Newtown Victims' Families Join Gun-Control Activists on DC March

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Near-freezing temperatures didn't stop several thousand gun-control activists from bearing their pickets today, carrying signs emblazoned with "Ban Assault Weapons Now" and the names of gun violence victims in a demonstration organized as a response to the mass shooting in Newtown, Conn. last month.

Walking in silence, the demonstrators trudged between Capitol Hill and the Washington Monument over a thin layer of melting snow. They were joined by politicians and some families of the Newtown victims.

March organizer Shannon Watts said the event was for the "families who lost the lights of their lives in Newtown, daughters and sons, wives and mothers, grandchildren, sisters and brothers gone in an unfathomable instant."

"Let's stand together and use our voices, use our votes to let legislators know that we won't stand down until they enact common sense gun control laws that will keep our children out of the line of fire," she told demonstrators.

Watts founded One Million Moms for Gun Control after the killing of 20 first graders and six adults at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown in December. In a profile with the New York Times, Watts said her 12-year-old son had suffered panic attacks after learning of last summer's Aurora, Colo., theater shooting, leaving her at an impasse over how to talk to him about the latest tragedy.

Also among the speakers was a survivor of the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre, Collin Goddard.

"We need to challenge any politician who thinks it's easier to ask an elementary school teacher to stand up to a gunman with an AR-15 than it is to ask them to stand up to a gun lobbyist with a checkbook," he said.

The demonstration comes amid a push by progressive lawmakers to enact stricter gun control measures as a response to the trend of recent mass killings, although any hypothetical bill would likely face strong opposition in Congress.

Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., was among the demonstrators today.

"The idea that people need high-capacity magazines that can fire 30, 50, 100 rounds has no place in a civilized society," he said. "Between the time we're gathered here right now and this time of day tomorrow, across America, 282 Americans will have been shot."

The congressman was quoting statistics compiled by the Brady Campaign to Stop Gun Violence.

INFOGRAPHIC: Guns by the Numbers

Last week President Obama proposed a sweeping overhaul of federal measures regulating gun ownership, including a universal background check system for sales, banning assault weapons, and curbing the amount of ammunition available in weapon clips.

An ABC News/Washington Post poll released Thursday found 53 percent of Americans viewed Obama's gun control plan favorably, 41 percent unfavorably. The division was visible today, as a handful of gun-rights advocates also turned out on the National Mall to protest what they believe would be infringements on their Second Amendment liberties.

ABC's Joanne Fuchs contributed to this report.

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/newtown-victims-families-join-gun-control-activists-dc-215945128--abc-news-politics.html

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Just 78 Days Later, the House Passes $50.7 Billion Sandy Relief Bill

After a few stumbles and a lot of arguing, the House of Representatives approved $50.7 billion in emergency aid to areas?decimated?by Hurricane Sandy on Monday night. The winning side of the 241 to 180 vote included nearly all of the House Democrats and 49 Republicans, many of whom represent the damaged areas. The final package actually made it through in two separate pieces, though: the initial bill that includes $17 billion in immediate aid and an amendment with $33.6 billion in longer-term funding. (As The Washington Post's Rosalind Helderman explains, "Splitting the bill into two pieces allowed Republicans who wanted to provide immediate help to be able to withhold their votes from the long-term effort.") It's not the perfect outcome for New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, a Republican, and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, who requested nearly $80 billion in aid, but it's better than nothing. And it only took Congress 78 days since the disaster to get it done!

RELATED: Why Boehner Delayed the Sandy Bill

This could've been settled two weeks ago, when many New York and New Jersey lawmakers thought they would be voting on a Sandy relief package. However, without warning or explanation, House Speaker John Boehner delayed the vote?which was expected to take place after the fiscal cliff vote?, drawing ire from both sides of the aisle. At that point in time, action was already well overdue. It took Congress 31 days to approve aid after Hurricane Andrew and just 10 days to approve relief for Hurricane Katrina victims.

RELATED: The GOP and New York's Money: A Love Story

Christie, for one, was?characteristically vocal about his disapproval. "There is only one group to blame," said Christie at a press conference after the vote was delayed. "The House majority and their Speaker, John Boehner. ??Shame on you, shame on Congress." After the backlash, Boehner promised to make Sandy relief "the first priority" of the next Congress. It later emerged that Boehner was afraid of an "insurrection" forming around him immediately after the fiscal cliff crisis. "After this mess, I just can't do it tonight," he told former Rep.?Steve LaTourette at the time.

RELATED: Why the House GOP Left the Hurricane Sandy Relief Bill Out in the Cold

It could've been much worse for Hurricane Sandy victims, though. The disaster did happen a while ago, and it did take Congress quite a lot of heel-dragging to make it to Tuesday night's vote. But at least they made it. There was plenty of speculation before he scheduled the vote last week that Boehner would invoke the so-called "Hastert Rule," which requires a majority of the majority to agree to a measure before it comes up for a vote on the floor. Boehner ignored the rule and scheduled the vote anyways.?

RELATED: Cellphone Companies Are Ignoring the Rules of Natural Disaster

From here, the bill heads to the Democrat-controlled Senate which is expected to pass the bill and then on to Obama who is expected to sign it. Certain controversial measures like an amendment that would've offset the cost of the package by cutting every federal agency budget by 1.63 percent. Even some Republicans agreed that this is money well spent, though. In the words of House Appropriations Committee Chairman Harold Rogers, a Kentucky Republican, said it best when convincing his colleagues to throw their support behind the package: "At times, the spending of federal dollars is indeed necessary.?Natural disasters hit unexpectedly, and sometimes require a response that we cannot foresee."?

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/just-78-days-later-house-passes-50-7-022052516.html

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Former Costa Concordia captain: 'I regret nothing'

The Costa Concordia remains partially submerged off the Italian coast, serving as a memorial one year after its tragic accident. NBC's Michelle Kosinski reports.

By Michelle Kosinski, Correspondent, NBC News

NAPLES, Italy -- The former captain of the Costa Concordia cruise liner says he understands why some people "hate" him, but has no regrets about his actions in the aftermath of the shipwreck that left 32 people dead.

Francesco Schettino did not attend the unveiling of memorials in Giglio, Italy, over the weekend as survivors and victims' families marked the one-year anniversary of the accident. Instead, the luxury cruise liner?s former captain was at his home near Naples, where he lives under some court restrictions.

Accused of multiple manslaughter, causing the wreck and abandoning ship, Schettino told NBC News the toughest part of the aftermath of the crash was that people think he did not try to help the situation after he took the ship off course during a sail-by salute of the coast.

?Everybody believes that I was escaping from the sinking ship,? he said. However, Schettino contended he ?tried to make an effort to make sure that I was the last one to leave the ship???from the sinking side."

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Schettino, who described himself as a strict captain, insisted that other people should share the blame for the accident.

He said Costa Cruises told him before the wreck that he needed to share some authority with his well-qualified, lower-ranking officers who felt he was "breathing too much down their necks."?

Gregorio Borgia / AP file

Francesco Schettino, former captain of the Costa Concordia, says he appreciated having the opportunity to share his side of the story with a survivor of the crash.

"And unfortunately I was relying, in the last three minutes, on an officer, when all of a sudden he was handing me the control of the ship without giving me distance???nothing," Schettino said.

That, he said, was when he noticed foam on the water???a sign of shallow water or something jutting from the surface.?

"I regret that I was trusting (that officer).? I was trusting him before the accident, and also after the accident.? And I have been living with these things inside me.? I will never trust anyone anymore because this was a very deadly mistake," he said.

Schettino claimed he had no way to tell how many people were still on board when he left the vessel.

"People don't understand that the ship is 58 meters (nearly 200 feet) wide, so you don't have a chance to see who else is left on the other side.? And in the moment the floor started to become steeper, you have no other option: To die, or to swim," he said.??So, I regret nothing."

Schettino said he understood why people "hate" him?? but added he did not think he deserved this.

"If you lose your child -- or any member of your family because of an accident -- you start to learn to live with this kind of pain that you have inside you.? But if you are not able to find a reason because you just believe you lost that person because of the stupidity or arrogance of somebody else, it is more difficult not to start to hate people," he said.

?I will do my best to relay the reasons why this tragedy took place, in a way that is very well represented, very well analyzed, simply because I don't like that people may potentially hate me,? he said.

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The Costa Concordia, carrying more than 4,200 passengers, ran aground Jan. 13 off the coast of Italy killing 32 people - including two Americans.

He said he appreciated the chance to share his perspective of the crash with a survivor.

"It was a great pleasure speaking with that person???they fully understand me now. ... It would have given me great pleasure to meet the others,? he said, adding that he would wait, let the truth to come out and allow time for people to absorb it.

?I am close to anybody in this, and I join my pain to their pain, even if there is a difference,? he said.??I have the pain of a person who is responsible for the cruise ship and I have never denied that. Never."

Related stories:
High-seas safety in spotlight after deadly Concordia crash
A year after Costa Concordia disaster, emotions resurface
Engineers still ponder how to salvage Costa Concordia wreck

Source: http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/01/16/16531308-former-costa-concordia-captain-i-regret-nothing?lite

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