the irish, and jews. hear for yourself. good evening. on this saturday, it was two years ago tonight bernie madoff was under arrest and we would learn of his epic suiwindle, cheeding millions out of hundreds of millions. we learn today mark madoff has hung himself. brian, what a turn today. >> indeed, well it was mark m madoff's live of privilege that ended two years ago today's when his father was arrested, and this morning, his son timed his suicide to the very minute and hour of that anniversary. police say mark madoff's father-in-law found the body in his manhattan apartment. his 2 yee-year-old son was aslen the other room. >> he was found hanging from a pipe in the living room of the apartment. >> authorities say madoff had sent an e-mail to his wife in florida saying take care of our son. his wife became concerned that he was suicidal. >> mr. madoff's father-in-law was called by mr. madoff's wife to check on the 2-year-old who was there. the 2-year-old is fine. >> it was a tragedy of shakespearean dimensions. mark who was more interested in fly fishing than wall street had only reluctantly entered his father's business. he had denied any knowledge of his father's scream, but he was sued for millions and learned last week he might face criminal prosecution in new york and london. >> when someone takes their life, there's great despair, emptiness, absolutely no future thinking. >> in recent days, neighbors say mark madoff appeared particularly sad as the anniversary of his father's arrest approached. his garage attendant said he had given him a large christmas bonus of $400 two days ago. >> friday he came, and that's it. >> a salesman at a nearby store described madoff as very down. >> you could see the person diminishing slowly after what happened two years ago. you can see how the effect had an affect on him. >> on orders from his lawyers, he had not spokien with his father or mother since his arrest. they said it was a dysfunctional family. >> i don't think it's the last of this tragedy. >> early this year, mark madoff's wife stephanie moved to legally change that and that of her name to quote, avoid additional embarrassment. and mark didn't object. >> do we know if bernie madoff has heard about his son and what do we know about their relationship? >> we do not know if they have notified him, but we know that mark and his brother were not that close to the father. they had disagreements with lim. in fact, they were the ones who turned him into the fbi. madoff is seen as a cold-hearted person. this is at least the third suicide connected to the scandal. one other person committed suicide when it broke. madoff called him weak. >> it might be a message to the father. >> brian ross, we appreciate it. in north carolina today, hundreds of family and friends gathered for the funeral of elizabeth edwards. they called a who faced personal challenges and tragedy with grace. her daughter read a letter her mother spent months writing to leave behind. >> with the same bravery elizabeth summoned in her cancer fight, her daughter cate paid tribute. >> when she could barely speak anymore, my dad and i sat at her b bedside and we held her hands and she kept looking back and forth and saying, i'm okay, i'm okay. she was way more worried about us than we were for her. >> here where friends and family gathered 15 years ago to remember their son wade, killed in a car wreck. they remembered her, john didn't speak, but her friends from as far back as law school remembered her. >> she was gorgeous. not law school good looking, but run into a pole gorgeous. >> for many years my mom has been writing a letter with words of wisdom for us when she passes away and we live on. i hope she doesn't mind, but i'm going to read some to you. >> i have loved you in the best ways i have known how, wherever you are, wherever i am. i have my arms wrapped around you. >> the protesters who promised to picket the funeral have long been gone. in the end, just five people showed up, outnumbered by hundreds of counter' protesters. elizabeth's friends said she owls knew how to assemble a crowd. >> some of you may know, emma, jack, and i ended every conversation with our mom by saying i love you more. and she always responded, no, i love you more, but today, i have the honor of being the last to say, mom, i really, really love you more. >> jeremy hubbard, abc news, raleigh, north carolina. >> brave daughter remembering her mother tonight. across a huge part of the country this eefvening, blizzar warnings are in effect. look at the map, parts of 28 states from south dakota to new hampshire are under weather warnings and advisories. clayton? >> good evening, david. we're dealing with near whiteout conditions in minneapolis right now. the snow has been falling all day. we have about 15 inches of the ground so far. they haven't seen a storm like this in nearly 20 years. across the midwest, a snow emergency. blizzard warnings in seven states. in minneapolis, residents with shovels fought a losing battle. drivers had it even worse. >> the roads are bad. they need to plow more. it's rough. it's really rough. >> but the conditions were so bad in some states, even the plows were pulled off the roads. traveling anywhere is nearly impossible. airports are shut down, and look at this. across southern minnesota, a sea of red road closures. >> this storm is different. i'm getting so many viewers calling in and saying, we knew it was going to snow. i can deal with 6 inches, a foot, but i can't get out of my house. >> some places could see 2 feet of snow observe it's over. coming with it, freezing arctic air will make it feel like 35 degrees below zero. homeless shelters quickly filled up. this one run by the salvation army had to put extra beds in the hall ways. >> there's a blanket and a mat, and a place to be overnight only. it beats being outside. >> outside is exactly where thousands of twin cities' residents had hoped to be for tonight's holidazzle parade. in the end, the snow proved too much for the ship to sail. the parade wascantaled. >> next stop, milwaukee, chicago, and indianapolis, bringing more snow and more of the frigid temperatures. >> even the plows off the road, as you pointed out. thanks very much. none of the storms brewing in washington over continuing the bush era tax cuts, even for the wealthy. some said under no circumstances would they vote for this, but with the current president and a former one endorsing the plan, now what? >> with the first vote just two days away, tonight, the president is selling his tax deal. >> as with any compromise, everybody has to live with elements they didn't like. but this is a good deal for the american people. the vast majority of the tax cuts in this plan will help the middle class. >> many democrats in the house aren't buying it, calling it an unaffordable give away to the rich. >> if it's take it or leave it, we'll leave it. >> so livid, reportedly chanting, no we can't, in a meeting, democrats claim they won't even consider the plan. even though most acknowledge they won't be able to get a better deal next year. >> this is more about psychology than it is about policy. there's a tremendous amount of frustration that they have already been cut out although they're technically in the majority. >> to get them out of the corner their painted themselves into, they say the president has to change the deal to save face. the most likely target, the estate tax paid only by the richest families. democrats are sunned that the president agreed to a lower rate. >> it comes down to saying they were at the table helping to make these decisions. >> and during that remarkable scene yesterday, president obama was even willing to turn over the presidential podium to former president bill clinton who told democrats to take the deal. >> we don't want to slip back into a recession. we have to keep this thing going and accelerate its pace. i think this is the best available option. >> is there room to change the bill that the senate is going to vote on? president obama has only called it a framework, so he's like to agree to some agrusmentes. the big question is what will senate republicans accept, and the clock is ticking. >> it is. david kerley in washington. we appreciate it. and one more note out of the capitol bewe're following. president obama's traveling. richard holbrooke is in surgery. he fell ill with a torn aorta. we're told his family is at his side at the hospital. in mexico, dependents from around the world have struck a relatively modest deal to combat climate change. they did defer for another year the tough work of covering up deeper reductions in carbon emissions. and overseas, china offered another bold claim that the world is medaling its in affa affairs. those words came after so much attention to that one empty chair we showed you last night here. that empty chair in oslo, norway, as the nobel peace prize was awarded in abdecision yeah to this man, serving 12 years in china. but it wasn't just his chair that was telling. there were other empty chairs in the audience, countries pressured by china not to go. is there any question china is keeping score of who went and who didn't? >> china is absolutely keeping score of who went and who didn't. the chinese government drew a red line and said you must not cross it. there are normally some 65 governments in oslo that will normally send representatives to every peace ceremony. >> in fact, more than a dozen countries decided not to go. china, now the second largest economy in the world, flexing its muscle. >> they said they're orchestrating an anti-china farce by themselves. we're not changing because of a few clowns and we're not changing our paths. >> the actors who look like clowns at this moment are in fact chinese officials. they literally caused this trouble for themselves by giving this man a harsh sentence. the they gave him two or three years, we wouldn't be having this conversation. >> just today, china said we oppose anyone making an issue of this matter and oppose anyone interfering in china's internal affairs. nixon tapes. his unvarnish views on the irish, italians, and jews. and later tonight, the texas boy who opened a book that opened a sxrecret. why he hasn't put that book down since. hi, may i help you? 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one computer user can use the same jamming software found online and enter a chat room where they're giving a code and ip address, where they then download the software which then takes over the computer, instructing them to bombard the same website over and over while at the same time, thousands of other computers all over the world are doing the same thing. >> a good analogy for it is if you get in a line and walk through one by one, you're going to get through. but if thousands walk through at once, you're all going to get jamm jammed. >> they said we don't want to steal your information or credit card numbers, but internet experts say they do want your attention. >> this is more like what happened in the '60s when protesters took over buildings at universities where people couldn't get in the building, but it's not really them blowing up the building. >> they have not said if and when they plan to attack next, but late in the week, 27,000 activists downloaded that soph ware in just one night. when we come back tonight, richard nixon on blacks, the irish, italians in his own words. at purina one, we want your dog to be as healthy as possible. so, we set out to discover the science in some of nature's best ingredients. we created purina one with smartblend. new, delicious shredded morsels and crunchy bites, with real meat, wholesome grains and antioxidants, for strong muscles, vital energy, a healthy immune system, and a real difference in your dog. purina one improved with smartblend. discover what one can do. 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[ female announcer ] phillips' colon health. and finally tonight, here, the story of a christmas gift that has come early for one 5-year-old texas boy who opened up a book and find the best friend he thought was 7,000 miles away. five-year-old jeremy now jumps on his trampoline alone. >> do i have a pet? >> his action figures he shares on the floor with his mom because this christmas, his closest play mate is now 7,000 miles away. his father was deployed to iraq just last month. but before boarding that transport plane in dallas, a simple and secret reporting fr