jim acosta is right in front of the presidential limousine. jim, tell uss what you're seeing. i think he's making a right turn on to 15th street, is that right? >> that's right, he's making that right turn on to 15th street. where that meets the white house. and we're hopeful here. can't guarantee it. but one thing you could say, wolf, it's good to be the president. it's almost like being a rock star on every street corner in washington. every time he hits a new intersection, the cheers go up on both sides of pennsylvania avenue. it's just a whole new group of americans to greet as he makes his way to the white house. i have to tell you, it's been pretty exciting to watch all of this unfold from the back of this flat bed truck. every so often you catch a glimpse inside the limousine. when he's inside, sort of bathed in that light, he's waving to people, and you just kind of get that image. that image of history as it's unfolding right in front of us here. >> hey, jim, i think you're breaking up a little bit. there you see the president, the vice president, that's the vice pres

jim acosta is standing by. let's dig a little bit deeper now, jim. what are you hearing not only from democrats but republicans on the hill about this other republican, chuck hagel. what's the loudest outcry, for example, coming from his own party, the gop? >> i think, wolf, you have to start with what lindsey graham said on state of the union. he said he would be the most antagonistic secretary of defense toward israel in our nation's history. that is very tough talk coming from a senator from chuck hagel's own party. he served two terms as united states senator from the republican party and i talked to administration official over at the white house about some of those comments from lindsey graham. and getting to what swron king and gloria borger were talking about a few moments ago, there was a feeling over the white house that some of this is a little bit of a grudge that's being held by some of these senators because of chuck hagel's eventual opposition to the war in iraq. he made some very tough statements about the surge and the wisdom of the

kate bolduan is here, jim acosta is here and we're in "the situation room," a special edition of the situation room watching the wind river dancers from the wind river reservation in wyoming performing for the president of the united states. he's still there. he's still in the reviewing stand. the first lady, sasha and malia have gone inside. i suspect they have to get ready for the balls for tonight. >> it's a very special day, obviously, but a very long day for the president and first lady. up next, they will get ready and head to the balls and greet all of their supporters. as we see, up next here, on our parade root is the canine companions for independence out of virginia. >> you want to see animals, you see animals. >> it's finally all happening for me. >> these are special animals. they help wounded veterans. >> it's a special nonprofit we should take a second to honor. >> excellent work for them. brian todd is joining us right now. brian, tell us where you are because you had a unique opportunity to see a side of this inauguration that a lot of folks don't often see. >> we di

jim acosta, what are you learning? >> inaugural official told me a short time ago that pop star beyonce lip sync saying, quote, she did not sing live. a prerecording of the artist's rendition was played instead. what was heard by spectators and viewers was the sound of that recording, according to this official. that official also told me beyonce made this decision personally herself the night before inauguration day saying she arrived so late sunday night she did not have time to rehearse with the u.s. marine band was asked to accompany. the official was puzzled by the decision knowing that she was spot on, something that they say they all heard at that time but my source also tells many he that taped performance should take nothing away from her skills as a live artist. she is, quote, a very good live singer. but, wolf, just some new information that we have at least one official with the inauguration who would be in a position to know saying she in fact lip synced. >> any reaction? >> no word or members from congres

cnn's national political correspondent, jim acosta, has been digging into details on this. te and wolf, senator menendez was carefully avoiding any run-ins with reporters on capitol hill today, and leaders on both sides of pennsylvania avenue appear to be backing away from the senator, at least for the moment. here they are, back in 2010. democratic senator bob menendez and his friend, political contributor, and florida eye doctor, salomon melgin in the dominican republic. as it turns out, the senator's trip to the dominican republic were of such a concern to his staff that he reimbursed melgin $50,000 for the cost of charter flights furnished by the doctor. that payment was made earlier this month after a complaint had been made to the senate ethics committee and just weeks before menendez was made chairman of the powerful senate relations committee. earlier this week, senator majority leader, harry reid, cautioned reporters to be wary of the story. but reid's office now tells cnn that the majority leader was unaware of the reimbursements when he issued that warning. >> do

cnn's national political correspondent jim acosta explains why. >> reporter: after surviving a failed his own members beleaguered house speaker john boehner wants to take the same fractured party into battle. in a closed door meeting with house republicans a source in the room tells cnn boehner said he will demand budget cuts larger than any increase in the nation's debt limit. with the fiscal cliff behind us boehner told his members the focus turns to spending. that puts republicans in congress back on the collision course with the white house after the president insisted earlier this week he will not negotiate over the debt ceiling. >> i will not have another debate with this congress over whether or not they should pay the bills that they've already racked up through the laws that they passed. >> reporter: if the president won't come to the bargaining table one top republican in the senate john cornyn says in an op-ed in the houston chronicle it may be necessary to partially shut down the government in order to secure the long-term fiscal well being of our country. democrats warn,

our own jim acosta is on the parade route. what can we expect to see?ing to line up the floats right now. see this one behind me. this is a float to honor the tuskegee airmen, first group of african-american military aviators in world war ii. a civil rights theme running throughout this parade. other floats dedicated to martin luther king, jr. and civil rights movement, president and vice president's home states and take a look at this over here, nasa will be a part of the parade as well. here is an exact replica of the mars curiosity rover. it will be rolling down pennsylvania avenue just behind the president and the rest of the parade floats in tomorrow's inaugural parade. we'll have a unique perspective on all of this tomorrow, john. we will be on the back, when i say we, me, my producer and photographer, on the back of a flatbed truck just in front of the president's motorcade as it's rolling down pennsylvania avenue towards the white house and presidential reviewing stand where the president will hop off, go inside the white house and come back out

jim acosta tonight is keeping 'em honest. >> when president obama signed national health care reform into law, few in washington knew that buried in the legislation's more than 900 pages was a gift to the nation's powerful gun lobby. but here it is. a provision entitled "protection of second amendment rights." it states the government and health insurers cannot collect any information relating to the lawful ownership or possession of a firearm or ammunition. the provision was such a secret, "the washington post" reports that some people in the white house didn't even know it existed, despite being in the president's signature legislation. joan alger did notice it. >> who put it in there? it might surprise you to learn it was this man, the most powerful democrat in congress, senate majority leader, harry reid. but why? a democratic source close to the passage of the health care law tells cnn, this is what was viewed as a relatively benign way to make sure the national rifle association didn't get involved with this. reid has been a top advocate of gun rights for years. in fact, just d

all be jealous of jim acosta tomorrow on that flatbed truck. we'll talk to jim today throughout the festivities. >>> security always such a big event and chris lawrence is covering that several blocks away on the national mall. chris, the president's ceremony will be private and what are officials most concerned about at this moment? >> everywhere, really, john. in a sense, this inauguration and parade is really the truest definition of national security because just a couple minutes after the president today takes the oath of office the d.c. police will be deputizing thousands. 2,000 to 3,000 other police officers who have come here to help them over the next couple of days. they also pulled in 6,000 national guard troops from other states to help, as well. but, really, they've got the responsibility, not only for the area around here and the mall near the capital grounds, but also that entire parade route leading into the area around the white house. the secret service, obviously, is heading up security and they have a joint command base set u

jim acosta, cnn, washington. >>> i want to bring michael and reihan back.hat is amazing that the nra at one point was fighting for gun control, they thought it was appropriate and it has since become a much more absolutist organization. i'm curious about this unprecedented spike in membership. i did the math quickly so if i'm wrong, i'm wrong. i think about a 6% increase in their membership in just one month. that's pretty incredible. this whole discussion, is this going to galvanize the people for guns more than those against guns? >> it's an amazing thing. when you look at this past campaign and the few years before that, there was no real talk of gun control, of gun violence legislation. but the leadership of the nra told its members and people who they wanted to join, your second amendment rights are at risk, they are going to come, take away your guns. it is primed for polarization. while there's a broad kind of common sense middle, i think, on gun issues in the country, those groups are not yet, anyway, organized. they are not as intense and of course

jim acosta explains, kristy's blunt style sometimes put the rec can powerhouse at odds with members of party. >> from making the rounds on the morning talk shows to landed on the cover of "time" magazine and dubbed the boss, chris christie just might be the next big thing for a republican party that's shrinking in stature. the new jersey governor never seems to be at a loss for words when it comes to giving the gop some straight talk. >> we have lost two elections in a row. we need to be thinking about doing something different. he grabbed his party by the collar last week when he called out house speaker, john boehner, for staaling passage of billions of dollars in relief money for victims of superstorm sandy. >> there is only one group to blame for the continued suffering of these innocent victims, the house majority and their speaker, john boehner. >> reporter: he complained new jersey is still waiting for the bulk of the aide money. >> new jersey, both republicans and democrats, will never stand silent when our citizens are being shortchanged. >> reporter: many in the gop who gave

>> cnn's jim acosta. so, how did a drunk driving case land on the desk of the supreme court? we've got the details. and what does this beauty queen and this python have in common? find out. excuse me, sir i'm gonna have to ask you to power down your little word game. i think your friends will understand. oh no, it's actually my geico app...see? ...i just uh paid my bill. did you really? from the plane? yeah, i can manage my policy, get roadside assistance, pretty much access geico 24/7. sounds a little too good to be true sir. i'll believe that when pigs fly. ok, did she seriously just say that? geico. just click away with our free mobile app. >>> our legal guys are back with a somewhat familiar case, casey anthony. avery friedman and richard herman. an appeal for her. in her 2011 trial, she was cleared of murder and other charges related to the death of her daughter, caylee. but she was convicted of four misdemeanor counts of lying to police during the investigation. now her lawyers are trying to get tho

here is our national political correspondent, jim acosta. >> we know that it is -- there is no silver bullet. >> reporter: with vice president joe biden's task force closing in on recommendations for new gun control lawses, the focus is starting to turn to what, if anything, can get through congress. but on an iowa public tv show, the state's republican senator, charles grassley, sounded open to two of biden's likely proposals, restricting high-capacity gun magazines and tightening background checks. >> i also think, though, that we do have to do things to make sure the database of the fbi has all the information. so people can't buy guns that shouldn't have guns. >> the vice president laid out some of the ideas emerging from his task force thursday, but he did not mention a new assault weapons ban. sterling's speculation the white house is dropping the proposal. but the white house says that's not so. an administration spokesman told cnn, avoiding this issue just because it's been politically difficult in the past is not an option. that's despite what will be fierce opposition from t

jim acosta is passing where we are sitting right now. estate. >> i love it. you can see all the press vehicles. the president is about to pass where i am right now. i'm going to wave to the president. brianna and i will see. we're on a platform that's about 10 or 15 feet elevated from where they are. i can see the president right now in the limo. he was just it looked like adjusting his coat. and they are literally passing where we are right now. moving a little bit closer in the direction of wolf blitzer of course who is at the reviewing stand which is where the president is headed. he's the first vehicle in this parade. once he gets there, he will get out and watch the rest of the parade go by. they'll be 59 other groups. charles schumer getting a lot of air time today. >> senator lamar alexander. speaker of the house -- >> wolf, he is now formally en route to you from where we are. >> erin, let me ask you this question, you've got a special guest who knows a lot about fashion. wh

jim, we had cnn jim acosta saying he had to pinch himself. we saw al roker screaming to get the president's attention. what happened to reporting? >> don't forget chris mathews comparing it to the gettysburg address. i think that the media, some, some summarized it as well, tale of two inaugurations, and with bush 43, media sneers and obama, the media cheers. and how the kids are dressing and contrast to 2005 inaugural eight short years ago, and discussion was money spent on the inaugural, cutting into the poor and the iraq war et cetera, et cetera. and mr. rothman completely nailed the sense of bias and i absolute him in his efforts. >> jon: what about that, kirsten, do reporters not have memories? (laughter) >> that's a loaded question, no, i think there's a little bit of a double standard here. clearly, the economy is still in a bad place and you can't say that there are no longer poor people. and they're concerned about spending back when bush was president and should be concerned now. we did an interview earlier michael hastings, the rol

jim acosta is on capitol hill covering all of this. jim, i understand they're getting to work.we like that. we like to see that on the first day of the job, getting something done. >> that's right. >> the house is going to hold a second vote next week. tell us about that. >> well, after this initial section of sandy relief was passed by the house earlier in morning by a vote of 354-7 susan, susadz suzanne we expect it to passed. the first chunk will shore up the government's flood insurance program and pay to claims to people trying to get some relief for some of the damage that they sustained and they're seeking help through the program. the rest is expected to come later on this month. not all is a sure thing. this second chunk is going to have to be negotiated here in the house, and then go over to the senate. there was some talk before all of this got started, you know, when this all went down the other night when they passed the fiscal cliff agreement in the house and didn't act on sandy, there was concern about whether or not there was too much pork in all of this. i have

jim acosta is in washington.ome are blaming on the delay on the pork in the bill, $60 billion, big price tag but there's $150 million in here that could go to fisheries in alaska. no storm damage in alaska. where is that going? >> well, victor, i will tell you that those were some of the concerns expressed by some members of the house before all of this got started. let's rewind a little bit and go back to what happened when the house took up the fiscal cliff legislation, passed it and then left without passing aid to the victims of superstorm sandy, then the lawmakers from new york and new jersey went ballistic. you remember chris christie held that news conference, said "shame on you, shame on congress." i think you can say congress has gotten the message, the house as you mentioned a few moments ago and i did confirm this with a house leadership aide, they do expect this bill to pass at around 11:00 this morning, it provides that 9.7 billion that will pay out claims to people enrolled in the flood insurance pr

cnn's jim acosta's joining us from capitol hill with more on this rather unique part of the story. , jim? >> reporter: wolf, hagel may be a former senator but it's not clear how much deference he's going to get on capitol hill from issues like israel and gay rights, hagel will have to walk through a political minefield in order to get confirmed. the white house is also playing defense when it comes to hagel. a former two-term senator from nebraska. the president's pick for secretary is defense is running into resistance from inside the republican party. this senator who was once on the short list himself says hagel is in for a fight. have you made up your mind on this? >> i want to give hagel a former colleague, the opportunity to come and go face-to-face. to answer these questions. these allegations. what i think are some serious questions that do not perhaps qualify him for this position. >> reporter: one big battle to come, a comment hagel made in 2006 about pro-israeli groups and their influence on capitol hill. when he said the jewish lobby intimidates a lot of people up here.

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 >> 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 loopholes anywhere for anyone. >> when he was reminded of that line -- >> now, you do not support background checks for all firearms. >> i think the check system the way it's working now is a failure. >> lapierre's argument -- >> the problem with gun laws is criminals don't cooperate with them. >> but between 1994 and 2009, the justice department says out of 108 million background checks, nearly 2 million were denied. still, he was right on another front. >> 23 states have not been putting the mental records of these mentally incontinent of the system. >> that's backed up

jim acosta reports. (camera shutters) mr. speaker how are you?e ah, just going to have a few days of real life. >>> after surviving a failed coup led by his own members. a beleaguered house speaker john boehner wants to take that same fractured party into battle. in a closed door meeting of house republicans. a source in the room tells cnn. boehner said he will demand budget cuts that are larger than any increase in the nation's debt limit. >> >>reporter: have another debate on weather or not they should pay the bills that they have already racked up. airlines>> "with the cliff behind us , the focus turns to spending." that puts republicans in congress back on a collision course with the white house. after the president insisted earlier this week he will me ceiling. debate with this congress over whether or not they should pay the bills that they've already racked up through the laws that they passed." if the president won't come to the bargaining table. one top republican in the senate, john cornyn. says in an op-ed in the houston chronicle: "it

. >> did i ever tell you, jim acosta, that when i was at senior west high school outside of buffalo, that? >> what instrument? >> i have to tell you what i just did. i don't know how to take this news. >> releasing this information for the first time. >> happening

jim acosta, thanks very much. >>> a recent cnn orc poll shows a strong majority of americans favor a ban on is semiautomatic assault weapons. 62% compared to 37% who opposed. let's dig deeper with our chief political analyst gloria borger. there are significant political risks for the obama administration, for the democrats in this gunfight. >> there are a lot of political risks. if gun control was easy, they would have done it a while ago. the assault weapons ban has not been renewed for eight years, wolf. it's been sitting out there. and i think in my conversations with administration officials, what they are going to come up with and that sort of echos what jim was saying, they are going to come up with what someone describes to me as a menu of options. the menu of options will include a ban on assault weapons and also include closing the gun show loophole, limiting purchases of the high-capacity magazines. so they are going to put those options out there he a there is attention inside the democratic party. do you make a huge push on assault weapons and hurt yourself on the other

let's begin our coverage right now with our national correspondent, jim acosta, he's up on capitol hill. >> reporter: some things will not change. john boehner is still the speaker of the house. but there are lots of new faces on capitol hill and some of them are ready for a fight. the newly sworn in 113th congress is so diverse it is redefining the term, ladies of the house. there are more women than ever before. roughly a 100, add that to the approximately 43 african-americans, 31 latinos, 12 asians, and seven gay and bisexual politicians, and many have taken notice. >> it means we reflect america more. the district i come from is very diverse. and it is good to see congress starting to look like the rest of america. >> reporter: but some things will stay the same on capitol hill. john boehner survived the gop defections to remain the speaker of the house. he welled up in tears. >> the american dream is in p i peril, so long as its name sake is weighed down by this anchor of debt. break it's hold, and we begin to set our economy free. >> reporter: that will be new easy task, with so m

jim acosta is up on the hill. jim, the confirmation process is going to begin. there is going to be a senate armed services committee hearing as far as hagel is concerned. a senate intelligence committee hearing for john brennan to be the cia director, foreign relations committee will deal with john kerry as the next secretary of state. those guys up -- and gals up on the hill will be busy. what does it look like now? we're already starting to get reaction in to chuck hagel and john brennan. >> reporter: that's right. carl levin, the chairman of the senate armed services committee, he came out with a statement saying that he does support the nomination of chuck hagel, dianne feinstein also came out with a statement saying she's in support of chuck hagel. we're seeing some democrats coming out of the wood work here to offer up their defense for this nomination for second of defense. but, wolf, i just had a few moments to talk with dan coats, the seminar from indiana, republican who had served here on capitol hill for a long time, took some time off and came back

jim acosta is here. there has been confusion all day. what was going on?ht now? >> wolf, this was a question on a lot of lips. earlier a spokesman said what americans heard on inauguration day was a prerecording of pop star beyonce singing the national anthem. take a listen. ♪ ♪ o say, can you see by the dawn's early light ♪ ♪ what so proudly we hailed >> now, that was a prerecording. that spokesman for the u.s. marine band said beyonce made the recording overnight before the inaugural as a standard protocol, the band says, in case something goes wrong during the actual performance and just before the inauguration ceremony, a decision was made to use that recording instead of the live song. the pop star even posted pictures on her facebook page recording the star-spangled banner but on inauguration day beyonce, quote, did not actually sing. and let's look at another quote from that marine official. we don't know why the decision was made. we wondered the same thing. we don't know. we don't have that graphic available. but a u.s. marine band spokesperson. s

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>> jim acosta, appreciate that update. >>> when president obama spoke at memorial services for the sandy hook victims, he said "newtown, you are not alone." and people, including the family of noah pozner, took him at his word, but now some are saying president obama has not been living up to the words "you are not alone." his mom put out a statement today. it reads, as the mother of a 6-year-old victim of a cold-bloodied massacre of school children, i'm puzzled and disappointed by the fact that i have had no information or opportunity to be heard on the upcoming legislative proposal in washington. with us now is alexi, noah's uncle. i understand you had concerns that your voice, your family's voice was not being heard by the white house. you just heard from them moments ago. what did they say? >> that's correct. the white house contacted me on my way -- while i was on my way to the show. i had sent an e-mail about eight days ago to an aide of president obama asking questions about whether the families would have an opportunity to speak about the proposal. and an opportunity to be heard.

here's jim acosta. >> reporter: martin, it seems old habits die hard. remember all those feelings of kumbaya when members of the 113th congress were sworn in? well, never mind. after surviving a failed coup led by his own members, a beleaguered house speaker, john boehner, wants to take that same fractured party into battle. in a closed-door meeting of house republicans, a source in the room tells cnn boehner said he will demand budget cuts that are larger than any increase in the nation's debt limit. with the fiscal cliff behind us, he told his members, the focus turns to spending. that puts republicans in congress back on a collision course with the white house after the president insisted earlier this week he will not negotiate over the debt ceiling. >> i will not have another debate with this congress over whether or not they should pay the bills that they've already racked up through the laws that they passed. >> reporter: if the president won't come to the bargaining table, one stop republican in the senate, john cornyn, says in an op-ed in "the h

. >> to jim acosta standing by at the parade staging route. take it away, jim. >> thanks, don. they're getting the floats ready for tomorrow's inaugural parade. the illinois state float behind me. honoring president obama's home state of illinois and then you can hear the school of the arts, from florida, getting ready for the parade as well. we're going to be on the back of a flat bed trunk in front of the president's motorcade as he heads towards the white house and head off and stop in the reviewing seat where he will watch the parade go by where jessica yellen is waiting. i'll be the ferris bueller of the inaugural parade watching those from a good vantage point in front of the president. you'll have a good vantage point as well. >> let's see if he gets out of the motorcade and sings on a float like ferris. that would make headlines. he has a pretty good voice. the president will come next here, to pennsylvania avenue. this is the stretch of the parade route where we most often see the president exit the motorcade with the first lady and wave to the crowds and some crowds h

jim acosta is joining us now with more on the details.ad has really generated a huge, huge uproar. >> that's right. they call the ad dangerous. there is no doubt, the tactics have been effective over the decades in blocking gun control and the question is whether the latest ad will backfire. the nation's most powerful advocate for the second amendment had already launched a pre-emptive strike. >> are the president's kids more important than yours? and why is he skeptical about putting armed security in our schools? >> the national rifle association calls attention to the secret service protection calling attention to malia and sasha at their private school in washington. >> protection for their kids and gun-free zones for ours. >> the proposal forearmed police officers nationwide is a reminder of the nra's hardball tactics to hit the halls of congress. but nancy pelosi heading into a hearing of new gun restrictions with mayor nutter says the ad crosses the line. >> it was completely inappropriate to include the president's children. they

jim acosta, cnn, washington. >>> good morning, good afternoon, everyone. i'm kate bolduan. welcome to our special coverage of the presidential inauguration weekend. >> i'm john berman. great to see you. you are looking at live pictures now of the first family marking today's national day of service. people all over the country are doing the same thing the obamas are doing right now, volunteering in their community on this martin luther king holiday weekend. this national day of service going on here on the national mall where the president is -- it's an elementary school. >> it is an elementary school here in washington. i believe he's doing a little bit similar to his service project last time around four years ago because i believe he had a paint brush in his hand that time. but it looks like he's helping -- what i've seen so far, helping to complete an overhaul of a school in washington, d.c. he has some very good volunteers. i believe they are with city year and they're working to, you know, maybe do a little painting, a little varnishing of a bookcase, john. >> it is t