Sandy Hook Parents Cope With Students' Return

Sandy Hook parents put their children on school buses this morning and waved goodbye as the yellow bus rolled away, but this first day back since the pre-Christmas massacre is anything but normal for the families of Sandy Hook Elementary School.

Erin Milgram, the mother of a first grader and a fourth grader at Sandy Hook, told "Good Morning America" that she was going to drive behind the bus and stay with her 7-year-old Lauren for the entire school day.

"I haven't gotten that far yet, about not being with them," Milgram said. "I just need to stay with them for a while."

Today is "Opening Day" for Sandy Hook Elementary School, which is re-opening about six miles away in the former Chalk Hill school in Monroe, Conn.

Lauren was in teacher Kaitlin Roig's first grade class on Dec. 14 when gunman Adam Lanza forced his way into the school and killed 20 students and six staffers.

Roig has been hailed a hero for barricading her students in a classroom bathroom and refusing to open the door until authorities could find a key to open the door.

The 20 students killed were first-graders and the Milgrams have struggled to explain to Lauren why so many of her friends will never return to school.

"She knows her friends and she'll also see on the bus... there will be some missing on the bus," Milgram said. "We look at yearbook pictures. We try to focus on the happy times because we really don't know what we're doing."

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"How could someone be so angry?" Lauren's father Eric Milgram wondered before a long pause. "We don't know."

The school has a lecture room available for parents to stay as long as they wish and they are also allowed to accompany their children to the classroom to help them adjust. Counselors will be available throughout the day for parents, staff and students, according to the school's website.

The first few days will be a delicate balancing act between assessing the children's needs and trying to get them back to a normal routine.

"We don't want to avoid memories of a trauma," Dr. Jamie Howard told "Good Morning America." "And so by getting back to school and by engaging in your routines, we're helping kids to do that, we're helping them to have a natural, healthy recovery to a trauma."

Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy announced at a news conference today that he has created a 15-member Sandy Hook Advisory Commission, which will be led by Hamden Mayor Scott Jackson. The commission will review gun control laws and regulations, school safety and mental health issues.

"It would be stupid for us not to have this conversation," Malloy said, speaking from the State Capitol in Hartford.

Security is paramount in everyone's mind. There is a police presence on campus and drivers of every vehicle that comes onto campus are being interviewed.

"Our goal is to make it a safe and secure learning environment for these kids to return to, and the teachers also," Monroe police Lt. Keith White said at a news conference on Wednesday.

A "state-of-the-art" security system is in place, but authorities will not go into detail about the system saying only that the school will probably be "the safest school in America."

White said at a news conference today that the security presence would be evaluated on a day-by-day and week-by-week basis moving forward.

"We are trying to keep a balance," he said. "We don't want them [the students] to think that this is a police state. This is a school and a school first."

Every adult in the school who is not immediately recognizable will be required to wear a badge as identification, parent and school volunteer Karen Dryer told ABCNews.com.

"They want to know exactly who you are at sight, whether or not you should be there," Dryer said.

Despite the precautions and preparations, parents will still be coping with the anxiety of parting with their children.

"Rationally, something like this is a very improbable event, but that still doesn't change the emotional side of the way you feel," Eric Milgram said.

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Syria rebels in push to capture air base

AZAZ, Syria (Reuters) - Rebels battled on Thursday to seize an air base in northern Syria, part of a campaign to fight back against the air power that has given President Bashar al-Assad's forces free rein to bomb rebel-held towns.

More than 60,000 people have been killed in the 21-month-old uprising and civil war, the United Nations said this week, sharply raising the death toll estimate in a conflict that shows no sign of ending.

After dramatic advances over the second half of 2012, the rebels now hold wide swathes of territory in the north and east, but are limited in exerting control because they cannot protect towns and villages from Assad's helicopters and jets.

Hundreds of fighters from rebel groups were attempting to storm the Taftanaz air base, near the northern highway that links Syria's two main cities, Aleppo and the capital Damascus.

Rebels have been besieging air bases across the north in recent weeks, in the hope this will reduce the government's power to carry out air strikes and resupply loyalist-held areas.

A rebel fighter speaking from near the Taftanaz base overnight said the base's main sections were still in loyalist hands but insurgents had managed to infiltrate and destroy a helicopter and a fighter jet on the ground.

The northern rebel Idlib Coordination Committee said the rebels had detonated a car bomb inside the base.

The government's SANA news agency said the base had not fallen and that the military had "strongly confronted an attempt by the terrorists to attack the airport from several axes, inflicting heavy losses among them and destroying their weapons and munitions".

Rami Abdulrahman, head of the opposition-aligned Syrian Observatory for Human Rights which monitors the conflict from Britain, said as many as 800 fighters were involved in the assault, including Islamists from Jabhat al-Nusra, a powerful group that Washington considers terrorists.

Taftanaz is mainly a helicopter base, used for missions to resupply army positions in the north, many of which are cut off by road because of rebel gains, as well as for dropping crude "barrel bombs" of explosives on rebel-controlled areas.

"WHAT IS THE FAULT OF THE CHILDREN?"

Near Minakh, another northern air base that rebels have surrounded, government forces have retaliated by regularly shelling and bombing nearby towns.

In the town of Azaz, where the bombardment has become a near nightly occurrence, shells hit a family house overnight. Zeinab Hammadi said her two wounded daughters, aged 10 and 12, had been rushed across the border to Turkey, one with her brain exposed.

"We were sleeping and it just landed on us in the blink of an eye," she said, weeping as she surveyed the damage.

Family members tried to salvage possessions from the wreckage, men lifting out furniture and children carrying out their belongings in tubs.

"He (Assad) wants revenge against the people," said Abu Hassan, 33, working at a garage near the destroyed house. "What is the fault of the children? Are they the ones fighting?"

Opposition activists said warplanes struck a residential building in another rebel-held northern town, Hayyan, killing at least eight civilians.

Video footage showed men carrying dismembered bodies of children and dozens of people searching for victims in the rubble of the destroyed building, shouting "God is greatest". The provenance of the video could not be independently confirmed.

In addition to their tenuous grip on the north, the rebels also hold a crescent of suburbs on the edge of Damascus, which have come under bombardment by government forces that control the center of the capital.

On Wednesday, according to opposition activists, dozens of people were incinerated in an inferno caused by an air strike on a petrol station in a Damascus suburb where residents were lining up for precious fuel.

The civil war in Syria has become the longest and bloodiest of the conflicts that rose out of uprisings across the Arab world in the past two years.

Assad's family has ruled for 42 years since his father seized power in a coup. The war pits rebels, mainly from the Sunni Muslim majority, against a government supported by members of Assad's Shi'ite-derived Alawite minority sect and some members of other minorities who fear revenge if he falls.

The West, most Sunni-ruled Arab states and Turkey have called for Assad to leave power. He is supported by Russia and Shi'ite Iran.

(Additional reporting by Khaled Yacoub Oweis in Amman and Dominic Evans in Beirut; Writing by Peter Graff; Editing by Ruth Pitchford)

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US shooting relatives blast theatre offer

LOS ANGELES: Relatives of victims massacred by a gunman in a Colorado movie theatre criticised Wednesday an invitation to its re-opening as a "ridiculously offensive" publicity ploy.

Family members of nine of the 12 people who died in Aurora, outside Denver in July said the invitation's timing was particularly painful over the Christmas holiday, and called for others to boycott the "special evening of remembrance."

"During the holiday we didn't think anyone or anything could make our grief worse," they wrote in a letter to movie theatre chain Cinemark.

"But you, Cinemark, have managed to do just that by sending us an invitation two days after Christmas inviting us to attend the re-opening of your theatre in Aurora where our loved ones were massacred.

"Thanks for making what is a very difficult holiday season that much more difficult. Timing is everything and yours is awful."

As well as those killed, 58 people were wounded at a midnight premiere of the Batman movie "The Dark Knight Rises." Alleged gunman James Holmes, 24, reportedly wore body armour and threw smoke bombs before opening fire.

The massacre revived the perennial debate about US gun control laws, triggered again by the killing of 26 people including 20 young children at a Connecticut elementary school last month.

Wednesday's letter by Aurora victims' relatives said Cinemark -- which is facing a number of lawsuits from relatives and survivors alleging lax security -- had never reached out to the families to offer condolences.

"This disgusting offer that you'd 'like to invite you and a guest to a special evening of remembrance on Thursday, January 17 at 5 PM' followed by the showing of a movie and then telling us to be sure 'to reserve our tickets' is wholly offensive to the memory of our loved ones.

"Our family members will never be on this earth with us again and a movie ticket and some token words from people who didn't care enough to reach out to us, nor respond when we reached out to them to talk, is appalling."

They added: "We, the families, recognise your thinly veiled publicity ploy for what it is: a great opportunity for you to distance yourselves and divert public scrutiny from your culpability in this massacre.

"After reading our response to your ridiculously offensive invitation, you now know why we will not be attending your re-opening celebration and will be using every social media tool at our disposal to ask the other victims to ask their friends and family to honour us by boycotting the killing field of our children."

There was no immediate response from the theatre chain.

- AFP/jc

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Records made of ice, cool again

The new single by Shout Out Louds is too cool for school

(Credit:
Co.Design)

You don't have to the Audiophiliac (CNET's resident hi-fi guru Steve Guttenberg) to know that vinyl is cool again, but one band has taken this idea to its extreme.

Swedish indie band Shout Out Louds has announced the first ten copies of its new single "Blue Ice" will be made out of, appropriately, ice.

The band, with the help of the TBWA ad agency, created a silicon mold from which the listener could freeze their own 7-inch single. Apparently normal tap water resulted in air bubbles and other contaminants that could make the needle skip out of the groove, so the band includes a bottle of distilled water in the package.

"The concept isn't that complicated, since the song is about fading love", said TBWA art director Alex Fredlund, according to website Co.Design.

The band says that the record should last long enough to play through without melting but does offer to repair or replace the player if it becomes damaged through normal use. Just don't expect them to replace your $80,000 DaVinci Monument AAS Gabriel turntable.

Unfortunately, these 10 records won't appear in shops, but you should be able to find the new-wave-loving Swedes' new album Optica locally in February.

Via Co.Design

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Sandy Hook survivors welcomed at new school

A man waves to a child on a bus on the first day of classes after the holiday break, in Newtown, Conn.,Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2013. / AP Photo/Jessica Hill

Updated 1:21 p.m. ET

MONROE, Conn. The children who escaped last month's shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown were welcomed Wednesday to a school in a neighboring town that was overhauled specially for them.

Play Video

Orientation day for Sandy Hook students

Play Video

Heroism of Sandy Hook teachers

The open house at the former Chalk Hill School in Monroe marks the students' first time in a formal classroom setting since the massacre on Dec. 14, when a gunman killed 20 of their fellow classmates and six educators. Classes are starting for the Sandy Hook students on Thursday.

The road leading to the school in a rural, largely residential neighborhood was lined with signs greeting the students, saying "Welcome Sandy Hook Elementary School" and "Welcome. You are in our prayers." Several police cars were parked outside the school.

Teams of workers, many of them volunteers, prepared the former Chalk Hill middle school with fresh paint and new furniture and even raised bathroom floors so the smaller elementary school students can reach the toilets. The students' desks, backpacks and other belongings that were left behind following the shooting were taken to the new school to make them feel at home. Superintendent Janet Robinson said the rooms may not look exactly the same, but the school has been renamed Sandy Hook Elemntary.

Monroe police officers said at a press conference Wednesday it was "the safest school" in the country.

Counselors say it's important for children to get back to a normal routine and for teachers and parents to offer sensitive reassurances.

When classes start on Thursday, Robinson said teachers will try to make it as normal a school day as possible for the children.

"We want to get back to teaching and learning," she said. "We will obviously take time out from the academics for any conversations that need to take place, and there will be a lot of support there. All in all, we want the kids to reconnect with their friends and classroom teachers, and I think that's going to be the healthiest thing."

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Christie Calls Boehner's Sandy Decision 'Disgusting'

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said today that it was "disgusting" that the House adjourned without voting on a $60 billion relief package for the victims of superstorm Sandy and put the blame squarely on a fellow Republican -- House Speaker John Boehner.

Christie, who is considered a possible Republican presidential candidate four years from now, said there was "only one group to blame, the Republican Party and Speaker Boehner."

The blunt talking New Jersey governor joined a chorus of Republicans from New York and New Jersey fuming over his decision to pull the bill at the last minute.

Christie in an angry news conference decried the "selfishness and duplicity," the "palace intrigue," "the callous indifference to the people of our state."

"Unfortunately people are putting politics ahead of their responsibilities... You do the right thing. Enough with all the politics," he said.

Christie said that when it comes to natural disasters, "We respond as Americans, at least we did until last night... it was disgusting to watch."

"In our hour of desperate need, we've been left waiting for help six times longer than the victims of Katrina with no end in sight," said Christie. "Sixty-six days and counting, shame on you. Shame on Congress."

The governor said his four calls to Boehner Tuesday night went unanswered, but he said he spoke to the House speaker today. Christie would not disclose any details of the conversation, but clearly his anger over the no-vote was not mollified.

Following Christie's press conference Republican representatives from New York and New Jersey announced that the speaker promised a vote on the bill on Jan. 15.

Rep. Peter King Blasts Speaker Boehner on House Floor Watch Video

Boos as House Adjourns Without Hurricane Sandy Relief Watch Video

'Fiscal Cliff' Deal Passes House Despite GOP Holdouts Watch Video

Lawmakers were initally told by Boehner, R-Ohio, that the relief bill would get a vote on Tuesday night following an eleventh hour vote on the fiscal cliff bill. But in an unexpected switch, Boehner refused to put the relief bill to a vote, leading to lawmakers from parties yelling on the floor of the House.

Congress historically has responded to natural disasters by promptly funding relief efforts. It took just 11 days to pass a relief package for victims of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The Senate already passed its version of the bill that would replenish an emergency fund set to run out of cash next week and which will help repair subways and tunnels in New York City and rebuild parts of the New Jersey shore devastated by superstorm Sandy.

Time is particularly pressing, given that a new Congress will be sworn in Thursday. The Senate will therefore have to vote on the bill again before it comes to the House, which could be as late as February or March.

"This was a betrayal," Rep. Michael Grimm, R-N.Y., told ABC News.com. "It's just reprehensible. It's an indefensible error in judgment not have given relief to these people that are so devastated."

Rep. Peter King, R- N.Y., took the floor of the House and to the airwaves and aimed his outrage squarely at Boehner, accusing him plunging "a cruel knife in the back" of storm-ravaged residents "who don't have shelter, don't have food," he said during a House session this morning.

"This is not the United States. This should not be the Republican Party. This shouldn't not be the Republican leadership," King said on the floor of the House.

He made no attempt to hide his anger, suggesting that residents in New York and New Jersey should stop sending money to Republicans and even questioning whether he could remain a member of the party.

"Anyone who donates one cent to the Republican Congressional Campaign Committee should have their head examined," King, a staunch conservative and Republican congressman for 10 years, told CNN.

"They have written off New York and New Jersey. They've written me off…. Party loyalty, I'm over that. When your people are literally freezing in the winter… Then why should I help the Republican Party?" he added.

He said that Boehner refused to talk to Republican members from New York and New Jersey when they tried to ask him about the vote Tuesday night.

"He just decided to sneak off in the dark of night," King said.

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Central African Republic rebels halt advance, agree to peace talks

DAMARA, Central African Republic (Reuters) - Rebels in Central African Republic said they had halted their advance on the capital on Wednesday and agreed to start peace talks, averting a clash with regionally backed troops.

The Seleka rebels had pushed to within striking distance of Bangui after a three-week onslaught and threatened to oust President Francois Bozize, accusing him of reneging on a previous peace deal and cracking down on dissidents.

Their announcement on Wednesday gave the leader only a limited reprieve as the fighters told Reuters they might insist on his removal in the negotiations.

"I have asked our forces not to move their positions starting today because we want to enter talks in (Gabon's capital) Libreville for a political solution," said Seleka spokesman Eric Massi, speaking by telephone from Paris.

"I am in discussion with our partners to come up with proposals to end the crisis, but one solution could be a political transition that excludes Bozize," he said.

Bozize on Wednesday sacked his Army Chief of Staff and took over the defense minister's role from his son, Jean Francis Bozize, according to a decree read on national radio, a day after publicly criticizing the military for failing to repel the rebels.

The advance by Seleka, an alliance of mostly northeastern rebel groups, was the latest in a series of revolts in a country at the heart of one of Africa's most turbulent regions - and the most serious since the Chad-backed insurgency that swept Bozize to power in 2003.

Diplomatic sources have said talks organized by central African regional bloc ECCAS could start on January 10. The United States, the European Union and France have called on both sides to negotiate and spare civilians.

Central African Republic is one of the least developed countries in the world despite its deposits of gold, diamonds and other minerals. French nuclear energy group Areva mines the country's Bakouma uranium deposit - France's biggest commercial interest in its former colony.

RELIEF IN BANGUI

News of the rebel halt eased tension in Bangui, where residents had been stockpiling food and water and staying indoors after dark.

"They say they are no longer going to attack Bangui, and that's great news for us," said Jaqueline Loza in the crumbling riverside city.

ECCAS members Chad, Congo Republic, Gabon and Cameroon have sent hundreds of soldiers to reinforce CAR's army after a string of rebel victories since early December.

Gabonese General Jean Felix Akaga, commander of the regional force, said his troops were defending the town of Damara, 75 km (45 miles) north of Bangui and close to the rebel front.

"Damara is a red line not to be crossed ... Damara is in our control and Bangui is secure," he told Reuters. "If the rebellion decides to approach Damara, they know they will encounter a force that will react."

Soldiers armed with Kalashnikovs, rocket propelled grenade launchers and truck-mounted machineguns had taken up positions across the town, which was otherwise nearly-abandoned.

Some of the fighters wore turbans that covered their faces and had charms strung around their necks and arms meant to protect them against enemy bullets.

Chad's President Idriss Deby, one of Bozize's closest allies, had warned the rebels the regional force would confront them if they approached the town.

Chad provided training and equipment to the rebellion that brought Bozize to power by ousting then-president Ange Felix Patasse, who Chad accused of supporting Chadian dissidents.

Chad is also keen to keep a lid on instability in the territory close to its main oil export pipeline and has stepped in to defend Bozize against insurgents in the past.

A CAR government minister told Reuters the foreign troop presence strengthened Bozize's bargaining position ahead of the Libreville peace talks.

"The rebels are now in a position of weakness," the minister said, asking not to be named. "They should therefore stop imposing conditions like the departure of the president."

Central African Republic is one of a number of countries in the region where U.S. Special Forces are helping local soldiers track down the Lord's Resistance Army, a rebel group which has killed thousands of civilians across four nations.

France has a 600-strong force in CAR to defend about 1,200 of its citizens who live there.

Paris used air strikes to defend Bozize against a rebellion in 2006. But French President Francois Hollande turned down a request for more help, saying the days of intervening in other countries' affairs were over.

(Additional reporting by Paul-Marin Ngoupana in Bangui and Jon Herskovitz in Johannesburg; Writing by Richard Valdmanis; Editing by Andrew Heavens and Janet Lawrence)

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Football: I'm not retiring any time soon says Fergie

LONDON: Alex Ferguson has quashed retirement talk by revealing he has no plans to step down as Manchester United manager in the near future.

Ferguson, who turned 71 on Monday, has been forced to deal with questions about his retirement plans since the time he reversed his decision to leave the club in 2002.

With Pep Guardiola due to end his post-Barcelona sabbatical in a few months, Jose Mourinho tipped to leave Real Madrid and David Moyes' Everton contract close to expiring, three of the main candidates to replace Ferguson could be available at the end of the season, prompting a new round of speculation about the Scot's future.

But Ferguson, who has been in charge at Old Trafford since 1986, marked the new year by making it clear he won't be leaving United for some while.

"I'm hoping to stay on for a bit of time," he said in an interview with the Abu Dhabi Sports channel.

It is widely accepted few will get to know when Ferguson is ready to call it a day, with chief executive David Gill the man tasked with advising the Glazer family about a replacement.

And, though Guardiola, Mourinho and Moyes are bound to be at the top of the list if they are available, Ferguson knows plenty of other candidates are likely to have emerged by the time he finally quits.

"It's very difficult," Ferguson said. "Over the years, names have been bandied about but football is such a precarious industry.

"But you could be talking about one of the potentially exciting young managers in the game, but is he going to be here in two or three years' time?

"The sack race is horrendous. Sometimes a manager can only survive four games if he doesn't win a match.

"Top managers will always been in demand but nobody knows where they are going to be in two or three years' time."

- AFP/jc

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Windows 8, Google+, Bluetooth: My geeky 2013 resolutions

Finally diving into Windows 8 tops Eric Mack's list of resolutions for 2013.

(Credit:
Microsoft)

I could have been a better geek in 2012. When it comes down to it, there just aren't enough hours in a day to do all the gaming, social networking, rooting, modding, and general geekery we'd like to. When forced to make the choice between a family vacation or staying home to indulge in nerdy pleasures like crunching the data generated by the newly flashed firmware on my Wi-Fi router, that trusty old Linksys model and my other devices tend to be the ones that get scorned.

But I resolve that this New Year will be different.

With the advent of some new developments on the home front, like kindergarten for my daughter, I may have a little more time to devote to some nerdier and neglected pursuits. With that in mind, here's my personal list of geeky New Year's resolutions for 2013:

The
Windows 8 plunge Because of some international travel and a fairly recent major
Windows 7 system purchase, I've yet to take the Windows 8 plunge. Pathetic, I realize. Yes, I know I could easily upgrade my existing system for relatively cheap, and I'm typically an early adopter with these sorts of things, but so far I've been too freaked to try the upgrade while out of the country without sufficient backups or other support. I also justify my waiting with the promise of a possible hardware upgrade in the next month or two. I'm eagerly waiting to see how Microsoft's Surface Pro performs, and I'm also pondering Lenovo's Yoga, as I look for possible ways to dive into Windows 8 headfirst, even if I will be a bit late to get my feet wet.

Go-go Google+ As Google's social network has added cool features and Facebook has grown increasingly creepy and annoying, I've been ever more tempted to move more of my life onto Google's platform, but it's ever so hard to neglect the massive user base on Facebook or the zeitgeist-in-action that is Twitter. But now's the time to give it my best shot. I'm not pulling up stakes on the other major social networks just yet. In fact, I'd also like to spend more time on Reddit, and I continue to pull for App.net, but Google+ to me is clearly the most powerful and versatile platform out there, especially for an
Android user such as myself. Please help hold me to my promise by finding my Google+ page and Circling me.

Giving gaming another chance At some point in 2003 I found myself neglecting friends and work commitments to spend afternoons playing hours of Halo with a buddy's 11-year-old son after school. This episode came just five years after spending most of a whole spring break in college playing Quake with four friends in separate rooms in an otherwise empty dorm somewhere in Oregon (that was in '98). In other words, I tend to have problems gaming in moderation, so I quit cold turkey in 2004 and have seldom touched a controller since. But last year I added a few apps to my Nexus 7 and have managed to keep my Hill Climb Racing, Temple Running, and Fruit Ninja-ing under control. With the promise of more next-generation consoles joining the Wii U in 2013, this will be the year that I get reacquainted with that old flame and make another attempt at a healthy relationship. Check back here next year to see if I still have my job (or any remaining friends).

Better Bluetooth My first job in tech journalism went poof with the dot-com crash of 2000 and I fled into the arms of mainstream radio for almost a decade. As such, I still love radio and podcasts just as much as tech, and there's almost always something in my ear as I go through my day. This tends to lead to lots of cords, carrying devices around, and a collection of Bluetooth earpieces that might be good for one situation, but few others. This year I'll be on the lookout for the perfect wireless listening solution that makes it easy to listen seamlessly between home, outside, in the car, at the gym, and everywhere.

Those are the big projects. I'm also hoping to be a better device owner, spending some time actually organizing my apps and home screens and taking advantage of the time that I put into rooting them. I'd also like to actually 3D print something useful and get my hands on some Google Glass or something similar, if only briefly.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to spend some overdue quality time with my Wi-Fi router.

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The art of Senate "fiscal cliff" deal

Nobody said it would be easy.

Senators voted in the pre-dawn hours of New Year's Day to pass the long-sought agreement on the "fiscal cliff" and the House readies for its turn as soon as today, which, if the House passes it, would officially avert the tax hikes and spending cuts that technically took effect at midnight (the deal, when signed by the president, will make the new tax rates and spending retroactive to midnight).

Play Video

Biden advises not to predict outcome of "cliff" deal

How did the politicians involved get to their final agreement? Here's the rundown, according to officials familiar with the talks and with the White House's thinking:

Friday through Sunday: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's opening offer Friday night to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid was a $750,000 income tax threshold and no jobless benefits and no extension of the earned-income tax credit and other low-income tax breaks, means-testing Medicare, and the Bush era estate tax rates. Offers bounced back and forth Saturday and on Sunday, Reid opted out and handed talks over to Vice President Joe Biden (at McConnell's suggestion). President Obama, Reid and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi were in tandem through the talks. Delaying the federal spending cuts, or sequester, fell out of the talks on Sunday but McConnell came down to $550,000 in income tax threshold and some estate tax concessions reflected in the final deal.

Sunday, 8 p.m. ET: Mr. Obama and senior staff met in the Oval Office to discuss their final counter-offer to McConnell. The president set the $400K and $450K income threshold with one-year of jobless benefits and some delay of the sequester. Biden and McConnell talked through the night. Their last call was at 12:45 a.m.

After that, Mr. Obama and Biden met in the Oval until 2 a.m. to go over final details. Mr. Obama sent his legislative liaison Rob Nabors to Capitol Hill at 2 a.m. to begin drafting a bill with Senate Democrats. Biden and McConnell spoke again at 6:45 a.m. The rest of Monday was devoted to resolving the sequester impasse.

Monday, 9 p.m. ET: Biden and McConnell sealed the deal by telephone (Biden spoke to McConnell after clearing final details with Mr. Obama). The president then called Reid and Pelosi for one final OK and the deal was announced/leaked/confirmed.

The officials also pointed out that to get to the final deal, moving Republicans from a position of no tax increases in debt ceiling debate to tax increases through tax reform after Mr. Obama's re-election to nothing more than $1 million in higher rates and now to $400,000 and $450,000 thresholds is a significant policy and political victory (worth $620 billion over 10 years).

When the big deal talks failed before Christmas, Mr. Obama's biggest goal was to get GOP buy-in on higher tax rates for the wealthy. It is regarded as one of the most significant policy victories in two decades, the officials said.

Compromising on the two-month sequester was difficult, the officials added. The White House wanted a full year of waiving the sequester but there was no time to negotiate the difficult policy details (the sequester talks took literally all of Monday).

As for the deal's effect on the deficit, it does not cut the deficit relative to what would have occurred if all the fiscal cliff tax cuts had been erased (meaning all Bush tax cuts expired) and the sequester kicked in full force. But, relative to a baseline that assumes all existing tax policy would have continued, the deal raises $620 billion in revenue. The Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) fix is not counted by the WH, for example, because its extension was assumed in the existing policy baseline (that doesn't mean it won't cost anything; just that the White House doesn't count the cost).

The jobless benefit extension for one year cost $30 billion and that is not paid for. The Medicare "doc fix" is paid for by savings that will be taken from other provider payouts in Medicare. It costs $31 billion, meaning those provider cuts will pay for protecting doctors from a 27 percent automatic cut in premiums.

And $12 billion in new revenue comes from allowing 401Ks and other retirement instruments into Roth IRAs. This is the revenue that forms half of the offset of the two-month sequester delay. The other $12 billion will come from a 50-50 split of non-defense and defense cuts.

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