first lady hillary clinton for serving her husband too many fatty foods. if you think it's bad for a chef to deceive a sitting president, to that i say it depends on what the meaning of is is. i turn you over to jessica yellin, who is filling in for wolf blitzer in "the situation room." >> and a demand for an immediate investigation into claims that the syrian government launched a chemical weapons attack on more than a thousand civilians. >> plus, disturbing new details emerging about the suspect behind the murder of a australian native. and one of the queen's prize

swans was found barbecue. wolf blitzer is off today. i'm jessica yellin, you're in "the situation room." we begin with pictures from syria that we want to warn you are extremely graphic and disturbing. women and children believed to be dousing themselves with water and putting towels to their mouths after suffering an alleged chemical weapons attack that opposition leaders say killed more than a thousand people. these horrifying images are prompting bold new calls today from both the obama administration and the united nations for an immediate investigation to confirm that chemical agents were used. our frederick pleitgen is getting rare insight in syria and joins us with the latest. >> reporter: i haven't had very much time on the ground yet but i am trying to get to the bottom

of what happened during the alleged chemical weapons attack. i was able to go to a government-run hospital, a hospital that had taken many of the casualties from that alleged attack. take a look at what we saw. these images continue to shock the world. syrian opposition groups are saying the videos are evidence the assad regime used chemical weapons in a damascus suburb and many around the world are calling for tougher action. here in the streets of government-controlled damascus, many say they don't believe their military resorted to the use of nerve agents. the government would never use chemical weapons, this man tells me, because bashar al assad is part of the country, they've grown up here, they're syrians. i believe if anything was hit, it was the free syrian army, this man says. there appeared to be an operation under way wednesday

with planes dropping bombs and artillery firing for hours. but those here say patients treat treated. official says they received a large number of casualties on wednesday from the areas where attacks took place but they also said none of these casualties had any signs of being subjected to chemicals. images like these indicate some form of chemicals seem to have been used. the u.n. secretary-general is calling on the regime to allow fast access to the site. >> he expects to receive a positive response without delay. >> reporter: u.n. teams have been on the ground in damascus for several days. when i tried to ask the chief u.n. chemical weapons inspector if his team would visit the site of wednesday's alleged attack,

he wouldn't answer. are you going to be able to investigate the chemical weapons claims? >> i cannot talk to you. i'm sorry. >> reporter: the assad regime denies using chemical weapons, a claim that many want verified by the team on the ground. both sides blaming each other for what allegedly took place here in the suburbs of damascus. one of the things i always have to say, we are on the government's side here, so therefore a lots of the people that we speak to by nature are very spligs to the government. >> of course, fred. we know u.n. inspectors are on the ground. why haven't they gone to the site to begin investigating? >> some of the sites are less than five miles away from where the weapons inspectors are staying. but their mission here is very sensitive. they went in with the mandate to

visit three places in syria that have nothing to do with what allegedly happened here on wednesday, they are sights that is been known for a very long time. now they're saying you need to give them access to the site where this happened immediately. on the one hand the -- on the other hand simply the syrian bureaucracies makes the going here very, very difficult. on the one hand they have this international outrage saying they need to go there as fast as possible but they also have to be careful dealing with the syrian authorities. >> the white house and the u.n. calling for those investigators to get access to sites. fred, very rare for to you have access to any of this and to be there. remarkable reporting. please stay safe and be careful. thanks for that report. that's our fred pleitgen reporting from damascus. there are calls for actions in

syria that are not just here but echoing around the world in the wake of all those shocking images we just brought you. our own tom foreman is taking a closer look that some of us in the u.s. could have. tom, are these options extensive or limited? >> i guess they're limited. you're absolutely right, jessica, the pressure not just around the world but up here on capitol hill and at the white house is really stepping up in the wake of this video. let's look at the possibilities out here as we bring in a map of syria. first of all, there's a question of going on the offense. could the u.s. flat out go in there with big time military intervention with helicopters and planes and bomb and simply join the time fooit to make this come to a conclusion? that is not likely. we know -- some people would like to see it, many would not. what about the idea of going on the defense? what about taking weapons and saying we're simply going to put

some weapons in here and give them to the rebel forces so they can fight back more effectively. this is all complicated by the fact that big countries like russia don't want to see any of that happen. but complicating this further is the activities of terrorist groups like al qaeda or groups like hezbollah in here and if you put weapons in this country, as we've seen many times in the past, there's no guarantee that they stay in the hands of the people you want to put them into. so that's very, very difficult in terms of the defensive approach. and then we come to what is probably sort of the neither offensive nor defensive but a little bit of both, the idea of a no-fly zone, which has worked in areas to really limit the ability of the assad regime to fly there. those are the options now,

jessica temperatu jessica. and as always, they're complicated by the fact that we don't know which one of these would work under those circumstances. >> thanks very much to tomorrow foreman, our own explainer in chief. >> let's bring in "time" editor bobby ghosh. let's look at your magazine cover and it's called "founding father." "time" is the corporate cousin of cnn. we see martin luther king there. today we saw a striking tone from our u.n. ambassador samantha power talking about syria. she posted on twitter "reports devastating, hundreds dead in streets including kids killed by chemical weapons. u.n. must get there fast and if true, perps must face justice. power is a fierce u.n. advocate.

critics, even supporters, say they've been pretty tepid on syria. do you see her tweet as an of the -- effort to prod the white house into action? do you see her tweet as a sign they might take more action in syria? >> a natural disaster. >> i'm sorry, we've been having audio problems, but, bobby, can you tell us that again? >> yes, of course. >> i think, you know, she is well known as somebody who advocates the international community's responsibility to protect the responsibility, intervene in places like this, but her tweet was very carefully weighted. she used words like "report" and "if true" and said things like the "perps must be punished."

there's enough wiggle room there. who are the perps? we don't yet know. was it the government forces or a rogue element in the army or people from the rebellion itself that were responsible? we don't know. asking for u.n. inspectors to go there is easy but the deal the u.n. made when they send the inspectors was to go to very specific place and check if chemical weapons were used. those inspectors are not even allowed to speculate on who may have used those weapons. the administration has gone in with both hands tied behind their back. the deal they made prevents them from doing anything. >> i think there's a little more urgency in her tone than we've seen from the white house but we'll wait and see what evolves. let's shift gears a little bit to egypt. we saw that hosni mubarak was

ordered released from prison into house arrest, while the president, who was duly elected by the people,morsi is now detained. does this rule out democracy in egypt? >> it is another blow to those hopes. ie the idea that mubarak is out. those who believe that the military is a force for democracy will have to be reassessing that position. it's important to remember that mubarak was a military man himself, took over effectively what was a military takeover of egypt 30 years ago. so we're seeing a full cycle now being completed. the fear is that the hopes for democracy that were raised two years ago with the arab springer

suffering -- are now dimmed very much and it will make very little to end those hopes. >> i would say there's a lot of instability right now in the middle east. we'll be watching it with you for many, many months and maybe years to come. thanks for your time. when we come back, just one day after being sentenced in the larnlest classified look in u.s. history, bradley manning drops a dramatic new bomb shell revealing he now wants to be a woman. plus the queen's got is cooked. actually, it's one of her swans. we'll explain just ahead. ♪ norfolk southern what's your function? ♪

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23-year-old australian baseball player christopher lane by three oklahoma teen-agers who say they decided to kill someone because they were bored. and we're learning one of them, 15-year-old james edwards, jr., tweeted these rap lyrics just three days before lane was gunned down, that he and his friends were ready to, quote, start taking lives. back in april edwards tweeted "90% of white people are nasty," hash tag, hate them. their alleged 17-year-old driver is white and the two other teen-agers were black. jeff, in hearing these two new details, a charged issue, a tense topic to talk about. big are issue generally, should

james edwards, jr. be charged with a hate crime? >> i don't know. it's obviously something the investigators in oklahoma should look into. remember, though, as well he's charged already with first degree murder, which carries a possible sentence of life without parole. so it's not clear what a hate crimes charge would add to this case. and just one final point. because he is under 18, he is not eligible for the death penalty. the supreme court has said juvenile offenders cannot get the death penalty so life in prison is the most he can get. >> joeying going -- joey, goinge larger cultural issue, conservatives are saying there's a double standard here. they said "there was no saturation cable tv kof raj, no press conference featuring al

sharpton or jesse jackson, the death of christopher lane, while as troubling as that of trayvon martin, will not become a national touchstone of racial and cultural debate or reflection. let me point out this has gotten coverage on television throughout the day today, but more broadly speaking, do they have point? >> sure. i think, first of all, i don't think only conservatives should be outraged. i think everyone in society, i don't care if you're a conservative, liberal, no matter what your persuasion or politics or anything else. this is a murder that is senseless. whether the motivation was boredom or predicated on race, ethnicity or anything else, there's just no place for it. i think it's something we need to cover and there should be a larger, broader discussion about this, about what motivates violence, whether it's violence that's black on black, black on

white or in general, it's something that needs discussion period. >> jeff, you also point out what are the differences between this case and the george zimmerman/trayvon martin case? >> the big difference is when trayvon martin was killed, the police said no crime. there was no arrest made. that's what made the case a national story. it want the black/white nature it have. here you have a situation where there have been arrests immediately. that's not an issue. i think the wall street journal point is totally bogus. it's an attempt to make a political point that is not relevant to this case. we all agree this case is a horrendous tragedy but to use it for politics i think is genuinely unfounded. >> coming up, a day in court for a former nfl player indicted for murder. also ahead, a bizarre royal

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let's take a quick look at some of the top stories in "the situation room." san diego tv stations are reporting the city's mayor, bob filner, is planning to resign. san diego city council will just need to sign off on a proposed mediation agreement before it goes into effect. 18 women have accused filner of sexual harassment. filner has admitted to improper conduct and sought treatment but has previously said his behavior is not bad enough for him to step down.

>> the son of vice president joe biden is heading home to delaware after successfully undergoing a procedure and medical evaluation in houston. it's unclear what procedure he underwent. beau biden, delaware's attorney general, second into the cancer hospital after feeling weak and disoriented while on vacation last week. >> a massachusetts grand jury has indicted form are new england patriot tight end aaron hernandez with murder. he's being charged with orchestrating the death of oudin lloyd who was shot five times with a handgun. authorities say hernandez and two other men picked up lloyd from his boston apartment before the killing. hernandez has pleaded not guilty. >> and a bizarre and gruesome mystery developing in england. who killed one of the queen's swans? the remains of the barbecued swan were discovered near queen

elizabeth's castles in windsor. and by law, all unmarked swans belong to the queen. it's been a law in effect since the 12 century. >> when we come back, president obama kicks off a bus tour in upstate new york. one of his stops, an exclusive sitdown interview with our own chris cuomo. chris will be here in "the situation room" with a preview coming up. but first our dr. sanjay gupta with a look at this weekend's "the next list." >> this week on "the next list," urban bee keeper andrew cote. >> maybe it begins as a hobby and it might work up into a small business and then it's just an obsession and there's no turning back. it's like crack.

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happening now, president obama sits down for a one-on-one interview with chris cuomo of cnn's "new day." we'll get a preview. >> newly sentenced army leaker bradley manning makes a bombshell announcement about how he wants to live life behind bars. >> and kidnap victim hannah han anderson speaks out in her first tv interview since her horrifying ordeal. wolf blitzer is off today. i'm jessica yellin. you're in "the situation room." they're rare, they're highly coveted and cnn's chris cuomo got one, an exclusive sitdown, one-on-one interview with the president of the united states, and you'll see it first thing tomorrow morning on cnn's "new day." chris joins us from syracuse

right now. chris, we want to know, you've joined the president on the road, first tell us what is he doing in upstate new york? >> reporter: hey, jessica, how are you? right now he's weathering the rain that is coming through this area right now. he's spend being the next couple of days going to cities in new york and pennsylvania, trying to motivate the middle class to get behind him and help him with his agenda when he gets back and starts dealing with congress. the big ticket item is college affordability. the president's been giving speeches about it all day. he's going to give one at the high school where we are in syracuse in a while. number one, he wants colleges to work off a scorecard, a rating system, where the better your graduation rate, the better the job, the better you do as a university to lower costs, the higher you're rated and the more funding and grants go to you from the federal and state side.

the next would be as students once you graduate and pay off your loan as a percent of your income. he pointed out there's about $1 trillion in outstanding student debt that middle eaost of it wie repaid by graduates. we hear stories where they're not making enough to pay it back. the initiative for the scoreboard and allowing you to pay as a percentage of your income will both probably need legislative action. once you come down to d.c., it becomes like this morias of inactivity now. he's talking about people motivating lawmakers to do the right thing here. in the interview we're going to transition into what's going on around the world. there's a lot of issues to get to. >> we're going to talk more about the debate in our "crossfire" panel coming pup can you give us a little more sneak

preview? >> you you're going to deal with syria, you're going to deal with egypt and we're also going to just touch on what senator mccain was talking about on "new day" this morning about the perception of the u.s., about the respect of the word of the u.s. government in that region, action. is there need for an investigation before there's a move in syria? if there's going to be a move, what is it? we've heard about a red line in the white house, what's on the other side of it. egypt, what to do there. we're going to deal with that and we want to get back to domestic issues that deal with the president's ability to work with congress, get through legislation, deal with immigration, and big items -- >> i give you a tip. he really likes being interrupted. >> we got to do what we need to

to do. >> it will be great. i can't wait to see it. have fun, chris. a reminder, that interview chris is about to conduct is a rare interview with the president, it will be on "new day" tomorrow morning beginning at 6:00 eastern. let get more on this issue of "crossfire," stephanie cutter and s.e.cupp. let's throw it up in the air. is college worth it, ladies? >> yes. >> no. >> you tell me. >> yes, it is worth it. of course it's worth it. is it for everybody? no. it actually increases your earning potential by 20%. by having people who graduate from college m communities, it raises the standard of living for everybody. it's also worth it to keep our country competitive. it's important to our national security as well. >> the salaries for folks with

four-year degrees have been steadily declining and the salary for folks in the manufacturing sector are increasing. the a problem is we're not meeting the demand of manufacturers and employers who want people -- who can't just read freud and nichy but who can actually read a business plan and work in a factory and make something. the trajectory we're currently on is totally unsustainable. we're sad willing our kid with dead they can't afford, not adequately preparing them for the work frz. and the prom lem is that president obama's plan doesn't change the trajectory we're on. >> i agree with much of what you said but not everything. a couple of things, college isn't for everything. we need a workforce that's diverse, which includes manufacturing. and the president has recognized

that since the first day taking office. he's done everything he could to bring jobs back here to this country. created programs to form partnerships between community colleges and manufacturers, so people are getting trained for specific jobs in manufacturing and of course increasing vocational training so we can get those skilled workers into moneying plants. that's incredibly important. we have to be a nation that builds. >> the investment has not been there enough. >> over -- >> over the last four years there has been a pretty big increase. >> if you look at other countries are marriages are enrolled in training, we need to invest more and we need to keep the government out of the private sector. private sectors in states are innovating just fine. the university of texas is offering $10,000 degrees. more and more people are learning online and making those

kind of choices that work for them. >> will you talk to your friends on capitol hill and talk about that increase at community colleges because we do need that increased investment, absolutely. but i do think we also need innovation and competition in the higher education market. i think that's what the point of the president's speech was today. this is a market that's not working. the costs are too high. the value is not there. we need to increase the value and increase the transparency. >> let me give you an example. >> the president today at one of his big new plans, big new ideas, is financial literacy for college students. did you know there are already 56 financial programs for financial literacy? how many times do taxpayers need to pay for the same thing over and over again? >> i think you're making a slightly different point here besides what college students need. college students need to know

when they're signing on the dotted line what kind of debt they're getting. that's ensuring student goes in there with their eyes wide open. >> it's like an intrusion. >> right now there is none. so right now -- >> it's not a marketplace. it's a fake marketplace. the government subsidizing private and public. >> not everybody can pay out of their own pocket for college -- >> not everybody should pay. not everybody should go to college. >> excuse me. for people like me who is getting a student loan for college, i want to know if someone else is getting student loans, i want to make sure

the -- >> now taxpayers have to pay back the student loans because they're not getting prepared for the jobs that they need. that's not changing under the president's plan. >> i think that you and i are not disagreeing on what the problem is. i think that there's one person who is trying to address it and that's what the president did today. it would be great if he partners to do that. >> s.e., how would you propose low-income people get help to go to ivy league college -- >> or any college. >> it's economic based. there's this idea we want to send inner city and rural kids to really tony, ivy league -- >> take it back. any college, a community college. >> a great school that they can't afford. and that makes us all feel very good, like we're doing something that's good for society. we don't need and we shouldn't

pluck kids out of obscurity and foist upon them a new version of the american dream that include as college they can't afford and maybe aren't add kwautly prepared for. college of all kinds, ivy league to community, should be available and open to everyone but not everyone is right for the good schools or the best schools or a four-year or two-year school. and weep need to stop pretending that everyone should have the same kind of path to educational excellence. not everyone is right for that. >> who is saying that? i don't think i'm saying that, i don't think jessica is saying that. >> the president wants nearly everyone to go to college. >> why would he be putting your taxpayer dollars and mine to go into vocational training and training people to go into manufacturing jobs? it's absolutely not true. >> it absolutely is true. the president himself said he wants everyone to go to college.

>> he wants everybody to have the opportunity to go to college. >> the question is how to make it affordable and not equestion that everyone's continuing to ask because we're in a difficult economy right now. >> i think if we don't keep subsidizing with federal money colleges the lower tuitions and then they'll be penalized. >> a fabulous question and i love that we're auld asking it. just ahead, bradley manning says he wants to live as a woman. can it happen as he spend these decades in a military prison. that's ahead and you're in "the situation room." ♪ norfolk southern what's your function? ♪ ♪ hooking up the country helping business run ♪ ♪ build! we're investing big to keep our country in the lead. ♪ load! we keep moving to deliver what you need. and that means growth, lots of cargo going all around the globe. cars and parts, fuel and steel, peas and rice, hey that's nice!

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a dramatic new bombshell from ex-army private bradley manning. just one day after being sentenced to 35 years for the largest leak of classified prison in history, he's now revealing he wants to be known as a woman, chelsea. the gender identity issue is not a new one for manning who was seen in this photo released by the military wearing a blond wig. cnn pentagon correspondent chris lawrence is joining us now with the details. hi, chris. >> reporter: yeah, the defense used manning's gender identity issues as an argument for

leniency during his case, and manning himself sent that photo to his sergeant while he was still deployed in iraq. now he is coming out publicly. and on nbc's "today" show his attorney read a statement from manning saying, quote, as i transition into this next phase of my life, i want everyone to know the real me. i am chelsea manning, i am a e fema female." he also asked for hormone therapy as soon as possible to help him transition from male to female. here's his attorney. >> i don't know about sex reassignment, chelsea indicated that would be her desire. as far as hormone therapy, i'm hoping that fort leavenworth will do it. if not, i will do everything in

my power to make so they do so. >> the army has never provided this to any soldier. he will receive psychological counseling from psychologists, psychiatrists, therapists but he will receive no hormone therapy and he will wear the standard prison uniform at the all-male facility. >> if he does see and is successful, who ends up paying for the hormone treatment? >> most prisoners can't fund their own medical care. whether it's diabetes or schizophrenia, it's the jailer who would pay it and that would be the taxpayer. he has a better chance if he transfers to a federal prison because for years they've been

paying for hormone therapy for prisoners. >> coming up, shocking new and offensive language from president nixon in the final batch of his white house tapes which are just being released. a man and his truck... and a broken fence... and a lost calf. ♪ and the heart to search for as long as it takes. and the truck that lets him search for as long as it takes. ♪ the all-new chevy silverado. the most fuel-efficient v8 in a pickup. strong for all the roads ahead.

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about everything that comes standard with our base auto policy. and if you switch, you could save up to $423. liberty mutual insurance -- responsibility. what's your policy? the final batch of former president richard nixon's white house tapes are out, and they contain some shockingly racist and anti-semitic remarks by the late president. >> let me say, henry, it's going to be the worst thing that happened to jews in american history. if they torpedo this summit, it might go down for other reasons. i'm going to --

[ inaudible ] at 9:00. >> i agree completely. they'll have brought it on themselves. >> they put the jewish interest above america's interests and it's about god damn time in america realizes. you know, it's funny, the little black kids are so uncommon -- [ inaudible ] >> they were nicely dressed. well, they didn't react, though. >> well, until they were a little different, they were better, you know. >> ooh, bracing to hear that from the former president. so, let's talk about what we heard with former nixon speech writer ben stein. ben, i know you're a huge nixon defender and supporter. what is your reaction to hearing these clips? did you have any idea, first of all, he felt this way about jews and african-americans? let me put it that way. >> well, he didn't feel that way about jews. he felt that way about a certain part of the jewish lobby that was opposed to him making peace deals with the soviet union

unless there was a deal involved to let jews emigrate to the u.s. or to israel. so, his goal was, first of all, to be a peacemaker. but i agree, the remarks are extremely, extremely unpleasant. but in real life, when it came to action as opposed to words expressed confidentially or what he thought, mistakenly thought was confidentially, he was the best friend the jewish people of the world have ever had. when the nazis were killing the jews of europe, fdr didn't lift a finger. when the arabs were threatening to annihilate and overrun israel, he moved heaven and earth to save israel. so, his remarks, i agree, extremely unfortunate, but in terms of his actions, the best friend the jews have ever had. incredibly great guy, had a jewish secretary of state, jewish head of the federal reserve, jewish chairman of the council of economic advisers, surrounded by jewish advisers, leonard garmin, white house counsel, and he saved israel. >> so, you think he thought it

was a conversation in private, but what's striking is he knew he was being recorded. so, in some ways, it wasn't entirely private. i'm wondering, did you ever feel like you were treated differently by president nixon because you were jewish? it might be country club an antisemi-rheumatism, but it was anti-semitism. >> he treated me great. he treated the chairman of the council of economic advisers great. he treated my mother who was a friend of mr. and mrs. nixon great. he was a great, great guy and the idea that he was in practice an anti-semite is nonsense, and i'm not sure there would be an israel today if not for richard nixon. he was there to save them. lyndon johnson didn't lift a finger for israel during the '67 war. the united states had complete neutrality during the war of independence for israel. only nixon -- all u.s. presidents have stepped in to save israel, he's the only one. >> he also made racially insensitive remarks to say the

least, on the tapes. what do you think his reaction would be today if he knew there was an american in the white house? >> i think he would be happy about it. people seem to forget, richard nixon was the president who inaugurated affirmative action in federal hiring. he's the one who eliminated the last vestiges of the southern school segregation in many hundreds of districts. he had high black advisers and many black friends. it was just -- i mean, i agree, the comments are extremely unfortunate, but standard comments, and you hear them even now at country clubs all over -- at least country clubs that i am occasionally allowed into in southern california. and this kind of thing still exists very, very much. but again, when push came to shove, he did the right thing and he did the very brave thing. >> all right. well, you are a fierce defender, and i think you go to some interesting country clubs. >> i love him. >> thank you, ben stein, for joining us. >> they won't let me in,

jessica, but i can occasionally visit. >> i hope they have good food. when we come back, the next hour of "the situation room" begins with my colleague, jake tapper. he will have cnn's candid interview with longtime fbi director robert mueller. before mueller leaves office, he is sitting down with us. [ male announcer ] a guide to good dipping. everything is better with sabra hummus. observe... little carrot. little bit of hummus. oh, lonely wing... well we have got the perfect match for you. shiny knife. oh, you had me going there for a second. of course you can't beat the classics. delish... sabra hummus. come on. dip life to the fullest.

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happening now, a hero in action. >> it's going to be all right, sweetie. i just want you to know that i love you, though, okay? and i'm proud of you. that's a good thing that you're just giving up and don't worry about it. we all go through something in

life. >> now you can hear it for yourself, the moments when a potential school massacre was defused. captured in a 911 call. plus, the australian ambassador to the u.s. calls the shooting death of student chris lane an unmitigated horror. i'll ask him if he thinks race was a factor. and he's an outspoken liberal, but actor ashton kutcher is suddenly the darling of conservatives. welcome to our viewers in the united states and around the world. wolf blitzer's off today. i'm jake tapper and you're in "the situation room." there was a big "welcome back" sign and some lingering fear when students of mcnair elementary went back to school today for the first time since a gunman terrorized the campus. some grateful parents dropped off gifts for the school bookkeeper whom they credit with saving their kids' lives. we're now hearing for ourselves parts of antoinette tuff's calm and brave encounter with the shooting suspect in her gripping

911 call to police. cnn's alina machado is in decatur, georgia. alina? >> reporter: jake, the principal of the school says today this school became the hugging capital of the south. things are slowly getting back to normal here. counselors were on hand to help students if they needed it. security was a little tighter than usual. and even though the hero of this story had the day off today, everyone was thinking of her. when you hear the name antoinette tuff, what do you think? >> hero. >> reporter: she's your hero? >> i think she's the whole school's hero because what she did was amazing. >> reporter: ashley hall and countless other parents at the ronald e. mcnair discovery learning academy were thankful antoinette tuff was working at the front office tuesday afternoon, even though she wasn't scheduled to. >> i haven't seen her in the front office since they've been going to school, but it was just -- it was god that day, it was god that day.

>> reporter: it was meant to be? >> yes, it was. >> what is your emergency? >> yes, ma'am. i'm on second avenue in the school and the gentleman said tell them to hold on, the police officers are coming and he's going to start shooting, so tell them to back off. >> reporter: that was tuff talking to a 911 dispatcher after coming face to face with michael brandon hill. police say hill slipped into the school with an ak-47-type weapon and hundreds of rounds of ammunition. >> stay on the line with me, ma'am. where are you? >> i'm in the front office. ooh, he just went outside and started shooting. >> okay. [ shots ] >> reporter: for more than 20 minutes, tuff was the link between authorities and hill. >> stop all movement on the grou ground. if it's not an emergency, please do not use the radio. if it's not an emergency, do not use the radio. >> are you talking to the shooter? >> that's what he's telling me to tell them on the radio. he doesn't want the kids -- he wants the police, so back off, and what else, sir?

he said he don't care if he dies. he don't have nothing to live for and he said he's not mentally stable. >> reporter: tuff, according to school officials, is one of three staff members specifically trained to deal with hostile situations. listen to how she keeps her cool and calms downhill, eventually leading him to peacefully surrender. >> he say he'll be on the ground with his hands behind his back and i'll take the gun from him and put it on the other side by me. >> okay, one moment. >> okay. yeah, put all that over here, so that way they won't see it, okay? come over here, put it on this -- [ inaudible ] okay. put it all up there. okay. >> he's put the weapons down? >> yeah. stay there calm. don't worry about it. i'm going to sit right here so they can see you're trying not to harm me, okay? okay. >> okay. >> it's going to be all right, sweetie. i just want you to know that i love you, though, okay?

and i'm proud of you. that's a good thing that you're just giving up and don't worry about it. we all go through something in life. [ inaudible ] no, you don't want that. you're going to be okay. do you want me to call somebody to talk to somebody for you? [ inaudible ] ok okay. we're not going to hate you, baby. it's a good thing that you're giving up, so we're not going to hate you. >> ma'am, you're doing a great job. >> reporter: police believe tuff's actions saved many lives. >> okay. it's just him. hello? >> yes. >> scariest day of my life. >> but you did great. >> i knew one day she was going to be a hero. >> reporter: why is that? >> because she always goes out of her way to do for these kids. >> reporter: tuff has worked at this school for the past three years. the principal tells us they plan

to thank her in a big way, but jake, they still haven't released details of how they plan to do that. >> thanks' lina. and cnn is planning an emotional reunion between the school shooting hero and the 911 dispatcher with whom she spoke in those riveting audio tapes. that will air tonight at 8:00 eastern on "anderson cooper 360," only on cnn. in the small oklahoma town where an australian student was gunned down, people are asking whether race was a factor. in chris lane's death. was it more than a few teenage suspects with nothing better to do? just three days before the shooting, 15-year-old suspect james edwards tweeted that he and his friends were ready to take some lives. in april, he tweeted that 90% of white people are nasty. and he showed off an assault rifle in a video posted on vine in may. chris lane's girlfriend says there's a lot of shock, anger and sadness over his death. she told cnn's anderson cooper that the town of duncan is a bit dull, but it's usually very safe.

>> we don't have anything like this ever happen here. we're a pretty boring town, really. i mean, the friday night football games and just living everyday life, and most everybody always friends that street, walks that street. my neighbors had been on it earlier in the day. it's just amazing that something had happened like that middle of the day, a popular area of town. >> and joining me now is australian ambassador to the united states, mr. kim beasley. mr. ambassador, thanks for being here. >> well, it's good to be with you, jake, but now under these circumstances. >> exactly. i want to get your reaction to the shooting death of christopher lane, who was australian. how big a deal is this in australia? >> well, our hearts bleed for

the lane family. every australian heart bleeds for the lane family. this will have and has had an enormous impact because of the horror of it, the sheer, unmitigated horror that this could occur. and i know australian families. i have one. and you know, when you've got a boy like chris, it is such a joy to you. a scholarship to the u.s. an american girlfriend, sarah harper. mrs. lane, mr. lane, their workplace, in the bars, the hair salons, that will be the topic of conversation, how's chris doing? ripped away from them. it's the saddest thing. >> but i understand that the lane family is not behind this boycott that many australians are proposing of the u.s. >> no. and the government certainly isn't.

and nobody in political authority has called for that. nobody in political authority now has called for that. and the lane family themselves, because people -- americans are very generous, and people have been saying i want to contribute. well, they are contributing. they're contributing to the funeral, of course. but anything else, the lane family has said what do they want to do with it? well, what they want to do with it is put it into scholarships for australian kids to get baseball scholarships in the u.s. >> the new details have emerged about one of the suspects, 15-year-old james edwards jr. he tweeted three days before lane's murder, "with my" n-words, "when it's time to start taking lives." he also tweeted "90% of white people are nasty, hate them." some in this country have been talking about the murder through a racial lens. two of the three suspects are african-american, the victim obviously white. you know race in this country.

you've seen a lot of evolution in racial attitudes having lived with an african-american family on the south side of chicago back in 1969. do you view it that way? do you see this as racial in any way? >> nobody in australia would see it as that. see, they're not looking at the perpetrators or alleged perpetrators. they're looking at the lanes. it's empathizing with them. that's the focus on australians. >> obviously, guns are another focus when people talk about this murder and how easy it is to get guns in this country. in 1996, there was a horrible slaughter in australia. you were the opposition leader at the time. and australia took an unusual step of basically, guns aren't all gone, but most of them are gone. how much do australians view what happened in oklahoma as part of the gun culture in this country? >> well, look, firstly, what you do with your gun laws is your

business, not ours. that's the first. the second thing is, most australians, and not just australians, would be amazed by the american gun culture and the state of american law in that regard. >> what was the rate of gun death last year? obviously, there's still guns there, still illegal guns. >> they're illegal -- of course, there will be illegal guns. i mean, it's part of -- >> the criminal culture. >> -- criminality and criminal culture. >> what was the number last year? >> there were 40 deaths in australia last year. >> 40. >> 40. and previous to the laws, there had been about 100, so, a substantial cut there. >> mr. ambassador, thank you so much for your time and our deepest condolences from our country to yours on the death of this magnificent young man. >> thank you for passing that on, and i do hope people go and take a look at the lane family website to see what they can do. >> thank you, sir. >> thank you. coming up next, the lieutenant governor of texas accused of abusing his power. he says he was just helping a relative in trouble. and president obama has a new idea to make college more

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relief is at hand for just $18 a month. talk to your doctor about nexium. the texas lieutenant governor is being accused of arrogance and misusing his power after he personally called police to try to get a relative out of jail. republican david dewhurst is denying any wrongdoing, but his phone call was taped. it's public now, and it's definitely a political problem for him. cnn's athena jones has more on the story. >> i just want to build little bit on what governor perry said -- >> reporter: abuse of power or just a high-ranking politician trying to help a relative in trouble? >> this is lieutenant governor of the state of texas and i want to talk to the single officer who is there at your department right now. >> reporter: that's the question facing texas lieutenant governor david dewhurst after he called police august 3rd on behalf of his nephew's wife, who had been arrested for shoplifting.

ellen beavers, a school teacher, was accused of stealing $57 worth of groceries from this kroeger's outside dallas. dewhurst said the alleged theft was inadvertent. >> i would like to find out what i need to do to get her out of jail, post bond, whatever. she is the sweetest woman in the world. sergeant, you don't know me, but i am every year the number one hit of all of the law enforcement agencies within tex texas. >> reporter: the lieutenant governor asked for cell phone numbers for the county judge, the sheriff and the police sergeant's immediate supervisor, numbers the sergeant wouldn't provide. dewhurst, a republican who's running for re-election next year, insisted he wanted to follow the law and "not circumvent anything." >> i intend to jump into this and see what can be done to prevent this very nice lady through a miscarriage of justice

and a night in jail. now, i may not be able to do anything, all right, but it's whatever the law says. >> dewhurst's spokesman said david acted as a concerned family member in an attempt to acquire information on how to post bail for his niece while reiterating multiple times in the full conversation that law enforcement follow their normal protocols and procedures. staples, a republican agriculture commissioner running against dewhurst compared him to will ferrell's "anchorman" character, ron burgundy, tweeting "his call sounds like anchorman ron burgundy. i don't know how to put this, but i'm kind of a big deal. people know me." dewhurst wasn't able to secure beavers' release that night. she was booked on a misdemeanor and released on $500 bond the next morning. the allen police department said dewhurst crossed no lines. >> he didn't threaten anybody, he didn't demand anything. he didn't ask for anything that was above and beyond what any normal citizen would. >> reporter: so, did dewhurst

act inappropriately? it depends on who you ask. sergeant felty, the police department spokesman i talked to said, yes, the lieutenant governor identified himself, but that's who he is. he didn't do anything illegal. felty also said i'd want an uncle like that if i were in jail, wouldn't you? >> thanks, athena. i have a feeling this story's not quite over yet. still ahead, he's rich and famous and he stars on a hit tv show, but now ashton kutcher has something else. some top republicans think he's a role model. and president obama's on a two-day bus tour. he's got a message about the cost of college, and we'll go to him live. too big. too small. too soft. too tasty. [ both laugh ] [ male announcer ] introducing progresso's new creamy alfredo soup. inspired by perfection. nthto fight chronic.oup. osteoarthritis pain. to fight chronic low back pain.

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now to the new claims of a poison gas attack that killed hundreds of syrians, many of them children. the u.s. and the u.n. are investigating the allegations, but that's not satisfying some of president obama's critics. they say his red line for taking military action against the syrian regime clearly has been crossed. here's our foreign affairs correspondent jill doherty. >> hey, jake. you know, this attack was very well documented, and we have to warn our viewers, the video and the photographs are very disturbing. at least 1,000 victims, many of them women and children, are reported dead in a possible chemical weapons attack, this time near damascus, raising questions once more about president barack obama's red line. >> the president has directed the intel community here in the united states to urgently gather additional information. that is our focus on this end.

>> reporter: the u.n. is asking the syrian government to allow a chemical weapons inspection team to investigate. u.s. officials say, so far, they cannot conclusively determine whether chemical weapons were used and they're not saying exactly what president obama would do if they were. >> this would be an outrageous escalation of chemical weapons use, if the facts are found to be true, and the president has a range of options to consider. >> reporter: a year ago this month, obama drew his red line. >> a red line for us is we start seeing a whole bunch of chemical weapons moving around or being utilized. that would change my calculus. that would change my equation. >> reporter: but that means nothing to syrian president bashar al assad, argues senator john mccain. >> the president of the united states says that if he uses these weapons, that it would be a "red line" and a "game

changer." he now sees that as a green light, and that is the word of the president of the united states can no longer be taken seriously. >> reporter: mccain says it's time to take military action. the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, general martin dempsey, cautions the use of u.s. military force can change the military balance, but it cannot resolve the underlying and historic ethnic, religious and tribal issues that are fueling this conflict." and you're also checking the actual pictures on youtube? >> yes. >> reporter: in washington, the u.s. representative of the syrian opposition studies the gruesome photos of families killed in the attack. there should be consequences, he says. >> you need to at least have the credible threat of the use of force, which has been lacking. and bashar al assad takes that very seriously. he's been given all of the wrong signals in the past. and so, all of those strong signals meant to him a license to kill.

>> reporter: now, the state department is saying that if this is determined to be a chemical weapons attack, it would be an outrageous escalation, but they're not saying whether the president would escalate his response. jake? >> all right, jill dougherty at the state department. thank you. next up, candid talk about surveillance from the head of the fbi. and ashton kutcher finds unlikely fans in glenn beck and rush limbaugh? details of what the actor said that was music to conservative ears. [ woman ] ring. ring. progresso. i just served my mother-in-law your chicken noodle soup but she loved it so much... i told her it was homemade. everyone tells a little white lie now and then. but now she wants my recipe [ clears his throat ] [ softly ] she's right behind me isn't she? [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. i put in the hourswhere i am today by luck. [ clears his throat ] [ softly ] she's right behind me isn't she? and built a strong reputation in the industry. i set goals and worked hard to meet them. i've made my success happen. so when it comes to my investments,

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happening now -- an ousted leader out of prison. are egyptians angry about the fate of hosni mubarak? plus, a new role for actor ashton kutcher. why he's getting applause from high-profile conservatives like sarah palin. and imagine you're hanging out on the beach when you see this motorized monster coming your way. wolf blitzer's off today. i'm jake tapper. you are in "the situation room." former egyptian strongman hosni mubarak walked out of prison today, two years after his ouster during the arab spring revolution, but he's still not yet a free man. cnn's senior international correspondent nick paton walsh joins us live from cairo. nick, tell us about mubarak's release. >> reporter: well, there's technical reasons why he was let out, which is the last of three corruption charges he was

facing. there's a court hearing. the lawyer said he's paid the money back and he's been in the jail longer than egyptian law allows without a conviction. that's why he was physically allowed out and there is a reason why we had incredible scenes of a blue and white helicopter landing into the prison where he's languished for over a year, moving him to a military hospital. much better conditions for an 85-year-old informed man. that helicopter lands, an ambulance whisks him inside, soldiers running in behind like the enemy's embracing almost its old figurehead for so many decades. but politically, it seems the military feels this move was possible at this time. cairo is deadly silent right now because of the curfew and strong security forces present. so, even if people were wanting to protest, they may be reticent. and of course, people could also be tired of the blue tallity and unrest of the past week. strange that one of the first things the interim army and

administration do once they've cleared the opposition is ameliorate the circumstances for hose ni mubarak. >> i know the streets are empty because of the curfew, but have you seen any evidence of outrage on the part of the egyptian people? we all remember two years ago the ecstasy, the delight once mubarak was toppled. are people upset? is there any evidence they're upset that he's now free to a degree? >> reporter: almost as remarkable as the timing of the military's decision to do this right now, this period, is the apathy we seem to have noticed in cairo. there have been practically no, as far as i'm aware of, demonstrations against this decision. the rebellion movement that pushed out the morsi brotherhood administration came out and said they were angry about it, but they thought egypt had a lot of other problems to worry about and blamed the previous brotherhood administration for not pressing charges against him fast enough. i saw some people outside the prison themselves protest 'but they were all holding signs of

hosni mubarak and celebrating his release by throwing candy into the crowd with a huge egyptian flag they waved. what's interesting is whatever anger there is at the potential turning back of the clock many see by the army under the circumstances with the dictator falling when the arab spring began 2 1/2 years ago. they're keeping that anger private, perhaps, and certainly not letting it turn into protests at this point, jake. >> nick paton walsh, thank you and please stay safe. he took over the fbi just days before the 9/11 terror attacks changed everything. but now, as robert mueller serves his final days as fbi director, he's talking candidly about terrorism and the massive government surveillance programs designed, he says, to prevent it. mueller talked to cnn crime and justice correspondent joe johns. >> if we had the kind of intelligence that we were collecting through the nsa before september 11th, the kind

of intelligence collection that we have now, do you think 9/11 would have been prevented? >> i think there's a good chance we would have prevented at least a part of 9/11. in other words there were four planes, almost 20, 19 persons involved, but i think we would have a much better chance of identifying those individuals who were contemplating that attack. >> reporter: by this mass collection of information? >> by the various programs that have been put in place since then. >> reporter: do you foresee the day when the united states arms drones to take out individuals who are posing threats to americans on american soil? >> no, i do not. >> reporter: you rule it out? >> i do not see that day. and i will tell you that as well, when you talk about uavs, there's been some discussion recently about the fbi's use of it. we have used it a handful of times to provide surveillance in tactical situations, where, for instance, we have a hostage rescue operation undergoing, and

for very narrow tactical purposes in limited situations. >> do you foresee the day when most americans are surveilled by drones at one time or another? >> no. no. no, i do not. >> reporter: not realistic, even though the technology's there? >> no, no, no. i do not think that. >> are we at the day where big brother is now present in americans' lives? >> i wouldn't go so far as to say that at all, no. i would think the programs that have come under scrutiny recently are designed to pick up, for the most part, meta data, or to extent that there is more than meta data, you have to do it by court order, and they're tailored to do that. >> reporter: we've given up some civil liberties, though. >> well, i would query about what you mean in terms of civil liberties and what we have given up. yes, do we exchange information in ways we did not before? absolutely. you can say, well, that is, to the extent that you exchange information between cia, fbi, nsa and the like, you could

characterize that as somehow giving up liberties, but the fact of the matter is, it's understandable and absolutely necessary if you want to protect the security of the united states. >> reporter: edward snowden, sensitive topic, i would take it. >> yes. >> reporter: one question about him is whether the government botched the situation with him, at least getting him back. do you think the government botched the -- >> i'm not certain what you would be alluding to. i don't think in any way -- >> well, he slipped out of the country. >> no. i don't think there is any opportunity that you would look back and say, look, we botched something like that, no. i don't think that's accurate at all. >> reporter: what about just detecting what he was doing? >> well, i think you will see, without getting into details, ourselves, nsa and others are putting into place measures that would perhaps stop an individual such as this in the future undertaking the same activity. >> reporter: do you think the benghazi investigation was a failure? >> no, absolutely not. >> reporter: getting people on the ground so late? >> no, no, no, no. it is not a failure, has not

been -- >> reporter: getting people on the ground, though. >> it is. it's a unique situation. i'm not going to say it's not, because it's a very unique situation and very difficult for us to operate. >> and joe johns joins me now. joe, mueller worked closely with two very different presidents. what was his take on working with bush and obama? >> well, surprisingly, and perhaps for some not, he said they're very similar. george w. bush and president obama have a similar commitment on national security issues as well as criminal justice issues, but what he said that's different is the approach. george w. bush approached things much more like a ceo would, and obama approaches things with a legal perspecive, and that's really not that surprising when you consider their personal backgrounds. >> interesting. joe johns, thanks so much. great work. president obama is in new york to talk about reducing college costs. we're going to dip into his remarks live, coming up. but first, a moment of

classic "crossfire" with one of the new hosts. >> when i say the more things change, the more they stay the same, right now our do-nothing congress is on vacation, but back in 1998, we had a future speaker of the house on "crossfire," and he was defending the record of another do-nothing congress. check this out. >> it's projected you're going to work 89 days max this year. why should we pay you for more than 89 when you're only working 89? >> well, that's 89 days here in washington, but as you know, we've got constituents at home, we have got issues in our district that we need to deal with, and the fact is, this is classic washington thinking, that if we're not passing some new, big government program or issuing new regulations, giving them to the pockets of our constituents, then we're not working. unfortunately, most americans don't agree with your premise that this is a do-nothing congress. [ male announcer ] come to the golden opportunity sales event

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happening right now, president obama's in syracuse, new york. he's on a two-day bus tour to address the problem of skyrocketing college costs and crippling student debt. he's unveiling a plan to help students make smarter choices by creating a federal system to rate colleges' efforts to keep expenses down. let's listen in. >> to a certain point aren't going to be able to send their kids to school. and state legislators, they can't just keep cutting support for public colleges and universities. colleges can't just keep on raising tuition year after year and pushing these state cutbacks on to students and families and

federal taxpayers are not going to be able to make up all the difference. our economy can't afford the $1 trillion in outstanding student loan debt, because when young people have that much debt, that means they can't buy a home, it means they can't start the business that maybe they've got a great idea for, and we can't price the middle class and everybody working to get out of the middle class out of a college education. it will put our young generation of workers at a competitive disadvantage for years. so, if higher education is still the best ticket to upward mobility in america, and it is, then we've got to make sure it's within reach. we've got to make sure that we are improving economic mobility, not making it worse. higher education should not be a luxury. it is a necessity, an economic imperative that every family in america should be able to afford. so -- [ cheers and applause ]

now, so, what are we going to do about it? today, what i've done is proposed major, new reforms that will shake up the current system. we want to create better incentives for colleges to do more with less and to deliver better value for our students and their families. and some of these reforms will require action from congress, which is always difficult. some of these changes, though, i can make on my own. >> all right! [ cheers and applause ] >> and we want to work with colleges to keep costs down. states are going to need to make higher education a higher priority in their budgets. and, by the way, we're going to ask more from students as well, if they're receiving financial aid. and some of these reforms won't be popular with everybody, because some folks are making out just fine under the status

quo, but my concern is not to look out just for the institutions. i want to look out for the students who these institutions exist to serve. and i think, i've got confidence that our country's colleges and universities will step up to the plate if they're given the right incentives. they, too, should want to do the right thing for students. so, let me be specific. here are three things we're going to do. number one, i'm directing my administration to come up with a new ratings system for colleges that will score colleges on opportunity, whether they're helping students from all kinds of backgrounds succeed, and on outcomes, whether students are graduating with manageable debt, whether they're actually graduating in the first place, whether they have strong career potential when they graduate. that's the kind of information that will help students and parents figure out how much

value a particular college truly offers. right now, all these ranking systems, they rank you higher if you charge more and you let in fewer students. but you should have a better sense of who's actually graduating students and giving you a good deal. so, down the road, we're going to use these ratings, we hope by working with congress, to change how we allocate federal aid for colleges. and we're going to deliver on a promise that i made last year -- colleges that keep their tuition down are the ones that will see their taxpayer funding go up. we've got to stop subsidizing schools that are not getting good results. start rewarding schools that deliver for the students and deliver for america's future. that's our goal.

our second goal -- we want to encourage more colleges to embrace innovation, to try new ways of providing a great education without breaking the bank. a growing number of colleges across the country are testing some new approaches, so they're finding new ways, for example, to use online education to save time and money. some are trying what you're doing right here in syracuse, creating partnerships between high school and colleges so students can get an early jump on their degree, they can graduate faster. that means they're paying less in tuition. i want to see more schools and states get in the game so more students can get an education that costs less but still maintains high quality. and we know it can be done. it's just we've got to get everybody doing it, not just a few schools or a few cities around the country. that's the second goal. somebody screamed, and i thought somebody fell, but they were just excited.

number three, we're going to make sure that if you've taken on debt to earn your degree, that you can manage and afford it. you know, nobody wants to take on debt, but even if we do a good job controlling tuition costs, you know, some young people are still going to have to take out some loans. but, you know, we think of that as a good investment because it pays off in time, as long as it stays manageable, as long as you can pay it back. and remember, again, michelle and i, we went through this. it took us a long time to pay off our student loans, but we could always manage it. it didn't get out of hand. and i don't want debt to keep young people, some who are here today, from going into professions like teaching, for example that may not pay as much money but are of huge value to the country. and i sure don't want young people not being able to buy a home or get married or start a

business because they're so loaded down with debt. so, what we've done is we've -- >> i want to bring in national political correspondent jim acosta. he's with the president right now in syracuse. jim, are you there? >> reporter: i am here, jake. this was very much, you know, the president has said, as you know, jake, that he's run for his last election, but this felt very much like a campaign swing across upstate new york today, starting in buffalo, now in syracuse, talking about this higher education plan that would set up this new ratings system for colleges and universities. but you know, jake, he also took time out to try to set the stage for these debates that are coming up in the fall in washington on the debt ceiling and the budget. he even took time out to call out republicans who have said that the government should be shut down if obama care is not defunded. but these foreign crises, jake, just keep creeping in, they keep creeping into the conversation for this president and for this administration. administration officials saying earlier today that the president has ordered his intelligence

advisers to review what has happened in syria, reviewing those reports of chemical attacks around damascus, and a senior defense official has told cnn that the military is now reviewing options for the president, should he decide to take some sort of course of action in the coming days. now, the president will get back on that bus tomorrow. he's going to hit binghamton and then scranton, pennsylvania where the vice president, who has been through a pretty tough time this week because of his ailing son, the vice president will be with the president, we have confirmed, for tomorrow, jake. >> all right, jim acosta with the president. we should note that cnn's chris cuomo is getting a rare interview with president obama on the problem of student debt, and of course, much, much more. be sure to watch that tomorrow on cnn's "new day," beginning at 6:00 a.m. eastern. up next, ashton kutcher adds sarah palin and rush limbaugh to his list of fans, and we'll tell you why. er ] a classic macaroni & cheese from stouffer's starts with freshly-made pasta, and 100% real cheddar cheese.

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now, when you think of ashton kutcher, the words conservative darling might not have come to mind until now. >> a record is real and takes hard work. >> the value of hard work and the work ethic. >> hard work, effort, a favorite conservative applause line. >> values of hard work. >> and a classic mantra for success, recently championed by ashton kutcher. >> but i never quit my job until i had my next job. >> the hollywood star gave this speech at the nickelodeon teen choice awards earlier this month. >> and so opportunities look a

lot like work. >> and to some viewers his words looked a lot like the golden ticket to the gop's good side. >> cue rush limbaugh. >> what he said could have been written by me. >> and glenn beck on "the blaze." >> what he's saying here is the american position. >> sarah palin put this tribute to kutcher on her facebook page adding a logo for her pac website, of course. >> are we being punked? kutcher the trendsetter who created the aptly named tv show punked is hardly famous as a conservative icon. he's best known for pranks. and his role as kehso on "that '70s show." >> 23 beers. >> despite his dimwitted roles, he reign as a prime time idol, but he gave $50,000 of those

earnings to democratic campaigns last year. but that's not all, the iwowa native is also a successful investor. hils past support of the kerry/edwards presidential campaign didn't reap rewards but his backing of new-tech start-ups has. >> one of the things i try to do is invest in companies that solve problems for real people. >> in 2011 kutcher started agr investments and has been trying to grow companies like scike, and four square. and catalyst is a media content creator and wound up on a top ten list in 2010. this year alone he's earned $24 million according to "forbes" and it's only august so maybe we should all listen up. >> i've never had a job in my life that i was better than. i was always just lucky to have a job. >> study up, work hard, good advice whether you're liberal or conservative.

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what's your policy? wait until you see what washed up on the beach. here's jeanne moos. >> reporter: not since bubba watson's bubba-craft golf cart zipped through a water hazard has a hovercraft made such a smash. imagine you are frolicking in the sand when this thing comes ashore like a motorized whale beaching itself. on this baltic sea beach there seemed to be no panic. the cell phones captured the surreal scene from various angles. this class of russian navy hovercraft is the largest in the world, but what's it doing among

all those sunbathers? normally we expect our beaches to be terrorized by jaws. ♪ or the montauk monster. >> ew, what is that? >> reporter: either decomposed raccoon or a prank. but this was no prank. the russians have confirmed the traini training exercise. internet posters cracked only in russia, too much rodva. in soviet russia boat rides you. >> reporter: this is a country where a dash board cam can catch a tank. interrupting the daily commute. actually the tank's manufacturer said it had the light as it went from the factory to the test range. from gigantic hovercraft to mini submersible, that's russian president vladimir putin going for a dive last month. one british tabloid dubbed it "from russia with sub." and now this. the russian defense ministry said the beach is used for militaryin