bryant. each making four shots. that's pretty cool. "cnn newsroom" continues. have a great afternoon. brooke baldwin takes it from here. with weeks to live, she waited, she fought, she captivated a nation. now we know this 10-year-old girl is getting a lung transplant. we'll tell you what to expect in the coming hours. i'm brooke baldwin. i'm brooke baldwin. the news is now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com inside the hunt for edward snowden. could his pole dancing girlfriend provide clues? >> when they looked at this garage, they saw boxes. a rookie shooter can hit a target ten football fields away. how? with this new gun. available to the public. plus, the trial begins for one of america's most notorious gangsters. whitey bulger's former protege joins me live. >> in that dream i snap his

neck. >> otash claims he had recordings of jfk having sex with marilyn monroe. >> a hollywood spy's wiretaps discovered in boxes. and they apparently reveal a presidential love triangle. thanks for joining me. i'm brooke baldwin. we begin with nsa leaker edward snowden is in hiding reportedly in a safe house. and from a new interview with a hong kong newspaper, it appears he is still in the city dropping bombshells. continuing to leak. here's what we know. snowden told the south china morning post that the u.s. has been hacking chinese and hong kong computers since 2009. the paper says it viewed documents supporting this claim, which is paper was not able to verify. we're going to talk to jake tapper, our chief washington correspondent, on this breaking development here momentarily.

first let me take you here and bring you up to speed as far as what's happening with the story today in the united states. who knows if edward snowden realizes today, in fact, at this precise hour, at any moment, he may be getting exactly what he wants. because do you remember what he told "the guardian" on why he leaked these documents? showing the national security agency is secretly snooping on people? remember this? >> i think that the public is owed an explanation of the motivations behind the people who make these disclosures that are outside of the democratic model. the public needs to decide whether these programs and policies are right or wrong. >> snowden hoped for explanation and debate. and this hearing, right here, capitol hill, you are seeing live may not only provide them, but put them on the congressional record. so on schedule to speak here, this is a senate appropriations committee hearing, the director of the nsa, among other titles he holds, this man.

general keith alexander. keep in mind, today's hearing, this was an already scheduled hearing on cyber security. however, it will likely be much more about the surveillance the u.s. government is doing on millions of americans and foreigners that has generated a swarm of reaction on capitol hill and beyond. keep in mind now, the aclu is suing. a philadelphia couple is suing as part of this $3 billion class action suit. google. microsoft. facebook has now asked the justice department if they can make public the request they get from the secret court that orders them to provide information. and add to this list mo zilla. web browser mozilla just announced a position demanding the nsa disclose all its spying programs. let's go straight to these ladies. chief political analyst gloria borger and chief congressional correspondent dana bash to both watch this hearing with us.

dana, to you first. tell me just broadly speaking, what should we expect out of the hearing today? and how much of this nsa story do you think will permeate sort of the testimony of the questioning? >> it's hard to imagine that it won't. i've already been told by sources on this committee that they've been alerted that several democratic senators will ask about the issue of the phone records and also probably the so-called prism program. getting involved with people's internet searches and things like that. but this hearing is scheduled to be on cyber security. which is not an unimportant issue. it is a very important issue for the chairwoman who you see there, barbara mcccculsky of maryland. i checked the roster of the committee members of this appropriations committee. several of them are actually on the intelligence committee. they are, as they say up here, briefed up or fully briefed as

much as probably anybody on these secret programs. it is probably going to be the other senators who don't have the access at their prifingerti or haven't been immersed in these programs that will talk about it. also people probably for the most part who are really skeptical of it. again, we'll see that on both sides of the aisle. from democrats and republicans. >> as we watch for that, specifically some people on this roster, gloria, to you. because we heard from the president speaking about this, addressing some of this last friday. he was talking, i remember listening to him, he was talking about privacy of american citizens versus protecting them. so just talk to me about the pressure, the pressure that the obama administration has to be under right now. >> what we watched last week was a president who's clearly struggling with these issues himself. i mean, what truck me about that was that he seems a little ambivalent about what the right balance is. the public right now, brooke, is giving him a lot of leeway. they don't like the fact that the national security agency may be gathering all of this meta

data as we call it, which includes phone numbers, et cetera. when you look at the polls, they get it. they also understand there's a reason to do it. and they think it's rational given the fact that you -- you know, that you want to fight the terrorists. but at a certain point there are members of congress like senator dianne feinstein who chairs the senate intelligence committee who are saying to the administration, you know what? we may need to do a little bit more explaining about why this is so important. so maybe you ought to start declassifying some instances in which the gathering of this data has really helped us thwart some terrorist attacks. if they do do that, it wouldn't surprise me if the president were to lead that conversation. >> what about this, then? because let's just talk about the clapper moment that i know, dana, you've talked to senator wyden who's been this advocate for years on the hill advocating more transparency. he called out james clapper, director of national intelligence, when he testified, this was back in march, that the

nsa doesn't collect data on americans. let me play that exchange first. don't have the sound. basically, he said no when asked the question, this is me paraphrasing. dana, then to gloria. when you think about the clapper moment, then to keith alexander today testifying, it's a delicate dance. >> it is a delicate dance. the difference, of course, between then when clapper admitted this past weekend that he went right up, maybe even sort of stood on the line of telling the truth, then he quickly said they're not doing it wittingly, the difference between then and now is that it has been disclosed. it has been leaked. we can thank edward snowden for that. the nsa -- we don't even -- we believe we know at least most of it. who knows what we don't know. the nsa director is going to be in a public setting for the first time since -- since these lawmakers have found out about it. he's been in private, both on the senate side and on the house

side. this is the first time it will be in public. it will probably be less awkward for him to say, i can answer this to a certain point. other than that, we're going to have to go into a classified setting. >> gloria, final word. >> senator wyden was clearly upset. he has since said it was the least untruthful answer, whatever that means, he could have given in a public setting. normally you're not going to answer -- you would say to the senator, senator, i think we need to take this private and maybe i'll answer this behind closed doors. for whatever reason he chose not to. that's going to come around and boomerang on them and it may boomerang in this hearing today with mr. alexander. >> ladies, stand by. we'll be dipping in and out as news merits. this senate appropriations committee hearing with the director of the nsa testifying again. underscoring dana's point, the first time an nsa official had to basically go public since the news broke.

now to jake tapper, anchor of the lead chief washington correspondent with the breaking news. jake, we mentioned the top of the show, this is key, couple headlines out of this, i think. the nsa leaker told the south china morning post the u.s. has been hacking chinese and hong kong computers since '09. again, the paper says it viewed documents supporting the claim, which the paper was not able to verify. so two things. one, this says to me that edward snowden is continuing to leak. this is another bomb. >> oh, right. no, he will continue to share information and glenn greenwall told me a few days ago that there are more stories to come. it's not the huge surprise that the u.s. military is engaged in offensive cyber attacks. we've been told by generals and others last fall, i believe, that the u.s. was engaged in offensive capabilities when it came to going after adversaries in afghanistan. we also, of course, know about

the virus which is cyber warfare against the iranian nuclear program. then earlier this year, the head of cyber command also allowed and told lawmakers that the u.s. was using cyber warfare not swrjust to protect the u.s. from cyber attacks but also offensively. we did not know specifically, of course, what snowden is alleging. which we have not confirmed to be true. that there have been u.s. cyber attacks on china and hong kong. but that would not be a huge surprise given what has already been admitted. >> and you know as well as i do, this comes not even a week, you know, a matter of days since president obama met with the president of china. what was it, in california on friday evening? specifically talking about china's cyber surveilling of the united states. >> >> reporter: right. when i asked glenn greenwall about the timing of this all, did they start leaking all this information timed to president obama meeting with chinese

premier xi. and what glenn greenwald says was, no, the specific timing of the leaks starting to come out had nothing to do with the summit between president obama and president xi. but the one document that was released, i believe, friday, which had to do with president obama, a top secret document telling the intelligence and national security apparatus to prepare cyber targets for cyber warfare, that document greenwald said they did release to be timed specifically with president obama meeting with president xi. because that issue was going to come up except the shoe being on the other foot, of course, with all the hackers attacking the united states. especially the united states military and banking systems. brooke? >> jake tapper, thank you for the perspective. we will look for you 4:00 p.m. eastern on "the lead." let me totally switch gears and tell you about a positive step forward here. finally today this major update in a story of 10-year-old sarah murnaghan. we've been telling you this

story. this is the 10-year-old in pennsylvania who has cystic fibrosis. and she and her family have been waiting for a lung transplant. but until this judge recently intervened, this 10-year-old couldn't qualify for the list of people waiting for lungs from an adult donor because she is too young. you have to be 12 or above. well, today, sarah is getting those new lungs she so desperately needs. her mother announced the news on sarah's facebook page writing late this morning, quote, sarah got, and then big, big, capital letters, the call. she will be taken back to the o.r. in 30 minutes. please pray for sarah's doctor, our hero who has given her the gift of life. pediatrician benjamin gaston specializes in children's respiratory systems. doctor, thank you, well om. i got a lot of questions for you. let me just begin with how does this transplant actually work?

when you are taking a pair of lungs from an adult and placing them in a 10-year-old. >> hi, brooke. yes, so it's very difficult. probably what she's getting is lower lobes from the adult and put into -- attached to her airways, her blood vessels and her chest. so sometimes those lower lobes are even a little bit too big. and they have to actually be trimmed down a little bit. so it can be a lengthy procedure. >> let me yjust stop djouyou. lower lobes. i'm assuming this is the lower section of the lung. there would have to be cutting, as you said, to place the lungs that are too large into her tiny chest cavity. is that right? >> that would be my bet, yes. >> okay. what are the variables? the unknowns in a procedure like this? >> well, almost always something a little bit unexpected happens. sometimes, of course, the lungs can be the wrong size and need

to be trimmed back a little bit. sometimes there's fluid issues. and then you have to remember that this young lady has had a lot of difficulty with her own lungs. and so the question is always whether she can breathe through the breathing tube, of course, on one lung while they change the other lung out. or whether she would need to go on bypass. >> so then at what point, once the doctors are finished trimming and they see that the lungs fit inside of her, when do they know she'll be okay? >> that's a great question, brooke. ordinarily, you get a sense of what's going to happen pretty soon after you get out of the operating room. whether there's going to be any acute rejection or infection. usually in the first 24 hours you get an even clearer picture. for the most part, those kinds of complications, you know, fluid, early rejection, those

kinds of things declare themselves in the first 24 hours. >> so she will know, fingers crossed, if she is out of the woods once this procedure is done. i think we're hearing something like six hours, if that's correct. so within 24 hours, basically a day of this being over, they'll know if she's okay or not? >> well, that's true. she'll be over the biggest hurdle. but there are many, many other hurdles to cross. so sometimes the process can take weeks. sometimes just days. >> okay. dr. benjamin gaston, thank you so much. we appreciate that. obviously we'll keep you posted on sarah's health throughout the coming days and hours here on cnn. coming up, wildfires raging in colorado, moving fast and expected to pick up steam. more than 2,000 homes have been evacuated so far. we will take you live to colorado for that. but first, remember this man? ariel castro. charged with more than 300 counts of kidnapping and rape.

appearing in a courtroom today. we will tell you about his plea and his bizarre revelation about his living room. that's next. matt's brakes didn't sound right... ...so i brought my car to mike at meineke...

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the man accused of kidnapping, raping, and holding three women captive inside his cleveland home is pleading not guilty to more than 300 charges. ariel castro kept his head down for this entire hearing today in cleveland. you know the story. he's accused of those horrific crimes against amanda berry, gina dejesus and michelle knight. like chaining them, raping them over and over. and holding them captive inside of this home for about a decade. we are now learning about some unusual items inside castro's home. for example, there is a mirrored disco ball. here it is. hanging in the living room. and some silver tinsel or some kind of decorative garland in there. investigators were inside the home yesterday and monday. castro's lawyers signaled they may not contest many charges of rape or kidnapping. he is also accused of aggravated murder for purposely causing the unlawful termination of pregnancies. and that charge is what castro's lawyers are honing in on here.

i'm going to go straight to cleveland to cnn's pamela brown. pamela, this aggravated murder charge, i know it could bring the death penalty into play. how are castros lawyers prepa preparing to handle that? >> reporter: well, brooke, they talked about that today for really the first time. they said, essentially, some of the charges ariel castro faces are indisputable. but they said they don't feel like there's enough adequate evidence, adequate forensic evidence and medical evidence to support that aggravated murder charge. which, of course, could lead to the death penalty. it was interesting, brooke, because for the first time, castro's attorneys conceded that some of these charges are indefensible. and they basically said they would be willing to work out a plea deal if that aggravated murder charge would be taken off the table. let's take a listen. >> we are very sensitive to the emotional strain and impact that a trial would have on the women,

their families, and this community. mr. castro currently faces hundreds of years in prison with the current charges. and it is our hope that we can continue to work toward a resolution to avoid having an unnecessary trial about aggravated murder and the death penalty. >> reporter: so today, brooke, the attorney, craig weintraub, sympathized with the victims saying that his hope is to reach a resolution so that these victims won't have to testify in trial. >> pamela brown in cleveland, thank you, pamela. coming up next, we're going to talk to -- with a mother who lives near this evacuation zone in colorado. all the while, her husband is out on this boy scout camp with some youngsters who don't even yet know whether their homes have survived this fast moving wildfire. stay here. with angie's list, i save time, money, and i avoid frustration. you'll find reviews on home repair to healthcare written by people just like you.

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hot and windy and dry making for a treacherous situation and conditions in colorado. the fast moving wildfire forcing

thousands of people from their home, destroys others. firefighters are joined by national guard troops. they are fighting five separate fires. so farth they are zero percent contains. it's affecting more than 7,000 people. one is elisia welsh. she is good enough to join me from colorado springs. tell me, your home, how far are you from evacuating? >> how far are we from the evacuation area? >> yes. >> we're about a mile away from where the fire initially started yesterday just above us. the black forest area is where the fire started. we live just below highway 83. >> these pictures i'm looking at with this huge plume of what looks like big gray smoke, is this taken from our neighborhood? >> yes. they were taken yesterday. yesterday evening. >> what are you doing to keep some of the smoke out of your

home? >> we're keeping the windows closed. we're trying to just keep the fans going, air-conditioning running to keep as much smoke as possible out of the house. we didn't really smell it as much until this morning about two hours ago. it seems to be moving this direction. at least the smell of it. >> so here you are trying to keep the smoke out of your house. you are -- your husband, who is, you know, out on this hiking trip with a bunch of boy scouts, and some of the boys' homes in the line of fire. they don't really know the fate of their home. tell me about that. >> you know, they found out yesterday that the fires went up -- actually, yjust so you know, my younger son was out in the area at cathedral pines where the fire started, a church camp. they were doing hikes that morning in the area where the fire is now. they had to leave early from that day camp because there was a mandatory evacuation. it was then that i found out

about the fire. that's when i started checking in with my husband who's camping just on the other side of the mountain in the rampart range. checked in with him. he said that the lot of the boys, the scouts, knew what was going on. the leaders care about their families and what's going on at home. i'm sorry. they were trying to decide what to do. they decided to get together and pray. >> it's okay, elisia. >> the boys made the decision to stay up there. i'm sorry. the boys made the decision to stay up there and just be focused on what they need to do up there. there's very little they can do at home right now. we're just trying to keep the kids up there focused on what they're doing. >> and is it extra tough for you just because your son is away with your husband and these are kids? how old are these kids? >> how old are they? i'm sorry? >> yes. i know it's windy. >> is that what you asked? >> yes. >> the boys who are up with my husband are scouts.

they're mostly 11 to 13-year-olds. my son was with a day group, a day camp. they can't spend nights yet because they're a little younger. he was a 9-year-old. he was with the 8 through 10-year-olds. >> alicia, i'm sorry you and your friends and these little guys are going through this. we're thinking about you all. stay safe. at least you have yourselves. alicia welch, thank you so much for joining me from colorado springs. tough situation there for thousands of people as we mentioned. >> thank you, yes. coming up next, the trial of james whitey bulger got under way today. you know, he is the alleged boston mobster accused in the murder of 19 people. and my next guest, he's been on the show before, had some pretty choice words for mr. bulger. >> why did he, you know, become an informant against basically myself and -- and betrayed the code of silence.

>> what do you do in that dream? >> in that dream, i snap his neck. >> bulger's former protege, john red shea back with me today. joins me live, next. we've been bringing people together. today, we'd like people to come together on something that concerns all of us. obesity. and as the nation's leading beverage company, we can play an important role. that includes continually providing more options. giving people easy ways to help make informed choices. and offering portion controlled versions of our most popular drinks. it also means working with our industry to voluntarily change what's offered in schools. but beating obesity will take continued action by all of us, based on one simple common sense fact... all calories count. and if you eat and drink more calories than you burn off,

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the jury listened closely. the defendant didn't react as the prosecutor accounted crime after gruesome grime, showing pictures of 19 murder victims. and then his own attorney admitted his client was a loan shark, drug dealer and killer who paid corrupt feds for information. but he wasn't an informant. all of this on day one of the trial of james "whitey" bulger. the reputed south boston mob boss who inspired jack nicholson's character in the movie "the departed." >> when i was your age they would say we could become cops or criminals. today what i'm saying to you is

this. when you're facing a loaded gun, what's the difference? >> bulger was arrested in california just a couple years ago after more than 16 years running and hiding with long time girlfriend katherine craig. and judging from today's opening, this trial will read like a script for a martin scorsese movie. vivid descriptions of murder by what brian kelly calls a quote, unquote, hands on killer. check this out. kelly says bulger tried to strangle middleman john mcintyre with a rope. but the rope was too thick. bulger allegedly asked, do you want one in the head? yes, please. so the prosecutor says, whitey bulger shot him. i'm about to talk to a man who knows whitey bulger. you have, in fact, met him on this program before in an interview i will never forget. roll it. >> it's a dream of me seeing him in the streets of new york. just bumping into him. and grabbing ahold of him and

pulling him into a building. and asking him why. why did he -- why did he, you know, become an informant against basically myself and -- and betrayed the code of silence. >> what do you do in that dream? >> in that dream, i snap his neck. >> i snap his neck. john "red" shea joining me now is author of the book "rat bastards: the life and time of south boston's most honorable irish mobster." good to see you. welcome back. i'll never forget you telling me that. seeing pictures of bulger, going in and out of court, do you still dream about snapping his neck? >> i just had this reoccurring dream 3 1/2 weeks ago. i did. because of all the media stuff happening now of him going to

trial. it has reoccurred again. >> explain your anger toward this man. >> well, you know, when you give your heart and your total loyalty to somebody in that life, because that's what you do. you give a badge of honor in that life. and when you're betrayed by your own boss and betrayed by the man that has taught you a lot, it just -- it can be heart wrenching, believe it or not. >> take me back, red, to that life. many years ago. you were a teenager running cocaine for bulger. what was your relationship like with him? >> well, you know, at times he was such a father figure by speaking to me in a fatherly way.

and reading and educating myself. because at the time, i had left high school. school at the seventh grade. i went back later on to acquire my g.e.d. but he always told me to read. to self-educate myself. and it would give me knowledge to understand a lot of things in life and how to deal with people and talk to people. >> so then what happened with him? what happened with your relationship? >> you know, and then there was that side of him, him guiding me through that criminal world, that criminal life. and how to evade the police. and how to, you know, not get caught. and then during that time, after all that schooling that he was giving me, and preaching to me as a mentor and a fatherly

figure, he found out about an investigation that was being conducted by the dea. and it was a drug investigation. and him and his partner, he found that out through washington. it trickled down to him. and he used me as his scapegoat to take the -- the hit for him. you know, brooke, if he had just said to me, i understand this world. and if he had just said to me, because i was so loyal to him, if he had said to me, john, i need you to take this for me, i need you to take this hit for me -- >> would you have? >> i would have. i would have. but to betray me like that? to betray somebody that was so loyal to you in that world? you know, what i did wasn't right, brooke. >> you served time. we should say that.

you served time. you went to jail. when it comes to getting caught, but not only that, i just remember from our conversation last time when we were talking about rats, what happens to rats in southy, red? >> well, i mean, look at what he did to informants, allegedly. you know? he executed them. because they were ratting on him. and here he is, the biggest rat of all. king rat. he says today, which is such hogwash, he says today that he wasn't an informant. and that's the most hurting thing that he is experiencing right now. that he is a legitimate informant for over 30 years. this guy's been a fraud for 30 years. as an informant and being able to run and be -- run an organization, crime organization, and be the biggest

irish mob boss in the country. ever. >> let me quote something. this is from someone. a couple of people have written books on whitey bulger. d dick lair, former boston globe reporter. bulger, cold-blooded killer, went to great lengths to avoid detection. when they killed someone, this is pre-dna, they pulled the teeth out, cut the fingers off, tried to make it so the victims if they were discovered from their graves couldn't be identified. there is just no bottom. it doesn't get much uglier than someone like whitey bulger. just right now, red, in boston, in this community from which so many of you all come from, in this case what does justice look like to you? >> well, justice for a lot of people in the city, you know, let me just start off saying that i've paid my dues for the wrongs i did. and, you know, i didn't -- i could have sank him and steven.

and other people. but i never did and never will. and, you know, i believe in accepting responsibility for my wrongs of what i did. >> what about him? >> that was -- he's not. when i got indicted, when i got arrested, his manipulation towards everyone that he controlled, including me, who was giving him total loyalty, he said to me, it takes a strong person to reach inside themselves and say, i'm here because of me. you know what? he should look -- follow his own preaching today, right now. right at this trial right now. and reach inside himself and say, hey, it was my fault. i did this. i'm accepting full responsibility. and i'm not going to try to hurt

anybody else. because let me tell you something. he's going to try to hurt anybody he can along the way. and he's going to do what he did in the past. as a fraud, he's going to lie. he's going to make up stories to try to take anyone down with him. he's an angry man. this is his last hurrah. and he's going to showcase it in federal court, and he's going to try to drag this on as long as he can, brooke. >> john "red" shea, your book is "rat bastard." we'll be following the trial as i'm sure you will. thank you so much for coming back. i so appreciate it. >> thank you, brooke. good afternoon. >> thank you. coming up next, president, his brother, and a hollywood sex symbol. boxes and boxes of private "i" files on the secret life of jfk and marilyn monroe. notes on audio tapes from top secret wiretaps, next. spokesman i have to look my so bbest on camera.sing

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juicy revelations today about the long rumored love triangle involving legendary hollywood bombshell, a president, and his brother. i'm talking about marilyn monroe, and john and bobby kennedy. a hollywood gum shoe who spied on the trio dishes from beyond the grave in the secret files long locked away in a storage unit and recently give ton the hollywood reporter. i want you to watch this. this is from cnn's earn erin mcpike. >> reporter: there are new intimate details of a reported relationship between a president, his brother and a hollywood sex symbol. 11 boxes socked away in a storage unit in the san fernando valley were reviewed by the hollywood reporter. >> this is someone who had wiretaps all over town. was listening to some of the biggest stars. in an era when some of these

revelations would be published in magazines. >> matt belloni is executive editor for the hollywood editor. >> otash claims he has recordings of jfk having sex with marilyn monroe. >> reporter: otash worked for members of hollywood's elite to dig up dirt on their enemies. in notes he left behind before his death reviewed by the hollywood reporter, otash provides salacious details of the long rumored affairs between marilyn monroe and both president john f. kennedy and his brother, robert kennedy. he claims he listened to marilyn monroe having sex with john f. kennedy. and in the hours before her death, otash says monroe had a blowout fight with bobby kennedy over their relationship. he claims monroe complained she was being passed around like a piece of meat. otash claims he heard bobby kennedy trying to quiet monroe down with a pillow so neighbors wouldn't hear her shouting. but the audio tapes his notes

are based on have since disappeared. >> some of these files that he -- that we reviewed contain elements that are not 100% verifiable. they are his recollections and his recollections to his daughter. so what he said and what is actual truth is not necessarily the same. >> reporter: otash was part of the lapd until 1955 after a falling out with the police chief. so he became gumshoe to the stars. otash disguised his surveillance van as a tv repair truck. the real life gumshoe was who jack nicholson portrayed. >> he was someone who naturally moved in hollywood circles. also kind of in the gray zone between the police, the mob, the private investigators. who made hollywood in the 1950s such an interesting place.

>> reporter: erin mcpike, cnn, washington. coming up next, it is the infamous cruise from hell. you remember. passengers stranded for days without power. without toilets. now the carnival triumph making its return and passengers are flocking to it. would you? on angie's list before i do any projects on my own. at angie's list, you'll find reviews written by people just like you. i love my contractor, and i am so thankful to angie's list for bringing us together. angie's list -- reviews you can trust.

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. i was okay, but after lunch my knee started to hurt again. and now i've got to take more pills. ♪ yup. another pill stop. can i get my aleve back yet? ♪ for my pain, i want my aleve. ♪ [ male announcer ] look for the easy-open red arthritis cap.

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

first up here, the kcountry's midsection is bracing for what could be the worst day of severe weather. for the first time this year the storm prediction center is using its highest alert level. translation. possible tornadoes, hail, flooding in parts of indiana, iowa, ohio, illinois, including chicago. the same storm system may also be felt all the way to maryland. former south african president nelson mandela is reported to be, quote, unquote, responding better to treatment. south africa's current president jacob zuma announced that good news today while speaking to parliament. family members also visited mandela today and expressed thanks for the wild wide outpours of prayers and goodwill. carnival triumph is sold out for a weekend cruise starting tomorrow. it's docked in galveston, texas. keep in mind, it's triumph's first voyage since it was towed back to port, remember, back in

february with passengers who had been stranded on board for days. >> the smells are -- i can't even describe them. there's sewage, raw sewage. pretty bad. you walk in the hallway, you have to cover your face. we don't have any masks for breathing. >> we remember hearing those stories, don't we? apparently february's ordeal, though, did not sink other people's interest in this ship. carnival says triumph's first two cruises are sold out. coming up next, an orphan at 9 years of age forced to skav enj through a garbage dump.

the cnn film "girl rising" challenged writers from all around the world to tell the stories of girls trying to get an education. in cambodia, for example, many, many girms drop out of school early to work or to care for family. but today a writer and activist introduces us to a girl orphaned at 8 years of age who skavenned in a garbage dump to make money. >> westerners know of cambodia primarily through the movie "the killing fields." people don't understand this is 30 years later. we have really resilient, strong

people that if given an opportunity will succeed. this is a new cambodia. >> hello, everybody. >> hi. i'm luong ong. i'm the writer of her story. your story for me is a narrative of resiliency or toughness. if you're poor and the family needs you to work in the garbage dumps, you don't get to go to school. >> i have no choice. i had to decide to work the dump. >> sokha has been given an opportunity to go to school. for a lot of girls in cambodia, the one way we can have a better future is through studies. >> my dream is to be a teacher and also run a school by myself to have oth-- help other girls. >> cnn film "girl rising"

premieres sunday at 9:00 p.m. eastern and pacific. as we go to break, live pictures. as we promised, top of the hour. we are watching this senate appropriations hearing under way. specifically you're looking at the director of national security agency, in which has really been in the midst of this mega, mega story we've been following as has been leaked that they have been surveilling americans, specifically verizon phone calls in the u.s. and surveilling internet among foreigners overseas. we knew this would come up in this hearing. we have just heard, according to dana bash who's watching this very, very closely, that this general alexander, the head of the nsa, has said that the phone surveillance specifically stopped dozens of terrorist attacks. we're going to get more from capitol hill on this very important hearing, coming up. [ female announcer ] think all pads are the same? don't.

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diarrhea, gas, bloating? yes! one phillips' colon health probiotic cap each day helps defend against these digestive issues with three strains of good bacteria. live the regular life. phillips'. live --ecaptions by vitac -- www.vitac.com with weeks to live, she waited. she fought. she captivated a nation. now we know this 10-year-old girl is getting a hung transplant. we'll tell you what to expect in the coming hours. i'm brooke baldwin. the hunt is now. inside the hunt for edward snowden. could his pole dancing

girlfriend provide any clues? >> when they looked at this garage, they saw boxes. >> a rookie shooter can hit a target ten football fields away. how? with this new gun. available to the public. a gay lobby inside the vatican? the pope's not for going rogue, but this revelation is certainly a stunner. plus, the trial begins for one of america's most notorious gangsters. whitey bulger's former protege tells me about the dreams he's been having. >> in that dream, i snap his neck. and license, registration -- and cell phone? get ready. police could soon ask for a lot more on the road. and we continue on hour two. thanks for being with me. i'm brooke baldwin. we begin with edward snowden.

this is a name you have become familiar with the past couple of days because he's the guy behind what could turn out to be the biggest expose in american intelligence history. he says he has plans to stay in hong kong. he just gave another interview with more jaw droppers. we'll get to those details here in just a moment. first let me go straight to this hearing on capitol hill. at this very moment. that may give snowden exactly what he wanted all along. because i want to remind you of what he told "the guardian" newspaper about why he did this, why he leaked these documents showing the national security agency is secretly snooping on people. here he was. >> i think that the public is owed an explanation of the motivations behind the people who make these disclosures that are outside of the democratic model. the public needs to decide whether these programs and policies are right or wrong. >> snowden hoped for explanation, wanted debate, and i give you now this hearing on capitol hill.

these are live pictures. may not only provide those details and that debate he wanted. but put them on the congressional record. because now being questioned by the senate appropriations committee here is the director of the nsa, general keith alexander. as well as tiptop leaders from homeland security, fbi. so, so far it's been about cyber security and budgets. that was the intention initially of this hearing that was set before this news broke. however, it will likely get to the surveillance the u.s. government is doing on millions of americans and foreigners. and who's been watching this very, very closely is our chief congressional correspondent, dana bash. dana, tell me, i know that you're reporting that this chief, this director of the nsa is already talking about this story and about terror attacks that were thwarted. tell me about that. >> that's right. it was under questioning from the chairman of the senate judiciary committee, patrick leahy, who was asking him to specify, okay, you say this is very helpful with regard to national security. tell me, how many terror attacks

did this collection, this massive collection of phone records, really help stop. here's what the answer was. >> an approximate number of them being classified, but it's dozens of terrorist events that these have helped prevent. >> okay. so dozens. now, we -- we collect millions and millions and millions of records through 215. but dozens of them have proved crucial, or critical. is that right? dozens? >> for both here and abroad. in disrupting or contributing to the disruption of terrorist attacks. >> out of those millions, dozens have been critical? >> that's correct. >> so that certainly is a new piece of information. we had heard people on the intelligence committee, members

of the intelligence community, hint that there were more than one -- there was more than one terror plot that was thwarted. now we have more sort of meat on that bone. the other thing that the nsa director said was that he is -- he and his team are going to release much more information in a nonclassified way. so release it to the public about these -- >> let me interrupt you. i'm hearing senator durbin is asking about snowden specifically. the man who's done all this leaking. let's listen. >> at age 23 he was stationed in an undercover manner overseas for the cia and was given clearance and access to a wide array of classified documents. at age 25 he went to work for a private contractor. and most recently worked for booze allen, another private contractor, working for our government. i'm trying to look at this resume and background. it says he ended up earning

somewhere between 122,000 and $200,000 a year. i'm trying to look at the resume background for this individual who had access to this highly classified information at such a young age. with a limited educational and work experience. part of it as a security guard. and ask you if you're troubled that he was given that kind of opportunity to be so close to important information that was critical to the security of our nation. >> i do have concerns about that, over the process, senator. i have grave concerns over that. the access that he had, the process that we did, and those are things that i have to look into and fix from my end. and that across the intel community, director clapper said we're going to look across that as well. i think those absolutely need to be looked at. i would point out that in the i.t. arena, in the cyber arena, some of these folks have tremendous skills to operate

networks. that was his job for the most part from 2009-'10, is an i.t. system administrator within those networks. he had great skills in that area. but the rest of it, you've hit on -- you've hit on the head. we do have to go back and look at these processes. the oversight. we have those. where they went wrong and how we fix those. >> let me shift to another topic raised by senator leahy. section 215. ten years ago i first introduced legislation known as the safe act. it was bipartisan bill to reform the patriot act. my co-sponsors included senators chuck hagel, john kerry, and barack obama. my most significant concern with 215 was that it would be used to obtain sensitive personal information of innocent americans, who had no connection to any suspected terrorism or

spy activity. when the patriot act was up for reauthorization in 2005, i worked to establish a new standard for 215, and under the standard the fbi would have broad authority to obtain any information, even tangentially connected to a suspected terrorist or spy such as the examples you used in the case. 702 information could have led to 215 phone record information on any suspect. but under my provision, innocent americans with no connection to any of these activities or suspects would be protected. the republican controlled senate approved my reform to 215 unanimously. however, the bush administration objected. it was removed in the conference committee. 2009, i tried again with no success to put this protection of innocent americans back into the patriot act. now that the cloak has been lifted by media reports that the nsa obtained phone records of millions of innocent americans with no connection to terrorism,

the data includes the numbers of both parties to the calls, the location of the callers, the time and duration of the calls. i've been briefed on these programs, and i obviously won't discuss their details here. but it appears to me the government could obtain the useful information we need to stay safe and still protect innocent americans. my question to you is this. section 215 can be used to obtain, quote, any tangible thing, closed quote. that could include, could include, medical records, internet search records, tax records, credit card records. last year the government filed 212 section 215 orders. that's an increase from 21 such orders in 2009. so clearly this authority is being used for something more than phone records. so let me ask you, do you think section 215 giving you authority to secure tangible things could include the categories of

information that i just listed? >> we don't. i don't use those. so i'm not aware of anything that -- that would be outside of nsa. all we use this for today is the business records -- i would point out, just want to characterize something that you've said here. as you know, this was developed, we had this concern coming out of 9/11. how are we going to protect the nation? we got intercepts on -- but we didn't know where he was. we didn't have the data collected to know he was a bad person. because he was in the united states, the way we treat it is he's a u.s. person. so we had no information on that. if we at no tididn't collect th of time, we couldn't make those connections. so what we create is a set of data and we put it out here. and then only under specific times can we query that data. and as you know, senator, every

time we do that it's auditable by the committees, by the justice department, by the court and by the administration. we get oversight from everybody on this. >> i'm over my time. but i want to -- here's the point. if you knew that the suspect had made a call into area code 312, the city of chicago, it certainly defying logic that you need to collect all of the telephone calls made in the 312 area code on the chance that one of those persons might be on the other end of the phone. now, if you have a suspected -- suspected contact, that, to me, is clear. i want you to go after that person. what i'm concerned about is the reach beyond that that affects innocent people. >> so the -- so we agree, at least, on that part. the next step, i think, in the debate that we actually need to talk about is, so what happens if you don't know he's in 312 yet? and so something happens. and now we say, who was he talking to?

so let's take midar. you had authorized us to get midar's phones in california. he was talking to the other four teams. under the business record because we had stored that information in a data base, you now have reasonable suspicion. we can take that number and go backwards in time and see who he was talking to. if we saw there were four other groups, we wouldn't know who those people were. we'd only get the numbers. we'd say this looks of interest. and pass that to the fbi. we don't look at u.s. -- the identities of it. we only look at the connections. >> i'm way over time. i'm not going to dwell on it. you've just given a clear illustration where you had specific information about telephone contacts which i don't quarrel with. what i quarrel with is collecting all of the information in california on telephone records to try to find that specific case. that, to me, seems overly broad. >> thank you very much.

>> if you're just joining us and wondering what this was about, this exchange, this was between senator dick durbin on the senate appropriations committee as this hearing was scheduled before this entire nsa story really just rocked everyone, including specifically the government here, and so he's in this exchange with the director of the nsa. and i have both dana bash, who's been watching this hearing with me. you can give us a little more context on specifics in the conversation. also gloria borger. dana, two points i just heard when senator durbin was questioning general zand pealex. the first issue, this is a question a lot of people have had after this week. from edward snowden. the fact -- looking into his history, a lot of questions on how this -- he's 29 now. but how basically he was a college dropout who ultimately got his g.e.d. pretty young guy who had some stellar inside classified information here inside of this

incredibly tight-knit, you know, national security agency. wondering how he could have -- how that could have happened. what was your take away from that exchange? >> from that exchange, the fact that -- that director alexander made clear he also is concerned about it. that, it seems to be, one of the things that even those who support this program, like the chairwoman of the intelligence committee who we'll probably hear from in a little while. he's also on this panel. they want to pursue legislation to try to make sure that that doesn't happen. that people who are contractors like this don't have access to america's most important secrets. the other two takeaways from that exchange were -- that i got, first of all, were that dirk durbin, the number two testimo democrat in the senate, also suggested that because there were over 200 requests to actually use this statute, this 215 statute, it means to him that it's not just phone records. that it could be, as he mentioned other things, i'm looking down my notes here. tax records, medical records,

credit cards, things like that. now, the nsa director was able to kind of punt. that's sort of out of his purview. that does raise so many more questions. the other thing that i thought was fascinating was how alexander turned this back to 9/11. reminding people, well, what if we had this web of information. this meta data around 9/11. perhaps we would have been able to -- he didn't say this directly. but there certainly was a suggestion. been able to understand more what the plot was before it actually happened. so the fact that he's turning it to 9/11, that's been a big discussion up here, brooke. the fact that we are far away from 9/11. there are a lot of members of congress who are new to congress since that tragedy. and people who are not -- don't have the same kind of zeal to get information in order to prevent something like that. again, they're more interested and concerned, rightly so, about civil liberties. >> gloria, what about the fact that that went back to 9/11? >> yeah. >> then at the same time, then,

you have people saying, well, you know, that's great if they're making all these -- there's all this surveillance. then how come boston happened? >> you know, his more global point is that it's easier to connect the dots. we always talk about how you have to connect and how we missed doing that in 9/11. that it's easier to do that, and in some instances prevent these terror attacks, when you already have all of that data there and you just have to push a button and it's available to you rather than having to collect it after the fact. so his point was the fact that it's there doesn't mean that we're using all of it, obviously. but that when we need it, it's there. and it makes things happen a little bit faster. and also prevents things. that's part of this whole declassification process they're clearly going to go through. because they clearly feel the need to tell the american public, look, these are the

dozens of instances that we can talk about in which we stopped attacks without giving away too much. >> yep. i know specifically dana was alluding to senator dianne feinstein, also the chairman woman of the senate intelligence committees. she's on the appropriations committee. we'll be watching for her questioning as well. ladies, stand by. we'll continue to dip in and out as soon as news merits. meantime, let's go to some live pictures. as we're watching what's happening in washington, we are also watching this. this is new york. these are aerial pictures. if you can see with me, according to the new york fire department, there has been a scaffolding accident. as we look together, look at this. very high up on this. this is the hurst tower in manhattan. some sort of scaffolding accident has happened. i'm looking with you. i see two people on the scaffolding. not quite sure exactly if it's broken or what. but it's been some sort of accident. so you see these two workers.

they are trapped at the moment. many, many floors above the city streets in manhattan. we're going to keep a close eye on this. hopefully we can get these two workers up and out and a-okay. we'll follow this for you. again, hearst tower in new york. these two workers trapped. also, some good news on a wednesday. major update on a story we have followed, you have followed very closely with us about this 10-year-old girl waiting for a lung transplant. guess what? she's in surgery right now. she got that pair of lungs. sarah murnaghan in surgery, not out of the woods just yet, though. we're going to talk live to a doctor who will tell us how this transplant works. how does it work getting adult lungs in a child's body? we've got a lot of questions. that's next. without going to angie's list first. you'll find reviews on home repair to healthcare written by people just like you. with angie's list, i know who to call, and i know the results will be fantastic. angie's list -- reviews you can trust.

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let's get you back to these live pictures here. this is near columbus circle. west 57th and 8th avenue in manhattan. you see the scaffolding. this is according to new york fire department. these two workers, one on the right hand side of your screen. one on the left. they are stuck. they are trapped. this building, 46 stories high. from the broader picture that i saw a half second ago, they are just about at the tiptop of this building. so just imagine -- that gives me butterflies to think about it. obviously they're working, fire department, et cetera, on getting these guys out of there. for the meantime there has been some sort of scaffolding accident. and they have to figure out how to get these two men to safety. we're watching it.

live pictures, wabc in manhattan. to pennsylvania now, to the day 10-year-old sarah murnaghan's parents fought so hard for. finally has arrived. sarah is in surgery right now getting a lung transplant. we've been following this story so closely. so much attention on her. but, again, the parents, we've talked to them. they say this is not just about her. this is about so many kids on lists like these under the age of 12. her story is this. she has cystic fibrosis. but until a judge intervened very recently, sarah couldn't qualify for lungs because she was younger than 12. you have to be over the age of 12 to get adult lungs. well, today she's getting those lungs that she so desperately needs. the donor is an adult. her mother, sarah's mother, announced the news on sarah's facebook page today. here's what she wrote. let me read it for you. quote, sarah got the call. she will be taken back to the o.r. in 30 minutes.

please pray for sarah's donor, our hero, who has given her the gift of life. dr. david while is the medical director of the lung and heart/lung transplant at stanford university in california. dr. wile, welcome. start with just -- she's getting adult lungs. she's just a 10-year-old. how do they -- they cut the adult lungs in order to fit inside of her? >> you can do either that or there's certainly some children that are big enough to accommodate an adult sized lung. you can actually do it either way. >> is it a fairly simple process? >> it sounds complicated, but it is a simple process. the best case scenario is to find an adult lung that actually will fit inside a child's chest cavivity because it's simpler. if you're unable to do that, you can certainly cut a lung down to accommodate a child size chest. >> that's incredible, with

transplants, what can be done. so once they get the lungs, the pair of lungs inside of her, how will -- when will the doctor know that she's able to breathe with these lungs, that she's beginning the steps to be in the clear? >> the first 24 hours are certainly the most precarious in terms of the post operative recovery. i think it's safe to say that everybody will be holding their breath, no pun intended. i think that the first week is -- is particularly difficult for some patients. particularly ones that are as sick as sarah has become over the last several weeks. so we should expect some complications after surgery, naturally. but we sure hope and pray that she does well. >> of course we do. it's really the precarious 24 hours, and then really the week. what are the chances she could reject the lungs? >> i think rejection always is a possibility. although it doesn't really happen as much in the early post

operative period as one would think. the early post operative period complications are more typically those related directly to the surgery. in other words, bleeding complications. or problems getting the transplanted lu eed lungs to wo properly. rejection is something that generally happens further on down the road. >> this has been -- this is life or death for this family. we've been in touch with them. sarah's sort of aware of her it shall -- it seems like her mortality at the age of 10. what do you, doctor, you're walking out of surgery, what do you tell the parents? >> i think just very similar to what i just told you. i think that i would expect some complications to happen. and for the recovery not to go just in a straight line. there should be an expectation that the first day and the first week will be difficult. but that this is giving her the best opportunity for a full recovery. and we should all be thankful for that. i'm sure her parents are.

>> dr. david weill, thank you so much for your perspective. we're just thinking of sarah and any little one in a situation such as hers. coming up next, a controversial new rifle that makes any novice gun enthusiast an expert sniper. >> good form. really good form, man. >> wow. >> it allows someone to hit a target more than half a mile away. the developer says it's perfect for hunters. could even maybe be used by the u.s. military. not everyone, though, thinks it's a great idea. both sides of the debate, next. plus, we're watching new york. this scaffolding accident. these two workers are trapped some 46 stories above at the hearst tower. stay with us. (announcer) born with a natural

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if you're just joining us, we're following this breaking news. pretty precarious situation for these two workers. you see this tall, beautiful glass building. hearst tower. global headquarters for hearst. as this camera man on this helicopter for wabc begins to pan, you get a better perspective as far as how high up these two workers are. according to new york fire, these two workers are trapped on this scaffolding. there has been some sort of

scaffolding accident. what exactly happened, we don't yet know. we're making phone calls. basically you see this one person on the left, one person on the right. the skcaffolding sort of formin this "v" formation. they are sitting there some 46 stories above. so if you know the neighborhood, this is right around west 57th and eight avenue near columbus circle. they are stuck. they are stranded. we're watching it. hopefully they're able to get out of there as soon as possible. i'm looking at you, chad meyers. do you know anything more? >> i would assume at this point in time some traffic has been rerouted down below them. they don't want anything to happen down here. it almost seems like these two guys were either washing windows or something on the scaffold. because this isn't a building under construction. it's been here a very long time. so something happened to the two support mechanisms. they don't look like they're in any panic mode, either. >> do you think it would have been per ppendicular to the

ground? >> i think it was horizontal to the ground. now it's the "v." right? >> there we go. this is a better perspective. >> they must be hooked up to safety harnesses. at this point in time they're hooked up even up above. i don't believe this is a life and death situation for these guys. certainly scary for us to watch. >> it's scary. look at this firefighter. guys, drop the banner. you can see. two firefighters on their bellies. over the edge of a 46-story tower in manhattan. i have butterflies. and i'm not anywhere near this. but to think they have -- you see the ropes. and somehow are communicating with these guys. at least they're not too far down. just a couple stories. sfwl right. they're going to get hauled back up. just going to take some time. as we see it, it's a helicopter shot. our whole mindset, oh, my gosh, look at these guys straight up there. that's what these guys do for a living. they're up 48 stories all the time. here's this. one guy is hooked up.

he has the orange harness on. walking to a little bit of a higher ground. you know, they're going to get him out of there. >> you see there's the glass. if you can squint there are these two guys with ties through the glass standing at their staring at them. i'm looking at a much larger monitor. they're standing there. they're watching this whole thing. so perhaps -- we haven't been watching every single second. perhaps this bright yellow rope is what was dropped down. i don't know. you would think if you were a window washer, whatever it was they were doing, you would be secured. you would have some kind of rope holding you in even though you're standing on this trusty scaffolding. accidents happen. >> you stay here. you do the news. i will go in my office and i will watch this live. then i'll come back out here and tell you what i see. >> okay. okay. stand by. we'll come back to it. fingers crossed. these guys will get up to the top of the building momentarily. we're going to pull away for the pictures. we promise we'll come back as soon as we see any activity. chad meyers, go see what you can find. meantime, next week vice

president joe biden is expected to hold a gun control event that likely reignite the national debate on guns. and this next story could definitely add fuel to that fire. this is about this high-tech gun that turns any beginner into an expert sniper. it's not just on the horizon. it's on the market. >> nice. >> good form. really good form. >> you just heard, this is a precision rifle made by a texas company called tracking point. the firearm costs a pretty penny. $27,500. it allows a person to hit a target ten football fields away. and just to prove it can be done, aaron smith from your cnn money unit pulled the trigger himself. watch this. >> reporter: so how easy is it, really? the guys at tracking point say they've got a smart scope that does most of the work. we're at a shooting range in liberty hill, texas. i'm going to try to hit a target that's 1,000 yards away.

>> that's ten football fields. it's a long way down there. if i lift the gun up, you can see what we're seeing right there. find the 250 yard mark. >> reporter: my hands aren't nearly as steadty ty as i thou they would be. is that 1,000? >> that's 1,000. hit the target on the far left. good tag. solid tag. all right. let her rip. squeeze and hold. move it into the -- >> reporter: three hits. the tracking point guys judged the wind for me. the technology to call wind speeds isn't there just yet. the scope did the rest. i had never shot at anything that far away. i don't think it would be possible without using a scope like this. but it made us think. if i could hit the target so easily, who else might want to use a technology like this? it basically turns your average joe into a sniper. and some people might want to do more than shoot wildlife.

the department of homeland security would not comment on concerns about this technology falling into the wrong hands. neither would the bureau of alcohol, tobacco, firearms and explosives because they don't regulate scopes. just guns. while anybody buying this gun new would have to clear a background check, after the initial sale, under federal law, the gun owner can legally sell this technology to anybody without regulation or record. >> nice. >> reporter: aaron smith, cnn money, austin, texas. >> joining me now, ceo of tracking point, jason schaub el. also josh horowitz, director of the coalition to stop gun violence. gentlemen, welcome. jason, i want to begin with you first. i've read all about this gun. i understand your company is on track to sell 500 of these guns this year. tell me who's buying them. >> well, normally we have sports jb men and long range target shooters who are buying them.

guys who want to go on safari. guys who have ranches and coyote or ferel hoggish shoes. for sporting purposes. >> josh, you hear that? it's for sporting purposes. does it still make you nervous. >> yeah, well, look, i want to commend jason on the great use of technology. i just think the industry has been completely innovated for lethality. this is one more example. i wish they would innovate for safety a little more. we just saw recently a 4-year-old shoot his father who was in the law enforcement by accident. i'd love to see some of this technology used to make safer, smarter, more protective firearms. >> what is the safety, jason? i read about password protected scope. tell me about that. >> so, you know, from a proliferation perspective, every owner when they store their firearm has the option to enter into a four digit passcode much like they would do on their phone if they don't want their phone to be used by someone else. it locks out the advanced functionality. it's an option we give the user when he stores the firearm to

make sure that advanced technology, if a gun is stolen or somehow taken out of safe storage, cannot be used for purposes for which it was not intended. >> here's one question. this is an argument we've heard pop up before. and as a -- you know, the issue of why should -- you were a former marine captain. i read your right hand is partially paralyzed because you were hit by an ak-47 in iraq. you've lost friends. what are your concerns? do you have concerns about this rifle? >> i mean, i don't. this rifle has a wide market. i mean, between a third and a half of americans own close to 300 million firearms. we have done nothing different to this firearm other than enhance its ability to be more effective and to change the shooting experience through streaming of video, through allowing a guy to download his recorded videos. and we have been talking with different government agencies and law enforcement agencies. i mean, under the second amendment this is a -- this is no different than any other bold

action hunting rifle that someone else owns for hunting or sporting purposes or that a police department would own for its own purposes. all we've done is use technology to make it more effective and to increase -- basically enhance the shooter's experience when using that firing system. >> josh, 30 seconds. i want you to get the final word in, final question if you have one. >> when you say more effective, that means more lethal. more killing ability. taking the average criminal and making him into a trained sniper. if there's innovation to be done, let's use that innovation to make firearms safer and protect users in the general public. >> jason schaubel and josh horwitz, thank you both. back to the live pictures. we're watching these two workers still standing there, still stuck high, high above midtown manhattan here. we're watching, getting some new information. we'll bring it to you after this quick break. at university of phoenix we know the value of your education is where it can take you. (now arriving: city hospital)

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all right. more on these incredible, frightening pictures here. this is midtown manhattan, the hearst tower. 46 stories. beautiful glass building if you've never been. this is near columbus circle. this is not the kind of thing you want to happen to you. what you are looking at is these two workers. they were on this scaffolding. i don't know what they were doing. maybe they were washing windows, we don't know. what we do know is that they're stuck. there was some kind of scaffolding accident. we've been watching, what, chad, for the better part of the last half our or so? >> oh, yeah, uh-huh. >> they've been sitting out there. what more have you seen?

>> i have seen them wave at the helicopters. >> get me out of here. >> also twitter feeds going you wouldn't have to rescue me because i'd already have a heart attack and already be dead. really. these guys, obviously this is what they do for a living. they're used to living 500 feet up above on a scaffold. still, it appears to me when i took a live shot, wide shot from the wabc a little bit ago, there are two almost arms holding up both ends of the stacaffold. the middle has collapsed in some way. it appears maybe this moves back and forth almost like a book -- like the the arms of a book. so you can get closer to the windows. because those "xs" that are on the building keep the window washers a little farther away than they want to be. thf to slide this in to get closer to wash the windows. so the middle seems to have failed at some point in time. but they're just kind of walking around. looking around. they are hooked up. they are completely hooked up. if this thing goes all the way to the ground, the men will be fine. they may get hit by something up above as it comes down on them. but the men are attached to the

top of the building on very large hooks and safety harnesses. >> i'll tell you, i have goose bumps watching this. just to look at these two men, my eyes are on both of them. guy on the left has been drinking water. gesticulating. looks like they're talking, carrying on a conversation. that has to be a good thing. i would be paralyzed with my hands gripping t inping the edg. you see the fire department there responding. as you point out, they're clearly connected with these ropes. we're all waiting for the moment, if and when, they begin this -- i don't know if it would be some sort of pulley system to bring both of them up and over this edge. but perspective. you mentioned 500 feet. this hearst tower is 46 stories, 500 feet. you said a football field and a half. >> right. a football field on its end plus another half of a football field on its end. that's what you have dangling where you were working just about a half an hour ago. the funny part is, to me, is

that, you know, these men are so calm. >> i tell you. >> they're looking at it. they're waving at the cameras. they're going, hey, they're looking at the firemen inside. the firemen inside i noticed have ladders. i don't know where the firemen inside are going. it almost appears like maybe they're trying to remove a window or something from the inside so they can get in there. i can only imagine why there are ladders on the inside with firefighters climbing up those ladders. that's all i could come up with. maybe one of those windows openable or removable from the inside so they can actually bring them in that way rather than have to hoist them all the way to the top. >> we're going to stay on this. we have to get a quick commercial break in. we'll take you back live to manhatt manhattan. these two workers trapped 500 feet above midtown manhattan. back in a moment.

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can i just point out, this guy on the left, we've been watching through the commercial break. he's on his cell phone. he's been looking up at the chopper, wabc. he's probably like, hey, mom. i'm that guy stuck on the scaffolding. chad meyers, what do you think of this? >> like me when i was chasing the tornado last week. hi, honey, i really am fine. i know the tornado is half a mile away. i really am okay. trust me, i'm okay. i got to get back to cnn. so nonchalant about all this. >> so calm. >> this round part in the middle is kind of the hinge. that was the word i was looking for earlier. as the hinge moves in and out it gets them closer and farther away from the glass because of the way those supports "x" across that building. it's a beautiful building, by the way. >> hearst tower. >> architecture just amazing. >> beautiful. 57th and eighth avenue. our senior producer, one of them, adam reese is way down on the ground, terra firma, talking to us now. adam, tell us what you're seeing

from your vantage. >> it's one of those new york moments where everybody's gathered round. just looking straight up into the sky. up in the sky, up top, i'm told there are 40 rescue workers taking part in this rescue. and if you know new york rescue workers, they're doing this very, very carefully. taking their time. they want to get this right. they want to rescue these guys very carefully. so they're doing it by the book. 40 rescue workers. we have fire, police, ems are here. they're going to take their time. the streets, both eighth avenue at 57th street and 57th street going east and west have been blocked off. i'm kind of surprised there are a lot of emergency vehicles here at the base of the hearst tower. if this scaffolding were to drop, that would be a problem, obviously. i guess they are secure in the idea that they have things under control, they will be able to rescue these workers going up as opposed to down. again, everybody looking up in

the sky just waiting for this rescue to take place. >> if i may, it looked like he just took a photograph. did you see that, chad? the guy on the left pulled his cell phone out again and took a adam, do we even know what happened to the scaffolding? >> reporter: no, i don't, but this -- it's not necessarily a common occurrence in new york, but, you know, we've got plenty of pie high-rise hours. >> and so, as you said, there are many people around you with their necks craining toward the sky, all sort of watching. what's your sense on the ground? >> reporter: on the ground, sir, what do you think you're looking up at the sky, what are your thoughts right now?

>> reporter: you request see one of the rescue workers. we're looking into the viewfinder, and you can see him reaching up. i'm sure chad can give you a better sense of what's going on. >> adam, let me have you stand with me. chad, stay with me. another break in, hopefully this rescue is moments away. do not turn the channel. we'll be right back. eople are sh issues related to mental health. by earning 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. in parks across the country, families are coming together

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current director john brennan. watch jake tapper on "the lead." he'll have much more in five minutes, but i want to take you to breaking news. glued to this picture, we have a helicopter in the air. several of the affiliates are watching. basically on the edge of this beautiful hearth are haersz tower, west 57th and 8th avenue, there are these two workers who are trapped on the, it seems like over a half hour now, still stuck there. on the ground saying that he knows, you know, please, ems, fire, they're all on the scene, 40 rescue workers are there. you'll see in a split second the top of the building, the hearst tower, the firefighters are leaning precariously over the edge, hanging onto the ropes in which the two workers are attached.

adam is still on the ground with us, as he was describing everyone sort of stopping and taking a deep breath, and looking up toward the sky as these men are hanging on for dear life. they seem to be pretty calm, if not on their cell phones and taken photographs from this perch. we've got -- tell everyone what you've been watching inside the building. >> there's a scissor lift going up and down with firefighters on the scissor lift. this top couple stories, not just the ten-foot floor. this is many many, many feet, could be 30 or 40 feet, and this left and they're weeping the window like they were going to cut it from the inside out. it seems like the shortest distance from the two points is to haul the guys from the roof. it's just a bit, you know, i don't know what's going on on the ground right there, but this was a lift that kind of had a hinge in the middle. most of these things that they wash windows are straight across. this would go in and go out to

get closer to the window, depending on how the xs get in the way on that building form the hinge in the middle is what has failed. that's why the guys are hanging in kind of this v-section, and they're taking it in stride, from what i can see. they are. more breaking news, these two workers trapped at the hearst tower after this quick break. [ male announcer ] ok, here's the way the system works. let's say you pay your guy around 2% to manage your money. that's not much you think. except it's 2% every year. does that make a difference? search "cost of financial advisors"

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[ male announcer ] now get 50% off brake pads and shoes at meineke. well, not a dull moment for the lives of these two window washers here. there has been a scaffolding accident on the hearst tower, the beautiful hearst tower at west 57th and 8th avenue here in midtown. you have these two guys, one on either side of the pieces of metal scaffolding. they have been stuck there for over half an hour, at least as they're waiting to be rescued. so we have been watching. we know that fire and ems and police, they're all on the scene, as you can just imagine perch down on the ground looking up, craining their necks to see when these men will be rescued. there is a presence among fire and first responders on top this building. these two guys are attached by

ropes. but the question is, how will they get to safety? we'll keep watching these pictures. for now, i'm brooke baldwin here tess world headquarters in atlanta. let's send things to washington. "the lead with jake tapper" starts now. sure, critics say his agency invaded your privacy, but he says it saved american lives. i'm jake tapper. this is "the lead." the world lead, the head of the national security agency going before congress right now, and defending agency programs that spy on your information. senator rand paul of kentucky wants to take his gripes with this program to the supreme court, and he joins us in moments. the national a pair of window washers stranded when their scaffolding breaks. the hair-raising effort under way. and also in national news, the allegedly ran the criminal underworld of