honest on bullying in america. yet again another teen has taken his own life. according to his parents, after being bullied for years. a 14-year-old boy. time and time again on this program we've reported on the problem of bullying country, and time and time again we've announced the deaths of children, children who should not be dead. whose loneliness and desperation often in the years leading up to their deaths is simply heartbreaking to imagine. this is jamie rodamyer, a freshman in buffalo, new york. jamie routinely blogged about his troubles. just 11 days ago he wrote something online. he said, i always say how bullied i am, but no one listens. what do i have to do so people will listen? a week later this past sunday, jamie committed suicide. often when kids die, there's no record of their pain, there's no record of what they've been there through, of their suffering. he posted a message on youtube, a part of the it gets better

project. even in his sadness, jamie was reaching out to help others. this is jamie rodemeyer in his own words. >> hello. this is jamie from buffalo, new york. i'm just here to tell you that it does get better. here is a little bit of my story. december 2010 i thought i was bi, and then i always got made fun of because i virtually have no guy friends. and i only have friends that are girls. and it bothered me because people would be like faggot and they would taunt me in the hallways, and i made a formspring which i shouldn't have done and people would send me hate telling me that gay people go to hell. >> he said he constantly got hate messages on formspring,

which is a site that allows kids to send anonymous messages to each other. back then, as you hear, he said he rose above the negativity. here's more of what jamie had to say. >> and i just want to tell you that it does get better because when i came out for being bi, i got so much support from my friends. it made me feel so secure. and then if your friends or family is even there for you, i look up to one of the most supporting people of the gay community that i think of that i know, lady gaga. she makes me so happy, and she lets me know that i was born this way. and that's my advice to you from her. we were born this way. all you have to do is hold your head up and you'll go far because that's all you have to do. just love yourself.

>> love yourself and you're set. now here's the last part of his message. perhaps the most chilling. >> i promise you it will get better. i have so much support from people i don't even know online. i know that sounds creepy. they're so nice and caring they don't ever want me to die. >> they don't ever want me to die. last sunday he took his own life. he was 14 years old. we do know at jamie's school they did have some type of bullying prevention program. a lot of schools have programs like that. more and more states are enacting anti-bullying laws for school. but there are some associations and lawmakers who say all this isn't needed. organization like focus on the family saying that they're just ways to promote a so-called gay agenda. candy cushman an education analyst for the group posted this on truetolerance.org. "what parents need to be aware of is there are activist groups

who want to promote homosexuality in the minds of our children at the earliest ages, they'll have won the clash of values that we are currently experiencing." then there's robert newman head of the california coalition. his group is planning to fight new legislation by governor brown against the anti-discrimination laws and compels schools to teach transgender and gay history. here's mr. knewman with what he said this past week at the convention in los angeles. we found this on thinkprogress.org. >> it's part of growing up, a part of maturing. it is not something in which i engaged. i grew up in a christian home. i didn't engage in that kind of behavior. people were people. we knew they were unusual behaviors, but we went on with life. i hardly think that bullying is a real issue in schools. there's no reason to have a special bill for, let's say, 3%

of the population, period. >> well, newman is not alone in that thinking. in kentucky, house bill 370 would prohibit bullying because of a student's sexual orientation, race or religion. a state lawmaker named mike harmon is fighting the bill. listen. >> someone just in conversation saying, i think homosexuality is a sin. we don't want that child to be bullied because they have a certain moral or religious belief. we don't want them labeled a bully just because they have that particular belief. >> let's not forget the civil rights negotiation going on outside minneapolis. the u.s. justice department is investigating several incidents involving bullying and harassment. the community is embattled in a war in the classroom. joining me is author of "queen bees and wannabes," the book that inspired the movie "mean girls" and rachel simmons who wrote the book "odd girl out." you say you know jamie

rodemeyer, how so? >> when i saw the video, of course, my heart just broke, and it reminds me of so many kids that i work with. and i've got kids right now that i'm e-mailing an talking and talking to and their parents. one day they feel they can make it and they've got the strength to get by and the next day they feel that they can't. i think that's the thing that we see. it's so amazing to me that people don't -- and parents and adults that we just heard from don't understand and can't understand that parents, when they look at their own kids, that they've got experiences and pain in school and their lives and the parents might not know or feel out of control to actually make their kid safe. and what i don't understand is why adults that we heard from don't get this. because our kids are really in pain. and we've got to be able to be there for them. >> rachel, to those who say that bullying is just a teenage rite of passage, what do you say? >> i say that person has never been to a school or certainly is not listening.

we live in a -- where 60,000 -- stay home every day because they're too afraid to go to school. and anybody who spends time in a school and talks to kids knows that there's a culture both of everyday cruelty but also of protracted campaigns that kids cannot escape. when there are no rules at schools, when there's no consciousness and when there's a denial of the problem, kids cannot be safe and they cannot study. >> there are those who say -- and we just heard from some on the program -- who say, look, this is a way to spread the homosexuality or acceptance of homosexuality in schools throughout the country and some parents are saying, look, i don't feel comfortable with that. >> well, i think that's ridiculous. because when we talk about kids being safe from bullying, we are not talking about a pro homosexual agenda unless a pro homosexual agenda is that we think all children deserve to be treated with dignity.

and if that is the pro homosexual agenda, then i as a straight person, i'm completely for it. and i would hope that we would all be behind that kind of agenda. to think that we can in any way be against kids being safe for some kind of so-called agenda besides kids being safe makes absolutely no sense. i believe when we have kids that are important to us or we have relationships with, we've got to get beyond the politics of this and look at our children and be able to go where they are and to be useful to them and meaningful to them so they can trust us that we can be safe for them. >> but there is the idea that the school district in minnesota where they have what they call a neutrality policy. >> right. >> where they're not using specific words of gay or lesbian -- you say that's not effective. >> it's not only not effective, it's actually counterproductive to everything rachel just said. neutrality in the face of an abuse of power is not neutrality.

it is siding with the bully. so if you are going to believe in what's called neutrality policy, a way for kids to go after other kids. >> rachel, do you agree with that that you have to use these terms, that neutrality doesn't work or so-called neutrality doesn't work? >> i do think that neutrality doesn't work. i find the whole thing shocking. we don't send american workers to the workplaces saying just do your job and we're not going to protect you if something happens to you. we can't send children to school assuming that we're going to teach you and not protect you if something happens to you. we're not educating part of the child. we have to be mindful of the whole child if we want to do justice to our education system and to the young citizens of our country. >> and i also think what's happening and you heard it in one of the clips is that -- and i believe it was the politician from kentucky, which is that he's saying, if i have this

correctly, that the children who are bullying, if they believe that homosexuality is wrong and that's their value system, then they should be allowed to express that against other students. and what that means is that they are able to be mean and cruel to other students. and that is an extraordinary thing to say. what you're saying is these values that we think are so important and are christian, which i know many christian people who don't believe this whatsoever, that those values enable children to bully other children and justify and reinforce the notion that it's okay to bully other children. that would be unbelievable coming from our leaders and adults that our children need to depend on to be safe at school. >> we invited mike harmon to be on the program. we didn't hear back from him. next month we'll air a special report on bullying where we've hired a sociologist to study in a particular school why kids bully one another. and what they found is that lgbt kids are actually victimized at a higher rate than the regular student population or kids who are perceived to be lgbt.

is that in line with other research out there? >> absolutely. what we see is that the word "gay" particularly among boys but girls, too, is used for anything weird, stupid or odd, but it is used to punish kids who don't live up to masculinity or femininity. for kids, fitting in, being like everyone else is so important. and these words are used to stigmatize over and over again. you ask any boy or girl what is the most common word used to shame someone, and it will often be the word "gay." >> it also seems to be the one derogatory term that teachers accept or ignore. if someone was using the "n" word, they would be hauled in front of the principal's office or talked to. but they get a pass. >> but it's about teachers not

being given the tools to do that. if you're a math teacher -- this is what i do when i teach teachers. look, you don't have to show a documentary. you don't have to do a big classroom. you need to be teaching math. but if children are putting each other down and someone using the word "gay," mark, you may not use that word to put somebody down in my classroom. are we done? good. and you move on. it takes 15 seconds. every kid in that classroom knows that you're a safe teacher, you are a fair teacher and you care for the safety of every kid in that student -- in that classroom. >> i appreciate you both being on. we teamed up with the cartoon network and facebook to try to get at this from all different angles. there's an app on facebook where you can pledge to do everything to stop bullying. to find it, go to facebook.com/stopbullyingspeakup join us also for our special series of reports, bullying, it

stops here, starting october 9th on cnn. let us know what you think. we're on facebook, follow me at twitter @andersoncooper. tweet in the hour ahead. up next, gop frontrunner rick perry is attacking president obama's stance on israel ahead of a vote at the u.n. on the palestinian right to statehood. is he trying to win over jewish voters or is this a pitch to gain support from the evangelicals? we have the raw politics. james carville and erick erickson join us. plus crime and punishment. the sole survivor of that horrific connecticut home invasion testifying about the murders of his wife and two daughters. reliving the horrific day dr. william petit's heartbreaking testimony on the stand. dramatic new video of the crash at the reno, nevada, air races. an eyewitness to the disaster joins us ahead. [ boy ] hey, i thought these were electric? uh, it is, yeah, it's a chevy volt. so what are you doing at a gas station?

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raw politics tonight, gop front-runner rick perry blasting president obama's stance on israel. he held a news conference with several jewish leaders just days before the u.n. vote to determine the palestinian right to statehood. tomorrow in new york, president

obama will meet with palestinian president mahmoud abbas to talk about that vote. a senior u.s. official described the meeting as an effort to avoid a diplomatic showdown. today rick perry, who is obviously obama's potential opponent in the 2012 election, called the president's middle east policy toward israel quote naive, arrogant, misguided and dangerous. you might think he's trying to win over jewish voters, but many think he's trying to win over evangelicals. listen to what he told reporters today. >> well, obviously, israel is our oldest and most stable democratic ally in that region. that is what this is about. i also, as a christian, have a clear directive to support israel. >> joining us now, two of our political contributors, democratic strategist james carville and erick erickson, editor of redstate.com. really hitting the israel issue hard this week. it is all about the palestinian push at the u.n. or do they really think they have a shot at weakening obama?

>> i don't know. he has talked to the israeli defense minister as the most decorated person in history who was very complimentary of the obama administration. i would suggest that he talk to the former president of his alma mater at texas a&m who bush appointed secretary of defense, secretary of defense under president obama and i think he'd learn a lot more on that than referring to religious texts. >> erick, is this aimed at jewish voters or evangelical voters? >> both, but within the republican primary. he has not closed the deal with republicans as a lot of people expected him to with his debate performances. so he needs to solidify on evangelicals, to make sure that michele bachmann doesn't get them back. but jewish republicans are a constituency that he needs to lock down. a lot of them have been trending towards mitt romney. this is a play for states, not a play for popular vote. locking down evangelicals in a

way he hasn't before and getting some jewish republicans away from mitt romney are two strategies to employ right now. hitting israel this week is the right topic with ahmadinejad coming. >> the latest gallup poll, michele bachmann's support is at 5%, down by half in less than a month. is she the howard dean of the 2012 race? what has happened to her? >> well, no, howard dean was a lot stronger than her for a lot longer. if you remember, a few weeks ago, ari and i got in a tiff. i didn't think she was serious three weeks ago. i'm not surprised by this at all. i doubt that america's very surprised by it either. it was a really boon, but you can sense it wasn't going anywhere. i still think you this only makes it more likely that sarah palin will get in. i still think she will. >> you still think she may really? >> i do. i absolutely do. >> why? what makes you think that? >> well, i think that if you look at just what she's been

doing and everything else, that now that bachmann has collapsed, i think she'll look at that and sense that there's sort of a spot for her in that. i thought she was going to get in for a long time. i still do. and i don't think that she's on a normal campaign schedule like anybody else. i think she has her own way of doing things and her own time schedule. the more this goes on, the more i think she'll get in. >> erick, do you think she'll get in? >> you know, i'll believe it when i see it. she may well. james is right, she has her own schedule. she'll do it if she wants to do it. right now, i don't think she will, but that could change in like five seconds. >> with bachmann down and romney up, is it possible that bachmann's supporters are going to the romney camp? >> very much so. we see she's down 5 and romney's up 7. yeah, i think so. largely because perry hasn't been able to close the deal like people thought he would. you know, i would say i expected bachmann to have more staying power than this.

i'm surprised she's fallen so fast. i wouldn't say the dean comparison is apt. but i would say her hpv/gardasil/mental retardation blip was the dean scream. the dying gasp. it came a lot sooner than i expected it to. >> james, the last tile you were on this program you were unhappy with president obama and the people around him. you said it was time for the white house to panic. i think that's the word you used. should they take their finger off the panic button right now? how are they doing after this week's speech? >> obviously, in a way, they need to change course, they need to go in a different direction. i think that they indicated they're doing that this week. but the question is the president always gives a good speech. he's become a fine speaker, a very articulate man. to see if there's follow-up beyond what he said. if he does that, that's a pretty good indication that he's changing directions. i think the combination of the debt deal in august that ended in two elections was a pretty good signal that they had to do something different.

they respond to the signal. >> erick, do you think the white house is kind of changing course? >> like with sarah palin, i'll believe this when i see it. i agree with what james is saying. he gives a good speech, a speech that a lot of my democratic friends were encouraged by. even they were saying, let's see will he cave again to the republicans or hold fast. unlike last time, a lot blaming him for cutting a deal too good for our side, although i disagree with him. we'll see what happens. the day after the 2006 elections, bush fired rumsfeld. the day after the 2010 election, obama did not fire geithner. and that has plagued a -- perplexed a number of us. from james' op-ed the other day, why are a lot of these people still there? if he wants to really move the country forward, i don't think he can do it with the same faces. >> we'll leave it there. or james, go ahead, if you want. >> no, no, no. i just was going to make a point that best time to plan, 25 years ago, second best is right now. maybe he's starting.

let's see it. maybe he'll make some of these personnel changes between now and the first of the year. we'll see. just ahead, an important day at the united nations as libya's revolution was celebrated and president obama vowed to protect civilians still threatened by the gadhafi regime. also ahead, heartbreaking testimony ahead in a triple murder trial. the sole survivor of that brutal home invasion in connecticut describes the day he lost everything, his beloved wife and his two young daughters. [ male announcer ] every day, thousands of people are choosing advil. my name is lacey calvert and i'm a yoga instructor. if i have any soreness, i'm not going to be able to do my job. but once i take advil, i'm able to finish out strong. it really works! [ laughs ] [ male announcer ] make the switch. take action. take advil. [ male announcer ] make the switch. at exxon and mobil, we engineer smart gasoline that works at the molecular level to help your engine run more smoothly by helping remove deposits

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coming up in crime and punishment tonight, a father relives the horrific crime that destroyed his family as he testified about the day his wife and two daughters were murdered, the second trial dr. william petit has endured. but first randi kaye has the 360 bulletin. anderson, an historic day for libya's new leadership about the u.n. general assembly voted to accept the credentials of the transitional government after anti-gadhafi forces last month drove the strongman from more than four decades of power. president obama said the u.s. will reopen its embassy in tripoli next week and vowed to continue to protect libyan civilians. >> difficult days are still ahead. but one thing is clear. the future of libya is now in the hands of the libyan people. for just as it was libyans who

tore down the old order, it will be libyans who build their new nation. and we've come here today to say to the people of libya, just as the world stood by you in your struggle to be free, we will now stand with you in your struggle to realize the peace and prosperity that freedom can bring. a former president of afghanistan was assassinated today in a suicide bombing at his home in kabul. burhanuddin rabbani was considered vital to peace efforts in his country. in fact, an intelligence source tells cnn the attack took place just as rabbani was about to meet a delegation representing taliban insurgents. and a nasa satellite is expected to re-enter the earth's atmosphere on or around this friday, september 23rd. nasa says the satellite will break into pieces and not all will burn up in the atmosphere, but the space agency says the risk to public safety is extremely small, anderson. let's hope so. >> yeah, let's hope so a lot. time for the shot. randi kaye, if you didn't know,

it is gator hunting season in florida. i didn't know that. a teenager hit the jackpot. he bagged an 800-pound gator. it was at least 12 feet long. believe it or not, he used a fishing pole to reel it in. tim was gator hunting with his family when they spotted the massive reptile. his dad is a taxidermist and said he'll mount the alligator head for his son to display. look how huge that is. >> now, the last time you went gator hunting, anderson, what did you catch? >> i don't like to brag, let's just say it was -- i don't know. >> i know you don't really go gator hunting. >> it would be interesting. yeah, it would be interesting. we'll see. randi, thank you very much. >> sure. coming up, we'll have the latest on the trial in connecticut. it was actually the second trial in that home invasion in cheshire, connecticut. dr. william petit took the stand, testifying about what he saw, what he heard the day his family was killed. plus, new dramatic video of last friday's deadly air race crash in reno. we'll have a firsthand account

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welcome back. crime and punishment now. an emotional day in the connecticut courtroom as the father took the stand in the trial of a second man charged with killing his wife and two daughters. dr. william petit was the only

one to survive the horrifying home invasion four years ago. he managed to escape, but couldn't save his wife and daughters from a death so gruesome, it's a wonder he can even think about what happened let alone talk about it. the first man to stand trial in the case, steven hayes, was tried and convicted. after hayes was convicted, dr. petit spoke about what helped him through that first trial. >> what matters to me most is my family and my memories, my memories of my family and trying to do good things through our foundation. i don't know. over the last couple of weeks, i just kept trying to tell myself that good will overcome evil and we'll keep trying to do good things and try to refocus myself on the positive and stay away from the negative. >> good will overcome evil. today, dr. petit testified in graphic detail about what happened the day the two men broke into his home, bringing his world crashing down around him. cnn's deborah feyerick was in the courtroom.

>> my family is still gone. it doesn't bring them back. it doesn't bring back the home that we had. >> reporter: that's dr. william petit, the only survivor from a crime so tragic, so horrific, it defies logic. july 23, 2007, began as a normal summer day, dr. petit playing golf. his wife, jennifer, and daughter, michaela, at the beach. 17-year-old hayley was at home where they all planned to meet for dinner. that dinner would be the last time the family would ever be together. investigators say two intruders, joshua komisarjevsky and steven hayes broke into the petits' home through a locked door in the dead of night. dr. petit was asleep on the sunroom couch. today, during 2 1/2 hours of testimony dr. petit recalled hearing himself cry out in pain telling the jury he didn't know if he was awake or dreaming.

he felt blood gushing down his face. standing before him were two hooded intruders. one appeared to be holding a gun. he says he remembers a voice asking him if there was a safe in the house, and when he replied no, the intruder said, quote, if he moves, put a bullet in him. his own lawyers acknowledge that komisarjevsky beat dr. petit bloody with a baseball bat. on the witness stand, dr. petit showed the jury how his wrists were bound and said he felt his way along the bannister so he wouldn't fall. once in the basement, an intruder threw down some pillows then covered his head with a cloth and tied him to a pole in the center of the room. hours later, dr. petit said he heard his wife in the kitchen speaking to the intruders, saying she needed to get dressed, get the checkpoint and identification. dr. petit said he heard his wife's voice but neither of his daughters.

he heard one of the men tell his wife, quote, get the money and no one will get hurt. komisarjevsky and hayes forced mrs. hawke-petit drive to the bank. you're watching a wife, a mother, in a desperate attempt to save her family. that's jennifer hawke-petit on a bank surveillance video telling the bank teller that her husband and two daughters are being held hostage and she needs to withdraw $15,000 in ransom money. minutes later, jennifer petit leaves the bank. police, alerted by the bank manager, were dispatched to surround the house but ordered not to approach it. they say that's normal protocol in a hostage situation. when steven hayes returns from the bank with jennifer hawke-petit, it is 10:00 in the morning, nearly seven hours after the intruders broke into the home. dr. petit hears a commotion and cries out. one of the men says, don't worry, it will all be over in a couple of minutes. that's when dr. petit hears a hissing sound and says, i realized, quote, i had to get out.

in a burst of adrenaline, the desperate husband and father frees himself from his basement prison. he rolls to a neighbor's driveway, bleeding badly and calling out for help. by now, nearly 40 minutes have passed since the bank manager called 911. police are still outside. investigators say, with the girls upstairs tied to their beds, the suspects used gasoline to douse the home. screams were heard and then the house went up in flames. >> deborah feyerick joins me now from connecticut along with sunny hostin, a former federal prosecutor and legal contributor for "in session" on trutv. both were in the courtroom today. a man face-to-face with one of the men accused of killing his family. what was it like in that courtroom? >> almost like a day of reckoning. here you have the sole survivor who was describing the final hours of his wife's life and the lives of his two children, hayley and michaela. and it's not just the jury taking notes but it's also the

man who has admitted being in the house when this tragedy took place. and you have to wonder what's going through his mind as he sees the floor plans, as he sees the house going up in flames. and there were some interesting moments in the court. for example, at one point, jennifer hawke-petit's father, a reverend, crossed the aisle to speak to the defendant's father. we heard him say, god bless you, god bless you, god bless you. later, when i asked the reverend what he had discussed we told him he must be hurting as much as we are. then the reverend paused and said, well, maybe not as much. it was just very poignant and sad just seeing how this man's life changed so quickly and so suddenly and how close the police were to perhaps preventing this tragic outcome. >> the father of the victim went over to the father of one of the alleged killers and expressed concern over the pain that he was feeling? that's extraordinary. >> extraordinary. extraordinary.

even the defendant's father realized that. that's why you heard him say, god bless you, god bless you. we actually chased komisarjevsky's father down the road. one of our photogs said, well, how do you feel? the only thing he said, he looked and he said, how would you feel? so it's clearly affecting him to see his son in such a terrible position and accused of such terrible crimes. >> sunny, dr. petit also testified in the trial of the other killer who now sits on death row. did he notice anything different this time around? >> it certainly is a difference, anderson. very emotional dr. petit is who we are seeing. he's an elegant man, very stoic, calm on the witness stand. but there were times when the emotion overtook him, especially when he was recalling his wife's voice in the kitchen when she was talking to the intruders. that was probably the last time he heard his wife's voice. and at that moment, anderson, his face flushed red. he looked down.

he covered his mouth with his hand and he just stopped. that is the most emotion i've seen from dr. petit in the hayes trial and in this trial. just a very different case. the facts are the same, but the players have changed. his defense team is very aggressive. one of his defense lawyers is walt bansley. he's the inspiration for the tom cruise character in "a few good men." and so this defense team is aggressively defending joshua komisarjevsky. and their theory of the case is that joshua komisarjevsky never intended to murder the petit family. he only intended to break in and steal. and so when you see this sort of theory being played out in the courtroom, it must be affecting dr. petit. he was even cross-examined today, anderson, and he was not cross-examined by the first defense team. >> they have to cross-examine him carefully, but they are trying to cast doubt on his testimony, making it seem like maybe he's piecing together the story from testimony that he's

heard at other trials or both trials, right? >> right. absolutely. and defense attorneys gain absolutely nothing by attacking this man. that will just make them look bad in the eyes of the jury. but what they did kind of do is question whether in fact it's really what he experienced, what he's recollecting and what he's saying is what he experienced or whether he's filling in certain holes or gaps with testimony that he got from the first trial. so they're trying to undermine it a little. they brought out the fact that dr. petit had been interviewed four times immediately after this tragedy by police officers. and the fourth time he said, quote, the defense said your memory, you told them your memory was becoming less clear. and dr. petit acknowledged that that was the fact. but he also said, look, i have testified to the best of my ability given my condition at the time. so he really is -- and don't forget, he'd been beaten severely in the head with a baseball bat. he lost between five to seven pints of blood, and he was coming in and out of consciousness.

so, they're trying to just maybe cast doubt as to what he heard and who may have said it, because that would go to intent and that would go to who did what, anderson. >> deborah feyerick, our thanks to you. and sunny hostin. coming up, dramatic new video of the reno air crash. i'll talk to the man who was right there when it happened. his son took this video. he has remarkable things to say about what it was like being there. also the man who shot and -- who was shot and killed on falcon lake on the border between texas and mexico. almost a year later, a lot of lingering questions about the case. now his widow is suing the state department, the justice department and the fbi trying to get answers. we pay about the same, even though i'm a great driver, and he's... not so much. well, for a driver like you, i would recommend our new snapshot discount. this little baby keeps track of your great driving habits, so you can save money.

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tonight, we have new and dramatic look at friday's deadly plane crash at an air show in reno, nevada, from someone who was right there when it happened. his name is brent wilson and he was there with his two sons, ryan and kyle. they were at the air race when things went terribly and horribly wrong before their eyes. kyle took the video you're about to see. take a look. >> oh, my god. >> oh, my god.

>> 11 people died from the crash, including the pilot, a vintage world war ii era plane that crashed straight into the ground. almost 70 people were injured. joining me on the phone is brent wilson. brent, thanks for being with us. at what point did you realize that something was terribly wrong, because your son really captured the plane sooner than any of the other videos i've seen. >> well, yeah, he was coming around on the third lap, as you heard in the video, from the announcer that apparently something went wrong and the pilots are trained, you know, if something goes wrong, to call mayday and you take the plane as high as you can to give you time to react and figure out what to do. any time you see a plane in an air race go skyward, you know something is wrong. as it's in the air, it actually works its way back behind the grandstands. that just never happens in an event like that. because of that, when he comes down, his momentum is moving away from the grandstand.

and so that the massive debris that you see out into the tarmac, you know, had he crashed where, you know, coming out of the race towards the stands, that would have come into the stands and you would be talking about massive casualties. >> how old are your kids? >> 20 and 22. >> i'm amazed. i mean, kyle's camera work is incredibly steady, having just witnessed something so horrific. what's that like to be there with your kids and to -- what do you say after that? >> what you do is you stop and you pray. i stood there, as a father, realizing i didn't even have time to reach out and grab my sons. you know, and that shakes you, as a father, to your core. and, you know, we've talked about it quite a bit. kyle actually did not realize the video that he had. he said that, he followed -- he was following the racers in the eyepiece.

when the mayday happened, he tilted it skyward, he caught it in the viewfinder. and at that point, literally just sort of brought the camera down next to his head. and he's just watching it and not looking through the eyepiece. and he just happens to be literally moving the camera where his head's moving. and so he captures, obviously, the impact and everything, not realizing that he's actually captured that till later. my youngest son, kyle's, really struggling with this. and he really came to the realization, he says, we have to help. we have to help. we have to show the spirit of human nature, to come to each other's aid and really show the heroism of the pilot and show the heroism of the people on the ground. i mean, the first responders, unbelievable how quickly they were able to, you know, assess, triage, treat and transport.

i mean, they transported 56 people in 62 minutes. i mean one a minute. >> that's incredible. >> absolutely incredible. >> my best to you and both of your sons. i hope they're dealing okay with what they saw and you are as well. thanks for being with us. >> thank you very much. >> incredible video. coming urge the rid dick list. but first, randi kaye joins us with the bulletin. anderson, don't ask, don't tell is now history. the u.s. military's policy banning gay and lesbian troops from serving openly ended today at 12:01 a.m. more than 14,000 military personnel were discharged under the ban since it took effect back in 1993. georgia's parole board has denied troy davis clemency, but his supporters are vowing to continue to fight his execution, now less than 24 hours away. davis is scheduled to die by lethal injection tomorrow evening for the 1989 shooting of an off-duty police officer. the prosecutor in the case is speaking out for the first time in years.

former district attorney spencer lawton says davis got a fair trial, with a judgment by an honest jury. >> there are two troy davis cases. there's the legal case, the case in court, and the public relations case. we have consistently won the case as it's been presented in court. we have consistently lost the case as it's been presented in the public realm and on tv and elsewhere. a day after testifying before congress about her husband's death, a colorado widow has sued federal investigators for information about the case. tiffany hartley says david hartley was shot by drug cartel gunmen on a lake spanning the texas/mexico border. that was a year ago. his body was never found and no suspects have been named. full tilt poker has been charged with operating a huge ponzi scheme that defrauded investors of more than $440 million. the site has been shut down.

and a chinese businessman has put down a deposit of nearly $80,000 for this 62-year-old bottle of single malt scotch. that's right. a deposit. the full price, $200,000. that's about $12,000 a glass. that's some good stuff. coming, the rid dick lust, why one bank is turning away red-headed donors. the "ridiculist" is next. [ male announcer ] if you're only brushing,

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time for for the ridiculist. tonight we're adding the ginger jeer squad, the crimson criticizer. all the redhead haters. the report that one of the largest sperm banks is turning down red-headed donors because there isn't enough demand for their particular specimens. the director says, i do not think you'd choose a redhead unless the partner, for example, the sterile male has red hair or the lone woman has a preference for redheads. and that's perhaps not so many, especially in the latter case. ouch. i think it's time for them to demand the respect they deserve. don't take it from me, take it from "south park." >> we can't let this go on any long are. we should be proud of who we are. thing of people throughout history who were ginger. people like -- like uh -- like -- >> ron howard? >> right! ron howard. and uh -- and -- >> ron howard?

>> right, we already had him, but right. >> yes, ron howard, excellent point. who wouldn't want a kid that looks like opie taylor from the "andy griffith show" or wendy's from wendy who was a rip-off of pippi longstocking. can you imagine any baby cuter than this one? sure, as a parent of a redhead you might spend more in sunscreen over the years. but there's a good chance that your carrot top bundle of joy could be an icon of comedy. lucille ball, conan o'brien, kathy griffin, or carol burnett or -- well, four out of five isn't so bad. the point i'm trying to make is that redheads are fiery creative extremely talented people. before he was grisled and gray, willie nelson was a redhead. maybe he's not the best genetic specimen i could have picked. a couple of the redheads around the office have been kind of blue since this news came out about the sperm bank. now, i say, don't let the haters get you down. plenty of people love redheads. charlie brown, he was quite partial to redheads. as was matthew mcconaughey's

character from "dazed and confused." >> get in with us. but that's all right. we'll worry about that later. i will see you there. all right? >> bye. >> i love those redheads, man. >> i know you. >> is there any social injustice that can't be assuaged with the wisdom of david wooderson? i think not. there were reports that a red-haired baby seal in russia was shunned from the seal colony. poor little thing. but let us not be mean to seals, ladies and gentlemen, because in the end, we all go gray anyway. yes, some of us sooner than others. but in my mind, we're all redheads each in our own way on the ridiculist. that does it for "360." thanks for watching. tonight, peace, politics and perry. >> the obama policy of moral equivalency is a very dangerous insult.