i'm carol costello. we begin with a showdown on capitol hill, minutes from now, former republican senator chuck hagel begins his uphill battle to become the nation's defense secretary. the vietnam vet will testify before the senate armed services committee in just about 30 minutes. he won't have an easy time of it. critics painted hagel as anti-israel, homophobic and way too weak on iran. there have been even anti-hagel ads paid for by anonymous donors. >> while president obama says all options are on the table for preventing a nuclear iran, hagel says military action is not a viable, feasible, responsible option. >> chris lawrence is at the pentagon and chris hagel was also accused of wanting to gut the defense department so what kind of day do you think is on tap for him? >> carol, it's likely to be a pretty rough one. with avenue got word from insiders haguele is going to testify that the militant group hezbollah is a terrorist organization and that military options are on the table for iran. it's not

i'm carol costello. lance armstrong talks and one of the great stories in sports is exposed as a fraud. after years of denials, the bicycling legend now admits that illegal doping fueled his superhuman feats, his seven tour de france titles, his record-setting times and his ferocious claims of innocence all lies. this hour we'll hear from people in austin, texas, are they sticking by their hometown hero? an expert in body language will also weigh in. are the words telling the whole truth. we want to hear from you, our "talk back" question this morning, what did you take away from the armstrong interview. let's listen -- >> yes or no, did you ever take banned substances to enhance your cycling performance? >> yes. >> yes or no, was one of those banned substances epo? >> yes. >> did you ever blood dope or use blood transfusions to enhance your cycling performance? >> yeah. >> did you ever use any other banned substances like testosterone, cortizone, or human growth hormone? >> yeah. >> yes or no, in all se

. >> cnn newsroom with carol costello begins now. we'll see everyone else back here tomorrow morning. sorry. next time, charles. good morning, carol. >> good morning. thanks a lot. >>> here's what's happening in the newsroom. a war hero and washington politics. former senator chuck hagel may need the war survival skills as one-time allies rally against his pending nomination as defense secretary. >> my wife is a hero. she protected her kids. she did what she was supposed to do as a responsible, prepared gun owner. >>> a georgia man praising his wife after she fought back against an intruder. gun rights advocates say we told you so. >>> rg3 down and out. the redskins have replaced their franchise quarterback long before his knee buckled? "newsroom" starts now. >>> good morning to you. thank you so much for being with us. i'm carol costello. we begin with a new battle, or should i say another battle that's brewing this morning in washington. at the center, former u.s. senator chuck hagel. in four hours, president obama is expected to na

irm carol costello.or being with us. >>> google chairman, eric schmidt, has wrapped up a trip to north korea. he urged them to let north koreans use the internet or they will fall behind in the world. >>> vice president, joe biden, says the president is going to act on gun violence. biden says mr. obama is looking into executive orders to help prevent mass shootings. biden, who is leading a task force, held meetings yesterday with religious leaders and groups representing survivors of mass shootings. >> more changes coming to the obama administration. in a little more than three hours, the president, expected to nominate his white house chief of staff, jack lew, to be treasury secretary. >>> last night, hilda solis resigned shchlt resigned. she is expected to leave her post this month. >>> when you hear the boss, the first person you think of is bruce springsteen. not "time" magazine who have chris christie on their cover. here is how he reported. >> i am reporting "time" magazine to the anti-italian def

i'm carol costello. >>> at this very moment a california law maker is unveiling legislation that could chip away at the power of the nation's gun industry. he'll explain in just a moment. first, here's a look at what's in the cross hairs. it's a 2005 law that grants wide legal i community mmunity to gud dealers. no one else in the country enjoys this protection. it shields the industry from lawsuits involving shooting victims, everything from faulty designs to negligent sales practices that put guns in the wrong hands. the nra says it merely guards against frivolous lawsuits aimed at breaking gun makers. he joins us live in this exclusive interview. >> thank you. good to be with you. >> ted kennedy said this law was bought and paid for by the nra. in your mind, what was the intent behind this law? >> the time it was passed, there were a number of suits, predominantly by municipalities against the gun industry meant to attack against the sale of saturday night specials. the proponents of the law claimed i

i'm carol costello. we begin with the adrenalin-fueled x games, and new questions this morning as the high-flying competition, has it become too extreme, too dangerous? 25-year-old caleb moore who competes in snowmobile freestyle is in critical condition this morning after this bone-jarring crash a few days ago. after he came up short on landing his 450-pound snowmobile tumbled over him. "usa today" is reporting moore has chest and head injuries. danger and thrills are a big part of the x games and its appeal to younger audience. sunday it wasn't just the athlete but the crowd that scrambled to get out of the way of a runaway snowmobile. remember this iconic fail from 2007, skateboarder jake brown soars into the sky, loses control and plummets 45 feet to a thunderous crash, amazingly, he walked away with only bumps and bruises but he's one of the lucky ones. jason blevins for "the denver post" has spoken to moore before the event. jason, welcome and good morning. >> good morning, carol. >> any more word

carol costello takes over now. hi, carol. >> hi, soledad. >>> happening now in the newsroom, trapped. new details on the nightclub fire in brazil. doors were locked. thousands of people, and only one exit. and now there are new questions about the club's license and word of arrests made just this morning. >>> obama, clinton, and 2016, the secretary of state and the future. >> i don't think either he or i can make predictions about what's going to happen tomorrow or the next year. >> just ahead, the love fest and what a difference an election can make. >>> credit alert. stores can now charge you a so-called checkout fee. we'll tell you how much and where. plus this. >>> i really hope "30 rock" is ending this week, but i hope it has a long life in syndication. i look forward to another generation of nerds kind of finding it and enjoying it. >> it was so cool being able to roll out the red carpet and coming here today and them calling our name. >> backstage at the sag awards. newsroom has your all access pass to the wi

. >> "cnn newsroom" with carol costello, carol, good morning. it's not carol costello, it's victor blackwell. >> just a little bit of difference, no squirrel in the teeth. i was going to jump in there but just got this good job so i'm not going to make fun of you john. >> i like him. >>> happening now, pork promises and priorities. sandy victims finally getting their due today, and it cannot come soon enough. >> there's a good 40% of the exterior walls that are covered in mold. >> we don't have anyone to remove it and we don't have the finances to be able to. >> as washington doles out billions, we examine where the money is really going. new details about venezuela's president hugo chavez, reportedly battling a severe lung infection. some venezuelans are worried about his condition and it may be worse than officials are letting on. >>> plus a new year and a new gaffe from vice president joe biden. the latest and afternoon swearing in ceremony for new senators. we'll have the audio will you not believe. plus this. >> this sure is a crazy way to

i'm carol costello. we begin with new questions on the white house's search for ideas to curb gun violence in america. president obama vowed to bring together the vastly divided interests in the gun control debate. today those sides seem more polarized than ever. the nation's largest gun lobby the nra is angry and apparently backing away from the conversation, says the white house isn't really interested in a dialogue. >> we knew going into this meeting what the president's position on the so-called assault weapons ban it, is, he said no we've made up our mind on that. no, there's not going to be an agreement on that. >> today we're learning the nation's largest gun retailer is feeling slighted. walmart officials agreed to take part in the talks but in the end they didn't get to meet with joe biden. christine romans has been talking to walmart, what are executives telling you. >> well it's noted inside the company in the end it wasn't a meeting with the vice president, this meeting and the rescheduling a

i'm carol costello. we start with an arctic blast, plunging south, bringing with it ice, snow, and varying degrees of misery to millions. this morning many are waking up to plunging temperatures and the hard bite of winter. fountains in much of the eastern united states frozeen this morning. the 20s reaching as far south as south carolina and georgia, for many an abrupt end to what has been so far pretty darned mild winter. cnn meteorologist jennifer delgado is in nashville where shivering southerners are also bracing for the threat of ice and alexandra steele is in the weather center with the big picture. jennifer, let's start with you. good morning. >> good morning, carol. you said mild winter but right now it doesn't feel so mild. we are dealing with the cold rain in nashville and only had one report of any ice accumulation, roughly one-tenth in the county we're in, in a nashville. right now we are live and reporting from the tennessee department of transportation, you can see a lot of action under wa

i'm carol costello. senator john kerry appears on the other side of a nomination hearing.ecome the next secretary of state. both parties predict he will sale through an easy confirmation. if so, he will succeed hillary clinton. clinton put her diplomacy to the test yesterday when she appeared on capitol hill to answer for the deaths of four americans in libya. clinton claimed full responsibility for the deaths at due to the attack. nobody has been arrested. zain verjee is in london. i want to take the politics out of this and get the latest on the actual investigation. >> the bottom line, carol, on the investigation is, no one's been arrested. there's really not a lot of information on the investigation. here's what we found. videos like this among the best leads the u.s. has to identifying suspects behind the killing of u.s. ambassador christopher stevens and three other americans. it shows what authorities say is the aftermath of the attack. a u.s. law enforcement official says that they are looking at 15 people. robert mueller was recently in tripoli. mueller met with t

i'm carol costello.g about a major announcement from president obama and the vice president, joe biden. next hour they will unveil their plan to fight gun violence in america. and they'll be joined by several families of newtown shooting victims and children who wrote letters about gun violence. here's what we're experting. according to an official familiar with the situation the president will press for a ban on high capacity magazines and assault weapons, push for universal background checks and request funds be made available to treat mental illness and enhance school safety. dan lothian joins us now. the nra is on the attack before they have seen the plan. >> it's a controversial ad the nra has released. it's not only going after the president and suggesting he's an elitist, but also going after the first daughters. it is an ad that is clearly aimed at sort of defending their position, which is they believe as the president looks to have these two tracks, one put pressure on congress to pass some of

i'm carol costello. we begin with lance armstrong and one of the most remarkable stories in sports, beat cancer, reinvented cycling and rewrote the record books. based on various reports with oprah winfrey he was cheating the whole time and lying to all of us. this is the video of the four seasons in austin, texas, lots of questions this morning as to what exactly was said during that interview, namely how did armstrong reportedly admit to doping, something he has flatly denied for years? >> i would say he did not come clean in the manner that i expected. it was surprising to me. i would say that for myself, my team, all of us in the room, we were mesmerized and riveted by some of his answers. i had prepared, i had read the recent decision, i watched all of scott pelley's report, "60 minutes" report, i read "seven deadly sins" i read "l.a. confidential" david walsh's books. i had prepared like it was a college exam, and walked into the room with 112 questions and in a two and a half hour interview, i ask

i'm carol costello. depending on what side of the aisle you're on, you probably either loved the president's inaugural address or you absolutely hated it. for all the people who praised the 19-minute speech, just as many are criticizing it. it hit on some controversial topics like gay marriage, immigration reform and climate change and the president brought up the end of war. >> this generation of americans has been tested by crises that steel our resolve and proved our resilience, a decade of war is now ending. [ applause ] an economic recovery has begun. america's possibilities are limitless, for we possess all the qualities that this world without boundaries demands, youth and drive, diversity, and openness. >> criticism of that speech doesn't just come from republicans, james fallows, national correspondent for "the atlantic" former speechwriter for president jimmy carter writes "now, well it's almost as if he has won re-election and knows he will never have to run again and hears the clock ticking o

i'm carol costello. we're starting this hour with breaking news.ut an hour ago, a passenger ferry in new york city crashed -- and i mean crashed -- into a pier. more than a dozen people are hurt. some are being taken away on stretchers. cnn's national correspondent susan candiotti is in new york. she's been following this. tell us more. >> hi, carol. what a scene down there. when you take a look at that ferry, you can see a large chunk, it looks like, that's been eaten out or bitten out, as it apparently crashed into the dock. now, we talked to a passenger on the ship, and she says that this is a ferry that makes a daily run from new jersey. she got on in highland, new jersey, and it goes all the way over to wall street dock number 11. this accident happened according to officials just before 9:00 in the morning. this is a ferry service that makes daily runs from new jersey to new york and has a number of ships in its fleet. this one appears to be one that contains -- that can carry as many as 400 passengers. so right now authorities and rescue cre

thank you so much for joining me, i'm carol costello.n with a debate over gun control and new efforts to force stricter laws. former congresswoman gabrielle giffords launching an online campaign to raise funds and public support. she's unveiling the effort two years to the day since a gunman shot her, along with 18 other people, also marking the anniversary, a second initiative founded by new york mayor michael bloomberg, it targets illegal guns and features the mother of the youngest victim in that tucson killing spree. >> my 9-year-old daughter was murdered in the tucson shooting. i have one question for our political leaders, when will you find the courage to stand up to the gun lobby? whose child has to die next? >> in the days after that bloodshed, gun control advocates said a reawakened public would demand change. the sobering reality, there have been 11 mass shootings since then that includes the summer shooting spree inside a colorado movie theater, 12 people died that day and today the suspect is in court where witnesses have de

i'm in for carol costello.irst time since the tragic shooting in connecticut, school is back in session for sandy hook elementary students. class are being held in monroe, connecticut. we have video of students heading to class. the students' desks have been moved to making the set scene as normal as possible. >>> it's the first day at the office for 90 new lawmakers on capitol hill. the 113th congress begins at noon eastern, and it sets records for the number of new democratic women, including senator elizabeth warren of massachusetts. now that fiscal cliff debate is over, lawmakers will have to quickly tackle issues, including the sequester, the debt ceiling, and as we just spoke about, aid to superstorm sandy victims. mitch mcconnell is throwing down the gauntlet for a showdown with the president over spending and the debt. he wrote an op-ed for yahoo! news, and here's part of it. the president may not want to have a fight about government spending, but it's a fight he's going to have, because it's a debate

i'm carol costello. weigh into the bitterly decisive fight over gun control. we'll have live coverage of the testimony from former congresswoman gabrielle giffords and we'll hear from her husband, mark kelly. they lead a campaign against gun violence. we'll listen to the ceo of the national rifle association. his gun lobbying group has reached out to members asking them to attend this morning's hearings. let's head to our washington bureau and cnn's jake tapper. this hearing could be a mic microcosm over the debate ahead. >> reporter: the senate is going to soon consider a new ban on what is called assault weapons. these are semiautomatic rifles and sponsor of that measure, dianne feinstein, is a member of this judiciary committee and will mix it up with the nra's wayne lapierre. some democrats believe a moderate set of restrictions has a chance of being passed. this is video we shot half an hour ago as people waited in line to get inside the room. it wrapped around the hallway and down a flight of stair

i'm carol costello. we begin with a bit of breaking news, lance armstrong takes another hit as the international olympic committee strips him of his bronze medal. he took third place in the men's road cycle individual time trial at the 2000 olympics in sidney, australia. the ioc is asking armstrong to return the medal. the disgraced cyclist competed in the 1996 games in atlanta. the doping scandal that now surrounds armstrong could bring down the sport of cycling in olympic games. cycling may be pulled from the games if the scandal implicating top cycling officials inside the international cycling union, the sports' governing body. more on armstrong's latest trouble in a live report from austin, texas. >>> to another developing story this morning in north africa, in algeria, where the fate of several americans remains unknown. they were taken hostage yesterday during an attack by islamic militants. happened at a gas field owned partly by bp. two people have been killed, and there are reports this morning

. >>> good morning, i'm joe johns from washington, and sitting in for carol costello.n this morning with the fiscal cliff and the drama that now shifts to the house, that's because overnight the senate overwhelmingly passed a compromise measure, the move delays the spending cuts that have could plunged the nation back into a recession. for most americans here is the bottom line, taxes would stay the same for almost everyone but top earners but the measure is up to the house. lawmakers could vote on a compromise today and republican leaders in the house are not making any promises that it's going to pass. this morning, both parties say more work needs to be done. >> i'm disappointed that we weren't able to make the grand bargain as we've tried to do for so long. we tried. passing this agreement does not mean negotiations halt, far from it. >> we've done some good for the country. we've taken care of the revenue side of this debate and now it's time to get serious about reducing washington's out of control spending. that's a debate the american people want. it's the deba

i'm carol costello. the next hour of newsroom starts right now with ashleigh banfield. >> thanks so much, carol. everybody talks about the weather, right, carol was just talking about it, jennifer was just talking about it. when the windchill hits 20 below or 30 below or 40 below, that's news and it hurts. it includes us, it includes just about everybody in the u.s. in fact, we're talking deep ice hitting the deep south. first, however, we're going to talk guns. because after tragedies and promises and debates and executive actions, the showdown on guns is really now about to begin. senator dianne feinstein is making good on her vow to take action. she's about to unveil her tough new bill. the provisions include bans on military-styled assault weapons to be defined in this bill as well. bans on semiautomatic rifles, handguns, and shotguns, a strengthening of the 1994 ban which, by the way, if you didn't know, senator feinstein authored the 1994 bill that expired in 2004. also, bans on magazines that hold

i'm carol costello. >>> "cnn newsroom" continues now with ashleigh banfield. >> oh, carol, he can say so much more. i'm dying to see it. thank you, miss costello. hi, everybody. i'm ashleigh banfield. he didn't tell all, but he sure told plenty, didn't he? finally coming clean about doping, but never believing he was actually cheating, not at the time anyway. and now, well, if you caught part one of lance armstrong's full baring session with oprah winfrey, you know this is not the lance who cruised to seven tour de france bicycle victories and rolled over anyone who crossed him. this lance is saying yes, after more than a decade of saying no. >> yes or no, did you ever take banned substances to enhance your cycling performance? >> yes. >> yes or no, was one of those banned substances epo? >> yes. >> did you ever blood dope or use blood transfusions to enhance your cycling performance? >> yes. >> did you ever use any other banned substances like testosterone, courtisone or humn growth hormone? >> yeah. >> yes or no, in all seven of your tour de france victories did you ever take banned

. >>> i'm carol costello. thank you very much for joining me today. "cnn newsroom" continues right now with ashley ban field. >>> thank you very much, carol. hello, nice to have you with us. there is nothing like an election to focus the attention of lawmakers and presidents. just look at how fast immigration reform went back on the front burner after president obama won more than 70% of the hispanic vote in november. as we speak, the president is en route to nevada. a state that he carried by more than six points over mitt romney despite an imploding economy there. any guesses who kept that state blue? the president is pitching a comprehensive immigration rewrite that may sound a lot like the senate plan that was unveiled yesterday. however, it will not sound identical. cnn's brianna keilar joins me from the white house now. so will the president propose something completely different than what the senate has already done, and is there a risk of confusing everyone? >> reporter: no, i don't think he'll propose something entirely different from what the

carol costello did a terrific story about that in her earlier hours here on cnn. is he ever going to be able to leave what happened in atlanta at super bowl 2000 or does he say he lives with this every day and will continue to live with it every day until he dies? >> in a sense i think he's left it behind already. he moved on. he had one of the greatest careers of any linebacker in nfl history. i understand that my report and the murder allegations are getting a lot of interest this week but 99% of the time for people that follow the sporting press, it idolizes ray lewis. it is left behind. it's not something that's not a footnote on his wikipedia page and always something attached to him but for people that follow him and follow the sports world, most of the coverage is hero worship. >> david, it's great reading in "sports illustrated." i have to reiterate again that cnn hasn't done independent confirmation yet. we haven't been able to confirm the allegations that you make in the magazine but it is very interesting reading. he's a very interesting character regar

. >> thank you very much, carol costello. nice for having you with us today. hi, everybody, i'm ashleigh banfield. it's 11:00 on the east coast. we've got a very busy hour. we want to start with you in alabama where a 5-year-old, special needs boy is still being held in an underground bunker by an old man whose got a gun. >>> and in washington, at this hour, president obama's pick for defense secretary is on the defensive. you're going to see all of this playing out live. >>> also, deadly storms and springlike tornadoes give way to a deep freeze wild weather from the deep south all the way up to new england. i want to take you to capitol hill now. and a former senator who was loved and admired by colleagues on both sides of the aisle, that was until he was tapped by president obama to head the pentagon. chuck hagel is a little over 90 minutes into a senate confirmation hearing. but he's generally expected to survive. but if you remember that virtual lovefest a week ago, that was john kerry's hearing for secretary of state, this is not like that. cnn's chief co

. >> i like how our colleague, carol costello referred to it, like a slinky gone out of control. >> reporterat's a good one. >> i want to switch gears a little bit. that's about another nomination that's going to have to be made because we have had another resignation, hilda solis, the labor secretary, announcing she is wanting some more familiar will i time i can only guess. give me the low-down on that. >> reporter: this comes at a time when there has been some criticism against this white house for not having enough women enter high positions in terms of the president rolling out his new team. there has been that criticism. i think when you look at who the president has around him, you look at valerie jarrett, homeland security secretary napolitano. he does have women in top positions but there is that criticism and it gets new life when someone like this steps aside. she said in a letter to her employees, she had been at home in california over the holidays, had a chance to reflect and talk with family members. after much discussion with family and close friends, i have decided to begin

. >>> i am carol costello. thank you for joining me today and thanks for answering my "talk back" question. cnn "newsroom" continues right now. >>> thank you so much. happy new year to you, my friend. nice to see your shining face. hello, everyone. i'm ashleigh banfield. one, a vietnam war hero and two-term gop senator and the other, a veteran of the spy war who is found a niche in west wing politics. two hours from now, chuck hagel seen here on the left and john brennan seen there at the podium on the right, they're going to stand with president obama at the white house to accept his nomination for defense secretary and cia director respectively. neither choice is a shock and neither is likely to have an easy go at the senate confirmation process because you know that's coming up. joining me now with the sin sights on this and the expert e expertise, gloria borger and chief national correspondent john king. in the interest of the new year's resolution to be positive, let's start with the pros, gloria borger. l

i'm carol costello. thank you for joining me today. cnn newsroom continues with ashleigh banfield. >>> actually one month after president obama vowed to use "whatever power his office holds to prevent more tragedies like newtown" he is about to say exactly what that means. in a little less than an hour he'll take the wraps off a series of proposals that go beyond gun control. he's expected to push for a new ban on assault weapons and high-capacity ammo clips. he wants to close the so-called gun show loophole, that involving the background checks. but he's also expected to talk about other things like mental health car health care and boosting school security. he will be joined by his vice president, joe biden who compiled these ideas after talks with various stakeholders. and for good measure they invited along some of the children who wrote them after the massacre at sandy hook. cnn's special live coverage begins at 45 minutes past the hour. while we wait for the president to address us on these issues, i wanted to bring in our white

. >> carol costello joins us. really fascinating individual here. you talked to his pastor.pened in atlanta 13 years ago with two people stabbed to death? >> pastor has talked to ray lewis extensively about it. he wouldn't get into specifics but said that night changed ray lewis. he decided he didn't want to hang out with friends from the past who got him into trouble. he ejected those friends from his life and adopted a godly way to live. he gave back to the community, started preaching in church, living his life as god lived his life. the pastor told me rg you know, he's sorry about what happened in atlanta. but he's not going to dwell on it. he moved on and learned from it. >> he's retiring now. he has another gig? >> after super bowl sunday, after god says he'll win the super bowl. he's going to become an analyst for espn. i'm sure he'll be preaching across the country. it's something he enjoys and something a lot of people want to hear. >> i'm fascinated by his career, future. i don't know if god takes sides on this matter. may the best team win, you know? >> in re lewi

good morning, i'm victor blackwell sitting in for carol costello. 11th hour drama, congress swerves away from the dreaded fiscal cliff, but on this morning after the enthusiasm is tepid at best and the anger is simmering. first your bottom line. no tax rate increase for more than 98% of americans, that is couples earning less than $450,000 a year. the middle class also gets relief from the alternative minimum tax. it will now be adjusted for inflation. and remember those massive spending cuts that could have plunged the country back into recession? yeah, well they're merely on hold for a couple of months. so lawmakers face even tougher decisions and dwindling patience from the public, and that includes some powerful voices in washington. check out this tweet from a leader of the tea party express, amy kremer says "i'm extremely disgusted with what happened in the house tonight. there will be consequences." we're covering all the angles and alison kosik shows us how investors are reacting to the crisis that has been avoided at least for now and christine romans gets out the magnifying gla

. ♪ >>> good morning to all of you, i'm carol costello, happening now, secretary of state hillary clintonnswers for the deaths of four americans before a senate committee. after weeks of delay, she appears before lawmakers to discuss the terrorist attack on the u.s. consulate in libya, and republicans are being warn todd be respectful to secretary clinton. but it will go beyond politics. did the government do enough to protect their citizens? did the state department ignore social security concerns? what are survivors telling investigators, and what's being done to track down the terrorist that laid siege on these offices. it's likely to be a day of blunt questions and intense scrutiny, wolf blitzer is in washington to begin our coverage. >>> good morning, it will be a very important day for the secretary of state this morning. she has a big challenge ahead of her. she has to convince not only men members of the senate, but later the house that she is on top of what happened, why four diplomats were killed, she has to explain what she was doing on that very day. jake tapper is our chief c

cnn's carol costello talked with his father earlier today. >> they didn't contact us directly. they went through another organization who invited us. and the family, we got together and chatted about it and decided that it wasn't appropriate for us to attend. >> and you also suggested that other families of victims and other victims boycott this special evening. >> yeah. we talked a little bit to some of the other families and agreed with them that this was not really the best way to handle the situation. >> according to the denver post, some 2,000 theater tickets will be handed out to victims, first responders and to hospital workers, counselors will also be available. >>> all right, oprah winfrey has called it the biggest interview she has ever done. sitting down with the man who was once called america's greatest sporting hero. now she says an admitted drug cheat. oprah appeared on cbs this morning to talk about what lance armstrong was like during that interview, went on for some two and a half hours. watch. >> i choose not to characterize. i would rather people make their

. >> where's carol costello? s. >> you should call her. >> we're about five minutes away from the ball drop -- about actually for minutes live. we're all the way through till 12:30. >> we play john lennon's "imagine," even though train -- >> you and i have this thing. let me give you my philosophy. i believe at the stroke of midnight we allow the natural sounds, the scenes and sights and sounds take place rather than you talking over it. >> first of all, you just said rather. it's rather. >> i think there's a nice like five, ten-minute window that we should just be quiet and let the folks enjoy what it's like being here. >> what about something a little peppier? what about cocomo? or "whistle baby." >> no. we're going to talk up to the ball dropping and then we're going to let the sights and sounds overwhelm the viewers and i think it's actually very moving. >> that's very hard for me to not be talking frenettically at you. that's when i need you the most. >> but i actually think in all seriousness, i do -- you ha