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Jessica Watts, cousin of Aurora shooting victim, boycotts theater opening: the invitation is 'almost unspeakable'
Five months after the tragic shooting massacre at a movie theater in Colorado, families of victims are outraged over a plan to reopen the theatre. Twelve people died and 58 people were injured when a gunman opened fire inside the Century 16 movie theater Aurora, Colorado on July 20 of last year. Cinemark, the owner, plans to reopen the theater in two weeks. The opening reception will feature a special "remembrance ceremony", followed by a movie screening. Families were invited but several family members are furious that such an event is happening in the first place. Jessica Watts is the cousin of Jonathan Blunk, a victim of the shooting at Aurora who died using his body to shield his girlfriend from the bullets. Watts is disgusted by the gesture.
She didn’t personally receive the invitation, which was forwarded from a victim’s assistance group to some of the families, but she read it. “It was very painful to read,” Watts says, “because there are twelve people, and one of those being my cousin, who absolutely paid the final ticket price with their lives.” She also says survivors have difficulty being anywhere near the theater. “It was almost unspeakable that they would give us this invitation, like it was a Hollywood premier.”
Her main issue with Cinemark is that they had never reached out to the victims before this “to offer sympathies, condolences or support,” she says. “And we have never had communication with them. But they went ahead and gave us this invitation.” She and eight other families have since written to Cinemark and decided to “boycott, not only the Aurora Cinemark, but all Cinemarks.”
Rep.-Elect Ami Bera (D-CA) will be sworn in today to the 113th Congress
Members of the 113th Congress will be sworn in today. There will be twelve new members in the Senate, adding three Republicans, and eight Democrats with one Independent. Eighty three new members will be joining the House, 34 Republicans, and 49 Democrats. Democrats retain control of the Senate and Republicans will retain control of the House of Representatives in the 113th Congress. Among the 49 newly elected Democratic freshman representatives is Representative-elect Ami Bera, from the 7th Congressional District in Sacramento County, California. He joins “Early Start” live from Washington this morning.
Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ) outraged over House GOP's handling of Sandy aid vote: says tea party doesn't care about red states
This morning Speaker Boehner is pledging to make a Sandy relief bill a priority in the new Congress after abruptly pulling a similar bill late Tuesday night, right after the House passed the fiscal cliff deal. That move had lawmakers on both sides of the aisle enraged and politicians in the Northeast venting their anger.
New Jersey's outspoken governor, Republican Chris Christie, said yesterday: “National disasters happen in red states and blue states and states with Democratic governors and Republican governors. We respond to innocent victims of natural disasters, not as Republicans or Democrats, but as Americans. Or at least we did until last night. Last night politics was placed before hosts to serve our citizens. For me, it was disappointing and disgusting to watch.”
Boehner says lawmakers will vote tomorrow for a $9 billion measure, with more money later. Congressman Frank Pallone is a Democrat from New Jersey. His district includes Union Beach and Belmar, both towns hit hard by Superstorm Sandy. Outraged this morning over Congress’ handling of the Sandy aid vote, he joins us live from Washington.
Rep. Pallone agrees with Governor Christie’s assessment that politics came into play here. He even concludes that the Tea Party doesn’t consider a natural disaster in a blue state as important as a natural disaster in a red state, and that is the reason why Speaker Boehner neglected the Sandy relief bill. “I really think that the speaker doesn't care about New York and New Jersey,” he says. “The fact of the matter is that he was afraid to bring this up yesterday, in my opinion, because the Tea Party and the right wing did not want to vote for the spending bill for…New York and New Jersey.”
Sandy Hook kids resume classes; CNN's Deb Feyerick reports
In Newtown, Connecticut this morning, Sandy Hook Elementary School students are preparing for an emotional return to school for the first time since a gunman took 20 of their friends, and their innocence. Backpacks are being filled with books and tiny teeth are being brushed before the kids resume classes in another building in the neighboring town of Monroe. CNN’s Deb Feyerick has more on the new Sandy Hook school in Monroe, Connecticut this morning.
House passes fiscal cliff deal; Rep. Jeff Landry (R-LA) votes NO, criticizes Speaker Boehner for undoing 'everything he promised '
The House passed the Senate approved fiscal cliff legislation late last night with a 257 to 167 vote. Rep. Jeff Landry is a Republican from Louisiana and a member of the Tea Party Caucus. He voted against the bill and joins “Early Start” this morning to explain his reasons.
Landry says he was opposed to raising taxes on anyone, “but we're hiding the fact that we're spending way more than we're taking in.” He stresses the failure of the bill to work on the “16.8 trillion deficit and debt we acquired on the backs of future generations;” the looming debt ceiling fight ahead. “The sad part about it,” he says, “all we did was basically take us off one cliff, only to put us on one that's much higher.”
Landry also expresses disappointment in Speaker Boehner, criticising him for allowing the president to undo the promises he made after the 2010 elections. “The president was able to get the speaker to undo everything he promised he would do for the American people over the last Congress.”
Avoid your own personal financial cliff; Personal Finance Expert Manisha Thakor shares advice
The House finally passed a fiscal cliff deal 257 to 167 late last night, averting an avalanche of spending cut and tax hikes in the eleventh hour. So how can you make sure that Congress' last minute deal doesn't knock you off your own personal financial cliff? While we can't control what goes on in Washington, we can control our own spending. Manisha Thakor is a Personal Finance Expert and author of "Get Financially Naked". She shares advice for healthy spending habits live from Albuquerque, NM this morning.
House passes fiscal cliff deal; reporter for the National Journal, Chris Frates, goes behind the scenes
A deal to avert the fiscal cliff was reached late last night as the House passed the Senate approved bill brokered by Vice President Joe Biden and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell. Chris Frates is a reporter for the National Journal. He's been following all this very closely and joins us live from our Washington Bureau with details behind the scenes.
Top political newsmakers to watch in 2013; BuzzFeed's Political Editor McKay Coppins shares his list
The 2012 election may be over, but speculation over 2016 has already begun. A recent CNN poll showed Hillary Clinton well above all other potential names. But who else is a rising political star to watch out for in 2013? McKay Coppins is the Political Editor of Buzzfeed.com. While most of us made a list of New Year’s resolutions, he comes to the studio with today his list of top newsmakers to keep an eye out for in 2013.
House may vote on Senate approved fiscal cliff bill unamended; Rep. Jason Altmire (D-PA): 'this will pass'
All eyes are on the House this morning. Shortly after ringing in the New Year and plunging off the fiscal cliff, the Senate voted on a plan to avert it. But the question of 2013 is whether the House will follow suit. Congressman Jason Altmire is a Democrat from Pennsylvania. He's a Blue Dog Democrat, and therefore a fiscal conservative. Altmire, who is considered to be one of the most independent voters in the house, has crossed party lines before and is willing to do so to work with getting stuff done. He's also retiring at the end of this session. We hear from him live from D.C. this morning.
Rep. Altmire confidently says he will vote for the Senate approved fiscal cliff bill if it comes to the floor unamended. "I think you will get most all Democratic votes on the house, if they allow it to come to the floor. I think half the Republicans, maybe slightly more. This will pass if they allow it to come up to a vote.”
Ron Meyer, American Majority Action Spokesperson, criticizes Senate approved fiscal cliff deal & Grover Norquist: 'Grover Norquist’s power…just Washington created'
This morning, we wait with bated breath to see if a fiscal cliff deal worked out between Vice President Biden and Senate Republicans can pass the House later today. Ron Meyer is Spokesperson for the conservative group, American Majority Action. Long critical of how Boehner has been handling fiscal cliff negotiations, his group has suggested that Speaker Boehner resign for proposing his Plan B. Meyer weighs in live from D.C. this morning.
Meyer had correctly predicted very early on that the House would not pass Speaker Boehner’s Plan B measure. He offers his ideas about whether the bill that passed the Senate last night will pass the House this time around. “It could pass the House, but it definitely doesn’t have the majority of the GOP caucus right now,” Meyer says. He predicts that “at least 100 Republicans...will vote against this if they bring it up as proposed by the Senate.”
Meyer also speaks about the impact this fiscal cliff deal will have on young Americans who will feel the consequences down the road. “For people who actually care about saving my generation from a huge amount of debt, this bill is a complete joke,” Meyer says. “That's one of the things where I think House Republicans get it, where at least I mean the majority of our caucus gets it, where we're going to stand up against this plan because it's bad for young people, bad for our future. It's bad for the rest of America too.” Meyer believes a core group of Republicans will defend the idea that “this plan is gonna hurt and bankrupt our generation…and try to get a real solution done.”
Meyer also criticizes Grover Norquist, the president of Americans for Tax Reform, for his role in the fiscal cliff talks. “He endorsed Plan B. And guess what?” he asks. “We shot it down. We had more than 50 Republicans against that bill. Grover Norquist’s power…it’s just Washington created. It’s media created.” Meyer further says the idea that Norquist is “some sort of magician behind the curtain is an absolute fallacy.”
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