get three free. also season tickets to the marlins. hash tag joseph a banks promo. that's it for today. thanks for watching. we'll see you tomorrow. >> thanks very much. happening now, did president obama mislead the american public at the cost of his health care law? officials now concede some people across the country could see their insurance premiums rise. while crowds descend on the u.s. supreme court the battle over same sex marriage gets personal for a cnn contributor. she'll open up about the moment that seared her heart. and she could become the first female and openly gay mayor of america's largest city but could her self-described big emotions get in the way of her ambitions? i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." let's begin with breaking news coming into "the situation room" right now.

the defense for the accused colorado movie theater shooter james holmes is now offering a guilty plea in exchange for life in prison without the possibility of parole. according to documents just filed with the court. so far the prosecution in the case has not accepted the offer because it still may be seeking the death penalty. if it decides against the death penalty the case could be resolved next week. 12 people were killed and 58 others were wounded in the july, 2012 shooting. let's discuss what is going on with our senior legal analyst jeffrey toobin. is this first of all a surprise that the defense would seek a guilty plea to avoid the death sentence? >> not really. the goal in these cases for the defense is to keep the client from being executed. this is not a whodunit. everybody knows that james holmes committed these horrible murders. the question is what punishment he will get. if they can get life in prison

they will consider this a victory. >> would the prosecution accept this kind of guilty plea and avoid the death sentence? >> well, that's the question now. there is an interesting precedent for this. just last year jared lee loughner who committed horrible murders in tucson and grievously murdered congresswoman gabby giffords was given life in prison without parole. obviously both loughner and holmes have terrible mental problems. their trials would be long inquiries into whether they were insane, the insanity defense is a complex, difficult area of the law. this would give both sides a chance to short circuit the trial, let the victims avoid a trial but would take the death penalty off the table. >> normally in a situation like this, horrendous crime, mass murder, the defendant's lawyers now seeking to avoid the death sentence wouldn't the prosecution go to the victims' families, survivors, and ask them what they think?

>> absolutely. this is a big change in how prosecutors work. largely since the oklahoma city bombing where the victims played a very important part in the whole process and talking to the victims and they don't necessarily have veto power over decisions but certainly to consult with victims before any big decision like this is made is certainly something the department of justice is doing. that may be one reason the issue isn't quite resolved yet because they need to at least discuss it with all of the victims' families. >> that would be the right thing to do as the prosecution. we have more to discuss later this hour. were americans misled about the cost of obama care? the president has long pledged his health care law would reduce premiums and raise benefits. now the obama administration is conceding that some people, yes, some people will have to pay more. potentially a lot more for health insurance coverage.

explain the latest. >> wolf, these were some comments reportedly made by health and human services secretary kathleen sebelius yesterday in an off camera meet ing with some journalists. she said according to her aide she was trying to explain some people with skimpy insurance plans will have to essentially trade up to get better coverage under obama care that there may be more cost associate the with that. republicans who have long held obama care is an entitlement that will break the country's bank are trying to say that the obama administration is admitting americans will pay more for their coverage. it was one of president obama's biggest promises about his signature health care reform law. >> premiums are going to be lower. if you already have health insurance we will lower your premiums. >> reporter: now the president's health and human services secretary kathleen sybebelius sd that may not be the case for

some americans. those who currently have lower cost so-called catastrophic plans who will have to purchase more comprehensive policies under obama care. these folks will be moving into a really fully insured product for the first time and so there may be a higher cost associated with getting into that market. she said this according to "the wall street journal." now republicans are pouncing. on twitter speaker boehner and michele bachmann seized on the comment. so did senator orrin hatch using the hash tag broken promises. a new study estimates insurance companies will pay on average 32% more for claims on individual insurance plans because of obama care. some states fare worse. the report says california will see a 62% increase by 2017. wisconsin and ohio, an 80% increase. those costs the report says will likely be passed on to consumers. but the obama administration is

criticizing the accuracy of the study saying it ignores a number of elements of the law that are expected to bring down costs. the white house is also taking aim at the group that conducted the study. >> well i think you're setting a study that i believe was conducted by a health insurance company. that's critical of the affordable care act. so that part i'm not particularly surprised about. >> reporter: the society of actuaries contracted with a subsidiary of united health group to crunch the numbers for the report, wolf, but the society, itself, is nonpartisan and it says it stands by the numbers and the analysis. i will say, wolf, i spoke with an independent health policy analyst who said he doesn't think the report is by ased in the way it has been alleged by the white house but does think certainly the administration has a point that some factors have been left out of the analysis. >> the dispute is only just beginning. briannea, thanks very much. the details on health care costs come from accounts of a briefing

that the health and human services secretary kathleen sebelius held with reporters. let's drill a bit deeper right now. the author of the article entitled "sebelius, some could see insurance premiums rise." thanks for coming n you were not at the briefing. one of your colleagues from "the wall street journal" was there and that colleague recorded the briefing and then gave you the tape is that right? >> that is the case, yes. >> what exactly did she say as far as premiums going up for a lot of americans across the country? >> the important thing is she spoke about premiums going up for some americans and in particular folks who have skimpy insurance plans right now and might get more generous coverage. this might seem like a little bit of an obvious point that if people are getting more they might have to pay more. but it is not really something the administration has focused on so far. so that's certainly created a lot of controversy. the other thing she pointed out was some people who currently have lower premiums perhaps

because of insurance market practices like younger men might see their premiums increase even as perhaps older people or women see theirs decrease. they are acknowledging that some people might see their premiums go up. there are certain other things they say might help offset this like subsidies from the federal government to pay the cost of premiums but we are expecting to see rate filings in the next few weeks that could give the answer one way or the other that premiums for some people are going to go up. >> as the senator, later as a candidate and then as president the president said premiums generally would go down. did he ever leave a loophole that for some people premiums would go up. >> the administration is putting a lot of confidence in the idea that competition particularly through the new insurance exchanges will help keep rates in check and then again pointed out that people might be paying less for their health care particularly if they get subsidies toward the cost of their coverage. but the premiums issue is certainly one that people notice. they're paying a lot of attention because in the early days of the insurance exchanges what people see whether they feel like they're getting

sticker struck could have a really big impact on whether they buy them. of course as you know, if not enough healthy people buy premiums get higher for the sicker people. >> because then everybody has to pay more. but as you know, even though all of obama care is not into effect, only a small percentage is in effect, a lot more in 2014, 2015, and the years to come, some people already say they're paying a significantly higher premium already. is that the result of obama care? >> premiums have been going up for a long time for a wide range of factors but certainly what a lot of the attention this week has been focused on is what will happen when the really big provisions that change the insurance market fundamentally kick in next year. those include outlawing for example some of the insurance market practices. the insurers have kept premiums down for a while. >> to be precise the audio tape of kathleen sebelius, she was speaking on the record, not off the record or on background or anything like that. >> no. >> this was an on-the-record briefing. >> yes. >> thanks very much. up next drama at the u.s. supreme court as the chief justice john roberts challenges

the president of the federal defense of marriage act. she's been out of office now for several years. she's out of a job at fox news. but sarah palin has a new message for those who think she is out of the political game. her new video and a lot more coming up right here in "the situation room." [ man ] i got this citi thankyou card and started earning loads of points. we'll leave that there. you got a weather balloon, with points? yes i did. [ man ] points i could use for just about anything. go. ♪ keep on going in this direction. take this bridge over here. there it is! [ man ] so i used mine to get a whole new perspective. [ laughter ] [ male announcer ] earn points with the citi thankyou card and redeem them for just about anything. visit citi.com/thankyoucards to apply. bikes and balloons, wholesome noodles on spoons. a kite, a breeze,

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i want to play -- they've released the audiotapes of the arguments. here is the chief justice of the united states, what he had to say about the president's role in all of this. >> he has made a determination that executing the law by enforcing the terms is unconstitutional. i don't see why he doesn't have the courage of his convictions and execute not only the statute but do it constituent with his view of the constitution rather than saying oh, we'll wait until the supreme court tells us we have no choice. section 3 of the defense of marriage act is unconstitutional. that is a position broadly speaking that a lot of republicans agree with. it's not unprecedented for an administration to take a position. it is a position that has a lot of support from people in both parties. >> gloria, what position has all of this put the president in right now? >> this is really a political

argument they're having. what is extraordinary to me and you can say whether it is extraordinary is that you have the chief justice of the united states and justice scalia also criticizing the president essentially saying look. just because you don't like a law doesn't mean you don't -- you can't enforce it or that you should stand up in court and not try and enforce it. he is like who are you to choose even though you're president of the united states? historically it is easy to see what has happened. the president has evolved in his words on same sex marriage and as a result is not defending the defense of marriage act. pretty easy towns. legally they're saying where are you, mr. president? you are the president. >> because jeff, the defense of marriage act doma is the law of the land whether you like it or not right now. >> it is true in defense of the obama administration that several times in the history of the supreme court administrations have gone to the supreme court and said we are not defending this law. we believe it is

unconstitutional. it is very unusual. but it has been done before. and the chief justice doesn't appear to like the position that the president has put him in. both days there was real hostility from the chief justice toward positions held by the solicitor general. not because he did a bad job but because john roberts really just didn't like what he saw as the political views of the administration. >> you liz ebd to all the arguments yesterday, today, do you -- what do you see -- it's hard to predict. >> i know better -- >> it is hard to predict. >> yes. >> you see a mixed message coming out? what do you see? >> today was a little clearer than yesterday. it looked like and i say this with appropriate caveats it looked like there were five votes to strike down the defense of marriage act including anthony kennedy but not because it was discriminatory toward gay people. he seemed sympathetic to the argument the defense of marriage act was a violation of states

rights. that marriage is something that states have traditionally regulated and the defense of marriage act was an interference with states rights. >> didn't it seem to you, though, in both of these cases and perhaps more in proposition 8 than today that the justices seemed to be looking for some kind of off ramp here so they didn't have to make these large decisions but, rather, find a way whether it be on procedural grounds or ruling narrowly in the case of proposition 8 that they don't have to do the heavy lift? >> they don't want to lose so they would rather see the case disappear on procedural grounds rather than have a substantive judgment against them. you could see that they were sort of fencing around that issue and today the liberals were i thought more outspoken today than yesterday. this was an easier case for the liberals than the proposition 8 case was. but there are only four democrats. they need a fifth vote. it looked like but again just looked like they would get kennedy today. >> we won't know for sure until the end of june. that's when we expect decisions

on both of these cases, proposition 8 and doma to come out by the u.s. supreme court. guys, thanks very much. it could be the biggest case of their lives. two former rivals team up to take the same, same sex marriage fight to the supreme court. gloria borger gets exclusive access in the marriage warriors, showdown at the supreme court. it airs saturday night at 7:30 p.m. only here on cnn. while the supreme court weighs the issue of same sex marriage, some of the most iconic brands are now weighing in. look at these ad campaigns spotted by national.com. martha stewart living features the red equal sign as a slice of cake. anheuser-busch shows a pair of bud lights. one leading vodka maker pledges absolut support. and another south americanoff says every pairing is perfect. when we come back it is called the biggest cyber attack in history. we have details on how internet

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just coming in the actress ashley judd has just tweeted she will not, repeat, not run for the united states senate in 2014. there have ban lot of murmerring suggestions she might run for the kentucky seat now held by the senate republican leader

mitch mcconnell. let's talk about what's going on. our chief congressional correspondent dana bash is here. there were a lot of people close to ashley judd saying she was seriously thinking about challenging mitch mcconnell. >> even she now says she actually put out a relatively long statement acknowledging that saying she gave this some serious thought. she had thorough contemplation but realizes her responsibility and energy at this time need to be focused on her family and that is why she says she is regretfully unable to consider a campaign for the senate. of course, this has been one we've all been watching for obvious reasons not only because she is a hollywood actress but she was talked to bth to be the democratic challenger to the top republican in the u.s. senate. it does not mean mitch mcconnell won't get a strong democratic challenger but it won't be the kind of headline-making race we have seen if ashley judd had done this do we know why she made this decision? does she explain in detail?

there were some murmurings bill clinton was giving her some advice. >> apparently there were reports bill clinton was talking to the secretary of state that she might be somebody and she actually might be somebody who is a potential candidate still. she says she wants to spend time with her family. i know we kind of joked that is sort of f-4 on the computer for politicia politicians saying they don't want to run. she is going through a tough time personally, going through a separation, maybe even a divorce. she is very public because she was married to a very public person. and she also understood at least at the beginning, wolf, what it would take. because mitch mcconnell has seen a lot of republican incumbents go down because they didn't pay close enough attention. they already put an ad out. there was already a republican ad out in kentucky slamming ashley judd, defending mcconnell, talking about him and his wife and their values and of

course what we would of course have expected the campaign against ashley judd to be which is that she was a hollywood liberal who is just coming to kentucky, lived for the most part in tennessee. wasn't even a kentuckyian. those are all the things she knew were coming at her. she didn't want to take it on we now know mitch mcconnell who had even done an ad, at least some republicans had, against her, they don't have to worry about her running. she has decided not to run. thanks very much for that. let's dig a little deeper about ashley judd's decision, what it means. joining us now our cnn contributor, the democratic strategist hillary rosehill also gary marks the executive director of the faith and freedom coalition joining us from atlanta. hillary, what did you think? did you ever think she was really serious about this? >> i'll disclose now we weren't planning on talking about this. my firm actually is ashley judd's -- one of ashley judd's political advisers so i knew she was not going to run over the last few days. what i can tell you is that she seriously looked at it. there was a tremendous amount of

support. i think she would have been a great candidate. mitch mcconnell is vulnerable. i'm hoping that grimes runs against him. he is vulnerable and, but, even if he isn't beaten, it would be nice to keep him in kentucky for the next race so he isn't running around the country helping other senate republicans as far as i'm concerned as far as you know, hillary, when did she decide she wasn't going to run? >> over the last ten days i would say it gelled more. it was quite serious. >> do you know why, the bottom line as far as her decision not to challenge mitch mcconnell? >> the reasons dana reported were accurate reasons. the timing wasn't right. she has a lot of other things going on. she'll be formidible. she is extraordinarily intelligent and got a lot of outpouring of support. >> she did get a lot of support. gary, what is your reaction?

>> wolf, i think she is clearly no al franken. it was always going to be a tough road. she was going to run on bringing hollywood values to the heartland. she hasn't established residency in kentucky. she is a long-time tense yann. there were big, tough issues to overcome. i just don't think it was in the cards. what i do think is happening is a lot of democratic leaders are breathing a sigh of relief tonight and thinking we have a much better chance with a different candidate than a hollywood actress. >> all right. let's see what happens on that. don't go too far away. we have other stuff i want to discuss with you here in "the situation room." also north korea warning of similar nuclear war and taking a drastic step to cut off communication. stand by for that. the former cia director david patraeus opening up about the extra marital affair that end his career. stay with us. a guide to good dipping.

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-free is good. -free is very good. [ male announcer ] now get 50% off brake pads and shoes at meineke. north korea is now warning that war may break out at any moment. today it severed a hotline with south korea backing up its latest ominous rhetoric with dangerous action. north korea's motives remain a huge mystery. let's go live to our pentagon correspondent chris lawrence. what are they saying over there? >> reporter: well, wolf, senior u.s. officials say right now they are trying to determine just how much risk kim jong un is willing to take to show not only the world but the powerful people in his own country how tough he is. north korea is cutting a

military hot line and delivering a sobering message via state tv. >> the korean peninsula is now in a simmering nuclear war. >> if there is an escalation of tensions, the opportunity to use the crisis management tools are gone. >> reporter: a pentagon official called pyongyang's actions a complete mystery. an intelligence official says the u.s. is trying to figure out if it is just rhetoric or if the bluster is being driven by something behind the scenes. >> the north koreans aren't going to achieve anything through these threats and provocations. >> reporter: one analyst says this could be a test. >> it's almost like kim jong un is taking a book of flinches and carefully documenting at which point his adversaries do flinch. >> john park says kim's father would do something provocative then sit back and milk it for more time. the son is showing a new

leadership style. kim jong un launched a long-range rocket and quickly followed up with a nuclear test ch. within days the video was released showing america burned and putting his combat on alert. all of which may be kim's way of probing how much the u.s. and south korea will take. >> i think that becomes the basis of very important lessons learned that he could probably use in a different fashion later. >> reporter: some u.s. officials say north korea has cut off communication before and this is sort of an action that substitutes for doing something even more provocative and dangerous but they are worried about a miscalculation and the fact that the lack of communication now would really hurt the u.s. and south korea's ability to sort of control what happens if you started to get into an escalating series of attacks, wolf. >> what a story. all right.

thanks very much. very disturbing developments on the korean peninsula. other news, a rare public appearance from general petraeus apologizing in a military dinner for the extra marital affair that led to his fall from grace. as director of the cia. i'm also keenly aware that the reason for my recent journey was my own doing. please allow me to begin my remarks this evening by reiterating how deeply i regret and apologize for the circumstances that led to my resignation from the cia and caused such pain for my family, friends, and supporters. this has obviously been a very difficult episode for us. but, perhaps, my experience can be instructive to others who stumble or indeed fall as far as i did.

one learns after all that life doesn't stop with such a mistake. it can and must go on. >> let's discuss what is going on in our strategy session. once again joining us our cnn contributor, the democratic strategist hillary rosen and also gary marks the executive director of the faith and freedom coalition joining us from atlanta. can he regroup? what does he need if you were giving him damage control advice? >> i think general petraeus has already apologized. i feel if he felt the need to apologize to his family again and wanted to do it publicly that was a nice extra touch but he ought to stop apologizing. he served our country well. he was a great leader by so many accounts and a brave soldier and i think this is a very forgiving country particularly around things like extra marital affairs. if his wife forgives him there is no reason why the country

shouldn't as well. and i expect him to be a contributor in this area for a long time. i think it's enough apologizing and he can get back to work and contribute something more gary, what would you tell him? >> well, i look at the example of another david, 2,000 years ago, and a place called israel, who went through a very similar set of circumstances. this process of an apology is a restoration process. it's a beginning. he was able to go on and serve his country in amazing ways. let's hope this is an on ramp to a process of restoration for this leader spiritually, emotionally, socially with his family. maybe politically. and let's hope that there is a way that he can continue to serve our nation down the line. i think hillary is on the right track there. we are a nation of second chances and people want to forgive but they're going to verify. there's a process. same kind of process that a lot of other leaders are going through, whether mark sanford or

tiger woods or michael vix. we're a nation that does want to give second chances but it's a process. >> hillary, let's talk about the debate yesterday, today before the united states supreme court on same sex marriage. >> right. >> you support same sex marriage. you were on "meet the press" sunday. you had an exchange with ralph reed. he works with gary over at the faith and freedom coalition. you wrote about it afterwards. >> that the enduring, loving, intact biological mother and father is best for children and it's not even a close call. the only issue before the court is, is there a social good to that and does the government have a legitimate interest in protecting and strengthening? >> you obviously were moved by that because you wrote an article in "the washington post." >> yes. >> saying that what he said

seared your heart. explain. >> well, ralph reed was on there saying my children would be better off with someone other than me as a parent. you know, i think the fact is first of all i think i'm a pretty good parent but second of all, all of the studies have shown, every single study actually given credibility has shown that there is just as much love and hope and support for kids in families with gay parents as not. and, in fact, what i would have said had there been more time on "meet the press" is that, you know, ralph reed and his coalition had plenty of opportunity when this case was adjudicated in california. they had seven weeks of a trial. and they didn't put forward a single expert, not one expert who came up with a study that said, that children are not better off -- that children are better off not having gay

parents. having said that, i'll say, none of that is what's at issue before the supreme court because there are gay parents today and there are married people today. the only issue that's really before the supreme court is whether married couples who are heterosexual are going to be treated equally under the law as married couples who are homosexual who are gay and it's not going to change whether or not people like me have children because we do. >> i bet hilary's kids, gary, i know she is an excellent mother. what do you want to say? she is doing a fabulous job raising those kids. >> there are so many parents like hilary doing their best job to raise children for the next generation. there are foster parents, adoptive parents. all sorts of folks standing up and trying to bring up the next generation and doing their best. i think what we're saying is

similar to what the american college of pediatrics has said. the very, very best situation for children is with a mom and dad, biological cli connected to those children and raising them. we do think the government does have a unique, compelling interest in fostering that basic building block of society, one that's been tested and proven more than 2,000 years of history. i think we shouldn't go willy nilly into changing the law by having the supreme court make a one size fits all judicial fiat solution taking away the will of 41 states that have already put in place laws that fit with what their state traditions have been. i think it would be a real mistake. >> again, children are not before the supreme court. he cited a study by the college of pediatrics. you should know that only has 60 members whereas the american academy of pediatrics, the nationwide organization of

pediatric doctors, has almost 100,000 members. they did the study that said it is not going to be an issue. the college of pediatrics was started by a right wing religious conservative group who was against this for moral reasons and had no scientific basis whatsoever. so let's just put that study aside and let's also remember that the supreme court can take away children from gay parents, whether they're adopted or whether they're given by natural child birth, and so the only issue before the court is whether couples are going to be treated equally. >> is that true, gary, what hilary just said that the college of pediatrics has 60 members compared to 100,000 pediatricians with the academy of pediatrics? >> yes. look on wikipedia. >> i just want gary to respond. >> i'm sure that could be true. it doesn't mean there are 60 researchers that don't have science they've used and looked into. i think the real focus is what

hilary said is about what is happening before the supreme court. and if we're going to take away what 4 # 1 states have done andy to those legislative bodies they can't represent the people of their state, that they've got to have a new one size fits all solution put on them by the supreme court, that's not the right way. that's going to lead to another contentious, polarized roe v. wade type decision. that is not good for america. i don't think it's good for any of the people in this debate to see that kind of situation imposed upon the people. we need to let this play itself out. if hilary is very confident in her views and we're confident in ours let us win the hearts and minds of the american people and have that debate going forward but let not the supreme court be the final arbiter. i'm worried about another judicial activist decision here. >> hilary rosen and gary marx to be continued this debate. no doubt about that. thanks to both of you for joining us.

when we come back mitt romney opens up about what it's like to be out of the campaign bubble. and she could be the first female openly gay mayor of new york city. but could christine quinn's temper get in the way? find out what she is telling us in a brand new interview. ♪ (train horn) vo: wherever our trains go, the economy comes to life. norfolk southern. one line, infinite possibilities.

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it's been called the biggest cyber attack in history. lisa sylvester is monitoring that and some of the other top stories right now.

what happened? >> wolf, the prolonged denial of service attack targeted a spam preventing group causing servers to crash and become inaccessible for many users. one security expert says it essentially like a nuclear bomb. no definite word on who was behind the attack. we'll have a full report just ahead in our next hour. and pope francis is breaking with tradition deciding for now not to move into the luxury papal apartment used by pope benedict. instead pope francis is staying at the same vatican hotel two-room suite he has been at since the papal election two weeks ago and has given no indication when that might change. francis has become widely known for his embrace of simplicity since becoming pope. this footnote to a story we brought to you last week about president obama being heckled during his speech in jerusalem. the white house pool report at the time said the shouting was about imprisoned u.s. spy jonathan fuller. israeli media later identified the heckler as an israeli arab

shouting out against israel's policies for palestinians. take a look at this. we now have unbelievable video of a hero bus driver in china dodging a light pole as it smashes through the windshield. wow. despite suffering a ruptured spleen he still managed to bring the bus to a stop and help each and every one of the 26 passengers onboard get off. no one else was hurt. wow. he got everybody off. >> a hero. >> looks like he is going to be okay, too. all good news. >> thank you very much. when we come back, some say she has temper problems but this leading new york city mayoral candidate is not apologizing. and mitt romney may be out of the political spotlight but he says there is still one thing he's very concerned about. find out what he's talking about just ahead.

she could become the first female and openly gay mayor of new york city. now christine quinn is facing some questions about her reportedly brazen temper. she tells cnn she isn't apologizing for being rg quote, pushy. our national correspondent debra feyerick reports. >> if you're following gay marriage, christine quinn will look familiar. the openly gay new york city lawmaker is a key spokesperson for marriage equality. she's also running for mayor of america's largest city, and is way ahead of her democratic rivals. but could quinn's admitted irish temper hurt her chances as a

"new york times" report seems to suggest. >> people who have big emotions have big emotions. and i've never said that i wasn't somebody who got very emotional about my work. i want to get things done. and when i feel something passionately and strongly, i'm going to act on that. >> reporter: those passions and flimsy office walls compelled her staff members to add soundproofing to blunt her conversations. she said the reasons were practical. >> i'm too loud. i'm loud. when i'm not yelling. but we didn't soundproof because of that. >> reporter: quinn admits she does get angry. but her critics say it sometimes crosses the line into retribution. elizabeth crowley said when she mistakenly left quinn's name off an important press release, quinn retaliated by cutting her budget, twice in two years. >> i don't have a problem with us getting into a disagreement,

and exchanging words or yelling. after we had a disagreement, there was retaliation taken out on my discretionary dollars. which ultimately didn't hurt me, but hurt the people that i represent. >> reporter: when i asked quinn about retaliating against people she feels have crossed her -- >> that's simply not true. i'm a speaker of the city council and i have to run the city council. sometimes i make decisions that not everybody likes. >> reporter: new yorkers are used to bursts of anger from their mayors. now polls put quinn within striking distance of a lock on the 2013 democratic nomination. so is the so-called anger issue just political theater. if, let's say, quinn were a man, would she be praised instead as supporter robert jackson believes. >> she's one of the most powerful individuals in new york city. and she's a woman. and she's gay.

these are all factors. but this is who she is, as a woman, and as a leader. she is who she is. do i have a problem with her? as that? not at all. >> now, quinn's powerful position as an outspoken leader faces questions. she was congratulated, why is quinn being criticized for doing exactly like that. >> deborah feyerick, thank you. just ahead in our next hour, thousands and thousands of pages of documents have just been released in that deadly tucson shooting massacre more than two years ago. we're going to have the dramatic details. stand by. and mitt romney, he's opening up about life now outside the campaign bubble. stay with us. cough. [ male announcer ] a lot of sinus products don't treat cough. they don't? [ male announcer ] nope, but alka seltzer plus severe sinus does

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service accompany you everywhere you go, outside your front door at night, it's really quite an unusual thing. kind of exciting initially. but i have to admit, being able to go back to our own life and going to the grocery store and shopping on my own is kind of nice to do by myself, without a bunch of people hanging around with me. so, you know, i like the life of being an american citizen. it's good to live a normal life again. >> the former presidential candidate, mitt romney, speaking with dennis miller. happening now, close encounter with a killer. new details about a police stop that might, repeat, might have prevented a mass shooting in tucson. why bankruptcy judge refused to let american airlines boss leave with a sweet deal. and a massive land slide. we're going to talk to a resident whose home is dangerously close to a gaping hole in the earth.

>> i'm kate baldwin. >> i'm wolf blitzer. we welcome our viewers in the unites and around the world. you're in "the situation room." you're in "the situation room." the -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com more than two years after a mass shooting, the horrify fid nation, thousands of pages of documents about the massacre in tucson, arizona. >> we remember that like it was yesterday. they offer vivid details about the gunman and his rampage that killed six people and wounded 13 others, including congresswoman gabrielle giffords. brian todd has been poring over these documents, almost 3,000 pages. brian, what have you learned? >> kate and wolf, the documents shed light on bizarre behavior

by witnesses who helped subdue jared loughner at the scene. just hours beforehand. early morning, january 8th, 2011, jared lee loughner is stopped for running a red light in tucson, arizona. state fish and game officer allen foreigney lectures love ner on his driving. i said i'm not going to write you a citation for this, foreigney says, in a statement later to investigators. when i said that to him, his face got kind of screwed up and he started to cry. forney asks if loughner is okay. yeah, i'm okay, i've just had a rough time and i really thought i was going to get a ticket. loughner is sent on his way. just a couple of hours later -- >> he just went in and started firing and then he ran. >> reporter: jared lee loughner kills six people, wounds congresswoman gabrielle giffords. we're getting new details of the incident in thousands of pages of documents just released by

the pima county sheriff's department. a judge had kept them under seal until now, concerned they would prevent jared loughner from getting a fair trial. a witness described how he and others subdued loughner. >> i put my legs behind his knees and my arm in the small of his back. another guy was stepping on his neck. >> reporter: but in the new documents, he said one good samaritan did more than that, threatening to kill loughner with loughner's own gun. the other gentleman was holding the pistol. he said, i'll kill you, you m-fer. i said just put it down. if i wasn't a controlled person, i might have finished him off right there. the daniel hernandez, an intern for giffords, described caring for her just seconds after she was shot. >> she was alert and conscious but she wasn't able to speak. so the way that she was communicating was by grabbing my hand and just squeezing. >> reporter: in the new documents, more detail from hernandez. her breathing started getting shallower.

there was one visible gunshot wound. it was to the head. and the reports depict how loughner's anguished parents had sensed he had become violent and tried to stop him. his mother, amy loughner, interviewing with police, said once at the suggestion of officials at jared's school, he had a shotgun that we took away from him. in another account, loughner's father, randy, said he tried to disable loughner's car to prevent him from going out. these were very anguished parents. they tried to stop his bizarre behavior. they coast do it. >> also, there's another really shocking, striking scene described in the documents. the car ride, when the police were taking jared loughner from the scene to the police station. right? >> another in a string of bizarre events that day. an officer who transported loughner from the scene said, quote, while en route, he worked himself out of the seat belt and moving around freely in the back seat. you can assume he was cuffed, but still, that would give an

officer pause if he was driving the car. mr. loughner stated no one else knew about the shooting. this happened in the back seat of the car on the way to the police station. >> one scene after the horrible shooting. >> shocking stuff. brian todd, thank you. pima county sheriff's department captain is joining us now. he led the shooting investigation. captain, thanks very much for coming in. let's talk about these documents, extensive documents. the place we're asking about accomplices, what made you think that loughner may have had an accomplice? >> well, i think there were a number of things going on at the time. of course, just from the tactical standpoint, the responding officers were there, concerned about a couple things. one, they had one individual, mr. loughner himself, down on the ground and captured. and now this's still a lot of chaos out this at the shopping center. people running around and

reporting different things. and of course, they're seeing people with rifles and that. of course, those are, we learned later, are some of our own personnel that arrives there. so i think it's just a matter of strategy, tactical strategy to make sure that we have got everything contained and controlled before we really start saying things are safe. >> and this was no accomplice, is that right? >> no. no, absolutely not. >> absolutely not. all right. we did get some new information in these documents that have just been released. loughner's attitude while in custody, what strikes you as being most dramatic? >> you know, i don't know -- i don't believe we've released photos. but i do know that there was a booking photo of him, or at least a photo released early on in the investigation to the media. and just looking at that photo,

i think would make everyone's hair stand up. >> in all your years as an investigator, captain, what surprised you most about this investigation, specifically jared lee loughner? >> well, i don't know that anything surprised me. i think the surprise was just the entire community had the surprise, and that was that this incident occurred in our community. i think if anything like this ever happens in your community, you're totally caught offguard, and you're completely surprised. i've been in law enforcement for 36, 37 years, and as easy as it is to say nothing surprises me, that's really far from the truth. something like this really does surprise you. you just don't expect it. >> thank you for your work. thanks for helping us better appreciate what happened. and maybe, maybe we'll all learn some lessons from what happened in tucson. captain, thanks very much. >> thank you very much for having me. and another new development today in another high-profile mass shooting.

the suspect in the colorado movie theater massacre has offered to plead guilty and spend his life in prison. but documents show the prosecutors haven't at this moment accepted james holmes' offer, which means they may still pursue the death penalty. the supreme court now has tough decisions to make about the future of same-sex marriage in this country. while activists rallied outside, the justices heard a challenge of federal law defining marriage as a union between one man and one woman. our crime and justice correspondent joe johns was in the courtroom again today. you've been pulling double, triple duty. a second and final day of this hugely high-profile case. what stood out today? >> the second day the supreme court has struggled with the issue of same-sex marriage. this time it was about the defensive marriage act, intense session with questions about discrimination, morality, politics, the separation of powers, and no easy answers.

>> same-sex marriage, day two, at the supreme court. edie got hit with a tax bill for $330,000 when her wife died were on hand to hear what the justices had to say about her case. she's cautious but optimistic. >> we were very respected. and i think it's going to be good. >> questions from five justices made it plain that the defensive marriage act which denies benefits from legally married same-sex couples has critics on the courts because it treats gays and lesbians differently. >> two kinds of marriage, the full marriage and the sort of skim milk marriage. >> justice elena kagan dug into paul clement about what congress was thinking when it passed the law 17 years ago. >> i'm going to quote from the house report here. it's that congress decided to reflect and honor a collective moral judgment, and to express moral disapproval of

homosexuality. >> clement had argued the law was passed to have a one size fits all rule for federal benefits in states where same-sex marriage might be recognized. >> the federal government has the authority to define the terms that appear in their own statutes, that in those areas they are going to have their own definition. >> but perhaps an even larger problem for the defensive marriage act was that the federal government has started regulating as many as 1,100 spousal benefits in an area of the law that has traditionally been left to the states. justice anthony kennedy is seen by many as the potential swing vote. >> but when it has 1,100 laws, which in our society means that the federal government is intertwined with the citizens' gay life, you are at real risk of running in conflict with ha has always been thought to be the essence of the power, which

is to regulate marriage, divorce, custody. >> conservatives in the court press the lawyers on the political issues, repeated hi asking, what if the opposite were the case? what would happen if congress passed a law giving spousal marriage benefits to same-sex couples? 41 states have laws that prohibit same-sex marriage. and chief justice roberts asked edie windsor's lor what caused the sea change in public opinion? >> you don't doubt that the lobby supporting the enactment of same-sex marriage laws in states is politically powerful, do you? >> the court is likely to meet later this week in chambers and take a first vote, provided they don't decide to re-hear the case. they would likely begin the process of crafting a decision, we're not likely to hear anything from the court on this in late june. >> it's impossible to predict the outcome of these high-profile arguments. but when you were in the courtroom for arguments yesterday, and take it in addition to today, what's your sense? is your sense that the justices are still looking for a way out of having to decide this?

>> well, maybe. but the one thing that seems clear is that there wasn't a lot of interest expressed in the questions about a sweeping ruling. you know, that kind of -- the knock the ball out of the park ruling, we're done with discrimination and gay marriage, period. brown versus the board of education or something like that. it looks like there's a real attempt to find a narrow way to decide the case. and the fight would probably go on in the rest of the country. that's the sense i have. >> we'll know at the end of june when both of the decisions are released. joe, thanks very much. up next, american airlines merger plans have been approved. but there's a catch right now that's costing a top executive millions of dollars. oscar-winning movie, "argo" sparking a possible change from congress. what's going on. what's going on. we'll explain. the carful?

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huge news in the airline industry. a judge approved the merger of american airlines and u.s. airways creating the world's largest airline line. one very controversial part of the deal didn't get approved. that would be the company's plan to give its departing ceo a golden parachute, get this, nearly $20 million in severance pay. lisa sylvester, i discovered some people think that is obviously way, way too much money. what's going on? >> american airlines, the parent company, filed for bankruptcy in 2011. well, now a bankruptcy judge has approved the airline merging with u.s. airways. that would create the largest carrier in the world. but the judge did take issue with one part of that merger agreement, a ceo golden parachute. it's an $11 billion merger, bringing together american airlines and u.s. airways. understood the deal the new company would service 900

destinations, with 120,000 employees. the merger is backed by american's creditors and by the major labor unions, whose workers will see pay raises. a bankruptcy judge approved the deal, except for one part. the lavish payout to the outgoing ceo of american airlines. >> there's a bit of outrage. tom horton is leaving american airlines, about a year, and he's going to get $20 million in stock and cash. lifetime flight privileges, office for a couple of years. and some people are grousing. >> reporter: the loudest objection has come from the trustee in this case, who in court filings said, quote, the debtors are permitting the ceo and the insiders of this bankrupt company to hold this deal hostage to their self-interested, self-dealing. the trustee argues the $20 million severance package for tom horton, the ceo of amr, american's parent company, isn't aloud under a 2005 bankruptcy law that aimed to curb the practice of a golden parachute

for top executives of bankrupt companies. we reached out to the trustee, but she declined to comment. a spokesman for american airlines has said, quote, the arrangements are designed to motivate a strong management team during the integration process and will be paid by the new company. but the $20 million severance package wasn't the only issue. consumer groups worry the mermger will stifle competition. >> the stakes couldn't be higher for airline passengers facing fewer and fewer choices in a market that has become ever more concentrated. >> reporter: both american airlines and u.s. airways argued joining forces will help them compete globally and offer passengers more destination routes. now we are down to only four major carriers. it wasn't the competition issue that dominated the hearing today, the primary focus was whether understood the law, a ceo who is leaving a bankrupt company can walk away with 20-month-old in cash and stock. and for that matter, free first class tickets for life. the trustee said the same bankruptcy code that allows the

company to restructure debts and get out of labor contracts also restricts payments to senior executives. so we're going to see what happens from here. >> when will we know? >> there's still a number of steps they have to go through. they have to go back to their respective boards, now that this changes the deal. do they have to sign off of it or not. it's not a done deal altogether. the bankruptcy judge has approved, but that's one stage in the process. >> forming a gigantic airline. >> thank you very much, lisa. very, very different multi national organization, where the new leader is going out of his way to appear -- not to appear powerful or distant. >> in this case, we're talking about pope francis. he's come out from behind the bulletproof glass that's protected other poeps. so he can be closer to the people. the same attitude applies to where he's living apparently. ben wedeman explains. >> reporter: wolf, kate, pope francis, like his namesake,

frank sinatra, made it clear he's going to be pope his way. the day after francis became pope, he was shown his new official residence. he strolled from room to room, and met his staff. in a city where spacious homes are hard to come by, the papal apartment is downright palatial, with more than a dozen rooms and a stunning view. but according to reports in the italian press, he said it was too big. and that it could accommodate 300 people. and now it's official, he's not moving in. instead, he prefers to stay in room 201, a modest suite at the residence where cardinals stayed during the conclave. the furnishings are relatively austere, though hardly mo nas tick. the sitting room, does, however, have a mini bar. a tourist, a fellow argentinean, is impressed.

>> i think it's excellent notice that the pope is close to the people, and not close to the gold of the rich things. >> reporter: german christina behr has a more practical interpretation. >> i think it's the climate, because it's very hot in this building. in summer, the sun comes from the south directly on this flat. and i think it will be very warm there. >> reporter: officials at the holy sea are cautioning, don't jump to conclusions. the vatican press office has put out a notice saying they want a journalist to avoid using language such as pope abandons palace or turns back on papal apartments. that he simply wants to be in the vatican residence where he can be close to people, and take advantage of the services available there. he's chosen to ride the bus when he could have taken his official chauffeur-driven car. and he's wearing sensible black

shoes, not the red ones. in which he's walking away from the trappings of power, if not power itself. lots of changes in style. and vatican watchers are saying, keep an eye out for changes in substance within the church after easter. wolf, kate? >> impressive, the new pope. >> yeah. one example after another that he's really taking the job and making it his own. >> good for him. still ahead, we're keeping our eyes on what some experts are calling the biggest cyber attack in history. we'll tell you who and what may be behind the trouble. a talkin. but i'll tell you what impresses me. a talking train. this ge locomotive can tell you exactly where it is, what it's carrying, while using less fuel. delivering whatever the world needs, when it needs it. ♪ after all, what's the point of talking if you don't have something important to say? ♪

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here in washington, there's a new first for women. kate's got that, and some of the day's other top stories. >> another first. the guys know this as a pretty big deal. with president obama looking on this afternoon, vice president biden swore in julia pearson as the secretary of the secret service. she's been chief of staff since 2008. congratulations, madam director. world leaders and ordinary citizens are condemning the murder of a girl school teefer. she was on her way to work in one of pakistan's tribal districts when a pair of gunmen on motorcycles pulled up and opened fire yesterday. the killing sparked a petition calling for pakistan's government to increase protection for women and girls in pakistani schools. the british sure can't seem to deport a radical cleric.

he was sent to jordan where his attorneys say he'll be tortured. he was ordered back to prison this month for violating his parole conditions. check this one out as well. a sea lion pup joins guests on a hotel patio in san diego yesterday. she showed no signs of wanting to leave, actually, so the hotel called in the experts from sea world. they got a net around her and took her in for treatment saying, unfortunately, she would not have behaved like this if she was healthy. and if she wasn't sick. she is adorable, the poor thing. >> she was not feeling well, wanted to relax on the patio. >> maybe she wanted tea, coffee. >> a drink. yeah. >> what's so wrong with this, people. just trying to have a little r&r. so imagine you're home teetering right now, 400 feet

from a giant land slide. we have more of these pictures coming up. we'll also talk to a homeowner who's dealing with this crisis right now. it's lots of things. all waking up. connecting to the global phenomenon we call the internet of everything. ♪ it's going to be amazing. and exciting. and maybe, most remarkably, not that far away. we're going to wake the world up. and watch, with eyes wide, as it gets to work. cisco. tomorrow starts here. cisco. with so much competition, finding the right job is never easy. but with the nation's largest alumni network, including those in key hiring positions,

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moved. you're going to find out what might have caused an enormous land slide that's endangering homes right now. you could be a victim of a historic cyber attack, if your computer's running slow you'll want to listen up. cnn health exposed to secret graveyard. now there's new interest in solving the mystery of boys who vanished. i'm kate baldwin. >> and i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." right now, more than a dozen homes in washington state, they are sitting dangerously close, look at this, dangerously close to a massive hole in the earth. >> the pictures of this land slide are really stunning. residents say they heard what sounded like thunder very early this morning, and then the ground simply started slipping away. one house was destroyed. but we're told, so far, thankfully, no one's been hurt. let's bring in chad myers for more on this. chad, these pictures are just astonishing. any idea of how this happened?

>> you know, it's been a wet winter. but the past couple weeks have not been all that wet. we're talking about an island north of seattle. whidbey island. this island has a lot of cliffs on all sides. 100 feet down from the top is where all this land let go. a couple football field size worth of land has slid down. if you notice on my picture here, it's a straight shot. it's a very straight shore. if you look at the pictures there. there's a peninsula sticking out. that peninsula is the dirt that came off the side of the hill, down across a roadway, over a few homes, and then out into puget sound itself. that home used to have about an 80-foot backyard. now it's hard to see any backyard at all. people say some of the ground is still moving. >> i mean, if the ground's still moving, any idea of what to expect, when it will end or how to make it stop? >> you know, there is a fault under this island. an earthquake fault, a seismic

fault. it's only, they think, has shifted seven times in 17,000 years. so not a lot of shaking here. but if you notice just how the land drops right off into the ocean, and it's been dropping off into the ocean for years and years and years, there's another slide right down the coast here where we can find it on google. if you slide down the coast here, all the way through there have been slides over the years, all the way up and down this island, especially on the west side where the cliffs fall right into the sea. >> but chad, stand pi for just a second. let's actually go to washington. we're joined now on the phone by richard barker. his home is one of these homes that are in this area. his home is very close to this land slide. richard, it's great to speak with you. tell me, what are you seeing outside of your house? how close are you to this? >> i think i'm about, oh, 500 feet south of it. and actually, we've got enough trees up that direction, not

seeing a lot other than a lot of helicopters, a lot of emergency vehicles in the area. >> you've got to be nervous. are you planning on leaving is this. >> wore not planning on leaving. however, the red cross has told us that they'll let us know if we need to evacuate. yeah, we're feeling a little bit nervous. we've got a beautiful view, and we'd hate to see our view and our house head into the ocean. >> i mean, how difficult would it be for you to evacuate at this point? how much time would you need? as i understand it, you're recovering from a spinal injury right now. >> you're right. and we also have a lot of stuff. it wouldn't take us long to hop in the car and drive away. to fully evacuate everything, it would probably take months. >> right. we've been told that this is -- land slides are not -- they're rare, but not unusual.

they've happened before in this area. were you aware of this when you bought your home? >> we do know that we're on a cliff, and there apparently had had not been any movement on the cliff for many years. and so we just thought, okay, that's something you pay for the marvelous view you have. >> i want to -- richard, hold on one second, i'm going to bring in chad myers, he's our severe weather expert, with a question. >> now that the land has completely opened up, no roots holding any of that dirt. i suspect that dirt will continue to move and fall down into a lower space. but the question i have for you is kind of meteorologically speaking. have you had a wet winter there? have you felt the ground be mushy understood your feet as all, or is this a normal year? >> we've had more rain than normal probably.

and last friday, thursday, whatever, we did have about a 4 1/2 to 5, 6-inch snowfall. it was very wet. and is now all gone. so the ground is probably wetter than really normal. >> mr. barker, you talk about -- you've talked about the beautiful view that you have from your home. when you see now the threat that you're facing, do you think the views are worth it, any consideration of moving out? >> not at this point. you have to be here to know what we see out the front of our house. >> it does look beautiful. albeit the images we're seeing from the helicopter pictures look precarious at the moment. richard barker, thank you so much. and please be careful. >> oh, we will. >> all right. thanks so much. >> thank you. >> good luck to all the folks out there. those pictures, kate, they are so, so powerful. so dramatic. let's hope the earth stops moving out in washington state.

meanwhile, a massive cyber attack is creating ripple effects across the internet. it may be the reason why your web surfing is going slowly. tom foreman standing by to join us in a minute. he'll explain what's going on. outdoors, or in. automatically filter amount of light. the way it's meant to be seen. maybe even a little better. experience life well lit, adaptive lenses. vision center today transitions xtractive lenses enhance your vision. save money. live better. oh, hi thehey!ill. are you in town for another meeting? yup, i brought my a-team.

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if you've been upset because your computer or possibly netflix is running too slow, this time it may not be your machine's fault. >> it may not be your machine's fault. because the internet's been gummed up by what's being called the biggest cyber attack in history, and it's because of one of your least favorite things. we're talking about spam. i hate spam.

tom foreman is in the virtual studio to show us what's happening. >> what is happening, wolf, is that a small dispute is expanding far beyond what anybody thinks it ought to do, and that's where the problem is coming from. it involves two companies. let's start with the first one called spam house. spam house is a company that is an internet spam watchdog. it creates spam data filters, for 1.4 billion users. it basically comes with a way the computers out there can watch for all this stuff that you don't want showing up in your e-mail system. if you're an business or individual. because it slows things down. sp sp spamhaus is a web hosting service and they black listed all of the cyber bunkers. they said they're hosting too many people sending out this. that is what started this war between the two companies. i don't want to get into the details of who's right or wrong,

because frankly i think there's too much we don't know about the whole fight. what we do know is this, as they have waged this war against each other it's expanded to the point that many people are worried a lot of companies are involved who shouldn't be involved. wolf? ? tell our viewers why we should care about what's going on between these two countries in europe. >> well, these two companies, the reason you should care is the very thing you said at the beginning, if it only involved cyber bunker over here and spam house over there, it would be one thing. imagine this to be the internet. and everyone who's connected to it. the problem is, as they have waged war against each other, it spilled over, so that many more people are beginning to see these expects of slower internet access, or perhaps having problems of not being able to get to certain sites. it's not really clear how wide the effect is. the but we do know companies that have nothing to do with the disputes and want nothing to do with the dispute are saying they're suffering some kind of consequences from this. now, right now, i will say it is

isolated to europe as far as we can tell. the world is essentially divided into five internet kopt nencont if you want to describe it this way. it's pretty much limited to these areas in red. what scares people, wolf, is that the way that this battle is being waged right now, is attacking some of the essential ways in which the internet communicates with itself. it's kind of like if you had a war where people blew up all the interstate highways across the country. the war could be short, but the consequences could last a long time and the economic consequences could go far beyond the battlefield. >> certainly a little cyber battle going on. tom, good explanation. thank you. now, in just a minute, we'll take you to a long-forgotten cemetery deep in the woods of florida. and its secrets have attracted the interest of a united states senator.

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a united states senator is now taking an interest in a story we highlighted right here on cnn. one secret graveyard in a closed-down reform school in florida. it could be the final resting place for a group of boys who mysteriously disappeared nearly a century ago. cnn's ed lavendera is there for us. what's going on, ed? >> reporter: wolf, you know, for many years, what happened at this dozier reform school for boys in the florida panhandle were allegations of abuse, mistreatment. very stunning stories. there's this cemetery that's

been here for decades and decades, unmarked graves. but then it turns out that we don't really know who's buried here. last year a team of anthropologists came to this ground and not only discovered this were bodies buried in the cemetery, but also lost away in these woods, and that now has many people asking for these bodies around here to be exhumed and many people are hoping that those exhumations will offer clues as to what happened here long ago. tucked away deep in these florida woods is a cemetery time forgot. dozens of boys are buried here in unmarked graves. they were sent to the dozier reform school for boys in mariana, florida, decades ago, haunted by allegations of abuse, violence and even murder. some were never seen again. >> this would indicate that there is a burial site there. >> that's correct, yeah. >> reporter: but this hid p spot is no longer forgotten. for more than four years, cnn has documented the allegations

of former students and their family members. >> this is something that this might be another part of our sordid past. >> reporter: now florida officials could soon begin digging up that past. and this cemetery could hold the clues. many families are asking for the bodies buried here to be ex humid, all because of the work of dr. aaron kimmerly and a team of anthropologists from the university of south florida. for years state officials said 31 boys were buried in this tiny cemetery on the school grounds. but using high-tech equipment, dr. kimmerly's team found evidence of at least 19 more bodies buried in this area. their research of school records also revealed the bodies of another 22 boys who died at the school were never account for. the research has bolstered the suspicions some families of those children have harbored for decades. prior to this new research, a state investigation in 2009 determined there was no evidence

of criminal activity connected with any of the deaths, or abusive treatment of the now closed-down facility. some former students called that investigation a whitewash. do you think they rushed to bury the bodies to hide something? >> mm-hmm. i'm pretty dead certain of that, yeah. >> reporter: her brother, owen smith, was sent here in 1940. she was told owen ran away and died of pneumonia. his body was found under a house not far from the school. >> they just came, claimed the body, put it in the vehicle and left. within two hours they had him buried. >> reporter: her family said there was never an investigation into how he died and no one ever investigated the most shocking part of all. how another student described owen's death. >> he started running out across the field, and the boys said they put him in a car and he looked back, and the last he saw was about three men shooting at him with rifles. >> shooting at your brother. >> mm-hmm. >> reporter: the story still haunts owen smith's family. she said the school

superintendent promised the family he would have a headstone placed on the grave. >> you never saw a headstone? >> there was no headstones anywhere. so this is where you want to have your brother buried? >> yes. this is my mother and dad. >> reporter: she has no idea where her brother is buried today. if he's found, she says she'd like to bury him here with their parents. >> it was hard for me because me and my brother were like twins. you know, we played our miz mus tokt. we played together. we did everything together. and when he -- this happened to him, half my life ended right there, you know? and i never got it back. >> reporter: wolf, we're now waiting on a local judge here in the florida panhandle to decide whether or not to sign off on those exhumation orders. no question a great deal of many people are anticipating and looking forward to that happening. as far as any kind of prosecutions as to if there was

ever any evidence discovered here of murders that took place, prosecutors around here say any kind of prosecution is very unlikely at this point. many of the people who worked on these grounds and at this now closed school have long passed away. but senator nelson of florida is trying to get the funding needed to exhume these bodies and also for that anthropological team to be able to go through and identify the remains if they are exhumed from the ground here. it is a story that a great many people here in florida area are paying a lot of attention to. wolf? >> we'll see if senator nelson and the others get what they want. let's find out more. amazing report. >> amazing story, especially when you hear the story of the family and how long it's been since they had any answer about what actually happened to their loved ones. hopefully they'll finally get some closure on exactly what happened. >> let's hope. still ahead, the movie "argo" won big at the academy awards and now it may help win something else. payback to former hostages. that story ahead. i had enough of feeling embarrassed about my skin.

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the actions of high ran hir shocked the civilized world. >> over six american citizens continue to be held as hostages. >> if we're going to go, we need to go now. >> the oscar winning film "argo" is renewing interest in painful chapter of american history. the movie focused on six u.s. diplomats who escaped iran back in 1979. 52 other americans, i'm sure you remember, we are held captive for 444 days. >> i remember very vividly those days. now there is a new move to compensate those hostages more than three decades later. let's bring in our chief congressional correspondent dana bash. a lot of folks are asking why has it taken so long? >> it really is amazing. i didn't realize that all of those hostages were never compensated. they've been fighting for all

the time. but now the fact that this movie has come out, they've gotten a little help from hollywood in getting what they want. >> actions of iran -- >> reporter: it won an academy award and made people forget jili when they think ben affleck and now argo may pull off another feat, help move legislation through congress. this frustrated foreign service officer on the phone as the u.s. embassy in iran was under assault was portraying john limbert. >> i'm guessing that happened? >> pretty much, yes. that part of it was quite real. >> reporter: and this room has a lot of memories, huh? >> it does. it does. >> reporter: keepsakes on his walls remind him of his harrowing 444 days as a hostage in iran, not that he would ever forget. but for most in america, the iran hostage crisis some 34 years ago was a distant memory. until "argo" brought it all

back. unlike the six americans who hid with the canadian ambassador, the focus of "argo," limbbert is one of the 52 americans held and tortured by iranians for 14 months. >> i had a gun to my head. i was in solitary for nine months. >> reporter: he says the mock executions in the movie were very real. >> they came in at 2:00 in the morning, pulled us out and took us to a new place and lined us up against the wall and started chambering rounds into their guns. yelling orders. yelling orders. we didn't know what was going to happen. >> reporter: at that point did you think -- >> i thought we were gone. >> reporter: when limb bert and the fellow hostages were finally freed, they leshd the u.s. government gave up something big in return. as part of the 1981al jeers accords, the hosages were barred from suing iran in u.s. court for compensation. decades of challenges to the

algerians have gone nowhere. now georgia senator johnny isaac son is pushing legislation to get former hostages financial reward in a different way, putting a surcharge on fines against companies that violate sanctions against iran and using that money to create a compensation fund. isaac son says the popularity of argo is helping. >> a lot of people have seen it. they understand the abject horror that they went through. hopefully it will give us the impetus and momentum to see to it after all these many years they're compensated for their treatment. >> his bill would allow hos hostages to get $10,000 a day for each day of captivity, $4.4 million total for each hostage. he argues finally compensating them is critical to send a message to iran and to u.s. personnel in harm's way all around the world. especially after four were killed at the u.s. consulate in libya. >> they need to also know that if they get violate, if they are captured and tortured that we'll

have their back. >> this is me with the dorky glasses. >> they were very cool in the 70s. >> reporter: even after john was held captive for 14 months, he returned to the foreign service for the rest of his career. he now has a comfortable life. he says he is not fighting for the money but for justice. >> it's about accounting for it. to hold people responsible for what they did. because the message so far, frankly, has been to the islamic republic, you got away with it. >> now this bill to help get limbbert and other hostage that's justice still needs to go through the senate foreign relations committee. i will still is in the infancy. the idea does appear to have momentum and that is something new. he told me that before the movie "argo" came out, people wouldn't listen to them. and that changed. >> does the state department have a position on this? >> they say they're going to stick to what the algerians accord, they agreed that the