New Storm Hits Sandy's Impact Zone; Dow's Biggest Plunge This Year; Pro Sports: No Changes on Pot
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Happy birthday to Richard Socarides in our last moment.</s>RICHARD SOCARIDES, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Thank you.</s>O'BRIEN: Carol Costello now with "CNN NEWSROOM." Hey, Carol. Good morning.</s>CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: God morning. And happy birthday. Thanks so much. Stories we're watching right now in the NEWSROOM, a new wave of misery in the northeast. First hurricane force winds and floods, now snow.</s>GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), NEW JERSEY: Finally got that final kind of forecast that I got last night, I said, I'm waiting for the locust and pestilence next. You know?</s>COOPER: Could be at this rate. We'll take off the coast. The big selloff. The morning-after when markets open minutes from now. Will Wall Street bounce back from its worst day in a year? Then after one of the nastiest elections ever, can President Obama romance Republicans? Or are we destined for that fiscal cliff? And got a joint? That phrase may not get you busted in two states. Pot is about to be legal, but don't light up just yet. NEWSROOM starts now. Good morning. Thank you so much for being with me. I'm Carol Costello. This hour, superstorm Sandy has a cold, cruel, cousin following in its footsteps. This is the -- this new storm is lashing the northeast with snow, rains and wind and hitting the very same areas struggling to recover from last week's devastation. Up to eight inches of snow in some areas and power outages from Delaware to Maine. The nor'easter is chewing into the coastline, and leaving hundreds of thousands without electricity and heat. CNN meteorologist Rob Marciano is on New York's Staten Island, one of the hardest-hit areas from Sandy, where residents now face a whole new set of problems. I just can't imagine the misery there, Rob.</s>ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: No. And you know, the people that live here, just trying to survive here, they couldn't believe what was happening last night as well. Snow is coming down, much more than we anticipated, as a matter of fact. We got probably four or five inches of it. The sun is trying to break through. So the snow is done. That's good. But, you know, at this time during Sandy, the water was up and over my shoulders. So homes like this off their foundation if -- if their home was still standing, the bottom floor is completely gutted and it brought in actually dumpsters just to get rid of some of the stuff that's so badly damaged. This street is just an absolute mess. Our satellite truck actually pumping some power into the Cameradas home who live here. Yesterday we caught up with Nick and Diane, and they kind go explain to me and our viewers exactly what they're dealing with and what they've gone through. Both physically and emotionally this week.</s>NICK CAMERADA, STORM SURVIVOR: I went through the most pain that I ever went through in my whole life, from being electrocuted, trying to get back into my house, to watching -- all my possessions and my family practically almost dying.</s>DIANE CAMERADA, STORM SURVIVOR: And this has been a week from hell. I mean, you know, I'm grateful that I have my family.</s>MARCIANO: I mean, they are just trying so hard to be positive but it's just very, very difficult. Both their vehicles were swept down the block. They're borrowing one from their neighbors. Update, they managed to sleep and survive the night last night. We talked to them this morning. But it was a cold one, Carol, even inside the house. Temperatures were below 40 degrees. So they're hoping this melts, we'll get warmer temperatures in here. But it has been a long almost week and a half now since Sandy came through. And this is not what -- at all what they needed for sure. Back to you.</s>COSTELLO: You're not kidding. So brutal. Rob Marciano, thanks so much. Across much of the region there are angry questions about whether poor people are being largely ignored while utility crews focus on wealthier neighborhoods. Here's an example for you in Brooklyn. Most of the 6,000 residents of a housing project in Red Hook still without heat, water and electricity. More than one week after superstorm Sandy hit. They say power has already been restored, though, to newer, trendier neighborhoods not far from them. And they say right now all they have is each other.</s>TONI JONES JAMES, RED HOOK RESIDENT: Everybody just sticking together and everybody trying to do the best that they can. But we need help here in Red Hook, especially in the towers. You have shut ins. You have people that can't go to the bathroom, they can't wash themselves and it -- it's just so -- it's emotional for me to be right here. But it's all I have.</s>COSTELLO: For residents of this building and many others, hallway lighting is now a series of tea lights lining the corridor. And before bed residents dress in several layers of clothing just to stay warm as the temperatures inside continue to drop. We are just minutes away from the Opening Bell on Wall Street. Investors will weigh in on the biggest selloff in a year. The Dow closed down more than 300 points. And many of those same factors, concerns about the fiscal cliff will be in play again today. CNN's Christine Romans is in New York. Things looking better this morning?</s>CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: They are looking a little better this morning. We have futures up. And Dow futures are up about 40 points. So that's telling you that at least now investors don't think they need to pile on to the sales that they saw yesterday in the stock market and that also might be because you're starting to hear signs from Democrats and Republicans that, as Harry Reid says, we don't want to fight. We want to dance. It's more fun to dance than fight. So we'll see if they can get some progress on the fiscal cliff. Yesterday the biggest selloff for the Dow Jones Industrial Average in a year, more than 300 points down. And Carol, when you look within the sectors. There are certain sectors in the market that were moving probably in reaction to the presidential election. What do I mean? Banks were down sharply. Remember the president has promised tighter regulation of banks. And they've been fighting against it and hoping for a Republican presidency. Insurers were down because insurance stocks are thinking well now Obamacare is set in stone. It is real and it's going to happen. Coal stocks were down. For-profit education stocks were down and so were dividend-paying stocks. And as you know for some wealthier investors the president really wants to raise taxes on investment income, so that could hit those stocks there. Also hospital stocks moved higher. And again it's that notion that now that the Supreme Court has spoken and, in fact, you have two terms of an Obama presidency, Obamacare is set in stone. Hospital stocks moved higher. As I said it wasn't just a re-election selloff by any stretch of the imagination. It was Europe's financial crisis. We heard pessimistic words out of Europe. That was a big part of it. Actually started the selling. Fiscal cliff and the debt ceiling, Carol. The debt ceiling which of course gave birth to the dreaded fiscal cliff, we are going to be running up against the debt ceiling again in just a matter of weeks -- Carol.</s>COSTELLO: That just makes my whole body hurts. I think my brain explode.</s>ROMANS: Let's just dance and not fight.</s>COSTELLO: It is much more fun to dance. Isn't it? Well, see what happens. We'll see if they can dance together as Democrats and Republicans. Christine Romans, live from New York for us this morning. Today the man who plead guilty to trying to kill former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords will be sentenced and for the first time Giffords herself will come face-to-face with her attempted murderer. Back in January of 2011 federal prosecutors say Jared Lochner opened fire during a meet and greet in Tucson, Arizona. Six people were killed, 13 injured including of course Giffords. After a judge ruled Lochner was competent to stand trial, he wish to a plea deal with prosecutors In exchange for not receiving the death penalty. Giffords who did vote on election day, there you see here. She'll not speak today in court today but her -- but her husband Mark Kelly will as will the woman who grabbed the gun from Lochner during the shooting.</s>PATRICIA MAISON, SHOOTING WITNESS: I just have to shake my head. I don't think you can words that can have a strong enough meaning, so I don't have any specific words for him.</s>COSTELLO: Giffords resigned from Congress in January to focus on her recovery. He husband said they are both satisfied with the plea deal. The California filmmaker behind an anti-Muslim that sparked riots across the Middle East is returning to prison. Mark Yuseff will spend one year behind bars for violating his probation by a bank fraud case. He used several fake names including one while shooting the "Innocence of Muslims." That's so called film upset Muslims for depicting the Prophet Muhammad as a killer and child molester. America made its choice on Tuesday, electing Barack Obama, but one young mother in Kenya is having it both ways. She's named her newborn twins Barack Obama and Mitt Romney.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (Through Translator): I gave birth to twins and I decided to name them after Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. I named the first one Barack and the second one Mitt just like and Romney in the U.S. election.</s>COSTELLO: We can only hope Congress can show such bipartisan love. And they will soon get their chance. Dan Lothian at the White House. Dan, I understand -- isn't that cute? How could I follow that, huh?</s>COSTELLO: I don't know. I just got to feel sorry for the newborn named Mitt because of course he lost the election, but maybe that won't resonate in Kenya. Let's hope so.</s>DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Exactly, exactly.</s>COSTELLO: So but Mitt is an honorable, in Kenya, let's hope so.</s>LOTHIAN: Exactly. Exactly.</s>COSTELLO: So but Mitt is an honorable man. I'm not saying I take that against Mitt Romney the person. Let's talk about the president, though. He's already I'm some overtures to Republicans, what can you tell us.</s>LOTHIAN: That's right. Not just Republicans but Democrats as well. The president reaching out to Speaker Boehner by phone. Also Mitch McConnell in the Senate. And to Democratic leadership. The president telling them that he's committed to finding a bipartisan solution to some of the tough projects such as cutting taxes for middle class Americans, creating jobs. What's unclear at this point is what else would the president do beyond making phone calls? Will he be inviting the leadership here into the White House? Will they be having retreats elsewhere? What is clear is that already up on Capitol Hill, the leadership is wanting to get things done.</s>REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R), HOUSE SPEAKER: There's an alternative to going over the fiscal cliff by working together and creating a fair, simpler cleaner tax code, we can give our country a stronger, healthier economy. A stronger economy means more revenue, which is what the president seeks.</s>SEN. HARRY REID (D), MAJORITY LEADER: This isn't something that I'm going to draw the lines in the sand, he's not going to draw any lines in the sand. I don't believe. And I think we need to work together.</s>LOTHIAN: The president said that he believes the message Americans sent in the election is that they want members of Congress, both parties, to put aside their differences, to find areas of common ground. Of course, that's easier said than done. So we'll wait to see if the president can deliver on that, carol.</s>COSTELLO: OK. So should we expect a news conference soon with both the president and maybe -- oh, a Republican like John Boehner?</s>LOTHIAN: You know, we're -- we've been asking whether or not there will be a press conference happening any time soon. So far, no confirmation of that. But you look back over history. Former President Bush had a press conference about two days after he was re- elected, former President Bill Clinton had a press conference about three days after he was re-elected. So if history is repeated here, we expect that the president would, indeed, have a press conference some time soon but the White House not confirming that yet.</s>COSTELLO: All right. Dan Lothian, reporting live from the White House. In the wake of his re-election, we're learning of another milestone for President Obama. He now holds the record for the most popular tweet ever. He took the title from none other than Justin Bieber. President Obama posted this photo on Twitter and Facebook Tuesday night when his victory was certain. Now this image is the most retweeted and liked fophoto in social media history media history. More than 784,000 re-tweets on twitter and nearly four million likes on on Facebook. Voters in two states say yes to pot. Marijuana is about to be legal in Colorado. Or is it? Does that mean you can light up on a park bench and nobody will bother you? We'll have answers for you.