six months. >> thank you. appreciate it very much. >> nice to see you. >> great being with you. thanks, victoria. that's all for us tonight. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com i'm ted rowlands in tonight for don lemon. u.s. and nato troops in now our soldiers will have to hold out while desperately needed supplies just sit across the border. cnn's rez acehal joins me from islamabad. first off, what do we know in terms of specifics about the attacks? >> reporter: ted, the most detailed account we're getting is from pakistani officials. it's important to note that u.s.

and nato officials have yet to say this is what happened. this is what pakistan is saying happened. essentially officials are saying in the early morning hours of saturday a nato air strike hit two military check posts on pakistani soil killing at least 24 pakistani soldiers. they say this incident happened in a place called mohmens, a district in the tribal region right along the afghanistan border. there's a lot of militant activity in this region. what you have often is pakistani troops, nato troops carrying out a lot of operations here but the agreement is for pakistan to stay on its side and nato to stay on its side. officials here say that's not what happened. these air strikes hit these two check posts on pakistani soil. not the first time this has happened, ted. last year, another nato air strike killing two pakistani soldiers also in 2008. another nato air strike killing at least 11 pakistani soldiers.

>> 2 in 24 in terms of casualties is a huge difference. is nato admitting any responsibility right now for the attack? >> not exactly. it's interesting, nato's approach and the u.s. approach has been very similar. a lot of high ranking officials have come out and made statements, contrite remorseful. people like secretary of state hillary clinton, leon panetta saying they regret the loss of life but stopped short of saying this strike happened on pakistani soil. they acknowledge that there was a ground operation that they called in an air strike and the soldiers died because of this air strike. but they're stopping short at saying pakistan's account is exactly what happened. but clearly, they're taking this very seriously and say they're investigating and results of the investigation is going to come sometime soon. >> now, clearly it is daylight there now, and yesterday, there were some folks that took to the street. by and large, how are pakistanis reacting to what happened?

>> they're angry. there's a lot of anti-american sentiment already here in pakistan and this only fuels it. there's been some protests. they haven't been widespread. a couple took place in lahore on saturday and also the pakistani government is absolutely incensed. pakistan's prime minister yousef galani issuing a blistering condemnation. the government has already taken some measures. we're already seeing the fallout two nato supply routes that you go into afghanistan already absolute down. you're already seeing at least 40% of nonlethal nato supplies sitting here in pakistan, not clear when they're going to move out to afghanistan. also, pakistan shutting down an air base in southwestern pakistan that at some point was used for usair drones here. they're already taking measures to respond. it's not clear what other measures they're prepared to take. clearly, this is an incident that's made a lot of people angry here in pakistan.

>> an incident obviously that is still developing. reza sayah, thanks for joining us. the u.s. and pakistan have been going at it for weeks if not months. their relationship reduced in terms of the way that the two have gotten along. frustration has been growing in both washington anise llama bad. we're joined by retired general wesley clark, he served as the supreme allied commander europe for nato. how crucial is pakistan's cooperation to the war effort against the taliban in afghanistan? >> well, it's very, very important. the united states has to work with pakistan as an ally. >> the long and the short of this in the short term we're talking about two crucial supply lines. it's been estimated that about 40% of the material brought into afghanistan goes through these two. how crucial are these lines, and the fact that pakistan right now has stopped the flow of goods going back and forth?

how will that impact the effort, if you will, in afghanistan? >> well, the supply lines are important. but there are stockpiles in afghanistan. so, it's not the first time that there have has been trouble on the supply lines. earlier in the week, a nato convoy was attacked, a fuel convoy in pakistan. so the supply lines are important. it's also important to have intelligence and the united states and pakistan do share intelligence. and it's important to work together controlling the border. and trying to dampen down the use of pakistan territory by the militant taliban and haqqani networks. >> in the age of gps systems, how could nato or u.s. forces launch an attack on a checkpoint on the wrong side of the border in two spots and 24 pakistani military members end up dead? >> well, that's the question

that has to be answered. so, so normally in these events, what happens is mistakes are made. but usually, the first report is not accurate. so we really need to wait until we get the information as daylight emerges and nato officials can investigate, but we have to ask ourselves, how would this happen? it could be that somehow the aircraft simply misidentified a target on the ground. it could be that the locations are off. it could be that inadvertently, forces were actually exchanging fire. and there was lack of mutual recognition between the two forces as to who was who. so all of those things could come into play. and it has to be -- we have to

wait and investigations have to be done and witness statements have to be taken and radio logs have to be checked and gps coordinates and aerial photographs taken and compared with maps and so forth before we can get to the bottom of this. >> all right, general wesley clark, thanks for the insight. obviously a developing story out of pakistan tonight. three american students can rest easy tonight after being at the mercy of egyptian police for days. one of them, gregory porter, arrived in philadelphia earlier tonight. police in cairo accused porter and two other students of throwing molotov cocktails near tahrir square. they've been in custody since monday. all three were attending american university in cairo on a semester long study abroad program. porter was clearly happy to be back in the u.s. >> i'd like to thank the embassy in cairo for all of the things they did for us. as well as the administration at the american university in cairo for all of their help and support.

and my lawyers ted and both in egypt and here who worked tirelessly to obtain my freedom. i'm just so thankful to be back and love to be in philadelphia right now. >> the two other students arrested with porter derek sweeney and lou gates are also returning to the united states tonight from egypt. the pressure is growing on the military to give up power in egypt. these are live pictures of early sunday morning in cairo's tahrir square. last february, this of course, was the site of huge celebrations when president hosni mubarak stepped down. but this time the revolution is far from over. there was -- this was friday, some video from friday. this seething crowd of people demanding that the military give up power immediately. and this time, they say they won't be so quick to leave tahrir. ben wedeman has this report. >> the protesters in tahrir square continue to ratchet up their pressure on the military

council that runs egypt calling for them to step down and hand over two civilians on sunday, they're planning yet another million man protest to press their demand. at the same time, muhammad el bear die, the former head of the international atomic energy agency has come out and said he's willing to relinquish his bid for the presidency if he is asked to be as prime minister in a national salvation government. this happened after he met today with the members of the military council who are clearly trying to bridge the gap between the demands of the people in tahrir square and what they can actually offer. the military has expressed no intention to step down in response to the calls from tahrir square. in the meantime, egyptians are preparing for the first round in a long series of rounds of presidential elections to begin on monday. they've already been extended from monday to also tuesday, as well.

much tension in this country as it prepares for the first elections since the ouster of hosni mubarak. i'm ben wedeman, cnn, reporting from cairo. activists say the relentless crack down by the government there claimed 29 lives today. the campaign against protesters led finance ministers to call for sanctions today against syria. new video on youtube showed demonstrations in the city we syrians pledging with the lead to hit the regime hard. the sanctions would freeze assets belonging to the government and syrian officials, travel restrictions would be enforced as well. sunday morning, foreign ministers will decide whether to accept is the decision to enforce those sanctions. a developing story in ohio. is a killer getting his victims from craigslist? also, four victims have been identified and three of them are dead. police are wondering, could

there be more. and marching bands at historically black colleges. they're almost as famous as the institutions themselves. but the death of a drum major at florida a&m could cause fallout beyond that campus. those stories coming up in two minutes. stay with us. ♪

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now to the so-called craigslist killings. police believe at least four victims including one who managed to escape had responded to a phony job ad on craigs list. susan candiotti is working the story for us. >> reporter: ted, four men all strangers, separately lured to rural ohio because they shared a common goal in these tough times. they needed a job. timothy kern is the most recently identified victim. the medical examiner says he was

shot multiple times in the head. the divorced father of three was found in a shallow grave in a wooded area behind a vacant akron shopping mall. his son says kern was enticed by an ad on craigslist as were three other victims. fired from his previous job as a street cleaner, kern accepted a $300 a week offer to manage cattle on a 600-acre farm, including a place to live and a truck to drive. before disappearing, he wrote this now eerie in hindsight on his facebook page. just got one of the strangest job offers. a good offer, but strange. life can be such a sometimes. when kern's son learned of his father's murder he wrote on his blog, the years ahead of me will be so hard. i love you, dad. rest in peace. the possible craigslist connection surfaced three weeks ago when a man told police he was driven into the woods by two

men who advertised a job on a farm. he narrowly escaped after being shot in the arm. nine days later, police found a fatally shot man in a shallow grave in the same area. authorities say a fourth man from west virginia also reported missing answered a similar craigslist ad. on friday, police found a shallow grave of an unidentified pan found in eastern ohio in the same area the first two victims were discovered. police have two suspects in custody. the father of 16-year-old brogan rafr furt tells affiliate wjw his son is one of them. he's charged with attempted murder. a second suspect is being held on unrelated charges. his mother identifies him as richard beasley and says he mentored the teen. this man says he also answered the ad and was interviewed by beasley but it didn't sound right.

>> wait a minute. he owns 688 acre farm. and he doesn't know the exact equity it's at? something's wrong there. >> police say a possible motive is robbery, though it's unclear what killers could have gained from unemployed victims, also not known, whether there are more victims of the online ad. ted? >> susan candiotti, thank you. florida a&m's long time band director is fighting to keep his job after a band member's death was linked to hazing. police say robert champion, a drum major in the marching band died after a performance last saturday. he reportedly vomited and complained of not being able to breathe. later he was pronounced dead at an orlando hospital. band director julian white has been put on administrative leave till december 22nd when he will be officially dismissed. the school's president accuses white of failing to address hazing allegations. but white's attorney says his client has demonstrated "exemplary anti-hazing leadership and should not be fired." earlier i talked with defense attorney holly hughes who says evidence may exist to support that claim. >> we've actually heard some of

the other students' parents coming out, mothers of other band members saying i went to him, meaning the director, mr. white and complained. and he addressed the issue. he did try to stop the hazing of my child. he sat other students down and said don't do this. there seems to be some evidence some proof even if it's a low threshold that this band director did, in fact, try to stop the hazing and some students just kind of went rogue off on their own. >> we should point out, we don't know the actual details of what will possibly was alleged, but you have a sneaking suspicion likely that somebody's talking here. >> somebody's absolutely talking. they may play an instrument but they're about to start singing, okay? think about it. they're not going to say this is due to hazing if somebody has not put the idea into their head if somebody hasn't given them some credible evidence. you've got to figure there's probably more than one student involved.

only one person is getting a deal. that's not a hard choice, let's see, graduate college, go to prison. graduate college, go 0 prison. somebody is going to start telling what happened to get a deal. >> officials are awaiting autopsy results to determine whether charges should be filed. for more on the florida a&m story and to learn more about the significance and culture of the marching bands at historically black colleges and universities, check out the article on cnn.com that's already generated more than 500 facebook recommendations and hundreds of comments. you'll find a link to the article right in the middle of the main page. it's time to hit the hardwood. a tentative agreement is reached to end the nba lockout, but it's not a done deal yet. will those big christmas day games take place? we all age differently. roc® multi-correxion 4 zone moisturizer with roc®retinol and antioxidants. lines, wrinkles, and sun damage will fade. roc multi-correxion. correct what ages you.

nba fans have suffered enough. let there be basketball. looks like the season and abbreviated one will happen after all now that players and owners have agreed to end the 149-day lockout. it's a tentative deal but if it holds, the season would be 66 games instead of the usual 82, and it would start christmas day. players union president derek fisher and nba commissioner david stern made the announcement this morning. >> the greater good required us to knock ourselves out and come to this tentative understanding. and so i think that there's still a lot of shall we say other issues to be finished because we have the broadest outline. >> the most important key thing here is that you know, our fans and the support from the people

and the patience you know, through a large part of this process. you know, that's where a lot of this credit goes to. >> will 80% of the season be enough to win fans back? earlier i asked john worthham, senior investigative reporter for "sports illustrated" that question. >> i think basketball is lucky in a sense. if you miss a month and a half of football, you've missed a third of the season. you miss november and part of december in basketball and i don't think too many fans are so concerned. we missed many more games 1 years ago during the lockout in '99-2000. i don't think anybody was terribly dissatisfied it was only a 55 game season there. >> a lot has to happen in the next month for the season to tip off as planned. december 9th training camp starts, the same day free agency opens and trades will start happening fast and furious. as we mentioned, december 25th,

the regular season would begin with a tv tripleheader. here are the match-ups. the miami heat against the dallas mavericks. the boston celtics versus the new york knicks and the chicago bulls and the los angeles lakers. investigators have searched the home of a syracuse university assistant basketball coach who's been accused of sexually molesting two ball boys. authorities scored bernie fine's house. police, state troopers even the secret service and the united states attorney's office reportedly took part. it's not clear what they were looking for but cnn affiliate wsyr is reporting that they left with three filing cabinets labeled evidence. fine is on paid administrative leave from syracuse university. the former ball boys bobby davis and his stepbrother michael lang accuse fine of molesting them

years ago. new developments tonight in the search for missing missouri baby lisa irwin. volunteers searched the area around a closed casino in kansas city after a tip from a psychic. the psychic blogged about visions of baby lisa and volunteers connected that information to an area near sam'stown casino according to kctv. the volunteers didn't find anything during their search of the property. baby lisa disappeared from her crib october 4th more than 40 years after the assassination of robert f. kennedy, lawyers for sirhan sirhan are trying to get him a new trial. papered filed this week in federal court cite "formidable evidence as the basis for the appeal." sirhan is serving a life sentence in california, among other things, his lawyers say expert analysis of the new evidence shows two guns were used and that sirhan's revolver was not the one that killed kennedy. the court brief goes on to say that sirhan was an involuntary

participant in the crimes being committed because he was subjected to sophisticated hip know programming and memory implantation techniques which rendered him unable to be consciously control his thoughts and actions at the time the crimes were being committed. well, it is like an assembly line only in reverse as u.s. trups begin the pullout from iraq, a ton of supplies, equipment and thousands of vehicles must get packed up, too. we'll take you to where the long trip home begins in two minutes. stay with us. ♪

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neutrogena®. it was a deadly day in iraq. according to police, seven people were killed and 28 wounded when roadside bombs exploded in a busy commercial district of central baghdad. another six died and ten wounded when a roadside bomb hit a bus carrying construction workers near fallujah. the attacks continue. almost all u.s. troops will be out of iraq bits end of the year. getting them their gear, supplies and thousands of vehicles packed up is proving to be a major undertaking. cnn's martin savidge has more from camp virginia, kuwait. >> if the war in iraq has a finish line, then camp virginia is it. the last six weeks, as many as 350 vehicles a day have been rolling into the remote base in the desert. not water, no equipment.

>> here teams workday and night guiding convoys through a series of stops. each one like an assembly line in reverse. taking off or as they say downloading equipment. accumulated over years of war. >> and so what sort of stuff are they getting out at this particular point. >> they're getting any pol, any kind of oil fuel, batteries, anything that was not issued to them or that they bought, that he download it here. >> pull it all out? >> everything is sorted and collected to be thrown out, recycled or put back in service. >> we brought you to this motor pool. it's one of the few places where you can go to get a sense of just how much we're talking about, how many vehicles, how many trucks, how much stuff. and this is just the tip of the iceberg. camp virginia has the capacity to house close to 7,000 troops and more than 5,000 vehicles. and even though officials say they're below those levels they admit it's been challenging

keeping up with what's coming out of iraq. >> it's very busy. and i will say that we're making use of every available cot we have, all the space that we have. but it's going really well. >> at ease. listen up, welcome to camp virginia. >> but there are signs of strain. the base has had to greatly increase housing and office space and the dining hall now remains open 24 hours a day just to keep everyone fed. the goal is to move the soldiers from convoy to a flight back to the u.s. within five to eight days but officers at mit it can sometimes take longer. and the next convoy into camp virginia is not expected till november 30th to allow the system time to catch up.

despite such problems, morale remains high. because as every soldier who makes it here knows, the next stop is home. martin savidge, camp virginia, kuwait. >> you might have seen the wild pictures or might have even experienced black friday turning ugly yourself. fellow shoppers, pepper sprayed, shots fired all in the fight to get a black friday deal. what makes people act this way? and after all the turkey and the family time, the shopping, it is time for millions of americans to head back home. we have your coast to coast forecast in seven minutes. stay with us. ( phone ringing ) okay... uhh. the bad news, it's probably totaled. the good news is, you don't have to pay your deductible. with vanishing deductible from nationwide insurance, you got $100 off for every year of safe driving, so now your deductible is zero. the other good news ? i held on to your coffee. wow. ♪ nationwide is on your side ( laughing ) it's actually a pretty good day when you consider. that's great.

police in southern california now know the identity of the shopper who reportedly pepper sprayed other shoppers at a walmart on black friday.

the woman turned herself in to police last night. she hasn't been charged in the case because police are still interviewing whites. the woman was seen pepper spraying a roud of people who were scrambling to get their hands on discounted x game video box consoles. >> i sure got the scent of the mace. i got it in my throat. it was burning. i saw people around me. they got it really bad. i tried to get away as quickly as possible because i didn't think it was worth it. no deal is worth that. >> ten people required treatment after being sprayed. so what triggers this bizarre behavior on black friday? earlier tonight, i put that question to human behavior expert dr. wendy walsh and psychologist and relationship expert aldoin tart. >> it's the principle of scarcity which states we want what we can't have. when we have limited supplies and we create the demand, people

get in competition for what they want and need and think that other people are the competition. >> wendy, what do you think? >> well, i think i would add to what dr. tartte and said there's political reasons in a more socialist country, people are conditioned to line up politely and wait their turn. america is about individual rights and freedoms and that means the right to be first in line. on top of that, we're talking about a bad economy where people are hurting. but it doesn't mean we're not still consumers and we want to consume, consume. because of this dissonance, people can get a little frantic. >> but adoan, do you think that people have a plan they think they're going to get x, yz and they realize they're not the only ones there and start to panic. >> absolutely. when we get there and see people in our way, we try and eliminate them. in an economy that's in recession, we feel like we need

to make this dollar stretch. you're getting in the way of my buying my son that playstation. >> obviously retailers love it the fact that people are coming out at 4:00 in the morning to hit the stores and this frenzy creates a sport in shopping. do retailers hold some responsibility in these incidents in that they're bringing more people into the game that they have actual sale items to sell. >> absolutely. they have a huge responsibility because they're upping the ante taking a limited quantity of items and selling them in a limited amount of time and allowing masses of people to go for it. what we have to remember though that overall, human beings are becoming less violent than ever. i mean in the middle ages if somebody upset you, you clubbed them right there. these few incidents we have video of really don't reflect all the orderly people who did have a happy shopping experience. millions of people on black friday. we have to remember we are becoming more peaceful. >> and walmart agrees with that

saying while there were a few unfortunate incidents at its stores, the vast majority of shoppers had a safe and enjoyable shopping experience. some interesting crowd control strategy at a best buy in the puerto rico. employees used the store's metal gate to help them limit the number of shoppers inside the store at a given time. as you can see, even the gate didn't slow some of the folks down. in estimates are right, black friday shoppers spent a record-breaking amount. shopper track which tracks foot traffic at maus and stores says sales climbed 6.6% to just under $11.5 billion. sales in the two weeks before black friday were also brisk. up 3.6% and 3.8% respectively. if you missed out on bargains, don't worry. cyber-monday is only two days away when retailers slash prices for online merchandise. and there are a lot of deals to be had.

a survey by shop.org says eight of ten online merchants will offer promotions and many shoppers don't let work get in their way. 60% of workers plan to shop for holiday gifts from their desks at work. despite a weak economy, analysts expect sales to hit a record $1.2 billion this year. karen mcginnis is in the weather center. a lot of folks thinking about leaving grandma's house. they may have some tough times getting home because of some weather. >> yes, and about 38 million people hit the roads, and they're going to have some big problems, especially as you head towards the east. we have also have problems for travelers who are going to some of the airports. want to show you, this is very impressive. on our last few model runs where the rainfall is going to be and where it's going to be the heaviest, across lower ohio river valley, from paducah towards louisville towards

columbus, ohio, some of these areas over the next 48 hours could pick up one, two, three inches of rainfall. but that's in 48 hours. we've got a stubborn area of low pressure that's going to swirl around the central tennessee river valley. as a matter of fact, nashville looking at two or three inches of rainfall. as i mentioned, that's a 48-hour total. what we can expect may be two to four with some isolated heavier amounts of rainfall. all the way from columbus towards nashville. now for atlanta, here comes a frontal system. this is going to be problematic for air travelers at the nation's biggest airport as this area of low pressure stays stuck in the atmosphere but on the backside of this, in nashville, also into memphis, we can expect a few flurries. it's mostly going to be a rain/snow mix but very breezy weather conditions there, as well. all right. as we take you through time. this is what we're looking at in chicago, temperatures falling throughout the day.

only in the 40. say good-bye to the 50s you saw this afternoon. atlanta, the showers continue for the next several days with much cooler temperatures. and as we take a look further towards the north for sunday and monday, okay, in new york, but the rain showers move in by tuesday. ted? >> could be an interesting travel day to say the least. >> we'll have updates tomorrow. >> thanks, karen. and now a look at what's ahead tomorrow in the "cnn newsroom." i'm fredricka whitfield. tune in sunday beginning at 2:30 p.m. eastern time. big travel day snags. we have team coverage. and in the 4:00 eastern hour, there's a new movement called no labels. they want to put aside party labels and get things done. we'll talk to the founders about where they think this is going. plus, at 5:00 eastern, face to face with actor isaiah washington, four years after his controversial departure from "grey's anatomy," he explains how that role shaped his life on and off screen. ted? >> thanks fredricka.

next, the race for the white house is heating up. the most famous sheriff in the country is heading east hitting the campaign trail for gop presidential candidate we'll tell you who coming up. stay with us. roc® multi-correxion 4 zone moisturizer with roc®retinol and antioxidants. lines, wrinkles, and sun damage will fade. roc multi-correxion. correct what ages you.

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a sheriff who's become a lightning rod in the immigration debate will campaign with rick perry. joe arpieia sheriff joe of maricopa county, arizona, will join perry in new hampshire on tuesday. several gop presidential hopefuls have courted arpaio known as america's toughest sheriff by some. he generated national controversy over his crackdown on illegal immigrants and strong support for arizona's immigration law. some believe that will frankly perry could use his clout. conservative critics jumped on perry after he suggested that people who don't support education for children of illegal immigrants "don't have a heart."

as we reported, there's a tentative deal in place to end the nba lockout. among those relieved is the country's basketball fan in chief. president obama was asked about the deal after he finished playing basketball at ft. mcnair. here is what he said. >> what do you think about the nba strike? >> good deal. >> the president also spent his afternoon in maryland watching townsend fall to arizona state which is coached by his brother-in-law. voting is under way right now for 2011 cnn's hero of the year. nate berkus introduces us to one of the top ten finalists. chef bruno serato. >> hi, i'm nate berkus. as a member of the american red cross celebrity cabinet, i'm committed to emergency preparedness, disaster response, and lending a helping hand to those in need.

now, i am thrilled to help introduce one of this year's top ten cnn heroes. >> i came to this country 30 years ago. i love to cook but to be in the restaurant business, you must love the people. 2005, my mom was here on vacation from italy. i said mom, let's go to the -- this little boy 5 years old was a motel kid. i find that a poor family who when they go back after school, there's no dinner. there's no money. mom say, you must feed them the pasta. i'm bruno serato. i listened to mama. now my mission is feeding hungry children. i don't give the kids leftovers. i bring them fresh pasta. >> bruno brings a tray in and all the kids are excited. >> are you hungry. >> it's good to get a free

dinner. right now we are between 150 to 200 kids a week. >> who like the pasta. >> me. >> my mom she made me start. now i could never stop. i see you sooner. they're our customer. my fellow customers. my favorite customers. less than two weeks to vote for the cnn hero of the year. head to cnnheroes.com and don't forget to watch live on sunday, december 11th as anderson cooper hosts cnn heroes, an all-star tribute live from los angeles. well, will curiosity solve the mysteries of mars? a spacecraft bearing an that name is now on the way to the red planet and asteroids. they're the stuff of video games, great movies. and the occasional real life threat. see what nasa is doing to keep us safe. that come up. stay with us. nationwide insurance, what's up ?

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nasa's biggest and most advanced probe yet is on its way to mars. >> two, one. main engines start. zero and liftoff of the atlas 5 with curiosity. seeking clues to the planetary puzzle about life on mars. >> a successful launch this morning. it is the start of a very long journey. the curiosity rover should make it to mars next august. curiosity is a self-contained science lab on wheels facing very high expectations, years of work and $2.5 billion have gone into this mission. well, it was just about two weeks ago that an asteroid the size of an aircraft carrier zipped relatively close to earth.

it wasn't a real threat this time. but scientists as the nasa know that that won't always be the case. cnn's john zarrella reports. >> a nuclear blast. humanity never wants to see another one of these on the planet. but off the planet, that's a different story. rather than destroying life, it could save us from asteroid extinction. >> if you don't think there are clear danger to us, ask your nearest dinosaur. >> while scientists search for life in the universe they are also working on ways to prevent massive asteroids from ending life here like one did the dinosaurs. >> bad things happen to good planets. we know that the earth has been hit before. in the long run, i think our species has to learn how to protect the earth in that way. >> scientists say there are methods that should work. a nuclear blast, knocking the asteroid off its collision course or simply running into it with a spacecraft.

to get a better handle on these flying rocks, nasa's first human deep space mission around 2025 is going to an asteroid. down in the florida keys, they're already planning. >> if i chip a rock on an asteroid, it's going off. it has escape velocity. >> mike gernhart, astronaut, is developing tools astronauts would need an. >> this is a soil collection device that we cock. >> and just offshore, an asteroid proving ground of sorts. where the tools are tested in the near weightless environment beneath the surface. but don't go losing any sleep over an asteroid impact. new findings show there are fewer of the really big ones size of a mountain than was thought and none will threaten the earth for centuries. there is a downside. the smaller ones like the one that flew by earth a couple

weeks ago, well astronomers say they don't know where most of those are. about 15,000 of them. >> we only have found a very small fraction of those objects yet. they could still cause considerable damage. >> like taking out a metropolitan area or an entire state. but scientists are confident if there's enough lead time, say ten to 20 years before it would hit, they're pretty sure they'll get the asteroid before it gets us. john zarrella, cnn at the kennedy space center in florida. remember the pepper spraying cop caught on camera? he's being ridiculed all over the web for the video of him dousing a line of protesters sitting on the ground. jeanne moos takes a look coming up. [ male announcer ] still getting dandruff? neutrogena® t/gel shampoo defeats dandruff after just one use. t/gel shampoo. it works. neutrogena®.

checking our head lines, pakistan has cut off two supply lines into afghanistan after a deadly attack by nato forces on pakistani troops. 24 soldiers were killed. trucks carrying vital supplies are now sitting idle at the border while pakistan reassesses its relationship with the u.s. and nato. nato hasn't accepted blame for the incident but is promising a full investigation. one of the three american college students detained in egypt is back in the u.s. egyptian police accused gregory porter and two other americans of throwing molotov cocktails from a rooftop. the other two students are

expected to arrive home later tonight. the federal government is investigating the chevy volt over fears the electric car batteries may pose a fire risk. the national highway traffic safety administration says the lithium ion waters could catch fire in a crash. so far there's no recall. gm insists the car is safe. well, pepper spray can hurt but online mockery stings for a lot longer. here's cnn's jeanne moos. >> reporter: first an officer hosed down protesters with pepper spray. now he's getting hosed back. peppered with ridicule for watering my hippies. >> he was like watering the garden like this. >> now he's spraying everyone from santa to jesus at the last supper. he's sprague -- spaying lassie. he's reproducing across the web,

even spraying another internet meme, the keyboard cat. he's spraying the beatles, spraying to stop the flag raisers at iwo jima. his pepper spray replaces the torch on the statute of liberty. >> shame on you. shame on you. >> he's spraying in famous paintings, at historic moments at national monuments and now we know why house speaker john boehner cries. he too has been pepper sprayed by the now infamous officer. his real name is lieutenant john pike. but he's been tagged with the nickname pepper spray pike. that's the name on his fake parody twitter account full of bella koes tweets. want to see the supercommittee do something? give me ten minutes with him in a locked room with spray. the hacker group anonymous went after lieutenant pike but publicizing his name and address. someone even created the pepper spray cop's lament.

♪ hey, kid, sorry i pepper sprayed you. >> and when fox news anchor megan kelly described pepper spray this way. >> it's like a derivative of actual pepper. it's a food product. >> she was mocked. megan kelly on the electric chair. it's a massage chair essentially. on mustard gas, it's a hot dog condiment essentially. she would probably like to eat her words as long as they weren't seasoned with pepper spray. on amazon.com critics with writing reviews of pepper spray calling it the cadillac of citizen repression technology. it is being aimed at old people and the village people and being shot up marilyn monroe's dress. anyone care to give thanks for pepper spray on turkey day? move! >> jnne moos, cnn. >> sorry about that thing with the pepper spray.