looking forward to seeing more of that. >> i thought you were going to say something else. >> no. >> good pairing for the rest of the season. >> yeah. >> good. >> definitely. looking forward to more. >> go, jets. that's going to do it for us today. of course, we'll be watching all day as the rescue gets under way for the miners in chile. >> i'll see the doc because i sound like a muppet this morning. "cnn newsroom" with kyra phillips starts right now. >> the next messages must be inspiring him to do well on the field, right? just saying. >> i was thinking there's possible talk that he might, you know, get in trouble perhaps suspended so we'll see how the rest of the season goes. >> yes, we shall. they get into a lot of trouble. >> you had to go there. >> see you later. good morning, everybody. trapped miners prepare for their shot to the surface. it's complicated. claustrophobic and it's going to be quite a step through half a mile of planet.

we'll show you what their inner space capsule looks like. a remarkable before and after. an afghan teen maimed and left for dead gets a new face and a new life. exposing military fakers and cheats. we're talking to the couple who's fighting to take stolen valor to the u.s. supreme court. their mission, making liars criminals. i'm kyra phillips and you are live in "the cnn newsroom." we have nothing but good and encouraging news about those 33 miners in chile. that hole half a mile underground could have been their grave. but instead, it's been their home for more than two months as they waited for rescue. today could be their last full day in there. and the rescue operation is expected to actually begin tonight. raphael romo giving us an idea of the rescue capsule in a moment but right now let's get you down to chile and cnn's karl

penhaul. karl? >> reporter: well, kyra, all systems are a go here. the steel encasing is in place in the rescue shaft. and the platform of concrete as we understand now the cement has dried on that so the pulley and winch system can be put in place. now -- yet -- yesterday the rescue operation was likely to begin around midnight tonight local time. that's 11:00 p.m. eastern and also said if things went well that could begin earlier and expecting in the next couple of hours to get some update from the mine's minister to see if the rescue operation even starts up a few hours earlier but amazing to think this morning that as the sun rising here over the gold and copper mine by tomorrow some of the miners could be seeing their first sunrise in more than two months. kyra? >> and karl, have they figured out who's going to come up first

and who's going to come out last? i know there was a lot of debate, a lot of guys wanted their buddies to go first. >> reporter: exactly. at one point when the health minister talked on a video conferencing system to the miners, all of them said that they wanted to be last and that's really an example of comradery that's grown up there in extreme circumstances. that each miner wants to see his buddies get safely to the surface before they themselves step into the rescue capsule but it could be two paramedics and two rescue experts that define the batting order. they'll go down into the mine shaft first and assess all 33 and what we're told is that according to the government, what the government wants the happen is for the first five fittest and technically most knowledgeable miners first. that way they give feedback on

the way that the capsule is operating coming up through that half mile rescue shaft. and also, feedback any details of probables down in the mine itself. then will come another group of ten, ten that we know suffering from some kind of medical conditions. one of the guys has got diabetes. another with high blood pressure. another of the miners with a longstanding condition and i believe what miners call black lung in the u.s. they'll be brought up in the next group and the final group, the fittest men of all. still some debate about who the 33rd miner out of the hole will be but it's luis suoy volunteering to come last and he said i was the boss down there on the day of the cave-in and he likens his position somewhat to that of a ship captain. should be the ship's captain to be the last leaving a sinking ship and wants the know the men are safe on the way back to the surface before he himself steps

into that phoenix capsule, kyra. >> wow. can't imagine being that last one down there. karl penhaul, we can't wait to watch this operation begin and just imagine. headset, communications and a lot of faith getting into that capsule and working their way up. it's also very claustrophobic, raphael, and oxygen, too. there's safety precautions in place getting into the capsule. >> exactly. look at the replica we have here. little more than 21 inches. just enough to fit a normal person. just about the width of my shoulders and it is very, very tight in there. and at the height is about 6'4" so it's expected to be just good enough for all 33 miners inside. now, once they're in here, they will have communications equipment to be able to talk to the rescue team above the mine and they will also be wearing a

special suit that is going to -- it's moisture resistant. they will be wearing equipment that will monitor the vital signs to make sure on the way up a ride in this capsule takes 15 minutes altogether. so as you can imagine, for somebody who's been underground for so long, it is going to feel like a very long 15 minutes. >> going to step in and show me how tight this is? is it too dangerous to do so? is it wobbling? >> it is wobbling. >> does it open up? there we go. all right. we're got going to close it. step in for me to give me an idea. i promise, if you roll over, i won't push you around. don't close it. you're making me nervous. all right. so you're looking at -- you're -- how many inches? >> 21 1/2 inches. >> 21 1/2 inches.

oh my gosh. how tall are you? >> about 5'9" 1/2. officially 5'10". >> if they have the vest, the headsets an communicationing system, my gosh, you have to definitely meditate, pray, do something to kind of keep -- they're used to close quarters, right? >> exactly. >> they're not claustrophobic guys. that's the reason, kyra, what they wanted to do first is as karm w karl was telling us, have the most experienced miners go first because they're going to be able to tell where whether there's any instability in the structure, the rescue shaft. >> describing the whole journey. i see this. i feel this. i hear this. because if anything cracks, that could be an issue. right? >> they're on the phone constantly with specialized team above telling them exactly, this

is what i see. rocks falling down, a cause for concern. every step of the way is going to be monitored. once they're sure there's no -- it's time for the sickest men to be hoisted up. >> all starts about 11:00 eastern time tonight, right? >> midnight their time in chile. that's very important because they've been underground for two months and so their eyesight may be damaged if they're brought up in the middle of daylight. they will be wearinging special glasses but in any case, it is dangerous for their eyesight. >> we'll be carrying it live for sure. trying to calculate that in my head. midnight chile time, what time is that our time? >> 11:00 eastern. >> okay. thank you so much. we can't wait the see them coming up. >> absolutely. >> appreciate it so much. midterm elections three weeks from today and political ads seem to be everywhere. we probably have seen one or two of them.

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all-important midterm elections three weeks from today and the control of congress could change hands. with stakes that high, political ads are filling the air waves but you may not always know who's paying for them. this morning, we are following the money. this a's why we're going to dana bash taking a look at the legal loopholes and tells us why we should care. >> reporter: consider this statistic from the nonpartisan watchdog group open secrets.org. in nearly half of the competitive senate races, outside groups are spending more money than the candidates themselves. more money on both sides of the aisle but the republicans have the enthusiasm and most of the cash. we don't know where most of it is coming from. embattled 14-term democrat rick boucher said he never had an enemy like the one he's facing now. not his opponent. >> this is an organization that is truly shadowy.

>> reporter: a third party republican group running this ad. >> boucher failed to protect our jobs. now it's time rick boucher loses his. americans for job security is responsible for this advertising. >> reporter: americans for job security is responsible. you don't know who they are? >> we have no idea who the ridges are. this could be a foreign entity. it could be someone with a corporate identity in the united states, a wealthy individual with a grudge against me. >> reporter: americans for job group is benefits from a supreme court decision on free speech grounds saying corporations can spend unlimited money to promote or defeats candidates without disclosing donors. the website says it promotes free market ideas and more than 1,000 members, quote, businesses, business leaders and entrepreneurs from around the state and too often politicians or the media define an organization or message not by the merits of the argument but

by the perception of the people associated with it. republican sources say americans for job security only has one full-time employee, steve demorro whose offices are across the river here in washington, d.c. we left multiple phone messages to get more information about the group and never heard back and came here to the office and knocked on the door and told he wasn't there. >> because of the type of group they are, you don't know if that's one american for job security, a million americans for job security. >> reporter: what we do know where the help of opensecrets.org is they've spent nearly $8 million against democratic candidates nationwide and overall conservative outside groups spent $108 million. liberal groups, $69 tim phillips with americans for prosperity, another gop group, did talk to us. it's been singled out by the president. >> even though they're posing as nonprofit groups, with names like americans for prosperity --

>> reporter: by the time we reach election day, how much will your group have spent? >> this year around $35 million. >> reporter: that fun funds ads like this. >> to small businesses, he's the same as nancy pelosi. >> reporter: who are the donors? the texas billionaire coke brothers are the group's founders and give significant dollars. besides them, who knows? >> most of it is private individuals but we are glad to have their support and we tell them, look, we'll protect your privacy as the law allows us to do. >> reporter: key thing to remember about this, it is legal for these particular groups to spend tens of millions without anyone know who's funding them. the supreme court left it in congress' hands to fix and democrats' legislation to do that and at least try blocked in the senate before recess. today we focus on republican outside groups and we have to make the point that democratic groups are hitting gop candidates, too. not as well funded or as big but

they're out and looking at that tomorrow. kyra? >> got it. thanks so much. let's follow our money. there's new charges of insider trading by the very people who should be looking out for all of us. congressional staffers with privileged information to make or break companies, and according to "the wall street journal," dozens of congressional staffers may have cashed in. cnn's christine romans is investigating this for us. hey, christine. >> reporter: we did some digging on this story and you're right. it is legal and an analysis of 3,000 disclosure documents found staffers and aides who were trading on information, information gleaned in the halls of power in washington, d.c. information about companies who were being regulated by or who were lobbying for certain kinds of rules and regulations that could benefit their companies. some aides traded shares of companies their bosses helped oversee and in particular several of these outlined by

"the wall street journal," one was an aide to senator henry reid, the senate majority leader that profited from a company, renewable energy stock for a company that did well after some laws were passed by henry reid, that helped it. henry reid's office saying that his staffer showed poor judgment, senator reid made it very clear to that staffer and his staff that their actions must not only follow the law but meet a higher standard of the public -- that they have to respect from officials and their staffs. it's interesting here because this is perfectly legal and this is something that i was not aware of. perfectly legal and in fact over the past five years a couple of times a law introduced, a bill in the house called "stock, the stop trading on congressional knowledge" act, a law floated to say, look, it is not fair for people in congress and their staffs to be able to be trading on information floating around there in -- on capitol hill.

this law has never passed. in fact, it's never garnered much support. the most reiteration in the spring, only nine -- look at that. only nine members of congress supported a crackdown on inside the beltway information trading. not a lot of support for that. many critics say, look, it is not really fair that the very people, congress, really bashing the banks and wall street and the way wall street does business and when you peel back the curtain, you can see that there's special rules for congress, as well. >> yeah. there are always special things for congress. we'll stay on the story, for sure. thanks. democrats and republicans trying to convince voters that they're part of the solution to america's economic problems and last night on "parker spitzer" they talked about "inside job" and who's to blame for the

financial crisis. >> you can't blame only republicans and just dratds either. you can't pin it on president bush or president clinton and it really didn't matter who controlled congress. the it is just a story of runaway greed, of a relatively small number of people who nearly destroyed our financial system. >> i would say it's all of the above. it was president bush. it was also president clinton and the folks around him. the fed, s. c. congress, everybody bought into the notion that wall street could make everybody rich. they made themselves rich and we are poor. this is one big ponzi scheme to bail them out an they kept the money and gave nothing back to us. that has people really angry. >> you can watch "parker spitzer" weeknights 8:00 p.m. eastern here on cnn. all right. paula now a hurricane apparently and headed toward the yucatan peninsula. rob marciano joining us.

will it affect us? >> it may. this is the same area where hurricane wilma developed in 2005. the strongest storm in the atlantic basin ever and made landfall and tore apart both coasts. we have hurricane winds of 75 miles per hour. the last couple of frames of this hasn't gotten larger. the winds go out ten miles as far as the hurricane-strength winds from the center of this thing and room to grow and there's warm water in here. about 200 drn less than 200 miles south of cozumel and heading in that direction with northwesterly movement about 10 miles per hour. here's the hurricane track. doesn't give us a lot of answers. there is a lot of uncertainty here. staying relatively weak, it will probably meander down in through here. if it gets stronger, it will get into the deeper steering

currents and go towards key west. those are the variables we are dealing with right now but here's official forecast track. tonight and tomorrow and battering and scraping the eastern coastline of the yucatan and then after that, all bets are off so we're watching that carefully. closer the home, thunderstorms that rolled through new york city last night. some of which pretty strong and showers and storms from new orleans to the southern tip of florida. and on top of that, we had recordbreaking temperatures from san francisco, to louisville, to d.c. yesterday. and hail falling in brooklyn. look at this video. can you believe this? middle of october. not only, i mean, any time of year to get hail this size. coating the sidewalks and the roadways in brooklyn, new york. quite a night last night in the big apple. we don't expect that sort of activity today. decent storm for the weekend for those folks right now monitoring paula. all eyes on the tropics. kyra? >> thanks, rob. she was mutilated by the tall been and exposed how women

are treated in afghanistan. but today, we're celebrating a new beginning for this teenager who's endured so much. discertot now, allov cntry are getting ve perce cashba bonus at restaurants.

it pay switch, its to dr.

well, we have an update on a story now that we followed earlier this year. this is the face of brutality in afghanistan. remember 19-year-old bebe?

she was a teenager running away from an abusive, arranged marriage. she was left for dead until american medical team came to her rescue. today, her face and her future much different. she begins a new life in the u.s., where she's been outfitted with a prosthetic nose and will under go eight months of plastic surgery. the united nations actually estimates 90% of women there suffer from some form of domestic abuse but at a weekend event former first lady laura bush explained why this is a major focus of her post-white house years. mrs. bush says, quote, there's afghan leaders, though some afghan leaders, rather, have condemned the violence and defended the rights of women, others maintain a silence in hopes of peace but peace attained by compromising the rights of half of the population will not last. the nation's housing crisis,

millions of americans booted from the homes, possibly victims of a fraud that preyed on them at the weakest. that story after the break.

wall street this week, the federal reserve, several poli policymakers set to speak.

they're listening closely to what they have to say. alison kosik at new york stock exchange. how important are the words? >> it is incredibly important, kyra. what the fed affects stocks. look at what happened last week. the market rallied because investors merely thought that the fed will do something to help the economy. now that fed officials are actually talking, you can bet it's definitely going to have an affect. last night, fed vice chairman warned that keeping interest rates at record lows and expanding the balance sheet could create big problems down the road and for wall street that's a sign that policymakers are cautious about helping the economy so stocks as we can see are opening lower. today, kansas city's fed president an minutes of the last policy meeting they had in september and that's going to give wall street clues about possible fed actions but the most important thing to watch will be bernanke's speech on friday. meantime, the dow industrials are down about 39 points. the nasdaq is off 7.

we'll keep an eye on all the numbers for you. back to you. >> all right. aliso alison, thanks. foreclosure salesnew becau questionable practices that may have caused struggling borrowers to be evicted from home. not only have r the cigsignatur in question, many times the documents themselves are not entirely factual. cnn senior correspondent allen chernoff investigated. >> oh, man. oh! >> reporter: she bought her dream home in new york four years ago. hard times hit and she fell into default on her mortgage. this summer, she declared bankruptcy hoping to head off foreclosure. how important is it to you to hold on to this home? >> outside of my children and my family, there's nothing more important. >> reporter: the threat of a fore clez your looms from citi mortgage, a division of

citigroup even though the company doesn't own the mortgage. fannie mae owns it with millions of other home loans. fannie mae's name is nowhere to be found on the document. citi mortgage produced in the bankruptcy case. instead, the document states the mortgage was assigned to citimortgage. the lawyer says the bankers are not following proper legal procedure. >> this is an improper assignment of mortgage meant to shortcut the system. it's less about the truth and more about how fast can we get the property foreclosed on? >> reporter: citimortgage that collected the monthly payments as the servicer of the loan says there's no foul play here. it's normal procedure. and fannie mae agrees pointing out this is how it operates all the time. in fact, citimortgage owned the loan very briefly for only a couple of months back in 2006. the original lender home loan center sold the mortgage to

citimortgage on november 3rd, 2006. the very day she borrowed the money. less than two months later, citimortgage turned around and sold that loan as an investment to fannie mae on january 1st, 2007. yet the assignment of mortgage documents starting citimortgage owns the loan is dating june 24th, 2010. that information on the document comes from a virginia company owned by citimortgage, fannie mae and other big mortgage players, mortgage electronic region strags system. banks use it as an electronic repository to keep track of the real owners. they have 64 million loans in the database. if a bank wants to fore foreclose, out turned to mers for the documentation. much faster and cheaper than retrieving local title records. but the mers' papers like for

this home sometimes don't reflect the true status of the mortgage. >> we are seeing forgeries, back datings, post datings. largely because lenders are scrambling to come up with a chain of title that mers was ill equipped from the inception to provide. >> allen joining us live from new york. what does mers have to say about all of this? >> they say they provide clarity, transparency and deficiency to the mortgage finance system and citi relies on the da for people delinquent on the mortgages but lawyers going after mers for the way it operates. >> all right. well, we'll follow to follow it with you. thanks so much. this is something that has science fiction written all over it. but it's not fiction. it's fact. a healthy baby boy born in may from an embryo that was frozen

for almost 20 years. cnn's john roberts talked this morning with the director of virginia clinic that did the transfer and, john, it is remarkable an embryo frozen for 20 years produces a healthy baby. how does that happen and why did it take 20 years for them bring owe to be used? >> it is remarkable. it is like a real-life rip van winkle story. the oldest embryo used was 13 years previous to this and pushing the envelope out another seven years. 42-year-old woman, trying to get pregnant for ten years. she went to the jones institute for reproductive medicine saying do you have an embryo to use? they said, here's one. matches the characteristics you would like. it's 20 years old. she said, that's fine. let's give it a shot. the baby boy was born back in may. i talked to jacob mayer, the head embryologist there about why use a 20-year-old embryo.

here's what he told me. >> remember that theembryos onl 1970s. humans in the 1980s. 20 years, 20-some years is the longest we could have had something in storage at the moment but at theory looking at it, they're frozen and stored at minus 321 degrees fahrenheit. and at that temperature, there are no thermally driven reactions. the bio mechanical reactions are frozen in place. >> i love that, suspended in animation. like and architect ka from the days of sha c kleton and what kind of implications for the future and are there risks involved? >> well, here's what somebody said to me this morning. would you want chicken frozen

for 20 years? it's a different process here but they're proving that at this point there's no bounds to how long embryos or eggs because a lot of women are freezing the eggs can be frozen and held and still be viable. are there potential risks? they really don't know because as he said, you know, the technology is still fairly young. this is the oldest embryo. won't be until later on in the child's life they know whether or not there are potential implications from a risk perspective. what are the overall implications for this? some women beginning to freeze their eggs or freeze embryos for future generations. in 2007, a woman chose eggs for a condition that might make her infertile later in life. say you freeze the eggs, or embryos. a grandchild is infertile. great grandmother could be the parent of the great grandchild. doesn't that just blow your

mind? >> that is pretty blind blowing. keeping it all in the family. fascinating story. thanks, john. take a close look at this. president obama on stage when a book goes whizzing past him. glad it wasn't a shoe. we'll tell you what happened after the break. determination. strength. focus. at pacific life, when it comes to helping secure your financial future, we know what it takes to perform. ask a financial professional about pacific life. the power to help you succeed. (voice 2) how bad is it? (voice 1) traffic's off the chart... (voice 2) they're pinging more targets... (voice 3) isolate... prevent damage... (voice 2) got 'em.

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the st bif, faaronar checking stop tori stories. a first a spinal cord injury patient here in atlanta the first person to be injeblgted with human embry i don't knowic stem cells. researchers are hoping that the controversial therapy are regenerate tissue in the partially paralyzed patient ji police in colorado say they're reopening the murder case of jonbenet ramsey. the body of the 6-year-old girl found in the basement of her home in december of 1996. two years ago, the boulder county district attorney cleared ramsey's family of involvement in the murder case. the alleged gunman behind

last year's ft. hood massacre has a hearing today. officials trying to determine if there's enough evidence against major nadal hassan to put him on child. he faces 13 counts of premedicated murder.

all right. just three weeks away from today, americans cast their votes in the mird term elections in the very patrol of congress may be at stake. we're taking it to mark preston in washington at the political desk. hey, mark. >> hey, how are you? good morning, good morning. let's start off with florida. there's a very, very, very competitive governor's race down

there right now. rick scott and alex singh. rick scott spent a lot of money to win the primary. alex sink, a new poll show that is the race is dead heat. why is this important? because just a few weeks ago mr. scott had a six-point lead over alex sink. it's showing that the race is tightening up. the poll from quinnipiac. sink making up with independent voters. talking over and over again how important the independent voters are. a huge swing in the poll. several weeks left before the election day. let's to qufocus on kentucky. rand paul, the republican nominee in kentucky. the tea party favorite. came out of nowhere. well, he debated against the democratic nominee jack conway

last night. they talk a lot about fiscal discipline. one common thing they also had is they talked about their independence. jack conway talking about an independent democrat. of course, rand paul talking about independence from the republican establishment. why is this important? because the tea party is really looking at kentucky as a major win should rand paul win in november. and what about that book flying incident? you know, on sunday, president obama was rallying the troops up in pennsylvania. all of a sudden, a book came out of nowhere. you can see the video, of course, here on cnn and see it online and cnnpolitics.com. the book flying mr. obama. didn't know what it was. secret service apprehended the man. did not charge him and describe hip as an exuberant author. my question is, kyra, why didn't this guy throw the book at oprah winfrey? isn't she the one to make authors as far as we know president obama didn't see the book. kyra? >> that's a good thing. as i said earlier, glad it

wasn't a shoe. that would have been another issue. >> that's true. >> thanks. we'll have more political news next hour. go to our website cnnpolitics.com. flashback. to the first time a favorite chocolate treat hit stare shelves. kit kat baradei butted 75 years ago today in london marketed as the best companion to a cup of tea. most people think it comes from the political club dating back to 18th century england. [ male announcer ] not one person climbing everest has ever stopped at the drive-thru window for breakfast on the way to the top. new quaker hearty medleys. a whole new oatmeal loaded with delicious fruit, nuts,

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in a fraction of that. he made bil last week and faces dozens of charges. rolls of jus tp justice have already been served. so if you watch the newscast in the mornings you know how much i you know how much i love to lift up our military heroes, but on this morning, i'm going to trash these guys. why? because they're fakers, liars, cowards, and an insult on the real men and women in uniform who put their lives on the line every day for us. the stolen valor act passed in 2006 dealt with these kinds of cheats, made it a crime to lie about your military honors, but recently a federal appeals court ruled that the act violates free speech, so any tom, dick or harry can say they won a medal in vietnam, iraq or afghanistan even if they never spent one day in the armed forces, and he or she won't be punished for it.

doug and pam stoerner are trying to change that. they make honoring real heroes their mission. they have not given up on the stolen valor act. it may go all of the way to supreme court. >> good morning. >> good morning. it's great to be here. you've seen these men and women doing their best to be the top gun and do the things they do, and we appreciate your honor of them and pointing out the frauds that detract from what they do. >> i appreciate that, doug. you know, you served in vietnam, and you saw firsthand how guys fought and survived and lived, the true heros that we're talking about. so, as you reflect back on your time in vietnam, and what you experienced, right now, when you see guys stealing honors like this, how does that make you feel? >> i try not to let it become personal. sometimes it does become personal, but, you know, this is much more than just lying.

it's fraud, and almost always there's some kind of financial fraud going on behind it. >> pam, what about you? >> well, this was such a frustrating thing to me that when i was in college, i decided to do my policy analysis paper on the current code that wouldn't allow us to prosecute these people because they weren't actually wearing the medals that they actually claim to wear. so my law now goes ahead and encompasses the people who simply state on their resumés or go to a public speech or hold up a medal and say they earned those medals. they can now be prosecuted under this law. >> you authored the stolen valor act. you say this became an interest to you years back. why? why did it move and touch you to the point where you wanted to author a law? >> at that time my husband was running a very nice military honor website, and he was

constantly getting calls on why aren't you paying tribute to this person and that person, only to find out that those people were actually phonies, and they had been duping their families and their friends and things into thinking that they were actually military veterans, and doug second unfortunately, under the current law, we can't do anything to them because the current law only allows us to prosecute people who are wearing military medals they didn't earn. so for a policy analysis paper at colorado state i wrote a law to include those who lie about their service, for my sake, misrepresentation and misrepresentati misrepresentation, and it doesn't matter how you do it. >> we should say that the justice department is also battling to save this federal law that would make it illegal to lie about being a war hero, and if, indeed, this fight is carried all of the way to the u.s. supreme court, because now

the talk is it may get there, doug, what will this do if passed? where will it give you peace, and how will it hold these guyses accountable? >> first of all, it's the first part of two pieces of legislation, congressman john salazar introduced it and introduced a follow-up legislation that would create a database of military heroes. i'd like to point out three different courts have reviewed stolen valor, and it was a split decision, held up in one court. five different judges plit 3-2. this is not a slam dunk for either side but we believe it will be upheld and when it is, it will at least mean that you cannot claim the honors established by congress to recognize our bravest men and women with impunity. >> pam and doug, we will follow this fight. we would like to see it get to the supreme court and see it passed. >> we thank you, kyra for your

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. well, on november 2nd,

californians will vote on proposition 19, the measure to legalize marijuana. one controversial side to the heated debate, the economic impact of legal pot, whether it's going to cost billions of dollars or generate billions of dollars depends on whom you ask. here's josh levs. >> a big part of the battle surrounding the idea of legalizing marijuana is the financial impact, and people on both sides have put a lot of figures out there about what would happen. this is a big unknown, actual legalization, not just decriminalization, not just medical marijuana. let me show you some of the key figures that are being floated in this debate. start off with the kato institute that put out a report saying it would save about $8.6 billion when you put together reduced expenses on enforcement, legal sales and tax revenue. that's for each year for the government they're saying. this is from bill piper of the drug policy alliance, and he wrote a commentary for cnn

saying it would reduce the mass incarceration of drug offenders and save a lot of money. joe kleine at time.com wrote something popular. he said nearly 47.5% of drug arrests in this country are marijuana-related. one more i want to tell you about. the california state has a board of equalization. they put out a report. they say themselves that this estimate is based on a number of guesses, admit that, but they say pot and marijuana is such a popular crop that the state could raise $1.4 billion through levys and taxes. some people look at these figures and say they paint way too rosie a picture that ignores reality, and they say the consequences could be economically devastating. two things, one, a quote from kevin sabot from the office of drug policy. he says accidents could

increase, health care costs would rise and productivity would suffer. the current director of the office of national drug control policy said in a speech earlier this year, this is a quote, the social costs would outweigh any possible tax that could be leveed. illegal drugs already cost $180 billion a year in health care, lost productivity, crime and other expenditures. that number would only increase, he says. so those are some of the key points on both sides as we look at this debate over how legalizing pot might affect the economy. >> josh, thanks. this morning, we have a story that celebrates life and courage and the basic goodness of the human heart, and it begins in the horrific ordeal of bibi aisha. she was horribly disfigured by an enraged husband and ignored by a consult. today we have remarkable new

pictures of how her life has been transformed since we first introduced you to her several months ago. an iconic picture of an afghan girl that will resonate around the world for years to come. reminiscent of another afghan portrait from another generation. this is 19-year-old bibi. it was her husband who cut off her nose and ears, forced into marriage at 16. she ran away from a life of abuse, but was caught. after trial by the taliban for bringing shame to the family, this was the punishment. her husband carried it out and left her to die on a mountainside. >> translator: when they cut off my nose and ears, i passed out. in the middle of the night, it felt like there was cold water in my nose. i opened my sbois couldn't see because of all of blood. >> reporter: she barely survived but thanks to american military

medics and this women's shelter in kabul, she is now getting help. reconstructive surgery in the united states. bibi aisha is only one example of thousands of girls and women in afghanistan and throughout the world who are treated this way, who suffer abuses like this, like this and worse. >> reporter: in 2001, the situation of afghan women and the taliban brutality received plenty of attention. now, organizations like women for afghan women say the international community is strangely silent on the issue, and with plans of negotiating with the taliban, many people fear it will be the women who will pay the price. united nations officials here estimate that 90% of women suffer from domestic violence, and they have very few places to turn to. women for afghan women has helped nearly 1,400 victims in just the past few years.

it says ignoring women's righting plays into the hands of the insurgency. >> when off population, 50% of a population, on their knees, it is very easy for extremists, tyrants, to take over a country. they have already made enslaved population. >> reporter: bibi is reminded of that enslavement every time she looks in the mirror, but now, at least, she's getting a chance for a new life in america. and today her face and her future are much different. she begins a new life in the u.s. where she has been outfitted, as you can see here, with a prosthetic nose and will undergo eight months of plastic surgery. he story is shockingly familiar in afghanistan. the u.n. estimates 90% of women there suffer from some form of domestic abuse. at a weekend event, former first

lady laura bush explained why this is a major focus of her post white house years. she says though some afghan leaders have condemned the violence and defended the rights of womens, others hope to achieve peace by compromising the rights of half of the population will not last. the former first lady was on hand this weekend to receive an honor. enduring heart award was presented by the grossman burn foundation, the very group overseeing her reconstructive surgery. mrs. bush praised her bravery as did the first lady of california. for now, bibi is staying with families in the los angeles area. 33 trapped miners prepare for their shot up straight from what could have been their grave. we can't wait for it to happen and we'll be bringing it to you live.

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>> that drama in chile that started in early august could end in just a few hours. all systems are ago to pull 33 miners out of their hole nearly half a mile below the surface. karl penhaul is still in chile. the operation could begin tonight, right, karl? >> reporter: yeah, exactly. just before we came on air, kyra, i was talking to a source close to the rescue operation, and she says the start time could even be brought forward a few hours, so we could be looking as early as 8:00 p.m.

local time and 7:00 p.m. eastern time tonight. of course, it's going to take a long time. that phoenix capsule, rescue capsule can move from the mine up to the surface in about ten minutes but they have to load the miner on board safely and make sure he understands the audio and video controls there so he has constant communication with the surface, make sure he feels comfortable with the oxygen supply coming in there and also the safety harness and understands any emergency measures. that could slow up the time a little bit. all in all, if you do the math, what the government has given us for the travel time of the phoenix capsule, you could be talking about 15, 16 hours for all 33 miners to come up, but, of course, the government is giving us a much longer time, saying it could take up to 48 hours just so they take this step by step and continue to be as meticulous as they have been doing all along, kyra. >> it's remarkable that it's gotten to this point.

we thought it was going to be even longer. we talked a lot about how they are going back and forth on who goes up first and who goes up last. how did they decide on the order in which they will proceed in? >> reporter: i'm not sure they have yet, kyra. what the government says is when the two rescue experts and paramedics go down into the mine shaft, first, they will carry out a check of the miners, and then they will establish the order. they will have executive power, if you like. the rescuers want the first five out the fittest and tick nickically most knowledgeable so they can get feedback on how the phoenix capsule is operating and if there are any technical considerations that the rescuers on the surface should take into account and then the next ten will be the ones who are suffering some kind of medical problem. one of guys down there has

diabetes and another one has what u.s. miners call black lung and that's a long-standing problem. others have skin infects and others suffering from high blood pressure. get them out in the next phase, and the last phase will be the strongest and fittest. of course, the miners themselves have had a long time to think, and they have got their own ideas. now, when the health minister talked to them, he got the answer back that they all want to go last, and i think that attributes to the camaraderie that has goen up. they want to make sure they buddies get up safe to the surface before they step inside the it capsule. i think the shift foreman will be the last guy up. it really is his duty. he cease it as his duty. he was the man in charge in that mine at the time and asky business, and likens his role to that of a captain of a sinking ship. he thinks all of this men should be up before he steps into

undoubtedly what will be the ride of his life. >> undoubtedly. we can't wait to see it all. 33 guys shot to the top. those men will be wearing green overalso embroiderered with their names so we no who they are. you see the officials there displaying some of the gear that the miners will use. the outfits are made of a material designed to resist moisture. as they are coming up the tube, they had have head sets on, will be able to communicate with those up top and with them, of course, a lot of prayers, meditation, calm attitude. rafael romo has been explaining to us how exactly it's going to happen, all of the gear that they're going to have on. kind of give us a show-and-tell. tell us your size, how they have been trimmed down. how will it feel? >> first of all, they have been there for about two months, so some of them have lost as much as 20 pounds, which is really

good because this capsule is only 21 1/2 inches long. i will get inside the capsule to show the viewers how tight it is. once the miners are inside, they're going to be fitted with a communications equipment that is going to allow them to communicate with the surface every step of the way, and karl was telling us that all of them are going to be wearing, also, a belt, which is going to monitor their vital signs as they go up and at the same time, the reason that they want the most experienced miners to go first is because they want to look at the structural stability of the rescue shaft, and so once they're inside this capsule, the most experienced miners are going to be able to looking around them. not smudge space for movement as you can see because we are talking about a small diameter, and this is about 6'4" in

height. so enough for all of the miners to fit in but definitely not a lot of space. now, you have to remember that the capsule. this is just a replica. their capsule is about 924 pounds heavy, so if there is any movement sideways, you can possibly, potentially, cause rocks to begin to fall, and that's one of the things they want to avoid. >> that's one of the things they're worried about because it needs to remove smooth and unscathed as they move up and down. the last thing they want is for anything to cave in, correct? >> exactly, and also, kyra, very important, they have already started or will start at any moment, liquids diet to avoid the possibility of getting nauseous once inside the capsule. that's very important. we understand that they are being given aspirin incase they

have any fluctuation in their blood pressure. so every step of the way, every single aspect is being carefully considered to make sure that all 33 after two months under ground make it out to the surface. >> you'll see it live here on cnn starting at 11:00 eastern tonight once it begins. we can't wait. >> we are now hearing that it may be earlier. >> okay, okay. >> officially, they are telling us it may be 11:00 eastern but now we're hearing that there's a possibility that it may even begin earlier than that. we'll just have to see. >> that's even better. thank you very much. it could be the breakthrough many researchers, doctors and patients have been fighting for, a controversial stem cell study under way right now in the hope that it will help heal spinal injuries. [ male announcer ] nature is unique... ...authentic... ...pure...

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many fitness experts will tell you walking is some of the best exercise that you can get, but a new study shows that americans are being outpaced by the rest of the world. according to researchers at the university of tennessee, australians walked the most worldwide, an average of almost 9,700 steps a day. the swiss close behind with 9600 steps, and japanese, 7,100, and the u.s. far behind with just about 5,100 step the per day. health experts say that fit people usually take about 10,000 steps per day. that's equal to about 4 1/2 miles. >>. >> checking top stories.

a rocket propelled grenades fired by insurgents caused a deadly explosion on a military helicopter. it was hit right after it landed in an eastern province. a spinal cord injury patient in atlanta is the first person to be injected with human embryonic step cells. researchers are hoping that the controversial therapy will regenerate tissue in the partially paralyzed patient. alat colorado say they are reopening the murder case of jonbenet ramsey. the 6-year-old girl was found dead in the basement of her home in december of 1996. two years ago, district attorney cleared her family of any involvement in that murder case. it was a shooting last november that shocked the nation. 12 soldiers and one civilian shot to death in the country's

largest army base in ft. hood, texas. today, the accused shooter, major nidal hasan faces a military hearing. chris lawrence is at ft. hood. what can we expect to come out of this hear dag? >> reporter: this article 32 is different from a civilian grand jury in that the defendant is there, his attorney is there. so these 32 victims will be in the same room with him for the first time since that shooting, and what they're going to do is take a step by step through what they saw, what they felt what they heard, recounting some of the details that perhaps we haven't heard yet of what happened that day. you know, we spoke with the fiancee of one of the most seriously wounded soldiers, sergeant patrick ziegler, back from fighting in iraq, and a few days from leaving for officer candidate school. that's why he was in the billing that day when the shooting started. his fiancee told us it's been

ten months in the hospital trying to recover, and she sort of explained to us why so many of the family members and the victims want to be there in that courtroom to see major hassan. >> we just want to be informed and for a lot of us that means being present during the hearings, and for some people that means not being present and reading the newspaper and for some people that means not reading it at all or seeing it at all. we all cope in different ways. i know in my situation, i just like to know all of the facts as i can get them, and, you know, for me, i'm anxious for the article 32 to begin so the public can start seeing some of the facts of what really happened that day. >> reporter: prosecutors are expected to lay out the what. by that, i mean, they're going to talk about how they believe hassan went out and got the guns and went to a local practice

range to practice his aim, how he carefully planned this attack. they're not expected at this point in the hearing to get into the why, is potential motivations and links to islamic radicals overseas but because of the military justice system and its desire to be fair to the defendant and give him a fair hearing, university's got a situation where the military has spent an inordinate amount of money keeping him alive, rehabilitative medical care, over $200,000 to house him at a nearby jail and now spending more money to eventually try to put him to death. >> chris lawrence at ft. hood, thanks. it's been a year since we told you about a florida teen set on fire and burned within an inch of his life. coming up next, we'll show you how far michael brewer has come. his 16th birthday is about to get as sweet as it gets.

michael brewer was a victim before bullying became the topic of a national conversation. you might remember his story. it made national news last year. bullies set the 15-year-old from south florida on fire and burned him within an inch of his life, but, take a look at the progress michael has made. vanessa medina was there as he celebrated a milestone. ♪ happy birthday to you >> get 'em all, mike! >> reporter: it's 16 candles for michael brewer, and what a year it has been. >> it has been a very difficult road. everything i have been through it really hard for some people to deal with.

so, i did it, and it's the only thing i could do is stay strong. >> reporter: michael was burned by bullies just one year ago. since then he's undergone excruciating therapy and excelled. his body miraculously has recovered. >> it's amazing how the body works. it's just amazing. >> reporter: his parents thank the community and people here at independence hall retirement home. this is the second time he's been here. they're giant fans of miky. >> he was injured about a year ago, and this is his 16th birthday. so it's a reason to celebrate, and he's recuperated so well. >> we're pleased to see him healed and happy, you know, and the family. >> last time i was here, i said they should try to do something from the "golden girls" so they did it. >> reporter: a local church group even creating a song for

michael. >>. ♪ at home at last and now he's okay ♪ ♪ i see the look on his face ♪ we already told you, this is not a boy ♪ ♪ i would call him a soldier >> reporter: what's overwhelming is michael's resolve and strength, but in the end, he's a 16-year-old boy who just wants to abnormal teen. do you want something this big for your 17th? >> probably not. >> well, the same retirement community held a bake sale for brewer in february to help raise money for his recovery. as far as the case goes, three teenagers are charged with attempted murder. a vote on legalizing marijuana is coming up soon. we'll hit the streets of downtown denver to see how this typical community has learned to live within the legal margins.

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well, marijuana will appear on the november ballot in several states, and we're taking a closer look at pot's place in our culture. let's start in denver, the mile high city. cnn's jim spellman takes us to broad street. that's downtown and a community learning to live within the law. >> reporter: if you want a glimpse into what it might look like if marijuana is legalized, just drive down south broadway here in denver and check out the medical marijuana dispensaries. little green depot. they call it broadstersome damn or reefer row, marijuana american style. >> those are pot pot pies. this business was started a year ago. they saw raw marijuana but they specialize in marijuana-infused food items. do you think this is going to be

a growing part of the medical marijuana business? >> absolutely. >> reporter: they operate out in the open, have eight employees and is taxed by the city and state. it could really be big business. so far the city of denver in the last nine months has collected $2.9 million in tax revenues. he says he doesn't mind paying the taxes because it helps legitimize the marijuana trade. >> nobody is hiding the fact that they smoke pot anymore. >> reporter: to get a sense of how normal medical marijuana has become. check out westward, the free weekly available all over the city, i counted over 100 ads. they even hired a medical marijuana reviewer. there are almost 300 dispensaries in denver. this one is located in a fashionable part of downtown denver in a historic building, and they blend right in. >> we deal with a lost

professionals, and lawyers. >> reporter: shauna used to sell real estate, and when that business tanked, she took a gamble on medical marijuana. the recession has created what she calls the perfect storm for loosening marijuana laws. people want pot, and the governments need money. >> this is obviously something that not only meets the needs of people medically but also is a revenue-based business. >> reporter: in colorado there are over 115,000 people on the medical marijuana registry. >> this is where we have our medical marijuana. >> reporter: wow, there are a lot of varieties, aren't there? >> there is. currently i think we have 28 different strands. >> reporter: this is about one-eighth of an ounce. how much does that cost? >> this is about 50 plus tax. >> reporter: where do you get it? >> 70% is grown by ourselves. >> reporter: you have a an operation here? >> yes. >> reporter: can i see it.

>> we have four grow rooms as we speak. >> reporter: it's bright in here. >> it is. we have to keep the lights on 24 hours a day when they are beginning. >> reporter: there's more to the marijuana business that you might see even at a dispresencery. >> it is. that's why you are trying to take it out of the hands of people who don't know what they are doing. >> reporter: when plants get bigger, they put on a 12-hour light cycle to simulate day and nighttime. we have to put on special glasses to go in and look at them. these are big plants. >> they are. they are almost at the end of their cycle. >> reporter: there are a lot of plants. you can't keep up? >> we really can't. >> reporter: for your business model, how important is to control the whole process from seed to selling it? >> absolutely in our game, it is that. >> reporter: because the markup in marijuana can be up to 200%. keep the growing inhouse, and you keep the profits inhouse.

>> smells good. >> reporter: supply, demand, markets, customers, not really that much different than any other industry. >> i'm overwhelmed and blown away that we are able to do it. it excites me. >> reporter: it feels good? >> it does feel good. >> reporter: jim spellman, denver, colorado. >> we want to take a unique angle to this story, and not talk about the debate of whether it should be legalized or not. i came across david walter banks, a photographer who got a smap shot of marijuana's influence on culture from the medicinal to recreational and put together a pretty amazing photo essay, i guess we should say, cannabis culture. i found your website and "time" magazine. did do you it for "time" magazine specifically? >> i originally photographed it for luceo images, cooperative i founded and we are based on

long-term culture and documentary stories. so i shot it for us, and then started working with "time" to show it to the masses. >> they are amazing pictures. as we go through them, tell me why you wanted to do a photo essay, particularly on the cannabis culture. is it because the vote was going down or what it something interesting to yu. >> sure. i started working on it a little bit before this proposition was out there, but it was already -- i mean, this has been a long time coming and worked up to over the years, and after i gained access to some of the illegal side of it here in the south it got me more interested in the medicinal side, and the legal side and that's when i traveled out to colorado originally to look into it. >> all right. well, that's interesting. you're right, everybody kinds goes the investigative way when

they do stories. that's what caught my attention. i guess it makes sense, the relaxed nature around the pot community. i picked a couple of pictures because i wanted to isolate the discussion a bit under certain subjects. let's start with the smokeout picture. when i first saw this, i thought, oh, my, gosh, woodstock is back. i didn't realize pot is still so popular. is this a festival? give me the background behind this picture. >> this is for 20-fest, supposedly the largest celebration of this nature in the country, and it is literally hundreds and hundreds of people gather on the university of colorado boulder campus on april 20th to celebrate what they believe should be their right, and the police are there just kind of making sure nobody gets dehydrated and watching the crowd. >> is it a college kid thing or did you see all ages, all

generations? what did you observe? >> it was heavily college student thing, but i would say at least one-third of the people there were all ages, you know, all races, all types. >> has it made a comeback to smoke pot or did it never go away? >> i think to a degree it never went away, and just with the current younger generation, it is less faux pas or this long-standing tradition of being a horrible drug or thought of as a nar -- nar cottic which it is not. >> i was struck by the pictures you took at this aids patient. tell me about him, and give me the back story. tell me what it was like to hear his story and take pictures of him. >> this was damien lagoi.

when i got to his paermt, he wasn't sure he was going to let me photograph him. >> maybe we can drop the banner. he has a joint in his hand. >> disclaimer. it is actually a cigarette. >> that's not good. go ahead and give he the story here. >> he does smoke medicinal marijuana. he's an aids patient, long term. he is in his late 50s and weighs 105 pounds and for his aids medication, he has to take 11 pills a day. now, he suffers from terrible nausea, which often makes him regurgitate the pills, and the only thing that he found that helps him keep them down is medical marijuana. basically if he can't keep these pills down -- >> he dies. >> -- he dies. >> i spent some time in jamaica, and i didn't realize a lot of these guys smoke pot for

religious background. whether stephen marlee did it for religious reasons or not, his dad sure talked about it. did he talk about his culture and background of why so many rau rastafarians spoke pot? >> he hinted at it. i was photographing him for a music magazine. these people use it for ritualistic purposes, and they have versus all throughout the bible, including spalm 104: 14 he causes the grass for the cattle and the herb for the service of men. >> there are other herbs that we could interpret in the bible. that's interesting. i don't think a lot of people knew that background. any way, shape or form, final question, did these pictures

shape your view on whether pot should be legalized or not? were you influenced in either way? >> um, i mean, honestly, i have to say that i was influenced that it's to a large degree more helpful things that can come out of legalizing marijuana than harmful. >> got it. i'll tell you what, the pictures are fantastic. university's got quite the gift. you can go to the website, david walter pranks. >> luceoimages.com. >> exposing military fakes and cheats. we spoke to a couple who is fighting to take stolen valor to the supreme court. their mission, making liars criminals.

and a happy follow-up to a story we told you about last week after we hammered the football league. a youth football club has now

decided to drop a rule that would limit this dad's ability to coach his son's team. they had said that his wheelchair was a danger to the little tykes out on the field. merrill staton got the ruling just in time for sunday's game. they got the resolution by talking. what a concept. props to the football club of johnson county, kansas. if you watch our forecast, you know how much i love to lift up our military heroes, but this morning, i'm going to trash these guys. why? because they're not heroes. they're fakers. they're liars, and they're cowards, an insult to our real men and women in uniform who put their lives on the line. the stolen valor act passed in 2006 dealt with these kinds of cheats, made it a crime to lie about your military honors but recently a federal appeals court rules it violates free speech. so any tom, dick or harry can

say they won a medal even though they never served one day in the armed forces and won't be punished for it. doug sterne aor are challenging that. they are not giving up on the stolen valor act. pam actually helped write it. >> i try not to let it become personal. sometimes it does become personal but this is much more than just lying. it's fraud, and almost always there's some kind of financial fraud going on behind it but i like to point out, three different courts have reviewed stolen valor and there's a split decision, 2-1. it was upheld in one court. five different judges split 3-2. so this is not a slam-dunk for either side, but we believe it will be upheld and when it is, it will at least mean that you cannot claim the honors

established by congress to recognize our bravest men and women with impunity. >> and as you can tell, the stoerners aren't giving up on the stolen valor act. it's their baby and their mission. can can go all of the way to the supreme court. we sure hope it does.

we're talking about just three weeks now americans will cast their votes in midterm elections, and the very control of congress may be at stake. we're counting down and bringing you all of the stories that could shape the voters' decisions. that's why we're going to deputy political director paul steinhauser. what's crossing? >> three weeks, as you said, and

the democrats are facing a big enthusiasm gap, so the president trying to do something about that. he's going a few blocks from the white house over to george washington university at a taun hall taking questions from facebook and twitter, and democratic party officials say for the first time isn't such a setting taking questions from skype to try to get younger voters out there to cast ballots. he did this in wisconsin a week and a half ago, a big rally in philadelphia. check out these numbers. 54% of republicans we questioned said they are very enthusiastic about voting. only 34% of democrats. that's a problem for democrats. senator harry reid in nevada, kyra, as you know, facing a very tough re-election. he's going to get help tonight. bill clinton heading out there. a man on demand among democrats

on the campaign trail. he will team up with reid at a high school to try to excite democratic voters to get out and vote. early voting starts saturday in nevada. harry reid, facing off against sharron angle. every night now is debate night in america. tonight you have debates in ohio, connecticut. tomorrow night, wolf blitzer in delaware. big debate. can't miss it. >> nor political news next hour. if you're away from the tv, go to our website, cnnpolitics.com. christine o'donnell is one of the big stories of this political season and been a hot topic for the hoef the cnn's newest program "parker spitzer." >> when we look at the substance of what she says here, a lot of people are going to say she's not ready for the senate. >> i feel for the girl a little bit. she was a sweet girl on the bill maher show. she was 20 years old and if you

look at some of those tapes, she had a lot of personality, spunky and cute and saying things she didn't intend to be taken terribly seriously and now it's taken a life of its own. >> all of that is not only fair to her and accurate. i defended her with that sort of crazy ad, i'm not a wish because she's trying to defuse a situation but as you step back and get closer to november 2nd, you say, wait a minute, there are some serious issues here. i don't think she passes that threshold. >> there are a lot of people who are cute and spunky i don't want running the country. >> don't miss cnn's newest show, "parker spitzer" week nights 8:00 p.m. eastern.

it's a sad anniversary for the u.s. navy today. ten years ago, the guided missile destroyer the uses cole was attacked by terrorists in a rubber boat packed with explosives. that attack allegedly members of al qaeda left a 40 by 60 foot hole in the ship. 17 sailors were killed and 38 others injured. the ship's crew along with ship mates and families are

commemorating the anniversary this morning at norfolk navy base. other stories across the country, dearfield beach, california. michael brewer's 16th birthday party. four teens dowsed him with rubbing alcohol and set him on fire last year. this is michael now. this retirement center raised money for him and threw a party for him as well. police say an argument over a video game triggered that attack on brewer. des moines discovered what patrons from state fairs have already enjoyed, the newest take on american cheese burgers, sandwiched between two crispy cream donuts, a dietician's nightmare. praiser: well you rarely see them in this good of shape. appraiser: for example the fingers are perfect. appraiser: the bird is in mint condition. appraiser: and i would say if this were to go to auction today,

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talent shows have given us everything from grammy winners to laughable failures. occasionally someone inspiring comes along, like susan boyle who wowed the world with her amazing voice. now a young man has come forward and creates the most beautiful music with his feet. jeanne moos has the story. >> reporter: you know how people talk about someone having the hands of a pianist. make that the feet. you're listening to the winner of "china's got talent," talent down to the toes. 23-year-old liu wei has no arms, but he disarmed the judges with his feet. ♪ you're beautiful his first appearance back in august, he played an all instrumental piece.

♪ a piece that brought at least one judge to tears. after losing both arms, he learned to dress, swim, use a computer and even write. so it wasn't such a stretch for him to start tickling the ivories with his toes at the age of 19. ♪ four years later, he's helped make "china's got talent" that country's most popular show. liu wei was ten when he lost his arms in an accident. touched a wire and got shocked while playing hide and seek. now he's the one electrifying audiences. he told the judges, at least i have a pair of perfect legs. we've seen leg work before on piano keys. from the movie "big" to a

swedish stairway designed to entice people into taking the stairs rather than the escalator. but this type of toework led to cramps and abrasions when he first started. ♪ i don't know what to do a bit of irony. guess who sponsored the competition won by an armless guy playing piano with his feet. liu wei head and shoulders above the competition with toes that are truly touching. jeanne moos, cnn. new york. tony, not just his ability to do what he does, but his voice, too. >> the voice was great. the playing was amazing. i need to practice