karen travers, abc 7 news, washington. >> new at noon, two consultants have concluded that the cell, butdied in his he did not choke himself for sexual pleasure. suggestedisons report he died from autoerotic stimulation, but the consultants from evidence in the cell and writing in the journal. >> a black friday brault. rawl. the accusation a woman yelled before the fest began to fly -- fists begin to fly. >> we will tell you how he managed to survive for so long. the years most popular baby names, and the new trend for parents. >> jacqui jeras will be back to tell you when you might >> you're watching abc 7 news at noon, on your side. >> a black friday melee. police are searching for two women who attacked a 17-year-old girl and a bit torilla secret store. one of the woman yelled you poked me in the eye, and then the punches begin to fly. could help this video lead to arrests. we'll have more on this story coming up on abc seven news at 5:00 p.m. outolice have ruled dragracing in the fire crash that killed actor paul walker. he died this weekend along with a friend who was driving hi

karen travers, abc news, washington. >> explorer has been hit. explorer, do you read. >> this is a scene from the movie "gravity," which received four golden globe nominations today, including best picture and best actress nod for sandra bullock. two other films are leading the pack with seven nominations each. the competition is tight as this award season kicks off. >> best motion picture drama --"12 years a slave." >> "12 years a slave" leads the pack of golden globe film emanations with seven, right alongside the crime flick "american hustle." >> people believe what they want to believe. >> which could make these two films oscar favorites. past nominees are back in the mix, especially for best actress in a motion picture drama. te blanchet, emma thompson, kate winslet. "mandela -- long walk to read freedom" is competing against "captain phillips." it was a big day for "house of cards" and "behind the candelabra." they picked up four nominations each including "house of cards" for best television drama, competing against "masters of abbey," and

abc's karen travers looks at why. >> reporter: after the tran date sandy hook elementary, president obama seemed to channel the conscious of a stunned nation. >> these tragedies must end. and to end them, we must change. >> reporter: mass shootings in the past sparked outrage and sadness, not change. but the horror of 20 school children murdered in cold blood seemed to be a tipping point. yet one year later there are no new federal gun laws and no plans for any on the horizon. >> one of the more frustrating items that's come across the plate is how completely disconnected our legislative system seems to be from the opinion of the american people. >> reporter: in january, president obama proposed a game plan and urged congress to take quick action. abc news/"washington post" poll at the time found a majority of americans supported those measures. the lobbying efforts began immediately. families of the newtown victims became a familiar sight on capitol hill. the gun industry, led by the powerful nra count weird an equally intense effort, focusing on democrats from conservative states who we

karen travers reports. >> born in 1918, nelson mandela was the son of a tribal chief. as a young man coming faced daily humiliation of living under apartheid come a system of government enforced racial division that led to the oppression of the majority black south africans. mandela made the fight for his country in people's liberation his calls. in 1964, he paid the price with his own freedom, sentenced to life in prison. i have the idea of a democratic and free society. it is an ideal for which i am prepared to die. mandela in chains, south africans found a new rally cry, free mandela synonymous with the demands for a free south africa. after nearly than eight ok'd, as dubya dick clark finally -- after nearly three decades, delcerq freed him. he was embraced by his people and the world. he became a nobel peace prize recipient and was elected president in the country's first free elections. the post apartheid years were unemployment and aids plagued the country. the 91-year-old mandela, who at fault for years to host the world cup, appeared on the pitch. in his later

abc's karen travers has the story. >> reporter: a rare occurrence on capitol hill on tuesday.a budget deal before the deadline. >> senator murray and i have reached an agreement. >> because of this deal, the budget process can start approaching from crisis to crisis. >> reporter: the deal, if agreed to, would mean the government would not shut down for at least two years and eliminate $65 billion in domestic and defense spending cuts known as the sequester and not raise taxes. when it comes to the nuts and bolts, it's a modest proposal. the reason why this is the first budget agreement in two years. partisan bickering has bogged down the process. but it is not a done deal. the house and senate must vote on this agreement and ryan and murray have a tough sell. >> i'm confident we won't have 100% of the senate or house. >> reporter: some republicans don't like the spending increases. some democrats don't like it doesn't include an extension of unemployment benefits. >> i see this agreement as a step in the right direction. in divided government, you don't always get what you wan

. >> abc's karen travers has more about this icon's life and death. orning, karen. >> reporter: good morning. nelson mandela's health had been declining for some time but still south africans held on to hope. they and so many around the world are remembering his courage and strength. how he healed the nation and changed history. >> outside of the home where nelson mandela died, they sang in memory and in mourning. >> great fighter, strong man. >> reporter: south africa's president delivered the long-dreaded news. >> our nation has lost its greatest son. our people have lost their father. >> reporter: president obama praised the man he called a personal inspiration. >> we have lost one of the most influential, courageous, and profoundly good human beings that any of us will share time with on this earth. >> reporter: that sense of historical loss ranged from royalty. >> extremely sad and tragic newswe are reminded what an extraordinary and inspiring man nelson mandela was. >> reporter: to regular people. >> is there a man who has more people aware of wh

abc's karen travers has the details from washington. >> reporter: it was a strong rebuke to the obamatration's controversial nsa surveillance program. >> a federal judge is finally pushing back, finally saying to the nsa no. in fact, mass collection of phone records without individualized suspicion is not illegal. >> reporter: president obama has defended the phone data collection program saying it is a critical tool in the fight against terrorism. judge richard leon, a george w. bush appointee, said the nsa's massive database was unconstitutional. he said the program almost certainly does violate a reasonable expectation of privacy and is indeed an unreasonable search under the fourth amendment. he also called the government's phone data collection almost orwellian. president obama said the information was collecting information on who called who and where. >> nobody is listening to your telephone calls. that's not what this program is about. >> reporter: and that it's kept america safe. >> we know of at least 50 threats that have been averted because of this information. >> reporter

abc's karen travers looks at why. >> reporter: after the tragedy at sandy hook elementary, president to channel the conscious of a stunned nation. >> these tragedies must end. and to end them, we must change. >> reporter: mass shootings in the past sparked outrage and sadness, not change. but the horror of 20 school children murdered in cold blood seemed to be a tipping point. yet one year later, there are no new federal gun laws and no plans for any on the horizon. >> one of the more frustrating items that's come across the plate is how completely disconnected our legislative system seems to be from the opinion of the american people. >> reporter: in january, president obama proposed a game plan and urged congress to take quick action. an abc news/"washington post" poll at the time found a majority of americans supported those measures. the lobbying efforts began immediately. families of the newtown victims became a familiar sight on capitol hill. the gun industry, led by the powerful nra, countered with an equally intense effort, focusing on democrats from conservative states who w

as abc's karen travers tells us, that's by design. good morning, karen. >> reporter: good morning, john. good morning, diana. president obama highlighted the progress at healthcare.gov. but once again, he reminded americans that the health care law is not just a website. and he had a strong message for republicans. he said the health care law is here to stay. >> my main message today is we're not going back. after just the first month, despite all of the problems in the rollout, about 500,000 people across the country are poised to gain health care coverage threw marketplaces and medicaid beginning on january 1st. >> reporter: but the white house says the problems are almost fixed. over the next three weeks they'll make a big push to get people enrolled so they have health insurance by january 1st. john and diana? >> karen, thank you. >>> now, to a breaking story from mexico. a potential nightmare for u.s. homeland security. a truck carrying radioactive material has been stolen. that material is being called extremely dangerous. the tr

karen travers reporting live from washington.urrounded by his youngest daughters who were in london at the time attending a premier of a new film about his life. they left immediately after learning of their father's death. they asked the film be played until the end. the audience which included prince william, was only told that mandela died as the credits rolled. >>> they're also paying tribute at the famous apollo theater in new york. the marquee lit up in his honor. new york was the first stop on his u.s. tour in 1990. he wanted to go to harlem because the people knew about resistance and fighting for change. stay with abc news as we remember nelson mandela's legacy. later this half-hour, inside information about his family and his memorial. keep it here on abc news all morning long. >>> now to the other major story this morning. we learning more about the popular american chemistry teacher gunned down jogging in the libyan city of benghazi. ronnie smith was a fan of twitter. he used it as a teaching tool. he described himsel

karen travers reports. >> reporter: two days, two suicide bombings. an attack at a train situation. yesterday, a bus bombing there. more than 30 people dead. with february's winter olympics in russia quickly approaching, there's increasing concerns about security. the olympics will take place about 400 miles away in sochi. in the region wracked by terrorist attacks by islamist insurgents. five months ago, the leader of an islamist nationalist group vowed to disrupt the games. >> if the games aren't attacked, there will be attempts to attack. either the transit routes into the games or particular venues on the outlying areas. >> reporter: the olympic events will be spread out across multiple venues. there will be a massive security presence. but experts say soft targets present opportunities. >> small numbers can infiltrate and cause a lot of damage. >> reporter: yesterday, the president of the national olympic committee called the attacks despicable. but everything will be done to ensure the safety of the athletes and spectators. >> thank you. >>> we're getting new details this morn

karen travers, abc news, washington. >>> the supreme court turned away a christian university's attempto overturn a key part of the obama administration's health care law. the justices did not comment today in leaving in place a federal appeals court ruling dismissing liberty university's lawsuit. liberty challenged the portion of the law that requires most employers to provide health insurance to their workers or pay a fine. the supreme court separately is considering whether for-profit corporations can mount religious objections to the law's requirement to include birth control among preventive health benefits. >>> saving money on your prescription drugs might not be as difficult as you've been led to believe. >> yeah. here with the secret is 7 on your side's michael finney. this is interesting stuff. >> by saving money, i'm not talking about nickels and dimes here. a couple of dollars. i'm talking about cutting the cost of your drugs in half. sometimes much more than that. the secret -- it's been right in front of you all the time. medications are expensive. we all know that. or are

abc news reporter karen travers latest now from washington on the attack and obama administration says this. >> two days. 2 suicide bom bombings. yesterday in russian attack at train station. today a bus bombing there. more than 30 people dead. with winter olympic in russia quickly approaching now increasing concerns about security. >> threats against the olympic games. security personnel working with the russian many month. >> the olympic will take place 400 miles in sochi in the heart of the north caucus. region wracked by terrorist attack by islam insurgent. 5 months ago the leader of islamist nationalist group vowed to disrupt the games. >> if the games aren't attacked there will be attempt to attack either the transit route into the game or particular venue on the outlying area. >> olympic event listen spread out across multiple venue. massive security presence but experts say tough targets present opportunity. >> small number of people infiltrate and cause a lot of damage. >> the committee president said the acts were despicable but certain everything will be done toen shawr the

abc's karen travers has more on that. >> reporter: after the tragedy at sandy hook elementary, presidentand to end them we must change. >> reporter: mass shootings in the past sparked outrage and sadness, not change. the horror of 20 schoolchildren murdered in cold blood seemed to be a tipping point. yet one year later, there are no new federal gun laws and no plans for any on the horizons. >> one of the more frustrating items is how disconnected our legislative system seems to be from the opinions of the american people. >> reporter: in january, president obama proposed a game plan and urged congress to take quick action. and an abc news/"washington post" poll at the time found the majority of americans supported those measures. the lobbying effort began immediately. families of the newtown victims became a familiar sight on capitol hill. the gun industry, led by the powerful nra, countered with an equally intense effort. focusing on democrats in conservative states up for re-election in 2014. finally in april, a bipartisan deal on the scaled back measure to expand background checks, bu

karen travers, abc news, washington. >>> the supreme court turned away a christian university's attemptof the obama administration's health care law. the justices did not comment today in leaving in place a federal appeals court ruling dismissing liberty university's lawsuit. liberty challenged the portion of the law that requires most employers to provide health insurance to their workers or pay a fine. the supreme court separately is considering whether for-profit corporations can mount religious objections to the law's requirement to include birth control among preventive health benefits. >>> saving money on your prescription drugs might not be as difficult as you've been led to believe. >> yeah. here with the secret is 7 on your side's michael finney. this is interesting stuff. >> by saving money, i'm not talking about nickels and dimes here. a couple of dollars. i'm talking about cutting the cost of your drugs in half. sometimes much more than that. the secret -- it's been right in front of you all the time. medications are expensive. we all know that. or are they? dr. david belk i

abc's karen travers reports the terror may have some widespread repe >> reporter: two days, two suicide yesterday, a bus bombing there. more than 30 people dead. with the winter olympics approaching there are increasing concerns about s the olympicll t00 miles from volgograd in five an islamist national group vowed to disrupt the games. >> if the games aren't attacked there will be attempts to attack either transit routes in to the games or particular venue on the outlying areas. >> reporter: the events will be spread out across multiple venues. a massive security presence but experts say soft targets present opportunities. >> small numbers of people can infiltrate and cause a lot of damage. >> reporter: yesterday the president of the international olympic committee called the attacks despicable but said he was certain that everything will be done to ensure the safety of the athletes and spectators. diana and muhammad. >> thank you. >>> the faa announced six states that will develop test sites for drones. alaska, nevada, new york, north alasen. nevada, new york, north for their diverse