirit for a very good cause at a star-studded event. we'll take you there. plus, the rain we saw today is just the tip of the iceberg. we have lot of messy weather ead. chuck bell w

brian. >> reporter: diane, bernie madoff's lawyer said today madoff will not seek to attend the funeral of his son mark, and it's unlikely he would have been welcome in any case. despite his death, the legal proceedings against mark madoff continued today. they seek tens of millions of dollars from him and even from his children. the 46-year-old eldest son of madoff knew the legal process against him would drag on for years, ending his life of luxury and privilege. his father's former secretary said mark had been struggling with the stigma of being a madoff. >> it had to have been unrelenting, for him to go there and to feel that he had no way out. and to think that, you know, people would be better off without him here, because that's not true. >> reporter: just before he hung himself with a dog leash, madoff sent an e-mail to his wife in florida saying, "i love you, send someone to take care of nick," his 2-year-old son who was asleep in another room in the new york apartment. mark madoff's first love was fly-fishing, not wall street, and he was remembered today by friends on a facebo