this is cnn breaking news. a threat against president obama's niece. we have the latest on that story. this is cnn tonight, i'm don lemon. plus the return of george zimmerman. why he says the president is to blame for what happened to him. and the only thing more shocking in a yuvt rape police say there is no evidence it ever happened. they can't confirm a woman known as jackie was assaulted at a fraternity house. from this sigma alpha epsilon in

oklahoma. oklahoma. >> to one tragic case after another of hazing gone horribly wrong. a lot of people are saying it's time to abolish fraternity. is that conventional wisdom wrong? i want to go to our breaking news president obama's niece threatened shortly before the presenceton-maryland ncaa tournament game tonight, leslie robinson is a freshman forward, here to discuss this good evening, thank you, guys for joining us, christine, what are your sources telling us about this? i understand you spoke with the coach. >> after the game they went on without a hitch, with no good no nothing, as you would expect no one had known. i asked her and she said that leslie was safe and no one loves her more than i do. she has been in our locker room

and everything is fine. she said what a shame it is if we're talking about this as opposed to talking about a great women's basketball game. so that is the then results after the game the coach of princeton saying that leslie robinson president obama's niece is fine safe and all is well. >> all this came about from a voicepail left at the athletic department. tom fuentes, the president, attended one of his niece's games. the university is on saturday. he attended on saturday. the university is saying this threat is unsubstantiated. does it sound like a serious threat to you at all from what you know? >> the problem, don, is how do you sort out what's a serious threat? the president gets thousands of threats, every president gets them and president obama has more of his share. when the secret service gets those kind of threats, they can't dismiss any of them really unless it's a known mental case they have dealt with in the past. in this situation, the shame of this is that if somebody talks

to the president, but does she qualify for the protection that his own daughters who qualify for secret service, when would this threat be over? when do you say it's safe for her to walk around without security on campus to go to class or go anywhere. this is really i think a tragic situation for leslie robinson. >> we'll stay on top of it. thank you very much. more breaking news to tell you about. this also involves president barak obama. george zimmerman says the president is to blame for racial tensions in the wake of trayvon martin. he spoke out at a video provided by a law firm in orlando, florida. listen to this. >> president obama held his rose garden speech stating if i had a son, he would look like trayvon. to me that was an election of duty solely based on race. >> let's talk about this

breaking news now with crystal wright van jones, cnn commentator and a former obama administrator and reba martin attorney and liam analyst. first to you, van, george zimmerman squarely blaming president obama. at one time he refers to him as barak hussein obama. your reaction? >> i was very disappointed. obviously, he has his view. it's fine. what shocked me is him taking no responsibility for saying i went over to this guy, i appointed myself to be a police officer when i wasn't. and somebody ends up dead. i feel bad about that. he couldn't even bring himself to say that. instead, he wants to blame obama. does he blame obama for george zimmerman going on and acting like thug himself, in numerous instances later on? ought what point does he take responsibility for his own actions? >> i was proud of this president when the president stood up and said not only did he say my son looked like trayvon, afterwards

he said i look like trayvon. >> zimmerman went on to say it was clear cut self-defense. here he is. take a listen. >> they took what should have been a clear cut defense matter and still to this day the anniversary of the incident he held a ceremony at the white house inviting the martin-fulton family and stating that they should take the day to reflect upon the fact that all children's likes matter. well unfortunately, for the president, i am also my parents' child and my life matters as well and for him to make incendiary comments as he did and direct the department of justice to pursue a baseless prosecution, he by far,

overstretched, overreached, even broke the law in certain aspects. >> broke the law. did president obama break the law? your reaction? >> i don't know any law that president obama broke in making a statements that he made. look. you are right. i am a lawyer t. first amendment gives george zimmerman the right to makeen any statements he wants to make and each hate speech is protected by the first amendment. what i find curious about his statement is he is attacking obama for making incendiary statements. he is saying this is an act of god or somehow he wanted trayvon martin to be dead. not only is he offending african-americans. he is offending mothers and fathers and (and anyone who is concerned about a 7-year-old kid walking in a neighborhood not committing a crime butnding up dead. as he attacks obama, he needs to look at himself and the racial division he is causing by his very statement. >> crystal, did the president

pit americans against each other? >> president obama absolutely pitted americans against each other. he rushed to judgment before the sanford police department filed any charges against him. president obama came out and said if i had a son, he'd look like trayvon martin. so that was telling the american people that i'm going to take this out of trayvon martin. we know the justice department what three years to conduct an investigation to determine whether or not george zimmerman violated trayvon martin's civil rights after trial occurred and a verdict said you know he was not guilty and justice department found that george zimmerman didn't violate trayvon martin's civil rights. i don't really know what is george zimmerman's supposed to take responsible for? he's right. he didn't say that trayvon martin martin deserved to die. i don't see anywhere reeva said that i don't think he said god wanted trayvon martin dead. what he did say was that he is a

child of parents also. i think the whole -- >> let's beclear. he said it was god's will and that anyone that questioned that what somehow questions god's will. those were his statements is there that's not what e-said. he said it was god's will that he's alive. that's not saying that -- >> he didn't say that. listen to the tape. >> i don't think that's exactly right. >> here's more of what he said. let's listen. >> me as a christian, i believe that god does everything for a purpose and he had his plans and for me to second guess them would be hypocritical on the spots, had i had a fraction of the thought that i could have done something differently and acted differently, so that both of us would have survived then

i would have heavier weight on my shoulders, that sense in the back of my mind but in all fairness he cannot as a human feel guilty for living for surviving. >> okay. me as a christian, i believe god does have everything for a purpose. >> don, let me just say before we even get back to the christian part. that really bothered me when he said that that he could not even thousand think of one thing he could have done differently. he could have just done what the police dispatcher told him to do which was to wait tore the police to come. he was told and that's why i think people are so upset. that's why the president said when he said is you have an unarmed young person killed by someone after the police das spacher said you do not need to go over there and initiate the confrontation. in fact he can't go back and admit that i think is disturbing. >> crystal, he does say, i believe god does everything for a purpose.

he doesn't want to second guess them that would be hypocriticalal he says but in all fairness you cannot as a human being feel guilty for living surviveing. >> look. i don't think george zimmerman should feel guilty for surviveing. i will agree with van i would have liked for him to have some remorse about, look i would not want to be in a situation to take another person's life whether voluntarily or involuntary. but at the end of the day, there was a trial that occurred and trayvon martin had just as many up to do with his tragic demise as the situation. and i think that look we've hashed this over and over again. i think it's awful that a young man is gone from us but he participated in his tragic demise don. and i think that the president was not helpful nooetdeither was the attorney general erick holder in jumping out, rushing to judgment just like we saw in the michael

brown case. >> reeva, your last word. >> i want to make a point of what the department of justice found. they found there wasn't enough evidence to prosecute him under the hates crime standard which has a high standard of proof. that's very different from making a determination that that shooting was in anyway legitimate don. >> stand by all of you. when we come back fraternities behaving badly, should they be banned? also two young men dead two families grieving asking what can we do to make sure this never happens again. they told their emotional stories coming up. are democrats failing voters of color by taking them for granted. why some are saying it is time for black and brown people to register and vote republican. forget about it. tylenol was ok, but it was 6 pills a day. but aleve is just 2 pills all day. and now, i'm back! aleve.

...and the wolf was huffing and puffing... kind of like you sometimes, grandpa. well, when you have copd it can be hard to breathe. it can be hard to get air out, which can make it hard to get air in. so i talked to my doctor. she said... doctor: symbicort could help you breathe better, starting within 5 minutes. symbicort doesn't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden symptoms. symbicort helps provide significant improvement of your lung function. symbicort is for copd, including chronic bronchitis and emphysema.

it should not be taken more than twice a day. symbicort contains formoterol. medicines like formoterol increase the risk of death from asthma problems. symbicort may increase your risk of lung infections osteoporosis, and some eye problems. you should tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking it. grandfather: symbicort could mean a day with better breathing. watch out, piggies! child giggles doctor: symbicort. breathe better starting within 5 minutes. call or go online to learn more about a free prescription offer. if you can't afford your medication, astrazeneca may be able to help. people ship all kinds of things. but what if that thing is a few hundred thousand doses of flu vaccine. that need to be kept at 41 degrees. while being shipped to a country where it's 90 degrees. in the shade. sound hard? yeah. does that mean people in laos shouldn't get their vaccine? we didn't think so. from figuring it out to getting it done, we're here to help.

expected wait time: 55 minutes. vo: in the nation, we know how it feels when you aren't treated like a priority. we'll take care of it. we put members first. join the nation. thank you. ♪ nationwide is on your side ♪

police in virginia say there is no evidence to support the story of a young woman identified only as jackie saying she was gang raped at the fraternity of the university of virginia. story after story of bad behavior in america's frat houses some are calling for a ban. >> reporter: charlottesville police say there is no evidence of a brutal rape at any university of virginia fraternity despite the stunning story of a woman jackie in the fall. still the case remains opened

and the accusations that uva put fraternities everywhere on the defensive. a cnn review of public records finds disturbing incidents since last year. >> i think we have seen especially in the past couple of weeks there are enough incidents now that we can point to the fraternity and sorority structures and say that there is something wrong going on here. >> there are allegations of racism and inappropriate behavior including three different chapters of sae, the most notorious students of the university of oklahoma expelled for singing a song about lynching and clemson, white students stressing as gang members for a party t. frat was placed on probation. just this weekend an investigation launched in north carolina state where a notebook was found left behind in a raleigh restaurant filled with things like quote that tree is so perfect for lynching and jokes about rape.

there are also abun dantd examples of potential criminal behavior. hazing at washington lee university of phi kappa psi and penn state kappa delta row had a private facebook page where members were posting pictures of alleged women passed out. both fraternities were suspended. >> i think it's a group that gets people to engage in more and more extreme behavior and think it's acceptable. >> reporter: one study shows the likelihood of a hate crime on campus increases 8% with each additional fraternity on campus. that's according to research by a professor at the university of california merced. it's not known how many hate crimes were allegedly committed by frat members. then there are the deaths. three in the last year with hazing drug or alcohol abuse is suspected, including at west virginia university where beta

bet sfa phi was removed after a pledge died after drinking a bottle of liquor. all of this since 2014. but one fraternity ceo says these incidents only reflect a few bad apples. >> to characterize that or any other bad behavior as common or more common than not, i disagree. with the number of students on campus we are talking over 800,000. it's just it's simply not true. >> reporter: the incidents are bad enough that some smaller schools have eliminated fraternities altogether and penn state officials say they will reevaluate the entire fraternity system. sarah ganam, cnn, new york. >> sarah, thank you very much. so should frats be banned? attorney reeva martin is back with us. peter smith president and ceo of north american conference and cory pharr is dooern of

students after the southwest virginia universities. when you first heard about today's news uva, that they found no evidence a rain had occurred at all at the fraternity house, what did you think? why not just close the case? >> well my first impression was i just hope this doesn't set rape victims back and somehow quell, you know the conversation we're having around the country about the attack on women on college campuses. that was my first impression. i am adamantly opesed to shutting down all fraternities. they play an important role in the lives of students. we don't throw out the institutions because we have bad actors for if last couple of months even a year. particularly in african-american communities, fraternities play a huge role young men look for those fraternities to be a safety net of sorts. when they graduate they graduate into corporate america.

we have to think of the positive things attorneys do from specific engagement to supporting charities when we think about the roll of fraternities and colleges. >> i want to put up the statement from phi kappa psi. the discredited article has done significant damage to the ability of the charter members to proin their purchase suites and demerge the characters of the university of virginia who did not deserve the spotlight. the attorney requests rolling stone unconditionally retract the story and remove it from its website? do you think attorneys get a bad rap in general and this uva case may have been that may have given this particular florida ternty and other fraternities a bad rap? terrible cases happen all the time video evidence photo evidence of it? >> it really reenforces the importance of not having a knee jerk reaction. what it requires is for all of us to be active engaged and when

fraternities are made aware of situations where misbehavior is found or breaking the law, they act swiftly, decisively and take care of that situation. our students are held accountable for the values for which we espouse as fraternities and sororities. that's the important link to the higher education process. there is where students are supposed to grow learn, change the fraternity experience really reenforces that. >> dean you have experience in this. and in white of those alleged photos posted on photos at penn state, the president said today a task force is going to review the greek systems, they're a bit blurred. how did you handle this at your university? what did you do? >> when an incident occurs on our campus we actually took a pause. we put our fraternities and

sororities on a moratorium which stopped everything except their fill anthropic events. we paused to do an investigation and see what was going on. we brought in outside consultants to make sure we weren't missing anything locally. we consulted with the national offices and a number of different things before taking action. we didn't release that moratorium until the start of spring semester. after individual fraternities and sororities stepped up and did a number of things before we allowed them to ban the communities? >> do you think they will go underground and become an off campus fraternity where they don't have any oversight by the school dean? >> well i don't think banning fraternities and sororities or any club or organization will eliminate the problem. if there is a problem. there is a problem and as was said a few minutes ago, our

mission at colleges and universities is to educate stuvenlts when they misstep, when they break the law, when they make ugly they lose their common sense, then it's up to us as educators to teach them leadership and we'll do that. >> your legal team focuses specifically on hazing. i don't know if you read it that way, if so how can hazing be stopped? >> well let's start off with that we do focus on more than hazing. we are deeply involved in the battle against fraternitys and universities in the context of sexual violence across the country and i just flat out disagree with the nic spokesperson and the university spokesperson. you don't do enough. i mean penn state to this day isn't telling the public the truth about the scope of the problem with fraternities on

their campus. the nic have known of these problems for decades. they have made decisions not to fundamentally clang to make the organizations safe. so i hear the words. the words come out every year when people gravitate around these problems and hear if anecdotal issues related to the risks. these organizations still don't tell the public the truth about how serious the risks are under college campuses. the fraternities were --? finish up. let me finish this up. the fraternities were ranked at the 6th worst risk ahead of waste disposal companies. you don't get to that risk factor without having scores of injuries and deaths across this country. >> to paint the fraternity community with the same negative broad brush. the implication that the fraternity experience is not a positive one is simply untrue. it's the fraternity community that has stepped forward to address these issues in

proactive ways. the amount of money, time effort energy invested in the education of our students for proactive action is what the fraternity experience is all about. we have stepped forward and we tell the truth. the fraternity experience can be a very positive one for students on today's college campus. >> all right. thank you very much. >> why don't you then make a commitment right now, which is to instruct your insurance carriers and the individuals that have knowledge of your risks to release those risks right now? because you fight us in court every single time when we're trying to educate the public about what you know how many people are getting hurt or killed on college campuses by fraternities when you haven't changed your policies for the last three decades? >> doug it's the nic who stepped forward with really positive reactions to all of these important issues facing their reputation in total. it is a co-active reaction. >> the nic is to take the opportunity to develop three kickss with experts, including

researchers, faculty members, vice presidents for student affairs, fraternity professionals, to dig deep and to look at the core solutions that are going to have long-term success. >> you are going to be problems. >> yes, we know what the problems are, we address them every day. the that makes you feel. >> we got to make you feel reactive. >> if that makes you feel good to say that that's fine. >> we appreciate that. we will be back. o information, no matter where they are. the microsoft cloud gives our team the power to instantly deliver critical information to people, whenever they need it. here at accuweather we get up to 10 billion data requests every day. the cloud allows us to scale up so we can handle that volume. we can help keep people safe and to us that feels really good. before i had the shooting, burning, pins-and-needles of diabetic nerve pain, these feet...

...served my country... ...carried the weight of a family... ...and walked a daughter down the aisle. but i couldn't bear my diabetic nerve pain any longer. so i talked to my doctor and he prescribed lyrica. nerve damage from diabetes causes diabetic nerve pain. lyrica is fda-approved to treat this pain. lyrica may cause serious allergic reactions or suicidal thoughts or actions. tell your doctor right away if you have these, new, or worsening depression or unusual changes in mood or behavior. or swelling, trouble breathing rash, hives, blisters, muscle pain with fever, tired feeling, or blurry vision. common side effects are dizziness, sleepiness, weight gain and swelling of hands, legs and feet. don't drink alcohol while taking lyrica. don't drive or use machinery until you know how lyrica affects you. those who have had a drug or alcohol problem may be more likely to misuse lyrica. now i have less diabetic nerve pain. and my biggest reason to walk... ...calls me grandpa. ask your doctor about lyrica.

it's more than the cloud. it's multi-layered security and flexibility. with centurylink you get advanced technology solutions. including cloud and hosting services - all from a trusted it partner. centurylink. your link to what's next.

. hazing can happen anywhere inside a locker room or inside a fraternity house and it can be deadly. my next guests know the pain of losing a child after a fraternity hazing. a man died in 2008 there she is holding a picture of her 19-year-old son and julie and gary's son gary jr., died in a hazing ritual in 2007. i can't tell you. thank you so much for coming on tonight. this is a very important subject. i am glad you are here and have the strength and courage to talk

about it. talk about your son harrison brutally killed in north carolina. what happened? >> don, first of all, thank you very much for having me on this evening on this very important topic. the recent headlines about fraternities have been atrocious these past two weeks. back in 2008 november we lost our dear son and brother harrison stephen. he was attending college on an academic and a golf scholarship. it's every parent's worst nightmare to send your kid off to college. you don't expect them to come home dead. we received that in the middle of the notice. it was hell week don, he was asked to wear a light-colored tee-shirt with two pledges, a very small university. they were caught probably about 20 miles off campus and, frankly, the brothers in the fraternity were wearing dark colored clothing. harrison was asked to run the

gauntless from one end of the field to the other end of the field and touch that sacred rock. sadly, they tackled him out of left and right field, he hit his head very hard. you know this is every parent's worst nightmare. you just don't expect it. he had mentioned to me mom, dad, i am thinking of joining that fraternity i want that college experience. he knew he had to keep the grades up the golf scholarship up. it was something he wanted to try. we didn't know how dangerous it would be don. >> i'm sure most parents doevenl i want to get to julie and gary. tell us gary jr., what happened? he died in a hazing incident in new jersey. a so-called drinking ritual? >> thank you for keep keeping the topping alive. our son, gary jr., was on an academic scholarship. he was focused and driven on achieving his goal his dream

was to be a general manager of a professional sports team, preferably baseball. he started college at the age of 17 and turned 18. he was in the nba program there. levs not lookinghe was not looking to join a fraternity. they put a bid on him. he did research. there were three different ones that wanted him. he did research on them t. one that stood for leader subpoena he decided to accept. he believed it would be good for his resume good for networking for what he wanted to do. totally professionally driven goals. >> but you did not know about the hazing incident and explain to us the hazing incident that cost him his life. >> there were numerous smaller incidents of hazing i didn't realize it at the time.

with a tee-shirt with a humiliating term on the back going on a scavengeer hunt three hours in the night. study for three-plus hours without sitting down. then it was big little night. the most deadliest night in a fraternity is when the universe the littles, are presented with their big brother. they went through some ceremony and then one of the last things they did, they presented each of the big brothers presented each of tear little brothers with their family drink a. specific type of alcohol. they were required to finish the entire bottle within an hour and they could leave the basement. all of the pledges drank. several finished their bottle. two went to the hospital.

and one died of col poisoning. they knew he was in trouble and they ignored him. >> the one that died of col poisoning was your son, sadly. >> yes. >> i want to ask you, gary when you listen to there was a dig i vigorous debate before we got to you. what did you make of that, one person saying they should not be banned? another person saying yes, they should be banned. what do you make of this debate? >> well, the problem has been going on a long long time we're only seeing the tip of ice burg. the universities and the fraternities have been sweeping this under the rug and hiding it for a very long time and it's really time that people become aware of the dangers is that our children are facing when they go

to these universities and join fraternities. >> your daughter is looking at colleges i'm not sure if it will be a part of her plan there, when you hair about this debate which as gary said has been going on forever and people are sweeping it under the rug. do you agree? >> yes, you know don, for over 100 years, there are fraternities and sororities that have existed. they talk about the brotherhood and sisterhood. i do know there is a lot of service oriented sororities and philanthropic work that is done. however, there is a shroud ofcy cresscy when they continue. it is the responsibility of all, whether the university the national fraternity the local chapter. everybody needs to be involved and to take responsibility and be an individual that takes the high road. don't be a bystander. if you see something going on

you got to not be the one to close. quite honestly my daughter is 16-years-old we are on a roadtrip this week. it's spring break. we are looking at colleges. we will have that conversation. i know that i've spoken to college students and campuses. i met so many positive well intended individuals. i know there are some wonderful people out there and so if my daughter feels that she wants to join a sorority whether with the service in nature or whatever type of sorority we will make sure that it is safe and that there is no hazing toll rated and i will make sure there are checks and balances. >> and that has to be the last word. i appreciate all of you for being so passion fat about this. thank you, le anne thank you, julie, thank you, gary. we appreciate you. >> thank you. >> you are welcome. >> thank you. >> we'll be right back. .

eview. and now angie's list... .

he first republican to officially announce a campaign for the 2016

race. >> i believe in the power of millions of courageous conservatives rising up to reignite the promise of america 12k34r cruz made his announcement at a christian school in virginia. back with me now crystal wright and van jones, cnn political commentator and a former obama commentator. cruz made an appeal he talked to espn host steve a. smith who says it's time for black people to vote republican. it's not the first person to say it. van, does he have a point? >> you know i will shock you. i think he may have a point i think he is trying to point out african-americans vote 90-94% for democrats. what that means is republicans

often don't try to compete for our vote. in fact after the last vote you had a lot of republicans saying they want to pursue the hispanic soet, the latino vote. they should. i think it's dangerous for any group to be possibly written off by one group and taken for granted by another. >> i don't want to rush you. i want to make sure we get everything in. crystal smith went on to say why african-americans should vote for one election cycle. take a vote. >> the vast african-americans look at the republican party, as a result we are very transparent in our support for them. so because of it they have a license to take us for granted. the republican party has a license to summarily dismiss us because they think they will never get our vote and we find ourselves devoid of representation whatsoever because nobody is competing to garner our vote and our support.

>> so dismissed by one and taken for granted by the other one? well crystal? >> well i think you will be shocked to hear this by me don, i kind of agree with van, what van is saying is we black folks, we're not making our vote competitive, because democrats take us for granted each election cycle. i mean don, how absurd would it be if i looked at white americans and said white america, why aren't you just voting for one party? you guys would all laugh me in the face right? so my party has some work to do in earning the vote as stephen a. smith said we have to ask for it. we are stupid because we just say, hey, i'm going to throw it to democrats, lock stock and barrel. you will not get any party to pay attention to you that way. >> this is writer karnt karen hunter. she said for those who are so

emotionally and physically repulsed by what the republican party has become and the idea of registering as a republican would be akin to cutting off your right foot remember politics is not about emotion. it is about power. we have to stop being mad and upset and feeling neglected and overlooked and start using the ample power we have. and then crystal, she goes on to say that insanity is often defined as doing the same thing over and over again, expecting a different result. it's crazy for blacks to continue to support a democratic party which has for half a century taken us for granted. while at the same time applying zero pressure to the other party, essentially letting them off the hook from even trying to woo our vote. >> don, let me say something about this. >> wait. >> i'll let you respond. listen. i think that in a post-obama democratic party, i think they

have to work harder for the vote. i think the democrats actually need to be aware you cannot expect a super turnout. >> i'm going to up the ante real quick on this. the new chairman of the congressional black caucus mr. butterfield, congressman butterfield, in his opening speech as chair in january says black america is in a state of emergency and as just worse off as it was 50 years ago. okay. who is the party that packs have voted for, for you the last 50 years in it is democrats. right? so i would say, you know, vote republican one election cycle. you will lose four years of disappointment not 50. >> don't put all your power in one place, all your cards if one place. listen we have a long election cycle. coming up why go to church if you don't believe in god? you'd be surprised how many people are doing just that. we will talk about that coming up.

.

bleeding and vaginitis. estrogens may increase your chances of getting cancer of the uterus, strokes, blood clots or dementia so use it for the shortest time based on goals and risks. estrogen should not be used to prevent heart disease heart attack, stroke or dementia. ask your doctor about premarin vaginal cream. you exercise. you choose the salad. occasionally. but staying well - physically, financially,

emotionally - its hard on your own. so cigna's got your back and your knees, 24/7. cigna's there to answer your questions. or when you need some coaching. in sickness and in health, cigna's there, helping you to get well and stay well. that's having a partner, who's with you all the way. cigna. we hold our freedoms dear in this country. especially freedom of speech and religion. >> that doesn't mean that people necessarily feel free to call themselves atheists.

inside the world of non-believers. how are you doing? >> you are tackling this. this airs tomorrow. will you go inside the world of aitheism. explain to us what this looks like now in america. >> you know what it's growing and it's interesting. there was a time where they just used the word eighthity. now you are hearing humanist nuns skeptics free-thinkers. and you will talk to leaders within the atheist community. they whether say this is the same thing. they don't believe in god, they're scared to say the word. then we met a lot of of these folks. they don't feel an affiliation to religion. they like a sort of softleer gentler approach. there is such a stigma people think devil worshiper. no moral compass. >> it doesn't necessarily mean

that. you actually talked to a priest or a preacher who started a church for atheists. >> yes. and, you know what before we even met with him, because, as he likes to say, he is out of the closet. okay. >> on aitheism? >> oh, yeah it's interesting. a lot of the atheists compare themselves to gay and lesbians. it's just like that. it's living in the closet. not able to be my real self and it's torturous. i mean you want to take -- this is jerry dewitt. >> okay. >> three years ago jerry dewitt lost his faith. >> it felt like living a lie. >> and made the hardest choice in his life. >> the real heart break, soul crushing heart break was realizing i had to give up the ministry. >> the news that dewitt had become an atheist sent shock

waves through the community and the fallout was like a punch to the gut. >> you lost it all, your job, your congregation your wife left. you lost all your money. so why stay here in louisiana? why not go somewhere that is more progressive, open minded? >> if we're going to make things better we got to make things better where they need to be made better. >> you go into his church. you feel like you are in church. can i get an amen? don, we also talked to preachers who don't have the guts to come out and they're preaching every sunday and their congregation doesn't know they don't believe. there is something called the clergy project. more than 600 leaders in the faith community are struggling with the fact that they are preaching what they don't believe in god. we talked to one of those preachers. >> i can't wait to see this you and i discuss god and whether he

exists all that. >> our faith. >> i know you are passionate about it. so it will be great, cnn's special report atheists inside the world of non-believers. hosted by our own kir philips at 9:00 eastern. thanks, kira. we'll be right back. >> you bet. .

upertino service center. i was born and raised in the cupertino area. it's a fantastic area to work. the new technology that we are installing out in the field is important for the customers because system reliability i believe is number one. pg&e is always trying to plan for the future

and we are always trying to build something stronger and bigger and more reliable. i love living here and i love the community i serve. nobody wants to be without power. i don't want my family to be without power. it's much more personal to me for that reason. i don't think there's any place i really would rather be.

en you roam free. it's what you do. if you want to save fifteen percent or more on car insurance you switch to geico. it's what you do. ♪ two wheels a turnin'... ♪ hey pal? you ready? can you pick me up at 6:30? ah... (boy) i'm here! i'm here! (cop) too late. i was gone for five minutes! ugh! move it. you're killing me. you know what, dad? i'm good. (dad) it may be quite a while before he's ready, but our subaru legacy will be waiting for him. (vo) the longest-lasting midsize sedan in its class. the twenty-fifteen subaru legacy. it's not just a sedan. it's a subaru.

some states don't require schools to test children's eyesight. this year cnn heroes are fighting for children to see clearly into their future. >> all right. >> i was a very active child. anything i could see i'd grab. i was barely 4 when i lost my vision in my left eye. the following years, i was so angry. this was an irreversible change. 25% of children ages 5 to 17 have a vision problem. 25%. how can you fully embrace all the opportunities available if

you can't see them? i keep looking right at the light for me. >> our program provides free vision screenings to all school age children in the county. we actually used a vans technology which allows us to test in second. had this device been around when i was 4 yearn old, it could have saved my vision. we deliver a school report for low income families. we provide access to an eye care professional and financial assistance to cover the cost of corrective wear. >> my daughter loves books. we never thought something was wrong. so when i got the letter we were caught off guard. >> hi. >> bradley reminded me a lot of myself. we both turned out to have pretty severe conditions. >> bradley is only 4-years-old and because they caught it early, we could help her. >> just seeing her even today with glasses knowing that her

vision will be completely fine because we caught it that's what we do. >> you can nominate a hero at cnnheroes.com. that's it for tonight, i'll see you back here tomorrow night. "ac 360" starts right now. thanks, for joining us. we begin tonight with breaking news heightened security at ncaa maryland's women's matchup. a threat against one of the princeton players that happens to be president obama's niece. christine brennan broke the story. she joins us on the phone. what have you learned? >> anderson leslie robinson's forward is not playing in the game on the bench. the athletic department received an 8-minute long voicemail according to a source that told me all about this and the voicemail of the woman leaving