that's all for us. tomorrow, anderson cooper holds a special town hall, guns under fire. we'll follow it with much, much more on the number one issue facing america. fire. we'll follow it with much, much more on the number one issue facing america. that's tomorrow night. anderson cooper starts right now. good evening. tonight on the program, as power official a moment as you can imagine. gabby giffords whose life was changed forever by a gunman, her message is never easy or simple, keeping another massacre like newtown from happening again.

and a snow mobile flipping, landed on its rider, there was another incident where they went running into riders, why we'll take a look at some of these extreme sports, we begin in rural alabama, with a little boy's life at stake. a 6-year-old with asperger's syndrome who needs medication, being held by a suspected killer in a bunker, surrounded by authorities. authorities have not released the suspect's name, but neighbors say he is a 65-year-old man by the name of jimmy lee dikes, who is paranoid, that is how they described him. he had a run-in last year with neighbors. instead he is in that bunker in the front yard with a 6-year-old child. now the standoff began yesterday when the gunman, allegedly dikes, stepped on the school bus, demanding two boys. when the driver tried to stop him, the gunman fired shots and killed the driver, who is being hailed as a hero tonight.

the gunman got away with one child, who, as we said s in that homemade bunker. with us is jason howell, also with us, byron sage, and because the suspect allegedly holds extremist views, according to neighbors, george, you're on the ground there, what is the latest. >> reporter: anderson, first an foremost, the welfare of this 6-year-old boy. investigators a short time ago came out to announce that they don't believe he has been hurt or harmed in any way. that is very good, very important news. they say the negotiations with jimmy dikes are still continuing, and through the course of it we learned interesting stuff. we learned they were able to get the young boy crayons and a coloring book that he requested. but more importantly, they were able to get him the medications that he needs. i spoke with state representative steve klaus, who

has been in touch with the family. he says that the family is relieved they were able to get the medication to him. but also as every hour passes, you know, these are desperate times for them, anderson, take a listen. >> the family was camped out when they heard about it. we got in touch with them to make sure they got what they needed. they're just holding on by a thread, hoping to get a resolution and get their young son back. >> reporter: so ander saab, this situation continues hour by hour. we saw a new group of investigators who came in, continued to relieve each other. just to make sure everyone is here in place to watch this situation 24 hours as this continues. >> byron, you say the critical component here is that this alleged gunman apparently didn't know the boy that he allegedly abducted. why is that so important?

>> reporter: it is key, because if an individual is known previously, there is a much higher potential exposure to violence. here, it would appear that this individual boy was taken in a classic hostage sense as leverage. >> what about the people who and law enforcement that are on the scene? >> patience. >> patience. >> patience and the opportunity for the negotiation team to develop a rapport and trust trust with the individual that has taken the hostage and that only comes with time. >> mark, i know jim lee dykes was not on their radar. you were talking about people involved in the investigation. what are they telling you tonight? >> well, they told us, these are investigators in the hood county -- the dale county

sheriff's office, is that this man was quite well known to his neighbors for holding apparently quite strong anti-government views, whatever that may mean precisely. and also that he was known as a survivalist. the chief investigator described him as anti-america, this according to neighbors. he also talked about what a loner he was. he apparently virtually had no contact with people around him. and that's about what we heard. what we've not been able to do is connect this man to any group that we know of. >> george, what have you been hearing from neighbors, people in the area about this man's behavior? it seems like what mark is saying from what he's heard from investigators, this guy was very well known. >> reporter: anderson, we spoke to jimmy davis. he's a neighbor nearby. he described dykes as being

paranoid, certainly a vietnam vet but a person who believed in alien and alien abductions. davis and dikes were supposed to be in court today for an incident that happened back in december. this is a confrontation between the two them, a situation where dykes became upset and davis said he pulled a pistol on him. take a listen to this. >> he pulled a pistol out and by the time i seen the pistol, i took off on the truck pulling the trailer and i made it ten foot and he fired the gun twice. >> reporter: so davis was in his pickup truck with his mother, with his young daughter, and this happened. so this is a situation where people who know dykes, they say, you know there were signs all along that he might be unstable, anderson. >> and he was due in court for that incident? >> reporter: yeah. it was a charge of menacing. again, not in court today. this has been going on day two, now going on day three. we are just seeing it drag out, anderson. >> byron, you talk about having

rapport and building trust, how do you say that to someone who neighbors say is paranoid and has a court case where he allegedly shot at somebody? >> first of all, the negotiators need to recognize that, but set it aside. compartmentalize it. you can't be predisposed to put a character to this individual and manifest itself through dialogue. if he has these kinds of issues, paranoid and so forth, he has a story. obviously wouldn't have initiated this action, taken the course of action that he's done until he wanted to put across some sort of statement, it will be the negotiator's responsibility to try to draw that out as they get his emotionality down and allow him to become more rational. >> byron, the fact that this has gone on to day two, be does time

work in the law enforcement's favor? >> this is a true hostage situation. it's not a pseudo hostage situation. a person, this young boy has been taken hostage purely for leverage purposes. so the passage of time in that context is incredibly important. and, frankly, i think the family hopefully can take a little positive aspect or positive hope from that fact, that he's allowed them to deliver medication. he's provided them -- particularly if the boy requested the coloring book and so forth, and then allowed that to be delivered. those are huge indicators of progress. >> well, that is certainly good news to end on tonight.

we'll continue to watch this. byron, george howell, mark as well. thank you very much. you can be call me on twitter, @andersoncooper. we'll be following this over the course of the hour. just ahead no shortage of passion on the senate hearings from gabby giffords and others testifying on gun violence. where are the solid nonpartisan facts and why are they so hard to come by? and also police commissioner ray kelly is here. and football great ray lewis in the super bowl this week. the final game in a brilliant career. but there's another chapter, a much darker one to the ray lewis story. we'll tell you about it when we continue. with stayfree ultra th. flexible layers move with your body while thermocontrol wicks moisture away. keep moving. stayfree.

. welcome back. while a man holds a child at gun point after shooting and killing a school bus driver, another man walks into a phoenix office building killing three, injuring one. there have been others recently. some far worse of course. how big a role, if any, does easy access to firearms play in

violent crimes like these? that's the question and crucially how do we really know what the true facts are? now, are both sides building their cases on shaking factual ground? today in testimony before the senate judiciary committee, former congresswoman gabby giffords who survived the tucson massacre, spoke of the need for action. >> thank you for inviting me here today. >> thank you for inviting me here today. this is an important conversation. for our children, for our communities. for democrats and republicans. speaking is difficult. but i need to say something important. violence is a big problem. too many children are dying.

too many children. we must do something. it will be hard. but the time is now. you must act, be bold, be courageous, americans are counting on you. thank you. >> well, she spoke from handwritten notes which were posted on the facebook page of the gun reform group that she and her husband, former astronaut, mark kelly, founded. he also testified along with the national rifle association's wayne lapierre. commander kelly at one point answered mr. lapierre's claim that background checks don't need to be made universal. >> my wife would not be sitting in this seat, she would not have been sitting here today if we had stronger background checks.

>> the nra position, though, and it's shared by many people, is that criminals would still be able to get and use firearms and banning high-capacity rifles still would not work. and banning the semiautomatic weapons, such as the ones used in newtown, aurora and elsewhere. both sides of the gun debate use the assault weapons ban that was in effect from 1994 to 2004 to make their case. listen. >> independent studies including one from the clinton justice department prove that it had no impact on lowering crime. >> the department of justice report assault weapons as a percentage of gun traces, we chose the 70% decline. >> while armed security works, gun bans do not. >> i have been in law enforcement for nearly 35 years and i have seen an explosion of fire power since the assault weapons ban expired. victims are being riddled with multiple gunshots. >> re-enact a law, that according to the department of justice did absolutely nothing to reduce gun violence.

>> the 1994 assault weapon ban did not stop columbine. the justice department found the ban ineffective. >> you may hear both those sides and say both sides can not be right. the problem is there is really no clear-cut way of telling who is, not just because each side accuses the other of cherry-picking the data. the problem is there is not enough good research to draw solid conclusions. take a look at what the nonpartisan congressional research service concluded in a november report on the existing body of knowledge. they quote, none of the existing sources of statistics provide either comprehensive, timely or accurate data with which to assess definitely whether there is a causal connection between firearms and violence. a big reason for that scarcity of good research, congressunder pressure from the gun lobby doesn't pay for it. take a look, from 1993 to 1996,

congressional indicated about two and a half million so the cdc could study gun violence. but the money has dried up, averaging just $100,000 in a budget of nearly 6 billion. having said all that, the lack of definitive research has not stopped policymakers and community members from doing what they can with what they have in the struggle against gun violence, learning as they go. few know that better than new york city police commissioner ray kelly, who joins me now. >> you pointed out that the problems such as handguns on the streets, will anything in the way of control, whether it is limiting high-capacity magazines or further background checks, will that limit the number of lethality of handguns that you see? >> i think it can have an effect. the major problem for new york

city and other problems in america is the concealable handgun. >> when -- i mean, everybody is focusing on semiautomatic assault-type rifles, semiautomatic rifles. are you opposed to a ban on that? >> no, absolutely not. i think it's a good thing, but the impact in new york city will be minimal. >> you say, like, 1% 2%? >> yeah. it's less than 3%. and the indications are it may even be less than that. >> the nra says very clearly, look, existing laws on background checks are not being enforced. that the number of people who lie -- people are not being prosecuted if they lie on background checks. if they turn out to be felons and lie and are not telling the truth. do they have a point? >> yes, they do have a point. but also there has been legislation that has been passed that limits the holding of that information. the information that is used to check somebody, to 24 hours. so the government is restricted. the federal government restricted on how effectively they can do an investigation.

>> is it an either/or argument, though? because they're saying criminals will never submit to background checks, so you don't need more background checks, you just need to execute existing laws better. they say it's either/or. >> it is not either/or, obviously, you can do both and it makes sense to me to do both. >> what do you make of their argument that criminals will not submit to background checks? i mean, how big a problem is this, the gun show loophole? that private dealers can sell without -- >> it is not just in gun shows, it is outside of gun shows. it is estimated that 40% of guns that are sold are sold without any sort of registration or background check. that amounted to about 6 million guns last year, a tremendous universe of guns. and i think it will deter criminals from buying guns, if you have to register -- again,

it's not an easy answer. there is no magic bullet here. but i think each one of these pieces can help to reduce the problem. never end it. new york city and other big cities are going to have to face the problem of handguns on our streets for a long time to come. >> where do the guns come from? new york city itself has pretty fig tight laws. are they from out of state? >> precisely, 90% of the guns come from out of state, we call it the iron pipeline. >> isn't the problem with the background checks is that states have not been living up to their obligations? the states have not been giving drug data to the national database they have not been giving mental health issue or even arrest data in some cases to the national database? >> apparently some states think there are privacy issues when there really are not. we know now that some states have held on to as much as 6,000 records in terms of mental

incapacity, if you will. now that flow is beginning to move as a result of all of the attention on the issue. >> do you think something has changed after newtown? do you think there is enough will? do you think there will be a sort of legislation or at least stricter gun background checks? >> i think there will be something. but i'm not optimistic that it will be a major change. you can see as long as the can is sort of kicked down the road, we're going to have less and less of a chance of getting significant change. >> do you see a reason why some folks should have semiautomatic, you know, military-style weapons. >> i really don't. i don't see a logical reason for military-style weapons or clips with 30 rounds of ammunition. you can certainly hunt with something with a much smaller capacity. i think the so-called assault weapons, they're to scare people. they're really weapons of war,

meant to kill other people. general mcchrystal has said that. i don't see a logical need for that. having said that, i think we're going to have them with us for a long time to come. >> what about the idea of arming people in schools? i mean, is that something from a police standpoint you worry about? >> i don't think it is the right way to go. i mean, it would take an awful lot of resources to do that. i think that amount of money and resources would be better spent in a lot of different ways, even additional police officers. to move to have armed officers or armed security guards in schools, i think, would be a -- a tremendous -- not waste, but it would be a tremendous investment of resources that could be better spent in other places. >> that is interesting, commissioner kelly, appreciate your time, thank you. >> good to be with you. quick programming note to let you know about. tomorrow morning we're gathering people from all sides of the gun debate, all different

perspectives for a 360 televised town hall from washington, d.c. we're doing our best to cut through the noise, cut through the politics of this all. we're not taking sides here, we're just trying to bring information that really makes a difference. you can weigh in, tweet us using #gundebate360, we may read your comments on air. that's tomorrow night at 8:00 and 10:00 eastern. just ahead tonight, deadly storms raking the southeast. incredible pictures of the tornado in georgia leaving massive destruction in its wake. we'll check in with chad myers and bring you more. and also the alleged rape that happened. will the players charged get the change of venue they say they need? that ruling ahead. upside down. >> hi. >> hi. you know, i can save you 15% today if you open up a charge card account with us. >> you just read my mind. >> announcer: just one little piece of information and they can open bogus accounts, stealing your credit, your money and ruining your reputation.

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you have so much to protect and nothing to lose when you call lifelock now to get two full months of identity theft protection risk free. that's right, 60 days risk-free. use promo code: gethelp. if you're not completely satisfied, notify lifelock and you won't pay a cent. order now and also get this shredder to keep your documents out of the wrong hands-- a $29 dollar value, free. get protected now. call the number on your screen or go to lifelock.com to try lifelock protection risk free for a full 60 days. use promo code: gethelp. plus get this document shredder free-- but only if you act right now. call the number on your screen now! >> the super bowl of course, is this sunday, that will be ray lewis's last game, the ravens linebacker is retiring. but years ago he was almost forced to leave the game after a

de deadly night out. more ahead. ody while thermocontrol wicks moisture away. keep moving. stayfree.

welcome back, a terrifying day for a lot of folks in the southeast where winter storms killed at least two people and injured 20. now imagine this outside your window, that twister touched down in georgia, and left a trail of damage in its wake. buildings destroyed, people trapped in the rubble, cars overturned, authorities forced to shut down interstate 75 at one point. thousands lost power. today's storms were part of a huge violent system that hammered the country from michigan to the louisiana coast. chad myers joins me with the latest. is this strange to see tornadoes in january, chad? >> good question. there are about 40 tornadoes every january, every year on average. but they follow the jet stream. so, yes, a little strange, but not out of the ordinary. follow where the jet stream is, that's where the tornado potential is. in january, the jet stream is

here, that is typical, where the tornadoes would be. if you move to february, march, tornado alley standards, april and may you're up here. believe it or not, in june, july and august, you can get tornadoes all the way up into canada, that is where the jet stream is. so no, not unusual, but 40 every year on average. today we got about ten. that's more than average for the day. and the big swings in temperature, well below freezing last week, much warmer today, cooler again in a couple of days. how out of ordinary is that? >> it was five degrees in new new york city five days ago. today, newark, new jersey, got to 64. that is a 59-degree swing because of where you were in the jet stream. when the jet stream comes down like this, all the cold air in the north from canada keeps coming on down. coming. but if the jet stream turns like this, all the warm air comes up. that is what happened in the past couple of days, come on up to the northeast. >> all right, chad, i appreciate that. thanks. our thoughts are with all the people in the path of the

storms. a lot more happening tonight. let's check in with randy kaye and a 360 bulletin. >> a judge has ruled against a change of venue in the rape trial that has sparked protests and divided an ohio town. pictures of the alleged victim, a 16-year-old girl, surfaced on social media and led to the arrests of two high school football players. the judge also ruled that the trial will be open to the media and the public. both defenders are minors. u.s. officials say an israeli fighter jet struck a convoy believed to be moving weapons to hezbollah in lebanon. syria disputed the account, saying that israel targeted a research facility near damascus. massachusetts governor, duval patrick, named william mo cowan as his chief of staff to replace john kerry. and coming to a post office near you, johnny cash, the u.s. postal service is honoring the

legendary singer in its new legendary icon release of stamps. >> that's cool. >> apparently the u.s. postal service gets about 40,000 suggestions for stamps each year, they narrowed it down to 20, and johnny cash won it. >> all right. randy, thank you very much. the baltimore ravens ray lewis will play his last nfl game ever on super bowl sunday. seems headed for the hall of fame. but in the past, he was on trial for double murder. and one of his co-defendants wrote a book. and just when you thought the manti te'o story couldn't get more involved, it has. dr. phil mcgraw says the california man who was behind the hoax fell in love with te'o while pretending to be his girlfriend. you know i relieve coug

and extreme sports under scrutiny after dangerous games going wrong. [ tissue box ] he said nasal congestion. yeah...i heard him. [ female announcer ] tylenol® cold multi-symptom nighttime relieves nasal congestion. nyquil® cold and flu doesn't.

well, of course, super bowl sunday is this weekend, the ravens and the 49ers, probably didn't need to tell you that. for ravens linebacker ray lewis, it will be his last game in the nfl. he announced his retirement at the end of the season, and then crushed his way through the playoffs making 44 tackles. besides his raw talent, he is known for this dance, which his fans revere him. he wears his spirituality on his sleeve, literally. on his tee shirt, psalms 91. that is the ray lewis we see today. but there is another chapter of his past that is never far away. but for the first time one of the men involved in the ugly incident speaks out about what happened before lewis's career almost ended before it barely got underway. here is ed lavandera. >> reporter: the epic career of

ray lewis almost ended 13 years ago, outside the cobalt lounge nightclub in atlanta. just hours after the 2000 super bowl. a fight breaks out, and when the dust settles, jason baker and richard lawler are stabbed to death and left in the street. ray lewis and two friends are charged with murder. what unfolded next is a mesmerizing saga, and the truth is as elusive as ever as you're about to see. >> i have not been back to this area since that incident happened. >> reporter: this is the first time that reggie oakly talked about it since that night. oakley has written a book which he is eager to sell. >> from my point of view, it was self-defense. >> reporter: oakley says they were leaving the club when the group started to fight. there was a champagne bottle broken over oakley's head. then there was mayhem. >> i had no idea anybody got stabbed. >> so you didn't stab him? >> no i didn't stab him. >> so how did he end up with the stab wounds if you're the one fighting him?

>> you have to read the book to find out. >> reporter: after the fight, lewis and his entourage piled in his limo and sped off. i was never clear about how two guys end up with a fight with two other guys two of them end up dead, right? nobody is ever convicted. and how they ended up with stab wounds? >> if you end up with stab wounds, what does that mean? somebody stabbed you. >> reporter: right, you were saying you were not the one that stabbed him. >> correct. >> reporter: so who could have stabbed him? >> you have to read the book and find out if i know or not. >> reporter: are you saying that you know who did it? >> you have to read the book to find out. >> reporter: there are a lot of people who think you got away with murder, basically. >> well, that is why i wrote the book to clarify all that. >> reporter: you know everyone watching this will think it's a weird answer. >> it's not. i think it's an appropriate answer. >> reporter: we'll come back to oakley, but there is probably an element of the story you never heard before. the story of what ray lewis was wearing that night.

prosecutors say there was a blood trail, eyewitnesss and a cover-up of lies. the limo driver told investigators he heard oakley and sweeting admit to stabbing the victim. both men deny this. other witnesses say that ray lewis yelled at everybody in the limo, there were 11 in all to keep their mouths shut and not say anything, and that my football career is not going to end like this. but the white suit that ray lewis was wearing that night was not found. prosecutors suspect it was stained in the victim's blood, and someone took the knifes and suit and threw them all away. which brought us to ed guaga ga ray lewis's attorney. where is the white suit he was wearing that night? >> it went to the cleaners and was in the suits that were in his closet. the prosecution didn't do the things they needed to do to get access to the suit. >> reporter: so it exists somewhere? >> well, i don't know that it exists now. >> reporter: prosecutors denied our requests for interviews

about this story. the murder trial crumbled on live television. witnesses backtracked on their stories. defense attorneys eviscerated the credibility of many witnesses. it got so bad that prosecutors had to drop murder charges against ray lewis in the middle of the trial, they offered him a plea deal. lewis pled guilty to a misdemeanor charge of obstruction of justice in exchange for testifying against sweeting and oakley. even that didn't help. both men were acquitted. ray lewis says he was the peace-maker, but oakley says that was not the case. was ray involved in the fighting? >> in my opinion, yes. i don't know if he was wrestling, fighting, but i know he was right in the mix there with everybody else. >> reporter: because his lawyer and his side said hey, he was trying to be the peace-maker in that situation. >> i didn't see that. when the police asked him what happened, you know, he wouldn't

come clean. >> he was not involved in the fight. he didn't cause it. he didn't take an act, a step, a statement to make this happen. he was no more guilty than the other 100 people on the street. >> reporter: no one has ever been convicted in the deaths of jason baker and richard lawler. for baker's uncle, it makes him angry to see lewis enjoy the football glory. >> stop acting you're one of the people to come out with the bible. >> reporter: so you think on this day ray lewis knows what happened that night? >> oh, yeah. i hope it haunts them for the rest of their life, until they die and until they burn in hell. >> reporter: the most painful irony of all for greg wilson is ray lewis will likely

immortdalliimmortdal i of fame, not far from where the three were laid to rest. >> ed joins me from atlanta. this guy oakley says he didn't kill them. so who does he think killed the guys. >> well, the stories are so confusing and different, the victims' families are left wondering about the truth. oakley points to two other people who he says and others say were never properly vetted by investigators at the time. he doesn't say those two were responsible but kind of puts the doubt that way. but the bottom line here it was oakley, sweeting and perhaps lewis himself who were in the melee with baker and law ller. and as soon as the fight was over the two men were left dead in the street. so wisdom tells you it has to be somebody in the group. the problem is there were never any witnesses who saw somebody brandish a knife or any credible witnesses. remember, many witnesses were simply discredited on the witness stand. there was never anyone who clearly came forward who said i saw the knife, i saw who had the

knife and put it in the -- >> oakley doesn't do himself any favors by trying to pitch his book and not answering the questions. >> reporter: no question, it was a rough interview and it was interesting. because he has not really spoken publicly about that night in 13 years. but you know, he says he is trying to clear his name. he walks away and says look at the end they feel vindicated that a jury acquitted them, that the prosecution dropped the charges against ray lewis and they're trying to move beyond it. >> clear his name and sell some books. ed lavandera, appreciate it. coming up, maybe you've seen this incredible video of the snow mow automobile accident at the winter x games. he didn't get hurt and nobo nobody else was hurt after the vehicle careened into fans. it could have been much worse, you will hear from the guy who was on that snow mobile next.ct . sweetness naturally.

she can't always move the way she wants. now you can. with stayfree ultra thins. flexible layers move with your body while thermocontrol wicks moisture away. keep moving. stayfree. well, the x games, featuring extreme sports are under scrutiny tonight after a string of accidents at the aspen games in colorado, one man is in critical condition, another with a pelvis injury. a snowboarder got a concussion, another competitor, snow mobiler jack strong, take a look. trying to do a back flip.

the snowmobile got away from him and went straight into the crowd. the throttle was off, the boy went to the hospital. thankfully the snow mobile didn't hit anybody in the crowd. i spoke about the safety of the games. so jack, first of all, i'm glad that obviously you and everybody in the crowd are okay. take me through what happened. how did it go so wrong? >> unfortunately, when i was in the air with the trick, the rear brake on the sled, kind of pushed off the left handlebar to spin around, the rear brake is there, and i accidentally tapped it. because the track is so big on a snow mobile, when you hit the brake in the air it actually nosed forward. i had no option but to abort ship. and sent me cat-scratching through the air trying to find my feet. i found them, landed on my feet, dodged the snow mobile, came

away pretty lucky. i was so glad when i saw it take off that it didn't hit anybody in the crowd, i definitely -- don't think i could live with someone being hurt from my snowmobile if it went into the crowd. my mom was standing right there, too, and i was just watching her face as it was heading for the fence. >> and this may be a dumb question, but when you fly through the air, what is going through your mind? does it feel slow? does it feel fast? what's happening? >> well, for somebody who has been in a near car accident or something like that, when you get the vision of everything slowing down, i guess the adrenaline sets in. you think, okay, i got -- this is pretty much make or break. i have to find my feet here so i can take this landing as best i can. i am a dirt bike rider by trade. i have crashed too many times, on the hard dirt, landings, concrete. it was kind of almost comforting knowing there was snow yune underneath me and coming down on that snow felt better than the hard dirt like it is at

some x games. >> i mean, you could have also been hit by your -- by the snow mobile. >> i was lucky that i didn't have to get hit by the sled. and i was lucky to get away from it. >> i mean, do you think -- there is criticism that there is not enough protection for spectators in events like this, do you think there needs to be more or do you think it is generally pretty safe? >> i think it is pretty safe, really. and i think there may be some things that could be done. this was a freak accident, pretty much. it's very rare that the snowmobile would land that way, the throttle would be on, and somehow it would find its way back on the track and drive itself towards the crowd. it was a pretty freak thing. >> i want to talk to you about your fellow snow mmobiler, cale moore. he was injured last week in an accident. how is he doing. >> he's still in critical condition. i've been talking with his

family. we're teammates. i've done shows with caleb all around the world the last few years. luckily, rock star energy drink has come forward and they -- we are going to auction off my sled at rockstar.com, and all the funds from that will be going towards caleb to help out with his recovery. >> we wish him the best and that you are okay and the folks in the crowd are okay. thank you very much. >> thank you very much. the story of how one football game got to be a multibillion dollar industry. super bowl sunday is almost upon us, and it may be a record breaking year for the number of people watching and the money they'll be spending. tom foreman reports. ♪ >> reporter: the numbers expected from the big game are staggering, 179 million fans

will watch, 8 million will buy new tv, and the money for wings, pizza, beer and more will top $12 billion. so how did we get from there to here? this is the oldest film of a college football match. princeton and yale, 1903. at that time versions of the game had already been played for 30 years, but football as we know it was just beginning its american journey. >> we are talking about a period when the game was being played in college and maybe 2% of americans were even going to college. >> reporter: michael oriard is a former nfl player turned author and college professorment. >> why would they care what the boys are doing with their spare time? the popular press transformed the game into this popular spectacle. >> reporter: through lurid hyperventilating account, rea r readers were brought into a world so violent that injuries

were common. some wanted to ban it outright, prompting theodore roosevelt to plead with organizers to tone it down. he succeeded, and football has grown, developing a professional league before world war i, and not long after world war ii surging in popularity. >> what changed that in the 1950s was television. television made it possible for football fans everywhere to follow professional football. it also opened it up then a game for people who had no connection what whatsoever universities. >> reporter: tv turned it into entertainment, with slow motion replay, cheerleaders athletes. now it is a record breaker even before the kickoff. tom foreman, cnn, looking for

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tonight we have a story from georgia where police say two employees of a cold storage facility outside atlanta broke in and stole -- wait for it, $65,000 worth of chicken wings. police say the two guys rented a truck, backed it up to the bay doors and used a forklift to load up ten pallets of frozen chicken wings.

$65,000 worth of hot wings. see, hot wings because they were stol stolen. i kid. i cannot conceptualize how many chicken wings you get for $65,000, other than apparently you need a forklift to do it. luckily a reporter was kind enough to break it down for us. >> this bag of tyson frozen chicken wings, about 5 pounds of it is $12.65. so that's $65,000 worth of chicken divided by 12.50 times five, that's 26,000 pounds of frozen chicken wings. >> 26,000 pounds. i still want picture it. but it does beg the question why -- why would someone need that many chicken wings? local residents are understandably concerned. >> did they recover the chicken wings? are we out? is it a total loss? >> first thought, that's