they sit listlessly for much of the day. it's hard to see. children are children, no matter what the circumstances. when we arrived, excitement was everywhere. they followed us around, they danced, they played. there was one child in particular that really touched me. an absolute beautiful little girl. she's 10 years old. and i mentioned her eyelashes. i mean, look at them, they're the longest you've ever seen. i told her, i learned in her local language the word to say "beautiful." you can see. anyway, it turns out no one had ever told her before. which was sort of a poignant moment for me. the children here really make you smile but it makes you tear up too when you think what their futures might be. there was one thing that was disturbing. the children often collect small birds and break their wings. they play with the birds, sort of like a cat and mouse, and fling them around to each other as the bird gets weaker and weaker. a little boy told me he does it because he has nothing else to

do. a local who came with us told them to to, to stop torturing the birds. they said, we're only going to stop if you give us soccer balls. it's sort of a hard thing to talk about because it's an awful image. it made us think we're going to give them soccer balls. that's really a temporary solution. we hope that more people will pay attention to the crisis we've all seen tonight. thanks so much for watching. "a.c. 360" starts now. erin, thanks. good evening, everyone. there are new and remarkable stories emerging from the colorado tragedy. include a young woman who was n the head who's not only up and walking already but may soon walk out of the hospital and back to a normal life. though we hesitate to use the word miracle, her survival at the very least is the story of a rare and nearly miraculous pre-existing condition she didn't know she had. we begin tonight keeping them honest. talking today about toughening gun laws in response to the

shooting. most politicians, especially president obama and mitt romney, trying hard not to talk about it. trying, it seems, to take gun control, whatever you think about it, off the table. now, at the same time, what little they are saying, both of them differ sharply from positions they once held. again, it isn't for us to decide what's right or wrong when it comes to duagun control. that's for you, the voters, to decide. both president obama and former governor romney have either flip-flopped on the issue or backed away from it. see if you can spot any difference between the two candidates. >> i still believe the second amendment is the right course to preserve and defend and don't believe that new laws are going to make a difference in this kind of tragedy. >> that's mitt romney last night. quote, the president's view is we can take steps to keep guns out of the hands of people who should not have them under existing law. did you see much difference?

neither did house republican speaker john boehner today. >> has made clear he's not going to use this horrific event to push for new gun laws. i agree. >> such as the ban on assault weapons. it barred the sale of assault rifles, specifically including the ar-15, and high capacity magazines like the 100-shot drum the aurora shooter used. that law, though, had a built-in expiration date eight years ago. four years ago, then candidate obama supported reviving the law. >> the reality of gun ownership may be different for hunters in rural ohio than they are for those plagued by gang violence in cleveland. but don't tell me we can't uphold the second amendment while keeping ak-47s out of the hands criminals. >> he apparently felt the same last year in the wake of the tucson shooting. >> the president, again, since i've been with him in 2004, has supported the assault weapons

ban and we continue to do so. >> this year, however, even before the colorado massacre, the white house was already backing away from the issue. >> -- expired in 2004, has the president taken a stand on extending that? >> i'll have to get back to you on that. i don't have any new information on that. >> white house spokesman jay carney says the president continues to support the weapons ban but described it as an issue for the future, not now. carney also said existing laws are enough. if president obama has recently started downplaying the former position as the presidential campaign has gotten started, mitt romney has done a complete 180 on the issue. here's what he said when he was running for governor of massachusetts. >> we do have tough gun laws in massachusetts. support them. i won't chip away at them. i believe they help protect us and provide for our safety. >> that was in 2002 running for governor. governor romney signed a permanent assault weapons law. deadly assault weapons had no place in the commonwealth he

said at the time. in the next year in anticipation of a presidential run, he began shifting his position on gun control. he designated may 7th the right to bear arms day in massachusetts and he began quoting the national rifle association. then in 2007, he became a lifetime member. after the nra's endorsement, he said at the time, i'm not sure they'll give it to me, i hope they will. also that year when asked on "meet the press" when he would bring back the federal assault weapons law, decide for yourself. >> i supported the ban. let me describe it. let's describe what it is. i would have supported the original assault weapon ban. i signed an assault weapon ban in massachusetts as governor because it provided for a relaxation of licensing requirements for gun owners in massachusetts, which was a big plus. and so both the pro-gun and anti-gun lobby came together with a bill and i signed that. if there is determined to be, from time to time, a weapon of

such lethality that it poses a grave risk, that's something i would consider signing. >> apparently he felt different three years before. back then there were plenty of weapons he considered lethal enough to ban. apparently not anymore. today, both he and the president say existing laws are good enough. raw politic, now. let's talk about it with national correspondent john king and political analysts gloria borger and david gergen. whether they think they're a good idea or not, whenever the subject comes up, it does seem like most of them can not change the subject fast enough. i mean, is it just that divisive an issue? >> well, it can be a tough issue. you have people like the new york mayor michael bloomberg. they have been consistent. they say the country needs to have a conversation about what they would call commonsense gun laws. they view this as taboo. why? because the legend of democratic politics is it's probably one the reasons al gore lost the white house in 2000. his campaign manager, our colleague donna brazile, says not so much.

there were other issues as well. al gore lost his home state of tennessee. he lost west virginia. barack obama is looking at a map where he probably needs to win pennsylvania. he would like to win ohio. he would like to keep north carolina and virginia. endorsing new gun controls at this time by most democrats is considered too risky so they'd rather change the subject. >> david it does seem like the conversation on guns is just frozen. >> it's terrible. listen, there was a president named bill clinton who had the guts to stand up on these issues. he did it in 1993. signing the brady law. 1994, he added another law. then he came up with the bullet law. three laws. and he got re-elected. he showed some leadership. we don't see that today. >> gloria, you take a look at the polls regarding gun control and there has been a huge shift among americans over the past two decades from one side of the issue to other. is there a sense on what's driving that change? >> as david was saying, you might go back to 1994, when bill clinton and the congress actually passeded that ban on

assault weapons, which has since expired. and when they passed that ban on assault weapons, then gun owners decided, and the nra decided, they needed to make sure that what that ban expired, that nobody would renew it. and it became a single issue for an awful lot of voters. and then also i think, anderson, you look at the sort of anti-government attitudes now that seem to be on the increase. we see that with the rise of the tea party for example. and if you're anti-big government, then you don't want government getting in the way of your second amendment rights. so i think you take all these things together. and the political issues that john was talking about, particularly in rural america, and among blue collar voters. and you say it's formula for getting nothing done. >> john, for the politics, for president obama, is that particularly sensitive? mostly among white working class voters? >> exactly.

you know looking at the 2012 map it will be much tougher than 2008. so one of the states president obama, he turned north carolina from red to blue. turned virginia from red to blue. turned colorado where this tragedy occurred, the most recent tragedy, from red to blue. he needs to keep nevada in play. all of those states, it's risky to be for gun control. those blue collar voters gloria talked about, if he loses white union voters, that puts michigan at risk, could put wisconsin at risk. if you're looking at this issue and looking ahead to the presidential election, it's simply keep your hands off. yes, the president did promise back in 2008 he would push some new gun control laws but he never has and he's not about to now. >> you look at mitt romney's, i guess you would call it evolution on this issue from massachusetts campaign to today. what are the politics for him as he moves forward? >> well, he's got his base to worry about. he wants to get a high turnout from his base. when he was governor of massachusetts, said, you know, we have to have a ban on assault

weapons. he said it was good for massachusetts. now because he's chasing after his base, he's run ay from that position. president obama campaigned in 2000 8. said he would get a new assault weapons ban. one that gloria just said expired. he would renew it. and here, today, his press secretary is now telling -- the gun laws on the books today are such push fficien sufficient. >> you could make the case if he wants to consolidate his base what he ought to do is extend the assault weapons ban, which he has not done. but he's worried about those independent voters. 55% of them say they care more about the gun owners than curtailing gun ownership, right? so this is where he's living right now. to attract those independent voters. i would argue on a congressional level it's really important to congressional democrats in the south. but i think the president has a little bit more wiggle room here than he thinks. particularly if he's trying to

consolidate his base. >> it's not my job to take a position one way or another on this subject. but just how neither side wants to have this discussion. both sides are just kind of wanting to move away and stay off it as much as possible. david gergen, gloria borger, john king, thanks. we have more to tell you about the survivors of the aurora shooting. we continue to focus on the survivors and the victims. we're going to talk to the father of this man, alex sullivan, who was killed on friday. it was his 27th birthday. sunday would have been his first wedding anniversary. we're also going to introduce you to a little girl, a baby-sitter named kaelin. she tried to save the life of another child killed in the shooting. >> there's no words to describe what was going through my mind. i thought i was going to die.

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welcome back. kri christian bale, star of "the dark knight rises," was in aurora, visiting people injured. there's a picture of christian bale with a man shot in the leg. saying words cannot express the horror he feels. amid all the grief and pain in aurora, there are some stories of survival. we want to tell you some of those stories tonight as we continue to focus and remember the victims. the youngest victim, veronica moser-sullivan, was just 6 years

old. a vibrant little girl with -- well, obviously her whole life ahead of her. that horrible night at the movie theater, the night veronica was killed and her mother was critically injured, a 13-year-old girl named kaelin, veronica's baby-sitter, desperately tried to save the little girl's life. at just 13 years old, kaelin showed tremendous courage, even though she thought she herself was going to die. poppy harlow has her story. >> we just put kaelin into your hands, lord, your loving, merciful -- >> reporter: prayers for 13-year-old kaelin, a survivor. >> he just kept firing, and then he would stop like he was reloading. and he kept firing at anyone he saw. i thought i was going to die. >> reporter: you thought you were going to die? >> i've never had that feeling before in my life and it's the scariest feeling. to think that you're going to die. >> reporter: kaelin watched as three people with her at the batman screening were shot,

including the 6-year-old girl she regularly baby-sat, veronica moser-sullivan. >> i felt like it was partly my job to protect her. and even if i wasn't her baby-sitter, i would still feel the same because she was just -- she was just a child. >> reporter: lying on the theater floor, she called 911. >> i put my hand on veronica's like rib cage to see if she was breathing but she wasn't breathing so i started freaking out. and then they told me to do cpr and i told them i couldn't because her mother was on top of her and couldn't move. >> reporter: veronica's mother, ashley, was shot in the neck and abdomen. she lived. veronica did not. >> she liked to draw. and she liked to look at the -- i had a bunny -- well, i have a

bunny in my rue and she always liked to look at the bunny. >> reporter: you okay? take your time. her pastor calls her a girl with a servant's heart. >> she's the type of kid that would come in the room and say, "what can i do to help?" you know, how can i give of myself? a young kid. that really can't be taught. >> reporter: how has this changed your life? >> there's certain things i can't, like, hear, or certain things i can't look at or certain things that i can't do or even wear. >> reporter: like what? >> like the clothes that i wore that night. i don't want to put those on again. popping sounds. or like banging. if it sounds a certain way. and i can't really look at popcorn. >> reporter: i know you want to say something to ashley, the

mother of veronica, the little girl you tried to help. >> all i want right now is to go visit ashley. >> reporter: kaelin may not have been physically wounded but she still bears the scars. poppy harlow, cnn, aurora, colorado. >> kaelin seems amazing. said she either wants to be an actress or a doctor. she said she didn't know what doctor she wanted to be before this tragedy but now she wants to help people in the icu. alex sullivan died in theater nine. it was his 27th birthday. he'd gone to the film to celebrate. he was just two days shy of his first wedding anniversary. another young life cut far too short. his family began a frantic search. they rushed the staging area for information. his father, tom sullivan, on friday, carried a photograph of his son. >> this is him. his name's alex sullivan. today's his birthday. >> alex with an "x"? >> yes. >> how old is alex? >> 27. we're looking for him.

he's not on any list yet. >> he was at the movie? >> at the movie to celebrate, as i said, his 27th birthday. earlier that night, here's what alex tweeted. one hour till the movie it it's going to be the best birthday ever. alex did not survive theater number nine. i spoke to his father, tom sullivan, earlier. first of all, i'm just so sorry for your loss. i cannot imagine what you and your family are going through right now. i've read so many words describing alex. people saying he was full of love. always laughing. a big heart. how do you describe him? what do you want people to know about him? >> well, i mean, that's it. from when he was a baby, that's what we used to say to each other. he was my best buddy in the whole world. and we said that back and forth till, you know, even last week, you know, that's how we referred to each other. everybody i went, i mean, i always went with him places. people would say, tom, when i see you, you know, you're always with your kids.

and i said, well, you know, that's why you have them. i mean, they're supposed to be with you. and that's what we did. we went everywhere. >> it was alex's 27th birthday. he was celebrating by going to see that movie, right? >> well, they always -- we always have gone to the movies on his birthday. we started back when he was 6 years old. we went and saw "the rocketeer." after the movie was over, they had a special at pizza hut that he would get a special little kid's mug and a hat and all of that, and we went to the pizza hut and they were all out of the promotion. so he was really disappointed. but him and megan, his sister, were so hungry, we decided just to order a large pizza and we shared it. >> and -- >> but we always go to the movies. several years after that, yeah, several years after that, we went to -- on his birthday, went and saw "jurassic park."

and when the raptors come out, i have never even to this day had my hand squeezed as hard as it was when those raptors were running around. and he was so scared. and that was the only movie that he'd never sat all the way through. we ended up running up to the top the theater and spending the rest of the movie peeking around the corner, trying to see it. and when that movie was over, we went across the parking lot to the red robin and had his birthday dinner over there. which is where he was -- you know, all of his friends were with him at the movie there. he enjoyed, you know, even when he was 9 years old his birthday with people from red robin. >> it was not only alex's birthday. he was also getting ready, i understand, to celebrate his first wedding anniversary. i think it was going to be on sunday to his wife cassandra. >> it was sunday. >> how is she doing? >> she's coping. she's coping.

>> is there anything else you want people to know, that you wanto say? we've been trying over the last couple of days just to talk to as many family members as possible and just remember as many -- and celebrate the lives of the 12. and i just wanted to give you an opportunity. if there's anything else you want people to know. >> well, he was just such a fun guy. and he was so empathetic, you know, to people. and cared about people. and don't be surprised if at some point somebody that you're talking with, you'll say something about alex, and they'll say, you mean that big guy in from colorado who was the movie guy and loved hockey and all of that? and you'll say yeah. well, i know him. you know, i met him. i mean, we're get things that we -- we got a fruit basket from a company that he only worked for for three months. and they didn't want to let him

go but the business was doing so poorly they couldn't afford him. and that was eight years ago. i mean, he affected, you know, that employer so much that, you know, we've got a fruit basket at our house. i mean so don't worry, you'll run into someone who knows him and they'll tell him all about him. i mean, he's just the best. as i say, my best buddy in the whole world. >> on sunday, there was a memorial service and i found one of the things most moving is when they read out the name, s each person and the crowd roared back "we will remember you." and so that is my hope and my prayer. we will remember alex and all the others. tom, i appreciate you being on. thank you. >> oh, yeah. we well never forget him. we will never forget him. >> tom, thank you. tom sullivan. amid the tragedy in colorado, some incredible stories of survival and friendship. best friends stephanie davies and ali young seen here with

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you hear a lot about miracles. and you hear about heroes. the real miracle would be a time machine set for last thursday before the alleged gunman went to the theater. there would be no need for heroes or miracles and that would be just fine. it would be better than fine. instead, miracles and heroes, well, they're the best we have now. randi kaye has more. >> reporter: in a community draped in sadness, there are tiny miracles being born every day. like baby hugo. born to katie and caleb medley just after 7:00 a.m. this morning. katie and calleb are high school

sweethearts. they knew calley wkale katie wa deliver this week so as a tweet took in the midnight showing of "the dark knight rises." calleb was shot in the face. he lost his right eye, has some brain damage and is in critical condition. his friend broke down speaking with cbs. >> we talked to him because we know he can hear us. we tell him that he needs to get better because he needs to be a dad. >> reporter: doctors here at the hospital have calleb in a medically induced coma. his brother says calleb seems to understand what happened. the miracle of friendship may have saved the life of ali young who was inside theater nine with her best friend stephanie davies. >> there's smoke, there's explosions, there's blood, there's death, there's guns being fired. >> i just remember opening my

eyes. i'm on the ground. blood everywhere. >> reporter: ali was struck in the neck. refusing to let her friend die, stephanie did something, something so selfless. she stayed with her friend and applied pressure on the hole in her neck. even president obama shared their story after visiting them at the hospital here in aurora. >> ali told stephanie she needed to run. stephanie refused to go. instead, actually, with her other hand, called 911 on her cell phone. >> reporter: after the shooting finally stopped, stephanie carried her friend across two parking lots to an ambulance. >> she saved my life, which i, you know, that's always going to be, you know, a little emotional for me. >> reporter: it is no small miracle that petra anderson is still alive. three shotgun bullets hit her harm. another sailed through her nose, up the back of her cranium,

hitting her skull. her pastor, brad straight, wrote on his blog, quote, her injuries were severe. the doctors prior to surgery were concerned because so much of the brain had been traversed by the bullet. doctors haven't shared exactly what happened but the young woman was probably saved by something they didn't even know she had. a small channel of fluid running through her skull that can only be picked up with a c.a.t. scan. that channel of fluid likely that mufr maneuvered the bullet. the shotgun buckshot enters her brain. like a marble through a small tube. it channels the bullet from petra's nose through her brain. it turn s slightly several time. in the process, the bullet misses all the vital areas of the brain. if the bullet had entered just a millimeter in any direction, her brain likely would have been

destroyed. petra has already started to speak and walk again and is expected to make a full recovery. >> it's so incredible. how is her family doing? >> they are relieved, anderson. right now, they have petri in the hospital obviously trying to get better. her mother is battling terminal breast cancer right now. because they're running out of money, they're trying to decide what will they be able to pay for? is it going to be petra's medical care or her mother's cancer treatment? they're asking for help. we have a website if you want to help petra's family. go to indygogo.com/readytobelieve. for calleb medley's family, it's the same situation. his bills could reach up to $2 million we're told. the website to help calleb is callebmedley.com/help. >> we'll put both those web addresses at our website at

ac360.com. the quirk of anatomy that allowed this remarkable young woman to survive the way she has. joined by dr. sanjay gupta. what kind of birth deeffect could cause this to happen, sanjay? >> there's a couple. they're rare. i sort of was trying to piece this together, anderson, reading some of the descriptions of what happened to her. i want to show you a couple of images. i don't know if you can see these but there's a normal looking brain and then the other side is a brain that has something known as a cavum septun. it's an extra fluid-filled space sort of in the middle of the brain. you can imagine if someone were to be injured, have a bullet injury as was the case here, and the bullet were to traverse through that fluid-filled space. also, there's one more image over here. this is slightly more common. if you're looking at now. it's called an arachnoid cyst.

just a big cyst in the brain. there is no normal brain in that white area, that white fluid. if bullet were to go through there, it could be life saving. i actually saw an example like this back when i was a resident in training. where someone had what seed to be a significant bullet injury to the brain and they had this arachnoid cyst. it probably saved their life. it sounds like that's what they were describing. >> you're at the international aids conference in washington. i was there over the weekend. for an event for bill gat. you spoke to a guy who scientists say is the only man to be cured of aids. i met him saturday night. explain this. >> yeah. it's a remarkable story. let me just say because you and i both covered stories like this. scientists don't throw around the word "cured" very often. there's lots scientists here and they are using that word to describe timothy ray brown. his story is an interesting one.

he had hiv. he developed aids. on top of it, he developed leukemia. if you can imagine that. as part of his leukemia treatment, he got a bone marrow transplant. and they believe the bone marrow transplant taught his cells in his body to reject or notccept infiltration by the aids virus. they're not exactly sure why. they think it was a genetic difference in the bone marrow he received. the question is not so much should we do bone marrow transplants on patients with hiv, it's what can we learn, and can we teach cells in other people's bodies to do the same thing. it's a clinical cure. he says he's clinically cured. has not had a problem with hiv/aids, anderson. >> it's not something though that can immediately be utilized for other people who are -- who have aids or hiv positive. this is something which -- i mean it may give some indication of something down the road but we're a long way off from a cure, yes?

>> i think so. but again, the idea that they're even using the word "cure" i think is a big deal. from being here, talking to scientists over the years, i get the sense this isn't going to come in little drips and small increments. i think once they sort of seize upon what exactly, you know, constitutes a clinical cure it could happen quickly. it's not going to happen tomorrow, to your point. it may be still a decade away. but i think it's going to be a sea change based on what i'm hearing when it eventually does happen, anderson. >> exciting, all these developments. sanjay, appreciate it, thanks. cnn's ivan watson has made his eway back inside syria. he saw aftermath in just one town. he joins me ahead. ♪ what started as a whisper every day, millions of people choose to do the right thing.

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fighting continues to rage across syria. opposition forces say at least 130 people were killed today. bashar al assad forces. here's what itn journalist alex thompson found in one neighborhood where opposition fighters had recently gained some traction. >> reporter: government forces turned helicopter gunships, tanks. heavy machine guns. on this district for three days. the government says in two days time, families can begin move back in. take a look at what the family will find when they move back to this house. people say yes, of course, the rebel fighters have been pushed out. but they'll fight another day in another way. there's no chance president assad will win this civil war. >> the regime does appear to be doubling down. yesterday syria'soreign ministry spokesman set off a new international outcry when he raised the threat of syria using its chemical weapons.

cnn's ivan watson has managed to get back inside syria. here's what he found in a town just outside of leppo. >> reporter: this bullet-riddled town is mostly deserted except for rebels and a few shell-shocked residents. this street was nicknamed the street of death. because anybody who set foot on here was likely to be shot. the retreating government troops left behind a mini-graveyard of burned-out armored vehicles. and pro-regime graffiti with a terrifying warning. the words say either assad or will burn this city. >> another sign of how bad things have become. mo than 10,000 iraqi refugees who had sought refugee in syria have actually returned to iraq in the last week. ivan watson joins me now from inside syria. ivan, i want to ask you something that you witnessed, able to videotape. a man basically kind of pleading for his life and then being kind of man-handled and taken away.

do you know what happened to that person or what he was accused of doing? >> well, the rebels told us that he was a suspected looter and that he'd be brought before some kind of rebel judicial council that had been set up. the rebels have had to fill the security vacuum and act as basically police in the areas that they've taken over. but the way the guy was screaming and the words he said, please don't kill me, please pardon me, suggested he was terribly, terribly afraid. and given the scale of the atrocities we've seen in syria, you have to wonder whether or not he was being set up for some kind of revenge punishment. >> ivan, you spent time inside syria before with opposition fighters, with rebels. how has the situation changed from your vantage point? do they look more organized? better armed? >> they're definitely more organized. we see rebel battalions. all throughout the countryside

in this rebel-controlled enclave here. they have better weapons. we've seen them carrying a belgium-made assault rifles they refer to as nato, after the nato military alliance we're hearing about. much better rocket-propelled glen nameds that have proven effective at taken out tanks and armored personnel carriers. so they're definitely better organized. there are fighters trickling in across the border. we came in with a young fighter, a syrian who bought up equipment in dubai, working as a car mechanic, and was coming in to start his own rebel brigade. a lot of this seems to be gal vannized galvanized by the deadly bombing in damascus that killed four senior government security chiefs. that's pushed the rebels to try to capitalize on that moment of weakness for the regime. to try to seize as much territory as possible. >> how capable are they actually holding on to territory? >> i've been driving on sections

of highway that i couldn't drive on last february and march. so it shows they have been able to capture towns. we visited one town that had really been devastated by months of fighting and ultimately the rebels were able to capture it. but it is slow going. they're going meter by meter, foot by foot, village by village. as they push the regime forces back, the government forces still fired deadly salvos of artillery from a distance, but there's no question that they hardened up the front lines and they've been able to establish enclaves, particularly along the borders, and they've seized several keyboarder gates. at least three they claim within the last week. and if they can hold on to those, then they'll be able to establish a buffer zone and doing it on their own without the help for example in libya that we saw of a nato aerial

bombardme bombardment. >> who are the fighters you're seeing? they're obviously concerned. there have been reports about involvement of jihadist groups, al qaeda influenced groups. in dition to the local fighters who have just taken up arms after their demonstrations were attacked. what are you seeing? >> there's no question that the overwhelming number of fighters that i've seen are syrians. and they're from these communities. they're students. they're defector police officers. i got a tour with a guy who was a real estate agent, who's a grandfather who now wears camouflage and is a rebel fighter. but there are some foreigners. i met a man who kale came up to and said he was a turk. in the community i'm staying in now, we can't tell you the name of this village for security reasons. the locals say there are a number of north african fighters here. the locals seem to welcome them. the problem, though, is that there aren't enough weapons for all the volunteers.

whether they're syrians or foreign fighters that are coming in to fight. and that's what the rebel commanders are demanding help with. and what i'm really starting to hear, anderson, is anger at the u.s. and at the european union. that there's been a lot of talk against bashar al assad and his dictatorship but no help to the opposition here. and for the first time, i'm hearing people actually cursing the u.s. >> ivan watson, appreciate the reporting, stay safe. thanks. well, tonight, a mystery deepens in iowa. two young cousins who appeared to have vanished without a trace. what new clues have police turned up. and where the investigation is heading now. that's next.

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tonight in crime and punishment. two young cousins in iowa seem to have vanished without a trace. now, authorities have pulled out all the stops to find them. the search has been intense. tom foreman has latest on the investigation. >> reporter: a week and a half since 8-year-old elizabeth collins and 10-year-old lyric cook morecy went for a bike ride and still there is no sign of what happened to them. despite the efforts of hundreds of volunteers, dozens of police, the fbi and even tracking dogs, investigators appear to have few clues. elizabeth's parents on abc's "good morning america" this week. >> they just tell us they do have a couple of leads and that is it. >> it's as though they disappeared into thin air in broad daylight.

>> reporter: shortly after they vanished, attention focused on 25-acre myers lake. the girls bikes and a purse were found not far from it. dogs indicated they might be in the water. after an exhaustive search which included using sonar and possibly draining the lake -- >> investigators are confident the two girls are not in myer's lake. >> reporter: that revelation led to a fresh surge of hope for some searchers. especially since it came along with police claims that lyric's parents were not fully cooperating. >> i did a polygraph this morning. dan has yet to do his. he'll do his later. several of our other family members did theirs yesterday. >> reporter: since then, however, police suggest the couple has become more helpful. the mother taking a second polygraph test which she says she passed. the mystery has just gone deeper. >> it's just baffling to try to figure out the pieces to the

puzzle. looking at it, it doesn't make any sense. >> reporter: police have put out a call for a man seen boating on the lake but not as a suspect. they say they just want to know if he saw something. indeed, that's been their message to everyone from the very start. >> this town isn't the biggest but it's certainly not the smallest either so meone had to see these two girls. >> reporter: meanwhile, the families are putting out a call of their own to anyone who might have their girls. >> take them somewhere safe. take them to a gas station. target. just take them anywhere. we miss them dearly. >> reporter: tom foreman, cnn. we'll continue to follow the investigation. we'll be right back. we also have zero free time, and my dad moving in. so we went to fidelity. we looked at our family's goals and some ways to help us get there. they helped me fix my economy, the one in my house. now they're managing my investments for me. and with fidelity, getting back on track was easier than i thought. call or come in today to take control of your personal economy.

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time for the ridiculous. a solution to a problem that has plagued political campaigns over and over. happens all the time. politicians use a song at their campaign rallies. the musicians ask them to stop using their work without permission. sometimes it ends up in court. there's at least one man, one very prolific idea man who has a solution. he has taken it upon himself to compose a campaign song for mitt romney. ♪ world war iii ♪ that's obama's plan for you and me ♪ ♪ that's why i'm voting for mitt romney ♪ ♪ he's a hero in my mind >> yes. our old friend william taply is

back. you remember william taply. bill to you and me. youtube video poster extraoinaire. you probably remember him by his other name. he has a few of them. >> i'm your host william taply. also known as the third eagle of the apocalypse and the co-prophet of the end times. >> who is the other prophet of the end times? anyway. just on the off chance you are unfamiliar with the third eagle of the apocalypse. >> you will not be wretched if you are using condoms. why a woman should not be president of the united states. the news media is demonic. ♪ world war iii ♪ don't blame me >> he's a renaissance man, there's no doubt about it. when i heard the co-prophet of the end types had a new video and neweni eninenin eninsong. branching out from what we all know is his favorite topic. he and i went back and forth

about this for a period of time last summer. how in his mind the denver international airport is chock-full of phalic symbols. >> the shape of the sign is phalic. many of the shapes on the horse's tail and mane are phalic shaped. i don't know what you think, mr. cooper. the outdoor baggage handling area is in the shape of a phalous. let's take a closer look. up here we see the testical area. what do you suppose this street name is that runs right down the center? you guessed it. that's pina boulevard. >> yeah. i'm going to go out on a limb on this one. i'm going to guess the romney campaign is not interested in the song stylings of the third eagle of the apocalypse. he will always soar to grt