dr. vivek murthy, has been caught up in the debate, for arguing gunç violence is a serious public healthissue. >> woodruff: for more on all this, we turn to carroll doherty, director of political research at the pew research center for the people and the press. and, joseph de avila, who has been reporting on this and related stories for the "wall street journal." we welcome both of you. jofs de avila, why are these families suing? >> well, they're suing,

dr. vivek murthy to do his job. in addition to his professional background, in addition to his teaching responsibilities, he also has a really impressive history of commitment to international public health, building two international organizations, one that empowers hundreds of youth in the united states and india to educate over 45,000 students on h.i.v. prevention. and then another one which works in rural health partnerships in india training young women to be health educators and counselors for thousands of patients. that's a pretty impressive record. when you combine it with what senator blumenthal already laid out for a still fairly young physician, someone who is going to bring an enormous amount of energy to this job in a moment when we need it. ebola is at the top of the list as to the reasons why we need a surgeon general right now. but we are at a remarkable period of contraction when it comes to health care spending increases. health care costs grew by 3.6% in 2013, which is the slowest rate on record s

dr. vivek murthy. he faced fierce opposition from mostly republicans over his support for obamacare and for gun control. >>> still ahead on this monday evening, childhood viruses like chickenpox and mumps affecting more and more adults including some very famous names. >>> also, if you're waiting for a fedex package on this busiest shipping day of the year, we've got a good idea as to where it might be. s to where it might be. to where it might be. to where it might be. o where it might be. where it might be. where it might be. >>> there is evidence out there right now you don't need to be a kid to get sick with what we usually think of as childhood viruses like chickenpox and mumps. a lot of adults, some prominent but some not, are coming down with illnesses we fear for our children and don't usually associate with our friends and family. we get our report tonight from our chief medical editor, dr. nancy snyderman. >> reporter: angelina jolie, celebrity superstar, now grounded by a common childhood di

dr. vivek murthy who was approved by the senate yesterday despite some of his positions about gun control37-year-old is a physician at brigham & women's hospital and an instructor at harvard medical school. he helped create a group that's pushed for affordable health care. >>> the first lady was carrying on a christmas tradition in washington that goes back to the truman administration. she went to the children's national medical center along with the family dogs bo and sunny and santa was there as well. mrs. obama sat down and read "the night before christmas" to the children and their caregivers. >> this is always fun. we've seen a few of these. any time you have a roomful of kids and an open mike. they started asking questions. they wanted to know what was on her christmas list. >> that's a fair question. >> we have the same thing at the top of our christmas list. we want to be able to sleep. she says she wanted to sleep late. >> you and the first lady have something in common. >> we want to sleep. >> do you also have the second request it seems she has? >> what was the other thing? >>

dr. vivek murthy as the surgeon general of the united states. nomination was stalled for a year after he made comments of stricter gun laws. the president said the 37-year-old is committed to keep americans safe. he said he will be a huge asset in the battle of ebola. >>> bill cosby's wife camille speaking out making her first public comments in the wake of claims of almost two dozen women that they were drugged, raped or sexually assaulted over decades. she accuses the media of giving a pass. saying a different man is portrayed in the media. it is a portrait of a man i do not know. it is a portrait painted by those in the media. >>> the parents of those children killed in the sandy hook incident have now followed a wrongful death suit against bushmaster. the gun adam lanza used in the rampage. >> attorneys for the families say it is not the kind of gun used in home defense or hunting. it should not have been sold to nancy lanza. >>> 53 minutes past the hour. if you think you are sick of airline baggage fees, wait until you find out how much air

dr. vivek murthy as the next u.s. surgeon general.a result, vivek murthy will have to leave his current job as a captcha puzzle for ticketmaster. [ laughter and applause ] vivek murthy? vivek murthy? what? [ beat boxing ] ♪ murthy. >> steve: murthy. >> jimmy: thank you. [ cheers and applause ] that's my favorite jam, dude. vi-vi-vivek murthy, yeah. yeah. get this. during a recent interview, former president george w. bush discussed his painting hobby and said "never paint your wife or your mother." [ laughter ] then he added -- [ as president bush ] because it's almost impossible to get all the paint out of their hair. [ laughter and applause ] that's a joke you can tell your kids. the kids can go to school with that joke tomorrow. tell their teacher. >> steve: clean. >> jimmy: it's a clean, good joke. >> steve: clean joke. >> jimmy: i had a joke like that when i was growing up. i was in, like, first grade or kindergarten, i think. sister margaret was the teacher, actually the principal of the school. i went to sister margaret and i s

dr. vivek murthy was approved. mitch mcconnell called murthy a political appointment.n control. >>> and two years after the massacre at an elementary school in newtown, connecticut, some parents are suing the company who manufactured the rifle. the shooter used the ar-15 rifle shown on the left. the suit has been filed against the manufacturer, distributor and seller of the rifle. robert goalson talks to the victim's family. >> my sister had her whole life in front of her. >> reporter: families of nine victims and one surviving teacher filed a wrongful death lawsuit against bushmaster and others. ? they willingly and knowingly distributed this gun that killed my sister. >> reporter: adam lanza used an ar-15 inside the school in less than five minutes. he killed 20 children and six educators. >> they're not asking to take away anybody's guns. they're just asking for somebody to acknowledge that maybe these particular guns they don't need to make money off of. >> reporter: the number of lives in those seconds was made possible by the shooter's weapon of choice and time a

dr. vivek murthy. he was approved by a vote of the full senate tonight, thank you, ted cruz. dr. murthya's nomination had been stalled for more than a year because the nra decided to wage war on his candidacy. dr. murthy had never been an activist on gun issues or particularly involved in either side of the gun rights, gun debate, but the nra was going to make an example out of him. because of a couple of times he had expressed his opinion online that gun violence should be seen as a public health matter. the nra decided that was a bridge too far. they've been fighting his nomination. before today's vote the nra announced they'd be scoring the vote on this nomination meaning voting for him would hurt any lawmakers' nra ratings. if they cast a vote for this they couldn't get a perfect rating from the nra. the senate voted today to confirm him anyway. finally, as a country, we're about to get a surgeon general. haven't had one for a year and a half. to be clear, vivek murthy is not a gun control activist or on gun issues. there's no reason substantively that his nomination should b

dr. vivek murthy to be the next surgeon general.ire ] >> welcome back to "hardball." a dramatic and terrifying 16-hour hostage stand-off at a cafe in sydney, australia, ended today in a hail of gunfire and explosion, as you see. moments before that police siege, we saw several hostages fleeing the scene. running for their lives. it all unfolded on live television. when the gunfire stopped, the scene changed from terror to triage. two of the 17 hostages have died. four are injured. an officer was wounded. police identified the gunman who was killed in the siege as 50-year-old man haron monis, an iranian-born radical muslim, to called himself a sheikh during the stand-off. he it several hostages bear a flag. military officials tell us there's no evidence monis had any connection to the terror group isis. monis was well known to local authorities. he was convicted of sending hate mail to the families of dead australian soldiers. he was out on bail after being charged as an accessory to his ex-wife's murder. he was also facing charges i

dr. vivek murthy, has been caught up in the debate, for arguing gunç violence is a serious public healthrty, director of political research at the pew research center for the people and the press. and, joseph de avila, who has been reporting on this and related stories for the "wall street journal." we welcome both of you. jofs de avila, why are these families suing? >> well, they're suing, being sued over the past weekend and what they're trying to do is basically a lot of them are asking for their day in court. what has happened is that there was a law passed in 2005 that basically has not allowed any lawsuits against gun manufacturers. there is oneç exception. there is one of these exceptions is negligent entrustment. so what essentially they're arguing is that these lawsuit, in order for it to go forward, they're saying that theç manufacturer of the gun and the distributor and also the store that sold this gun are basically selling a weapon that is unfit for civilian use. and negligent entrustment, to give an example, it kind of works in a way where one party gives a product to ano

martha: why do vivek murthy says -- why dr. vivek murthy says gun alcohol is a health issue. "unbroken" is a movie about one our nation's heroes snubbed or an academy award. is hollywood down on patriotic movies in moment away. martha: secretary of state john kerry is addressing the deadly taliban attack at a pakistani school that is said to have killed 130 people, most of them brutal attacks on children by the taliban. this is a school that houses many of the children of the pakistani military. the secretary of state this london. the a.p. announced the siege at the school in pakistan is considered to be over and they are sweeng the building for any potential bombs that may be there. more on that straight ahead. bill: a lame duck senate rushing to confirm the new surgeon general before leaving town. critics say he's more an activist than a doctor and the american people deserve more. what's the big rub about his whole take on first all on gun control. what's the issue? >> you think of the surgeon general of the united states, you are talking about a doctor with decades of exp

dr. vivek murthy to be surgeon general of the united states. surgeon general is known as america's doctor. americans have great respect for this important position. this important position. >> americans have great respect for this important position. they expect their surgeon general to be someone who has substantial experience in helping patients improve their health and in helping them reduce the risk of illness and injury. this important position has been vacant since july of 2,013. about a year and a half. it is far too long, long, and it has been completely avoidable. we have seen how the obama administration has struggled in response to important health issues. america should have had an experience dr. in the job as surgeon general to lead our fight and to take on other serious health challenges as well. a smart man, very well-educated, an undergraduate degree from harvard university, an mba from yale, an m.d. from the ale school of medicine, impressive academic credentials, and i am sure he we will be a fine doctor. they dr.. they are si

dr. vivek murthy. nomination has been held up for more than a year after tweets were publicized like this. tired of politicians playing with guns putting lives at risk because they're scared of n.r.a. republicans also opposed his support for obamacare. >>> country music ended the year on a high note with the first ever country countdown award. ♪ >> carrie underwood expecting her first baby kicking off the night with a medley of her greatest hits. florida georgia line taking the stage stripping off their stuffy suits to give out awards. among the night's biggest winners miranda lambert taking home female vocalist of the year. florida georgia line winning group duo of the year. artist of the year going to jason aldean. those are your headlines. >> crazy with people ripping their clothes off. >> i'm sure there is a country song we can make up. >> i think that's how you should enter right here in the morning. >> all right. coming up, investigators say the sydney hostage taker operated as a lone wolf. are w

dr. vivek murphy was nominated by president obama over a year ago and has faced steep opposition from republicans, namely because the nra opposed his nomination. murthyas been confirmed now. we'll have more on this. and ted cruz's role in his nomination ahead. murthy confirmed. >>> also ahead, dick cheney's explosive comments about torture, innocent people, and whether he's do it all over again. >>> plus, oprah winfrey's powerful interview with the policing protests sweeping the country. >>> and what president obama says is so hard about buying christmas presents for the first lady. good morning everybody. we are about to make more deliveries to more places than anybody on earth. we have the speed. we have the technology. and we have the team. we made over 15 billion successful deliveries last year. 15 billion! football has a season. baseball has a season. this is our season. [ inhales deeply ] [ sighs ] [ inhales ] [ male announcer ] at cvs health, we took a deep breath... [ inhales, exhales ] [ male announcer ] and made the decision to quit selling cigarettes in our cvs pharmacies. now we invite smokers to quit, too, with our comprehensive program.

these include vivek murthy, whose nomination as surgeon general has been held up for more than a year after the national rifle association opposed his support for gun control. dr. murthy called for tougher gun laws in the wake of the newtown shooting massacre, whose two-year anniversary was on sunday. the senate will begin taking up murthy's and other stalled nominations today. senior officials from the administration of president george w. bush are pushing back against criticism of their abuses and calls for their prosecution following last week's senate findings on cia torture. speaking to nbc's "meet the press," former vice-president dick cheney refused to label the cia's abuses as torture, and said he wouldn't hesitate to use them again. >> with respect to trying to define that as torture, i can back the proposition. torture is what the al qaeda did to 3000 americans on 9/11. it worked. it worked now for 13 years. we have avoided another mass casualty against the united states ended capture bin laden and an awful lot of senior guys who were responsible for the attack on 9/11. >> while cheney defended the cia's abuses, the bush official who authored the leg

dr. vivek murthy to be our next surgeon general. i'd like to speak for a few moments about why i'm supporting him and why i hope a majority will join me in support of his nomination. this is an indication of what can go wrong in the senate. we received this nomination from the president of the united states to fill this post of surgeon general, reported from committee in february this year. obviously, we're in december. it's been sitting here since never. in fact the most of surgeon general has been vacant since july. the surgeon general was supposed to be the leader, one of the leaders in america speaking to issues of public health. can anyone think of a public health issue that we've had to face since february when dr. murthy was reported to the floor of the united states senate? perhaps one of the deadliest diseases that has ever been recorded is being fought in west africa, and we are being asked on a regular basis how we will respond in the united states. the center for disease control plays a major role in it, but historically