Transcripts For CNNW The Situation Room 20130130

70s. Nabors and his partner have been together for 38 years. Barbara streisand performing at the Academy Awards for the first time in 36 years. Can you guess what she sang in 1977 . The theme from a store is born that. Does it for me here. Check out the latest interviews. Cnn. Com brooke. Now, wolf blitzer. The situation room begins right now. Hey, wolf. Brooke, thanks very much. Happening now, deadly weather. A thousand mile long of dangerous storms and tornadoes stretching from the gulf coast to new england. Also, he listened to his wifes impassioned plea for gun control and then spent hours answering senators questions. Mark kelly joins us this hour live in the situation room. Plus, the mother of an American Woman making her very first visit overseas and vanished in turkey. Im wolf blitzer. Youre in the situation room we begin with a deadly storm here in the eastern part of the United States. There is wind damage all across the southeast, some of it from tornadoes. One death is reported in tennessee, another in georgia. Right now the worst weather is crossing georgia. Cnns Miguel Marquez is in adairsville where there is significant damage. Tell us what is going on. Reporter huge damage. At least one person, we understand, was killed when a building collapsed but fortunately not where im standing, at least not that we know of. This entire area this looks like it was someones part of somebodys lunch that was being made is here. Across the road, this is the main road in adairsville, georgia. Two roads are completely destroyed. You can see the cars that are flipped over and semitrucks are flipped over as well. You can see this was a plant making heavy machinery this morning, 50 to 100 people in this thing. It is completely demolished. Everyone, everyone made it out alive and fine. We talked to a couple of employees who said they hid in the bathroom and prayed and prayed but they finally were able to get out and amazingly enough, nobody was killed there. Throughout this area, though, whether its in marietta or lawrenceville, there are sirens going off here. Its a very frighten day for georgia, wolf. What are folks saying where you are . What are they bracing for . Reporter well, right now a lot of the electricity is out. The temperature has dropped 10 to 15 degrees here. So its very cold. You can see across the street the cleanup has already begun. A lot of the cars in the area, they are starting to tow them off to the side streets. A lot of electrical lines are down. Most of the electricity has been cut off so crews can get in here and fix those. But at this point its mainly a game of cleanup. There is still concern about the weather but its mainly rain at this point and wind. Wolf . Miguel marquez on the scene for us. The line of storm stretches for more than 1,000 miles and behind it much colder air is moving in. You heard miguel saying its getting colder. Our meteorologist chad myers is in the cnn Weather Center not very far away. Whats the latest forecast . Its raining in montreal and snowing across parts of michigan and wisconsin. The biggest threat of Severe Weather is still from atlanta and southeast ward. Thats where the tornado potentially is right now and maybe even up into the piedmont of North Carolina and virginia. The big story is how all of this happened. Atlanta, 70 degrees today, now down to 63, as miguel said. It is is cooling down. Its 10 degrees below zero in minot, north dakota. With windchill and heat index, its even more sublime than that. Topeka kansas has gone down 38 degrees where philadelphia was up. By this morning the cold air down in past the 24 hours and atlanta is getting cooler. St. Louis is 34 degrees cooler than it was. Part of the up and down of the jet stream is the energy between the cold and the warm. It is 80 and the feels like temperature in key west, it feels like 806789 the feels like wind temperature in minot is a negative 34. Thats 114 degrees difference across the continental u. S. , wolf. Even here in the nations capital, washington, d. C. , was in the 20s and got in the 50s and 60s. Its going up and down. Whats happening here . If you are still in the warm air, if you walk outside anywhere in the east anywhere from new york city to down, its warmer than it should be. Then youre still in the danger zone for Severe Weather tonight. That warm air is going to be gone tomorrow. The cold air will push through the northeast and southeast and into florida and youll be 10, 15, 20 degrees colder than you are right now and on average its going to be a cold couple of days. Its going to warm back up and get cold again. This is an up and down swing that we havent seen for a very long time. Chad myers, thank you. Lets move to capitol hill right now on todays long and dramatic clash of opinions over gun control in the United States. Take a look at this remarkable picture. Its the National Rifle associations Wayne Lapierre shaking hands with mark kelly at the end of todays hearing on what, if anything, can be done to cut down on the epidemic of gun violence in the United States. Mark kelly is here in the situation room. Hell be joining us liver in a few minutes. First, though, lets go to our chief congressional correspondent, dana bash. She has highlights of todays dramatic it hearing. Go ahead, dana, share with our viewers what happened. Reporter well, the highlight, undoubtedly, was the woman who wasnt even on the witness list, Gabrielle Giffords. If you take a look at the screen, you can see a handwritten note written by her speech therapist, i am told, the 16 sentences she uttered before this committee and had everybody in the room, no matter what their position on guns, mesmerized. A dramatic entrance from a woman who was a congressional colleague until a gunman shot a bullet through her head while she was doing her job. Even more dramatic, Gabby Giffords labored yet passion nal plea for passion. Speaking is difficult but i need to Say Something important. Violence is a big problem. Too many children are dying. Too many children. We must do something. Be bold, be courageous, americans are counting on you. Reporter giffords is an advocate and so is her husband mark kelly. A strong supporter of the Second Amendment as anyone on this panel. My wife would not be sitting in this seat, she would not have been sitting here today if we had stronger background checks. Reporter at the other end of the table, the other star witness with a very different perspective. Lawabiding gun owners will not accept blame for the acts of violent or deranged criminals none of it makes any sense in the real world. Mr. Lapierre, thats the point. The criminals wont go to purchase the guns because there will be a background check. Well start them from the original purchase. You missed that point completely. And i think its basic. Senator, i think you order. Reporter the line to get into this first hearing on guns since newtown was huge. Snaking down the hallway and down the stairs, citizens on both sides of the issue. I truly care about this issue and want to support commonsense gun laws. Guns are not the primary cause of the issue. Its the people that operator use the guns. Reporter inside, republican Lindsey Graham wanted to bring in a real gun but real tape and laws prevented it so he used pictures. Does everybody on the panel agree that a convicted felon should not have either one of those guns . Reporter a staunch defender of gun rights, he talked about limiting highcapacity gun magazines by telling the story of a woman trying to fend off an intruder. Her husband said, shoot, shoot. She emptied the gun, sixshot revolver. The guy was hit five of the six times. He was able still to get up and drive away. Reporter kelly pushed for limiting magazines by reminding people that Jared Loughner shout 32 rounds from one magazine and was unable to reload. Meaning he did not have access to a highcapacity magazine and the same thing happened. Christina taylor green would be alive today. I certainly am willing to give up my right to own a highcapacity magazine to bring that young woman back. Reporter so the question is, now what . One of the leading democrats on gun control, Chuck Schumer said he is in talks with high nra ratings and is in talks with somebody who is perhaps the best rating from the nra, tom coburn, a republican from oklahoma. Schumer has delayed releasing his legislation on background checks in hopes to make tom coburn part of this legislation. But not necessarily on magazines or assaulttype weapons . Reporter correct. Just on background checks. Still sources high up in the Democratic Party here in the senate say that they simply do not think that those highcapacity magazines or, more importantly, an assaultweapons ban, that that has any chance. They think the background checks has the most realistic of any passing. Dana, thanks very much. A short time after the hearing ended, Gabrielle Giffords and her husband, retired astronaut, mark kelly, visited president obama over at the white house. You see a picture that has just now been released. Mark kelly is in the situation room. Come on in, mark. Were going to talk about what happened today and where you stand on all of this right after this commercial break. Tax time can ofbe. Well. Taxing. So right now well give you. 10 off any turbo tax deluxe Level Software or higher find thousands of big deals now. At officemax. Delicious. But say i press a few out flat. Add some beef sloppy joe sauce. And cheese fold it all up and boom i just made an unbeatable unsloppy Joe Pillsbury grands biscuits. Let the making begin. Until i got a job in the big apple. Becoming a fulltime indoor cat wasnt easy for atti. But he had purina cat chow indoor. He absolutely loved it. And i knew he was getting everything he needed to stay healthy indoors. And after a couple of weeks, i knew we were finally home [ female announcer ] purina cat chow indoor. And for a delicious way to help maintain a healthy weight, try new purina cat chow healthy weight. When the doctor told me that i could smoke for the first week. Im like. Yeah, ok. 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Common side effects include nausea, trouble sleeping and unusual dreams. It helps to have people around you. They say, youre much bigger than this. And you are. [ male announcer ] ask your doctor if chantix is right for you. Todays Senate Hearing on guns started with a very, very dramatic emotional speech by Gabrielle Giffords who survived a gunshot to her head by a wouldbe assassin just two years ago. Thank you for inviting me here today. This is an important conversation for our children, for our communities, for democrats and republicans. Speaking is difficult but i need to Say Something important. Violence is a big problem. Too many children are dying. Too many children. We must do something it will be hard. But the time is now. You must act. Be bold, be courageous. Americans are counting on you. Thank you. That was very, very impressive. Giffords husband, the retired astronaut, mark kell cannily, was right at her side as she testified and for hours afterwards. Mark kelly is here in the situation room. He just came over from the white house. First of all, lets talk about your wife. How did she prepare for that . Thats really the first time weve heard her speak like that over these past two years. Yes. Gabby suffers a condition called efasia and that kind of thing is difficult for her. She practiced. She hasnt been practicing for weeks. We only made the decision to come up here a few days ago. She took some time getting ready and actually crafted the speech herself. She was involved in the writing on it and worked on it. We saw the handwritten notes that her speech therapist had prepared, had wrote those out there. They are right there on the screen. She was basically reading from the handwritten notes. Yes. She looked up and even ad libed a little bit. I think the most important thing is that hopefully the senators and the people hearing this and hearing her take something away from this message. She spoke from the heart. Yes. What does she want what do you want, in a nutshell, the United States congress right now to do . Certainly we want the United States congress to Work Together to try to solve this problem. Weve seen, especially over the last couple of years, just so Much Division that its really hard to get things done. But certainly everybody agrees that we have a problem. We, first of all, need to have a universal background check. We need to close the gun show loophole. We need to do something about Mental Illness in this country and for us, specifically what happened in tucson, highcapacity magazines. I dont think anybody has the need for a 33round magazine like Jared Loughner had or a 100round magazine that was used in colorado. And then assault weapons, we need to seriously look at the lethality at these weapons and why they are so prevalent in our society. Maybe the prevailing wisdom is to do something on background checks but when it comes to the magazines and assaulttype weapons, its a major up hill struggle. It does get harder. I can see just watching this hearing, many of the republican senators seemed somewhat inclined to do something on the background checks but when you Start Talking about banning hardware, you know, people like Wayne Lapierre who testified alongside me, they are adamant about their position on that issue. But i really think they need to think about this. These guns were made to kill a lot of people all at once. Designed, basically, for use by the military. Ive served in the military for 25 years. You know, i understand how lethal they are and i honestly dont think you need that type of weapon to protect yourself. But there are still so many gun owners out there who oppose any kind of restrictions, if you will, on these kinds of weapons. So look in the camera. Talk to them and tell them why this is the time for action. Well, i mean, i could just say, you know, weve had many, many mass murders in this country. Weve had a lot of them. Especially especiallys recently. What we saw in newtown and colorado and tucson, i mean, this is unacceptable. I mean, i think people understand that when somebody does a mass shooting and they use semi automatic weapon and assault rifle, twice as many people are hurt and injured. Its not its something that needs to be addressed. But more than that, as a universal background check and closing the gun show loophole, we really need to make sure that criminals, the mentally ill, terrorists do not have access to firearms. You know, in fact, 72 of nra members believe to be universal background check before buying a gun. 72 . Or 74 . You would think that the head of the nra, who testified today, would agree with that position. But he doesnt. Because heres what a lot of people dont understand. Youve got americans responsible for solutions. You and gabby launched this. This is going to be your cause, right . Yes. Why should someone on a no fly list or a criminal, if you will, be able to go to a gun show or from a private sale be able to go buy a gun without any back ground checks . They shouldnt be. Has anyone given you a good explanation for that . Did Wayne Lapierre give you an explanation for that . Basically, more bureaucracy. But i know from what happened in tucson but it would save lives. It absolutely would save lives. Jared loughner, the shooter in tucson, had somewhat of a criminal background. He was an admitted drug user and was intent on mass murder assassination. He went through a background check. Now, if there was the correct information in the background check system, he he would have been denied access to the gun, like 1. 7 million americans have been since 1999, who should not have been able to buy a gun. Now, obviously in his case he probably would have went to a gun show. Thats why we need to close the gun show loophole. The argument that criminals will often get the guns in some other manner, thats probably true in some cases. But i think in the case of what happened in tucson, certainly in that case, if he would have been denied access to the gun, i dont think that would have happened that day. Even much more difficult to get it, that could potentially save some lives. It gives you time. It may be in that period of time you might have gotten some treatment. Americans for responsible solutions, is that going to be, if you have your way, the counter to the nra . Well, i mean, our goal is not to be the counter to the nra. Gabby and i are both supporters of the Second Amendment. Were both gun owners. Part of what i want to do is protect the rights of americans to own a gun. I think you should be allowed to own a gun to protect yourself, to protect your family torque protect your property, but that only extends so far. I think part of being a responsible gun owner is to have a responsible background check. I recently bought a hunting rifle at walmart a few months ago and i went through a background check. It didnt take that long to do that. And you did it. One final thing, we saw you shaking hands with Wayne Lapierre. Did you exchange any words . Did you say anything to each other . I said, nice to meet you and enjoyed testifying with you today. Well see how this situation moves on. Mark kelly, please pass along our best wishes to gabby. Wish her only, only the best. Weve all been impressed with her remarkable progress over these last two years. Thank you for having me on. Investors are off to a very good start in 2013 but theres one number they all have their eyes on. And chuck hagels bid for secretary of defense has caused lots of critics but the Vice President is standing dramatically in his corner. Youre going to hear what he had to say to our own Gloria Borger. So. Howd it go . Well, dad, i spent my childhood living with monks learning the art of dealmaking. Youve mastered monkeystyle kung fu . No. Priceline is different now. You dont even have to bid. Master hahn taught you all that . Oh, and he says to say translated from cantonese you still owe him five bucks. Your accent needs a little work. So if ydead battery,t tire, need a tow or lock your keys in the car, geicos emergency roadside assistance is there 24 7. Oh dear, i got a flat tire. Hmmm. Uh. Yeah, can you find a take where its a bit more dramatic on that last line, yeah . Yeah i got it right here. Someone help me i have a flat tire well its good. Good for me. What do you think . Geico. Fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. 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We had completed the interview but during the commercial break he told me something fascinating that i wanted all of our viewers to hear about as well. Mark, youre a retired astronaut but your brother scott is still an astronaut. Yes. You were over at the white house, you came here to the situation room from a meeting with the president , Gabby Giffords, your wife. And you spoke about your brother a little bit. Tell us about what that conversation was about. We talked about the president about the hearing and talked about my brother getting ready to go into space for a year. A year . A year. A while ago we decided we needed to send an american into space instead of for six months, which is a typical increment on the International Space station, were going to double that and do a yearlong flight and that person is going to be my brother scott. Hes starting to train for that mission in the next couple of weeks and hes going to launch in 2015. So hell be on the International Space station for a whole year. With russians and others . Yes. One tourist will come and go as well. Europeans. There are russians on board, americans. My brother will be the commander of the space station. Hes going to be there for a year. How do you prepare for that . You cant come home every few weeks for a weekend. Youre there for a whole year on this International Space station . Yeah, it is. This is one step into sending people to mars for the first time. Because when we ultimately get to the point of doing that, that mission might be two years long. So this is a stepping stone to pushing out further in the solar system. And mentally, thats going to be a difficult, difficult six months is long enough. The longest you were in space was 17 days. How difficult was that in. Not difficult at all. I really love it. The Space Shuttle missions are incredibly busy. Different mind set for a crew member who is there for a long period of time. Its more of a marathon than a sprint. My brother is going to be on a yearlong marathon. Hes up there for a year. Wish him the best and best of luck. When does he leave . 2015 in the spring. Hes going to be preparing for the next two years. A long time. To spend a year in space . Absolutely. And did the president share any other thoughts with you that you want to share with our viewers . No. It was a great conversation we had about what happened today. He really enjoyed seeing gabby again and it was nice to see the president. Yeah, im sure he talked about the issue. Hes not only rooting for gabby but for the issue as well. Absolutely. Do you think hes going to do the best he can . I think hes committed. I think all of us are after what happened in newtown, 20 first graders murdered in their classrooms . How can we not do something . I was there for four days right after newtown happened. It was a powerful moment and all of us personally experienced the aftermath. I think well never be the same as a result of that. Thats true. Mark kelly, thanks very much. Give our best to gabby. I will. Thanks. Cnn Gloria Borger spoke exclusively with Vice President biden. Why he thinks republicans are wrong to oppose chuck hagel for defense secretary. And on this, the eve of super bowl xlvii, cnn is live with the biggest take on the city and how its become a cultural phenomena and a whole lot more. Well welcome rachel nickels, a new host of cnn, a special cnn Bleacher Report this saturday at 4 00 p. M. Eastern. Twins. I didnt see them coming. I have obligations. Cute obligations, but obligations. I need to rethink the core of my portfolio. What i really need is sleep. Introducing the ishares core, Building Blocks for the heart of your portfolio. Find out why 9 out of 10 large professional investors choose ishares for their etfs. Ishares by blackrock. Call 1800ishares for a prospectus which includes investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses. Read and consider it carefully before investing. Risk includes possible loss of principal. We are expecting a major fight on capitol hill tomorrow when confirmation hearings get under way for secretary nominee chuck hagel. The Vice President , joe biden, thinks very, very differently. He spoke exclusively with Gloria Borger who is here in the situation room. Obviously they have been friends, biden and hagel for a long time. Going back to their days in the senate. I asked him about the hagel nomination and he was sort of key in paving the way on capitol hill for this. I asked him about the charge among republicans that its too dovish and listen to what he said. The real president obama has exercised force responsibly as boldly and as bravely as any president in american history. This is the guy who has not backed away. And hes also ended wars that almost any military man out there will tell you we should not be engaged in again. The idea of getting engaged in a ground war in a country thats in transition is not a prescription any military man would suggest and to suggest that two war heroes, a bronze star, a purple heart, silver star, taking over both the state department and defense is whatever the phrase was, is ridiculous. So what are you hearing in what are the chances that he wont be confirmed . I think he will in the end. The white house is pretty optimistic that hes going to get confirmed. Hes going to face a pounding tomorrow in the Armed Services committee. You have senator mccain there, used to be a friend of his, if youll recall, but after 2007 when chuck hagel all but endorsed barack obama, the friendship kind of dissolved. Theres only one republican so far, wolf, thats come out for hagel and thats who he says is one of his best friends. While it looks like the democrats will be able to keep their own party in line, they are going to need five republicans if theres a prospect of a filibuster, they dont quite have it yet. They still think its going to get through. Well see what happens in that hearing. Thats right. Tomorrow morning. Gloria, thanks very much. Lets get to our strategy session and dig deeper with paul begala along with ari fleischer, a consultant, board member for the republican jewish coalition. They are both cnn contributors. I think both of you agree with me that, in the end, ari, ill start with you, will be confirmed. It seems that way. The senators lean that way when you count the numbers. Chuck hagel owes the American People an explanation. If he cannot give an explanation for the positions hes taken in the past, positions which no other senator shared, hes going to have a very hard day. I think you need to let him have his chance tomorrow and well see. Do you have any doubt about it, paul . I have very little doubt and i actually agree with ari ich. He might have to reconsider his position. Hes been asked some very, very tough questions. He did cast votes. Ari is exactly right. Opposing sanctions on iran, which both senators and both parties disagree with, sanctionsed iran has helped to damage their economy, has not stopped the nuclear program. Ari is right, he will be asked tough questions about it but when strongly proisrael senators like so many others have heard the answers that hagel has given them in private, they have come out for chuck hagel. He will have to cross that bar like he has in private. Dianne feinstein is going to be joining us in the next hour. Let me move on and talk about hillary clinton. Well see what the republicans decide to do and if they decide to filibuster, that would take 60 votes. Lets talk about hillary clinton. Let me start with you. She was asked about this new super pac. Shes not affiliated with it. Already calling on her to run for the democratic nomination in 2016. Theres pac just ready and registered for hillary clinton. Is there really . Are you going to tell everyone to stand down . You know, right now i am trying to finish my term as secretary of state and the president and i had a good laugh the other night. Because i am out of politics right now and i dont know everything ill be doing. Ill be working on behalf of women and girls and ill be hopefully writing and speaking. Those are the things that im planning to do right now. Paul, this super pac ready for hillary, thats what its called, are they jumping the gun . Sure. Of course they are. And frankly so am i by even talking about this with you, wolf. Of course, i love hillary and worked with her husband for so many years. You certainly did not hear her do her impression on senator sherman. I think its quite obvious, no one knows the lay of the land. Shes not going to commit to running when in her heart i dont think shes decided to. Shes got the time and the support. Theres no need to run into 2016 for hillary or me or the rest of the pundit. How formidable would she be . She would be formidable. Remember, everyone thought she was for midbasketball and would win in 2008 and lost to a junior senator in illinois. I think for hillary and cha shes done in her career, bus she really want to go through iowa, new hampshire, live the primary life . Its a brutal, hard, long, long hours life. I think if she got the primary handed to her on a silver platter, which will never happen, she would run. But i think its going to be a bar that at the end of the day, why would she want to cross that bar . Because she wants to be the first woman president of the United States. I suspect that she will. Shes still got a lot of energy. If her health is okay, i think she will run because she sees history potentially being on her side and ive known her for 20 years, as someone who gives up easily. But thats just my guess. Well wait and see, guys. Write it down. Thanks very much. The nra is described as washingtons most popular lobby. Is that hype . Do they have the influence that people think it does . train horn vo wherever our trains go, the economy comes to life. Norfolk southern. One line, infinite possibilities. Lets go. [ male announcer ] introducing the allnew cadillac xts. Another big night on the town, eh . And the return of life lived large. Many people think the nra has lots of political influence. Joe johns takes a closer look. Reporter the nra took center stage on capitol hill and didnt give much ground. Laweabiding gun owners will not take action for gun owners nor should they dictate what we lawfully use to protect other families. Reporter this makes gun control advocates like Dianne Feinstein say that it will be an up hill battle. The nra is venal. They come after you. They put together large amounts of money to defeat you. Reporter but chris murphy of connecticut doesnt buy it and hes on a mission to convince his colleagues. We need to wake people up that theres not really a political price to pay at the hands of the nra like there may have been a decade or two ago. Reporter in a new report, murphy calls the nra a paper tiger. During the 2012 campaign, the nra targeted Senate Candidates with a low nra rating, like tim kaine and spent more than 4 million on Senate Campaigns last year, losing seven out of eight races where they spent over 100,000. The only winner, republican jeff flake of arizona who sits on the judiciary committee, the group who will craft any legislation on guns. But money isnt the only way to measure influence. I think that the nra as a single issue group is extremely potent Political Force out there. And even though their success rate was 50 with their outside spending in the last election, they have these members, millions of members that they can mobilize who are passionately motivated on this issue. Reporter 4 1 2 million members, according to the nra, who they can call on to Lobby Congress or vote in elections. The nra doesnt have the power but those who believe in the Second Amendment do. Reporter david keene points to the wisconsin recall as a prime example. That election kept pro gun rights republican Governor Scott walker in office. In that race, we made a sixpoint difference. Gun owners in this country have as much influence as they always have and perhaps more because guns are more acceptable than they were ten years ago. Reporter in case you were wondering, besides jeff flake, seven other members on the Senate Judiciary committee have gotten money since 1988 and the committee chairman, Patrick Leahy. Wolf . Interesting stuff. Were following the money together with you. I know youre working on this story and well get more in the days to come. Absolutely. Thanks very much for that, joe. An American Woman on the trip of her life until she misses the flight home. Now her family is terrified. They are wondering what happened. See life in the best light. Outdoors, or in. Transitions® lenses automatically filter just the right amount of light. So you see everything the way its meant to be seen. Maybe even a little better. Visit your eyecare professional today to ask about our newest lenses, transitions vantage and transitions xtractive lenses. Experience life well lit. Ask which transitions adaptive lens is best for you. Humans sometimes life trips us up. And sometimes we trip ourselves up. But thats okay. At Liberty Mutual insurance, we can untrip you as you go through your life with personalized policies and discounts when you need them most. Just call. And speak with a licensed representative about saving on your policy when you get married. Move into a new house. [ crash ] or add a car to your policy. Dont forget to ask about saving up to 10 when you combine your auto and Home Insurance with Liberty Mutual. Security, coverage, and savings all the things humans need to make our beautifully imperfect world a little less imperfect. Call. And lock in your rate for 12 months. Liberty mutual insurance. Responsibility. Whats your policy . Egypts top general is warning that it may collapse because of violence and fighting. This is the largest arab country, the most important arab country. Reza, what is going on . Reporter there is calm where we are in port said right now, nowhere near the violence that we saw over the weekend. There was demonstrations within the past hour but this time those demonstrations did not break the governmentimposed curfew put in place a couple of days ago. Thats because there was a change here within the past few hours. The governor here decided to reduce the curfew and instead of it going into effect at 9 00 p. M. , its going into effect at 6 00 p. M. And the skits frchizo strategy from the president , last night the muslim brotherhood, through their website, announced that the president has changed his mind somewhat. Hes asked the governors in these three provinces to make the decision whether they want to keep the curfew in the emergency rule or cancel it and, as we mentioned it, one governor here, the port said governor, has decided to reduce it. Wolf . What do we expect in the days to come . What do we expect from president morsi . Reporter well, look, when theres turmoil in a country like this, things are unpredictable. I dont think anyone knows where this country is going but all eyes are on president morsi to see how he resolves this conflict. Probably the most glaring problem is these two sides are not talking. You have the secularists, the moderates who have made their own list of demands and then the president and his supporters, they insist that they are moving this country forward effectively to just going through growing pains. They are asking for patience and trust. But the opposition factions simply dont trust this president and were waiting to see where this goes in the coming days, wolf. Well stay with you. Reza, thanks very much reporting from port said in egypt. The best way to follow the volatile situation in egypt is on cnn. Com. The stories are constantly updated. Go there for much more of what is going on in egypt. The stakes in north africa and middle east dramatic right now. An american vanishes in turkey but her family prays they will soon see her. Were going to hear directly from her mother. And another brutal day in the United States. Damage from tornadoes and other storms. All of that coming up right here in the situation room. A few out flat. But say s add some beef sloppy joe sauce. And cheese fold it all up and boom i just made an unbeatable unsloppy Joe Pillsbury grands biscuits. Let the making begin. Pillsbury grands biscuits. Ive got two tickets to paradise l set . Pack your bags, well leave tonight. Uhh, its next month, actually. Eddie continues singing to tickets to. Paradiiiiiise no four. Remember . Whoooa whooaa whooo you know ronny, folks who save hundreds of dollars by switching to geico sure are happy. And how happy are they jimmy . Happier than eddie money running a travel agency. Get happy. Get geico. Fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more. Then youre going to love this. Right now theyre only 14. 95 wowa grt deal just got a whole lot better. Hurry. 14. 95 wont last. The brother of a missing 33yearold American Woman says he doesnt want to come home from turkey without her but the search for sarai sierra has been frustrating. No one is giving up yet. Whats the latest . Well, wolf, sarai sierra is a native new yorker and her distught parents are at a loss to explain what happened. From what they know, she was heading to istanbul on january 20th and hasnt been heard from since. More than a week after 33yearold sarai sierra disappeared in turkey, her parents cling to hope. Her brother and husband are in istanbul working with authorities to find the mother of two. I just want to grab her and hold her. The image for most in their minds right now is this surveillance video. It was released by Turkish Police showing her in a mall on january 20th. A day earlier her parents say they spoke to her on skype. She was giving me the flight information when she was coming in on the 22nd, what the flight was and what time she was coming in. She told me, dont forget. They say she shortened her trip by a few days. He went to pick up his daughter but never showed. And then not to hear from her, its not like her. Sierra traveled by herself to turkey on january 7th, they say, because a friend who was supposed to go with her canceled. She had rented a private room she found on the internet. Her passport and bags were later found inside, they say, after she was reported missing. Perhaps the strongest clues about what may have happened to her may be found online and social media. She documented her trip on instagram. Sunset, istanbul style, is one of the many entries of her visit. It was her first trip abroad, one her parent say was prompted by a photography hobby. As her parents wait for news, they are taking care of sierras two boys, working to shield them from what has happened. Having the kids get up, have to get up and be strong, you know. But just so broken inside. And on sierras instagram account, more than 3,000 followers, with messages like these, you are in my thoughts and prayers. I hope you come home safe. And sierras husband is in istanbul and told cnn that his wife had gained many admirers of her photography on that instagram account. She had gotten pretty well acquainted with friends in istanbul and chose to take this trip with the help of people she had met. Wolf . We hope they find her and find her quickly. Thanks, mary, for that report. And youre in the situation room. Tornadoes hammering the southeast tearing down buildings and flipping cars and trucks on an interstate. At least two people are dead. Full coverage coming up. As Congress Begins a dramatic debate on gun control, a teenage girl who performed an event tied to the president ial inauguration is shot and killed. Back home in chicago. And it was smooth sailing for john kerry but chuck hagel might have a much harder time making it into the cabinet. We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and around the world. Im wolf blitzer. Youre in the situation room. We begin this hour with a massive front stretching from the gulf coast to the great lakes and is throwing off deadly storms. Some areas are being hit very, very hard right now. A tornado is slammed into a northwest georgia town, knocking down buildings, overturning dozens of cars along an interstate. Thermometers have been going haywire has this huge front moves eastward. Our own brian todd has been tracking the destructive storm. Likely a tornado, flattened these buildings and destroyed houses like this one. This was a trailer park near nashville hit by the same storm system overnight. It was just and then it was the worst sound ive ever heard in my life. That trailer, you know, thats nothing compared to the life of this child here. That is nothing compared to that. Throughout the south, through to the upper midwest, violence storms damaged homes and trees were down in alabama and a church had its steeple blown off. By midday, the devastation moved east. Wsb caught this twister on camera, overturning cars and damaging homes and building. Tornadoes usually dont occur until springtime in the u. S. Whats causing this . One storm front thats affecting much of the country. We got access to noaas stateoftheart weather facility outside of washington and spoke with jim hoak. Looking at this front and what its doing, how is it causing tornadoes in january . Well, there is a huge temperature contrast between the cold temperatures in the central part of the United States and warm temperatures in the southeastern part of the United States. Cold temperatures here, warm temperatures here. The front is in this area. Its the clash between the warm and cold temperatures that enables such things as tornadoes, hail, and strong winds to occur. Along with a stark divide in temperatures from one side of the front to the other. Here on the eastern side of the front, its freakishly warm, uncomfortable without a jacket here in washington, d. C. Hovering in the mid60s. Whats it like on the other side of the front . Lets go to our affiliate kwwl in eastern iowa. Reporter brian, were looking at completely covered roads here. Five to six inches of snow just in our part of the state. City officials specifically in waterloo are asking people to stay off the roads unless its an emergency. Jim hoke says this is almost as challenging as Superstorm Sandy but sandy took longer to develop. We saw it seven days ago but it didnt become an intense system until the last day or so. And this system is bringing wet weather as well. Flood warnings are being given from michigan to louisiana. And thunderstorms are supposed to pass through washington, d. C. , at any time, wolf, and bring the temperatures down extremely in this area back to januarytype levels. For now we can take another reading on this laser thermometer. Heres what it says. Low 60s. At least we can enjoy a little bit of warm weather. Severe everywhere else. Certainly is. In the south, brian, not all of the damage was caused by the tornadoes, right . No. Some of the experts say it was caused by Straight Line systems, just kind of straight bands, very strong winds that have knocked down a lot of those buildings and homes there. Still strong cells of tornadoes still whipping through that area. Its very dangerous even in the south. Brian todd on the washington mall. Thank you, brian. Lets go to Miguel Marquez. Hes at the scene of the devastating storm damage in adairsville, georgia. 75 miles from atlanta . Reporter it is. Its north of atlanta. This county has been declared a disaster area, an emergency area as well as the adjacent county as well. I want to show you, about 100 people were in this plant this morning. It was an operating plant here in adairsville. They were putting together parts for tractortrailers. Amazingly enough, everybody survived there. The devastation in this one area here is incredible. The cars here on the road, you can see, they were tossed around and crushed. There are also a lot of tractortrailers that have been overturned in this area and whats happening right now, Georgia Power has come in here because if you look at my feet, there are power lines down throughout this entire area and the power has been cut to many of the homes here. They are in this area getting the power up and its going to be a very, very cold night, it seems, because the temperatures have come down 15, 20 degrees at this point. So its a pretty miserable night here in georgia. Wolf . Well check back with you to see where we go from here. Miguel marquez on the scene there in adairsville, georgia. Lets turn to chad myers. Whats going on here, chad . Some of the storms are coming right towards you in d. C. , roanoke, all of the midatlantic states. What is going on, wolf, is a big dip in the jet stream. Its cutting out of the southwest and up through the northeast. Just like going through chicago. Its 57 in atlanta. 77 in miami. But 10 below in minot and thats the clash of the temperatures, the package that brian todd just put together was so eloquently talking about. When you get cold and warm that comes together like this, something has to break. When that happens, something has to happen. I must have gotten 100 people ask me, isnt this weird we get tornadoes in january . And the answer is no, not really. Last year we had 75 tornadoes in january. But the tornadoes in january are in the south. And then by february and march they get up farther to the north. They follow the jet stream to the north. By spring, march, april, may, when you expect them, they are all the way through the midwest, kansas, nebraska, that is Tornado Alley right through there. And then by june, july, some of these tornadoes are up here and by august ive seen tornadoes in edmonton, alberta. Follow the money, they say. If you follow the jet stream, you can certainly follow the tornadoes as well. This is an interesting map showing from tuesday into today, temperatures in topeka have gone down 37 degrees. Miguel said the temperatures went down 20 where he was. This morning, up 18 compared to 24 hours ago and now temperatures are falling rapidly again. Its the jet bringing down the cold air compared to last week, bringing up the cold air, bringing up the warm air as well. Remember, this was were talking about 4 below windchill factors in new york city a couple of days ago and now were almost 65 degrees up there. Similar situation here in washington, d. C. , as well. Is there any way to tell whether this kind of roll bettroller cor ride of extreme is going to continue all winter long . Its going to continue the next 15 days. Its one wave after the other. The wave goes up, its called a ridge and you warm up. The wave comes down and its called a trough like a trough where you put cattle feed and then back the other side of the ridge. It moves across the country. It depends on what side of the jet you are on. The warnl side or the cold side and it changes every five days. Yes, its going to continue all winter long. Well be riding the roller coaster together with a lot of folks. Thanks very much, chad, for that report. To get all of the latest storm tracking or send us your later weather ireports, send them to cnn. Com weather. So the battle lines are now drawn over the president s pick to head to the pentagon. Why chuck hagel is facing bitter opposition and hes fighting back. And blackberry, a new operating system and a new name. 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The former senator chuck hagel is battling opposition on several fronts, including new attacks against iran sanctions. Barbara starr takes a closer look at the nomination. Thank you, mr. President. Even as president obama nominated chuck hagel to run the pentagon, an unprecedented effort that sounds a lot like a president ial campaign. President obama for secretary of defense, chuck hagel is not a responsible option. The conservative Advocacy Group American Future Fund putting up big money. Hagel accepted goldplated gifts. Were running over 500,000 for ads. This tough Vietnam Combat veteran is part of the attack machine, making the case to more than 50 senators. Can we just ask you how its going . Its going well. Appreciate it. Reporter due to security concerns, i cant show you the exact room but here until this nondescript hallway, chuck hagel has an office where hes been getting ready for what may be contentious confirmation hearings and it is from here that the strategy for confirmation has taken shape. We joke that this is the hagel war room and we are doing Rapid Response as issues come in and thats what youd expect in this confirmation process. Reporter its all high stakes. Valerie jarrett moved in quickly when gay Rights Groups opposed hagel over his 1990 comments calling an ambassador nominee openly gay. As a progress of our nation and specifically as a community of lgbt individuals within 24 hours senator hagel had issued an apology. Reporter on hagels support for israel, critics continue to say hagel is soft. So the hagel war room got an endorsement from Chuck Schumer, a prominent voice. But the mega donor and his wife who gave tens and millions of dollars to a super pac supporting mitt romney says not so fast. As a member of the republican jewish coalition, hes calling gop senators to issue a no vote. The potential Campaign Cash not easily forgotten. One senator who hasnt announced how he will vote is senator john mccain, republican of arizona, a longtime friend of chuck hagels. The two men fell out over theres disagreements about the iraq war. But if mccai votes for hagel, and that is not certain, if he does, the opponents of chuck hagel may have a much tougher case to make. Barbara starr, cnn, the pentagon. One of chuck hagels leading supporters is also a former senator, a fellow vietnam veteran. Senator, thanks for joining us. Youre going to be in the front row right behind chuck hagel. You strongly support him. I know hes been a close friend of yours. Listen to republican senator john cornyn why he opposes this nomination. The nomination of chuck hagel to be the next secretary of defense has already done damage to the United States credibility in its attempt to deny iran a nuclear weapon. Thus emboldeneding one of the most dangerous regimes in the middle east. To limit that damage, president obama should choose someone else to lead the pentagon. Senator cleland, do you want to respond to john cornyn . I just think this is smoke in mirrors. It obscures the fact that after ten years of war and people who have been deployed overseas to iraq and afghanistan five and six and seven different times, ten years of war really we need a man like chuck hagel whos been to war who knows war, whos been wounded, gotten a few holes in his tshirt, still carries the shrapnel from that generations ago with him, he is exactly the kind of guy we need in the pentagon now. I want somebody in there who knows about war, to help keep us out of war. Senator mccain knows about war. He was a p. O. W. In vietnam. When i spoke with him yesterday, he hasnt made up his mind yet. Speak to senator mccain. Tell him why he should confirm chuck hagel. He is your brother, john. Me, john kerry, you, we all suffered the same fate pretty much in the same war. And i dont see john turning his back on his brother. You think hell vote to confirm him . I do. Either that or be absent. I dont see john really being absent. I think mccain is holding his powder keeping his powder dry pending the hearings. I think a lot of the members of the senate are keeping the power dry pending the hearings and then they will vote to confirm chuck hagel and should. Some of these votes, for example, on irans sanctions, he voted against those kinds of you were a senator for a long time. You know how tough it is to vote on these kinds of sensitive issues. He was in the minority. Well, heres the deal. You can attack anybody on anything if youve been in the senate long enough. My view is this man has been to war and hes the best to look after those who have been to war and secondly we dont choose secretary of defense by 30 and 60character assassination ads. Thats not the way we do it. When the president nominates and advises and consents to that nomination. That process will go forward tomorrow and after the hearings tomorrow which i am pleased to attend then i think the senators will confirm chuck hagel. Hes been asked a lot of them chuck shchumer and came out and endorsed thats highly appropriate. Thats when you do it. You do it in the public hearing room. Up until now, chuck has been sequestered and not been able to talk in his own defense. Have you spoke to him . I have not, not since three or four weeks ago. Ive been out there for him because hes my brother and friend and certainly now with Young Americans that need to come home from afghanistan and be taken care of by a secretary of defense who has been to war, who helps us stay out of war. Thats chuck hagel. Speaking of Young Americans who have been to war and have come home, like you, a 26yearold iraq war veteran, brendan moroco, he has undergone unbelievable surgery and transplants. He came home from iraq without any limbs. Watch this. I dont even realize it anymore. Ive been using the arms to or the hands to text and use my computer and do my hair. Its just that they have truly become part of my every day life. Its given me hope for the future. I feel like ive been given a second chance. Its a rare double arm transplant. You see that as someone whos gone through a lot and we all know what youve gone through. What goes through your mind . Thank god for that young man and people willing to defend this country and chuck hagel was one of those. That young man gives me aspiration and so does chuck. Its amazing the optimism that he has right now. Hes gone through what hes gone through and thank god for it. You were skeptical about the whole war in iraq, werent you . Oh, yes. And chuck was and john kerry was. We voted for the resolution because there was a sense that iraq had weapons of mass destruck. We thought that. We were told that. It was not true. It was fraudulent. You need somebody like chuck hagel in there who you cannot fool. Giving the best advice of president of the United States on how to use the military to stay out of war. But if we get in there and win quick, thats what we need. Give us one final thought to those returning veterans, amputees, the Wounded Warriors coming back. What advice do you have for them as someone who knows what they are going through . We love you, we appreciate you. Not only do we thank you for your service but were going to take care of you as best as we possibly can. Welcome home. Senator cleland, thanks. Youre always welcome here. Thanks for your service to our country. Senator Dianne Feinstein is joining by. Shell join us right here in the situation room. Yo, give it up, dude up high ok. Dont you have any usefull apps on that thing . Who do you think i am, quicken loans . At quicken loans, our amazingly useful mortgage calculator app allows you to quickly calculate your mortgage payment based on todays incredibly low interest rates. Right from your iphone or android smartphone. One more way quicken loans is engineered to amaze. Lisa sylvester is in the situation room. What is going on . The dow and s p all closed down. The Economic Growth had caused. But stocks still remain near alltime high. The dow is less than 2 Percentage Points and back in october 2007. One of the owners of the Brazilian Club where 235 people died has attempted suicide. That attempt took place and Authorities Say that owner was, in their words, emotionally destroyed. The Fire Department shares some of the blame for the casualty count saying they werent wearing proper masks and lacked proper equipment. Take a look at this amazing video. Strong winds in texas blowing tumbleweeds. The driver of this truck literally had to plow through them to pass. This video was posted on facebook. That being looks like something straight out of a movie. It doesnt look real. It looks like something they cued up on a set. Looks very real. Yeah. Pretty amazing. Thank you. You know, with the dow jones approaching 14,000, that was october 2007 it reached 14 thourk and then by by 2009, the first year of the Obama Administration it collapsed to below 7,000 it and its doubled over the past four years. You know what people were saying back then in 2009 . Everyone was saying leave your money in. Dont take your money out. The dow is going to come back and sure enough the markets have rallied. They have come back. Believe it or not, we are at the record high. Remember, the conversation cans back then, back in 2007, was down 15,000 and now youre hearing those same conversations. Just be careful. As Congress Begins a dramatic event is shot and killed back home in chicago. [ male announcer ] this is joe woods first day of work. And his new boss told him two things cook what you love, and save your money. Joe doesnt know it yet, but hell work his way up from busser to waiter to chef before opening a restaurant specializing in fish and game from the great northwest. Hell start investing early, hell find some good people to help guide him, and hell set money aside from his first day of work to his last, which isnt rocket science. Its just common sense. From td ameritrade. Fireworks on capitol hill or gun violence and it started with a powerful appearance from Gabrielle Giffords who was severely injured in a shooting. This brought together Dianne Feinstein who has just proposed sweeping legislation, banning military assault weapons and the executive Vice President of the National Rifle association, wayne la pea air. Watch this political exchange. I want to thank everybody for being here, particularly our witnesses, even you mr. Lapierre. Its good to see you again. We tangled 18 years ago. You look pretty good, actually. Both indeed have been making their respective cases in the gun debate for many, many years. You can see by this vintage cnn video, this from a long time ago. Senator feinstein is joining us from capitol hill. Senator, thanks very much for coming in. Youre welcome, wolf. In all seriousness, youve been through this debate for 18 years. Whats different now . Well, what is different now is that the weapons have increased in firepower, in velocity, in kill power. The technology has changed so that there are mechanisms that you can put into a semiautomatic rifle, like a bushmaster or ak47 that makes it essentially act like an automatic weapon and in a minute you can fire, you know, 400, 500 bullets. Its a real problem out there. And these weapons tear peoples bodies apart and thats what happened to the children. And every one of these, school after school, mall after mall, when is it going to end . We look like such a barbaric country. We cant even protect our own people. So my view is that weapons that are in wars dont belong on the streets. We have a bill that exempts over 200 weapons, outlaws 185. Sets up a characteristic test for an assault weapons, requires a background test when that assault weapon is transferred or sold. I hope we can get it through. Right. Its very hard. I want to get to the politics in a moment and a likely vote in the senate and the house. But you were on cnns state of the union with Candy Crowley on cnn and you said this the nra is venal. They come after you. They put together large amounts of money to defeat you. They did this in 93 and they intend to continue it. I want to elaborate by what you mean by venal. Well, what i mean by venal is just that. They raise money if you vote against them to defeat you. And particularly with members of the house. They have been successful. Jack brooks, tom foley at the time the speaker, both were defeated. Now, the nra has been raising a lot of money from Gun Companies now. Gun companies are supporting this. The nra is encouraging programs that give these weapons to youngsters as young as 8 and 9 years old. Ive got to wonder whats happening to this country. So every single poll shows that a dominant majority of americans want to ban militarystyle assault weapons. Every single poll shows that. The question is, will america stand up and will america take this case to the midwest, to the south where it is very difficult to obtain a vote . Listen to Wayne Lapierre, at the hearing this morning. Unfortunately, weve seen a dramatic collapse in federal gun prosecutions in recent years. Overall, in 2011, federal firearms prosecutions per capita were down 35 from their peak in the previous administration. That means violent felons, violent gang members and drug dealers with guns and the mentally ill possess firearms are not being prosecuted. Does he have a point there . Well, he may. I dont really know about that. But we will look at it. I do know this. That a violent felon can buy a gun at a gun show, no questions asked, even if it is a 50 caliber sniper rifle, an ak47, a sophisticated bushmaster. He can buy it. I do know that you can buy any amount of ammunition on the internet. I do know that clips, highcapacity magazines are cheap and easily available. So anybody can put together any kind of an arsenal they want. Criminal, terrorists, hes right about that. Now, the question comes, what kind of gun laws will the National Rifle association support . In the time i was at the hearing, this question was more or less asked of mr. Lapierre and he did not answer it. Essentially, they believe that you dont need to do anything, just enforce laws. The brady gun checks, for example, database, a product of the tea art legislation, the next day you have to dissolve it. So the nra has been very artful in moving forward to really senator to put opposition to enforcement at the same time that they are complaining about it. Its not just the nra. You have problem with Prominent Senate democrats as well. Patrick leahy has a different perspective than you do and maybe even the Senate Majority leader harry reid. Do you have these senators, the Democratic Senators on board . Well, i can tell that you Patrick Leahy voted for the bill in 1994. I cant comment on senator reid. Look, everybody says, do you have every vote . The answer is no. That doesnt mean we shouldnt try. Look, what happened in connecticut at sandy hook, the ripping apart of bodies of 5 and 6yearolds a. Mother who gave her son a gun when that son shouldnt have been anywhere near the gun, shows the falsity of the situation that we live in now. Weve got to change that and weve got to protect our schools. You cant just protect them with guards. I have no problem with guards. There was a Deputy Sheriff armed at columbine. He couldnt hit the sniper or the shooter that was in that school. So we have to keep these weapons, which are military weapons, out of the hands of gang bangers, of mental incompetence, people who would use them for bad purposes. Senator feinstein, i know that you feel very passionately on this issue. I do. Well see what happens in the weeks to come. Appreciate you joining us. Thanks, wolf. Our own Anderson Cooper is taking a look at the debate in a special town hall guns under fire. Thats tomorrow night at 8 00 p. M. Eastern only on cnn. She performed at an event at the inauguration and now a few days later a teenage honor student is shot dead after taking a final exam back home in chicago. Ttle word game. I think your friends will understand. Oh no, its actually my geico app. See . I just uh paid my bill. Did you really . From the plane . Yeah, i can manage my policy, get roadside assistance, pretty much access geico 24 7. Sounds a little too good to be true sir. Ill believe that when pigs fly. Ok, did she seriously just say that . Geico. Just click away with our free mobile app. Constipated . Yeah. Mm. Some laxatives like dulcolax can cause cramps. But phillips caplets dont. They have magnesium. For effective relief of occasional constipation. Thanks. [ Phillips Lady ] live the regular life. Phillips. A developing situation in arizona where police are searching for a suspect in a multiple shooting in an office. Lets go to casey wian in phoenix. What happened . Reporter early this morning in phoenix, at this office building, a man walked into a building and shot three people. According to police, this was a location he was targeting. It was not random. There was a heavy, Immediate Police response. Dozens and dozens of Police Officers in this area and at multiple locations throughout phoenix. They were also searching for the suspect in several vehicles that they were looking for. So far that suspect still remains at large. Heres what one member of the Police Department had to say to us a while ago. What we know at this point is a man described as a white male, possibly older, went into an office, got into some type of an altercation and he shot three individuals. One of those people was transported in extremely critical condition. The other people were transported with nonlife threatening injuries. Reporter now, we do know the identity of one of those shooting victims. He is mark humels, an attorney. He was involved in a client mediation at the time of the shooting. The law firm would not say anything else. We do not know if that mediation had anything to do with the possible motive. We also should mention, wolf, that the first time many people heard about this shooting was earlier today when mark kelly, of course, Gabrielle Giffords husband mentioned the shooting. Wolf. Casey, thank you. From arizona to chicago now where the stories of deadly gun violence seem to be endless. One of the latest victims . A teenage girl who was just here in washington celebrating president obamas inauguration. Cnns ted rowlands is joining us with details. What a sad, sad story this is, ted. Reporter absolutely, wolf. It is another unbelievable heartbreaking story of a childs life cut short because of the gun violence here in chicago. She was one of those kids that always seemed to have a smile on her face, which you can see in this youtube video. Thats how friends are describing 15yearold, the latest innocent victim of gun violence in the city of chicago. She had just returned from the inauguration in washington where she performed with her high school team. Jayda is next to her in this team photo. It was a good trip. She was real happy. She smiled all the time. She was never mad or sad. Reporter she had just finished a final exam and was with a group of friends avoiding the rain. Witnesses say a gunman came out from behind this fence and started shooting. The park, where she was killed, is one mile from president obamas home in chicago. The president and first ladys thoughts and prayers are with the family. As the president said, we will never be able to eradicate every evil action but weve got to try. Reporter dick durbin brought up the murder during a gun hearing on capitol hill, talking about her trip to washington. It was the highlight of her 15yearold life. She raced to a shelter. A gunman came in and shot her dead. Just a matter of days after the happiest day of her life, shes gone. Reporter its been a deadly start to 2013. She is the 42nd murder victim this year. 506 people were killed here in 2012. She is what is best in our city. A child going to school who takes a final exam, who had just been to an inaugural we have a responsibility to see a stop to this and all of us are responsible. Reporter High School Students spent the day with their parents and brief counselors, talking about about her and her wonderful smile. Its too much. Every other day youre hearing student and killings and now what is happening is more parents are burying their children. Reporter and, wolf, sadly like is the case in many of these shootings, police have not made an arrest. They are hoping a witness will come forward so they can solve her murder. I hope they do. What a heartbreaking story indeed. Ted, thanks for that report. When we come back, a very different story. A new blackberry has just been unveiled. Up next, why it could be a make or break moment for a future of a very once powerful company. I gave birth to my daughter on may 18th, five days later, i had a massive heart attack. Bayer aspirin was the first thing the emts gave me. Now, im on a bayer aspirin regimen. [ male announcer ] be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. [ woman ] learn from my story. Could be a makeorbreak moment for the once very powerful blackberry giant, research in motion, or rimm, which is today not only unveiling the longawaited blackberry 10, its also make blackberry its official company name. Heres cnns chief business correspondent, ali velshi. Theres no buttons on the blackberry zen 10. Reporter no buttons may not be news for you, but its big news for blackberry. Canadas research in motion is counting on this totally virtual phone to allow it to live to fight another day. After a yearlong delay and years of neglects the onslaught by apple and androidbased phones, rimm finally unveiled its new black berry 10 operating system and the phone to run it. Ive been evaluating the phone in real world conditions. Im a heavy user and a champion thumb typist. Being new to the virtual keyboard world, my email output has been cut in half while i got used to it. But the company says the keyboard is easier to use and more intuitive than its virtual competitors. Select it just by flicking it the piece deries tans from the keyboard is it grabs words from your device and names from your contact and predicts in a very customized way what youre likely to type, allowing you to compose entire sentences just by flicking the complete words, which appear on the keyboard, up toward the screen. All of it can be done with one hand. Let me try something. Reporter for those users for whom a virtual keyboard is still a nonstarter, youll have to wait until april for a model with a hard keyboard. Built on a brandnew operating system, not a singleline of code is copied from black berrys existing platform. Battery life isnt great, but unlike iphone and many android phones, you can still change a dead blackberry battery. Heres an interesting feature for those of you who use a corporate backberry with Strict Company rules but also carry a separate phone for your personal use. The blackberry 10 uses something called balance, which basically allows the device to be strictly split, so the corporate side of it can adhere to the companys rules, say, no photos or personal emails, while on the other side of the split personality, you can do all of your personal business. These are secure. The information in them is secure. So i cant take anything out of the work space, into my personal side. Similarly, when im on the personal side, as an end user, i can remain confident that none of the tweets im send welcome the pictures that im sharing are things that my employer can have access to. So its really and truly a dual persona device. Reporter the two sides of the device, if you will, never cross each other. Keep in mind, though, your company has to authorize and enable this feature. Research in motions ultrasecure, ultraefficient back Office Systems allowed them to dominate the corporate world. Increasingly, though, companies are letting People Choose which devices they use. Back in 2009, 20 of all smartphone s globally were blackberries. Today, its just 6 . The stock is down more than 80 in five years. The question is whether this phone can change all of this. It will be reduced in uk this week, in canada in february, and in the United States by the end of march. Ali velshi, new york. Former congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords powerful plea to congress to help End Gun Violence in this country. Her husband, mark kelly, was at her side. My interview with him, just ahead. Stop stop stop come back here humans we are beautifully imperfect creatures living in an imperfect world. Thats why Liberty Mutual insurance has your back with great ideas like our optional better car replacement. If your car is totaled, we give you the money to buy one a model year newer. Call. And ask one of our Insurance Experts about it today. Hello . we believe our customers do their best out there in the world, and we do everything we can to be there for them when they need us. [car alarm blaring] call now and also ask about our 24 7 support and service. Call. And lock in your rate for 12 months today. Liberty mutual insurance. Responsibility. Whats your policy . Then youre going to love this. Right now theyre only 14. 95 wowa grt deal just got a whole lot better. Hurry. 14. 95 wont last. From secretary of state to comedian, Henry Kissinger wowed the crowd at an exclusive off the record washington dinner the other night. No recordings were allowed, but politico got a copy of his funny speech and cnns tom foreman is here with a closer look. Very funny, indeed. Yeah, wolf. This happened at the alfalfa club. This is a 100yearold club here in d. C. Thats made up of all sorts of movers is and shakers in politics and business. And every year, even when you dont have a president ial race, they select a president ial candidate. And this year, it is the former secretary of state, Henry Kissinger, the nobel laureate, born in 1923. Hes almost 90 years old. Heres the thing, though. Its a very secret thing, we cant get in video of his speech that just brought the house down, so we did the next best thing. We reached out to paul sorvino, this afternoon, because he played kissinger in the film nixon and had him read all of kissingers best lines for us. Heres kissinger on the nomination. I accept the nomination for the president of the alfalfa party at this celebration of its hundredth anniversary. Its program, i am proud to say, has not changed in the hundred years of its existence, much like the republican platform. Not bad. He sounds a lot like kissinger. Heres the next one. Heres what kissinger had to say on advice. In my six decades of public service, i have given advice to ten president s. Some of them even asked for it. Moving on, this is kissinger on the issues. I pride myself on being able to see both sides of every issue. So let me candidly assess both my assets, and my other assets. By this time, the place was absolutely coming apart. Heres kissinger on foreign affairs. People ask me what it was like meeting brezhnev or zhou enlai. There is, indeed, a lot of pressure when historical figures encounter each other. So, yes, they were a little nervous. And heres our last one. This is kissinger on negotiating. I have seen negotiations go on until talks broke down. When joe biden is your opposite number, talks go on until you break down. So, our thanks to the great actor, paul sorvino who joined us to do this, playing the part of Henry Kissinger. It was a huge, huge success. And wolf, i will point this out, even though Henry Kissinger is almost 90, he can still work a crowd, and this nomination may have some legs. Former nominees from the alfalfa clubs, Richard Nixon and ronald reagan. He is a very, very funny guy. Henry kissinger, almost 90 years old. Hes got a great, great sense of humor. And tom foreman, thanks to you, youve got a great sense of humor as well, and paul sorvino, helping us appreciate a little levity here in the situation room. And happening now, Gabrielle Giffords struggles to speak at an emotional gun hearing. Her husband, mark kelly, tells me how she prepared for her testimony. Tornadoes spawned by wild temperature changes. New fears of a north Korean Nuclear test within days. And we talk to parents clinging to hope for their daughter, missing in turkey. Im wolf blitzer, youre in the situation room. Its the hotbutton issue in america right now, as evidenced by that huge crowd that turned out for todays Senate Hearing on gun control. Its just under seven weeks since the newtown, connecticut, School Shooting and offered a platform to some of the powerful voices on the issue. Cnns chief congressional correspondent, dana bash, was at the hearing. Shes joining us now. Tell us how it all went down, dana. Reporter well, without question, the highlight came from somebody who wasnt even on the witness list, Gabby Giffords, who read a short 16sentence speech and had everybody in the room, even those who disagreed with her on guns, mesmerized. How are you, congresswoman . Reporter a dramatic entrance from a woman who was a congressional colleague, until a gunman shot a bullet through her head while she was doing her job. Even more dramatic, Gabby Giffords labored, yet passionate plea for action, written out by her speech therapist, on this paper, in a way easiest for her to read. Speaking is difficult, but i need to Say Something important. Violence is a big problem. Too many children are dying. Too many children. We must do something. Be bold, be courageous. Americans are counting on you. In congress, giffords was an advocate for gun rights and still owns a gun. So does her husband, captain mark kelly, a star witness. I am a strong supporter of the second maemt amendment as a on this panel. My wife would not be sitting in this seat, she would not have been sitting here today if we had stronger background checks. Reporter at the other end of the table, the other star witness with a very different perspective. Lawabiding gun owners will not accept blame for the acts of violent or deranged criminals. Reporter wayne la pierre of the nra said strengthening background checks wont stop criminals. None of it makes any sense in the real world. Mr. Lapierre, thats the point. The criminals wont go to purchase the guns because therell be a background check. Well stop them from the original purchase. You missed that point completely. I think its basic. Senator, i think you let there be order reporter the line to get into this hearing on guns was huge, citizens on both sides of the issue. But i truly care about this issue and want to support common sense gun laws. Guns are not the primary cause of the issue. Its the people that operate or use the guns. Reporter inside, republican Lindsey Graham wanted to bring in real guns, but red tape and laws prevented it, so he used pictures. Does everybody on the panel agree that a convicted felon should not have either one of those guns . Reporter a staunch defender of gun rights, he argued against limiting high capacity magazines. Put yourself in the shoes of the mother. Reporter by telling the story of a woman trying to fend off an intruder. As her husband said, shoot, shoot, she emptied the gun, sixshot revolver, the guy was hit five of the six times, he was able, still, to get up and drive away. Reporter kelly pushed for limiting magazines, by reminding people that tucson shooter Jared Loughner shot 33 rounds from one magazine and was unable to reload. Meaning he did not have access to a highcapacity magazine, and the same thing happened, Christina Taylor green would be alive today. I certainly am willing to give up my right to own a highcapacity magazine to bring that young woman back. Reporter so the question is, what now . What can possibly get done legislatively, if anything. Well, wolf, one of the lead democrats on this issue, Chuck Schumer, revealed hes in talks with some senators who have high nra ratings. And we are told that the senator he is in most close contact with is tom coburn of oklahoma, a republican. One of the most the biggest advocates of gun rights in the United States senate. And in fact, im told by sources close to both senators that schumer is holding off on releasing his legislation, because hes making changes in the hopes of having a bipartisan bill with tom coburn, strictly on the issue of strength streng background checks. Thanks very much for that report, dana. Kate balduan joining us in the situation room as well. Theres a lot of movement on this story. A lot of movement, a lot of conversations happening, at least, on this issue. And Gabby Giffords, and her husband, right after the hearing that dana bash was telling us about, she and her husband, mark kelly, they met with president obama at the white house, and the white house sent out this photo of them talking in the oval office. They were talking about, as he told you, the issue of gun control. And right after that meeting at the white house, mark kelly came here to the situation room and joined me. First of all, lets talk about your wife. How did she prepare for that . Because thats really the first time we heard her speak like that over these past two years. Yes. She suffers gabby suffers from a condition called efacia because of the gunshot wound to the head, so he practiced. We only made the decision to come up here a few days ago, but she put in some time getting ready and actually crafting the speech herself. So she was involved in the writing of it, and you know, she worked on it. And we saw the handwritten notes, what her speech therapist had prepared, had wrote those o out there, they are right there on the screen, so she was basically reading from those handwritten notes. Yeah, some of it, you can see sometimes she was looking up, and she even ad libbed a little bit at the time. But i think the most important thing, hopefully the senators and people hearing this and hearing her take something away from that message. This is really serious and we need to do something. She spoke from the heart. Yes. And what does she want . What do you want, in a nutshell, the United States congress right now to do . Well, certainly, we want the United States congress to Work Together to try to solve this problem. Weve seen, especially over the last couple of years, just so Much Division, that its really hard to get things done. Everybody agrees that we have a problem. We need to have a universal background check. We need to close the gun show loophole. We need to do something about Mental Illness in this country. And for us, specifically from what happened in tucson, highcapacity magazines. I dont think anybody has the need for a 33round magazine like Jared Loughner had or a 100round magazine that was used in colorado. And then the assault weapons. We really need to seriously look at the lethality of these weapons and, you know, why theyre so prevalent in our society. Because the prevailing wisdom here in washington is, maybe youll get something on background checks. But when it comes to the magazines and the assaulttype weapons, thats a major uphill struggle. I agree. It does get harder. You could see, or i could see just watching this hearing, you know, many of the republican senators seem somewhat inclined to do something on the background checks. But, when you Start Talking about banning hardware, you know, people like Wayne Lapierre, who testified alongside me, you know, theyre adamant about their position on that issue. But i really think they need to think about this. These guns were made to kill a lot of people, all at once. Designed, basically, for use by the military. Ive served in the military for 25 years. I understand how lethal they are. And i honestly dont think you need that kind of weapon to protect yourself. Heres what a lot of people dont understand. Maybe, because youve got a new group, americans for responsible solutions, you and gabby have launched this group. This is going to be your cause now, right . Yes. So why should someone whos on a nofly list or someone who is a criminal, if you will, be able to go to a gun show, or from a private sale, go ahead and buy a gun without any background checks . Well, they shouldnt be. Has anyone given you a good explanation for that . Well, i think with the did you hear Wayne Lapierre give a good explanation . He gave an explanation, i dont think it was a good explanation. His explanation was, basically more bureaucracy. It creates more bureaucracy. But i know but it might save lives. It would save lives. It absolutely would save lives. Jared loughner, the shooter in tucson, he actually had somewhat of a criminal background. He was an admitted drug user. He also was intent on mass murder and assassination. He went through a background check. Now, if there was the correct information in the background check system, he would have been denied access to the gun, like 1. 7 million americans have been since 1999, who should not have been able to buy a gun. Now, obviously, in his case, he probably would have went to a gun show. Thats why we need to close the gun show loophole. You know, the argument that criminals will often get the guns in some other manner, thats probably true in some cay cases. But i think in the case of what happened in tucson, certainly in that case, if he would have been denied access to the gun, i dont think that would have happened that day. Even you make it much more difficult to get it, that potentially could save some lives. It also gives you time. If you make it more difficult, and maybe in that period of time, he would have gotten some treatment. Americans for responsible solutions, is that going to be, if you have your way, the counter to the nra . Well, i mean, our goal is not to be the counter to the nra. I mean, gabby and i are both supporters of the Second Amendment, were both gun owners. Part of what i want to do is protect the right of americans to own a gun. I think you should be allowed to own a gun to protect yourself, to protect your family, to protect your property. But that only extends so far. I mean, i think part of being a responsible gun owner is to have a responsible background check. I recently bought a hunting rifle at walmart a few months ago. And i went through a background check. It didnt take that long to do that. And you did it. One final question, at the end, we saw you shaking hands with Wayne Lapierre of the National Rifle association. Did you exchange any words, did you say anything to each other . Yeah, i think i said, you know, nice to meet you and enjoyed testifying with you today. And lets see where this situation moves on. Mark kelly, please pass along our best wishes to gabby, we wish her only, only the best. Weve all been impressed with her remarkable progress over these past two years. Thank you very much, wolf. You know, hes a very impressive guy. Yeah, hes an astronaut. And he appreciates how difficult of a political challenge to get this legislation through. They might get something on background checks, unlikely on the magazines, unlikely on the assault weapons. He understands that, but he and gabby are in it for the long haul. And he says he wants congress, and he gabby Want Congress to Work Together to solve the problem. I mean, therein lies the rub. Theres no clear consensus among members of congress, how to actually go about doing that. And you wonder, the more and more we talk about it, and the more time that passes, after a tragedy, you wonder if there is that political will there to accomplish it. Yeah. Well see. This fight will intensify. It absolutely will, wolf, youre right. And Anderson Cooper is tackling the issue with a special town hall, guns under fire. The big question, can there be a solution to americas gun problem . Find out thursday night, 8 00 eastern, right here, only on cnn. Seems like everyones also talking about the weather right now. Here in washington, d. C. , its the unusually warm temperatures. Down south, the nasty storms, and one town, a tornado ripped apart a georgia town. Were on the scene. But one dark stormy evening. She needed a good meal and a good family. So we gave her purina cat chow complete. Its the best because it has something for all of our cats and after a couple of weeks she was part of the family. Were so lucky that lucy picked us. [ female announcer ] purina cat chow complete. And for a delicious way to help maintain a healthy weight, try new purina cat chow healthy weight. Its one of the stories everyones talking about right now. Wild weather stretching from canada to the gulf of mexico. Its amazing how huge it is. One of the most vivid examples today, a tornado caught on camera by our atlanta affiliate, wsb. Reporter we can see circulation in the clouds right here. It looks like a tornado, right near downtown cartersville, at this moment. The Georgia Department of transportation says that twister overturned about a hundred cars. More on that coming up in just a few seconds. Next door in tennessee, the line of storms is blamed for killing a 47yearold man when a tree fell on his home. And on either side of this front, people are dealing with a temperature rollercoaster ride. Temperatures are hitting in the 70s here in washington, and theyre dropping into the 20s in chicago. Our Severe Weather expert, chad myers, is standing by to explain whats going on. But first, lets go to cnns Miguel Marquez. Hes in adairsville, georgia, where that tornado it. Reporter wolf, one person died here in adairsville and the government has now declared this county a disaster area, as well as an adjacent county. It is absolutely amazing, though, that only one person was killed here. If you laook over to my right, this is the plant where they make tractortrailers and parts. As many as 100 people were in this plant this morning. They took cover in the bathroom and all of them survived, amazingly, because it is flattened. If you come around this way, you can see that there are trucks and cars on the road here that are they were tossed around like toys. There were even there were even tractortrailers that fell on over these trucks, and its amazing that nobody was killed in those either. Across the way, there were two buildings that were completely destroyed, and in the center of them, another building that is damaged. But up, and actually, and seems to be in good structural shape. Right now, whats happening is Georgia Power is moving into this area. You can just see all of these lines in here. All of these power lines. They are all down throughout the area. Electricity is out throughout the area, which is a big problem for people now tonight, because the temperature has dropped about 20 degrees. Its going to get much colder tonight and the rain has not let up all day. Wolf . Kate . Miguel, thank you so much. The cause of all of this, some really dramatic temperature swings. Cnn meteorologist and Severe Weather expert, chad myers, has been following this all day for us, chad. So chad, what is going on this time . How about 34 below for a windchill in mynot and 76 right now in key west. You do the addition. Thats 110 degrees separation between the feelslike to the north and the heat index to the south. And its going to be one of those weeks. Watch this map. Its all depending on what side of the jet stream that you live on. Right now, d. C. Is 68. Youre on the warm side of the jet stream. Next week, not so lucky. Its going to even get colder later tonight. Heres wednesday. Im going to put it into motion. If youre in nebraska, youre cold right now. In fact, its snowing. Its snowing in chicago. It was 63 degrees in chicago yesterday and now its snowing. It depends on how far south the jet stream goes, because thats how far south the cold air is allowed to go. Push you all the way to next friday. Cold in the west, warm in the central plains, and cold in the northeast. Thats just the way it goes. And when the warm and the cold clash, you get Severe Weather. In fact, a brandnew tornado watch from columbia, south carolina, all the way down even into florida. Well pan a little bit farther to the north, because kate and wolf, you are going to get Severe Weather tonight. In fact, theres even a little bit of flooding out in leesburg, out towards the west just a little bit. All of this has to push away. If you, right now, if you feel warmer than you think it should be, youre going to get either rain or a thunderstorm tonight. Get ready for that. Kate, back to you. Preparations underway and the wild and dangerous weather continues. Chad, thanks so much. To get all the latest storm tracking or to send us your weatherrelated ireports, be sure to click on cnn. Com weather and be safe, please. Good advice. A scary, developing story emerging out of alabama right now. A little boy, just 6 years old, held hostage for more than 24 hours. We have the latest on the efforts to save him. 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Sleep train your ticket to a better nights sleep a really Dangerous Development in the crisis in syria today. Kates here. Shes got that. Some of the days other top stories. Kate, what happened . Theres a lot going on today, wolf, thats for sure. A u. N. Official tells cnn that an israeli fighter jet attacked a syrian convoy, suspected of carrying russianmade mediumrange missiles and equipment. A former highranking Israeli Intelligence official tells cnn, the lebanese group, hezbollah, likely wants to get its hands on syrian weapons in order to attack israel. Domestically on wall street, the dow could not break the 14,000 barrier today while the dow, nasdaq, and the s p 500 remain near alltime highs, all three closed down after the federal reserves latest report on the u. S. Economy. The fed says the economy actually shrank in the Fourth Quarter of 2012, breaking the countrys string of slow, but steady recovery from the recession. And a very scary story out of alabama still developing this evening. A man is holding a 6yearold boy hostage in an underground bunker. He took the boy after shooting and killing a School Bus Driver late yesterday. Authorities continue negotiating with the hostage taker. Lets get the latest from our george howell, who is in midland city, alabama, this evening. George, whats the latest . Reporter kate, you know, just a few minutes ago, we heard from authorities here, they held a press conference and number one, they said that they still believe that this young boy, this 6yearold boy, is unharmed, he is okay. They also believe that, you know, they were able to get medication to this young boy. Not sure how they were able to do that, but thats very important. Its a child who needs medication, daily medication, suffers from asbergers syndrome and adhd, so thats very important. And third, they said that they were able to get him his coloring book and crayons. So everybody here is just keeping a very close eye on what happens here. Again, kate, as you mentioned, the person, jimmy dikes, apparently, according to investigators, shot and killed the School Bus Driver and got on the bus, demanded two kids, but was able to grab one, make away with that young boy, and has been held up in an underground bunker here. This is going on day two and investigators are monitoring this hour by hour, a desperate situation. The young boys family, according to one person i spoke, is hanging on by a thread, kate. Oh, my gosh. What a scary situation. George, keep us updated, because im sure its going to be developing throughout this evening. George, thank you so much. Other news, renowned golfer vijay singh said he had no idea a spray hes been using contains a substance thats banned under the pgas antidoping policy. Another antidoping story. In a Statement Issued through the pga, singh says hes shocked and angry and cooperating with an investigation. Singh used something called deer antler spray. It comes from developing deer antlers and reportedly contains a hormone that stimulates muscle growth. And finally, a medical update on malala youssif, the teenager who was shot in the head by a gunman because she advocated equal rights for women. Shes in britain now, and doctors say they need to operate just two more times in the next few days. Theyll put a titanium plate over an opening in her skull and then put in an inner ear implant. Wolf, it is amazing to see that video, when you know what tragedy and what trauma she sustained and the fact she is recovering so well. Shes a courageous young lady and i hope she does really well. Congress takes up the gun control controversy. Well get an inside perspective from the former House Speaker and former president ial candidate, newt gingrich. Hes standing by live, right here in the situation room. Happening now, the former president ial candidate, newt gingrich, is here to talk gun control, immigration, and more an emotional interview with the parents of a new york woman missing in turkey. Plus, drug smugglers trying some unusual new tactics. Im wolf blitzer. Youre in the situation room. An important Senate Hearing today on gun control with testimony ranging from inspiring to emotional to very contentious. And it started with surprise remarks from former congresswoman, Gabrielle Giffords, herself a victim of gun violence that makes it difficult for her to speak. Listen here. Violence is a big problem. Too many children are dying. Too many children. We must do something. Its will be hard, but the time is now. You must act. My wife would not be sitting in this seat, she would not have been sitting here today, if we had stronger background checks. We could dramatically cut crime in this country with guns and save lives, all over this country, if we would start enforcing the 9,000 federal laws we have on the books. Im talking about gun dealers with guns, felons with guns, and gangs with guns. Theyre simply not being enforced. Lets get more on gun control with the former House Speaker and president ial candidate, newt gingrich. Thanks very much for coming in. Lets talk about universal background checks. Criminals, they can go and buy a gun, legally. Just go to a gun show, if you will, or from a friend or a neighbor. People on the nofly list. They can go out they cant fly, but they can go buy guns. Shouldnt there be universal background checks, to make sure bad guys simply cant go buy a weapon . Look, first of all, i think there are over 70,000 convicted felons who have been reported having trying to buy a gun, who were checked by the current background checks. This administration has prosecuted virtually none of them. Now, if we already have a law, if the law is not even being enforced, theres something fundamentally wrong with this. Second, when you go to and youve heard me talk about this before, that the number one place they hold hearings is chicago. 80 of the killings in chicago are gang related. Tragedy, i think, today or yesterday, of a wonderful young woman, who had a great Deal High School record, who was at the inaugural, who was killed by being near gang members, all right . Those gang members arent going to go some place that has a background check. I mean, what we do in this country is, theres a whole group of people who say, gee, why dont we harass the innocent, because we dont have the guts to stand up to the criminals. I dont think anybody wants to harass the innocent. I dont think anyone everybody wants to enforce, i agree, we should be enforcing the current laws, but why should a criminal just be able to go to a gun show or a terrorist, if you will, and buy a gun . First of all if you were on the nofly list, for example, you would not be cleared to buy a gun. You cant go get on an airplane. Shouldnt we tighten the laws right now . Forget about the assault weapons ban or magazines, just on background checks. Why not tighten the laws to save lives. I think background checks that involve any kind of a commercial dealer should be required, and frankly, even at gun shows, commercial dealers run background checks. Because theyre commercial dealers. Now youre telling me that my cousin, whos about to sell a deer rifle to his nephew is going to run a background check . I mean, at what level of intrusiveness why do the innocent we refuse to go after the criminals, and this is a problem in every major american city, except new york. We refuse to go after the criminals, we refuse to take down the people who arent legally allowed to have guns but what about this by the way, when they did it in richmond, they had a very tough check people if you have a gun and youre a felon, youre gone. That program radically reduced the murder rate in richmond. But even the former president ial candidate, paul ryan, hes come out to say that we should be looking at this socalled gun show loophole. Do you not think that that should be looked at . You can look at the gun show loophole, and then when people who decide the people were describing, who want to get a gun who are bad people, figure out, okay, im not going to go to the gun show, ill be in the parking lot. So you think theres nothing ill meet you at the dennys. I think, iffirst of all, take o 70,000 felons who have already been identified. And the morning you see the Obama Administration interested in action rather than politics, youre going to have a different kind of tone. But we also should be looking at two things. What are the psychiatric problems and to what degree does the federal privacy law make it almost impossible to identify people who have psychological problems . I suspect were going to find this tragic situation in alabama right this minute involves somebody with a deep psychological problem. And then, second, i think we have to look at, what is happening in big cities, where it is, in fact, largely pistols that are involved, and largely gangs that are involved . Let me ask you about another big issue that weve been talking about a lot this week, the issue of immigration. Theres been a big bipartisan push, you know, this week, including republicans, marco rubio, john mccain, talking about this comprehensive immigration reform. But, clearly, not all republicans are on board with this latest push. Listen here to senator david vitter. I love and respect marco. I think hes just amazingly naive on this issue. This is the same old formula that weve dealt with before, including when it passed in 1986. And that is promises of enforcement and immediate amnesty. And, of course, the promises of enforcement never materialize. The amnesty happens immediately. Well, i think what do you think because ive heard you say that you think that republicans should really be listening to senator marco rubio. Well, i campaigned last year on the need to have a practical, common sense, honest conversation about where were at. Is that what were having now . Well, were starting. I mean, i think weve had some progress in the last few days. And i actually think the president was remarkably tempered in nevada, and less partisan than usual. So im modestly encouraged. I dont personally believe, and ive said it over and again, that a comprehensive bill can pass. I think that its too hard. I think that you could pass seven or eight bills that together form a comprehensive reform. My advice to the House Republicans would be, start passing bills. You dont have to hang on jeb bush says thats impractical and he wrote that article last week in the wall street journal. He says, go for the comprehensive, dont do it peace mie meal. Look well, i have Great Respect for jeb bush, but i believe that in this city, what you end up with is 11 00 at night, in the white house, six people in secret, writing a bill they dont know anything about, dumping stuff in the bill at the last minute. It is the worst possible form of legislation. They ought to hold hearings first of all, lets hold hearings. Lets get out in the open. They will be holding hearings, and theyll be introduced quickly, are you with marco rubio or david vitter . I think im in between. I think marcos moving us in the right direction. I havent seen any bill language. Im not inclined to endorse something i havent read. And i dont want to see us get pushed into a corner, where you have to once again say yes or no to some 1,700 pages, without ever having markups and hearings and amendments. You talked about immigration during the campaign, but how much do you think of this latest push is purely politics, purely republicans seeing that you cant win elections with the number of latino voters that supported mitt romney. I believe with jeb bushs leadership in florida, with marco rubios leadership, with bobby jindal, with a whole range of people, susanna martinez, the governor of mexico, i do believe there is an attitude of being honest about the problem. Rick perry tried to talk about it in a candid way. I think it was very unfortunate, and frankly, helped cost us the election. If mitt romney had gotten 36 of the latino vote, he would have won a majority of the popular vote. Who do you blame for his lack of hispanic support . Well, i have to blame mitt romney. I mean, as you know you had a big fight as you know, i said something i thought was selfevident, when i said, were not going to deport grandmothers who have been here 25 years. And romney came and said, well, theyll selfdeport. Now, that is the most antihuman phrase you can imagine. You think a grandmother is going to selfdeport, leave her grandchildren and children. Now you try to talk to the son about jobs, and he says, what, you want to deport my mother and you want to talk to me about jobs . We didnt just lose latinos, we lost Asian Americans by a greater number you still remember those debates . I remember those debates. You enjoyed them very much. I can tell you. Was there one moment in one of those debates you want to relive, looking back, historically, that you say, i wish i had a doover. I would love to do the two florida debates again, because i was frankly off my game and i couldnt figure out how to deal with the wave of negative the one in jacksonville and tampa . Yeah, i was drowning in the negative advertising and i didnt have a grip on how to answer it. Can i ask you real quick, on the future of the Republican Party, you talked about it kind of in the immigration when youre talking about immigration. Most2012 election, theres a lot of soul searching going on. Do you think that the chris christies, the northeast republicans, do you think that is what will save the Republican Party . Do you think thats what will its a piece of it. I just did a paper on this, its pretty lengthy. Look, we have 30 governors, 315 electoral votes, we have 24 states with the republican governor and republican legislature, 51 of the country. We have control of the house. I mean, were a fairly robust party by historical tradition. The way republicans are talking about it, it doesnt look like it. Thats because washington is just nuts. But if you look at the states, im very encouraged by what i see going on in the states. And i agree with bobby jindal, who may not have realized it, but he was quoting an old article entitled the stupid party, when he said the other night, we need to quit being stupid. I know its a bold position. I think it would be good to not be stupid. Thats a bold, bold statement right here. Mr. Speaker, well have you back here on the situation room. Great to see you. Weve got an imminent nuclear test, apparently, by north korea. Why the u. S. Believes it could happen at any time. Were getting brandnew information and well have a live update from the pentagon. [ woman ] if you have the audacity to believe your Financial Advisor should focus on your longterm goals, not their shortterm agenda. [ woman ] if you have the nerve to believe that cookie cutters should be for cookies, not your investment strategy. If you believe in the sheer brilliance of a simple explanation. [ male announcer ] join the nearly 7 million investors who think like you do face time and think time make a difference. Join us. [ male announcer ] at edward jones, its how we make sense of investing. [ male announcer ] at edward jones, music make someone happy music make someone happy its so important to make someone happy. Its so important to make meone happy. Make just one someone happy and you will be happy too. Mommys having a french fry. Yes she is, yes she is. [ bop ] [ male announcer ] couldve had a v8. 100 vegetable juice, with three of your daily vegetable servings in every little bottle. Were following some troubling new signs in north korea right now. U. S. Officials believe the rogue nation is posed to conduct a nuclear test really at any time. Cnn pentagon correspondent, barbara starr, has been working this story today. Barbara, what are you picking up this evening . Well, right now the watch word is uncertainty. And that is not a word the pentagon likes when it comes to north korea. South koreas latest rocket launch, upping the stakes in a region that is bracing for north koreas threatened Nuclear Weapons test. The Obama Administration believes it could come at any time the latest consensus view is that were within a few days away. The North Koreans have been preparing this test for some time now. If were entering a provocative phase, and we hope we arent, thats problematic. Reporter a u. N. Defense official tells cnn, quote, we think they are preparing for a test. We are watching it all as closely as we can. It would be the third north Korean Nuclear test. Commercial imagery shows a tunnel where the test could happen and a bunker to shield equipment and personnel during a test. U. S. Government satellites are picking up vehicles and personnel at the nuclear test site, indicating preparations are underway. And a further indication to the u. S. That north koreas ruler is not changing course. I think with a new, young leader, we all expected something different. We expected him to focus on improving the lives of the north korean people. North koreas state media this week accused the use of nuclear blackmail and said it had no choice but to be defended by their own efforts. On a practical basis, the u. S. Can do nothing to stop the underground test. The only realistic option is more condemnation from the United Nations once it happens. But it tooks weeks to get a resolution after last months launch of a rocket by pyongyang. The u. N. Security Council Resolution or Security Council adopted a resolution just a few days ago and expressed its determination to take significant action in the event of a further launch of some sort of a missile or a nuclear test. Barbaras joining me once again. So barbara, will the u. S. Government, is there a way well be able to actually detect this impending test, this nuclear test, before it actually takes place, or is it just you wait, you watch, and you see . You have to wait, watch, and see, kate. In fact, defense secretary leon panetta said just a couple of days ago, he essentially warned that, no, the u. S. Might not know in advance. The problem is, underground tests, all the final preparations will be underground in that tunnel and those u. S. Spy satellites flying overhead wont be able to see it. It so may only be after the fact. Kate . Barbara starr at the pentagon for us. Thank you so much, barbara. Well see what kim jongun is up to. Really flexing his muscles. They are living through a wrenching ordeal right now. Were going to talk to the parents of a young new york mother missing in turkey. Ill be sleeping and wake up crying, thinking about her constantly. A lot of times, i dont even want to get out of bed. [ woman ] my boyfriend and i were going on vacation, so i used my Citi Thankyou card to pick up some accessories. A new belt. Some nylons. And what girl wouldnt need new shoes . And with all the points ive been earning, i was able to get us a flight to our favorite climbing spot even on a holiday weekend. Things are definitely looking up. [ male announcer ] with no blackout dates, you can use your Citi Thankyou points to travel whenever you want. Visit citi. Com thankyoucards to apply. I honestly loved smoking, and i honestly didnt think i would ever quit. [ male announcer ] along with support, chantix is proven to help people quit smoking. It reduces the urge to smoke. It put me at ease that you could smoke on the first week. [ male announcer ] some people had changes in behavior, thinking or mood, hostility, agitation, depressed mood and suicidal thoughts or actions while taking or after stopping chantix. If you notice any of these stop taking chantix and call your doctor right away. Tell your doctor about any history of depression or other Mental Health problems, which could get worse while taking chantix. Dont take chantix if youve had a serious allergic or skin reaction to it. If you develop these stop taking chantix and see your doctor right away as some can be lifethreatening. If you have a history of heart or blood vessel problems, tell your doctor if you have new or worse symptoms. Get medical help right away if you have symptoms of a heart attack. Use caution when driving or operating machinery. Common side effects include nausea, trouble sleeping and unusual dreams. With chantix and with the support system it worked. It worked for me. [ male announcer ] ask your doctor if chantix is right for you. We have been following the story of a Young American mother missing in turkey. Now, her parents are talking about the ordeal. Mary, what did they say . They are just absolutely distraught and theyre at a loss for answers. Sierras mother in particular was very emotional at times, but wanted to speak out in hopes that someone with information will come forward. More than a week after the 33yearold disappeared in turkey, her parents cling to hope as they wait in new york, sierras husband and brother are in istanbul to find the missing mother of two. I see myself just running, just running to her, just grabbing her and holding her. The image for most in their minds is the surveillance video. It was released by Turkish Police showing sierra in an istanbul Shopping Mall on january 20th. A day earlier, her parents say they spoke to her on skype. Giving me the flight information when she was coming in on the 22nd, what the flight was and what time she was coming in. Telling me dont forget. They say she had shortened her trip by a few days. Dennis jimenez went to Newark Airport to pick up his daughter, but she never showed. Because she kept in contact with us all the time, and then not to hear from her, its not like her. Sierra traveled by herself to turkey on january 7th, they say, because a friend who was supposed to go with her canceled. They say she had rented a private room she found on the internet. Her passport and bags were later found inside after she was reported missing. The strongest clues may be found online and social media. Through photos, she documented her first trip abroad on instagram, visiting amsterdam and germany as well. Her husband told cnn she had chosen to take this trip through help of the people she had met through instagram. As her parents wait for news, theyre taking care of her two boys, shielding them from whats happening. Having the kids, get up, i have to get up and be strong, you know . But just like broken inside. And on sierras account, more than 3,000 followers with messages like these. Youre in my thoughts and prayers. I hope you come home safe. Family members are counting on those prayers as u. S. And turkish authorities Work Together to find her. Wo wolf . I hope they find her and they find her quickly. Thank you, mary, for that report. Its amazing how long its been. They keep searching and two young boys are still at home. So sad. Coming up, Erin Burnett Outfront on the gun control hearing today by Fact Checking the nras claims. Well see what her team found in just a few minutes. Inspire malibu. Science and evidence based drug and alcohol treatment center. Where your addiction stops and your new life begins. Call now. Duct tape has plenty of uses. But jeanne moos found one you should not try. Duct tape diapers used to smuggle cocaine. Two women were caught coming into jfk airport wearing them. Two women flew in from the dominican republic, a canine alerted one suspects midsection. The other suspect walked with an awkward gait. Strip searches revealed each was carrying over three kilos of cocaine. Such a ridiculous technique. We havent seen anyone hide drugs in diapers since three men and a baby conspired to elude a narcotics detective. One of the suspects said she was offered 9 to 10,000 to smuggle the coke into the u. S. Crackcocaine tweeted one jokester and while were on the subject of cocaine in diapers, guess what they found on nine out of ten baby changing stations in Public Restrooms in the u. K. For a documentary, journalists at real radio used wipes to swab public bathrooms. 92 of the 100 plus units