think than i knew yesterday. and i'll know a lot of stuff here. >> jack, with the greatest respect, i think i have learned slightly more, as have the viewers from you tonight, than you will ever learn from me. it's been a real pleasure. >> thank you for having me, piers. >> get america going again. tomorrow night, i'll sit down with a very different guest, the duchess of york, sarah ferguson. now here's anderson cooper with "ac 360." >> piers, thank you very much. good evening, everyone. we begin with breaking news tonight in america's secret war, a war most people don't even know exists, but it's happening. and seems to be escalating. american air strikes on al qaeda targets in yemen. they've been suspended for nearly a year but are picking up again according to a late report tonight in "the new york times." yemen's president, wounded during unrest in the country, is now in saudi arabia getting medical treatment. "the times" is reporting that the obama administration is taking advantage of the power vacuum to step up air strikes. officials telling the paper they are getting fresh intelligence on targets and using it. perhaps a big step.

let's gling national security analyst peter bergen and national security expert fran townsend, who is a member of the cia and department of homeland security external advisory committee. fran, in terms of these attacks, what's at stake here? >> anderson, it makes perfectly good sense. we use these kind of drone attacks inside the tribal region of pakistan because we get intelligence that feeds them and go after the operations, you know, cells in the tribal areas. in yemen, with this chaos, we've always had an intelligence and military presence there. mostly the military presence was for training. but you can see how in the chaos, they would use cia, covert action authority, and permit the cia director to use all of his capability. and that would include drones for strikes if he gets the intelligence. >> peter, how does saleh's condition change the equation here, for better or for worse? >> well, saleh is clearly -- i mean, i don't think he's coming back to the country.

i mean, he's gone and clearly the post-saleh era has begun in yemen. as fran said, we've got a situation where not only drones but american jets are being used. that's quite a departure. there has been a relatively small u.s. special forces presence in yemen, about 75, and obviously, there's a cia presence. these assets are being used to put as much pressure on al qaeda as possible. there are reports in the "l.a. times" also this evening that elements of al qaeda have shown up in a town in the south and so it's an opportunity but also a problem in the sense that, yes, the vacuum may allow greater space for the united states to operate, but the same vacuum is allowing al qaeda a greater space to operate. >> fran, at this point, how important is yemen for al qaeda? because it does seem al qaeda in the arabian peninsula has really

been carrying the mantle for al qaeda and been behind a number of the more publicized attacks or attempted attacks in the last couple of years. >> that's absolutely right, anderson. not only have they been -- they're not only the most active, but also the most capable. that's not saying much. many of these attacks have been unsuccessful. bombs in underwear not detonating, that sort of thing, or in the computer cartridges. but it's the most determined, the most active and the most capable, which is why you hear u.s. counterterrorism officials saying it is the greatest threat to the u.s. homeland. i will tell you, it would not surprise me the use of drones. drones could be used as covert action because it would be deniable. i've not heard from my sources the use of military jets. that would be an overt military operation not under the control of the cia director. that's a much different matter, and i would be surprised at this point if they were trying to use u.s. jets in a clandestine way. >> but peter, that is the report from "the times," correct?

>> yeah, indeed. it has happened before, and it's been suspended because of civilian casualties and it was, you know, unpopular, i guess, in the country itself. but this is a moment which is -- yemen is at a crossroads. it's not the first time. there was a very nasty civil war there in the mid-'90s which elements of al qaeda also played a role in and, in fact, saleh was allied with some of the militants to do some of his own dirty work. so he himself has used elements of groups close to al qaeda in the past. the politics are extremely complex with the tribal situation. al qaeda's own presence there, two wars already going on, even before this civil war started. so it's a mess, and al qaeda historically has taken advantage of messes, but the united states is taking advantage of it, as well.

>> and in yemen, you have this american-born cleric, awlaki. he's the only american citizen the u.s. is directly trying to assassinate. is that correct, fran? >> as far as we know, that is correct. the other interesting point, whether it's just drones or drones and military aircraft, you've got to ask yourself, where are these things based? where are they flying out of? we know that the u.s. enjoys a cooperative relationship with the kingdom of saudi arabia. i can't imagine they would be too happy if that were publicly revealed that they had something to do with it. there are other questions here that remain unanswered in the article, like where are these drones, where are these jets being based and flown from? >> a lot we don't know at this point. certainly a fascinating escalation, if in fact it's happening to the degree "the times" is reporting. fran, appreciate your checking with your sources. peter bergen, as well. turning next to libya, more breaking news. forces loyal to moammar gadhafi making another attempt to take back the city of misurata, a vitally strategic port city.

misrata has been under siege for months and the scene of some of the bloodiest fighting in the war. opposition forces took control of the city but paid a terrible price and have been paying dearly ever since as gadhafi forces have continued to shell the city and murder civilians. now it looks like the battle is very much back on. cnn's reporter, sara sidner in misrata, and john burns, who is in tripoli, which has seen some of the heaviest nato bombing yet over the last 48 hours. sara, what is the situation right now in misrata? >> reporter: what's happening today is that there has been intense, intense fighting on the front lines. there are three front lines outside of the city, about 25 to 35 kilometers outside of the city to the east, the south and the west, and there were 13 people killed, 24 injured at the last time we checked the hospital. so intense fighting from the gadhafi forces who were trying to push into the city once

again. they tried on monday. things calmed down a bit on tuesday because rebels were able to fight back and hold their positions. and then again today, things blew up. the rebels were getting hammered today. but the rebels say they were able to push gadhafi forces back, hold their positions and push the forces a little bit further to the west towards tripoli. so the rebels are feeling pretty good about themselves, despite the fact they've had casualties. doctors at the hospital say this is the worst -- the most amount of casualties they've seen in the past week, anderson. >> john, yesterday intensified air attacks during the day in tripoli. what has it been like today? >> very quiet today. i mean, remarkably quiet. probably the quietest day for at least the last week, i would say. but the highlight of our day, if one can call it that, was being taken out of tripoli to this desert camp of colonel gadhafi,

which was hit. they told us at dusk on tuesday. and obliterated, really. and seemed like the clearest example yet of a nato attempt to kill colonel gadhafi. >> that's the way it seems? it seems like nato is trying to kill him? there have been a number of strikes at his compound, or what used to be his compound. they say there's command and control reasons to do that. is that not the case? >> well, i heard from a source in secretary gates' entourage indirectly today that the reason they attacked the command compound in tripoli so heavily yesterday was that they had some intelligence that colonel gadhafi had been back there. >> john, i want to clarify. you said about a source telling you that the reason they hit that compound yesterday was because they had some

intelligence that gadhafi was there. have you reported that in the paper yet? >> no, it wasn't my source, really. this came to me indirectly from somebody who had been talking to a source in secretary gates' entourage. so i can't vouch for that source, but it was put to me that it was somebody who is in a -- you know, in a position to know. this was not respect to the desert camp but it was with trop the compound that had been hit repeatedly before. so the first thing when we went there yesterday, in a situation that i must say made me feel a little nervous. because half of the reporters decided not to go thinking that we were being used as human shields. the nato aircraft were still bombing the city and still in the air over this compound. we went anyway, a number of us

believing that nato was watching the hotel which we live and probably watching the bus that carries us to the bombing sites. when i got there, i saw the complete obliteration of these buildings. i must say, my first instinct was, what's the point? they've already gone after the bunkers beneath these buildings. they've previously attacked several of the buildings. this time they came back and they just turned it into kind of berlin 1945. it was just rubble as far as the eye could see. i couldn't figure out why they would have done that. but if, in fact, and like i say it's not my source, but sort of a second or tertiary source, but if in fact aides to secretary gates are saying that they have indications that gadhafi had returned to the compound, that would certainly explain why they went after it with such ferocity. >> sara, stay safe. john burns, thank you so much. appreciate it. let us know what you think on facebook or twitter @andersoncooper.

i'll try to be tweeting tonight. coming up, shocking testimony in the casey anthony trial. multiple internet searches for the word chloroform on her home computer. a computer she shared with her parents. details on that. and what other words she searched for. wait till you hear some of the other ones. up next, more breaking news. late new calls for anthony weiner to step down. a sexting partner speaking out in a stunning report that his wife, a top aide to secretary of state hillary clinton is pregnant. the latest in all that and the back story of what used to be washington's power couple. anderson, tonight, the story continues of kirk andrew murphy enrolled in a government-funded study aimed at making effeminate boys more masculine. the therapy drastic and brutal. he took his own life. tonight, part two of our investigation. how does the doctor respond to the family's allegation his therapy led to kirk's suicide? we tracked him down in florida to find out. that's coming up.

host: what, do you live under a rock? man: no way! man: hey rick check this out! anncr: geico. 15 minutes could save 15% or more on car insurance. just got more powerful. introducing precise pain relieving heat patch. it blocks pain signals for deep relief precisely where you need it most. precise. only from the makers of tylenol. the two trains and a bus rider. the "i'll sleep when it's done" academic. for 80 years, we've been inspired by you. and we've been honored to walk with you to help you get where you want to be. ♪

because your moment is now. let nothing stand in your way. learn more at keller.edu. ♪ i like your messy hair ♪ i like the clothes you wear ♪ i like the way you sing ♪ and when you dance with me ♪ you always make me smile [ male announcer ] we believe you're at your best when you can relax and be yourself. and at thousands of newly refreshed holiday inn hotels, you always can.

holiday inn. stay you. and now stay rewarded with vacation pay. stay two weekend nights and get a $75 prepaid card. and now stay rewarded with vacation pay. you know rheumatoid arthritis means pain. but you may not know it can also mean destruction. not just of your joints, but of the things you love to do. and the longer you live with the aching, swelling, and stiffness, the closer you may be to having your favorite things... taken away from you. but you can take action today. go to ra.com for your free joint profile so you can better talk to your rheumatologist about protecting your joints. still more breaking news on two fronts in the anthony weiner scandal to tell you about. a growing list of democratic colleagues calling for his resignation and reports that his wife huma is pregnant. all on a day that began with an

explicit photo of his anatomy surfacing online. so tonight, there's deshock, deepening political damage and a child in the mix. more on his wife huma who is a top aide to secretary of state clinton. you'll hear from one of the congressman's sexting partners. but first, the latest from dana bash. last night, the silence from democrats was deafening. that has changed just in the last few hours. more and more democrats, especially in the house, are calling on congressman weiner to resign. >> you're right, anderson. before today, no democrat had said that the congressman should resign. today many did. as you said, the most significant are from weiner's fellow democrats. they started coming out late today. now about a half dozen are saying publicly it's time for weiner to go. that includes alison schwartz. it shows how much democrats think this is hurting them politically. she is in charge of recruiting democratic candidates to run in 2012. some of the language has been quite strong.

joe donnelly of indiana said, enough is enough. it's time for congressman weiner to resign. his actions have disgraced the congress. what's most telling is not just the public statements, anderson. i'm told that weiner is getting private calls from colleagues telling him to step down. a democratic congressman told me that they're saying to weiner, look, just step aside to preserve the dignity that you have left. and this congressman told me the resentment among weiner's colleagues has escalated since that mea culpa press conference he had on monday, especially now with the x-rated photo surfashion on the internet. >> do we know how he's been responding to the mounting pressure? >> he had been quite defiant in public and private conversations earlier this week saying he's going to stay. he's not going to resign. one democratic source familiar with the conversations tells me he's now conflicted, doesn't know what he wants to do. we should note that he's not just taking calls but making them big time to colleagues, friends and supporters. i spoke with a democratic congressman who got a call from

weiner today who said he was contrite, choked up. he said he doesn't know what got into him but he did vow to try to redeem himself. >> you've learned that he reached out to former president clinton who officiated at his wedding. >> that's right. we don't have the specifics of that phone call, other than weiner was calling the former president to apologize to him, just as he has to many others over the past three days. this was a special call because bill clinton is somebody who he knows very well, but more importantly, he's very close with weiner's wife, huma, because she works for hillary clinton, has for years and years. and democratic sources i talked to say that the clintons think of her as a daughter. anderson? >> it's sad all the way around. huma abedin is traveling with secretary of state clinton arriving today in abu dhabi in the persian gulf. neither she nor the secretary has said word one publicly about the scandal. however, one of the sexting women has. lisa weis, the blackjack dealer in las vegas telling "inside

edition" about her conversation with the congressman and the regret to what it's done to his wife. listen. >> you called this flirting, but it was very explicit sexual talk. >> yes, i know. >> did he ever send you a photo? >> no. >> what was you say to the congressman's wife? >> i feel very, very bad for talking to her husband in a way i shouldn't have. i feel horrible. >> congressman weiner and huma were married just last summer. a consummate washington power couple. she's deeply private. he, obviously, has very close relationships with the media. certainly seeks out the media. we want to take a look at their relationship, at her, to learn more about her. hear's tom foreman's report. >> reporter: as she traveled abroad with secretary clinton, huma abedin appears to be doing what she always does, tending to her work and keeping a low profile. friends say she's indicated she will fight for her marriage and her husband's career, but they

openly worry about the couple's future. james carville knows her. >> every conversation starts the same thing, god, i wonder how huma is holding up. she didn't do anything to deserve this. any variation of that. every conversation always starts with that. >> reporter: abedin has been a rising star in the democratic party ever since she interned for first lady clinton in 1996. 35 this year, she was born in michigan to parents who were both college professors. largely raised in saudi arabia, she came back stateside to go to george washington university in d.c. she's a practicing muslim, fluent in arabic, and has emerged over the years as one of clinton's closest aides and friends. >> anybody else? >> reporter: famously professional, untiring, and discrete. candidate clinton wrapped up her white house bid and thanked her staff. >> and to my extraordinary staff, volunteers and

supporters. >> reporter: the cameras went to abedin. they often do. her success, striking looks and love of high fashion landed her a "vogue" magazine feature in 2007 calling her hillary's secret weapon and mentioning close ties to actor john cusack and cyclist lance armstrong. in that article, clinton, who is described as having more of a mother/daughter relationship with abedin said her combination of poise, kindness and intelligence are matchless. but it was abedin's relationship with anthony weiner 12 years older and jewish that made washington buzz. he says she knew of his weakness for internet sex chat before the wedding but told her it was past and they took their vows, presided over by former president bill clinton. ironic since abedin's internship at the white house occurred around the same time another intern was there, monica

lewinsky. >> i love her very much, and she loves me. >> reporter: representative weiner insists, like the clintons, he and his wife will stick together. but that's what he says. and with their first anniversary coming up in a few weeks, she is not talking. tom foreman, cnn, washington. well, other news tonight. testimony in the casey anthony trial. the prosecution, as you know, alleges that casey's daughter, caylee, was forced to inhale chloroform and suffocated to death. today, the jury heard testimony from computer experts who said there were more than 80 searches on the family computer under the word chloroform. up next, details on that and some of the other words searched. we'll talk with dr. sanjay gupta about what chloroform does to the human body. also ahead, part two of our investigation, the sissy boy experiment. hope you saw part one last night. a 5-year-old boy who played with girls toys. he was put into a government funded study aimed at making him more masculine.

decades later he took his life. his family blames the researcher who conducted the experiment. >> they were the experts. so i thought they would know what they were doing. >> what they really told him is that the very core of who he was was broken. >> well, hear how one of the experts responds to that accusation. we track him down when "360" continues. [ male announcer ] from nutritional science comes centrum. with vitamins and minerals balanced to support your energy... ♪ ...immune function... ♪ ...healthy skin... and help protect your cells from environmental stress. everyday benefits from advanced formulas. the complete benefits of centrum. and if you're over 50, discover the age-adjusted benefits of centrum silver.

but sometimes i wonder... what's left behind? [ female announcer ] new purifying facial cleanser from neutrogena naturals. removes 99% of dirt and toxins without dyes, parabens, or harsh sulfates. so skin feels pure and healthy. [ female announcer ] new from neutrogena naturals.

in "crime and punishment" tonight, new stunning testimony in the casey anthony murder trial. computer experts took the stand today and told the jury that months before anthony's daughter caylee went missing, there were 84 internet searches for the word chloroform on the family computer, including how to make chloroform. in a moment, we'll talk with dr. sanjay gupta about what the chemical chloroform can do to the human body. prosecutors allege casey anthony used chloroform to knock out caylee before suffocating her to death. we also learned there were internet searches on the same computer for neck breaking and head injuries. they were recovered on the computer's hard drive. gary tuchman has the latest from the courtroom today. >> reporter: casey and caylee anthony in 2008. just months before little caylee disappeared. the pictures shown today in court by the prosecution. casey anthony in her usual spot in the courtroom showed no emotion.

and didn't even look at the pictures of her little girl. prosecutors then turned to casey anthony's computer, laying out what they believe to be very damning evidence. >> my name is john dennis bradley. >> reporter: john bradley is a software expert asked by investigators to ferencically investigate the ghurt casey anthony's house. the jury was listening carefully. >> is that a google search? >> yes, it is. >> for? >> the words neck breaking, with a space in between. and then a visit to wikipedia.org and inhalation, head underscore injury, ruptured spleen, chest trauma, hand-to-hand combat, search term of internal bleeding. >> reporter: all these results came from the computer three months before caylee disappeared. prosecutors are trying to convince the jury that casey anthony was doing homework about

ways to kill her daughter and it was presumed her attorney would cast doubt she was the one using the computer. but instead he seemed to concede she was surfing topics ranging from self-defense to self-protection. >> a computer examiner can never testify that a person is reading what's on the page, right? >> not without a security camera watching over them, that is correct. >> reporter: but the history included information about chloroform. earlier testimony recorded chloroform being recorded in anthony's trunk. as one expert said, at shockingly high levels. chloroform can incapacitate or kill a person. here is one of the prosecutors -- >> how many times was that site visited? >> according to the history, 84 times. >> reporter: casey anthony was almost expressionless after that comment, too. as the evidence against her builds. >> let's talk more about chloroform. i want to find out what the chemical can do to the body. dr. sanjay gupta joins us now.

you talk about movies where people put chloroform on a rag and knock people out. what exactly is chloroform and what is it typically used for? >> it's a very volatile liquid. it's a liquid that can turn into a gas very quickly. in the past it was used sort of as an anesthetic, much in the way that you described it and much in the way you've seen in movies. people would put some on a towel or something like that and use it as a form of anesthetic. this was done even into the middle part of last century. it's a very volatile liquid that sort of depresses someone's central nervous system and their ability to breathe, if they breathe a lot in. if you breathe too much of it in and people have known this, which is why even as an anesthetic it had to be administered with skilled hands, too much of it would depress someone's central nervous system and render them unable to breathe and that could kill them.

>> so it could be used to kill somebody if too much is used? >> yeah, and there's a lot of different medications like this, certainly, that have been used as anesthetics in the past. in fact, even with regard to michael jackson. we were talking about propofol at that point. the similarities between a lot of these types of things is that they depress your own body's reflex to breathe on its own. the nervous system has nerves that allow the body to sort of breathe on its own. this depresses that. so you just don't have that drive and that's ultimately what causes death. >> can someone just go into a store and buy a bottle of chloroform? >> not exactly. it's not something that's sort of for individual sale. you can buy it as part of -- companies can buy it sometimes to be used more commercial purposes. but simply acquiring chloroform like that as an individual is hard to do. >> and obviously there's this testimony that somebody had used the anthony family computer to search how to make chloroform. >> yes.

>> is that something -- does one make it? >> i looked into that a little bit today, anderson. it's a fairly simple chemical compound. so while, you know, it's difficult to go buy as a completed product, you could potentially make it. it's not that difficult to do. again, getting the exact concentrations correct, and even having this because it's so volatile, it's constantly turning into gas in front of you, it can be dangerous on your own but it can be done. >> dr. gupta, appreciate it. >> thanks, anderson. back to the legal fight. does today's testimony on chloroform and the other internet search words give the edge to the prosecution or the defense? joining me now is jean casarez, who is covering the trial for trutv's "in session" and forensic pathologist dr. michael hunter. dr. hunter, as i said earlier, in court today a computer specialist testified someone in the anthony household looked up how to make chloroform on the

internet. is there any reason why someone would need to know how to make chloroform in everyday life? >> i can't imagine why someone would do a search like that for any type of household purpose at all. >> jean, the computer experts said they wouldn't trace who did these searches. so was the defense able to cast doubt on the prosecution in the assertion it was casey who looked up these terms? because she lived in the house with her parents? >> they didn't cross-examine on that too hard, except for the fact there wasn't a password to get into the site. what we do know is whoever was making these searches would go between photo bucket, which casey had a big account of photos, to myspace to facebook. her parents didn't have those accounts at all. the most innocent explanation of this if there is an isnnnocent explanation, is that casey's

boyfriend at the time had put on his myspace account, it would be an intox kath effect. but there was some genuine searches, such as neck breaking. >> chloroform is also an element emitted during human decomposition. is it possible the chloroform found in casey anthony's car was from a body? >> i think this is where the defense wants to put that. they want to say the chloroform is actually just a byproduct of the decomposition process. and it is. your body can produce small amounts of chloroform. but keep in mind that we had an expert two days ago who analyzed the material that came from the trunk. his testimony said that there was a shockingly high amount of chloroform. he says he's never seen that amount of chloroform in decomposing tissues in his work. and that's pretty powerful, and that's probably as powerful as you're going to get in this case in the discussion of chloroform.

now, does that win the jury over? you know, i don't know. we'll have to see. the defense can make a lot of headway when it comes to, you know, maybe pointing to the fact this might be something that's naturally forming. >> jean, what's coming up tomorrow? >> lee anthony, the brother of casey anthony, has testified once. we've seen him walking in the hallway so we think he may be next to be put on the stand. the prosecution's theory is not only premeditation, which i think this is the strongest evidence so far for that, but it's also aggravated child abuse. that means the intentional infliction of physical injury upon your child. that could include applications of chloroform. >> jean, we have seen her brother testify before and seen videos which she and her brother were having conversations while she has been incarcerated. what did we learn from those videos? those were essentially part of the videos where she was just lying repeatedly. >> that's right.

and the prosecution is going chronologically. what did we learn from those videos? that her brother was desperately trying to find where caylee was. this was a missing child investigation. she was lying to him and also said, you can trust mom and dad in all of this. now they're going into august. and her brother was involved in law enforcement trying to work with them. once again, the whole family trying to find caylee. >> jean casarez, appreciate it. dr. michael hunter, thank you. >> thank you. still ahead, part two of our investigation, "the sissy boy experiment," uncovering the truth. tonight, we confront the psychologist this woman blames for her brother's suicide. >> this was a little boy who deserved protection, respect, and unconditional love. >> details on what happened to that little boy. also ahead -- delta airlines coming under fire for soaking u.s. troops returning from afghanistan with baggage fees. we'll tell you the details and how much they charged. from a place like detroit,

no one expects you to influence the world of fashion. but when you grew up surrounded by rock 'n' roll and heavy industry, you just might make a name for yourself. ♪ that's what a blue-collar attitude can do in a white-collar world. two of the most important are energy security

and economic growth. north america actually has one of the largest oil reserves in the world. a large part of that is oil sands. this resource has the ability to create hundreds of thousands of jobs. at our kearl project in canada, we'll be able to produce these oil sands with the same emissions as many other oils and that's a huge breakthrough. that's good for our country's energy security and our economy. ♪ i like your messy hair ♪ i like the clothes you wear ♪ i like the way you sing ♪ and when you dance with me ♪ you always make me smile [ male announcer ] we believe you're at your best when you can relax and be yourself. and at thousands of newly refreshed holiday inn express hotels, you always can. holiday inn express. stay you. and now stay rewarded with vacation pay. stay two weekend nights and get a $75 prepaid card.

tonight, part two of our

"360" investigation, "the sissy boy experiment," uncovering the truth. i want to show you a picture of a young man, kirk andrew murphy, that was taken in the early 1970s when he was about 4 years old. a year before he got enrolled in a government-funded study aimed at making effeminate boys more masculine. his brother says this photo is the last time he remembers his brother kirk happy. kirk was just 5 years old when he was treated at ucla's gender identity clinic under a pseudoname to protect his privacy. the man who ran the study was george rekers, a graduate student at the time. rekers called kirk's treatment, which his family says involved beatings at home, a success. decades later, the research that was done on kirk is still being cited by those who think kids can be prevented from becoming gay. that's what infuriates kirk's family. kirk's family say the treatment literally destroyed kirk. they want you to know what he went through and the impact it had on the rest of his life. in tonight's report, we confront

rekers with their allegations. >> kirk, what do you think of your nephew? >> are we on camera? >> yes. >> or just taking pictures? >> kirk murphy killed himself nearly six months after this video was taken in 2003. he was 38 years old, and had struggled with being gay for most of his life. a struggle his family blames on experimental therapy that kirk was subjected to as a 5-year-old child. experimental therapy that identified him as effeminate, a so-called sissy boy and tried to fundamentally change his behavior. kirk's mother enrolls him in the experimental therapy at ucla in 1970 because of concerns he was playing with girls' toys. >> and i trusted these people because they were the experts. >> what they really told him is that the very core of who he was, was broken. >> my husband and i and kirk

were manipulated by this program. i think kirk would have been better off if i hadn't have taken him. >> kirk's family had no idea george rekers has, for the last three decades, used kirk as an example of a child whose effeminate behavior was altered successfully. he has written about kirk, calling him kraig to hide his identity. >> i blame them for the way his life turned out. if one person causes another person's death, i don't care if it's 20 or 50 years, it's the same as murder in my eyes. >> of course, the actual reason someone commits suicide is difficult if not impossible to know. kirk's family's allegations that george rekers' therapy caused kirk to take his own life are just that, allegations. >> i would like to talk about your therapy that you did with kraig. >> george rekers didn't respond to our request for an interview,

so our producers tracked him down in florida to ask him about the murphy family's allegations. >> can you talk to us for a second about your therapy with a patient named kraig? >> it's published. >> we interviewed kraig's family. they say the therapy you did as a child led to his suicide as an adult. what do you say about that? >> i didn't know that. that's too bad. >> you're not aware of the suicide? >> no. >> what do you say to the family if they say the therapy you did with him as a child tloed his suicide? >> well, i think scientifically, that would be inaccurate to assume that it was the therapy. but i do grieve for the parents now that you've told me that news. i think that's very sad. >> rekers pointed out that his work with kirk took place decades before his suicide. >> that's a long time ago. you have a hypothesis that positive treatment back in the 1970s had something to do with something happening decades

later. that hypothesis needs a lot of scientific investigation to see if it's valid. two independent psychologists of me had evaluated him and said he was better adjusted after treatment. so it wasn't my opinion. >> one of those psychologists has since died. the other, larry ferguson, told us he did evaluate kirk murphy as a teenager. he told us the family was well adjusted and he didn't see any red flags when evaluating kirk. but a psychiatrist who followed up with kirk when he was 18, dr. richard green, wrote that kirk told him he tried to kill himself the year before because he didn't, quote, want to grow up to be gay. rekers insists the therapy was to help kirk and his parents. >> i only meant to help. and the rationale was positive to help children help the parents who come to us in their distress asking questions, what

can we do to help our child be better adjusted? >> george rekers has had a nearly three-decade career as a champion of the anti-gay movement. in addition of being a founding member of the family research council, he was a board member of narth, who attempts to treat those who struggle with what they call unwanted homosexuality. just last year, however, in a surprising twist, george rekers' days as a prominent anti-gay activist abruptly ended. rekers was caught with a young male escort he hired to accompany him on a trip to europe. this photograph was taken of them in an airport in miami. rekers says he's not gay and denies any sexual contact with the escort. he says he hired him to help him carry his luggage. the escort says he gave rekers sexual massages while in europe. rekers resigned from narth after

the scandal, and the family research council said in a statement they haven't had contact with him in over a decade. rekers' reputation among those who oppose homosexuality may be tarnished, but his research is still being cited. in this book he co-authored, handbook of therapy for unwanted homosexual attractions he continues to cite his work with kirk as a success. he writes that the case was "the first experimentally demonstrated reversal of a cross-gender identity with psychological treatment." the book was published in 2009, six years after kirk murphy took his own life. >> the research has a postscript to it that needs to be added, and that is to acknowledge that kirk andrew murphy was kraig and he was gay and he committed suicide. >> what do you want people to remember about kirk, to know about kirk? >> that this was a little boy who deserved protection,

respect, and unconditional love. and i don't want him to be remembered as a science experiment. he was a person. >> what happened to kirk andrew murphy isn't just a piece of history. today all around the country, children whose families are concerned they may be gay are being sent to therapy based in part on george rekers' research. it happened to a young man named ryan kendall when he was just 14. >> i thought there was some legitimacy to this idea that i was an evil sinner that was going to burn in hell. and for years, i thought that god hated me because i was gay. >> ryan says the therapy he was forced to get drove him to drugs and into a deep depression. tomorrow in part leave to our investigation, you'll hear more from ryan and from the psychologists who treated him who say he's kept hundreds of children from growing up gay. still ahead, a freak accident, dozens of air force

rotc cadets struck by lightning. and the soldier's youtube video that embarrassed an airline. >> good business model, delta. thank you. we're actually happy to be back to america. god bless america. not happy. not happy at all. we don't go lower than 130. big deal, persuade him. is it wise to allow a perishable item to spoil? he asked, why leave a room empty? the additional revenue easily covers operating costs. 65 dollars is better than no dollars. okay. $65 for tonight. you can't argue with a big deal. distracted driving. it accounts for 25% of car crashes. - ♪ [ dance ] - music, cell phones, food-- the list goes on. this is why safe driving is so important.

- correct. - and it's why the best agents... help safe drivers get a lower rate. - oh! - exactly. ♪ another dream but always you ♪ whoa! ♪ it's like a vision-- [ tires squeal ] ♪ [ resumes ] [ man announcing ] we are insurance. ♪ we are farmers bum-pa-dum, bum-bum-bum-bum ♪

so i wasn't playing much of a role in my own life. but with advair, i'm breathing better. so now, i've got the leading part. advair is clinically proven to help significantly improve lung function. unlike most copd medications, advair contains both an anti-inflammatory and a long-acting bronchodilator, working together to help improve your lung function all day. advair won't replace fast-acting inhalers for sudden symptoms and should not be used more than twice a day. people with copd taking advair may have a higher chance of pneumonia. advair may increase your risk of osteoporosis and some eye problems.

tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking advair. if you're still having difficulty breathing, take the lead. ask your doctor if including advair could help improve your lung function. get your first full prescription free and save on refills at advaircopd.com. personal pricing now on brakes. tell us what you want to pay. we do our best to make that work. deal!

my money. my choice. my meineke. isha sesay is following some other stories tonight and joins was a "360" news and business bulletin. a lightning strike at camp shelby military base in mississippi sent 77 air force rotc cadets to the hospital. the military said all of the reservists were responsive and stable, although two were carried by ambulances. the united states effort to stabilize afghanistan has had limited success according to a new senate report. what's more, the report, based on a two-year investigation, said afghanistan risks sinking into deeper crisis after a u.s. troop withdrawal. the u.s. has sent $19 billion in aide to the troubled nation. and u.s. troops returning from afghanistan got an unwelcome surprise from delta airlines. the unit was charged almost $3,000 in baggage fees.

soldiers with more than three bags had to pay $200 per extra bag, no matter what was in it. >> for me, it was a weapons case holding my m-4, 203 grenade launcher and 9 millimeter, the tools i used to protect myself and afghan citizens while i was deployed in the country. >> this incident is sparking outrage after some of the soldiers posted the youtube video. today, delta changed its policy. effective immediately, military personnel traveling on orders will be allowed to check more bags for free. >> amazing that they hadn't done that already. time now for the "ridicu-list." tonight, with a heavy heart, we add jon stewart. jon was doing what we in the tv business and, yes, i'm including myself because i'm nothing if not desperately trying to cling to my youth, call a bit. he was mocking congressman anthony weiner's habit of sipping water during his news conference and look, let's be honest, of all of anthony

weiner's habits, his thirst of water, the least of his problems. jon brought out some props, namely a blender and margarita glass. that's when things took a most unfortunate turn. >> that's not good. i'm probably going to need to go to the hospital. >> jon, have you learned nothing from your wise friends over here at cnn? if there's anything we've been clear about is dangerous stunts have no place on respectable television. >> i'm about to receive 50,000 volts of electricity. do it. oh! it hurts! it's painful. but no one is dead.

>> now, remember, jon, television is about being straightforward with your viewers, nothing to do with gimmicks. we're joined now via hologram by will.i.am who is live in grant park. let's see if we can beam him in now. there we go. still have no idea what that was about. this is the medium of muro and huntly brinkley. we as broadcasters are bestowed a great privilege. we are guardians of the national conversation. we're not part of a dog and pony show. a pony with a dog on it? >> a pony with a dog on it. >> you have to ask yourself, jon, do you want to be another matinee idol anchorman? one with steely blue eyes and silver hair and a steely chin. you know what happens to those guys? they fall in love with risky stunts and end up jumping the shark. >> so we're like the jackal at the lion feed? >> exactly.

>> yeah, i went diving with sharks. so what? i'm happy to report after a few stitches jon is back at work. so jon, if you're watching this at home or perhaps in a coffee shop watching a youtube video, please know that we're begging you to stay away from the booze and the sharp objects and out of the emergency room and off the ridicu-list. a lot more news at the top of the hour. we'll be right back. too much on your plate? no matter when you get around to booking, hotels.com will have a great last minute deal waiting for you. like at the hotels.com 48 hour sale. this tuesday and wednesday only. hotels.com. be smart. book smart. the morning after the big move starts with back pain... and a choice. take advil now... and maybe up to 4 in a day. or, choose aleve and 2 pills for a day free of pain. smart move. ♪

that's how it is with alzheimer's disease. she needs help from me. and her medication. the exelon patch -- it releases medication continuously for twenty-four hours. she uses one exelon patch daily for the treatment of mild to moderate alzheimer's symptoms. [ female announcer ] it cannot change the course of the disease. hospitalization and rarely death have been reported in patients who wore more than one patch at a time. the most common side effects of exelon patch are nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. the likelihood and severity of these side effects may increase as the dose increases. patients may experience loss of appetite or weight. patients who weigh less than 110 pounds may experience more side effects. people at risk for stomach ulcers who take certain other medicines should talk to their doctor because serious stomach problems such as bleeding may worsen. people with certain heart conditions may experience slow heart rate. [ woman ] whenever i needed her, she was there for me. now i'm here for her. [ female announcer ] ask the doctor about your loved one trying the exelon patch. visit exelonpatch.com to learn more.