thanks for spending the last couple of hours with me. i will now hand it over to brooke baldwin had hi, brooke. >> hi, randi. hello, everyone. i'm brooke baldwin. today in kabul, the u.s. embassy and headquarters of the international force there and

nato command center were targeted. you're going to see rooftop to rooftop fighting, today in kabul. >> these are u.s. security forces that are returning fire from what we're told was a well-organized taliban attack ugz rocket-propelled grenades, also machine guns. street fighting lasted several hours. it is over now, and there were casualties. want to go straight to the capital of kabul where our own suzanne malveaux has been there for a better part of a week and a half. she has now details there. suzanne, just begin with, can you confirm what we're being told, that all of the asill aai

are either dead or captured? >> reporter: actually, a spokesman for the ministry of defense just tweeted, there might be one or two more terrorists still alive. he also says the building has not yet been cleared. we know for sure there were four insurgents involved in this attack. they've been going floor by floor in this abandoned building, the building that's been under construction for some time. this has happened over the course of hours. this whole thing started ten hours ago. but it's been relatively quiet with sporadic gunfire throughout the evening, the last couple of hours or so as they've been trying to find this fourth building, perhaps are a fifth person, if they're in this building and still alive. they don't think this is all wrapped up but it's quieter now. folks at the u.s. emhe basscy have been are on lockdown for the last ten hours or so, kind of in a duck and cover mode. all of those activities are

canceled for tomorrow. i have to say, brooke, i was down there below and outside of the embassy, outside the nato compound, this is where we spend a lot of time, a very tense situation. you had afghan police, afghan army trying to clear the streets. you had people who were in the hospitals who were being wheeled in who had been injured. we even saw a man, who was shot and killed, who was taken in the back of a pickup truck to a military hospital, found out that that was actually one of the insurgents who had been killed in the building. this is a bold, brazen attack, and this is one of those things really that affect alo lot of people on the ground because this really is at the heart of the security p apparatus in kab kabul. you've got the presidential palace, nato, u.s. embassy, all of these places in a relatively close proximity for the taliban to get to them and get to them way outside the compound and do

the kind of damage they do, quite unsettling for a lot of people here. >> help me understand. you've been walking, as you've explained, the ground. help mor understand the lay of the land. this building apparently where these insurgents positioned themselves, prepared to do this in conjunction with these other targets and also what more can you share about the casualties. any u.s. casualties, nato casualties, and certainly civilians. >> reporter: well, sure. what happened today is obviously you had this bold attack against the u.s. embassy, nato as well as intelligence agencies offices downtown central kabul. but you also had three other attacks thattor were happening all around the area. these were isolated situations where are you would have a suicide bomber with a jacket who would try to detonate a bomb at various places. so one was outside a high school, one was on airport road that's right outside of the airport, another one was at a

police compound. all of these different things were happening within the course of a couple of hours that this was taking place. now, in terms of casualties that the final numbers that we have gotten here is that seven people in total have been killed on the day and 17 injured, most of them civilians. now, nobody inside of the u.s. embassy we're told was actually killed or injured. we do know that four afghans who were right outside the compound of the embassy were injured. we know that also inside of the international security assistance forces, that's a place we spent quite a bit of time this week, nobody was injured. they were not able to penetrate the walls in that video. everything is stringed with barbed wire, very, very thick barriers to actually get inside. that did not happen so nobody was injured or killed there. but the police have been killed, civilians have been are killed, and, more importantly, people just feel a sense of fear and

anxiety because what's happening is the taliban is going to the heart of the security to show that they're going to disrupt things and the afghans trying at the same time to get up to speed, take their own security into their own hand s and they realize they're working against a taliban really trying to show a symbolic strike, if you will, that they he ccan get to the he of the security apparatus here in kabul. >> certainly. here we are just two days after the tenth anniversary of 9/11 as well. suzanne malveaux live from kabul. suzanne, many thanks to you. also unfolding right now, the president of iran tells an american news network that two u.s. citizens in prison there will be freed, and i'm quote him, in a couple of days. talking about josh fattal, shane bauer locked up in iran since july of 2009 when with they were arrested and accused of crossing into iran from are iraq. they say they were with hiking. they and another american were accused of being spies.

fattal and bauer have been lockedlock locked up. they were sentenced to eight years behind bars in iran. here is the problem trying to learn more about their fate. the u.s. has no diplomatic relations with iran and relies on third parties just to get information. aleae alease, did the statement from waahmadinejad just pop p up outf the blue? >> certainly the news they could be released any day now was news from the united states. they were just watching the interview with president ahmadinejad today and heard him say this. but for the last month since these men were convicted, brook, there's been p rumbles that perhaps they had been released. but u.s. state department officials being very cautious and not wanting to say anything. they've heard they're going to be released only to have the hopes of the families and u.s.

dashered. let's listen to how careful secretary of state had hillary clinton today when with she was asked about this news. >> we have followed this very closely, and we are encouraged by what the iranian government has said today. but i'm not going to comment further than that. we obviously hope that we will see a positive outcome from what appears to be a decision by the government. >> now, brooke, even the family being very careful today. we have a statement just coming out shane and josh's families. it says, shane and josh's freedom mean more to us than anything and it's a huge relief that they are going to be released. we're grateful to anyone who has supported us and looking forward to our reunion with shane and josh. we hope to say more when they are finally p baback in our arm. we understand tomorrow there could be some more news, the

swiss ambassador to tehran, as you mentioned, the u.s. doesn't have any relations with iran. so the swiss government is the protecting power. we understand that the swiss ambassador to iran has been summoned by the iranian foreign ministry to have a meeting on this. i just spoke to a swiss diplomat just minutes ago. i said, are you optimistic? is it looking good? he said, look, it doesn't look bad but we don't want to say more. again, we've heard this more and we don't want to get too excited. >> we've heard that phrase, cautious and optimistic. hopeful from the parents as well. elise, thank you very much. i spoke with both mothers of josh and shane just a couple of months ago. here's what they told me back then. do you think this story really is much so much bigger than josh and shane and sarah? this is really country versus country? how does that make you feel if that's the case? >> we feel terrible.

this has been a time of enormous angui anguish, enormous desperation. our kids are in isolation from any other prisoner. we don't get to speak to them. more than two five-minute phone calls over 21 months. this has been a terrible situation. we want it to end. >> cindy, have you gotten everything you've needed thus far in this entire ordeal from the u.s. government? have they done enough for you? >> you know, when with shane and josh are home we'll know enough has been done. the real message is, iran need to quit playing games with shane and josh and their families. this is political. they need to take this out of the political ra rena. our families are devastated. shane and josh are 28. they need to be doing what they do fwor the world and get on with this. >> obviously we'll follow this and see if those young men come home. also, just in to cnn, a bizarre arrest in a kidnapping case. this 3-year-old canadian boy goes missing.

several days miss later he shows up at home unharmed. here's his father. >> he is happily home and playing with his brothers and sisters. thank you. thank you. >> so police come forward, name this guy as a suspect. this is 46-year-old randall hopely, a convicted sex offender who lives just a couple of miles down the road from the boy's home. here is the news today. we are told police tracked him down using dogs as he took off running from a house. it it's not yet clear what evidence investigators have on him. also this -- >> someone doesn't have to weaponize the bird flu. ed the birds are doing that. >> that's where we're headed. >> this is the biggest movie in america right now, a virus threatens to wipe out the human race and it's got a lot of people asking, how real is this

threat? coming up, we'll talk with a woman who actually advised the folks behind the scenes of the film "contagion." she says the threat is very real and the world needs a wiekup call. incredible video. this it car and motorcycle go up into flames. bystanders run to rescue the guy. police have been looking for all these heroes involved, and guess what we have managed to track one down. we'll talk with him live, next.

i want to show you some video. this is a recesses cue like you've never seen before. watch this with me. this is a motorcycle on fire and a bmw behind it it. police say the car pulled out in front of the biker who swerved to avoid hiing it, ended up

underneath the car. so you see the fire? that's because gas spilled and then the big boom. one man tries to help this guy, lift the car, can't do it by himself. you see this crowd of people, about ten people by my count, pulling this car up. by the way, the car 4,000 pounds. you see they actually drag the guy out. we'll loop the video again so you can see it, saving this young man. they then basically wander off, stunning. police in logan, utah, are are trying to track some of these heroes down so they can recognize their efforts, say thank you. i want to bring in one of the guys who actually helped in this rescue. i just learned he was the first officer on the scene. logan police department sergeant jason olsen. sergeant olsen, first things first, let's just say this 21-year-old motorcyclist, brandon wright, we're now reporting he is in stable condition. where were you when you got the call to get to the scene? >> i was actually on the street

of about 900 north and 600 east in logan so i was probably less than a half mile away. >> you rush to the scene. at that point were there people already around the car, trying to lift it up, what we're seeing on television? >> i think you can see on the video, if it it's the same one that i have, as i get next to the vehicle, i kind of turn and look over my shoulder because i've got another officer that's arriving. i kind of motion to him that i need him to bring me a jack. but it was only seconds that i realized that these citizens had already organized and were just going manually lift it up. so by the time i realized what was -- what they had in store, i really didn't even need to help because the vehicle was up and they were dragging the victim out from underneath. >> by looking at this video, you see a guy in a suit, a couple of construction workers. i understand the agriculture

building on campus was under construction so these people were nearby. do you know who these individuals were who kind of rushed together to pull this car up and save this young man? >> well, fortunately the accident happened right there close to campus where there's a lot of people in classeses and i understand there was a business meeting going on on the ninth floor where this videotape came from and there's a building that's under construction. so it's a very, very high traffic area. i think had this accident happened in more of a suburban area we wouldn't have gotten that kind of response. we would have never had that kind of manpower to get that car up, which is why i was already just kind of going through our protocol and motioning for a jack because i thought it was just going to be me and another officer trying to get this vehicle up. >> so did you even know, though, that this 21-year-old was under the car? did you know that when you first came in? >> it was obvious. i could tell by the panic on the people. the people were down on the ground. i think you see a couple of citizens, one female included, actually lay down on her belly.

they're looking under the car. soy didn't have to ask. i knew the motorcyclist was pinned underneath. >> tell me, what's being said in this group of people who are lifting this car up. what are they saying, what are they shouting? >> you know, i can't really honestly recall that for certain. i -- it was very stressful, just because i was -- i'm now concerned about the 15 people that are there. i don't want them to get hurt. they picked up and then they walked away. i was telling them to get back away from the fire because it was still so volatile. i didn't want it to become something bigger. they just moved out of the way of the camera. they didn't really want to leave very badly. but it was just kind of chaos and pandemonium. i do remember the one gentleman say, we need everybody to come and help lift, and that's when everybody just ran over. >> i mean, at any moment in time, that car could have burst into flames. obviously you, the people around

you were risking your lives. but what does this say -- from what i understand, you know, your police department has been trying to track some of these people down. i guess they hadn't inherently come forward to get kudos. what does that say about, i don't know, your community, logan, utah? >> well, i've lived here for my entire life, which i guess i can say on the radio is 40 years, and, you know, it's always been that way around here. you can't say enough for what happens when people are really in dire need. i mean, that's not just our community. i'm sure that's all over the place. but in ours in particular it speaks volumes to what people will do in a tragic situation to help another person out. >> amazing. again, that young man there on the ground is in stable condition. what about quickly, sergeant olsen, what do we know about the driver of the car? is he okay or she? >> he is okay.

obviously he's very shaken up about this, but as far as injuries there were none reported by him that i know of. >> stunning scene in logan, ute uxt sergeant jason olsen, thank you so much for calling in. >> thank you. next, zero jobs created from the stimulus, stealing money from medicare to pay for health care reform. those are just some of the comments from the republican presidential debate. in a moment, tom foreman will break down what else was said and whether it was true or false. and later, pope benedict faces some serious allegations. we are going to explain why he's accused of, quote, crimes against human itd. ity. be right back. so you're seriously proposing we change our name to sun life valley. do we still get to go skiing?

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p. . let's talk about the debate. it was great stuff. did you watch last night? lots of great exchanges among the eight republican candidates, each of whom wants to be president. wolf blitzer by the way did one heck of a job, didn't he? i do want to play this nice little exchange on something we knew was coming, social security. listen to mitt romney zeroing in on rick perry. perry first. >> a program that's been there 70, 80 years, obviously we're not going to take that program away. but for people to stand up and s support what they did in it the '30s and what they're doing in the 2010s is not appropriate for america. >> but the question is, do you still believe social security should be ended as a federal program as you did six months ago, or do you want to retreat from that? >> i think we ought to have a conversation. >> we're having that right now, governor. we're running for president. >> and there were a lot of good moments like that one.

did you happen to be watching? did you hear any whoppers? eight politicians, two hours, surely someone shaded the truth, just a smidge. tom foreman is live in washington for us, doing a little fact checking. tom foreman, what did you hear? >> well, brooke, here's what i heard. first of all, don't write books. that ae's obviously a mistake because people hold you to it later on. we heard a lot of statements last night. as i always say to people, these are smart pokes. no matter what you think of them, they're smart folks. rarely they'll throw something out there patently untrue. yet they get excited and they stray and say things that certainly zefb a lot of scrutiny. think of something said by michele bachmann in the course of this debate that was quite incendiary because it was aimed directly at president obama. listen to it this. >> president obama in a stunning level of power now just recently told all private insurance companies, you must offer the morning after abortion pill

because i said so. and it must be free of charge. that same level coming through executive orders and through government dictates is wrong. >> well, you know for many social conservatives in this country, those are fire bomb words. it's very important. here's the claim, that the president has ordered the morning-after pill must be free, as she referred to it, as an abortion pill. the simple truth is health and human services in august did put in regulations that said you must allow women, if you're an insurer in this country, to have access to various birth control methods through you with no additional co-pay. that doesn't first of all make it free because they still have to pay for the insurance to begin with. nonetheless, no additional co-pay. there is an argument to some degree to be made about the type of pill you're talking about. if you're talking about the morning-after pill, which can be taken some two, three days after somebody has had sex to keep them from becoming pregnant -- i

know i'm on dangerous ground now because there are arguments about when actually pregnancy occurs -- that is considered different by doctors than what are more commonly called an abortion pill which can be taken four, five, six weeks later to actually terminate an ongoing pregnancy. so those are some details. there was an effort by the hhs in august so we're basically going to say that that is true but incomplete. if you listen to everything about it, you get a somewhat different picture than just this idea that the president said, the morning-after pill must be free. brooke? >> so we also, in another word that came up many times, jobs. the president was just in columbus selling his jobs plan, the eight candidates up there saying, elect me, if you elect me, i can help the economy create more jobs than the president has. did you, tom, hear any concrete specifics to back up those

claims? >> the tricky part to this, brooke, is every politician in the city will tell you privately, nobody really knows how they're going to create jobs or if they can guarantee anything. but i did want to look specifically at the governors who are up there, the governors and former governors, rick perry, current governor, jon huntsman, former governor, mitt romney, former governor. all of them in this debate and others have basically said, our states prospered, did better than almost everybody else when we were the governors. well, this gets really tricky because if you look at the way they slice these numbers p up, there's some validation for what they say. for example, rick perry says he's created a lot of jobs over the years. yes, he has. he's been in office for quite some time. he's created a lot of jobs. he hasn't created as many jobs as his population has grown so texas's unemployment rate, along with the country's, has gone up. it's better than the national rate right now. national rate about 9.1%, theirs about 8.4%. but still it has gone up.

mitt romney said in massachusetts, look, i came in office, we were losing jobs, we started surging forward. yes, and the whole nation surged forward at that time massachusetts was sort of trailing. jon huntsman came the closest to being on the money, but even there it's the way you wiggle around the numbers. in their case, we can move this back and forth, but i think you'll wind up somewhere between misleading and true but incomplete, probably the best assessment because these guys know the truth of their numbers and they all know they're leaning on them to push them as hard as they can in a positive direction. but you can't separate any state's economy from the national economy. that's just the way it it works. >> tom foreman, thank you very much. speaking of last night, listen to this. >> mitt, you were doing pretty good until you got to talking poker. but the fact is -- >> will the real rick perry please stand up? still ahead, i get a u neck perspective on what he's really like and if it's actually from a man who had to literally walk in

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you know, we heard something a bit rare in that debate last night. did you catch this? >> i will tell you that i made a mistake. >> maybe we'll see his lips

moving next time. let's try it again. i know it went by quickly, let's try it again. >> on that particular issue, i will tell you that i made a mistake. >> that was texas governor rick perry admitting that he did make a mistake, and fellow republicans if you were watching the debate last night, they certainly attacked hill. we'll cover that next hour. i want to bring in my next guest, from austin, texas, state representative mark straum ma. he once channeled rick perry, i mean he played the governor during debate preparations for one of perry's opponents. representative strauma, when you channel rick perry, what do you find? >> well, i didn't try to emulate his moernianner itches or ak accident, but i did try to voice his argument. i found it rather easy to voice. i mean, the guy runs on bumper sticker politics. just because it fits on a bumper sticker doesn't make it true, but it does make it easy to

articulate and argue. i found it a comfortable place to argue from. i'm on the other side. i'm a democrat and i oppose a lot of rick perry's policies. but it it was a useful exercise for me to understand where he's coming from to play his role in a debate and i found it one where are i haven't been surprised frankly that he's been effective in these debates at appealing to his base because he tends to position himself right where they want him to be. >> you know, here on our end, the texas governor seemed subdued compared to how we've seen him before. is that by design, or is that what happens when it's seven against one? >> it's what happens when it's seven against one and what happens when you're ahead by ten points or so in the polls. i have been a little bit surprised he hasn't been better prepared to respond. i think where he's vulnerable in this primary process is vulnerable to attacks that he's too far to the left. i don't think you can be too far to the right in this primary season.

that's the advantage that he brings to the race. but when they get him on hpv, which strikes people on the right as being big government, when with they get him on crony capitalism, and when they get him on immigration where he is genuinely to the left maybe of the republican primary electorate, maybe he's vulnerable there and he wasn't as well prepared to respond to those attacks as i thought he would be. >> let me jump in. >> i think the next thing -- >> perfect segue because i want to play a little bit of that. he was taken to task last night over texas letting illegal immigrants pay in-state tuition. let's hear him -- this is it texas governor rick perry dep d defending that. >> it doesn't make a difference what the sound of your last name is. that's the american way. no matter how you got in the state from the standpoint if your parents brought you there and what have you, that's what we've done in the state of texas and i'm proud we are having those individuals be contributing members of our society rather than telling them, you go be on the government dole. >> you heard some boos there.

>> that was wolf pointing out what we heard. you hear the boos. but you say rick perry doesn't back away from controversy. over and over i hear he's a fight fighter, he leans into it. >> he does. some may argue he leans with his chin as a lot of people think is the case on social security. i don't think it his social security position will hurt him in the republican primary. i think it might devastate him in the general election and i don't think it's sensible policy. i don't know how in a 21st century economy where people are as mobile as we are you can have a state-driven pension system because what happens to people who move from state to state? but i don't think that his being so far to the right on social security is going to hurt him. being as far to the left as he is on immigration policy, while i agree with his sentiments and i think frankly it's admirable he stood for them in that environment and debate, you saw the reaction from the crowd. it's not one that plays well among republican primary voters

right now. he's either going to have to lead the electorate to a place they're not today or he may have to retreat from his position on that, which is not something he does well. >> texas state representative mark strama, thank you very much. he also brought up the hpv vaccine we'll talk about later, the mistake he referenced. a us airways flight from new york to phoenix makes an unscheduled stop in st. louis. why? three passengers allegedly acting suspicious. the flight crew said they didn't want to take chances. also, the movie that has a lot of you talking and tweeting about. "contagion," is the threat presented in this film real or is this just great hollywood script writing? we'll talk to a woman who worked behind the scenes, talk to the producer, director, tell us where we must be prepared. [ woman ] jogging stroller. you've been stuck in the garage

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checking top stories now. some tense moments onboard a us

airways plane this morning, flight 457 to new york to phoenix, diverted to st. louis after some passengers on board noticed what they described as suspicious behavior by others. a tsa spokesman says three passengers were taken off the plane for questioning after it landed. the plane was inspected and allowed to proceed on to phoenix. several victims of abuse by catholic priests are asking the international criminal court to charge pope benedict and other top vatican officials with crimes against humanity. they say the church has had tolerant attitudes toward the abuse and turning a blind eye for years. a vatican spokesman tells cnn he's aware of the filing but had no comment. and three schoolchildren are dead, 16 others hurt. this is after their school bus was hit in pakistan on the boarder with afghan tan stan. the bus driver was killed. a taliban extremist group claimed responsibility.

still ahead -- it had has all the makings of a really good joke. you have charlie sheen, the star of mtv's "jackass" and the band the great white. it didn't go over too well. but you won't hear it if you tune in to charlie sheen's roast on comedy central.

this one is definitely "trending" today. a judge has ordered manny

ramirez to stay away his wife. she picked up and phone and dialed 911 saying he hit her. the former world series mvp was in court this morning, spent the night in jail after being arrested yesterday. he's accused of slapping his wife during an argument. now we have it. here is her call to 911. >> 911. what is your emergency? >> hi. my husband just hit me. >> what's the address where this happened, ma'am? what city is that? >> weston, florida. >> is that a house or an apartment? >> house. >> is he still inside? >> yes. >> do you need an ambulance? >> no. >> what is your name? are you inside or outside? >> i'm here. >> what's -- he's inside with you? >> yeah. >> where did he hit you, in the face? >> my face and my head. i have a bump on my head.

>> you don't need rescue? are you sure? >> yes, i'm sure. >> what's his name? all right. we'll send somebody over, hon. are you in a room where you can stay away from him? >> no. he's not doing anything more because he knows i'm calling the police. >> we'll send somebody over. >> thank you. >> bye-bye. >> do want to let you know cnn has reached out to ramirez's agent for a response. thus far, our calls have not been returned. so we have a virus with no treatment protocol and no vaccine. >> in three months it's a billion. that's where we're headed. >> at the center of the biggest movie in america right now, this global virus threatening mankind. i know, i know, this is a movie. my next guest says the threat is very real and the world is not ready. we'll speak live to lori garrett who advised the producers behind the scenes there on the movie "contagion." she says when with it comes to this kind of emergency we're just not prepared.

ba we're back, that conversation in 70 seconds. .

. time now for the help desk where you get answers to your financial questions. joining me, lanette cal fawny cox, the founder of ask the money coach.com and stacy francis, a certified financial planner and president of francis financial. thanks for being here. first question for you, lanette, a pretty straightforward one. how can i get a loan without a co-signer if i have a limited credit history? >> elizabeth, the truth is you may not be able to do so if you don't have a co-signor if you don't have very strong credit on your own. you have a couple of options shg one is to wait, build your are rating and try lighter. the next is put p up some collateral of some form depending on the type of loan you want.

she wasn't specific. i don't know if it's personal, home loan, whatever. but really lenders want to see that you have some skin in the game so collateral may be the way to go. >> especially now. stacy, your question from ali, an ira balance of $50,000, a 51-year-old, $10,000 in taxable income this year and next. is it wise to convert to a roth ia? >> it may not be that wise. he's age 51. the first hurdle is, can he pay the taxes from outside money? if he's able to do that, he has to look at how long can this money stay in the ira before he has to tap it? the longer, if it coo uld be in there one, two, three decades, poblgly. but the younger you are the more sense it makes for you to do that roth conversion. >> thank you, ladies. folks, if you have a question you want answered, send us an e-mail anytime to cnn help desk@cnn.com. impressive resume. thank you.

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perfected in the 556-horsepower cts-v. we don't just make luxury cars. we make cadillacs. you start off with just a cough, then you get really sick really fast, and then you die. victim of a deadly pandemic sweeping across the world. this is the plot of the new thriller that's out in theaters called "convict stagen." what makes this so disturbing is that this could maybe actually happen. take a look. >> no. she said she was jet lagged. >> are touches your face, in between times a minute. in between touching doorknobs, water fountains and each other. >> so, there is no treatment protocall and novak seen! does chef a history of seizures?

>> last night, there were 32 cases. >> die. >> right. can i go talk to her? >> your wife is dead. >> what are you talking about? what happened to her? what happened to her? >> is there any way someone could weaponize -- >> i want to bring in laurie garrett, one of the experts actually brought in to consult on this movie. the senior fellow for global health on the council of foreign relations. i read your opinion piece and you say part reality, part fantasy, totally possible. how totally possible is this? >> this is one of those low probability, but high consequence events sort of like imagining that a couple of guys hijack jet airliners and fly them into the world trade center or trying to imagine that somebody takes a bunch of anthrax spores and stuffs them

in an envelope and mails them to senators and members of the immedia media. thing are things that can happen, how likely, we can't say. it's a gamble. we've made this picture and i really praise steven sodderberg and the team, they really made a movie that adhered as closely as possible to what we know to be scientific reality. and every step of the way, the projections into the fantasy part are based solidly on current knowledge and lot of it from epidemics i've been in. >> you told me when we were talking, you helped them through 30 different drafts. they come to you. you're a pulitzer prize winning writer. what specifically did you suppress to them to make this screen play realist irealistic? >> i thought the most important thing to get across was that

globalization means that no risk remains isolated for long. if the microb has the proper conditions to spread. if it's contagious from human to human, we are all traveling so much, our food is traveling. every threat is a global threat, but we don't really have global mechanisms of response. we have a globalized vaccine production. drug production. the cures, the things that would slow an epidemic down are confined to one part of the world. the rich world. and are completely unavailable or available too late in poor world and since the poor world outnumbers the rich world in numbers of people, that's bad news for all of us. >> so, i haven't seen it yet. i plan to. my booker said -- of course

sanjay gupta's in it. of course i want to see it. everyone left the theatre and didn't want to touch the escalator rails. truly, what do you want moviegoers to take away? what kinds of questions should they be asking and how temper may be some of the fear folks may have. >> yeah, i think the wrong response would be to simply walk out and say, i need to wash my hands, though i do think you need to wash your hands. i think it's more than that. i think you have to walk out and ask yourself really truly, who spots these epidemics? when an outbreak happens, it's like that old movie line in ghost busters. who are you going to call? ghost buster. what's the equivalent? we like to say our cdc, the centers for disease control in atlanta, but the truth is, the whole chain, especially in poor

countries, is very weak and the who to you call is not necessarily obvious to people. as things spread, as things get out of control, we have weakened infrastructures all over the world for health because government is weak. when government is weak, we don't really have a way to respond. this is not something we're the private sector says, oh, wow, we're in danger by an epidemic. we shall take care of it. no, the private sector role may be to market a drug or develop a vaccine, but when it comes to getting out there and telling people what to do, what we found with anthrax and i show it clearly in my new book, i heard the sirens scream, if government doesn't know the answers and what to do, then things quickly get out of control. >> certainly a wake-up call. thank you. you're going to continue the conversation with sanjay gupta this weekend and since i haven't seen it, i want to see this clip. sanjay is in the film.

here he is playing himself. also in the film, kate winslett. she'll be joining sanjay saturday and sunday. coming up, two hours of questions. how on earth did wolf blitzer decide what to leave in and what were his impressions behind the scenes? he is standing by live. back there in washington. excellent job last night, mr. blitzer. we'll talk to him, next. to challenge ourselves on the most demanding track in the world. with us, in spirit, was every great car that we'd ever competed with. the bmw m5. and the mercedes-benz e63. for it was their amazing abilities that pushed us to refine, improve and, ultimately, develop the world's fastest production sedan. the cts-v, from cadillac. we don't just make luxury cars. we make cadillacs.

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what's vanishing deductible all about ? guys, it's demonstration time. let's blow carl's mind. okay, let's say i'm your insurance deductible. every year you don't have an accident, $100 vanishes. the next year, another $100. where am i going, carl ? the next year... that was weird. but awesome ! ♪ nationwide is on your side now, the man is back in washington, d.c. wolf blitzer has the latest off the cnn political ticker and let's just talk debate. you and i already had a little e-mail exchange this morning. i thought you did a fantastic job, but if i may, i know to townhall.com said so, who won the debate?

i'm going to give the status to cnn and wolf blitzer. the layout, moderation outstanding. >> it was a lot of fun. but you know, it's a lot of work and i just read a little blog about this at cnn.com/situationroom. it takes a village. i'm up there by myself with these eight candidates, but we practiced, rehearsed the production. the verge. we had a team helping prepare for possible questions. answers. you have to do a lot of homework going into a debate like this. the more you do, i did five presidential debates the last cycle four years ago, the more you realize it really is a difficult assignment. you're juggling a lot of balls. you're listening closely to what the candidates are saying, but starting to think about the next question you want to ask. if a candidate says anything negative about the others, you've got to give that candidate a chance to respond. things are moving very, very

quickly and you want to be fair to eight people. some of who can are top tier, others not so much. but we want to give everyone a chance to make his or her point of view. not an easy adinement, but i loved doing it. it was a lot of fun and from the historic point of view, remember, one of these eight is almost certainly going to be the republican nominee. >> one of my favorites, i was listening carefully, you said, i want you to be precise. this is what you say to people when you get them to answer your questions. but final question, you said you moderated five debates, learned something from each. in 30 seconds, what did you learn last night? >> the most important thing i learned is to anticipate what the answers are going to be knowing they're going to give you their standard boilerplate, their spin. but then you follow up with something you know, you didn't really answer the question. let's get specific. let's get precise. what are you going to do?

don't just give me a general, vague answer. and i learned that you know, these candidates are very, very different. they have different perspectives and i was impressed. rick perry didn't back away from any of those controversial positions he took even though the tea party audience wasn't very happy with what he said about immigration, the vaccine for young girls to avoid cervical cancer. he was pretty forceful on those issues. might help in the general election. not sure those issues will help in the republican primary contest, but we'll see. >> we're going to pick up on that. what he referenced is his mistake. we'll see you again in about a half an hour. meantime, we will roll on. top of the hour. i'm told right now, the president of iran telling the news network that two u.s. citizens there will be freed quote within days. josh fattal, shane bauer.

they have been locked up in iran since july of 2009 in the prison where they were arrested and accused of crossing hiking into iran from iraq. they and one other american were accused of being spies. fattal and bauer were convicted last year and sentenced last month to eight years behind bars. but here's the problem. it's trying to learn a little bit more about their fate as the u.s. has no diplomatic relations with iran and has to rely on a third party. let's bring in elyse, our senior producer at the u.s. state department and was anyone at the state department? were they prepared? did they get a heads-up we'd be getting that announcement from mahmoud ahminedjad? >> he gave this news in an interview with another tv network and so they weren't really, didn't really know he was going to say this in this interview, but they have been getting kind of indications for

the last month since the men were convicted, but they've been here before. they've had their hopes dashed and so u.s. officials are really being cautiously optimistic. don't want to say too much. >> let's take a listen to what hillary clinton said, very careful with her words. >> we have followed this very closely and we are encouraged by what the iranian government has said today. but i'm not going to comment further than that. we obviously hope that we will see a positive outcome from what appears to be a decision by the government. >> the families of josh and shane also being very careful. don't want to really get their hopes too high. we got a statement saying, we areover joyed by the positive news of reports from iran. shane and josh's freedom means

more to us than anything and it's a huge relief to read they are going to be released. we're grateful to everyone who has supported us and looking forward to our reunion with shane and josh. we hope to say more when they are finally back in our arms. and we might hear a little more tomorrow from tehran when the swiss ambassador goes in to talk to the foreign ministry. the u.s. doesn't have any relations with iran, to they rely on the swiss government, the protecting power. they look out for the interest of u.s. citizens in iran. we understand the swiss ambassador will be going in to talk to officials at the ministry about the case. i spoke to a swiss diplomat about an hour ago. i said, does it look good? he said, it didn't look bad. don't want to get our hopes up too high. >> of course, this is by no means a done deal and if you could just elaborate, we know

iran is hinting at conditions for these releases. how much bail is that and who pays that bail? >> well, they're saying 500,000 for each of the two. we don't know who's going to pay it. we remember last year and it's actually this week is the one-year anniversary of sarah shourd, who was also released. the fiancees of one of the hikers. she was released on humanitarian conditions. she was having some medical issueses and had to play a very stiff bail. we never really knew where the money came from. she went through the government of i man to get out of the country. there were some rumblings that some imanis had paid. iranian government doesn't want to show any u.s. hands, so we understand the money is being put together. we don't really know and we may never know where that money comes from, but the president in his interview, he has been saying that he thinks that there

should be a swap here for some iranian that have been in u.s. jails. there are several, just about over a dozen of iranian in u.s. jails for various crimes. he's always said the u.s. kidnapped some of these iranian nuclear scientists and are holding them in jail. he's saying this is a humanitarian gesture. >> we will check back in with you tomorrow. speaking of the families who as you mentioned, they're hopeful they'll see their sons again. i actually spoke with both of p mothers in may. they were very, very frustrated. they hadn't seen josh or shane in two years and i asked them when was the last time they were allowed contact with their sons? do you think this story is so much bigger than josh and shane and sarah?

this is really country versus country and how does that make you feel? >> we feel terrible. this has been a time of enormous ainge wish. enormous desperation. our kids are in isolation from any other prisoner. we don't get to speak to them. more than two five-minutes phone calls over 21 months. this has been a terrible situation. we want it to end. >> cindy, have you gotten everything you have needed thus far in this entire ordeal from the u.s. government? have they done enough for you? >> you know, when shane and josh are home, we know enough has been done. the real message is iran needs to quit playing games with shane and josh and our families. this is political. they need to take this out of the political arena. shane and josh are 28. they need to be out doing what they do for the world and get on with this. >> again, officials at the u.s. state department say they are proceeding cautionly. that's the way we keep seeing

since iran has made similar claims in the past, but one government official says this one appears to be true. and it is late now in the evening in kabul, afghanistan. the end of a horrifying day filled with gunfire and rocket attacks. taliban fighters attacked the u.s. embassy today in kabul, spraying the building from a construction site not too far away, about the same time, gunmen targeted the headquarters of the international military force and the nato command center in kabul. this is u.s. forces fighting back. >> get down!

>> again, nato forces there. last we heard from kabul, u.s. and afghan forces held off the attacks and either captured or killed most of the attackers, but i talked to susan malveaux in kabul just a couple of minutes ago. she told me at least one gunman, possibly more, remain at large and she still hears occasional gunfire there in the capital city. we know there were no american or alleyed casualties throughout this so-called carefully planned and highly organized attack. the taliban has come forward and claimed responsibility. u.s. and western forces were on heightened security expecting violence around the 9/11 aneury. ahead, disturbing news about the number of americans living in poverty. also, the medical truth behind the hpv vaccine. do the candidates have it right or have it wrong?

and in his first appearance since becoming head of america's spies, david petraeus reveals al-qaeda fighters are leaving pakistan and going somewhere else. plus, if you want to direct look at the violence along our border, there is a tour for that. you have to hear this. next. ♪

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i tell you what i can spend. i do my best to make it work. i'm back on the road safely. and i saved you money on brakes. that's personal pricing. let's begin with reporter roulette. i promised we'd return to rick perry and the mistake he admitted to. unusual, yes. a politician admitting that he had made a mistake in the governor of texas's case. 2007, executive order that sixth grade girls be immunized against hpv. a virus acquired through sexual

intercourse and elizabeth cohen is here. i know this is really gained a lot of traction after the debate last night. explain to me first, the idea and idea of vaccinating girls against it. >> hpv is what causes most cases of cervical cancer. so, the idea is let's vaccinate against it. you're not going to get rid of all cases of cervical cancer, but you will get rid of many of them. you've got to vaccinate a girl before she has sex. a lot of public health types said, hey, age 11. others said, why would i be vaccinating my kids against a disease when they're not having sex. >> so, in the debate, it sort of began with rick perry then michele bachmann jumped in and went after perry on the order. listen to her response. >> to have innocent little 12-year-old girls be forced to have a government injection

through an executive order is just flat out wrong. that should never be done. that's a violation of a liberty interest. that's -- little girls who have a negative reaction to this potential dangerous drug don't get a mulligan. they don't get a doover. the parents don't get a do over. i'm offended for all the little girls and parents who didn't have a choice. >> that response got a huge applause, but is she right? >> well, i'm not sure she's got her facts right here. he did not force girls in texas to get hpv. it was an executive mandate, and you could opt out. parents could say, no, i don't want to vaccinate by sixth grader. the whole thing never took effect because it ended up being reversed by the legislation. he was going to force anybody to do it. >> thank you very much. next, barbara starr at the

pentagon. we heard from the country's top two intelligence officials today. the take away al-qaeda is weaker, but still a threat. >> oh, absolutely. you know, it's interesting. this was the first appearance before congress by david petraeus. now cia director petraeus, along with jim clapper, the head of the u.s. intelligence community. petraeus probably got most of the attention talking about al-qaeda. threatened diminished by the killing of osama bin laden, but not down and out. director petraeus warning they still pose a threat. still something to be very watchful about. >> cia director, david petraeus, talked about, i'm quoting, the window of vulnerability now because of bin laden's death and other al-qaeda losses. >> right, he's saying that al-qaeda is much diminished by bin laden being dead. the years and years of others

going after al-qaeda leaders certainly diminished, but al-qaeda has to some extent, retrenched, re-grouped. you see them operating in other places. he said it may be possible that some al-qaeda members will go to ground and some might try and return into afghanistan from pakistan or get out of the region entirely looking for more safety. i guess the good news he said is all this work going after al-qaeda operatives maybe they're less able to plan attacks because they're so busy looking after their own security. >> we can't have a conversation about al-qaeda without mentioning yemen. they talked about al-qaeda offshoots in yemen. what did they say? >> well, yemen now really taking front and center probably as one of the top threats. of course, al-qaeda and yemen having launched, tried to launch attacks against united states before. that detroit airliner, the times square bomber. failed plots, thank goodness sh

but still, emanating from yemen and very clear that yemen now poses a threat through that al-qaeda affiliate there. that's really getting a lot of attention from the u.s. intelligence community. >> thank you. next, shocking new numbers about poverty in the united states. more than 46 million americans were living below the poverty line last year. alison kosik is here and what more are you getting from these numbers? it's troubling. >> that 46 million that you said, it's a record high and the problem is is this number has been growing for the past four years. we're not seeing improvement. poverty is a family of four living on just over $22,000 a year. the worst hit group is single moms. 31% live in poverty. that's one out of every three. the overall trend, not a huge surprise. we've got our slowing economy

and the stubbornly high unemployment rate. >> well, then you have everyone in college, right? the grads trying to pay their student loans and more and more students or grads now, they're facing and filing for bankruptcy. >> exactly. they can't pay their loans. they're filing for bankruptcy. i have two different studies painting one dismal picture. the first from the government. almost 9% of students defaulted last year. the highest rate since 1997. then a second study show thag the number of college grads filing for bankruptcy jumped 20% over the past four years. people woit a college degree, we saw bankruptcy filings fall, but before you ditch college, your odds of finding work are far better if you've got that college degree. really both of these stories really highlight just how tough the economy, how rough it is

right now for so many people. >> go to school, go to school, but be prepared to pay for it. finally, this got a lot of us talking. tourists. they're flocking to a new destination. the violence along the u.s. border. rafael, please fill me in. >> well, normally, people go on tours to relax and enjoy scenery. in this case, totally different. an in your face shocking reality as to what happens at the border. the whole issue of immigration. >> so, hang on. people can take a bus tour? where do you go? to juarez? >> not necessarily, but to the arizona border. you would start in tucson, arizona and make the trip south to the board of nogales, arizona. it's an eight-hour trip and you go to the border, the fez, a border crossing point and they

show you what goes on there. and they actually go to the desert where dozens and dozens immigrants die each year trying to cross illegally into the united states. what they say is we're not trying to make a point. we're just trying to show people what's going on? >> who's doing this and are they bringing security along? >> tas company called gray line tours. they go in well traveled areas. so far, they've had about 100 people who have gone on the tour. they say the interest is increasing and expect to see more and more people in the coming months. >> how much does this cost? >> 89 bucks. >> and you can go to the border. thank you very much. now take a look at this. amazing video. i guess an adrenaline rush for this group who essentially lifts this car, saves this motorcyclist who's underneath. stunning stuff. we're going to talk to the person behind the camera who

shot this video. and who hasn't flashed their lights at an oncoming car? a lot of people do it. warning people. well, flashing your lights is illegal, but one man says it shouldn't be and he's taking his fight to court. we're on the case. the quality and craftsmanship of your leather interior test better than the lexus rx 350. it's also helpful to set your "select terrain" dial to "sand." ♪

take a look at this amazing rescue. a happy ending. motorcycle and car. both together on fire. police say the car pulled out in front of the biker, ran under a gas build. one man tries to help the guy. now, you see this whole group jumping in pulling this 4,000

pound car off. and you see the construction worker pulling the motorcyclist out from underneath. amazingly, he is in stable condition. the police trying to track down these heroes to say thank you. i talked to one of those officers first on the scene from logan, utah. so, did you know that this 21-year-old was under the car? >> it was obvious. i could tell by the panic on the people. the people were getting down on the ground. i think you see a couple of citizens, one female included, lay down. i didn't have to ask. i know that the motorcyclist was pinned underneath. >> what's being said in this group of people? what are they saying, shouting? >> you know, i can't really honestly recall that for certain. it was very stressful. just because i was -- i'm not concerned about the 15 people that are there. i don't want them to get hurt.

and you said that they picked up and walked away. i was telling them to get back away from the fire because it was still so volatile. i didn't want to have it become something bigger and so, they just moved out of the way of the camera. they didn't really want to leave very badly. >> you saw the young man. tray dragged down and left temporarily on the road. he sustained broken bones, cuts, burns in this incident. amazingly, he is in stable condition today. if it's happening now, you're about to see it. beginning with tense moments this morning on board this u.s. air ways plane. flight 457 had to divert to st. louis after passengers noticed what was described as suspicious behavior. three passengers were taken off for questioning after it landed. the plane was then inspected and allowed to continue on to

phoenix. several victims are asking the criminal court to charge pope benedict and others against crimes against humanity. they say the church has been turning a blind eye for years. a spokesman tells cnn he has aware of the filing, but had no comment. one of only two people to survive last week's plane crash that killed 43, he has now died. hospital officials say the 26-year-old died of severe burns to nearly 90% of his body. the only other survivor, a crew member, remains in intensive care. novak djokovic, thank you. last night, the 24-year-old held on to nadal, 6-2. john mcenroe says quote, he has had a best year in the history of the sport. but the native serbian is already eyeing the french open

where he will face nadal again and the accompanying grand slam career. >> it has been a best year of my career and i think i'm matured as a player. on the court, i have more self-believe. i'm using the confidence that i had from the incredible run. this year. >> djokovic, easy to say, not fun to read in the telepromter. >> the animals were apparently left to perish. >> 100 animals drown after flood waters run into a pet store. find out why police are looking a t possible krahl charges against the employees. and president obama is hitting the road, selling it. he has choice words for republicans. that's next. let me tell you about a very important phone call i made.

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columbus, ohio. traveling with the president there. we know president spoke not too long ago. his big push again in boehner territory to sell his $447 billion jobs creation bill. >> that's right and today, focusing on education. not just the infrastructure, rehabbing old schools, but also in rehiring teachers. he came to ft. hayes high school where the administration says it's a good example of the kinds of jobs that can be created. they're wrapping up a multi-million dollar rehab program here at the school where officials say they were able to employ some 250 people and so, the white house says that under the president's proposal, which it allocates some $35 billion, there are some -- schools out there to benefit. what the president is going is twofold. first of all, explaining his

jobs proposal to folks across the country. but also calling on them to pressure congress. here's what he had to say. >> there are millions of unemployed construction workers looking for a job so my question to congress is, what on earth are we waiting for? i don't know about you, but i don't want any student to study in broken down schools. i want our kids to study in great schools. >> now, the president heads to raleigh, durham north carolina tomorrow. the white house says expect the president will continue hitting the road over the next few weeks and expegting another bus trip from the president. all the details not yet known. >> what is the likelihood though that this whole bill would pass congress? could he break it up into

pieces? where would the president be willing to compromise? >> that is a very good question because as you know, the white house has been talking about wanting this to be embraced as a total package. but the white house signalling this the president, if he were given part of it from congress, if he were given part of it, that he would not veto it, but continue to push congress to get other aspects passed, so the white house preference is that it all get passed in one piece, but willing to accept it if congress delivers it in different parts. >> thank you very much. and coming up next, if you think any joke about an '80s hair band would be funny, but apparently, the joke told at charlie sheen's roast, didn't go over so well. why you will not be hearing that particular joke if you tune in to the special. a are the of you talking about it. it is trending. it is nec. ♪

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a lot of people made jokes about charlie sheen saturday night. they were supposed to. they were taping the comedy central roast. but one comedian went too far. stevo made this crack. i'm quoting. the last time this many nobodies got roasted, at least the band great white was playing. he was referencing the nightclub fire in 2003, killing 100 people. he has since apologized saying on his facebook page that he feels horrible about it. comedy central agreed to edit out the joke. you will not hear that in the show. and football fans, okay. sometimes, people get a little rowdy, but one man might have taken it to extreme this past sunday. take a listen and look at this cell phone video.

[ bleep ] [ bleep ]. >> hey! hey! >> so, you hear the bleeps, but if you could listen closely, you'd hear a taser. a cowboys fan got a taser again and fired, injurying three people. 59-year-old leroy mackelbee is charged and investigator rs want to know how he got past security at the stadium where george w. bush was there flipping the coin at the start of the game. jon huntsman goes grudge or tries to. did you catch that last night? >> i don't think should be off the table expect maybe some of the drama playing out here today. to hear these two go at it,

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did you notice that hash tags cnn tea party was trending and jon huntsman was a nirvanna

fan? let's go to joe johns with this scoop in today's political pop. let's begin with the special election. we're hearing in new york city, it's too close to call. >> isn't that an unbelievable? all eyes in new york and the race for this seat held by the once disgraced former congressman, anthony weiner. we know about him and the tweets and what have you, but this is being viewed as a referendum on the popularity of president obama and the democrats. though though you can make the case of course that scandal fatigue, something that happens when ever you have a situation like this, is also likely to be a factor. a sienna research poll showed republican bob turner leading democrat david weapon by six percentage points. this is a reverse of results in the same poll from just a month

earlier, which had wepron ahead by about the same amount. national democratic groups have been funneling hundreds of thousands ou dollars in ad buy within the last week. the president's re-election organization sent out all kinds of volunteers canvassing the neighborhood for wepren and clearly signs they're worried they're losing the grip on the race. this guy turner is a former television executive. he did have a few things going for him when he was first coming in. already had a lot of name recognition after challenging weiner just in november and he lost with what you would call stronger than usual second place results. finishing with about 40% of the vote, so very interesting. neck and neck and you know, we've all read about congressman weiner and the problems he had. so we'll see how it turns out. >> meantime, i was sitting, i'm sure you were watching.

with my laptop tweeti ining different moments. i had to rewind to hear it again. the huntman moment. >> i was watching it closely, too, and probably a lot of people have heard about this joke about kurt cobain, but for most of us not plugged into the '90s grudge scene, it probably flew right over your head. huntsman talking about the back and forth between mitt romney on social security, then makes this comment. >> i don't think anything should have off the table expect maybe the drama playing on this floor today. to hear these two go at it, it's almost incredible. romney who called it a fraud in his book. i don't know if that was written by kurt cobain or not. >> i don't get it. so -- i mean, what? >> i actually give him a little kudos, but the song was "all

apologies." >> yeah. and i mean, he's showing that he's plugged into music, right? a guy who used to be in a rock 'n' roll band. there are people who don't get it. kurt cobain is deceased. he was the front man for nirvana, a song called all apologies. romney has a book called no apologie apologies. that's all because huntsman dropped out of school to play for the band, wizard. >> a lot of these candidates play instruments. fascinating side note. people were all atwitter about that last night. thank you so much. and still ahead, a millionaire developer in florida on trial

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okay, animal lovers. outrage is growing after 100 animals drowned in upstate new york. now, police are investigating the employees. our affiliate has the story. >> reporter: today, the pet co story in johnson city is shut tight. through the windows, you can see the devastation left behind by the floods last week. nearly 100 animals, hamsters, reptiles, birds and aquatic life

were trapped and drowned. dennis hannan directed his police department to investigate possible criminal charges against the employees. he wants to know who allegedly abandoned the animals. >> i along with a number of other people are just outraged that these animals were not removed to safety well prior to flood waters moving in. >> do you feel there could be criminal activity? >> i do. >> reporter: he said the workers had plenty of warning against the potential. a flood warning was issued wednesday morning followed by a state of emergency wednesday ooesk. >> we had one confirmed report that there were employees that wanted to remove the animals and were not allowed to do so. the doors were locked by management and the store was vacated. >> reporter: mayor hannan said it wasn't until after the waters

receded that workers entered the store and rescued the remaining animals that were still alive. at first, they said there was a communications problem, but now, the ceo of petco is taking full responsibility and is offering an apology. on the company's official blog, ceo jim miers stated -- >> by the way, even though the ceo has apologized, a boycott at facebook is now a page up and running. more than 3,000 people liked it last time we checked. you maybe have done this. flashing your lights to let a car know officers, speed trap ahead. one guy did that and got in some big, big trouble and now, he is

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show. he's a presidential candidate. free to do any shows he wants. i saw him at the debate last night, so i invited him to come in today. he agreed. we're going to assess the field. i also want to go through some of the specific issues that were raised last night. we'll have a chance to follow up. newt gingrich will be here at the top of the hour. we've got all the day's other important news. what's happening in afghanistan, iran, but a lot of focus on politics, also of course, the president's jobs bill. what happens to that next? so we've got some big, important, strong news right here in "the situation room." looking forward to it. >> before i let you go, bravo for the fantastic moderating job that you pulled off. eight candidates, all live, one stage. what was the one nugget you pulled away? the one lesson you learned? >> the major lesson that i learned is that no matter how many debates you do, you can always do better. i review it afterwards.

i did five during the last election cycle and i learned from each, but you want to do well. you want to -- you go back, you look at the videotape. the transcript. you say, i should have followed up with this. we can always do better, but the important thing is to learn that fr what just happened and next time around, maybe you'll do better than that. i was just happy that it worked out and we're moving on right now. >> wolf blitzer reviewing the postgame tape. that's why you're good. thank you very much. and perhaps, perhaps, this is something you've done a time or two. flashed your high beams to warn drivers they, there's a speed trap ahead. a man in florida did that and was slapped with a ticket. n now, he is filing this lawsuit against the state on behalf of anyone who has ever had the same thing happen to him. he is eric campbell. just driving down a tampa highway when he noticed state troopers clocking speeders, so he did what he thought was the helpful thing to do. flashed his headlights.

he said less than a minute later, he was pulled over and given a $100 ticket. sunny hostin on the case. is that against the law in florida? >> this is a tough one. who hasn't done this or benefitted from something like this in states all over the country? florida, i do not believe it's illegal. there's a statute that says communicates by flashing headlights and other motorists really isn't illegal and apparently, in florida, in 2005, a judge issued an order telling everyone that this was not illegal behavior and so, certainly, it sounds a lot like unfortunately, a bit of sour grapes by the state patrol over there. >> we now know the judge tossed out the ticket, though he says he's still suing on principle. are troopers still pulling people over for flashing their high beams? like you pointed out, it's not

illegal. >> well, they better not be. apparently, the depp it director of patrol operations sent out a mem o to all of the troopers after this was filed that said you are directed to suspend ens forcement for this type of driver behavior, so we hope the officers aren't doing it. this could cost a state a pretty penny. 150 bucks a ticket apparently since 2005, over 2000 drivers have been ticketed for this. so pretty penny for folks out there. >> how about that. case number two, a bizarre murder case. this one out of of all places, orlando, florida. this one involves a millionaire and his wife. prosecutors say in this area of florida in 2009, bob ward admitted five times to 911 to shooting his wife, but then said she shot herself. jury selection underway this week. first, your thoughts on the case and also considering this is

orlando, might there be any type of casey anthony backlash? >> this is a tough case for this defendant because of the evolving story. as you mentioned, when he called 911, it was, i shot my wife. in fact, apparently, in the face. was where the wounds -- wound was. and now, the story has evolved to suicide. that is not a set of circumstances and facts that bodes well for a defendant. if you look at the lot of the suicide statistics, it is very rare for a woman to commit suicide by shooting herself in the face, so certainly, the facts are leaning against this defendant, but as casey anthony showed, i never call these things because you never know what's going to happen in a court of law. >> and to the point you say i hope there isn't a casey anthony backlash because it's possible given what happened with the jury then. there could be this jury wanting to really go after this

particular defendant. fairly or unfairly. >> yeah, certainly people are talking about that and i think that's why this judge is taking a really strong tack in terms of jury selection. she even had -- admonished these jury yors not to read anything on the internet, not to facebook or twitter. one of the potential jurors did that and is in a lot of trouble. this judge in particular is trying to do a very good job in making sure we don't see another casey anthony type effect. here in this florida courtroom. >> one more question for you. let's just show this video. then i'll take on the other side. >> just like to get out of this nasty cell that didn't have any water. this place hadn't been cleaned until you went. it's awful. >> so, this is ward talking to family members making cracks, jokes. from behind jail walls. his attorneys filed the