pageant. >> while molly didn't win the title of miss california usa, in her first go-around, she says she's going to run again next year. >> i'm honored to be in the position that i am in and speak up for what i believe in. >> where she will continue to wear a sash to make a statement. >> cnn "newsroom" continues right now with randi kaye. hi, randi. >> hi, suzanne, happy friday. it's 1:00, let's get straight to the news. the four surviving gop candidates have just a few more hours to woo voters and they are not wasting a minute. mitt romney is holding on to a lead that has shrunk from the point of significance. newt gingrich is transforming buzz and momentum into victory in the first primary. ron paul and santorum survived to compete in florida. i can't resist this clip from santorum at a faith, family, and freedom event in lexington.

>> tonight is karen and the kids are going to be on piers morgan show tonight on cnn. so i would encourage you all to take a look at that. we did the interview yesterday from charleston and you'll get to see what -- at the end of the interview, piers morgan leaned over to me and said, you want my suggestion? less rick, more karen. >> thank you for the punt, mr. santorum. and sound and fury came in last night at the cnn-sponsored debate. gingrich seems to be the target of a new dirty trick. e-mails are being sent to republican activists and they claim and cnn did not send them out. it's not clear how many people received them. from dirty tricks to political

mischief by a political odd couple. you're looking at pictures from stephen colbert who is teaming up with herman cain for a rally at this hour in charleston. what a scene there. colbert is calling the event the rock me like a herman cain primary rally. even though he's out of the race, he's entering the race himself and says a vote for cain tomorrow is a good way for colbert supporters to show their support. it what may be the most brazen attack so far, shutting down the websites of the justice department and the fbi. also says it crippled the websites of universe stall music, the recording music association of america and the motion picture association of america. the attacks came after federal agents shut down the file site mega upload for online piracy

charges. this morning, all of the sites except universal music were back up. a fast-moving wildfire has damaged at least 26 homes. the fire has spread across 3900 acres. about 10,000 people were evacuated and a major highway was closed after the fire started yesterday. vice president biden was speaking at an area and the fire was about 50% contained. too italy and dramatic scenes from the passengers of the capsized cruise liner being told to return to their cabins because everything is okay.

>> soon after the ship tipped over, sending frantic passengers to lifeboats. at least 11 people were killed in that disaster last week. 21 still missing. the captain is under house arrest facing possible charges of manslaughter, abandoning ship, and shipwreck into general motors is once again king of the mountain in sales. gm sold more than nine million vehicles, the best performance since 2007 and the achievement comes two years after the bankruptcy. toyota was knocked off the spot because major disasters and is expected to place third behind volkswagen. for jazz and blues lovers around the world, sad news to report today. legendary singer etta james has died. she was 73. her manager says she died in a

california hospital with complications of leukemia. she blew away fans with such hits as something's got a hold on me, the wild flower and "at last." she was inducked in the rock and roll hall of fame. now back to politics. at last night's cnn debate, newt gingrich fired back at the media over coverage of his ex-wife's accusations. he's pushing the blame on the press but could his move hurt him in the south carolina primary? howard kurtz puts a spin on that next. a 3-year-old boy who can teach all of us a lesson in life. liam has cancer but it hasn't stopped him from doing what he loves. that's painting. he has a tumor on his kidney and had a bone marrow help with the medical bills that

they are auctioning off the artwork. painting helps him forget about all of the pain. for your bravery and all of your beautiful work, liam, you are today's rock star. when you have tough pain, do you want fast relief? try bayer advanced aspirin. it's not the bayer aspirin you know. it's different. first, it's been re-engineered with micro-particles. second, it enters the bloodstream fast, and rushes relief to the site of your tough pain. the best part? it's proven to relieve pain twice as fast as before. bayer advanced aspirin.

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in politics, sometimes it's the same candidate, newt gingrich turning an unseemlying allegation into last night's gop debate. maybe all the gop debates.

in case you missed it, here's our own john king with a question based on new interviews with gingrich's second ex-wife, marianne. >> she says you asked her, sir, to enter into an open marriage. would you like to take some time to respond to that? >> no, but i will. i think the destructive, vicious nature of the media makes it harder to attract decent people to run for office and i am appall that you would begin a presidential debate with a topic like that. >> gingrich went on to call not the allegation which he didenie but a master stroke. >> as a political matter, i think gingrich saw a fast ball coming and smacked it right out

of the park. >> howard kurtz says that everything after that answer was an afterthought. nice to see you, howard. i've been reading your tweets. you agree gingrich did himself good last night? >> gingrich won the debate in the opening moments. i must say that i thought it was a misstep for john king who is a fair and seasoned and balanced reporter to make that the first question of the debate because it enabled gingrich to take that big swing and they are more interested in reviving the allegations of personal and sexual impropriety in his past versus the serious problems facing the country. i think that everything that

happened after that, even when mitt romney stumbled about his tax return. >> there's a question of timing. what do you make of it? you have the abc interview with marianne coming out just two days before the primary. >> well, first of all, what marianne gingrich had to say in this abc news interview with brian ross, he will be appearing with me on "reliable sources" to talk about the timing of the story was not new. she has talked about the open marriage allegation and the way in which her ex-husband told her she wanted a divorce. but she had never said it in front of a television camera. now, it feels to me and i bet it feels to a lot of voters in south carolina like a late hit for abc to put her on the air on nightline some 30 hours before the voting begins. you're giving a platform to a woman who whether she's in the right or wrong harbors bitter

feelings towards her ex-husband and former speaker of the house. >> do you think they should have sat on it until after this crucial primary vote? >> i think the timing does not look good for those who believe the media is biased or out to hurt the republicans. i think they should have done it earlier or last week. when you drop a bombshell like that, so close to the voting, it does -- i think in an unintentional way this may create sympathy for newt gingrich who is already surging in the south carolina polls. he can run against the media. ex run against personal behavior. he's apologized and south forgiveness for his messy marital history and in a boomerang kind of way, this might actually help him. >> as far as debate questions go, you say that the open marriage exchange reminds you of another famous moment from 1988.

let's listen. >> governor, if kitty dukakis was raped, would you favor a death penalty? >> no, i don't. i've opposed it all of my life. i don't see any evidence that it's a deterrent and i think there are better and more effective ways to deal with violent crimes. we've done so in my own state and it's one of the reasons why we've had the biggest drop in crime. >> well, we know how that election turned out. do you think politicians have learned anything from dukakis' emotional answer there? >> it's still painful to watch that. he just said your wife was raped and murdered and gives this legal-ese. he lost the debate in that

moment. gingrich is good at deflecting the emotion. one of the things that newt did last night was shift the focus from his own admitted misconduct to the news media for dredging this up. that was played very well with the crowd which cheered him. it may play well in south carolina. he did not commit the dukakis mistake. let's put it that way. >> thank you, howard kurtz. brian ross will join him on "reliable sources" right here on cnn. the road to the republican nomination for president stops next in south carolina. watch cnn saturday night at 7:00 p.m. eastern with the south carolina primary results.

and these are live pictures taking place in south carolina. we'll keep an eye on this and if it gets interesting we'll bring it to you. also coming up, an ex cop is fighting for his life. >> i was convicted of second-degree murder with deprafed indifference in 1997 and i was sentenced to 20 years to life. >> he says it was self-defense and eventually set free but a twist of fate sent him back to prison. is a twisted justice system to blame? a live report next. o0 c1 2 o0 [ beep ] [ man ] you have one new message. [ mom ] hi scooter. this is mommy. the progresso chicken noodle you made is so good. the vegetables are cut nice and thick... you were always good at cutting your vegetables. and it's got tender white-meat chicken... the way i always made it for you. oh, one more thing honey... those pj's you like, the ones with the feet, i bought you five new pairs. love you.

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a stunning end to a disturbing murder case we told you about two days after pleading guilty to a georgia girl and being sentenced to life in prison, ryan brunn apparently killed himself in his jail cell. he was unresponsive yesterday in jackson. officials are not saying how he died or if he was being monitored. his death is under investigation. in court he described how he enticed, molested and killed jorelys last month. a new york police officer is sitting in prison even after a judge said his trial was full of holes. he was convicted for killing a man in 1996 who he believed was about to strike his father in the head with a baseball bat. he spent 11 years in prison but what happened after that is bizarre. let's bring in deb freyerick.

>> those pictures are of him out a couple of years ago. this was triggered by an argument between the police officer's father and 37-year-old charles campbell over a parking space and escalated fatally when campbell pulled out a baseball bat. >> i was convicted of second-degree murder with i am prafed indifference in 1997 and sentenced to 20 years to life. >> new york city police officer rich around served 11 years in prison before a judge tossed out his conviction and he was sent home. his friends and family celebrating his release. >> when you walked out -- >> it was surreal. i couldn't believe it. my ankles weren't shackled and i'm like, wow, this is real. >> a free man, he spent two

years rebuilding his life. he got a job, an apartment, a wife, then just as suddenly in a twist of the criminal justice system, it was all taken away. >> i still cannot adjust being back here. it is difficult. it is difficult. >> deb, it really is a bizarre case. it seems to have cast a lot of doubt on the county, westchester county there in new york. so why was he sent back to prison? >> you know, what happened is, an appeals court judge, the one who overturned his conviction, slammed prosecutors saying they had a win at all cost mentality. the judge also said that the officer had been improperly charged. so when he let him out, he said, look, there's not going to be a trial. there can't be a second trial. but prosecutors appealed this decision. a higher court reinstated the guilty verdict. so not only was he sent back but the court made sure that the two years he had been out rebuilding

his life, that those two years were tacked on to his sentence. when we reached out to the local police and county, they simply refused to respond to our interview requests. >> what about interview statements? were they changed or not introduced? >> that's a big part of this. the big question is whether police had forced witnesses to change their original stories. one witness who actually was closest to the shooting said he was repeatedly picked up by police until he changed the story. so even though at the beginning he said this was definitely self-defense, no question about it, at the trial he said that while the bat was up in the air, it was not swinging. well, the judge who basically set him free said, look, had the jury known that the man was questioned again and again and again to change his story, the verdict likely would have been different. >> amazing. deb freyerick, thank you. remember to watch "narco wars"

sunday night. take a look at this. this may be al regular schoolroom, but it's not. a look at the scream room and the backlash and what schools are saying, next.

well come back, everyone. a little kid likely with special needs locked in this room for misbehaving. the room is just 10 by 6 feet. no windows to the outside, just the one on the door. >> the kids call it the scream room because they hear screaming. >> i just seen them in the room with a girl holding the door and

the girl is in there. >> does it seem sad when they have to go in that room? >> yeah, they are kicking the door. >> up until a week ago, some parents and students say that so-called scream room was used all the time in elementary school in middleton, connecticut. school administrators say it was used for time-out until the kids were under control. gene nocera is on the phone to talk to us about this. there was a board of education and pta meeting last week all about this. the situation certainly got heated. this just gives us a glimpse of how some parents are feeling. listen to this. >> this was the school that they told me that he could come to because they had the resources and they don't have the resources for my son.

>> gene, did the parents ever give consent to use these scream rooms? some parents say they didn't even know that these rooms existed. >> well, first, thank you for inviting me to speak. we're looking into the allegations that sometimes were not notified. we take our students' safety very seriously. we're deeply concerned by the allegations and we're doing everything that we can to uncover what did and did not happen. it's clear that students through their i.p. plans, special education plans had contend if the time-out rooms were warranted. we are looking into allegations that perhaps some regular education students were placed in there and parents should have -- if that's the case in

rare situations, the parents should have been notified within 24 hours of that occurrence. >> i want to ask you, was this really the only option even for those students who parents did say that it was okay for them to being placed in there and it's really the best option for these students? >> they should be designed for extreme cases where teachers and administrators want to remove the child from their regular classroom to get them in a more quiet, private area to deal with their concerns. the rooms that you use should be welcoming. they should be peaceful. they should be in a location that doesn't disrupt the rest of the school.

so we're looking at the location. the rooms that you saw in the news script are no longer in operation. they have changed the location to a better location in the school for a small population of kids. we don't want you to think that we're talking about a large population of kids. not only to be used when the child is at risk of hurting themselves or others and need a quiet area to decompress. so -- >> let me -- >> that's the goal. >> sure. >> different things at different schools. some call it the quiet room. some call it the time-out area. some people call it a seclusion room. >> at the heart of all this, do these rooms actually help these kids in the end? and here's how the school officials explained it at the

pta meeting last week. >> specific management techniques can be considered controversial practice. time-out are two such examples depending on the level and presenting behaviors and the staff may be in the room or immediately outside of the door. >> what do you say to parents who say that this behavior has made it worst in my child? >> we want parent input. clearly in the special education process we certainly don't want you using rooms that escalate the issue. we want children to feel safe and want them to know that there's a place that they can go that staff will help them in a quiet area that truly works. and if this wasn't working, then

it should be used. >> we'll continue to watch it and see how it all plays out there in connecticut. thank you very much for speaking with us. >> okay. thank you for inviting me. have a great day. >> thank you. mitt romney stumbles over the tax question again while newt gingrich slams the media. rick santorum came out throwing punches at the other candidates. it's all fair game and it's next. first, newt gingrich and his wife callista have released their tax returns for 2010. they paid close to $1 million in income taxes. was their tax rate closer to 15%, 25%, or 32%? get that thinking cap on. tweet me. if you're first to tweet me, i'll give you a shout out right after the break.

newt gingrich paid close to $1 million in taxes in 2010. was that closer to 15%, 25%, or 32% of his income? the answer? 32%. congratulations to a.t. from philadelphia.

congratulations to all of you that got the right answer because a lot of you did. you've no doubt seen the fiery response to john king at the cnn debate. john asked newt about his ex-wife's claim to remain married and also have a mistress. the crowd loved it. joining me to talk fair game is robert zimmerman and lenny macalister here at the cnn center. lenny, i'm going to start with you because you're closer. you're right here. newt gingrich has been asked about this earlier in the day. he didn't get so angry earlier in the day but do you think he was playing with the crowd knowing that he had an audience there? >> he was definitely playing to the crowd. the conservative was always the liberal mainstream media.

he had a couple hours to build up the rage at the exact same time as the debate in cnn, he played into it. he knocked a fast ball right into the ballpark and i believe he won the south carolina primary with that response last night and again if that's the case, one for santorum, one for romney, gingrich, game on in florida. >> all right. we're going to get more on that. go ahead, robert. >> let's put this in perspective. first of all, i have to throw a shout out to john king by asking a very appropriate question. newt gingrich was playing to the extreme right wing that defines the republican party today, especially in south carolina. after he gets done with infomercial therapy, he has to answer about character. if he wants family values and character to be the center of

his campaign, telling us who we can marry, adopt, reproductive rights, he's got to do that himself and he failed to do that last night. >> mitt romney certainly knew the question would come up about his tax returns. he still seemed to stumble a bit in his answer. let's take a look. >> when you release yours, will you father your father's example? >> maybe. i don't know how many years i'll release. i'll take a look at what our documents are. and i'll release multiple years. i'll be happy to do that. >> lenny, why? why doesn't he just do it at this point? >> i don't know why he continues to stumble on this. gingrich answered the question on character over multiple times over multiple months. and he did say he's not going to apologize for his success. at the same time, he asked at

some point in time, said, listen, i am a rich guy, i am running for the highest office in the land. i'm not going to apologize for it and here is how i still conserve you. if he doesn't give that message enough, he's going to slide back in the polls and look like the grassroots is not going to play well for him going into florida and into super tuesday. >> you know, lenny, this is his 17th debate. he doesn't have it right now, when's he going to get it right? >> i can concur with you, robert. >> it's not that he couldn't give a straight answer about his taxes, he couldn't give a clear answer about floating different numbers and debates and couldn't speak clearly and you have to wonder about the poise of a man who is going to be the leader of the free world. >> if gingrich wins tomorrow, we have three different winners, as

you said, for the caucus and two primaries. so what does that say for the gop? >> what it says for the gop is this. just like in 2008, you can tell us who you want to coordinate from an establishment perspective but the people within the party, the people within the grassroots and the people with an inner connected technology and 24th century campaigning will decide who they want their nominee to be. again, it was supposed to be hillary clinton in 2008. it ended up being some guy that we couldn't pronounce his name. we have rick santorum in iowa and newt gingrich in south carolina and the grass roots is going to be able to decide this. >> there's a real test tomorrow of political momentum versus political organization. mitt romney has not just the support of the governor who is popular with certain segments of the tea party but the republican establish in the in south carolina. people discount rick santorum's impact. he could play the role fred

thompson played four years ago. fred thompson got just enough votes to take it away from mike huckabee and santorum could be the spoiler perhaps and give it to romney. >> we will see. nice fiery discussion on this friday. that is fair game. thank you, guys. >> thank you. >> remember to watch cnn all day saturday for the lead up to the south carolina primary results. we'll bring you those results live tomorrow night at 7:00 p.m. eastern. don't miss it. what do mary j. blige and congressman john lewis have in common in they are going to team up with maya angelou. we'll explain next. ith micro-pa. second, it enters the bloodstream fast, and rushes relief to the site of your tough pain. the best part? it's proven to relieve pain twice as fast as before. bayer advanced aspirin. test how fast it works for you.

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mark your calendars. we know you're busy. get ready for something really special next month. it's also really important. we're less than two weeks away from black history month and nobody can give us a deeper perspective on this than poet and activist dr. maya angelou. thank you so much. we know you're hosting this special all through february. the special will be on the civil rights era. >> yes. >> can you testimony us more about that? >> i'm focusing on the civil rights act because it has made us a better country and i know that if everybody feels he or

she is the real american and the black people do, the white people do, the asian and spanish speaking, if you ask any one of us, who is an american, the person will say, i am an american. the truth, the charge for us all is to make our country a better place for all americans. and so the civil rights act if it's movement, worked to make us closer and to realize that we are more alike than we are unalike, so most black people and white people and all of us would really like to have a place to go to church or neighborhood a synagogue or sem pel on sunday. and some place to party on saturday night. there are very few mystiques about hum 3457b beings. >> let me ask you about the people you have lined up. congressman john lewis, mary

j. blige. what made you pick these individuals? >> well, because they are the best in what they do and they are serious about what they do. i don't mean they are tire some and boring about what they do but they have committed themselves to doing the best they can do at being the best that they are. and i like that whether i'm talking to african-american singers or country western singers or italian singers for that matter in italy. i ask just, do the best that you can do. >> we have a clip -- >> we have a clip from the special john lewis talking about what it was like for him as a little boy. let me just play a bit of that. >> growing up in rural alabama where we were visited the town of troy, of montgomery, i saw signs that said white men, colored men, white men, colored

women, and i didn't like it. and i would ask my mother, my father, my grandparents, why, why? they would say, that's the way it is. they would say, that's the way it is. i would go downtown with some of my brothers and sisters and you cousins and all of us black children had to go up to the balcony and all of the white children went down the stairs to the first floor. >> he was sharing some of the experiences that really defined him. do you have an experience that stands out in your mind that defines who you are today? >> absolutely. absolutely the same. i mean, i grew up in a village inn arkansas about the size of the living room i'm sitting in right now and the black people lived on one side of town and white people on the other and it was really like the great poem and except on the conditions that the black was working for

the white and the relationship was so rarely even and only equal to make friends. so it was very difficult to find a friendship between a black man and a white man. there was the relationship but not a friendship. and so what has happened because of the civil rights movement, because of the african-american men and women and the white american men and women, because they decided to work together to make it a better country, because of that, we can have friends across race lines and religious lines and even age lines and that's really something. >> yes t. is. thank you for your insights as well. >> thank you very much. thank you so very much. >> for more details, go to

publicradio.com. etta james has died. she died in a california hospital with her husband and sons by her side. she had a long time troubled career including overcoming a heroin addiction. she was inducted into the rock and roll haul of fame in 1993. here she is in her own words. >> everything that i say about -- i pick all my songs and everything that i sing about is about something that i've experienced. it's never something that i don't know nothing about. ♪ >> i'm kind of like a person that comes out of the closet when i'm in front of people i'm shy but when that light hit and that music starts, you know, i

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it is time to look at stories making headlines across the country. street level, let's start in kansas city where some bonnie and clyde memorabilia is making appearance. two guns believed to be owned by the two notorious criminals are

up on the auction block. if you can't go to kansas city, bid online at auctionbymayo.com. garth brooks is expected to take the stand today in a lawsuit against a hospital. he donate d money to the hospitl in agreement that the hospital would name a building after his mother, but the hospital didn't follow through, and they said they never thought that the request was a binding contract. now brooks wants his money back. and now a presidential wrap-up is started with herman cain and stephen colbert. >> this is a man with conviction and a man with his bus that has

his face on it. gandhi did not have that. i want you to vote for herman cain, because herman cain is me. we both refuse to play by washington's rules. we both flout convention when it comes to things like taxes and debt and how many beckys there are in yuzbekistan, and i say three, and herman says four and national geographic is working on it. >> you have to laugh. the comedian said he is considering a run for the white house. just up the road in columbia, the polls don't open until tomorrow, but one big vote has been cast for stephen colbert. with paint brush in trunk, asia the elephant in town with the ringling brothers and brothers circus, and there she goes,

nonetheless, the elephant in the room has spoken as we like to say here. the south carolina debate over the primary just one day away and just when we thought that we were safe from the so-called dirty tricks, along came an e-mail. coming up the phony message landing in inmailboxes across the state. and can president obama sing out a tune? he sang out a few notes at the apollo theater, and we will let you be the judge. and republican candidates made a pitch to military veterans last night, and what percentage of south carolina voters in the 2008 primary had served in the military? 10%, 15% or 25%? think fast and be the first to tweet the right answer to me @randi kayecnn, and i will give a shout out to the person who gets it right. brad, where we going?

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i care about the debt and the deaf set and certain sexual issues. >> and i think that more should be done for health care and student loans and that kind of things. >> social security for sure. >> fiscal policy and economics. >> abortion, same-sex marriage. >> tuition and room and board. that is the and that is going up every year and so to keep it down. a lot of us are in debt and we are trying to find a way to go to college and we need to control it. >> that is a few of the concerns that young voters have heading into the south carolina primary.

and now more the answer to the political junkie. i asked you about the percentage of south carolina voters in the 2008 gop primary who were veterans, and was it 10%, 15% or 25%? it is 25%, and congratulations again to a.t. from philadelphia tweeting me the right answer first. twice for you today. that is well done. and the president is out campaigning, too. those who paid to see the president at the apollo theater in new york got a real treat. check it out. >> i didn't know that the reverend al green was here. ♪ i -- i'm so in love with you ♪ [ cheers and applause ] >> woo. that was pretty good actually. i think i got chills there. wapt to bring in peter hanby in charleston, south carolina. what did you think of the

president's singing skills there? >> well, like you, i'm impressed. that is big time. that has to be a dream come true at the apollo and only my second favorite al green song, but a lot of respect to the president right there, randi. >> yes. let's talk politics here and i understand that you have been acquiring insider information from some of the internal polling stations, and what are you hearing? >> well, something that has happened in the past few days here is that newt gingrich has come up in polling, and everyone knows that. the romney camp is nervous about that, and something they were confident about, but the internal polling showing it to be a tight one-on-one race with gingrich and romney. public polling showing that as well, but people in and around the romney campaign are really fretting that they could lose here on saturday after a big win in new hampshire last week ahead in public polls by ten points, and that could all go away. the romney campaign is aggressively trying to lower expectations now, and romney

himself today said in gilbert, south carolina, that south carolina was always going to be an uphill battle. and he has been spending heavily on the tv and the mail and radio, and the governor nikki haley has been campaigning with him all over the state, and it would be a blow, but the romney campaign has an advantage in florida, the next primary, so the race would move on if romney slips here saturday. >> well, i want to get this in, a fake e-mail or fake cnn e-mail as well in south carolina. >> right. there's been a lack of quote, unquote dirty tricks here in south carolina and this state is sort of known for this sort of thing, but a handful of republican activists in the state forwarded me an e-mail claiming to be a cnn breaking news alert saying that the source close to maryanne gingrich says that newt gingrich once pressured her into having

an abortion which is a fake e-mail sent around to the republicans here, and a doctor who is bogus claiming to be from cnn, but it did not come from us, but it shows you the underground wars going on -- >> is that secret service doing test runs behind you? wow, that is late. >> it is the air base. >> we got it. the gist, but the bottom line is that those are fake e-mails. thank you, peter hanby, appreciate it. thank you everyone for watching. i want to hear what you think about the show and you can continue by following me on facebook or online @randi kaye cnn. >> thank you very much, randi kay. have a great rest of the day. i'm brooke baldwin and welcome the rapid fire right where you left off. south carolina, 17 hours for the polls to open in the south carolina primary, and the countdown is getting wild.

so if you look at just the past day, we have had a fiery cnn debate, a candidate dropping out and a reverse in the iowa caucus results and now the four remaining republicans in the race making the last-minute pitches to the voters, but a familiar face from late night tv is trying today to steal the spotlight. >> most importantly, ladies and gentlemen, and i mean this sincerely, i want to thank stephen colbert. i want you to vote for herman cain, because herman cain is me. >> what sort of mischief is stephen colbert up to today? and why is he supporting herman cain who has dropped out of the race? more on that. but in the meantime, a man's body parts who have been found near the hollywood sign has been identified, but for security reasons the l.a. coroner's office is not releasing the name. remember a dog walker found the severed head and then the hands and feet were discovered during a massive search in the

hollywood hills this week. and another violent day in afghanistan. six marines were killed after their helicopter crashed in the helmand province. nato says that the crash is a result of a mechanical problem, but the taliban saying it brought down the helicopter. and her voice has been the backdrop to many weddings and perhaps your first dances for generations. ♪ life is like a song >> oh, so smooth, and etta james known for the song "at last" has died at age 73. she was diagnosed with leukemia in 2010. in her final hours, they were in a hospital in california with her husband and her sons by her side. italian authorities are trying to decide when to call off the search for survivors at the costa concordia to begin emptying the ship's fuel tanks. today, cnn obtained this video

here which shows the fateful moments before the ship capsized. listen to this as the message tells passengers to remain calm and go back to their cabins in italian. [ speaking foreign language ] florida a&m university says four more students have been arrested on the hazing charges, but these cases are not connected to the death of student robert champion, and remember he died in november after a hazing ritual by members of the school band known as the marching 100. these latest arrests are connected to a group within the marching 100 known as the clones. new developments in the case

of tyler clemente who was the rutger's university student who killed himself after his roommate web streamed video showing him having sex with another man. the hate trial charges start next month, but today a judge ruled that jurors will hear that he committed suicide and learn the man he had sex with, and legal analyst sunny hostin is there, and she will join us to tell us what she has learned today. and freestyle champion skier sarah burke has died. she was injured ten days ago practicing on a super pipe in utah. she fell suffering irreversible brain damage. she was actually featured in a skiing film beside her husband rory bushfield. >> that is where we are the happiest and how we met on the mountain. whether it is in the xgame contest or snowmobiling out or rory is out doing a heli ski

trip is about, and it is on the hill, and it is amazing, and it is where we met and where we claim we will live and -- >> where we will die. >> sarah burke, so young, 29 years of age. the governor of mississippi says that the ip mates cannot spend the night on the governor's mansions which had been allowed under previous governor haley barbour, but he was criticized for all of the pardons he handed out. they say that some of the inmalts cared for his own grandki grandkids. 150,000 kias recalled because of ineffective air bags. the recalls involve air bags that may not deploy because of a faulty airbag. check that out. and crews at the kennedy

space center moved the shuttle "atlantis" into the open area where it will go on display as part of a $100 million exhibit and you can go to see it at the kennedy visitor complex. a lot more to tackle in the next two hours, including this. newt gingrich rips any question about his ex-wife or any personal problems of the past, but the thing is that there is proof that voters in south carolina are interested, especially when it comes to women. i'm brooke baldwin and the news is now. tragedy in afghanistan, the ta taliban claiming responsibility for the chopper crash that killed six marines. this as the u.s. is moving closer to peace talks with the enemy. back home, police busting rival gangs for shootings, robberies and murder. so how did investigators crack this case? tweets. plus, a daredevil skier dies

more than a week after a horrific fall, but this is not the first tragedy in this exact spot. >> this sport is very dangerous, and shocking. and a shock behind bars. >> i told her to come with me. >> just 48 hours after he apologized for brutally murdering a young girl, a monster kills himself in prison, but why are authorities so tight-lipped about what happened? i'm always looking out for small ways to be more healthy.

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with the south carolina primary just one day away here, republican presidential candidates are turning up the

heat. at last night, cnn southern republican debate, it was newt gingrich's turn. >> your ex-wife gave an interview to abc news and another one at the washington post and now the story is viral on the internet. in it she says that you came to her in 1999, at a time when you were having an affair, and she says that you asked her, sir, to enter into an open marriage. would you like to take some time to respond to that? >> no, but i will. [ applause ] [ cheers and applause ] >> i think that the destructive, vicious negative nature of much of the news media makes it harder to govern the nation, and attract people to run for office and i'm appalled that you would begin a presidential debate on a topic like that. the story is false.

every personal friend that knew us in that time knew it was false, and they said it was false and they are not interested to attack any republican. >> quite a way to start a debate, huh? after the debate, john king defended the question. >> it is maybe not an issue to talk about, but it is an issue in the debatement some of the ther candidates are talking about it, and the voters are talking about it in the state, it is my judgment and my decision alone. if we are going to deal with it, deal with it, and don't sneak it in. people at home make a decision, and this is politics, and he is trying to promote himself and his agenda, and he is going to attack us, and i don't take it personally. i have had a long relationship with the speaker, and i don't always get along, but i get how the business works. >> let me take it further. david gergen called that one of

the most explosive moments in debate history. >> as a political matter, i think that gingrich saw a fastball colling and for this audience, he smacked it out of the park. there is a reasonable chance after talking to people here that he could win south carolina based on the answer. >> but how did south carolina voters react? don lemon is in charleston and i know you were in the house -- >> woo! >> and you heard the screams and the boos. >> it was hot. >> and so close to newt gingrich and talk to me about the reaction and specifically, don lemon, was it divided between men and women, i migimagine? >> not really. brooke, i found one -- one woman i spoke to afterwards and i spoke to 20 people or more, and one woman who said, i don't really care about it, and i thought it was, and i was upset at the way he answered the question, but women, men, all

races, all backgrounds said, you know what, we don't care about that. i think that the media cares about that, but the reporters care about that, but listen, we do care about the social issues and if someone is faithful to the wife, don't get me wrong, but in this particular climate, and i'm being honest, because listen, i have been reading, brooke, as you have and l listening to a lot and the pundits and the people on fox news have said that chris wallace said i would have done the same thing and asked the question up front and i didn't see anything wrong with it, but i think that among the reporters, it may be different than what is happening on the ground, because as i have been going around south carolina people have been telling me that they don't really care about those issues that much. what they want to know, they want to know about the jobs, but i am getting ahead of myself. brooke, listen to what people said after the debate, and then we can chat about it. >> perfect. roll it. >> the big issue today is whether or not newt is the jerk we think he is. >> i think it is relevant, but uncalled for. >> i look at it, we elected

clinton. >> and it was the highlight of the evening. >> he is a total jerk. >> it is appropriate for newt gingrich to answer in the way he did, absolutely, and the audience and everybody else agreed with me. >> listen to that. >> so, yeah. and the one woman at the top said, you heard her and she said it twice that he was a jerk or whatever, and that is the one woman. but it was a big story yesterday and this week and it is a big story today and had, you know, that we didn't have that moment, and if john didn't ask that question off of the top, who knows what we might be talking about and the debate may have come off a little bit dull, but it is certainly got the energy going up top, and i thought that, you know, at least, at least john took to a stand, and we got people's energy going, and the passion going, and they tuned in to the debate. >> well, let's then move past that issue, and you are out there, and you are talking to

people, and you mentioned the economy and i know the south carolina unemployment rate is pretty bad at 9.1%, and is that the issue that people want to hear about? and who did they love? who of the four on the stage who did they walk away really liking? >> and you know, i think that may maybe people around the country had a reaction, buecause people here are bombarded with negative ads on television. last night there were negative ads last night for rick perry going after the other candidates, and every ad is negative here even on the radio. people here are a little bit overwhelmed, and i have said it on the air before, but more than anything, all of us want options, and you don't want if you have a disagreement with the boss or don't like your job or not happy, you want the option of another job. if you are sitting home and you don't have a job, you want an option to have a job. if you want to downsize or

upgrade the home, you want the option to sell it. if you don't have that option, and the economy is bad, then you feel smothered and stifled and that is what people want here. they want to change the conversation from negativity to fighting and who shot john and to solutions. >> solutions. >> you got it, brooke baldwin, and who they like, they resonate to a lot of people said they like mitt romney, but most people said if you think of who won to debate or did better, it was newt gingrich and because of the question and the way he came out of the gate. if in fact, many people say here 99% of them say that if newt gingrich does actually wind up winning on saturday, it is because of that question and the answer to it. >> we shall see 17 hours away when the polls open. enjoy the shrimp and grits for me, friend. we will see you sunday for the shows. thank you, thank you very much. >> you know it. always good to talk to you. >> don was talking about the newt gingrich and he is on the mind of many south carolinians

and not just in the polls, but where he is surging. online searches show a lot of people in the state are googling gingrich and google says of the four republican candidates he has seen a 700% increase for searches for his name when you look from monday through last night after cnn's debate which is also a little bit more intriguing, the related words that people google along with the name gingrich. people seem to want to know about his scandal, when you look at the top four related search terms. take a look. calis calista, the name of his current wife, and marianne, his former wife, and look at this strand, romney had the smallest jump in searches for his name. and all non-romney candidates saw at least 20% increase. rick santorum, and you see there he had the largest at plus-50 gain in searches while the debate was happen iing.

google, thank you. of course, be sure to join us right here tomorrow night at 7:00 eastern for complete coverage of the south carolina republican primary. six united marines are dead killed in a helicopter crash in afghanistan and coming up next, find out who sent cnn a text message claiming responsibility for the deaths. stay with us. t watch this anymo. stop! there's an easier way! we compare your progressive direct rate to other top companies so you get a great price. no more running around. ha ha ha! wouldn't you love to see the world through his eyes? i bet i look like the strongest man in the world. the best place to find a great deal. now, that's progressive. call or click today. [ male announcer ] why do we grow quaker oats? because there are mountains to climb. ♪ dreams to be realized. ♪ new worlds to be explored and hearts to be won.

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we have six marines today dead in afghanistan. six united states troops killed in a helicopter crash in helmand province and yes, that war goes on. we have nic robertson standing by in kabulm we are hearing conflicting stories about where the chopper went down. can you give us a precise

location? >> we are talking about helmand province in where u.s. marines are active in one of the most active parts of the country. the taliban after they normally do after a helicopter crash did claim that they had shot the helicopter down, and that is stro strongly contradicted by the isaf staff here. they say that there were mechanical issues here that caused a hard landing. the taliban does not shoot helicopters out of the sky, because of the damage done by the soviet presence here are hobbling their ability to move around the country and wage the war, but as i say, isaf came out to point out that it is a technical matter, but taliban always claim political capital in events like this, brooke. >> let me ask you further, if that is possible if the taliban is claiming responsibility via text message here, and we have

seen the taliban have taken down american choppers before, and we have video of them armed with the simple sidearms, rifles, and would that even be enough to take down a chinook helicopter? >> well sh, the taliban do fair widespread have soviet gear, and heavy machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades and isaf say they have to be lucky to hit a moving target like that, but they have the capacity to take them off after they search areas, but to prevent these things from happening, of course, all of the measures in place to prevent that including taking off flying at night, and that sort of measure, so obviously, isaf is keen to play down any potential for taliban to have this remarkable ability to strike them at one of the weakest points, but the taliban is always keen to suggest that is what happened. >> thank you, so much, about midnight there in afghanistan. and also a view from the pent gorngs barbara starr, can

you give any clarity about how this chopper might have gone down with six american marines dead today? >> we are hearing the same thing that they are hearing on nick's end. u.s. military officials saying it is a mechanical problem, and these have happened in afghanistan before. it is a very tough environment in which to fly helicopters. the dust and the dirt kicks up, and mountains and rough topography there, and the weather can get very bad very quickly, and there is simply no indication at this point that the taliban brought it down. you know, the helicopters like these fly in pairs, so there would have been another helicopter nearby that possibly reported what problems it might have seen and would have been able to report if there was any enemy activity in the area at the time, brooke. >> at the same time, you have an afghan soldier, soldier shooting and killing six french soldiers in a military base, and now you

have french president nicolas sarkozy saying he might pull the troops out early saying that the french troops are not there to be killed by afghan soldiers and do with we know if sarkozy is serious? >> well, he is the head of the state of france, and one would have to take him seriously, i suppose. it was a tough day in 24 hours in afghanistan, and four french troops is the number killed and a number wounded. another incident in which someone in an afghan military uniform opened fire. the french president expressing for his own domestic political consumption in france that the french might pull out earlier than planned. this is not something that the u.s. wants to see. the u.s. wants to keep this a coalition operation, and this is not the idea to make this only u.s. troops in afghanistan, but this whole issue of so many incidents of coalition forces, u.s. forces being kill by people in afghan military uniforms. this is something that is a

growing problem, and the pentagon says they are look into it, and they are very concerned about it, brooke. >> barbara starr, thank you. and we will be watching at that precise moment that a lot of you tweet what you are watching here on cnn, but check this, some guys in new york were posting to twitter, facebook and youtube about their own gang activities. in the course of a year and a half, the gang members were responsible for six homicides, 32 shootings in which 38 people were wounded. >> up next, how they were caught and what they were caught doing. [ sniffs ] i have a cold. [ sniffs ] i took dayquil

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social media has helped send gang members to jail. they apparently bragged about their activities on youtube and twitter and facebook. once investigators had what they needed in ed, they busted them. >> reporter: cops say that members of the wave street gang and the hood stars are charged with a litany of crimes including the murder of an innocent bystanders and the shooting of others incolluding a 9-year-old boy. >> in the course of a year and a half, the gang members were responsible for six homicides, 32 shootings in which 38 people were wounded, 36 robberies, 7 grand larcenies and 2 burglaries. >> reporter: the year-long investigation happened when cops began to look at a pattern of cell phone robberies and began to follow the feuding gangs on youtube and twitter where they

bragged about the random attacks and firing guns into crowds. a total of 35 guns were seized in the arrests. >> the battle of turf among two violent men and one young woman has played out in the area of less than a mile and a half. >> and wpix with that piece. some will be arrested this week as some remain at large after most have been arrested. and now, the big deal, folks, is the south carolina election, because that winner has gone on to be the president of the united states in many cases. he wasn't focused on his future. but fortunately, somebody else was. at usaa we provide retirement planning for our military, veterans and their families. now more than ever,

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south carolina, a rite of passage for any republican who wants to be president. since 1980, no republican has won the party's nomination without winning the south carolina primary. now we are down to less than 17 hours until the polls open. i want to welcome chad conly the chairman of the south carolina republican party who has not had a lot of sleep lately. very exciting in your state. and chad, you say that so many people say that we pick presidents. south carolina picks presidents, so we have to put you on the spot, who are you picking tomorrow? >> hey, brooke. thanks for having me and i'm glad to be with you. i'm not a prognosticator, and i thought that the clemson tigers would win in the orange bowl, and so i don't pick them very well. it will come down to an exciting finish and i have told folks that you cannot put this in the

box. because this race is a different animal, and we have proven it to be true once again. >> and you are the chief of the state's republican party there, and who are you voting for? i have to ask again? >> well, i haven't told that to anybody else. i haven't even told my wife yet although she has a good hint i think. but look, all of the candidates are so much better than what we have in the white house right now, and it is exciting for the state to see this going on. i see the satellite trucks outside of the state house. we were at the cnn debate in charleston last night, and of course, the debate monday night, and it is a really big deal in the state and we are in the coveted spot to pick the person who could be the next president of the united states. >> all right. if you haven't told the wife, i won't push you further, but it sounds like you know who you are going to choose, and if you are like most south carolinians, only 8% have decided. i remember in iowa, it was 41% the day before the caucuses there, and why is that? why are people so decisive in your state, and such an

indicator that historically you pick a president? >> well, it has a lot to do with the promotion that all of you folks in the media have helped us do. i turned on the iowa caucuses, and everybody was talking about south carolina and then the new hampshire primary and all of the people on the cable shows and networks were talking about our state and how decisive we are. we are fiercely independent people, and we have a good blend of the republican party base, and we expect to meet the candidates and we have had four or five or six or seven or eight of them running around the state meeting people, and the outside numbers have dwindled because of a awful lot of promotion, and the candidates know we pick the right nominee for 33 years which is a good pattern. folks want to fit into that and be part of something exciting. >> speaking of promotion, chad connolly, you have candidates and the pacs who have spent $50 million and it is not nice. you saw, and you were there for the debate, and a lot of the people talking about the newt

gingrich ex-wife interview, and her allegations that he wanted an open marriage. you are talking to people in your state, and i talked to don lemon who said that people don't seem to care in south carolina about that. but when it comes to things getting ugly, do south carolinians care? will it change a vote? >> well, you know, i have watched this a long time, brooke. this is a primary, and it is a backyard brawlgloves come off and you tumble in the mud. i think that this year is tame compa compared to years past. i remember watching reagan and bush in 1980, and when bush did the voodoo economics thing and i thought, they will never speak or be friends and lo and behold they were running mates a few months later, so it is the nature of the beast, and people are used to it. so they expect the things to come out of the primary fight, and the questions get vetted and asked and answered. >> that is interest, because you said that the dirty tricks are not as dirty this go around.

it is interesting because i watched one of the rallies of stephen colbert in charleston and i don't know if you saw this, but he said, hey, chad connolly, your check is in the mail. >> yes. >> and a lot of the critics say he is there and mocking the process and talking about all of the money that goes into, you know, picking a president, and what do you make of him and what he is doing there with herman cain. do you find it funny? >> well, i went up to meet with steven as a potential donor and it was not a good fit. i texted him after the show and said good job and he texted me back, so i knew that he would do something. but he has brought out voters that don't vote and they are independents or maybe liberals who watch the show and don't vote in the republican primary, and any time we get people out voting, that is a good thing, brooke, but it is going to add the list and we will add names to the list to contact and give the message to over the next several years. so stephen is going to have fun and a good guy, and he will have

an incredible time playing herman cain for the next couple of days. >> even if they are coming to the polls to vote for herman cain, the non-candidate, does it not matter to you? >> no. he is having fun and entertai r entertainer, and lit add to the voting rolls and those folks can't vote in the democratic primary and organize a democratic precinct so if the democrats are trying to use that to build the party, that is going to backfire, because they are in our voting rolls and we can contact them by phone or mail in the coming years. >> tomorrow, chad connolly, it will be exciting in your state tomorrow, and we will be watching. and we will speak to stephen colbert in a few minutes and her main cain singing is all i will say. it is easy to say that you want to change the world, but we want to introduce yu to this kid who is doing it. this week's cn hero story next.

in this week's cnn hero, michael careaway received a life-saving liver donation, and he is working hard to save other people's lives. take a look. >> when michael was born he was active and ran around and played football just like any other child. one day, he just got sick. >> in 2008 when i was 11 years old i was diagnosed with liver failure. >> they told me straight up if he does not get a liver transplant, he will die. >> it was halloween, and the dr. rosenthal, the liver specialist came in. >> he said i hate to sound like the grim reaper, but it is halloween and raining outside and i have been doing this for 30 years and somebody is going to die, and your son is going to

get a liver. >> this guy right here is johnny hernandez, 18 years old, and he was killed on a motorcycle accident. his family gave me something which was a liver for their son, and i could not pay him back, so i feed the homeless in his honor. >> it was mikey's idea to feed the homeless. >> in 2008, we packed up 25 meals and put them in my mom's truck and fed the homeless. since then we have fed over 25,000 people in the city of oakland. every time we feed, we promote donor awareness. >> we sign up 30 people to become organ donors at each event we have. >> it is important to help the community, because without you, there is no community. >> mikey is a true young wonder. go, mikey. do you know somebody making a difference in your community? we would love to hear about him or her and go to cnn.com, and your efforts could shine a light

on their work and help them to do more for others. again, cnn heroes.com, and nominate a 2012 cnn hero today. hurricane force winds is bad enough, but adding fire to the equation, and here is what you get. just listen to the winds. this is happening right now in nevada. coming up, how many homes are destroyed, and more than 10,000 people are evacuated. also, we are talking about the massive solar storm that is headed toward earth and what is the solar storm, and will it affect your ability to talk on the cell phone tomorrow? chad meyers is all over this next. not financially. so we switched to the bargain detergent but i found myself using three times more than you're supposed to

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remember that massive snowstorm that hit the seattle area earlier in the week? well, it not only created a mess for the people in the city, but now it turns out that it left four hikers stranded on mt. rainier. a woman from atlanta and a san diego man were in the mountain when a series of storms hit the area last weekend. searchers say they have seen no sign of the missing hikers and to make matters worse, more bad

weather is headed toward ra near. and nevada is getting hammered by wildfires. normally we say look at the video, but in this case, we want to play the video and have you listen. the wind, the wind there, and the fire started in some brush yesterday afternoon and quickly exploded into a firestorm with wind gusts up to 82 miles per hour, and here is the sheriff of washoe county. >> the fire burned very, very fast. i would say from the observations that law enforcement had out there is that the firefighters did an enormously good job in holding the number of damaged structures down to 26. it could have been much, much worse. >> at the height of this fire, 10,000 people were told to get out, leave their homes.

all we are told are back home now. and now to a different storm. have you heard of a solar storm? one is set to hit earth this weekend and this thing could put on a great show in the heavens above us or quite a mess when you pick up the phone and try to communicate with anyone, and like possibly disrupting the cell phone. chad myers, i want to bring you in and a little one-on-one on solar flairs because it is the charged particles that head from the sun to us? >> that is what we used to call them as kids, but solar flairs and cnes are separate. coronal mass ejection. >> that is a solar flair? >> yes, that is when the energy comes out. cmes are different, because they are throwing out the energy. plasma, and talking about the protons and electrons and helium flying out of the sun at 2 million miles per hour, and you say, it should be here, because it is going at the speed of light. no, it is not.

2 million miles per hour is far, far slower than the speed of light. this ejection of mass that is headed to the earth won't get here until tomorrow at 5:00. what will it do? certainly, certainly the aurora will be going everywhere, north and south poles -- >> beautiful. >> yes, exactly here. and another beautiful shot. but what else could this do? when the energy comes out of the sun and hits the magneticsphere, it can knock out power lines. and it has knocked out power in canada, and also satellites. this is a medium, and m-3, and then there is a next class like saying it is a category 1 hurricane and not cat 5, but we are going to be hit smack on with the cat 1 storm. so it could knock out satellites and other things, but what you need to know is that we are approaching solar maximum, and there are many more things

coming in the next few years, and if you lose power tomorrow or satellite communication or just the ipad does not work for a little while, it is probably because of too much energy in the atmosphere. >> pretty pictures outside of the window, but not great for the ipad or the cell phone. great. chad myers, thank you. now to the satirist newsman stephen colbert. take a look. find out what he is trying to accomplish and what he is doing with the now former candidate cain. stay here. imagine facing the dy with less chronic osteoarthritis pain. imagine living your life with less chronic low back pain. imagine you, with less pain. cymbalta can help. cymbalta is fda-approved to manage chronic musculoskeletal pain. one non-narcotic pill a day, every day, can help reduce this pain. tell your doctor right away if your mood worsens, you have unusual changes in mood or behavior or thoughts of suicide.

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you are kidding, right? america's leading fake candidate is just wrapping up a rally in charleston, south carolina. here you go. and joining him is -- you see the guy in the hat, none other than one-time gop front-runner herman cain, and you see colbert is going for a run for the president of united states of south carolina, and it is way too late for coal bare in case you were wondering to get on the ballot in south carolina, but alas, he has a plan. >> they are keeping me off on the technicality that i am 2 1/2 months late to file. fine, split hairs. if this saturday, herman cain were to get a significant number of votes that would be a sign

that voters are hungry, hungry, hungry for a steven kophen colb campaign. >> so, herman cain, and her cain campaign -- herman cain's campaign dropped out of the ballt lball bal balltot, but he came out with a singing endorsement. ♪ believe there's a reason to be ♪ ♪ believe you can make time stand still ♪ ♪ my brother from another mother, mr. stephen colbert ♪ we, the people, are still in charge. >> i promise that you would be a player in this election. i promise the make your voice

heard in the form of my voice. so, nation, i have to ask, can you hear you now? >> i can't help but smile looking at this, and let me bring in amanda swang who is the assistant professor there in charleston where the event was held a few moments ago, and i know that you have asked for people to come to speak,colberts happen? >> well, we didn't necessarily invite him, but we have roasted several presidential candidates this season, and we got a call from comedy central saying they were interested in coming to the college and they have been here before because stephen is from the area. so we worked with them to make it happen in less than three days. >> let me just, on a serious note here, we learned with

regard to the iowa caucuses, every vote count, and here is stephen colbert urging people to go out to vote for herman cain who is not a candidate, and what do you make of people say heg is mocking the message and mocking the process? >> well, i think that ultimately the decision to actually host stephen here was that our students at the end of the day, this is where they turn for the news. so many of them are in the discussion through looking at things like the jon stewart show, and the stephen colbert, and you know, it is still part of the political process for them. it is educational and that is where they are getting most of the information and making most of their decisions, and so -- >> hang on, hang on. >> and although it is satire -- >> wait. this is where you say that students are getting their news, comedy central, and as social profess

professor, does that worry you at all? >> well, clearly, it is not something they would encourage, but at the same time i hope that people are getting their news somewhere, you know. so, although it's, it is satire at the end of the day, it is at least exposing them to political process and opening up the discussion and getting them involved. so although it is not ideal, it is what the facts are. >> what -- 30 seconds or less -- what has the student reaction been been? >> well, it is interest, because it was overwhelming with the student buzz after the event is an all-time high. and clearly, i'm glad that the messa message that your vote counts and not for cain, but your vote counts for saturday was cop vaed. >> it is important that herman cain got up there on the microphone and said don't vote for me, vote for an actual candidate. thank you for the college up there, and join us tomorrow at

7:00 p.m. eastern for complete coverage of the south carolina republican primary. be right back. when you have tough pain, do you want fast relief?

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here is what is trending today. pretrial legal maneuvering don't demand that much attention unless, unless it is one of the cases that strikes a chord in the national conscious like tyler clemente and who could forget the rutger university student who committed suicide

after a webcam was streamed showing him having sex with another man. the hate crime charges don't start until next month, but all of the players were in court to work out a game plan for the trial. i want to bring in somebody who is in there, sunny hostin, our legal contributor, so what did exactly get worked out, sunny? >> well, today was to be a housekeeping day, but i have to tell you it was a packed courtroom, and tyler clemente's parents were in the courtroom. i had a chance to briefly chat with his mother, and also the roommate, and there were reporters there, so the judge wept over jury selection and evidentiary issues and also jury instructions, but what was so interesting to me is that we learned today, brooke, that tyler clemente's suicide is not something that will be discussed at trial. while the jurors will learn that he did commit suicide, they will

learn that pretrial, and during the questioning and then that is not an issue, and that is because the defendant has not been charged in connection with his murder. this defendant has been charged with a biased drcrime, and also with the invation of privacy, so i thought that was interesting. also what came up is tyler clemente's prior sexual history and sexual conduct prior to this incident will not be in this trial. that is because, he is protected by the rape shield laws. so there was much discussion about those types of evidentiary i issues. i did learn that this is going to be a highly contested case no question about it. a vigorous prosecution, but also a very vigorous defense. >> what about, sunny, the other young man who was in this video allegedly streamed here, and why is his name coming out, and nent and you talk about the