the candidates had their say at the cnn debate last night and then the handlers took their turns backstage. paul steinhauser was there, too, to hit the spin rooms and get all the scoop. give us the dish, paul. >> oh, yeah, you've got to love that spin room. listen, i was talking to one of rick santorum's top advisers. he was honest about this. it was not my candidate's best debate, but he said he wasn't that concerned because none of the other candidates hit a home run and he didn't feel that too much damage was done at the debate. what about the romney advisers? they were ecstatic. they feet even though he didn't hit a home run he did what they needed him to do. they're confident romney can win here in arizona and in michigan. now, guess who else was in the spin room, kyra. rick perry, the former texas governor, former presidential candidate. as you know he is now a top one for newt gingrich. there was a scrum of people around him. jim acosta snuck in there with his camera and microphone. take a listen to what perry told him about maybe this race going all of the way. take a listen. >> let me just say that we've had a lot of front-runners in this race and we may have two or three more front-runners before august gets here. it won't surprise me for this to get all of the way to the convention. >> reporter: he's a gingrich supporter so i guess he wants it to go all of the way. omae serueay omae sehne a sti.pmo had off and on again front-runner rick santorum catching heat from the left and the right. a new television ad that labels him as a fake. why? >> because he's a fake.

>> while i was fighting to save the olympics you were fighting to save the bridge to nowhere. >> we're going to stay with cnn, full highlights from last night's republican debates live from phoenix in just a moment. and gas prices have jumped again. up 3% -- three cents, rather, overnight, according to aaa. average is $3.61. it is still going up. economists say the gas could jump to 4 or even $5 a gallon by the summer. you're going to hear from president obama on gas prices and energy policy. that's happening later today. president obama is apologizing for the burning of korans by nato troops in afghanistan. now, this incident set off protests across the country. after again president hamid karzai said president obama sent a letter calling the burning an inadvertent error. he also promised to take steps to avoid any reoccurrence. two u.s. troops were killed by someone wearing an afghan army

uniform. nato is not sure if it was in revenge for the koran burning. >> all right. that sign, it says, 60 killed in one hour in a neighborhood in the syrian city of homs. it puts arab leaders on notice that they, to quote it again, are come police is it in the crime. another sign has names of western journalists mary colvin among those killed. it says we will not forget you. this was last night in homs. this morning we're hearing from the family of this slain american journalist marie colvin. she had covered wars around the world and her sister tells cnn they did not expect this in syria. >> i really thought she would

get out. i think she's been in so many life-threatening situations, and always gets out, maybe not sa safely but she makes it out. just so shocked that she didn't this time. a former university of virginia lacrosse player may spend the next 26 years in prison. huge hugely was convicted of murdered and grand larceny in the death of his exgirlfriend. sentencing is april 16th. a win for same-sex couples seeking health benefits. a judge in san francisco rules that a federal worker should be allowed to enroll her partner in her health insurance coverage. the ruling overturns a law blocking same-sex couples from getting federal health benefits. an fda advisory panel recommending the weight loss drug qnexa be given final approval. the panel says that the drug's benefits outweigh the risks if fda rejected three weight loss pills in the last two years,

including qnexa because of safety concerns. but now qnexa could be the first prescription diet drug on the market in over a decade. final decision expected in april. more now on the deadly marine helicopter crash. seven marines were killed when their helicopters collided in midair near yuma, arizona. miguel marquez is joining us live by phone. you've been talking to a lot of people about what has taken place on the ground. what have we learned so far? >> reporter: very tragic situation, obviously. it was at night, about 8:p.m. last night when a huey helicopter, which is typically a transport helicopter, can carry up to ten people but can be configured to carry far less, attack helicopter, and a cobra collided, said the marine corps. they were in a training exercise. they often train much harder in practice than they ever see in the field when they're out there. these guys were also training to

go to afghanistan soon, so it would have been a fairly up-tempo and high-level of train that they were doing. it is not clear what happened. in their press release the marine corps calls it a mishap. it is quite possible this was with just a very, very tragic accident. suzan suzanne? >> do we have a sense of how soon the family members are going to be notified about their loved ones? i know they don't real lease the identities until that has actually happened? >> reporter: yeah, it's a little complicated because the third marine air wing is based out of pendleton in california. the crash happened way out in the desert. this is a massive training facility out here. so it's not clear that they've been able to, one, collect all of the evidence and bodies and make proper identification. they do like to go through all of that before they can be identified and the next of kin can be notified. that typically happens within 24

hours in these situations. but we will see how it goes. at this point it happened at 8:00 last night so they had to work through the night. >> and miguel, it may be a little too soon to know this, but was weather an impact or do we have any sense of whether the circumstances were unusual or different that evening to cause these two to crash? >> reporter: it's hard to say. i was in phoenix last night for the debate and working on a couple other stories and perfect beautiful arizona weather up there. we're not too far away. checking the weather last night around here. it doesn't seem that there was anything. so, you know, these are tough conditions. they train incredibly hard. they're out in the desert. it can be mountainous. it is dark. there's a lot of dirt. there's a lot of dust when those helicopters come in. if they were doing close air support and practice that stuff, they come in very close. and they take enormous risks. sometimes far greater risks in training than they do in the field. >> miguel marquez, thank you.

as we get more details we'll come back to you. run down of the stories we're covering first. it was kind of a tough night for rick santorum. the candidates took turns trying to knock them down at last night's debate. also took jabs at the president over mandated employee coverage of birth control. so we want to hear from you. should contraception even be a campaign issue? carol is back with the talk back next. and then, gas prices top $4 a gallon. many cities are going to look at what the behind the latest price i crease.

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arrangement that kept the debate a little bit more civil than others but a lot of those guys got their shots in. there was some fireworks. rick santorum got the giant target treatment surging the debate as one of the front-runners. want to go to phoenix with jim acosta. before we breakdown the debate because it was an interesting one, i want to talk about brand new poll numbers of the four candidates. what do we see here? >> all important michigan right now, suzanne. look at this new arg poll that just came out earlier this morning. it shows a very tight race in michigan and it shows that mitt romney has work ahead him. rick santorum in the lead in that poll, 38-34%. ron paul and gingrich pretty far behind in that state. these two candidates no, question about it, they're going to be duking it out over the next several days. they're really not going to be here in arizona very much. where i'm standing right now mitt romney wrapped up a speech to a business group here in fence just a few moments ago. he really picked up where he left off last night, suzanne,

going right after rick santorum. he brought up that line that rick santorum gave to the crowd last night which did not go over very well for the former pennsylvania senator when he said that occasionally when he was in the congress, he took some of those votes for the team. he had to sometimes take one for the team. well, mitt romney said in his speech just a few moments ago, which team was rick santorum taking one for? so mitt romney obviously not resisting when he had a good line ready to go this morning. it was interesting to be in that room that spin room last night after last night's debate, suzanne, because rick santorum, i asked him at one point because he came to the spin room and taking questions from the press, what do you make of the fact that ron paul after the debate last night was going after you so much, what's that all about because there has been some talk, you know, on twitter, on the blogs, in political circles that perhaps there might be some sort of unofficial alliance going on between the ron paul/mitt romney campaign. here's what rick santorum had to say when i asked him that qu

question. >> you have to ask them what they've got going together. their commercials look a lot alike and attacks. you tell me. you know, this is pretty much governor romney's town and governor romney's crowd, so i expected that. and of course, congressman paul always has a lot of folks in the crowd and they're very vocal. >> reporter: so that was a sign that rick santorum had a pretty rough night last night. he was beat up on that stage that the debate table pretty much throughout that emping. one exchange that i really think summed up the night was when rick santorum talked about being in congress, how that's a team sport. ron paul just a few moments later went after him. let's take a look at that exchange. >> he calls this a team sport, he has to go along to get along and that's the way the team plays. that's what the problem is with washington. that's what's been going on for so long. >> reporter: and, suzanne, when nifs that spin room, i have to tell you i asked rick santorum

would you like to have that line back because it did not go over very well with that crowd. he said, no, he stands by those remarks. it was interesting to watch. >> yeah, it was a great debate to watch. and actually there were quite a number of singh zingers there. the fact that they have to sit together elbow to elbow. there wasn't a dramatic moment for one person to walk to the podium or puts their hand on their shoulder. but it was still rather feisty debate there and potentially the last one before super tuesday. so we'll see how it all shakes out next week. thanks again, jim. good to see you. >> yeah. i'm headed to arizona for primary day. i want you to join us here, normal time, 11:00 to 1:00 eastern as we focus on two more opportunities for somebody to stand out from the republican pact. then cnn tuesday night, the primaries begin at 6:00 p.m. eastern with a special edition of "john king usa" and cnn's complete live coverage of the primary results at 7:00 with wolf blitzer, erin burnett,

anderson cooper, candy crowley, john king, and more. all right. here's a chance to talk back. one of the big stories of the day, where are the women? that is right. that's the question many people are asking when republican congressman held a hear to think president's birth control coverage policy didn't have any women on the panel. well, today, house democratic leader nancy pelosi is holding her own hearing and the one woman who was turned away last week is the only witness. carol costello, she's back, she's back. carol? great to see you. >> it's good to be back. thank you so much. you're back. >> i know. this is a perfect question. i mean, people are going dob tweeting and e-mailing. go ahead. >> i just can't believe we're talking about birth control. birth control, political football. 2012. and you thought the price of gats gas would be front and center. after all, it shot up three

cents this morning. yes, gas prices have been brought up but not heatedly talked about like contraception. during last night's debate the question on birth control, well, it got on newt gingrich's nerves. >> i just want to point out you did not once in the 2008 campaign, not once did anybody in the elite media asked why barack obama voted in favor of legalizing it. >> okay. a note to mr. gingrich, this elite media type did a lengthy story on mr. obama's voting record on the illinois born alive infants protection act. but i, like, mr. gingrich, digress. back to birth control. some republicans say it's an important political issue because they say mr. obama's contraception rules forszed religious institution to vid it to their employees despite their religious beliefs. something mr. gingrich has brought up repeatedly. >> i don't care what deal he tries to cut. this is a man who is deeply committed, if he wins

re-election, he will wage war on the catholic church the morning after he's re-elected. we cannot trust him. we should -- we know who he really is and we should make sure the country knows who he really is. >> that kind of rhetoric does not mean mr. gingrich or any other republican candidate is fighting to ban birth control. they're not. still, democrat nancy pelosi is holding an unofficial hearing on women's reproductive rights today starring the georgetown university law student who was barred from testifying at last week's republican-led hearing on reproductive rights and religious liberty. so i end with where i began, birth control. a political football in 2012? talk about question for you today. should contraception be a campaign issue? facebook.com/carolcnn. i'll read your comments later this hour. >> thank you, carol. the gas prices shooting up, you're probably emptying your wallet just to fill the tank. what's it going take to actually

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all right. it's official, we now know who will formally nominate president

obama for the second term. in charlotte, well, in los angeles, mayor, antonio villaraigosa is joining us live. mayor, very good to see you. congratulations in this position of yours. you and i spent a lot of time on the road last election season. back then you were on hillary's team, now you're front man for obama. he's the guy with the record, the experience. what is the most important thing in that record that you're going to be pitching to the voters to secure a win? >> well, that the economy is coming back that he's been able to demonstrate that if you work across the aisle and the way that he's made an effort to do, that the people can actually get back to work. about 2 million new jobs have been created. every month it begins to increase. i think people are going to look for a president who is focused

on job creation and not some of the divisive issues that you hear in the debates. last night and over the last few months. >> let's talk about a very critical voting bloc. this is the cover of "time" magazine. it says, "yo decido, why latinos will pick the next president." nearly 10% of voters in 2012 will be hispanic. take a look at what "time" contributor said. no one can blame hispanic voters for feeling politically isolated. both democrats and republicans have failed to connect with us. he continues saying, we have the difficult choice of voting for either a president who broke a major promise or a republican candidate who doesn't respect us. it was not supposed to be this way. what does president obama need to do to win this critical group? >> well, i don't accept the premise. jorge is a good friend of mind

and i have a lot of respect for him but i just don't buy it. i think the president has made every effort, if he's talking about the issue of immigration reform, made every effort to reach across the aisle, to secure the border but also to create a pathway for citizenship. he passed the health care act and disproportionately latinos among the most underinsured in the united states of america have benefitted from that. he's focused like a laser beam on job creation and latinos are benefiting from that, as well. so i don't buy what jorge wrote. i do think that the republicans and even many republican leaders acknowledge that a lot of their rhetoric, their tone, very divisive. they seem to scapegoat latinos and immigrants in a way that i think is turning off the latino community and i think turning off independents. you know, about 60% of the

undocumented are from latin america. and you would think that they're all from latin america given last night's debate where mr. romney talked about the arizona law being a model for the nation. >> right. >> i think that's out of the mainstream. so i wouldn't buy what jorge had to say on that issue. >> let's talk about last night because it was a very interesting debate to watch here. all of them essentially going after each other but the front-runners in particular you had romney and santorum. do you think that essentially the republicans are doing their work for you at this point, that they are weakening themselves, beating themselves up so much that there has been such a critical season already before the general election that there's not much left for you to do? >> well, there's a lot of work for us to do. the country's evenly divided. we're going to have to work hard. all across the country. not just in the swing states so-called. we're going to work in every

state to get our message out. but i would agree with you. last night, if that debate had been in 3-drveks y you would ha thought you were in a food fight. so focused on social issues. you mentioned the contraception, abortion, immigration, and not enough on job creation, not enough on putting people back to work, on making the tough decisions to get people and the economy moving again. and that's the problem. they're appealing to the extreme right and not to independents and to the middle. >> all right. mayor, i'm going to have you let you go there. congratulations on your new position here. any ambitions 2016? >> just -- 2016? no, i'm just working on being the mayor of los angeles. that's my focus right now. >> all right. you'll come back to us if that changes, right? you'll let us know? >> yes. we always do. >> thank you, mayor. appreciate it. last night's debate newt

gingrich promised $2.50 a gallon of gas, so we had a long way to go to that golden number. in fact, gas prices made another big jump overnight. i want to bring in alison kosik live from the new york stock exchange. wow, i think we've got to start riding our bike into work. what is going on? >> you know, i was just saying that, too, it would be really, really tired after ride that bike to work. you know what, you know why this is happening? there's a fear factor working here that is driving up oil prices and driving up the gas prices. that fear is coming from tensions with iran. as it's trying to squeeze the global oil supply and the conservatives that the more than 2 million barrels of oil a day that iran exports could be cut off. even worse, the 17 million barrels it actually moved through the strait of hormuz every day would be disrupted. that would mean one-fifth ott world's crude supply would be disrupted. at the moment the market is well supplied but that supply could be jeopardized if more drama comes out of iran.

it's not just iran that's moving these oil prices higher. our improving economy is also to blame. that's because oil traders are assume that demand is going to go up soon because the economy is improving and that's pushing up prices as well. so all of this of course is not helping our wallets. if you drive a car with a 12 gallon datank and you get a dpil-up, $43 to fill up that thank. there goes any extra cash tra from that payroll tax cut gone, poof, in one fill-up. >> that's true. what does it take to stop this? do we know? do we have a sense of whether or not this can actually be stopped? >> yeah, you know, a good question, tough answer. you know, one analyst tells cnn money that the oil market at this point has caught fire. there's no circuit breakers out there to stop it. gas prices at the retail level right now are up about 36 cents a gallon. just over the past couple months if you look at what's happening in the futures market trading right now, it has prices up even more. up 82 cents a gallon in the same period. that's a 46-cent difference of

oil being traded, to be delivered in march and april. that's what you're looking at. and remember that crude accounts for more than half of the price of gas. but there's a small lag time. unless you see tensions cool down with iran, you're going to really want to expect to see that hike at the pump in a matter of weeks. prepare yourself, suzanne, for $4 gas. it could come before memorial day. get ready for that sticker shock. >> i'm going to get my bike ready, basically. we might have to be biking here. quick look at the markets, what is itting looking like right now? >> getting close to 13,000 again. the dow is up 51 points. this is on some good news out of germany overnight. reports that business conditions in germany are at their highest levels since july. if you think of germany it's helping to keep greece from collapsing. so that good news is giving the market a bit of a boost today. suzanne? >> thanks. so it's actually your brain that holds the key to rad diction. and now doctors hope that new

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[ male announcer ] if you can't afford your medication, well, republican debate night in mesa, arizona.

who knew newt gingrich considered himself, in one word, cheerful. watch. >> congressman paul, you've questioned the conservative, fiscal conservative credentials group have a new television ad that labels santorum a fake. why? >> because he's a fake. >> i believe in markets. not just when they're convenient for me. >> governor, nice try but now let's look at the facts. i don't to save any wall street bank. i just want to make sure we don't lose all of our banks. >> the government is supposed to protect contracts. they're not supposed to regulate contracts and they're not supposed to undermine contracts. >> which candidate believes in birth control and, if not, why? >> you did not once in the 2008 campaign, not one did anybody in the elite media ask why barack obama voted in favor of legalizing it. >> four years ago you not only endorsed me, your went to laura ingram and said, this is a guy that is really conservative and we can trust him.

>> if the prime minister of israel called you, mr. president, do you agree with your chairman of joint chiefs? >> you have an absolute moral obligation to defend your people to get the capacity of. >> if i'm president that will not happen. if we re-elect barack obama it will happen. >> but when it's an offensive war going where we shouldn't be, that's quite a bit different. so it's the foreign policy that needs examined. >> please define yourself using one word and one word only. congressman paul? >> consistent. >> courage. >> resolute. >> cheerful. >> cheerful. okay. . i would not have actually anticipated that. i want to get a cnn contributor maria cardona and crystal wright to weigh in on this. you heard the highlights here. we saw them kind of gang up on rick santorum at some point and cheerful newt gingrich that emerged there. maria, i want to start off with you here because you had this --

it was entertaining. it wasn't, i thought, particularly enlightening. you had the two front-runners going after each other, santorum and romney, over very specific aspects of their records. at some point it seemed confusing for, you know, everyday folks to follow. what do you think was the take-away? >> i think the take-away is you sort of hit the nail on the head, suzanne, there wasn't really anything new here. what was new was the savage way in which they both went at each other and what was also new was that santorum clearly did not wear well the tag of front-runner and, therefore, that big -- on his back, the big target he had on his back he really didn't practice, apparently, didn't know how to respond to all of romney's jabs. romney was very well prepared. but in general, i don't think we learned anything new. and i think even though they might be one step closer to getting a nominee as a party, i think they took several steps

backward from getting to the white house and alienating key demographics and independent women. >> crystal, i want you to leave the talking points aside here and focus on this. physically, these guys are all pretty different. bev got gingrich, robust. big guy. santorum, kind of the everyday guy. ron paul more, you know. they're all enter abouting in a way we haven't seen before. do you think it kind of levelled the playing field, the fact that they all pap peappeared to be k same size and tucked in pretty close together? >> well, i definitely don't think they were the same size, suzanne. we know that newt rose above, he looked like the leader that he is. and santorum really, i think, left the debate in shatters. i mean, he looked -- on earmarks, on everybody's doing it, i had to do it, i had to fund planned parenthood, i had

to fund no child left behind. i think at the end of the day i'm going to disagree with both you guys. what we saw new was that we saw newt take on the president of the united states and his failed record on immigration, on energy, on health care, on the auto bailout. particularly on foreign policy. when newt said if you're an enemy of america, under barack obama you're safe because this president is the most dangerous president to national security. i will agree with maria that santorum was very much weakened and i think romney got the edge here. i mean, i think he took him down the rabbit hole, the earmarks, and it made him look like a fake at the end of the day, like we can't necessarily trust santorum's record. >> and maria, i want you to weigh in here because ron paul really went after rick santorum on his credentials here many different times. he real will didn't mince words and they were sitting right beside each other and he called him fake over his reversal of no child left behind. going along, getting along, the

sports team kind of approach, not really working. said it was an excuse for lacking conviction. some people think that could hurt him but do you think those revelations could actually make him seem more appealing to the moderates, independents who think, okay,maybe this guy is a little bit more flexible or reasonable, not so far to the right? >> well, yes. but here's the problem, suzanne, is that they're not -- they can't right now go after the independent voters and those who are more reasonable. and that's exactly their problem. so while i think you're right to the reasonable person that might seem a reasonable way to go, because it's very human. the fact of the matter is, in this primary, they have to outright win each other, out extremist each other if they're going to win. >> absolutely not true. maria, that's not true. >> for rick santorum, last ni t nightunfortunately i think saying the words, i voted against my principles, is going hurt him in the long run for this nomination. >> crystal, wrap it up here

because we're running out of time. >> at the end of the day barack obama is losing support of independents. what we saw last night, particularly from newt gingrich, is that he can pluck off independents because he's strong on national security, he's strong on energy and providing an energy-independent america and jobs here at home. and that's where barack obama has failed among many things. >> we've got to leave it there. >> right now obama's winning with independents. >> right, he's not winning with independents. >> look at the polls, crystal. >> we're going to -- >> look at the price of gas, maria. unemployment is going to go up again. >> bring you both back on to continue the debate. crystal, maria, thank you so much. >> thanks, suzanne. should quick curing addiction be as easy as taking a pill? for a former alcoholic, that answer is yes. dr. sanjay gupta is going to share one man's story. sovereign of the security line. you never take an upgrade for granted. and you rent from national.

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addiction is a brain disease, not a failure of willpow willpower. there are medicines that actually short circuit addiction. so why aren't they even used more? we're going in-depth. dr. sanjay gupta is joining us with what we are calling cold turkey in a pill. i honestly have actually never heard of this before. >> yeah, you know, it's interesting. this is a bit of a cultural shift in terms of how we approach addiction. if you call it a brain disease like most people agree it should be called, it puts other options on the table. addiction of pills with another pill doesn't sit well with everybody which is why it's been tested for so long. it doesn't work for everybody but i want you to listen to walter kent's story specifically and what it did for him. this is the last place you would expect to find a recovering alcoholic. >> one of my all-favorite watering holes. >> reporter: but this is where walter kent hangs out, a bar called goobers. walter is a giant of a man. but for most of his life, he couldn't find the strength to put down that bottle. >> i was the type of person that only time i drank was alone or

with somebody. other than, there was never a problem. >> reporter: he tried rehab and aa. nothing worked. >> nothing seemed to get rid of that urge. i couldn't get rid of the craving. >> reporter: but then in 2000 he tried again, an experimental program at brown university. this time he got counseling once a week and a daily pill, a medicine called meltrexone and this time it worked. >> when you can lose the total urge, the total craving for alcohol, you can beat it. there's no doubt in my mind because i'm living proof. >> 12 years sober, 16 weeks he was on that pill. >> i still can't believe he's in a bar. >> in a bar to sort of el straight that point. he could not step foot in a bar before. it was too much temptation. now he has no problem. really quickly, i think it's important to point out. this isn't for everybody. these people are people who for nothing else worked and it's about 17% more effective than

what else is out there. but for someone like walter it made a big difference. it tamps down the euphoria you get from having a drink so you don't have the cravings of having that euphoria over and over again. but the concerns is it could tamp down other pleasures as well. >> could you actually have a pill that works for other prescription drugs if you're somebody addicted to prescription drugs? >> absolutely is the answer. that's where a lot of researchers are sort of working. the same sort of concept, bagai, tamping down the sense of well-bein well-being, it's a little bit different in that people have to stay on it for really their entire lives. wheres with this drug, he was on it for four months. the population of people being studied are people who failed everything else. nothing else has worked so now they're going to this. they're adding counseling in as women. it's not the pills alone. in walter it made a huge difference. >> stick around because i want

to ask about another medical story in the news today, a new diet drug that could be approved soon. it is called qnexa. i'm phil mickelson, pro golfer.

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this from charles, he says, contraception may be the subject but the issue is the president's willingness to ignore the first amendment to the u.s. constitution and force a religion to break a longstanding church doctrine in the name of health care. will freedom of speech and freedom of press be next? from kristi, no, and i'm sick of hearing about it. it's not 2012, not 1912, for crying out loud. 99% of women use birth control, the gop claims to want smaller government unless it's my uterus. a gay man's bedroom and now it appears how i keep from having ten kids. the real issue is the federal government's unlawful mandate on churches and faitd-based organizations. >> great. and, carol, i want to show you this story here because you and i, we both have done our share of lots of field reporting. you and i were competitors, as a matter of fact, in d.c. a little while ago when we were both out there gathering all the news, getting all the crime stories, the breaking news.

so here's a situation, right, where the story is not what she's covering but the story actually came to her. it happens behind her. check it out. >> when oil and gas prices go up, flight costs go up, too. so fewer people driving. >> well, right behind you, did you see that, adrien? >> i didn't. but now i did so we're going to go -- yeah. looks like a cab got into an accident out here. >> probably shocked by the gas prices. >> i don't know, carol, i mean, she just -- she didn't even flinch. i think i would have reacted here. she was pretty calm. i mean, we learn that both the drivers were okay, but, you know, i think i would have at least jumped and like high tailed it over there. >> i know. i think that's missing the real story, don't you? my very first news director in columbus, ohio, told me if there's a huge explosion that goes off behind you and you're not talking about it at the

time, please turn around and talk about the huge explosion. >> don't ignore it. don't ignore the news behind you. . >> well, thank god. like everybody was okay. she realized and they moved on and i guess they continued talking about the high gas prices. >> ease, whatever happened to those people behind me, i'm sure they're fine. >> thank god they were, actually. all right, carol, we'll have more after a quick break. bo in n tends to stay in motion. staying active can actually ease arthritis symptoms. but if you have arthritis, staying active can be difficult. prescription celebrex can help relieve arthritis pain so your body can stay in motion. because just one 200mg celebrex a day can provide 24 hour relief for many with arthritis pain and inflammation. plus, in clinical studies, celebrex is proven to improve daily physical function so moving is easier. and celebrex is not a narcotic. when it comes to relieving your arthritis pain, you and your doctor need to balance the benefits

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time for travel insider. we often have a chance to get the inside scoop of some great places to go. well, one of my favorites on my team, she shows us where she goes to unwind. check it out. >> i'm nesta distin in dell

lawsuit, georgia, one of my favorite places to relax. this is modeled after korean spas. >> it's very relaxing here. >> a family on tour from philadelphia decided to come here and take a break. >> my favorite part was swimming in the pool. >> the pool feels like silk when you're swimming in it. >> the swimming pool is made of jade tiles. in korean culture, jade is used to bring calm and balance to the body, like spas and korea, it has multiple hot and cold saunas. there are several. each have walls lined with natural elements like gold, charcoal, and salt. with temperatures ranging from 120 to 140 degrees. the ice room is much cooler.

owners say it's the largest of its kind in georgia. the je-ju spa outside of atlanta, i love coming here to relax. >> all right, nesta, you've been holding out on us. good job. the first african-american file m maker and how his team rose to the top of the pack. whwheeee! ! whwheeee!! whwheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! ahah h heaeadsds u up. whwheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! evevererytythihingng y youou l , nonow w momobibilele.. dodownwnloloadad t thehe n nep totodaday.y. two. three. one.

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a young black film maker is making his first appearance on sunday. his football team that went from all losing seasons to undefeated now by the heavy hitters. if he wins, he could make history. kareen wynter has the amazing story. >> reporter: from the high school in west memphis, losing football games was a decade's long tradition. until they became undefeated. >> we took the title "undefeated" because it is the subtext of the film, an example of resilience. >> reporter: the tigers went from ultimate underdogs all the way to the playoffs.

>> everybody says when you get these inner city kids down, they will lay open and you beat them by 40. not us. >> it's now oscar-nominated. >> when you go up to take the photos on the ricers and i recognize these two voices talking behind me. i turn around and to my left is steven spielberg and rubbing elbows with industry icons is a habit for the 32-year-old filmmaker. sean combs saw it and became a producer. >> the first time i felt defeated when i got injured my senior here in high school. i wish i would have had a football coach that would believe in me and rehabilitate

me. >> reporter: if martin is a champ come oscar sunday, he will make history as the first african-american. >> i want to make sure that he gets recognized for being the tenth director of irish american descent. >> don't quit. >> car ckareen wynter, cnn. top of the hour, suzanne malveaux. sad news out of arizona. seven marines are dead in the midair helicopter collision near yuma. the choppers were taking part in a training exercise last night. the marine corps air station. a spokesman says that the marines were deploying to afghanistan. we're following the developments of the crash and we'll bring a live report in just a few

minutes. >> there is widespread systematic and gross violations, crimes against humanity. they are urging talks to end the crisis and opposition group says more than 60 people have been killed today alone. and about 9,000 have died since the government began attacking protest iters. france and britain are demanding that syria return the bodies of marie colvin and remi ochlik. they were killed yesterday. colvin's family spoke to cnn earlier about the loss. >> i really thought she'd get out. i think she's been in so many life-threatening situations and always gets out. maybe not safely but she makes

it out and i was just so shocked that she didn't this time. >> this week's burning of koran's by nato troops sparks by afghanistan. now an apology from president obama. he sent a letter to afghan president hamid karzai calling it an inadvertent error. two nato troops were killed by someone wearing an army uniform. they are not sure if this was revenge for the koran burning. this may have been the last debate in the republican contender. santorum catching heat from the left and the right. >> a new television ad that labels him a fake. why? >> because he's a fake. >> you were fighting the bridge

to no where. >> we are live from phoenix in just a moment. and gas prices going up again. 3 cents overnight. that's according to aaa. national average for a gallon of gas now $3.61. still going up. economists say the gas could jump to 4 or $5 a gallon by the summer. you're going to hear from president obama on gas prices and energy policy happening later today. and this is very touching. a story of love, heroism from michigan. a teenage boy lifted a 2,000 pound car to save his grandfather. the two had propped the 1992 buick on cinder blocks to work on it. he jumped in an action when that car fell trapping his grandfather. >> i had no clue. probably out of adrenaline. i couldn't do it right now. >> thank god he was here because it would have just been me and

his grandmother. it would have been over. >> wow. now, more on the deadly marine helicopter crash. seven marines were killed when their helicopters crashed midair in yuma, arizona. chris lawrence is live. what do we know about this traj sick accident? >> we know it was in a very remote area where they were training, rugged area. the weather was pretty mild last night, not believed to be a factor. but how and why these two planes collided, that's what they are looking into to figure out. seven u.s. marines were killed last night when their two helicopters collided midair. one is a super cobra and another is a huey. their identities are not being released just yet. now, the incident is under investigation but here's what we do know. there are training areas, about a million acres.

it's strictly for military use. the public is not allowed access. a lot of the mission is at night. and this appears to be where this crash and when this crash occurred during this training exercise. it's not the first time in the last year. two marines were killed when a helicopter went down at camp pendleton last fall. in another incident, the pilots were able to eject and land in the pacific ocean and had to be rescued. so even when it comes to training, you never climb into one of these helicopters thinking this is just a training. every time the helicopter takes off, there's an extreme element of danger there. >> chris, give us a sense of what kind of things do they do in these helicopters?

what does that entail? >>. >> it depends on what specifically they could be training for. are they training for a pickup? the cobra is an attack helicopter. it usually has a pilot and a co-pilot. now, the huey can carry up to about ten marines. and they fly together. these same two basic types of helicopters actually collided in afghanistan about three years ago. a huey and a cobra down in the province where they were operating. so they often do fly together. it could be a pickup, the cobra coming in to attack a target while the marines are dropped into an area. it depends on what scenario they may have been working on at the time. these two helicopters are often used together and the marines have to train in the same way that they plan to fight. >> okay. chris, thank you so much. we appreciate your reporting. thank you. >> yep. so whether you're at work or

you're taking a break, many of us are asking right now because it's lunch and we're a little hungry. what am i going to eat? for an estimated 78 million adults who are obese, that choice has a major impact on our health and now an fda advisory panel is recommending a diet drug called humexa. it's hoping to help those who struggle with their weight but the question is, is it even safe for you to take? dr. sanjay gupta is joining us to answer the question. first of all, how does this drug work, qnexa? >> well, it's a combination of two drugs. one is phentermine. it's like a still mulant. the other one is used to treat migraine headaches and seizures. it can give people a filling of

fullness. it's a combination of both these drugs. as you indicated, it's been studied for some time. they said the safety studies were inadequate a couple of years ago but found that it was effective in certain segments of the population. people who had really high body mass index or obese, they were able to lose weight, about 10% of their body weight while taking this pill. >> this has got a lot of people talking about this, the possibility of this diet pill and losing weight. the fda rejected it before. what were some of the concerns previously? >> well, with a lot of diet pills -- and i think you know me well enough and i advocate diet and fitness. but we have a real obesity problem in this country and a lot of the things that we advocate doesn't work. it increases the enthusiasm. but it's counterbalanced by heart rate went up, psychiatric issues with this pill and also birth defects. imagine someone taking this pill

and then becomes pregnant. doesn't know she's pregnant for several weeks and she's on this pill, the rate of cleft lip is high. those were concern cans raised back in 2010. they said, go back, give us more safety data, bring it back to us. right now the advisory panel is saying, okay, we'll go ahead and recommend to the fda that this be approved. but, again, this high obesity rate is really fueling something that will work. >> now, the fda doesn't have to follow the recommendations of the panel. so what actually happens next? is it likely that it's going to be approved and it will follow the recommendation to approve this? >> i've been covering these sorts of stories for a long time. typically the fda does follow what the advisory panel says. it used to be a formality. but that's changed a little bit over the years. one of the big questions is, they say, you have to do larger scale studies on various groups of people and come back to us. the question is, will the fda

approve before those larger studies come back and make them wait another three years or so, which is how long it will take, and get the study back first. we don't know the answer to that. if they approve first, this could happen as early as april. >> really? >> yeah. >> okay. >> could move fast. >> all right. we'll be following that. thank you very much. >> you bet. of course, this weekend, dr. sanjay gupta will go into detail about why the battle against drug and alcohol addiction is so hard. that's 7:30 a.m. for a special edition of dr. sanjay gupta, m.d. here's a rundown of the stories we're following this hour. should contraception be a campaign issue in 2012? then, more journalists injured in the intense fighting in syria. we're going to talk to a veteran reporter about what it's like to work in a war zone.

they know almost everything about you. >> privaciedy advocates are ups about a new google policy that tracks practically every move you make on its site.

the other republican candidates went after rick santorum last night in arizona. mitt romney is feeling front-runner heat. >> while i was saving the olympics, you were fighting the bridge to no where. >> you are entitled to your -- >> i've heard that before. >> you're misrepresenting the

facts. you don't know what you're talking about. yes, you balanced the budget for four years. you have a constitutional requirement to balance the budget for four years. but don't go around bragging about something that you have to do. michael dukakis balanced the budget for ten years. does that make him qualified to be president of the united states? i don't think so. >> a lot of heat going on. the arizona primary is tuesday. >> mitt romney's second endorsement from a major michigan paper this week. >> where are the women? that is a question that was asked during the birth control policy. there were no women on the panel. nancy pelosi is holding her own hearing and the woman turned

away last week is the only witness. carol costello is here today with today's "talk back." a lot of people are scratching their heads saying, what is going on? >> i don't know. birth control, a political football in 2012? and you thought the price of gas would be front and center. after all, it shot up three cents this morning. yes, gas prices have been brought up but not heat he hadly talked about like contraception. during last night's debate, the question on birth control got on newt gingrich's nerves. >> i just want to point out, did you not once in the 2008 campaign, not once did anyone in the elite media ask barack obama in favor of -- >> okay. note to mr. gingrich, this elite media type did a lengthy story on mr. obama's voting record on the illinois born alive infant's protection act but i like mr. gingrich digress back to birth control. some say it's an important issue

because contraception rules force religious institutions despite their religious belief, something that mr. gingrich has brought up repeatedly. >> i frampgly don't care what deal he tries to cut. this is a man who is deeply committed. if he wins re-election, he will wage war the morning after he's re-elected. we cannot trust him. we know who he really is and we should make sure we know who the country really is. >> of course, that rhetoric does not mean gingrich or any other republican candidate is fighting to ban birth control. they are not. still, democrat nancy pelosi is holding an unofficial hearing on women's reproductive rights today starring a law student who was banned at last week's republican-held meeting on religious rights and liberty. so i end where i began.

birth control the talk back question of 2012? should contraception be a campaign issue? facebook.com/carolcnn. >> it's not surprising that something that 2012 folks are debating. but obviously some people find it to be a controversial issue. >> well, it's all in your perspective. it's all about religious liberty. if you're a democrat or independent, it's about barring contraceptive use for women. >> all right. >> we'll see where our viewers land. >> and we'll see where the women play into all of this as well. people want to know what they are thinking. this is part of the conversation about women. birth control. thank you, carol. appreciate it. >> new explosions. new deaths in syria. reports of more western journalists now hit. a live report is coming up in an effort to get the injured journalists out alive.

syria forces are pushing ahead with the relentless

attacks on the besieged city of homs despite a call for cease fire so some journalists can get out of the flash point city. michael, first of all, i understand that you've got more information about journalists who have been hurt in the series of explosions. >> reporter: yeah. the assault continuing there and it did, it went on all day today. inside the city of homs. now, yesterday, of course, we lost two of our colleagues. marie colvin well-known to a lot of us and a french photographer. there were two other journalists wounded in that same attack and what happened today was that at the end of the video service, first word if you like from them. edith, a french journalist,

she's been injured badly with the left leg. she says and the doctor who is with her says she needs to get out. that leg is in bad shape and they can't do much more than strap it up and try to close the wounds. she needs surgery. she needs it now. a photographer we thought was injured, it turns out he's not. he is with edith. and then a second video surfaced and that's of paul con roy. he's a british photographer. he is wounded in the left thigh. it appears to be flesh wounds, not bone. he was on assignment with marie colvin when she and remi were killed. they need to get out and get medical attention and are asking

for anyone to help them get out. su suzanne? >> you know, you and arwa damon have been reported what it is like on the ground. the fact that so many families don't have the medical help that they need. are we talking about the need to get them out within days now, within weeks? >> reporter: they need to be out within days. there are cases there are local people who are literally bleeding to death and dying every day because of the simplest of wounds that the medical people there -- and we're talking about a doctor, a veterinarian, a dentist who is trying to patch up the wounds. they just don't have the equipment. they don't have the anesthetics. they don't have the necessary material they need to patch these people up. looking at edit and paul, they seem to be in pretty good shape. she has a double fracture of her thigh bone, her femur, running

down the length of her leg. and one of the problems that is the wounds start to rot and they need to have that treated, obviously, suzanne. >> michael, i understand that you -- you had an opportunity to speak with the family of marie colvin today. what are they telling you? clearly they must be distraught? >> reporter: it was a difficult conversation. i knew marie very well. to hear her family devastated by this, they knew what she did and talked to her often about the type of assignments that they took on and they spoke to me about her bravery and really her mission as a journalist. have a listen. >> i'm very proud of her myself that her life meant something and she was -- it was an

important thing that she did in our world. >> yeah. i think -- you know, our soldiers, what soldiers do, tour of duties for months or years or whatever, and marie has done 25 years of that. that's an incredible tour of duty and we're all proud of her. >> reporter: yeah. hard to listen to, suzanne. very brave people. her brother and sister and mother there. as they said, they knew what she was doing. they've seen her injured before a couple of times and so -- but nobody expects this kind of news. a lot of us always saw her as being pretty much indestructible. so it really did stun the journalistic community, suzanne. >> i just can't imagine what that family is going through. michael, please be safe. thank you. a little note on google's,

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president obama says he wants to protect your privacy. he unveils a new privacy bill of rights that calls for transparency, giving consumers the right and demands respect. it gives consumers to the right to expect companies to disclose how they are going to handle their personal data and requires companies to inform consumers about the security risks associated with handling of their personal information. for millions of americans, maybe you, too, much of your real life depends on your online life. here's cnn's dan simon. >> reporter: in the morning i check the headlines on google

news, send personal e-mail via g-mail. later at work, i remember to do a google search for plumbers. i also need to do research for this story. more searchers. later i'll glance at my google calendar for appointments, upload video to youtube and some variation of this happens almost every single day. >> google knows almost everything about you. >> reporter: that's why privacy watch dogs are sounding the alarm about the new policy. beginning next month, the company is going to keep track of your activity across all of your sites and use a profile. they will use it to improve services. services, where, for example, a user is able to get better search results.

krit sick particulars say that they are increasing their profits. >> if there are things thaw want to keep private about your life, those records are all in there. if there are things that you actually need to prevent other people from knowing about you, those will be in there. >> reporter: those already nervous about the company's influence pounced when it became known about the apple safari browser. >> i thought i had it wrong. i thought i had to have it wrong. >> reporter: jonathan uncovered the safari breach. on the service he sets it may not seem like a transgression. users' personal information was never collected. but for some web searches believed to be private were not and that he says opens the door to private information being exposed by rogue employees, internet hacking, and more. >> does it get disclosed because an employee is evil, because

that company messes up, does it get disclosed because the government demands it. >> reporter: google acknowledges that people have different privacy concerns. our goal is to be clear about what information we collect so that you can make meaningful choices about how it is used. the bottom line, people use google because it offers important and useful services that are also free. >> at this point, i absolutely have to trust google. on one hand, google is probably more trustworthy than a lot of the technology companies. but because they know so much about us, we have to hold them to a higher standard of trust. >> all right. dan simon live from san francisco. if we're concerned about the privacy of google, what can you do about it? >> reporter: well, first of all, suzanne, i would venture to guess that no one has read a privacy policy. i have taken time to read very few of them. but because google represents

the center of our digital lives, i would suggest people read the google policy and you have to actually give them credit for writing one that is pretty easy to understand. number one, people can go on the google site and there are privacy settings and you can tweak those where you can actually edit and delete your search results. and, second, and this is probably more important, if you have a google account and most people do, you can actually sign out of that account and then do your web searches and then all of your searches will be anonymous. but the bottom line here is, this is a very important story and a lot of people are paying attention to it and google -- they really have to get out in front and let people know what is going on here. suzanne? >> all right. thank you, dan. appreciate it. around the world, 52 trips in 52 weeks for free. for free. that's right. hear one traveler's stories as well as his tips. also, meet the guy who designed a $100 laptop. he's on "the next list."

>> when we started designing the $100 laptop, we were just looking at how do you protect the keyboard and the screen, how do children sort of carry it around? we set aside between 10 and 30% of our work hours towards those kinds of projects. i can't tell you that that's just what made business sense every month. but i can tell you that is what made human sense every month. [ male announcer ] the draw of the past is a powerful thing. but we couldn't simply repeat history. we had to create it. introducing the 2013 lexus gs, with leading-edge safety technology, like available blind spot monitor... [ tires screech ]

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all right. when it comes to finding a job after being laid off for three years, a man thinks he needs a change of scenery. so what does he do? he travels around the world 52

trips in 52 weeks. scott is joining us via portland, oregon. how did you do this? >> i simply acted as a volunteer. it was important when i lost my job in new york city three years ago to save every penny and the opportunity existed and i simply gave up my seat in exchange for an airline voucher. >> and you kept doing this over and over and over again? >> i did. it sort of became my life. i love airplanes, i love airports. and i developed the perfect strategy where i would purposely get stuck in the middle of the country earning airline vouchers. >> that's awesome. where did you go? >> tokyo to mexico city to san juan puerto rico to amsterdam to venice, italy. 52 vacations in 52 weeks last year. >> and you saved almost $100,000 on this trip. how did you do that?

how did you manage to do that? >> basically, airfare that were $600 or $800, i combined airline vouchers to cover can the airfare. at the same time, i used my airline miles flown for hotels worldwide. hotels that were $400 a night, simply using the mileage. it was all about the miles. >> wow. and so what were you paying for? basically food but you had your hotel and you had airfare covered for these 52 trips? >> that's correct. on all the trips out of the country, it was always $100 in my pocket with foreign currency. that was for postcards or small expenses. >> you've got to help us out here. we all want to save a little cash here. i guess i'm not doing it the right way, the smart way here. we want to know what you have been doing. tell us a few tips about how to make it happen on the cheap. >> most importantly is spring break is right around the corner. the airline ticket is expensive.

the family vacation can be for free. do you need a volunteer? give up your seat. the vacation can be for free. >> wow. and you also mentioned about choosing planes that are small. why is that? >> small planes are also important. if you pick routes, for instance, from atlanta, to dayton, ohio, typically the return flights going bab to a hub city are always full. let's fights, not a big plane. you can get routed to detroit, minneapolis, to get to atlanta, with the opportunity to earn a lot of money in vouchers. >> and how does it actually work that you can use layovers? how does that work? >> let's say i flew from jfk to los angeles. typically one would fly in a nontop flight. i would do a triple connection going through denver or chicago getting to my final destination. >> triple connection. i've never even heard of that

before. scott, you're my new hero here. i don't want to spend any more on flying. that is fantastic. glad you had a good time, a good trip there. what's in store for you next? >> i'm launching a travel website, my very first. packabagandgo.com. i truly wanted to share my experience with the world. this has been an amazing experience and i am so blessed and thankful for this opportunity. >> and scott, there could probably be a job as well if you charge a little bit or write a book or something like that. that's fantastic. really great to talk with you. a lot of fun and i'm going to -- i'm going to take some of those tips and use them. thank you, scott. >> thank you for your time. >> my pleasure. swept away in colorado. high winds are knocking folks down as well as causing some big damage. [ male announcer ] this...is the network.

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checking stories across country, swept away in colorado. take a look at these pictures. it's unbelievable. high winds knocking people off their feet, pushing big trucks cars off the road. winds clocked in at 80 miles per

hour. this led to at least two wildfires. firefighters in sacramento, california, had more to battle than just flames last night. a grass fire spread to a colony of beehives and crews were trying to contain that fire. they were able to do it. no word on whether any of those firefighters got stung. ouch. finally in ohio a. self-proclaimed animal rights activist is accused of targeting people who wear fur. meredith has been charged with trying to hire a hit man to kill random people wearing fur. lowell allegedly searched for a would-be killer on facebook. you are sending your responses to us on the "talk back" question. should contraceptives be an issue? aaron says, absolutely not. i am pretty sure that the support for or against contraception will not produce more jobs. more of your responses in just a

moment. time for the help desk. joining me this hour, the president of consumer education with smartcredit.com and lynette who is author of askthemoneycoach.com. the first question is, my husband and i have enough in savings to buy other first home as a cash purchase. >> having a house free and clear of any loan is a nice place to be right now. i like the idea of going forward and buying the house with cash taking out a home equity line of credit. a small enough so that it's not overbearing but large enough to cover the costs of repairs. the good news is that the interest is generally tax deductible and not bad for your credit score and you can pay it off and the interest is usually 3 or 4%.

very good rates right now. >> good advice. lynette, michelle says, we're under water on our mortgage. we have a v.a. loan guarantee available if we refinance. what should we do? >> the v.a. prospect is a good option to consider. but they don't have a government-backed loan. those lenders, as we know, just signed an agreement with attorneys generals around the country and this is going to allow homeowners underwater to refinance. so this is going to be a really big thing obviously in the months and years to come. i would definitely look into that. those provisions are that if your loan is above 5.25%, they are really going to try to get you in current can rates today. they can shop around for the mortgage rate side but i would

look into it and don't be locked into thinking i have to get a v.a. loan in order to get a low-rate loan. >> folks, if you have a question you want answered, send us an e-mail at any time to cnnhelpdesk@cnn.com. this is $100,000. we asked total strangers to watch it for us. thank you so much, i appreciate it, i'll be right back. they didn't take a dime. how much in fees does your bank take to watch your money ? if your bank takes more money than a stranger, you need an ally. ally bank. no nonsense. just people sense.

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we are sounding off on the "talk back" question. should contraception be a campaign issue? carol, i imagine a lot of folks are weighing in today, huh? >> oh, yes. they are very local today. lamar says, duh, health care is a big campaign issue and pregnancy affects a woman's health. my question is as an independent voter who is conservative when it comes to abortion, why is the gop trying to deny women contraception when 99 have used it? to prevent the need for abortions? it's insane that abortion is even being discussed in the 21st century. and brian, ladies and gentlemen stop listening to talking points. this is not about republicans, et cetera, trying to eliminate birth control access for everyone. this is about the government forcing a religious organization

to go against its long held beliefs. and julia says, question for republicans, if a christian hospital can refuse to cover birth control for employees, could they also refuse to cover treatment for obesity because gluttony is a sin? thank you for your comments. facebook.com/carol if you'd like to finish the conversation. i know it's the lunch hour but even if you were really hungry, would you ever take food from the lunch break room that was somebody else's food? >> never. >> never. well that's a good thing. because i want to show you this story. this cop, he's in texas, he thought it was his duty to clean the community fridge at work and he's caught on camera taking his co-worker's lunch. there's a surveillance camera set up to see whoever is stealing lunches.

it was set up for more than a year. so this officer is caught taking sandwiches. he's suspended and faces misdemeanor of theft charges but he's going to be back at work in march, we're told, and hopefully he's going to bring his own lunch. i guess it happens. >> they are going to charge him with -- >> misdemeanor. they charged him. yes. so if anybody out there gets the urge to steal somebody else's sandwiches, don't do it. >> there's some blueberry yogurt in the fridge and i really want it. >> it's so tempting. >> that's why you need that little camera up there to catch whoever it is stealing the lunches. it happens everywhere. i'm telling you, white house press corps, we had a camera. it happens everywhere. >> oh, my gosh. >> i kid you not. >> we should all post a camera there. it would solve the problem. >> yes. get those cameras.

just bring your own lunch. carol, we've got to let it go there. we'll have more after the break. great seeing you again. >> thanks, suzanne. >> all right. t's something that we're extremely proud of. you see someone who is saved because of this technology, you know that the things that you do in your life, matter. if i did have an opportunity to meet a cancer survivor, i'm sure i could take something positive away from that. [ jocelyn ] my name is jocelyn, and i'm a cancer survivor. [ mimi ] i had cancer. i have no evidence of disease now. [ erica ] i would love to meet the people that made the machines. i had such an amazing group of doctors and nurses, it would just make such a complete picture of why i'm sitting here today. ♪ [ herb ] from the moment we walked in the front door, just to see me -- not as a cancer patient, but as a person that had been helped by their work. i was just blown away. life's been good to me. i feel like one of the luckiest guys in the world. ♪

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all this week cnn is going indepth sharing stories of

people across the country, people who are proud to say that, i am america. we talked to two families from an atlanta neighborhood that have seen a lot of change. >> come on. let's go up the street. >> reporter: you would never have seen her walk being in this neighborhood two years ago, not in the dark and not with her two children. >> we moved to a street, i guess, that was in transition. >> there were drug sales on her block and prostitution around the corner. >> my son at the time was young. i thought, no, he can't go out and play. >> reporter: but this brooklyn woman kind of knew what she was getting into. they were drawn to east lake because of it diversity in historic homes. >> i grew up in a diverse neighborhood with all kinds of kids, economic status and i wanted that for myself and for my own children. >> reporter: they heard east lake was on an upswing. she wanted to live in a

community where they could make a difference. >> we wanted a community where we could volunteer and do our part as neighbors. >> reporter: a local neighborhood referred to it as little vietnam because it was so dangerous. >> it was a horrible housing project and i think one of the worst in the country at the time and the whole redevelopment included east lake meadows which is now beautiful apartments and town homes, mixed income. we have our wonderful school which is a high-performing national model for a charter school which my children go to. >> reporter: but there was lots of work left to be done. home burglaries were going up as wealthier people moved in. she began going to neighborhood meetings but hardly anyone attended. there was some distrust on the part of the older neighborhoods when the newer neighbors moved in. >> people felt it was a concerted effort to displace

that it was a community, not a desire to have a community but a takeover and then to have property values outpace their income was a very stressful time. >> reporter: she has lived in her east lake home for 46 years and was one of those older neighbors who saw her taxes double. >> my taxes went up tremendously. i was paying like 5 or $6 hundred and it went up to like $ $1300. >> reporter: the tax burden was far too much for this nurse practitioner to handle on her own. she feels good about the neighborhood renewal. as a past president of the neighborhood association, she continues to volunteer and shows up at the meetings. she's seen a lot of change since 1966. >> when i moved there, it was real, real good but i lived to

see some bad changes in this neighborhood. real bad changes. i mean, bad enough to go but you had nowhere to go. a lot of nights we slept on the floor with a shoe jumping over the fence. >> reporter: but change was coming once again after the housing project was torn down and rebuilt as mixed income, the nablgd was looking up. people were buying up houses. >> it's real good as of now. i hope it don't ever change again. >> reporter: a community policing program was started when she moved in, using membership dues for off-duty police officers to focus on east lake. >> they go to the neighbor's doors and get to know their neighbors. >> i appreciate that. >> reporter: they got to know who the bad characters were and neighbors even showed up at their court dates to put pressure on the judge not to put them back on the streets. today