give you $150. comcast business built for business. you are in the "cnn newsroom." hello again, i'm monica. thanks for being here. we begin with two incidents at the white house. a man actually made it inside the president's house before he was apprehended. and then today a car continued to drive through a barricade even after police tried to get him to stop. first to you, erin, what do we know about this second incident that happened today? >> well, ana, as you said, it's an incident. it is not a breach like we saw last night. what happened is a man in a car was driving toward the barricade

in front of the white house, on the east side of the white house, at 15th and e streets. as he was driving, secret service officers told him to stop, but he didn't. he didn't pass the barricade, he later did get out of his car. he's been taken into custody. but not arrested. so a little bit different there. they're currently doing a security sweep of that car, to make sure that nothing bad could have happened, or that this man didn't pose a bigger risk. but it's a little bit separate because he did not make it through the barricade. >> what ultimately stopped him? >> you know, we're still getting some details from secret service on this. and they haven't given as many as we've expected. obviously, after the breach last night, things are a little tense around here. there has been extra -- there's been a bigger presence of secret service agents around, officers around throughout the day, trying to figure out what went wrong last night. and last night, as you may know,

the president left with his two daughters shortly after 7:00 p.m., and then four minutes later, this 42-year-old man from texas scaled the fence, the front of the north entrance of the white house, ran about 105 yards to the front door in the north portico and entered inside before secret service officers finally apprehended him. and then sent him via ambulance to gw medical center where he's being evaluated today. >> let's bring in tom here. obviously, two instances in 24 hours doesn't look good. i imagine secret service is sort of scrambling. what's the damage control here? >> ana, i think that, you know, we'll have to learn more about this. we could have somebody who was just lost. i drive by that entrance almost every day. and it's a bit barricaded kind of entrance and maybe he pulled into that, you know, off of 15th street into that drive, not realizing, and maybe he didn't hear the orders and was

confused. ultimately he did get out of the car. we had a year ago next month the incident with the woman that did run over a secret service agent, rammed the barricade and then turned around and led the police on a low-speed chase through downtown washington and ended up being shot and killed near the capital. i think in this case, the security police, secret service police at that entrance must have realized he was not intending an attack, but maybe just disoriented in or in some other way confused. >> interesting. erin, do we know where the first family is right now? >> well, the president and his two daughters are at camp david. they're there for the weekend. we actually don't know where michelle obama is. we haven't gotten a whole lot of confirmation from secret service where she was last night. but she's not with the rest of the first family. but what we know is they were not here at the residence last night at the time of the breach and they have not been here for the remainder of the weekend. >> okay. erin and tom, thanks to both of

you. we appreciate it. turning now to disturbing new developments, a new isis video that shows the moments before a mass killing. but it is the voice in this video, from that man, that has u.s. intelligence officials scrambling right now, what could be an american voice. let's listen. >> and we're here with the soldiers of bashad. they said they abandoned the front and stop fighting, turn our guns to the muslims. they lied. war is only beginning to intensify. >> again, another propaganda video from isis. right now, u.s. authorities are running vocal and facial recognition to try to identify this isis militant who appears to be in a significant position of power within the organization as their spokesperson. but are the eyes fixed squarely

on the threat of isis? officials say another band of extremists could pose an imminent threat to the u.s. we're getting word that u.s. counterterrorism agencies are now tracking multiple terror plots traced to al qaeda syrian affiliates. to use sophisticated bombs to attack u.s. planes. brian todd is joining me now on the phone. brian, what are you learning now about this investigation into the man we just showed everybody on the video? >> well, ana, we were told intelligence officials are combing through the video very finely, to find any clues they can about this man. they say he could be an american because of the fact that he speaks almost perfect english, because of his accent. they think he could possibly be a north american, but it's the accent and the seamless english that he speaks which are helping them figure out that he could very well be an american. they're doing voice analysis, as

you mentioned, and other technological means to try to identify who he might be. and what is interesting, is that if he is a north american, it could be the first time that a north american member of isis has actually, possibly committed a war crime on camera. because of the fact that after that part that you just aired, he is seemingly with about four or five other jihadists, seen shooting these several syrians who we believe are soldiers, dressed in civilian clothing, shooting them, and then they tumble into these graves that they just dug for themselves. if that's the case, he could be committing a war crime on camera, which means that u.s. officials are going to be even more keen to try to identify him, and either capture or kill him. >> it's sickening to hear about the killings in that video. and brian, i wonder what it means, given the fact that this person is seemingly a spokesperson in the video. does that say that he might be higher up in a political position with isis?

>> officials believe that is a possibility, ana, that he could have a position of some responsibility within isis, and may have worked his way up the ranks. also, westerners are very valuable to them for two reasons. when they put them in these videos, you know, when they speak, and when they do these types of acts, they serve two purposes. number one, they scare western audiences. but they also serve as a recruiting tool for isis to try to recruit western jihadists, who are very valuable to them in a number of ways. they have western passports. some of them may have some combat training. things like that. so they really value westerners. that's another reason why this man could be in a position of some responsibility for them. >> all right. brian todd, thanks for your report. let's talk more about this. joining me now are military analyst retired lieutenant colonel rick francona, and paul weiss. thanks to both of you. colonel, let's start with you. obviously you see that video. and as an american, as a westerner, it does raise kind

much those hairs on the back of your neck to think that one of us is there, and could they come back here. is the u.s. able to really sophisticatedly track who he could be, and who else could be there from america? >> well, they're trying. this is a very difficult problem, because so many people travel. and most people are getting into syria through turkey. a lot of people travel to turkey on legitimate business. so it's impossible to stop and track, or look at every single person. so they have to come up with some sort of a profile where they figure who might likely going over to join isis. this is a real big problem for law enforcement and the intelligence community. law enforcement in the united states, the intelligence community once they're overseas. the problem will be is when they return. if they're not identified, they just walk off the airplane at jfk, and walk back into society to do whatever they want to do. >> michael, what do you think, or have you learned is being done to try to track americans? we've heard now from multiple officials that there may be up

to 100 americans going to fight with terror groups in syria. >> the brits especially, and french have many foreign fighters fighting with isis. a number of americans are said to have joined this contingent of foreign fighters. not all of them join isis. some of them join other rebel groups in syria, from mainstream to the other jihadi affiliate, which made these terrorist threats against the united states. it's incredibly difficult to determine when somebody leaves america's soil and winds up in turkey and crosses that border, what group, what faction have they joined arms with. we don't know. there's another component to this, which a lot of the people in isis are detainees in iraq. they said a lot of these were in camp bucha.

the military is trying to find out who was an american prisoner of war who is now in the isis upper echelons. >> colonel, if indeed this man is an american citizen, does the u.s. have legal authority to maybe go after him there with like a drone attack, or air strike of some sort? anwar al awa ki, he was working with al qaeda and there was a lot of controversy surrounding him. >> there will be controversy again, because it's not quite sure -- i mean, he's broken the law already by merely going over there to join that group. or even intending to join that group, he's broken the law. if he's involved in the war crime over there, he's gone one step further. so at some point, the determination will have to be made, is he an enemy combatant, ha would his status be. once the bombing starts, he's at risk, of course. >> guys, stick around. thank you so much. isis, of course, grabbing the headlines now. but make no mistake, al qaeda is still out there. and still a major threat. ahead, is that terror group now

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amid the highly public beheading, isis has been at the forefront of the national conversation when we talk about terrorism. but with all eyes on isis, al qaeda also appears eager to get back into the terrorist limelight. cnn's pam brown explains. >> reporter: it's smaller bombs than the ones in these toothpaste tubes that have you u.s. officials so concerned. american intelligence officials said publicly the government is worried about a terror cell in syria, saying it's working with al qaeda bomb makers to target u.s. lights. behind the failed underwear bomb, and the bomb hidden in a

printer cartridge on a cargo plane in 2010. >> this korzohn group, so-called, that is out there, is potentially yet another threat to the homeland. >> reporter: u.s. officials say it's made up of al qaeda fighters who were fighting in the afghanistan-pakistan border region. the worry is they're now in syria, working to recruit european and american foreign fighters who can use their passports to smuggle bombs onto u.s.-bound airplanes. >> one of the operatives who has moved from the afghanistan-pakistan border to syria is a saudi operative. he's an experienced fighter. he was part of al qaeda's command struck ture. he's involved in plotting attacks against western targets. >> reporter: wednesday u.s. officials hinted at the same concerns, telling congress al qaeda affiliates are intent on targeting u.s. flights. >> in the past five years, they

sought on three times to take down an airplane bound for the united states. >> reporter: and u.s. officials say there is fierce competition between al qaeda and isis, to be known as the biggest, baddest jihadi organization. >> that would be a very, very worrying scenario, indeed, if these two groups start to try and outdo each other, launch attacks back in the west. for al qaeda, it would be a way to restore its relevance when isis is grabbing all the headlines. >> i want to bring back in lieutenant colonel rick francona and michael weiss. michael, should we be concerned that al qaeda, and the new group will try to maybe one-up isis, while america's focusing on isis? >> absolutely. i think what's happened is, al qaeda has been eclipsed by isis. isis managed to develop a de facto state. when you look at this terrorist affiliate group they found in india, they're trying to move the battle to southeast asia.

the group in syria is now trying to link up with the official al qaeda franchise. it's about getting the thunder back. what's interesting about the new cell moved into syria, this is sort of a back to basics, or return to the original al qaeda formation. the guys went to afghanistan, even in the '90s and early 2000s to fight with the taliban and defend al qaeda's headquarters there. they're now being imported to show the guys who are mostly syrian nationals how to regain the luster that has been lost in this sort of jihadi war. absolutely, i think this is the real danger. al qaeda is now going to try to one-up isis. >> because they're competing against each other, right, colonel? >> yeah. and this is where you have the problem, because as they said, they're trying to outdo each other. they're striving for relevance. al qaeda feels they're in second place now to isis. it's just not who is more important on the battlefield, it's recruitment. and how do you survive in the

future. and we saw a lot of people defecting from al qaeda, into isis. and they're losing all of these people. they need to get them back. and they're going to keep trying to do that. and a spectacular event will do that for them. that will put them back in first place among terrorists. >> you know, isis' strategy has been so in your face, with these videos that are just so alarming. and it seems to be effective with their recruitment. we're seeing the escalation, and evolution of their messaging as well. i mean, is that effective in isis still kind of taking the strong hold when it comes to terrorism, or is al qaeda actually smarter in kind of being behind the scenes? >> i think, correct me if i'm wrong, i think we're seeing that isis actually has the upper hand when it comes to this messaging. because remember it used to take a few days, or even a week before al qaeda would get something out. isis gets something out the next

day. i mean, they're very, very effective, much better at messaging than al qaeda was. >> in the recruiting, you were saying they are getting these really well educated people. >> look, the video you just exhibited in the last segment, that had hollywood production value to it. there are multiple camera angles, the resolution was very high quality. i'm sure they got that out within hours, if not days, right? aman al zawahiri, it takes him weeks for his to reach the public sphere. what's interesting, in the beginning of the syrian conflict, the official al qaeda affiliate -- >> in syria. >> yeah, was a jihadi life group, guarding churches and trying to win hearts and minds by not executing minorities and muslims. now their strategy is to move more to the isis ideology. they're getting much more draconian in their measures. this is another manifestation of

them to compete. >> that leads me to my next question about the president's plan, that he laid before the american people and what congress just voted on, and that is, arming these moderate syrian rebels to try to fight isis. but yet you just mentioned, al nusra in syria. colonel, is it smart now to go and arm the rebels? do we know who's who? >> i think we know who's who, but they're not interested in fighting isis, but they're trying to overthrow bashar al assad. you have to commit when that's over, you'll help us remove bashar al assad. so far, we haven't done that. and if we're going to train 5,000, it will take us a year. that is way too little, way too late. we're going to have to get in there with something more than that. and down the road, if this

group, either al qaeda or korozon, or isis poses the threat they're talking about, i think we'll have to go back to the president and say, you'll need to put ground troops in there. and the free syrian army isn't it. unfortunately i know it's politically dangerous, but it has to be american troops. >> thank you both so much. great insight into the conversation. up next, a search for a suspected cop killer in pennsylvania is intensifying at this hour. hundreds of law enforcement officers are combing the woods right now. we'll have the latest on the search next. i quit smoking with. before chantix, i tried to quit... probably about five times. it was different than the other times i tried to quit. along with support, chantix (varenicline) is proven to help people quit smoking. it's a non-nicotine pill. chantix reduced my urge to smoke. that helped me quit smoking. some people had changes in behavior, thinking or mood, hostility, agitation, depressed mood and suicidal thoughts or actions while taking or after stopping chantix. if you notice any of these, stop chantix

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comcast business built for business. right now, extreme precautions are used in the hunt for a suspected cop killer in pennsylvania. eric frein, he's a survivalist with a grudge against cops, possibly holed up somewhere right now in the pocono mountains. police are telling people in this area, price and barrett townships to stay inside, get away from the windows. authorities are really concerned for the safety of this community. now, frein is believed to have been the person who ambushed and gunned down bryon dickson last week. another officer was also seriously injured. alexandra, a lot of action in the hunt last night and today. are police any closer right now to getting this guy? >> reporter: well, ana, they're trying to make the most out of

whatever remaining daylight hours we have. officers have lined up in a line formation, moving through the woods that way, trying to con vas the area, where they've been searching for days, actually an entire week. he's managed to evade them e. if you look at the woods out there, we're talking about really dense, thickly wooded areas. so law enforcement is trying to throw every possible resource into finding this suspect. eric matthew frein, they're doing the search foot by foot through here. once night falls, that's when we've seen issues the last couple of nights. on thursday evening, there was a report from somebody who believed they had seen frein. then last night police believe they had closed in on him. shots were fired in the area where they believe that they have him surrounded. but today they're continuing to look. 300 officers strong. here's what frein has on his side. he is a trained survivalist. he was on the rifle team in high school, part of a military simulation unit. he's known to have a grudge

against law enforcement. but perhaps even more key here is the fact that where they are searching is the area that frein is from. they are in the general vicinity of his parents' home. that's where a lot of this search has been concentrated. we're talking about a man who knows this area well, knows these woods, these trails. and he sort of backpacks, this is a place he knows very well and where the police officers are having a whole lot of trouble trying to locate him. and finally put an end to this very, very tense week here. >> interesting that they were so close yesterday, and things quieted down again. alexandra field, thank you so much. nfl commissioner roger goodell says he is taking action against domestic violence, but is it enough what he's doing? my next guest, fran tarkenton says no. he'll is explain next. yeah, i'm married. does it matter?

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i made a mistake. i'm not satisfied with the process that we went through. i'm not satisfied with the conclusions. and that's why we came out last month, on august 28th, and we said we're going to make changes to our policies. we made changes to our discipline. we acknowledged the mistake, my mistake. and we said we're going to do better going forward. >> nfl commissioner roger goodell. he said he is determined to get it right when it comes to how the nfl handles domestic violence cases. but not everyone is so

convinced. let's get some perspective from a hall of famer, fran tarkenton. he played in three super bowls, over 18 nfl seasons. he's chairman and founder of one more customer.com. fran, we appreciate your time. you were here with us, with cnn yesterday, and you said fans should stop going to nfl games, and basically boycott the league. why do you feel so strongly about that? >> well, i keep hearing from the commissioner who i have great respect for. i made a mistake. i keep hearing from other owners, we're going to get it right. but then i hear the press conference yesterday and there's no sense of urgency. we're going to put this thing off until sup solution until after the super bowl. they're hiring some very talented women who understand this domestic violence issue. that's nice. they have some sensitivity meetings, and educate the players, that's nice. but that doesn't address the

problem. we've got players out there that are beating women, threatening to kill them. these are 270-pound, 300-pound people. domestic violence is not new to american society. it's in all parts of society. but the national football league is the most visible part of america. and when our owners have to almost be forced to discipline these people, when they commit domestic violence, they want to continue to play them, give them a little two-game suspension, and some owners are continuing to play these people even after they've been accused of domestic violence. this is not near enough. it's still the fame of professional football. it's win, baby win. you've got 32 owners. it's not about money. they desperately want to win. and they don't want their star players on the sideline. and we saw what happened in

florida state. jameis winston has been given a pass for the past year. they covered it up. the state police covered it up, the local police and everybody else. they finally, after more problems he's had, they're going to give him half a game suspension. now last night we said, oh, now we feel guilty because people are talking about, we're going to give him a full game suspension. >> fran, obviously, this is an issue that has touched such a nerve. we've been talking about it now for a couple of weeks. maybe if the owners aren't taking enough action, or the commissioner is not taking enough action, you say maybe the fans have some power. but i wonder what you think about a new poll about how fans are responding. we'll talk about that as soon as we come back from a quick break. so stay right there. listen up, thunder dragons, it's time to get a hotel. hey, razor. check this out. we can save big with priceline express deals.

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one of nfl's greatest players is not happy with how the league is handling this recent rash of abuse cases. we're talking with nfl hall of famer fran tarkenton. he is now the chairman and founder of one more customer.com. fran, right before that break, i mentioned this poll. almost 90% of people in a new nbc university poll say they have not cut back on how much they watch the nfl. only 11% say they are less likely to watch. what's your reaction to this? and do fans need to take a stand?

>> well, people are not going to stop watching football. i mean, it's the most watched sport in the world. it's growing. it's fun. it's great entertainment. but that's not the point. if these owners who say they want to do the right thing, the only way to stop domestic violence among the players that are playing today is to ban them from the league. the baltimore ravens got it right. they took to their star running back ray rice and cut him from the team. he is not allowed to play for the baltimore ravens ever again. that's the type of leadership we need. that's the type of action we need. if we had zero tolerance for domestic violence, and we should, then we should not let these people play. and until we get to that point, we will not make an impact on these people, and what they're doing with domestic violence issues, and also hitting 4-year-old children. >> we're showing right now a list of players who have recently been arrested.

we've been talking about ray rice, ray mcdonald, adrian peterson, jonathan dwyer. ray mcdonald's here in the center of the screen. he's one who is still playing. he's with the 49ers, he played in the first couple of games. he was arrested but not charged. should his case be treated differently from the others? >> no. and where are the people of san francisco, california? i haven't heard the governor of that state come out, or the senator. in minnesota, the governor and senator came out, i came out, all of us said we're embarrassed. we should not do it. people change. nobody in san francisco's come out and said anything about what they're doing, because they want the 49ers to win. i understand that. but the 49ers, is it more important than doing the right thing and not letting ray mcdonald play? i think it is. until we have owners who take this leadership, and we have some that are doing it, the owners in minnesota, the will family, the owners at the baltimore ravens, they're doing

it. the rest of these owners are silent. i know they want to win. we all want to win. but at what price. to let these people go out and abuse women and abuse children, just not right. >> what about innocent until proven guilty? >> well, they can let the process go. we've got aaron hernandez, he's in prison. he's accused of murdering two people. but he hasn't had a trial. and we kicked him out of the league a year ago. when these people -- it takes the process a long time. while going through the process, they should not be playing. now he's going to get a -- adrian peterson is going to get a fancy lawyer who got roger clemens off down in texas and they'll spend all the money of the teams, and the players, because the players are millionaires, and the owners are billionaires. and probably helping them beat the case.

that doesn't matter to me. these people are being accused, and admit it, they batter women. they hit women. they threaten women with their lives. in some cases we have evidence on video. it's just not acceptable. >> fran, if you were nfl commissioner, i know you're saying that maybe goodell is not the answer. but if you were the leader of this organization, what would you do right now to fix that? >> he's the leader. but he answers to 32 billionaire owners. they are the people that control what's going on. they can fire roger goodell tomorrow. the president of the united states has power, because -- unless they impeach him, he's going to be here for another two years. goodell doesn't have that power. he has to answer to the 32 owners. and they have got to be the ones that step up. bad news does not get better with age, ana. and this bad news will get worse as we go along. there will be more reactions. there will be more people that

are going to raise their voices. everything doesn't stay the same. they're at great risk of losing and hurting an entity that is just unbelievably successful. the only thing that could compare to it is ala baba. >> we'll end it there, fran. you are a well-respected voice in the nfl. i hope those owners are listening to what you're saying. thank you for your time. one of the most notorious criminals america has ever seen. whitey bulger in his own words. they're custom made trains. you can't get any better than that. siemens trains are not your grandparent's technology. they're something that's gonna change the cities we live in today. i find it so fascinating how many people ride this and go to work every single day. i'm one of the lucky guys. i get to play with trains. people say, "wow, we still build that in the united states?"

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james whitey bulger ruled boston's criminal underworld for nearly three decades before fleeing the city, and eluding police for 16 years. the mobster was considered so dangerous, the fbi put him on their most wanted list right behind osama bin laden. tonight is a special film about whitey bulger, who is currently serving life in prison. author of rat bastard, the life and times of south boston's most honorable irish mobster. joining me at this hour, cnn contributor and legal analyst mel robbins from boston.

red, i know you always believed whitey was an informant for the fbi. but we never heard from bulger during his trial. he never testified. but in tonight's film you do hear from him. here's a preview. >> remember the day when hank and i were with you, and showed you the so-called informant file that john conley had been keeping? >> yeah. >> remember your reaction to seeing that? >> i was shocked. i was angry. i couldn't believe it. i considered the wispy trail that ever happened to me in my life. i couldn't believe anyone could dream of such a thing. i never knew it existed. >> did you recognize the information that was contained in it? is it anything you would have talked to john conley about? >> no, i was the guy who did the directing. he didn't direct me. >> what are some of the things they would give you in terms of tips? >> the thing that we needed most was, number one, was wiretaps.

and then like surveillance, search warrants, indictments, so guys could get a chance to make a run for it. >> if you weren't providing information to these people, why were they willing to give you all this information? >> for money. for money. money's the common denominator. a way of doing business. it happened all the time. it will never stop. >> i remember you told me once that christmas is for kids and cops. >> correct. >> how many people would you be paying off in a holiday period? >> everybody i knew i took care of at christmas time. put money in envelopes for all the police. the state police, the boston police, the atf, and the fbi. but i'm not going to say who they were. i would never say anybody's name. but i took care of everybody. >> was this in cash? >> always cash. i never handed anyone money, i handed them an envelope.

it was a little easier for them to accept it, you know? or i put the money maybe in a box, if there was that much money. >> what was the most amount of money you ever paid an fbi person, fbi agent? agent? >> at one time? >> yeah. >> maybe 25,000, $50,000. >> did that whet the appetite for our film? what do you think of what he just said? >> i think it's a bunch of hogwash. if you knew whitey like i did, you would know what a manipulator he is in life. first of all, let's just get away from him being called an informant during his time in the boston mob. let's go back years. back years. when he was going to alcatraz. when he went to alcatraz, he ratted -- he ratted oppon the g he did the crime with. he did. and that's -- that had been found out and the files were found out about and discovered

during that time. this is many years prior to him becoming an informant with john conley and the rest of these guys. and second of all, he and stevie fleming, they were inseparable. stevie fleming said we had been giving information and paying along the way. we have done it all. we did it all. and second of all, whitey bulger met with so many law enforcement and top law enforcement people. are you telling me that every top law enforcement people he met with was on the take? i don't believe that. i believe that maybe some might have been, absolutely. but not everyone. >> well, and matt, redd just brought up a really good point. we just heard in that video, that clip from bulger himself, that he wasn't going to give up any names of those law enforcement people that he knew and worked with, but yet he's

ratted out some of his mobster friends. now if bulger truly wanted people to know that he wasn't an informant, why wouldn't he have testified when he had the chance? >> yeah, ana, i'm so glad that you asked that question. because as a defense attorney, that's why i used to be a criminal defense attorney before i became a legal commentator. and i'm sitting here saying to myself, okay, wait a minute. whitey bulger is 85 years old. he's obviously going to die in prison. he is facing a litany of charges. if there was ever a time to get on the stand and just sing, because you ain't got nothing to lose, the trial would have been it. but he declined to testify at all. and so it's interesting to see him come out now and be talking like this, and i find it frankly fascinating and curious that he didn't testify, curious to hear redd's take on it. and i think this cnn movie

that's airing tonight is so tantalizing. i wouldn't be shocked if half of boston isn't tuned in. >> well, redd, it has been over a year since bulger was found guilty and 20 years since he fled boston. but people really are still fascinated by his story. why do you think that is? >> i think there's a romance for the underworld, and organized crime. i think there's definitely a romance for that. but getting back to him being an informant, how do you explain -- explain now the files that were found out about and discovered for many years back him prior to him going into alcatraz? how do you explain that? is that a conspiracy too? really. >> mel, you know, you just talked about how he didn't testify but yet we do know he is appealing his face case.

might we hear from him in the future? >> we might hear from him through a media outlet. you're not going to hear from him in court. here's why he's appealing. he's in prison. he's got nothing else to do. he's facing two consecutive life sentences he's 85 years old. he's lucky if he's going to survive another seven years. so what do you to occupy your time in federal prison? one thing you do is work on your appeals and you're a complete annoyance to prosecutors. and that's what he's going to it continue to do. so i'm not surprised that he's appealed. i don't think he's going to be successful, because the fact of the matter is, once you've been convicted in federal court, it's pretty darn difficult to have it overturned. and frankly, once the feds are bringing a trial of this magnitude against you, they have got rooms and rooms and rooms of evidence against you like they did with him. he was implicated in at least 11 murders. >> yep.

mel and red, thank you both. we'll leave it there. we appreciate it. of course, the cnn film "whitey: united states of america versus james j. bulger" airs tonight. you can watch it at 9:00 eastern. also tonight at 8:00 eastern, double agent inside al qaeda for the cia. you can catch both of our specials right here on cnn.

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welcome back. meet this week's cnn hero. >> i really hate when it hurts. it's a really sharp pain. i get all teary. the shots really scared me a lot. and they still scare me now.

>> when children get a diagnosis like cancer or any major disease, they lose any sense of feeling that they're controlling their lives. they're prodded and poked and touched and they're often so afraid. our daughter, sarah bossia was diagnosed with leukemia. she was such an incredible little soul who taught me about the power that's inside of ourselves. >> are you ready? >> yes! >> okay. begin! >> after our daughter passed away, i started a program that provides classes to children who are sick to teach them the martial arts. to make them feel powerful. >> every single type of martial arts uses the breath to take control. >> i'm a black belt in choy kwan do. hold it and release. we use the martial artses a

platform for medication, relaxation. to allow children to gain these tools. you're totally in control. to really face down so much of the fear, the anger that accompanies pain. breathe in. and you can see that light on their face. i feel like their souls are shining. >> hey! you did it! >> i do have the power to make the pain go away. and nothing is impossible. nothing. >> thanks again for being here. i'm ana cabrera and i'll see you back here at 7:00 p.m. eastern. smerconish starts right now. welcome to the program and thanks for joining me. i've got a packed show today, including this. cnn exclusive information on the many troubling questions surrounding the death of comedian joan rivers and a pro vasktive new theory. if you see something, say