to get their degrees, too. >> reporter: when he sent the graduation invitation to a former high school friend, it caused some confusion. >> it sure is good to see your grandchildren graduate. he thought it was a grandchild. i had to call him back to let him know it was me. >> reporter: as you can see, his personality makes him easily the most popular student on campus. >> everyone knows who he is and they are all inspired by his story and that he never gave up. >> charlie ball. [ applause ] >> i've been in this business for 44 years and i've never had such an honor to be able to give toy degree to someone like charlie ball. everyone. i'm don lemon. president obama gave churches

plenty to talk about today. some black churches are having problems with same-sex marriage, some pastors are backing the president. others are pulling their support altogether. >> i love the president, but i could not support what he's got started. >> we have some large challenges. >> republicans made their position clear today. ryan previs said he doesn't think same-sex marriage is such a big issue, but pastor joseph lowery disagrees. >> within the confines of the faith, we do marry, but it's a civil issue. and you can marry and divorce without the church. >> you should know that reverend lowery and reverend al sharpton wrote the president a letter supporting his stance on same-sex marriage.

the senate is getting involved with what caused the homeland national security, nine members to lose their jobs. congressman joe lieberman tells cnn he wants some answers. >> is the inspector general satisfied with the investigation of what happened on cardajina that the secret service did? secondly, were there indications before the colombian scandal of behavior by secret service agents off duty by assignment. there should have been a warning this was coming. third, what are you going to do, director sullivan, to make sure nothing like this ever happens again? >> the scandal erupted last month just before president obama's trip to the summit in america's colombia. the coo's yahoo john thompson left the company today. he only got the post in january.

thompson's official bio said he held two degrees in computer science, but it turns out his only degree is in accounting. an activist shareholder group called third point, uncovered the discrepancy just a week ago. 49 bodies left on a highway in mexico. some were decapitated and dismembers, believed to be done to hide their identities. this was done between violent drug cartels. a cease fire that doesn't seem to be working forced syrians to flee for safety. since anderson cooper has a rare look at a refugee camp just across the syrian border, how far back into politicians past is fair game? high school? apparently it is when it comes to mitt romney. [ male announcer ] fighting pepperoni heartburn and pepperoni breath?

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there's almost no way any parent can even imagine this, watching as a flesh-eating bacteria ravages your child. it is a reality as they watch 24-year-old amy fighting for her life. twelve days ago is when amy and some of her friends went to the little tallapoosa river just outside atlanta, and amy was on a homemade zip line when she fell and gashd hed her leg. that's when a bacteria entered her body. since then she has lost part of her leg to destroy the bacteria. a man speaking for her is andy copeland.

how are you doing? >> actually, we're doing quite well here. >> you've been writing about this, and we know you've been by amy's side throughout this horrific ordeal. you're holding up. how is she doing? >> you know, she's amazingly resilient. she actually does communicate with us through a series of head shakes and nods. we just basically kind of have to also do a little lip reading. she's actually holding up very well. she, of course, is medicated throughout this period, and occasionally she would remember things, sometimes she won't. but i think that's just the process of the medication. >> okay. so she lost a leg, part of her abdomen. she is fighting. you said she's medicated. just to breathe is really hard for her. but because of this bacteria, she may also lose her hands and her remaining foot, but she doesn't know that yet and you're not telling her? >> well, you know, no, we haven't. probably if we were to tell her,

she would probably forget it by the time she woke up the next day. i understand, you know, that -- in fact, i believe when the time comes, it will be revealed. i really am leaving to the experts here, leaning on the experts to let them make the determination for when the time is right. and there's some good therapy here. they have a psychiatrist on staff, there's good support groups, and i have every confidence that amy will be able to overcome this. >> at this point it's really not necessary. why even add that extra degree of burden on her? she's already in pain. >> absolutely. >> you've been chronicling your daughter's fight with posts on line and you're coming down to what you call amy day. >> yes. >> tell us about it. >> well, i believe amy day is the day that we get to hear amy speak. to me amy day is the day they pull the tube out of her chest

and basically she is allowed to breathe on her own. when her lungs are full rey repaired and healed, i think that's just a day we can all join together and rejoice because that's really the first step toward -- i think what i would call full recovery. there still are obstacles that remain. she will still probably remain on die ale -- dialysis for a wh and the kidneys are the last thing to heal, i understand. i told her the other night when they pull this thing out, we're going to celebrate that day forever for the rest of your life. we're going to call it amy day and it's going to be like a birthday. because i believe it's the day that my daughter was delivered from this horrible, horrible disease. >> mr. copeland, our thoughts and prayers are with you, your family and with amy. thank you for joining us, okay?

>> thank you. anderson cooper is on the turkish syrian border. he spent the day in two refugee camps and described the despair he heard in the voices of those who fled the violence. >> many people you talk to, the refugees, feel they've been forgotten by the international community, that not enough attention has been paid to what's happening in syria. you know, you go to these refugee camps and just about every family has lost some members of their family. they show you pictures of the bodies of their children who were killed in demonstrations or killed in the fighting. it's obviously a really disturbing and difficult thing to witness, and, you know, they're just hoping that attention continues to be paid and attention grows on the situation inside syria. >> monday night, anderson cooper reports live from the middle east on the turmoil in syria.

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and he went down. it's very hard for me to believe that just like that, my son was gone. my father, he instilled in us the fear of water, so i in turn didn't take my son around water. children don't have to drown. my name is wanda butts. i save lives by providing swimming lessons and water safety skills. jacob kendrick. african-american children are three times likely to drown as white children. that's why we started this, to educate parents about children being water safe. many parents, they don't know how to swim. >> he was the first in our family to learn how to swim, and he's come a long way, from not liking water in his face to

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plenty of issues could be considered deal breakers when it comes to voting for a president, their stance on the economy, religion, education, but just how relevant are presidential candidates' actions in high school? jason carroll takes a look. ♪ >> reporter: mitt romney, like candidates before him, finds himself in hot water for something that took place far in his past.

he says he doesn't remember the incident, but acknowledges he was not a perfect teenager. >> 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. >> reporter: the apology, coming after the "washington post" broke the story of romney's antics decades ago when he and his friends are alleged to have pinned down another student who was presumed to be gay and cut off his hair while the boy cried. >> i don't think anybody is going to blame him for something that happened in high school in the '60s, but his response was very weasely, and it fits into suspicion that people have of him. >> reporter: romney is certainly not the first presidential candidate cited for, shall we say, youthful indiscretions. >> there were times where i got into drinking and experimented with drugs. >> reporter: president obama told this classroom about his drug use and also talked about it in this autobiography" dreams

of my father." president clinton also talked about it at this debate. >> i experimented with marijuana a time or two and i didn't like it. i didn't inhale and i never tried it again. >> reporter: for president george w. bush, the issue was drinking in his later years. he was arrested for dui when he was 30 years old. he overcame the incident by saying he quit drinking and was born again. >> bush used that to say he had progressed, evolved and redeemed himself. >> reporter: should mitt romney be judged for bullying another student in high school? should that have bearing on him now? >> i don't prescribe to the philosophy of boys will be boys or in high school we do a lot of wild things. >> bullying is a very serious issue, but i don't think what someone did in high school forms

him as an adult. you have to have the whole total of the personality. >> many people are very forgiving. we forget the electorate is human. they may use drugs when they're younger but are fine, upstanding citizens when they're older. >> reporter: if more incidents arise, it could end up dogging the candidate, but for the most part, voters seem to forgive and forget. newsweek calling the if the the nation's first gay president. but a week ago, he was still evolving, so what happened? toi i want to bring in maria cardona. do you think 50 years ago, someone should be judged by

that? >> by their high school years? no. it was 50 years ago. romney was how old? and i think it's all too curious that the people who accused him of this hazing are all democrats. we don't really know the circumstance around it, but like i said before, what's next? we're going to go back in utero on people? >> that's a good short answer. i'm not sure it's just democrats. >> in the article it was democrats. >> so i don't think this is going to be a defining moment for romney, but it is suspicious the way that he answered the question. and i do think that it adds to something about romney in terms of lacking principle, lacking courage. you know, this is an incident that, frankly -- >> i need short answers. we have a lot to get to. i hate to cut you off, people say i cut people off, but when i get the point, there is no need to belabor it so that's why i jump in. >> got it. >> i got what you said, and you

make a good point about his answer. there was something odd about his answer. you don't remember that incident? i don't care what you did, but if you're going to answer it, answer it in a way that you seem to own it. >> exactly. >> krystal, last week you were here with goldie taylor and you said this about president obama. listen. >> i think the reason president obama is not taking a position is that we know most black americans who voted, 95% of them voted for president obama in 2008, most black americans do not support same-sex marriage, most hispanics and latinos do not. the country, even moderate democrats, are divided on this topic. >> okay, crystal? i think he heard you. so what do you say now? >> it's great that the president finally made a decision after three and a half years of evolving. it's kind of like am i pregnant or am i not pregnant? so he came out for same-sex marriage, but i think it was a mistake because 60% of

african-americans oppose it over 40%. and many -- proposition 8 was put on a ballot in california. it was hispanics and blacks who were really responsible for putting it over the edge and banning same-sex marriage in california. >> you know what, there is some disagreement about that, crystal, whether or not it was blacks. i'm not sure about latinos. that may have been overreported. >> i think it was about 60% latinos voted in california. >> maria, is this going to hurt him? what's going to be more important, do you think, to black and latino voters? being a good christian? and i pose this question with an or. or being the next president of the united states? >> don, i think it's going to be the economy. because it's going to be the economy, they're going to support the person who they believe has the best economic policies. so far we've seen they believe that person is barack obama, and that's not going to change.

i do believe that for african-americans, and i've seen a lot of folks, and one just on your program, don, a pastor basically saying, a reverend, that this is not something that he believes that black americans will take away their support from this president, even though they might disagree with him on this issue. latinos are the same. in fact, a poll shows that latinos overwhelmingly support equality of marriage for gay and lesbian americans. but again, the economy is the number one issue. >> crystal, did you hear -- >> but equality is not the same as going to a poll and voting for same-sex marriage. what we know is when 30 states have put it on the ballot, guess what? every time the american people, you know, which includes hispanics and black americans and white americans vote it down. they vote against same-sex marriage. it doesn't matter what the president thinks. >> that's very different than -- perception -- >> you guys have to stop. thank you. i'm not sure that's going to

stop anyone from going to the polls and voting. >> black americans are saying they're going to stay at home, don. that's not true. >> they're going to stay at home. well, we'll see. >> thanks, you guys. we'll see you next time. see you back here 10:00 p.m. bye. [ beeping ] in here, data knows what to do. because the network finds it and tailors it across all the right points, automating all the right actions, to bring all the right results. [ whirring and beeping ] it's the at&t network -- doing more with data to help business do more for customers. ♪

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millions of immigrants have raised illegally from mexico into the u.s. efforts to stop them have prompted protests, bitter words, even violence. >> these guys patrol this area day and night. >> but a stunning new report says the border war is over. so why isn't washington celebrating? you've seen her with the president, the famous and the infamous. when scandal breaks, judy smith is close by. now one of the most secretive

women in power politics explains what she's been up to. at least a little. >> i can't talk about that. >> oh. he's fast, he's smart, he's charming. >> you are not producing this interview, buddy. >> he may also be a key to bringing fans back to nascar. and presidents' pooches' politics gone to the dogs. all on "in focus." welcome. i'm tom foreman. with both voters and politicians tired of the campaigns these days, you might expect a highly divisive issue. think again. a startling report from a reputable group here says america has in its grasp just

such a success on the issue of illegal immigration. and yet washington right now seems to have no idea what to do with it. despite the protests and counter-protests, the conservative outrage and liberal unrest all along the 2,000-mile u.s. border with mexico, raw numbers say the war on illegal immigration is largely over. the number of people trying to slip into america unnoticed has plummeted so drastically in recent years, it is now likely that more native-born mexicans are leaving the u.s. to go home that are trying to come here. at least, that is the startling finding of a new analysis of u.s. and mexican census data, arrest records and interviews by the pew hispanic center. jeff laselle led the search. >> we've actually seen the population from mexico living

here shrinking over the last few years. >> getting smaller? >> yes. >> although the news has been about how it's enlarging? >> that's right. >> reporter: how did it happen? certainly the smashing economy killed the jobs that spurred millions of americans to brave the possible arrests. there is no denying this is also a victory for the heavy hand of the law. >> these guys patrol this area day and night, and they're looking for signs. >> reporter: we sent our national security producer down to take a look, and she said part of what made it work was making parts of the border look a bit like a war zone. >> what war zones look like are tough, rugged areas that are difficult to get to, difficult to monitor, difficult to see what's going on and see who is going where. >> and they have a lot of military equipment moving

around. >> exactly. special forces are now part of toolbox or border protection in this country. >> reporter: pew notes that funding for the border patrol more than doubled over the past seven years. on the border now? almost 27,000 border patrols and agents, more than 10,000 motion detectors, nine surveillance-manned droenz. >> they have high-definition cameras that help us at night. >> 125 airplanes and helicopters. pursuit of immigrants has also been stepped up inland. more than a quarter of a million were picked up in 2010 alone. add efforts by states to pass laws against illegal immigrants -- >> i think it's fair to say the purpose of them is to make life difficult for the unauthorized immigrants. and it seems to be doing that. >> reporter: still, washington is not taking much credit for this victory forged by republican and democratic presidents alike. in simple terms, political

analysts suggest democrats don't want to crow too much for fear of annoying their liberal base, republicans don't want to admit anything is going right with the democrat in the oval office. and a university recently found 7 to 10 voters support the immigration law now before the supreme court. but beyond the politics, federal agents remain concerned because as the number of immigrants they capture declines, they spill over the line. >> the ones they're concerned about are the other than mexicans. those are people coming from places like afghanistan, pakistan, yemen. >> how many of these people are there? >> so far, three months of this year, 19,000. >> reporter: how seriously do they take the threat of this? >> very seriously. >> reporter: granted, many of those people are from other latin american countries.

still, pew says there are still 11 million undocumented mexican workers in the united states, and no one knows if current trends will continue once the u.s. economy recovers. >> the question for the future is whether the job magnet of the u.s. will continue to draw people or whether enforcement and conditions in mexico will keep people home again. >> reporter: so maybe all of that makes washington hesitant to say that what we're doing is working. because on the border, the battle is always changing politically, economically and strategically. >> i don't think when you're looking at border security and you're looking at keeping the country safe something is ever going to work because the threat is constantly changing. the threat is changing and evolving and adapting. and the second we think, in washington or anywhere in the country, that it works, we're all in trouble. >> reporter: in just a moment, a

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one that big names call when things go wrong. and now she is going public. >> we all know in the past i've made some mistakes. i've done some terrible things. i made a horrible mistake. >> reporter: that's her, on the edge of the michael vick dog fighting scandal. on the edge of congressional turmoil. on the edge of the bill clinton-monica lewinsky affair. in all of washington, there is no one edgier than judy smith. >> i really do enjoy it. i think it's in my dna. >> reporter: it's in your dna to get phone calls in the middle of the night to handle a crisis? >> to help them out, yes. >> reporter: hollywood likes it, too. the new tv show "scandal" is based on judy smith's life and

work. >> that's why the president hired him into the largest court in the land. >> which i could have stopped if you hadn't cut off my access. >> you know why i cut off your access. >> reporter: so what is she to do? she is, simply put, a fixer. she's been involved in some of the biggest crises d.c. has ever seen. the marion barry prosecution, the clarence thomas and anita hill clash over a supreme court seat. the chandra levy case. her expertise lies in taking massive problems and making them smaller by developing strategies for those at the center of the storm. is this fundamentally about accepting responsibility or avoiding it? >> oh, it has to be about accepting responsibility, without a doubt. >> reporter: but that can be a tall order when you're talking about really big people in really big trouble. >> oh, i agree. i agree. but i think it's the only way to get through that trouble.

if you don't, you know, accept responsibility, if you don't admit that you made a mistake, you won't be able to deal with the crisis. >> reporter: raised as one of five kids in d.c., smith attended catholic schools where she mediated disputes among classmates. went to college, became a lawyer, and wound up in crisis central, the white house, where she learned many of her skills. >> the president said that he wants to run a clean, hard-hitting campaign. we also have here today with us -- when you're working in the white house, anything can happen during the course of the day. it's very fast paced. you have to be able to decide exactly what you're going to say very quickly, and you're always -- really, you're at the center of the universe there. >> reporter: she also learned about keeping secrets. smith is breaking her famous silence a bit to promote her new book, "good self bad self" about how anyone can get into and out of a mess. but she remains cagey about her

clients. for example, she still will not confirm reports that she hid moni monica lewinsky in a church during the scandal. and as for current clients? don't even go there. >> can that be handled good or bad? >> can we stop for a second? >> why? >> i can't reveal that one. >> she also won't reveal where she lives, what kind of car she drives. you didn't want us to come to your office. >> no, didn't want to you come to my home. because usually when a crisis happens, the first place the press comes out, and i love all of you guys, people will come and camp out at your office, your home, your car. you know, wherever you are. >> reporter: you think you've got our number. that's different than loving us. >> you guys probably think you have my number, too, and that's

how that works. but that's okay. that's okay. >> reporter: for all that, like her character in "scandal," smith prides herself on her toughness and straight talk for those who pay for it. >> i know that people usually look at crisis communications as someone that spins and a fixer. my view on that is that you can't spin. you have to tell the truth about what happened. if there is a -- >> it isn't just a spin, is it? >> it's not, it's the truth. >> reporter: and here's another truth. >> it's a dirty little secret. and dirty little secrets always come out, don't they, cyrus? >> reporter: hollywood endings aside, her work is often messy, often exhausting and always expected. even as we were wrapping up this story, her phone rang, and with a quick goodbye, judy smith hailed a cab and was off to save

someone's day. i guess the good part is in washington, you'll never run out of clients. >> we always have crisis in washington, don't we? that's always going on. yes, absolutely. in a moment, fast times, finals and tempting fate with a smile. >> do you have a girlfriend? >> i do not. that one doesn't quite fit in the schedule right now. >> elizabeth o'leary goes round and round with a rising star. ♪ now you can watch them on your laptop, tablet, phone... any time, anywhere. like here. or here. or here! psshew! watch movies anywhere! the best part is it's only two bucks per disc. cool. that's the walmart entertainment disc to digital service. see for yourself. bring in your favorite dvds to your local walmart photo center to get started. see for yourself. what happens when classroom teachers get the training... ...and support they need? schools flourish and students blossom.

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nascar is fighting to regain its traction. the bad economy hit its blue collar fan base very hard, and attendance at races fell dramatically in recent years. but now a new star is rising on the truck racing circuit with movie star good looks, quick reflexes and a brain for business like the sport has never seen. lizzy o'leary caught up with him in north carolina. >> reporter: it's not unusual to see a nascar driver do 185 miles an hour. he can turn without a trace of fear. or break down a problem with his crew chief. >> better than it was before! it felt tight right after the center. >> reporter: but strip away the sponsorships and all the engine noise, and it is most unusual to find a driver like this one.

>> we're sharpening your understanding in both parts and lumen, make the similarities and differences between the two of them. >> reporter: welcome to the double life of pauly hirocca, professional nascar driver and senior at duke university. >> it's a very exciting time. >> you wanted to be a driver for how long? >> i started racing when i was seven and i wanted to do it before then, as long as i can remember. >> why did you go to duke? >> i reached a point near my senior year in high school when gu guidance counselors in high school said, you've got the grades to go to college, you should do that. and others were saying, you're a racer, put college off for a few years. i felt like i could actually play them together and leverage both to make them better. >> reporter: in today's world of sports where branding can make or break you, pauly is a trifecta of magic. he's a great driver with a charming personality and an

instinct for playing to the cameras that's almost uncanny. >> when i got to duke my first semester -- do we need to redo that because of the lens? >> you are not producing this interview, buddy! >> reporter: he's also working on something almost unheard of among nascar drivers: a college degree. and it's serving him well. as a business major, he knew from the start that nascar is expensive. traditionally, young drivers like pauly just try to join well-established teams. >> unless you have some level of financial backing, you just can't break in. especially post recession, it's becoming even more pronounced. >> reporter: interested in being the driver's seat off the track as well, pauly started his own company and reached out toin ve -- to investors, setting up his own pit crew. one of his first ones, duke

university professor curt hagen. >> i had no idea who he was. he showed up in the dean's suite and had an idea i could help him with nascar. i tried as hard as i could to discourage him, and he's no easy person to discourage. >> reporter: he has met lots of professionals that became stars. >> reporter: shane bayau, grant hill, pauly -- is there a quality they all share? >> yes. they're willing to take advice, they're willing to take chances, and they're willing to take responsibility. >> reporter: pauly is the first duke athlete who >> and then you can fuel the whole truck right here before you roll that little bit extra. that's a snappy loose. >> i'm watching you sell it to

me. do you turn it off? >> i don't know that it's necessarily a sales pitch as much as it's something that i'm really passionate about and really enjoy it, enjoy talking about and getting excited about. >> perhaps the only thing he enjoys more than talking is competing. >> not exactly like the go-carts you started in. >> not quite. they were a lot faster and a lot more agile than these. >> we took him to a local go-kart track for a few competitive rounds. he went after me time and again, other drivers, even my cameraman. at daytona, pauly crashed in a big way. yet, he crawled from the wreckage like the college student he is calling it a learning experience. >> when do you lose your fear? >> as a race car driver, you have to be fearless. you're going to wreck. it's going to happen. it might be no fault of your own.

it might be your fault. it's inevitable. you can't be afraid of that. you have to spend a lot of time with your safety equipment. once your belts are secured and your suit is zipped up, you can't be afraid. you can't. >> graduation is not far off now, and he acknowledges that his double life has cost him a bit of a college experience. >> do you have a girlfriend? >> i do not. that one doesn't quite fit in the schedule right now. >> still, he's a quick learner. there's plenty of time for that. >> i haven't had the typical college experience. i've had an awesome college experience. >> for now, it's about moving as fast as he can, both on the track and beyond it. all right. it's not quite over yet. when we come back, the presidential dog fight that bites.

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prowling. >> reporter: ever since george washington, presidents have been judged by the dogs they run with. no wonder myth romney and president obama are trying to laugh off cracks like these. >> mitt romney ever invites you to go for a ride, call shotgun. and if the president tries to butter you, run. >> reporter: there is, however, reason for them to take it at least a little seriously. >> presidents and their pets have a long and storied history. >> reporter: garret is editor and chief of the washingtonian magazine. >> most people don't get the rise and fall of politics, but we can get if you connect with a dog. >> reporter: presidents have kept company with critters of all types. theodore roosevelt turned the white house into a zoo with

parrots, horses, zebras, snakes, and a one-legged chicken. >> john quincy adams used to love surprising guests in the white house with an alligator he kept in a bathtub. >> reporter: william taft had a cow. calvin coolidge, like roosevelt, had it all. lion cubs, a goose, a bob cat, a raccoon, and a hippo named billy. >> both teddy roosevelt and calvin coolidge gave large parts of their menagerie to the national zoo here in washington. even today, many, if not most of the hippos in zoos in the united states, are descendents of that original calvin coolidge hippo. >> reporter: but dogs have always been the most likely pick for first pet, for better or worse. for example, there was a story going around that during a tour

islands, a scottish terrier was left behind and someone was sent back to rescue him. fdr declawed his critics with humor. >> my family don't resent attacks. but fala does resent them. >> reporter: it is a measure of how well the speech worked that fala wound up as part of the fdr memorial. richard nixon pulled a similar trick, defending himself against accusations he received improper giftings by listing his kids' dog checker as one of them. >> i just want to say this right now, that regardless of what they say about it, we're going to keep it. >> reporter: voters ate it up. it does not always go well. johnson picked his beagle up by the ears, and animal lovers howled. still, almost every president has had at least