tom foreman, cnn's tom foreman, covering the news conference. he's on the phone because they just went through a security sweep in the room before people entered the room where wayne lapierre will begin speaking. tom, tell us what that's like. >> reporter: hi, carol. we just had a security sweep here. we're all getting re-established in the room and we're expecting not only wayne lapierre but a business of a surprise guest, the nra won't say who. i will note a short while ago the president of the nra, dave keen, who is one of the most astute and involved political players for the nra and has been for many, many years with top players in washington, he's one of the point men on any sort of political debate about new gun legislation, he came out promptly at 9:30 and asked everybody in the room to join in that moment of silence with the nation for the victims in connecticut. so we're not sure yet what the nra is going to say here. we don't know what their meaningful contributions will be as they've described it, but everybody is quite eager to hear

i'm tom foreman. despite joblessness, low wages, and everything bad about the economy, holiday sales right now are looking pretty good. the national retail sales federation predicts when all is said and done, they'll be up by about 5% this year. so why are some retailers so worried? because there is a rapidly growing giant out there gobbling up customers like nothing before. so much so that this may be one of the last christmases you'll ever see with shopping quite like this. america's holiday mall mania is as traditional as tinsel. consumers spending more than a half trillion dollars this year will fuel more than a half million seasonal jobs. but the real frenzy is at home, where online shopping is exploding under the relentless hand of one company, amazon.com. what is amazon up to? >> well, the ambition, it seems to take over the systems of consumption. >> barney, reporter for the financial times, has just written a book about amazon's extraordinary rise. >> amazon's sales have been growing at about

and tom foreman who attended friday's nra event. tom, what was it like being at this nra event? i won't call it a press conference. are you surprised that not a single journalist got to ask a question? >> it was not a press conference. all of us expected to exchange questions and answers with wayne lapierre and the president of nra who was there. it didn't happen at all. it did not happen but adamantly did not happen. several of us tried to call out questions to the participants and even at one point i said to them, would you answer even one question? are you willing to talk to the white house about any of this, even to that, they just kept walking. that was a big disappointment and sort of set the tone for the room. >> when wayne lapierre said falsehoods about semiautomatic weapons and the media are demonizing gun owners, is he right? >> no. but even before that what he got was a priceless gift of 25 minutes of free media from those news organizations that elected to carry it live. and i bet they were rather disappointed when they learned, as you just said, tom, that there woul

foreman, that was cnn's tom foreman in washington. as we await this 3:00 p.m. meeting at the white house, an attempt to reach an agreement before we hit the fiscal cliff on tuesday. stay tuned. >>> one-two weather punch, a massive storm causing huge problems since christmas day finally over. but another is on the way. chad myers is tracking this latest storm for us. heart break for dozens of american families in the process of adopting children from russia as russia's president signs an adoption ban. stop! stop! stop! come back here! humans -- we are beautifully imperfect creatures living in an imperfect world. that's why liberty mutual insurance has your back with great ideas like our optional better car replacement. if your car is totaled, we give you the money to buy one a model year newer. call... and ask one of our insurance experts about it today. hello?! we believe our customers do their best out there in the world, and we do everything we can to be there for them when they need us. [car alarm blaring] call now and also ask abo

tom foreman is over at the nra news conference that just concluded. just a statement, a statement from wayne lapierre and then separate statement from asa hutchinson, no questions, no follow-up questions. there will be questions they point out starting next week. tom, remind our viewers, the national rifle association, it has 4 million members. this is a very powerful lobbying organization, not only here in the nation's capital but in state capitals all over the country. >> reporter: yes, wolf, and that actually may be a more important part of all of this. one of the things the nra has often done is they have often talked about the second amendment, the right to bear arms. that's one of their big cornerstones, but another one is the tenth amendment, which is state's rights essentially. they say in many cases these are local issues, and you do have to bear in mind no matter how much national sentiment there may be in the country about gun laws right now in reaction, a lot of that is driven by very, very strong reactions in largely democratic areas. sta

i'm tom foreman. this year has been a tough one for so many people in so many ways. economically, emotionally, and yet once again people, as they always do, have found ways to help each other. take, for example, our first story. it's about a group of men who live in the very area where that superstorm sandy came ashore, and yet despite their troubles found ways to reach out to their community. photojournalist oliver janney introduces us to the gray beards. >> this is our opportunity to really help a lot of people. >> we were totally wiped out like many other people. we lost all our belongings. we lost our car. we lost a friend across the street. >> a lot of really ugly basketball games were held right here. >> gray beards. extremely busy. a lot of money coming in and got to get the checks in and write out checks. >> that's our mission, to help our neighbor in their time of need. we have a lot of tentacles. we reached out in a lot of different ways. back in 1995 we had the st. francis summer classic basketball program and i was one of the fellows that helped run the l

tom foreman has tonight's "american journey." >> this is the normal way to do business. >> reporter: far from the malls in the middle of downtown d.c., the holiday market is once again swinging to life with old world charm. for eight years now, even through the darkest days of the recession, it has been a steadily growing story of success for hundreds of artisans and craft dealers selling products from around the globe. michael helps run the market which was started in part it draw more shoppers to the area. how many people come through here? we're getting about 10,000 people a day. and this past saturday, we were so crowded, i think the number might have been double. >> reporter: for small vendors, those crowds are pure gold. ashley robertson is a soap maker from virginia whose inventory has already almost sold out. >> how much? oh, my gosh, we brought a bus and we almost emptied it. a bus full of stuff, yeah. >> reporter: ron came all the way from texas to offer buffalo hats, and you sold how many? >> about 200. >> reporter: in what period of time? >> a week. >> reporter: a week? >

tom foreman, cnn. try running four.ning a restaurant is hard, fortunately we've got ink. it gives us 5x the rewards on our internet, phone charges and cable, plus at office supply stores. rewards we put right back into our business. this is the only thing we've ever wanted to do and ink helps us do it. make your mark with ink from chase. so, the 5.3-liter v8 silverado can tow up to 9,600 pounds? 315 horsepower. what's that in reindeer-power? [ laughs ] [ pencil scratches ] [ male announcer ] chevy's giving more. get the best offer of the year -- 0% apr financing for 60 months plus $1,000 holiday bonus cash. plus trade up for an additional $1,000 trade-in allowance. hurry. bonus cash ends january 2nd. bp has paid overthe people of bp twenty-threeitment to the gulf. billion dollars to help those affected and to cover cleanup costs. today, the beaches and gulf are open, and many areas are reporting their best tourism seasons in years. and bp's also committed to america. we support nearly 250,000 jobs and invest more here than anywhere else. we're working to fuel america for

tom foreman has the story of uber, a german word, in tonight's "american journey." >> reporter: for 13 years in the crush and crawl of d.c. traffic, robert harrison has made a sometimes difficult living as a limo driver, but a surge of new riders now has him for the first time heading into the holidays with real optimism about his job. >> they have saved the day for us as independent limo drivers. >> reporter: that's the impact? >> that's the impact, absolutely. >> reporter: he says he owes it to uber. a relatively new service that allows limo drivers to connect electronically with people nearby who need a car right now. so your smartphone knows where you are. all you do is put in a request for a car and in a matter of moments -- >> i have a hit. >> reporter: that allows drivers who often have hours to kill between pre-arranged rides to turn the waiting time into money making time. uber typically gets 20% of the fare. the driver gets the rest. travis came up with the idea five years ago and has spread it to a dozen cities here and abroad. >> if you can fill that time utility for those

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tom foreman walks us through what happened minute by minute. >> this is what we know at this point about the time line of the shooting as reported by law enforcement officials and witnesses. and the layout of the school as best we can piece it all together. 9:30 in the morning, classes underway for half an hour. more than 600 students and about 50 faculty members are inside the building. in addition to that, a meeting convened by some school officials, including the principal -- about seven of them gathered in one room. about 9:40, ten minutes later as best we can make it out again, that's when the gunman appears to have entered the building. how? we don't know, they had a new security system that might have kept him out. not sure what happened with that. police spent a lot of time looking at a car parked right out here in the fire lane suggesting that if that were his car that, in fact, he may have indeed come right through the front door here into the school. people throughout the building at that point start saying that they're hearing shots. 9:41, the calls start going in to 911 at t

tom foreman, cnn. >>> another huge retailer, amazon.com, seems to be taking over the shopping world. tom foreman takes a look at amazon's big plans today at 2:30 eastern on "in focus." >>> tonight's awarding of the heisman trophy will be life changing for one of college football's greatest players. and it could be historic for the heisman itself. >>> when traveling to other cities and countries, the best way to get a real taste of the place is through local food. cnn ireport has teamed up with "travel & leisure" magazine to create a global list of 100 places to eat like a local. here is dan rivers in bangkok, thailand, with a sample. >> reporter: i'm dan rivers in bangkok, and when i want to eat local on a rainy afternoon, there's nothing better than wung li. they do amazing seafood here. rice. what else would you suggest? do you have any prawns? my favorite dish is crispy pork. how do you get the pork so chris sni. >> leave it one hour. then we clean it and then make it dry. make it dry first. and then fry with oil. >> this soup here, very famous. >> yeah. with mushroom and lemon. a

tom foreman has the story of uber, a german word, in tonight's "american journey. >> reporter: for 13 years in the crush and crawl of d.c. traffic, robert harrison has made a sometimes difficult living as a limo driver, but a surge of new riders has him for the first time heading into the holidays for real optimism about his job. >> they have saved the day for us as independent limo drivers. >> that's the impact? >> that's the impact, absolutely. >> he says he owes it to uber, a relatively new service that allows limo drivers to collect electronically with people nearby who need a car right now. so your smartphone knows where you are. all you do is put in a request for a car and in a matter of moments -- >> i have a hit. >> it allows driver who often have hours to kill between prearranged rides to turn the waiting time into money. uber typically gets 20% of the fare and the driver with the rest. travis came up with the idea a year ago and spread it to a dozen cities here and abroad. >> if you can fill that time utility for those guy, help them get business during their dead time, they

you don't know i'm tom foreman welcome to the big picture. welcome back to the big picture i'm tom hartman coming up in this half hour while corporate executives are wining and dining their clients was steak dinners and expensive wines thousands of halmos americans are struggling to find the food they need to survive how could eliminate corporate wining and dining write offs help put an end to homelessness in the united states and internets daily take way back when of a company was facing hard times its c.e.o. would give up his or her salary for the good of the employees in the business those days are long gone c.e.o.'s continue to pad their wallets as the rank and file workers carry all the birds. in the us the rest of the news we hear a lot of simpson bowles you know those two guys who make forty thousand bucks a whack as a speaking fee run around the country and as republicans and down. try to find some way to avert a disaster that they created and then in the name to the fiscal cliff and that's just how simpson and bowles would like it al

foreman it was a big. thanks for staying with us here on r t eleven minutes past the hour now in moscow the lower house of parliament passed a bill banning u.s. citizens from adopting russian orphans legislation is seen by some as a response to washington's so-called magnitsky list which president putin describes as an anti russian law but the measure follows a series of child abuse cases as well with american foster families some even resulting in the death of the child artie's guy takes a look. the adoption agreement that russia and the us signed in the vampire was designed to provide mechanisms for overside russian children adopted by american families but moscow claims it is still being met with obstacles when it attempts to inquire an adopted children schoolgirls here assume many lies about the real conditions of children adopted by u.s. parents we have no idea what's really going on the united states does not do follow ups once an adoption is finalized there is untold numbers of children that are end

tom foreman, thank you. much more on the fiscal cliff coming up. >>> there are serious ramifications for almost every american involved in this negotiati negotiation. we'll update when when we come back. ♪ [ male announcer ] this is karen and jeremiah. they don't know it yet, but they're gonna fall in love, get married, have a couple of kids, [ children laughing ] move to the country, and live a long, happy life together where they almost never fight about money. [ dog barks ] because right after they get married, they'll find some retirement people who are paid on salary, not commission. they'll get straightforward guidance and be able to focus on other things, like each other, which isn't rocket science. it's just common sense. from td ameritrade. >>> okay, we've got the breaking news we're following here in washington. we've been thinking about it. we've been talking about it for a long time. guess what, the united states is now going over the so-called fiscal cliff. that's because the house of represen

foreman it was a big picture. absolutely to. borrow a. little bit. of . the law gold white gold colors are my. primary. coming up. welcome back to the kaiser report i'm max keyser time now to go to new york and speak with jonathan feldman an associate professor at the department of economic history at stockholm university in sweden and a principal governor of the global teachin jonathan feldman welcome to the kaiser report. glad to be here max thank you all right first jonathan feldman what is the global teach in ok the global teaching was an attempt to network about twenty locations in seven continents to come up with a comprehensive program for economic change part of the background of this is the work of people like the late barry commoner who recognize that not only did we have a huge economic crisis we had an environmental crisis and an energy supply crisis so all these crises crises are related to each other some might even go so far as to say we have a democratic crisis in an intellectual crisis the latter

on behalf of all the folks at "ac 360" and cnn, i'm tom foreman wishing you all of the best and none of the worst in 2013. >> hello. this is cnn's top ten of twenty twelve. this hour we look at the stories that captured our attention. what we see as the biggest stories around the world. crime, money, weather, and even the biggest scandals. and the big reveal of the most intriguing people of the year as chosen by you. we begin with a topic that dominated our coverage for most of the year. here is candy croley with the top ten political stories. >> picking the top ten moments of an election year is like finding your favorite grain of sand on the beach. there are an impossible number of possibilities. catch phrases become boom ranges. >> if you have a business, you didn't build that. >> when cast members stole the spotlight. >> i'm an american woman who uses contraceptions. let's start there. >> you can shake it up and we start all over again. >> and a fair number of moments ranging from ridiculous to inexplicable. >> i'm not going to shut up. it's my turn. >> i think it's called romnes

tom foreman walks us through what happened yesterday morning minute by minute. >> this is what we know at this point about the timeline of the shooting reported by law enforcement officials and witnesses and the layout of the school as best we can piece it all together. 9:30 in the morning, classes had been underway for a half hour. more than 600 students and approximately 50 faculty members inside the building. in addition to that there's a meeting just convened by some of the school officials including the principal in a room somewhere right up here, about seven of them all gathered in one room. about 9:40, ten minutes later, as beck we can make it out, that's when the gunman appears to have entered the building. how? we don't know. they had a new security system right up here that might have kept him out, not sure what happened with that. police put a lot of time looking at a car parked right out here in the fire lane suggesting that if that were his car, that in fact he may have indeed come right through the front door here into the school. people throughout the building at that po

." >> welcome, i'm tom foreman, and this was a year for living dangerously. whether flirting with the fiscal cliff or skydiving from the edge of space or just buying a power ball ticket, risk taking was back en vogue. as we head into the new year, we're going to look back at all of the risky business that brought us here in the economy, in entertainment, in sports, in pop culture, in technology, and in the biggest, baddest game of all. give it to the twin pillars of politics, the relentless candidates, barack obama and mitt romney, for waging the best and worst presidential campaign of the year. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> thank you so much. >> best because it was a time for riveting battle for control of the nation. worst because it often became a war of cheap shots, questionable facts, and everything else that just exhausts voters. >> i don't think there's anything else that immediately so completely sucked up all of the energy or oxygen in the air. >> worst republican roulette, the party primary that seemed to have a new up and coming favorite every ten

tom foreman, cnn, baltimore. >>> as bombs drop over syria, we'll tell you what aleppo's residents are doing to try and get back to normal. try running four.ning a restaurant is hard, fortunately we've got ink. it gives us 5x the rewards on our internet, phone charges and cable, plus at office supply stores. rewards we put right back into our business. this is the only thing we've ever wanted to do and ink helps us do it. make your mark with ink from chase. >>> this is what syrians wake up to every morning waiting for the violence to end soon. but it is getting worse, actually, every day. today, the syrian air strikes hit rebel targets near damascus airport, and bombs rain down on other rebel held areas in the city. for the last two days, syrians have also been cut off from the outside world with almost no internet or telephone. the next step for the rebels is the friends of syria meeting in morocco. secretary of state hillary clinton will be there and might announ announce if the u.s. will be a representative of syrians. as damascus is pounded by president bashar al assad's forces, th

i'm tom foreman. despite joblessness, low wages and everything bad about the economy. holiday sales right now are looking pretty good. the national retail sales federation predicts when all is said and done, they'll be up about 5% this year. so why are some retailers so worried? because there is a rapidly growing giant out there, gobbling up customers like nothing before. so much so, that this may be one of the last christmases you'll ever see with shopping quite like this. >> reporter: america's holiday mall mania is as traditional as tinsel, consumers spending more than a half trillion dollars this year will fuel more than a half million seasonal jobs, but the real frenzy is at home, amazon.com. >> what is amazon up to? >> the ambition it seems is to take over the systems of comp assumption. >> barnie jobson a reporter for the financial times has just written a book about amazon's extraordinary rise. >> amazon's sales have been growing about 20% to 30% a year and this is phenomenal when you consider the rest of the retail sector is growing at best 5% a year. there is

on behalf of all the folks at "a.c. 360" and cnn, i'm tom foreman wishing you all the best and none of the worst in 2013. >>> tonight, with pastor warren talks religion, reason and what america needs now. >> the good news lnt good much. what you need is the better life. >> from the election and economy to same sex marriage and more. the issues that really matter. >> why we have to change the constitution? it's a flawed document. it was made my men. >> what does god mean to you? this is "piers morgan tonight." good evening and happy holidays. welcome to this special "piers morgan" tonight. joining me, one of the most influential leaders in the world. it's rick warren. tonight we're going to talk about faith, family, politics, sins, the questions of church and state and much, much more. pastor warren is the author of "a purpose driven life." welcome. >> good to be with you. >> what is the purpose of christmas. >> well, you know, the angels in the story of the first christmas said three things. and those three statements say the three purposes of christmas. they are celebration, salvation

cnn's tom foreman takes us there that. >> reporter: military analysts believe that syria may have one of the most expentensive chemic weapon stockpiles in the world. spread throughout the country. this, they say, the result of an aggressive development program started in the 1980s, aided by the russians and the iranians and cause for concern before. not only because th government there might use it, but also, because maybe these weapons could fall in to the hands of terrorists so precisely what are we talking about? first of all, mustard gas. this is an old chemical weapon. it was used in world war i. it doesn't act very quickly but it's extremely painful. it burns the skin, can burn the eyes and when inhaled it burns the lungs. it can be fatal but more often it's simply rendering an opponent unable to fight anymore and can create chronic health problems like respiratory illness and blindness for the remainder of life. beyond that, sarin gas is a concern out there. it attacks the nervous system and can cause uncontrolled trembling, and then convulsions and then unconsciousness and dea

cnn's tom foreman takes us there that. >> reporter: military analysts believe that syria may have one of the most expentensive chemic weapon stockpiles in the world. spread throughout the country. this, they say, the result of an aggressive development program started in the 1980s, aided by the russians and the iranians and cause for concern before. not only because the government there might use it, but also, because maybe these weapons could fall in to the hands of terrorists so precisely what are we talking about? first of all, mustard gas. this is an old chemical weapon. it was used in world war i. it doesn't act very quickly but it's extremely painful. it burns the skin, can burn the eyes and when inhaled it burns the lungs. it can be fatal but more often it's simply rendering an opponent unable to fight anymore and can create chronic health problems like respiratory illness and blindness for the remainder of life. beyond that, sarin gas is a concern out there. it attacks the nervous system and can cause uncontrolled trembling, and then convulsions and then unconsciousness and de

tom foreman, cnn. >> thank you, tom. i'm don lemon. thanks for watching. get out and do a good deed. it is the weekend. get out and have fun. not before you turn in to ashleigh banfield right after the break. have a good one. try running four.ning a restaurant is hard, fortunately we've got ink. it gives us 5x the rewards on our internet, phone charges and cable, plus at office supply stores. rewards we put right back into our business. this is the only thing we've ever wanted to do and ink helps us do it. make your mark with ink from chase. so, the 5.3-liter v8 silverado can tow up to 9,600 pounds? 315 horsepower. what's that in reindeer-power? [ laughs ] [ pencil scratches ] [ male announcer ] chevy's giving more. get the best offer of the year -- 0% apr financing for 60 months plus $1,000 holiday bonus cash. plus trade up for an additional $1,000 trade-in allowance. hurry. bonus cash ends january 2nd. now is a good time to think about your options. are you looking for a plan that really meets your needs and your budget? as you probably know, medicare on

tom foreman went looking for answers in new york. >> amid the bustle of broadway, against the bad economy and the crushing competition at the strand the show goes on. it started more than 80 years ago. this independent bookstore has beaten the odds surviving the great depression, world war ii and fred bass, who was a baby when his dad started the strand says the store is enduring these tough times, too. >> we have good books and good prices. lately we've been selling a lot of new books at discount, but it's mostly used books or bargain books that we sell, or out of print books. >> the strand's eclectic approach allows it to appeal to a broad array of clients hunting the trivial and treasured on the shelves like this rare copy of ulysses. >> how much are we selling this one for? >> 20 bucks. >> the strand success is about more than inventory. employees top to bottom must possess a deep knowledge of books and embrace the idea they're maintaining a business but also a community. >> there's just a comfort here where people feel willing to open up and just have 30-minute conversations with you

tom foreman has the story on the american journey. >> reporter: in the bustling heart of kansas city, the pioneer spirit is burning brightly. entrepreneurs trading ideas, exploring concepts, and much of it revolves around a handful of houses on a few beaten up blocks where some small internet startups are drawing national attention. >> i can go local. >> reporter: mike farmer is the ceo of leap 2, a company with a highly advanced mobile search app. >> people have stopped by the office every day from boston, san francisco, or denver. it's just fascinating. >> reporter: that must feel pretty good. >> yeah, it does. >> reporter: one big reason the companies are clustering here is that google chose this neighborhood to launch its much anticipated super high-speed internet connection. 100 times faster than most internet links. google fiber allows massive video, data, and graphic files to move with astonishing speed, permitting development of whole new applications. under the plan, within the next two years, large sections of kansas city on both the kansas and missouri sides will be wired.

i'm tom foreman and this was a year for lefing dangerously. whether flirting with the fiscal cliff or sky diving from the edge of space or buying a powerball ticket, risk taking was back in vogue. as we head into the new year, we're going to look back at all the risky business that brought us here, in the economy, entertainment, sports, pop culture and technology. and in the biggest, baddest game of all. give it to the twin pillars of politics, the relentless candidates barack obama and mitt romney for waging the best and worst presidential campaign of the year. >> thank you, thank you, thank you. >> thank you so much. >> best because it was at times a rivetting battle for control of the nation. worst because it often became a war of cheap shots, questionable pacts and everything else that just exhaust voters. >> i don't think there's anything else that immediately so completely sucked up all the energy or oxygen in the year. >> worst republican roulette. the party primary that seems to have a new up and coming favorite every ten minutes. rick

i'm tom foreman and this was a year for living dangerously. whether flirting with the fiscal cliff or skydiving from the edge of space or just buying a powerball ticket, risk-taking was back in vogue. and as we head into the new year, we're going to look back at all the risky business that brought us here, in the economy, in entertainment, in sports, in pop culture, in technology, and in the biggest, baddest game of all. give it to the twin pillars of politics, the relentless candidates barack obama and mitt romney, for waging the best and worst presidential campaign of the year. >> thank you, thank you, thank you! >> thank you so much! >> best, because it was at times, a riveting battle for control of the nation. worst because it often became a war of cheap shots, questionable facts, and everything else that just exhausts voters. >> i don't think there's anything else that immediately, so completely sucked up all the energy, all oxygen in the year. >> to enforce the law -- >> worst republican roulette. the party primary that seemed to have a

>> tom foreman, thank you so much. back to a point we were making, the nra today, ripped on the national media there, saying it turns shooters into celebrities with overblown coverage. the nra also says the media is biased against gun owners. >> rather than face their own moral failings, the media demonized lawful gun owners. amplify their cries for more laws, and fill the national media with misinformation and dishonest thinking. how many more copycats are waiting in the wings for their moment of fame? from a national media machine that rewards them with wall to wall attention, and a sense of identity that they crave. >> we are the media. we cover newtown. we're still in newtown. i went there personally over the weekend. i want to talk about this. i want to bring in washington post media critic eric wimple. do you think the media contributes to these kinds of mass murders? >> i don't. i don't think the media contributes to these kinds of mass murders. i think the research on this alleged nexus between media saturation

for all of us at "in focus" i'm tom foreman. thanks for watching. >>> the white house revealed that speaker john boehner met with the president to discuss the officials of the fiscal cliff. we're just days before the congress and the white house has to hammer out a deal or everyone's going to suffer the consequences. emily, what have you learned about today's meeting? >> allison we know that today's meeting was not on the schedule today. so that means we have to rely on the word from the white house deputy press secretary and a congressional staffer which happens to be the exact same words. they released two separate statements, both identical and this is the statement. it says this afternoon the president and speaker boehner met at the white house to discuss efforts to resolve the fiscal cliff. we're not reading out details of the constitution, but the lines of communication remain. on wednesday, you'll remember a source familiar with the conversation said they did speak by phone, at that point it was the first time in a week t

i'm tom foreman and this was a year for living dangerously. risk taking was back in vogue. and as we head into the new year, we're going to look back at all the risky business that brought us here, in the economy, in entertainment, in sports, in pop culture, in technology, and in the biggest, baddest game of all. give it to the twin pillars of politics, the relentless candidates barack obama and mitt romney, for waging the best and worst presidential campaign of the year. >> thank you, thank you, thank you! >> thank you so much! >> best, because it was at times, a riveti ining battle fo control of the nation. worst because it often became a war of cheap shots, questionable facts, and everything else that just exhausts voters. >> i don't think so there's anything else that immediately, so completely sucked up all the energy, all oxygen in the year. >> to enforce the law -- >> worst, republican roulette. the party primary that seemed to have a new up and coming favorite, every ten minutes. rick perry, herman cain, michele bachmann, newt gingrich, rick santorum. >> what a frea

tom foreman, cnn. >> it is definitely a must-stop for all of you when you're back here in new york. well, you know him as one of the greatest nba players of all time. kareem abdul-jabbar. up next, there he is, the sports legend opens up on the biggest battle of his life. stay with us. try running four.ning a restaurant is hard, fortunately we've got ink. it gives us 5x the rewards on our internet, phone charges and cable, plus at office supply stores. rewards we put right back into our business. this is the only thing we've ever wanted to do and ink helps us do it. make your mark with ink from chase. at chevy's year-end event, we have 11 vehicles that offer an epa-estimated 30 mpg highway or better. yeah? hey. hey. where's your suit? oh, it's casual friday. oh. [ male announcer ] chevy's giving more. this holiday season, get a 2013 malibu ls for around $199 per month, or get $1,000 holiday bonus cash. humans -- sometimes life trips us up. and sometimes, we trip ourselves up, but that's okay. at liberty mutual insurance we can "untrip" you as you go through your life with personalize

tom foreman is in washington with the latest information on what we have about how the day unfolded inside that school. tom? >> anderson, police are essentially constructing a map of all of the places that might have had connections to this shooter. for example, his brother's apartment down here in new jersey. across new york up into connecticut, his mother's house where she was found dead. and only about three miles away, of course, the school. to try to figure out what led him to this spot at that time. because they do believe that shortly after murdering his mother, he did drive the few miles from her house to this school and emerge in this parking lot with weapons very much like these to go into the school. now, let's look at the time line of what happened. that's really what they're trying to reconstruct. about 9:30 in the morning that's when we believe based on eyewitness accounts and police radio that he probably left his car. we think this is the one over here, based on the investigation, and came up to the front of the school. that's also when he encountered his first obstacles, b

. >> welcome, i'm tom foreman, and this was a year for living dangerously. whether flirting with the fiscal cliff or skydiving from the edge of space or just buying a power ball ticket, risk taking was back en vogue. as we head into the new year, we're going to look back at all of the risky business that brought us here in the economy, in entertainment, in sports, in pop culture, in technology, and in the biggest, baddest game of all. give it to the twin pillars of politics, the relentless candidates, barack obama and mitt romney, for waging the best and worst presidential campaign of the year. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> thank you so much. >> best because it was a time for riveting battle for control of the nation. worst because it often became a war of cheap shots, questionable facts, and everything else that just exhausts voters. >> i don't think there's anything else that immediately so completely sucked up all of the energy or oxygen in the air. >> worst republican roulette, the party primary that seemed to have a new up and coming favorite every ten

tom foreman reported on what syria reportedly has. three deadly kinds of chemical weapons. the first is mustard gas. also sarin, can cause tremors and death, then the vx nerve agent. one of the most deadly chemicals in the world. how good is the intelligence on what syria really has? >> it is pretty good, but it's not going to be foolproof and they are going to be some elements of intelligence that are guesswork, but still, they're going to be conjectured. the t not like a court of law where you can go in and say this is the evidence. irrefutable proof. but on the other hand, there are certain things that the intelligence community can do. for example, they can assess how stockpiles are accumulating in the country. you mentioned that the russians had supplied some of these chemical agents and that is true. you can assess how each of these areas, you know what they've done, how they've done it and how often. also, you can have some intelligence that specifically outlines exactly how good the chemical weapons are. whether they will be used, what kind of training these people

have a look at how tom foreman lays this out for us. >> 9:30 this morning, it was a formal start to the day out here. 600 students in the class here. 50 faculty members. we don't have a complete read on the layout of the school or the time line. we are try piece together all day long as investigators have and we have some idea. the day was getting underway. had been underway 30 minutes. there was a meeting up here involving the principal, school psychologist and other adults in the area. and then 9:40, as best we can tell from witnesses, ten might be minutes later he enters the building. we're not sure how he got past the security system or if it was locked a that point. we know police have looked hard at a car in the fire lane. it is surround by tape the best i can tell them suggestion is that in fact the gunman did come through the front door here in to the school. almost immediately people throughout this building reported hearing gun fire. 9:41 is when the calls started to come in to 911. the principal, the vice principal and school psychologist in this meeting according to witnesse

have a look at how tom foreman lays this out for us. >> 9:30, a normal start to the day. approximately 600 students in class, 50 faculty members. we don't have a complete read on the layout of the school or the timeline, we'll try and piece together all day long as investigators have. some idea. day getting underway, a meeting happening up here involving the principal, vice principal, a school psychologist and several other adults in this area, then around 9:40, best we can tell from witnesses, just ten minutes later, the gunman enters the build. how did he do it? the new security system, not sure how he got past that or if it was locked up at that point. police looked very hard at a car parked in the fire lane. still there surrounded by tape as best i can tell. suggested would be that somehow the gunman came right through the front door, into the school. and people throughout this building reported and one fire. 9:41, that's when the calls started coming in to 911. the principal, the vice princip principal, and the school psychologist, according to witnesses, went out to

on behalf of all the folks at "ac 360" and cnn, i'm tom foreman wishing you all of the best and none of the worst in 2013. >>> tonight, finding faith and purpose this holiday season. >> there's so much bad news in the world. we need good news. >> america's pastor rick warren joins me. >> people say i fell out of love. that's your choice. >> he talks religion, reason, and what america needs now. >> the good life isn't good enough. what you need is the better life. >> the election, the economy, same-sex marriage and more, to the issues that really matter. >> you know why we have to change the constitution? it was a flawed document. it was made by men. >> what does god mean to you? this is "piers morgan tonight." >> good evening, and happy holidays and welcome to a special "piers morgan tonight." joining me, one of the most influential speechtual leaders in the world, rick warren. we're going to talk about politics, sins, and much, much more. he's the author of "a purpose driven life." >> it's good to be here with you. >> what is the purpose of christmas? >> you know, the angels in the

our tom foreman has this week's "american journey" report. >> reporter: for 13 years in the crush and crawl of d.c. traffic, robert harrison has made a sometimes difficult living as a limo driver. but a surge of new riders now has him for the first time heading into the holidays with real optimism about his job. >> they have saved the day for us as independent limo drivers. >> reporter: that's the impact? >> that's the impact. absolutely. >> reporter: he says he owes it to uber. a relatively new service that allows limo drivers to connect electron cleek with people nearby who need a car right now. so your smart phone known where you are. all you do is put in a request for a car, and in a matter of moments -- >> hi. i have a hit. >> reporter: that allows drivers who often have hours to kill between prearranged rides to turn the waiting time into money-making time. uber typically gets 20% of each fare. the driver gets the rest. travis kolenek came up with the idea five years ago and spread it to more than a dozen cities here and abroad. >> if you can fill that time out for those guys, h