always there for you. top of the hour, everyone. thanks for joining us. don lemon here, brooke is off today. right now president barack obama speaking live in reno, nevada, laying out his plan to fix what many say is the heart of the terrible economy, the housing market. let's take a listen. >> and that's where we need to go. i've been pushing congress to

help us get there by passing a few common sense policies that we're convinced will make a difference. we even made a handy to do list for congress so they can just check them off. it's a list like michelle gives me. i know paul's familiar with that list. he gets it from val. now there are only five things on this list. because i don't want to overload congress with too much at once. but there are ideas that will help create jobs and build a stronger economy right now. so first up on the list, it makes absolutely no sense that we actually give tax breaks to companies that ship jobs and factories overseas. that doesn't make any sense at all. so we've told congress it's time to end tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas and use that money to cover moving expenses for companies that

bring jobs back to america. second, instead of just talking about job creators, congress should help small businesses and help small business owners who create most of the new jobs in america. so we want to give them a tax break for hiring more workers and paying them higher wages. the third thing on our to do list, congress should extend tax credits that are set to expire for our clean energy companies. these businesses are putting folks to work here in this state of nevada last time i was here, in fact, i went to see a huge solar plant, solar energy plant. a lot of folks are working both in the construction of it and maintaining it. that's happening all across the country. and so we've got to make sure that we are helping those folks because that helps us break our

dependence on foreign oil. over the long-term, that'll help drive gas prices and it'll put people to work right now. it's the right thing to do. fourth, congress should create a veterans jobs corps so that we can help communities hire returning heroes, our veterans as cops and firefighters and employees at national parks because nobody fights for this country should ever have to come home and fight for a job or fight for a roof over their heads. all right. so that's four. which brings me to the fifth. the fifth thing on the list, and that's why i'm here today. i'm calling on congress to give every responsible homeowner the chance to save an average of $3,000 a year by refinancing their mortgage. it's a simple idea, it makes

great sense. and i know it'll have an impact. last october i was in clark county where i announced new steps to help responsible homeowners refinance their homes. and at the time congress wasn't willing to act so we did. we went ahead and did what we could do administratively without a new law being passed. and as a result, americans who were previously stuck in high-interest loans have been able to take advantage of these lower rates. and they've been able to save thousands of dollars every year. and it turns out that two of those people are your neighbors paul and valerie keller. so i just had a chance to visit with paul and valerie and look at their beautiful home and check out the grill out back.

valerie says paul's a pretty good cook. i'm going to take her word for it. the kelers have lived in this house for 14 years. val works nearby helping secure loans for farmers and ranchers. paul is a retired electrical contractor who started a family business with their son. last year with mortgage rates at historic lows, the kellers decided it would make sense for them to refinance. they thought it would be easy. since they're current on their mortgage, they make their payments on time. so this is an example of responsible homeowners doing the right thing. but when they tried to refinance, they were told they couldn't do it. because the kellers' house like thousands of others in this state and probably some of the neighbors here, their house is under water, which means the price is currently lower than what they owe on it.

so they were hit, you were hit with a historic drop in housing prices which caused the value of homes in their neighborhood to plummet. and a lot of banks historically have said, well, we're not going to refinance you if your home's under water. now luckily the kellers saw my announcement i'd made down in clark county. so i'm assuming it must have been val because whenever something's smart done, it's usually the wife in the house. so they called their lender and within a few months, within 90 days they were able to refinance under this new program that we set up. their monthly mortgage bill has now dropped $240 a month. and that means every year they're saving close to $3,000.

now, value says they've been talking to some of their neighbors, maybe some of you here today and you're saying, well, that sounds like a pretty good idea. and a lot of folks across the country recognize this is a smart thing to do not only for homeowners but for our economy because if paul and val have an extra $240, $250 a month, then they might spend it on the local business. a ttle more often.o a resurant they might spoil their grand kids even more. and that means more money in the economy and businesses do better and slowly homeri start rising again. so it makes sense for all of us. and the good news is since i've made this announcement, re-financing applications have gone up by 50% nationwide and 230% here in nevada alone. that's the good news. people are taking advantage of this.

that's what we want to see. but here's the only catch. and this is where you come in because you're going to have to pressure congress. the pool of folks who can refinance right now when their homes are under water is still too small. the reason the kellers were able to refinance is because the only thing that we could do without congressional action was to give opportunities for refinancing for folks with a government-backed loan, an fha-backed loan. but in order to expand that opportunity, we want to include everybody. people whose mortgages aren't government-backed. and in order to do that, we've got to have congress move. there's absolutely no reason why they can't make this happen right now.

if they started now in a couple of weeks in a month, they could make every homeowner in america who is under water right now eligible to be able to refinance their homes if they're making their payments, if they're responsible, if they're doing the right thing. and think about all those families saving $3,000 on average a month. that's a huge boost to our economy. and for some of you who are under water, you might say instead of spending that money, i can plow that back into equity in my home. and build that back up. which would further strengthen housing prices here in nevada and across the country. it's the right thing to do. there's already a bill in the works. it's supported by independent nonpartisan economists, it's supported by industry leaders. congress should pass it right now. and -- let me just say this. maybe there's some members of

congress watching. if you need some motivation to make this happen, then you should come to reno and you should visit with folks like the kellers. i'm not saying -- i'm not saying the kellers want all these members of congress up in their house. it's bad enough having me and secret service in there. but at least they -- they probably wouldn't mind saying hello and talking to them here in front of their house. but they should talk to people whose lives are better because of the action we took. all over the country, there are people just like paul and val, folks just like you who are doing everything they can to do the right thing. to meet the responsibilities to look after their families, raise their kids right, give them good values. you're not looking for a hand out, you just want to make sure somebody's looking out for you. when you do the right thing,

that you're able to keep everything that you've worked for. it's what folks are looking for. and that's what they expect from washington. to put the politics aside and the electioneering aside and just do what's right for people. so -- [ applause ] so, i need all of you and everybody who is watching to push congress on their to do list. nag them until they actually get it done. we need to keep moving this country forward, send them an e-mail, tweet them. write them a letter if you're old-fashioned like me. but communicate to them that this will make a difference. it's one small step that will help us create the kind of

economy that all americans deserve. that's an economy that's built to last. an economy where everybody has a fair shot, everybody gets a fair share, everybody's playing by the same set of rules. that's what made us great in the past, that's what's going to make us great in the future. all right? thank you, everybody. god bless you. god bless america. and give paul and val a big round of applause. >> wow. wouldn't that be great if it just could work? sounds good. everybody take advantage of a refinance program, you get $3,000, that sounds great, but getting congress to do that, talking about being under water, do the no hold your breath. the president is in reno, nevada right now. he's there talking about people who can take advantage of the refinance program that his administration is offering. and they're billing this as an official -- an official event not a campaign stop. he's there to talk about this particular program, but he says in that speech he's going to give congress a to do list.

he's not -- no more tax breaks for businesses that ship jobs overseas. he wants to give the money to companies here that bring him back home. congress should take small businesses and get tax breaks to them because they create all that -- they create the jobs in the country. i want to bring in robert reich now. he is a former labor secretary, he's been listening to part of this. and as i said, mr. reich, originally we had you on to talk about the jpmorgan chase. but as the president was sitting there doing this, i thought it'd be interesting to get you to comment. it sounds good if it could work. and if you're talking to congress about doing that tax credits and all of that veterans' jobs, responsible homeowners, $3,000. if, you know, especially for people who are under water. what do you make of that? >> these are all steps in the right direction. but the big question is, would congress go along with it? republicans have proven themselves absolutely lly reka drent -- >> it is possible.

be uh you say, hey, you know what? without the cooperation. i mean is it pie in the sky? or are these legitimate things that can happen if there is more cooperation? >> they are legitimate, they should happen, cooperation is not available. i would set out a mandate for my second term. i would say if congress doesn't go along with these, i'm going to fight for this and this and this and make sure the middle class in this country gets a fair deal. but if we have the present congress, i'm not going to be able to do it because they say no. at least republicans in this congress. >> listen, we're going to lose you. you have other business to attend to. thank you, robert reich, we're going to talk about jpmorgan chase, but next time. thank you, sir, we appreciate it. best of luck. we've got a lot more to cover this hour. watch. it's a place where americans go to retire, but people are on edge after more than a dozen mutilated bodies were found. i'll speak live to someone who knows who the victims are. i'm don lemon, the news starts

right now. some say mitt romney was a bully in high school. nearly half a century ago. so does this impact what you do in the voting booth? plus, he's the soldier burned in battle who won "dancing with the stars." >> it's great to see our wife and kids. >> j.r. martinez joins me live to talk about the trouble troops face coming home from war.

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attention on site, attention on site. now starting unit nine. some of the world's cleanest gas turbines are now powering some of america's biggest cities. siemens. answers. was it bullying? or was it a harmless high school prank? did it even happen at all?

mitt romney's saying he doesn't remember shearing off a fellow student's bleach blond hair at a prep school in the 1960s. a handful of romney's former schoolmates say the hair incensed young romney who worked the scissors as the pack of preppies held the kid down. let's listen to mitt romney on fox news now. >> i don't recall the incident myself, but i've seen the reports and i'm not going to argue with that. there's no question that i did some stupid things when i was in high school and obviously if i hurt anyone by virtue of that, i would be very sorry for it and apologize for it. >> jim acosta is a familiar face at the romney campaign. he spent a lot of time with them. you know, jim, you know when a campaign when people are worried about things. are they worried about this incident? this alleged incident occurred close to 50 years ago? >> well, you know, i will tell you that this issue is still coming out on the campaign trail for mitt romney, don. earlier today he gave an interview to a local tv station down in charlotte and he was

asked about it. and once again he gave the same line to that tv station that he gave to fox yesterday. basically saying that, you know, look when i was in high school, i did some things i'm not proud of and if anyone was offended, i apologize. he did not say whether or not he remembered the incident. yesterday he did say that he did not remember the incident. and i had a chance, don, to talk to one of those former classmates quoted in that "washington post" article about what he saw. he is still haunted about what he claims he saw nearly 50 years ago. his name is phillip maxwell, an attorney up in michigan right now. and let me tell you what he had to say. he described this not as a prank. he said this was an assault. he says i know what an assault is. this kid was scared, he was terrified, that's an assault. that according to phillip maxwell who says he saw the incident and then, you know, i asked him, don, what do you think of the response we're

hearing from mitt romney. he did not recall this incident. and i have to tell you, don, phillip maxwell was just perplexed by that response. and here's what he had to say. he says it's unfortunate that mitt simply hasn't owned up to his behavior. and just to give you a sense of how the romney campaign is trying to quickly and quietly put this issue aside, they sent out some statements from other romney former class mates who had good things to say about the gop contender when he was at the school in michigan. here's one from john french, a former romney classmate. he said, "mitt never had a malicious bone in his body trying to imply or characterize him as a bully is absurd." i did go back to the campaign and ask whether or not that particular classmate john french witnessed the incident and the romney campaign said no, he did not. keeping in mind he doesn't recall the incident ever happening. he is trying to get back on message talking about the

economy. he was doing that down in charlotte earlier today. he's expected to do that once again tomorrow down at liberty university when he delivers the commencement speech down there, don. >> i'm being told by the producers we have to move on. if you can answer this for me quickly. usually the best way to put something behind you is to get another headline out there instead of responding to something. and you remember herman cain when he said, i'm not going to take questions, what don't you understand? and the media doesn't take kindly to not answering the questions, but still, it could work out in his favor because he -- he and newt gingrich among others had talked about the media and not focusing and what have you. it's an interesting response here. so depending on how he navigates, he can win or lose. >> that's right. i think the romney campaign has decided at this point this is what they want to say, don. and the statement he gave today is almost word-for-word he gave yesterday and that he doesn't recall it and if anybody was oven offended by his hijinks,

he's sorry. what he did when he went to college, when he went to harvard, all of this stuff is now fair game in a campaign. >> the more you don't want to talk about, the more people say, hey, i wonder is there something to hide? >> well, that's true. >> all right. we'll figure it out. stay tuned. thank you, jim acosta. a college student gets an infection, flesh-eating bacteria and loses her leg. now she's at risk of losing more. feels like 2008 all over again, jpmorgan loses $2 billion. the ceo calls it stupid, egg on the face, but will these -- will there be risks? what are the other risks? will it bring down the economy again? good, 'cause i don't wanna put on real shoes. remind me to clean up...tomorrow.

[siri] ok, i'll remind you. excellent. today, we're dancing. play 'shake, rattle and roll.' ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

jpmorgan's billion dollar admission, and a woman loses her leg to flesh-eating bacteria. it's time for reporter roulette. we're going to begin with this. and it is startling. a startling admission of a man in charge of jpmorgan chase. jamie dimon is telling investors that the country's biggest bank lost $2 billion in the past six weeks and expects to lose more. $2 billion in six weeks, alison, oh, my goodness. alison kosik at the new york stock exchange. are the markets taking this in stride? it doesn't look like the market's plunging. >> exactly, you know, even with that startling news, the markets are certainly holding their own. you know, you're looking at a mixed picture, the dow only down 20 points, the nasdaq in positive territory. that's great. financial stocks, they're

getting hit pretty hard, look at jpmorgan shares, down almost 10%. dimon, of course, warning that $2 billion loss would grow. that's not incentivizing investors to get in bank shares today. other bank shares, they're falling anywhere from 1% to 3.5%. look, the reality is, wall street's also worried about these other banks. what kind of bets are they making if jpmorgan is making their own crazy bets of their own especially since those banks aren't considered as strong as jpmorgan? >> what about the reputation of jpmorgan as i said, the largest bank, had a good reputation and the man at the top. this is a confidence shaker. >> you know what? the short-term i think it is. it does tarnish jpmorgan's reputation and dimon's reputation, i think it's really just in the short-term. i mean, look, jpmorgan's regarded as one of the healthiest banks. look, it weathered the recession better than most of its peers, and dimon himself, he's a well-respected guy here on wall street. he's called the king of wall

street. no surprise he took this -- he doesn't take this well. on a call last night, he was clearly upset. he was blunt and he certainly admitted that mistakes were made. he said these losses were caused by sloppiness and bad judgment. we'll see if he can move past this. i was reading oen twitter that -- i don't know if this is true or not, but i read on twitter he's going to be making an appearance on another network maybe trying to save face. >> we'll see, closing bell, by the way, 30 minutes, we'll have it here. next, a georgia college student has lost her leg to flesh-eating bacteria after cutting her leg in the woods. elizabeth cohen explains how the infection may have happened here. elizabeth. >> the disease amy has is called necritizing, flesh-eating bacteria. she unfortunately got infected

with a bacteria that lives in the water. this is pretty rare. we don't have exact numbers, no one really knows, but it is really unusual. but unfortunately the small number of people who do get this disease, about 25% of them die. it took doctors a while to figure out amy had this disease, and that's not unusual. the signs can be very subtle. amy went to the hospital about four times before they figured out what this was. she was prescribed one antibiotic that wasn't strong enough to fight this kind of bacteria at one point. she was also prescribed a painkiller at one point. what she really needed was a much stronger antibiotic which she did eventually get. but let's talk a little bit. people get cuts all the time, any cut can become infected and theoretically could become infected with a bacteria that can cause the bacteria. how do you know the difference? let's take a look at this. if you have a cut in your skin and the pain is disproportionate

to the cut. in other words, if the cut isn't that big but you're in terrible, horrible pain or if the pain extends not just to the area of the cut or the whole region of the body, that could be a much more serious thing than just a simple skin infection. also, if you have fever or weakness, that's a sign of something more serious. and swelling and especially dark marks in that area. both of those can be signs that this is something serious. and if this feels to you like something more than just a cut on the skin, you definitely want to make that point with the doctor that you see that this is unusual for you and feels like it might be quite serious. we're so glad to see that amy's doing better. it's great news she's more alert and able to communicate with the people around her. don? >> all right, elizabeth. thank you very much. high stakes in the john edwards trial just hours after the prosecution rested its case. the defense makes a huge request today. plus, sheriff joe arpaio tells me he's being sued by the obama administration for political reasons. but he doesn't stop there.

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trial. and an effort to get it dismissed. the former presidential candidate is accused of wrongfully spending his campaign funds to cover up his mistress and their love child. joe johns is in north carolina for us. joe? >> reporter: the judge in the john edwards campaign finance trial today denied a move by the edwards defense team to try to get the charges thrown out. edwards is charged in a six-count indictment with accepting illegal campaign money, conspiracy, and false statements. his attorney abby lowell previewed some of the points he's going to make arguing he believes all six counts against edwards will fail because the law requires proof that edwards had specific intent that he knowingly and willingly accepted illegal campaign donations to try to cover up an affair and keep his political aspirations alive during the 2008 presidential campaign. lowell says the government was not able to show that before it rested its case. the government spent a lot of

time attacking edwards' false denials about the relationship with his alleged mistress and conscious avoidance of details. they showed a video of some of edwards' denials on interviews on abc. edwards did not want to know certain facts about the money being spent by his wealthy benefactors, and he argued that edwards' knowledge of the financing laws as an experienced politician is an important part of the case. the judge decided that the trial should continue. the jury returns to work on monday morning when the defense is expected to call its first witness. joe johns, cnn, greensboro, north carolina. >> all right, joe johns, thank you very much. she's been called america's toughest sheriff and now being sued by the feds, i ask joe arpaio tough questions and he answers them.

time now for the help desk where we get answers to your financial questions. joining me this hour, greg olson is a certified financial planner and partner at lennox advisers. thanks both for coming in today. lynette, your question comes from pente in florida. wrote in, i owe over $14,000 on a credit card with a high interest rate, but have never missed a minimum payment. how can i get out of debt? >> tough situation. and i'm so sorry to hear somebody retired going through this. one, call up your credit card company and negotiate. ask them for a lower rate. believe it or not, a lot of people who do this, 75% of consumers according to one study

actually get a lower interest rate right there on the spot. >> really? >> so don't be afraid to ask, especially if you have a competitive offer from another bank or another credit card issuer, which is option number two. a balance transfer where you go with a newer card with a lower rate, you pay that off quicker because you're paying less finance charges. also think about tweaking the budget. i'm sure on a fixed income, getting social security, but see if there's other areas where you can cut back and apply more cash toward the credit card to get out of debt quickly. >> i was looking at my bill and i was like, oh, those little things all add up. >> they do, indeed. >> thank you, and greg, your question comes from vikki in arizona. is it a good idea to take a loan from my 401(k) to pay off my car loan? >> i think one of the biggest financial planning mistakes is people look at their 401(k) loan interest rate, compare it to their consumer debt and say this is going to be less so it makes sense to pull money out of my 401(k), correct? >> right. they don't think about taxes. >> they don't -- well, it's a

loan, there's not going to be taxes, but they're not thinking about the appreciation in the market they're going to miss. if someone did that last october, they would have missed out on a 25% appreciation of the market. so think about that as your interest rate. so i would just make the payments on the car loan consistently and once it's paid off, drive that car into the ground. >> and they last for a long time these days. >> they do. >> thank you, both, we appreciate it. and send us an e-mail any time to cnn help desk at cnn.com. people with a machine. what ? customers didn't like it. so why do banks do it ? hello ?

hello ?! if your bank doesn't let you talk to a real person 24/7, you need an ally. hello ? ally bank. no nonsense. just people sense. i worked at the colorado springs mail processing plant for 22 years. we processed on a given day about a million pieces of mail. checks, newspapers, bills. a lot of people get their medications only through the mail. small businesses depend on this processing plant. they want to shut down 3000 post offices, cut 100,000 jobs. they're gonna be putting people out of work everywhere. the american people depend on the postal service.

there may be no sheriff in america more controversial than joe arpaio. he's nationally known for his tough stance against illegal immigration, too tough for the department of justice which is now suing arpaio and the sheriff's office of maricopa county, arizona. >> there is reasonable cause to believe that mcso engage in a pattern of practice of discriminatory policing of latinos. >> sheriff arpaio tells me there's no way he's going to stand for it. >> i'm not going to let the federal government run my office. i'm the elected constitutional

sheriff. i report to the people, 4 million in this county. they want to take over my office and i have to tell them every time i want to do something. that's the problem with this lawsuit. that's the sticking point. >> let's go on. because you talk about -- you say they say you're racist and you're not. and if you look at the evidence and look at what has been reported and on the record. for example, just giving you an example and there are a number of them. one example is a pregnant latina was pulled over in her driveway, the complaint is the officer slammed her against the car and threw her in the back of the car for 30 minutes, she failed to show i.d., but everything was dropped. so people will question that and look at that and say how is that not profiling, sheriff? >> you mean one case out of 51,000 illegal aliens that we have arrested on the streets? >> that was just one -- that was only, like i said, one example that we cited. but go ahead. >> okay. well, i don't know. they won't give us the facts.

they are talking about -- they refuse to give us witnesses and how they came about this. so i have no idea. but you know what? going to court, now they're going to have to put up, explain everything, show their evidence, and we will be able to defend ourselves. >> okay. another in a 2009 interview, you said i think we're doing something good if they're leaving, if they're leaving, you're referring to latinos. how can you say that? when your county is 30% hispanic and that percentage is growing quickly. >> no, i said by enforcing the state laws and the federal laws until obama took away my authority on under the federal laws, i was saying as a deterrence instead of being arrested by my office or law enforcement, if they're leaving and going back to the country that they came from, i think that's a good thing. they're here illegally. so if criminals want to leave

and go back, i think that's very beneficial. >> okay. that was sheriff joe arpaio. this guy right here, see him? he won "dancing with the stars." but he's also a soldier burned during war and he's speaking out about what it's like for vets returning home from war to no jobs. j.r. martinez standing by with a message.

for american servicemen and women returning for war, a new

battle awaits them when they get back into the job market. this weekend a new documentary follows georgia national guard soldiers as they strive to readjust to home. soldiers like this specialist. look. >> everybody's happy to see you, but you've got to get back to reality sooner than later. if you have a job, you have to get back to work. if you don't have a job, you have to look for work. documentary's called "voters in america: vets wanted." you can catch it at 8:00 p.m. eastern sunday night on cnn. and there's the man right there who narrates it. that's why i'm so excited about this interview. thank you, before i go, thank you for your service. i think you're an amazing person. i watched your journey not only your journey before "dancing with the stars" and you're a fantastic person. veteran actor, dancer, and brand new dad, by the way, congratulations, j.r. martinez tells us why he wanted to get involved in this project right now. why did you?

>> well, the biggest reason for me to get involved in this project now is simply because of the fact that, you know, i faced a lot of difficulties coming home when i got out of the military. luckily for me, i had an amazing opportunity to become a motivational speaker to create my business and brand. a lot of troops don't have that opportunity. they don't know the possibilities are out there. and there are sometimes a lot of possibilities out there opportunities so to speak. and so it is important for me to say, you know what? this is my way of continuing to serve. if i can sit here and read a script and narrate this documentary, then that's my part. >> so, listen, why should -- this is your appeal now. why should people hire veterans when they come back? >> well, because of the simple fact that a lot of times we look at it on paper. these vets don't necessarily on paper -- you think that what exactly can they do for this company? but they're leaders, they're trained to perform under an unbelievable circumstances. at the same time, they're very resilient, very positive, they

just want opportunities and they excel in every single opportunity. and they're hard workers and want to learn. and you know, if we give these -- if we ask these men and women to go overseas and sacrifice for six months a year, two years multiple times, let's give them an opportunity to provide for their families and be able to live a normal life that we all want to live in the united states of america. >> okay. so i'm not sure about this, but i'm told some employers worry about ptsd or employees having to leave suddenly for the national guard. what would you tell those employers? >> i'm sorry, don. i didn't catch you on that one. >> they're worried about ptsd or worried about vets suddenly having to leave for the national guard. what do you tell those employers who may worry about such things? >> well, you know, those four letters are an amazing four letters that has brought to a lot of people's attention, ptsd, post-traumatic stress disorder. it's real, it exists. a lot of people have a tendency to look at every single vet and thinking they're walking ticking

time bombs, that they're unproductive, lazy and have all of these issues. and they don't want to actually continue to live life -- that's actually not the case. a lot of times all these guys want is an opportunity is multiple chances of trying to get a job when they come home ultimately will break down any man and any woman. and that's exactly what you see is when these men and women are having to interview for a convenience store job and doing something they did that's way below what they're qualified to do in the military, you know, and being rejected from even doing that, that will tear down a man. let's pay attention to ptsd, but one way of fixing that is giving these individuals an opportunity to learn something brand new and feel they can do it and provide for themselves. >> and if they're worried about deployment or having to go -- j.r. martinez, thank you very much, continued success along your journey and congratulations. baby's doing great, right? yes. >> all right. thank you, don. and everyone, please tune into the documentary. it's an amazing one and i'm proud to having been involved in it. >> i'm going to tell them more

about it. sunday afternoon, cnn takes you on a journey with citizen soldiers as they serve country and family. j.r. martinez narrates this. "voters in america: vets wanted." 8:00 p.m. eastern on sunday here on cnn. andcnn, a major development in the trial involving the murders of jennifer hudson's family. this is a strange twist.

>> this just in to cnn in chicago.

the jury reports it is split in the trial of jennifer hudson's former brother-in-law william balfour who is accused of killing hudson's mother, brother and 7-year-old nephew. the jury senta i note to a judge a while ago saying it is split, but adding, that we are trying. we'll continue to update you here. "the situation room" with mr. wolf blitzer is coming up at the top of the hour. what do you have on tap? >> we're standing by. there will be a news conference in connection with adam mayes. he kidnapped his wife, three girls and we're watching -- we're getting the latest developments on what's going on on this front. adam mayes, the accused kidnapper of jo ann bain. authorities are standing by to brief us. there have been more arrests today, as you know. we've taken that news conference and the least part of it right at the top of the hour. also, a lot going in syria right now. professor, the middle east scholar be joining us right now.

lots of news, as usual. >> thank you very much. we appreciate it. it is a place where many americans retire, safe, serene, but the town is on edge after a stunning discovery. 18, 18 mutilated bodies found most beyond recognition and i'm about to speak live to someone who knew some of these victims. ] sweet! [ male announcer ] the solid thunk of the door on the jetta. thanks, mister! [ meow ] [ male announcer ] another example of volkswagen quality. that's the power of german engineering. right now lease the 2012 jetta for $159 a month.

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>> this is a disturbing story that is too close to paradise.

18 bodies in two vehicles abandoned along a mexico highway just a few miles from paradise where tens of thousands of retirees from the united states and canada. the bodies were so badly mutilated that investigators had a hard time telling if the victims were men and women. the crime is disturbing to those who have loved ones who retired to the serenity of lake chapala. it is an organization for foreigners livering at lake chapala. describe lake chapala and why so many americans live there and then tell us about the bodies. >> if you can see where we're sitting by my backyard, this is a similar setting 365 days a year. it's a wonderful place. very convenient to a large city, guadalajara, the airport about 30 miles away. we're sitting a few blocks away

from mexico's largest natural lake and surrounded by mountains. this is a lovely place. lots of wonderful people, both foreigners and mexicans living here. >> it sounds like paradise. how close was this discovery to the retirement area? and what's the reaction from the people who were living there? >> well, the discovery area was several miles away on the highway toward guadalajara, but my understanding is several of the victims were actually abducted from the malacon, the beach area, just a few blocks from here and two of those people that were abducted were friends of my neighbor's son and my neighbor's son was helping financially through university and these were friends of his

that were just on an evening's outing at the malecon listening to music. >> can you tell me more? you knew the families of some of the victims. tell me more about them. you say it was some of their sons or do you know more victims? >> i know one of the young men is the son of a restaurant nearby -- in a nearby town that my friends and i have frequented. it's a nice little mexican restaurant. i didn't know this young man directly, but his cousin i've known and his cousin is a chef at another restaurant here. the other -- the other friend of my neighbor lives nearby, a block away, in fact, and just went by thatei