up first, we're going to start with mother nature. she is showing absolutely no mercy. this morning the northeast is getting rocked again. it is a powerful nor'easter pounding a region already devastated by superstorm sandy. 600,000 people without power for nine days in new york and new jersey. some forced to evacuate or hunker down overnight in the face of 60 mile an hour winds, two to four foot storm surge and a half foot of snow. more than 1,000 flights were canceled in new york and philadelphia. the path train between new jersey and new york is back to limited service under the hudson river after being shut ahead of the storm. penn station in new york was closed for a while last night. but it is back open today. my goodness. we have team coverage of this untimely winter storm. suzanne candiotti is live in new jersey. first, we begin with rob marciano, he is in staten island, new york, where they are still reeling from last week's hurricane. rob? >> reporter: yes, are they ever. they were worried about this storm for sure. one thing we didn't expect was this much snow. at least in new york city proper. several inches falling in new york city and central park, breaking a record for the amount of snowfall therement and here, along staten island, we're right near the beach, we're a couple hundred yards where the ocean came in. at that time it was up to about my shoulders. this house behind me was shifted completely off the foundation. the people are not staying there. there are a number of people in this neighborhood that are hunkering down and, you know, trying to stay warm and survive without heat or power. all right. let's talk about the storm in general. we had some impressive snow totals across connecticut, upwards of a foot there. i saw one report of a foot in manchester, new jersey, a town also hit very hard by this storm. suzanne candiotti will have more on that. wind gusts also impressive, especially in eastern long island. and buzzards bay, a wind gust over hurricane strength. goodness. all right. here's where the storm is off the coast of massachusetts. still snowing in parts of connecticut and long island. this thing is not done by any stretch. they were worried about the storm surge here because we're so close to the ocean and shoreline has been damaged. the protective berms have been damaged as well. we didn't get that, thankfully i caught up with a family that has been surviving really in their house since sandy came through more than a week ago. listen to what they had to say. >> i went through the most pain i ever went through in my whole life from being he lek cuted trying to get back into my house to watching all my possessions and my family practically almost dying. >> this has been a week from hell. i mean, you know, i'm grateful that i have my family. >> reporter: no power, no heat for them, obviously. and some people that got their power back on have now lost it. over 600,000 outages for con-edison alone. you can bet that number is going to be much higher. >> i can't believe that guy survived being electrocuted. what you won't do for your family, right, rob? thank you so much. >> reporter: exactly. >> it is tough a lot of places in the tri-state area. now to new jersey where sandy made land fall nine days ago. chris christie said the storm could send the recovery moving backwards. we'll go ahead now to the jersey shore. suzanne candiotti is joining us live from asbury park, new jersey. i can't believe the snow that accumulated. officials in the state are taking this very seriously. i understand there have been mandatory evacuations. >> reporter: there have been mandatory evacuations along some low lying areas along the coast here. not all, but some. and that was done protectively. you can see why. not only the rain we got overnight but, of course, it quickly changed into snow late in the afternoon. you can see it measured, i would say, about two inches. finally, it stopped overnight. so now we only have occasionally the bitter wind. it is definitely cold out here. and now people have to deal with waking up to find out whether they have power. in this area of asbury park, if we slowly give you a look, the lights are still on. we never lost power at the hotel where we hunkered down last night. it was filled with a lot of people who still do not have power at their house. in all, john, roughly 390,000 customers in new jersey remain without power. we know that at least 40,000 to 50,000 of due to this nor'easter. >> thanks, so much, susan candiotti. keep checking with us online here. you can follow us on cnn weather on twitter. we'll give you all the latest information. president obama back at the white house. it wasn't the welcome that his staff had intended. they wanted to greet him on the south lawn. but the bad weather changed those plans. the first family took air force one then arrived at the white house by motorcade instead. >> the president's first order of business, avoiding the fiscal cliff. congressional leaders from both parties conceding the election with a call to compromise. what that comprise is, that hasn't been ironed out. w we'll get to what they said. >> the presidential vase over except in florida. the electoral votes are i will stun claimed. they're not make or break this time. president obama still holds a lead there. >> seven house races still up for grabs this morning across the country including the heated contest on florida's treasure coast between tea party republican allen west and democratic challenger patrick murphy. right now murphy does have a very slim lead of less than 2500 votes. but west not conceding at all. actually, loudly not conceding. in palm springs, california, mary bono mack, she isn't giving up. she trails democrat areraul rui. >> so we're minding your business. u.s. stock futures are flat this morning. >> the markets had a rough day yesterday. chris teens romans here to explain this big selloff. is there an explanation? >> can you see the sectors reacting to a second obama administration. let me show you what it looked like, 313 points, the first dow close below 13,000 in three months. that was the worst day of the year. more than 2% down. when i talk about the internals of the market, i'm talking about banks, insurers, cole companies, energy companies, they fell because, in fact, they think they're going to have higher costs. the markets think they're going to have higher costs in a second obama administration. you saw some obama care related stocks like hospitals up on the assumption that obama care is now secure. the internals showed us how investors in different sectors were reacting to a second obama presidency. but there were also concerns over europe and the fiscal cliff and the fact that now you have this election out of the way, you still have the very big problems still facing us. debt crisis, markets started to turn yesterday when mario drogy made some comments about concerns about germany. so this wasn't just a u.s. story overall. you put these things altogether and it all ended up at 313 point decline for the dow. also concerns about the debt ceiling. we're coming up again on the debt ceiling. remember the debt ceiling is what got us into this fiscal cliff mess in the first place. there will be a fight over how to raise the debt krelgment or that could be wrapped up in how they fix the fiscal cliff. all of these things -- i want to remind you, the last time the president was elected, the stock market tumbled sharply, worse than this for two days in a row. but that time four years ago, the whole world was falling apart. we were in the midst of a financial crisis. this time 300 points. futures are flat this morning. at least at this hour doesn't look like it's a continuation of yesterday. it is more than the u.s., it is the rest of the world slowing down. >> thank you very much. >> you're welcome. >> former arizona representative gabby giffords and her husband will be inside a tucson courtroom to watch the man who shot her receive his sentence. he shot six people back in january of 2011. giffords and 12 others were injured. patricia mash saw him open fire. she said she is still haunted by that day. >> every time there's a loud sudden noise, sometimes it's expected, sometimes unexpected, it's shocking and it takes me back to that morning and the sound of that gunshot. >> loughner is expect to be sentenced to life inside a federal prison as part of a plea agreement that was reached last august. a commission reports china may be two years away from developing submarine launch nuclear weapons. the u.s.-china economic security and review commission calls them the most threatening power in cyberspace and biggest challenge to the integrity of the u.s. supply chain. they recommend engaging beijing in arms reduction talks. now that voters have spoken, will there be a new era of compromise on capitol hill or will it be more of the same as we approach the fiscal cliff? 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will there be compromise or more confrontation in congress over the looming fiscal cliff? it's a serious problem. this morning there are signs of both compromise and confrontation. but there may be some reason to be at least a tiny wee little bit optimistic. cnn political editor paul steinhouser is following all the developments. >> you were just showing pictures of house speaker john boehner, the top republican in congress, and harry reid, the senate majority leader, he's the top democrat in congress. they came before our cameras yesterday in washington, john. they did talk about the election being a voice from the american voters for a call for compromise. and you heard both men talking about working together to fix the country's problems along with the president. but at the same time, you also heard both men laying down markers and both men disagreeing on whether whether it comes to the fiscal cliff the wealthy should be taxed. take a look at what they said. >> it won't solve the problem of our fiscal imbalance overnight. certainly won't do it in a lame duck session of congress. and it won't be solved simply by raising taxes or taking a plunge off the fiscal cliff. >> the vast majority of the american people rich, poor, everybody agrees that the rich, richest of the rich have to help a little bit. >> another disagreement, john boehner the house speaker talking about doing a framework but getting a new deal done with the new congress. harry reid saying let's not kick the can further down the road. negotiations really get under way next week when both sides of the house and the senate come back to town. >> it will be a lot of phone calls before that. you and i had a lot of fun talking about the final senate races and house races where they were all falling. where does the balance of power stand right now? >> things have changed since yesterday morning, john. take a look at this. in the senate, we called two more races yesterday afternoon. here's the breakdown in the senate. it's a little bit different than it was in the old congress. take a look at the charts here. we now have 54 democrats including one independent. as for the republicans, 45 republicans in the new senate. we also got one independent up in maine, a5 angus king. as for the house, take a look at. this we have eight races still outstanding. so we don't know where they lay right now. we have 233 republicans in the new house. we have 194 democrats which is already a slight pickup for the democrats whether it's all said and done. still, a solid majority in the house for the republicans. john? >> paul steinhouser, thanks so much. some of those house races, the votes separating the candidates is 100. it could be a while counting in the races. >> 16 minutes past the hour. let's get you up to date, here is christine romans. >> just when the northeast was rising from the knees, another blow from mother nature. a norrest driving snow and slamming right into the areas hardest hit last week by hurricane sandy. over 100,000 new power outages reported in the region. governor chris christie says this latest storm could send his state's recovery moving backwards. take a look at some of the damage in guatemala. a powerful earthquake left 50 people dead. it left roads, homes, and schools in ruins. and knocked out power. some 600 miles away people in mexico city could feel it. >> a lawsuit filed in california is seeking more than $775 million in damages from south korean automaker hyundai and kia motors. the suit follows last week's admission from the companies that they overstated the fuel efficiency ratings on more than a million vehicles recently sold in the u.s. and canada. voters in arizona re-elected controversial sheriff jou arpaio. he is known for his tough stance on undocumented immigrants. the aclu and u.s. justice department filed lawsuits against the 80-year-old apie yoe accusing him of civil rights violations and racial discrimination against latinos. and guys, you keeps getting re-elected again and again. >> thank you very much, christine. time for your early read. a look at the local newsmaking national headlines. this is chicago sun times, your hometown paper. jesse jackson jr. is holding talks. folks hinted over this. this is over his alleged misuse of campaign funds. he easily won re-election on tuesday night with 64% of the vote even though he's undergoing treatment. >> front page news. >> it's a big deal. he is undergoing treatment at mayo clinic for bipolar disorder. >> and there is a whole deal with blagojevich and that scandal. "the new york daily news" has a forry about an effort to make puerto rico the 51st state. puerto rican voters approved a nonbinding referendum to change the island status from u.s. territory to a state. in one ballot question, 61% said they wanted to achieve statehood. then another question, 46% said they prefer to remain a commonwealth. so since it's a majority there, congress actually gets to decide what happens next here. but it's interesting that the people, the younger people are speaking up for statehood now. >> it is the younger people? >> a huge, huge number of young people would like to see it become a state. >> all right. you want to find out more about this, an expanded look for all of our top stories, head to our blog. coming up, a closer look at the fiscal cliff and the talk in congress about avoiding it. is there a sign of common ground? if you are one of the millions of men who have used androgel 1%, there's big news. presenting androgel 1.62%. both are used to treat men with low testosterone. androgel 1.62% is from the makers of the number one prescribed testosterone replacement therapy. it raises your testosterone levels, and... is concentrated, so you could use less gel. and with androgel 1.62%, you can save on your monthly prescription. 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