nick valencia, cnn, atlanta. >> the gun debate is heating up in washington, and across the country.ident biden met with groups all week-- from gun control advocates, to the n-r-a-- hoping to find a solution to the nation's gun violence problem. the issue isn't just dividing lawmakers. as athena jones tells us, religious groups are also at >> "you all know this is a complicated issue." >> reporter: gun control is front and center at the white house. and a matter of debate among christians. (church bells) >> "there is a fascinating religious divide on the issue of gun control." >> reporter: a survey by the public religion research institute- conducted before the newtown shooting- found six in ten catholics support stricter gun control laws, compared to about a third of white evangelical protestants and 42 percent of white mainline protestants. >> "it's just not about theology. it's also about culture and geography." >> reporter: the poll also found white evangelicals are the most likely to own guns. many live in southern and rural areas where guns are a way of life. so what does the b

nick valencia has a preview in now showing. it happened once before. in texas be unleashed again? "texas chainsaw 3d" picks up where the 1974 horror film left off. decades after a vigilante mob believed they killed every member of the homicidal sawyer family, a young woman travels with her friends to newt, texas. she's inherited a lavish but isolated victorian mansion from a grandmother she never knew she had. but her new home is filled with secrets about a grisly past. (chainsaw sounds) the"texas chainsaw 3d" is - not for now showing.i'm nick valencia. >>> next at six. more than 40 people have been forced from their homes by a san francisco fire last week. what's next for the >>> and giants player sergio romo has a run-in with airport. ♪ [ female announcer ] no more paper coupons. no more paper lists. [ dog barking ] ♪ no more paper anything. safeway presents just for u. ♪ save more. save easier. saving more, starts now. just for u on the safeway app. u-verse high speed internet. you know, in my day you couldn't just start streaming six ways to sunday

and nick valencia has been looking into this for us this morning. how real is this threat? >> they're very real threats. in the past they've followed through on similar threats in disabling websites like the fbi and government websites like the department of justice. not the first time they've taken down the doj. they're comprised mostly of anarchist-type computer hackers. they are a leaderless organization. again, they've got a lot of global support. they're demanding fundamental changes to the department of justice. they believe a past high-profile hackers have been victims, they say, to draconian, overzel us charges by the government. they said this morning it was a very symbolic move to take down this website. >> what do they say in this long letter on the page about why they're doing this and why they're doing it now? >> we have an idea. a couple of weeks ago, co-founder, internet activist, aaron schwartz in new york, took his own life. members of anonymous say the u.s. government -- he was facing $1 million am fines and years in jail. they're saying that's culpability

nick valencia, cnn, atlanta. >>> could the u.s. debt crisis be solved with a single coin? maybe. if it's truly a dollar coin. sounds crazy, but it is completely legal. again? it's embarrassing it's embarrassing! we can see you carl. we can totally see you. come on you're better than this...all that prowling around. yeah, you're the king of the jungle. have you thought about going vegan carl? hahaha!! you know folks who save hundreds of dollars by switching to geico sure are happy. how happy are they jimmy? happier than antelope with night-vision goggles. nice! get happy. get geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more. [ male announcer ] how do you turn an entrepreneur's dream... ♪ into a scooter that talks to the cloud? ♪ or turn 30-million artifacts... ♪ into a high-tech masterpiece? ♪ whatever your business challenge, dell has the technology and services to help you solve it. >>> venezuelanan's rally today for hugo chavez. chav chavez's health is tragedy i will following his fourth cancer operation. the next update on the president's health will come in a few

the only reason i'm -- >> nick valencia joins us in the studio here. any idea how this happened?happened? >> the cause of the crash is still a mystery. investigators say it could take more than a week to pin that down. it's miraculous that she lived and survived through this. so much air traffic over her house, one of the local affiliates saying she was joking, one day a plane would crash through her house. i don't think she ever thought it would actually happen, but it did. she miraculously survived. >> credit to god she gives. uplifting story in some ways. >>> lance armstrong keeping quiet this evening. the "new york times" reporting that armstrong was considering an admission that he did use banned substances in former races. that is something armstrong has adamantly denied in the past. cnn's mark mckay spoke with peter flax, editor and chief of bicycling magazine. >> let's talk about the question that i've been asked so many times and i will ask you, why come clean and why now? >> well, i think, i think his situation now appears to be different than it was a few months ago. i

cnn's nick valencia is covering this for us in the "newsroom." a poke in the eye to the justice department. what does the fbi have to say? >> good afternoon. this is a poke in the eye of the justice department and a slap in the face to the u.s. government. the hacker group anonymous chose this u.s. federal sentencing website. they said it was a symbolic move by them. they believe that the u.s. department of justice is in clear violation of the eighth amendment, cruel and unusual punishment they're calling it. our washington bureau reached out to the fbi earlier today, miguel, and we obtained this statement from the fbi's assistant director of criminal cyber response and services branch. he had this. "we are aware as soon as it happened and we are handling it as a criminal investigation. we are always concerned when someone illegally accesses another person or government agency's network." the fbi saying they're well aware of this incident which happened a little after midnight. we've been following it all morning. >> what does anonymous hope to g

here is cnn's nick valencia. >> i've said it for seven years. i've said it for longer than seven years. i have never doped. i can say it again. but i've said it for seven years much. it doesn't help. >> help may be something lance armstrong will need a lot of to redeem his reputation after the "usa today" reports armstrong will, quote, admit to doping throughout his career. the newspaper does not name their source but says it's a person with knowledge of the situation. "usa today" takes the former seven-time tour de france champion's admission, which had been widely rumored for weeks, is expected to come in a monday interview with rope rah win free, that will be taped for air thursday. as for why he's doing this now, the journalist who broke the story says armstrong had no choice. >> with all the evidence that's come out against him, it's hard to deny it anymore. and he's making a calculated decision. for himself, personally, it's also i think a business decision for him. because it's affecting his charity, livestrong, all of his sponsors have f

nick valencia, cnn, atlanta. >>> cnn "newsroom" continues at the top of the hour are don lemon. and right now, keep it here for sanjay gupta md. >>> hello and thanks for watching. the new year is here. a new chance to do things right. you know, i watched the doctor make this case that sugar is basically toxic. i want to talk about that today. he brings some new advice on what to eat. also, deepak chopra is here with tips on how to did he destress and be happier. and how to keep a new year's resolution. here we go. ♪ >>> we're going to get to all of that, but first, every year, about 1.7 million people in the united states suffer a traumatic brain injury. sports, from falls, car accidents. i see it every day in my line of work. and in severe cases, i can tell you, there is no drug, there is no pill that offers any help. but i'm about to tell but two dramatic cases of crippling brain damage that may have been reversed. how? by simply using fish oil. his story begins almost three years ago, with a phone call. >> toughest call that any parents can get. >> it's about your son. there'

. >> here is nick valencia. >> the virus gives problem with the upper respiratory system. happens during flu system. the virus is very contagious you can get them from infected people and contaminated food or water. the virus also lurks on services such as handrails, keyboards, and countertops. >> it could cause inflammation to the walls of your: and stomach erica symptoms include stomach pains and gossip and vomiting. >> the best way to fight the virus is to wash your hands--thi keeping clean is your best defense. >> physicians say the best way to treat it is to rest in stay hydrated. >> someone has symptoms see a doctor immediately especially if the virus is affecting a child or elderly person. >> for today's health minute i'm nick valencia. >> john progress is introducing legislation to expand health care in california under the federal affordable care act. -- expand medicaid he says it would expand the health care program for the poor to include more than 1 million additional people. >> the cost of covering the additional recipients is still on known, but would be paid

i want to bring in our own nick valencia. nick, let's put it in perspective what do we talk about now numbers-wise? >> a staggering drop in numbers. more than 100% drop in homicide rate. if you look at the numbers released recently by the attorney general's office there in chihuahua, 750 homicides in 2012, martin, when you compare that to a year before, over 2,000 whom sides. even more staggersing when you look at the height of the violence in 2010 when it became, as you mentioned, the world's deadliest city, eight murders a day, 3,116 homicides. >> all right. well, i love the news. it's welcomed, certainly, but why? why is it happening? >> two juxtaposed position, depends how talk to and want to believe. you talk to local authorities, which i have, they tell dust is because of stronger police force, tougher policing, team work between these civil society organizations and the local police. if you talk to the more cynical every day resident in juarez, they tell you that it's because the sinaloa cartel, at war with the local j

stay in the country, it was hailed as progress, especially by the latino community, but as our nick valenciaomplicated when the students can stay but not their parents. >> translator: i can no longer be erica the daughter and the mother. right now, i have to be erica the activist the running one that has helped people stop their deportation. >> reporter: erica andiola, a leader of the immigrant youth mom. never thought the person whose next deportation they she would be trying to stop would be her mother this week she watched as immigration and customs enforcements took her mother and adult brother into custody as undocumented immigrantsship. he tweeted helplessly from phoenix, arizona, as it happened. my mother and brother were taken from my house today right in front of me and my little brother by i.c.e. she swe tweetedsome this how it feels? >> translator: they told me i had no right to a lawyer, i was practically deported already. i didn't want to sign anything. >> reporter: she didn't have to. her daughter used social media to issue an immediate appeal for help and her network of local

. >> nick valencia joins me now to talk more about this.been following this story pretty closely. if it's true and he does come out and come clean about doping, what are the legal repercussions here? >> first, what a fall from grace for this guy. he's a hero to so many, but now at the bottom of his career. that's the question everybody has. what are the legal ramifications, repercussions from this? "usa today" is reporting that he's reached the statute of limitations for this 2005 under oath sworn testimony that he had nothing to do with performance-enhancing drugs, never took anything to do with doping. >> which could be one reason why he may be talking now. >> could be a calculated leak he's doing this. but there's still another whistleblower lawsuit pending, one of the first people that came out and, you know, pointed at lance armstrong using performance-enhancing drugs. this lawsuit, the u.s. department of justice still hasn't decided whether or not it's going top latch on to this lawsuit. so if they do, randi, that could mean potential

. >> joining me now nick valencia who spoke to the man who shot the video. you. >> good morning. >> i guess he just returned from syria. what was his goal in going? a lot of people would say not me. >> he is a very complicated person, a former journalist, turned self-proclaimed american freedom fighter. he fought alongside the rebels in libya. now he is a documentary film maker. he went with the rebels in syria to try to make a film on pro fsa free syria army film to help them raise money for weapons and annal y ammunition. right now it costs the rebels $2 per bullet for these collision rifles. there are rebels in syria that want to pick up arms and fight and try to topple the assad regime but they just can't do it. it is too expensive. >> he thinks he can actually help the rebels? >> that's his goal and his intentions. he believes he can help. in fact, he thinks he is doing it right now. he wants to make a tangible impact financially and help the rebels gain more access to resources. >> we know he did this in libya. he is really building a reputation as an

nick valencia looks at what this means for the next four years. >> in 201, the sleeping giant woke uprack obama, propelling him into a second term as u.s. president. and for the first time in the history of u.s. elections, latinos made up a double digit porths of the electorate. 10%. but the win for democrats was not as easy as it looked. says "usa today" columnist and latino vote analyst raul reyes. >> during his first term, there was a lot of anxiety among the latino community because it seemed like he had forgotten about his promise on immigration. meanwhile, there were record deportations going on, breaking up families. >> while obama may not have been entirely to keep his word on reform, it's the words used by republicans when discussing the imintegration issue ta may have been their undoing. voters from nevada to florida told cnn suggests like self-deportation by mitt romney hurt the republicans' chances at the white house. >> there are a lot of the latinos that want obama to win so that they won't be deported back to their country. >> they couldn't get elected this year, couldn

. >> joining us now to talk more about this, nick valencia. good morning. >> good morning. >> let's say this is true, he comes clean and admits to doping. legal ramifications? >> at the it has the potential to be very damaging for lance armstrong. there have been reports from "usa today" and others that he has reached the statute of limitations for testimony he gave in 2005. having said that, there is a libel lawsuit, this counter lawsuit, the usdoj could attach themselves to this. if they do, that's potential for major criminal charges against lance armstrong. >> i was in austin when he was last out in public at the live strong event. the live strong reporters loved lance armstrong and they told me we support him whether he doped or not. what does this mean, though, for the organization? >> there's a legion of fans, as he referenced, that look up to him aas a hero, an icon. even if it does come out that, as is reported, comes clean to oprah in this interview. a lot of people will still have his back, victor. a lot of people still see him as a

nick valencia joins us to talk about this. describe the circumstances of this. how did this happen?morning we got off the phone with the kaufman county sheriff's office. early this morning there was a shooting outside a county course house. the assistant district attorney for kaufman county mark haas was getting out of his car when he was assaulted and gunned down according to the kaufman county sheriff's office. the circumstances around the shooting, there is a lot to speculate. little confirmed now. another day, another shooting. >> the gunman, do we believe it is one or two? multiple gunmen? where are they now? >> the sheriff's office says there are suspects or a suspect still on the loose now. this is an active investigation. they are still actively looking for those shooters or a shooter. right now we don't know much about who did this or the motive. we do know police are looking for an older model ford sedan. no description on the suspect or suspects at this time though. >> when we say mark haas was gunned down, is he alive? >> he died of his wounds. he was pronounced dead sho

. >> our nick valencia has been following the story.orning to you. >> good morning. >> what could be the legal consequences if he does indeed tell oprah that he has been doping? because he's been denying it for so long. >> he's repeatedly denied it. that's angering his legion of fans and others watching the story. for those who think this is the last chapter in the saga that is lance armstrong, they're sorely mistaken. this could have potentially some big legal ramifications. the department of justice has not decided whether they will launch a pending lawsuit from his former teammate, floyd landis. whether or not the doj latches on to this lawsuit could bring forward criminal charges. it's more complicated than that. listen to the "usa today" reporter who initially broke the story. >> civilly it's a lot trickier. like you mentioned, there are a lot of sponsors that invested a lot of money in him. there are people that have sued him already because they think they've been defrauded by him because of his lies about performance enhancing d

nick valencia tells us more about this. first of all, do we have any idea when the ussc.gov page might be up and working? >> we reached out to the department of justice. our washington, d.c., bureau tried to get in touch with the doj but has not been successful. the site's been down a little after midnight when anonymous said they hacked in. as a bicycle move, they feel -- as a symbolic move, they feel that hackers are victims of draconian charges by -- trumped up charges by the department of justice. >> what do they want? what do they hope to accomplish besides getting attention? >> we're trying to figure out if this is more than a high-profile prank, tom foolery, how dangerous the threat is. in the statement they mention aaron schwartz, 26 years old. two weeks ago he committed suicide in his brooklyn apartment. he was about to face federal charges of computer fraud. now a lot of people in this anonymous group and others including his family, schwartz's family, blame the department of justice charges as the reason why thei

cnn's nick valencia is covering this for us. what's the fbi saying in. >> this is a big slap in the face for the u.s. government. anonymous said they targeted the federal website because it's a section of the department of justice. they feel the department of justice has trumped up charges against high profile activists. we reached out to the fbi earlier today. our washington, d.c. bureau carol krade was able to speak to the executive assistant director of criminal cyberresponse and services branch. this is what they had to tell us. we were aware as soon as it happened. and are handling it as a criminal investigation. we are always concerned when someone illegally accesses another person or government agency's networking. >> but this is concerning because this is not just where they overwhelmed the server with a bunch of requests basically. they went after them. they actually took control of the server. the government takes great precautions and measures to keep this from happening. can you walk us through what they did? >> i do

nick valencia has the story. >> i joked that i always keep one bullet left in my gun for myself. >> you yourself. it's better then if the regime catches you, you guarantee that way. you must keep one bullet. >> reporter: american activist and film maker matthew van dike dodged a lot of bullets while filming his latest project in aleppo, syria. a pro level documentary aimed at raising funds for the free syrian army. for two months, van dike embedded himself with rebels in the cross fire of the country's civil war. >> i strongly believe in the cause of the syrian people. i fought in the war in libya in 2011. and i saw the effects of what we accomplished and i want syrians to have freedom, as well. [ gunfire ] >> reporter: in august, 2012, cnn profiled a 33-year-old from baltimore, maryland who has a masters in middle east security from georgetown university. he just returned from eight months in libya where he fought alongside anti gadhafi rebels and is spent six months in prison. the self-proclaimed freedom fighter and now filmmaker believes he can make a difference with rebels on the gr