Early start begins right now. I think right now it has to be the Safest School in america. Back to class. The students of sandy hook elementary return to school this morning, but it wont be the one they remember. Fresh faces, same problems. Members of the new Congress Take their oath of office hours from now. And Speaker Boehner finds out if he keeps his leadership job. 66 days and counting. Shame on you. Shame on congress. And political war. New jerseys toughtalking governor explodes at the leaders of his own party. Good morning to you. Welcome to early start, thanks for being with us. Im zoraida sambolin. Im christine romans. Its 5 00 a. M. In the east. Newtown, connecticut this morning, backpacks are being filled with books, tiny teeth are being brushed, and the students of Sandy Hook Elementary School are preparing to return to class for the First Time Since a gunman took 20 of their friends and their innocence as well. Debra feyerick is near the new sandy hook school. Its in monroe, connecticut. Hour is everybody faring there . You know, its a very tough day. You know, people are ready. Theyre as ready as theyll ever be after a tragedy like this. They want to resume the normal rhythm of their lives. They want to go to class, to work to sports events. They want to get back into the routine. Normal will really be the word of the day. Thats one of the reasons were a couple miles from the school. The last thing officials want is a huge Media Presence around that building while these children are getting off the school bus. They want it to be a new school, a new adventure. We spoke with several parts an their kids. Reporter ben and ethan heard the gunshots and screams that horrible morning at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Three weeks is not nearly enough time to understand the feelings theyve experienced since then, fear, worry, anger. Still the 9yearolds are trying. Its a healing shawl. Its supposed to heal us. Reporter going back to school this week is a big part of that healing. Are you guys looking forward to going back to school . We just went there today to visit it and look at everything. Its very its a very interesting school. Reporter originally for teens, the school in monroe has been transformed for k through 4th grade. Toys, cubbies, carpets and familiar things brought over from sandy hook, elementary. All of our desks are there. My desk, i noticed someone was in there, cleaned it not cleaned it, made it neater. Because my desk is usually very messy. I think them getting on the bus is, for us a move forward. A lot of us are look at that as this is the next step. Now its getting back to a routine, getting them to school so they get back to that normalcy, start learning again. Be who they are. Reporter ben and ethan want the School Turtle to be sandy hooks new mascot. Our motto, its one step at a time. Reporter its also one step of a time for moms and good friends denise and sarah and their daughters. Theres no real play book for this. I dont think any of us have a playbook. Were kind of sensing our child and trying to meet the needs we can. Reporter counselors will be on hand for the children and parents can spend the day at the school, just in case. I joked with one of the other moms, ill see you in the morning, ill bring you coffee. I think i need that adult time, too. I dont know if im totally ready to let them go yet. My peace has been shattered. Reporter sarah and denise they say they dont want to be defined by this tragedy. They want to be defined for how they came together as a community, how they healed, and maybe they will make changes in the gun laws. But things are different. You saw ben and ethan there. Ethan was very sweet. He said i used to be afraid of monsters. Now im afraid that somebody will come that shouldnt be there. Things have changed. I have to tell you, its great to see ben and ethan laughing the way they are. To know the school is allowing the parents to come in and stay if they need do that. Is it a regular school day for the kids today . Yep. For the most part the kids will be getting used to the whole building. They did have orientations and open houses, the kids have been there. You heard ben say he saw his desk and somebody straightened it up. They actually moved the actual desks to the new school. It will be as normal as possible. For a number of kids, they said its like an adventure, getting to the new school. Theres two floors, not just one. Little things like that. Theyll get used to it but theyll know its different. Its nice to know they brought the desks over and are trying to keep some normalcy there. New year, new congress. In just a few hours, the 113th congress will be sworn in on capitol hill. There will be plenty of new faces. 18 freshman senators, republicans remain in charge of the house and the gop will decide if House Speaker john boehner gets to keep his gavel. Boehner drew the wrath of democrats and republicans for canceling the house vote on a Superstorm Sandy relief bill. The senator has now scheduled the first of two votes for tomorrow. Bottom line is that we are now receiving what we asked for. As far as im concerned, whats done is done. I always considered john boehner a friend, which made it more painful for me to say what i had to say. I owed it to my constituents, and i felt that new york was being taken advantage of. The house will vote tomorrow on 9 billion in sandy aid it will consider another 51 billion in aid later this month. We know new jersey was one of the states hardest hit by sandy, and perhaps no one was more vocal in the delay of funding than chris christie. Is only one group to blame for the continued suffering of these innocent victims, the House Majority and their speaker, john boehner. New york deserves better than the selfishness we saw on display last night. New jersey deserves better than the duplicity that we saw last night. America deserves better than just another example of a government who forgot who they are there to serve and why. Christie said he was given no credible reason for the holdup. After all the debate, the drama from washington, the bill that kept us from going off the fiscal cliff is now law. Talk about an anticlimax. With the first family in hawaii, the measure was signed with an auto pen back in washington. It preserved tax cuts for more than 98 of americans. New battles over dtaxes and spending await washington. And Mitch Mcconnell may be throwing down the gauntlet for a showdown with the president over spending. He said now the conversation turns to cutting spending on Government Programs that are the real source of the nations fiscal imbalance. The upcoming debate on the debt limb is the perfected time to have that discuss. The president may not want to have a fight about Government Spending over the next few months, but its a fight he will have because its a debate the country needs. Secretary of state Hillary Clinton has been discharged after suffering a blood clot. She was accompanied by her husband, former president clinton, and their daughter chelsea. In a statement the state Department Said clintons medical team advised her that she is make going progress on all fronts and they are confident shell make a full recovery. Pakistani intelligence Officials Say an important taliban commander was among 15 People Killed in two suspected u. S. Drone attacks in a volatile region of pakistan. That commander was said to be at odds with the Pakistani Taliban over the Peace Agreement he signed with the government in 2007. As part of the deal he refused to attack Pakistani Military tar goats, but he is believed to be behind a number of attacks that attacked the u. S. Military. Two of his deputies were believed to be killed in that strike. The u. N. Estimates that the death toll in syria is now beyond 60,000. 15,000 higher than estimates cnn had gone with. And that number will likely continue to rise as attacks like these persist. An Opposition Group says 207 people were killed in warrelated violence yesterday alone. Most of them in damascus and suburbs, others in aleppo. Cnn cannot independently verify these numbers. The family of james foley, missing in syria since new years day, is launching a Public Campaign to find him. Global post, a news website foley published for, said he was driving to the border with turkey when he was intercepted by a car. He was forced out of the vehicle by two armed men. He has not been seen or heard from since. No one has claimed responsibility. Last year 28 journalists died covering the conflict from inside syria. Families of victims of the Movie Theater massacre in aurora, colorado call it a disgusting offer. They are fur furious over a remembrance ceremony. One of the 12 People Killed died saving his girlfriend. His cousin says the theater is thinking about ticket sales, and not them. That is a blatant lack of respect for the families. Theyre looking to boost their own ticket sales for the grand reopening to the public. At the expense. At the expense of 12 families who are heart broken at a loss. Blunks girlfriend plans on going, saying she wont let the bad guy win. Auroras mayor says for some the reopening may be painful but it may help others heal. A 6yearold maryland boy gets suspended from school after making a hand gesture officials deemed a threat. Well tell you what he did and why his parents have now lawyered up. Were a leading Global Insurance company, based right here in america. Weve repaid every dollar america lent us. Everything, plus a profit of more than 22 billion. For the American People. Thank you, america. Helping people recover and rebuild thats what we do. Now lets bring on tomorrow. So, the 5. 3liter v8 silverado can tow up to 9,600 pounds . 315 horsepower. Whats that in reindeerpower . [ laughs ] [ pencil scratches ] [ male announcer ] chevys giving more. Now through january 2nd, no Monthly Payments until spring for qualified buyers. Get the silverado for 0 apr financing for 60 months plus 1,000 Holiday Bonus cash. Plus trade up for an additional 1,000 tradein allowance. It is 14 minutes past the hour. Lets get you up to date. The 113th congress will be sworn in today at noon eastern time. Even with new faces in both the house and senate, the new congress will need to pick up where the 112th left off. It must confront the federal debt ceiling and deal with the deep spending cuts called for in those fiscal cliff negotiations. With a deep desire for normalcy, students from connecticuts Sandy Hook Elementary School returned to class today, the First Time Since the december 14th massacre in newtown. Theyll gather in a middle school in nearby monroe that has been outfitted to look like sandy hook down to the desks, bulletin boards, cubbies and security is a top priority. I think right now it has to be the Safest School in america. We have many different options in place. Most of monroe schools were already monitored at the Police Department with cameras. We actually installed numerous different security devices at this school. We will remain, our presence on location, until further notice. The mass shooting killed 20 children and six adults. The online publication of this map by a suburban new york city newspaper led that paper to ironically hire armed guards. After the Connecticut School massacre, the journal news posted the locations of licensed gun owners in two nearby counties it is shown by all of those dots there. One gunowning blogger was so offended that in response he posted the home addresses of newspaper staffers. Seeking a larger voice in the u. S. , the Arab News Network al jazeera has bought current tv, the cable tv channel that al gore cofounded. It will launch a new channel in its place. The network is based in qatar and financed about i that countrys government. Patti page has died. Page hit the big time after hits like tennessee waltz and how much is that doggie in the window. She became her own backup singer on records. Did you know that . Patti page was 85 years old. In st. Louis a firefighter is a dogs best friend. The pooch had fallen into an icy lake. This was a City Park Lake where the water was four feet deep. Dan hill got the call because hes so tall. The water did not come up so high to him. He put on his waders, brought the shivering dog back. The dog should be okay. And the firefighter is fine as well. Fabulous. 17 minutes past the hour, its time for early reads. First from the washington examiner, a 6yearold student in montgomery county, maryland was suspended for school for allegedly threatening a classmate, look at that, with a pretend gunshot. School Officials Say he made a gun gesture with his hands, pointed it at another student and said pow. It happened days after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. He was give an oneday suspension. The school calls this a serious incident. Supporters of a bill to legalize samesex marriage in illinois will try again to get the measure through the state senate. They fell two votes short yesterday of getting a hearing on the measure. Civil unions in illinois have been legal for 18 months. If the bill is passed, illinois would be the tenth state to approve samesex marriage. Investors are encouraged to wear bowties in support of the day marriage bill. For more on the top stories go to our blog, cnn. Com earlystart. Coming up, starbucks wants to stop making so much trash. Will their new product catch on . [ slap ] [ slap slap slap slap ] ow ow [ male announcer ] your Favorite Foods fighting you . Fight back fast with tums. Calciumrich tums starts working so fast youll forget you had heartburn. Tum tum tum tum tums youll forget you had heartburn. Ive always had to keep my eye on her. But, i didnt always watch out for myself. With so much noise about health care. I tuned it all out. With unitedhealthcare, i get information that matters. My individual health profile. Not random statistics. They even reward me for addressing my health risks. So im doing fine. But shes still going to give me a heart attack. Were more than 78,000 people looking out for more than 70 million americans. Thats health in numbers. Unitedhealthcare. I just served my motherinlaw your chicken noodle soup but she loved it so much. I told her it was homemade. Everyone tells a little white lie now and then. But now she wants my recipe [ clears his throat ] [ softly ] shes right behind me isnt she . [ male announcer ] progresso. You gotta taste this soup. [ clears his throat ] [ softly ] shes right behind me isnt she . We replaced people with a machine. R, what . Customers didnt like it. So why do banks do it . Hello . Hello . if your bank doesnt let you talk to a real person 24 7, you need an ally. Hello . Ally bank. Your money needs an ally. Listen to this, starting today starbucks will see reusable plastic cups. They will cost you a dollar a piece. Customer also receive a 10 Cent Discount every time they use it to buy a drink. Starbucks has been criticized over the volume of paper waste in its cups produced. The chain sold reusable cups before, but they believe this new low price for the reusable cup will actually spark new customer interest. Im a little concerned about this because i lose my cups all the time. I wonder if that extra incentive that theyll give me ten cents off my drink will make me keep track of it. And the convenience of getting a cup of coffee, its a throwaway experience. Its a green company, but the volume of cups they put into the environment. Its been a tough nut for them to crack. Ill give it a good try and see what happens. We are mining your business this morning. A very strong day for the markets yesterday. Everybody excited. The dow gained 308 points or about 2. 4 on the news of the fiscal cliff deal. I think we will see it come off a bit today. That was such a big rally, after a big move like that, you often see stocks pull back. Thats what were expecting this morning, futures are down. Dow futures down about 20 points now. Investor enthusiasm over that fiscal cliff deal is expected to be shortlived. Also you have a bunch of other clifflike deadlines approaching. The debt ceiling, deep spending cuts and a continuing budget resolution that has to be done by the end of march. Wall streets biggest problem here on out is washington. Thats what most of the 30 investment strategists and Money Managers told cnn money in a survey. They said uncertainty in washington remains the markets biggest headwind. One of them said democrats and republicans did the least they could possibly do to avoid the fiscal cliff. The question now is will they do the least amount again when it comes to raising the debt ceiling and how will the rating agencies view that . Moodys did warn yesterday it could lower americas Credit Rating unless washington reduces the deficit. No word yet if your tax refunds will be delayed this year because of the lastminute deal on the fiscal cliff. The irs put out a statement saying the irs is currently reviewing the details of this weeks tax legislation and assessing what impact it will have on this years filing season. Thats interesting. It said it will issue Additional Guidance soon. If you look at the 1040 form for 2012, several lines are listed as reserved. An irs spokesman told cnn money there are place holder force several fiscal cliff provisions the