>> we've been given a great life. it's unfortunate that charlie has this gervais syndrome, but thank god we've got something now that's working. >> she's doing so great today. tonight with breaking news. the death toll rising along with the waters in colorado. four now have perished in the flooding. 80 more people are unaccounted for. thousands awaiting rescue in towns cut off from flood waters. you're going to hear in a moment from a family who escaped the flooding on foot hiking over mountains and crossing swollen streams. first what it's like right now on the rain-soaked ground. anna cabrera joins us from logmonth, colorado. what's the latest? >> reporter: this is in boulder county, one of the hardest hits counties in colorado from the flooding. you can see behind me the ground is dry. we've seen sunshine this afternoon, bringing a lot of relief to the residents who have

now made their way out of some of those trapped areas. in fact, the national guard has been extremely busy today assisting local and state authorities in getting into the areas that were completely cut off 24 hours ago. and we've spoken to those residents, many of them brought here to this church in longmont down from the town of lyons where they were rescued from the national guard. they're talking about the relief they feel now that they have food, fresh water, electricity, all things they didn't have when they were trapped up in lyons. we've also heard of the national guard getting up in the air, getting above jamestown, another area that was hit hard and being able to rescue some of those residents over the ground by air, anderson. >> and at this point, 80 people are still unaccounted for? are there active searches going on? or is the water too high in some of these areas still? >> reporter: yeah.

despite the dry ground here, looks can be deceiving. there are still very dangerous flood waters over much of colorado right now. and so we're told those 80 people unaccounted for, they are hopeful are okay and simply don't have phone service and haven't been able to make contact perhaps with the people who are looking for them. so they're not even calling them missing at this point. i think the wording is very crucial here. they're just calling them unaccounted for and they're optimistic are going to be found and be okay. >> anna, thanks very much. joining me now is katy farmer. katy, i understand you're searching for your parents. what's going on? >> i know where they are. they're both at my dad's house which is on high ground. and i'm told really safe right now. so we're just kind of waiting to see if are going to be able to come down to boulder on the -- oh, i hear one now. i'm sorry. so they might be flown down today. they might be flown down tomorrow. we're just kind of waiting to see. and my mom's house is gone.

>> your mom's house is gone. >> yeah. she's at my dad's house, which is on higher ground. they're divorced. and her house was swept into the creek. it was right across the street from the man who was killed, joey hallett. >> i'm so sorry to hear that. how did you get that word? were you able to talk with your mom then? >> i've been over the last couple of days really monitoring online. and until about 2:00 p.m. yesterday i was able to talk to them on the phone and people in town were able to communicate that way. and then until i got off the phone with my mom and she told me someone had told her they saw the house was off the foundation sliding towards the creek. after i got off the phone with her about ten minutes later i heard from a friend who had just gotten a call from his father saying he watched it go into the creek. >> oh, my goodness. how is your mom holding up? >> i don't know. i haven't been able to talk to her since i found out about the house. probably not the best. but she's with people who love her.

this whole town is going to rally behind everyone who has lost their homes. >> you're pretty sure she's coming in on a flight with your dad? >> yeah. we don't know if it will be tonight or tomorrow. we're kind of waiting for word. we're here at the airport and no one has really been able to tell us whether they're going to continue tonight or start tomorrow. >> i'm so glad that they are safe and getting out of there. katy, thank you so much. i wish you the best to your and your family. >> thank you. some of the stories emerging from this flood are just extraordinary. a short time ago i spoke with three survivors, eric, ashley, his daughter martine and eric's wife lisa who saw the flood waters rising, escaped on foot, hiking and climbing their way to safety. >> where were you when the water started to rise? >> we were at 5 miles up route 7 outside of lyons in that canyon. and we were at our house there. and on the other side of the

river where the bridge to get to the actual road and at the point that we realized that the water was rising up the bridge was already covered. so yes, that's where we were. >> how difficult was it for you to get out? >> oh, i don't know if something like "epic" might be a good descriptive word. we had four adults, three children and two dogs. and it was bushwacing up trails and ledges. we only saw one rattle snake, one dead elk. long and grueling was our journey yesterday. >> martine, was it scary for you? >> no, it really wasn't scary. it was just kind of, okay, i

want to get to a destination. the rivers were a little hairy, but no, i wouldn't call it scary. >> can you ask your mom what it was like for her? >> what was it like for you, mom? >> oh, exhausting. and it was scary. we had some situations that we're glad we got through, glad we survived it. >> and eric, for people who have not been through something like this, explain what it's like. how quickly the water starts to rise. >> oh, well, our neighbors who traveled with us on the way out, the dugan s, jonathan came up about 11:00 that night and said that they were worried their house was lower than where we are. they were worried. and so we of course invited them to come up whenever they needed to.

and at that point, i put on a head lamp and went down and looked, and already the bridge was covered with water and jumping up and down. and probably some of the scariest stuff of all mother nature doing her thing is the sounds that were going on as the river was tearing trees and boulders out. and the boulders start rolling down the river. and the whole ground shakes. >> how deep were the rivers that you were crossing? >> well, yesterday i call them rivers. they're definitely -- these are things that usually don't have water in them at all. but every depression that you came to, gulch or ravine or gully is now totally inundated with water. so the deepest one that we had to make human chain across, we had no rope because all of our climbing equipment went with our other possessions. so we had to make a human chain across. so the deepest that i was standing was waist-deep. lots of debris coming down. but the main thing is to get

everybody across and avoid injuries so everybody could keep moving. the young boys that were with us were getting pretty tired as the day was going. and we did find a cave but we opted to keep pushing. so we made it. so that was good. >> martine, you said you weren't scared. i'm scared just listening to this. you must be very, very brave. >> thank you. >> listen, i'm so glad that you and your neighbors who you left with are okay and you sound like a great family to be neighbors with. eric and martine and lisa, thank you so much. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> amazing what they went through. they're still recovering from natural disaster along the jersey shore tonight in the towns of seaside park, seaside heights. however that recovery from sandy has been dealt a fiery blow. today as the embers cool from that inferno that swept down the boardwalk last night, people have now taken two hard hits began taking stock. >> there's stores on fire.

don't go in. >> don't go in there! >> the fire started here at kohr brother's frozen custard shop. >> it was a little gray smoke, all of a sudden it turned to black smoke. we ran away and turned around again and there was just flames coming out of the building. >> despite firefighters arriving within minutes, the blaze was quickly out of control. by 4:00 p.m. it was a six alarm fire, flames fed by winds up to 25 miles per hour. as the blaze spread north, it engulfed the iconic fun town pier, one of the few structures in left over from sandy. 400 firefighters from 30 fire companies. one bit of luck for a town whose boardwalk was now now completely consumed by flames. >> we're just so grateful for what these gentlemen do every single day.

and putting their live on the line to save life and property. and other communities, not just their own. >> to save more property, authorities ripped out part of the newly rebuilt boardwalk to create a fire line. it would prove to be a pivotal decision. the line stopped the fire's ferocious advance. finally, after nine hours, firefighters got the blaze under control. smoke subsided, no lives were lost, although some police and firefighters are being treated for injuries. authorities still don't know what caused the fire. until they do it's being treated as a crime scene. >> we're going to preserve evidence. let the ocean county prosecutor's office lead the investigation with the others we spoke about. when they've got something to say they'll be ready to say it. >> in the end, 30 businesses were destroyed, the community shaken but resilient. >> we live in the greatest country in the world. because everybody gets up and gets together and stands together, and we are stronger

that way. we going to rebuild again. trust me. we going to be stronger. >> we've heard that from just about everybody in that community that they will rebuild. you can follow me at twitter #ac 360 tonight. next breaking news out of the u.s.-russian talks in geneva. the two side trying to hammer out a deal on syria's chemical arsenal. later the woman accused of shoving her newlywed husband off a cliff is speaking out. new developments when "ac 360" continues. of getting something "new."

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welcome back. breaking news on syria. sources telling us that u.n. secretary general ban ki-moon expected on monday to present the inspectors chemical weapons reports. talks on how to dismantle these chemical weapons going overtime. secretary kerry and his counterpart will be spending at least another day in a negotiating table in geneva. what are we hearing about these talks, jim sciutto? some word about possible progress? >> reporter: you're talking about overtime. until a few minutes ago they were still meeting and it's past 2:00 in the morning here in geneva. i saw secretary kerry walking back into the building about 20 minutes ago out taking a walk to get some fresh air because they've been talking so much. that's a good sign as the u.s. official here told me, they wouldn't be meeting if they didn't have something to talk about. we did hear earlier today that they had their first sign of hard progress, which is the u.s. and russia coming to agreement on the scale, the scope of

syria's chemical weapons stockpiles. that sounds modest, but it is important because u.s. officials have been telling me that's the first test of how serious both the syrians and the russians are about moving forward in how forthcoming they are about giving all the details about how many chemical weapons they have and what quantities an where they're hidden. >> obviously one thing that's been discussed is whether the u.s. would continue to insist on a threat of force in a security council resolution. do we no details about that? >> reporter: we're hearing the u.s. might be backing off or realizing they won't get a resolution through the security council because of russia's veto that would include a trigger for the use of force. that's important here because that had been the main sticking point between kerry an lavrov, this overhanging threat of force. kerry saying the syrians wouldn'ting sitting here talking the russians saying we can't move forward until the u.s.

takes this off the table. so it's important here in those talks. that said, going into this, no one really thought you were going to get a security council resolution that had an absolute force trigger. and even if the resolution doesn't have that trigger, the u.s. can still reserve its right to act to use military force if it says that it's necessary. and that's the direction we're being pushed by u.s. officials now. >> so are they talking again tomorrow? what's next for kerry in all this? >> reporter: it goes into tomorrow, another day. and then that's like i said that's a good sign. because they say they wouldn't be talking if they didn't have something to talk about and they weren't making progress here. from here kerry's going to go to jerusalem, meet with benjamin netanyahu to give him update on the talks. kerry of the world traveler will go on to paris. he'll meet with the french and british foreign ministers to give updates on the talks and build support. he's clearly going around,

updating and making sure everybody's on board with what they hope will be at least the outlines of an agreement. >> jim sciutto, appreciate the update and the late night reporting. i want to bring in former defense secretary william cohen now. secretary cohen, thanks for being with us. you've dealt with mr. lavrov in the past. you call him a very skilled, tough negotiator. these discussions now going into a third day tomorrow. can you give us any insight into how this happens? what's going on behind closed doors? how does this actually work? >> well, secretary kerry is not dealing with a very strong hand, frankly. and i think the russians are prepared to exploit that. he is secretary kerry is insisting we reserve the right to use military force against the syrian forces. and mr. lavrov is going to say that precondition has got to go. so it looks as if we are going to yield on that particular point if there is a hope for getting a u.n. security council resolution.

the french and british and u.s. have insisted upon having some kind of a trigger namely if they don't comply with the dismantling of their weapons we can make military action. but i think that's unlikely. i'm hopeful that something goodwill come out of this, but frankly unless you have an overall peace settlement, the notion you're going to have a dismantling of chemical weapons during a civil war i think is unrealistic. so it looks as if this is a long struggle to gain control of them, identify them while they're moving them around, et cetera. i don't know that the united states has a very strong hand at this point. i hope that secretary kerry can play it for what it is. >> so you don't believe that it's really possible for syria to give up their chemical weapons for international inspectors to be on the ground to secure sites and ultimately destroy these weapons in the midst of a civil war. i know david kay says it's never been done before. it's possible but had never been done before. you're saying it's very unlikely that could even be done.

>> i think it's very unlikely, highly unlikely it can be done. one hopes -- hope springs eternal but i doubt it very much. >> because of the danger on the ground? >> danger on the ground. rebels who are going to resist any kind of a setment at this point. they are disheartened by the fact united states has backed away from using force. the president has threatened use of force. but it has to be a credible military threat. the fact is there's underwhelming support from the congress and the country for the use of force. i think the russians are exploiting this. president putin has gone from being the prince of darkness to the pied paper piper of peace. but i doubt very much whether the russians are ever going to agree to a situation where the united states can use force with the support of the u.n. against syria simply because of noncompliance. i think that's not going to happen. i think what the russians will do, will say drop your

preconditions of threatening force against syria, drop your support for the rebels, and then we can talk about an overall peace settlement. and maybe that will involve, since secretary general has indicated that assad may be guilty of crimes against humanity, perhaps part of the deal will be giving assad and his family asylum in russia with mr. snowden. >> do you think the united states actually would give up its support of the rebels? the rebels have been saying all along you haven't been arming us the way we would like. there was a report from cnn and the "washington post" two days ago that now the cia has begun to supply weapons to various rebel groups. but do you think that's actually on the negotiating table? >> i think our support for the rebels has been very minimalist to be sure. on the one hand we've had almost a churchillian call to war to go into action and then parade rest. i think the uncertain trumpet

we've been blowing as really undermined the rebels in their effort. and we have not really given them very much in the way to wage this war against a president assad who we said had to go. we've done very little to make him go. so i think our position has been quite weak. and the threat of using military force against assad with resistance coming, strong resistance coming from the people of this country and from the congress makes it very difficult for the president. he could launch an attack against certain assets of assad. but he would do so after having asked congress for authority and then not getting it would be very difficult for him politically. >> we'll continue to watch what happens tomorrow. secretary cohen, appreciate your expertise. thank you. good to have you on the program as always. secretary cohen mentioned syria may already be moving its weapons around. there's disagreement right now within the intelligence community about where some of that enormous arsenal is located. chris lawrence is following that side of the story tonight from the pentagon.

how big is this disagreement, chris, among the intelligence officials and what does it mean for any action the u.s. might have to take against syria? >> reporter: it gets pretty wide, anderson. on one end of the spectrum, some analysts have looked at the intelligence and say they know where most of the chemical weapons are. on the other hand, other analysts have looked at it and say, the united states may not be able to verify the location of up to half of syria's chemical weapons. so we're talking about 1,000 tons, this is a lot of chemical weapons. what they all agree on is that there was siff significant movement of these chemical materials in that time frame when the president seemed to be ramping up the united states foreign air strike. in fact, the "wall street journal" is reporting that an elite unit of the syrian army moved some of these chemical stockpiles to up to 50 sites. and it's important no matter how this shakes out, if this all works out with the u.n. and russia, how are you going to have accountability for the international community to sort of take control if you don't know where all of the stockpiles

are? and if it comes down to a u.s. air strike, they have to be assured that they aren't going to hit an actual chemical stockpile and release some of that deadly gas into the areas. >> if there's this wildly sort of wide disagreement in the intelligence community, how normal is that on something as important as this? >> reporter: believe it or not, it's actually fairly normal. it doesn't come as a surprise tosome of the intelligence officials who have been speaking with cnn. they point to osama bin laden operation where there was not uniformity on whether bin laden was actually at that compound. they say different agencies are looking at different pieces. the nsa is looking at the intercepted communications. the cia may be looking at their ground intelligence. military officials, intelligence officials here may be looking at satellite imagery. so ultimately the director of national intelligence has the final say. it's his job, james clapper's job, to look at all of this and bring it together and ultimately it's his assessment that will be

presented to president obama. >> interesting. chris lawrence, appreciate the reporting. coming up back here at home the woman accused of murdering her husband by pushing him off a cliff just eight days after their wedding? for the first time we hear her side of the story in court. plus a song from their wedding takes on a new meaning one that in the word of the songwriter is kind of creepy. later we could be on track to see the most measles cases in the united states in 17 years. what is behind this up tick? we'll tell you when we continue.

the woman accused of murder in the death of her husband just eight days after their wedding was back in court in montana today. for the first time an attorney told jordan graham's side of the story, the story of how and why she pushed her new husband, cody

johnson, off a cliff at glacier national park. we also have video of their wedding and the song the bride recorded for their first dance. for the songwriter it's now a whole new and very eerie meaning. >> it began with such promise. the young love of jordan and cody. it began with a song recorded by the bride in the background, a song written by elizabeth shay. >> she was surprised to present cody with a song for their first dance. >> shay who wrote lyrics by the young bride. >> you helped me climb higher for a better view. you're my safe place to fall. you never let me go. so now when i hear those words, it's a little creepy. >> creepy because eight days later, johnson fell to his death, pushed, say prosecutors, by the very woman who danced

with him. >> jordan, is there anything you want to say? >> saying nothing to us, now a defendant leaving court with her parents. ordered to remain on home confinement before her trial. the court called her here for a last-minute hearing as prosecutors fought to send her back to jail. in the hearing we learned for the first time what her less will be. graham's lawyer said she and johnson fought at home where they say cody pinned her down. they added that he wasn't abusive but controlling her movement. it was cody, said graham's lawyer, who wanted to go glacier national park that night. at the sheer cliff they say there was a grabbing incident which was all in one motion, the grabbing and pushing. 25-year-old johnson fell face first to his death. this was an accident, says graham's lawyer, on the second degree murder charges, this is a gross case of overcharging by prosecutors, adding, this is just not fair. >> you believe it was an accident?

>> you know, i'll just stand on what we discussed in court today as far as the merits are concerned, yes. >> graham's release into home confinement and her apparent defense plans are a kick in the gut to johnson's friends. >> he didn't deserve whatever end she gave him. he never earned anything that jordan did to him. and i disagree with all of my heart at what the justice system is saying is fair. >> prosecutors paint a very different picture of this young bride, a woman who told multiple lies to investigators, to friends, to family. prosecutors say she created a fake e-mail account and wrote e-mails to herself to fabricate a bogus story about her husband's death. the defense characterized them as post-event mistakes. she finally confessed to pushing her husband in the back face first off the cliff. her motive? prosecutors say she regretted getting married. self-defense or calculated crime? a still unwinding tale that

began with the wedding and will end in a court of law. kyung lah, cnn, missoula, montana. a suspect is detained in connection with the shooting deaths of four people found in a car in rural tennessee. cumberland county prosecutors say they will seek charges against jacob allen bennett. three of the victims were teenagers, the fourth was a 22-year-old mother. crowds gather in india as a judge sentenced four men to death for the gang rape of a 23-year-old woman in new delhi last december whose wound were so severe she later died. the case made headlines around the world. united airlines says it will honor tickets mistakenly sold online for 5 to $10 on thursday. they said human error is to blame for the great deals not a computer glitch. an update on the ikea monkey. a canadian judge has ruled the monkey must stay at an animal sanctuary and can't go back to the woman who illegally bought him and kept him at home.

that is until december 2012 when the monkey was found running around outside a toronto ikea store in an faux coat and diaper, anderson. >> monkey's name is darwin. i think we should use his name. >> very well dressed. >> well, the shearling coat set me over the edge. originally i thought the monkey had escaped naked and picked up the shearling coat in ikea. but then i realized they don't sell coats. up next, really kind of a stunning development. measles cases in the united states are on the rise. this year on track to be the worst in nearly two decades. health officials said they know what's behind this spike and it's basically parents not vaccinating their kids. i'll talk to dr. sanjay gupta about why. hundreds of defenseless dogs rescued from a brutal dog fighting ring. we'll see how they're now being lovingly cared for.

alarming report from the centers for disease control. from january 1st through august 24th of this year there were 159 cases of measles in the united states. it may not seem like a large number but it is. in fact 2013 is now on track to be the worst year for measles in the last 17 years. this is what measles looks like. a rash, tiny red spots spreads across the body. back in 2011 nearly 40% of kids under the age of five who

contracted the disease had to be hospitalized. while it's rare, measles can be deadly in kids. a dozen years ago the medical community believed this disease was eradicated due to medical immunizations. health officials say the majority of the new cases are because of parents refusing to vaccinate their kids, some because they wrongly believe vaccinations can cause autism. randi kaye on one community that had a measles outbreak. >> reporter: all started with a visitor to this texas church, a visitor who had traveled overseas, then at church hugged parishioners and handled babies in the church daycare. unknowingly spreading a dangerous measles virus. terry piersons is the pastor. >> we've had a few families that have been affected by this. an so we want to shut this thing down. >> reporter: more than a few. 16 cases of the measles originated at the church,

including seven adults and nine children. the youngest is just four months old. health officials say 11 of the victims have never been vaccinated. not surprising considering the pastor's televangelist father had long spoken out against children being immunized, often suggesting a link to autism. listen to this recent broadcast posted on the church's web site. >> as parents, we need to be a whole lot more serious about this and being aware of what is good and what isn't. and you don't take the word of the guy that's trying to give the shot about what's good and what isn't. you better go read the can or read the thing. find out what's going on there. >> reporter: medical officials have found no link between vaccines and autism. as one expert put it, measles has a way of finding people who aren't vaccinated. it's not just texas. this past spring, 50 children in

an orthodox jewish community in brooklyn got the measles. none of them had been vaccinated, either because they were too young or because their parents refused or delayed the vaccine. and in 2011 there were 21 cases of the measles reported in an somali community in minneapolis. concerns about the vaccine being linked to autism drove vaccination rates down to 57%. other measles outbreaks have been reported in recent years in san diego, indiana, north carolina, and elsewhere among unvaccinated people. back at eagle mountain international church the pastor released this statement on line. it reads in part "some people think i am against immunizations but that is not true." she's now urging members to be vaccinated at a tree county clinic. >> if you read the old testament you'll find that it is full of precautionary measures. >> reporter: as long as those precautionary measures are in line with the church's belief of faith healing.

>> go in faith. don't do anything you don't do in faith. do it in faith. do it in faith. do it in faith. now, if you're somebody, you know that you know that you know that you've got this covered in your household by faith and it crosses your heart of faith, well then don't go do it. >> reporter: on its web site, the church urges anyone with a medical condition to first seek the wisdom of god, then appropriate medical attention, including vaccinations from a professional they trust. randi kaye, cnn, new york. >> again the medical community says there is no link between vaccines and autism. here to talk about it tonight and the dangers of not vaccinating your kids dr. sanjay gupta. >> sanjay, this new cdc report which actually makes mention of that church in texas we reported on before, it expressed this to be the worst year for measles in more than a decade. how much of that is because of parents who are refusing to vaccinate their kids? >> well, you can almost put a

number on that, anderson. it's over 80% of those people who are contracting measles are because they did not get vaccinations. so measles is probably one of the the best examples of sort of cause and effect. if you vaccinate you'll see the numbers go down dramatically. if you don't the numbers go up. let me point out something elsing anderson. in the year 2000 we almost got to the point where we said look, we've eradicated measles. there was no evidence really of person-to-person transmission. over the last several years you have about 50 to 60 cases a year. so far as you point out, 159 cases if this trajectory continues this year, this will be the worst two decades for measles cases. >> just those who underestimate how strong measles can be and how serious it is, explain it. >> it's very contagious. so if there is a child, for example, who's not been vaccinated and they come in contact with someone who has measles, they're virtually 100%

likely to get the measles. so it's very contagious. and the vaccine is very effective. but if they don't have the vaccine and they do come in contact you're going to get the measles. we also know that out of 1,000 kids or so, up to three out of 1,000 will die from this. but also there's significant pneumonia, significant concerns about incephalitis, inflammation of the brain. it's a terrible disease but also a very preventable one. >> and 80% of this is because of parents not vaccinate their kids. some of that is based on philosophical or religious grounds. others point to so-called scientific reasons, the fear of autism really primarily among that. among those who say this is about preventing autism, that they're scared vaccines can result in autism, you say what? i mean, you're just saying the science is not there? >> the science is not there. and look, i say this as a reporter but also as a doctor and as a dad.

and i have three kids. and i think it's really important for me to say that i got them vaccinated on schedule. they got their full vaccinations on schedule. i understand the concern, and it's heart-breaking to hear some of the stories. but while we don't know why we've seen the increase in cases in autism, we can say it's not related to vaccines. and what we can say for sure is that these vaccines can prevent some pretty terrible diseases. so i'd like to know what the cause of autism is and these increases in the numbers. but it's not vaccines. so get your kid vaccinated. >> all right. sanjay, good advice. appreciate it. thank you. >> you've got it much thanks. up next if you like dogs, hundreds of dogs rescued from a brutal existence in a dog fighting operation. the aspca is now working to heal their physical and emotional wounds. we'll be right back. [ male announcer ] away...

[ laughing ] ...is the crackle of the campfire. it can be a million years old...

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resulted in the loss of both legs... my left arm above the elbow and my right hand. my family is very proud of me. how... i'm not dead by a long shot. i served my country. still adapting to this new life. it was hard having everybody change their lifestyle to take care of me. a typical home doesn't feel like home to me. they have to carry my chair up the stairs. the hardest thing in my life is to have to call and yell for my children to help pick me up off the bathroom floor. where do you go when home isn't home anymore? there are hundreds of catastrophically disabled veterans who need specially designed homes, in order to live normal lives. ah yes, i am on the waiting list to have a home built. it's going to be amazing. a smart home, which is a handicap accessible home. everything is pretty much automated. it will be tailored to my personal needs. for me to gain independence again would be just amazing. to be able to just take care of myself as an individual. this home will allow me to be self-sufficient.

it means a new level of freedom. it gives me back some of my dignity- who i used to be. there is a waiting list for houses. this is the waiting list. there are a lot of people on that list, yeah. there are a lot of guys like me out there. maybe too many. in a great nation the bravest volunteer to protect our way of life. now it's up to a great people, to make things right. home. personal. safety. dignity. family. independence. confidence. it's the american dream isn't it? home. we need your help... building for americas bravest. vo:remember to changew that oil is the it on schedule toy car. keep your car healthy. show your car a little love with an oil change starting at $19.95. tonight a story of hope for hundreds of dogs brutalized by people. they came into the world only to be trained to fight each other to the death. they were used in a dog-fighting

operation their lives miserable. scarred physically and emotionally. when the ring was busted the dogs were rescued and now they're being treated by people trying to heal the physical and emotional wounds as well. the goal is to heal the damage and get them into loving homes. the violence you are about to see is very high. >> the sign says i'm fearful, please go slow. a tan dog with brown eyes shaking in the back of her cage. a pit bull mix who has spent her whole life being brutalized. the same with this dog who has scars all over his face. and this dog, who is about to give birth yet was also expected to fight to the death if necessary. there are 253 dogs here, all used in a criminal dog fighting enterprise. they are now evidence in the second largest dog fighting bust

ever and are being cared for lovingly by the aspca in a warehouse in a secret location in the southern united states. >> for the security of the dogs and for the security of the personnel, and for the integrity of the case, we want to keep all of this under wraps. >> reporter: 12 men were arrested. hundreds of thousands of dollars in gambling money seized. and a total of 372 pit bulls rescued. some of the dogs are being cared for in other locations. the bodies of dead dogs were also found. >> there we go. good boy. >> reporter: amid the trauma, these animals are getting their first ever checkups by vets who are dealing with serious physical injuries and mental scars. >> their lives have been brutal. their lives have been filled with misery and pain. the only thing they've known from mankind is hatred and harsh touch and brutality of the fighting pit and living that out. their lives have been miserable. >> reporter: there are several pregnant dogs here who were

fighting just weeks ago. and there are also puppies. >> let me tell you the story about this particular little guy. this little guy right now is ten weeks old. he only weighs 5 1/2 pounds. he was attached to a log chain when he was found. this is the log chain. it weigh about 20 pounds. he was attached to this. he was out in 90-degree weather. and he had absolutely no water. >> reporter: this is a picture taken by authorities of the same puppy when the dog fighting operation was busted. the primary goal here is to give each of these dogs a chance to someday be adopted. >> we've given medication to get rid of fleas. we can put them on pain medication. we don't have all of our diagnostic results yet. some dogs in many circumstances have heart worm disease. >> but you feel they can lead a

good life? >> i think he could have a good quality of life with the proper care. >> you say this dog has scars all over its face and its emaciated. but we know he's recovering because he wants to play ball. they don't play fetch the ball when they're in captivity. but now after a couple of weeks here he's ready to play. >> good girl. good girl. >> reporter: and remember that fearful tan dog we showed you? well, an aspca therapist is working with her to slowly try to build up her trust, alleviate her fear, and convince her she's loved. >> this may be the second largest dog fighting bust in u.s. history. but it's a drop in the bucket. this is going on all over the united states. >> reporter: these dogs are getting a second chance. but so many others are not. >> gary tuchman joins me now. pit bulls get such a bad rap. such a sickening story. you mentioned the site that you visited is kept secret.

why is that? >> police say they have a legitimate concern that bad guys in this dog fighting industry might try to steal these dogs if they knew where these dogs were being kept that's why it's being kept secret. >> is there any percentage how many dogs will be adopted? >> before i got to this warehouse i assumed because these dogs had had such a violent life very few could be adopted. shows you how much i know. it's early right now, but the officials tell us that they believe that the great majority of these dogs will be adopted by people live in happy homes or will become worker dogs or perhaps live in animal sanctuaries or become therapy dogs. so their feeling is that there's a very good shot that most of the dogs that we saw in that secret warehouse will live happy, good lives after such terrible violent starts. >> those puppies are -- pit bull puppies are so incredibly -- you just want to squeeze them in a nice way. >> they were great. >> gary, thanks very much. coming up the ridiculist is next.ill.

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time now for "the ridiculist." tonight i got some shocking news to tell you. this sunday the new miss america will be crowned. they're still doing that. but that's not the most shocking part. i hope you're sitting down because this year for what is believed to be the first time everyone of the contestants is going to show us her tats. this year's miss kansas has tattoos. that is the serenity prayer, the saying about accepting what you

cannot change, changing what you can and having the wisdom to know the difference. basically without even speaking she already has knowledge on her side. well-played miss kansas. she's got another tattoo you couldn't see in the picture. her left shoulder, the u.s. army dental corps insignia. that's right she was in the military. >> people laugh when i tell them i first started serving as a mechanic. a grease monkey. who would have ever thought that a grease monkey would hold the title of miss kansas 2013. >> i am not going to mess with miss kansas. she's a crack shot, avid hunter, she used to race motorcycles and she speaks mandarin. >> i love chinese people and their culture. >> behind all the tats and guns and bilingualism, she says she's just a normal girl. >> everybody this of miss america as this girl on a pedestal. and i want her to come down from that. she is just a normal girl. >> just a normal girl getting ready to take the stage with all the other normal girls in bikinis and high heels and in the name of what really matters

inner beauty and marksmanship. >> if you are wanting a contestant that can really hit the bull's eye at miss america, then vote me into the top 15. >> boom. i'm calling it. miss kansas wins. there she is, miss america. this thing is over. just give her the crown and be done with it. she seems great! i got to say, getting back to the tattoos, miss kansas may be the most subversive thing to happen to the pageant world since april ludgate ran for miss pawnee on "parks and recreation." >> hello, i'm april ludgate. i'm 20 years old. i like people, places and things! and pawnee is my favorite place in the world! [ applause ] >> no, i didn't win. but at least i didn't make any new friendships. >> so when you watch the miss

america pageant this week, they still show it on tv. yes, it is 2013. beauty pageants are probably here to stay. because as they say, a thing of beauty, much like a tattoo, is a joy forever on "the ridiculist." that does it for us. thanks for watching.