led the nra. >> wayne lapierre is the nra. he built the nra into what it is today. >> narrator: in the 1970s, he started as a lobbyist. >> if you're a political junkie like wayne or like myself, it was a wonderful job. you're working with all these people and having these fights. and you're cutting your teeth. >> narrator: but lapierre was no one's idea of a glad-handing lobbyist. >> he was a very quiet man. i was amazed he was a lobbyist because he did not have the hail-fellow-well-met attitude or personality that i associated with politicians or with lobbyists. >> narrator: and surprisingly for the nra, he was not a gun enthusiast, more comfortable on k street than in a duck blind. >> the safest place you could be with wayne and a gun back then was in a different state because he really did not know anything about guns. politics, yes; guns, no. >> narrator: and inside the fractious politics of the nra, lapierre was skillful navigating between the sportsmen and the gun rights activists. >> wayne could put a finger to the wind

it was truly a time that wayne lapierre and the nra, the leadership, could have rose to another level, complete other level. >> narrator: with polls showing wide public support for expanding background checks, manchin and the vice president figured they had a chance. >> i was optimistic. over 91% of the american people supported expanding background checks. 80% of the households that had an nra member supported it. >> narrator: at first there was hope lapierre might go along with the bill. the nra went to meetings with manchin. >> they made some suggestions on some wording and changes from that standpoint, so yes, they had input. and we valued that input. >> we're starting to see almost a glimmer of possibility in washington where the nra is at least talking to manchin. >> narrator: but many in the gun rights community were furious at the talk of compromise. >> the two small groups, the gun owners of america and the national association of gun rights, began to circulate letters saying, "we hear that the nra is compromising with manchin"-- they used that word, the dreaded "c" word-- th

tell them about wayne lapierre. >> did we lose him? >> can you hear me, michael?e've lost the connection with michael, but it is a fascinating documentary. definitely check it out. "frontline" tonight, "the rise of the nra." thank you, michael kirk for your time. >>> in new york today funeral services were held for mario cuomo, who died on christmas day from heart complications. bill and hillary clinton and eric holder were among the mourners. mario cuomo was 82 years young. >> bingo! >> darn it! i was one square away from winning that game. >> it's a shame sadie isn't here today she always wins. coulda won the big prize. >> you know, that could have helped her with some of jim's funeral expenses. >> there wasn't any life insurance? >> no, there wasn't. i'd been trying to convince her to call about the colonial penn program to make sure they had coverage but she was worried they wouldn't be accepted because of their health. >> i have life insurance with them, too. i had concerns but i didn't have to take a physical or even answer any health questions. my acceptanc

i'm with wayne lapierre on this. >> a little book i like to call the bible, story of david and goliath. >> yeah. what happened? >> that's not that little though. >> david won. yeah, that's true. and because of that one story. >> a lot of people have died. >> i'm the dave and that's the goliath. never works out. >> didn't you read malcolm glad well? it was all a lie of the. >> david was favored from the very beginning. >> why would i favor -- >> it's about the hair. never mind. did the doodle mean their doom? after refusing to fly on a united airplane gra feetied with the message bye-bye. it was scheduled to go from sf to hong kong when crew members found the sketchy sketch written in oil on the fuselage. just say belly for god sake. they requested a full security tweet before take justifyoff, but united ruled it was a joke. the flight was cancelled, and the employees were later fired. now they're suing to get their jobs back. so who made the graffiti perhaps one of the mechanics on the plane seen here. an ace mechanic. if there ever was one. all right. donna, there have been some scare