he died trying to lead others to safety after hearing gunshots in the hallway. that's how he led his life, his parents say, fearless, courage, and strength. jesse loves animals and was learning to ride horses. his favorite toy was a little soldier. almost every night of his life, jesse slept in his mother's arms. his family writes, the picture that remains etched in our souls is his in his boots, ripped jeans and t-shirt, chomping through the pasture on his way from one adventure to another. catherine hubbard was known for the bright red hair and her smile. she, too, was 6 years old. every single christmas she asked santa to bring her a pet. even as baby she asked santa to bring her two fish. she would give others animals for gift. she bought her mom a concrete squirrel to put in the garden. her parents are asking for donations to any local animal shelter in honor of their beautiful little girl. benjamin wheeler's hero was his brother nate. on friday, his parents waited anxiously for word of both their sons. only 9-year-old nate survived. ben was also 6 years oechltd he always said he wanted to be an architect but on that friday morning before school he said to his mother, i also want to be a palentologist because that's what nate is going to be. i he love lighthouses and he also played soccer, often running at full speed across the field, even when it wasn't necessary. he loved his lessons and couldn't wait to go to school every day to see his teacher and his friends. he was a tiger scout. at a his funeral, members of the local boy scout troop formed an honor guard. his parents write, he was a spirited boy whose love and excite of the world could rarely be contained. his rush to experience life was headlong, creative, and immediate. he will be sadly missed. on her last birthday, al lee son wi yacht had a pink cake with six pink candles. she loved to draw. wanted to be an arlt tift when she grew up. taping rows of her drawings to the wall. her parents say allison sometimes surprised her parents with random acts of kindness to strangers, once offering her own snacks to fellow passengers on the train. she loved to laugh. she sometimes made her parents cry with laughter. they write, alison made the world a better place for six far too short years and we now have to figure out how to move on without her. she was a sweet, creative, intelligent little girl who had an amazing life ahead of her. our world is a lot darker now that she's gone. dawn hochsprung was known as a tough educator who always found time to smile. she was 47 years old and principal of sandy hook elementary school. friends and colleagues alike say she had a positive energy and a strong work ethic. she constantly tweeted about her students' achievement and school. her students loved her. a friend of dawn's told us, even little kids know when someone cares about them and that was her. on friday, dawn was in a meeting when she heard the gunshots. she ran out into the hall and died lounging at the gunman trying to protect her school. she died a hero and her friends expected nothing less than her. >> dawn put herself in jeopardy and i have been angry about that. angry until just now, today, when i met two women that she told to go run to shelter while she actually confronted the gunman and she could not have -- she could have avoided that and she didn't. i knew she wouldn't. so i'm not angry anymore. i'm not angry. i'm not angry anymore. i'm not angry. i'm just very sad. >> anne marie murphy also died. she died with her arms wrapped around a 6-year-old boy a. student with special education needs. anne marie was known as a happy soul. she'll be remembered for her love for her outdoors and her husband and four children. in her funeral mass, arch bishop said that her life brought life to a world sometimes beset by wickedness. laur lauren rousseau was 30 years old. her family says this year was the best year of her life and they take comfort in knowing that lauren achieved her dream before she died. she was known for her exuberance, her love of family and kids and her gentleness. she was the type of person who wouldn't even honk her horn at cars who cut her off in traffic. >> i want the world to know that lauren was a great person. she touched the lives of anyone she ever met, even if you only met her once, you liked her. she was a great person and she didn't deserve this. no one deserved this. >> no one deserved this. her friends say lauren always had a smile on her face and always tried to make others smile as well. >> another sad day with many more yet to come. yesterday the friends and family of sandy hook teacher vicki soto joined to celebrate her life. she died trying to protect the children she loved. there's no such official recognition for those who do the same in peace time in a classroom under fire. it's both a shame that there isn't and a shame that one should even be needed. about all we can do right now is tell the stories of people like vicki. i spoke just a short time ago with her mother donna, her sisters jillian and carly and her brother carlos. >> what do you want people to know about vicki? >> that she's more than just a victim of the shooting. that she was more than just, you know, the teacher that did save her kids. >> we want them to know that, you know, she was a passionate teacher who obviously lost her life saving those children and saved many, many children but we want them to know what kind of person she was. she was a very serious teacher. she was dedicated to her job. but she was also a fun-loving -- she had the biggest heart in the world and would do anything for you and loved her family more than anything in life. >> i heard you used to call her queen victoria? >> oh, god. >> my grandmother, my mom's mom's name was helen victoria and she was born on queen victoria's birthday. >> uh-huh. >> so when i named vicki, i named her victoria and vicki was the first child. and in their eyes, she was the perfect child and -- >> never -- >> where's the queen? >> when we went to get our christmas tree every year for the 27 years -- every year of my life, she picked the christmas tree. every year. >> i don't think she picked the krits mass tree when you picked it up at home depot. i'm just saying. >> well, i don't even remember -- >> she was very upset that my mother ever went to home depot and she was pregnant and -- >> one year it was a little difficult. >> but, no, like she picked the christmas tree and even if we found one that was just as good as one that she could have chose, nope, nope, it's too tall. it's just not cute. she -- it didn't matter. she had to choose it. right after thanksgiving, you get your christmas tree the day after thanksgiving, christmas music plays in her car from that day until christmas. >> wow. >> we would have got our christmas tree back in october. >> my dad died in january when i was a kid, when i was 10 years old and from then on christmas became very, very painful for me for a long time. >> i have to tell you, my mom died on december 22nd, 14 years ago, and that was a very difficult holiday. carly's birthday is december 23rd. so this year vicki lives for christmas. she is in charge of secret santa. she was in charge of everything. queen victoria. it was her way or -- and everybody just goes with it. >> you don't question her. >> this christmas we have talked about it a little bit yesterday at her funeral and we will all be together and we will be together as a family and she wop want nothing less than that and we wouldn't want to disappoint her. >> and the cousins are still going to do secret santa in honor of her. it's things that she started with us. we are still going through with secret santa. we choose names last night. >> last year they did crazy christmas sweaters for christmas. >> ugly christmas sweaters. >> there are a lot of ugly christmas sweaters out there. >> a lot of them were ones when we were little and our grandma made. >> but they weren't ugly back then. like it was -- like things that we used to wear were cute then and you look at them now and it's like what the -- >> all the cousins did it, too. it wasn't just these four. it was all of the cousins. we have a picture of all of them in the front lawn except my won niece deathly ill on christmas that day with their ugly christmas sweaters. she was proud to have that up. she didn't mind being in the sweater. >> do you find it helps to talk about her? >> yes. >> yes z absolutely. >> it has its moments when we are at the house and her picture is everywhere. we did for her wake, we made picture boards of her and -- >> tell them how many we made. >> there was at least 15, i want to say. >> there was 20. >> 20. >> and they were all over, like hanging up on the wall on easels and it has its moments to see but it's also nice to see your sister again and see how lively she was and how funny she was. there's times when you walk around the house and it's like, okay, vick, just stop staring at us for a while and you have to walk away and then it's just nice. >> you never know how people are going to react in a situation like this. some people who you think are going to be able to rise to the occasion don't and some people do. were you surprised -- >> no, she would do whatever it took to save those kids and, you know, i think she would be upset that there was five of them that passed but i think she's even more happy that at least so many of them got out and can say that they are alive because of vicki. >> we've been told that the entire incident took three minutes and her -- we know where her classroom was because her brother and her cousin set up her classroom. every year they went and set up her classroom. i've been there, many, many times. we've all been up to the school. we know where her classroom was. so unfortunately that day, we knew -- although we didn't know definitively, but, you know, in that period of time, she was able to hide many children. she was able to think on her feet and hide as many children as she possibly could and i don't -- i'm not surprised in the least because she loved those children. she still lives at home and she came home every day and told stories about those kids and, you know, we knew their names. we knew those kids. when we saw the list, we knew this one was in her class. we didn't know their last names but we knew, this one was in her class, this one. she told stories about them. she adored her children. the morning she went to school, she had to borrow tissue paper because they were making their ginger bread houses and she had to package them up for the parents and she asked me, can i take this to school today? i'll pay you back when i get home. and, you know, she would do anything. she was just such a dedicated teacher. >> i notice you sometimes still speak of her in the presence tense. does it seem real to you? >> no. >> no. >> and i think that's -- i think it's because we're doing this and i think because we are staying busy and, you know, doing the press and doing -- we haven't done many. we've done a couple different interviews. the kids are kind of exhausted and really want to not do it but they also want everybody to know their sister and i think right now. >> it keeps us sane and it keeps us going right now. and because it's christmas, because it's the christmas holiday and somebody today -- i said, i don't even know what day of the week it is. i don't even know what date it is. we have to get through that, too. and then i think december 26th is when we're going to -- it's really going to really sink in. >> i lost my brother when i was 21. he was 22. and i always found -- he committed suicide. >> i read your book. >> but i found that, you know, the days before the funeral there's a certain sort of adrenaline that you're focused on that and then there's people around and i found that for me the hardest part was often like a week after. >> yes. >> or a week and a half after when the friends and relatives start to move away and go back to their life and then you're kind of left there with your world, at least in my case, still feeling like my world had stopped and yet other people's world continued to spin. >> i think that's going to happen but i also now our family is so close that -- >> you all live together, which is nice. >> right. >> carlos, i notice you carry her i.d. on you. >> uh-huh. >> why is that? have you been doing that for the whole time? >> yeah. i'm just carrying it because it's a memory of her and all my sisters have her jewelry and i feel like this is the one thing that really can be close to me and i can keep at my heart. >> that's nice. you have one of her flamingos in your pocket? >> uh-huh. >> i told him he couldn't wear it on his shirt. >> did she like flamingos? >> he shoved flamingos. we went up to her room and they were everywhere. and i'm sure in the meantime we're just going to keep finding them because they really on the christmas tree, everywhere, every one of the owner meant is a flamingo. >> we have flamingos all over our front lawn right now, too. we were able to get her jewelry released and they happened to bring down the badge. >> she was wearing it on that day? >> we were told that -- she had to wear that. she had that in her hand. >> things of hers that are close to you. >> it's comforting, like a part of her still with us and we can hold on to her. >> and i think the girls -- a lot of them have her clothes on. >> yep. >> nope, i'm wearing her shirt, her uggs, and her scar physical. >> that's nice that she's still with you? >> yes. >> paul simon? >> paul simon is a family friend and he sang -- you know, he said what can i do? and i said, can you sing summer silence and without hesitating he said, yes, absolutely. and mark eamon, who is also a performer sang as well. >> i talked to the mcdonnell family, i told you, and a lot of people tweet that they are incredibly moved by it and they were just amazed at miss mcdonnell's ability to smile and, you know, remember the good things about her daughter and how you guys are so strong. >> our sister wouldn't want us to be mourning. she would want us celebrating her life. >> celebrate it. uh-huh. >> we said that, even going to the wake. our cows ins were saying, should we wear black? and my mom is, no. >> no, she wouldn't want you to wear black. >> where green, purple, where what you want. wear a color. wear a color and we did. >> you wear it well. >> thank you. i've worn more green in the last few days than anything. >> there are moments where we are all crying and there are a lot of times that we are able to laugh and smile and still be cheerful with each other and, you know, talk about all of the memories that we have with our sister because there's a lot of them. we're fortunate to have so many. >> we crash and we have our moments and we just lay down and cry and, you know, we hold each other and we, you know, just -- but we have to celebrate her life and my daughter carly said, we're not going to keep her room a shrine. and i said, absolutely not. we're going to have her room become a memorial to her and is celebration of her -- >> put up all of the pictures that search giving us. >> yeah. >> you know, those three families that we met yesterday that vicki saved their kids''s life gave us pictures. we have pictures coming in from like little kids in california. like just all of these things that people are giving us in memory of vicki, we want to put up. >> so we're going to paint that room green and make it a celebration of her life and anybody that wants to see it and see how she touched so many liveses, it's absolutely amazing. she's not somebody known for notoriety. she's a homebody s she's school and family. and her friends and she has very dear friends and she wants to be with her family. she wants to be laying on the couch, watching videos, playing video games with her brother and playing with her dog and, you know, so this is just -- you know, unreal for her because she would never have wanted that or expected that. but she deserves it. she deserves it. >> thank you. >> well, she certainly does deserve it. we have a lot more, including a close look at the outrageous aspect to this tragedy, insult on top of pain. internet scammers trying to take advantage of your sympathy for the survivors. we'll explain how ahead. deserve it. we have a lot more, including a oh,this is jucier than i thought. we actully keep track of how many times this kid picked his nose? tongue's out, hair pulls, stink eyes, man we see eveything. oh, it's the old man. hold on, i gotta send something out. you can have two apps open at the same time? how'd you do that? it's the galaxy note 10.1 man, it just does it. how do you think they made it? magic. do more with the samsung galaxy note 10.1. tomorrow, the national rifle association is going to address the newtown massacre. maintaining its reputation as washington's most intimidating special interest group. lawmakers take them on at their peril as deborah maggart knows. joining us also is robert painter. deborah, you're a strong gun supporter. you had an a-plus rating from the nra and yet you did something they didn't like and they came after you? >> they did. they had proposed a bill that they wrote that pitted property rights in tennessee against gun rights and they were both very important to republicans. property rights are a cornerstone of our democracy. we tried to work with them on that issue and they simply would not compromise with us. they would not -- >> they wrote this bill? >> they wrote the bill and they would not compromise with us about the property rights issue. it was a mandate that said every property owner, every daycare, hospital, nursing home, city hall, county building and your house, you had to allow people to bring a gun on your property and if you didn't like it, too bad. it was the government mandate. >> so when they came after you, they spent a lot of money? >> they did. and in a house race -- in a local house race they spent and their allies over $150,000 that i know of. that's a tremendous amount of money to spend on some one in 19 days. >> 19 days? >> 19 days. they did it right before early voting and when early voting began. so i could just not overcome that assault. >> you got defeated? >> yes. and i was the caucus chairman. i was the chairman of the republican caucus. >> richard, in an op-ed you wrote, you refer to the nra protection racket. what do you mean by that? >> well, the nra has made it clear to politicians, particularly in the republican party, that it will support them and it will protect them against challenges from democrats and other republicans. but only if they tow the line 100% on the nra's agenda. and if they deviate at all, it is made very clear to them that the nra will turn it is guns on them and support a challenger and will take them out. and that has happened on a few occasions and people understand in the republican party that they can't cross the nra. well, i think that's going to change. it's going to have to change if the party is going to survive because what happens is, as we saw the last time around, the nominee simply lose in the general election. the public has lost its appetite for the nra's political agenda of unlimited access to guns. >> you know, deb are ra, the nra has remained pretty quiet in the wake of this tragedy and often in the wake of other school shootings and the like and then come out pretty hard against legislation down the road once attention has faded away. do you think it's going to be any different now? do you think there is a change in the public's attitude? >> well, we'll have to wait and see. i can tell that you in tennessee they were quite hypocritical of how they treated me. for years when the republicans were in the minority, the democrats in tennessee blocked all their legislation, all of the