i'm erin burnett. the last time the first round of voting was too close was 1983. he got only six more than the bare minimum to keep his job. as for the tears they did come from none other than john bainer in -- boehner to his party members after the narrow victory. >> if you come here humbled by the opportunity to serve, if you've come here to be the determined voice of the people, if you've come here to carry the standard of leadership, demanded not by our constituents, but by the times, then you've come to the right place. >> outfront tonight, one republican who did not support john boehner today was not moved by those tears. freshman congressman, ted yoho of florida. today was your first day in congress and you came out with a strong statement. let me just play for you how your vote for speaker went down. here it is. >> you voted for majority leader eric cantor, not john boehner. that took some guts on your first day. how come? >> erin, what we did is we are challenging leadership to let him know we're going to hold him accountable, just like i get held account

erin burnett "outfront" starts erin burnett "outfront" starts right now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >>> the nra's flip-flop of background checks. why they say they're against them now. plus, bob -- and the man who fooled manti te'o comes clean and talks about his real romantic feelings. a bizarre unveiling. let's go out of the. good evening. i'm erin burnett. tonight, major nra flip-flop. at a hearing today, the head of the gun group shared his thoughts on background checks and as you might guess, he is against them. but, he wasn't always. jim acosta has the story. >> please, i'm not trying to play games here. >> it flared up early when patrick leahy grilled lapierre over background checks. >> you do not support mandatory background checks in all instances at gun shows. >> we do not because the fact is, law right now is a failure the way it's working. >> as it turns out, he was for background checks at gun shows before he was against them. and said so in 1999. >> we think it's reasonable to provide mandatory, instant criminal background checks for every sale at every gun show. no lo

that's it for us, erin burnett that's it for us, erin burnett "outfront" starts right now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >>> next, joe biden's task force on gun policy officially convened today. why he says the white house might have to go it alone. plus, new developments in the aurora theatre shooting. prosecutors say james holmes intended to kill every single person inside the theert that night and "time" called new jersey governor the master of disaster. does it add up? let's go "outfront." >>> good evening, everyone. i'm erin burnett. "outfront" tonight, executive power. here's the vice president today talking about what the president is is going to do about guns. >> the president is going to act through executive orders, executive action can be taken. we haven't decided what that is yet, but we're compiling it all with the help of the attorney general and all the rest of the cabinet members as well as legislative action we believe is required. >> as i said, there are some out there who adore the second amendment, who are very worried about what joe biden just said. executi

i'm erin burnett. "outfront" tonight, drama, intrigue, tears, it was almost byzantine. under fire, john boehner narrowly won a first round vote to keep his job as house speaker. it's pretty amazing, because the last time the first round of voting was too close to call was 1923. so after all the votes were meticulously counted, boehner's tally topped out at 220. that is only six more than the bare minimum he needed to keep his job. now, as for the tears, of course, they did come from none other than john boehner. in an emotional victory speech to his house members after the narrow victory. >> if you come here humbled by the opportunity to serve, if you've come here to be the determined voice of the people, if you've come here to carry the standard of leadership, demanded not by our constituents, but by the times, then you've come to the right place. >> outfront tonight, one republican who did not support john boehner today was not moved by those tears. freshman congressman, ted yoho of florida. today was your first day in congress and you came out with a strong statement

piers, we're going to be watching you, erin burnett, anderson cooper.ing to happen. >> it's been a very exciting day. we've got marching bands, they've got entertainers. it's going to be a great day. we'll have more coverage when we return. [ female announcer ] what if the next big thing, isn't a thing at all? it's lots of things. all waking up. connecting to the global phenomenon we call the internet of everything. ♪ it's going to be amazing. and exciting. and maybe, most remarkably, not that far away. we're going to wake the world up. and watch, with eyes wide, as it gets to work. cisco. tomorrow starts here. aww man. [ male announcer ] returns are easy with free pickup from the u.s. postal service. we'll even drop off boxes if you need them. visit usps.com pay, print, and have it picked up for free. any time of year. ♪ nice sweater. thank you. ♪ up high! ok. don't you have any usefull apps on that thing? who do you think i am, quicken loans? ♪ at quicken loans, our amazingly useful mortgage calculator app allows you to quickly calculate your mortgage

. >> piers morgan, anderson cooper, erin burnett are getting ready to cover some of the fun, blacklife tie inaugural balls. they're only just beginning. >> only just beginning. there's a live picture we're seeing of one of the balls. the next question, what is everyone wearing? >> and we want to know hot the first lady will be wearing. of course, you will see it live here. that's it for us. thanks very much for watching. our coverage continues right now. >>> a president who has been tested for four long, hard years, renews his oath to a nation still struggling and still divided. >> i barack hussein obama do solemnly swear. >> a gallant celebration of democracy and a promise of better days ahead. >> my fellow americans, we are made for this moment and we will seize it so long as we seize it together. >> tonight, we'll take you live to the inaugural ball for all of the glamour, the celebrity, and the fashion. it's the ultimate party to mark the next chapter in presidential history. >> so help me god. >> so help me god. >> cnn's coverage of the inaugural convention, from the first salute,

i am erin burnett. americans held hostage. militants linked to al qaeda have claimed responsibility for an attack on gs workers. >> the best information that we have at this time is that u.s. citizens are among the hostages. i hope people understand that in order to protect their safety i am not going to get into numbers. i am not going to get into names. >> the number of american hostages has been fluid today. an islamist leader tells us there were seven hostages and there could be as few as three americans being held. the attack took place this morning at a bp gas field in response to france's military -- the obama administration was quick to react. the u.s. official told me this afternoon that as of now the attack appeared organized. as we have been reporting for many months al qaeda inspired and linked groups are flourishing. we spoke to a military leader in the islamist group which has taken over and terized northern mali. he is working with one of the most senior leaders in africa who has claimed responsibility for today

erin burnett "outfront" starts erin burnett "outfront" starts right now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >>> tonight, congress told america it saved america from the fiscal cliff. but that doesn't add up. plus, chris christie goes ballistic on the hated congress and john boehner will show the outburst to you and police say two new yorkers have been arrested with the means and the know how for a terrorist attack. let's go "outfront." good evening, everyone. "outfront" tonight, america, or homer simpson. like homer, we blythely skated to the precipice of the fiscal cliff with a deal that made almost everyone happy. low tax rate, extended benefits. sure sounds heavenly. but look what happens next. >> are we going make it? this is the greatest thrill of my life. i -- >> yeah, that's how it ends. that feeling of weightless euphoria, believes there was no way he would ever crash, there would be a last minute save. that was america today. the dow surged 380 points. congress patted itself on the back. why wouldn't they? that was a big reward. the problem is, the truth. congress sent america to t

i'm erin burnette. "outfront" tonight, on the brink of battle. a threat from the government to shut down government if president obama refuses to tell gauche yat. president obama needs to take note of it and put forward a plan and note it immediately. will those threats work? a senior democrat says if the republicans don't want to raise the debt ceiling it will be on their shoulders. >> risking government shutdown, risking not raszing the debt creeling is playing with fire. >> playing with fire. he's the former direct over the congressional republican office and beyond outrage what has gone wrong with our economy, our democracy and how to fix it. i show you have solutions to solve the crisis we all fear. let's start with you. in john corn anyoneyncornyn's s shut down the government, what kind of outcome is that? >> it's terrible. it's actually saying to the creditors of the united states we're not going to deliver on the full faith and credit of the united states, with ee going to default on our debt. republicans playeding this card once before i

i'm erin burnette. "outfront" tonight, on the brink of battle. a threat today from a top republican to shut down the government if president obama refuses to negotiate over the debt ceiling. the second most powerful republican in the senate, minority whip john cornyn of texas wrote in an op-ed today, president obama needs to take note of this reality and put forward a plan to avoid it immediately. will those threats work? a senior democrat says if the republicans don't want to raise the debt ceiling, it will be on their shoulders. >> risking government shutdown, risking not raising the debt ceiling is playing with fire. >> playing with fire. douglas holtz-eakin is the former director of the congressional budget office. robert reich is a former u.s. labor secretary and author of a book that explains how we all feel these days, beyond outrage over what has gone wrong with our economy, our democracy, and how to fix it. i hope you have solutions to solve the crisis we all feel. but, robert, let me start with you. in john cornyn's scenario where we sh

i'm erin burnett. and "outfront" tonight, gone too far. today, democratic senator dianne feinstein proposed a new federal ban on some assault rifles and semi-automatics. now, she certainly got it right visually, when she was standing there today, she had a backdrop of some of the guns she wants to ban, and it included, and very prominently, a bushmaster, like the one used in the newtown massacre. there was also a circle of uniformed law enforcement officers and gun violence victims. there was rolled out with pomp and circumstance, but did she get the message right? she, herself, admits that getting this passed will not be easy. >> if anyone asks today, can you win this? the answer is, we don't know. it's so uphill. >> uphill is right. the fact of the matter is that gun violence from assault weapons is estimated the to be between 2% and 8% of the gun crime in this country. so, is this how democrats should be spending their time? or are they overreaching and risking chances for success? roland martin joins me along with with raham slon. can

i'm erin burnett and "outfront" tonight the mali terror connection. u.s. officials are zeroing in on terrorists based in northern mali as the suspects behind last week's terror attack in algeria. three americans were killed in that attack, seven survived. barbara starr broke this news today. u.s. officials now say this is the case. why aren't they entirely sure who is behind an attack which frankly was this big, this ambitious, this significant? >> good evening. the big problem right now of course is algerian intelligence. still not sharing full information with the u.s., so the u.s. doesn't have the full picture. the cia turning to other ways to try and find out what has happened here. planes, drones, telephone intercepts, agents on the ground. all of that at their disposal should they be choosing to use it. all of this now leading to the preliminary assessment, preliminary, based on what they have been able to gather themselves, that they believe al qaeda in the islamic maghreb, aqim, al qaeda in north africa, and a militant in the area, mokhtar belmokht

i'm erin burnett. happy monday. "outfront" tonight, bigs are flying. tonight, there is bipartisan efforts. pigs are flying, and it's a gorgeous sight. they thought they had an ice storm, but it's really pigs. what has caused them to take to the sky, you ask? immigration. a gang of senators unveiled a new immigration reform plan today, and this is pretty amazing. you have marco rubio on the same page as chuck schumer. yes, we told you pigs are in the air, and senator schumer has high hopes for this proposal. >> we believe this will be the year congress finally gets it done. the politics on this issue have been turned upside down. for the first time ever, there's more political risk in opposing immigration reform than in supporting it. >> but like everything else in washington, not everyone is on board. take republican senator mike lee. he quickly issued this statement in opposition to the gang's plan. here's what he said. reforms to our complexy and dysfunctional immigration system should not in any way favor those who came here illegally over the milli

let's go "outfront." >> good evening, everyone, i'm erin burnett. outfront tonight, who's calling the shots? president obama or hamid karzai? obama's mixed messages as to when american troops might come home from the country's longest war in afghanistan raise more questions. here's what president obama said today after meeting with karzai in washington. >> we've already reduced our presence in afghanistan to roughly 66,000 u.s. troops. i've pledged we'll continue to bring our forces home at a steady pace and in the coming months i'll announce the next phase of our drawdown. a responsible drawdown that protects the gains our troops have made. >> in the coming months, the decision on troops is months away. all right, let's rewind one month. here's what defense secretary leon panetta said then. >> the size of that enduring presence is something that the president is going to be considering over the next few weeks. >> next few weeks, not months. he said that over a month ago. how about two months ago? speaking of the troop count decision, secretary pane

i'm erin burnett. "outfront" tonight, thank you, america.urance giant aig says it's very grateful for the $182 billion in taxpayer money that saved it from i don't even know if bankruptcy's the right word. how about complete and utter obliteration at the height of the financial crisis. aig of course has become a symbol of the financial meltdown of 2008 so it's nice that they are now running ads to thank taxpayers for all that money. >> we repaid every dollar america lent to us. >> everything plus a profit of more than $22 billion. >> for the american people. >> thank you, america. >>> good evening. i'm erin burnett. "outfront" tonight, thank you, america. insurance giant aig says it's very grateful for the $182 billion in taxpayer money that saved it from i don't even know if bankruptcy's the right word. how about complete and utter obliteration at the height of the financial crisis. aig of course has become a symbol of the financial meltdown of 2008 so it's nice that they are now running ads to thank taxpayers for all that money. >> we repa

i'm erin burnett. >> and i'm john king. we're live in the nation's capital on the national mall for president obama's second inauguration. plenty of excitement. a lot going on in the capital city. cnn going to bring you all the big events and all the highlights. president barack obama's second term is officially under way for seven hours now. he took the oath of office at noon today, january 20th, as required by the u.s. constitution. mr. obama sworn in. a small ceremony using a bible that belonged to his wife's family. chief justice john roberts used a note card this time avoiding, you might remember, the verbal stumble of four years ago. the president, of course, will do tomorrow in public in the traditional setting outside the capital using the same lincoln bible he used four years ago and a bible that belonged to the reverend martin luther king, jr. hundreds of thousands of people from across the country, some from around the world, will be here in the nation's capital to witness hit. earlier today at the vice president

i'm erin burnett. "outfront" tonight, saving sergeant hagel. president obama raring for a fight over his defense secretary nominee. you may say why there a fight? on paper, this guy is pretty incredible. looks like he would be a lock for a job that usually is one with pretty much 100% of the senate voting aye. military experience, check that box. he would be the first enlisted man and first vietnam vet to serve as secretary of defense, he was wounded in combat and he earned two purple hearts. business and management experience, after all, the pentagon is a huge organization. check. hagel cofounded a company called van guard cellular systems which made him a multimillionaire. and knowing how to get things done in washington. check on that. hagel served two terms as a u.s. senator from nebraska and served as deputy administrator of the veterans administration. plus he's a republican nominated by a democrat, so it sounds pretty perfect, right? today, president obama told the nation why he loved chuck hagel. >> in the senate, i came to admire his c

. >>> "erin burnett outfront" starts right now. >> some american hostages being held in algeria have been released, but a number of the hostages unaccounted for tonight as the raid, we can report, temporarily on hold. >>> plus, the brother of one of the hostages who escaped from his captors recounts his escape. >>> and on the night lance armstrong's confession is set to air, a sports writer who believed him until the very bitter end comes "outfront." >>> i'm erin burnett. good evening, everyone. "outfront" tonight, we have breaking news on the hostage crisis. a fast-developing story tonight. here the latest that we know. we now know that some americans have been freed, but others are still unaccounted for in algeria. a senior american official just confirms to cnn that the operation seems to have ended for the night, but it is not over. and i wanted to quote what this official told us here at cnn. quote, there are still hostages and there are still terrorists, so tomorrow is another day. the algerian press service reports numerous casualties in the operation. the exact number, still

i'm erin burnett. "outfront" tonight, attack of the drones. the american government is launching a new war, some of this country's 7500 drones may be about to take off with new targets in their sights. today, nijar's ambassador says he has agreed to let the u.s. military put drones in his country in an effort to gain intelligence on mali, algeria and libya, three spots where we have seen a recent explosion in al qaeda linked attacks on americans. eric schmidt is senior writer for the "new york times" covering terrorism. he broke the story this morning that the u.s. is planning a drone base in niger. the lieutenant general oversaw the first predator drone strike in 2001. in such a crucial question as this war on al qaeda ramps up again, eric, you reported on it today, how big of a deal is this? >> this is a major development by the u.s. military. it creates an intelligence hub in a former french colony right below libya, next to mali. it's a key base from which to fly surveillance drones to monitor the activity such of what's going on with mali

i'm erin burnett. "outfront" tonight, showdown over benghazi. secretary of state hillary clinton was on capitol hill today. she faced really tough questions from the senate and the house about the september 11th terror attack in libya that killed the united states ambassador and three other americans. >> we were misled that there were supposedly protests and something sprang out of that and that was easily ascertained that was not the fact and the american people could have known that within days. and they didn't know that. >> with all due respect, the fact is, we had four dead americans, was it because of a protest or was it because of guys out for a walk one night who decided they'd go kill some americans? what difference, at this point, does it make? it is our job to figure out what happened and do everything we can to prevent it from ever happening again, senator. >> an "outfront" exclusive. republican senator ron johnson of wisconsin. member of the foreign relations committee. senator johnson, obviously, you hear that moment. that was your

i'm erin burnett. "outfront" tonight, the battle over super storm sandy. so the house of representatives is going to vote tonight, really just imminently, on a 49 house republicans voted against the final bill and we will speak to one in a moment this may sound like an easy vote to you because disaster relief always gets approved but when it comes to spending this country's money every dollar counts. as we saw with the fiscal cliff battle not everyone in washington thinks this kind of money is worth it. >> $16 billion is to quintuple the size of the community of development grant block program the slush program that pays for projects such as doggy day care centers and doesn't have to be spent in the hurricane area. $2 billion is for highway repairs, anywhere in the country including up to $20 million each for guam, american is a mow ya and the mariana islands isn't in the same ocean as hurricane sandy. >> $20 million is a lot on a little island. tom foreman is joining me now. obviously we are so used to pork being laidn in the bills and it makes us all ang

i'm erin burnett. "outfront" tonight, a school shooting. officials say a 16-year-old student armed with a shotgun entered a high school classroom in rural california today and opened fire. they say one student he shot is in critical condition tonight. he shot at a second student, but missed. the 16-year-old shooter is in police custody at this hour. our kyung lah is outside taft high school in taft, california. it's about 120 miles northwest of los angeles, as you see there. and kyung, what more can you tell us about the shooter and the possible motive? >> reporter: well, what we know is that first, police say he absolutely targeted those two boys, the first one who he struck, the second one, who he missed. and what we are also learning, from multiple parents and students we've talked to here on the grounds of the high school, is that this was a very troubled boy, a boy who had a list of names, according to these parents and students, that he dubbed a hit list. people who he wanted to target, to kill. that's why the school kicked him out of

i'm erin burnett. "outfront" tonight, a shooting at a texas campus.out at the lone star community college in houston today in what officials now are blaming on a fight between two people. it was pretty awful to watch. it was so much uncertainty today as we started to see just what those helicopter shots, people running, there were stretchers. no one was sure what was happening, where the shooters were. police and emergency responders swarmed the campus minutes after a 911 call. students were ducking under desks and running for cover. here's how one terrified witness described it. >> i heard about six shots and kids started rushing down the hallway and a few even came into our classroom. everything really happened so fast. i called my mom just because i needed her to know that i was okay. and that, you know, that i loved her just in case anything was going to happen. >> at least three individuals were injured, a maintenance worker among them who was caught in the crossfire and two suspects are in custody. ed lavandera is in houston tonight with the lat

. >> and good evening, everyone, i'm erin burnett.s of thousands of americans are going to join the ones you see here gathering to watch presidential barack obama to take the ceremonial oath of office. >> the big public events are tomorrow. the president, though, officially began his second term at noon today, six hours ago, on this, january 20th, as required, of course, by the united states constitution. chief justice john roberts administered the oath at the white house. >> please raise your right hand and repeat after me. i barack hussein obama do solemnly swear. >> i barack hussein obama do solemnly swear. >> that i will faithfully execute. >> that i will faithfully execute. >> the office of president of the united states. >> the office of president of the united states. >> and will to the best of my ability. >> and will to the best of my ability. >> preserve, protect and defend the constitution of the united states. >> preserve, protect and defend the constitution of the united states. >> congratulations, sir. >> tomorrow he's go

i'm erin burnett. "outfront" tonight, thank you, america.nsurance giant aig says it's very grateful for the $182 billion in taxpayer money that saved it from i don't even know if bankruptcy's the right word. how about complete and utter obliteration at the height of the financial crisis. aig of course has become a symbol of the financial meltdown of 2008 so it's nice that they are now running ads to thank taxpayers for all that money. >> we repaid every dollar america lent to us. >> everything plus a profit of more than $22 billion. >> for the american people. >> thank you, america. >> thank you, america. but now we may sue you. they left that part out. aig's board tomorrow morning is going to be deciding whether or not to join a $25 billion lawsuit against the government for rescuing the company. let me just explain. here's why. taxpayers profited from the deal. that may surprise you but it is true. frankly it surprised a whole lot of people in the financial world who thought it would never happen. they did. now, that's the $22.7 billion th

i'm erin burnett. "outfront" tonight, war in mali. a deadly conflict between al qaeda militants and the government is getting violent. they're threatening to take control of the entire country. the militants' move prompted france to take action over the weekend. they put boots on the ground and went all in, bombing rebel training camps and other targets. so what will the united states do? a pentagon official told me this afternoon that the u.s. will participate in mali, but, and i want to make sure i put quotes around this, it's still deciding what that looks like. when we went to the mali border last summer, i saw first hand how dangerous the situation is. today, we spoke to some of our sources on the ground, including the military commander of the al qaeda's linked group. he told us that the militants are, in his words, excited and would welcome u.s. troops on the ground. he also said the french bombs have killed civilians and that france is signing a death warrant for french people around the world, opening the gates of hell. omar

with how ben bernanke knew nothing and how fed voting member william poole knew nothing because erin burnett know now that if the fed had cut rates at the time, we might not have had so many financial institutions go under. but i don't mention this to show how right i was or how wrong they were. although the cruel irony of their laughing at my performance was galling. i am confused to this day about how my contacts could have been so much better than their contacts. how could the feds not get it better than this one commentator? doesn't it say that it could happen? how could i get it so much more right than the fed did? i have some theories. some are reluctant to tell the truth, for fear that it could haunt them in the fear of regulatory action. it could shake confidence. which even in the best of times, could be an issue. finally i think they speak to their own people. maybe the big shots like jeremy irons in "margin call", the best movie made have wall street, even went out on the score. you don't rant every day, i was amazed that my comments were met with such instant derision. the feds n