karen: you hit me! karen, go up and get changed. ben, will you stop playing with that? ( toy siren wailing ) listen! for the last time, you should never, ever hit a person! what if they were attacking you with a shovel? what? if somebody's attacking you with a shovel, you must be able to hit them. well, obviously, yeah. i mean, that would be self-defense, so... obviously, in that sort of shovel-related circumstance you can hit someone, but-- ah, but you said never ever. look, ben, you know perfectly well what-- come on, people, let's not be late for another wedding! ah! and today's mystery object is... a trowel behind the telly. ( ben and pete arguing ) karen! are you ready? look, ben, you must never hit someone first. what if you're a boxer? if you're a boxer, you should be able to hit someone, because... listen! a boxer's job is to punch people. yeah, but we're not talking about-- what if somebody's walking toward you, and you know they're a murderer... ben. and they have a shovel. ben, this isn't about murderers with shovels. sue: jake, can you stop texting? ben: why

but karen could not take it in. not bonnie, her model child, her conscientious college freshman who she knew was going to school that day, not hiking, miles and miles from home and the university. >> none of it made sense. she didn't drive, so how did she get out there? somebody would have had to be with her. and she would not have missed school. she absolutely did not go out there on her own. >> reporter: in fact, bonnie's sister heard her get up that morning at 5:00 a.m. and set out on her 45-minute walk through the predawn dark to catch the bus that would take her to her 7:00 a.m. class at that time university. she usually didn't return home until about 10:00 p.m. packing most of her classes into a few days because she had a job at sam's club. >> she was incredibly responsible. >> reporter: responsible and nurturing toward her younger siblings. ♪ when i was a little bitty boy ♪ >> reporter: in part because their parents, mother karen and stepfather gary, had divorced a couple of years earlier. >> she just liked t

that was karen, playing her lovely recorder, frank. but it's awful! karen: old, old man! karen! granddad was only joking. have i upset her? i'm sorry. dad, it's fine. i think we over-praise her a bit. i didn't mean to. it's fine. listen, dad, you know what you mentioned a few moments ago about children buggering off, and... well, if that was about me, then i just wanted to say that i didn't-- i didn't mean to make you feel abandoned. i was 17, and i just wanted to... you know... and... and i'm sorry if... ( sighs ) i'm just sorry. i said what about children doing what? well, it doesn't matter. do you want a cup of tea? yeah, i don't mind if i do. she's fine. i told her that as you get older, nice music sounds nasty. and vice versa, which is why he likes celine dion. actually, i didn't-- i didn't say that last bit. i just made that up right now. sue, do you think i'm getting more moles? hang on. i'll get out last year's mole map. 'cause apparently you should check them every couple of months. do you think you ought to leave that self-diagnosis website alone for a bit, 'cause the

ben: karen, look what i found in the bin! it's your bowl! no, it's not! ben! karen: what is it? nothing! jake, can you try not to leave the lights on? you're the one that's worried by global warming. it's not global warming you want to worry about, it's the carbon bloom. carbon bloom? when the tundra melts and all the peat releases the carbon dioxide trapped in it, then it goes into the earth's atmosphere, and the temperature shoots up by about ten degrees in a couple of days. right. and then what happens? everyone dies. excellent. in the meantime, i'll turn the bloody lights out. what's this? karen's birthday list. "hamma beads, blutack... donkey." ( mooing ) oh, hi, deion. your mum will be here soon. it won't be mum. she's in prison. she's in prison? i saw her in the playground last week. she's in prison for trying to kill the headmaster. oh, right. okay. and how did she do that, exactly? with a deadly ray gun. well, let's hope that she'll escape from prison and pick you up really soon. ben: deion, where are you? well, that all makes sense, doesn't it? what? where it's all com

karen! karen: i can't find my other shoe! i really am quite poorly. karen, where did you last see them? karen: and also i can't find my hairbrush to brush my hair. sue; well, where did you last see it? ( coughs ) nasty little cough you've got there, ben. now get your swimming stuff, it's wednesday. there's one thing i can't do, and it's definitely swimming. could you send them a note? yep, i can send them a note saying "ben is pretending to be ill." but what if i really am ill? i might die. yeah, we'd be very upset, but we'd learn to live with it. now come on, get your swimming stuff. off you go. you okay, jake? yeah, i'm fine. good, good. look, this, uh, this bullying thing at school, it's just the one kid doing it, is it? look, dad, i don't want to talk about it now. yeah, but you have to talk-- dad, just chill, okay? ( phone rings ) i am chilled. it's just-- hello? oh, hi, veronica. sue: karen! she's sort of in the middle of something at the moment. karen: it's mine! give it back! is it? sue, it's veronica. can i call her back? can she call you bac

karen! he burnt down his kitchen. dad: but that was an accident, karen. an accident waiting to happen. ( chuckles ) look, come on, i'll take you upstairs. i am the dad monster! no, no, no, no, no, no! you said that it wasn't safe to leave him on his own! oh, ho, ho, ho, ho! it's the dad monster! you said that it wasn't safe to leave him on his own! i know, but some things it's kinder not to repeat. look, you shouldn't have said that, should you? it's not fair, because he hurts my feelings, and i'm not allowed to hurt his. he can't help it, though, can he, 'cause he's old. and i can't help it 'cause i'm young. keep-- listen, keep your voice down, because he's only next door. when you're old, you don't have to listen, and you can say, "oh, what did you say? oh? what's that? oh? what?" and you don't have to listen. you just say, "what? oh? oh, yeah, sure." but you don't actually hear. right. for the interactive versnon, press the red button. i don't want to press the red button! why am i gonna keep pressing the red button? ( audio stops ) right. there you ar

karen, it's nearly tea time. come and help me set the table.fantastic job last time. no! you're a mouse killer! karen! i meant to get rid of it, and then bloody jane turned up. brilliant. can't rely on anyone. you're right there. not even your friends. are you all right, sweetheart? they voted for ross as class rep. oh, i'm sorry to hear that. did he pay them more money than you? no, he didn't give them any money. he's just-- he's popular. no, that's not right. once you've sold your vote, you should stick to it. jake: when are we gonna have this family chat about money? we could have it now, couldn't we? we could have a family meeting over tea. karen, come and sit down! mum, can you guarantee that we're definitely not-- oi! can you guarantee we're definitely not gonna lose the house? yes. it's not like that. we're just a bit short of money at the moment. we can't even afford a cup of tea. what do you mean? well, one day, me and mummy were walking down the street, and there was a man sitting on the pavement with his dog. a very nice dog, actuall

karen...ke don't run with scissors, because otherwise there'd be-- but-- there'd be a whole hospital with people, and--and they've got scissors stuck in their face. okay, game over. come on, give me your cards. actually, i think our plane may just have landed, so we ought to get ready. have you got the boarding passes? yes. how many more times? where are our seats? well, we've got two groups of three... a couple of rows apart. right, so it should probably go me, your dad, and jake, and you sitting with the two little ones, yeah? like it was on the way out. was that the formulation on the way out? yeah, i think it was. yeah, i was more thinking you and ben and karen, because that's fairer on dad, because he likes things calm. yeah. but he--he likes to talk about football, doesn't he? so possibly it should be me, your dad, and jake. or you, dad, and ben. or me, your dad, and karen. look, just cut the crap. you're sitting next to ben. why? because i sat next to him on the way out. i had him for a

this is karen's treat. treat? after school? an urban farm down the a3? have i learned nothing after all these years? ben, are you making rude hand signals at the driver behind? no, he's making them at me. he's not doing anything! i'll tell you what-- let's all see... who can tell the biggest lie. what? it's a strategy. i got it off mum-net. it sort of downgrades the lying and makes it less attractive. it's a game, dad. i'm a toilet! right. i'm a magical witch, and i'm 100,000 years old, and at night, i sprout wings and i fly above the owls and the bats... and i leap over the moon-- jake, your go. i have the deadly ebola virus, and we're all gonna die in the next 24 to 48 hours. nice. karen. your go. i like auntie angela. well, that's-- that's lovely, sweetheart. um, anyway, let's get on with the game. that was part of the game. i'm a toilet too. no, you're not. it was part of the game. jake, have another go. my middle name is elizabeth. i'm 36 years old. i drive a peugeot. ( cell phone beeping ) hiya. yeah, look, i'm running behind. the headmaster's mean

karen?> stephane, angela merkel hitting the campaign trail with sarkozy says something about franco-german relations. is it a hope or hindrance? >> reporter: definitely it would help sarkozy and that's part of the communication for a while. if you remember there's even a name for that. and yesterday evening on television sarkozy mentioned germany and said germany as an example on five times definitely wants to be seen in france as the president who is working on the convergence with germany. it would make sense to have angela merkel involved in the french campaign but still it would more complicated for merkel in case sarkozy is defeated. >> stephane, this is jim rogers. can sarkozy win the election? i mean, especially if he goes around with merkel saying everybody has to cut spending, can he win the election on that kind of platform? >> reporter: well, he made things clear for not a couple of weeks. sarkozy saying they didn't want to lie to french people so will make the campaign base d on

karen, go ahead. >> hi.o my question would be, you know, one of the things i like about the announcement that the president made today is that it's less about putting principal dollars to create these summer jobs, in which i would just say, summer employment for our youth, particularly minorities, is so critically important and connected to so many other issues. i'm really happy to see the administration -- it's a drop in the bucket, but important. so what the president has seems to have done with this program is figure out a way to incentivize these companies to agree, essentially, to hire "x" number of young people sort of for internships for the summer. who other kinds of things or ways can we -- because, obviously, it's not -- just can't be just about spending federal dollars. what other kinds of ways can a president incentivize companies or browbeat companies into high hiring quality >> i think one of the big things getting the economy right is just getting the strength of demand out there to encourage

it's going to be great, though, isn't it, karen? 'cause we're going to take you out of school, and we're going to spend some time traveling around, aren't we? yeah, that's right. it's definitely on our "to do" list. if you're going to take me out of school, then who's going to teach me? well, i will. but i need a teacher. but i'm a teacher. that's what i do. a proper one. i am a proper teacher. that's what i do. i'm a real teacher. what do you think i do when i go to work? i teach at a big school for big children. very big children, enormous children. and i'm not that big, am i? and if you teach for big children, then you... then you... teach big things that i might not even know yet. i might not even know what they mean yet. ahem. yeah, but i know all the little things as well to teach you. when we go to india, can we go around shooting people? and whipping them with ropes? oh, no, no, no. you're thinking-- "indians" is what you mean. you're thinking of the wrong kind of indians. there are indians, like ravi and kuj, who come from

reach karen at karen lee and associates.com. >>> well, something else that can cause stress, cookingng day at work. and in today's health for her we meet a doctor who is spreading her message about making smart food choices in a very unique way. here is elizabeth cohen. >> better help for better life, the doctor's motto and she is spreading the word through cooking. >> tofu has no flavor by itself. sheench . >> reporter: when she realized her patients weren't getting the message she and her husband started a free cooking class to show them. >> we're just showing you there is a different way. >> reporter: she says americans have the worst diets of all the industrialized countries. >> high in fat, high in cholesterol and also high in sugar. >> reporter: which can lead to obesity, diabetes, high cholesterol, and heart disease. so what's on the menu? >> going to demonstrate our basal pesto pizza for you. >> reporter: instead of meat and cheese on the pizza they use a pesto sauce, vegetables, and vegie shrimp. these nachos don't have cheese. instead the spread is made with cashews. she us

my wife, karen, is right here. you can applaud for karen.e seven children that we have. the rest of the family is here at the pizza ranch. this is pizza ranch no. 35 or 36 that i have been to, and i have been in rooms like this, usually with a lot less people. the other boys and my daughter -- this has been a real family affair today. we have enjoyed the trips around. i want to say three things. number one is thank you. this has been an incredible experience. i don't know what these other candidates are doing, running their campaigns, but i cannot think of a better experience over the past several months and spending the time that i did in iowa, new hampshire, and south carolina. i have spent an enormous amount of time in all three. up until this last month, it was about an equal amount of time. i have been to new hampshire 30 times. i have done more events in new hampshire than anybody but jon huntsman. we have done more events in south carolina than any other candidate. -- dan jon huntsman, and he has lived there for the past three months.

karen makes no secret of her financial state. the single mother works at a fast-food restaurant to support herself and 13-year-old son. >> i have to budget my money to pay the bills here, and buy food for him, and, you know, it's something different at school. >> reporter: she considered herself fortunate. she is in a program that moves homeless to self-sufficient see. the new report shows the number of children living in poverty is at a 13 year high, even in affluent northern virginia. >> fairfax county has a very high cost of living. housing is very expensive here. if you are working minimum wage and you are working full time you would need to work 24 hours a day. >> the cities of danville and petersburg lead the state with child poverty rate, each topping 40%. northern virginia is lower. with falls church below that at 2.7%. still shelters are seeing an increase in the most vulnerable populations. >> right now we have 70 people in the building, and 45 of those are children. >> karen says in five years she plans to own the home

thanks, karen, for that report. minutes out there in des moines. stay with abc news on line and on the air all morning long as we sort out what is next for the republicans. >>> in other news, we are getting more insight into what may have motivated the los angeles arson suspect. investigators say harry burkhart may have gone off the deep end after his mother was charged with 19 counts of fraud including failure to pay for breast enlargements. at her court hearing, burkhart lashed out in an anti-u.s. rant. later that night police say he started setting cars on fire. >>> here's in new york, a man has been arrested after confessing to a string of firebomb attacks on new year's day. 40-year-old ray legend of seen on surveillance footage hurling molotov cocktails into an islamic cultural center and other sites, as well. he had a personal grievance against the locations. he faces charges including arson as a hate crime. >>> a mother in miami has a beautiful new daughter as a reminder of a crazy new year's eve. anna arias

karen and i got to know his wife anita and his son griffin. i don't know the rest of his kids but he made a decision as to who he felt comfortable with. i'm sure other people in the state will do so and hopefully make a different decision. >> i heard mitt romney called to congratulate you about winning iowa. >> he did. it was a nice call. i called him when he won new hampshire. he was kind enough to do so here. he said, you know, let's keep going. i look forward to the debate that night and saturday and look forward to working and wrestling, fighting in florida. >> people say it's insignificant really, the iowa result change. i don't think it is. mitt romney was able to claim 2 for 2. if he won in south carolina it was 3 for 3. say newt gingrich wins south carolina. as all the polls suggest he has a chance of doing. that means a different candidate has won in iowa, new hampshire, south carolina. that's never happened before in paubl race. >> yeah. >> so this gets interesting. >> as i said in new hampshire and also in iowa, game on. this is a t

here is karen santorum's response.he gay activists have done out there. they vilify him him. rick does not hate anyone. he loves them. what he has simply said is marriage shouldn't happen, but as far as hating, it's very unfortunate that that has happened. a lot of it is backyard bullying. >> so karen santorum saying all he said marriage should be off the table. that's not really true when we talk about the fact that he has equated homosexuality to polygamy. can karen santorum be helpful in deflecting some of that criticism from those who would like to support him, but just can't? >> it's hard to see that she's going to be able to deflect that criticism because he has used up some very strident language. isn't that he just draws the line at marriage. he has talked about homo ssexua in pretty disparaging ways. but typically, that's what wives are out there to do. all of these candidates you saw mitt romney up there talking about his wife. he tell us that story almost at every stop and kcalistlista gi h gingrich, oftenti

karen finney, dana millbank. karen, let me start with you. i have this sink feeling that newt gingrich could be sink beneath his own weight here. what happened to the newt-tron bomb. did it self-imploed in florida? >> i think it did. we're seeing what's been newt's problem all along. he does worse when he's better. when he's doing well, he can't stand it and he lets his guard down and starts talking about colonizing the moon. one of the most notable things is gingrich did not seem like he came as well prepared and fired up and ready to go as romney did. i think he expected romney to have done his homework. you can tell romney was not only prepared with answers, but he was prepared with answers that would flip the things back on newt and make newt look ridiculous. he did it well. >> mitt romney is a guy who has always done his homework. he did ever bit of homework he ever was assigned. why would he make that assumpti assumpti assumption? >> he's the smartest guy in the race and of course he's going to be president. >> there is that. julian, gi

. >> karen is live now from manchester, new hampshire with more. karen?e candidates hit the road hard but there is a growing sense that the primary may be over before the voting begins. on the campaign trail today here in new hampshire the only jabs from mitt romney were aimed at obama. >> the president has made it harder for this economy to be booed. he did not cause this recession. he just made it worse. >> mitt romney has a comfortable lead 24 points in one poll. his republican opponents are starting to sound frustrated. >> it does not mean anything to you because you are the front runner. >> they had chances to get in shots at mitt romney. they largely pulled their punches. today, they came out swinging. >> can we stop it with the pie is baloney? the fact is, you ran in 2004 and lost. rick santorum. >> or rick santorum blasted mitt romney as a massachusetts liberal. >> we need somebody to not bail out and run. >> but jon huntsman turned down several opportunities to go on the attack but even he seemed upset with him. >> this nation is divided because

karen travers live for us in manchester, new hampshire. thanks, karen. and don't forget abc's diane sawyer, george stephanopoulos and our entire political team will bring you the results live throughout the night right here on abc. >>> well, new government figures show health care spending grew at historically low rates last year. and this morning analysts are now debating whether that is good news, though. costs were up by nearly 4%. about $8,400 a person. but that's the lowest increase in 51 years. is it because recession-weary americans are avoiding expensive doctor visits and elective surgeries, or are employee cost controls i should say starting to work? that's what the white house would like you to believe right now. the jury, though, ultimately is still out. >>> well, georgia education officials are deciding whether to discipline teachers who gave third-grade students math homework with word problems about slavery. the naacp has no such dilemma. they're calling for all nine teachers involved to be fired. one example problem read, "if frederick got

karen travers, abc news. >> karen, thank you. >>> new york, while revelers welcomed 2012 in times square, protesters were in a stand off with police at zuccotti park. the n.y.p.d. says at least one officer was hurt. 86 people arrested. on several charges, including trespassing, conduct, and reckless endangerment. >>> if you thought feeding your kids broccoli and carrots was tough. try getting them to sit in a booster seat. we're talking eight-year-olds. california law now. >>> and it's 23 hours into the new year. are you still keeping your resolutions? find out how you can simply use your cell phone and keep them. >> and how about this? twins born, one in 2011, the other in 2012. how this happened, when we come back in 60 seconds. oh, you figured it out? >> a new law went into effect in the nation's biggest state where parents are now required to put children up to eight years old in car seats. the new california law means stiff fines for moms and dads who do not comply. abc2 news clayton sandell has the story. >> reporter: at l.a.'s griffith park you can ride the big ponies if you're se

burmese government ministers and karen rebel leaders are raising their glasses and toasted the future. they have been fighting on and off for more than 600 years. a long and difficult struggle. human-rights groups have accused soldiers of a litany of abuses perpetrated against many of the ethnic minorities. could that be coming to an end? there is a legacy of deep mistrust to be overcome. resolving the long-running ethnic conflict is a key demand of western nations that the british foreign secretary made clear during his recent visit to burma. the opposition leader stressed the need for all the peoples of burma to be included in the evolving process. the early signs of reform from the government are encouraging, she said, in a recent speech. the outside world should remain vigilant. >> now that burma is on the verge of a breakthrough to democracy, they are on the verge of making a break through. in the major cities, the hope is replacing long-term fear. that needs to spread throughout the country to all ethnic areas if they want to enjoy it peace and prosperity. the cease-fire might b

we'll talk to renee, ramona and karen in a moment.f that mouth? you're going to have your jaw wired. >> reporter: the ladies of "mob wives" are back. >> it's about friendship. it's about loyalty. >> reporter: with more catfights than "desperate housewives." and even a "soprano's"-like plot twist. with one ex allegedly wearing a wire for the fbi. >> there's no loyalty by anyone right now. >> reporter: this past september, i went to see the ladies of staten island, to see if i had what it took to become one of the family. >> if you don't like my cooking, i break your head. sweet. >> reporter: in season two, we're reunited with these women who are not afraid to get in each other's faces. there's renee. >> i want instant gratification. i want my body today. and i will be skinny tomorrow. >> reporter: drita. >> you get hit with a wrench across the throat. so, you're more than welcome. >> reporter: karen. >> check my bloodline. i'm coming for you. >> reporter: and carla. >> i have a lot of [ bleep ] that i need to clear up. >> reporter: and

>> thanks, karen. we'll talk to vice president biden later on "good morning america." tomorrow, diane sawyer conducts the first post-speech interview with the president from las vegas. >> should be a good one. >>> many experts thought that last night's speech would be the first re-election pitch to american voters. so how did it all go over? >> well, abc's partner, yahoo! polled voters immediately after this speech. in a nonscientific survey, 63% said that the president deserves a second tern. >>> and karen touched on it, but here it is again. the president's long hug for gabby giffords. she was sitting with jeff flake, a republican, who stood with giffords every time the democrats gave a standing ovation. raising eyebrows from some of the republicans in the room. he was helping her stand. he said he's sure people would understand. >>> john kerry sporting quite a look at the speech last night. turns out the senator and former presidential candidate got roughed up at a pickup hockey game over the holidays. he suffered a broken nose and two black eyes after being hit in

abc's karen travers joins us live from des moines with the very latest. good morning, karen. >> reporter: we have been saying for days this race was going to go down to the wire but nobody could have predicted it would be this much of a nail biter. >> i pledge allegiance to the flag. >> across iowa, republicans gathered to pick their presidential nominee. and it went done to the wire. the final candidates battling it out with very few votes separating them. it's been a long journey. rick perry teared up when he introduced one of his supporters. a veteran who received a purple heart. this iowa voter delivered a passionate plea to mitt romney. >> we have no jobs. we have no health care. >> reporter: romney has grown increasingly confident. could a surging rick santorum get in his way. it's never a good sign if your closing argument is lashing out at your opponent. that's what newt gingrich did when it came to mitt romney. even president obama got in on the iowa action, addressing democratic caucus goers from washington. >> i want us to remind ourselves and

clarence page, karen finney and jonathan capehart. john, you reprehensible journalist, defend yourself. >> talk about pious bologna. he attacks the immediamedia, bu where he is because of the media. this is a guy who knows how to work it. he knows how to work the press, the anger towards the press and the grievance politics festers there within the conservative ranks of the republican party. >> let's not forget he was highly paid by fox news. he was very much part of the organization, the business that he attacks. karen, watching mitt romney going negative and nasty on newt is like trying to imagine the dahli lama starting a bar fight. it seems out of personality. it's kind of difficult, isn't it? >> with that example, i know you're trying to get me to not be american, and i'm not going to let you do it. >> exactly. >> it's clearly not in mitt romney's comfort zone to be on the attack. you have the feeling when he was in business and bain did go in and re-organize, somebody else handled the dirty work. he might have been the guy in th

. >> karen finneus. welcome to all of you. all right, chris, is it over?s never over until it's over. but i think it is essentially over. if you listen to rick santorum, you have had people go to washington, rick santorum has been in washington a lot longer than romney has. is mitt ro romney flawed as a republican primary can he be beat by anyone in this field? certainly not. >> you can't win when you have 2 1/2 people splitting the vote. greg abbott said is absolutely true. the guy is very good on the retail campaigning, but it's the -- the damage had been done a lot sooner than that. but this lack of coalescing, why does he think it's possible, coalesce around santorum and see if we can stop romney? >> newt gingrich is rolling his eyes. >> i think partially, there are two debates before they actually go to the polls on saturday. i think these candidates have seen that the debates have mattered. the spending matters. you can't turn on the tv in south carolina without seeing an ad right now, so there's that tiny chance that somebody can get in. but you saw

karen testerman, thank you all for joining and making your cases.ame worries, wall street watching europe this morning. plus a president page turner, a little bombshell book about michelle obama striking battles between the east wing and the west wing, sort of old divides in many a white house, and this white house not thrilled that it's become public. today's trivia question, since 1952, three democrats have won the new hampshire primary, who is that? the answer and more coming up on the daily rundown. when i grow up, i want to fix up old houses. ♪ [ woman ] when i grow up, i want to take him on his first flight. i want to run a marathon. i'm going to own my own restaurant. when i grow up, i'm going to start a band. [ female announcer ] at aarp we believe you're never done growing. thanks, mom. i just want to get my carack. [ female announcer ] discover what's next in your life. get this free travel bag when you join at aarp.org/jointoday. 12 hour hold challenge. apply fixodent once, and it holds all day. ♪ take the fixodent 12 hour hold challenge.