can racial politics be effective in 2012. anyone who keeps talking about racial politics is basically calling voters ignorant. any informed and intelligent voter can and will make a decision based on something other than race. this from dear cnn, we are energized, signed african-americans. conversation on facebook.com/carolcnn. thanks as always for your comments. i'm carol costello. thank you for joining me today. "cnn newsroom" continues right now. we begin with a crucial piece to a puzzle. investigators have evidence linking two recent killing on mississippi highways, killing that may be the work of someone posing as a police officer. our colleague martin savidge joins me with more information. what have you learned. >> good morning.

we always thought they were now there's proof positive which means the gun used in one shooting was the same gun used in the second shooting. that is key for the investigation. the other thing now, we understand mississippi authorities are reaching out to both the fbi and atf asking to use profilers. that would mean they don't have a lot but looking into the mind-set of the person carrying this out. remember, the theory is, and it's only a theory at this point, it's someone acting as a police officer pulling these people over in the middle of the night. >> tell me about the search for this guy, everyone involved at this point. do we know how far that search has been spread out? >> well, the search is going on, especially in that area of northern mississippi. they have beefed up patrols, not only in that county but all the counties in the surrounding area. however, here is the thing, there are no witnesses to this event of it's not like you have an identification of a suspect. you don't know a vehicle to be looking for. again, they are working on a

theory. just remember how this all went down. a week ago tuesday, it was 2:30 in the morning when this man driving to florida to pick up his young grandson from college. he's somehow pulled to the side of the road, shot multiple times. his wallet is missing. three days later a 48-year-old local woman, shot once in the head just outside of her vehicle again at the side of the road. it's the vehicles at the side of the road that is the common theme that has authorities worried. >> quickly, do we know if anyone was stolen out of her car, a purse, a wallet. >> we are hearing, nothing is taking. that is troubling because it would indicate perhaps whoever is doing it is doing it for the thrill of the key not the robbery. >> martin savidge, thank you so much. the curse of camelot, another kennedy found dead. according to the new york, it was suicide. cnn is still working to confirm that. but the times reports that police found 52-year-old mary

kennedy's body hanging in a barn on the family's new york compound. mary was the wife of robert f. kennedy, jr. although the couple had filed tore divorce in 2010. they have four children. mary kennedy's death now joins the long list of tragedies that has plagued the family since the assassination of president john f. kennedy. alino cho joining us from new york following the story. what do we know about the u.p.s. report at this point, alina. >> good morning. we just got off the phony with the westchester coroner's office, they said the autopsy is under way right now. it should be complete very soon. we could actually find out a cause of death as early as today. talked about this theory of suicide. cnn as you mentioned is aggressively, actively pursuing that nowhere they committed suicide. we can tell you "new york times" is citing two unnamed sources that mary kennedy's body found

hanging in a barn in the back of the house. she did leave a suicide note. authorities when they arrived tried to cut her down and revive her. obviously, they were unsuccessful. >> what do we know about how she was feeling with regard to the fact they had filed for divorce. it's been a while. there's talk she was concerned about financial problems, she was suffering from depression. do we know if this was related to her problems with drugs and alcohol? >> that's right. remember this started 2010, may to be exact. by all accounts her depression took a turn for the worse back then. that is when her husband, robert kennedy, jr., filed for divorce. remember, he's the nephew of president john f. kennedy. a day after that filing, police were apparently called to their home after what was described as a domestic incident. robert kennedy told police that his wife was intoxicated. you mentioned that the couple

had four children together, all of them under the age of 18 years old. the divorce, we should tell you, was never finalized. at the time of her death robert and mary kennedy were still officially married. >> alina cho working that story out of new york. alina, thanks. the kennedy family has released this statement, quote, we deeply regret the death of our beloved sister mary whose radiant and creative spirit will be sorely missed by those who loved her. our heart goes out to her children who she loved without reservation. we'll bring you the results of the autopsy as soon as they become available. if you are one of the millions of men

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i tell you what i can spend. i do my best to make it work. i'm back on the road safely. and i saved you money on brakes. that's personal pricing. if you're heading out the door you can continue watching cnn from your mobile phone or heading to work, you can watch live from your desktop. all you have to do is go to cnn.com/tv. pleasure eating bacteria, the rare but horrifying disease, it made headlines after it began

ravaging a student from georgia, aimee copeland. it took her leg, part of her abdomen. her fingers look charcoaled now. she's amazingly resilient. as we continue to follow aimee's case, we're getting new details of another case of flesh eating bacteria. this time attacking a new home who just gave birth to her twins a few days ago. she was rushed to a hospital in greenville, south carolina, where she fountain out the flesh eating bacteria had somehow affected her left leg rapidly eating her muscles. elizabeth cohen is here. apparently she's a paramedic so she knew something wasn't right. >> she and her husband were incredible, empowered patients. i can't emphasize enough how important that is in these situations. for example, aimee copeland's father was amazing. it appears he saved her life. let's talk about lana for a

second. what happened here, she gave birth may 7th. four days later she and her husband noticed a bruise on the back of her leg. instead of saying oh, whatever, people get bruises, they kept an eye on it. her husband told cnn it was growing so quickly, getting bigger so quickly, you could actually watch it get bigger. they knew that was quick. again, she's a paramedic, so she has quite a bit of medical knowledge. they got to the hospital and very quickly they diagnosed flesh eating bacteria. >> do we have any idea how she got it? >> you know, what we don't know exactly. here is what we do know. doctors tell us when you have blood trauma, in other words, you hit the back of your leg, however that happens and you get that bruising, if you have strep a bacteria in your body, which many of us do, it's very common. the bacteria can sense there is a blood feast. it can go to that blood and get into the bloodstream. that may be what happened here.

in ammee copeland's case you had a gash the bacteria entered into. in this case it doesn't appear to be a gash but a bruise, the blood from the bruise became a magnet for the bacteria which got into her bloodstream. that may be what happened here. we don't know though. >> why don't we talk about what someone can do with this, the various signs. a number of the symptoms are very vague. >> they are. let's go over this and talk about the symptoms and how they are vague. can you be a discerning patient and try to discern from every day. if you have a bruise or cut, of course it will hurt. if it hurts like crazy, more than something like that has ever hurt you before or not just in that area but reaching across a wider area, that is something to pay attention to. if it's accompanied by fever and weakness, if it's accompanied by swelling or any kind of black markings on your skin, pay attention to that. there's more signs and symptoms on cnn.com/empoweredpatient.

kyra, the bottom line here, if something is weird for you, or weird for your family member, pay attention and do something about it. i'll tell you a story. our daughter when she was two had this little cut on her arm. my husband noticed it was getting bigger quickly. we put her down for a nap and the cut was bigger, wound was bigger when she woke up from her nap two hours later. it grew in two hours. he said we're getting her to the pediatrician. it was sunday afternoon. we had to get the pediatrician to meet us. it was serious and she required several different antibiotics to treat it. >> when we talk about these two cases, elizabeth, how common is this? is this just totally odd that we're seeing two of these cases within a week or so? >> i think what's odd is that we're hearing about it, kyra. this actually happens and we don't hear about it. this just so happens we're hearing about these two. nobody knows how many cases of flesh eating bacteria we have in the country. some put it in the hundreds.

some put in the low thousands. the bottom line is, it does happen. usually a cut or bruise is nothing but keep an eye out for those signs. >> elizabeth cohen, thanks so much. the doctors who her husband said treated his wife have not responded to requests for comments by the way. meanwhile lana's husband says their newborn twins are doing well and being cared for by family and friends. you can read more about tips and flesh eating bacteria at cnn/empoweredpatient. there's more information on what you can do to take control of her health care.

investor pandemonium. you know what i'm talking about. facebook shares hitting the market tomorrow. so should you get in on the action or not? well, like any married couple who argues about money, so do our money gurus ali velshi and christine romans. guys, i was talking to my banker for about 35 minutes yesterday. >> really? >> come on, this is huge, right? >> it's good to know, no surprise i'm the accelerator, he's the brakes. >> he talked me out of it. he said let it settle. let's re-evaluate. >> start with me. >> that's not a bad -- no, no,

no. you know what she's going to say. she's going to give you all sorts of reasons why not to buy this stock. let me describe one thing to both of you, kyra. remember in the day when you used to get those disks, aol disks in the mail, get them at supermarkets, everyone said get it, download service, you had a portal, yahoo! was around, comp serve, life about this portal, weather, traffic, business, sports, things you couldn't get elsewhere. then the internet went through a transformation and became about search. yahoo! does that but google is the big player. it's all about you ask a question, you get an answer. facebook wants to under take the second transformation of the internet. it wants to say you are having your friends and contact and those you trust cure aating they it works. it will make facebook the most powerful in history.

that's why it makes a good to buy. >> whee he's having hearts and arrows, i'm going to tell you why it's risky. the reason why any investor can't go buy a share of facebook on the ipo is because they are reserved for sophisticated investors because they are risky. we're going to start to learn a lot more about this company. it's got an amazing, amazing role in society. 900 million users around the world. we need to see more. i'm with your banker who says wait until it settles out. maybe it will be higher. maybe it will go up and then go down. >> reason to not to buy so i can get back to why we should. >> we're not going to pay $10 million a year in traditional ads for gm because we're not seeing people clicking through and buying cars. a lot using facebook on mobile phones. how are they going to make money on ads on mobile phones, how we use -- >> answer that, ali.

>> forget facebook. forget if it's dupont or gm or anything else. you know why you buy a stock? you buy a stock so you can sell it for more than you paid. if you think in a year, two years, three years the ticker symbol fb is going to be sold for more money than you can buy it on friday then buy it. it is the second transformation of the internet. you can sell it for more than you can buy it. if you believe those two things, buy it. if you don't, don't. >> the person you're buying the stock from is selling the stock. that person was in there first and got a low price. you're making them richer. >> you can sell the stock to some poor sucker down the road. >> apple, let's talk about how we all wish we would have bought into apple. they kept making devices, still making devices. look how well they are doing. in the beginning apple almost went out of business. >> this goes to christina's point. >> apple went sideways. it wasn't until steve jobs went

back. when it went public, it wasn't a sure back. google plays in better -- >> that came out on '70s, it closed at $100. a bunch of us said that's over valued. what is it now, 5, $600. that's more the comparison. you've got to believe it's the crazy innovation like apple, mark zuckerberg. buy one sell certificate and put it on your wall and commemorate history. don't get into stock trading business. >> a lot of people don't log into 401(k) trying to figure out how to buy facebook shares. what do you have in your 401(k)? i don't know. i don't know the log in. can you just look at your 401(k) make sure you're investing the maximum, you know how you're balanced. that's the sure bet. the sure bet is making sure your whole investment scheme is right. >> once again she's right. >> he gave you a little bit. >> christina is right, smarter

than me. >> once again, christine is right. >> we'll re-evaluate where we stand a year from now, who is rich and who is broke. facebook shares scheduled to hit the nasdaq exchange tomorrow probably a few hours after the market opens at 9:30 eastern. with fancy feast gravy lovers, your cat can enjoy the delicious, satisfying taste of gourmet gravy every day. fancy feast. the best ingredient is love. [ music plays, record skips ] hi, i'm new ensure clear.

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closing arguments happening right now in the john edwards corruption trial. the jury begins deliberations tomorrow. our joe johns is on it. >> reporter: here are closing arguments in the john edwards finance trial in greensboro, north carolina. each side gets two hours to present their final arguments to the jury. the prosecution goes first followed by the defense, then the prosecution gets the last word, because it has the burden of proving each and every element of the six-count indictment against john edwards. the wrap-up of this trial was a bit of a surprise for how fast it came. the defense suggested it might throw in the kitchen sink at the end. john edwards, rielle hunter, his

former mistress. in the end they didn't even call edwards daughter kate to the stand. legal observers here said the defense might have decided they are better off leaving well enough alone after giving the jury a simple and clear position on the legal issue. for example, the hush money in the edwards case wasn't intended to be a campaign contribution and that somebody else got the money, not john edwards. the jury is expected to start its deliberations in the edwards case on friday morning. kyra. >> joe johns, thanks so much. if john edwards is found guilty on all charges, he could face up to 30 years in prison. as journalists we strive every day to bring untold stories about communities, nations and world. we couldn't do it without cnn ireporters. we want to honor you, the viewers who gave us extraordinary reporting to share around the world. we want you to decide who deserves this year's community choice award. logon to cnnireports awards and

vote. here are nominees for reporting. >> just a small digger. >> the other guy, run, run, run. >> ground zero. we're remembering everyone who passed away on september 11th. it's really unfortunate and we're just remembering them. ♪

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if you're leaving the house right now, just a reminder. you can continue watching cnn from your mobile phone. you can also watch cnn live from your desktop. go to cnn.com/tv. what started as a house fire on sunday has now consumed four homes and more than 5,000 acres in the bradshaw mountains of arizona. the one-time mining community of crown king is a ghost town as firefighters try to hold the flames back until the winds shift. maybe. if they are lucky. onreporter joining us from affiliate ktka. tess, is this fire anywhere close to being contained at this hour? >> reporter: right now it's 5% contained, that's where it was yesterday. the big concern today, winds are calm right now but in the next couple of hours in through tomorrow we're expecting red flag wind conditions. it is going to be a tough battle

for these firefighters. >> tell us more about crown king. we understand the power is out, right? >> exactly. power finally went out to the entire community last night. about 350 people had already evacuated. a few holdouts left. they finally left town last night when the message was get out now or you are stuck here. obviously the good news is everybody did get out of town. it is completely shut down. big concern flames inching closer. closest flames an eighth of a mile away from the homes on the outskirts of crown king. >> so far anybody hurt or killed? >> so far the good news, this has not taken any lives. four firefighters have been hurt in this battle. we're in arizona about an hour north of phoenix. it's very dry, very warm. most of those firefighters suffering dehydration and exhaustion. they have to be careful of those elements as well.

>> thanks so much. elsewhere in arizona three other firefighters keeping firefighters busy and wildfire season just getting started. if you live in texas and get a suspicious looking nfl don't open it. the feds looking for a man who mails nfl's containing white powder and a message. they say so far the powder has been harmless. fbi and postal inspection office offering $150,000 reward for any information. vermont is taking a stance on fracking, becoming the first state to ban the controversial practice that extracts natural gas or oil from rock. vermont's governor said he signed the bill preventing fracking because it contaminates ground water. he hopes other states will take his lead. it's suspected of causing mild earthquakes as well but at the same time produced a boone in energy sales across the country. helps with exports.

a child with two identities a guatemalan woman said she will take her legal fight to get her daughter back all the way to a missouri court because u.s. state department is refusing to get involved. she said she was kidnapped in 2006 and sold to an adoption agency. the girl, who now is seven, lives with a family where she goes by the name of karen. her birth mom said every since she located the little girl that she's not going to give up the fight. >> translator: i'm going to give her all my love, which i haven't been able to do during this time when she wasn't with me. i'm going to do everything possible so she learns to love little by little because i know she doesn't remember me. >> guatemalaan judge has ruled in the birth mom's favor but the state department says a treaty dealing with abducted children wasn't in effect when this case began. we'll follow it. the john travolta sex suit

has come to an bankrupt halt with the second man who alleged travolta groped him with drawing charges. number two with drew. she's funny, beautiful, charming and apparently ageless. betty white is 90 and still going strong p she's had audiences laughing for years. this time around she was the target of the jokes. funnymen roasted betty at the fryers club taking digs at her career. of course she loved it. don't think at the age of 90 she's slowing down. when asked what's the one thing she wants to do that she hasn't, she didn't miss a beat. >> i usually answer that question with that robert redford. no, i think i've been lucky enough to do just about -- so much. if i start complaining about anything under the sun, throw me out of the business.

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for months now we've been following the beating death of kelly thomas and the two cops who will now stand trial. this morning deeper questions that go beyond the actual crime. we're going to talk about mental health. kelly was schizophrenic and homeless. if you've been following this heart wrenching studio you've probably seen the video of kelly being repeated by beaten and

tased by fullerton police. i have to warn you once again what you're about to see is extremely disturbing. >> dad! >> i don't want to talk these off. >> going to fight. >> relax. relax. >> daddy, daddy. >> as you just heard. you could hear kelly pleading for his dad. those would be among his last words because kelly died five days later. now, that video and kelly's story have thrust the issue of mental health right into the spotlight, an issue that kelly's dad ron thomas has turned into a personal crusade. ron is joining us from orange county, california. ron, thanks so much for joining me this morning. >> thank you, carol. >> you know, we play that video because it's extremely

compelling evidence. i can't even imagine what it's like for you, the dad, to have to hear it again and again. as a former deputy, what does it reveal to you? >> my first thoughts were i was totally betrayed by law enforcement. it also revealed to me that the city of fullerton, upper echelon in the police department, but also city council, mayor, city council, have no control over those officers, none at all. >> you have actually trained deputies on how to respond to someone like your son. what did you see that obviously these police officers had not -- they just didn't have knowledge of when it came to dealing with somebody with mental illness. >> yeah, i have. i've taught many different agencies in law enforcement including marines going off to

war how to do certain techniques. but the arrest control techniques primarily these officers didn't use any of them. they were just fumbling around trying to beat him into submission. they didn't use any proper techniques at all starting with the basic one calling in a team of mental illness professionals who fullerton uses quite often. they should have called him in. they knew kelly. they knew about mental illness. if they thought it was a problem, which he did, and he told kelly so. they should have called in the mental health professionals. they did everything wrong. the only tools they used were tools of force, batons, knees, elbows, tasers. they didn't use the most important tools of all, that is the mental health professionals available to them. >> let's talk about that for a second. there is such a stigma when it

comes to mental illness. i know you still receive heart wrenching e-mails, letters about where were you, dad, why weren't you helping him out? would you please explain those that don't understand mental illness what it's like to have a child dealing with this and how much you can do and it's still -- it's not so easy. it's extremely challenging. >> it's very challenging. i worked with kelly in his mental illness for 15 years. it's all day all night. it's literally like taking care of an infant. when he's on his meds -- when he was on his meds, he was fine. we could carry on conversations, he could function, it was great. that was also a problem because he'd want to get on with his life. who wants to live in board and care, dad's house. he would want to get out and do something. he would hold down jobs.

once he would wander, want to get on with his life, he would get off his meds, schizophrenia would set in. it's a vicious cycle. for those that say where were you, they have no idea but dealing with kelly, working with someone with a mental illness such as his. it's a tremendous amount of work and effort, but you can tell certainly by kelly's last words the relationship that we had. we were very, very close. >> he was calling for you. you were that one person he desperately wanted to come to his rescue. >> absolutely. >> you've addressed what you want to see members of law enforcement do and that's better training on how to deal with someone who has a mental illness, recognize it, know how to handle a situation like that. what is your message to parents who -- i have very good friends dealing with this, family

members dealing with this. what is your message to someone who doesn't know what to do if they have a child struggling with this and they won't take m medication, listen to mom or dad. you feel helpless. one of the best tools i have was get a conservatorship. your child has to consent to this. you need conservatorship. they no longer have a say in their treatment. that allowed me to do things with kelly he didn't want to do. i had to get him in lockup facilities when i would find him in a park. he was so bad, his health going down. i took him, put him in lockup facilities. he'd get better, back on meds, and come home with me. they need to be so proactive.

it's not easy. getting to psychiatrist, dr.'s visits, get involved in organizations like nemi. they can help you. they have resources. with kelly, i didn't know about nif these. i was handed a hamp let, basically, good luck. didn't know how to deal with it. today there's a lot of help out there. please do the research, get your loved ones the help they need. never give up. it's not their fault. it's a mental disease. they can't help the way they ask. >> ron thomas, thanks for joining me today. we will stay close to this story and continue to follow all the rulings. thank you so much. >> thank you, carol. >> you bet. a judge did rule just last week that there was enough evidence to bring the two officers charged with kelly's death to trial. so their next court hearing is

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not an easy question when politics are involved. just ask these ladies. white house.gov grabbed our attention. why? it appears biography of some presidents have been updated with a little twist. just how similar is obama to various presidents. let's get straight to the bios, shall we? this is what we're talking about. if you go to the website you see a list of all the presidents on the website. almost all the presidents. you've got franklin roosevelt. it has his bio, things he did, things that may be controversial in your eyes. then on the bottom, it says august 13th, president of course velt signed the social security act. today obama administration continues to protect seniors to ensure it will be there for generations. fair game fact check. what do you think of the new additions to the bios. maria? >> i think they are totally fair. it's so interesting to me this

has caused outrage in the conservative twitterer and blogosphere. i wrote about faux anger on the gop and conservatives and this exactly makes my point. i don't understand what they are so angry about. it's not like the white house went in and actually altered historical biography of presidents. it's on the white house website. the white house website is there to promote the president's policies, to educate what it is the president is doing for the american people. it's funny conservatives are accusing obama from wanting to distract from his record. what about this this distraction. i don't blame them for not wanting to talk about romney's failed record at bane and creating jobs. i guess this is politics as usual. >> fair game, dana? >> speaking of bame, decisions

made by the top bungler. republicans wouldn't have a problem with this if it was accurate, truthful. that's generous with how i'm skiing it. for instance, social security is broke. it's been broke a long time. thd they open the suitcase and it's full of ious and he's like, look, this one is for $250,000. you might want to keep this one. that's exactly what social security is like. it's broke. so to say this president is continuing that is a little disingenuous because -- >> let me ask you about ronald reagan. if you go to the website, you can bring up ronald reagan and look at his flashy bio and then you go down a little farther and it says, in a june 28th, 1985, speech, reagan called for a fair tax code. one where a multimillionaire did not have a lower tax rate than his secretary. today president obama is calling

for the same with the buffett rule. fair game, maria? >> absolutely it is, and also what's interesting to me about this one is if the ronald reagan of the '80s were running in the primary this is season, he would be kicked out as a raging liberal, and i think that this is exactly the point. >> oh, my. >> is to point out that a lot of the policies that republican presidents that are now darlings are exactly the same policies president obama is trying to promote. guess what? president obama is president obama, so the conservatives in the gop can't agree with a thing he puts forward regardless of the fact that it has been either something that presidents in the past have promoted or that it has been policies that the gop historically have promoted. so, again, faux anger at its best and this is why americans are so frustrated with washington. >> dana, does obama deserve a little amendment at the bottom of reagan's bio?

>> i think you need to take it off. again, it's completely inaccurate. if anyone thinks ronald reagan was for the buffett rule as barack obama is, then they don't know ronald reagan on economics. here is a big difference. barack obama is talking about complicating the tax code and raising taxes whereas ronald reagan in that 1985 speech, this is what they don't tell you on the white house website. he actually said, quote, we should have flatter and lower taxes because that's going to inspire americans to have confidence in the future. that's completely antithetical to what barack obama is talking about with the buffett rule. barack obama is talking about closing loopholes to offset -- not to offset lower taxation but to give him more money to invest in companies like solyndra. ronald reagan talked about closing loopholes so people could keep more of their money. also, barack obama wants to raise tacks on capital gains and dividends. the things small businesses use to hire workers and pay for necessities. it's a business killer. that's not what ronald reagan stood for and barack obama

should remove it. >> ronald reagan raised taxes 16 times. you're right, it's not ak are the -- accurate. >> he was against socialized health care. we could go on and on. >> you can go to the website. >> it's not reaganomics. >> on nald r >> reagan wanted to uncomplicate the tax code. >> i guess we could talk about every president. next time we'll go to the whole website. as i let you go, we have to bring up the parity the republicans are doing because of the website. you have to see their comeback. obama with einstein and bill gates in the early das of microsoft. do we have that image? we were supposed to have that image. gosh darn it. never mind. i guess you're going to have to go online and see it. we'll have to go see it. >> exactly. >> thank you. >> thank you, kyra. [ male announcer ] research suggests the health of our cells plays a key role

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like a squirrel stashes nuts, you may be muddling through allergies. try zyrtec® liquid gels. nothing starts working faster than zyrtec® at relieving your allergy symptoms for 24 hours. zyrtec®. love the air. okay. this just into cnn. we're learning that the official cause of the death of mary kennedy, the wife of robert kennedy, jr., who was found dead yesterday apparently the westchester county medical examiner has completed the autopsy, ruled that she died from asphyxiation due to hanging, and as you know, "the new york times" has been reporting that she died by suicide in the barn there on the family compound.

now we are learning according to the autopsy report coming to us now, they have declared her death asphyxiation by hanging. we will continue to cover the story. a single dad in california will never take that fact for granted. he has just come through a huge nightmare that started almost a year ago. his own relatives accusing him of molesting his twin daughters. their evidence, a bathtime photograph that he believes never would have been questioned if he were straight. reporter david begno of ktl a has the exclusive. >> i cried. >> reporter: paul got the phone call he has been waiting 11 months to get. >> it's just a relief. pressure valve i think was released that i didn't even know existed. >> reporter: the cloud of suspicion that's been hanging over him since his arrest in june of 2011 has been nothing less than a living hell. >> it's just nice not to have

that looming over your head. when people google your name, they'll find other things. >> reporter: if there is a google headline to be made, it is sweet vindication. >> initially these family members said i had raped my children. >> reporter: the accusers were distant relatives, the nanny who took care of his two twin daughters and her husband. together they accused him of rape based upon photos this acclaimed artist who shot everyone from political figures to celebrities took of himself with his daughters in a bathtub. >> i was just enraged that these people actually could do this. >> reporter: paul believe his situation as a single father made him vulnerable to the suspicions of others. >> i think gave them a lot of leeway to say that i shouldn't be taking pictures of naked kids in the bath. regardless of them being my own or not. >> reporter: he believes the malicious accusations may have

been motivated by the fact that he is gay. >> they called me a social deviant and a pervert and that all stemming from my sexuality. >> reporter: the day he was arrested his two daughters, blaze and zela, were taken from him and given to the accusers. kroo they were given the children. >> reporter: the accusers convinced authorities they were the best caretakers for the girls. but that did not last long. within six months after a rape kit came back negative and prosecutors seemed unconvinced by the allegation, paul got his girls back. >> daddy! >> what do you have? hi. >> hi, daddy. >> reporter: i don't have to tell you how much these little girls love their dad. >> i think this has made me a better parent. my circle is much tighter. the people who i let into my life is much tighter. and i intend on keeping it that way. >> and that was david begno from ktla in los angeles.

paul says he can't talk about his lawsuit against his accu accusers, but that aside he feels justice has been served. thanks for watching. you can continue the conversation with me on twitter @kyracnn. cnn "newsroom" continues with suzanne malveaux. mary kennedy died ofs asphyxiati asphyxiation. she hanged herself according to the medical examiner's office. the 52-year-old estranged wife of robert kennedy, jr., the mother of his four children was found dead yesterday at her home in suburban new york. jurors in the john edwards' corruption trial are listening to closing arguments right now. they're expected to begin dlib r rations tomorrow. he is accused of using almost $1 million of donations to keep an explosive secret from going public. his affair with rielle hunter and the baby they had together. another tragedy after for the famed kennedy family. the death of mary kennedy.

the 52-year-old estranged wife of robert kennedy, jr., found dead in her suburban new york home. autopsy results have been released. i want to go to alina cho in new york. we did just get news, confirmation, that she did commit suicide in this tragic death. >> we did, suzanne. not a surprise, but we did just hear from the westchester county medical examiner's office. just getting confirmation that the cause of death ises a fixation due to hanging. again, not a surprise. the official release will come out later today. as for the details, "the new york times" is citing two unnamed sources saying that mary kennedy's body was found hanging in a barn in the back of the main house. that she left a suicide note and that authorities when they arrived tried to cut her down and revive her but ultimately failed to do so. >> alina, do we know if any of her children were there?

do we know if she was alone? >> we believe that she was, from what i have read, suzanne. two of the children, the elder children, were in boarding school, and the other two were with the father, robert kennedy, jr. and you will recall that robert kennedy, jur., filed for divorc in 2010. >> we know she at some point struggled with substance abuse. she was also a very accomplished woman. what can you tell us about her? >> that's the part obviously that the family wants us to remember. mary kennedy surprisingly was quite an accomplished architect. she championed green design. at one point her firm worked on the vice president's residence. she was also quite a force in the community. she founded a charity called the food allergy initiative which was quite a prominent presence right here in new york. >> and, alina, it's another tragedy for this family, a long

history of tragedies in this family. how are they reacting? have they talked about it at all, what has taken place? >> talking so far, no, suzanne, but there have been two statements. mary kennedy's family released a statement through their attorney saying, quote, we deeply regret the death of our beloved sister, mary, whose radiant and creative spirit will be sorely missed by those who love her. our heart goes out to her children who she loved without reservation. now, remember, mary and robert kennedy had four children together, all of then under the age of 18, and that is a big reason why the nation's heart is breaking when they hear this story. meanwhile, robert kennedy, jr., issued his own statement saying in part that mary inspired our family with her kindness, her love, her gentle soul and generous spirit. but there, of course, were demons, as you pointed out, struggles with prescription drugs and alcohol arrests, two of them, involving driving under

the influence. all of that coming in 2010. not long after robert kennedy, jr., filed for divorce. it was around this same time two years ago just after mother's day, but interestingly enough, this is something that we know to be true and think often, but it isn't often said, one kennedy biographer spoke to erin burnett and said it's very hard being a kennedy. the overwhelming celebrity, the attention, the obligations, the expectations that you're supposed to do something with your life. it's all very, very hard. suzanne? >> hard, indeed. alina cho, thank you so much. now to the changing face of race in america. it's a historic milestone. whites now account for less than half of the births in the country. that's according to the census bureau. the majority of children younger than 1, 50.4%, are now minorities. it's beginning a much more

diverse america than ever before. what does it mean for the future? i want to bring in tom foreman to talk about the numbers and the stories behind them. so, tom, first of all, break down these numbers for us. >> this was a trend that demographers saw for a long time. this is where we stood in 2010. 49.5% of the population, this is the minority number, the collective minorities, all of the folks out there who are asian and hispanic and black and mixed race. that was the total number. now it's at 50.4%. another way of looking at it is a 1% change, and right now the white population in terms of the country, in terms of those less than 1 year old, is about 49.6%. important to note that we are talking about births in the country. this is not the overall population right now where the whites still hold a bigger majority, but the bigger majority they hold is also an older majority. so let's look at why this has happened. first of all, for the past 30 years, as everyone knows, there's been a massive

immigration from mexico. some of it legal, some of it illegal, but a lot of people coming over the border. that notably has basically stopped now because of the economy and because a very dramatic change in the birth rate in mexico. we're going to get to that in a moment. but the other reason it's happened is there's been a higher per family birth rate among the minority families in the country than among the white families. that's why we've seen this tipping in the number of people below 1-year-old in this country, although i will note that below 5-year-old still very, very close in terms of the number of minorities versus the number of white folks in this country. now, the one thing that i think people have to consider even as they look at this momentous news is whether or not it's predictive because there's some wild cards out there. does this really tell us what's going to happen in the future, 10 years, 15 years, 20 years down the line. is this a steady mamp march of

minority groups getting bigger and bigger? we don't know? it might be. the stall in mexican immigration has really changed things. last year all indications are that the greatest number of latino population growth, the greatest driver of latino growth in this country was birth within the country, not immigration. >> right. >> that's a big change from before. plus, this plunging birth rate in mexico. it's really dropped down there. you would wonder if there might be an echoing of that here as families become more established and simply changing habits. we can't count on people doing next year next year next year or doing 10 years or 15 years from now what they're doing thousand. >> what do we think of the implications of this? you have a whole younger generation being born in which minorities are the majority. does it have an economic impact? the politics could change? the very identity of our country? >> i think in some ways it means everything and it means nothing. the reason i say it means everything is, yes, it does change the identity of our

country. we have to look at all these different ways that people may look at the world, they may live, what they associate with, what they think. but remember these minority groups are still minority groups, not one of them is dominant enough to dictate except in certain areas. if you go to an area of the country that has a huge latino population, absolutely, they're going to have an impact on politics, on the economy, on society. but if you go to a part of the country that doesn't have so much, you're not going to see that so much. so i think what you will see is more of a localized effect, but on education right now, that's going to be one of the areas where you will really see a lot of talk about this because all those young kids coming into the system who are from minority groups are going to bring perhaps some different expectations, maybe some different needs because some ni north groups have been in economically struggling areas and the thation is going to have to be ready to deal with that because we're talking about a wave of kids coming along as all the baby boomers get older and have stopped having kids by and

large. that's going to be the big wildcard. what do we do in the future as we move toward that picture and how does it change the overall sense of ourselves. nonetheless, it's a milestone today. it's a very interesting change. >> absolutely. and so many things to follow. thank you, tom. appreciate it. here is what we're working on for this hour. iran stirring up more trouble. accused this time of running guns to the syrian government. so who is going to stop them? and what's on every stock brokers' mind right now in facebook. want to buy in? then you better know what you're doing. we'll cut through the hype. then who needs an excuse for a second cup. we get the latest word on what drinking coffee does for your health. [ male announcer ] they were born to climb...

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call now to get up to 1,375 dollars in rebates. or zero percent financing for 18 months. plus download our free lennox mobile app with an energy-savings calculator to show how much you'll save... with lennox. innovation never felt so good. syrian troops may be getting weapons from iran. iran is not allowed to sell weapons to anybody, and syria is under tough u.n. sanctions as well. syria is now fighting the longest and deadliest conflict of the arab spring. michael holmes is joining us to talk a little bit about this. it's not a surprise, but there is a report now that makes this official, that we now know that

this is the situation on the ground. neither one of them are allowed to be participating in this. so what do we make of u.n. sanctions? it seems like an utter failure. >> it has so far. nobody was listening, were they? this has been rumored for a long time, that iran was helping out with everything from crowd control, tear gas and stuff like that, to weapons. this is the first time we've had an official -- this is a committee of sanctions monitoring experts reporting to the u.n. saying in particular two specific shipments that were intercepted and had weapons bound for syria. so in terms of what can they do about it? well, the u.n. already has sanctions on iran and obviously on syria as well. the eu does as well on iran. you know, there's not a lot more they can do other than more sanctions and what they're going to do is black list the individuals and the companies they can link to these shipments as well. not a lot else they can do. >> you and i both covered some world leaders who seem to have at some point lost their sense of reality, whether it's moammar

gadhafi or president mubarak. now we have president assad who goes before russian television and seems to describe a scenario that is almost just too difficult to believe. he doesn't even believe that he is fighting his own people. i want you to listen to what he said. >> it's not an army, first of all, and it's not free because they get their arms from different foreign countries. that's why they are not free at all. they are a bunch of criminals who have been violating the law for years. the problem of terrorism is now very acute for syria. it seems to some people that if we conducted the reforms earlier, the situation would have been better now. it's not right for one reason, terrorists spit on reforms. they are not fighting for reforms. they are fighting to bring terror. >> so has he lost his sense of reality? how does he describe -- >> you think about it, with all of the arab spring countries, pretty much all the leaders said the same thing when the revolt started. it's not the people, the people

love me from gadhafi to mubarak. it's foreign intervention, it's foreign hands at play. so, you know, it's really a familiar tale for somebody that's coming up. and as you said, it's a sham that's meant to show that it's not a homegrown genuine the people revolting. it's those nasty foreigners and terrorists who are trying to stir up trouble. and as i say, it's very interesting that most of other arab spring countries we heard the same thing from the leaders about to go. >> it didn't work for then. what makes us think that assad believes it's going to work for him? >> the thing with assad, he thinks he can wait this out. he says the sanctions are hurting, but he's just going to defy it. he's going to just keep going. what is his choice? if he steps down he's either in exile or dead. he's going to hang on to the bitter end and there's not a lot that the outside world is doing about it. he also claims that weapons are coming into the opposition from lebanon and turkey, which they are. but apart from that, not much outside involvement. >> and the obama administration

clearly being pressured to do more when it comes to syria. it's something similar to what happened in libya. that is not happening. >> no. >> there does not seem to be a move to that happening. is there any pressure in the middle east for someone to take stronger actions to help the syrians on the ground who are being slaughtered? >> this is what allows bashar al assad to continue doing what he's doing. he knows that the west and others don't want to get involved in the way that they got involved in libya. syria isn't libya. libya was not the regional pivotal power play they're syria is. no one -- it didn't matter when gadhafi went in a regional sense. syria is stuck right in a very volatile and dangerous neighborhood. leban lebanon, which is always on the verge of being instable itself, we've already seen in the last few days sectarian clashes in the port city of tripoli. this is tripoli, lebanon, not tripoli in libya. sectarian clashes going on there. if west got involved, you can drag iran in.

iraq could get involved, and certainly lebanon could go to hell. now, if that happened, you're looking at a potential regional con flag gration. >> and you're looking a the an election season, too. they don't want to take too many chances. >> some people think you can do it in an aerial sense the way it was done in bosnia or whatever, but it's such an urban conflict type of situation that it's not like what happened in libya where you're bombing tanks out in the open. this is happening in towns and cities populated as well. very hard to see where this is going, but it's not going anywhere good. >> all right. michael holmes, thank you. breaking it down for us. hype overwhelming on wall street, so how do you get in on the snaction we're going to tell you about how to buy facebook but look before you leap. oooh...let's get tomato soup delivered. [siri] i found a number of restaurants [siri] whose reviews mention tomato soup and that deliver. good, 'cause i don't wanna put on real shoes. remind me to clean up...tomorrow.

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all right. the long wait to buy stock of facebook almost over. by the end of the day the initial stock price will be set probably between $34 and $38 a share. facebook's underwriters like banker morgan stanley and mutual funds, they will get the first crack at the stock. people like us will have to wait a little longer. if you want to buy, ali velshi tells you how.

>> reporter: don't worry about the ipo. for your purposes, facebook shares start trading on the nasdaq on day one. >> it's probably going to be a frenzy of many individual investors out there buying whether it's five shares, 20 shares, 100 shares, paying $9 to do it. that's going to be the first day. everybody watching can sit in front of the computer and be an owner. >> reporter: still interested? first thing you need is a brokerage account. as long as you live in a country that allows you to trade u.s. stocks, you just go to the site of an online broker. i happen to use td ameritrade, but they all work the same way. you click on trade, stocks and etfs, buy, let's say 50 shares of facebook. fb is the ticker. i want it to be a market order which means it doesn't matter what the price s i want 50 shares. i review my order and if it all looks right, i just click on this, place the order. then i'm an owner of facebook stock. now, the only good reason for you to buy facebook stock or any

stock for that matter is that one day you'll sell it for more than you paid for it. >> i think you're getting a very strong return there when you compare that to any other returns you have out there. >> robert peck specializes in internet and tech stocks. he says don't worry so much about day one, week one, or month one. he believes facebook could double in three years' time based on the fundamentals of its growth prospects. >> that's one of the reasons if you're holding a stock for the longer term, let the near term gyrations settle in, let the supply/demand curve settle out. if you get the opportunity to buy with the idea of holding for the longer term, you can get a good compounded return for your money. >> reporter: all you heard peck say is it could double. groupon and zynga are examples of recent ipos were prices surged initially before settling below the ip o price. the stock could be volatile. if you're a newbie, consider placing a limit order for the

stock meaning you will pay up to a certain amount for it and no more. like an auction bid. with a limit order, maybe you get the stock, maybe you won't. either way you might already be investing in facebook without even knowing it. many retirement accounts which invest in broad-based growth or technology stocks may be early buyers of facebook. and unlike you, the managers of those funds will get in at the ipo price. >> we think that's a great thing. we think they'll get exposure to the stock at a lower price. so we'll give them exposure to it wherever the ipo price settles at. >> reporter: if you're not into all that risk but you like facebook and it's a momentous occasion and you want to be a part of it, you can buy one certificate of the stock. you can buy it online. you don't have to open a trading account. you buy it, frame it, you put it on the wall. there is something this this for everyone. ali velshi, cnn, new york. and super pacs on the attacks as independent groups outside of the campaigns,

they're digging in and getting dirty for the fight for the white house. and don't forget you can watch cnn live on your computer at work. head to cnn.com/tv. it was soccer, and ballet, and cheerleading, and baseball. those years were crazy. so, as we go into this next phase, you know, a big part of it for us is that there isn't anything on the schedule. who have used androgel 1%, there's big news. presenting androgel 1.62%. both are used to treat men with low testosterone. androgel 1.62% is from the makers of the number one prescribed testosterone replacement therapy. it raises your testosterone levels, and... is concentrated, so you could use less gel. and with androgel 1.62%,

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lennox. innovation never felt so good. ballistic tests show the recent highway shooting deaths in mississippi are connected. that is according to a source who has been briefed on this investigation. a 74-year-old man was found dead in his car in the median of an interstate last week while a few days later a 48-year-old woman was found dead outside her car in the shoulder of that state highway. authorities say the victims did not know each other. investigators think the shooter may have posed as a police officer. fighting a battle against flesh-eating bacteria. that's right. it's the terrifying reality facing two women in the southeast. now, the latest case, a 36-year-old paramedic in south carolina. she was diagnosed with the bacterial infection just days after giving birth to twins.

she's hospitalized. she's in critical but stable condition. and then you have a graduate student, a georgia graduate student fighting for her life almost two weeks after getting infected. her leg had to be amputated, part of her abdomen removed. well, here you go. flame on the move. live pictures here from athens, greece. the time-honored ceremony bringing the newly lit

details around what happened, how old she is, the circumstances around her death. >> cnn has just confirmed that donna summer. she was born on flu year's eve

back. when she was a teenager she was cast in the international tour of hair. she met an actor named helmuth sommer in austria. when they marriage ended she held on to the last name, tweaked it a bit and bake donna sommer. she had huge hits in her career that we all came to really know. the real red hot arc of here kra career happened in 1977 and 1984. "i feel love" was and remains an iconic song. 1978, a huge year for donna sommer. she released a song that is still i think closing down parties all around the world to this day. last dance.

her first number one came in 1978 when she covered the classic "mcarthur park." 1979 really cemented her place as the queen of disco. iconic number one songs you know, "hot stuff" and "bad girls." one of her first hits was back in 1975. it was called "love to love you baby," and when that was released, it was very controversial. a couple versions came out. one was 17 minutes long and it really was at the very beginning of the disco era. there were a lot of moans and groans in that song, as you may remember. a lot of radio stations refused to play it because of that, and she actually distanced herself from that song. here we're listening to it right now. she distanced herself from it when she became much more spiritual and religious but embraced it later in her career. >> let's listen in, if he can, just a little bit. >> that would be great. ♪

♪ i love to love you baby ♪ i love to love you baby ♪ do it to me again and again ♪ ♪ love to love you baby ♪ love to love you baby ♪ love to love you baby

>> we want to welcome our ewe veers around the world. we are announcing the death of donna sommer, the queen of disco, and a.j. hammer and i were just talking about some of her hits there. a.j., she was really -- she started off in the church, the gospel tradition. she went on as a teenager. performing with her group, a rock band called crow. she went to europe and germany for a while and really found her voice there. was recognized as a superstar in europe first before coming back to the united states, and a.j., i have to tell you, i remember that "love to love you baby" song. i was very small and my siblings were very small as well. and we had no idea what she was saying. we thought it was lot ya lot ya, but when we started the moans and groans, my mother was so upset and said you cannot sing that song. that was one of the songs she was known for and pushing the envelope a little bit, too. she was very much embraced in

the '70s and '80s very much by the gay community. a lot of people who would love to dress up as donna sommer for parties and things like that, and really very welcoming, very warm to just a very eclectic group of people who used to follow her. >> i'll tell you, i have a very funny story of my own about a donna summer song "hot stuff," you remember that big hit. number one in 1979. i was young at the time. is on my way to school. my dad was driving. it came on the am radio and it was around the time of passover that year, and i was sure and i remember this to this day and i tell this story a lot, i was sure she was saying i want some matzo baby this evening, i want some matzo baby tonight for the jewish holiday of passover. obviously it was hot stuff and, boy, was it ever for her. i should point out even though she didn't have a lot of chart hits that we heard quite often on the road over the past few years, she was working throughout all of the time since

her major success really sort of waned at the end of the '80s. she had a couple hits after releasing an album in the a'80s. they reportedly has died of cancer and really kept it under wraps. we were not made aware of the fact that she was sick, and it really comes as a shock and a surprise to all of us today. it's one of those stories that when it crossed, we had no idea that it was even possible donna summer just 63 years old. >> do we have any idea, a.j., whether or not she was surrounded by family or friends or if she had reached out to people in her final days and final weeks? >> we're still awaiting confirmation on all of that. what we have learned is that she was in florida. i have seen reports where there were people with her as recently as a couple of weeks ago saying that she seemed okay and was eager to get back to work on whatever she was reportedly working on back in the studio.

so the details are still trickling in, the circumstances around her death, but again a real shocking loss not having even known that she was dealing with an illness pit. >> she also teamed up with barbra streisand and quincy jones, a lot of the music legends, the greats, that she had duets and also productions that were behind the scenes, and she really did kind of reach across a lot of different communities when you think about it because it was not just disco. it was gospel. it was rock. it was a little bit of everything that she kind of tossed it in, and she had that kind of attitude and that long hair that really said, you know, i'm here, i'm a presence here, and really took that whole era by storm, really pushing it, pushing the envelope a little bit i would say in the '70s and '80s. >> and she really defined diva well before a lot of people knew what the word "diva" meant and we know her as the queen of

disco because of the success she had. but in the early '80s she was eager to branch out and move away from the sound she had go then most closely associated with. she had worked from the very beginning with a producer and her record label had actually asked her to leave him and start working with quincy jones. she actually sort of developed a new wave sound in the early '80s. its influence can be seen in groups like duran duran and others. her album "the wanderer" really reflected that sound, and, of course, she even brought a little reggae sound. you might remember a song she did with musical youth that was a big hit, moderate hit for her, not a number one hit, but she did envelope her sound with some reggae influence at that time. her song, i believe it was 1983 "she works hard for the money," a not only huge hit but really an anthem, a song that still to this day you see a segment about women being empowered or segment

about that, that song is the one that still gets played even here in 2012. >> and if you want to bring a crowd to a frenzy, just play "last dance" and have everybody really from heartbreak to success to overcoming triumph and tragedy, that's one you play the album and everybody goes kind of crazy but she did a lot of collaborations with folks, very well-known people who have been in the news recently, aretha franklin being one of them, the bee gees, barbra streisand, even bette midler, all of them contributing to her body of work, and she really was a force to be reckoned with. her voice, the way she was able to really move people, to get them to get up, to dance, to celebrate, to cry a little bit, to reflect, to think about their own lives, and the fact this she was able to bring so many different kinds of people at that time. you might recall back in the day when music was more segregated and more defined, and she really

kind of broke out of those boxes, broke out of those definitions and went for it and worked with people across many different musical genres. >> it was very unifying. we just have some more information that's just coming into us, suzanne. donna summer's publicist, brian edwards, confirms the sing zer die this morning. the family released a statement being put in front of me this morning. early this morning we lost donna summer, a woman of many gifts. the greatest being her faith. wile we grieve her passing, we are at peace celebrating her extraordinary life and her continued legacy. words cannot express how much we appreciate your prayers and love for our family at this sensitive time. she was born in 1948 on new year's eve, 63 years old. losing just an icon in music quite unexpectedly, five-time grammy winner donna summer.

>> i wonder if we can listen in to some of her songs that we are playing. ♪ she works hard for the money ♪ so hard for it honey ♪ she works hard for the money so you better treat her right ♪ ♪ she works hard for the money ♪ so hard for it honey ♪ she works hard for the money so you better treat her right ♪ ♪ met her there in the corner >> donna summer, queen of disco, multitalented, five-time grammy winner has died today, and we are paying tribute to her this afternoon. we're going to have more. [ female announcer ] when skin meets goddess... romance happens. confidence happens. ♪

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. [ male announcer ] if you stash tissues like a squirrel stashes nuts, you may be muddling through allergies. try zyrtec® liquid gels. nothing starts working faster than zyrtec® at relieving your allergy symptoms for 24 hours. zyrtec®. love the air. we are following this breaking news story. done that summer, queen of disco, 63 years old, five-time grammy winner has died. we have a statement from her publicist saying this, early this morning we lost donna summer a woman of many gifts. the greatest being her faith. while we grieve her passing, we are at peace celebrating her extraordinary life and her continued legacy. words truly can't express how much we appreciate your prayers

and love for our family at this sensitive time. want to bring in gil robertson, urban music editor at cash box magazine. i understand you spent many years covering donna summer, talking to her, interviewing her, getting to know her and particularly at the height of her career. >> she was a remarkable talent. she had great energy. she was always fun, exciting to be around. >> and what do you remember about her that stands out in your mind? >> you know, probably her generous spirit. she was always -- any time she would come into the l.a. area, she would usually have sellout shows at the greek theater, at the hollywood bowl. i would go out to interview her and she was always very respectful, very friendly, very generous with her time. >> tell us a little bit about her struggle, if you will, if

she did struggle with her faith, her religion, and pushing the envelope a little bit in the age of disco with some of the lyrics, some of the, you know, the sexuality that was a part of her music. >> you know, i'm not really sure if that was a factor with the music. i think certainly from what -- in my dealings with her, she was able to separate the two. you know, her artist ry stemmed about her being a performer of dance music. i think as she got older religion began to play a greater role in how she saw herself an how she wanted to be seen by others. >> how did she see herself? >> to me she seemed as if she was a very -- she was a dedicated professional. i can recall sitting through a sound check at the universal amphitheater, and she ran through the numbers. she knew where everyone on that stage was supposed to be at, and she was just the consummate pro.

as far as how she interacted with her family, i do recall meeting her and her daughter, i believe it was one of the children who had become an actress, and she seemed to be a very loving mother as well. >> did she have more than one child? >> she had three. she had three daughters. she had -- her oldest daughter was from a relationship prior to her relationship to bruce. >> are her daughters like her? >> the one child that i met who was an actress seemed to definitely be interested in following in her mother's footsteps. she was an actress. i believe she did some work on an abc sitcom for a while. so she definitely had entertainment aspirations. >> gil, when was the last time you saw her? what did she look like? how was her demeanor? did you know she was sick? >> the last time i saw her was at the universal amphitheater probably four or five years ago,

and at that time i don't think -- she gave an amazing show that just -- the audience just did not want to let her off stage. it was truly one of those rare moments where you're seeing just a consummate pro, someone who has really put a stamp on pop culture at their finest. so the last time i saw her, she was doing quite well. >> and when she was performing, what was she feeling? what was she going through? did she even realize how much she gave to people, how excited and invigorated they were by her muse i can and h music and her passion? >> certainly from the awudience she certainty couldn't have not known she was respected. i think she recognized she made a lasting impact on pop culture. >> i want to welcome our viewers around the world, cnn international joining us now.

we're talking to gil robertson who has done numerous interviews with donna summer, and, gil, what was your sense of later in life, what she really wanted to be proud of, what she wanted to accomplish? >> you know, i think that her move away from los angeles to nashville in the late '90s was, you know, symbolic of her wanting to probably spend more time with her family and also get back centered on her craft as a songwriter. along of us forget that donna summer wrote a lot of the songs that were top ten and number one hits. she was a very, very, you know, gifted and talented songwriter, and i think part of the reason why she moved away from l.a. to nashville was to focus on that. >> and who did she collaborate with? who were some of her favorites she worked with at the height of her career? >> well, of course, she collaborated with barbra streisand on the number one hit "no more tears, enough is

enough" which was just on top of the charts for weeks and weeks and weeks. she worked with, you know, a number of leading producers throughout the years. she worked with the popular disco producer who produced a lot of her earlier hits. she worked with a lot of people across, you know, the pop music landscape. you know, she performed with orchestras throughout europe. she performed at the hollywood bowl. so she definitely was not -- was an artist who went beyond one single label. you know, donna summer could really do it all. she, you know, did country. she did r&b, she did classical. she really touched a lot of bases with her music. >> gil robertson, i want to thank you. at "cash box" magazine for your insights. i'm a huge fan. donna summer, just an extraordinary entertainer, an

inspiration to many for many, many decades. we're going to take a quick break and get back to the story. ♪ she works hard for the money so you better treat her right ♪

breaking news story. donna summer, the queen of disco who really made a name for her, an icon in the music business, has died. she was 63 years old. we understand that she had cancer, and just a lot of love,

a lot of support coming in, a lot of people tweeting about it. i want to play one of her songs, one of her songs that was quite a hit and made a difference in a lot of people's lives. ♪ >> want to bring in entertainment correspondent a.j. hammer. a.j., i mean, there are so many songs that are huge hits that you love and it brings you back to your childhood, it makes you feel good. it brings back all the emotion, "love to love you baby" when we were just kids, but "last dance." i mean, she really spoke to a lot of people and just so many different groups of folks who came together in the '70s and '80s in the disco era. >> and you listen to the song you were just playing "i feel love" which really was her first major thumping disco hit, you can feel the thump in a club.

even if you were never in a club that played that song. it just has that sound about it. that was a song that went on to be sampled by many artists in their music later in donna's life, but artists like madonna and moby have sampled that song "i feel love." you think about all the hits, "mcarthur park" a song that was a hit decades ago but she took it to number one. "someone left the cake out in the rain," she turned that into a fantastic disco song. for me as somebody who played these songs on the radio, we always have a special relationship with these songs we would play over and over and "mcarthur park" was one. the edited short version or the one that went on for seven minutes. "last dance," still played around the world. a songsg~vnóíodv going back 30-

years. >> and "bad girls." that allowed everybody to feel a little bit naughty and free at the time. just being there on the dance floor with the lights going and all of that. it really kind of -- really perpetuated a sense of celebration, a sense of freedom, a lot of people who at the time, you know, people laugh when they look at the outfits and the music, but it was really -- it was a lot of fun, and i think she allowed people to be themselves, to express themen themselves. i think i mentioned before a lot people in the gay community, men who were dressing up as donna summer, wanted to emulate donna summer in a way were there and felt free. i want to read some of the tweets coming in. these are celebrities. a lot of them. mary j. blige, rip donna summer. you were a game-changer. holly robinson peete talking about "the last dance." donna summer, the voice.

well done diva and then she has long tears. roseanne barr, rip, donna summer dead at 63. she works hard for the money was my favorite song. we're going to have a little bit more of these tweets, the music, the memories of donna summer after we take a quick break. ♪ a route map shows you where we go. but not how we get there. because in this business, there are no straight lines.

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