i'm john berman. >> i'm zoraida sambolin. now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

i'm zoraida sambolin. >> and i'm john berman.s just raining here, but in a lot of parts around the country, it's just awful. the fury of the first holiday storm is making travel dangerous if not completely impossible in the upper midwest. today new england is expected to get slammed by the same storm. at least seven traffic-related deaths in four states are blamed on this storm. more than a foot of wet, heavy snow fell in parts of iowa and wisconsin. hundreds of flights canceled at the height of the travel season. this is some amazing picture. power lines sparking and snapping. you can hear it. wow. at the storm's worst, 400,000 power customers in the region had no electricity. that number is down to 133,000 by yesterday afternoon. still bad. meteorologist rob marciano is tracking it all for us from atlanta. >> good morning. bad times as far as the holiday travel. this is a big, big storm. you mentioned the heavy, wet snow piling up. over a foot and a half in some spots. middleton, wisconsin, seeing 16 inches. over a foot in dubu

i'm zoraida sambolin. >> i'm john berman. >> it's 6:00 a.m. in the east. look into the life of the 22-year-old gunman who police say killed two people and critically wounded a teenager before committing suicide at a suburban portland mall. friends say jacob roberts was a pretty upbeat young man until about a week ago when he quit his job at a sandwich shop and told his ex-girlfriend he was moving to happen. that never happened. we are learning more about the three people he shot, one a rad executive were killed. and a 15-year-old girl who took a bullet to the chest made it out of surgery and is expected to survive. dan simon is live from suburban portland this morning. dan, what are you finding out about jacob roberts? >> reporter: hi, john. we've been looking into his background and looking into basically every aspect of his life. look at his family, his relationships, his work. really at this point nothing adds up. authorities say they looked into his criminal background and found nothing, no violent past, so at this point it's a real mystery. now, you t

. >> i'm zoraida sambolin. today is december 3rd. it is 5:00 a.m. in the east.he rain keeps coming in northern california. the third pacific storm unleashing floodwaters, knocking out power to thousands in san francisc francisco, sacramento and thousands of others. >> this thing just went up fast. real fast. we had previously had it gotten up high, but it hasn't gotten this bad. >> you live right here in the park? >> right there. >> right there. >> right there. i got my mom out. i took her down to a friend's house down the street. you never know with water like this what it will do. >> people are evacuating out of the park. people are trying to totally get out. i had to park up the hill and walk down the side hill to get in here. it's really, really, it's very bad in here. >> what a mess. rob marciano has been tracking the storms that have been soaking northern california. is there more rain on the way? >> there is. not today, today we get a break, but in some areas rivers and small streams are on the rise and another pulse of energy pointing its way right at no

i'm zoraida sambolin. >> and i'm soledad o'brien.k at the latest in newtown, connecticut. developments really in the nation's gun control debate first and foremost. four days after the sandy hook elementary school massacre, president obama is taking action. the "washington post" ordered his cabinet put together proposals, that could include reinstating a ban on assault rifles. vice president joe biden, asked to lead the charge on this. >>> also, dick's sporting goods has removed all guns from its store close toast newtown and suspending sales of modern sporting rifles chain wide. >>> and grief counselors will be on hand as children head back to school. the sandy hook elementary school remains closed. jessica rekos will be laid to rest today. she adored horses and couldn't wait until her 10th birthday when her parents promised to buy her a horse. she is the oldest child in her family. she leaves behind two younger brothers, and, of course, her mom and dad. and i have to tell you, they called her the ceo of the family, because she was

i want to get right back to zoraida sambolin. ms in this case, to give us insight into their lives, their short lives in some cases. zoraida? >> reporter: i'm actually at treadwell park. this is where most of the press conferences take place, and we're expecting one by state police somewhere around 9:00 or 9:30 eastern, and we're monitoring that. of course, we're going to have it for you. yes, soledad, we are remembering the victims. we'll start here remembering jessica rekos this morning. the 6-year-old loved everything about horses and asked santa for new cowgirl boots and a cowgirl hat. her family promised she could get her own horse when she turned 10 yards old. avielle richman, age 6. this little girl loved to read. her favorite books were the harry potter series, and her favorite color was red. her summertime hobby was archery because of the movie "brave." little benjamin wheeler, also 6 years old. his rabbi said, "there's always some brave individual who goes up to the dance floor to get everybody involved. that was ben whe

i'm christine romans in for john berman. >> i'm zoraida sambolin.th soledad o'brien starts right now. >>> good morning. welcome. our "starting point" this morning no plan in sight. republicans lashing out at speaker boehner over his deficit reduction plan. are lawmakers really going to let us go over the cliff? and a gruesome photo sparking outrage. should "the new york post" have put up this picture of a man moments before he was crushed to death by a subway train. it with you on the cover. we're hearing from t

. >>> let's turn right to zoraida sambolin. she's got a look at the rest of the day's top stories. >> good morning to you. breaking the ice, president obama and john byron finally discussing the fiscal cliff. they talked by telephone yesterday. with just 26 days remaining to get a deal done, there are signs of compromise on the republican side. oklahoma's republican senator tom coburn a leading conservative saying he is okay with raising taxes on the wealthiest 2% of americans. in a few moments, soledad o'brien will talk with oregon senator is jeff merkley. he sits on the budget committee. >>> naeem davis now charged with murder for allegedly pushing a man off a new york city subway platform. davis was arraigned last night on a second-degree murder charge. police say he pushed 50-year-old ki-suk han on to the tracks and into the path of an oncoming subway train. >>> internet security pioneer john mcafee could be deported to belize as early as today. guatemalan officials detained mcafee yesterday. they accuse him of entering the

. >>> good morning to you, i'm zoraida sambolin, 5:00 a.m. in the east here. >>> tension has quickly turned to deadly violence in egypt. this morning, tanks and armored personnel carriers are guarding the presidential palace, this is in cairo. it was there last night that supporters and owe points of president mohamed morsi clashed. they hurled rocks and molotov cocktails at each other. at least five people were killed, hundreds injured. the root of the violence is what many believe is morsi's grab for power. ian lee joins us this morning. what's happening right now. >> reporter: we have the elite republican guard, the people tasked with protecting the president. they are putting up barbed wire and road blocks, diverting traffic and people away and trying to keep the two sides, the pro-morsi and the anti-morsi protesters away from each other. last flight we saw thousands of pro-morsi supporters camp outside of the presidential palace, that is after they went there and removed, by force, the anti-morsi protesters. but now we have a small -- pr

i'm christine romans in for tom berman. >> i'm zoraida sambolin.. >> we begin this morning with developing news from the middle east. iran telling the world that it has captured a u.s. drone. take a look at this video from state tv in tehran. it shows two revolutionary guard commanders examining what appears to be an intact american scan eagle drone. but a u.s. defense official is telling cnn this morning the u.s. navy has fully accounted for all unmanned air vehicles operating in the middle east region. reza sayah is following these developments for us. if the iranians do have something it's not an actively operating u.s. novi drone. so what could this be? what could this mean? >> well, at this point, really tough to verify exactly what happened. because we're getting all sorts of different accounts coming from washington and tehran. washington not confirming that iran has captured a drone. they say all their drones were accounted for in the persian gulf region and if iran has a drone it wasn't one that was operating in the navy. tehran has a diff

let's get back to zoraida sambolin with more information in the wake of the shooting. press conferences take place. i want to point something out behind me, is a soccer field. you have to wonder how many kids and families enjoyed time here. we want to learn a little more about these kids. we find out more about the sandy hook elementary school shootings and victims. and we're learning of acts of heroism victims, including sandy hook principal dawn hochsprung. their family spoke exclusively with cnn's gary tuchman. they are devastated, but proud. >> dawn put herself in jeopardy and i have been angry about that. angry, until just now today, when i met the two women that she told to go run to shelter, while she actually confronted the gunman and she could not -- she could have avoided that and she didn't. i knew they wouldn't. >> i don't think i want to ask you this. what would you say to your mom right now? >> come back. just come back. >> just breaks your heart. dawn's daughter says her mother was her rock, and now their hero. the newtown tragedy was felt all across the

i'm zoraida sambolin. >> i'm christine romans.inutes past the hour. >>> updating you on breaking news, a massive earthquake rocking japan, it hit off the coast about 300 miles northeast of tokyo. rattling buidlin rattling buildings and raising the risk of a tsunami. there is no -- there is no widespread threat of a tsunami in the pacific. >>> it is 31 minutes past the hour. we are anticipating a new swell of rage after friday pairs in egypt. opponents of president mohammed morsi are expected back on the streets. last night in cairo they called on morsi to resign saying his government lost legitimacy. opponents are angry at his degree two weeks ago where he granted himself sweeping new powers, and they don't trust a new draft constitution backed by him. in a televised speech last night, morsi defended his actions. ian lee is live in cairo this morning. what is happening now? >> right now we're watching protesters slowly filing in to tahrir square. we expect massive demonstration today as all political forces that are opposing presi

i'm john berman. >> i'm zoraida sambolin.ame for the september 11th terrorist attack at the u.s. consulate in benghazi. a blistering report that includes systemic failures that led to the attack that killed chris stevens and three other americans, the panel also finding security in benghazi was grossly inadequate and that repeated requests to beef up personnel at the consulate were ignored by leaders in washington as well and there was a lack of transparency, responsiveness and leadership at the senior levels. this in the aftermath of the tragedy. foreign affairs reporter elise lab b labott live from washington. what did we learn from the report be didn't already know? a lot of this we were talking about as they were investigating. >> that's right. the main thing i took from the report, the state department really missed the warning signs of what was right in front of them, deter yoreating security situation, what was going on in benghazi. five attacks leading up to the 9/11 attack, including one on the u.s. consulate itself.

first, to zoraida sambolin. >> i'm glad you're talking to them.ary of state hillary clinton talking about the red line in syria and how to bring the civil war there to an end. >> desperate assad regime might turn to chemical weapons or might lose control of them to one of the many groups that are now operating within syria. and so as part of the absolute unity we all have on this issue, we all have sent an unmistakable message that this would cross a red line and those responsible would be held to account. >> foreign ministers approved turkey's request for patriot mfls to defend its borders from violence spilling over from syria. >>> jovan belcher's murder/suicide is being captured by 911 calls. belcher's mother made that call after she found his girlfriend, kasandra perkinses shot and barely breathing. >> where is she bleeding? >> i can't tell. in the back it look like. >> okay. we don't want -- go ahead. where is your son at? >> just get the ambulance here please. >> we're on the way. where is your son at? >> he left. >> he left? >> yes. >> they

next time. >> i'm john berman. >> and i'm zoraida sambolin.od

. >>> zoraida sambolin has other storiy ies making news for us. >> ballistic missile by the north koreanssile destroyer. navy officials won't say exactly where they are located. north korea appears to be moving toward a missile launch later this mon month. retired navy sailor is facing espionage charges. robert patrick hoffman tried to pass classified information about tracking u.s. submarines to people he thought were with the russian federation. turns out they were undercover fbi agents. hoffman served 20 years in the navy and held a top secret security clearance. >>> academy award winning actress angelina jolie meets with syrian refugees who finished that dangerous crossing into jordan. listened to family stories without water, food, safety or security. >>> and check this out. this billboard in san diego features a picture of 63-year-old real estate mogul mark paskin and says all i want for christmas is a latina girlfriend. his e-mail address is up there, too. he appeared on the reality show secret millionaire. the billboard is located in a mostly latina neighborhood and most people ar

i'm zoraida sambolin. >> and i'm john berman. 29 minutes past the hour. >>> big news in the fiscal clifftalking to each other. in 22 days, we go over the cliff's edge, when sweeping tax hikes and spending cuts kick in unless a deal gets done and congress set to go on holiday recess on friday. it must be nice for them. after 23 days of out speaking face to face, president obama and house speaker boehner sat down face to face and had a real-life discussion. i want to bring in white house correspondent brianna killeilar live from washington. we don't have a lot of details. maybe that's a good thing. >> that may be a good thing. the white house and speaker's office putting out a statement really just saying the two men are talking and lines of communication are open. they appear to be talking in good faith. but we don't have any specifics. it's important to notice that this conversation is going on. the president and the speaker, haven't met, have not met for a little over three weeks when they sat down yesterday. and they actually hadn't met one-on-one since the election. it's a pretty big

. >> i'm christine romans in for zoraida sambolin.etta signed an order sending two patriot missile batteries to turkey to assist that nation in protecting itself from military action by syria. in addition, 400 u.s. troops will be deployed to operate the missile batteries. turkey borders syria. thousands of refugees have fled to turkey for safety. al qaeda remains the most significant threat facing america today erin burnett sat down with the defense seblcreta in kandahar. >> you can reach a point where you so significantly weaken al qaeda that, you know, although there may still be a few people around, they won't be able to conduct the operations that they have conducted in the past and they certainly won't be able to plan the kind of attacks that america had happen to it on 9/11 and that's our goal to make sure it doesn't happen again. >> you talk about al qaeda and where it is -- >> panetta went on to tell erin we have to go after the group in yemen and somalia. >>> president obama and speaker boehner met again behind closed doors t

. >> and i'm zoraida sambolin." starting point" with soledad o'brien starts right now. >> good morning. welcome, everybody. the starting point this morning, behind closed doors, president owe became gentleman and house speaker boehner meet in a surprise closed door session trying to hammer out a fiscal cliff deal. >>> what makes a person black? my new documentary sparks conversation about the color of your skin and how it defines who you are. who is black in america? >>> you may start feeling less pain at the pump. gas prices are crashing and how long will it last? just ahead. >>> a mexican american singer, a superstar, dies in a plane crash. now her fans in mourning. we'll have details, straight ahead. >>> a packed two hours for you. new york mayor cory booker will join us. and poet journalist, angela davis will join us as well. gold medal olympic gymnast gabby douglas has written a new book. and judy chu is with us, and the macks join us, and singer adam lambert. monday, december 10th. and "starting point" begins

first we want to get right to zoraida sambolin for an update on the day's top stories. >> soledad, the fiscal cliff debacle, with 28 days remaining before drastic tax hikes and spending cuts take effect, a republican spending plan has been rejected by the white house. brianna keilar is live from washington. what now, brianna? >> well, right now it's about the pressure building and the clock kicking, zoraida. as house republicans in the white house try to ultimately broker a deal between two very different plans. house speaker john boehner's counteroffer, if you take a look at the headlines from this $800 billion in what would be savings from tax reform. so that is new tax revenue. but not done by increasing income tax rate on the wealthiest. but instead by closing tax loopholes, eliminating tax credits. and also $600 billion in health savings. that's what you'd get from entitlement reform. from reforming medicare, and doing some cuts there under this plan. but compare it to the white house plan, very different than what's on the table there. $1.6 trillion in new taxes. that is two time