walking tactics. his boss, william mcmahon, also comes in for congressional criticism. the report stating in mcmahon's view, it was not his job to ask any questions about what was going on in the field. his supervisor, mark shade, is slammed for playing, quote, a surprisingly passive role, end quote. and failing to provide oversight. and his boss, deputy atf director william hoover, is accused of dereliction of duty in the report because he ordered fast and furious be shut down but did not follow through. finally, the report blames then acting atf director kenneth melson for staying above the fray instead of ending fast and furious sooner. brian terry's family certainly wishes he would have. i spoke recently with his cousin, robert hire. >> this is about right and wrong. operation fast and furious, everybody concurs, was a flawed operation. in concept and execution. it was wrong. it was a huge public safety concern, and it remains a huge public safety concern.

and just as josephine said, our worst fear is to open up the paper or to read a news story where another border patrol agent has been killed or injured with an operation fast and furious weapon. >> in addition to brian terry, two fast and furious guns were found at a crime scene in mexico where a law enforcement official's brother was killed. the report alleges the atf's phoenix office sought to hush up the fast and furious connection. it quotes e-mails. quote, my thought, agent english writes, is not to release any information. the following month when terry was killed, voth e-mailed back, ugh, things will likely get ugly. it most certainly has. attorney general holder has refused to turn over documents. the house cited him for contempt. william newell denies there ever was a plan or tactic to walk guns. and a recent investigation by "fortune" magazine concurs. that account, though, is sharply

disputed. as for today's report? the justice department calls it a reiteration of distortions and debunked conspiracy theories that its co-author, congressman darrell issa has been advancing for the last year and a half. joining us is a member of congress. congressman issa's house oversight committee, utah republican david chafetz. the five individuals this report claims were primarily responsible for the failures of fast and furious, was it more their actions and choices that led to the failure? or a larger systemic problem within the atf, within the department of justice? >> i think it's a larger, more systemic problem. part of what the report cites is the lack of communication between atf, the dea, the fbi and certainly the department of justice and also homeland security. because i.c.e. was heavily involved in this. what we're doing -- this is the first report out of three. we're also looking at the department of justice and how they acted and certainly the

coverup that occurred after we got the bogus letter of february 4th, 2011, from the department of justice. >> but investigators are saying right now the investigation in this report is based on whether this is the best information available as of now. do you anticipate you'll ever know the full details of this operation? >> well, remember, the house held attorney general holder, the department of justice in contempt. it wasn't about him personally. it was the fact that there were 140,000 documents. we've received less than 7,000 of those documents. so we're here to not only investigate what happened in this botched plan but also to make sure that it never, ever happens again. and that's what we're trying to get to the bottom of, anderson. that's why we issued this report. >> i want to read what the justice department said. they responded earlier this afternoon through their spokesperson. saying the report finally acknowledges what attorney general eric holder has been saying. that flaws in the operations had their origins in the field in arizona and occurred in part due to weak oversight by atf leadership. they went on to say the report, and i quote, reiterates many of the distortions and now debunked

conspiracy theories that representative issa has been advancing for a year and a half including the fiction that the flawed tactics used in tags and furious were somehow the brain child of the current administration as opposed to the reality the pattern of flawed tactics dates back to 2006 and the prior administration. your response. >> just because the bush administration did it and did it poorly doesn't mean they have an excuse to continue to do it. that's part of our point. look, we've always wanted to get to the bottom of this. no matter where it leads. i think chairman issa has been doing a fabulous job in putting this together. the department of justice, though, their fingerprints are on this. one of the things that bothered me personally is you had the acting director of the atf, kenneth melson. in almost 2 1/2 years he was there he met with his boss, the attorney general, attorney general holder, one time. and so you look at this lack of leadership, this coordination, and it's above and beyond. certainly there were flaws within the atf. but you've got to look also at the department of justice and the interagency -- interactions or the lack of interaction that

led to this flawed program. >> it is confusing though. in "fortune" magazine last month, they reported there was no top-down systemwide directive to allow guns to walk across the border. that there was a dysfunctional work relationship at the atf arizona office and agent dodson, the main whistle blower in all this, is actually the only person who knowingly allowed guns to walk. how does that square with your understanding of the facts in the report? >> thank goodness we had good front line people at the atf be whistle blowers and bring this all to our attention. what created more of a firestorm is in february 4th, 2011, the the president of justice sent congress, specifically senator grassley, a letter denying any of this is happening. we knew because ten months later they came back and had to deny that. that's in part why you had this firestorm. there are a lot of dirty hands in this, and it goes above and beyond just the atf. but there's some fundamentally flawed actions here. but you can't ignore the senior people at the department of justice. people that were signing off, for instance, on wiretaps and

other types of things. they clearly had to know or should have known this was happening. >> your report does, though, seem to support at least part of that "fortune" article. that the atf were hamstrung by prosecutors in arizona in efforts to seek criminal charges for illegal gun sales? >> hey, look, everybody wanted to go get the drug cartels. the problem is, they put this ridiculous plan together. something was fundamentally flawed from the beginning. just look at it on the surface. we knowingly gave the drug cartels nearly 2,000 weapons. mostly ak-47s. there didn't seem to be an adult in the room that said, do we really do that? maybe this is a bad idea. it's just stunning this is continued to allow to go on for so long with so many weapons, anderson. that's what's so concerning. >> representative chaffetz, i appreciate you being on. thank you so much. let us know what you think about this whole operation. we're on facebook. follow me on twitter right now @andersoncooper. mitt romney is back on his trip overseas. the reporters are hitting the highlights.

what began with a gaffe ended with a verbal volcano. >> governor romney -- >> show some respect. >> we haven't had another chance to ask him questions. [ bleep ] [ male announcer ] when she takes the starting block this summer,

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palestinians? >> what about your gaffe? >> governor romney, do you feel your gaffes have overshadowed your foreign trip? >> people, show some respect. show some respect, jim. >> we haven't had another chance to ask him questions. >> kiss my [ bleep ]. this is a holy site for the polish people. show some respect. >> that was the voice of the romney press secretary rick gorka there, managing to get the kissing part and the show some respect part into the same breath. he also apologized afterwards. you can argue shouting questions after a breathe laying at the tomb of the unknown soldiers less than dignified. you could also argue it's practically the only chance anyone has had resembling a news conference. let's be honest here, they're hardly the first campaign from either party to avoid encounters with reporters. cnn's jim acosta is traveling with governor romney who is now back on american soil. i spoke to him a short time ago. jim, it's pretty unusual to have a press aide lash out like that at reporters.

walk us through exactly what happened. >> well, we were watching mitt romney pay his tributes to the tomb of the unknown soldier here in warsaw and watched him basically walk away from that site. talking with the mayor of warsaw. he was spending a few moments with her. and then moving towards his vehicle. and then at that point, we tried to -- you know, to the best of our ability, ask the candidate some questions. he did not answer any questions. but his press aide did walk over and lash out at us, as you said. basically, anderson, these were sort of the general, garden variety questions you hear out on the campaign trail. shouted questions happen back in the states and they happen out on this overseas trip. there were some frustrations that might have led up to this. the romney campaign was starting to gripe about the fact that the reporters in their mind were starting to focus on some of these gaffes out here on this trip instead of what they thought was the substance of this trip. >> i guess that gets to the larger point. is this just -- look, it's a grueling schedule. these folks are under a lot of pressure. is this just a one off, tired overworked campaign aide?

or is this something -- is something else going on here? is this something larger? >> this stuff happens out on the campaign trail. as you know, anderson, you're out with us from time to time. candidates sometimes say things. you'll remember in the 2000 campaign president george w. bush referred to a "new york times" reporter as a major league a-hole. over in the 2004 campaign, teresa heinz kerry told a reporter to shove it. so these sorts of things flare up from time to time. nobody walked away with any hard feelings. we're big boys and girls. we can take it. >> governor romney is being criticized for being inaccessible to reporters. is that really fair, though? how much different than other presidential candidates is he in that regard? you've traveled with candidate obama, john kerry. were they really that much more accessible than romney? >> no. this is the way campaigns are done now. the reporters are kept off to the side. cordoned off from the public in many cases. and whether it's president obama or john kerry back in 2004, mitt romney in 2012. what the public needs to know is

they almost have greater access to the candidates at some of these events than the reporters do. you'll notice, anderson, when the campaign speeches wrap up, the music starts playing really loudly across an event site. in part, that is to keep everybody in the campaign spirit. it's also to drown out our questions, anderson. >> jim acosta, appreciate it. jim, thanks. let's bring in the best political couple on television right now. democrat james carville. republican mary matalin. james, did mitt romney gain anything out of this foreign trip? >> no. it wasn't a very good trip for him. and u i think the frustration of the press guy in poland is why that happened. i've been in presidential campaigns before. airplane hangar in new hampshire in 1992. i just went berserk. we didn't have a good week. when you don't have a good week, the candidate's unhappy and the press guy gets unhappy. you scream at reporters. that's the nature of the beast. it's a long time between now and november. >> mary, do you think mitt romney got anything out of this foreign trip?

>> yes, i absolutely do. because the speeches were great. the images were great. people are watching the olympics but to the extent they're paying attention to his trip, the voters that matter, that are undecided, and there are only a handful, saw him standing with b.b. netanyahu. saw him at the western wall. had a lot of powerful images and he looks very presidential. and an aide yelling at the press, i'm sorry to have to say, i'm embarrassed to say, is not unusual. we've both been guilty of it and both have almost been fired on multiple occasions. it's just what happens. what's different now there's video cameras on or cell phones on all the time. >> there's a lot of coverage of gaffes that he made or criticisms by the british people about things he said about the olympics. there was controversy about a thing about the palestinians. you don't think that registers? >> what he said about the

olympics was a mild version of what the headlines have been screaming. that the security was in shambles. he said it was disconcerting. i guess he spoke the truth. maybe that's bad. ahmadinejad is complaining about his saying israel has the right to defend itself. the labor party in london. if you take the critics, i think he -- i'm going to say, again, i think it was fine. my larger point is this. of the things that are relevant in the rhythm of a campaign with fewer than 100 days to go, the next pivot point, which they've lined up today and they announced their campaign schedule to go to these swing states, announce his vice president, have a solid convention and keep doing what he's doing. this is not going to move the needle one way or the other. >> james, with 100 days to go did it make sense for him to go overseas? >> no. the visuals are good. he just opened his mouth. if they can figure out a way to take pictures and get him to

shut up they'd have a successful trip. it doesn't work like that. mitt romney is a man who's convinced the world and the country wants to know his opinion on every single thing. you know, that's for commentators on television. not for presidential candidates. he's got to learn to understand that there's some glory in an unspoken thought. and that would help him a lot. >> were you two watching different tvs in your home? i mean, because you're both -- your perceptions of what occurred overseas are so completely, radically different. >> we only watch tv together when we're watching you, anderson. otherwise, we don't even sit together in a political conversation. >> the visuals were good. it's just if he could have kept -- if he could do it without talking. we agree on half of it. he had good visuals. >> james should know, he's a great visual until he opens his mouth. he knows of what he speaks. >> mary, did it take away from his economic argument? was it important -- you're saying it was important because he looked somehow presidential overseas? >> i'm not saying that -- what he says matters.

when he was in poland talking about subsidiary and powe lairty. when he wasn't talking about solidarity and the real hope and change did take place with the free economy in poland. when all the dust settles on the silly season stuff and people read the -- and critics honestly give a rigorous reading of the speeches he gave, he gave a very powerful remarks in israel and in poland. those are very important. i'm not just saying it's perception. it's reality. it's just images. i'm saying to the extent the elect rat, those who are undecided, are paying attention at this point in time, they're seeing these great images. the speeches were solid as well and they will, over time, play out. it doesn't matter what he says. when the growth in numbers we got last week were 1.5%. this economy gets worse and worse. and obama does worse and worse. so this is a mandatory part for romney to do what he did and he did a fine job. >> james, i want -- >> running for president is like flying an airplane. if you do 99 smart things and 1

stupid thing, it's the 1 stupid thing people remember. it's the way it works. it's always been that way. >> i want to ask you about something, james, harry reid said today. he's claiming a bain investor whose identity he would not reveal told him romney didn't pay any taxes at all for a decade. to publicly make that claim based on a single anonymous source, is the majority leader out of line there? >> i don't know. look, there was an op-ed piece by a former tax policy deputy secretary of treasury "new york times" in the today speculating all over the place that romney used these offshore accounts in the bahamas or switzerland or wherever it is to avoid paying civic taxes on some of his retirement accounts or kids' accounts or something like that. there's a way that romney can show harry reid's not telling the truth. release the returns. he released them so john mccain can see them. why can't the american people see them? >> mary? >> anderson, it's one thing for a campaign hack to call ridiculously call the nominee for the republican ticket a felon.

it's quite another for the sitting senate majority leader. romney has put out his taxes. the years that he put it out for, he paid $6 million in taxes and he made $7 million in charitable contributions. if he puts out, as cheney said, somewhere today, he put out two, they want four. you put out four, they want six. this is a distraction. people do not care what romney's doing with his money. and he paid every legal tax. they care what obama's doing with their money. that's what this campaign is going to be about. >> james, do you think that this -- keeping mentioning this drum beat by reporters and others on the tax, do you think it's having an impact? >> sure. it's already had one. you've got a republican expert, tax expert, speculating. when people don't know, they speculate. you know, you want to run for president, you got to do some things. and romney wants everything on his terms. he wants to pontificate and render his opinion on everything in the world.

but yet he says he doesn't want to do this. well, he should have known this before he ran. what did he think he was going to do? he goes over to britain. he says something stupid. he catches flack for it. the same thing. goes and makes some insensitive remarks in the middle east. 20% of the people who live in israel are palestinian. he insulted a good 20% of the population there. and then he wants to get mad at reporters for it. the guy's got to game up here. he's playing in the bigs here. >> should we just clarify that mitt romney said nothing to the reporters. an aide said something to the reporters. and i think that the media's held in lower esteem than the congress. if you watch that, jim acosta, i don't know who that reporter was. it was unfortunate her juxtaposition with the microphone. that looked like screeching. and he looked presidential getting in the car and the aide looked calm and said what he said and has since apologized. that is not going to affect one person's vote. and i think a lot of americans

agree that the media does not cover -- and demonstrated on this by not covering his speeches and covering these whatever, these meaningless kind of saying security is disconcerting. which it is. he spoke the truth everywhere he went. >> people shouldn't vote for the media. they probably wouldn't if they had a chance to anyway. >> we'll leave it there. james carville, mary matalin, thank you very much. al assad forces and opposition fighters remain locked in battle in syria's biggest city, aleppo. question is will the regime lose its grip on the city? our ivan watson is on the ground, joins us ahead.

a united airlines flight from dallas lands safely in denver despite a gaping hole right near the windshield. take a look at that. we'll tell you what caused the damage when we continue.

in syria, chilling firsthand look inside a prisoner of war camp run by opposition fighters. our ivan watson talked to some of the prisoners. we'll have more on that in a moment. at least 49 people were killed across syria today according to opposition activists. so-called free syrian army is also making new claims tonight. this video purportedly shows its fighters attacking a police station in aleppo. we can't verify the authenticity of the video. the so-called free syrian army says they now control this building. the video purportedly shows them taking control of the second police station again. we can't vouch for this, either. the fighters allegedly called bashar al assad's father the dog of the arab nation. keep this in mind. aleppo is syria's new york, essentially. 3 million people live there. imagine attack helicopters firing missiles into manhattan, battles raging in the streets. a mass exodus to escape. the bullets and the shells. we've seen that in aleppo today. ivan watson joins me. another day in the battle for

aleppo. what's the latest on the ground? >> reporter: we heard the rebels were claiming to capture one more police station in aleppo even as some of the rebel-held neighborhoods like salah al din were continuing to be shelled. syria state-run tv had a contradictory version of the events. it announced that syrian special forces had liberated the police station. >> they've even gone after the military airport in aleppo. given how gunned these rebels are, is it possible for them to actually gain control of aleppo? >> reporter: the battle is still being fought. and they are completely outgunned. and one of these key neighborhoods, salah al din, is really endirk circled by the military. and people cannot get in or out of there.

so it is a grinding urban battle right now, with some siege-like conditions as the residents come out, saying there's no electricity, no more bread no water. and of course they're getting shelled and bombed from the sky and artillery as well. the rebels do seem to have courage and fierce determination on their side. perhaps something that may be lacking on the side of the military, which has seen massive defections over the course of the past 17 months. >> you talked about the opposition being much more organized, even in the last couple of months. do we know what kind of support they're getting from outside players, be it weapons, communications equipment, even advice on strategy? >> reporter: i've definitely seen boxes of ammunition that have come across the border from turkey. they're recently painted. they do not have distinguishable markings to identify where they would be from. the ammunition that i've seen has been almost exclusively light weapon ammunition. some mortar rounds. and a lot of rpg rounds. those cone-shaped rpgs. which have proven very effective at taking out syrian government armored vehicles.

beyond that, i have not seen heavier weaponry. one rebel commander said he'd been given some kind of surface to air missile. but just one round of that missile. and as one rebel put it, they're giving us just enough to keep this revolution alive. but not enough to give us a decisive victory. >> you gained access to a rebel prison where they're keeping syrian government forces, prisoners, as well as members of the shabiha, this militia that's working with the regime. one alleged shabiha member who had actually tattoos of the regime -- top regime leaders on his chest, it seemed like somebody had cut deep grooves over those pictures. essentially what looked like some form of torture. how were these people being treated? >> reporter: in his case, the prison warden claimed that the man had confessed to committing crimes and that he wanted to donate blood to the rebels.

and thus he cut himself to donate that blood. it's a pretty unbelievable explanation for how this man -- how his torso had been cut up that way. the captors claimed that they treat their prisoners better than the syrian government treats captives in government-run institutions. but i saw several men who had been beaten apparently in the eye so much that they could barely see through these puffy, purple eyes. they brought out another guy to talk to me who was shaking, trembling, he was so afraid, as he spoke to me. and we heard him, as one of the captors suggested, hey, maybe he can lift his shirt to show he doesn't have any signs. then the guy whispered, the prisoner, to the captor, no, i do have marks. so there was ample evidence to suggest some of these prisoners had been subjected to abuse after they had been captured by

the rebels. >> ivan watson, appreciate the reporting. stay safe. let's take a look at some of the other stories we're following. isha's here with the 360 bulletin. >> congressional leaders have reached a deal that will keep the government from shutting down before the upcoming presidential election. they announced the deal today on a bill to fund the federal government through march. the white house calls the agreement a welcome development. a united airlines jet has dents and a gaping hole in it. after an apparent collision with birds while the plane was landing in denver. the plane was able to land safely, and there were no injuries. new orleans police have issued an arrest warrant for cuba gooding jr. the actor could face a misdemeanor battery charge. he's accused of pushing a female bartender in the city's famed french quarter. swimmer michael phelps has broken the record for the most medals won at the olympics. he has 19. 15 gold, 2 silver and 2 bronze. anderson? there's a lot more happening

tonight including an update on one of the colorado shooting victims. she's 22 years old. her name is petra sanderson. she's still in the hospital and still beating the odds leaving her doctors amazed. music is playing a role in the recovery. we'll talk to dr. sanjay gupta about how it can help with brain injuries and what's happening with her right now. i wake up in the morning with no back pain. i can adjust it if i need to...if my back's a little more sore. and by the time i get up in the morning, i feel great! if you have back pain, toss and turn at night or wake up tired with no energy, the sleep number bed could be your solution. the sleep number bed's secret is it's air chambers which provide ideal support and put you in control of the firmness. and the bed is perfect for couples because each side adjusts independently to their unique sleep number. here's what clinical research has found: 93% of participants experienced back-pain relief. 90% reported reduced aches and pains. 87% fell asleep faster and enjoyed more deep sleep.

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tonight, a "360" follow-up about petra anderson. one of the aurora shooting survivors who remains hospitalized tonight. to many, that might not seem

like something to celebrate. but 12 people were killed in the massacre which gives some perspective. petra easily could have died instantly. she took a gunshot the the brain. in the days after the massacre, there was talk that an unusual brain malformation possibly allowed her to survive the injury. tonight there's no more talk of a malformation. instead, petra's doctors are crediting her survival to something equally inexplicable. the reason petra's on the road to recovery tonight. that's not the whole story. here's david mattingly. >> reporter: hit by a shotgun blast. one pellet going through her brain. petra anderson is already walking, telling jokes and talking of going to grad school for a degree in music in the fall. amazing. when even her doctor says it's a miracle she's alive. her family's expectations for recovery are high. >> 100%. i mean, honestly, 100%. she's just -- she's so amazing.

she's so determined. >> reporter: and that determination appears natural to a family seem to be faced with an impossible choice. this video appeared online less than two days after the aurora colorado shooting. >> my sister's hospital bills on top of that are making the financial reality look pretty daunting. >> reporter: while the country was still in shock, petra's sister, chloe, launched a fund-raising campaign and revealed her family's heartbreaking dilemma. >> so that's why we're reaching out to you, the people that have already asked us what you can do to help. so that we don't have to choose between my sister's care and my mother's treatment. >> reporter: petra's mother, kim anderson, was due to undergo expensive experimental treatment in hopes of stopping the cancer that has spread throughout her body. giving into the cancer and devoting the time and the money she had left to petra seemed the obvious choice. >> i was just thinking about,

how can i help petra the most? what can i do that would help her the most? >> reporter: but petra wouldn't allow it. luck was already on their side. the pellet that entered her brain crossed the part controlling speech, language and memory. her doctors said, had the pellet wavered a millimeter in any direction, she would have likely died. petra beat some astronomical odds and she wanted her mother to do the same. >> and what happens, happens. >> right? >> she needs her mom to be fighting so that she can fight. and i think you need her to be fighting so that you can fight. >> yeah, i do. >> so they're in this together and they're going to pull each other through. >> reporter: petra's fight will be to return to her music. to start composing. and to pick up her violin which has been silent since the shooting. her therapy of choice has been to listen as her boyfriend plays his clarinet. private concerts in her room to keep her focused on healing. >> her mind is the thing that

she just loves to use. and it's slower, you know, and i know that's going to be really hard. it will be harder for her than if she had to learn to walk again. >> reporter: her mom's hardships would seem to compound the family stress. instead, they see it as a challenge. >> you can give the evil the last word. and the setbacks and the disasters. you can let them destroy you. or you can take it back. >> reporter: so petra anderson's family made a statement of defiance heard around the world. >> thank you for standing with us and letting this joker know that he may have intended it as his story, but we're taking it back. are you ready to believe? >> reporter: and at a time of so much sadness, the answer to that question was a resounding yes. thousands of people responded to the anderson's call for action. they set a lofty goal of raising $250,000. enough to pay for their medical

expenses, with enough left over for a sizable contribution to the families of other victims. the response has been almost as surprising as petra herself. >> she's inspired a lot of people in the last couple of weeks. or couple days. i guess it's only been one week. she's inspired a lot of people in the last week. >> reporter: inspiration brings hope. hope that petra will one day soon pick up her violin and begin playing. and hope that her mother will now beat the odds as well. david mattingly, cnn, aurora, colorado. >> we certainly wish petra and her mother the best as they face the challenges ahead. joining me now is cnn chief medical correspondent and practicing neurosurgeon dr. sanjay gupta. her doctor says it's amazing she's even alive. where exactly did the bullet enter her brain and how did they get it out? >> well, it is pretty remarkable. let me show you if i can quickly. i brought a model of the skull here, anderson. i don't know how well you can appreciate this.

but what they described, first of all, it was a shotgun blast. but one particular pellet they talked about coming in through the left side of her nose into an area. you have some sinuses sort of in that area just above where the bullet would have entered. then it passed all the way through the brain. sort of on the left side of the brain. and ended up in the back of the head somewhere over here. so what's so remarkable is you have many blood vessels. you have, obviously, parts of the brain that control speech, control motor strength. it's unclear to us still exactly how much of that's going to be affected. but, you know, this was a -- really thread the needle here so to speak in terms of causing possible damage to some vital structures, as they described it. >> you're talking about a millimeter either way could be devastating? >> yeah. when you think about these types of injuries, you think about a bullet going through the brain. and what you have to remember is oftentimes just ahead of the bullet you have sort of a blast wave. you may have heard this described, anderson, when you have been covering wars.

that blast wave sort of precedes the actual projectile. it's moving things out of the way as a result of that. but, still, the bullet, if it had gone through a particular blood vessel there, and there are several that are large, that would have been a catastrophic injury. if it had been lower within the brain, it could have injured the brain stem. that's a part of the brain that's responsible for one's ability to breathe on their own, control their heart rate. so that would have been devastating as well. >> it's so incredible. her mom says she's listening to class cal music as part of her recovery. we've seen other cases, gabby giffords comes to mind, where music seems to aid a person's recovery. does it actually help heal the brain? >> i find this really fascinating. and i think it does it and actually i learned a little bit there when we were reporting on gabby giffords because i spent time with the therapists who were treating her. music is one of the few things, anderson, if you think about trying to sing a song, for example. there's several different parts of your brain that are

immediately sort of harnessed. just remembering the words for example. your speech. your ability to say those words. that's the expression of that speech. your ability to actually, now, carry a tune. that causes the sort of activity to cross over from the left side of the brain to the right side of the brain. to remember that tune and carry that tune. so music can be a remarkable thing. also, someone who is just learning to walk. if you find a song that has a particular cadence to it. i was doing "the saints come marching in" with this particular physical therapist. you can learn how to sort of re-establish your rhythm. standing up out of a chair, taking a few steps. so it can be quite remarkable in situations like this. >> that's so cool. sanjay, thanks. >> thank you. we'll continue to follow her recovery and the recovery of other survivors as well. ahead tonight, the world's largest blackout. 600 million people, imagine that, power less. dealing with extreme heat, transportation shutdowns. we'll tell you where it's happening and the cause when we continue. no problem. you want to save money on rv insurance?

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the riduculist coming up. first isha's here with the 360 bulletin. for a second time in two days, a large part of india suffered a massive power outage. this time 600 million people were affected. half the country's population. that's double the amount from monday's blackout. once again, thousands were stranded at train stations like this one. the problem, supply can't keep up with demand. australian police have seize more than half a billion

dollars worth of heroin and meth. the record haul was found in a shipment of 3,200 pots. seven suspects are in custody. supports of california's proposition 8 bans same-sex marijuana in the state are asking the u.s. support to overturn a lower court's ruling that found it unconstitutional. in the next few weeks the justices are expected to decide whether to put the case on their docket. we will be watching closely. >> time for the shot tonight. a video of a prank that a husband played on his sleeping wife in the car. take a look. >> so there's a truck getting towed. it looks like it's coming at us. and my wife's asleep so we'll see if we can scare her. babe, wake up! there's a truck coming at us! [ screams ] >> that's not funny. that's mean. >> it's kind of funny. a little bit funny. >> man, that's terrible. >> yeah. >> wow. >> yeah. well, just know if we're in the

car, you shouldn't fall asleep. >> jeanne moos actually talked to the couple after the video went viral. the woman said she made her husband sleep on the couch that night, didn't stay mad at him. apparently he plays pranks on her all the time. i hate pranks. >> just prepare yourself for when we go on our road trip. >> isha, thanks. coming up, what you see is not necessarily what you get at the newark airport these days. say hello to the customer service lady who's kind of a hologram, i guess. the ridiculist is next. there are a lot of warning lights and sounds vying for your attention. so we invented a warning you can feel. introducing the all-new cadillac xts. available with a patented safety alert seat. when there's danger you might not see, you're warned by a pulse in the seat. it's technology you won't find in a mercedes e-class.

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time now for the ridiculist.

and tonight we're adding all human, breathing, real life people. we're one step closer to obsolescence. meet libby. she's a computerized hologram-like avatar customer care representative to answer all your questions and possibly creep you out upon your arrival. >> hello and welcome to newark liberty international airport in newark, new jersey. if you wish to use a taxi, please see the taxi operator. >> she never stops smiling. i wonder how many minutes went by before someone tried to touch her inappropriately. there are a few of these hologram customer service reps that are starting to go up at airports. their obvious benefit is they don't take breaks and they're always smiling. it seems cutting edge and innovative now, but wait until that goes hal 9,000. leaving everyone running for cover. the artificial intelligence will

kick in, she'll learn how to love and run away with an atm robotic scanner or something like that. just ask the travelers at newark who have seen her. they know there's something off. >> it's a little freaky when you walk down there. her body looks like it's not real but her head does. >> it's freaky. >> weird. >> i think it's scary. >> its eyes follow you. >> i talked to her. i don't know what she mean. >> he has no idea what's going on. the point is we have to be very, very careful with this kind of hologram technology. we don't want it to fall into the wrong hands. >> i want you to watch what we're about to do because you've never seen anything like this on television. >> hi, wolf. >> a big round of applause. we did it. >> yeah. we did it, indeed. that was big. that was election night 2008. who can forget? i'm glad i wasn't part of that.

we're joined now via hologram by will.i..am who is live in grant park. let's see if you can beam him in now. there we go. >> yeah, still have no idea what that was all about. we've taken some ripping over that one. i think jimmy kimmel summed it up well at the white house correspondents dinner this year. >> every election year cnn comes up with new and increasingly amazing technology. the magic wall this year. the hologram four years ago. yet with all their technical wizard wizardry, they still haven't figured out a way to make james carville look less like a hairless boiled cat. >> i think they should make all the customer service people at the airport look like james carville. how much fun would that be? telling you how to get to the chili's in terminal b? that's an idea that could really take off. at least on the ridiculist.

that's it. thanks for watching. "early start" begins right now. sweet redemption. gymnastics star jordyn wieber turns olympic heartbreak into gold for team usa. scare in the air. a united airlines flight diverted to another airport all because of a camera. saved from the rushing water. a baby trapped in a flood swamped car. wait till you see this. hey, everyone. welcome to "early start." i'm john berman. >> i'm zoraida sambolin. it's 5:00 a.m. in the east. also coming up, mitt romney defending his controversial culture comments that enraged millions of palestinians. plus, a young woman who pulls a car off of her father saving his life. like a scene out of superman. you have to see this. >> pretty incredible. up first, the golden girls. of course, everyone still talking about the magical night for the u.s. women's gymnastics team. they routed the russians and everyone else on their way to

the gold medal in the team competition. take a look, folks. michael phelps cementing his legacy. he is now the most decorated olympian of all time. winning his record breaking 19th medal and adding another gold just for fun to his all-time mark. amanda davies is live in london. amanda, the debate is raging this morning. also here, mr. john berman and i have been debating this. is michael phelps the best olympian ever? >> reporter: morning. i'll tell you, there's no debate about the fact it was stars and stripes all the way here at the olympics last night. but it's a really difficult question to answer that. it is the topic of conversation across breakfast tables this morning. in terms of swimming and in terms of medals won, then yes. michael phelps is the greatest olympian of all time after he reached that 19 mark last night with a victory in the 200 -- silver in the 200 fly, i should say, and the gold in the relay.