with this flames, but there are clearly major, major problems. many of these mobile homes now being destroyed as a result of this. that's it for me. thanks very much for watching. i'll be back at 5:00 p.m. in "the situation room." brooke baldwin is coming up live brooke baldwin is coming up live from boston right now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com hi, there, i'm brooke baldwin live here in boston as the search for answers in the boston marathon bombings now turns to the suspect's laptop. this is a new development today. the fbi has found that this laptop belonging to dzhokhar tsarnaev, although we're not sure exactly where they found this laptop, they have it. we know his college buddies accused are now sitting in jail today for what they are accused of doing after the boston bombings. as the world watched in horror, these two young men from

kazakhstan are accused of helping dzhokhar tsarnaev by getting rid of key evidence from his dorm room that they had shared. dzhokhar's backpack, stuffed with fireworks, and the laptop. the federal investigators now say they have found. all of this as the feds hunted him down. one other young man i want to tell you about, an american also aged 19 like the others. this young man is accused of making false statements about what he knew. but one of the questions today, again, is this, were they the only ones who lied to the feds? you're looking at a picture of katherine russell after she was arrest arrested. this was back in 2007 on shoplifting charges. investigators now know she had a phone call with her husband, the elder of these two brothers, tamerlan tsarnaev, after she saw this picture of him plastered on national tv.

still nameless man. today, the 24-year-old widow was spotted heading to her lawyer's office in providence, rhode island, and i want to go to cnn's debra feyerick who joins me where these young people had attended school. deb, what are you learning in terms of the specifics of this phone call that katie russell had with her husband, and what might this potentially mean for her? >> it's very interesting, whenever we see pictures of katie russell, normally we see her accompanied by her lawyer. there's some serious talks going on right now strategizing because she is considered a suspect. look, everybody's considered a suspect until you're no longer a suspect, so right now we understand she's having meetings with her lawyer. she is key to all of this, because she can tell investigators, for example, who her husband was associating with, where he traveled, how long he traveled for, whether he

was sort of leaving the house at certain times of the day or night. also, we have not heard anything about a computer belonging to tamerlan tsarnaev or a cell phone, for that matter, that was uncovered belonging to tamerlan tsarnaev. so, the suggestion is she would know where the two items are. also, she herself has a computer, so she is just a treasure-trove of potential information. and she's right now in a bargaining position in the sense that if she helps investigators, she could help them with making very, very strong case by testifying against her brother-in-law, brooke. >> what about also, deb, these 19 year olds, these three 19 year olds, who we saw they were in the federal courthouse not too far from me yesterday. we read through the criminal complaint. it says when these friends took items from dzhokhar tsarnaev's dorm room at umass dartmouth, they knew he was the guy plastered all over tv, he was

the guy involved in the bombings, but, deb, the attorney for one of these young men says, no. where exactly do the stories differ? >> well, the stories differ if you listen to their lawyers or if you read the criminal complaints. the criminal complaint says, in fact, when one of the suspects who really was questioned and even before his friend dzhokhar tsarnaev was caught, one of the suspects, dias kadyrbayev, he saw his friend on the television, texted him, and they exchanged a couple of messages, then he went to the dorm room. and he said to the other friends, let's go to the dorm room. that's when they found the backpack with the fireworks, which had been emptied of the black powder, powder that was used to build this particular device, also a laptop, so they took it. they tell investigators that, according to the criminal complaint, they thought that they wanted to help their friend, protect their friend, but also realized that he may have had something to do with

it, and that was a direct comment from this man, dias kadyrbayev, brooke. >> okay, again, just to be crystal clear, we know they found the garbage bag tied with the vaseline, fireworks, homework assignment from dzhokhar tsarnaev, but they are now in possession of the laptop, the laptop was not found in the landfill. debra feyerick, thank you so much. we are also learning more about this third american suspect, the 19-year-old robel phillipos, arrested for lying to the feds. he is the one who came forward. he admitted they were not being forthcoming about what they knew and what the other two did in the aftermath of the bombing here on boylston street. cnn's ashleigh banfield has more, ash? >> brooke, we've been trying to learn more about the three suspects who have been brought into custody with regard to what happened after the bombings, and when it comes to the two kazakh students, it's clear by the

complaint they met tsarnaev at umass dartmouth, but the third suspect, the american, robel phillipos, the relationship between him and dzhokhar tsarnaev may have gone back farther than that, in fact, all the way back to high school. we discovered the two of them were both in the graduating class of cambridge latin high school in cambridge. in fact, one of their classmates spoke to us and told us he knew both of them. he did not know if they were close friends, but he certainly played basketball with robel, said he was a good guy. described him as talking smack on the basketball court, but that was about it. when it came to dzhokhar, he was also a good guy, a little quiet, but apart from that, they definitely have mutual friends. we also saw the high school pictures in the high school yearbook, and found the graduating class photograph that clearly shows dzhokhar and robel seated next to each other in the massive class picture, one in a higher level, but clearly next to each other. we also found the class

portraits, not only of dzhokhar, but robel phillipos. regardless of what their background, it's what they are facing. robel phillipos is facing the more serious charge of lying, which carries a potential of eight years in federal prison. the kazakh students are facing a charge of obstruction of justice, which could carry a maximum of five years. brooke? i want to talk about the jodi arias trial now, because it could all boil down to what happens today. right now, closing arguments are under way in phoenix, and we have heard four months of testimony about sex, about lies, and underwear. it may all come down to arias' mental state. the defense is arguing that arias had post-traumatic stress disorder when she killed her ex-boyfriend, travis alexander, in self defense. on the other hand, prosecution says arias had a borderline personality disorder and that the killing was premeditated.

alexander was found dead in the shower with a bullet to his head and 27 stab wounds, and a slit to his throat. jodi arias spent 18 days on the stand pleading her case. now lawyers are making their final closing arguments. now, some attorneys like to save a surprise sometimes for closing arguments because it's the last thing those jurors may hold on to, and if we hear any surprise fireworks, obviously, inside that courtroom, we will let you know right away. coming up next, though, this is a story that everyone is talking about today. i was talking about this this morning on a plane. a mother reappears suddenly after being gone for more than a decade, just up and leaves her life. she says she couldn't take her family life anymore, and we're about to speak live with the investigator to whom she confessed, the investigator who had been tracking her for all these years. plus, a 5 year old accidently shoots and kills his little sister with his very own gun.

that's coming up, as well. stay here. look is only the beginning. ♪ ♪ this is a stunning work of technology. ♪ this is the 2013 lexus es and the first-ever es hybrid. this is the pursuit of perfection. some changes you liked. and some you didn't. come back to see us. we listened to you. now we'd love to see you. ♪

it's lots of things. all waking up. ♪ becoming part of the global phenomenon we call the internet of everything. ♪ trees will talk to networks will talk to scientists about climate change. cars will talk to road sensors will talk to stoplights about traffic efficiency. the ambulance will talk to patient records will talk to doctors about saving lives. it's going to be amazing. and exciting. and maybe, most remarkably, not that far away. the next big thing?

we're going to wake the world up. ♪ and watch, with eyes wide, as it gets to work. ♪ cisco. tomorrow starts here. as well as they could because they don't take it with food. switch to citracal maximum plus d. it's the only calcium supplement that can be taken with or without food. my doctor recommends citracal maximum. it's all about absorption. with odor free aspercreme. powerful medicine relieves pain fast, with no odor. so all you notice is relief. aspercreme. a pennsylvania woman turned herself in now to authorities, not after a crime, but after an offense some would consider worse. she up and left her family, she

had two children, 11 years after she went missing, brenda heist showed up at the sheriff's office down in key largo, florida. this was last friday. take a look at the picture. this is heist from 2002. that was her on the left back 11 years ago. picture on the right is her today age 54. now, her daughter was 8. her son was 12 when heist chose to walk away from her life. you'll soon hear at least why she says she did it. the mother's disappearance launched a swarm of local, state, and federal investigators questioning dozens and dozens of people. her husband, lee, at one point even became a suspect. >> there were people in the neighborhood who would have not allowed their children to play with my children because of what they perceived i might be. >> on the phone with me now is

detective sergeant john scofield from the police department in pennsylvania. detective, my goodness. i know you have been on this case ever since she vanished 11 years ago, and before we get into, you know, the back story, here is a woman who up and left her family. they at one point definitely thought she was dead. here she is okay. you've been in touch with them. are they furious? >> are they furious? yes, they are pretty furious, but there's a part of them they are happy that she's alive and they may have another chance to meet and talk with their parents -- with their mother, but they are still in shock. they are. >> take me back, detective, because here you were, what, 11 years ago, you're assigned to this case, this woman goes missing. what happens? >> well, it was an investigation that started as a missing person. we put every resource available trying to figure out what

happened to her and where she went, and as time went on, that case, you know, we were fearing the worse. we were fearing it was going to turn into an unsolved homicide after months and years of an investigation. >> so, here you are pouring blood and sweat, as well as i'm sure many, many other investigators trying to track this woman down for this family, who i imagine is grieving for the loss of this mother. it turns out she was, what, crying her eyes out on a park bench or family issues, some financial issues, gets an offer to go hitchhiking down to florida and she says, yes. >> right. that's got to be probably the last thing we expected that happened to her that day, and for her to tell me that the other day when i interviewed her that she just left on a split second whim and decided to just leave and turn her back on her

family and on her life and pursue a life with these homeless people, to hitchhike down to florida, you know, it's something that it's going to take awhile for her children to get over, the fact that she just left on her own to join these people she didn't know and to live a life, a new life, without them, without her family. >> not even a phone call home saying, hey, i'm okay, you know, don't reach out to me, no nothing. and the thing is, you know, she's not facing charges, i know as you've pointed out, walking away from your life isn't a crime. but as you mention, here she is, she appears at a police department in florida. you fly down after all these years investigating this, you fly down to florida. what did you say to her? >> well, it was first good to say we're glad that she's alive. i wanted her to understand all

the time and effort that went into looking for her and all the people that have been worried about her and looking for her all these years, but i also wanted to find out what exactly she did for the last 11 years and how she left and who financed it, possibly, where she went to, just what she did all these years rather than making just that one phone call to let somebody know she was okay and that she was down in florida. so, i was glad she spoke with me, and she kind of filled in the blanks as to what happened here. and now as this story's going on, we're learning a little bit more each day as to what she was actually doing and how she was living down in florida. >> what was she doing? i had read she at one point was homeless, living under bridges, met someone, did she have much of a life? >> well, there was part of that that she actually enjoyed that

kind of a life down there, living on the streets. but, you know, as time is going on, we're learning that it wasn't just living on the streets where, you know -- i don't want to say she's getting some sense of sympathy from people around here of how hard that could have been from living on the streets, but we're getting calls from people who knew her down there and saying that's just not true. in the last two years, you know, they've known her and they knew where she was living and she wasn't living on the streets. i'm sure she lived on the streets for awhile. i believe that, but i believe that her life was a little bit more enjoyable and better than what she was portraying that to me the other day. >> all the while her family

still sits in pennsylvania wondering where their wife and mother had been. detective sergeant john schofield, thank you so much for joining me. i know people think, gosh, what it would be like to walk away from my life, but you don't do it. i want you to stay with me, because next hour i'll be speaking live with the ex-husband of this newly found woman. the family is in shock, i can tell you this ex-husband is furious. that happens 3:30 p.m. eastern. don't move for that. also, this. a may day rally turns into a melee. coming up next, what caused the violent clash between police and protesters there in seattle. plus, an american sentenced to 15 years of hard labor in north korea. could his fate be a bargaining chip for north korea? that story next. c

now to some of the hottest stories in a flash. roll it.

first up, violence erupted at a may day protest in seattle. take a look. this was yesterday. police using flash-bang grenades and pepper spray to sport of quell the crowds, bring it under control. protesters, though, throwing bottles, rocks, even a skateboard at one point in time. 17 people were arrested, eight officers were injured. hundreds of thousands of demonstrators marched for better working conditions. a u.s. citizen has been sentenced to 15 years of hard labor in north korea. kenneth bay here shown on a memorial from facebook was accused of committing quote, unquote, hostile acts against the country, but no details were given. a u.s. official says bay was a tour operator who had been in north korea previously and had a visa. experts say he could be used as a bargaining chip by the new leader kim jong-un.

♪ that song by rap duo kris kross topped the charts, let me bring you back to 1992. one half of the group, chris kelly, died last night of a possible drug overdose in atlanta. i actually saw these two guys perform not too long ago at the so-so def anniversary concert february in atlanta. kelly and smith were 13 when they were discovered in a shopping mall. third annual cnni report voting under way. we have gone through them, we have selected the most compelling examples, and now we're giving you a chance to pick what we call the community choice awards. take a look. these are the nominees in the in-depth story category.

>> you can see all the devastation, but people now have hope. >> back in its bank, but over the yard is an entire debris field. >> and there are only two days left to vote. we want you to cast your vote at cnnireportawards.com. next here, this is just a horrendous story out of kentucky. a 5-year-old little boy gets a gun for his birthday and now his

2-year-old sister is dead. and now some critics are lashing out against companies and their marketing for these little kids when it comes to guns.

i'm also a survivor of ovarian a writand uterine cancers. i even wrote a play about that. my symptoms were a pain in my abdomen and periods that were heavier and longer than usual for me. if you have symptoms that last two weeks or longer, be brave, go to the doctor. ovarian and uterine cancers are gynecologic cancers. symptoms are not the same for everyone. i got sick...and then i got better.

in kentucky, a 2-year-old girl was accidently shot to death by her 5-year-old brother inside their home. we have a picture i just want to show you. this is the girl and her big brother. their mother apparently just stepped outside their home for just a couple of minutes tuesday afternoon, and her world, tragically shaken within those mere minutes. her son was playing with the .22-caliber cricket rifle that was given to him for his 5th birthday. accidently went off with the bullet striking his sister. here is the uncle's reaction. >> i mean, it's just tragic. it's just something that you can't prepare for. >> i want to bring in martin

savidge, who's covering the story for us in atlanta. martin, the family said they thought the gun was in a safe place. are authorities looking toward any negligence here? >> they are, brooke. the authorities are looking at that. right now it's being handled by state officials in kentucky, and what they are doing is launching a full investigation. the prosecutor hasn't decided whether there will be charges. he's going to wait to hear the full report. it's possible there could be, perhaps, gross negligence in the use of a weapon, not storing it properly, not locking it up, or parental negligence. that has not yet been determined. we just don't know. >> as we're reporting, this little boy got the gun as a birthday present. do we know exactly how he, literally, got the gun that day, how he had it in his hands? >> according to the family, the gun was sort of -- they didn't believe it was loaded and it was in the corner of the house, they said, in a safe area, but the gun apparently was loaded. it's a single shot.

the cricket rifle company is the manufacturer. this has raised, again, the issue of gun control, and there are those in the country that said if the laws were tighter, you wouldn't have the tragic accident, others say, look, no law would prevent this. ben ferguson is a conservative talk show host, he was on piers morgan last night. >> if you want to legislate parents being dumb or not dumb, you figure out how to do it and we'll see if it works, but you can't blame the gun for the situation where you have a dumb parent. >> some do wonder if you can blame the gun manufacturer for marketing to children. brooke? >> you know, when you hear about this horribly tragic story and you sort of wonder where gun violence falls in terms of, you know, claiming lives of kids, you actually looked at a study. what is the leading cause of death for kids? >> well, i mean, first and foremost, if you're talking about accidental deaths, motor vehicles would be the absolute

tops, but if you talk about a gun killing a child, the latest statistics from the federal government, 2007, there were 138 kids killed accidently by a gun. drownings, 1,056. so, clearly, drowning is a much greater threat to a child than is a gun, but nobody's going to be banning water. guns, they trigger all sorts, excuse the pun, debate in this country. when you have a tragedy like this one, it will once again divide people. brooke? >> martin, thank you. i want to stay on this now and just take a closer look at how this crickett rifle is marketed towards kids. let me show you this website. this is crickett.com, and the company's slogan is "my first rifle." you see it right there on your screen. when you kick on kid's corner, you see a bunch of kids. here they are, holding rifles. shoulder colors from pink, blue, red. these are images from earlier, by the way. the site now said, we visited

it, it says we're under construction. the last time we checked:but susan lynn is here with me in boston, cofounder and director for the campaign of a commercial-free childhood. joining me now, nice to see you. >> thanks. >> hate the circumstances. >> my heart goes out to that little boy and his parents. it's just horrible. >> but when you look at the website, susan, and you see the marketing and the pink rifles, what do you make of all that? >> it's even more than that, the logo for this company is a cartoon character, a cricket holding a gun, and any time a company has cartoon characters, they are targeting children, they are marketing to children. and that's just despicable. >> what about the argument, though, and we heard a little bit of it, ben ferguson, this conservative radio host said this when talking about this last night with piers morgan, you can't blame the gun for a situation where you have a dumb parent. dumb parent.

>> it's always easy to blame parents. we don't know the circumstance of this family yet, at least i don't know the circumstance of this family, but even if we're talking about parental responsibility, we need to talk about corporate responsibility, as well. and what right does a corporation have to target children with marketing for guns, for real guns? >> again, a family could say, listen, you know, we went through the checks and balances, we thought this out, we got this little boy a gun for his birthday, the family's saying it was in a safe area of the home. we don't know the circumstances specifically. again, responsibility, shouldn't that fall with mom and dad, as well? >> not entirely. of course, it falls with mom and dad, but what about corporate responsibility? i mean, are you saying corporations can do anything they want and they don't -- >> certainly not. >> right. so, what in the world would give a corporation a right to target

children as young as 5 and maybe younger with advertising for guns, to make them want those kinds of guns? everything we know, you know, young children, they don't have the judgment, and it's even more confusing, because kids are marketed toy guns all the time, as well, and all sorts of violent media. so, we live in a culture where kids are inundated with violence, and a 5 year old can't tell the difference between a real gun and toy gun. >> you think corporations and also parents, as well. susan linn, thank you, i appreciate it. speaking here of marketing, have you seen this mountain dew ad? it's turning heads today and drawing serious heat. coming up next, we're going to show you this ad that now has pepsi apologizing. le. then i read about it online. i found out how to help. i downloaded the info. i spoke up... and told my friends... and they told their friends...

and together, we made a difference. anncr: and tornado relief has been pouring in from... across the country. girl: we might be hundreds of miles apart... but because we're connected, it's like we're all neighbors. geico and we could help youo save on boat and motorcycle insurance too. other insurance companies are green with envy. oh, no, no, no...i'm sorry, but this is all wrong? i would never say that. writer: well what would you say? gecko: well i'd probably emphasize the savings. ya know...lose that green with envy bit. rubbish. it's just a reference about my complexion.

writer: but the focus groups thought that the... gecko: focus groups. geico doesn't use focus groups. uhh...excuse me. no one told me we were using focus groups. vo: geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. to prove to you that aleve is the better choice for him, he's agreed to give it up. that's today? [ male announcer ] we'll be with him all day as he goes back to taking tylenol. that was okay, but after lunch my knee started to hurt again, and now i gotta take more pills. ♪ yup another pill stop. can i get my aleve back yet? ♪ for my pain, i want my aleve. ♪ [ male announcer ] this may, buy aleve and help those in need.

♪ okay. take a goat, a police lineup, and a battered woman and you get controversy and all kinds of backlash today. just ask pepsi. the company's pulled an online ad for mountain dew. one critic, quote, arguably the most racist commercial in history. others call it for making light of battered women here. i'm going to show you the whole thing and we're going to talk about it on the other side. here you go. >> all right, ma'am, we got them all lined up. nail this little sucker. come on, which one is he?

point to him. humanity. >> i don't think i can do this. >> it's easy, just point to him. >> no. >> he's wearing the doo rag. >> come on, one with the four legs. >> thought you were going to catch me, keep your mouth shut, keep your mouth shut. get out of here, i'm going to do you up. keep your mouth shut. >> i can't do this! i can't do this! no, no, no! no, no, no, no, no! >> she's just got to do it. >> you're never going to catch me. >> um -- okay, peter shakeman, my friend, and branding and social media consultant. look, i watched the whole thing and i'm like, i don't know, i kind of have no words. is this an ad where they were

just sort of, what were you thinking, or is this the only way to try to target an audience for a product like mountain dew, which apparently is young guys who might find this funny? >> well, here's the thing, in my spare time, i'm a sky diver, i'm technically their audience, we have a saying, if you're going to be stupid, you better be tough. there's a similar saying for advertisement, if you're going to be edgy, you better be funny. this ad is not funny, nothing humorous, at all. number two, back story, this was produced by a group called odd -- what's their name, odd -- yeah, they run a show called loiter squad on adult swim, and it's odd future. they run a show on adult swim and this is the cast of the show on adult swim. it's a show that airs around 12:15 in the morning and appears to about 20 people, eight of whom are awake at that time. you're taking a group that has a cult following in l.a. and making it national. whoever was in charge of this ad, i hope is looking for a job

today. this is a mistake on so many different fronts. >> here's what i do know, the ad is the work of this rapper by the name of tyler. he's a creator and the men in the lineup are, apparently, his buddies. let me read this for you and our viewers, it was never tyler's intention to offend. tyler is known for pushing boundaries, challenging stereotypes through humor. he says, this is someone who grew up on david chappelle. >> right. >> turned over creative control to celebrities? >> you can make something funny and you can push the boundaries of humor. i'm all for pushing the boundaries of humor. the kate upton hardee's ad, that's humorous. then there's stuff that doesn't make sense, a talking goat in a lineup accused for beating a woman where everyone else in the lineup is african-american, maybe i'm not getting it. again, that target audience is at 12:15 in the morning, not a

national brand part of a multinational conglomerate. >> i just saw it and made me wonder where are the checks and balances, who would have green lighted something? again, wasn't meant for tv, but this is what mountain dew said, this is a tweet from mountain dew, hey, guys, made a big mistake, we've removed the offensive video from all our channels #fail. good move? >> let's touch on that for a second. companies do this deliberately. we also have to look at, like, the ford ad -- >> create buzz, is that the point? >> the hyundai ad, as well, they are never targeted for tv, but they know they are going to be talked about because they drive edginess and controversy. no one finds this funny. this is not a good interaction with mountain dew in any capacity. you can look at the hyundai ad, okay, that was terrible, but it was done on speck, without anyone's permission. this was done by mountain dew. this wasn't an agency doing it and then getting in trouble. this was done by the brand, and the people at the brand, i know the people at pepsi.

they are a lot smarter than this. somewhere the ball was dropped and the chain went down. >> as they said, #fail. peter shankman, thank you. >> thanks, brooke. here in boston, two weeks ago tomorrow the entire city was shut down on lockdown. some americans find that to be disturbing. we're going to break down the debate over homeland insecurity. civil liberties, check out the cover of "time" magazine next.

for some, the scary thing about boston wasn't just what the bombers did right here on boylston street, but how the authorities acted afterwards. >> i do think, frankly, obsessing about this particular incident kind of helps terror. >> how's that? >> i don't think we should shut down an entire american city because two losers have a couple of pressure-cooker bombs. >> a lot of people -- >> i think a little it's in order. >> that was sunday times columnist andrew sullivan, and there's also this blog post from former presidential candidate ron paul, congressman ron paul about watertown shutting down in the boston area as investigators pursue that surviving suspect. sadly, we have been conditioned to believe that the job of the government is to keep us safe, this is ron paul speaking, but in really, the job of the government is to protect our

liberties. once the government decides its role is to keep us safe, they can only do so by taking away our liberties. that is what happened in boston. this is unprecedented, and it's very dangerous. well, now check out the cover of "time" magazine, because this issue is tackling civil liberties versus national security. new cover reads, "homeland insecurity, do we need to sacrifice privacy to be safer?" joining me now, white house correspondent. michael, welcome. you know, this piece, it really digs into the actual rules on the books for investigators to monitor someone, i.e. this now slain suspected bomber tamerlan tsarnaev, but before anyone knew even that name, the obama administration set up this sensitive operations review committee, s.o.r.c. what was that? >> after september 11th, the fbi reviewed and revised its

investigative guidelines for agents, especially those investigating terror suspects, and one of the big changes there was agents could go around and investigate things without clear evidence or suggestion of evidence of a crime. they have a suspicion and can do assessments of that situation. in 2011, president obama revised those guidelines one more time, he actually expanded them in a lot of ways, now they can include database searches. they actually pulled back a little on how the assessments could deal with religious communities and mosques and set up this new committee to oversee that. it was part of a white house effort, a broader white house effort, to really build closer ties and cooperation with the islamic community in the united states around these issues. they wanted not to be seen as an adversarial relationship, and there was a backlash in the years prior surrounding that. but striking that balance between how much we should be basically like the soviets or

russia, one of the interesting things in this case, is clearly, the russian security apparatus was much more monitoring this family than we were, and how much we should be like we traditionally like to think of ourselves in america. >> to your point with the obama administration and role of muslim community to be ever vigilant and leaders in the community, they agree, especially in the wake of what happened, but when you think of someone like tamerlan tsarnaev, who was disruptive in this mosque in cambridge multiple times and told to leave, do you think after what happened, do you think the administration will be, i don't know, more or less in favor of monitoring a place like a mosque? >> well, i think there's no doubt the administration will continue to do what they've been doing, which is trying to build these ties. we're not saying in this article he would have been caught had the fbi had different regulations in place. undercover agent at that mosque would have had a different reaction than the people at that

mosque. clearly, he was not welcome with the behavior he was exhibiting. what we do know, though, is the white house and congress are reading the same polls we're producing in our magazine, and that shows there's been a dramatic increase in the percentage of americans who are concerned, first, about civil liberties, then about terrorism. if given a choice between we need to put stronger laws in place and procedures to protect against terrorism or really protect civil liberties, people are much more likely to choose civil liberties now than they were, for instance, after the 1996 atlanta olympic bombings. we've had a drift in the country since september 11th to actually promote civil liberties as a central issue, even in the face of what we saw in boston. >> it's an excellent cover story, michael schearer, "time" magazine, thank you. >> thank you, brooke. a real-life drama for reese witherspoon. what she's saying on being

arrested for disorderly conduct charges. her own words next. join us at projectluna.com would absolutely not have taken a zip line in the jungle. i'm really glad that girl stayed at home. vo: expedia helps 30 million travelers a month find what they're looking for. one traveler at a time. expedia. find yours.

reese witherspoon says it was panic that led to her run-in with an atlanta police officer that led to her arrest on disorderly conduct charges. remember, the actress pulled the don't you know who i am card when her husband was pulled over for alleged drunk driving two weeks ago. well, today witherspoon did her very first tv interview since her arrest, and here's what she said on "good morning america." >> it's one of those nights, we went out for dinner in atlanta, had one too many glasses of wine, thought we were fine to

drive and we absolutely were not. and it's just completely unacceptable and we are so sorry and embarrassed and we know better. i have no idea what i was saying that night. i saw him arresting my husband, and i literally panicked, and i said all kinds of crazy things. i told him i was pregnant, i'm not pregnant. i said crazy things. if you only heard me laughing, because i have no idea what i was talking about. i am so sorry, i was so disrespectful for him, i know better. and it's just unacceptable. >> again, reese witherspoon charged with disorderly conduct. her husband is charged with dui. and now he was a country music legend who lived the good times and the regrets he sang about. george jones, today, thousands of fans, huge names in country music and politics gathered in

nashville for his funeral. brad paisley, laura bush, oakridge boys, even kid rock. one really summed it up as far as why country music fans really connected with george jones. here is charlie daniels. >> george jones' voice was a rowdy saturday night uproar at a back street beer joint, the heart broken whale of one who wakes up and finds the other side of the bed empty, a far off lonesome whistle of a midnight train, a bride as the ring is placed on her finger, the memories of a half asleep old man dreaming about the good old days. lost love, lost innocence, good and bad memories and experience that were just too much for a human being to deal with. >> george jones hailed today by his peers as the greatest voice in country music was 81.

♪ ♪ got our own thing going ♪ me and jesus got it all worked out ♪ >> he sang for his supper. c [ female announcer ] allergy congestion? allegra-d d-congests, d-pressurizes so you can breathe. a fast, non-drowsy antihistamine plus a powerful decongestant. allegra-d. d-fense against allergy congestion.

has oats that can help lower cholesterol? and it tastes good? sure does! wow. it's the honey, it makes it taste so... well, would you look at the time... what's the rush? be happy. be healthy. here we go, hour two. i'm brooke baldwin live here in boston, but i want to begin this hour with what's happening right now in california, southern california, to be exact. flames are ripping through entire hillsides threatening homes and lives. look at this. this is the summit wildfire. it's in banning. it is all of 40% contained. almost 3,000 acres have been scorched, and at least one house so far has been destroyed. firefighters, we're told, did make some progress overnight, but strong winds today could complicate their efforts.

paul verkimmen is live for me in newbury park. paul, these are stunning pictures. tell me what you know. >> reporter: well, let's just talk about what we can see right now, brooke. what i do know, it's more than 2,000 acres have been burnt. so far, they say that no houses have burned, but this is an absolute pitch battle unfolding in front of us right now as they try to save this upscale neighborhood. this is called palermo estates in newbury park. firefighters have gone down the streets, and there's flames on both sides of the street. you can see the houses right here are threatened. all of these houses have composite roofs, not wood shake. in another era, you would see spot fires catch wood shake roofs and skip along. so far, no houses burning in this area. we understand that three rvs burned on the other side of this hill in some sort of storage

area, and i'll have gabe go ahead and pan over to my right. if you can see just a little bit of smoke up there, brooke, it's also burning on that side. we witnessed firefighters digging in, defending the backs of these houses and doing so successfully. also, helicopters have been making some expert drops, laying down water. i want to give you a sample of just how widespread this fire is now. you can follow me over here. this is going to seem like an odd move, but this is newbury park, give you a sense of what the neighborhood is like. if we walk out this way, i don't know how far away this is, but looks like a good mile and a half, there's another active flank of flame. you can see a helicopter in the sky right now. it looks like he's going to make a water drop. sometimes they do a test run first. we'll see if he does it now. that's, obviously, closer toward los angeles. newbury park is in ventura county, so, we've got flames over there. i can tell you right now, because we drove this way, at

least a mile and a half that way there's flame just burning in the countryside towards the pacific ocean. obviously, firefighters are going to let that burn, because you've got some natural breaks, but right now, the pitch battle is here in these neighborhoods in the newbury park area, and so far, so good. >> paul, do me a favor, and i hope you're a photo journalist can hear me, i want you to keep the camera on the flames, keep it on the smoke, as i bring in, paul, don't go anywhere, we have a lot of questions. let me bring in chad myers, who's also standing by in the studio. help me understand the lay of the land, how massive this area is that paul's been showing us. >> we now think the fire spread seven miles from the southeast back over towards the malibu hills, and it's going to be running down towards point magu. a very long fire line, because the winds have been blowing from

the east/northeast at 38, gusting to 47. when you get gusts to blow sparks and embers downwind like that, you will get fire downwind, and that's what's happening here. let me go to my map and show the viewers at home where this is. here's l.a., there is the fire. there is oxnard, right in here, we talked about these rvs, there they were, more than three were burning. look how steep this property is, how steep this land is here. the fire came down this side of the hill. that means it's on the other side, too. on the other side is where our paul is, and there are an awful lot more homes and structures in trouble here. all of this wild land here. some eucalyptus around the homes, as well. and if we pull out, notice how many homes are involved here. this entire hillside on fire, and the wind blowing it toward the southeast and towards the southwest down towards they are mentioning they may have to eventually close pch today because this fire could make it all the way to the ocean.

there is very little containment. haven't lost a lot of structures, but there's very little containment, and when that happens, you know, homes do get in the way, brooke. >> okay. chad, thank you. that is, wow, the fire going down both sides of the hill. paul, i had one more quick, quick question, and that is as we're looking at these homes perched so precariously closely to the smoke, what are they being told, to stay put or get out? >> many of these people have been told to get out, and many of them have done so voluntarily. let me go ahead and talk to one of the neighbors. carroll benson, if you can come in, please. your house is one street over from here. what did authorities tell you in terms of evacuation? >> initially, they told us just to prepare, get whatever we wanted into the cars, get the cars out of the garage so the embers can't get in the garage, so that's what we did, but once the fire was evident at the very top of the street and it was threatening the two homes at the top, they said now's the time

you should leave. yeah. >> what did you pack up? >> we haven't filed our taxes yet, so we grabbed all of our tax papers. the hardest part was getting our two cats. when we first left, we only had one, because the other one, she bit me, you know, like a wild animal, but my husband went back and he caught her and he's now, you know, she's in a workout bag in his car. a couple things of clothes and just, you know, i called my sister, she's a freshman at ucla, what did you want me to get, well, get my computer and my senior yearbook from last year. so, really not much. and my husband's two bicycles. >> we knew authorities were telling people to make sure you grab medicine, momentos, important papers, as you said, your tax returns. how much longer do you stay? >> well, we are out of our street, that's why we're here.

we're not on our street where the gates are anymore, but we're lingering, because they haven't told us to completely evacuate and because, you know, not just our house on our street, but all of our neighbors and knowing the people that live over the top of this street where the homes are threatened with such imminent danger keeps us here so that we can pray and watch and listen. >> well, we hope everything goes well for you, thank you so much for taking time out. appreciate it. brooke, there you have a sense of what's going through the minds of neighbors and what they were told. i can also tell you i think we're going to get a water drop here right now. chad was talking about, excuse me, it burning towards pch. that's pacific coast highway. we did see flames, as we said, in fields, or in brush, burning down that way. and i think that part of the strategy is make sure you defend these homes, and if it burns down that way and you've got the natural fire break in the ocean,

you're going to be okay. so, it's replicated in neighborhood after neighborhood like this where you see fire ringing, but ringing in the neighborhood, but so far, i have not seen any of these upscale million to $2 million homes burn down, brooke. >> okay, paul, thank you so much there in southern california watching the smoke, the flames, as these wildfires continue to burn. i appreciate it. as i said, i'm here in boston with special coverage here of what we know in the wake of the boston bombings and the investigation. a huge development for officials here. remember we talked about this laptop that the fbi was looking for belonging to dzhokhar tsarnaev? well, they found it. although we're not quite sure yet where they found this computer, we do know it was not at that landfill where we saw those investigators searching and searching, but this is the laptop his college buddies are accused of throwing away, along with dzhokhar's backpack stuffed with fireworks, vaseline, even a

homework assignment of tsarnaev's. they are now sitting in jail accused of helping dzhokhar tsarnaev. we talked about those federal charges they now face, but i want to talk more about this laptop and what exactly authorities and investigators can glean from it. joining me now on the phone from annapolis, maryland, is former special agent at the fbi. eric, you hear it so many times, a computer can be a treasure-trove of evidence. what specifically might the fbi be looking for? >> yeah, well digital evidence is great, and it really helps round out the investigators' picture of what took place. so, in this case, it might help investigators get a clearer picture of chronology leading up to the bombing. it might give some crucial evidence about how coconspirators that may be unidentified right now. and it may also implicate the

men who have been charged right now, if they are denying they had any involvement, the evidence may indicate something very different. really helps round out the whole investigators' picture of what happened and in a very effective and accurate way. >> so, what if, and again these are allegations, but what if he had been searching the web for how to build a bomb, let's say, how to use vaseline and nails and deleted all of that, deleted his history, does that matter, can fbi find that? >> yeah, absolutely. you know, digital forensic science is not what i'd call a very new science, you know, investigators and law enforcement agencies and intelligence agencies have been doing this for quite a while, so they are very good at it. if someone deletes something or takes efforts to, you know, remove any evidence that they were doing things like this, they have tools and they have capabilities to recover that

kind of information. it's something that's not done just in law enforcement cases. this is a really critical capability, even in the global war on terror, you know, overseas when they are identifying insurgents, you know, digital evidence is a key part of what's done there, too. this is a really, you know, well understood capability and yet they will be able to find things. >> we know those investigators are trying to figure out, you know, what his involvement, how he is accused of doing this and why. eric, thank you so much for joining me here on the phone. now, dzhokhar tsarnaev's buddy behind bars accused of helping his friend hide the evidence after recognizing him after the suspected bombers, texting him, now we're learning he should have been barred from entering the u.s. this year, but red tape apparently allowed him to slip through the cracks. let's go to jake tapper, our chief washington correspondent and anchor of "the lead" here at

cnn. jake, what are you learning specifically about his visa issue? ? hey, brooke. there are a lot of questions about the immigration system in this country, of course, and we've heard the debates on the floor of the house and the senate. but what a lot of experts believe is a real problem is that more than a decade after 9/11 and after those 9/11 terrorists got into this country perfectly legally, there have not been adequate changes to the country's immigration system. these are not people taking partisan shots at the obama wadministration, these are peope expressing concern. two examples of this in this boston bombing case. one, you have the fact that the fbi interviewed tamerlan tsarnaev after the russians expressed concern to the fbi and the cia. fbi didn't find anything, but nobody alerted customs and border patrol or anybody in the immigration system that there was any sort of concern about tamerlan tsarnaev, so that when he went to russia, chechnya,

dagestan, when he came back, nobody in immigration had any idea that there was anything untoward or possibly a suspect about him. now we have this other case where these three suspects arrested yesterday, and one of them, the kazakh student named azamat tazhayakov, he left the country, left the u.s., in december, went back to kazakhstan. he and university of massachusetts, dartmouth, parted ways, polite way to put it, january 4th. he was no longer a student and his visa was no longer valid as a student when u.s. dartmouth kicked him out. the question is, how come nobody told that to customs and border patrol by the time of january 20th when tazhayakov came back to the country? they had no idea that his student visa -- >> how come no one did? >> umass dartmouth, according to a government official, did the proper thing and put the

information in the system, but somehow it did not get to customs and border control, so they had no idea the form he showed them was no longer valid. there have been many hearings about this on capitol hill in the last decade, and i suspect there are going to be a few more. one of the problems, a government official told me, is congress always talks of wanting to improve the system, but they never allocate the funding so the government can keep track of these individuals. others say it's a question of competence by the federal government. in any case, what we have are two examples of, again, a problem of information sharing, not getting to custom and border officials and that having consequences that are rather unfortunate. brooke? >> all right, my friend. i know you are digging into this specific issue for your show at the top of the hour, you're speaking to julie meyers-wood, so that is "the lead with jake

tapper" at the top of the hour. we will tune in for you. i want to switch gears and talk about syria today. just in at cnn, we are learning defense secretary chuck hagel has just made news on whether the u.s. could arm rebels. barbara starr is at the pentagon. barbara, what can you tell me? >> well, brooke, we have all just come out of a press conference with defense secretary chuck hagel. i pressed him specifically on the question of whether the white house and the pentagon are thinking, rethinking, their opposition to arming the rebels, and he made some unexpected news about this publicly. i want you to have a listen. >> you must continue to look at options and present those options based on all contingencies with the focus we all have, i think, in the international community to achieve the objectives the best way we can. so, we're constantly evaluating. i think the president noted it a couple of days ago in his press

conference talking about rethinking options. of course, we do. >> reporter: you are rethinking the administration is rethinking arming the rebels? >> yes. >> a firm yes for the first time from the secretary of defense. the white house now rethinking whether it might decide to provide arms to the rebels. it would be very difficult for them to do that for a lot of reasons, not the least of which is the israelis next door are very concerned about the rebels getting new fresh arms. they worry, of course, as many do, that the rebel groups now are full of militant and terrorist elements and those arms could fall into the wrong hands, threaten israel, threaten jordan. so, very tough. of course, the political reality that no one's really talking about is the white house may be rethinking it, but is it for optics, or is this really a fundamental shift, is the u.s.

going to get more deeply involved, brooke? >> okay. barbara starr, we'll be watching the reporting as we are covering syria for months and months and months, and now as you're reporting, options on the table, now specifically talk of arming the rebels. barbara starr, thank you. now to something that is kind of unbelievable, this mother mysteriously vanishes. she's gone for 11 years. family thinks she could be dead. now this mother of two shows up, turns herself into police. we're going to talk live to her former husband about what he must be going through right now, his emotions, his shock, and really just impact this woman is having on his kids. [ male announcer ] that's why there's ocuvite to help replenish key eye nutrients. ocuvite has a unique formula not found in your multivitamin to help protect your eye health. ocuvite. help protect your eye health.

recently, jcpenney changed. some changes you liked. and some you didn't. but what matters with mistakes is what we learn. we learned a very simple thing. to listen to you. to hear what you need to make your life more beautiful. come back to jcpenney. we heard you. now we'd love to see you. ♪ now we'd love to see you. i'm also a survivor of ovarian a writand uterine cancers. i even wrote a play about that. my symptoms were a pain in my abdomen and periods that were heavier and longer than usual for me. if you have symptoms that last two weeks or longer, be brave, go to the doctor. ovarian and uterine cancers are gynecologic cancers. symptoms are not the same for everyone.

i got sick...and then i got better. ó?

moments ago, president obama landed in mexico city. this is his first stop on a two-nation tour thatill send him to costa rica, as well. brianna keeler flew in ahead of the president and joins us in mexico. first, brianna, tell me about the man he'll be conferring with there, this new president of mexico. >> reporter: he will be meeting shortly, brooke, with president enrique pena nieto of mexico, the new president of mexico. these are live pictures coming

to us from mexico city airport, where we're expecting president obama will be deplaning from air force one shortly. but he will be meeting today with and having a press conference with president pena nieto. this is going to be their first extended visit. he came into power in december, as i mentioned. a very young president, 46 years old. something sort of colorful. he's actually married to a quite famous soap opera star, so, that's sort of something to look out for, but they will be discussing a number of things and also this is a very significant meeting, brooke, because president pena nieto is the member of the pri party, which was in power for seven decades, now back in power, a liberal party, also a naturalistic party, and his party is more interested in having, perhaps, less u.s. involvement when it comes to

security. so, this is something we'll be reading the lines on when we try to see if, perhaps, there's a new era when it comes to u.s. and mexican cooperation, when it comes to security and things like drug trafficking, brooke. >> okay, brianna keeler, thank you so much in mexico city. i was just getting information here in my ear as we are getting word now, reports of shots fired inside the houston bush intercontinental airport. these are pictures. we're about to talk to a passenger inside this airport as we're getting this new information. man shot at houston airport, according to reports. breaking news here on cnn. back right after this. capella university understands rough economic times

have led to an increase in clinical depression. drug and alcohol abuse is up. and those dealing with grief don't have access to the professional help they need. when you see these issues, do you want to walk away or step up? with a degree in the field of counseling or psychology from capella university, you'll have the knowledge to make a difference in the lives of others. let's get started at capella.edu

this is cnn breaking news. >> all right, i'm brooke baldwin live in boston. i want to take you straight to houston where we're getting breaking news. apparently, a man has been shot near the ticketing area near the houston bush intercontinental airport. let me read what we have from the houston police department public information officer. a man was shot. if you know this airport, shot in the pre-screening area of terminal b. this is near the ticketing area at this airport. he describes the injuries as life threatening. this shooting happened just about a half an hour ago. again, this is near the

ticketing area in the prescreening section of the airport. these are, i'm going to guess, guys, just get in my ear and tell me, live pictures outside the airport? yes, live pictures outside this airport. again, happening just over a half hour ago, huge police presence as they've been responding to this. as we're working to get more information and get our correspondent up and headed this way, i want to bring in santella colliers, who is at the airport. can you hear me? >> yeah, i can hear ya. >> fontella, tell me, are you inside the airport at the moment? tell me what you've seen. >> i'm actually inside terminal b right now, like, literally out in front of that screening area, and basically just everyone's kind of, like, locked down in this area, not allowed to move. i guess until they give us the word it's okay.

>> so, you and other passengers are locked down in this area, this area terminal b. this is after you have gone through and been screened. did you hear, fontella, the gunfire? >> yeah, actually, when i was boarding my plane and coming right around the corner from, i believe, probably where the incident happened, i heard, like, two pops. i thought to myself, are those gunshots? then i kind of stopped. then another guy was coming towards me, some guy's shooting out here. so i just kind of went back. okay, so i kind of ran back with him. then after awhile, we all came out and it's happening outside of the security, like we're already threw. but the guy, whoever is out there, which i didn't see anyone or anything. they were firing on the other side. >> so, this is before you were screened. >> no, no.

>> you had already gone through? >> i was boarding my plane. i'm already in the airport. i'm already screened and through. the man who was shooting -- >> correct. >> he's on the outside. >> right, correct. he's in the ticketing area. i guess i was just trying to confirm, you had already gone through and were screened when you hear these two pops you described, correct? >> yeah. i actually had already been in the airport and i was actually getting off a flight from dallas, and as i'm walking by that area, that's when i hear it. >> what are you seeing, what's happening around you right now other than, as you said, passengers just sitting put, as we're reporting that the airport is on lockdown? >> yeah, just all the passengers, flight crews, they are all just standing in this area. i've seen a couple, like, policemen or marshals, airport security, that's about it.

>> what have you been -- >> sorry. >> what have you been told -- sorry, forgive me, what have you been told, fontella, by the airport, has there been any announcement, have police been going to different groups giving guidance? >> no, they haven't really given us, like, any information. basically, like some of the tsa and airport security is just saying you can't move until further notice. i didn't ask, like, any of the, i guess, authorities what was going on, because i knew. but they haven't really said over a microphone or speaker, like, this is what's happening. they are just saying stay where you are until further notified. >> okay, fontella, stay on the phone with me. if you are just now joining us, there is breaking news here

outside houston's bush intercontinental airport. one man has been shot near the ticketing area just about a half hour ago. the ticketing area, prescreening area. according to the houston police, the injuries are described as life threatening. i've got fontella colliers on the phone with me. she's a passenger. she's telling me how everyone is basically staying put inside this airport, and i have now ed lavendera on the phone with me. ed, tell me what you know. >> well, we're still trying to gather as much information as we possibly can. we've reached out to federal law enforcement officials, fbi officials, say they are not responding to the scene there at the airport given the limited information they have. at this point, that is something that could change here in the coming times, in the coming moments, if it needs to change for whatever reason. but as of now, we're told by officials there in the houston area they are not responding to the scene. basically, what you've enforced

at this point, brooke, a man has been shot there in that terminal b area of the houston intercontinental airport, which is on the north side of houston, a very busy airport, as you might imagine. and this is where authorities are focusing their attention now. the exact details of what has happened that led to the shooting we're trying to figure out. we're continuing to pursue that here in the coming hours. >> okay, ed lavendera, thank you so much. back to you, fontella, you hear these two pops and immediately you think, my goodness, it sounds like gunfire. right now, tell me, do you see -- i know you're already through the screening area and this happened near the ticketing counter, so i'm guessing you're not seeing any activity where you are, or are you? >> no. there's nothing. i mean, there's no activity, just people waiting and sitting around and you'll see a policeman or marshal or security

every once in awhile come through, but that's it. >> fontella colliers, thank you so much for calling into us here at cnn. again, one man has been shot, facing life-threatening injuries, according to houston police. this happening near the ticketing area of the houston bush intercontinental airport, just about a half hour ago. we're digging, making phone calls. got to get a quick break in. more breaking news on cnn right after this. ... would you take it? well, there is. [ male announcer ] it's called ocuvite. a vitamin dedicated to your eyes, from bausch + lomb. as you age, eyes can lose vital nutrients. ocuvite helps replenish key eye nutrients. ocuvite is uniquely formulated to help protect your eye health. now that's a pill worth taking. [ male announcer ] ocuvite. help protect your eye health. and now there's ocuvite eye + multi. an eye vitamin and multivitamin in one.

and now there's ocuvite eye + multi. help the gulf recover, andnt to learn from what happenedg goals: so we could be a better, safer energy company. i've been with bp for 24 years. i was part of the team that helped deliver on our commitments to the gulf - and i can tell you, safety is at the heart of everything we do. we've added cutting-edge safety equipment and technology, like a new deepwater well cap and a state-of-the-art monitoring center, where experts watch over all our drilling activity, twenty-four-seven. and we're sharing what we've learned,

so we can all produce energy more safely. safety is a vital part of bp's commitment to america - and to the nearly 250,000 people who work with us here. we invest more in the u.s. than anywhere else in the world. over fifty-five billion dollars here in the last five years - making bp america's largest energy investor. our commitment has never been stronger. withyou'll find reviewsve time, on home repair to healthcareon. written by people just like you. you want to be sure the money you're about to spend is money well spent. angie's list -- reviews you can trust.

back to our breaking news here on cnn. in case you're just joining us, these are life pictures in houston, texas. you see a tremendous police presence on it looks to me like an ambulance there, all because just about a half hour ago, according to houston police, there was a shooting in that prescreening area of the airport, right around the ticketing counters there at the houston airport. according to this public information officer with houston police, the injury is appears to be life threatening. and we talked to someone who just went through the screening area, her name was fontella colliers, she hopped on the phone with me, said she heard two pops, said it sounded like gunfire. now everyone at this massive, massive, incredibly busy airport is staying put. the airport is on lockdown as folks try to figure out what happened there at the that

ticketing counter just about a half hour ago. as soon as we get more information, we will pass that on to you here on cnn. i want to move on, though, to this pennsylvania woman who turned herself into authorities, not after a crime, but after an offense some would consider even worse, she up and left her family, abandoned them, including two children. 11 years after she went missing, brenda heist showed up at the sheriff's office in key largo, florida. this is last friday. and we'll show you this picture here. you can see this is heist on the left, this is back in 2002, and on the right, this is heist today at the age of 54. her daughter was 8, her son was 12 when heist chose to walk away. her disappearance launched a swarm of local and state and federal investigators trying to figure out what happened, where did she go, interviewing all kinds of people, and ended with a declaration of her death in

2010. and just in the last hour, i talked to this pennsylvania detective working this case since day one, told me about a conversation with this woman. oh -- lot of wind here in boston. i'm just going to hold it. and this all had to do with a pending -- we're okay. had to do with a pending divorce issue and financial troubles as far as why she up and left. take a listen. >> she just left on a split second whim and decided to just leave and turn her back on her family and on her life and pursue a life with these homeless people to hitchhike down to florida. >> so, on the phone with me now is lee heist, this is brenda's ex-husband, who at one point and time, sir, i know you were considered a suspect in her disappearance. lee, you gave us this beautiful picture with your current wife and your kids.

with brenda, you all are grinning from ear-to-ear, but i have to ask, now knowing about the fact that she just up and left, are you furious? >> as more and more information seems to be coming to light, i am -- i'm very upset with what i'm hearing, especially for the sake of my children. i just -- i just had my daughter home just a little while ago from college, and we talked about it and she is beside herself. me, i'm an adult, i'm trying to work through it just on my own. that's my current wife, my son, my daughter, and myself. >> wow, and so we reported a couple of years ago, for all intents and purposes, you could never find her. did you ultimately just believe

she was dead? >> personally, and i think many people, we felt that perhaps she had been carjacked because of where the car was found. we never knew for sure, but i really did think that she had died, and unfortunately, probably not a very pleasant way. this was a terrific shock to us. >> how, lee, did you hear that, in fact, she's fine and turned herself into police in florida? had a whole life? >> detective schofield from the police department, who has worked beyond any expectations all 11 years on this case. never let it go. he contacted me about 8:30, 9:00 on friday evening to say he needed to talk to me.

and wanted to speak to myself and my daughter. we met him at a restaurant. he drove all the way in from out in lancaster county to talk to us in person, and we expected, as we drove to the meeting, my daughter and i expected we were going to hear they recovered her body. but instead we were told that she was, in fact, alive. so, at that point it was good news, bad news. good news that she was, in fact, alive, an opportunity for some closure with the children. bad news is, here we go again. so, that was pretty much it. >> lee, if she were to reach out to you, wanted to talk to you, a, would you talk to her, and, b, what would the first question be that you would ask?

>> well, honestly, i don't think after all of this that there -- anything good would come of a conversation. i don't think it would be beneficial to her, and certainly not to me. but to my kids, absolutely, and i would do whatever is necessary to make sure that if she wants, and if the kids want, and it would be their decision, i would certainly make arrangements for them to meet with their mother, absolutely. >> you know, we talked to that sergeant that you talk about, schofield last hour and he reiterated she doesn't face any charges, up and walking away from your life is not against the law. she may reach out to your children and you're saying that if she wants to, she can, but you have nothing to say to her. lee heist, what an ordeal, thank you so much for jumping on the phone and giving your perspective. i appreciate it so much. >> thank you, ma'am.

well, it is a revived push for gun control, and for some of the people involved, this is personal. family members of gun violence victims are taking some senators head-on, confronting them about their no vote on recent gun legislation. will it change any votes, and is this even a fair tactic to begin with? we're going to discuss that next.

you know, we started this hour taking you to california, specifically, this is the springs fire that's been raging. we've seen the smoke and tremendous flames as it's now burning down two different sides of this hill. i want to go back to paul verkymen in this neighborhood, many folks trying to leave. paul, tell me what you're seeing. >> reporter: well, right now, brooke, you can see behind me so far, so good in this neighborhood. you can see just the top of flames. about a four-foot wall in the

canyon behind me. rest assured, there's a whole wall of flame they are getting after it with fire drops. but here's what's very concerning, let's go back around this way, gabe. you can see this massive plume of smoke, and an indicator that fuel or brush or something is burning is that smoke is very dark. i just got off the phone with ventura county fire. they have upped the acreage in this fire to 6,500 acres. they started with 200 firefighters on this fire. they believe that's going to swell to 500. they say there has been some structures damaged, some homes, but they did not characterize that as any homes burned down. more so, a scorching. and we eluded to earlier, several or more rvs parked in a storage area burned down on the hill on the other side here. so far, so good right here in this neighborhood. a bit of irony as you look at the wind kick up here. they call this neighborhood dos dientos, two winds in

spanish. the winds have everything to do with why this fire exploded to 6,500 acres already. brooke? >> paul, 6,500 acres there in california. paul, thank you very much. stand by. i want to talk about the fact that cnn has learned mayors against illegal guns out today, taking out ads against the senate republican of, quote, giving criminals a past. ayyad, who is from new hampshire, aimed as subjecting more gun sales to background checks. and as you may have seen, she was confronted at a town hall meeting just this past tuesday by the daughter of one of the victims of the murder at sandy hook elementary school. now, this wasn't just happenstance, mayors of illegal guns is sending sandy hook families to other town hall meetings, asking those lawmakers who voted no to flat-out defend themselves. chris plant is a conservative,

kelly goff is a political analyst, she leans left. welcome to both of you. >> i don't, but i'll pretend i do. >> kelly, is this fair that mayors of illegal guns is doing, sending sandy hook families directly to these town hall meetings? >> well, i think this is as fair as the nra pouring millions of dollars into ads trying to support them and sending people to support them at the town halls, because that's why you've had some shouting matches happen. you know, what i will say is what happened in my hometown of houston in terms of gun violence is a tragedy. senators voted against a proposal that 90% of americans support is a tragedy, but i think this vote is going to be a tragedy for kelly iott. she's a rising star, sort of the antisarah palin in that she's substantiative, but she's a been sort of the anti-ted cruz in that she's not polarizing.

i think this vote's going to be a albatross around her neck. specifically victims who lost her mother in newtown, making sure no one forgets she had this vote. >> chris, i want to get to you, i promise, but i want to say this, senator joe manchin, west virginia, you know, he is now out. he is talking about reviving his background check proposal, so, with that in mind, let's listen to the bill's cosponsors, republican pat toomey of pennsylvania, he was interviewed just yesterday in pennsylvania. sensible area that we ought to be able to reach a consensus. i think in the end we didn't because our politics have become so polarized and there are people on my side who didn't want to be perceived to be helping something that the president wants to accomplish, simply because it's the president who wants to accomplish it. >> so, toomey, i have to say this, toomey said later he

wasn't referring to specific republican senators, rather to their constituents. still, chris, how about that? >> well, how about there's so much to respond to? the nra, first of all, is not sending people out to town hall meetings to harass anybody. the left is doing that. mayor bloomberg, the millionaire from new york, is orchestrating efforts to get people out. he's paying for people to get out. he's funding the effort. secondly, if i'm not mistaken, six democrats in the senate also voted against this legislation, including the senate democrat leader, harry reid, who's a big nra guy and supporter of the second amendment. this is about creating boogeymen or in this case a boogeywoman, the fact the democrats are wanting to create bad guys where they can create bad guys. this piece of legislation, which was not supported by harry reid, at least he didn't vote for it, and one of six democrats in the senate that didn't vote for it,

this legislation wouldn't make anyone safer, but it makes for a great political issue. if this young woman whose mother was tragically killed at sandy hook wants to become a tool used by the left and the democrat party like cindy sheehan to show up at all of kelly aiott's functions, she's welcome to do this. the reality is this is about politics. >> first of all, i'm going to take a step back. i think you lose the argument the moment you start insulting victims of gun violence and i'm not going to do th >> listen, she jumped into the arena of politics here. >> you know what, i'm not going to engage on that, i think it's inappropriate. 90% of americans supported this background check thing, which means it's not democrat, it's not republican, it's something an overwhelming majority of americans want it. if you want to label it as democrats so you can sleep better at night, go for it, but that's not the case. >> senator ayott supports background checks, i support background checks.

>> it's a moderate issue. >> well, and it's been in effect, we've had background checks since the brady bill since 1994. >> not effective. >> let me jump back in. >> e-bay didn't exist at the time of the brady bill. >> we need to update the law, that's the point. >> hang on, hang on, hang on. hang on! as we heard from senator manchin, there is talks -- my goodness! there is talk again of reintroducing this kind of bill, chris, i'm hearing you, you support background checks. i have to leave it here, because we are getting more news out of houston. kelly and chris, thank you so much. again, back to this houston story, houston bush intercontinental airport, we are now getting word here specifically there was an armed man trying to get through the security checkpoint. that's the new nugget that we have. more on that after this quick break. breaking news. you have the potential to do more in business. by earning a degree from capella university, you'll have the knowledge to make an impact in your company and take your career to an even greater place.

let's get started at capella.edu. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] this is a reason to look twice. this is a stunning work of technology. the 2013 lexus es and the first-ever es hybrid. this is the pursuit of perfection. ♪ right. but the most important feature of all is... the capital one purchase eraser. i can redeem the double miles i earned with my venture card to erase recent travel purchases. and with a few clicks, this mission never happened. uh, what's this button do? [ electricity zaps ] ♪ you requested backup? yes. yes i did.

what's in your wallet? there's a lot i had to do... watch my diet. stay active. start insulin... today, i learned there's something i don't have to do anymore. my doctor said that with novolog® flexpen, i don't have to use a syringe and a vial or carry a cooler. flexpen® comes prefilled with fast-acting insulin used to help control high blood sugar when you eat. dial the exact dose. inject by pushing a button. no drawing from a vial. you should eat a meal

within 5 to 10 minutes after injecting novolog® (insulin aspart [rdna origin] injection). do not use if your blood sugar is too low, or if you are allergic to any of its ingredients. the most common side effect is low blood sugar, which may cause symptoms such as sweating shakiness, confusion, and headache. severe low blood sugar can be serious and life-threatening. ask your health care provider about alcohol use, operating machinery, or driving. other possible side effects include injection site reactions and low potassium in your blood. tell your health care provider about all medicines you take and all of your medical conditions. get medical help right away if you experience serious allergic reactions such as body rash, trouble with breathing, fast heartbeat, or sweating. flexpen® is insulin delivery my way. covered by most insurance plans, including medicare. find your co-pay cost at myflexpen.com. ask your health care provider about novolog® flexpen today welcome back to cnn.

got an update on the breaking story we've been covering. there was a shooting according to police in the ticketing area of the houston bush intercontinental airport. we talked to a passenger who is actually just through the security area and she told me on the phone she heard the two pops. we know the airport has been on lockdown. ed lavendara has been making phone calls. what more do you know? >> we're still trying to make sense of the chaotic situation at the houston intercontinental airport on the north side of the city there. i am told by a law enforcement source that the shooting took place after law enforcement officials tried to take a man into custody who apparently according to the law enforcement source was trying to get a gun through the security checkpoint. as authorities descended on him and tried to take him into custody that person according to this law enforcement source then turned the gun on himself and killed himself. we are told by the medical

examiner in houston that this person has died. they continue to work the chaotic situation trying to make sense of what has been going on there and how all of this unfolded in the airport. the faa according to the officials, there is a ground stop in place for the united express airline there in terminal b so it will be some time as officials continue to investigate and go through that scene to make sense of it all before -- sometime before things get back to normal, brooke. >> all right. ed lavandara with the update. we now know this man has died after the shooting in houston just a little while ago. thank you, ed. we will be right back. i had some lebanese food for lunch. i love the lebanese. i... i'm not sure. enough of the formalities... lets get started shall we? jimmy how happy are folks who save hundreds of dollars switching to geico? happier than dracula volunteering at a blood drive.

we have cookies... get happy. get geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more. i'm also a survivor of ovarian a writand uterine cancers. i even wrote a play about that. my symptoms were a pain in my abdomen and periods that were heavier and longer than usual for me. if you have symptoms that last two weeks or longer, be brave, go to the doctor. ovarian and uterine cancers are gynecologic cancers. symptoms are not the same for everyone. i got sick...and then i got better.

welcome back. i'm brooke baldwin. now some new little segments called hit play. invasion of the scary fish in central park. >> snake heads now are illegal, you know, just like the piranhas. >> environmental crews on edge as snake-like fish invade one lake in the middle of gotham. they live on land up to four days. flooded in florida. a landslide in this family's yard sends nearly three feet of mud into their home. firefighters help dig them out and the family is moving out as the house gets cleaned up. this woman in the back of a cop car?

a principal of an elementary school in michigan. she apparently had a few too many at lunch and began swerving her way back to class. >> she has been going way over the line in other lanes. she turned into the deerfield elementary school. >> she was slapped in cuffs under the town's, quote, super drunk ordinance. she's now serving on leave. in florida, a woman watches her elderly mom being robbed right on her ipad. two guys, fake roof contractors, stole her jewelry. >> i am so gullible. i just think, oh, well if he wants to come in and talk about something, i will. but i'm not going to do it anymore. >> the thieves? still on the run. finally, you're looking at a giant explosion on the sun. these massive solar flares aren't dangerous but sometimes do cause radio blackouts here on earth. the top videos of the day in today's hit play.

before i give to jake tapper, a bit of nostalgia. look at what happened on this day in history live on our air. we're calling it cnn classic. >> it's now 12:30 a.m. on the east coast here in the united states. want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. we heard a little while ago the president of the united states telling all of us osama bin laden has been killed. people are celebrating outside the white house, all over the united states, indeed, all over the world. ♪ ♪ banner yet wave o'r the land of the free and the home of the brave ♪

his visa was still valid but it should not have been. i'm jake tapper and this is "the lead." the world lead, dzhokhar tsarnaev's pal arrested yesterday should have been barred from entering the u.s. earlier this year but red tape apparently let him slip through the cracks. wasn't this kind of problem supposed to have been fixed after 9/11? the national lead. if the complaint against them is accurate o"tsarnaev's friends he already said enough to ensure much of their 20s will be behind bars. what could the defense strategy possibly be? and the politics lead. his bipartisan bill to expand background checks failed. despite overwhelming support from the public. but now a republican senator seems to accuse his own party of deef defeating it just to keep victory from the president's