steve handlesman joins us. >> doreen, thanks. the store i went to in fairfax, a lot of people in to see and to buy military style weapons before they figure they might not be able to. at a gun shop? chanel tilly, virginia today, tim was shooting his mini 14, an assault-style rifle. tim opposes any new bans. >> basically a punishing with a ban on it punishing law-abiding citizens. the law still says i can own an assault weapon. why can't i own it as long as i'm doing the right thing with it. >> mayor michael bloomberg is leading the push to change laws to curb new sales, and large-capacity clips. >> this is an outrage. we are killing each other, and we're the only industrial oozed country in the world doing it. >> reporter: in connecticut sunday, president obama vowed action, but nothing specific. >> in an effort aimed as preventing more tragedies like this. >> reporter: hundreds today went to the in. ra office in washington demanding more gun control, and a staunch nra backer joined the call. west virginia democratic senator joe

i'm steve handlesman, nbc news, capitol hill. >>> for more on the market reaction, i'm joined now in the studio by paul donovan. >> thank you. >> we saw a potential decline for futures. did investors expect a smooth conclusion here to these talks? >> they shouldn't have done. what we've got at the moment, it's what you would expect. i can remember when each of them went through the eight of three, you get the temper tantrum. they're there and beating their 50s on the floor and basically they want attention. and the best thing to do in this circumstance is just ignore them. that's what we should do with american politicians. they're behaving like 3-year-olds. >> markets were ignoring them.we saw quite a rally shaping up even as these talks were going on. this is the first time in a couple of weeks where we saw markets pay attention. >> we've had periods when there's nothing else going on, basically. and remarkably, no european politician has said anything stupid for 24 hours, which has to be a record for the year. now we're suddenly putting our attention on the other side of the atlan

i'm steve handlesman, news4, capitol hill. >> if nothing else, it looks like there will be a deal to keep the price of milk from skyrocketing. leaders have agreed to a one-year ex-tense of the 2008 farm bill that expired in october. the deal will avert a spike in milk prices to as much as $8 a gallon. but it has to come to a vote in the house and senate tomorrow. a new report tonight further criticizes the state department for its response to the u.s. consulate attack in libya. nbc news s obtained an advance copy of the investigation. in it, it concludes that bad security allowed militants to walk right into the compound. the report criticizes the state department for failing to sufficiently respond to requests for additional security. the full report will be released tomorrow. >>> gusty winds made for a very chilly day here in washington, and they also caused some damage. winds were strong enough to knock over this tree on split oak drive in bethesda. things have calmed down after that windy start, but it's another cold night out there. here's chief meteorologist doug camera. >> i t

i'm steve handlesman, nbc news, washington. >>> there are more police officers around schools in ourhooting last friday. police in fairfax county are stepping up patrols from the beginning to the end of the school day. they say it's not in response to any threat, but to give parents peace of mind during a time when anxiety is high. pat? >>> parents and educators across the nation are trying to find the best way forward after friday's shooting. dr. joshua weiner is a psychiatrist who specializes in treating children and adolescents. he joins us with insight to on how to help the children cope with this deeply unsettling incident. welcome back. >> thank you. >>> how should schools be tackling it? >> what i would have recommended, for the very young kids, under third grade, i think they should probably have not said anything unless the kids -- certain kids brought it up, and if they did, i would have pulled them aside. a lot of parents who i think had kids that young didn't say anything to their kids about the incident. from fourth to say seventh grate it's a much different story. i thi

steve handlesman has more. >> after the meeting, he called the president was optimistic and insistent, optimistic there can be a deal that will keep most americans' taxes from going up. here's the president gist now in the white house briefing room. >> i just had a good and constructive discussion here at the white house with start and house leadership about how to prevent this tax hike on the middle class. i'm optimistic we may still be able to reach an agreement that can pass both houses in time. senators reid and mcconnell are working on such an agreement as we speak. but if an agreement isn't reached in time between senator reid and senator mcconnell, then i will urge senator reid to bring to the floor a basic package for an up-or-down vote. one that protects the middle class from an income class hike. one that extends it to 2 million americans looking for a job and lays the groundwork for more economic growth and debt reduction. >> that leads to the insistent park, asking reith who control the senate agenda and has a majority to pass things gets you most of the way through the se

steve handlesman reports on how house speaker john boehner will. >> reporter: john bain ircould change his mind, but unless he does and allows a vote, america goes off the fiscal cliff surrounding himself with middle-class americans, president obama had sounded optimistic this afternoon. it's not done. >> reporter: sources say taxes would rise on income over 4 to 500,000. a big win -- >> keep in mind just last month republicans in congress said they would never agree to raise rates. obviously the agreement is currently being discussed would raise those rates and raise them permanently. they made the president promising tax hikes above 250,000. not 450. >> well, i just think that's grossly unfair. >> a hangup -- democrats want a two-year postponement, covered by the new tax hikes. the president scoffed at republican demand for deeper spending cuts. >> shove only spending cuts down -- well -- shove -- shove spending cuts at us. >> reporter: so much for winning gop allies. >> laughs and jokes and ridicules republicans. why? >>> a bigger question is, will a deal get done? it's sure to kim