we're at the top of the hour here on this "cnn saturday morning." hello to you all. i'm t.j. holmes. some controversial evidence being presented today in the case against casey anthony. it all centers around what was found in anthony's car. those details for you straight ahead. also, failing students and frustrated parents. hear one family's struggle to turn things around in an education makeover. presidential candidates flock to a faith conference with one goal in mind. winning over social

conservatives. we will take you there live. but let us start right now with the intensifying standoff in syria. anti-government demonstrators are ramping up the pressure against strongman. civilian deaths are reportedly mounting. cnn's arwa damon joins us live now by phone from neighboring lebanon. please update us, arwa, on what we have been seeing over the past 24 hours. >> well, t.j., there were demonstrations, according to activists and eyewitnesses across syria. it certainly would appear as if the most violent of them took place in humma where tens of thousands of people were demonstrating and they were peaceful and unarmed and chanting for the downfall of their regime. according to eyewitnesses as we have been hearing since this began indiscriminately opened fire on them and the death toll

has been rising. we now know according to one syrian human rights organization that at least 60 people have been killed. they believe that the number could be as high as 80, if not more. the bulk of those casualties, again, concentrated in hama where we saw tens of thousands of people turning out for the funeral of those people who had been killed. the funeral as of this point in time appeared to have been taking place peacefully in huama, however, people are concerned because the trend we've been seeing in the past is that syrian forces have been firing at people during these events because the events turn into demonstrations, t.j. >> arwa with the update this morning. we appreciate you so much. on what we have been watching in syria over the past several hours, also, as you know, the past several weeks and months, as well. a breaking story we'll turn to now. a drone strike in pakistan may have killed a man considered al

qaeda's military brain. a spokesman for jihadest group says ilyas kashmiri. cnn's phil black joins us this morning from islamabad, first things first, put in perspective for our viewers just who this guy is. >> sure, t.j. he is a significant target and has been for some time for the united states and for pakistani officials, as well. he is a man who recently has risen quite rapidly through the ranks of al qaeda. a rising star to become the military brain of the operation. he is described as the military chief and the man whose job it is to implement the global strategy. resources planning and ultimately carry out attacks. ultimately, take lives. he has been rising rapidly through al qaeda ranks, as i say

to the point in the vacuum that has been left in osama bin laden. he has been mentioned in much of the speculation as a possible successor to osama bin laden in leading al qaeda's global network, t.j.? >> all right, our phil black for us with the update from pakistan. we appreciate you, as always. thanks so much. turn now to politics and it's a who's who of republican presidential candidates in washington this weekend. they're attending the faith and freedom coalition conference a gathering of social conservatives. the group represents a key voting bloc that white house hopefuls want in their corner. the candidates are focusing on reducing government spending and more issues like abortion, gay marriage. take a listen. >> we're united tonight in a lot of things. we're united in the love we have for this great country. we're united in our belief and the sanctity of human life. we're united in our belief in the importance and significance of marriage between one man and one woman.

i traditional marriage matters and we need to tell each other and the country that we need to keep traditional marriage elevated on a platform all domestic relationships are not the same astroditional marriagep . it needs to be protected. >> the family is the bed rock. the educational system through the family and through the chur church. we should not depend on our public school system! >> paul steinhauser at that conference this morning. a name that has not been around that long, why has this conference been able to pull so many of these presidential candidates? >> yeah, faith & freedom coalition, t.j., two years old. it was started by ralph reid. he was the mastermind of the christian coalition and turned it into quite a political powerhouse. you just played some of the sound from them yesterday. another one just spoke a few minutes ago. rick santorum.

on monday he formally declares his candidacy for president. he just spoke, listen, he was the real social conservative here compared to other candidates that are going through the motions. take a listen. >> i'd always been prolife. i'd always been for traditional marriage, but i've always been like a lot of folks rbs a lot of folks that weren't here last year who came this year who come and make the pledge and vow to social conservatives that they'll check the boxes. they'll be for the things that social conservatives care about. ladies and gentlemen, i just don't take the pledge, i take the bullets. >> santorum now well known across the country, but not so high in the polls. but amongst this crowd in social conservatives, he's a favorite. the former ceo of godfather pizza and radio talk show host will be the last presidential hopeful to speak here, t.j. >> did the sarah palin bus swing by? seems like everybody else is there this weekend, but the bus

didn't swing by, right? >> no, it didn't swing by here. and newt gingrich is the other also candidate who is not speaking here. he'll have a video that will play here later. as for palin, yeah, we don't know if she will run for president or not. the bus tour did end up the other day, new hampshire, a pretty important political state and she said she'll head out west and also hitting iowa and south carolina. so, you know, i guess bus tour will take her in three of the most important states. for this crowd here, essential social conservatives play such an important role in choosing the republican nominee. they vote in big numbers, especially in the states of iowa and south carolina, which pretty much lead off the pack there for the race for the white house. t.j.? >> paul steinhauser, appreciate you here on "cnn saturday morning." some sad news to tell you this morning about former secretary of state lawrence eagleburger. he has, in fact, died. he held the top spot at the state department for five

months. that was when secretary of state james baker resigned to run president h.w. bush's re-election bid. rise to the position of secretary of state. cnn has also just received a statement from former george h.w. bush, larry was the real deal. principal to the core and selflessly devoted to america and barbara and i mourn the loss of a true friend. lawrence eagleburger was 80, 80 years old. we turn to the casey anthony trial now. exactly what did investigators find in the trunk of her car? the evidence front and center this morning. and everything cha. ♪ i saw what my life could be... and found the strength to make it happen. ♪ i lost my leg serving my country. now i serve in a new uniform.

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well, ten minutes past the hour now on this "cnn saturday morning" and another saturday in court in the casey anthony trial. day ten of testimony and so far today it's been all about the microscopic evidence found in the trunk of her car. forensic testimony being allowed over the objections of the defense. >> of the hair and swab was mic microdifferent and the hair exhibited similarities to a hair found in a hair brush which was identified as belonging to caylee anthony. >> again, live picture you're seeing this morning. casey anthony in court right now having saturday court. she has pleaded not guilty to charges that she killed her little girl three years ago. if convicted, she could face the

death penalty. former presidential candidate john edwards also pleading not guilty on six criminal counts including conspiracy and violation of campaign finance laws. the grand jury indicted him yesterday with prosecutors contending that edwards used campaign donations to cover up an affair and pay his mistress. earlier i talked to our legal analyst sunny hostas. if edwards is found guilty on any of the counts, he's looking at possible jailtime. >> he's looking at at least five years on each count for the $250,000 fine. that's the maximum penalty, of course, under the federal sentencing guidelines. it will bilikely be less than tt because he will be a first-time person being convicted. but no question about it that each charge, there are six of them, carries five years maximum penalties. if he's convicted of all of them -- >> sunny, tell me how difficult of a case? i read through this entire

indictment and a lot of it reads like something you would read in the inquirer or something. it makes him out to be a bad dude and the decisions he made and what he did to his wife and family and trying to cover all this stuff up. then it almost seemed like an aside about some of the counts and the criminal element of it. so, what are they trying to do here? do they really want to influence a jury later by saying this is a bad guy? >> well, certainly it is an indictment, i agree with you. those are the facts as the prosecution alleges them. so, you know, they are alleging that gave him over $700,000 to hide this affair from the world so that his campaign in 2008 could continue. of course, the defense is arguing that's not true. this was a personal gift. and these were personal gifts and they were only given to rielle hunter so that they could

hide the affair from elizabeth edwards because she was dying from cancer. they are saying these were not campaign contributions. of course, i will say this is sort of unprecedented of the federal campaign law. it's never been done before. the government is sort of -- so it's not the easiest case to prove, but in front of a jury given the types of allegations and given this sorted past, especially that he had this affair, had this child, his wife was dying of cancer. factually, t.j., really, really good case for the prosecution. >> anybody else just to wrap up, anybody else possibly could face some charges related to this? >> no one else has been charged, of course. some people talked about andrew young being commrisaplicit in t

and i think he will be one of the star witnesses. he is not named in the indictment that he is likely person a when people read the indictment. i don't think at this point that the government is considering any charges. it's all about john edwards right now. >> now, another case that we're watching involves singer patti labelle. a west point cadet says two of her body guards assaulted him at houston's bush international airport. this was back in march. you're seeing some surveillance video of it now. now, the cadet is calling the attack unprovoked. a houston police report, though, says that he had been drinking and punched lubell's limo driver. you see him on the ground in the yellow shirt. he denies he was drunk and hit anybody. again, this is all on surveillance tape. the soldier now, the cadet, is now suing the surveillance tape also shows lubell, afterwards, taking pictures with fans. well, we're coming up on another anniversary of d-day.

it was 67 years ago monday. i got to sit down with two men who were there on that day and would you believe they say for them, parts of the day were actually kind of easy. my conversation after the break. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] and just like that, it's here. a new chance for all of us: people, companies, communities to face the challenges yesterday left behind and the ones tomorrow will bring. prudential. bring your challenges. [ woman speaking chinese ] thank you. do you have an english menu? no english. [ speaking chinese ]

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d-day, the 6th of june,

1944. thousands of ally troops to the beaches of normandy with the aim to bring an end to nazi, germany. i had the pleasure this week of sitting down with two men who were there who were fighting for america that day. one is 93 and the other is 90. they're getting up there in age and many in the greatest generation as they're called are certainly starting to die off. listen to them now in our conversation and listen to them to honor the next great generation. on the anniversary days, a lot of people, the government makes a big deal out of it, the media will talk about june 6th anniversary. what about you guys? what do you all do on the anniversary every year of d-day? >> quite often i'm asked to make talks to various groups or participate in some of the ceremonies because i was a world war ii veteran and we're dying off pretty fast these days and there aren't many of us around.

>> you like being a part of that kind of stuff? >> i feel like today's generation does not know much about the history of world war ii. i was introduced by an atlanta schoolteacher as a fighter pilot from world war 11. so, i determined that i was going to do my best to help educate today's generations about world war ii because it still has a tremendous impact on this country today. >> what about you? >> d-day is my birthday. and i celebrate that with my children. >> how old were you on d-day? you turned what age? >> 25. >> that was a way to spend it. >> 1:00 in the morning, well, it was about 12:30. >> both of all you since i have been talking to you have railed off stuff that has happened many, many years ago and you can tell me exact dates and you are even giving me exact times now

does that stuff just never go away? >> we took off at 2:30 in the morning. completely black takeoff and one of our pilots crashed into the tower on takeoff because we had no lights whatsoever. so, that's, you remember things like that. >> what was on your mind and maybe it was fear, maybe it was pride, maybe it was that sense of duty. were things happening every minute that kind of put you in a different mind frame? >> it was a break for the rest of us. the adrenaline was running so good at that particular time i don't think we had any fear, we were just anticipating what we were getting into. but i don't think you had time to fear. at that point. >> would you agree with that assessment? >> when you're going on an invader, you're scared to death. you don't know what is going to

happen. and you're not worrying too much about that. you're worrying about flying the equipment and doing the job you're supposed to do. the rest of it comes naturally. >> how did your day start and do you remember the time, as well? >> took off at 12:00 at night and we landed around 1:00, 25 miles back to the front. so, we had an easy deal. that was the easiest mission i flew because we had the surprise with us. we didn't have many people shooting at us. but the problem we had, of course, we went in with the paratroopers, as you know. but the paratroopers that went in before us were oscillating and had the old parachute and they would hit the poles and break their backs, their arms and their legs, it was awful. so, we had it easy. >> still amazing to hear you say you had it easy. >> it was, yeah. >> did you know you were making history, i guess.

did you it feel like that at the time or were you doing your duty? >> doing what i was supposed to do. >> that's right. >> they paid me. but when you sign those papers, doesn't do what you're supposed to do. you do the best job that you can and you try to stay alive because when you land, it's easy. you or that guy. >> stay alive. how close did you come to not making it back? >> i had several times i could bore you to death with everybody in the service has those times. but most of our action was in close and we did what we were going to do and tried to stay alive in a matter of hours or minutes. because when you land, the closest we are here to the enemy. >> why did you want military service anyway? >> well, fight for my country naturally and also it's exciting. we get to fly airplanes and we get to do a lot of things that you can't do at home. >> now, he just said he wanted

to fight for his country. do you think over the years when you guys were young men to today do you think that sentiment still exists in the soldiers who are going into the military now? >> although they called us the greatest generation, i think these guys today are another great generation. they're doing, they're involved in war that we wouldn't want to fight, at least we knew our enemy, they did not. their enemy could walk up to them and drop a grenade and blow them away. but we, we knew our enemy. we could see those big black crosses on the airplanes we were fighting against. so, that's a big difference, but we still have a great generation out there today. >> thanks to punchy and guy for taking the time out with me this week. we're at 24 minutes past the hour now. a lot of people might be feeling stressed these days. but maybe some and depending on where you live, a little less

stressed. at least according to a new gallup poll they're ranking some of the states. now, d.c., not a state, of course, but the district of columbia coming in at number five as far as the least stressed place in the country. followed by south dakota, north dakota and wyoming. you'll never believe who's number one. i have that for you after the break. with arthritis pain. that's a coffee and two pills. the afternoon tour begins with more pain and more pills. the evening guests arrive. back to sore knees. back to more pills. the day is done but hang on... her doctor recommended aleve. just 2 pills can keep arthritis pain away all day with fewer pills than tylenol. this is lara who chose 2 aleve and fewer pills for a day free of pain. and get the all day pain relief of aleve in liquid gels. discover aveeno positively radiant tinted moisturizers with scientifically proven soy complex and natural minerals. give you sheer coverage instantly, then go on to even skin tone in four weeks.

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as we get close to the bottom of the hour now, we are giving you the list of least stressed places. d.c. on the list and also south dakota number four and north dakota number three and wyoming was number two and the number one least stressed place and this is a shocker, folks. reynolds, what would you guess? >> i could see it now and i'm not surprised. >> it's a shocker, hawaii. the least stressed state that we have. wow. can't believe how that made it on the list. aloha state tops the gallup poll for the third year in a row. can they make it four next year. >> part of the stress is wearing the grass skirt. >> you can't be stressed with

that. you can't be stressed. maybe we should start wearing grass, no, never mind. some sneaky and some smart hackers in the uk pulled off a cyberattack on an al qaeda website. working for the british intelligence agency. the code for an online al qaeda magazine called "inspire." you may have heard about it in some headlines over the years. what they did here was replace the site's bomb recipes with cupcake recipes. so, when followers downloaded 67 pages of instructions on how to make a bomb, what they actually got were instructions on how to make rocky road and caramel apple cupcakes. and the recipes, get this, they were from the ellen degeneres show of all places. let me turn it back to my man, reynolds wolf. that's pretty interesting stuff.

i don't know if ellen degeneres would want that connection necessarily, but, still. >> it can befuddle some of the bad guys. ellen's a patriot, i think she'll be good with it. >> anybody stressed out weather wise? >> the heat is going to be brutal for a lot of people. you have to watch out for your dogs and cats and especially if they have conditions. a ridge of high pressure, ridge in the jet stream and you can see it pretty well defined by following the colors. a little bit of a trough off to the west and you have cooler air that is moving in and with it some scattered showers out towards parts of california, even a touch of snowfall possible in the extreme northern end of the rocky mountains. but we have the ridge is just the opposite. you have a lot of that moist air that is coming in, very muggy in spots like memphis and new orleans and highs into the 100s and 90s in a few places but much cooler say in boston and new york with highs into the 660s and 70s. let's go through what you can expect the next couple days. the southeast will be very warm. little rock with 99 and 89 in

raleigh. the heat basically stays in place. atlanta a few degrees higher going up to 96 degrees and fast forward into monday and start your workweek out like this. 101 in dallas and 97 in new orleans. now, in terms of the temperatures. we have those and also a chance of strong storms developing, especially in parts of the ohio valley in the central and western great lakes. some of these storms may spawn small hail, flash flooding and perhaps even tornado or two. we'll keep a sharp eye on that for you. a quick wrap on your forecast, t.j., let's pitch it back to you. >> reynolds, thank you so much. we turn now to the middle east. yemen's president blaming gangsters for a deadly attack on the presidential palace. the president suffered a slight head wound in that attack and imam and several security guards killed. also word that government forces killed ten people in an attack on a tribal leader's home. let's turn now to mu homud, he is keeping track of the latest violence in yemen.

he is with us and muhammad has spent a lot of time reporting from yemen. tell us about these latest attacks. >> well, t.j., we got word a short while ago from a spokesperson for one of the tribesman that is battling it out with the government sources. in the attacks that were directed by government security forces against the homes of the family in sana yesterday, this was in retaliation for what the government called the attacks against the presidential palace. in these attacks against the tribesmen home. this just shows you the escalating violence in the street war fare that is going on between these tribesmen which belong to the largest and most powerful tribe in all of yemen and the government security forces in yemen. we're still expecting to hear more casualty figures when all is said and done because of the violence yesterday. the shelling of the presidential compound and then the retaliatory shelling against the tribes that the government is accusing of trying to kill the president and attacking the

president at his compound. a lot of confusion still on the ground in sana. earlier today we heard from residents and they were hearing explosions every three to four minutes coming from many different places in the capital and they are saying now things have quieted down and a real palpable sense of fear from the capital of yemen that the country is on the verge of all-out civil war if raging baterals still continuing to go on in that country's capital as they have been for the last several days. >> we appreciate you, as always. we turn now to the defense secretary, robert gates. he is back in afghanistan. just weeks before he's set to retire. gates arrived in kabul this morning to discuss the ongoing fight against militants. he is scheduled to meet with general david petraeus, as well as meet with the afghan president har midkarzai. gates is retiring at the end of this month. as the defense secretary visits afghanistan, another deadly attack on nato forces. coalition spokesman says four nato troops were killed in a

roadside bombing in afghanistan. a bomb struck their vehicle. no word yet on their identities. here we are now, two years after a grisly crime at yale university. the killer of a grad student now knows his sentence. that's next.

36 minutes past the hour. some of the stories making headlines. former yale university lab technician raymond clark has been sentenced to 44 years in prison for the killing of annie le. clark's dna was found at the crime scene. also a show of bipartisan in washington. yeah right. well, president obama and house speaker john boehner have scheduled a golf date and the president extended the invitation a few weeks ago. boehner accepted. they are skecheduled to play tw weeks from today. we don't know which course they'll visit. the e. coli has led to several countries in europe. 18 people have died, all but one in germany. about 1,800 people have gotten

sick. three people who traveled to the u.s. from germany last month are still in the hospital. on the line with us is david acherson former chief medical officer at the food and drug administration and now with levitt partners which advises people about food safety. doctor, we appreciate you spending some time with us even though this right now appears to be confined to europe. do we have something here in the u.s. we need to be concerned about? >> we need to stay very vigilant that this strain of bacteria does not emerge in the united states. do everything we should do to prevent it and if it should get out here, jump on it right away. >> doctor, how could it? >> it could get here in a variety of ways. this is a muitation of a bacteria. it could happen right here in the united states, number one, or it could come into the country on products, particularly fresh produce or meat from another country. so, it's probably only a matter of time before this bug shows up here at some point.

>> one of the things most concerning for a while it didn't seem they could really nail down exactly where it was coming from. how concerning is that to you that they couldn't really figure out the source? >> oh, you know, to me that is very worrisome. you know, i still think they haven't figured out the source. they're still advising people not to eat tomatoes, lettuce, cue cumbers which tells me they don't know where it came from. consumers don't know what to do. you have to give very broad advice and it diminishes confidence in the food supply and damages industry and it speaks to the importance of epidemiology and local health authority and the capacity to track products. >> doctor, we'll take this as an opportunity now. while it's on people's brains, e. coli, remind folks of what they could do to limit their risk? >> it comes from three main places for a consumer. number one, it's often present on meat, roy beef, particularly. so, make sure you cook those

hamburgers properly, especially as we're heading into the summer season. second risk is on fresh fruits and vegetables. make sure you wash them. if they come already wash, they're fine. if you can peel them, peel them. the third area of risk is milk and make sure the milk you drink is pasteurized and not raw. >> we appreciate you hopping on the line. good information this morning. like you are hearing the doctor say, it's not here. there's always a risk of some kind. don't want to freak anybody out about it happening here in the u.s., but a good time to serve as a reminder to, once again, protect ourselves against e. coli. they are calling it pure gold. sweet potatoes of all things. our tom foreman tells us how this simple food is helping build up america. >> it's like watching a magic trick. a tractor rolls over the bare

dirt and a tractor drags behind and there they are. the green shoots of sweet potatoes. no more wonderful sight for jerome vick. >> approximately 50% of the farm income on this farm. >> reporter: and right now they are pure gold for many in this state. >> right here in this field is the capital. north carolina is the capital of sweet potatoes. bar none. >> reporter: the north carolina sweet potato commission says this year about 400 farmers will plant 60,000 acres of sweet potatoes worth about $182 million to the state economy. that's a record. >> we grow almost half of the sweet potatoes that are produced in the united states. >> reporter: they're selling all over the world. sweet potato producers are cashing in on the healthy heating craze by aggressively advertising that this native american plant can help with everything from digestion to joint pain to heart disease.

that's pushing demand for sweet potato fries, chips and pies. >> currently about 20% of the sweet potatoes produced in north carolina are being exported. and that looks to rise to even more. >> reporter: how much more? hard to say, but this year vick expects to grow enough on his farm to meet the sweet potato needs of 4 million people. >> you might as well say that we have 4 million people eating our dinner table, which is perfectly all right with me. >> next year, they hope to be breaking records, again. tom foreman, cnn. look, every day we're using more and more energy. the world needs more energy. where's it going to come from? ♪ that's why right here, in australia, chevron is building one of the biggest natural gas projects in the world. enough power for a city the size of singapore for 50 years. what's it going to do to the planet?

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feet, a far cry from the record splat that was set back in 1974. let me give you a look at some of the other stories making headlines right now. first, people at a high school graduation in castroville, texas, will be offered the canc to pray, but it took a court ruling to make it happen. a family filed a lawsuit saying their son would suffer irreparable harm if anyone prayed. a texas judge agreed, ruled in their favor banning others from asking to join them in prayer or be their heads. on appeal the ruling was overturned. now the valedictorian, she says she's being threatened and the school is on a security watch. >> my daughter received actually a phone call saying that there was a threat given to the school via phone call that included my name and, so, it's, i don't

know, it's intimidating. >> we added additional staff to be there. we are utilizing staff from across the district to be there, as well. we have added law enforcement. >> well, governor rick perry there in texas supported the appeal calling the original ban on prayer reprehensible. wildfires in arizona have also burned more than 200,000 acres. they spread so far so fast. now a smoke alert in albuquerque, new mexico, 200 miles away. more than 1,000 firefighters in arizona are battling the fires burning in the eastern part of that state. also, before his speech in toledo, ohio, yesterday, president obama made a surprise visit to a local hangout. rudy's hot dog is a 90-year-old diner in the toledo landmark. president obama picked up the tab for his entourage. one of the waitresses says he's a very good tipper. well, how is this for pressure? high school freshman, that's scary. the grades, the activities and

what if things aren't exactly perfect between mom and dad. yeah, it's a perfect storm. some advice, though, next.

look at who we have here. richelle carey in for fredricka whitfield at the top of the hour. good to see you. >> good to see you, too. thanks for welcoming me in here. it's a little cold but it's okay. >> i'll leave my jacket when i take off. what have you got? these legal guys this weekend. what are they going after? >> they have a lot of good stuff to talk about. in particular, we're going to focus on a case that it seemed like the country is focusingen o on, casey anthony. casey's been on trial for the past two weeks. and it seems like every week, the testimony gets more dramatic. it started with the closing arguments where jose baez alleges that her father molested her. this week, her mother, cindy,

took the stand and also her brother, lee. what's critical about cindy, is they brought in evidence, that 911 call that set everything into motion. her mother called and said, i haven't seen my granddaughter in 31 days and my daughter's car smells like there's been a dead body in it. >> and they're in court right now on saturday. nice to hear the legal guys are going to take that on. this is a live picture we can show you right here. >> we'll have a complete wrap-up of what happened this morning as well. >> again, stand by for the slugging. before we get to that, y'all are talking finances this weekend as well. >> yes, grandparents always want to give money to their grandchildren. but the best way is not always simply to write the check. we're going to talk about the best way to give the gift of money to your children or grandchildren.

>> does cash work? >> cash works. but it's a little more complicated than that, especially if you're trying to invest for college and things like that. >> okay. slugging, i did not know about slugging. >> slugging is when you carpool with people you don't know for the sake of hopping in the hov lane. but there are rules for how you do this, for example, i'm going to give you a ride, but don't talk to me because i don't really know you. we're going to break down the rules for slugging. >> i have to see that one. richelle carey in for fredricka whitfield this weekend. she's here in just about six minutes. see you in just a second. parents out there getting a house call from an education expert, our education expert, steve perry trying to help them keep one of their sons from failing the ninth grade. another reminder of what i couldn't do. ♪ the accident could have been my excuse to quit.

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we've got some required viewing for parents of school-age kids out there. "education makeover" is coming up at 2:30 right now. dr. steve perry focusing on one kid, a ninth-grader, who's trying to keep from flunking his freshman year. he's got some problems with the grown-ups in his life as well. check this out.

>> reporter: who goes on in a child's home is critical. steve perry. >> jacob? do you have homework? >> how do you know she didn't give you a test today? >> i don't. >> you didn't do any homework? guess who doesn't get any down time? >> reporter: meet three teenage brothers. they're involved in a lot of activities but one of them is struggling. i'm looking at three fs and a c minus. is he in danger of failing? >> it's up in the air. >> and they're divorced parents. >> had you been able to be there more in the beginning -- >> it's like your punishing me today -- >> reporter: what can we do to cut down on the problem? power seems to be the issue. >> dr. steve perry joining me now. sound like it was going in the direction of dr. phil.

seemed to be a contentious situation between the parents. how much is that situation, the divorced parents, how much is that really having an impact on that kid's school life? >> in jacob's life, it was pretty impactful. jacob is the sensitive middle child. it had an impact on the older brother and the younger brother as well but not in the same way. jacob internalized the conflict between mom and dad in a very, very detrimental way. so his grades suffered and he suffered. he just was sullen the first time i met him. he seemed disengaged and uninterested in really having a conversation. but you get to see how this thing unfolds. it's pretty amazing. >> and you're a principal. you see students day in and day out, been doing this for years. can you pretty much trace what is happening to the kid in school, if he's not performing well, can you trace that back to something that's happening at home? >> sometimes because this is a great family. they're divorced, right? and dad is remarried.

he has four children. mom is remarried. she has two more children. between them, that's 11 kids between them. many of the kids are doing just fine. they're doing a lot of things right. some things you can trace back to home. one of the things in this case was the thing going on between the divorced mom and dad. but jacob has to own some of this. when you get to 14, you can make some of your own decisions. as you'll see in the special, jacob was deciding not to do his homework. so he and i had to have some, you know, man time, where we discussed some things. >> all right. give me 20 seconds on the special coming up and why parents need to sit down and watch it? >> this is about america. this is where we are as a country right now, trying to find a way to parent our children even when we're not in the same home as them. we're going to work very hard to work with the people who we've had children with so the children can do well in school and