fire. why did they tear my house down? >> he's the screen writer whose characters seem to stound better than the rest of us. >> i want the truth. >> you can't handle the truth! >> tonight we get to see savannah guthrie keep up with him stride for stride. >> "a few good men", the west wing and "the social network." all contain his trademark writing style, often delivered at 100 miles an hour. >> thanks very much. also tonight, we get to see mitt romney as only one other person gets to see him. we'll get a look at the romney campaign through the eyes of his body man, his personal aide who never leaves his side. >> the romney peanut butter honey sandwich. >> or real men with kruflt. >> that and more as "rock center" gets under way.

good evening and welcome. tonight in the trial of jerry sandusky, the jury has the case. while they have broken for the night, the wait is now officially under way for a verdict. most of us by now know the allegations that sandusky abused these kids he was supposed to be helping. many people heard him discuss the charges in his interview with bob costas on rock rock center. we have not until tonight hear from one of his accusers. travis weaver, he has told his story to a grand jury though he did not testify in the current trial. and fair warning as with anything to do with this story, some of these details are highly disturbing. kate snow's conversation with a young man who is as of this moment speaking out. >> if jerry sandusky were sitting right here -- >> i would punch him in his mouth. >> would you say anything first? >> no. there would be no reason to say

anything. he knows what he did. i know what he did. >> travis weaver says sandusky abused him more than 100 times over a period of four years, starting in 1992, when he was just 10 years old. he says he thought he was the only boy it happened to until he saw sandusky on the news arrested on charges he molested other boys. weaver now 30, had never told a soul but last fall he told his family the story for the first time. says he still feels numb. >> you don't cry about it now? >> no. >> when is the last time you cried about it? >> a long time ago. >> weaver's story echos many of sandusky's accusers. mom and dad split up when he was little. there was a lot of fighting in the home he shared with two brothers, a counselor referred 10-year-old to a special summer camp run by a charity called the

second mile. >> what was it like first time you met jerry sandusky? >> it was great, like meeting my hero. >> almost immediately, he says jerry sandusky took an interest in him, taking him to football games, inviting him to work out with him at the gym on penn state's campus. and like many of the young men who testified in court, weaver says from the beginning, sandusky expected them to shower together. >> picking me up, trying to give me bear hugs. he'd wash my hair and my back sometimes. >> they would move to a couch in the locker room just beyond the showers. >> he dried me off with a towel. say he was trying to wrestle with me then have me lay on top of him while we were both still naked. >> i know this is really hard stuff to talk about, but what -- what would he do when he had you down on top of him? >> he would rub my back side.

sometimes he'd roll on top of me and blow on my stomach. and rub my genitals and then it progressed into oral sex. >> did it ever escalate to anything else? >> he tried anal sex one time but it hurt really bad so i made him stop. that was in the locker rooms. >> in the shower? >> yes. >> how old were you? >> around 11 or 12. >> weaver says sandusky rarely smo spoke during the abuse other than to say you're not going to tell anyone about this. >> do you remember what was racing through your head? >> i just couldn't believe what was happening. i was scared. >> at the same time, weaver says sandusky was inviting him to

sheep over at his house. >> i stayed at his house probably over 100 times. >> 100 times. >> over a few years, but, yeah, stayed there a lot. >> after dottie sandusky cooked dinner for them all, he would go down to the basement and wait, knowing that as soon as the rest of the family went to bed, s sandusky would come down. >> come down and talk and try to play the video game or play pool or something. he would work his way up to it. >> and you would know he was going to expect sexual acts. >> yes. >> weaver says when it was over, jerry sandusky would leave him and go back upstairs to his wife. >> why do you think his family thought you were there? >> i don't know. i never asked. >> did they treat you like one of the family? >> the rest of the kids did but dottie, i don't think she liked me too much.

she was always like distant. doesn't didn't want to talk too much. i always thought she was a mean person because how she acted towards me. she never really wanted to talk to me. when she did talk to me, she was just real stern with everything i said to her. >> cold? >> cold, yes. >> did she ever walk in on you, see anything inappropriate? >> no. no, she didn't. >> do you think she had any idea what was going on in your opinion? >> i can't say for sure but how could you not know something was going on. >> he didn't always stay in the basement. sometimes he says he was in the second floor guest room across from the sandusky's bedroom. >> defer engage in sexual acts with you in the bedroom across from dottie sandusky -- >> a couple of times.

a couple of times he performed oral sex on me. >> and mrs. sandusky was across the hall when that happened? >> yes. >> it's almost an unbelievable story. >> yeah. that's why i was scared to say anything. >> because you thought no one would believe you. >> yes. >> is this a guy who thought he would never get caught? >> yes. yes, i don't think the thought ever crossed his mind. >> jerry sandusky gave him gifts, took him to fancy dinners and brought him to the 1995 rose bowl, things his own family could never have provided. >> he told me he loved me. he told my father he wanted to adopt me. >> jerry sandusky said to your father, i'd like to adopt your son. >> yes. >> weaver's dad, would works at penn state university's tv station confirms his son had years of contact with sandusky and that there was talk of adoption. finally, at age 14, travis

weaver says he reached a breaking point. sandusky took him to philadelphia for a second mile fundraiser he says and started wrestling with him in the hotel room. >> i told him if he didn't get off me i was going to call the police on him. and he just laughed at me and you know, forced me to stay on the bed. and told me if i ever said anything that nobody was going to believe me and he would get my dad fired from penn state. >> so he says, he did not call the police. but a couple of weeks later, he did move to cleveland to live with his mother. >> you wanted to get away from jerry sandusky? >> yes. >> weaver's life took a downward spiral, he spent time in jail for burglary. 16 years later he is working as a roofer in cleveland. he and his girlfriend have two daughters together, ages 2 and 4. he says he's angry at the adults who could have stopped sandusky, like former penn state assistant

coach mike mcqueary, he testified he saw jerry sandusky with a young boy pinned against the wall of the locker room shower. he says he reported the incident to the university authorities but never called the local police. >> he's a coward. for not calling the police, for not stopping jerry right there. he said he slammed his locker and walked out. why would you slam your locker and walk out and leave that kid standing there and let that keep happening? you don't abandon a helpless kid. >> he also blames himself. >> if i would have said something, they would have stopped him from being around other kids. >> that's a big burden to carry. >> i know it's not my fault but i can't help but feel that way. >> weaver is now suing sandusky, second mile and penn state university. his lawyer is jeff anderson, who specializes in representing sexual abuse victims, including

many cases involving the catholic church. >> one of the things jerry sandusky's attorney has said again and again, he believes people came forward later in order to cash in. >> that's ridiculous. why would all of these kids that never even met each other, all have the similar, if not the exact same story about what he did and go on in court and go to trial and testify in front of all of these people about all of the stuff that happened if it never happened. that's absurd. >> what his lawsuit is really about, weaver says, is finally finding his voice. >> you're also speaking out, you've said to me, because you want other kids out there to know it's okay to speak out. >> yes, it is okay to speak out.

>> this stuff is really uncomfortable to talk about. >> extremely uncomfortable. feels better though once you start talking about it to people and letting everybody know what happened. >> people are going to feel for you deeply when they hear your story and know you're okay now and getting help. can you -- can you be okay? >> yeah. i'll be okay when he's in prison. >> looking in his eyes, kate snow, this is so bracing and so far beyond the kin of most of us. back up to one thing, he did not testify in this current trial where the jury is squeflterred. why is that? >> he came forward after the indictments last fall, after jerry sandusky was on the news because he was arrested. he is part of a second group of guys who came forward later who did testify, he testified before a grand jury, prosecutors have his testimony. he's willing to testify in

court. they are holding that group in case they need them, in case they get a not guilty verdict out of this current jury, they could go after federal charges against jerry sandusky using people like travis. >> and after the details broken that sandusky's stepson came forward with his own charges, that's what kept sandusky off -- >> adopted son, matt sandusky was prepared to testify and we learned today he was prepared to say that he was a victim of sexual abuse, the adopted son. you look at the parallels to what travis just said. >> it makes the adoption portion of the interview more chilling. >> we did reach out to jerry sandusky's attorney, no comment from mr. amendola and couldn't reach the attorneys who represent him in the civil suit involving travis weaver. >> kate snow, thank you for your reporting. a final note on interview bob costas conducted with jerry sandusky last november. there was so much there, so much was said over the course of it,

we ourselves didn't have the air time that night to air all of jerry sandusky's comments. it is worth a second look for those following this. we have again posted a major portion of it on our website tonight. we'll take a break. later in our broadcast, the story that received attention across this country for achingly sad it was, the woman who lost all three of her children and her own parents in a house fire, which she survived on christmas morning. tonight she talks with matt lauer. >> it's impossible to describe how it is that you can't go in and save your own children, but i couldn't get through that smoke. i couldn't. it's water from the drinking fountain at the mall. [ male announcer ] great tasting tap water can come from any faucet anywhere. the brita bottle with the filter inside. we make meeting times, lunch times and conference times. but what we'd rather be making are tee times.

tee times are the official start of what we love to do. the time for shots we'd rather forget, and the ones we'll talk about forever. in michigan long days, relaxing weather and more than 800 pristine courses make for the perfect tee time. because being able to play all day is pure michigan. your trip begins at michigan.org. [ engine turns over ] [ male announcer ] we created the luxury crossover and kept turning the page, this is the next chapter for the rx and lexus. this is the pursuit of perfection. our cloud is made of bedrock. concrete. and steel.

our cloud is the smartest brains combating the latest security threats. it spans oceans, stretches continents. and is scalable as far as the mind can see. our cloud is the cloud other clouds look up to. welcome to the uppernet. verizon. mine hurt more! mine stopped hurting faster... [ female announcer ] neosporin® plus pain relief starts relieving pain faster and kills more types of infectious bacteria. neosporin® plus pain relief. for a two dollar coupon, visit neosporin.com. well, more and more people are bundling their home and auto insurance with progressive. sure seems and why that way. wouldn't you? you can save on both your home and auto policies. yep. we talked about this. [meow!]

[meow!] bundling and saving. now, that's progressive. play rocket cat adventures at progressive.com. yep. the longer you stay with us, the more you save. and when you switch from another company to us, we even reward you for the time you spent there. genius. yeah, genius. you guys must have your own loyalty program, right? well, we have something. show her, tom. huh? you should see november! oh, yeah? giving you more. now that's progressive. call or click today.

the name aaron sorkin is snon mouse with snappy dialogue and a well told story. the characters speak in a way the rest of us which we could, from the folks on the west king to the u.s. marine corps. next up debuting this weekend, sorkin takes on television cable news and tonight savannah guthrie takes the measure of this celebrated screen writing. >> i want the truth. >> you can't handle the truth. >> some of the moem memorable lines on screen have come from the mind of one man. >> if you were the inventors of facebook, you'd have invented facebook. >> aaron sorkin is a rarity. a writer who is something of a celebrity himself. >> is this a joke?

>> reporter: his work instantly recognizable for the snappy smart dialogue delivered at 100 miles per hour. >> this from a guy with four kinds of aneurysms. >> while walking at the clip almost as fast. >> you should be going faster? >> yes, this fast. we would be walking like that. i'd take that and look at it. >> here's that tape you wanted. >> thanks very much. >> put that there. >> citing 17th century literature. >> reporter: a trademark style honed from his earliest days. >> anyone who used one word when they could have used ten wasn't trying hard enough. >> do you ever write something and think that so sorkinny. >> that's not the word, i use, i say it's just bad writing. don't do that. >> reporter: his latest project the newsroom on hbo, a comedy

drama tackling themes of romance and politics in the world of news. >> this is kind of newsroom of your dreams? >> it kind of is. >> reporter: all of the moments spent at home throwing things at the tv, now you can say how it really should be done. >> honestly i'm not trying to say how anything should be done in a romantic comedy, love works the way we wish it would work and here the news works the way we wish it would work. >> sorkin's pro tagnit is from a breakdown -- daring to tell the nation what it doesn't want to hear. >> there's no evidence to support the statement that we're the greatest country in the world. we're seventh in literacy and magts. >> your lead characters are registered republican. >> i don't know about being known for liberal politics, these aren't vessels to say what

i want. i don't have much political sophistication. >> you're not known for liberal politics? >> i don't feel that way about myself. maybe i am. i'm met activists oorks, i'm not one of them. >> when it comes to writing, that's a different story. he is exceptionally hard on himself, even cringing at his most ak claimed work. >> did you order the code red? >> if i'm flipping around and "a few good men" is on or anything i wrote more than a month ago, it will feel to me like my high school year book picture. >> even the famous lines that everyone loves and still quotes? >> yeah, because i just know i can do it better. >> he is just as demanding on others, like emily mortimer who must deliver the dialogue like it rolls off the tongue.

>> what's the line that haunted you, hard to remember? >> funny enough it was a simple line. i had to say the line, jim, jim, jim, jim, jim. i was doing it a number of different ways and at one point aaron stopped me, emily, how many jims are written there? it's five jims, every time you say this line you to a different number of jims, sometimes it's four and six and eight. it's five jims. >> jim, jim, jim, jim, jim. sorkin was once an actor, starting with his drama club in scarsdale, new york. >> we found some pictures of you. >> oh, good. i'm sure these won't be at all embarrassi embarrassing. this is a mid summer night's dream and i'm 21 in this picture. >> is that the coky actor period? >> yes. >> thanks, guys.

>> last month sorkin dlifrped the commencement address at syracuse university. >> i wish i could tell you there was a trick to avoiding the screw-ups, but the screw-ups, they are a coming for you. >> the screw-ups came for him in the late 90s, a dark secret. he was addicted to cocaine, culminating in an arrest in 2001 at the california airport. sorkin pled guilty and sentenced to two years probation and court ordered rehab. >> when i was arrested, it felt like we were drawing back the curtain on the guy who is writing these things is a crack addict. >> do you think you were especially susceptible to it? what was the appeal? >> it just made me feel like everything i was writing was awesome and i had all of this energy. my big fear when i stopped, will i be able to write anymore.

>> do you think it was better at that period? >> i don't. even at hack level straight, it's worth it to be straight. >> sorkin has remained sober for 11 years, these days the most powerful influence is his 11-year-old daughter roxie. >> she is amazing. fatherhood lives up to the hype. it does. it's the greatest thing in the world. she is just now starting to watch some of the things that i've written and it's kind of frightening. i want her to like it and i'm worried she's going to be bored by it. i'm also worried that she's going to worry that she's going to hurt my feelings if she doesn't love it. >> that's so aaron sorkin, a little newer rottic. >> a little bit. >> his next project will challenge him once again, to write the movie about steve jobs. >> what do you think you would do if you weren't a writer? >> i would be unemployable.

>> really? >> yeah. >> savannah, my only problem with his work is how dumb it makes me feel, which is not a long walk on any day. i go days without quoting the framers to the constitution. >> we're all in that club, aren't we? it's almost another language. i don't speak sorkinese fluently. he says he is the youngest of siblings that were much smarter than him and he had to keep up. it's not just the content but the length. he says smoest television scripts are 20 to 25 pages longer because he puts so many words. >> the angst about his daughter liking his -- >> what a moment. he has all of the anxieties of a writer and here he is a household name for writing, that's something rare for hollywood. >> i envy the time you spent with him.

thank you, as always. we're back with matt lauer's exclusive interview after this. recently, students from 31 countries took part in a science test. the top academic performers surprised some people. so did the country that came in 17th place.

let's raise the bar and elevate our academic standards. let's do what's best for our students-by investing in our teachers. let's solve this. the calcium they take because they don't take it with food. switch to citracal maximum plus d. it's the only calcium supplement that can be taken with or without food. that's why my doctor recommends citracal maximum. it's all about absorption. if we took the nissan altima and reimagined nearly everything in it? gave it greater horsepower and best in class 38 mpg highway... ...advanced headlights... ...and zero gravity seats? yeah, that would be cool. ♪ introducing the completely reimagined nissan altima. it's our most innovative altima ever. nissan. innovation that excites. ♪

for those americans who took a moment this past christmas day to catch up on what's going on in the word, they no doubt saw this story. a christmas morning house fire had taken the lives of one woman's entire family, her three little girls and her parents. we learned her name, madonna badger, everyone who saw the story or saw coverage of the awful funeral, wondered how this woman kept on going. tonight we meet her and hear her story.

madonna badger agreed to sit down with matt lauer and talk about the christmas tragedy that remains so achingly sad. >> can you envision the word healing being appropriate in your life at some point? >> i think healing is the only word. i'm a raw nerve, after six months, you hope to grow this slightest bit of skin over the nerve, getting well, i don't know that sounds insane. but i don't know. i think healing is the only word you can use. >> how do you heal from what madonna badger has endured? how do you make sense of a christmas morning fire that kills all three of your children and both of your parents. >> i remembered when, ever i had heard stories like that, i had always said, how do those people live through that? there's no way i could not live through that. >> madonna badger's life changed forever last christmas eve. her family was celebrating

together, parents lomer and paul lean johnson and her three little girls, 7-year-old twins grace and sara and 9-year-old lilly. her dad was finishing up his job as a department store santa, while her mom played with the girls. >> one of the things that lilly and sara and grace and my mom did is they all went to their rooms and they hung up paintings and pictures all over their rooms, all over their walls. >> the walls of their new home, a water front victorian house in stanford, connecticut. badger moved there last fall with her girls. she and her husband matthew had been separated three years but remained good friends. >> what floor was your bedroom on? >> my bedroom was on the second floor in the front of the house. and on the third floor, were three little bedrooms and those three bedrooms was all pink and white and -- >> perfect little girls rooms. >> that's what i thought.

>> the house was being renovated by badger's long time friend, contractor michael borsina. recently the two had become romantically involved. this would be the family's first christmas in their still unfinished home. badger put her girls to bed around 9:00 p.m. >> and so i laid down with them. and just chatted and talked and you know, told them i loved them. >> with the girls tucked in, badger and borsina spent the next several hours wrapping presents. before they headed to bed, 3:30 a.m., they noticed ashes on the h hearth, the last log was placed on the fire six or seven hours earlier. >> mike started to clean up the ashes on the hearth and put them in a shopping bag, a fancy craft

paper bag. i watched him take them with his hand and the shovel and put them into the bag. and then take his -- i watched him put his hands in the bag -- >> he's putting his hands in the bag to feel -- >> to make sure there's nothing on fire in the bag. i mean, you know, if you're going to clean up something like that, better make damned sure that there's no fire going on. >> so the ashes in that brown bag were then placed where? >> they were placed on top of one of the plastic bins that we had brought in. that bin was then placed in the mud room. >> on her way to bed, badger glanced one more time at the bag of ashes in the mud room. >> and i remember thinking to myself, i should put that outside. i should put that outside. and then i remember thinking no, but i watched him put his hands

through it. i watched him wash his hands with the black and ashes. >> you thought there was no danger. >> no danger. >> no danger, a phrase her father lived by forever and taught her. >> we used to call my dad mr. safety man. he changed the batteries in my fire alarms every year for me. >> this house was no exception. as this photo shows, badger placed fire extinguishers in the halls and battery operated smoke detectors in the rooms, which badger says had been tested. >> i woke up and i was choking. and like couldn't breathe choking. and i realized there was a fire. >> did you hear smoke detectors? smoke alarms, anything going off in the house. >> no, nothing. it was silent. it was the scariest silence. >> you got out through the

window. >> i ran to the edge of my house. and i looked down to the left and there i saw little bit of flame but mostly just sparks, sparks, sparks everywhere. >> coming out of what? >> it was near where the electricity goes into the house, where the meter is. and so that location is also very close to the mud room. and so i had to make a decision because the windows there were my mom and dad's windows. so i had to decide, do i go in and save them or do i go save my children. and so i ran the other way to save my children. so i scrambled up the scaffolding to get to grace's window. and i opened that window and the

smoke that hit me, it was just the -- blackest -- like an ocean. it was twirling and there was embers and all kin of stuff in it. and i kept trying to hold my breath and put my head in. and i did that like three or four times and i was -- i couldn't get in. i couldn't get in the window. >> when you opened the window, did you get a glimpse of any of your girls? >> no. no, it was so black. it was the blackest smoke i've ever seen. no. if i could have seen them, i would have gone in, i mean -- it's impossible to describe how it is that you can't go in and save your own children, but i couldn't get through that smoke. i couldn't.

i don't -- i couldn't. i knew i would die and i also remember thinking that i had to stay alive because no one else was there to tell them where they were, if the fire men came to tell them where to go and look for them and save them. >> this video, from a neighbor's cell phone captures the intensity of the fire. the impossible task facing madonna badger. >> and i finally went down and i -- i thought maybe i wouldn't see them, that they were just in the backyard with my mom and dad, but they weren't. >> it is tough to take. we're going to take a break here and when we come back, the questions that madonna badger is left with following her staggering loss.

what makes a sleep number store different? you walk into a conventional mattress store, it's really not about you. they say, "well, if you wanted a firm bed you can lie on one of those. if you want a soft bed you can lie on one of those." we provide the exact individualization that your body needs. welcome to the lowest prices of the season, not just on ordinary beds, but on the bed that can change your life. the sleep number bed. never tried this before. this is your body there. you can see a little more pressure in the hips.

take it up one notch. oh gosh, yes. when you're playing around with that remote, you get that moment where you go, "oh yeah" ... oh, yeah! ... and it's perfect. they had no idea that when they came to a sleep number store, we were going to diagnose their problems and help them sleep better. and right now, you can save an incredible $300 to $1,000 on selected bed sets. once you experience it, there's no going back. wow. it's the lowest prices of the season on the amazing sleep number bed. sale ends july 8th. only at the sleep number store, where queen mattresses start at just $699. diarrhea, gas or bloating? get ahead of it! one phillips' colon health probiotic cap a day helps defend against digestive issues with three strains of good bacteria. hit me! [ female announcer ] live the regular life. phillips'.

welcome back. six months after madonna badger lost her family when her home burned down on christmas morning, it is understandably so raw for her, and will be for rest of her days. including, we should note, her anger over her lingering questions about the investigation into the house fire. here is part two of her conversation with matt lauer. >> early on christmas morning, a few hours after madonna badger was brought to the emergency room, she timely learned the terrible truth sfwl who told you? >> the doctor that was on duty,

was a brand-new doctor. she took mike's hand and took my hand and put them together, you know. and she said, she held them and she said, your three children are gone and probably your mom and dad but we don't know that for certain. and then oh, my god, i couldn't believe it. >> badger spent days in the hospital overcome with grief. only later did she learn a day after the fire, her house had been demolished, all that was left was a vacant lot. >> after the funeral, i had an interview with the police and the first question they asked me was, why did you have your house torn down? >> and you said. >> i didn't have my house torn down. what are you talking about? >> they said, well we were told that you had your house torn down. i was like, no.

and then i asked them, if they could help me get anything out of the house that i wanted to know, where my things were, that were in the house that might have -- >> salvageable. >> and they said, we'll find out. and so within three or four-day period, they, they brought a bag of stuffed animals, black contractor bag of stuffed animals. >> that was it? >> that was it. >> the state's attorney concluded the fire was most likely caused by the disposal ash, a theory she had blurt out to the fire official the day of the blaze. >> do you think that became the entirety of the investigation? do you think they said okay, it was those ashes? >> what do you think? >> you think it could have been

something else? >> yes. >> and yet once the house was torn down and the demolition occurred, you don't have any way to carry on your own investigation into that? >> no. there was no inventory done of my house, they've given me no inventory. the house was torn down. they've taken everything and they don't know where it is. >> so even what they demolished and took away, they can't tell you where they took it? >> no, they won't tell me. i've asked them. they didn't keep anything forensically out of my house, not one fire alarm, not a smoke alarm, electrical panel, not the electric meter itself. >> when you consider five people died in that building, you think that's odd? >> i think from everything that everyone has told me, it's very odd. i think it's a crime. >> this is one of the questions

that nags you and that is why was that house torn down so quickly? was the investigation thorough. >> investigating fires is very serious business. all of my family members died, five people. how is that not considered a crime scene? i want to know not only what caused my fire, i want to know why didn't the fire alarms go off? the hard wired alarms had batteries in them. why didn't those go off? how is it that they don't save those alarms because alarms can be tested after the fact. that's what you do in a fire investigation. >> madonna badger says she still doesn't know who ordered the demolition. she's filed a legal notice that will allow her to sue the city of stanford. >> i don't believe that the ashes caused the fire. it just didn't seem like a

plausible explanation. >> she says she simply wants answers. >> knows questions that are unanswered and those questions you've told me about, is it imperative for you to answer those questions for lilly, grace and sara and your parents? >> absolute. you know, to honor them with the truth, you know. i believe they deserve that. >> and if the truth is that a bag filled with some ashes from a fireplace -- >> caused this -- >> set their house on fire -- that's okay too in terms of an answer? >> i mean, absolutely. you know, i have to live with them being gone every single day. the cause of that fire is important for me to know in order to somehow find some peace. >> less than two weeks after the

tragedy, madonna badger delivered a touching eulogy for her three little girls. >> what you wrote about them was beautiful. i have three children and as i listen to you describe your girls, i think every parent could see some of his or her children in your descriptions. >> my girls are in my heart. they are right here. and this is where they live now. >> you speak in the present with your daughters and your mom and your dad. consciously or sub consciously. >> definitely subconsciously. sometimes consciously. >> why consciously? >> because i feel them. they are with me. you know, they are not here physically but i feel them. my children.

my mom and dad. >> think you'll always feel that way? >> i hope so. >> so when you ask how someone in that circumstance goes on, there's your answer. a fund has been established in honor of those three little girls, lilly, sara and grace. it will support the arts in public elementary schools. there's information about it on our website. while we note this has been extraordinarily tough on those firefighters who responded to that fire that night, we should also note as a legal matter the city of stanford connecticut has delivered to address the specific questions raised by madonna badger, citing the possibility of a future lawsuit. we will follow up as this progresses. we'll be back with more right after this.

yoo-hoo. hello. it's water from the drinking fountain at the mall. [ male announcer ] great tasting tap water can come from any faucet anywhere. the brita bottle with the filter inside. and i thought "i can't do this, it's just too hard." then there was a moment. when i decided to find a way to keep going. go for olympic gold and go to college too.

[ male announcer ] every day we help students earn their bachelor's or master's degree for tomorrow's careers. this is your moment. let nothing stand in your way. devry university, proud to support the education of our u.s. olympic team. devry university, proud to support the education we charge everything else... maybe it's time to recharge the human battery. only the beautyrest recharge sleep system combines the comfort of aircool memory foam layered on top of beautyrest pocketed coils to promote proper sleeping posture all night long. the revolutionary recharge sleep system from beautyrest... it's you, fully charged. get a free set of sheets when you buy a select beautyrest mattress. hurry, offer ends soon.

tonight a 25-year-old graduate of ole miss, garrett jackson is at his second campaign event of the day with mitt romney. it's the eleventh this week and one of hundreds since the campaign started and garrett jackson is there in his role as the so-called body man, political slang for the personal aide to the candidate. they do everything, handle everything and see everything. and tonight, garrett jackson allows us inside his relationship with the man he calls the gov.

>> good morning, it's 5:45, another day on the road. can't believe the gov is not here. he tries to work out a few days a week, usually on the elliptical. in a hotel room every night, i have to write the number of my room on my card. >> it's time to go get the gov. >> good morning. >> thank you, sir. >> really just stumbled into this job. if you asked me a few years ago, do i think i would be here traveling with a guy who very well will be the next president of the united states, i would say you're crazy. >> different from the other one. welcome on board. here's our kitchen. honey nut chex, cocoa puffs is one of the gov's favorites.

it is like groundhog day in the sense you're up early, multiple events during the day and in bed late and do it all over again the next day. >> how are you doing? >> we're doing a tour of this facility right now. looks like we're clear. i don't care if people call me body man or not. a lot of them think i'm his bodyguard. >> got it. got it. so i've gotten good at taken photos, it's all i do, all day long. i know how to use every camera phone, every camera, i'm calling myself a professional now. got it. all right, so i'm doing vog. we're coming to you guys. they've always joked about how i can turn on this great announcing voice. >> ladies and gentlemen, please welcome president of weatherly casting, mike lied. >> a lot of fun, the gov loves it. >> it's a great voice, isn't it? don't you love it.

it's so good. it's so good. >> we know one another very well. i described it as an uncle adoring nephew relationship. >> governor mitt romney. >> i'm just a small town kid with a middle class family. this has been an incredible experience. you can bring the music down. where are we in iowa or pennsylvania? >> pennsylvania. >> famous peanut butter and honey sandwich. gov, what is this, like number four? >> number four for me. are you going to cut off the crust today? >> i like it without the crust, you know me. >> there you have it. the romney 2012 peanut butter honey sandwich. >> or real men with crust.

>> in cornwall. >> getting good photos to tweet out to everyone. >> we're going right to left on the rope line, correct? i'm there with sharpies, it's key to have the quick sharpie, i found, that's one of my tricks. i'm there to make sure he keeps moving and is taken care of. i'm also a pilot. ever since i was a little kid, i wanted to fly some day. before i took this job i came close to joining the air force. he feels good knowing there's three pilots every time he flies. . checked into another hampton inn and have written down the number of my hotel room. i'm blessed that i have this opportunity and i don't want to let it slip away. that's what keeps me going. thanks for following me around.

good night. >> our thanks by the way to garrett jackson and to the romney campaign for letting us tag along for a day. that's going to be it for us on this day. thank you for being with us on "rock center." i'm brian williams. good night from now from all of us in new york, your late local news begins now. the president from interview: i talk to folks on rope lines and in coffee shops. people who have been out of work. you can tell it wears on them. narrator: he's fought to pull us out of economic crisis for three years. and he still is. president obama's plan keeps taxes down for the middle class, invests in education and asks the wealthy to pay their fair share. mitt romney and his billionaire allies can spend milions to distort the president's words. but they're not interested in rebuilding the middle class. he is. i'm barack obama and i [ chuckles ] ♪ [ honk! ] ♪ [ honk! ]

♪ [ honk! ] ♪ [ male announcer ] now you'll know when to stop. [ honk! ] the all-new nissan altima with easy fill tire alert. [ honk! ] it's our most innovative altima ever. nissan. innovation that excites. ♪ our cloud is made of bedrock. concrete. and steel.

our cloud is the smartest brains combating the latest security threats. it spans oceans, stretches continents. and is scalable as far as the mind can see. our cloud is the cloud other clouds look up to. welcome to the uppernet. verizon. laces? really? slip-on's the way to go. more people do that, security would be like -- there's no charge for the bag. thanks. i know a quiet little place where we can get some work done. there's a three-prong plug. i have club passes. [ male announcer ] get the mileage card with special perks on united, like a free checked bag, united club passes, and priority boarding. thanks. ♪ okay. what's your secret? [ male announcer ] the united mileageplus explorer card. get it and you're in. a sweeping verdict in the

jerry sandusky trial. action from both sides of the case and you will hear a strange moment the defense attorney getting booed by the public. mitt romney and the gop retreat, why are jeb bush and condoleezza rice going? the lady bullied in the school bus, there are two new and surprising developments, including the money that keeps pouring in for her. in office politics, martin bashir says the game changing moment for the november election may have already happened. good morning, welcome to "weekends with alex witt." jerry sandusky faces life in prison after a dramatic and sweeping verdict in the child sex abuse trial. jurors found the 68-year-old guilty on 45 of 48 charges. he rose from his seat after the verdict with tears in his eyes. the moment came after two days of deliberation and two weeks of testimony from young men who said they had been abused by their one time mentor.