regard, specifically of the u.s. embassy in baghdad, there is argument going on inside iraqi politician now regarding this size, it's 15,000. i wonder if you discuss with prime minister to reduce the numb number. thank you. >> translator: definitely. we have raised the issue of an iraqi need for weapons, for area of protection, naval, ground protection. we have a lot of american weapons and it requires trainers. and we received promises for cooperation, from his excellency, the president, for some weapons that iraq is asking for, especially those related to its protection of its airspace. and we hope that the congress

will approve another group of f-16 for iraq because our air force was destroyed completely during the wars that iraq entered into and this is not all. we also need technical equipments related to the security field. these are issues that are being discussed by the concerned people in both countries, between the ministries of defense and interior with our counterparts in the united states and we received promises and facilitations and we agreed on how to make this relationship continuous in the security field because both of us need each other and need cooperation, especially in chasing al qaeda which we started and was not defeated in any way except in iraq and we hope to cooperate with all those who feel the dangers of this organization to cooperate with us as well.

>> our goal is a sovereign iraq that can protect its borders, protect its airspace, protect its people. and our security cooperation with other countries i think is a model for our security cooperation with iraq. we don't want to create big footprints inside of iraq, and that's i think demonstrated by what will happen at the end of this month, which is we're getting our troops out. but we will have a very act iiv relationship, military to military, that will hopefully enhance iraqi capabilities and will assure that we've got a strong partner in the region that is going to be effective. with respect to the embassy, the actual size of our embassy with

respect to diplomats is going to be comparable to other countries that we think are important around the world. there are still some special security needs inside of iraq that make the overall number larger. and we understand some questions have been raised inside of iraq about that. look. we're only a few years removed from an active war inside of iraq. i think it is fair to say that there are still groups, although they are greatly weakened, that might be tempted to target u.s. diplomats or civilians who are working to improve the performance of the power sector inside of iraq, or are working to help train agricultural specialists inside of iraq. and as president of the united

states, i want to make sure that anybody who's out in iraq trying to help the iraqi people is protected. now as this transition proceeds, it may turn out that the security needs for our diplomats and for our civilians gradually reduces itself, partly because iraq continues to make additional progress. but i think the iraqi people can understand that as president of the united states, if i'm putting civilians in the field in order to help the iraqi people build their economy and improve their productivity, i want to make sure that they come home because they are not soldiers so that makes the numbers larger than they otherwise would be, but the overall mission that they're carrying out is comparable to the missions that are taking place in other countries that are big, that are important, and

that are friends of ours. okay? thank you very much, everybody. >> president of the united states there meeting with iraqi president nuri al maliki, discuss i discussing all of the things going on with the united states government and iraq as we move toward that day when the united states forces are removed from that country. the president saying the u.s. relationship with iraq is going to be very similar to the relationship of the united states with other countries that the united states shares an interest in. hello, everybody. i'm joe johns in today for randi kaye. it's 1:00 on the east coast. straight to other news. mention holiday this week in congress and you won't see many jolly faces. that's because time is running out to pass an extension of a payroll tax holiday that's benefited everybody who draws a paycheck all year long. top republicans are promising a deal will get done and they're trying again tomorrow in the

house. both parties agree on one thing. they'd really like to wrap things up by friday and start their holiday recess. tonight is the deadline reportedly set by syria for anti-government protesters in the city of hom to get back in line or else. an opposition group called the free syrian army fears a massacre if residents fail to turn in their weapons and give up military defectors as damascus is demanding. activists say security forces have killed 20 people nationwide today alone. officials haven't publicly acknowledged the deadline and have denied opposition claims that the city's being cut off from water, electricity and food. as we just heard, live from the courthouse, the u.s. and iraq are marking an honorable end to an arduous war. president obama hosted iraqi prime minister nuri al maliki 19 days before the last american troops are due to be gone from iraqi soil. the president says it is time to

honor sacrifices borne by troops and civilians of both nations and to start a normal relationship based on respect. >> today only several thousand troops remain there and more are coming home every day. this is the season of home comings and military families across america are being reunited for the holidays. in the coming days, the last american soldiers will cross the border out of iraq. with honor, and with their heads held high. after nearly nine years, our war in iraq ends this month. >> mr. obama is warning iraq's neighbors not to interfere when the u.s. leaves. the supreme court says it will review arizona's controversial immigration law. among other things, the arizona law requires police to detain people who can't produce proof they're legal u.s. residents. the obama administration opposes

the measure arguing that only the federal government can enforce immigration laws. lower courts have blocked much of the law but today's announcement means those rulings could be reversed. the supreme court could hear arguments in april with a final ruling coming in june. think too many candidates are competing for time at most of the republican presidential debates? have we got a debate for you. newt gingrich and jon huntsman will face off in a two-man lincoln-douglas style debate in manchester, new hampshire this afternoon. there could be some bad blood. cnn has learned huntsman is losing a high-profile supporters to gingrich. richard brothers is a former state employee and security commissioner, formerly listed as one of huntsman's alternate partners in the delegation. brothers will join the gingrich team instead. former penn state assistant football coach jerry sandusky will face some of his accusers this week. sandusky is charged with

molesting ten boys enrolled in his second mile charity. now grown men, at least five of his alleged victims, are scheduled to testify at a preliminary hearing tomorrow morning. cnn's senior legal analyst jeffrey toobin says it will be an important session for both sides. >> this is going to be a very serious moment for these victims. because it is going to be the first time that they've told their story in public. it is a very embarrassing situation for most of them to be sure, and they're going to be cross examined by someone who is determined to show they're lying. >> jerry sandusky is not expected to testify. virginia governor bob mcdonald will speak today at the funeral service for virginia tech police officer derek kraus. the service is set to start about an hour from now at virginia tech's castle coliseum. kraus was gunned down while sitting in his patrol car thursday by a 22-year-old man who later killed himself. the attack appeared to be unpro

joked and there's still no word on any motive. the murder revived grim memories of 2007 when a virginia tech student shot 33 people to death, including himself. state governments across the country are having financial problems. that's no news. but long last, one state government is reporting some good news. indiana governor mitch daniels says his state has discovered $320 million it didn't know it had. its corporate tax revenue that had been accumulating unnoticed since 2007. critics say the state should do a better job keeping track of its money but daniels is looking on the bright side. he says christmas came early. speaking of christmas -- while many of you are out there shopping for the holidays, you might want to consider this. come january 1st, you may be taking home less pay than you are right now. why? got one word for you -- congress. washington cannot agree on a plan to extend payroll tax cuts, and time is running out.

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a new year is now just 0 days away. with it, a cut if your take-home pay. that is if you have a job and if congress can't agree on extending payroll tax cuts. if you don't have a job, you may run out of unemployment benefits a whole lot sooner than you thought. twice now in two weeks lawmakers have blocked plans to continue the tax cuts and jobless aid. while the house may pass a new plan tomorrow, the senate probably won't. this isn't their only deadline even though it is their nearest one, a stop-gap measure funding several government departments runs out on friday. to keep the money flowing, a new measure needs to be hammered out and posted online today. two familiar faces joining me now, peter marisi, and robert reich. welcome to you both. professor reivfessor reich, wha

harm in letting the payroll tax go back to the way it was last year? >> the big problem is not only individuals, families, will be paying more, they had been enjoying essentially just about $1,000 a year tax cut. they're going to have to be paying $1,000 more, and they can't turn around and buy things that create more jobs creating a drag on the entire policy. >> i talked yesterday with someone who says this tax cut works out to about $32 every two-week pay period. is that enough to have a big knock-down drag-out in the congress and get people all upset? >> it is really a matter of principle with the republicans. they feel all this stuff should be paid for. in the past we haven't really paid for stimulus. now they are saying if you want to continue the payroll tax cut, the economy is in recovery. so you have to pay for it with some sort of spending cuts.

that's where the problem lies, the democrats are willing to pay for it with a tax on millionaires and you know how well that goes over with the tea party. so essentially the standoff is over how to pay, not whether. >> robert reich, how much of this also is really about getting the republicans on the spot, if you will? we know after the events of august, that a lot of americans really turned against the congress and their approval ratings, if you will, are lower than ever. does this sort of just fit in to the political narrative and help the democrats more than anything? >> i think it is going to hurt both sides if there is no agreement on this. americans will see their paychecks shrink and they are not going to know that it is republicans that didn't agree to this or democrats that didn't agree to that. but let me just say, it is peculiar with regard to the republicans' insistence that a tax cut has to be paid for, because for years, remember, republicans have said tax cuts will pay for themselves in terms of economic growth. >> what do you say to that,

peter? will tax cuts pay for themselves? >> oh, i don't know that these tax cuts will pay for themselves. there are more fundamental structural problems in the economy that we've spoken about -- the trade deficit, the banks, our huge energy consumption. they need to be addressed. though the democrats are guilty themselves of using language two ways. this would be -- this eliminating a temporary tax cut is a tax increase. but the bush tax snapping back is not a tax increase but rather ending temporary tax cuts. all this stuff is in the eyes of the beholder but i think the president comes out well on this either way. >> now if the congress doesn't get a deal, just how bad is it going to be for the economy? realistically, considering the amount of money we're talking about, and the size of the federal economy overall. >> joe, it's relatively small. certainly compared to the economy overall. but look at every fiscal drag,

every time taxes go up or people have -- there's fewer -- there's less stimulus is a problem particularly right now when you have the headwinds coming from europe, the european debt crisis, and we are still struggling to get out of this jobs recession. the last jobs report was moderately encouraging, but remember, 315,000 americans dropped out of the labor force all together, stopped looking for jobs. so you might say in a sense we are still very much in the jobs recession. we need every bit of stimulus, every bit of tax cut we can get. >> and to you, peter, how much of this is just about expectations if congress fails to act. do we end up in a situation where the american economy perceives a hit and therefore shows us a hit, if you will. >> no, this isn't large enough to sink the american economy. much more troublesome is what's going on in europe and whether or not we have this payroll tax cut, events in europe are going

to determine whether or not we have a recession. if europe's economy contracts a percentage point or two, we survive that. but if europe has a major recession and its banks start to fail, we know what contagion looks like. there are real vulnerabilities over here and that's the real problem. >> thanks both so much for coming in. can't go away without mentioning your book, robert reich -- "aftershock, the next economy and america's future." we appreciate you both coming on. >> everyone should read it. we'll take you globe trekking to a country that's suffered months of deadly violence and now there is word after government ultimatum fueling fears of a possible massacre today. do you know what country we're talking about? the answer after the break. and who ordered the yummy cereal? yummy. [ woman ] lower cholesterol. [ man 2 ] yummy. i got that wrong didn't i? [ male announcer ] want great taste and whole grain oats that can help lower cholesterol? honey nut cheerios.

globe trekking begins in syria. there's a fear of a possible massacre in the city of hom. the center of a nine-month-old popular uprising against the government. opposition forces say the government issues an ultimatum on friday giving residents until today to give up their represents and surrender. opposition commander says syrian troops have dug trenches around the city. he says there are fears of violence similar to a 1980 massacre. in that year a government assault killed thousands. now to russia where anger over recent parliamentary elections is fueling an unusual amount of dissent. tens of thousands of russians joined a protest in moscow over the weekend. thousands more rallied in st. petersburg. they say the election was fixed in favor of the ruling united russia party and they want a new vote. in a facebook message russia's

president promised an investigation but he did not discuss the possibility of new elections. russian prime minister vladimir putin plans to run for president next year, but it now looks like he'll face some opposition. a prominent russian billionaire is russia's third-richest man. he also happens to be the owner of the new jersey nets basketball team in the united states. he calls his decision to run probably the most important decision in his life. but some russian dissidents are skeptical. they suggest his candidacy may be part of a kremlin scheme to make it look like the election is a legitimate contest. finally to the philippines where a filipino-american boy has turned up safe. the 14-year-old disappeared with his mother and cousin in july, apparently abducted by suspected islamic militants. his mother and cousin were released by their captors earlier. the boy was spotted alone over

the weekend. his father says the boy managed to escape from his captors while they were sleeping and walked two days before he was found. his front-runner status is all but gone, thanks to newt gingrich. but now mitt romney comes out swinging hard against the former speaker. find out why he's calling gingrich reckless and erratic. will the personal attacks work? that's "fair game" next. but first, here's your political junkie question of the day -- how many candidates have won the iowa caucuses and the white house that same year? the answer just ahead. i'm kind of a fixture in different parts of town... some folks call me a rock star, some call me the mayor... and i love it.

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before the break we asked you how many candidates have won the iowa caucuses and then gone on to win the presidential election later the same year. the answer is three -- barack obama, george w. bush in 2000 and jimmy carter in 1976. although carter actually finished behind none of the above that year. but i'm sure you already knew that. this is part of the show where we go beyond the partisan talking point to the heart of the political debate where all sides are "fair game." the republican presidential fight is starting to get a little nasty with just about three weeks to go before the iowa caucuses. it is especially bad between the top two, mitt romney and newt gingrich. this morning romney called gingrich reckless and said some of gingrich's comments are fine in a campaign but far from presidential. joining me now is cnn contributor will cain and

democratic political consultant ed espinoza. guys, in that same interview romney also said gingrich should give back any money he got from consulting for freddie mac and fannie mae. let's listen to gingrich's reaction to that this morning. >> i would just say that if governor romney would like to give back all the money he's earned from bankrupting companies and laying off employees over his years of being, then i would be glad to listen to him and i bet you $10 -- not $10,000 -- that he won't take the offer. >> are romney's attacks a good or idea idea? >> they're a little bit of a head scratcher. he's in a tough spot, joe. you say why has support gone to newt gingrich. try to figure that out and attack him on that level. we know it is not for substance because gingrich has been on every side of the issues. it is not for character. we know about his fidelity issues. you say tiit is he's ready to te

it to president obama or he's not a mormon. mitt can't attack on that level. he has to just keep pushing substance, keep pushing showing how newt is inconsistent and hypocritical. eventually that will catch up with him. >> you don't have a dog in this fight but i have to ask you, is this good politics what romney's trying to do? >> the bottom line is it is politics and we're three weeks out from the first primary. mitt romney has to do something differently. because if you keep doing what you're doing you're going to keep getting what you're getting. something's got to change. the heat of the campaign happens a month out and we're in that window right now so he's got to land some blows, whether it is over money or anything else. he's got to find something to go after gingrich and look for that weakness. >> what about the idea of just sort of letting gingrich implode. everybody knows that newt gingrich has a way with words that sometimes upsets a lots of

people. will cain, what do you think the chances are that newt gingrich is going to say something that rubs the voters the wrong way between now and the caucus? >> decent. decent. as you said, he's shown a habit of it. that strategy has worked for romney so far. it worked against michele bachmann. it worked against rick perry and it worked against herman cain. newt gingrich is an extremely volatile front-runner. in fact, polls, horse race, nonsense. but a poll out there from the american eresearch group from likely iowa caucusgoers that show both gingrich and rom in i in the 20s. it could already be starting to catch up to gingrich. >> the problem that romney's got with gingrich right now that's different than the other ones is gingrich has the benefit of time on his side. when you get closer to an election, voters start to become more pragmatic with their decisions. they start to gravitate towards someone and settle on that choice. so will's right, romney

definitely has to go after him and gingrich does have the ability to unravel. but, he's got a bit of time on his side that helps him a little bit more than the others. >> we know also that newt gingrich has certain issues in his background that some of the other candidates don't. he's been married three times, he's admitted adultery. and he got quizzed quite a bit over the weekend in that debate about that. all the candidates got to respond. will cain, i'll ask you. do you think that evangelical voters that forgiven newt gingrich, if you will, suitable to the point where they'll actually vote for him? >> i don't know. i mean gingrich is working on a lot of forgiveness right now. because people are looking over all of the logical reasons that newt gingrich doesn't fit to be not just the republican nominee but the tea party nominee. 82% of tea party supporters say newt gingrich is their guy but that doesn't make any logical sense, not substantively, not on the issues and not character issues as well. so yeah, maybe they're willing to forgive him or maybe it's

just not resonating with them. maybe they just don't know about it all right now. maybe it is not just sinking in. >> ed, by the way, happy birthday. >> yeah, ed. >> thanks. >> that's "fair game." coming up next, the iraq war is all but over now. how do our troops feel about it now eight years later? >> i have a hard time understanding why we went there in the first place. >> i know there have been a lot of iraqi casualties. how many more would there have been if we weren't there? >> cnn's kyra phillips sits down with veterans of "operation iraqi freedom." you might be surprised what they say. and, we're watching a live event happening right now at arlington national cemetery. president obama, vice president biden, and iraqi prime minister al maliki all in attendance. we'll bring it to you when it gets under way.

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looking at a live picture right now at arlington national cemetery right across the river from washington, d.c. this is where momentarily we're expecting president obama with the iraqi prime minister nuri al maliki, expected to have a traditional wreath laying there, a ceremony very much like the type of ceremony you might see on memorial day at arlington national cemetery. of course, the united states and

iraq having so much to share in the nature of veterans and people who have died in a long conflict. so we'll be bringing you pictures when the president arrives there. also expecting vice president joe biden as well. pretty chilly day there in washington, d.c. all this week, cnn is going in-depth on the final days of the war in iraq. operation "new dawn" might be over, but for some troops coming home their battle is far from over. cnn's kyra phillips reports. >> the mission objectives -- hit the target. >> seven aircraft did drop bombs over iraq. >> reporter: eight years ago i was there when the iraq war began. >> the campaign called "shock and awe." >> reporter: to the air. lan. >> the number of threats that ground troops are dealing with.

>> reporter: and sea. >> there are five weapons stations on this special operations craft. >> reporter: i met some of the bravest men and women i've ever known. bravery that came at a physical and mental price. in one word, how would you describe the war if iraq? >> sacrifice. >> bittersweet. >> mistake. >> reporter: these are veterans of "operation iraqi freedom" from the army, air force, marines, all impacted in some way by this war. was the war worth it to you? >> as an infantry man i was on the ground a lot and i talked to a lot of families and a lot of individuals in the iraqi populous. >> reporter: it was his first of three deployments. he was on the ground when the war began. >> i felt as long as i gave somebody else the opportunity to have the same democracies, the same freedoms, the same hopes and dreams that we can have every day, then maybe some of those things that i did and some of the sacrifices that my friends made were worth a little bit of something.

>> reporter: he retired six months ago and starts school in january. sara, how about you? was it worth it? >> i think ima he on the fence. i know there have been a lot of iraqi casualties but how many more would there have been if we weren't there? >> reporter: sar are is now a paralegal in the air force reserve and works at a private security company. you were a teenager building bombs. how did you process that? >> you build those bombs that all come back. you know someone's dead. it is hard to be happy about that but at the same time i was happy it wasn't me. >> how did that change you? >> i think at the time you just kind of become cold and callous to it. it is self-preservation. >> reporter: matt, you went from being a u.s. marine to studying peace and conflict at uc berkeley. talk about a switch. >> i have a hard time understanding why we went there in the first place. going in under false pretenses for weapons of mass destruction. wanted to gain a better understanding of what i had

experienced. getting out of the military took me at least a year to try to negotiate being a civilian again. >> negotiate being a civilian. what do you mean by that? >> i was very definitely ready to end my five-year enlistment but when i got out i didn't anticipate the feeling of loss, especially in terms of the really strong ties and bonds between me and the guys that i served with. >> i struggled with seeing my friends contemplate suicide. >> reporter: jessi was an army sergeant in iraq, assistant to a brigade commander. now with a degree in sociology she's dedicating her life to saving fellow vets. >> seeing them deal with alcohol abuse, drug abuse, homelessness. that was the most difficult thing for me to see. i witnessed them save someone's life in iraq and they can't save their own anymore? it hurt me. >> reporter: ramsey was an army specialist.

honorably discharged just five months ago. he's now living in a transitional housing facility. you've also struggled quite a bit since you've gotten back. you're two months sober. that's positive. >> yes. >> but why did you turn to alcohol if. >> i had to see good, patriotic americans with -- that were fathers, that were good parents, good sons, good daughters, pay the ultimate sacrifice and that played an emotional toll on myself. >> reporter: ramsey received two purple hearts in less than a year. >> there was small arms contact. mortar attacks. rpg attacks. and direct fire on bases. i mean you're constantly dealing with a barrage of ammunitions. some of those events still haunt me. >> do you feel safe now? >> now that i'm sober, yes. >> the war in iraq. how did it impact your marriages, your families? >> you know how they say the first year of marriage is tough? well try to pull through one after you've been married. you learn a lot about yourself,

about your marriage, about your spouse. we had a lot of fights but we talk it out and i can definitely say that our marriage is much stronger. >> reporter: josh, you've got a bit of a different story. >> a little bit. i was actually married six months before i deployed the first time in iraq and i very specifically remember writing my wife a letter saying things are different for me and i can feel them. i can tell. so when i came home on top of me dealing with my own issues, and on top of her becoming pregnant with our first child, it caused a lot of big gaps in our relationship. by the time i deployed for my second deployment a year-and-a-half later, it was over because i was locking up the door, i already knew this is the last time we're going to share a home together. >> our troops are coming home. what's your advice? >> my advice is just listen to the command. they do a very good job of giving mandatory briefings that deal with subjects such as suicide, domestic abuse, alcohol abuse, and don't diminish the

good work that you did. >> you have to be open. you have to communicate. you have to be willing to talk about what you're feeling. otherwise you're just going to bottle it up and be angry. >> realistically, people are not necessarily meant to kill other people an they're going to have a reaction to that. >> fighting those emotions and fighting the -- those problems on your own isn't going to help. you can -- you fight as a team. you need help as a team. >> 18 veterans succeed in committing suicide a day. and 32 veterans attempt to commit suicide every day. and these are insane statistics and it's real. i always think about everyone that we've lost in iraq and i live my life to fulfill what they could have done in the future but they can't now. >> reporter: five voices of survival and sacrifice. soon to be joined by the nearly 40,000 troops headed home. leaving iraq for good. >> kyra phillips, both looking

back and looking forward on the war in iraq. we have some pictures now of something occurring just a few minutes ago. the president of the united states at arlington national cemetery, wreath laying there. he's appearing with iraqi prime minister nuri al maliki. this is an upbeat moment, if you will, for the president of the united states having made this promise that all the troops will be returning home by the end of the year, talking about the notion of homecomings and a time of re-uniting the families of the military people who are in iraq. now coming home. so let's listen.

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[ playing of taps ]

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and indigestion. so why wait ? ask your doctor today... ... about taking care with vesicare. let's check stories making headlines at street level. police in hollywood are still trying to figure out why a man

went on this shocking shooting spree. >> there is a madman in the street. oh, pmy god! you all right? >> police say the man you see here is 26-year-old tyler brimm who was seemingly shooting people at random claimed to be a four-time cancer patient with stage 4 ovarian cancer. investigator received anonymous tip and found no evidence she was sick. however, they did find evidence that nicholas bilked donatodona.

according to report, her children even believed she was dying of cancer. a secret santa in plainfield township, michigan, has unleashed an unexpected chain of holiday cheer. this started with a simple message. the mystery woman reportedly are picked three random layaway at kmart paying off the balance, spending about $500. but that one act is causing a chain reaction of kindness. according to "the detroit news" kmart has had other secret santas donate up to $300 every day since the news got out and it's spread to other stores in michigan and california. by this time tomorrow, former penn state coach jerry sandusky will have come face to face with his accusers in court. at least half of the ten accusers will testify in court.

nancy grace is on the case, she joins me live next. first, manuel more yeg gaai is back in panama. he isn't home to visit glory days. after two decades in prison, the 77-year-old is now serving time for crimes committed in panama during his rule. norie noriega, your power once loomed large in south america, but get comfortable because your 15 minutes are up. ♪ i'll be home for christmas just you wait and see ♪ i've had surgery, and yes, i have occasional constipation.

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in less than 24 hours, penn state former assist ants coach jerry sandusky will face his accusers in court. it comes just days after he was arrested and charged with abusing two new alleged victims. at least half of ten alleged victims are expected to take the stand and painfully recount how sandusky allegedly molested and in some cases raped them repeatedly. not only that, the state's key witness mike mcqueary who told a grand jury he saw sandusky raping a young boy in a locker room shower is also scheduled to testify. but now there are conflicting reports about what mcqueary

really saw. there's a lot to cover. nancy grace is here. tuesdays's hearing is obviously big because it's going to determine if sandusky's case is going to trial. what do you think is going to happen? >> well, i think it will be bound over, is the technical term that's used, in a lot of jurisdictions you have to have a preliminary hearing before that case is bound over, and it goes to a real jury. there's a petit jury, a jury of 12 or 6 in some jurisdictions or a grand jury. now, here's a deal. i think it's a huge mistake, joe johns, for the state to reveal their entire case. they do not have to put up all of these victims, alleged victims, and witnesses. that gives the defense a dry run at their cross-examination and allows the defense to go on a so-called fishing expedition to see what they can find wrong with each witness. why do it? in this type of case, that is

trial suicide. what i think the state should do -- and in this cases hearsay is allowed -- is to put up a chief detective who can summarize what all the victims are saying. it's called course of conduct, exception to the hearsay rule. that way all these victims won't be cross-examined by the defense. long story short, let's get right down to it, apparently they're going to put up all the victims. all right, mistake. the case will be bound over. it will go to a big courtroom, not just a grand jury, not just a preliminary hearing, for a jury trial. unless they can give this guy straight probation, which they're it not going to do, i don't see him taking a plea. >> let's talk now a little bit about some of the conflicting p testimony. this mcqueary is one of the people that you really sort of have are to touch on because people have heard so much about it. i think we have a graphic perhaps. now, mcqueary are told a grand jury apparently he heard

slapping sounds, saw sandusky allegedly raping a boy in the shower and so there's some eyewitness testimony, if you will, there. meanwhile, we have this it dr. jonathan dranoff, his testimony conflicts e. said he heard sex sounds, he sees a young boy who sticks his head out and then an arm pulls the child out of view. sandusky leaves the shower. so it doesn't sound quite like there's evidence that mcqueary actually saw what he said he saw. or is there? >> okay. joe johns, let's break it down what we have here. we've got mike mcqueary, apparently, telling authorities that he goes into the men's locker room and he observes sandusky having anal sod omy ona

little boy. that's the first story. now we're getting wind that mike mcqueary goes home and he is talking about what he has observed, and he is speaking to dur dranov and says he hears sex sounds, he sees a little boy poke his head around the corner and an adult arm grabs the child back around the corner. now, as a judge used to tell me, an 84-year-old judge, god rest his soul, it's your duty to make all witnesses speak the truth. in other words, both of these could be true. he could have heard what he told dr. dranov, he could have seen what he saw dranov, and then walk around the corner and see the rest. i don't want to call this an inconsistent or conflicting statement until i hear the whole thing. and this is another thing, joe, that i've learned handling are let me say, maybe, 10,000 felony witnesses in the past. very often it depends on if you ask the right question. for instance, he may have told

dr. dranov what he heard. and nobody said, what did you see? it depends on the question asked the witness and also sometimes it takes more than one interview to get the whole story out of a witness. you have to question them before you hear the whole thing. i will be concerned, however, about mcqueary's testimony if it does turn out to be that he actually changed his story. then the state's got a problem. but, remember, there's about 12 victims, 10 in all, i believe. if this victim doesn't pan out, there's 9 others. san dusk canny has to deal with it. >> nancy grace, thank you so much for that. i'll be back tomorrow, perhaps we can talk about it again. brooke baldwin takings over here in the "cnn newsroom". hello to all of you. i'm brooke baldwin. as always, rapid fire, let's go. beginning with iraq, iraq's prime minister at the white house today, norry al malaki and barack obama looking ahead he to

the day just three weeks from now when nearly all u.s. forces are expected to be out of iraq. >> throughout the region we'll see a new iraq that's determining its own destiny, a country in which people from different religious sects and ethnicities can resolve their differences peacefully through the democratic process. also it this hour, we are watching the markets as you can see the dow down 216 points here, two hours from the closing bell. the p markmarkets are down beca growing doubts over the european debt crisis also are over intel. also breaking today, arizona's tough immigration law going to the u.s. supreme court, they'll decide whether the state can enforce it as the obama administration is fighting against it. a ruling expected in june. mitt romney stepping up his attacks on newt gingrich. want you to listen to how the former massachusetts governor characterized the apparent front-runner now in this race.

>> erratic, outspokenness which may be great in a campaign, but is not great for someone who is running for president of the united states, representing had this country. >> those comments coming after newt gingrich called the palestinians an invented people. more on the heated race in a couple of minutes with wolf blitzer outf of washington. right now in blacksburg, vishlg virg, funeral service for virginia tech police officer dereik crouse. the officer was killed during the shooting incident on the campus last thursday. police say a 22-year-old ross ashley shot officer crouse, no apparent reason, then killed himself just about a half hour later. ashley's relatives have sent condolences to officer crouse's family. and occupy wall street protestors are trying to occupy these west coast ports. they had planned marches today all the way from san diego up to anchorage, alaskas. these pictures playing out, this is portland, oregon, where gates

have been closed at two of the ports' four terminals. the union represents long shoremen has distanced itself from the protests today. and a facebook post leads police to a horrific scene in ft. wayne, indiana. the bodies of two 19-year-olds and an unidentifieied third pern police believe to be the gunman found minutes after this status update. quote, someone call 911, three dead bodies at 3229 lima road, ft. wayne, indiana, i've killed ryan, erin and myself. people were warned not to [ expletive ] play me and ruin me. they didn't listen. sorry about your luck. nancy lopez saw the post from washington state. >> i freaked out when i seen it. i didn't know if it was true or fake. then i just called the ft. wayne police and told them what was going on, that a friend of mine on facebook, his name and then i

read him the post. they said the address was the same as what they had listed for hill. >> all on facebook. also today, a private funeral is being held for this little 7-year-old rivera who was with raped and brutally murdered in georgia. she was snatched from her playground at her apartment complex. a 20-year-old maintenance man is charged with killing her. a funeral was held had saturday in suburban atlanta. her body has been flown to puerto rico for a private family funeral. she'll be buried there tomorrow. and a prison break by members of al qaeda in the arabian peninsula. 15 suspected terrorists escaped from a prison in south yemen earlier this morning. they broke out by reportedly digging a 20-foot tunnel. the prison is in aiden which has been under a terror threat in may since mill tapts took over. secret santas are are stepping up their game.

they're paying off people's lay areaways, walking into kmart stores and laying down money in both michigan and california. last monday someone donated 500 bucks for three separate layaways. the next day 14 layaways were paid off with a $2,000 gift from a secret santa. holiday spirit, hello! that's what we're talking about here. we are just getting started. five minutes into a two-hour show. here's what we have coming up. in less than two hours from now, two republican contenders for president will be squaring off in a lincoln/douglas style debate and one candidate has a lot riding on this one. sparks fly over a tv show about muslims in the u.s. >> practice our faith without losing our sense of american patriotism. >> well, now lowe's cranking its ads from the show. a move one lawmaker calls

unamerican. the clock is ticking. we're in the final minutes now. >> more than eight years later, american troops getting ready to leave iraq. you will hear candid memories from the folks who have lived on the front lines. family that was under the house. >> plus, an about-face in the fight over alabama's controversial immigration law. the republican who now says we've got to change this and fast. a gunman steps into the middle of sunset boulevard, waves a gun and pulls the trigger. >> oh, my god! >> find out who was behind the camera and why he was screaming in this rampage.

talking politics now. i don't know if you caught it this, but high rolling mitt romney offers a big bucks bet to rick perry over romney's position on health insurance. have a look at this. >> 10,000 bucks? $10,000 bet? >> i'm not in the betting business. >> oh, okay. okay. >> that little exchange there from this weekend, that's caused an uproar that the prospect of wagering $10,000 as so many americans are out there today struggling looking for work. romney, he is not disowning the gesture but his wife warned him lately that he really isn't much of a gambler. that said, let's move on. i want to bring in wolf blitzer, wolf, stand by and i'll continue to set this up. we know mitt romney is getting a

little more aggressive, not a big surprise. he's obviously going after gingrich. this is something gingrich said that may have given romney an opening. take a look. >> remember, there was no palestine as a state. it was part of the ought aman empire. you i think we've had an invented palestinian people who in fact are arabs. >> so that was newt gingrich speaking, wolf, before saturday's gop debate, as you well know, saying we have invented the palestinians. now here's mitt romney just this morning. >> we don't go out and say something like the speaker said. it shows a level of let's say erratic, outspokenness which may be great in a campaign but is not great for someone who is running for president of the united states, representing this country. >> erratic, wolf blitzer. is that the beginning of what we'll be hearing from camp romney toward camp gingrich? >> you know, it will be intense. it will serious. i'm not sure it's going to get

really muddy and dirty, the exchanges between newt gingrich and mitt m.i.t. romnromney. they both have too much riding on it. in the end, they want to save their fire for president obama in an election campaign. it will get intense, heated up from time to time. erratic outspokenness, i'm not sure that's necessarily a bombshell. they disagree on that, some other issues as well. we'll probably hear more about it. there's another republican presidential debate coming up later this week. but i don't think it's going to get overly are personal or brutal. >> you don't. >> anything along those lines. i suspect they'll keep kind of the ugly rhetoric, ugly exchanges to a minimum at this stage in their political careers they have too much riding if they let it get too ugly because folks will say they're just providing ammunition to the obama campaign by splashing and burning each other. i p suspect it will be

relatively tame. >> looking ahead to the primaries, right around the corner, they don't line up too nicely for mitt romney. gingrich lead aring romney in iowa by 13 points, new hampshire has a lead of 9 points there, south carolina all beginning rix are. here you go, he's up 13 points in south carolina and florida newt gingrich beating romney 48% to romney's 25%. are the romney people left to hope they're just going to have to survive january and hope to take advantage of his vaunted organization nationwide? >> that's part of their strategy. remember, for the first time what the republicans are doing is what the democrats did the last tile. it's not going to be winner take all in these early contests, the caucus states, the primary states. it will be proportionate. in other words, you'll get a certain number of delegates going to the republican national convention in tampa over the course of the next summer based

on how many votes you actually get in the contest. so romney has a lot of money. he can keep this going against newt gingrich. right now at least he's got a lot more money. if he survives january and they go into february, march, this could be a repeat of what we saw four years ago when withe democratic contest went all the way through june, as you well remember, when hillary clinton and barack obama fought it out for the democratic presidential nomination. only a couple of months before the democratic convention in denver. of course, we know what happened then, the democrat was elected. all of this talk of it being over by the end of january i think is really, really premature because of the new rules that the republican national committee has put forward providing proportionate delegate counts in each of these sta states. so it's not going to be over with all that quickly. those of us who are political news junkies, this is good stuff. >> it is good stuff.

who knows how late it will go. you mentioned the white house, if things get ugly between gingrich and romney, good thing for obama, the white house. how does the white house handle this strategically going forward. they have been attacking romney. now firing at gingrich, which could help romney. >> the dnc put p up their first ad going after newt gingrich, almost all of their fire has been directed at mitt romney over the past several weeks and months. i've spoken to a lot of democrats, obama supporters. they all think it would be easier for the president -- still going to be difficult no matter who the republican nominee is -- to beat newt gingrich than it would be mitt romney in a general election campaign. but, having said all that, they're gearing ining ining up one or maybe someone else, who knows. they're directing their fire at gingrich are even though behind the scenes i think some of them are hoping it turns out to be

gingrich. they think they should beat him. they should be careful what they wish for because you never know what can happen in a general election campaign. i pointed it this out on many occasions. i'm old enough to remember in 1980 there was an incumbent democratic president named jimmy carter and ronald reagan eventually got the republican presidential nomination. some of jimmy carter's aides were high-fiving, celebrating. how could an incumbent president jimmy carter not beat a former movie star? >> we know what happened. you never know. don't count your chickens, what my mom always said to me. wolf blitzer, thank you so much. we'll chat next hour. meantime, president obama and iraq's prime minister meeting today at the white house. this is the u.s. pulling out virtually all of its remaining troops from iraq by the end of this year. and the company once known as the world's most notorious private security contractor blackwater changing its name again. find out why, coming up.

plus, a 14-year-old kid from virginia escapes from hostage takers in the jungle in the philippines. >> oh, my goodness, i can't put into words. it is truly a christmas miracle. >> the details of how this kid got free are amazing. we've got that story coming up. and a man is allegedly shot by his mother-in-law while trying to pick p up had his child. but the whole shooting caught on camera by the guy who got shot. we'll show you the video coming up this hour. stay with usment .

cnn in depth all this week, today specifically president obama hosting iraq's prime minister at the white house and with just a couple more weeks

now until the nearly complete u.s. pullout from iraq. the two men reinforce their promise post-war partnership. >> we're here to mark the end of this war, to honor the sacrifices to all those who made this day possible and to turn the page to begin a new chapter in the history between our two countries, a normal relationship between sovereign nations. >> translator: i am very happy to every time we meet with the american side i find determination abdomnd a strong to activate the strategic framework agreement. and i say, frankly, this is necessary and it serves the interest of iraq as it is necessaries and serves the interest of the united states of america. >> want to give you a quick time line on the u.s. pullout from iraq, the height of the war, about 170,000 americans troops were in country manning more than 500 bases, outposts,

airfields. so now watch these numbers drop. recently, january of this year, 50,000 u.s. service members. now today, four american installations, just 6,000 troops. they're on track to be out by the last day of 2011. no more arm patrols, no more combat air support missions, just a couple dozen troops to help the iraqi military. but plenty of americans will stay in iraq, i'm talking about diplomats, contractors, couple thousand civilian security personnel hired to protect them. that is the part of iraq's future that i want to talk about now. the contracted security force. because at one point during the iraq war, the private company called blackwater, was a dominant player in the security business in iraq. there were incidents, they were booted out of the country. now the company that used to be called blackwater wants back in. i want to bring in suzanne kelly to join me in the conversation. not only is she a cnn national

security correspondent, she lit are rally wrote the book about blackwater, suzanne, blackwater, i saw it this morning it's changed its name again. why? >> it has, for the second time. the first time the company changed its name, it was still owned by the same person, run by the same executive management team. so it was really just kind of a change in name only. it was after that bloody shooting in september of 2007. 17 iraqis were gunned down by a blackwater team. they're trying to figure out who all happened that day still, all these years later. but it was the beginning of the downfall for blackwater. their reputation was shot. they had incidents before they weren't able to get over. last december, eric prince, a former navy s.e.a.l. and owner of the company said, that's it, i'm walking away. he sold the company to a group of private investors who thought putting their money into this might well be worth it. now, remember the contracts in iraq and afghanistan and other

places around the world number in the hundreds of millions, reaching billions of dollars. so there's reason to understand why they would invest in this. now, the big challenge has been whether or not they can make people believe they are a different company completely. they brought in a new board of directors, new management team, they've gotten rid of the old team. they have a new ceo who sort of decided this would be the crowning achievement to change the name as well. >> but, if i may jump in, you mentioned the 17 iraqis gunned down in 2007, how does it this country, the third iteration, the third name now, can they shake that? >> it's a great question. the new name is academi. the topic is so incredibly interesting, but they decided on the name because they wanted it to be something completely different from blackwater that focused on the training. and i think that's the attitude now that the new company owners and ceo moving forward, they're saying, look, we're not the same people. they know there will be a lot of lucrative contracts coming up.

they'll need security around the oil and gas installations, a lot of work will be bitd on biory company. they'd like a piece of that again. i think they feel like the measure of success will be whether or not they can convince congress, a lot of people in the media, a lot of blackwater haters they really are a different company. >> we'll, we know you'll be watching academi. we'll follow that story with you as well. suzanne kelly, thank you. staying in depth with me on iraq, nearly nine years here of war, president obama said today ends this month. but the war forever changed the lives of entire generations in iraq, and i want you to hear this. this is a personal reflection of a seasoned cnn correspondent, a profoundly moving moment she witness during the war there. >> in 2005 when i was still an producer i went on an embed. it was in husaba. the marines had been tried to clear al qaeda in iraq up the euphrates river.

they had gotten everybody into husaba. it was intense, street to street fighting. and the people in husaybah were afraid to speak out. no one would say al qaeda's here. that's pretty much the status quo because it's not worth the risk for them. there was one man, one man, who said, yes, al qaeda is here, and, yes, we want the americans to save us. i remember being just completely in awe of his courage. i ran into him two days later. we were at the scene of an air strike, house had completely collapsed on itself, two dozen family members inside. and he was there. he was digging through the rubble because they had one body left to get out. it was his nephew. must have been 8, 9, 10 years old maybe. i just remember looking at this man who was the only person i had met who had the courage who said, we want the americans to

save us, and there he was. and he pulled out this boy's body, which just looked like he was sleeping. he was covered in this gray dust. and there he was, this man, whoed said, we want the americans to save us. he paid the ultimate price. that was his family that was under that house. >> arwa damon. speaking of syria, if you thought reports of thousands killed against antigovernment protests in the country were bad, you haven't seen anything yet. that's the word from an opposition leader. we'll show you why, straight ahead. also, this incredible story, a 14-year-old american boy kidnapped in the philippines, held there for four months. find out how he just escaped on his own, next. [ buzzer ] [ male announcer ] finding the must have soul by ludacris headphones for $199.99 at radioshack. so right. ♪

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this 14-year-old boy from virginia has managed to escape from islamic militants who kidnapped him in july when he was just on vacation with his family in the philippines. his name is kevlunsmann, a filipino-american. he got away from his captors late last week while his dpards were asleep. he was spotted walking by filipino troops who turned him over to american forces. back in virginia, family friends said they never lost hope kevin would make it out of there. >> it was the greatest day. i had just prayed and prayed, god, all i want for christmas is kevin to come home. >> to know that it's over for his family, number one, is just ecstatic. for our family, oh, my goodness, i can't put into words, it is truly a christmas miracle. >> we mentioned kevin was over there with his family. his mother was released by her captors back in october and a cousin who was also abducted was

set free last month. in syria, leaders of the nationwide antigovernment protest movement are worried, particularly those in the city of homs. that's where opposition leaders say the government has started a countdown clock. when the clock hits zero, protestors will either be hurt or killed. the deadline is tonight. stop protesting, lay down your weapons or government forces will attack. this is a claim being made only by protest leaders. let's go to jim clancy in beirut, lebanon. jim, you're there because western journalists aren't allowed to work and cover these stories we're reporting on inside syria. jim, is there any reason to believe this deadline, this midnight tonight deadline, is the real deal? and, also, what are the government officials saying about it? >> reporter: well, they're not saying anything about a deadline. they have the city surrounded. they had a vote today. they're trying to portray the situation as normal. that's coming from the

government of the president. we know the city of homs has been surrounded. there are tanks that have moved in, militiamen. i talked to a leader of the opposition inside homs just a couple of hours ago. listen to what he had to say. >> a lot of tanks inside the city, but security forces and the army is still surrounding homs and we don't know when they will -- so people expect attack at any motel bment but we don't when. >> reporter: very fearful indeed. he said -- i asked him, are people trying to leave the city? he said, brooke, we couldn't leave if we wanted to, but we don't want to. we want to stay. but there are checkpoints in the

city such that they cannot move around to get out. we had a lot of funerals today as they always seem to have in homs. there was some 21 people killed today. today the big funeral was for a woman, an elderly woman, who died because she couldn't get any insulin. getting medicine, getting food, homs is now the capital of the revolution, if you want to call it that, inside syria. and it is a city under siege. >> why, though, jim, because we've been hearing about the government forces digging trenches, cutting off power? no water, no telephone in homs. what does that tell you? what's the message? >> reporter: it tells me i want to be there, i want to see what is going on myself. but, look, we've watched a pattern here that the syrian government has repeatedly used, and that is isolate one city, in this case the strongest city right now in syria. they did the same thing several months ago in daraa in southern syria. isolate the city, go in,

quadrant is off, move in the troops, kick down doors, make mass arrests. they arrested some 2,000 activists and broke the back, if you will, of the demonstrations in that city. they may be hoping to do the same thing here. brooke? >> jim clancy, as close as you can get for now to what's happening in syria. in beirut, thank you, jim. now to a story we first reported on a number of weeks ago, the show on tlc "the all american muslim," you heard of it? >> the city of dearborn, michigan. dearborn say whole other world. number one most concentrated community of muslims outside the middle east. >> here's a story today. big box home improvement store lowe's getting all kinds of flack after pulling their commercials from this program. coming up, we have david katon standing by, the man in charge of a group that called on lowe's and other advertisers to pull out. we'll ask him why, after this.

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. the home improvement giant store lowe's facing back lae in after it pulled its ads from the show "all american muslim," the new reality show on tlc that follows five muslim families in michigan. lowe's decided to pull its ads after a conservative association

called the show propaganda clearly designed to counter legitimate and present-day concerns about many muslims who are advancing islamic fundamentalism and sharia law. one woman whose family is featured on this show, all american muslim arsaid she was disappointed by the decision by lowe's. she told the detroit noise, i'm saddened that any place of business would succumb to bigots and people trying to perpetuate their anything tiff views on an entire community. as far as lowe's goes, this is all over social media, apologizing to the controversy in a twitter posting the company said this -- we did not pull our ads based solely on the complaintses of any one group. it is it never our intent to al yenate anyone. on facebook -- it appears that we managed to step into a hotly contested debate with strong views from virtually every angle and perspective. so social, political and otherwise, and we've managed to make some people very unhappy.

we are sincerely sorry. that's the end of that quote there from lowe's from base book. i want to bring in the executive director of the florida family association, david katon. david, it's your group that was encouraging advertisers to pull out of the show. you object to the show. why? >> well, the show portrays these five muslim families that are not representative of the entire muslim faith. muslim is defined in all the dictionaries as those who follow islam. and i beg anybody to find iman and any mosque in the country that believes sharia shouldn't apply to the people in america. and for this program to show these people, which i wish they were all like this, i would be doing handit stastands if all o

imams in this country took an a anti-islam, anti-sharia take. home depot pulled out of the show, i don't understand why everybody is upset about lowe's. >> i do want to say i hopped on your web site and i read parts it thoroughly and i saw the e-mail from home depot. we tried reaching out to tlc to verify the news with regard to home depot. again, home depot said they didn't have any additional ads but they would not be advertising on the show. i want to, though, go back to your point, that said the people of the show are not representative of the entire muslim faith. can you be xpispecific with me? you've seen the show. what scenes in the show, to quote you, advance islamic fundamentalism? what scenes do you have a specific issue with? >> it's the absence of the radical side of the imam's

proposition of sheraria law thas most concerning. it's the absence of the application of islamic code. for example, a gentleman leaves his catholic faith to marry a muslim woman. now, if that had been the reciprocal, literally all hell would have broken loose within the muslim islamic community. that's a taboo no-no situation. they show the good side of all of this, but they're not showing what's happening underground. now, again, i would like to had hear from the imams of this country to come out and just say, you know, we don't want any part of sharia law to apply to america or american laws. we want to follow all american laws with regard to how we treat women, honor killing, mutilation, so on and so forth. >> david, let me interrupt. i want to go back to this man who was irish catholic who

converted. i happened to have that man and his wife on the show. he talked about initially how his parents didn't know quite how to feel, but he did end up converting so he could marry her had. i want to play just this one clip from them. >> it's amazing that people think you cannot be american and muslim because this country was founded on being able to have the freedom of religions and we work like everybody else. we follow the laws of the land like everybody else. and, you foknow, for the few lunatics who hijacked the religion's name and all that we don't claim them. we are diverse people, we are very different. >> so even she said the few lunatics. she's saying that's few, few people. i also want to provide one other perspective, then i want your opinion there. california state senator ted lue wrote a letter to lowe's ceo, saying this religious discrimination is like someone pulling from 700 club because

this program somehow riskily hides the ral calized christian groups. sir, how is what you're doing any different? >> how is what we're doing any different? we simply are voicing our first amendment right to express our concern about a program that is not totally are -- showing a total picture of islam to the american people and it's guised in a name that is "all-american muslim," which we believe is inappropriate because not all muslims in america are anti-sharia, anti-islam. and for this senator to have come out and make these statements, he himself is violating the separation of church and state by advocating for one religion aover another and he's getting involved in a private issue that really should not be government's role to deal with. this is a religious -- this is a

market-driven issue, an issue that we are -- we're dealing with in the private sector. for him to come out and advocate like this i believe is unconstitutional. it's wrong. >> david caten, florida family association. i appreciate your perspective, thank you. >> thank you. you know, we've said in the past that a particular story looks like it comes straight out of a movie. this did happen on the streets of hollywood, a man armed with a gun shoots blindly at cars walking down the street. as you can hear and see, it's all caught on camera. plus, a mother-in-law accused of shooting her daughter's husband all while he's recording the whole thing on his cell phone. this is another piece of video you have to see to believe, next. [ dad ] i love this new soup. it's his two favorite things in one... burgers and soup. did you hear him honey? burgers and soup. love you. they're cute. [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup.

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now the search for the catalyst straight from a movie scene from hollywood's one of the famous intersections hol sunset and vine. take a look. >> he's shooting people! he's shooting people at will. there's a madman. there's a madman! >> yeah, this may be hollywood, that guy is no actor there. this is 26-year-old tyler brehm who is shooting at anything that moved, including a music industry executive who happened

to drive by, john atterbury was shot in the face and neck. he is in critical condition. >> i love you! i love you! shoot at me! i love you! i love you! i love you, man! kill me! i want to die! please kill me! i was just going to [ bleep ] jump and i thought about you! i thought about you! i thought about a man shooting, an you came! you came from god! >> and you hear this person yelling and shouting at this shooter. that is the voice of christopher johns shouting from his apartme apartment. >> i'm so sorry, man! i thought of you, and i came an you shot people! i thought of you just now! >> i made a calculated kind of

comparison. i thought, if people down there at point-blank range to the shooter were going to get shot, you know, they were kind of helpless to avoid being killed. me, i'm four stories up. if i could take any of his attention and divert it towards me, you know, any gunshots that he would shoot, i would have a opportunity to get out of the way. >> so he's shouting those things to divert attention. this shooter, brehm, was confronted finally by plainclothes detective and an off-duty cop working on a movie set. he pointed his gun. they shot him to death. police are trying to determine if a recent breakup with a girlfriend led to this on friday. and a florida grandmother is hauled off to jail after had her son-in-law records a chilling encounter on his cell phone. the man is lucky to be alive. he was picking up had his 3-year-old son for a court-ordered visit in the midst of this bitter custody battle

here. and he said he didn't have a good feeling so he decided to turn on had his cell phone camera. just a warning, this recording isn't just chilling, you might find it downright disturbing. watch. >> i can't believe you did that! what, are you crazy? >> [ bleep ]! >> you i can't believe you shot me! >> get off me! >> you shot me! >> after this whole scuffle, the mother-in-law called 911. she told the dispatcher that the man pulled the gun on her, but the video tells a much different story. today grandmother cheryl hepner sits in jail charged with atelted first-degree murder. the man was treated in the hospital and released. ♪

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wild flag. you ever heard of them? they're this new punk rock all-female group with a pretty impressive pet i agree. here's wild flag on this music monday. >> we're not going to play rock. we're going to play one song, then we're going to talk about uga. that's why you guys got a ticket, right?

>> mary and janet and i did a lot of touring in our bands. i think we always had a mutual respect for one another. >> we got together to work on a documentary sound track. >> and when the director asked for vocals on one of them, we decided to call mary and let her give it a shot. ♪ all right say my name >> it wasn't like we were forming a band. it was like we were just friends who wanted to play music together, working on a project. ♪ >> i call it a rock band. >> me, too. >> it's the broadest term that works. >> i say we're a rock band and we for the most part play original songs we wrote ourselves. it's music to move to and music to participate in.

>> it's pretty rowdy, i think. >> even right away when we were writing songs, that carrie and janet had a way of talking that sometimes it was almost without words. things would happen really quick. there is an intuition between the two of them that's actually fascinating to be a part of. >> i feel like the chemistry is what makes it completely unpredictable. there is honestly like chemicals combining where you're not exactly sure what's going to happen. ♪ >> if anything, i think writing about music just made me love contemporary music a lot. i just love, like, where things are right now and i'm excited to be part of it, i guess. >> like that critic in my head is never turn off so that existed when i was in slater, too. i just didn't have a an outlet r

it. but i keep it pretty separate. >> to me, i think one of the most special thing bz ths about band is we work really hard to express ourselves and get into a really real place and true place on stage. >> i love playing with these people. they're just -- each one of them is so talented in a really a specific way and really brings something to the table that is just really exciting and amazing to play with them. and also technically they're all, like, really, really good. i feel like as a musician i feel constantly pushed to be better. like you always want to play tennis with someone who's a little bit better than you. that's how i feel with this band. >> we're trying to form a connection with people through music. i think it's a very earnest endeavor. >> we all are striving to make songs for the ages, songs that will last, songs that people

want to listen to and songs that are meaningful to people. >> wild flag. ladies, thank you. by the way, go to my blog cnn.com/brooke. we'll make sure to post that up there. you can also check out any other music monday interviews we have. let me know who you're listening to, who you love. still ahead, president obama making a huge revelation about the american drone that iran claims to have, what the u.s. just asked the iranians to do. plus, big developments today in the penn state scandal, including a big twist. an assistant football coach told a grand jury he witnessed a little boy being raped by jerry sandusky. but now we're hearing a different version of that story. stay with us. yummy. [ woman ] lower cholesterol. [ man 2 ] yummy. i got that wrong didn't i? [ male announcer ] want great taste and whole grain oats that can help lower cholesterol? honey nut cheerios.

for a hot dog cart. my mother said, "well, maybe we ought to buy this hot dog cart and set it up someplace." so my parents went to bank of america. they met with the branch manager and they said, "look, we've got this little hot dog cart, and it's on a really good corner. let's see if we can buy the property." and the branch manager said, "all right, i will take a chance with the two of you." and we've been loyal to bank of america for the last 71 years.

when an investment lacks discipline, it's never this obvious. introducing investment discipline etfs from russell. visit russelletfs.com r a prospectus, containing the investment objectives, risks, charges, expenses and other information. read and consider it carefully before investing. a new report now raising questions about a key witness in the child abuse case against jerry sandusky one day before sandusky's accusers testify at tomorrow's preliminary hearing. sara ganim from the patriot news says that mike mcqueary has offered several accounts of what he saw in the penn state showers in 2002. ganim reports that mcqueary's story that he saw sandusky assaulting a boy varies among testimony.

meantime, former penn state head coach joe paterno, who is 85 years of age, already battling lung cancer, fell and broke his pelvis over the weekend. paterno is hospitalized but a source tells cnn he won't need surgery. i want to bring in b.j. schecter, editor at si. big picture, this has cost joe paterno his job, bringing up questions about these athletic organizations, is there any chance this story reduces the power, influence on big-name coaches nationwide? >> initially i don't think it will, but i think what it does show is it sounds the alarm on what can happen if we place so much emphasis on athletics over academics many times. if we give coaches or programs or athletic teams so much power, something like this can