about a universal background check. reporter: the sandy hook shooting spurred them to take a stand. sandy brook. sandy hook. okay. reporter: brain damage from giffords gunshot wound makes it difficult for her to find words, even sandy hook. sandy brook. sandy hook. okay. sandy brook. sandy hook. hook. sandy hook elementary. it s something we just can t first graders died. in their classrooms. awful. reporter: the couple originally called for a ban on assault weapons and limits to high capacity magazines. giffords made a dramatic plea to senators. be bold, be courageous. americans are counting on you. reporter: but they now admit there are limits to what is politically realistic. if you could name the number one thing congress could do to prevent the kind of violence
especially when we re talking about a universal background check. reporter: the sandy hook shooting spurred them to take a stand. sandy brook. sandy hook. okay. reporter: brain damage from giffords gunshot wound makes it difficult for her to find words, even sandy hook. sandy brook. sandy hook. okay. sandy brook. sandy hook. hook. sandy hook elementary. it s something we just can t first graders died. in their classrooms. awful. reporter: the couple originally called for a ban on assault weapons and limits to high capacity magazines. giffords made a dramatic plea to senators. be bold, be courageous. americans are counting on you. reporter: but they now admit there are limits to what is politically realistic. if you could name the number one thing congress could do to prevent the kind of violence that you were the victim of, what would it be?
0 to speak. communicate with the north and prepare the south. that s it for our special report. i m wolf blitzer in washington. the news continues next on cnn. they are back in the united states. new this morning, two boys abducted by sailboat and taken to cuba returned a short time ago, now in florida. a sick fantasy turned to brutal reality. new information on the suspect in a mass stabbing attack at a texas college. and the united states and the world waiting, with north korea expected to launch a ballistic missile. do we have a breakthrough on background checks, folks? we re just hours away from a bipartisan senate announcement on gun control in america. good morning to you. thanks for being with us this morning. welcome to early start. i m zoraida sambolin. and i m john berman. empanada day. he s already had five. could be a rough one. news overnight. the end of a kidnapping drama that turned into a man hunt and ended under the shadow of the cold war. the parents
0 this breaking news this morning. the parents accused of abducting their two young sons and sailing to cuba, they are back in florida this morning and they are under arrest. josh and sharyn hakken and their two boys were spotted yesterday at a havana marina by a cnn reporter. cnn s victor blackwell is live in tampa this morning where the boys have been reunited with their grandparents. good morning, victor. good morning, john. those parents are in jail here in hillsboro county in florida. they face state charges, joshua hakken, the father, faces a federal count of flight to avoid prosecution. but we know now from the fbi and the local sheriff s office that what happened was the state department initially received the information that the hakkens had moved to cuba. had moved by boat to cuba and were there at the marina. it was cnn s patrick oppmann in havana who confirmed it. saw the boys. saw the boat. and actually spoke with joshua and sharyn hakken there. in havana. and after that
guns under fire. at issue? background checks. new hope that a deal could be near. and lohan steps out. i m happiest when i m working and the healthiest. reporter: going on letterman, calling rehab a blessing. then dave guess ugly. do you drink too much? we ve discussed this in the past. did we? i don t remember that, maybe i m the one having the blackout. ouch! you re watching cnn newsroom. good morning, i m carol costello, thank you for being with me. cnn special. guns under fire. all day, we re focusing on background checks. a subject on target. a break through in the senate on the same background checks. a bipartisan deal will make it to the floor of the senate, maybe as soon as thursday. dana bash on it. what exactly is in the deal? background checks right now, only required at licensed firearms dealers, so what this would do, expand the requirement to include two new areas, gun shows and internet sales this falls short of the universal background checks