Good to be with you. Im terrell brown. Today, joe bidens task force on gun control hears from gun groups advocating gun rights including the National Rifle association. Biden is promising urgent action against gun violence in the country and says the president could go around congress by issuing an executive order. Susan mcginnis gets us starts in washington this morning. Susan, good morning to you. Good morning, terrell. Hes asking the vermonts commission for policy recommendations by the end of january, but hes sure to run into opposition from guns owners groups who want no changingno tightening of gun law. Customers at sharpshooters firing range outside of washington, d. C. , say, theyre keeping a close eye on gun control talks taking place inside the beltway. I dont think restricting, you know, peoples Second Amendment rights would be the solution here. Cbs news has learned the white house is looking at several new laws including reinstating the assault weapons ban that expired in 2004. Were not going to get caught up in the notion unless we can do everything, were going to do nothing. Its critically important we act. Today the Vice President meets with representatives of guns owners groups including the National Rifle association. I dont want any part of my freedom taken away, the freedom to own whatever firearm i choose, how many rounds i want to keep, its my freedom. Vice President Biden believes new laws can make it through congress because the massacre in newtown, connecticut, changed the political land c. A. P. E. Here in washington. Its touched the heart of the American People so profound ly s we learned of the Young Children not only getting shot but riddled with bullets. Still, skeptics like the folks aet Sharp Shooters say new laws wont prevent criminals from getting their hands on weapons. But the Vice President says he and president obama are determined to act. A new Gun Control Group led by gabrielle gift fords, the former congresswoman shot in the shooting rampage is trying to match. Susan mcginnis in washington. Thank you so much. A just released report finds possession of firearms finds part of the reason why u. S. Suffers far more violent deaths than any other wealthy nation. 6 per 100,000 residents. None of the other countries even came close to that. Finland, for example, has about two violent deaths per 100,000 people. In washington the president s cabinet for a second term is taking shape. Today president obama is expected to nominate his chief of staff jack lew as secretary of treasury. He helped balance a budget deal with congress. If confirmed lew will replace timothy geithner. And hilda solis announced shes resigning. Shes leaving for california and is expected to run for board on the county supervisors. Eric holder, Kathleen Sebelius and Eric Shinseki are staying on. This years flu outbreak is wiegd. It declared a Public Health emergency. Free vaccinations are now being offered. Ines ferre reports. Reporter the flu hasnt been this bad in boston for years, more than 700 cases have been confirmed so far and statewide 18 people have died. City Health Officials are preparing for it to get worse. In the last two weeks alone we doubled our number. If we continue this rate to see new cases, well have an explosion of flu in the city of boston. We really need to get ahead of this at this point in time. Reporter but its not just massachusetts. Cbs confirms the 48 states. Were seeing patient volumes and acuity levels greater than the peak of the h1n1 epidemic we had a few years ago. Reporter while this flu season has been a moderate to severe one so far, its still within what they consider to be a normal range but there are still months go before its over. This years flu vaccine is considered to be a good match to this years flu strains but it is not 100 effective. Christine coens entire family got the vaccine but her 8yearold son got sick anyway. As a mom i was very disappointed that he got the flu because i had to fight him tooth and nail to get the flu shot. Reporter still those who get the vaccine and get stick suffer fewer complications. A Pretrial Hearing for an alleged theater shooter james holmes is over. Still not clear if prosecutor will seek the death penalty. Yesterday prosecutors showed killing pictures holmes took of himself before the massacre. Teresa garcia reports. Reporter prosecutors showed photos he took of himself. In oneselfportrait he had orange hair, black contracts and a wild grin. Another showed holmes stick out his tongue. There were photos taken inside and outside the theater, including an exit door like the one police say holmes propped open on the night of the attack. There was also a picture of guns, body armor and gas mask neatly laid out on holmes bed. Prosecutors say holmes pictures helped to show who he is, how he planned and what they called his extreme indifference. Some of the family members insight the courtroom say he smiled when he saw the pictures. He was delighted to see himself on the screen. We were all sitting there trying to hold our emotions and he was very excited to see himself. He was smiling. He was having a hard time controlling himself. Reporter holmes attorney presented no evidence. He said this preliminary hearing was not at the place to, quote, put on a show and present a partial defense. The judge will announce on friday whether theres enough evidence to bring holmes to trial. If the judge decides to arraign holmes, cameras will be allowed in court that. Will be the first time the general public sees the suspect since july 23rd. Coming up on cbs morning news on this thursday morning, sudden impact. The crash of a ferry in new york city that injured dozens of people. Plus, what to do about a pod of killer whales trapped in ice with nowhere to go. This is the morning news. Clear, huh . Im not juice or fancy water. Ive got nine grams of protein. Thats three times more than me [ female announcer ] ensure clear. Nine grams protein. Zero fat. In blueberry pomegranate and peach. But dont just listen to me. Listen to these happy progressive customers. I plugged in snapshot, and 30 days later, i was saving big on car insurance. With snapshot, i knew what i could save before i switched to progressive. The better i drive, the more i save. I wish our company had something this cool. Youre not filming this, are you . Aw camera shy. Snapshot from progressive. Testdrive snapshot before you switch. Visit progressive. Com today. Your doctor will say get smart about your weight. Thats why theres glucerna hunger smart shakes. They have carb steady, with carbs that digest slowly to help minimize blood sugar spikes. [ male announcer ] glucerna hunger smart. A smart way to help manage hunger and diabetes. A sad sight in northern canada. A pod of killer whales is trapped by ice. They were discovered tuesday. They keep fighting for air at this opening because the next air hole is too far away. They will decide whether they will send an ice breaker to rescue the whales. They say whales trapped by ice is not usual. Panic yesterday during a morning rush after a packed commuter ferry slammed into a pier. Dozens were injured, some seriously. Allison harmalon was at the scene. Reporter a city pier looked like a mobile unite. It completely rocked me. People were like human projectiles fli s flying into t aisles. Reporter more than0 people were hurt. People were in pain, injured. Reporter she was standing up to get off when it crashed. I was standing there talking to a gentleman and the next thing i knew, i opened my eyes and i was on the floor six or ten feet away from where i was standing. Reporter passengers say the force of the impact knocked dozens of people off their feet and down stairs. And there were people all over the place. It was pretty scary. Reporter they say the highspeed catamaran ran into the dock at about 12 miles per hour. The ferry was carried more than 300 people from new jersey to this pier in Lower Manhattan during the morning rush. Investigators are here to figure out what went wrong. New york police and firefighters are working with the coast guard and ntsb to get answers. Our purpose right now is to gather the perishable evidence, the information that can go away with the passage of time. Reporter passage and crew will be interviewed. Police say the five crew members already passed breathalyzer tests. Also here in new york another crane collapsed. It came crashing down wednesday afternoon. Seven were injured including three underneath the wreckage. The crane was working on the first floor of an apartment building. During Superstorm Sandy a crane collapsed. Protecting home buyers and the board game monopoly rolls the dice on its game pieces. Erica ferrari here with more on that. Good morning. Good morning, terrell. Positive numbers from asia rallied the markets. Tokyo hes nisei added half a percent. Hong kongs hang seng also added half a percent. The dow was up 61 points while the nasdaq gained 14. The Consumer FinancialProtection Bureau is unveiling new rules aimed at protecting mortgage borrowers. The regulations will ban lenders from offering risky interestonly and no documentation loans and most loan payments will be capped at 43 of the boroughers annual income. The rules will go into effect next year. Aig has decided against suing against the federal government. They considered joining a suit filed by its former ceo. It was too severe. Aig received 182 billion in taxpayer money during the financial crisis. The company is in the midst of a pr campaign thanking america for its rescue. And were getting to that were getting close to that dreaded time of year, tax season, and with the tax code nearly 4 million worth, preparing a return is timeconsuming work in this country. A new report finds businesses and individuals will spend more than 6 billion hours on tax filings. Nearly 60 of filers will pay someone to do their taxes and 30 will use tax software. One of the monopoly board game pieces will be told do not pass go, do not collect 200. Hasbro is holding a facebook con test for fans of the game to vote for a new token and to get rid of one of the old ones. The new choices include a diamond ring, guitar, and helicopter. All the old pieces are up for elimination. The new version of the game comes out later. Coming up next well have your weather and in golf he couldnt avoid taking a slice not on the course but in the kitchen. We will show you her latest tweets when we come back. Everythings better with a great cup of coffee. Exceptionally smooth and perfectly balanced for a harmonious blend of flavor, body and aroma. Green mountain coffee for your keurig brewer. Brew a better day. sighs this is too good to be true. Hi. John stamos. Enchante this is too good to be true. Dannon oikos nonfat yogurt. Delicious yet healthy. Sounds too good to be true. There are things that are too good to be true. Such as dannon oikos. Thick, creamy, with 0 fat and twice the protein. Of regular lowfat yogurt mmm huh. I want an oikos dannon oikos greek nonfat yogurt. Too delicious to be so nutritious. Dannon heres a look at the weather in some cities around the country. Partly sunny, rain. Rain in chicago, 44, 63 in dallas. Passing showers in l. A. , 58 degrees. Lets check your national forecast. A winter storm is forming in the west heading to the east. Heavy rain and thunderstorms will spread into the mississippi and ohio valleys tonight. Up to four inches of rain are possible in some areas, and it will be dry in the northeast. In sports this morning big rejection by baseball writers. Theyre not sending anybody to cooperstown this year, especially players tainted by the steroids scandal. First time that has happened since 1996. Theyve all been linked to steroid use. Allstar got 68 but needed 75 to get in. Biggio was never linked to the steroid scandal. In basketball the lakers come up short again. Final minute, manu ginobili. Kobe bryant goes for the tie and misses. Earl clark hurls a prayer. Spurs hand l. A. Their fifth straight loss, 108105. The thunder took a buzz saw to the twolves. A bright spot for minnesota. Luke ridnour made backtoback steals but kevin durant was hot. He scored 26 against the injureridden timberwolves. Oklahoma city wins by 10684. Annika southern stam one of the best female golfers of all time injured herself an then tweeted about it. The 42yearold is the only woman in lpga history to shoot 59 in a round. On tuesday she was Macon Chichen and accidentally cut her finger and tweet add picture. That is pretty doggone gross. You know, you dont have to share everything. She got five stitches. Her husband said shes fine and even went skiing yochl u could have kept that to yourself, annika, for real. When we come back, doggy double take. This specials groomed dog caused a big scare when people mistook it for a dangerous animal. In and around the country. St. Louis, 56 degrees. Sun and cloud in denver, 53. Morning showers in seattle, 41. Top stories now on a thursday morning. Vice president joe bidens task force met with gun control advocates yesterday. Toy they meet with gun rights advocates incluesing the nra. The city has declared a public emergency. Free vaccinations have been offered. There have been at least 18 new flurelated deaths. Hundreds of people were stranded and troopers went out to rescue stranded drivers. On the left is a rescued driver. On the right, take look at this. Watch out. Seeing a car, seeing a car, seeing a car. Whoo. Luckily no one was injured. Officials say there were more than 150 collisions during the storm. The Washington National cathedral announced it will start marrying samesex couples. The church will be among the first episcopal congregations to perform samesex weddings but it will likely be six months to a year before any ceremonies are performed there. And there was panic in norfolk, virginia, where people reported seeing a lion on the loose. Oh, my god, its mao fa sa. Actually not so mush. A la bra door poodle shaved to look like the lion mascot of old dominion university. People called 911 to call in baby lion sightings. Hes just your Everyday Party animal. I would have loved to heard those 911 calls. Im terrell brown. This is the cbs morning news. Good morning. Welcome to 9news now. Today is thursday, january 10, friday eve. How nice to say that. Im andrea roane. Im mike hydeck. Were in double digits in the new year. It is moving quickly. Good morning, monika . Good morning. How are you . Im great. Im deck deck by the way im mike hydeck by the way. Thats howard bernstein. He does weather. A few 50s but all in all, today will turn out to be sunny in the morning. More clouds in the afternoon. Temperatures seasonably cool but still above average, around 50 for the afternoon. Here is a look at your day planner. By 9 00 we should be averaging low 40s across the region. Its 50 now with mostly cloudy skies at national. 48 by noon. So were going to drop and come back with the increasing cloudiness for the afternoon hours. Those afternoon temperatures upper 40s to low 50s. Average high is 43. We had some showers yesterday afternoon. I really thought they were going to stay in the mountains. Well, they came across the mountain, held together and thats why we had that brief period of showers for a while. This morning you can see the clouds coming across the region. On the other side of the divide, weve got some breaks. Thats where temperatures have really dropped. Culpeper 34. Oakland 32. Lots of low to mid40s in many of the suburbs this morning. Fredricksburg is 38. Reagan national 50. Dont expect much change from that after we drop off a little bit. Upper 40s to low 50s for the afternoon highs. 4 26. Here comes monika with timesaver traffic. In hagerstown, just west of that, i70 westbound green castle pike, overnight a construction crane fell across the road and blocked it off till almost 3 00 this morning. In case you heard about it, its all cleared up. The lanes are open. So you can go through that area without a problem. Here on the outer loop of the beltway after New Hampshire avenue, there is construction in place taking up two lanes but volumes are very light. Heres what it looks like in germantown. No problems at route 118 coming in from fled rick. Lets frederick. Lets go to the west side of town on the westbound side of the dulles toll road, blocked off at connector road one more time because of overnight construction. Inbound 66 looks great coming in from centreville. Well take a live look on the northbound side of 95. You have got Construction North of dale city. Only the right lane gets by. Ill be back with more at 4 39. Thank you, monika. Vice President Biden met with his task force wednesday to come up with ideas to move forward with gun control legislation. Today hell meet with the head of the National Rifle association. President obama says he is ready to move forward with a ban on assault weapons. Susan mcginnis has more. Reporter customers at sharpshooters firing range outside of washington, d. C. Say theyre keeping a close eye on gun control talks taking place inside the beltway. I dont think restricting peoples right Second Amendment rights would be a solution here. Reporter cbs news has learned the white house is looking at several new laws, including reinstating the assault weapons ban expired in 2004. We are not going to get caught up in the notion unless we can do everything were going to do nothing its critically important we act. Reporter today the Vice President meets with representatives of gun owner groups, including the National Rifle association. I dont want any part of my freedom takenway. My freedom to own whatever firearm i choose, however many rounds i want to keep, its my freedom. Reporter Vice President biden says he believes new laws can make it through congress because the massacre in newtown, connecticut changed the Political Landscape here in washington. I dont think anybody has touched the heart of the American People so profoundly as seeing learning those Young Children riddled with bullets. Reporter sharpshooters say new gun laws wont prevent criminals on getting their hands on dangerous weapons but the vice. Says he and president obama are determined