>> many people aren't required to have renters insurance. >> it's good to have. >> you should absolutely have it. a couple hundred dollars -- >> can go a long way. gale, your question comes from lenny in west virginia. is it possible to declare bankruptcy on a federal college loan? >> the government is very serious about getting repaid. and as a rule, bankruptcy does not cover student loans. the government, though, can even garnish your paycheck. you need to treat this very seriously. i would encourage him to do thorough research. don't make bankruptcy or try to make it your first stop. make it your last. there are options. there's a deferment. which would stop the payment for a short period of time. forbearance would stop or lower the payment for a longer period of time. even loan forgiveness. >> look at bankruptcy last. >> exactly. >> if sticks with you many years. if you have a question you want answered, send an e-mail to cnnhelpdesk@cnn.com.

hello, everyone. let's start this hour with our reporter roulette. trying to stop gunfire on new year's eve. also we'll get a look at your weather for tomorrow night. and some good economic news. let's start with iran. flexing its military muscle. it's conducting naval exercises in the persian gulf. apparently to show the west what it's capable of if the west imposes new sanctions on iran's oil exports. let's bring in barbara starr, pentagon correspondent. she joins us now. barbara, you've been following developments. what can you tell us about these exercises? >> isha, let's start with a photo, a picture that the iranians say they took of a u.s. aircraft carriers in north arabian sea. the only u.s. aircraft carrier out there is the "uss john stennis." this film apparently taken from iranian aircraft. part of those naval exercises going on right now in the north

arabian sea. it could be a tense weekend out in that region off iran's coastline. as these naval exercises continue. the iranians say starting tomorrow they will fire a number of missiles, both surface to air and surface to surface missiles, part of a test firing program they are going to undertake. we don't know a lot about it. we know the navy, the u.s. navy, will be watching closely. but here is what we do know from u.s. naval sources we have talked to about this. first up, iran, this exercise is being conducted by the so-called regular iranian navy. not the revolutionary guard corps navy. that's a militant wing of the iranian military, something the u.s. finds very unsettling. this is the regular iranian navy conducting these exercises. so that's a bit of good news. iran did post a notice saying it was going to conduct these missile firings in its own

territorial waters, warning ships and aircraft to stay away. that will add some stability over the weekend to what people can expect to happen. the question always, you know, is the instability, the concern about miscalculation by iran. there's an awful lot of shipping in that entire region and a lot of concern that iran may be misunderstood in its intentions, may make a move that is misunderstood by others. so still a very unsettled situation. some pointers that say things are being laid out according to international standards. but the u.s. navy will spend the weekend watching all of this very carefully, isha. >> barbara starr working the star for us. thank you, barbara. s well, some american substitute firearms for fireworks on new year's eve. there's a new effort to putting an end to celebratory gunfire. cnn's george howell.

good to have you with me. i believe it was a 2-year-old boy, here in atlanta, his death that sparked a movement. >> four years ago, or two years ago, rather, markel peters was killed in a church sitting next to his mother. it was a bullet that came through the roof of the building, hit markell in the med and killed him next to his mother. a lot of people have gotten involved trying to stop celebratory gunfire. m markell's pledge, anyone can take it, promising not to fire off a weapon in celebration. >> had this made difference? >> in dekalb county, where the church is, 47% less celebratory gunfire in dekalb county in the last year. clearly there are other cities doing the same thing. i found in los angeles, birmingham, alabama, they're using technology that can track the sound of gunfire to its origin. and in miami, they launched a campaign one bullet kills a party, asking people not to fire

off their weapons. >> i'm not from the states, so hearing about celebratory gunfire seems pretty odd to me. as you made clear, it's not just here in georgia. >> no, it happens all over. in fact, on new year's, you can go out in any neighborhood really. some neighborhoods outside the city. you can hear the gunfire. it's something officials definitely want to curb and stop. >> yeah. george howell, appreciate it, thanks so much. europe's debt crisis is making a trip to europe cheaper for americans. next on reporter roulette, alison kosik at the new york stock exchange has been taking a closer look at the numbers. alison? >> yes, isha. the european crisis wound up doing is pushing the euro to 17-month lows against the u.s. dollar. right now one euro is worth under $1.30. your dollar goes a bit farther if you're a tourist in europe. economists are predicting the dollar will continue to strengthen as the european debt saga marches on.

some even say that we could see parody between the dollar and the euro. next year. now, that's great if you're an american tourist in europe. it means the price of goods imported from europe to the u.s. could come down. it could give you an extra little something to celebrate with your french champagne tomorrow night. isha? >> indeed. alison, what does a weaker euro actually mean for the u.s. economy? >> that's really a good question, especially for companies. you know, the falling euro winds up hurting revenues for american companies that sell goods in europe. take a look at why. let's say that an american-made t-shirt sells in paris for 10 euros and the customer buys the shirt, the american company gets 10 euros and gets $13 in revenue. if the euro cafalls to even wit the dollar, the company gets only $10 for the t-shirt. to get the same revenue, it would have to raise the price in paris then it may not sell as

many t-shirts. you go ahead and expand the example out to all goods sold in europe. tens of billions of dollars in lost revenue. american companies could wind up feeling the pinch in their bottom line if the euro drops more. really what you see is american travelers benefiting from the falling euro. if you're an exporter, you're not benefiting as much as american travelers for sure. isha? >> alison kosik breaking it down for us. thank you. appreciate the analysis. next on reporter roulette, chad myers in the weather center. your new year's eve forecast. how's it looking? >> your new year's eve forecast, 44 times square. a million people all breathing on each other, will feel warmer than that in new york city. pleasant, nice, clear skies. no rain, no snow for new york city. take a look at other places here. is that times square right there? yeah. >> yes, it is. >> look at that. good stuff. you're like santa claus in the control room. i ask for things and you bring them to me. there you go.

chicago, this is out of the macy's window on state street. a rainy day there. it will be rainy tomorrow night as well. temperatures above freezing in that rain. so probably around 40, 43 degrees for chicago as you go outside and celebrate or stay inside and celebrate there. for the rest of the country, 39 d.c. 46 atlanta. they drop a peach in atlanta. it's the peach state. miami 69. pleasant in south florida. denver 31. vegas if you're going to be out, i celebrated in vegas one time, isha. i was on the brooklyn bridge at new york, new york. everybody else was in the middle of the street there, the middle of the strip in las vegas. everybody really thought that we were in new york. like new york, new york. even though it's obviously a casino. isha? >> chad myers, thank you for that. that's if for today's reporter roulette. politics now. newt gingrich's poll numbers aren't the only thing dropping. tears were falling from his eyes today. what was the question that got the tears rolling at a town hall

forum in iowa today? four days left until the caucuses. our team is on the ground. we'll have a live report and we'll explain. plus, some call it animal abuse. investigators raid a turkey farm in north carolina. we're going to talk to a police officer about what's going on behind closed doors. and in l.a., police think they may have an arsonist at work. 19 fires, 19 were set overnight. and a riddle for you. what does kelly clarkson have to do with the race for the republican nomination for president? she got herself into a little bit of trouble on twitter. we'll explain later this hour.

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baldwin. if it's interesting and happening now, you're about to see it. rapid fire. four days to go until iowa republicans hit their caucus meetings. mitt romney is still ahead in the polls there. this hour he's getting a boost from fellow governor chris christie of new jersey who's on the campaign trail with romney's wife, ann. we'll monitor the live campaign events over the next hour and catch them on cnn.com/live. a 39-year-old man is now formally charged with the murder of a 9-year-old girl he was baby sitting. indiana prosecutors say michael plumedore killed the girl. he's charged with murder and two other felonies. the body was found dismembered in a freezer. the suspect is described as a family friend. he's held without bond and will be back in court next week. 911 tapes have been released in the shooting of a marine lieutenant colonel in deerfield beach, florida. he survived wars in iraq and afghanistan only to be shot when he chased after two men who

robbed him of his fiancee's necklace. >> hey, buddy, sit down. they are coming right now. >> trenker chased after the pair until one turned around and fired several shots. two suspects have been arrested on charges of attempted murder. fire investigators and police are looking for clues in 1 overnight arson fires in l.a. the fires were mainly started in cashes or parking garages. police say they're looking for at least one suspect who call an arsonist at work. one of the fires was at the former lower canyon home of morrison, immortalized in the song "love street." a massive day of protests turns deadly in syria. hundreds of thousands of pro democracy demonstrators jammed the streets of homes and other cities across the country. as part of what the opposition called the crawl to freedom square. anti-government groups say at least 35 protesters have been

killed. witnesses say this video we're about to show you shows a man who had his legs blown off being carried by friends in a damascus suburb. the crackdown by president bashar al assad's presence continues. the monitors are in syria to verify assad's pledge to pull troops from the streets and end violence. a huge sinkhole is threatening about a dozen homes in allentown, pennsylvania. and it's inching closer to a cemetery. it's gotten so close a court order gives the coroner the go ahead to remove caskets from some 60 graves if need be. the fire chief says the sinkhole is 50 feet long and 30 feet wide. he said a water main break probably caused the ground to give. and this is the last stock market day of 2011. we want to show you the numbers. a quick look at the big board there. and the dow right now down some 53 points, standing at 12,234. well over that 11,000 mark.

that important psychological barrier. now, police raid a turkey farm in north carolina. there were reports of animal abuse. we'll talk to police to see what they found inside. and new year's tradition may look a little different this year. the economy hasn't spared the rose bowl parade. a live report from california is up next. we'll also have new details. remember last hour we told you about verizon looking to implement a $2 fee. if you used your credit card or debit card. and tried to pay online or over the phone for one-time payment. well, we've got some new developments, new details just coming into us here at cnn. we'll bring them to you after the break.

well, we want to update you on some new details coming into us here at cnn. involving verizon and that $2 fee they're looking to introduce on january 15th. the use of your credit card or debit card if you're going to use it to make a one-time payment to pay your bill. let's bring in alison kosik. alison has the details. alison, what's happening? >> we just got a statement from verizon wireless saying it's not going to go ahead and institute this single payment fee. what verizon wireless was originally going to do is ding customers who make one-time payments either online or on the phone, or through their credit cards even for the one-time payments. they were going to ding them $2. since the story broke yesterday, i've certainly seen the outrage on twitter. i've seen it on facebook. on endless blogs. there have been petitions started about the outrage of this. verizon coming out with this statement saying "at verizon we take great care to listen to our customers. based on their input, we believe the best path forward is to

encourage customers to take advantage of the best and most efficient options eliminating the need to institute the fee at this time." this coming from dan mead, president and chief executive officer of verizon wireless. we're seeing this happen again. we saw this happen with bank of america, with their $5 debit card fee on purchases. bank of america went ahead and retracted that fee and now we're seeing verizon wireless retract its fee. even before it got started. same thing happened with bank of america as well. bank of america's fee was supposed to take place at the beginning of next year. it took it away even before it began as well. isha? >> indeed. we had already heard from the fcc they were going to look into this, right? >> right. that was kind of an interesting twist in this. that hit the wire a short time ago, maybe half an hour to an hour ago that the fcc was concerned about this fee. didn't elaborate on why but was looking into it. that added a new layer to this

new fee that really just caused consumers such outrage to have to pay a fee just to pay your bill. especially since it seems -- it looked to have maybe targeted people who, you know, didn't have bank accounts, who had to pay those one-time fees because they don't have those bank accounts. so interesting turn of events from verizon wireless, isha. >> yes, indeed. verizon wireless dropping that $2 fee. alison kosik, appreciate the update. thank you. switching gears now. north carolina police have inspecting a turkey farm. one operated by butterball, the largest producer of turkey products in the united states. the reason for the search, a complaint coupled with graphic hidden camera video of alleged animal abuse. we want to warn you, some of you may find the video disturbing. it was taken by an organization called mercy for animals. now, the highly edited video shows workers, as you see there, workers kicking, dragging, and throwing turkeys. want to bring in captain john

kivit of the hope county sheriffs office. he's here with us and has the latest on this investigation. captain, thanks so much for joining us. talk to me about today's search on that site. what exactly were you looking for? >> well, the search began yesterday of the butterball turkey farm. we were looking for injuries of m maltreatment of the animals located here on the location. we had several veterinarians along with investigators, 2,800 birds from yesterday to today. it's still ongoing at this time so the investigation is still continuing. >> at this point in time, again, i know you've made the point, it's ongoing. can you give us any kind of assessment as to what you found? >> we found some birds that have injuries to them. however, i can't elaborate on the injuries at this time.

i'm going to have to sit down and speak with my investigators and doctors who have physically seen these birds before i can comment on that. >> all right. you said 25 to 2,800 birds you have looked at. how much longer is it going to take? >> we're hoping to wrap this portion of the investigation up later this evening. the total amount of birds on site is approximately 2,800. they're on the last phase of the investigation inside the farm now. so i'm hoping within the next short while they'll be able to exit from the facility and be able to give me an update. >> all right. just one last question for you before i let you go. what kind of penalties does north carolina have in place for offenses of animal cruelty? >> north carolina has in place it can be a misdemeanor or felony charges depending on what

exactly took place with the animal. >> all right. captain john kivett of hope county, north carolina, joining us. we want to read this statement released by butterbawl. it says it has zero tolerance policy for any mistreatment of its birds or failure to immediately report mistreatment of our birds by any associates. employees found in violation of butterball's policies will be subject to immediate termination. the company says its animal welfare programs go through stringent internal audits by the usda and has six veterinarians on staff to check on the birds' wellbeing. now this. >> my whole emphasis on brain science comes indirectly with dealing -- see, i'm emotional -- from dealing with, you know, the real problems of real people in my family. >> newt gingrich getting teary at an event in iowa.

his wife and daughters were there in the audience when memories of his own mother tripped him up. and more words from ron paul's past may come back to haunt him. we're going to explain what's going on and joins us live from iowa. that's coming up next. they want a big hat...g if ...'scuse me... ...or a big steak... ...or big hair... i think we have our answer. geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. this was the gulf's best tourism season in years. all because so many people wanted to visit us... in louisiana. they came to see us in florida... nice try, they came to hang out with us in alabama... once folks heard mississippi had the welcome sign out, they couldn't wait to get here.

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man on tv: ...rbis and 36 homers. swings at the first pitch and fouls it deep back into the stands. [ding] [fans whirring] announcer: chill raw and prepared foods promptly. one in 6 americans will get sick from food poisoning this year. check your steps at foodsafety.gov. well, mitt romney got a big plug today out in iowa from heavy hitting governor chris christie of new jersey. there's some shouting in the background, so we'll have to listen closely. here it is. >> if you don't do what you're supposed to do on tuesday for mitt romney, i will be back, jersey style, people. i will be back. >> so that's chris christie

telling iowa vote for mitt romney or else. with us now from des moines, cnn political producer peter hanby. peter, great to see you. let's talk about romney. focus in on him. he's neck in neck in ron paul. he set his sights on two other opponents. tell us about that. >> reporter: ron paul could win iowa, rick santorum could win iowa if you talk to people around des moines. mitt romney may be okay with that. here's the reason why. he basically wants anybody but gingrich and perry to win iowa. he doesn't want them to have momentum. the romney people view gingrich and perry as the biggest threats as perhaps the more viable republicans in the republican field moving on to later primaries states. they don't feel that way about ron paul. they certainly don't feel that way about rick santorum despite his burst of no moment momentum. if romney comes in third in iowa, the people who beat him

are ron paul and rick santorum, the romney team is okay with that. though they would like a win in iowa for sure, isha. >> let's go forward. you've got iowa then new hampshire then south carolina. romney's running strong in the first two states. we know that. what about south carolina? because that's not necessarily fertile ground for him, right? >> reporter: not really. he played ball there big-time in 2008 and got crushed. he spent a lot of money and finished in fourth place. it's a state that's long been kind of suspicious of his northern pedigree and his perceived flip-flops. but this time if you have a fractured republican field kind of in the way you do in iowa, say newt gingrich and rick santorum move on to south carolina, you know, maybe rick perry stays in the race if he doesn't do well in iowa down there and they start vying for the conservative vote, mitt romney can maybe sneak away with the plurality in the same way john mccain did in 2008. by appealing with the sort of moderate establishment

business-friendly republicans he's going after here in iowa and perhaps in the same kind of way in south carolina which is more of a media heavy state. you can run a lot of tv ads in south carolina and get away with not having a lot of organization. he's got the governor of south carolina, nikki haley, at his back. she's not super popular but gives him a good media presence when she's at his side. it's a state they think they can win. they've hired new advisers down there. they're running tv ads. depending on how the next two states shake out, we could see a battle in south carolina. the romney people think they can win there which is a far cry from at this time last year or last election, rather, isha. >> they can keep those ads coming. before we let you go, i want to talk about newt gingrich. as we said, and we've been telling our viewers, he choked up today as he spoke about his mother and her late life struggle with mental illness. let's listen a bit to that. >> my whole emphasis on brain silence comes indirectly with dealing -- see, i'm emotional -- from dealing with, you know, the

real problems of real people in my family. and so it's not a theory. it's, in fact, you know, my mother. >> an emotional newt gingrich there. peter, let's face it. things not going well for gingrich right now. at least by the polls. is there a scenario, as you look at it, where iowa could actually spell the end of his candidacy? >> reporter: absolutely. gingrich has tried to lower expectations saying a fourth or fifth place finish is fine with him and he can move on to south carolina. if you talk to operatives and smart political people in iowa, they're openly talking about the potential of him finishing fourth or fifth here which is an amazing fall from grace from a month ago when he was in first place and thought he might be threatening ron paul and iowa. at the same time, his opponents have drilled him with negative tv ads.

it's going to be tough for him to finish in the top three without response to the negative ads. >> peter hanby joining us from iowa with great analysis. thank you, peter. this weekend is your chance to see the gop presidential candidates offer their closing arguments uninterrupted and in their own words. the contenders, 2012, this the saturday and sunday afternoon at 2:00 eastern right here on cnn. well, the tournament of roses parade happens sunday morning, but it will be a little different this year. next, a live report from pasadena on how the economy is affecting this year's parade. ♪ sing polly wolly doodle all the day ♪ ♪ hah

well, here's a timely reminder of the state of the economy and some of the choices being faced, in fact, by cash strapped local governments. this year's tournament of roses parade may not be as big in the past. here's cnn's casey whien. >> reporter: sprinklers, budweiser's famous collides dcl have withdrawn from the parade because of economic concerns. west camina, california, wowed the crowd with 2010's memorable entry featuring the tuskegee airmen. west cavina stopped funding its float in 2004 turning it over to

a private foundation which pulled out of the parade this year. >> we did our very, very best to try to raise the funds to pay for the float. the economics, the businesses are hurting. they wanted to go ahead, if they had additional available dollars to use it for other purposes. >> reporter: the picturesque backdrop of the rose parade route traditionally has been viewed by cities as a valuable promotional tool to attract people and businesses to the region. with so many municipal budgets in trouble, cities are facing a difficult choice. pay for a float in the rose parade or pay the salary of a police officer or librarian. >> certainly, cities where there are major financial issues going on, putting the float in the parade seems like not necessarily the best use of resources. >> reporter: the smallest of the four companies that build floats for $75,000 to $200,000 more or each has shut its doors. >> we started off january 1st well with a good parade and two

happy clients. and we're finishing the year out of business. >> people just aren't spending money like they used to. everybody's holding on to it. >> reporter: tim estes runs fiesta floats. he's lost a longtime client, rainburg, others have taken its place. >> there have been costs of increases with raw materials, flowers, steel, labor insurance cost. i'm just fortunate. >> reporter: float builders and parade organizers even with the slow economy say the rose parade remains a big draw for many advertisers. >> we seemed to have weathered all the economic storms for the last 123 years to still be in existence. >> reporter: things may be uncomfortable after the upcoming parade. protesters from the occupy movement plan to voice their economic concerns by staging a demonstration behind the final float of 2012. >> casey whien joins us now -- >> reporter: one of the way the

float's sponsors -- >> go ahead, i was letting our viewers know you're joining us from pasadena. >> reporter: that's right. as i was saying isha, one of the way the float's sponsors are dealing with difficult economic times is turning to good old-fashioned fund-raising. over my shoulder, see the float for loyola university. they didn't have the money to pay for a float to celebrate their 100th anniversary. they turned to private donations to fund this $300,000 float. city of glendale, california, didn't have the money in its budget. they were going to pull out of the rose parade this year. they went to private donors and funded a float as well. despite difficult economic times, many sponsors are staying in this game. isha? >> casey, i still don't get why sponsors are willing to invest in floats given the economy is soft. >> reporter: well, it's just a matter of advertising and eyeballs. if you look at companies that spend $3 million, let's say, for a 30-second spot in the super

bowl, and the amount of eyeballs they get for that. 47 million people watch the rose parade on television just in the united states. if you do the math, that's six times as many advertising eyeballs per dollar that the rose parade gets versus, for example, the super bowl game. they're saying it's really good bang for your advertising buck, isha. >> casey whien joining us from pasade pasadena, california. thank you. on monday, brooke baldwin has a couple of special guests from the rose parade. the parents of pristina green. you remember she was the youngest victim in the shooting rampage at the event for gabby giffords january. monday brooke will talk with them about their work to increase organ donations in america. well, the last u.s. soldiers are coming home from iraq and spending the holidays with family. happy time for nearly all, but some have issues that will take time to get over.

dr. sanjay gupta produces us to jeff mitchell, a vet whose healing has begun thanks to help he never expected. >> reporter: the story begins a long time ago. with a boy and his mother. >> you never expect to have a child and send them to war. >> reporter: the boy becomes a man then comes 9/11. and the army is calling his name. >> i do remember crying, pleading, begging. then it got to the point where you have to support what they want to do. >> reporter: jeff rolled through baghdad in 2003. he did two tours of duty. fighting in the desert. when he comes home, there are violent outbursts. heavy drinking, a stay in rehab and finally a diagnosis. severe post traumatic stress disorder. >> i never left my room. drinking the entire time i was

awake. so there wasn't a whole lot there. come here. >> reporter: here it gets better. you see, this story has a girl. jeff gets involved with a group called paws for vets and meets tazzy. she'd been picked up running wild in afghanistan. she was a psychological wreck. >> there's six to eight guys and probably eight dogs. the first thing that she did was find a corner and get as far into that corner as she could. i sit here and pet a dog all day. >> reporter: as you can see, in nine months, tazz whery's come g way, too. it's obvious he's still on edge, but tazzy makes his life easier. >> go play. >> reporter: someone walks up behind them, she'll give jeff a nudge. when the dark thoughts start to cascade, tazzy is there to stem the flow. >> can tazzy tell? >> it will be something as simple as her coming over to me.

and whatever else maybe be going through my mind, just, you know, gets knocked down a notch or two. >> reporter: it may not sound like much, but with tazzy, jeff gets out of the house. even to public events like this one with paws 4 vets. >> i think about all that modern medicine has to offer. in jeff's case, it wasn't enough. if sounds like. >> right. >> reporter: then this dog comes into this life and seems to help a lot. >> oh, more than a lot. she has saved him. she absolutely -- >> you believe that? >> i absolutely know that she has saved him. >> you done showing off? >> reporter: dr. sanjay gupta, cnn, brazleton, georgia. after first it was dating advice from teens to a fellow teen. it became so much more. a long man who shared his message of love as he was losing his own life. our brooke baldwin talked with

his mom. that's next. so who ordered the cereal that can help lower cholesterol and who ordered the yummy cereal? yummy. [ woman ] lower cholesterol. [ man 2 ] yummy. i got that wrong didn't i? [ male announcer ] want great taste and whole grain oats that can help lower cholesterol? honey nut cheerios.

a young man from texas really touched all of us this week. he had a serious heart condition but was able to inspire a lot of people as he was fighting for his life.

you may remember ben breedlove. that's him here. he became an internet celebrity be advice clips he posted on youtube. it was his wisdom, his wisdom that touched all of us as he was tie i dying. this was ben's last video. ben's funeral was held yesterday. >> then he prayed for us and he prayed that we wouldn't be scared and we wouldn't be sad and that we would have the same peace that he felt from god. >> that's ben's sister there. his mother spoke with our own brooke baldwin on "out front" last night and told brooke about when she first saw her son's video. >> our daughter shared that video to my husband and i the morning after ben passed away. >> and your first thought was, i mean, did you -- through the video, we should explain, he described three different times in his life where he described cheating death and feeling this

big, bright light. did you have any idea he experienced that? >> yes. we were -- we knew exactly what had happened and he had shared those things with us. and we talked about them many times. so the content of the video didn't surprise us at all. just the emotion behind it and his sincerity was really overwhelming. it was a huge blessing to us. and very emotional. >> the third time he explains with his cue cards that he says he cheated death, he was at school, he passed out. he describes a bright light and looking in this mirror. i took this note of what he really said. he said, i looked at myself in the mirror. i was proud of myself, of my entire life, of everything i have done. it was the best feeling. i mean, knowing that about your son, even though you've lost him, it must make you feel pretty strong to know he felt that way. >> well, it's extremely comforticomfor

comforting and it's a big part of what's helping us get through the first few difficult days. we can't explain what happened. it was just something, you know, very unusual and very poignant. we just feel that maybe ben was allowed to get a glimpse of himself and his life the way god sees him. and i think god would see all of us as the people he had created, the beautiful creatures for beautiful purposes. i hope that's what ben saw when he looked in that mirror. >> you know as he's telling the story the third time when he cheated death this year, he talks about how he's wearing his favorite suit and he was alongside his favorite rapper kid kudi who said, you know, go now, telling ben, go now. once kudi heard about this, he said he immediately broke town into tears. i'm sure you've heard the stories. i want to show this message. this was on this rapper's blog. i want to quote him. "we love you, ben, forever. thank you for loving me. to ben's family, you raised a real hero. he is definitely mine.

you have my love." deanne, have you been in touch with kid cudi at all? >> no, we haven't been in touch with him. we were able to read that, too, and it's very touching. i just think any time any kind of life is shared, it's going to be something joyful and that's what this whole situation is for us. the message of hope, i think, is what maybe touched kid cudi. and i hope it has encouraged him and inspired him in some way the way his lyrics inspired our son. >> i read the obit you and your husband wrote in the austin "statesman" and talk about inviting everyone to log on to youtube and enter ben breedlove. deanne, i appreciate you calling me after your own son's memorial. thank you. >> you're very welcome. >> ben breedlove, who was clearly a very special young man. next, alaskan wolf dogs not something you see every day. rescued from a tourist attraction in alaska. you'll meet the people who saved

them and hear how the dogs are helping the people nursing them back to health. [ding] announcer: cook foods to the right temperature using a food thermometer. 3,000 americans will die from food poisoning this year. check your steps at foodsafety.gov.

a pack of wolf dogs have a new home in california thanks to a rescue center near los angeles. the animals were rescued from a roadside attraction in alaska. they're now being cared for and are giving back to those very care givers. >> we don't usually put your face in a walk dog's face because there's a danger of them being startled, but this animal's been exposed to quite a bit of human contact. >> harmony is one of the dogs just transferred to dr. laura's rescue center. they were rescued from a roadside attraction in alaska, a state which has severe restrictions on owning wolves. some are recovering from injuries. harmony was shot in the eye with

a tranquilizer dart. >> you have a little l bit of a limp getting used to walking up and down the hillside, all the different terrain and on rocks. they're pads will stiffen up pretty quick though. >> they developed soft, tender paws while chained up in what animal rights activists call a pathetic attraction. rumors swirled that 29 wolf dogs might be destroyed. casualties of a criminal investigation in the attraction which charged $5 to walk alongside of and take pictures of the wolf dogs. the own rs told cnn the animals were treated well and no animals were broken. >> once we learned there were 29 wolves in jeopardy, we knew we had to take action. >> they jumped in, raised money

and transferred the wolf dogs to their sanctuary. what they may not realize is we're at 6,000 feet. it does snow here and can get bone chilling cold here in the lockwood valley. >> this is truly a great place for wolves to live and it is where they used to live. >> and a refuge for several war veterans, caring for the wolf dogs. greg hall once fired weapon frs a us navy vessel. >> you feel really good about what you're getting to do every day. knowing the situations these guys came from and that you're working with rescued animals. >> the wolf dogs are too wild to become pets, but they have each other. po bonded by a vounlg from alaska further south. >> our very own wolf blitzer, yes, i did do that.

wolf is here from the cnn election center and joins us now. wolfpack to wolf. >> those are beautiful dogs, those wolves. i love the name of those dogs, too. it's a really impressive name for a dog. >> yeah, i totally agree. >> a wolf. >> what's coming up? >> wolfpack. i have a wolfpack, too, you know. we'll discuss that. some day, you'll be a member of the wolfpack. we've got a big show coming up. lots of news including newt gingrich. he breaks down a different side of the former house speaker. he chokes up, starting to cry a little bit. only a few days left before the iowa caucuses. we're all over that. we're not neglecting other news including the former pakistani ambassador, he's now for all practical purposes under house arrest. his wife is here in "the

situation room." we're going to speak to her about what's going on. this is a major, major story. lots at stake. i think you're going to want to watch this. >> we'll be watching. appreciate it. thank you. this weekend is your chance to see the gop presidential candidates offer their closing arguments uninterrupted and in their own words. this saturday and sunday afternoon at 2:00 eastern right here on cnn. it's no surprise we're talking about romney, paul, gingrich an the rest of the gop field, but what does "american idol" kelly clarkson have to do with next week's caucus? she has got herself into a little bit of trouble. "political pop" is next.

"american idol" star endorses a presidential candidate and things turn ugly. joe johns is here to tell us what went down here. hi, joe. >> well, you know how hollywood politicians, mu mu sigss, actors and so on get accused of going to the left, there's also a downside and there are a lot of people who really don't participate in politics who are in the entertainment field simply because they don't want the blowback. here's an example of blowback.

kelly clarkson tweets on wednesday that she really loves ron paul. you know, she likes his, you know, smaller government message and so on. and then she gets huge blowback from that almost immediately. people start accusing her of supporting racism, the death penalty, a variety of other things. it goes on to the point where she feels she has to respond on twitter, which she does. she sort of pulls it back a little bit, she's sorry if she offended anybody. it doesn't stop. finally, she comes out, i can't believe i've hit up on twitter by so many haters and if you don't like what i say next time, don't attack me. the upside, apparently, for kelly clarkson is according to some reports on the internet, her latest album, stronger, is getting a spike in sales, up as much 190%, so maybe