david mattingly, though, has new information about one of the american hostages, and he joins us tonightxas. david, what can you tell us? >> reporter: well, erin, so much we don't know tonight in texas. but we do know after talking to a family member, they confirm to us that a texas man is, indeed, among the americans, however many of them there might be, being held hostage right now. the family got that notification yesterday morning. since then, the hours have been agonizingly long, and the information has been coming through so few and far between. so right now they're afraid to become public. they're afraid to say anything, because the situation is still so fluid and still so much unknown right now, they're afraid anything they might say might somehow cause more danger for their family member over there. and for that reason, erin, we are not reporting anymore about him, other than that he is from texas. we're not reporting his name whab he does, or who he works for out of concern for his safety. erin? >> and certainly, david, that seems to fit with u.s. officials. you know, other cou

david mattingly is here with a closer look.the most striking things is gabrielle giffords has some clout. >> that's right. >> the question is how much clout, right? >> she is taking this fight directly to her former colleagues and she's not softening the language at all, making it clear what her intent is here, she launched a website this morning called americansforresponsiblesolutions , the intent will encourage elected officials to prevent gun violence and communicate directly with the constituents. very strong language and an op-ed in the u"usa today" she goes after the gun lobby saying special interests purporting to represent gun owners but really advancing the interests of an ideological fringe have used big money and influence to cow congress into submission, rather than working to find the balance between our rights and the regulation of a dangerous product. she goes on to say these groups have cast simple protections for our communities as existential threats to individual liberties. also speaking to abc news, a couple

a $20 billion system of barriers, here's cnn's david mattingly.when superstorm sandy hit breezy point, new york, ocean waves crashed on to city streets and brought houses off their foundations. the only option residents had was to head to higher ground. >> they were sitting ducks. there was nothing they could do except run. >> how high was the water right here? >> the water would be probably six feet above our heads. >> six feet? >> above our heads. 12 feet, say. >> malcolm bowlman is the an expert on the dangers of a storm surge hitting new york. surveying the damage, he reveals that everything we see left by superstorm sandy is a bitter contradiction. apparently inevitable, yet tragically preventible. >> how do you stop something like that? >> you can't stop it except if you're going to build some kind of regional protection system for metro new york. >> bowman leads the storm surge research group at long island's stoney brook university. the group promotes a plan called the outer harbor gateway. an elaborate system of barriers and causeways tha

the first words though from another american hostage who is safe and we want to get straight to david mattingly in needer land, texas, who has been following the other american hostages. david, what can you tell us about the american you've spoken to who is alive? >> reporter: erin, first of all, we can tell you his name. that's significant because it's the first tame that we've been able to confirm a name of one of the americans who were at the plant at the time, mark cobb. he's reportedly from texas. we weren't able to confirm that directly with him because we had a very brief exchange with him. cnn contacting him via text and he sent two text messages to us. the first one confirming, he said "i am safe, yes." the next one he explained how he managed to escape. he said he escaped the first night of the siege along with some algerian staff members who were there at the plant with him. at this point, he wasn't willing to comment any further again suggesting how careful everyone is right now with the safety of so many people still at stake there at the facility. >> obviously he in a very senior

let's bring in david mattingly. he's in houston right now. s right, wolf. not a lot we can tell you right now, but i did confirm from a family member that a texas man was among the americans taken hostage there in algeria. he says the family got that information early yesterday morning. and since then it's been a very painful, agonizing wait as very little information since has come in about his status and his safety. so right now just for an abundance of caution we're not reporting his name. we're not reporting what he does or actually who he works for just as a precaution because we just don't know what the status of him might be still over there. and right now, the family members are waiting as well. we've talked to the governor's office. they don't know anything here. we've talked to the fbi. they're not releasing any information. we've been in touch with bp multiple times today. they're referring all questions to their global office in london. but for right now we can confirm, through a family member, that a texas man is among those who w

david mattingly following that story for us and joins us with an in-depth look with the new initiative her husband. good to see you. they are both being critical of congress and the gun lobby. so this new initiative, who does it go after? >> reporter: you named the two targets there. first of all, the gun lobby. giffords and her husband kelly are talking about clearly their opinions of the influence that the gun lobby has in washington. and in an op-ed released today in "usa today," this is what they said -- we saw from the nra's leadership's defiant and unsympathetic response to the connectic connecticut massacre winning the common sense reforms will require a fight. and they're not letting congress off the hook on this either. giffords making comments it directly to her former colleagues pointing out it's been two years since she survived that deadly attack in tucson and now she said, congress in that time has done something extraordinary -- nothing at all. very strong words to start this campaign. we're going to wait now to see where they go from here. >> what's our sense of it? we

we'll bring in david mattingly following this.me of the details of this deal. >> this is a big deal. remember in the months after the disaster happened you had all parties involved pointing the finger at the other saying they were responsible for this. this is one of the major parties involved in this negotiating salgtsment with the justice department saying yes, we were involved. we had some negligence involved in this. they agreed to pay not just criminal but civil settlement as well. so in addition to just the amount they pay, the fact there's an admission here, that is significant here. >> what are we talking about in terms of the scope of this. >> look at the statements by the justice department and transocean. first the justice department. they clearly said today the transocean deep water incorporated has admitted members of its crew on board of deep water horizon were negligent in failing fully to investigate clear indications that the well was not secure and that oil and gas were flowing into the well. that there really cr

cnn's david mattingly is in atlanta with details of this. david, what happened?re and authorities in this georgia county are praising the results. listen to a father and husband's nightmare playing out on a 911 call. >> she shot him. she's shooting him. she's shooting him. she's shooting shooting him. she's shooting him. >> away at work, donny herman calls 911 with his wife at home in loganville, georgia, with their two children, hiding in their attic from a daytime intruder. he hears everything over the phone when the intruder confronts him. >> shoot him again, oh, no. >> herman's wife was armed with a .38 cal caliber. she fired all six shot, hitting the intruder five times. >> if she had not had that firearm, what do you think would have happened? >> i can speculate all day long. >> sheriff joe chaplain believes the mother had no chase and in defending herself and her children, acted properly. >> had it not turned out the way that it did, i possibly would be working a triple homicide not having a clue of what it is we're looking for. >> the suspect broke in wit

cnn's david mattingly is joining us on the phone with new information that you're getting. e and what you're learning. >> wolf, this is the second american we've been able to positively identify as part of that siege. his name is mark cobb and he spoke to us -- communicated to us through a couple of brief text messages. he told us in the first text message, he said, i am safe. yes. and then he explained that he is escaped with some algerian staff who were at the plant with him at the time and this happened on the first day of the siege. he wasn't willing to comment any further beyond that because of how dangerous the situation still is for the others involved. his name is mark cobb. he's believed to be in texas f that is truly the case, be he is the second texan that we know of that was in that facility at the time, the second man still not being -- his name still not being publicly released. we're not reporting it even though we've spoke to family members that this second man was taken hostage at the time. no change in his situation at the moment. but right now we have conf