presents." those are cultural events being held around london to kick off the 2012 olympics. and a torchbearer holds the olympic flame at the coventry cathedral ruins in london. the olympic flame is now on day 45 of a 70-day relay involving 8,000 torchbearers and spanning 8,000 miles. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com i'm suzanne malveaux, this hour on "cnn newsroom" we're focusing on the death of an icon. the tens of thousands of people still left in the dark in the northeast. and a new political poll that shows president obama holding just a three-point lead over mitt romney. want to get right to it. first, actor andy griffith has died. we all remember iconic show theme and his folksy manner made him a star in the 1960s. as sheriff andy taylor on "the andy griffith show." set in the fictional town of

mayberry. griffith played a single bad who kept the peace and doled out advice in a country town. in the 1980s he found fame again in the courtroom drama "matlock." he was a member of the tv and christian music hall of fame. want to bring in our own larry king who joins us by phone who knows mr. griffith well. you interviewed him several times. give us your impressions, your sense of who he was. >> well, suzanne, he was an incredible person. not only as a talent but as a friend and as an individual. he was always kind and sweet and he was an underrated performer in my opinion. he did a movie called "a face in the crowd" in which he played a -- i guess it was sort of a controlling media figure who played sort of a hit who suddenly becomes a famous

american, influencing politics and everything has and his comeuppance at the end. he got an academy award nomination. he was bbrilliant. he did a play call eed "no time for sergeants" which was turned into a film, a great theatrical comedy. ran a long, long time. he made a comedy album called "what it was was football." what can you say about what he did on american television with two, two great series and fostering a career of ron howard who has gone on to become one of the major directors? i did a show with andy and ron together, and it was just tremendous to watch the two of them interchange. he lived a long, fruitful life. i never knew anyone who had a bad word to say about him. >> i loved growing up when i was a kid watching him on his show, and you really just got a sense that he had such a sweet soul.

the last time you talked to him was 2006. what was he doing? what was he going through? >> he was -- i think -- i guess the death of a good friend. he was -- he was in retirement. he would make an occasional appearance on a television series. of course, that, the series where he played the lawyer keeps playing. you keep seeing it everywhere. he was in retirement. he was looking back on a very proud career. i think he never got enough credit for the kind of actor he was, though, because he was so, so sweet and so homespun. it was hard to believe, but if you see, if the audience watching could see a face in the crowd, i'm sure it's available, dvds, it's probably seen on hbo or turner classic movies probably has shown it. it's one of the great performances. he plays a totally evil, corrupted person. something you'd never think of andy griffith. i mean, he's brilliant.

>> larry, i want our viewers to listen to this, to the theme song of his show. titled show. because it really is what so many people recall when they say him. ♪ >> "the andy griffith show." starring andy griffith. >> he's supposed to make him side burns. >> larry, what do you think is the one thing people didn't know about him, something you learned over many years you spent time with him? >> that was he was a very serious, devout actor, that he cared a lot about his craft, and that he was more than just this homespun nice guy. there was a lot of deepness to him. there was an extraordinary range to him which i said he never got enough credit for. but he so symbolized with that one character, sheriff andy, that that's going to be emblazoned in the public's mind forever and people will talk about him for a long time.

when you think of andy griffith, that's the first thing you think of. friendly andy, is he ever going to get married? with the aunt and assistant sheriff and characters around him. the people he got started in the business. andy griffith, you said it best, he's an american icon. there will never be another like him. >> all right. well said. larry king, thank you very much. >> thank you, suzanne. >> thank you. in colorado, some families are now returning home. others are going back to find rubble. their homes destroyed by raging wildfires. at least two people now have died in the state's most destructive wildfire ever. the u.s. forest service is warning it could be mid-july before all these fires are out. the crews who fight the fires, of course, heroes. today, people mourning four members of the fire fighting team. their c-130 military plane crashed sunday night in north dakota. the crew members were in the north carolina national guard

helping with fire control efforts in the black hills. flags are now flying at half-staff across north carolina today. no power, no patience for the fourth consecutive day. we're talking about hundreds of thousands of americans still in the dark. i want you to check out this map. more than 1 million customers from indiana to new jersey sweating it out without air-conditioning. the biggest numbers are in west virginia. more than 350,000. and virginia, almost 279,000. sandra is in arlington where they're simply wondering when are the lights going to come back on? >> reporter: suzanne, there's slow progress being made. still more than 1 million people across 11 states are without power. take a look at the devastation still left behind by the violent storms. you can see the downed power lines here across this street. and take a look at this tree that was completely destroyed by the storm. you an see that big tree trunk which just smashed on top of that ar thecar parked in a driv. this is a scene so many communities are dealing with. the cleanup effort is a big one.

power companies, utility workers have their work cut out for them. they're trying to meet the massive demand. we talked to one worker who said it's just a logistical problem, it's going to take time. they're trying to move in heavy equipment to clear the debris away so they can get to the power lines and restore the power. clearly for a lot of residents who have been without power for days, the heat is really waring on them. they're going to cooling centers, libraries, shopping centers, and community pools. any way they can find to try to stay cool. that's going to be the case today when the temperatures may reach triple digits in many reasons. right now the big question is how long will their patience last and when will the lights come back on? >> lizzie o'leary, the reason behind the power delays. my family is there and my parents are without power. my sister. everybody is kind of miserable at this point. so how long do we think it's going to take? are people actually holding the power companies accountable

here? >> well, that's certainly what you are starting to hear from a lot of local government folks. they have been quite tight with the power companies here in the region in the past. you are hearing from the power companies, essentially, look, we are doing the best we can. we're not going to give you a specific timetable for when things will be restored because we don't want to get false hopes up. they said they were adequately prepared. that's a big question going around. they said the storm was sudden. i want to play sound from a pepco executive saying, look, we did the best we can, this is an act of god. >> mother nature isn't something i can control. you can't control the storm, can't control the damage that takes place to our system, can't control the mature trees that crash down on the ns infrastructure, homes, cars. we can control our response. to the extent we could be prepared, we were prepared. the extent we can get resources from other utilities, we have. >> and that's obviously what you

saw from sandra endo, this kind of attempt by the part of the several power companies in this region and across the country in the areas to try to get things back up and running but it's slow if you're talking about day five with no power and around here no air-conditioning. >> yeah. rough going there. is anybody monitoring the power companies to make sure they are actually, you know, keeping their feet to the fire? >> well, this is one of the tricky questions. remember that the power industry in really the electricsphere was deregulated in the late '90s. you have a mix of different companies and different watchdogs. you have also had over the past couple of years some folks in connecticut this happened. the attorney general is trying to push the power company to basically not shove off any costs after hurricane irene on to its customers saying you can't raise rates for that. here in the d.c. area, the maryland regulators fined pepco, the company you just heard from

the president there, for a lot of outages in 2010. they fined them about $1 million. it's a hodgepodge because you have different kinds of companies regulated by different state and local entities. >> lizzie, some people are saying if they just buried the power lines they would have prevented this from happening. are they considering doing something like that in d.c. and maryland. >> yes, they are. that's one of the big questions here. how much damage would you save if power lines were buried? my neighborhood, more urban, denser, they're buried. they're protected from storm damage that way. it's expensive to do it. that's what the companies say, they say it could cost ten times as much. pepco says if they did a full underground it would raise everybody's electric bill by $200 a month. if there is damage to those underground lines, it can be harder to fix. they are looking at doing it here, the city of anaheim, california, is in the middle of doing this. and the cost, suzanne, is about $3.2 million per mile of cable. >> wow. lot of money.

all right. lizzie, hope the power comes back on shortly. thank you. here's what we're working on this hour. the family of a vietnam vet shot to death by police after he accidentally called for medical help. they're now suing. iran says it's test firing missiles this week, part of war games practice. meanwhile, the u.s. moved military reinforcements into the persian gulf. we're going to talk to former defense secretary william cohen about what's going on. known as the millennial generation. a new study finding they don't like to drive. many ways they differ in the boomers and the gen-xers. meineke's personal pricing on brakes.

i tell mike what i can spend. i do my best to make that work. we're driving safely. and sue saved money on brakes. now that's personal pricing. an ex-marine was fatally shot inside his apartment in suburban new york. his grieving family is now

demanding answers. the elderly man, he was black, and the officer who fired the fatal shots is white. many are saying that they believe that race was a factor. soledad o'brien is investigating. >> reporter: the alarm rang in at 5:00 a.m. on a cold winter morning. a 68-year-old vietnam vet with a severe heart condition had set off his medical alert device. but instead of an ambulance, police arrived at kenneth chamberlain's apartment. neighbors saw guns drawn, a riot shield. >> they stated that if he didn't come open the door they was going to knock it down. >> reporter: his niece who lives upstairs told police at the scene he set off the alarm accidentally, to please let his family talk to him. >> i just kept hearing my uncle, you know, respond, please leave me alone, go away, i didn't call you, i don't need your help. >> reporter: chamberlain and the police were being recorded by the alert device. >> you hear one of the officers use an expletive. that's when he said he didn't

give an f, used the n word. >> reporter: the n word? >> yes. >> law enforcement sources confirm that's on the tape. there's more. later the district attorney showed the family two videos in their custody, one from a hallway security camera, another recorded by a camera on taser gun. kenneth junior demonstrated what he saw. what's he doing? >> standing there, looking at them. you hear the officers saying, hit it again. hit it again. hit it again. and then at one point you hear the officers say, shut it off. so the last part that i saw on the video with my father was him just like this. >> reporter: police say chamberlain threatened them with knives. >> the officers first used an electronic taser which was discharged, hit the victim, and had no effect. while the officers were retreating, the officers then used a shotgun, a bean bag

shotgun. >> reporter: so then they fired two real bullets. an autopsy report obtained by cnn shows them entering the side of his arm, indicating chamberlain was not facing the officers or had turned away. >> so the story that the police put out that he was an ax wielding black man trying to hurt a police officer is what it is, a flat-out lie. >> reporter: chamberlain's lawyers acknowledge he did throw out a silver object. >> at that moment, a bolt cutter comes from the police officers and removes the object. so from that point forward, there's absolutely no evidence that at any time mr. chamberlain had a weapon in his hands. >> reporter: there is no way to know. the taser video suddenly cuts off before the shots are fired. so you must have thought it is ironic in sort of the terrible way that someone summoned to your father's door to help save his life, if he had been having some kind of heart emergency -- >> yes.

>> reporter: -- ended up shooting him. >> yes. and they took his life. unnecessarily. they didn't have to. >> reporter: chamberlain's niece wants to know why police couldn't defuse the confrontation and wouldn't ask the family to help. >> just to hear him constantly say over and over again, please leave me alone, i'm okay, and the way they mocked him and picked at him. it's very hurtful. >> chamberlain's family members have filed a $21 million federal lawsuit. their attorney randolph mclaughlin is joining us from new york. first of all, the grand jury voted not to indict any police officers after looking at more than 100 pieces of evidence and hearing testimony from 42 witnesses including police as well as some family members and neighbors. you insist that this was a crime. explain why. >> there was absolutely nothing

that warranted the type of intervention that these police officers engaged in at mr. chamberlain's home. he was in his home quietly minding his own business sleeping. they broke his door down. cursed at him. used the "n" word. fired bean bags then ultimately killed him. without any provocation. regardless of what they're trying to say, there was absolutely no evidence that he ever left that apartment and threatened anyone. that's a crime. >> what do you make of the case they say the officers felt threatened and used appropriate action? >> the only one who was threatened here who felt threatened here was mr. chamberlain. these officers broke his door down, essentially tortured him by discharging that taser and it didn't work, but it did work in this regard. the autopsy revealed that the skin marks where the taser entered his flesh were burned. they were literally running electric charges through this

man's body. he did nothing to warrant that type of activity. the police department had a number of steps they could have taken and failed to take any steps to defuse this confrontation. >> is there a history of racial brutality in this community? >> well, interestingly, three of the officers who are on the scene that day including the shooter, each of them were involved at the time of this case. in pending civil rights cases involving allegations of racial slurs, ethnic slurs, excessive force and brutality. so, yes, there is a pattern in practice here of engaging in what we believe to be racist police violence. >> what would you want the community -- what would you want people to know about kenneth chamberlain? >> he was a veteran. 68-year-old veteran. a man with a chronic pulmonary condition. he couldn't even walk up a flight of steps without wheezing and having real difficulty. i mean, this man was in his home

and an alarm went off. he was expecting, if anything at all, because he didn't know the thing had gone off, an ambulance, some sort of medical attention. but here he served his country, on the anniversary of july 4th, when we fought a war to prevent police officers, military officer, the british from breaking our doors down and just invading our homes. here that's exactly what happened to him. it was lawlessness at its height. >> all right, we have to leave it there. thank you very much. appreciate your perspective and your time. i want to make sure that you know that the white plains police department would not give us a statement. we had sought a statement from them. instead they turned us over to the mayor's office. they issued a statement saying "it is pending litigation. it is not the city's practice to comment on pending litigation." so we have tried to reach out and get a statement. we also got a statement from the westchester district attorney's office saying, "we're not a

party to the lawsuit so we do not wish to make a statement." a driver's license, something many of us couldn't wait to do when we were young. that is not the case for the generation known as the millennials. we're going to find out why.

back in the day as soon as i was old enough to get my license, i headed straight to the dmv. we did the same thing, except for a couple younger folks on the team. a broader trend. it's the generation "y" age 16 to 34. not driven to drive like we were. i wanted to know why. we're talking to chip espinosa, from california, co-author of the book "managing the

millennials." chip, my niece, she's 18. she doesn't care either. she doesn't have a license either. why is this happening? >> part of it, they don't have the felt needs. it's not a milestone for them. if you really look at it, probably a milestone for them is getting their first smartphone. because for us, when we were growing up, it was like, hey, if you wanted independence, you got a car or go meet with friends and hook up or if you wanted your world to be expanded. a driver's license was that. but you get a smartphone, what have you done? you know, you've given yourself a little bit of autonomy, you have some relationship building tools and your world is expanding. i'd say probably for them the smartphone is more important. as a matter of fact, it's kind of funny, preparing for this. i was talking to my son. he's 19. his car has been parked in the garage for a month. i asked him, did you start it, see if the battery still worked? i said, why aren't you driving it? he said, i like driving with my friends. we pool our money together for

gas and those kinds of things. i said, i don't know if i could have gone a month without a car. he lost his cell phone a day ago and in half a day he's about to kill himself. >> i guess that's just the way it is now. i want to show you some numbers here. some other reasons about the change here. one in four millennials they call them don't have a driver's license. that was back in 2010. that's up five points from the year 2000. some of the reasons we understand, high cost of maintaining a car, computer, smartphone, apps making it easier to take public transportation. so do we think maybe this is a good thing, maybe the environment is going to be protected more, less smog, gas, the whole bit? >> i think they are conscious about their carbon footprint, probably more than any other generation. and i think that probably the cost of gasoline and those kinds of things, fossil fuels, have come into play for them. i think public transportation has gotten better. the tools that they have to negotiate that. so i think in many ways, you know, millennials might have more options. but still, i look at southern

california, which your car's your identity, and out here it just doesn't matter to them. my friends and i, colleagues at red tree leadership, we spent a lot of time researching this generation to try to help managers, you know, understand them. it's kind of funny, talking to a manager the other day, i was telling him a little bit about this topic. he says, oh, they're driving all right. they're just driving us crazy. so i think when they act differently than we do, we see this real kind of disconnect. and i'm not so sure that millennials aren't excited about driving. it's just if you look at adolescence, we talk about it starting earlier and lasting longer. >> chip, finally -- yeah? >> yeah, so like a driver's license, going for it isn't a big milestone. they have time to do it. a parent who would be concerned about their son or daughter not getting a license, they're also concerned, hey, when are you going to graduate from college, when are you going to move out of the house, when are you going to settle into a career? all of those things are milestones being put off. >> it's an interesting time. chip, thank you so much.

good to see you. iran playing war games in the gulf this week, as an oil embargo hits the country. i want to show you why the u.s. is building up military reinforcements in the region. don't forget, watch cnn live on your computer while at work. head to cnn.com/tv. zagat just gave hertz its top rating in 15 categories, including best overall car rental. so elevate your next car rental experience with the best. it's just another way you'll be traveling at the speed of hertz.

an american graduate student is in stable condition after being attacked by two chimpanzees at a sanctuary in south africa. attack happened last thursday at the chimpanzee sanctuary. the student originally from los angeles was on a tour, crossed over one of the fences that separates the public from the animals. that's when the chimps attacked.

now, the student who is studying anthropology has worked with chimps before at the goodall institute. ceo of full tilt poker, online gambling website has been arrested for allegedly running a $430 million ponzi scheme. raymond lied to players about the security of their funds and fixed the games against them. as of june last year, full tilt poker owed $300 million to players but only had $6 million to pay. we are down to just four months until the election. pretty tight race between the presidential contenders. want you to check out our new cnn orc poll. president obama holds just a three-point lead over mitt romney. it is the exact same margin as last month. joe johns reporting that it is just part of the story. >> reporter: even though the president maintains a slight edge in our nationwide polling it appears to be a different story in the 15 battleground states including iowa where we

met this group of young voters at the court avenue restaurant and brewing company in des moines. our latest cnn orc poll indicates mitt romney is out to an eight point 51% to 43% advantage among registered voters in the 15 states we consider in play. the seven true tossup states and the eight states leaning either toward the president or his republican challenger. nick has supported romney since the iowa caucuses and says he sees the candidate's pragmatism as a key selling point. >> if you look at his record in terms of his ability and the private sector, being governor of massachusetts, there's interesting insight into his ability just to solve problems and barack obama's had four years to solve some problems. i think he's lacked leadership and a lot of direction, so i think mitt romney is just really strong when it comes to solving problems and being very pragmatic. >> reporter: the news is not all good for the republican challenger, however. as a presidential election approaches, few things are seen as more important than voter enthusiasm. and the incumbent president seems to have it on his side, at

least for now. in march, only 46% of democrats said they were enthusiastic about voting in november and now that number is up to 59%. a 13-point increase. >> i'm very excited for this election and i've been really pleased that president obama's put his neck out on the line for students. >> reporter: for romney, not so much. republican enthusiasm has remained almost constant. 52% in march versus 51% now. it's a very different race from the last time obama and romney ran for president. >> i think our generation is less connected with this election than they were in 2008. primarily because in 2008 most of us were first-time voters. >> joe johns has moved on from iowa now to ohio. it's of course another key battleground state. joe, so first of all, it's kind of surprising for people to believe, but i know that people are last minute sometimes about making up their minds. why haven't they decided which way they're going to go? >> reporter: well, it's kind of hard to say, i have to tell you.

in iowa yesterday, as a very good example, suzanne, i talked to a number of voters, all of whom said they hadn't made up their minds. when you look at the cnn polling. indicates something like 79% of respondents said they have made up their minds. 21% or 20% or so have said, no, they haven't made up their minds yet. so it's that 20% that the candidates are going after. and obviously, i mean, you know what the issues are. >> and also, columbus, of course, where you are now, what is at the top of their minds, voters' minds there? what are they telling you they're interested in learning about these two? >> reporter: not surprisingly, it's jobs and the economy all over again. and when you go around this country, particularly to the battleground states, you see a real mixed bag of what's going on. for example, here in ohio, job situation has gotten much better. there's been a pretty reasonable improvement in the unemployment

picture, but when you ask people if they think things have gotten better, there's still a lot of pessimism. 55% or so of ohioans saying they think things are on the wrong track. so there's still a lot of work to do in that gap between what people think is the reality and what's actually going on at least according to the numbers. >> all right. joe, good to see you. thanks, joe. iran playing war games in the gulf this week. just as an oil embargo is hitting the country. going to show you why the u.s. is building up military reinforcements in the region. thank you so much, i appreciate it, i'll be right back. they didn't take a dime. how much in fees does your bank take to watch your money ? if your bank takes more money than a stranger, you need an ally. ally bank. no nonsense. just people sense.

a dangerous military buildup is under way in the gulf. both the u.s. and iran are showing force. the u.s. navy quietly deployed extra ships as a signal to iran not to attempt to block the strait of hormuz which is critical to shipping oil around the world. more american fighter jets are now in position capable of striking deep into iran if the standoff over its nuclear program escalates. meanwhile, the iranians are conducting a second day of war games. they have fired missiles capable of hitting u.s. warships and american troops in the region. want to bring in former defense secretary william cohen who swro joins us from washington to talk about this. does this alarm you in any way when you see what is taking place on both sides? >> well, no, it's actually quite predi predictable because the president laid out a strategy trying to cope with iran's desire to become a nuclear

weapons state. there are three options in dealing with iran and they're all bad. number one is intensify the sanctions. try to bring as much pressure as we can to the international community on iran to persuade them to give up their program. number two, to launch a military strike with all of the untoward consequences that would entail. or number three, live with the iranian bomb. so the president has been pursuing the policy of trying to intensify sanctions, and so far this has been predictable, in order to back up the sanctions, to say don't take a move, iran, and miscalculate here because you might try to shut down the strait of hormuz, but we can keep it open. so it would be a temporary shutdown only. what iran is seeking to do is obviously they're suffering a loss in exports, down about 40%. the prices are up about $is15 a barrel. they're feeling the pressure. they're trying to rattle the markets by saying we're going to take military action. the price of oil then goes up.

the administration is trying to calm the markets saying we have things in place to prevent you from shutting it down for any length of time. >> is it possible this is not working in their favor? you have these international sanctions that are really forcing iran in some ways, cooperate with world leaders in the nuclear program, but it seems like they're behaving in the opposite way. >> well, this is part of the iranian tactic as well to try to, again, rattle the market and say we're prepared to take this kind of military action. the danger, of course, is there can be a miscalculation, a miscalculation on iran's part. also we have to make sure the israelis don't take this buildup as any sort of sanction for them to take military action. so we ought to be careful here. the israelis have indicated they're not going to alert the united states on any possible military action. i think under the circumstances they have an obligation to coordinate very carefully with the united states and to make sure that they're satisfied that they're being protected along

with all the other gulf states but not take any military objection on their own without certainly cooperating fully with the united states. i hope that doesn't take place. i think the sanctions are really starting to take effect. let me say china is the only country now that holds the china card. it's time for china to play it, to go to iran quietly and say, it's time for you and everyone to reach an agreement. i think they have that power and ought to exercise it. >> i don't want to let you go before asking you briefly about syria, whether or not the administration is doing enough here to work with the syrian government to try to overthrow assad. >> well, we're working with all of the countries in the gulf region. working with turkey and others and with russia. i mentioned the china card a moment ago in dealing with iran, but russia has a russian card in dealing with syria. and i think that they should understand the gravity of the circumstances that if this continues you're going to continue to see the gulf states provide weapons and ammunitions to the resistance.

you'll see the united states providing some intelligence, and then you're going to see inevitably some sort of safe haven set up then there will be a demand for no-fly zones, et cetera. i think russia has an opportunity to play a very key role here and i think they'll take this opportunity to become a statesman and not simply look to a client state like syria and sell them $500 million worth of weapons. they have an opportunity to bring about a peaceful result. >> bill cohen, good to see you as always. wisconsin auto works who lost their jobs are deciding who they're going to vote for this november. we're going to go straight to the rust belt. it's the priceline negotiator. >>what? >>sorry. he wants you to know about priceline's new express deals. it's a faster way to get a great hotel deal without bidding. pick one with a pool, a gym, a great guest rating. >>and save big. >>thanks negotiator. wherever you are. ya, no. he's over here.

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economy driving a lot of differing opinions in the election this year. the rust belt, the auto industry has taken a big hit. workers are divided over who's going to do most for them. poppy harlow, she hit the road for feedback from folks in key auto towns. >> we led auto. i mean, this town and gm went hand in hand. >> reporter: how many years as an auto worker? >> 30.7 when the plant closed. >> reporter: this gm plant is more than 4 million square feet. it was filled with thousands of workers until it closed just a few years ago. some of them took buyouts, others moved to gm plants in other states, and others stayed here in janesville trying to g figure out their place, their job, in this one auto town. i first visited janesville in

2009 right after gm shut its doors here. three years later, we found janesville trying to build back. >> it's a town without an identity. >> the town with more unemployment and more foreclosed homes and more people that want to work that just don't have that option anymore. >> they want jobs and good jobs. >> reporter: is it still a union town? sfwla >> that's changed. it's not a union centered town anymore. >> reporter: like it was in '08. it's a democratically heavy down. you think it would be a shoe in for president obama. that's not what we found. >> the country needs to change direction. >> reporter: we met john and sherry at a rally, john worked at the gm for 36 years, a material supervisor. >> conservative democrats will not vote for obama. they're going to vote for somebody to get this town and country back on the right track. >> reporter: what candidate provides you more of an economic opportunity to make it?

>> it's mitt romney. no question. >> what he said today, i'm going to get back to work, i'm going to get you guys to work. i care about it. >> reporter: we hear the same thing from president obama. >> but we see mitt romney's proved it as governor. he's proved it when he was working for his company. >> i know plenty of people who voted for obama in '08 and not going to do the same in '12. they, like i said, there's just disappointment. >> reporter: disappointment that unemployment is still 9% here. even though improved from more than 15% when the plant closed. >> i think obama's real motive was to put union people back to work. it wasn't to save general motors. >> reporter: and it didn't save eric kenne's job on the production line. since the plant closed he's been mowing lawns at the local golf course. >> i'm never going to make what i made at gm again. >> reporter: still he supports president obama and the auto bailout for the jobs it did save. >> i believe president obama is working for the working man. i voted for reagan twice, okay?

wish i hadn't. trickle down economics where we all wait for a couple of quarters to fall out of the fat guy's pocket, this is why we're where we're at. >> reporter: at sunset, church league softball where we met linda. who are you supporting? >> mitt romney. >> reporter: for two reasons, she says. his opposition to the auto bailout and what he did for the company where she works now. >> what he's done with the staples store as far as that goes, and how he has -- >> reporter: so his record at bain capital? >> yes. i don't think that was a bad thing. he's part of the reason i have a job today. >> reporter: should we think of this as a swing state now? >> absolutely. just look what happened in the recall. we've turned into a red state. >> you don't see it on the news, but i think it's going to be a swing state. >> our state is really divided. just like the country's divided. >> reporter: as for this town, it's still suffering and waiting for jobs.

poppy harlow, cnn, janesville, wisconsin. a georgia woman who waged a two-month battle against flesh eating bacteria has now been released from the hospital with multiple amputations. we're going to tell you what is next for this brave 24-year-old. this isn't just a teddy bear. it's a step towards normal. it's why allstate catastrophe teams didn't just arrive at these fires with cold water and checks to help the grown-ups start the rebuilding... they also brought thousands of these teddy bears for kids. people come first. everything else is second. [ female announcer ] allstate customers affected by the recent wildfires call 1-800-547-8676. visit a mobile claims office, your agent or allstate.com

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she has become the symbol 07 strength and. jennifer is joining us. she's entering a new phase. >> we take it for granted. right now regaining strength.

>> is that going to be the rest of her life. >> she's in a wheelchair. >> she has prosthetic legs. one of the things he said is shechs excited to get started. she was like when will you be here so i can tell you about it. she's amazing. the other thing is she's looking at this like the first day of college. she's excited but knows this is a big challenge. >> she has a smile on her face that's so inspiring to see that. she moves back to her home and there's a whole renovation project to take place. >> i'm calling this the extreme makeover. this is family that doesn't do anything small. they have volunteers. the architects volunteered. the contractors volunteers. late last night andy said they have the guys that will build the house have volunteered.

they are rebuilding the house. they're going to put in a new bedroom, bathroom, elevator so that she can get around. she wants to finish her degree. she is studying to be a therapist. he wants this done in six weeks. >> talk about her mental capabilities. she has a lot of strength that a lot of people wouldn't have. >> i think she has, she didn't lose anything mentally when this happened which is great. i think she has fortitude. if you look on her facebook page she's got 50,000 likes on the amy copeland facebook page. she is determined. when she does have moments of doubt, of depression her dad has written about that. she's amazing. she's an inspiration for people around the world. >> jennifer, good to see you. thank you for your excellent

reporting. tonight, here on cnn,er rin burnett is talking to the 24-year-old's parents about their daughter's ordeal. we'll have that tonight at 7:00 eastern. thousands fled the danger of the colorado wildfires. we're going to take a look at some people whose job is literally to jump into those flames. roc® retinol. found in roc® retinol correxion deep wrinkle night cream. it's clinically proven to give 10 years back to the look of skin. now for maximum results... the power of roc® retinol is intensified with a serum to create retinol correxion® max. it's proven to be 4x better at smoothing lines and deep wrinkles than professional treatments. new roc® retinol correxion® max. nothing's better than gold. here at the hutchison household. but one dark stormy evening... there were two things i could tell: she needed a good meal and a good family. so we gave her what our other cats love,

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they leap right into the

wild fair battling to bring it under control. the waldo canyon fire destroyed over 250 homes. we go to colorado smoke jumpers. >> reporter: there are only 430 of them in the entire u.s. they are among the fire fight g ing elite. they have the smoke jumpers. many of them are in colorado now marching onto aircraft which is their transportation to the action. their job, to fly into the fires just as new ones are starting up and stop them from getting bigger. this is video the smoke jumpers just brought back. it's hard to spot the flames from up here at 1500 feet, but the smoke jumpers are trained to see them. it's all clear on the ground. nowhere near any roads and sometimes quite a distance from civilization. smoke jumpers court disaster every day they're on the job. >> you talk to people you know

and you tell them what you do, what do they say to you? >> they think i should get my head examined. >> reporter: part of the reason is because of how they get to the fire. it's not an occupation for the timid particularly in this specialty. take a look. these guys sky dive into potentially deadly wilderness. we were invited to watch the smoke jumpers train in this canyon. after the smoke jumpers land their equipment is attached to its own parachute. >> the hand tools we use for fighting fires. >> reporter: the smoke jumpers who work for the u.s. department of agriculture and interiors have mres and water in their sleeping boxing. they may be in the wilderness up to 48 hours. >> usually weighs up to 100 to

120 pounds, and we'll hike out. >> reporter: there are so many ways to get hurt including lightning and bad parachute landing. he was once hurt when he missed the target. >> had a branch of a tree puncture rate. it came through the pelvis. the personnel i was with was a trained paramedic. >> reporter: they clear fuel with their equipment and digging fire lines and backfires to stop the wildfires in their tracks. they have to get along with each other because their lives depend on relying on each other. >> are there times when you're fearful? >> almost certainly. we like to say courage is not the absence of fear but the making of action in spite of it. >> reporter: there's been no shortage of action this fire season. "cnn newsroom" continues right now with ashleigh banfield. >> thanks so much.

i'm in for brook bae baldwin. a develop involving america's strained relationship with pakistan. the nuclear armed nation re-opening the supply routes into afghanistan after months of saying no way and shutting them down. this has a huge impact on our troops. we have more on that in a moment. first, he was the ultimate tv good guy. from a small town sheriff to silver haired attorney, andy griffith was a mainstay for decades starring in the show back in the '50s and matlock until '80s. today he died at the age of 86. his son on tv tweeted this.

he served generations and shaped my life. i am forever grateful. rip andy. griffith appeared on cnn in 2003 on "larry king live" talking about the system of his '50s series. >> your opinion, don knotts was the key to the success of that show. would you elaborate? >> i think he was. in the beginning i was supposed to be, don wasn't part of the picture and i was supposed to be funny and tell funny stories about the people in mayberry. when don joined the show, by the second episode, i knew he should be funny and i should play straight form. >> larry king joins me live by telephone and paul campbell.

larry, you were one of the first names that popped up as the news crossed our computer. how many interviews had you done with him? how well did you know him? >> i knew him pretty well. i had him on my radio show and television. when i did a national radio show on the mutual network he was a special guest. we had him on cnn the last time. he was always responsive. he was a wonderful guest because he answered the question you asked and he responded in kind. he was also a talented actor way beyond just the roles he did on television. he did major movies. he had an academy award nomination. he did a major play on broadway. he did one of funniest comedy albums made. he was a multitalented, kind of

genius at his craft. >> the gentleman actor. the guy everybody really likes to like. >> you're right. he played only one evil character in that film i mentioned in which he got an academy award nomination. he played a television host who got too powerful and began to control things and got his come uppings in the end. i think that's the only time he played anyone evil. it was hard to imagine him being evil. i thought matlock was wonderful. it was based on a lawyer percy foreman in houston and tried cases that way. he was very special guy. i think deserves more due than he got. he was much more well-rounded than just the guy with the

fishing pole and the little kid and the assistant and the aunt. >> is that insight as to why he was so popular spanning the generations? you're the perfect person to ask this because the thousands upon thousands of guests you've had have had that same year. he was as famous in the '60s and he was in the '80s and seemed well-liked. >> you're right. he spanned the decades p. if you can be in front of the public and keep lasting and keep staying popular, the public tells you the answer. they'll tell you whether you're liked or not. andy griffith is one of those people, you would have to go beyond liked. i would say he was a beloved american. people loved him.

that longevity stands on its own. >> let me bring in paul campbell who starred alongside andy griffith for a movie in 2009. the significance of this is it was his last film. can you hear me? >> i can. >> you played his grandson? >> i did. yes. >> walk me through what it's like. you got a special place in history having been in the last film of how you heard larry king describe this man as an icon. >> i think i've been working as an actor for ten years. i think that film is probably still stands out as one of the most special experiences of my career. andy was everything i wanted him to be. he was a gentleman. he was one of the finest human

beings i've had the pleasure of working with. he was one of the most kind, gentle, charming, thoughtful men that i've ever known. it was so wonderful to work with him because he brought such a wealth of experience. he also had a beautiful energy he brought to everything. it was just a joy and inspiration to know him. >> larry king just one quick thought. how do you think this is going to reverberate through hollywood today? we've already seen the tweets of ron howard. >> this is lasting thing. i don't know the funeral plans. i imagine there would be a major memori memorial. you're not going to see his likes again.

>> well put. thank you both for your thoughts. >> thank you. >> nice to talk to you. at least three more days as we continue on top stories of sweltering heat for the millions of people without power across this country. >> been very, very hot. we're not getting no relief in the liquid form. people are in dire straits. >> all these people don't have nothing. it makes you want to sit down and cry. . >> people are trying to beat the heat any way they can. we're going to touch on that story. we're going to take you live out to colorado where a critical weapon in the battle against wildfires is now back up in the air. sarah... will you marry me? i think we should see other people. in fact, i'm already seeing your best friend, justin.

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fiejly got some good news to report along the fire lines where firefighters are starting to get the upper hand in the deadly waldo canyon fire. this is the area that's been hardest hit. take a look at your pictures. now the survey of the damage is being done of one of the worth fires in the history of the state of colorado. that's where we find martin savidge. i want to ask you about the fleet of c-130s. we have some good news in terms of the arsenal that firefighters can use to continue fighting these fires. >> reporter: that's right. they're able to fly again. we haven't seen them. we haven't seen them for a couple of days. they have the modular airborne

fire fighting systems. it's a system that you load on board and it can put about 3,000 pounds of fire retardant. it's a very effective tool. it's good news. the other good news is they have been very aggressive here on the ground. it's those fire crews that have the fire at least 70% contained. they've had pretty good weather conditions. temperatures are down. winds have been down. humidity levels elevated. the good news is it looks like they could have it fully contained. >> what would that mean for the people who have been, remain under evacuation? >> reporter: it's a big sigh of relief.

the other thing that contained does not mean the fire is out. it could have the possibility to flare up again. it's a big step in keeping the fire in check. as you say for many, many people it's going to mean they go back home. they'll have to watch this thing for a long time. it's likely to be smoldering and burning for weeks. some suggest maybe for months in some areas. >> as somebody out there said it is like a tiger in a cage with a door open. martin, keep an eye on that for us, if you will. martin reporting live for us out of colorado springs. d day by day the death toll inside of syria just keeps going up. now new pictures and reports. torture, not just any kind of torture, some of the worst you will hear of. how widespread is this and what does it mean?

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alleges och torture in syria have come to us now in disturbing dribs and drabs. this video was shot within the past week. the man on your screen says these marks on his back were caused by blows that were delivered by his own government, by the syrian armed forces. now we have a lot more to report. a respected human rights organization has nailed down some of the details. here is a report. >> reporter: names for torture techniques that former prisoners and security officers say that

used by government security forces across syria. >> we have documented the use of torture in 27 detention facilities scattered across syria and what we found is that torture is widespread and systematic. >> reporter: a new report published by the group human rights watch maps out dozen of facilities where prisoners say they have been tortured. human rights watch called it. >> it's a network of torture chambers that the authorities are using to intimidate, punish people who dare oppose the government. >> reporter: human rights watch interviewed victim, some of whom were only children.

these testimonies are very similar to those gathered by cnn over the last 15 months. security forces beat him after handcuffing and blind folding him when he was arrested in april of 2011. the torture continued throughout his 40-day detention. they used the car tire technique. they threw cold water on their naked bodies and urinated on us. torture victim accounts matched those of former torturers like this former secret police officer. he joined the rebel free syrian army. human rights watch isn't just

documenting abuses, it's also naming and shaming. publishing names and ranks of commanders of individual detention centers. >> by indicating the people responsible, we're putting them on notice that somebody will have to answer for these violations. >> reporter: violations that the syrian government routinely denies but the evidence being gathered in reports like this one is being prepared for that day when the dust finally settles in syria. a day when many hope those accused of crimes will be brought to justice before an international court of law. >> ivan watson joins me now. that last line in the report you just delivered is what i want to ask you about because this is hard evidence from human rights watch. this is hard evidence of crimes against humanity which could leave the government and its

leade leaders and its president in a very precarious situation when it comes to legal exposure. what are people saying about the possibility of seeing him at the criminal court? >> reporter: we're not there yet. he is still ruling damascus. the rebels do have control of law. what is remarkable is that in this conflict as opposed to require ones not only are the human rights research groups like human rights watch but also the opposition activists are actively from day one gathering information. gathering the names of the dead. those who claim they have been tortured and we've had the

united nations stepping in declaring that the syrian government is committing crimes against humanity more than a year ago and compiling evidence. we have the international criminal court, which was created about ten years ago. it has started operating. it recently now that we're naming names in reports like this, it has to be starting to raise awareness and concerns among those who are carrying out the worst atrocities that that day could come to them. they could be facing trial the way some of those war criminals have been forced to do in recent months. people who were terrifying figures a decade ago. >> we got some really recent evidence. maybe some lessons learned there. thanks very much. criminal nato supply lines

between pakistan and afghanistan have been shut down for months but not anymore. they're soon about to be re-opened but not without a watch. al qaeda has something to do with this one. what does this mean to our troops on the ground, relations between our two countries and increased security risks? it's coming up next. plap

we have this just in. the taliban based in pakistan are threatening to attack nato supply trucks. this according to a report from reuters. this is all happening quickly because we only just got the announcement today that pakistan would re-open the supply lines

into afghanistan. there hasn't been any trucks on the line in quite some time. the taliban jumps to let us know what they have plann edplanned. the closure was because of an accidental air strike that killed pakistanis. today's announcement means that nato supplies can enter afghanistan through pakistan. follow those green lines your honor screen. it will show the the route thigh take. they haven't been able to use this route because of that incident back in november. it's been a long time. it's been very troubliesome as well. many of the trucks have been sitting there for months on end. let's bring in our foreign affairs correspondent. this is a big deal, and it really hinged for a long time on one very important word.

explain. >> one very important word. sorry. that's the word that held up for seven months of standoff. would the united states say it was sorry for the troops who died. it was not intentional that they should die. it did happen. the pakistanis were angry. they with concerned that it would look back internally if they were kind of insulted by the united states without this. after seven months, lot of negotiations, et cetera, the united states, namely secretary of state hillary clinton issued a statement. in that statement she says we're sorried for the losses suffered by the pakistani military. here at the state department during the briefing, the press secretary was asked, how do you

define that? is this an apology? let's listen to how she explained this. >> as the statement makes clear, there were mistakes made on both sides that led to the tragic loss of life. we're both sorry for those. >> we are both sorry though on the next page, that sounds like we're sorry for what the terrorists did to us. again, without parsing the statement, i think the intent here is that we are both sorry for the losses suffered by both our countries in this fight against terrorists. >> two uses of the word sorry. that's diplomacy. it's super important for the united states to get all of that equipment in and don't forget as

the troops come out, get it out of afghanistan. >> the withdrawal, critical to our plan to finally draw down out of that country and that supply line is critical. so rupert murdock's little tweet about the romney campaign stirring up the big buzz. he's not the only one critici criticizing romney's advisors. they're getting people all shook up. is? ♪ ♪ uh-huh... uh-huh... uh-huh... ♪ ♪ it kinda makes me miss the days when we ♪ ♪ used to rock the microphone ♪ back when our credit score couldn't get us a micro-loan ♪ ♪ so light it up! ♪ even better than we did before ♪ ♪ yeah prep yourself america we're back for more ♪ ♪ our look is slacker chic and our sound is hardcore ♪ ♪ and we're here to drop a rhyme about free-credit-score ♪ ♪ i'm singing free-credit-score-dot-com ♪ ♪ dot-com narrator: offer applies with enrollment in freecreditscore.com.

it's been no secret that rupert murdock has campaign advise for mitt romney. he did not mince words when he sent out pretty harsh tweets on sunday against romney's campaign team. mitt romney last week, tough o, chicago pros will be hard to beat unless he drops old friends from team and hires some real pros. doubtful. ouch. turns out he's not the only big wig who is tweeting big things. let me bring in joe jones who is live in columbus, ohio. a battleground state. fill me in on who the newest

person is to take to twitter and diss the staff. >> reporter: it's a head scratcher. people listen when jack well ch speaks. when he starts dissing the romney staff, you wonder what he knows. many people agree that romney has a very strong staff. a lot of very good people surrounding him. i think there's a fear across the republican party about how formidable the obama people are in running campaigns and getting to the heart of the matter down in the stretch. it's interesting. we don't know where that came from. >> i'll tell you one thing. a lot of people worked for

romney worked for him on his 2008 campaign and during his tenure in massachusetts as governor. let me switch gears to your backdrop. i'm looking at that skyline behind you. we have some new polls about the battleground states and how the candidates are doing. fill me in. >> reporter: this is my hometown. we're at the boat house restaurant which is a favorite watering hole here in ohio. we talked a lot about the battleground states. we've also talked a lot about just how firm people are in they're choices. something like 79% of respondents say they are, in fact, they know who they will vote for. only 20% or so don't know. that number is narrowing

already. we haven't even gotten to the conventio conventions. it's probably going to be pretty small by the time we get down to november. >> there's one other stat. another poll that came out that i'm sure the obama i'm not sure that they are talking about it. it's a nice tyke ime to have a of july vacation. that's troublesome. >> reporter: the swing voters decide the elections. so many of them year after year in that swath of real estate between pennsylvania, ohio, west virginia, if you talk about florida, iowa and

so on, there aren't a lot of voters not in a lot of places. those are the people that romney and obama have to fight over the be president not looking so strong at this stage. just a snapshot and still early in terms of politics. >> i'm so glad that you got an assignment in your hometown as we head into a holiday. did you wrangle that or was it accidental? >> reporter: well, they've been threatening to just stick me here and make me stay for a while. they couldn't have picked a better it's blazing hot out here. >> thanks. nice to see you. enjoy your day. we're going to turn to some other news after the break. this is a real bizarre case. a grandmother is charged with murdering her own grandson. it's on tape. a 911 call and you can hear the teenager on the phone begging

police for help. then you hear more gunshots. this is a court case that everyone will be watching. talk about it in a moment. great shot. how did the nba become the hottest league on the planet? by building on the cisco intelligent network they're able to serve up live video, and instant replays, creating fans from berlin to beijing. what can we help you build? nice shot kid. the nba around the world built by the only company that could. cisco. [ male announcer ] this is our beach. ♪ this is our pool. ♪ our fireworks. ♪ and our slip and slide. you have your idea of summer fun, and we have ours. now during the summer event get an exceptionally engineered mercedes-benz for an exceptional price.

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a grandmother sobbing as she hears the final moments of her grandson's life on a 911 call. the only thing is, she's not just mourning his death, police say she's the actual killer.

the murderer. listen to 17-year-old jonathan hoffman name the shooter on the call. >> what's the emergency? >> i've just been shot. >> where are you at? >> 637. >> what city? how did you get shot? >> my grandma shot me. >> you heard it. my grandma shot me. our affiliate, wxyz, says the judge will hold her over for trial. the station also reporting that some neighbors said she feared that her son was using a drug called k2. joining me now is beth karas. so many issues on this case. millions of term s that you coud throw out there. essentially, what does that call

mean for her case? >> look. it didn't tell the whole picture. i've spoken with the defense attorney whom i know for years. he has a defense here. sure he was aware when he was shot and his grandmother shot him. she is beside herself over this. she loved her grandson but what folks don't know is that in march of this year she called 911 screaming out of fear for him because of this drug which is also known as spice. it's a synthetic marijuana and can make people psychotic. she was aware after the march incident. she said no. just calm him down. the police left him there. in neighboring town, a boy, he's now arrested, killed his father and tried to kill his mother and brother under the same drug.

she was aware of that. she brought a gun. >> she heard that story. >> she knew the story. the mother and son are still in the hospital recuperating from march. >> would jurors be allowed to hear the story that this defendant knew about the other incident, knew about the drug? >> if she takes the stand. if she has a self-defense claim, they will hear about the march incident. they will hear that he got arrested for possessing this drug. pled guilty on april 12th. he then pled guilty and was put on one year probation. the day of the shooting he failed a urine test. his urine came back dirty he was under the influence of this drug. things went crazy in the household but we don't have details of what he alleged did to her to make her fire. he won't tell me.

certain things are not in the public record. four of the five shots were close range. >> five gunshots. >> which means he's on top of her. >> the fact you have a victim who dies who's last records words are on record. i want to play some more of this call. there's certain elements i can't play because they're awful. you're hearing a young man dying. i want to play it. you can judge whether or not he appears to be out of control. have a listen. >> where were you shot at? >> my arms and my chest. >> your chest? >> yes. >> are your grandparents still there? >> no. >> where did they go? >> i don't know. >> you don't know where they went? they shot you? >> yes. >> here is what we can't air and

that is during this conversation as he's reporting, my grandmother did this. i'm shot in the chest. there's another shot. presumably if the prosecutors get their case right, she shot him on the phone begging for help. >> that's not good. was he threatening her while he's on the phone? there's no evidence that we're aware of there's another gun. >> how long do you get to hold a fear of self-defense? if someone threatens you and back off, do you still get to say i can still keep shooting five pumps? >> she's being held on no bail. when the defense asked, they said are you kidding me. the jury will decide what level of homicide it is. >> that's why it opens murder. the jury gets to decide? >> the jury gets to decide. >> death penalty state? >> no. >> i knew you'd know. i can never put you on the spot. former prosecutor, thank you. there's this story all over

the tabloids. katie holmes wasting no time in her divorce from tom cruise. what role, did scientology play in this split? this famous split. we'll have answers in a moment. . switch to citracal maximum plus d. it's the only calcium supplement that can be taken with or without food. that's why my doctor recommends citracal maximum. it's all about absorption.

you can say what you want about katie holmes, but you cannot call her a

procrastinator. after filing for divorce from tom cruise, she's reportedly packed up and moved out. people.com is reporting that katie holmes has already taken their daughter suri and moved out of the new york apartment. new york daily news is reporting that she fired her pr rep and hired a brand new one and also gone the wedding ring that she was wearing. she also canned her security detail too. tom cruise is said to be shocked by katie's desire to divorce him. katie is soaking sole custody of 6-year-old suri cruise. so many questions about scientology have cropped up and whether it played any role in the divorce between these two stars. tom foreman has more on the worldwide religion and the front and center role that tom cruise plays in it. >> reporter: when it comes to scientology, tom cruise may be

the most combative celebrity defender tearing into matt lauer. >> do you know that ritilin is a street drug. >> i'm asking you a question. >> i understand there's abuse of all of these things. >> here is the problem. you don't know the history. i do. >> reporter: although he joined in the 1980s, over the past decade it's been much more pronounced he's floodplained his belief on talk shows, in the press and scientology meetings with his mission impossible playing in the background and giving a military salute to a scientology leader have appeared in videos like this. >> i think it's a privilege to call yourself a scientologist and it's something you have to

earn. he or she has the ability to create new and better realities and improve conditions. >> reporter: many of the statements underscore a central lesson of the faith that its followers can accomplish great things. >> when you drive past an accident, it's not like anyone else. as you drive past, you know you have to do something about it because you know you're the only one that can help. i won't hesitate. i put it ruthless by on myself. >> reporter: such talk echoes teachings laid out in the 1950s by the faith's founder, science fiction writer l. ron hubbard. followers are supposed to be led toward positive thinking and achieving their goals no matter how ambitious. listen to that video and cruise talks to fellow devotees about world leaders. >> they want help, and they are

depending on people who know and who can be effective and do it, and that's us. >> reporter: that was 2004. by 2005, cruise was expressing even more enthusiasm over actress katie holmes. most notably by jumping around on oprah's sofa. >> have you ever felt this way before? >> reporter: what happened. holmes who was raised catholic is believed to have converted to scientology as their relationship grew. there's reports she's concerned over their daughter being raised in the faith. neither are addressing the reports. holmes attorney called it a private matter and said her primary concern is her daughter's best interest. cruise's attorney did not respond. cruise has spoken what scientologist call sp's.

suppressive persons. a term used for people who try to impede the mission of scientology. >> they said have you met an sp? you know, i thought, what a beautiful thing because maybe one day it will be like that. you know what i'm saying. maybe one day, wow, sps. they'll read about those in the history books. >> tom foreman reporting for us. let's be really clear. despite the scrutiny, this has been going on for days. it's just a story that won't go away. the level of scrutiny on scientology and any involvement in this divorce has been to the mic microscopic level. they know and who knows what

this divorce is about. the scrutiny does have people talking. what is it? why might it have caused any problem for them or anyone else? joining me live is dr. lauren dawson. thanks for being with me. can you give me a small summary of why it is there's such a curiosity and such a mystery about scientology? is it warranted? >> well, scientology is controversial for a lot of reasons. i think one of it is it's a invented religious tradition. this isn't surprising because in the sense all religions are inventions, but we haven't been able to sit and watch religiousreligiouns be invented. here the media has been present from day one to observe the creation of this new religion.

it is a religion that's very intense and like many sectarian forms, they want to influence all aspects of your live and in our largely secular society, people are religious but not in that intense sense anymore. this strike a nerve with people that someone could become so strongly committed to beliefs in a relatively short period of time. it's also a secret group. in that regard it's not unlike many groups that have existed throughout the history of western society. the most obvious example would be the free masons. the mere fact that it requires secrecy as people move from level to level generates controversy. >> if one were to marry into a relationship where by there's a

scientologist, does that spouse have to convert? is it that strict in terms of the unions between man and wife or is there a freedom to have open religions in a family? >> as in most cases there isn't a straightforward answer to that. i'm not aware of any regulation or dictate in the church that would suggest that people have to concert but naturally as a small group that's trying to grow, they recognize that one of the ways all religious groups grow is through converting spouses. there's a tremendous amount of emphasis on that. that would be kwielt a bit of pressure brought to bear for the spouse to become a scientologist themselves. it's natural because if you were the person who was the scientologist, it would be very important to your sense

yourself, your own identity, you would see that as something you want to share. it's slr to if you're a catholic and marry a non-catholic, then the church requires a commitment to raise your children as catholics. there's a strong emphasis on this sicientology. it's clear that from the earliest childhood on they were introduced to scientology ideas and participated in activities. somewhat more intense than other religions but not unusual. >> definitely something a lot of people are curious about. it's good to talk with you. it's nice to see you. >> thanks very much. as we've been reporting all hour long and into the erm afternoon, andy griffith has died. coming up, we're going to talk

live with actress barbara eden about her fond memories of her friend, of her colleague, her co-star and a great man. also, we're getting word that police have raided the home of the former french president. this while he's on vacation in canada. the postal service is critical to our economy,

delivering mail, medicine and packages. yet the house is considering a bill to close thousands of offices, slash service and layoff over 100,000 workers. the postal service is recording financial losses, but not for reasons you might think. the problem ? a burden no other agency or company bears. a 2006 law that drains $5 billion a year from post office revenue while the postal service is forced to overpay billions more into federal accounts. house bill 2309 is not the answer.

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this just in, police have raided the home and government offices of former french president. all part of an investigation into allegations of illegal campaign financing by one of france's wealthiest women. his lawyer tells cnn that sarkozy is on a family vacation in canada and called this search futile. the former president has denied any wrong doing in this investigation. we are joined live from paris. give me a bit of a feel for how this story is getting traction. it might come as a lot of surprise that a former president's house has been raided while on vacation. is this a surprise to you and your countrymen? >> not at all. it's not a surprise. when president sarkozy lost when

he was beaten, he was going to lose his immunity. he's not protected anymore from any judicial actions or whoever. it was anticipated with his lawyer about the fact he might be investigated in his offices and home. it's true that when we have ten representatives, the financial bre good d brigade raiding his home and offices, we can discuss about that. at the same time sarkozy knew he would have this kind of problem. he has so many bones of contention with french justice which is qualified as being on the left. all these judges decided the day that he would lose his immunity, he would start having problem with justice.