Will media stay on gun story?

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Howard Kurtz: Conventional wisdom is that media will lose interest in guns


• He says that's been the pattern of media behavior after Columbine, other shootings


• This time seems like it might be different, he says


• Kurtz: Reporters profoundly shaken by story, should stay on it

Editor's note: Howard Kurtz is the host of CNN's "Reliable Sources" and is Newsweek's Washington bureau chief. He is also a contributor to the website Daily Download.

(CNN) -- The conventional wisdom is that Newtown has just a few more days to run as a major media story.

The reporters are pulling out of the grief-stricken Connecticut town, which means no more live shots every hour. The White House press corps responded to President Obama's announcement Wednesday of a task force on gun control with the first three reporters asking about the impending fiscal cliff. And after every previous mass shooting, from Columbine to Aurora, the media's attention has soon drifted away.

But I believe this time will be different.

Howard Kurtz

I believe the horror of 20 young children being gunned down has pricked the conscience of those in the news business, along with the rest of America.

I could be wrong, of course. The press is notorious for suffering from ADD.

But every conversation I've had with journalists has quickly drifted to this subject and just as quickly turned intense. Most have talked about how their thoughts have centered on their children, and grandchildren, and the unspeakable fear of anything happening to them. All have spoken about how hard it is to watch the coverage, and many have recalled crying as they watch interviews with the victims' families, or even when Obama teared up while addressing the nation.

Watch: Blaming Jon Stewart for the Newtown Shootings?

I've watched Fox's Megyn Kelly choke back tears on the air after watching an interview from Newtown. I've heard CNN's Don Lemon admit that he is on the verge of crying all the time. I've seen MSNBC's Joe Scarborough, a former Republican congressman, say that day in Connecticut "changed everything" and prompted him to rethink his longstanding opposition to gun control, which earned him top ratings from the NRA.

Maybe Newtown will be the 9/11 of school safety.

Watch: Media Fantasy: Touting Ben Affleck (Uh Huh) for the Senate

The media paid scant attention to gun control in the past, in part because of a conviction that the NRA would block any reform on Capitol Hill. At the same time, they took their cue from the fact that officeholders in both parties were avoiding the issue at all costs—Republicans because they mainly support the status quo, Democrats because they mostly deem it political poison.

But since when is it our job solely to take dictation from pols? When it comes to subjects like climate change and same-sex marriage, the press has been out ahead of the political establishment. Given the carnage in Newtown as the latest example, journalists should demand whether we can do better. The fact that Obama now promises to submit gun legislation to Congress will help the narrative, but it shouldn't be a mandatory requirement for coverage.

Watch: From Joe Scarborough to Rush Limbaugh, the conservative media meltdown

This is not a plea for a press-driven crusade for gun control. In fact, it's imperative that journalists be seen as honest brokers who are fair to all sides. MSNBC anchor Thomas Roberts, in an interview with Republican Rep. Jack Kingston of Georgia, who opposes gun restrictions, said: "So we need to just be complacent in the fact that we can send our children to school to be assassinated." That is demonization, just as some conservative pundits are unfairly accusing liberal commentators who push for gun control of "politicizing" a tragedy or of pushing God out of the public schools.

The question of school safety extends beyond guns to mental illness and societal influences. With even some NRA supporters asking why law-abiding hunters need automatic rifles with high-capacity magazines, it's time for a nuanced debate that goes beyond the usual finger-pointing. Bob Costas got hammered for using an NFL murder-suicide to raise the gun issue during a halftime commentary, but he was right to broach the subject.

Here is where the media have not just an opportunity but a responsibility. The news business has no problem giving saturation coverage to such salacious stories as David Petraeus' dalliance with Paula Broadwell. Isn't keeping our children safe from lunatics far more important by an order of magnitude?

I think the press is up to the challenge. Based on what I've heard in the voices of people in the profession, they will not soon forget what happened in Newtown. And they shouldn't let the rest of us forget either.

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The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Howard Kurtz.

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New diagnostic kit allows testing for ricin poisoning

SINGAPORE: A new diagnostic kit developed by Singapore's DSO National Laboratories and the Defence Science Technology Organisation (DSTO) in Australia will allow for the testing of a potent toxin, known as ricin, in humans.

Ricin is found in the common castor bean plant and oil produced from the plant is widely used industrially.

A dose as small as a few grains of salt can kill an adult human if it is inhaled or injected.

The danger of ricin poisoning lies in the symptoms exhibited, which are similar to common food poisoning or respiratory illness.

This makes the diagnosis of ricin poisoning particularly challenging.

Ricin has also been known to be used in biological warfare.

With the new kit, ricin poisoning can be immediately detected, by running human samples such blood and stools, through the kit.

"For this test, we only need 50 micro-litres of sample. That's probably equivalent to two drops if you do a fingerprick," said Chen Hsiao Ying, senior technical staff at the Defence, Medical & Environmental Research Institute.

A person can only be tested after ricin has been in the body for at least eight hours.

Current diagnostic kits can test for ricin contamination in food, soil or water, but not humans.

The new kit will be commercially available in two years' time.

- CNA/xq

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Failure of fiscal deal puts more pressure on Boehner

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Republicans rejected his Plan B to avert fiscal cliff, raising questions about his future


• Some conservatives have called for Boehner's resignation


• Most Republicans say it's premature to say his speakership is in jeopardy


• While the failure of the Plan B vote was bad, Boehner faces tougher days ahead

Washington (CNN) -- Roughly six weeks ago, Rep. John Boehner was reelected unanimously by his colleagues as speaker of the House of Representatives. They cheered and applauded him in an ornate hearing room on Capitol Hill.

But on Thursday, many of those same Republicans abandoned Boehner in droves, rejecting his Plan B to avert the fiscal cliff and raising questions about his future.

Thursday night's epic meltdown in the House GOP conference came at a defining moment for Boehner. As he has done several times in the past two years, the speaker attempted to persuade conservatives who campaigned against any compromise to support his strategy, putting pressure on Democrats to agree to what these members demanded: more spending cuts.

But Boehner's own members refused to go along, and some conservative and tea party groups began to call Friday for him to step down.

Ned Ryun, founder of one conservative group called American Majority Action, posted an article on RedState.com harshly critical of Boehner: "He should save the Republican Party the embarrassment of a public leadership battle and resign."

Behind the scenes: A breakdown of Boehner's miscalculation on Plan B

But most Republicans say it's premature to say that this episode means Boehner's speakership is in jeopardy.

Texas Rep. John Carter said he believes that the House GOP will stick with Boehner.

"If he resigned or something, that would have been different, but I don't think there's any threat, and I don't think there's any serious opposition out there," said Carter, a former member of Boehner's leadership team.

Three possible scenarios Democrats may pursue

Carter conceded that outside pressure on Boehner to step aside could affect "a few people" but not enough to threaten his position.

Boehner argued that passing his Plan B bill, allowing tax breaks to be extended for all those making less than $1 million, demonstrated that the GOP was trying to preserve as many tax cuts as possible. But his failure to get enough Republicans to back the plan only raised questions about his failing to get many in his conference to back the plan.

Boehner said he's not worried about losing his job and repeated an answer he's used before when asked about being in a tough spot politically.

"If you do the right things every day for the right reasons, the right things will happen," the speaker said. He explained that some House Republicans were worried about public perception of supporting tax increases, adding, "I don't think, they weren't taking that out on me."

GOP disarray jeopardizes fiscal cliff deal

One senior House GOP aide quipped that many rank and file members who criticized Boehner's negotiation strategy didn't understand that his effort would have given them some political cover at a time when Congress' ratings are at rock bottom. "These guys are pizza store owners, not Republican strategists."

During recent skirmishes, some looked to the No. 2 House Republican, Eric Cantor, to step in, but Cantor was part of the leadership effort pushing Plan B this week and publicly predicted that it had the votes hours before they pulled the bill. And Cantor's presence beside Boehner on Friday morning signaled that he's staying with the speaker.

Multiple Republican members and aides say there is no current member who has enough support to mount a real challenge.

Opinion: Boehner leading GOP to the apocalypse

Some point to former GOP vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan, but he has shown no interest in the job, and he publicly backed Boehner's Plan B strategy, even in the face of opposition from many of the same groups who hold him up as key leader. Georgia Rep. Tom Price, who ran unsuccessfully for the fourth slot as House GOP conference chairman, has been floated as a possible successor, but few believe he is serious about taking it on, because he couldn't muster substantial votes.

Carter argued that a move to unseat Boehner could be worse for the party. "He's done yeoman's work in a tough job. I don't see us replacing the speaker. Actually, we would create more crisis that we would create solutions if we did that."

Even some of the Republicans who opposed the speaker's plan refrained from blaming Boehner and instead shifted their anger at President Obama, who they say isn't leading.

No mistletoe: Obama laments no cliff deal, punts until end of year

"He is my speaker, and I support him strongly; he's in a very difficult position," said Rep. John Fleming, R-Louisiana, adding that he simply disagreed on giving any ground on taxes.

"Raising taxes on any American, to me, is not the right message," he said.

Another Republican leadership aide said that as vulnerable as Boehner seems to many on the outside, "this probably strengthens Boehner's hand internally. He avoided forcing members from taking a vote many of them didn't want to have to take."

As GOP leaders worked to get the votes for Plan B on Thursday, they felt that they had the majority of GOP members on board but knew that without Democrats' support, they needed to get almost all their members to support the bill. Many of the undecided told leaders that if it was the final deal, they would vote yes, but since they knew it would change, they didn't want to go on record giving in at all on taxes.

Thursday night was for bad for Boehner, but he faces trickier terrain in the days ahead. Few expect further negotiations between the speaker and the White House to yield any deal.

Boehner said Friday that if the Senate came up with a compromise, he would take a look at it. But after his own strategy fell apart, he'll be faced with presenting his members with something they like even less. Boehner will then have to evaluate the personal and political cost of pushing a plan in the face of further defections.

Boehner said on Capitol Hill that he still wants a significant agreement that includes both taxes and spending but admitted, "how we get there, God only knows."

Before leaving town, Boehner puts fiscal cliff onus on Obama

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New details emerge on Newtown gunman

NEWTOWN, Conn. He was the awkward, peculiar kid who wore the same clothes to school every day.

He rarely spoke and even gave a school presentation entirely by computer, never uttering a word.

Play Video

Newtown residents react to the NRA's response to school shooting

He liked tinkering with computers and other gadgets, and seemed to enjoy playing a violent video game, choosing a military-style assault rifle as one of his weapons.

New details about Adam Lanza emerged Friday, as the nation paused to mark one week since he slaughtered 20 first-graders and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown.

Multiple funerals and visitations were held Friday, and at the hour of the attack, 9:30 a.m., a bell tolled 26 times, once for each victim killed at the school.

Lanza also fatally shot his mother before blasting his way into Sandy Hook, and killed himself after the school massacre.

In high school, Lanza would slither through the hallways, awkwardly pressing himself against the wall while wearing the same green shirt and khaki pants every day. He hardly ever talked to his classmates.

"As long as I knew him, he never really spoke," said Daniel Frost, who took a computer class with Lanza and remembered his skill with electronics. Lanza could take apart and reassemble a computer in a matter of minutes

Play Video

Newtown moment of silence

36 Photos

Victims of Conn. school shooting

Lanza seemed to spend most of his time in the basement of the home he shared with his mother, who kept a collection of guns there, said Russell Ford, a friend of Nancy Lanza's who had done chimney and pipe work on the house.

Nancy Lanza was often seen around town and regularly met friends at a local restaurant. But her 20-year-old son was seldom spotted around town, Ford and other townspeople said.

The basement of the Lanza home had a computer, flat-screen TV, couches and an elaborate setup for video games. Nancy Lanza kept her guns in what appeared to be a secure case in another part of the basement, said Ford, who often met her and other friends at a regular Tuesday gathering at My Place, a local restaurant.

During the past year and a half, Ford said, Nancy Lanza had told him that she planned to move out West and enroll Adam in a "school or a center." The plan started unfolding after Adam turned 18.

"She knew she needed to be near him," Ford said. "She was trying to do what was positive for him."

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'Cliff' Deniers Put Faith in No Deal

Not everyone thinks the "fiscal cliff" is so bad.

If the Dec. 31 deadline passes, income taxes will go up and across-the-board spending cuts will hit government programs. But while most of the political world frets as if a major disaster is looming, others have treated it more like the Y2K bug: a fiscal canard ginning up a lot of unnecessary panic.

The cliff is a "fantasy," former House speaker Newt Gingrich told a sold-out crowd at the Ronald Reagan library in Simi Valley, Calif., a week before Election Day.

"It is an excuse to panic," Gingrich said. "It is a device to get all of us running down the road so we accept whatever Obama wants, because otherwise we will have failed the fiscal cliff, and how can you be a patriot if you don't do what the fiscal cliff requires?"

Fiscal Cliff 'Plan B' Is Dead: Now What?

The former speaker wanted Republicans to stop negotiating with President Obama, for fear of giving too much away. "Back out of all of this negotiating with Obama," Gingrich publicly advised House Republicans. "The president is overwhelmingly dominant in the news media" but, at the opposite end of the political spectrum, liberals have said the same thing for a similar reason.

Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

Fiscal Cliff: Boehner Doesn't Have Votes for Plan B Watch Video

'Fiscal Cliff' Negotiations: Boehner's Plan B Watch Video

While the "cliff" would mean higher taxes on the middle class, it would also mean higher taxes on the wealthy, a chief demand for liberals. Automatic budget cuts would hit defense programs, which liberals have wanted to cut anyway, but not the Medicare and Social Security entitlements that Democrats and progressives want so badly to protect.

Boehner Pulls 'Plan B' Amid GOP Disarray

Van Jones, the environmental activist and resigned White House green jobs "czar," sought to quiet the "fiscal cliff" alarms Election Night on CNN. "The problem with the label 'the cliff' is that it creates a mindset that there is nothing worse that this set of cuts, and there are things that are worse," Jones said.

"We cannot be in a situation where we get bullied or stampeded into putting in a deal that's even worse than what the fiscal cliff is about."

Jones later wrote on his blog that the "fiscal cliff" is actually a "fiscal bluff": "The so-called fiscal cliff is actually a fiscal bluff --- a made-up crisis to make us think our government is out of money and time. Congress continues to drag its feet over raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans, despite the top 1% earning 23% of the nation's income, and insists on calling for cuts to vital programs instead of reining in massive subsidies ($100 billion in 2011 alone) to major corporations that already make billions in profits.

"America isn't broke --- it's being robbed.
Gingrich and Jones started the conversation, but as the deadline creeps closer, others are finishing it."

To some, the "fiscal cliff" offers a clearer upside.

"Democratic and progressive leverage goes immensely up if we get past the beginning of the year," Adam Green of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee told ABC News. "Once they have to proactively lower taxes on the rich, it makes it harder and harder to move that number up and makes it easier and easier to force votes or demand votes on policies that clearly benefit the middle class."

Green says liberals will get what they want immediately, if the Dec. 31 deadline passes without a deal.

"We really want to get past the first of the year so that we have that leverage in the bag," Green told ABC. "It will also show that the fiscal cliff was a mess. If we get into 2013, the really good stuff happens right away, and the really big cuts are a 10-year phasing."

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Goodbye, U.S. Postal Service?

This Christmas could be the Post Office's last, says John Avlon.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• The U.S. Postal Service is bleeding money and heading toward insolvency


• John Avlon: Congress can save the postal service in deal on the fiscal cliff


• He says the urgency is clear, let's hope for a Christmas miracle


• Avlon: But be prepared that Washington dysfunction can doom the postal service

Editor's note: John Avlon is a CNN contributor and senior political columnist for Newsweek and The Daily Beast. He is co-editor of the book "Deadline Artists: America's Greatest Newspaper Columns." He is a regular contributor to "Erin Burnett OutFront" and is a member of the OutFront Political Strike Team. For more political analysis, tune in to "Erin Burnett OutFront" at 7 ET weeknights.

(CNN) -- It's the time of year for dashing through the snow to the crowded post office, with arms full of holiday gifts for family and friends.

Not to break the atmosphere of holiday cheer, but this Christmas could be the last for the U.S. Postal Service. It is losing $25 million dollars a day and staring down insolvency -- unless Congress steps in to pass a reform package that reduces its costs.

With just a few days left in the congressional calendar, there is still some small hope for a Christmas miracle -- maybe the Postal Service can be saved as part of a deal on the fiscal cliff. But with even Hurricane Sandy relief stalled, skepticism is growing.

John Avlon

The real question is, what's taken them so long? After all, back in April the Senate passed an imperfect but bipartisan bill by 62-37. It would have saved some $20 billion, cut some 100 distribution centers, and reduced head count by an additional 100,000 through incentives for early retirement, while reducing red tape to encourage entrepreneurialism and keeping Saturday delivery in place for at least another two years. At the time, Sen. Tom Carper of Delaware said, "The situation is not hopeless; the situation is dire. My hope is that our friends over in the U.S. House, given the bipartisan steps we took this week, will feel a sense of urgency."

To which the House might as well have replied, "Not so much."

In August, the Postal Service defaulted for the first time, unable to make a $5.5 billion payment to fund future retirees' health benefits. The headline in Government Executive magazine said it all: "Postal Service defaults, Congress does nothing."

The usual suspects were at fault -- hyperpartisan politics and the ideological arrogance that always makes the perfect the enemy of the good.

House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa greeted the news of the Senate bill by calling it a "taxpayer-funded bailout." His primary complaint was that the Senate bill did not go far enough. He was not alone -- Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe also expressed disappointment at the scope of the Senate bill, saying that it fell "far short of the Postal Service's plan."

But Issa's alternative couldn't even get to a vote in the Republican-controlled House. And so nothing happened. Even after the USPS defaulted on a second $5.5 billion payment, the response was crickets.

Washington insiders said that action would be taken after the election, when lawmakers would be free to make potentially unpopular decisions. But despite a series of closed-door meetings, nothing has been done.

It's possible that the nearly $20 billion in savings could be part of a fiscal cliff deal. Sen. Joseph Lieberman has suggested that ending Saturday delivery, except for packages, could be part of a compromise that could save big bucks down the road. Another aspect of a savings plan could be suspending the USPS' onerous obligation to fully fund its pension costs upfront, a requirement that would push many businesses into bankruptcy. And last fiscal year, the post office posted a record $15.9 billion loss.

"As the nation creeps toward the 'fiscal cliff,' the U.S. Postal Service is clearly marching toward a financial collapse of its own," says Carper. "The Postal Service's financial crisis is growing worse, not better. It is imperative that Congress get to work on this issue and find a solution immediately. ... Recently key House and Senate leaders on postal reform have had productive discussions on a path forward, and while there may be some differences of opinion in some of the policy approaches needed to save the Postal Service, there is broad agreement that reform needs to happen -- the sooner the better."

The urgency couldn't be clearer -- but even at this yuletide 11th hour, signs of progress are slim to none. If Congress fails to pass a bill, we'll be back to square one in the new year, with the Senate needing to pass a new bill which will then have to be ratified by the House. There is just no rational reason to think that lift will be any easier in the next Congress than in the current lame duck Congress, where our elected officials are supposedly more free to do the right thing, freed from electoral consequences.

So as you crowd your local post office this holiday season, look around and realize that the clock is ticking. The Postal Service is fighting for its life. And Congress seems determined to ignore its cries for help.

"Neither rain nor snow nor sleet nor gloom of night" can stop the U.S. Postal Service from making its appointed rounds -- but congressional division and dysfunction apparently can.

Follow us on Twitter @CNNOpinion.

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The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of John Avlon.

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Nesting turtle numbers fall in South Asia: experts

KOLKATA: Conservationists have expressed alarm over the low number of turtles arriving on the coast of east India and Bangladesh for the nesting season, blaming overfishing and climate change for the decline.

Between November and March, several species of sea turtle, including the Olive Ridley, travel thousands of miles to nest on the sandy shores of Sundarbans, the world's largest mangrove forest.

"Just a few have so far been spotted. The long, wide beaches of the Bay of Bengal in the Sundarbans look empty," Pradip Vyas, director of the Indian government's Sundarbans Biosphere project, told AFP on Thursday.

"We are monitoring the six islands where sea turtles lay their eggs but we fear they are not coming in such numbers due to degradation of the sea, pollution and climate change."

Straddling Bangladesh and India, the 10,000 square kilometre (3,900 square mile) Sundarbans is famous for being the largest wildlife home for endangered Bengal tigers, but it is also a habitat for many rare marine species.

In Bangladesh, which is home to 60 per cent of the forest, wildlife experts said the number of turtles arriving on the pristine coastline dropped by at least 50 per cent in the past 10 years.

"It's a very grim picture," said S.M. Rashid, head of the Dhaka-based Centre for Advanced Research in Natural Resources and Management.

"In the 1990s we could spot 50-60 turtles nesting in our beaches in a night.

"But now the number has come down to a maximum 10," said Rashid, whose team in June successfully bred a critically endangered turtle using an artificial beach habitat.

Environmentalists blame a spike in fishing and climate change causing sea levels to rise and more cyclones for the alarming drop in turtle population, and they say that humans stealing eggs is another major problem.

"Overfishing has emerged as a threat to sea turtles coming to beaches of the Sundarbans," said Subrata Mukherjee, India's senior Sundarbans official, adding up to 1,500 boats now catch fish along the coast.

"A large number of sea turtles die after they are caught in fishing nets."

In the last five years, the Sundarbans were hit by two devastating cyclones, killing more than 5,000 people living in the villages along the forest.

"The nesting grounds of the marine turtle are being destroyed due to erosion and deposition of fresh sands. This is happening largely because of climate change," said Anurag Danda, an Indian WWF wildlife expert.

"Sea turtles are also avoiding the Sundarbans because of fierce winds during cyclones."

- AFP/il

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Photos: Notable people we've lost

Conservative jurist Robert H. Bork died on December 19 at age 85 at his home in Virginia, sources close to his family told CNN. Bork was best known for being nominated to the Supreme Court in 1987, only to be rejected after a contentious confirmation battle.

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"Plan B" is dead; what's next for "fiscal cliff"?

House Speaker John Boehner's big idea for a backup "Plan B" exploded Thursday night when, after days of wrangling with his own troops, he realized he didn't have enough votes to pass the tax cut part of his plan.  With four days until Christmas and 11 until the effects of the "fiscal cliff" begin the big question today is: what happens now?

Obama and Boehner to talk?

Boehner sent House Republicans home for Christmas after last night's legislative collapse, ensuring nothing will be passed until Dec. 27 at the earliest, when members are due back in town.  That leaves Boehner and President Obama to keep negotiating - something that ground to a halt after Boehner announced he was moving forward with his "Plan B" earlier in the week. 

But the two are at a stalemate, even though they're not that far apart in their proposals. In their most recent offers, Mr. Obama was offering $1.2 trillion in revenue and $800 billion in spending cuts; Boehner was offering $1 trillion in revenue and $1 trillion in spending cuts.  Also, the president agreed to let the Bush-era tax cuts expire on those making over $400,000; Boehner is supporting a $1 million threshold, to the consternation of some in his party who don't want anyone's taxes to go up.

The president is hoping to get to Hawaii for Christmas - he was planning on leaving town today but without a "fiscal cliff" deal, it's unclear whether he'll get to the Aloha State at all for the holiday.  Meantime, Boehner wakes up today with the realization that he has a seemingly irreparable schism within his own ranks: there are just enough Republicans who refuse to budge on taxes and are demanding more spending cuts, especially on entitlement programs such as Medicare, therefore gumming up the works for any progress Boehner wants to make on the "fiscal cliff".

Ultimately, negotiations between the president and Boehner might be over, especially since it's clear to all parties after last night that Boehner doesn't have the votes to get any compromise through the House.

Obama and Reid to offer a solution?

Boehner seemed to throw up his hands after calling off the "Plan B" vote Thursday night saying the solution to averting the "cliff" is in the hands of Mr. Obama and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.

"The House did not take up the tax measure today because it did not have sufficient support from our members to pass. Now it is up to the president to work with Senator Reid on legislation to avert the fiscal cliff," Boehner said Thursday night in a written statement. "The House has already passed legislation to stop all of the January 1 tax rate increases and replace the sequester with responsible spending cuts that will begin to address our nation's crippling debt. The Senate must now act."

White House spokesman Jay Carney said in a statement tonight: "The President's main priority is to ensure that taxes don't go up on 98 percent of Americans and 97 percent of small businesses in just a few short days. The President will work with Congress to get this done and we are hopeful that we will be able to find a bipartisan solution quickly that protects the middle class and our economy."

The Senate is in session today before recessing until Dec. 27; both the president and Reid will attend a memorial service for the late Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, so action between the two, if any, would begin this afternoon at the earliest.

Over the "cliff"?

The only way to reach a deal may be to let the nation go over the "cliff." When that happens, the expiration of the Bush-era tax cuts will mean that taxes on nearly all Americans will go up. That fact would seem to make it easier for House Republicans to back a "fiscal cliff" deal, since they would be voting for a tax cut, not a tax hike.

But going over the "cliff" could have significant consequences. To be clear, the "cliff" is actually more of a slope: The $1.2 trillion in automatic spending cuts are phased in over a decade - it's not the immediate punch to the cut that "cliff" implies - and there are budgetary maneuvers that can at least somewhat soften the blow of both the tax hikes and spending cuts. But going over the "cliff" could spook the markets and once again shake world perceptions of the ability of the U.S. government to function effectively. And if a deal is not reached relatively soon after the deadlilne, the $500 billion in tax hikes and $200 billion in spending cuts in the first year will likely start pushing the nation back into recession.

How will the markets react?

Many eyes will be on Wall Street to see how it reacts to the growing realization that the over the "fiscal cliff" scenario may be closer to reality than anyone hoped.

Things were not looking up early this morning: Asian markets across the board closed slightly down for the day after news of the "Plan B" withdrawal broke.

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NRA to Speak on Stopping Newtown Repeat

For the past week, leadership at the National Rifle Association has largely stayed away from the media, but this morning the group may weigh in on how to keep a deadly shooting massacre like last week's at a Newtown, Conn., elementary school from happening again.

The NRA will hold a news conference in Washington, D.C., just before 11 a.m.

Its leadership has held off on interviews this week after refusing to appear on Sunday morning public affairs shows this past weekend.

The group came under pressure after Adam Lanza, 20, killed 20 children and six adults before shooting himself at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown last Friday.

"Out of respect for the families, and as a matter of common decency, we have given time for mourning, prayer and a full investigation of the facts before commenting," the group said in a press release Tuesday. "The NRA is prepared to offer meaningful contributions to help make sure this never happens again."

NRA News anchor Ginny Simone said Thursday that in the wake of the Sandy Hook shooting, membership surged "with an average of 8,000 new members a day."

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has said the NRA is partially to blame for the tragedy.

"We're not trying to take away your right to advance the interests of gun owners, hunters, people who want to protect themselves," Bloomberg told "Nightline" anchor Cynthia McFadden in an interview Thursday. "But that's not an absolute right to encourage behavior which causes things like Connecticut. In fact, Connecticut is because of some of their actions."

Christian Gooden/St. Louis Post-Dispatch/AP Photo

President Obama Launches Gun-Violence Task Force Watch Video

President Obama on Gun Control: Ready to Act? Watch Video

Joe Biden to Lead Task Force to Prevent Gun Violence Watch Video

The guns used in the attack were legally purchased and owned by the shooter's mother, Nancy Lanza, who Adam Lanza shot to death before his assault on the school.

In the aftermath of the shooting, many, including Bloomberg, have called for stricter regulations on the type of weapons used in this and other instances of mass gun violence this year.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., has said she intends to introduce a bill banning assault weapons on the first day of next year's Congress -- a step the president said he supports.

President Obama announced Wednesday that Vice President Joe Biden will head a task force of leaders from across the country that will evaluate the best solutions to reduce gun violence in the United States.

Obama said he will "use all the powers of this office to help advance efforts aimed at preventing more tragedies like this."

Mayors Against Illegal Guns, of which Mayor Bloomberg is co-chair, released a letter to President Obama signed by more than 750 mayors calling on him to produce a plan to "make it harder for dangerous people to possess guns."

The letter asked for mandatory background checks for gun buyers, a ban on high-capacity rifles and ammunition magazines, and a designation of gun trafficking as a federal crime.

ABC News' George Stephanopoulos looked at whether strict gun control laws like those that have worked for the United Kingdom and Japan could work for the U.S. on "Good Morning America" Thursday.

Others have argued that, rather than banning guns, the government should be arming teachers and administrators in schools so that they can defend students in the event of another school shooting.

While Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder vetoed a measure that would have let guns into schools on Tuesday, Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell praised the idea.

Speaking on the NRA's daily news program Tuesday, Dave Koppel of the Independence Institute said the teachers at Sandy Hook should have had weapons.

"We'd certainly be talking about fewer innocent people and children dead," Koppel said.

While a national debate over the necessary solutions to prevent a tragedy of this nature from ever happening again wages on, Connecticut residents will have to wait "several months" before the final Connecticut State Police report on the Newtown shootings is complete.

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On gun control, look to Biden

Rebecca Puckwalter-Poza says Vice President Joe Biden was a leader on gun control in the Senate.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Rebecca Buckwalter-Poza: Obama has apparently tapped Biden as gun control point man


• She says he was leader in Senate on issue, shepherding 1994 gun control legislation


• It banned manufacture of many semi-automatic guns,criminalized high-capacity magazines


• Writer: Biden worked across aisle; he's adroit, determined statesman, right man for job

Editor's note: Rebecca Buckwalter-Poza served as deputy national press secretary of the Democratic National Committee during the 2008 election.

(CNN) -- President Obama's poignant speech at Sunday's interfaith vigil in Newtown, Connecticut, set the tone for our mourning. Now, America's path forward will be decided out of the spotlight. The question of whether the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School will linger only in memory or be memorialized by an enduring shift in gun policy can only be answered by the legislature.

Incoming Judiciary Committee chair Sen. Diane Feinstein has announced she will introduce an enhanced assault weapons ban on the first day of the new Congress, but the fate of that legislation is in the hands of Vice President Joe Biden.

Biden will reportedly lead the administration's political response.

Rebecca Buckwalter-Poza

No politician could be better suited to the challenge of passing federal gun control legislation than Biden. Over the past four decades, Biden has been one of the most consistent and effective advocates of gun control and violence prevention legislation. In 1994, Biden shepherded the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act through the Senate, a near miracle six years in the making.

After Biden wrote the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act in 1988, Republicans quickly filibustered, blocking the bill for four years. He steered "the Biden crime bill" through the lengthy filibuster by negotiating with Republicans and making revisions. "Every single line in that bill was written with every single major Republican a part of it," Biden said in a September 12, 1994, interview on the Charlie Rose show.

The Clinton administration and then-Sen. Biden repeatedly refused to make concessions that would have jeopardized the substance of the act, even after debate over the amendment we know as the federal assault weapons ban imperiled the entire bill. Instead of backing down, Biden took on Republican Sens. Phil Gramm and Orrin Hatch and faced opponents attacking the bill as taxpayer-funded "dance lessons and midnight basketball for robbers and rapists."

France: Where fear and taboo control guns more than laws

Biden did not budge: "Make no mistake, this is about guns, guns, guns." The crime bill passed the Senate in November 1993.

When the bill foundered in the House, Biden persevered. It reached President Clinton's desk thanks to an unexpected, eleventh-hour push from a "Lost Battalion of Republicans" led by Rep. Mike Castle of Delaware. He'd been swayed during a series of meetings with the House Speaker and other House Republicans, at which Biden was the only Senator in attendance.

The resulting legislation banned the manufacture of 19 types of semi-automatic firearms and criminalized the possession of high-capacity magazines. The process taught a critical lesson: When otherwise "pro-gun'" lawmakers have to choose between a crime bill including a gun ban and inaction, it is more than possible for them to vote to protect Americans. Unfortunately, the assault weapons ban expired in 2004. Since then, numerous lawmakers, including Joe Biden, have tried and failed to get the ban renewed.

Congress now has a rare opportunity to take new action on gun control. After Newtown, proponents of stricter gun legislation are backed by public opinion and bolstered by a surge of political support. The "pro-gun" wing of the GOP and the National Rifle Association remain silent even as their supporters are defecting publicly.

Democratic Sens. Harry Reid and Joe Manchin, whose voting record earned them the NRA's "top rating," have backed off their "pro-gun" positions and declared that "everything must be on the table" for legislative debate. The 31 pro-gun senators have not spoken since Friday's tragedy, signaling the possibility that some of them might be changing their minds on guns, too.

Lawmakers are essentially being asked to consider an updated version of the 1994 assault weapons ban. On Sunday, Feinstein promised the legislation "will ban the sale, the transfer, the importation and the possession" of assault weapons and ban high-capacity magazines as well as "clips of more than ten bullets."

Biden will likely support a new ban on assault weapons and push for improvements. His 2007 Crime Control and Prevention Act would not only have renewed the ban but required background checks for all gun purchases, closing the "gun show loophole.'" Biden has also called on Congress to address the relationship of mental illness to violence in the wake of the Virginia Tech shootings.

Was your gun banned?

The president cautioned Americans Sunday, saying "no single law, no set of laws can eliminate evil from the world, or prevent every senseless act of violence in our society. But that can't be an excuse for inaction. Surely, we can do better than this."

In his first term, however, Obama practiced a policy of appeasement, failing to block the expansion of gun rights or promote gun control. To ensure Congress passes tough, comprehensive gun control laws rather than settling for a watered-down version, as with health care, Obama must let Biden lead.

Why? Biden has distinguished himself as an adroit and effective statesman in both the legislative and the executive branches. The former six-term senator has a deft touch with moderate and conservative counterparts: in 2008, he eulogized Strom Thurmond. As vice president, he has spearheaded the implementation of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Moreover, Biden has a particular passion for protecting students and educators. His wife, Jill Biden, has been teaching for more than 30 years.

The deaths of 20 first-graders and six adults compel all Americans as sons and daughters, fathers and mothers, uncles and aunts, to consult their moral compasses. Legislators face a greater responsibility: a moral imperative to pass any legislation that could possibly prevent a future Newtown, Aurora, Oak Creek or Blacksburg.

Opinion: Gun violence is a national security issue

As Obama ministers to the American people and offers words of comfort, Biden must move lawmakers to action. In 1994, Biden warned his colleagues, "we simply can't let the gun lobby deny to the American people the vital benefits in this bill." Biden must once more appeal to Congress to enact gun control. If anyone can succeed in those chambers, it's Joe Biden.

Follow us on Twitter @CNNOpinion.

Join us on Facebook/CNNOpinion.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Rebecca Buckwalter-Poza

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China economic growth likely to pick up: analysts

SHANGHAI: China's economic growth may pick up to above 8 per cent in 2013, as economists expect the government to launch policies to boost recovery.

The country is expected to report 7.5 per cent this year, the slowest pace in recent years.

Economists say investment will remain as the pillar of growth the Chinese economy in the short term, despite the government's push for consumption.

The new government may also ease some current property curbs to achieve immediate growth.

As exports are expected to remain weak, China's growth now largely relies on investment and consumption.

Experts say the country's new leaders need to roll out short-term measures to achieve immediate results and gain public support.

This is likely to start with loosening some control over the property market.

Real estate accounts for about 25 per cent of China's GDP directly and indirectly.

"Trading volume has been decreasing very quickly in the recent market, and this is a big blow to the recent investment," said Gary Liu, executive deputy director of CEIBS Lujiazui Institute of International Finance.

"For the central government, it's probably very difficult to announce that we will give up the real estate market policy because they always want to maintain their image; they care about the housing price. But the local government will loosen the real estate market policy and the price will pick up, probably not as quickly as past years, but still I think has a large space to go."

Consumption is another key growth pillar.

On top of improving income distribution and social security system to encourage spending, experts believe, it is important to encourage wealthy Chinese to spend their money at home.

This group of rich Chinese accounts for about 20 per cent of the total population, but they hold 80 per cent of China's wealth.

"What they buy overseas is mostly branded goods, which Chinese companies don't have," said Sun Lijian, vice dean of the Economy School at Fudan University.

"We need to upgrade our industries and create Chinese brands, which are recognized in the world. Our goal for next year is to attract these rich people to spend in China."

According to experts, consumers in the cities tend to splurge on properties or cars. But there are curbs and heavy traffic to consider.

China is now looking for new ways to drive growth in consumption, and encouraging urbanization could be the answer.

Qian Qimin, co-director of market research at SWS Research Co Ltd said: "For example, when people from the countryside move to towns, they need to buy cooking utensils, home appliances and furniture. This will be a good way to push consumption. Now in cities, consumption has generally reached a plateau. People in cities have own almost all the living necessities."

The Chinese economy is well on its way recovery, but experts say any major changes will have to wait till the ruling party's third plenary session or meeting of top politicians next October.

- CNA/xq

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Blizzard warning issued for big chunk of Midwest

By Michael Pearson, CNN

updated 9:58 AM EST, Thu December 20, 2012

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• NEW: Tens of thousands without power in Nebraska, Iowa


• Heavy snow, high winds stretch from Iowa to Wisconsin in the season's first blizzard


• Storm to crawl from Midwest to New England by Friday

Is the storm hitting near you? Share your photos and videos on CNN iReport.

(CNN) -- Does the end of the world start with a snowstorm?

Probably not, but a blizzard in the upper Midwest is proving potent enough to cut power to tens of thousands of homes and force schools to call it quits from Nebraska to southern Wisconsin Thursday -- one day ahead of the official arrival of winter and, as it happens, the predicted Mayan apocalypse.

As much as another foot of wet, heavy snow is expected in places, accompanied by winds gusting to 50 mph and blowing snow that could reduce visibility to just about zero, forecasters warn.

In Omaha, Nebraska, utility crews struggled overnight -- sometimes in near whiteout conditions -- to restore power to 38,000 customers left in the dark by the storm, according to the Omaha Public Power District. The utility urged customers to brace for slow going.

In neighboring Iowa, more than 30,000 customers were without power, most of them in the Des Moines area, according to MidAmerican Energy.

The storm -- the first blizzard of the season -- made travel treacherous throughout the region. Nebraska authorities closed much of snow-packed I-80 through the state Thursday morning as blowing snow dangerously reduced visibility.

In Wisconsin, Gov. Scott Walker declared a state of emergency, put the National Guard and state patrol on standby and closed state offices to the public in 20 counties most likely to be affected by the storm. Employees were still expected to report for work.

As much as 7 inches was already on the ground Thursday morning in parts of southern Wisconsin, with as much as another foot on the way during the storm's predicted Thursday afternoon peak.

The Wisconsin State Patrol and National Weather Service urged people to avoid traveling.

Blizzard warnings were up Thursday for portions of Nebraska, Missouri, Minnesota, Illinois and Wisconsin and virtually all of Iowa. Winter storm warnings extended further into Missouri, Illinois and Wisconsin, as well as into Michigan and Indiana.

Most airports were operating normally, the FAA reported. One major exception was O'Hare Internatonal Airport in Chicago, where incoming flights were running nearly two hours behind because of high winds, the FAA said.

The storm is expected to slide over New England by Friday.

CNN's Jim Kavanagh, Laura Smith-Spark, Carma Hassan and Joe Sutton contributed to this report.

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New York Stock Exchange to be sold

NEW YORK The New York Stock Exchange (NYX) is being sold to a rival exchange for about $8 billion, ending more than two centuries of independence for the iconic Big Board.

The buyer, IntercontinentalExchange Inc. (ICE), an upstart exchange based in Atlanta, made clear Thursday that little would change for the iconic trading floor in Manhattan's financial district if regulators approve the deal.

There will be dual headquarters in New York and Atlanta and ICE will open an office in Manhattan. NYSE CEO Duncan Niederauer will become president of the combined company and CEO of NYSE Group.

ICE said that the tie-up will create a top exchange operator covering a diverse lineup of markets and boosting efficiency.

"We believe the combined company will be better positioned to compete and serve customers across a broad range of asset classes by uniting our global brands, expertise and infrastructure," said IntercontinentalExchange Chairman and CEO Jeffrey Sprecher. "With a track record of growth and returns, clearing and M&A integration, we are well positioned to transform our combined companies into a premier global exchange operator that remains a leader in market evolution."

Sprecher will keep his positions. Four members of the NYSE board will be added to IntercontinentalExchange's board, expanding it to 15 members.

NYSE Euronext Inc. shareholders can chose to receive either $33.12 in cash, .2581 IntercontinentalExchange Inc. shares, or a combination of $11.27 in cash plus .1703 shares of stock.

IntercontinentalExchange plans to fund the cash portion of the acquisition with a combination of cash and existing debt. It added that the addition of NYSE will help it cut costs and should boost its earnings by more than 15 percent in the first year after the deal closes.

The deal has been approved by the boards of both companies, but still needs the approvals by regulators and the shareholders of both companies. It's expected to close in the second half of next year.

Exchanges have repeatedly attempted to merge recently as competition intensifies and commissions decline.

Last year, IntercontinentalExchange and Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. made a failed $11 billion bid to buy NYSE Euronext.

Earlier this year, European regulators blocked Deutsche Boerse AG from buying NYSE Euronext.

Shares of NYSE jumped 40 percent in premarket trading to $33.75 and are headed for a new high for the year. Shares if ICE rose 5 percent, to $134.98.

Shares of both companies had been halted in premarket trading earlier Thursday.

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Virginia Tech Survivor Fights Back Against Guns

Colin Goddard knows what it's like to be in a classroom when an armed man bursts through the door and starts randomly shooting people. Goddard was a student at Virginia Tech when a gunman shot him and killed 32 people in the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history.

"It was the most terrifying nine minutes of my life," Goddard told Terry Moran of "Nightline" Wednesday.
"One moment you're conjugating French verbs, the next you're shot."

Four of Seung-Hui Cho's bullets hit Goddard April 16, 2007. Three of the bullets are still in him and serve as a constant reminder in his work with the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.

Goddard does more than just lobby and appear in public-service announcements. He says he goes undercover to show how easy it is to buy guns without any background check. It's the subject of his documentary called "Living for 32," after the 32 people who died at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg.

"There is not one thing that will stop all shootings," Goddard said. "
There's not one policy that will save us all, but a background check is something that will make it more difficult for dangerous people to get their hands on a gun."

School Shooting Survivor Documents Gun Law Fight Watch Video

Virginia Tech Documentary Debuts at Sundance Watch Video

In "Living for 32," Goddard says he was able to buy, for example, an Egyptian Maadi AK-47, a TEC-9 and a MAC-11 machine pistol at gun shows across the United States.

"I bought the same gun that was used to shoot me," he said. "I bought it all, all without a background check and it was all legal. My question is, 'Why is that legal?'"

Only licensed dealers are required by law to perform background checks on the people to whom they sell guns while private sellers can make gun-show sales with no background checks.

This is known as the "gun-show loophole" and Goddard has made it his mission to close it.

In one instance, Goddard was able to buy the Maadi Egyptian for $660 and was told by the dealer "there's no tax and no paperwork."

The dealer requested to see Goddard's Ohio driver's license. When Goddard couldn't provide it, he was still able to purchase the gun by providing an Ohio address instead.

"I didn't think I was going to be able to do it at first," he said. "And then once I did it once, then twice, then three times. I was like, 'Wow, this is really easy.'

"Toward the end I wasn't even thinking about it. I tried to do it as quickly as I could, say as few words as I could."

Polls show that a majority of Americans favor closing the loophole.

Goddard says closing the loophole won't end all gun violence, but that the government can do better.

The Brady Campaign recently launched a YouTube series, "We Are Better than This," in the wake of last week's shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. The videos feature celebrities and, perhaps more significantly, families of mass-shooting victims.

In the first three videos, Goddard appears, as do Lonnie and Sandy Phillips, whose daughter Jessica Redfield Ghawi, died in the Aurora, Colo., mass shooting in July.

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Arming teachers would halt massacres

William Bennett argues that schools would be safer with at least one armed person there who is well-trained in firearms use.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• William Bennett: Arming, training one person in a school could help prevent shootings


• He says armed people have stopped instances of mass killing


• Killers may target places where they know they can't be shot down, Bennett says


• Bennett: Guns help prevent crime and improve public safety

Editor's note: William J. Bennett, a CNN contributor, is the author of "The Book of Man: Readings on the Path to Manhood." He was U.S. secretary of education from 1985 to 1988 and director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy under President George H.W. Bush.

(CNN) -- On NBC's "Meet the Press" this past Sunday, I was asked how we can make our schools safer and prevent another massacre like Sandy Hook from happening again. I suggested that if one person in the school had been armed and trained to handle a firearm, it might have prevented or minimized the massacre.

"And I'm not so sure -- and I'm sure I'll get mail for this -- I'm not so sure I wouldn't want one person in a school armed, ready for this kind of thing," I said. "The principal lunged at this guy. The school psychologist lunged at the guy. Has to be someone who's trained. Has to be someone who's responsible."

William Bennett

Well, I sure did get mail. Many people agreed with me and sent me examples of their son or daughter's school that had armed security guards, police officers or school employees on the premises. Many others vehemently disagreed with me, and one dissenter even wrote that the blood of the Connecticut victims was ultimately on the hands of pro-gun rights advocates.

To that person I would ask: Suppose the principal at Sandy Hook Elementary who was killed lunging at the gunman was instead holding a firearm and was well trained to use it. Would the result have been different? Or suppose you had been in that school when the killer entered, would you have preferred to be armed?

Evidence and common sense suggest yes.

In 2007, a gunman entered New Life Church in Colorado Springs and shot and killed two girls. Jeanne Assam, a former police officer stationed as a volunteer security guard at the church, drew her firearm, shot and wounded the gunman before he could kill anyone else. The gunman then killed himself.

In 1997, high school student Luke Woodham stabbed his mother to death and then drove to Pearl High School in Pearl, Mississippi, and shot and killed two people. He then got back in his car to drive to Pearl Junior High to continue his killings, but Joel Myrick, the assistant principal, ran to his truck and grabbed his pistol, aimed it at Woodham and made him surrender.

These are but a few of many examples that the best deterrent of crime when it is occurring is effective self-defense. And the best self-defense against a gunman has proved to be a firearm.

LZ Granderson: Teachers with guns is a crazy idea

And yet, there is a near impenetrable belief among anti-gun activists that guns are the cause of violence and crime. Like Frodo's ring in "The Lord of The Rings," they believe that guns are agencies of corruption and corrupt the souls of whoever touches them. Therefore, more guns must lead to more crime.

But the evidence simply doesn't support that. Take the controversial concealed-carry permit issue, for example.

In a recent article for The Atlantic magazine, Jeffrey Goldberg, by no means an avowed gun-rights advocate, declared, "There is no proof to support the idea that concealed-carry permit holders create more violence in society than would otherwise occur; they may, in fact, reduce it."

Goldberg cites evidence from Adam Winkler, a law professor at UCLA, that concealed-carry permit holders actually commit crimes at a lower rate than the general population.

The General Accountability Office recently found that the number of concealed weapon permits in America has surged to approximately 8 million.

According to anti-gun advocates, such an increase in guns would cause a cause a corresponding increase in gun-related violence or crime. In fact, the opposite is true. The FBI reported this year that violent crime rates in the U.S. are reaching historic lows.

This comes in spite of the fact that the federal assault weapons ban expired in 2004. Supporters of the ban (not including anti-gun groups who thought it didn't go far enough in the first place) claimed that gun crime would skyrocket when the ban was lifted. That wasn't true at all.

In fact, after the expiration of the ban, The New York Times, whose editorial pages are now awash with calls for more gun restrictions, wrote in early 2005, "Despite dire predictions that America's streets would be awash in military-style guns, the expiration of the decade-long assault weapons ban in September has not set off a sustained surge in the weapons' sales, gun makers and sellers say. It also has not caused any noticeable increase in gun crime in the past seven months, according to several city police departments."

But let's take the issue one step further and examine places where all guns, regardless of make or type, are outlawed: gun-free zones. Are gun-free zones truly safe from guns?

John Lott, economist and gun-rights advocate, has extensively studied mass shootings and reports that, with just one exception, the attack on U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in Tucson, Arizona, in 2011, every public shooting since 1950 in the U.S. in which more than three people have been killed has taken place where citizens are not allowed to carry guns. The massacres at Sandy Hook Elementary, Columbine, Virginia Tech and the Century 16 movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, all took place in gun-free zones.

Do you own a gun that fell under the now-expired federal weapons ban?

These murderers, while deranged and deeply disturbed, are not dumb. They shoot up schools, universities, malls and public places where their victims cannot shoot back. Perhaps "gun-free zones" would be better named "defenseless victim zones."

To illustrate the absurdity of gun-free zones, Goldberg dug up the advice that gun-free universities offer to its students should a gunman open fire on campus. West Virginia University tells students to "act with physical aggression and throw items at the active shooter." These items could include "student desks, keys, shoes, belts, books, cell phones, iPods, book bags, laptops, pens, pencils, etc." Such "higher education" would be laughable if it weren't true and funded by taxpayer dollars.

Eliminating or restricting firearms for public self-defense doesn't make our citizens safer; it makes them targets. If we're going to have a national debate about guns, it should be acknowledged that guns, in the hands of qualified and trained individuals subject to background checks, prevent crime and improve public safety.

Follow @CNNOpinion on Twitter

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The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of William J. Bennett.

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Moon concedes S. Korea presidential election

SEOUL: Liberal candidate Moon Jae-In conceded victory Wednesday in South Korea's presidential election to conservative Park Geun-Hye, saying he "humbly" accepted the decision of the voters.

"Everyone did their best but I lacked the ability," Moon told reporters outside his Seoul residence. "I humbly accept the outcome of the election."

- AFP/ck

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Libya siege: Ambassador's last minutes

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens was killed in September of this year


• He was the first U.S. ambassador murdered since 1988


• Along with Stevens, three other Americans were killed

(CNN) -- They were hiding in a place security officers called a "safe area." It was anything but.

Outside an angry crowd grew, gunfire rang out and a fire blazed.

Thick smoke blinded the three trapped men. The intruders banged on the fortified safety gate of the bunker-like villa.

A security officer handed his cell phone to Ambassador Chris Stevens. Prepare for the mob to blast open the locks of the safety gate, the officer said.

Security blog: Benghazi review critical of State's diplomatic security

Attack on the U.S. Consulate in Libya

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It was a little before 10 at night on September 11, 2012. And time was running out for Stevens.

Vivid new details of the attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, were released Tuesday night by a federal committee trying to come to grips with the violence that led to the first murder of a U.S. ambassador since 1988 and the deaths of three other Americans.

The report spoke of grossly inadequate security, an issue that Stevens had complained about well before September 11.

Read more: nquiry cites 'failures' at State Department

The brief phone call

Instead of blasting their way into the villa, the crowd retreated for some reason. But the fire still blazed.

Stevens used the cell phone to try to alert others about the attack.

Struggling to see, choked by smoke, he dialed.

Read more: Benghazi problems suggest long list of changes

He may have wanted to tell embassy officials in Tripoli that he and the small security detail at that 13-acre compound were in big trouble.

They were outmanned, outgunned. The militants had doused a large area with diesel fuel and started a hideous fire.

He may have wanted to say that he was trapped in a building they called Villa C with a security officer, and Foreign Service Information Management Officer Sean Smith.

They had to flee to the villa after intruders stormed the walled-in consulate compound armed with machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades.

But in that 9:50 p.m. phone call, Stevens could only tell the U.S. deputy chief of the mission in Tripoli that they were under attack.

The call promptly dropped.

Warning signs

Though fierce and sudden, the attack may not have been surprising for some.

U.S. diplomats who worked in Libya, a country struggling to form a government after overthrowing longtime dictator Moammar Ghadafi, had repeatedly asked for more security.

American officials, for the most part, were well-received in Libya, where many locals were grateful for the help the United States provided in overthrowing Ghadafi.

But danger remained.

Read more: State Department: Clinton not dodging Benghazi hearings

There were still many Ghadafi loyalists, there was easy access to guns and the new fledgling government was having a difficult time maintaining security.

On June 1, a car bomb exploded outside a hotel in Tripoli where Stevens was staying.

Read more: Benghazi talking points omitted link to al Qaeda

The same month, Stevens had to move with his security team from the hotel because of a "credible' threat.

On June 6, a roadside bomb exploded near the U.S. compound in Benghazi, hurting no one but blasting a large hole in a wall of the compound.

The threats continued for U.S. officials and diplomats from other countries -- but security staffing remained unchanged.

The ambassador is missing

But now, there was no time to fret about woeful security.

Black smoke was filling up the safe area.

Stevens, Smith and the security officer crawled to a bathroom, hoping to open a window.

The security officer placed towels under the bathroom door and flung open the panes.

It made things worse.

The open window pulled more smoke into the bathroom, making breathing impossible.

Despite the explosions outside, they would have to flee the safe area, the officer thought. The smoke had choked out the lights. They were in total darkness.

The officer left the bathroom, crawled through a hallway, banging on the floor and yelling that the ambassador and Smith follow him.

He slipped though another window and collapsed in an enclosed patio area.

And then he noticed it.

Stevens and Smith were not there.

The officer slipped back through the window several times, even though the intruders were still shooting at him.

The smoke and heat was unbearable. He could not find either man.

He used a ladder to climb to the roof of the villa and radioed for help.

He had been in the smoky room for so long he could hardly speak. It took some time for the officers on the other end of the line to understand what he was saying.

He did not have Smith, he said. And the ambassador is missing.

The battle at the Annex

Three other security officers had barricaded themselves in another building when the siege began.

Once the first wave of attackers seemed to retreat, the officers got out of their "defensive" positions and drove an armored car to the villa. They found their colleague on the roof, vomiting, about to pass out.

The three officers crawled through the smoke inside.

Read more: Ex-CIA chief Petraeus testifies Benghazi attack was al Qaeda-linked terrorism

They found Smith. They dragged his body out. But they were too late.

A team, from a nearby U.S. facility called the Annex, arrived and helped search for Stevens. They could not find him.

Concerned that the large crowd of militants was about to overtake the entire compound, they decided to flee back to the Annex without Stevens.

Men in the crowd began shooting, the bullets almost piercing the armored vehicle and blowing out two of its tires.

They drove on. At least two vehicles followed them.

They made it to the Annex, preparing for another fight. It was about 11:30 at night.

Just before midnight, bullets began hitting the Annex. This started a gun battle that lasted for an hour.

Hours later, another wave of attacks hit the facility with mortars, killing security officers Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty.

Finding Stevens

Hours passed and no one knew where Stevens was.

About 2 a.m., the U.S. Embassy in Tripoli received a phone call.

It was from the cell phone of the security officer who had given his phone to Stevens.

The man on the line spoke Arabic, telling embassy officials that Stevens had been taken to a hospital in Benghazi.

Officials could not determine what hospital Stevens was taken to.

Some wondered if the phone call was a trick from militants who wanted to lure U.S. officers to their death.

A Libyan official was sent to Benghazi Medical Center. He said Stevens was there.

Hospital staff said six civilians brought Stevens to the emergency room about 1:15 a.m.

Even though the ambassador showed no signs of life, doctors worked to revive him for 45 minutes.

It was too late.

This narrative account was pieced together from a report released Tuesday night by the Accountability Review Board, an independent panel selected by the State Department.

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Australia a Model for Successful Gun Control?

If there is one country that best represents the possibility of cutting gun crime by increasing gun control, it is Australia.

In 1996, 28-year-old Martin Bryant finished his lunch in a café in the seaside resort of Port Arthur and pulled out a semi-automatic rifle. In the first 15 seconds of his attack, he killed 12 and wounded 10. In all, he shot more than 50 people in six locations, killing 35. The worst mass shooting in Australia's history capped a violent decade of mass shootings that killed nearly 100 – and Australians had had enough.

Only 12 days later, Prime Minister John Howard – a conservative who had just been elected with the help of gun owners – pushed through not only new gun control laws, but also the most ambitious gun buyback program seen in recent memory.

The laws banned assault rifles, tightened gun owner licensing, and created national uniform registration standards. Howard knew they might be unpopular among some of the same voters who helped put him into office -- during one particularly hostile public town hall, he wore a bulletproof vest.

But something extraordinary happened: the laws tapped into public revulsion at the shooting and became extremely popular. And they became extremely effective.

Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call/Getty Images

In the last 16 years, the risk of dying by gunshot in Australia has fallen by more than 50 percent. The national rate of gun homicide is one-thirtieth that of the United States. And there hasn't been a single mass shooting since Port Arthur.

"It's not that we are a less violent people and that you are a more violent people," says Philip Alpers, an adjunct associate professor at the University of Sydney who runs GunPolicy.org, which tracks gun violence and gun laws across the world. "It's that you have more lethal means at your disposal."

But it wasn't just the new laws that made Australia safer. The gun buyback program collected nearly 650,000 assault weapons and 50,000 additional weapons – about one sixth of the national stock. Fewer guns on the street helped severely reduce the likelihood that guns could be used for a mass shooting.

"Tens, if not hundreds of thousands of gun owners simply, voluntarily gave up guns that they did not need to give up," Alpers told ABC News. "You could not be a gun owner during that period and not feel terribly persecuted, terribly under threat from public opinion. The commentaries were vicious."

Gun advocates hold up Australia's example as a reason to try similar laws in the United States, following the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School. But Australians' willingness to give up their guns suggests a fundamental difference between Australia and the United States' gun cultures – and why Australia could be looked at for inspiration, rather than a model.

In the U.S., the founding fathers wrote gun ownership into the country's bedrock documents. Gun owners have long seen their weapons as a sign of freedom.

"But Australians are predisposed toward not having guns," Alpers argues. "We take it for granted that you license the gun owner and you register the firearm. Just as you do with a car. In the United States, everything went in the different direction."

So gun control advocates urge the Obama administration to look at certain steps Australia took – but not necessarily reproduce them.

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