split, 6-6 along party lines. they'll have until thanksgiving to come up with a package of cuts and/or taxes to get the $1.5 trillion. now, congress would then vote up or down on the entire chunk. they have to vote. but remember, the supercommittee was set up to do what congress and the white house failed to do. keeping them honest tonight, it's not like this is the first time politicians have decided to set up a committee to do what they themselves have failed to do. in targets we have all been to this rodeo before. >> this commission has given us a warning for the future. but you have also presented us with a program for action. >> that was ronald reagan back in 1984 talking about a commission which was set up -- which was called for back in 1982. so we have heard this time and time again from politicians. and it wasn't just starting with ronald reagan. it goes back -- well, it's happened a lot even since then. take a look. >> from now on when the public hears the name gramm, rudman or hollings they'll think deficit reductions. >> maybe not because congress managed to find ways around the spending limits. the supreme court struck down parts of it and the deficit grew. since then there have been nearly a dozen commissions, a dozen commissions and committees, set up to deal with deficits, government spending, taxes, entitlements. four within the last year alone including the one headed by former gop senatorial lab simpson and ex clinton chief of staff irs kin bowles. politicians were lining up to praise that commission or compare it to their own plans. >> it's modelled after the bipartisan simpson bowles proposal. >> the proposal exactly along the lines of what the simpson bowles commission. >> along the lines that simpson bowles talked about. >> a lot of the components of bowles simpson. a lot of voices from participants in the bowles simpson. >> borrows from the framework of the bipartisan simpson bowles proposal. >> simpson bowles. >> the bowles simpson commission. >> simpson bowles commission. >> the simpson bowles commission did that. why can't they? >> everyone was talking about the commission that heralded the arrival of the recommendations of the commission. but unfortunately, the simpson bol commission couldn't actually agree on a final set of recommendations. however, to be fair, the new supercommittee may have a better chance. that's because if it can't agree, this new supercommittee, if they can't agree on that 1.5 trillion in debt reductions, the new law call for $1.2 trillion in automatic cuts designed to be painful for both sides. on the other hand, one or both side may try to stack the deck with committee members who simply will not compromise. house speaker boehner says he won't approve anyone who'll even consider raising taxes. wall street -- dow plunged 2865 points today. the only bright spot is moody's which had threaten today downgrade america's credit rating keeping it steady at aaa. that may change if the new supercommittee lays an egg. i talked with gloria borger and john king. >> so john, what makes this committee any different from all the other panels that have come before them? does the process actually have some teeth this time? >> it does have some teeth. there are a lot of skeptics about this committee. but this committee has a deadline. it has to report to congress by thanksgiving. then congress cannot say oh, i don't like, this i don't like that. you can't have another debate about amendments. like the old base closing commissions when they wanted to close a military base. you have a committee, it comes up with a plan. congress gets to vote yes or no, up or down. if this committee collapses, i won't get into all the details of this agreement, but there are automatic spending cuts that could take place. there's a whole debate about whether then congress would have to pass a balanced budget amendment and send it out to the states. but the threat of mandatory cuts, a trigger that says we're going to cut defense, social security, that is the sword over the head of this committee if you will. it has to come up with a package that equals $1.5 trillion. it could do more than that, aernz arnz. that's the floor. it could go higher. >> gloria to john's point, congress has try this. ed to put some kind of triggers in before, haven't they? >> sure. >> and they find a way to kind of get around their own rules. >> and they can find ways. they can always find ways to get around the rules. and i think that's the problem. that's why a lot of people are skeptical who have been in washington for some time, because they know that you can always do that. i was talking with a senior administration official who was skeptical about it. and he said to me, look, there are those who believe that threat of these cuts will cause some outbreak of reasoning around here. why would that happen? so we really don't know. it's very uncertain, i think. >> i mean, john, you look at the last committee where the simpson bowles, i kept hearing for months from politicians, from president obama and others saying, well, you know, we've got this deficit-cutting commission that as soon as they put in their report then we're going to act on that stuff. and it comes and everyone -- it makes a headline for a day and then people move on. >> the difference is that committee or those reports from the simpson bowles commission, that was the president's commission. but if you didn't have a spar majority congress wasn't required to vote on it. this plan congress will be required to vote on. that is what makes it different. if they have recommendations they give them to the congress, they have to vote up or down. they have no choice. so you can't take the simpson bowles commission and say, i like items 1, 2, 3 and 4 but no way on items 6 or 8. this one will be hear it is. eat your peas like it or not. yes or not. >> and i guess a lot depend, john, on who is sitting on the panel, right? >> that is the magical question. and gloria has been tracking this all day. i've been tracking this all day. i asked the senate republican leader mitch mcconnell today are members volunteering or are they running away? look, we know there are some members who are committed to some politically painful things. they're willing to put social security and medicare on the table. we know there are members going to the leadership on the republican side saying appoint me. i will fight to the death no new taxes. on the democratic side, appoint me. i will fight to the death. no touching social security or medicare. so the question is, who do the leaders decide to appoint? do they appoint people with an open mind, or do they appoint people who are already dug? ? >> and the question that i have is that, is it a good political move for you if you're a member of congress to actually be on this committee? because you don't know what the results are going to be, and it could be politically bad for you at home. there are some, anderson, who have suggested to me someone inside the administration who said, why not put those gang of six on the committee because they're the only ones who have come up with actually a bipartisan way to approach the deficit. so we'll see if some of those folks get on it. >> how much of a voice do you guys think that tea party may have or not have on this panel? >> that was one of the questions. >> i think a lot. >> i try this. ed to get leader mcconnell to answer. they will have influence because they have sway on the house side on speaker boehner. they have sway on the senate side to a lesser degree. but they're the new member os of the senate. so i was asking for example jim da mint the hero of the tea party in the senate, the new members like rand paul or mike leechlt what if one of them comes forward and says we need to be represented on the committee. you do have to consult people. that's one of their issues here. we have this supercommittee that has awesome powers, anderson. before we get to the committee there's going to be a huge debate about who gets to get on it. within each party you'll have the internal politics play out. then we'll have the committee and we'll have a lot of what we've seen over the past few weeks play out. >> john, gloria fascinating. thank you whatever the supercommittee ends up looking like, cnn orc polling reveals americans aren't exactly crazy about the entire process. 44% approve of the deal, 52% don't. but only 17% believe elected officials acted like responsible adults throughout the negotiating and lawmaking. 77% say they acted like spoiled children by about a 2 to 1 margin. people approved of the spending cuts included in the debt ceiling even those actual items have not been named. 65% -- the law does not mandate tax increases or reductions. paul, you were part of the white house team that saw some balanced budget. what do you think? can this work actually approach? will this approach work? >> i don't know if it will but it can. i'm perhaps a little more bullish on it than you are. the gramm rodman hol links president that senator reagan signed in 1985. it put real triggers in and congress did respond to that. we all remember 1990 when george bush sr., george h.w. bush, broke his read my lips no new taxes pledge. he raised income taxes, gas taxes, medicare taxes. he did that because the gramm rudman hollings law was going to force very deep cuts in defense. he decided he'd rather have the tax increases than slash national defense. it has worked. i wouldn't say it has a stellar record. but i think it's certainly better than nothing. >> you don't think they'll be able to come up with some ways down the road to avoid voting or to overcome this kind of what seems to be automatic trigger? >> if this is passed by this congress binding this congress. so it's not like this is a commission that meets 10 or 20 years down the line. here's what we need. maybe if we had somebody every night who's keeping them honest. the whole country is watching and they are going to have to act on this. the i think the panel's right let's watch and see who they put on. >> ari, do republicans on this panel need to consider raising taxes if they're serious about balancing the budget? >> well, i think republicans do need to consider loophole closures. i think there are some things in the tax code that can and should be cleaned up. i don't think they should support income tax rate increases. i don't think that would be good for the economy and it's not what republican believe so it won't happen. but i am optimistic about this. people are making too much of commission commission we've heard it all before. this is really -- if you pretend the senate and the house passed a bill and it goes to a conference committee, that's what really this is. this has short circuited the legislative process to create a conference committee that takes the house, senate, puts it together in one package and then the house and senate have to vote yea or nay, up or down. unlike commissions of the past which include people people who are not members of congress, this is all members of congress. it's actually a smart way to go about this. there surely is a big sword hanging over their head. they know if they don't get this done the tea party is breathing down their throat. they'll put the pressure on. their voices will be heard. two, medicare and the pentagon are going to get cut. so those are pretty good incentives for action to be taken. and you do get the sense that there's a different mood in washington. the appropriation bills were settled with a big spending cut for the first time ever we have a debt limit increase that was attached with dollar for dollar bigger cuts than the debt limit was increased. this is a different year in washington. so i'm optimistic. >> i'm about to tweet out that you guys actually agree. i'm expecting you guy to break out singing kumbaya in a pro. this is extraordinary. i've got to take a quick break to collect my thoughts on this. we'll have you both on right after break so stick around. talk more about where this all leaves president obama and future presidents as well as the issue no one was talking about for weeks. make a big difference next november, jobs. we're on facebook. follow me on there or on twitter @ anderson cooper stomach turning day in the warren jeffs trial. his voice instructing his female followers how to have sex with him. and all the while, jeffs defending himself loudly objecting in the courtroom. they basically ignored him. we'll have a live report. isha sesay is following other stories for us tonight. >> reporter: the growing violence syria, the regime is cracking down hard. especially in the city of hama where the u.n. estimates nearly 150 people have been killed since friday. we'll have the latest on the escalating bloodshed. and you'll hear from an activist who's right in the middle of it. that and much more when 360 [ bell tolls ] agents, these crustaceans are like gold to a restaurant owner. so? 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[ male announcer ] we are insurance. ♪ we are farmers ♪ bum, ba-da-bum, bum, bum, bum ♪ critics on both sides of the aisle have talked about how unnecessary and self-ininflicted this was. after the bill passed the politicos were talking. >> the number one job we have as a congress must be creating jobs for the american people. >> republicans have never taken our eye off of job creation. >> but it's now time for congress to get back to our regularly-scheduled programming, and that means jobs. >> i'll continue also to fight for what the american people care most about, new jobs, higher wages, and faster economic growth. >> we'll see how long their focus will stay on jobs or how effective their focus will be, especially the debt committee keeps making news. back with us is paul begala and ari fleischer. how ugly could this get? >> we can't even imagine. not only will they be lobbied they're going to be covered by the press. it will be huge tension between those of us in the media who want transparency. will they broadcast all their meetings? and people who want a deal because frankly deals are usually made behind closed doors. that's how we got the declaration of independence, after all. that was closed press. that's going to be a really tough one. but it's not just the lobbyists, it's the activists. the tea party has interjected a lot of nooen our politics. sometimes some of the fringe, just on the fringe have been a little fright tong me. but you could see, i don't want to suggest but you could see the sort of activism we saw during the healthcare debate up. which in the main was very healthy but there was a fringe there scarey. >> ari, do you see the tea party having a seat at the table on this commission? >> i hope. so i think the tea party deserves it. i think they're the ones who have made this whole debate and this whole fact now that we're actually trying to cut spending in washington a reality. i looked at the numbers, anderson. 68% of all house republican freshmen voted for this boehner obama compromise agreement. only 50% of the democrats did. so what we really have here is a group that came to washington to make big change, but they're also going about it in what i think is a pretty reasonable way. more reasonable than if you look the a the numbers the democrats wanted to even agree with their own president on this one but house republican freshmen were more willing to do. so so i think they deserve it. i also just have to remind everybody that debt limit always was increased with nothing attached to it until this year. this is really a change in washington. that's why i think when senator mcconnell says this is a new way we are going to do business, we'll never again raise a debt limit without spending cuts, it's what we need. the other reason we need it is because even under all best circumstances, assuming no further recessions, under the budget the president proposed to the congress this year, the debt goes up to $20 trillion by 2020. so because of the aging baby boomers and because of all the spending we have, we still have huge debt problems we have yet to face. it's going to take a lot of strong medicine to help us all, both parties, face those problems. >> paul, ari mentioned something that mitch mcconnell said. i want to play something that he said similar to what ari said. but let's just play that for our viewers. >> what we have done also is set a new template. in the future, any president, this one or another one, when they request us to raise the debt ceiling it will not be clean anymore. >> paul, moving forward for debates in the future, now that this bill has been signed, the kind of the drama of it has kind of worn down, what's the take away from this? what does this mean moving forward for debates in the future, for the tenor of debates in the future and for the president? >> well, in for tactics in these showdowns, i think senator mcconnell told the truth. i think ari is right. i think it's a monstrous thing. >> monstrous? >> monstrous because the full faith of credit of the united states of america has been preserved even through the civil war, even through the great depression. there should be some things that are tab books that are off-limits. there's only one tiny correction. gramm rudman hollings actually was tagged onto a debt limit increase under ronald reagan. fleischer, this will kill you, it was $2 billion. now we just raised it $2 trillion. once in a very, very blue moon, only one other time in history that i saw has the debt limit been used. even then nobody was threatening to renege, to default on the full faith and credit of the united states. this is a recipe for mischief. it will continue to work until it doesn't. in other words, until finally somebody pushes us into default. and that's going to tax every single american. it could be catastrophic. >> anderson, i've been very public about saying that anybody who wants to default this nation is making a big mistake, they're they're wrong to think we can do that and it won't have terrible consequences. it will. but people are also wrong to think we should just keep raising the debt limit and keep on spending. that's why we keep having to raise a debt limit. so if a limit is going to actually have any meaning and be a limit, you have to take it seriously. you don't keep raising it every time it comes up. that's what's gotten us into the big hole that we're. in that's why i think as messy as this system was to get to where we are, it achieved a good result. we stopped just raising the debt limit willy nil yichlt now there's a price to be paid. cuts have to be made. that's the only way debt limits get increased further. it would be nice to go back to the days when we didn't have to do it if we can get to that point by putting together more agreements, democrats and republicans. the president is going to have to show leadership to really take on entitlement spending. >> i would hayes ton add the president i served balanced the budget and put us of a glide path to zero national debt. the president mr. fleischer exploded the mess that mr. obama inherited. but there should not be a debt limit at all. the founding fathers didn't put it in the constitution for a reason. congress already voted for this debt. this is what's different. the question is only whether we pay it. it's an artificial construct that has handed a very, very potentially damaging weapon to potential political extremists. >> paul is as usual -- paul's half right. president obama -- his policies made it worse. that's one of the reasons that we have such big deficits now thaeks plode. and how can you just look back and blame things on your predecessor when your own budget says you have a worse problem ten years from now? the problem president obama has with the country is they don't want the blame. he's the leader. they want a solution. and that's where we are today. and that's what i think people have to focus on. that's where until we have -- as long as we have divided government we've got to work together to get this done. and if paul really wants to get rid of the debt limit he should have a democrat senate, democrat house and democrat president because then there won't be any limits. >> i knew we could end on some kind of disagreement between you two. we started so nicely. >> happy to oblige. >> ari fleischer, paul begala. disturbing new reports out of syria tonight. new signs the violence may be spiralling out of control. certainly the government has cracked down a lot harder. we'll talk to a human rights activist, a woman on the ground risking her life to tell us what she has seen. in crime and punishment tonight, the jury in warren jeffs sexual assault trial, the polygamist prophet, they hear audio tapes -- the jurors heard audio tapes today of jeffs allegedly instructing female followers, one of them reportedly a minor, how to basically have sex with him. disturbing stuff ahead. i'm good about washing my face. but sometimes i wonder... what's left behind? 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[ disco playing ] and this is to remind you that you could save hundreds! yeah, that'll certainly stick with me. we'll take it. go, big money! i mean, go. it's your break, honey. same coverage, more savings. now, that's progressive. call or click today. tonight's senior state department officials say the white house is on the verge of imposing new sanctions on syria where the death toll from the government's crackdown is spiralling. overnight at least 24 people were killed after ramadan prayers and dozens were oned. the u.n. high commissioner for human rights says at least 145 people have been killed across the country since friday. cnn can't vary fight reports we're getting since we aren't allowed inside syria. we can only show you what we're hearing and seeing secondhand. like this video reportedly shot of hama purporting to show government officials firing on civilians as they try to carry an injured man from the streets. watch. [ screaming ] >> shoot people dead in the street then shoot at people trying to bring back their bodies. one of the most disturbing videos we've seen today on youtube. the images are extremely graphic. if you need to turn away please do it now. we think it's important to show you this because it seems to reveal a new level of violence or certainly just the kind of brutality, evidence perhaps that a dire situation may be spilling out of control, purportedly shot near hama and shows bloodied bodies being tossed into a river. >> it's incredibly disturbing obviously. again, cnn cannot independently verify this video's authenticity. the posting says the bodies are anti-government forces being dumped by thugs loyal to president bashar al assad. syrian state television says the bodies are being dumped by anti-government protesters. a prominent activist told cnn the state is correct. the bodies are those of syrian secret police killed by syrian fighters from iraq who joined the protest movement. there's no way for us to verify what exactly is happening in that video. the images, though, give you a sense of the brutality that is occurring. in washington today, secretary of state hillary clinton met with syrian democracy activists. earlier i spoke by telephone with a syrian activist. she wants us to use her name. she's inside syria and she's risking her life to get the story out. >> we've seen just some horrific videos lately out of hama of protestors being shot in the street and as other people try to go to bring their bodies out, more shots being fired, more shots ringing out. what's the latest? how many people have been killed over the last several days? >> only today there was five people that got killed in hama. yesterday there was more than 20 people that got killed. the day before it was more than 100 people got killed. in hama it is really a massacre daily in huge number of people that got killed there, it's tanks, it's armies, the shellings, the different areas inside the city. the medical situation is very hard. the hospitals that needed blood. there's not enough doctors, not enough medical treatment. >> why do you think they are cracking down more now than in previous weeks? >> it's clear that regime has decided to crack down the whole movement, the whole revolution, during the coming of ramadan because they knew that in ramadan every day will be like a friday. and that's what's going on right now. today and yesterday there was protests all day, afternoon, at evening, at morning, during around the country everywhere huge numbers of people in the street. the regime felt that if they use higher level of violence against people they will be able to calm down this movement, to crack down this movement. >> there's been video that's posted on youtube and there's controversy about what it actually shows. we see bodies of people who look like they've been beaten to death dumped off a bridge falling into a river while people are yelling god is great. state tv in syria says these are syrian government officials, security officials who have been thrown off a bridge by armed gangs which is the term they use for protestors. others on youtube are saying these are anti-government protesters being thrown into the water. what have have you heard? >> there is lots of stories, different stories about this video actually. the most important thing, different active parties in the revolution condemn this video, condemn the violence no matter who's committed it. anyway we don't note truth right now. we know that lot of violence is counted by the regime. the ageom is trying to create lot of lies and stories to try to convince the people that our revolution is violent and it's not. because everybody has condemned the violence and insisting that our revolution is peaceful. >> in any situation there's often violence on both sides. overwhelmingly obviously the violence is being perpetrated by the syrian government against overwhelmingly unarmed protesters who have been just trying to voice their opinion. just on a personal note, i know your husband was abducted months ago. you just now have been reunited. he was just released. how is he doing? >> he's doing great. his spirits is great. he's a bit tired, a bit sick because he spent the last 25 days in solitary. there was no medical treatment. but the most important thing that he's very brave and his spirit is very high. that's the most important thing. >> well, i'm so happy he is back with you. and i hope you both stay safe and continue being the voice for so many whose voices are silent in syria right now. thank you so much for being with us. >> thank you. >> incredible brave lady. just ahead, a texas juror hears the most shocking evidence yet in warren jeffs sexual assault trial. audio tapes of jeffs allegedly instructing underage teenage girls, one of his so-called spiritual wives how to please him sexually. first isha sesay has the 360 bulletin. >> reporter: drama outside the white house caught on cnn's cameras. a man jumped the white house fence, and moments later secret service officers, guns drawn, apprehended him. it happened during john king usa with john standing nearby. >> the secret service has just rushed out of the white house moments ago, guns drawn is the part that was interesting. i covered this building for eight years. you see right there someone who has jumped the fence. you see on the video here crawling on the fence. sometimes this happens unfortunately as a stunt. it has happened in the past. something more serious you see the person has been told by the secret service to lie on the ground. >> reporter: the secret service says the suspect, a 41-year-old homeless man, will be charged with unlawful entry. and also contempt of court. he previously was ordered to stay away from the white house due to past incidents the texas -- a piece of history. debris from the challenger space shuttle was found in the lake where the waters have receded. nasa says it's a tank that provided power and water for the doomed mission. the challenger broke up during re-entry in 2003. a bill to provide stop-gap funding for the federal aviation administration has stalled in the senate. that leaves some 4,000 aviation workers furloughed through the august recess. the expected costs to the government, about $25 million a day in lost tax revenue. >> reporter: and in the weak economy, the tooth fairy is cutting back. according to a survey commissioned by visa, a lost toos is fetching only $2.60. that is down from $3 last year. and that's the national average. in the east, the rate fell a whopping 38%, and in the west, kids are getting about 4% more per tooth. >> really? so it pays to be a tooth fairy on the west coast. >> reporter: i guess. so having said that -- >> that's what i've taken away from that. >> reporter: i'm taking away the fact that in england we don't even have a tooth fairy. >> no tooth fairy in england? >> have you seen the teeth? >> wow. i'm glad you said that and not me. >> reporter: look. i can say it. i can say it. but piers morgan has nice teeth. >> does he? i don't know. because he keeps saying to me whenever i pass him in the hall he keeps saying don't look me in the eyes. so i have to look elsewhere. >> reporter: let's leave this one. time now for the shot. tonight our favorite talking dog is back. i haven't seen this one yet. mishka the husky has made another video. in this one we find out that she -- not sure i should say that. let's take a look. >> mishka. are you proud to be a jersey girl? you're proud to be a jersey girl? good girl. >> oh, wow. >> reporter: yeah. >> we played another video of mishka talking and it was uncanny. that one i'm a little more skeptical. >> reporter: you saw yourself in mishka? >> i don't know. your question confuses me. i will think about it. we've got to take a quick break. coming up, the latest from the trial of polygamist sect leader warren jeffs accused of two counts of sexual assault of a child. the jury hearing this incredible audio tape, tapes of jeffs' alleged sexual encounters with his female followers, one of them a minor. gary tuchman was in the courtroom. he heard the tape. also trying to make it easier to get food to the starving somalis who so desperately need it. what the united states has decided to do and how al qaeda plays into this story. 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[ male announcer ] we are insurance. ♪ we are farmers ♪ bum, ba-da-bum, bum, bum, bum ♪ crime and punishment segment tonight, the prosecution is expected to rest tomorrow in the child sexual assault trial of polygamist sect leader warren jeffs. he calls himself a prophet. court let out just a short time ago after the trial took a really bizarre turn today. the jury heard audio tapes of jeffs allegedly giving 12 of his female followers sexual instructions, at least one girl reportedly a minor. yesterday dna evidence came in showing that it's nearly 100% certain that jeffs fathered a child with a 15-year-old girl. jeffs fired his attorneys and has been representing himself which is not going so well. only adding to another level of strangeness to the trial. gary tuchman has been in the courtroom as it all played out. he joins us now live. gary, the prosecution is expected to play even more disturbing audio tapes tomorrow. what did you hear today? >> reporter: well, warren jeffs to his followers is a prophet, the closest man on toth god. tonight he came off as a orchy ring master, at least what the prosecution wants the jury to believe. they played this audio tape in court that warren jeffs wanted recorded. and on the tape, jeffs refers to 12 women who are with him as his quorum of 12 ladies. he says these are heavenly sessions. what it sounds like what the prosecution says to the jury is that sexist going on between warren jeffs and the 12 women and between the women themselves. it certainly sounds that way on the tape. it's very creepy, suggestive, uncomfortable listening in the courtroom to what was going on on these tapes. we know that at least one of the 12 women whose voices we heard was a 13-year-old girl at the time. what was so waerd about this, anderson, surreal is that warren jeffs has been interrupting this trial many times. he started standing up while this audio tape was playing. he was giving a sermon. so we hear him out of our left ear giving a sermon live. out of the right ear the speakers these sex tapes. going on simultaneously. the jury is wearing headphones but it was weird with jeffs talking live and sex tapes going at the same time. >> the judge saying you are in danger of being thrown out and not able to act as your own lawyer. i understand at one point jeffs even allegedly -- he went to the parents of this girl and basically said, i've decided i'm taking your daughter. >> reporter: well, that's absolutely right. and the parents, who revere this man, they consider it a great honor when warren jeffs marries one of their daughters. we believe jeffs is married to as many as 80 different women. and many of them were under the age of 18. but it's a really strange scene inside there. warren jeffs has interrupted at least 30 or 35 times. he keeps delivering objections as his own attorney, but they're not just objections, they're sermons. he keeps saying this is sack religious and there's no respect for the word of good. but this is a very important point. no matter what you say about your religion, you are not allowed to molest children. if you say that's your religion, it's not aloud in the united states of america. and warren jeffs at not one point in this trial so far has not said he wasn't molesting these girls. he may say that in closing arguments. but at this point all he's saying is you're violating my religion. >> court went late tonight. i think they wrapped about 20 minutes ago. why did it go so late into the night? >> reporter: it's very unusual. usually court only goes into the night when there are jury deliberations. but this judge really wants to get this case over. it's been so strange and weird. what warren jeffs is trying to do, he wanted this trial to be postponed. it's not clear. why he wants it to be canceled for the time being. she doesn't want this to happen. it's getting weird. he's interrupting witnesses, the jurors listening. but she doesn't want this trial to come to an end because of his antics. she seems to be trying to rush it along. it does appear that tomorrow closing arguments will be delivered. it's not clear yet, though, if warren jeffs will deliver his own closing arguments. it's anyone's guess what would happen if he starts delivering his closing arguments. he didn't have an opening statement. >> will he present any kind of an actual defense? if the prosecution is resting that's when the defense usually starts. >> reporter: right. he has not cross examined any of the prosecution witnesses. and our understanding is he has no witnesses to call for a defense case. so we anticipate the prosecution will finish this case by playing one more sex tape tomorrow with an alleged 12-year-old victim. that's one of the charges against warren jeffs which could leave him life in prison if found guilty of sexual assaulting this 12-year-old girl. a tape will be played where we'll apparently hear this 12-year-old girl on the tape. the judge will say okay mr. jeffs time for your defense case. we don't believe he'll have a case and both sides will give closing arguments. >> joining me live from san angelo texas award-winning reporter mike watkis and a former member of jmg church. was this the most shocking moment in trial that there's been a lot of shocking moments. was this kind of the most bizarre day? >> yeah, i think that it's difficult to think that they could rachet the drama up in this trial each and every day, but they seem to have done just that. this was certainly the most emotional moment, listening to almost a mind-numbing hour-long sermon delivered by warren jeffs to a number of his young brides, basically telling them that they need to be -- if they're they don't qualify to be with him, they are concubines. these are young girls. you hear the girls periodically. it really sounds like you're hearing very light voices. it almost sounds like you're hearing members of a third grade class. juxtaposed to mr. jeffs sermonizing them. then at one point he tells them to take their clothes off, then gives them instructions, very graphic instructions on how they're to shave their bodies, and telling them that when they come to him they should shower in advance, provided that he might call them to service. so as gary alluded, it really is more of a sex tape than anything else. and i think it certainly had the most emotional impact today. >> and flora, forrout audio was the clincher of the trial. how so? >> well, you know, it's so, so disturbing on so many levels. and what's really disturbing for me is now to think that there are these 12 girls that have been introduced to this perverse sexual deviant and think that this what is god has ordered. that their lives should be like. and my big worry right now is what kind of help are these girls going to get? they're still trapped inside this cult. they aren't getting help. and that's one of my big worries right now. >> flora, you were inside this and you saw it from the inside. what is the -- what's the power this guy has? because i mean, i look at him. i've heard him sing on tapes. i've heard him talk on tapes. he doesn't seem particularly charismatic or anything. what is the hold he has over people? >> you know, it's not a hold that was garnered overnight. this was set up. he carefully orchestrated his power base when his father was alive. but what's fascinating to me is, even coming from this and working with the abused victims that i've worked with in the last 20 years, i came into this courtroom and didn't really understand that my foundation was based in this religion, this cult. and so for me, even 25 years out, warren jeffs was still in a lot of ways larger than life. and it's been kind of interesting to me to sit there and for the first time in 25 years hear his voice in person and realize he is just such a sick, sick person. doing this to these kids. and i don't understand the women at all in this. >> mike, beyond the audio tapes, the real smoking gun is dna evidence. the prosecution's dna expert testified with a certainty of like 99.996% that he fathered a child with one of his accusers when she was only 15. so that would seem beyond a reasonable doubt for a conviction. >> well, there's no doubt about it. there's the two charges, one involving a 14-year-old girl whom he married at 14 and had a child with at 15. they presented that dna evidence. she was one of the girls inside that instruction session basically being told how to sexually gratify mr. jeffs. i think prosecutors have made a rock solid case in that instance. they're going to focus on the 12-year-old tomorrow, and apparently as we have been reporting for some time they have an audio tape of the actual sexual assault recorded during mr. jeffs having -- assaulting this child. that i think will also be very profound and moving evidence for this jury. and i can tell you, as ten women on this jury, while they were playing this audio tape, this sort of sex instruction tape today, i was watching some of the women. a couple of them were glaring at mr. jeffs, just glaring at him. a couple of people in the audience crying. again it really had an emotional impact. on your point about what does this guy have going for him, i think that fails to recognize, this is not a charismatic guy who generated his own church on the strength of his personality. he inherited a mantle power. this guy inherited this power. he has certainly manipulated it and driven it much further off course than the previous prof et cetera. but mr. jeffs is not the kind of charismatic guy who could have started this himself. he inherented all of this power. >> interesting point. good perspective. michael watkissflora jessup. >> a police officer hit by a driver from a stolen car. amazing what the officer did next. we have details on that coming up. people who met with matt damon, be warned. not only will he school you, yo why you shouldn't mess with matt damon. 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[ male announcer ] flick, stack, and move between active apps seamlessly. only on the new hp touchpad with webos. try capzasin-hp. it penetrates deep to block pain signals for hours of relief. capzasin-hp. take the pain out of arthritis. first isha is back with serious stuff from 360 news and business bulletin. >> reporter: the u.s. is relaxing aid to starving so maul lease. the obama administration says aid workers in the famine-stricken country won't violate u.s. laws if some of their food and other supplies end up in the hands of an al qaeda-affiliated 34i8 can't group. u.s. officials say the number one goal is to save lives and humanitarian groups won't be prosecuted for good faith efforts. >> reporter: americans chose to save not spend their cash last month. the commerce department says personal spending fell.2% in june. that's the biggest monthly decline since september 2009. and anderson, watch this. while my people's teeth may not be great in britain, check out our cops. a british cop sets up a road block and is hit by the driver of a stolen car. amazingly, the constable got up. check this out. and then he chased down -- yes, he chased and tasered the thief who try this. ed to escape on foot. luckily the british bobbie only suffered bruises from the very nasty collision. >> that's got to be a good feeling to be able to arrest the person who knocked you over. >> and to have tasered him as well. i'm sure that added something. >> that added something. all right, isha. time now for the ridiculist. tonight we're adding anyone -- and i mean anyone who messes with matt damon. just don't do it, people. don't mess with matt damon. as a big fan, and i am, i know not to mess with him. not that i would ever even want to. but some folks, they haven't learned that. it's a lesson that a certain reporter and crack raman had to learn the hard way over the weekend. matt was in -- i think i can call him matt. he was in washington for a save our schools rally along with his mom who's a teacher. he spoke out against teacher's job security being based on students performance in standardized tests. afterward a libertarian group took him to as zblk in acting there isn't job security, right? there'san in sen tiff to work hard and be a better actor because you want to have a job. so why isn't it like that for teachers? >> do you think job insecurity is what makes me work hard? >> see, right there, she just messed up. she just messed with matt damon. not a good idea. now she's about to get a well-reasoned highly intellectual smack down, mattdown if you will. it isn't as explody as "the bourns identity" but it is still thrilling to watch. >> you haven in sen tiff to work harder. >> it's nottan in sen tiff. that's the thing. you take this mba style of thinking. it's this intrinsically paternalistic view of problems that are much more complex than that. >> snap. holy dictionary, matt mann. he just said intrins exly paternalistic view. i think matt damon just proved once and for all his brain is a lot more "goodwill hunting" than "mr. america". >> matt damon. matt damon. >> okay, yes, trey parker and matt stone messed with matt damon over and over again but they are brilliant so they get a pass. this reporter? we're talking about not so much. and matt isn't quite done making his point. >> a teacher wants to teach. i mean, why else would you take a [ expletive ] salary and really long hours and do that job unless you really love to do it? >> she messed with matt damon and she is facing the dragon. now, people can debate all day about ed policy. that's the cool way to say education policy which i just learned from matt damon. but good teachers are highly dedicated and should be compensated appropriately. stand by, though. stand by. a cameraman is about to mess with matt damon. >> 10% of teachers are bad. >> where did you get that number? >> okay. but i mean, maybe you're [ expletive ] cameraman. >> matt damon doesn't need special effects or even hair to go all action on people. don't mess with matt damon's mom, either. could we see that again? >> 10% of teachers are bad. >> where did you get that number? >> go, matt damon's mom. i love how here jumped in there. where did you get that number sunny bet she's a great teacher, great mom and really proud of her son. he's an oscar-winning screenwriter great actor and he has really great taste in the ladies. >> i'm [ expletive ] matt damon. >> she's [ expletive ] matt damon. >> i'm [ expletive ] matt die mon. >> she's [ expletive ] matt damon. >> i'm not imagining it's you. >> i know it's old but i still think it's funny. unless you're sara silverman or trey parker or matt zone, don't mess with matt damon. if you do you'll end up smacked down and on the ridiculist. we'll be right back. 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[ female announcer ] ask the doctor about your loved one trying the exelon patch. visit exelonpatch.com to learn more. good evening, everyone. we begin tonight keeping them honest with the elite group of 12 lawmakers responsible now for hacking $1.5 trillion over ten years from the federal budget deficit. this is called for in the debt deal which was finally passed today. they're calling it the supercommittee. senator olympia snow today call it the megasuperschmidtee. the question tonight will it actually work? president obama today started the clock ticking, signing debt reductions legislation into law, calling for committee members to be named within ten days. so the clock is ticking. the four house and senate party leaders each get to name three members, meaning the panel will be evenly split 6-6 along party lines. they'll have until thanksgiving to come up with a package of cuts and/or taxes to get the $1.5 trillion. congress would then vote up or down on the entire chunk. they have to vote. but remember, the supercommittee was set up to do what congress and the white house failed to do. and keeping them honest tonight, it's not like this is the first time politicians have decided to set up a committee to do what they themselves have failed to do. in fact, we have all been to this rodeo before. >> this commission has given us a warning for the future. but you have also presented us with a program for action. >> that was ronald reagan back in 1984 talking about a commission which was set up -- which was called for back in 1982. so we have heard this time and time again from politicians. and it wasn't just starting with ronald reagan. it goes back -- well, it's happened a lot even since him. take a look. >> from now on when the public hears the names gramm, rudman, or hollings they'll think deficit reduction. >> well, maybe not. because congress managed to find ways around the spending limits. the court struck down parts of it. and the deficit grew. since then there have been nearly a dozen commissions, a dozen commissions, and committees set up to deal with deficits, government spending, taxes and entitlements. four within the last year alone, including the one headed by former gop senator allan simpson and ex clinton chief of staff erskine bowles. for awhile you'll remember politics, were lining up to praise that commission or compare it to their own plans. >> it's modelled after the bipartisan simpson bowles proposal. >> a proposal exactly along the lines of what the simpson bowles commission. >> along the lines that simpson bowles talked about. >> a lot of the components of bowles simpson. >> a lot of voices from bowles simpson. >> borrows from the framework of the bipartisan simpson bowles proposal. >> simpson boems. >> the bowles simpson commission. >> simpson bowles commission. >> the simpson bowles commission did that. why can't they? >> everyone was talking about the commission that heralded the arrival the recommendations of the commission. but unfortunately the simpson bowles commission couldn't actually agree on a final set of recommendations. however, to be fair, the new supercommittee may have a better chance. that's because if it can't agree, this new supercommittee, if they can't agree on that 1.5 trillion in debt reductions the new law calls for $1.5 trillion in automatic cuts designed to be painful on both sides. on the other hand, one of both side may try to stack the deck with members who may not compromise. house speaker boehner says he won't even consider anyone who will even consider raising taxes. the dow plunged 265 points today, the eighth straight losing session. the only bright spot is moody's which had threatened to downgrade america's credit rating keeping it steady at aaa that. may change if this new supercommittee lays an egg. i talked about it with chief political analyst gloria borger and john king national correspondent and host of john king usa. >> john, what makes this committee any different from all the other panels that have come before him? does the process actually have some teeth this time? >> it does have some teeth. there are a lot of step kicks about this committee. but they have a deadline. they have to report to congress by thanksgiving. congress can't say i don't like this or i don't like that. you can't have amendments. like the old base closing commission. you have a committee, it comes um with a plan. congress gets to vote yes or no, up or down. if this committee collapses, there are automatic spending cuts that could take place. a whole debate about whether congress would have to pass a balanced budget amendment and send it to the states. but the threat of mandatory cuts, a trigger that says we're going to cut defense or social security, that is the sword over the head of this committee if you wichlt it has to come up with a package that equals 1 wp $5 trillion. i should note it could do more than that, anderson. that's the floor. it could go higher. >> gloria, to john's point congress has try this. ed to put some kind of triggers in before, haven't they? and they find a way to kind of get around their own rules? >> and they can find ways -- they can always find ways to get around the rules. i think that's the problem. that's why a lot of people are skeptical who have been in washington for some time, because they know that you can always do that. i was talking to a senior administration official who was skeptical about it. he said to me, look, there are those who believe that threat of these cuts will cause some outbreak of reasoning around here. why would that happen? so we really don't know. it's very uncertain, i think. >> john, you look at the last committee, the simpson bowles, i kept hearing for months from president obama and others saying, well, we've got this deficit-cutting commission that as soon as they put in their report then we're going to act on that stuff. and it comes and everyone -- it makes a headline for a day and then people move on. >> the difference is that committee or those reports from the simpson bowles commission, that was the president's commission. but if you didn't have a supermajority congress wasn't required to vote on it. this plan congress will be required to vote on. that is what makes it different. if they have recommendations they give them to the congress. they have to vote up or down. they have no choice. so you can't take the simpson bowles commission and say, i like items 1, 2, 3 and 4 but no way on items 6 or 8. this one will be here it is, eat your peace like it or not. yes or no. >> i guess a lot depends, john, on who is sitting on the panel, right? >> that is the magical question. gloria has been tracking this all day. i asked the senate republican leader mitch mcconnell today. are members volunteering or running away? we know there are some members committed to some politically painful things. they're willing to put social security and medicare on the table. we also know there are members going to the leadership on the republican side saying appoint me. i will fight to the death no new taxes. on the democratic side appoint me. i will fight to the death. no touching social security or medicare. so the question is, who do the leaders decide to appoint? do they appoint people with an open mind or do they appoint people who are already dug in? >> and the question that i have is that, is it a good political move for you if you're a member of congress to actually be on this committee? because you don't know what the results are going to be. and it could be politically bad for you at home. there are some, anderson, who have suggested to me, someone inside the administration who said, why not put those gang of six on the committee, because they're the only ones who have come up with actually a bipartisan way to approach the deficit. so we'll see if some of those folks get on it. >> how much of a voice do you guys think the tea party may have or not have on this panel? >> that was one of the questions i try this. ed to get leader mcconnell to answer. i think gloria is right, they will have influence because they have sway on the house side on speaker boehner, they have sway on the senate side to a lesser degree but they're the new members of the senate. so i was asking for example jim da mint the hero of the tea party in the senate, the new members like rand paul or mike lee. what if one of them comes forward and says we need to be represented on the committee. mitch mcconnell says he was not going to make his decisions that way but you have to consult people. we have this supercommittee. it has awesome powers. before we get to the committee there will be a huge debate about who gets to get on it. within each party you'll have the internal politics play out, then we'll have the committee and a lot of what we've seen over the past few weeks play out. >> john king, gloria borger, fascinating, thank you. >> whatever the supercommittee et cetera up looking like, new cnnorc polling shows americans -- 44% approve the deal, 52% don't. but only 17% believe elected officials acted like responsible adults throughout the negotiating and lawmaking. 77% say they acted like spoiled children. by about a 2 to 1 margin, people approve of the spending cuts included in the debt ceiling agreement even though the actual items to be slashed have not been named. 60% object to not having tax increases in the debt deal. now, the supercommittee could call for tax reform or even tax increases, but the law does not man tate that. more respective from democratic strategist paul begala and ari fleischer. ari, you were part of the white house team that saw some balanced budget. what do you think? can this work actually approach? will this approach work? >> i don't know if it will but it can. i'm a little more bullish on it perhaps, anderson, than you are. the gram america rudman hollings commission you mentioned, it put real triggers in and congress did respond to that. we all remember 1990 when george bush sr., george h.w. bush, broke his read my lips no new taxes pledge. he raised income taxes and gas taxes and medicare taxes. he did that because the gramm rudman hollings law was going to force very deep cuts in defense. he decided he'd rather have the tax increases than slash national defense. so it has worked. i wouldn't say it has a stellar record. but it certainly-i think it's certainly better than nothing. >> you don't think they'll be able to come up with some ways down the road to avoid voting or to overcome this kind of what seems to be automatic trigger? well, they can. first off, this is passed by this congress binding this congress. so it's not like this is a commission that meets ten or 20 years down the line. and here's what we need. maybe if we had somebody every night who was keeping them honest. the whole country is watching. and they are going to have to act on this. i think the panel's right that let's watch and see who they put on. >> ari, what do you make of this? do republicans on this panel need to consider raising taxes if they're serious about balancing the budget? >> well, i think republicans do need to consider loophole closures, and i think there are some things in the tax code that can and should be cleaned up. i don't think they should support income tax rate increases. i don't think that would be good for the economy and it's not what republicans believe so it won't happen. but i am also optimistic about this. i think people are making too much of commission, commission, we've heard it all before. this is really -- pretend the house passed a bill and the senate passed a bill itten and it goes the routine way to a conference committee. that's what this is. this has short circuited the legislative process to -- the house and senate have to vote yea or nay up or down. that's what you have here. unlike commissions of the past which include people who are not members of congress, this is all members of congress. so it's actually a pretty smart way to go about this. and there surely is a big sword hanging over their head. they know if they don't get this done, number one the tea party is breathing down their throat and i'm glad to see that. they'll put the pressure on. their voices will be heard. and, two medicare and the pentagon are going to get cut. so those are pretty good incentives for action to be taken. you do get the sense that there's a different mood in washington. the appropriation bills were settled with a big spending cut for the first time ever we have a debt limit increase that was attached with dollar for dollar bigger cuts than the debt limit was increased. this is a different year in washington. so i'm optimistic. >> i'm about to tweet out that you guys actually agree. i'm expecting you guys to break out singing kumbaya in a proemt. this is extraordinary. i have to take a quick break to collect my thoughts on this. we'll have you both after the break so stick around. talk more about where this leaves president obama and future presidents as well as the issue no one was talking about for weeks that could make a big difference next november. jobs. on facebook follow me there or on twitter @ anderson cooper. truly stomach-turning day also in the warren jeffs trial, polygamist prophet, audio tape played in court believed to be warren jeffs himself instructing his underage female followers how to have sex with him. and all the while, jeffs defending himself loudly objecting in the courtroom. they ignored him. we'll have a live report. isha sesay is following other stories for us tonight. >> reporter: the growing violence syria, the regime is cracking down hardest pegsly in the city of hama where the u.n. estimates nearly 150 people have been killed since friday. we'll have the latest on the the escalating bloodshed. and you'll hear from an activist who's right in the middle of this. that and much more when 360 continues. good year at chevy. they gave us a consumers digest best buy award. then they gave us an iihs top safety pick and you... well, you gave us your approval. so we thought, why not give a little back. the chevy model year wrap up. get in on our greatest model year yet. and now, very-well qualified lessees can get a low mileage lease on a chevy cruze ls for around $169 a month. our greatest model year yet is wrapping up. unlike fish oil, megared softgels are small and easy to swallow with no fishy smell or aftertaste. try megared today. talking politician and the debt deal, critics on both sides of the aisle have talked about how unnecessary and self-inflicted this whole episode was. jobs they say should have been priority number one. as if to confirm that notion, after the bill passed that was all politicos were talking about. >> the number one job we have as a congress must be creating jobs for the american people. >> republicans have never taken our eye off of job creation. >> but it's now time for congress to get back to our regular you will-scheduled programming. and that means jobs. >> i'll continue also to fight for what the american people care most about. new jobs, higher wages, and faster economic growth. >> we'll see how long the focus will stay on jobs out how effective their focus will be. the debt committee keeps making news. paul begala and ari fleischer. paul, they said this commission will be lobbied harder over the next few months than anyone else in town. how ugly could it get? >> we can't even imagine. not only will they be lobbied we're going to be covered by the press. there'll be huge tension between those of us in the media who want transparency, will they broadcast all their meetings? and people who want a deal. because frankly deals are usually made behind closed doors. that's how we got the declaration of independence after all. that was closed press. that's going to be a really tough one. it's not just the lobbyists, it's the activists. the tea party has interjected a lot of energy into our politics, sometimes some on the fringe, just on the fringe have been a little frightening to me. but you could see -- i don't want to suggest but you could see the sort of activism we saw during the healthcare debate. which in the main was very healthy but there was a fringe there that was scary. >> ari, do you see the tea party as having a seat at the table on this commission? >> i hope. so i think the tea party deserves it. i think they're the ones who have made this whole debate and this whole fact now that we're actually trying to cut spending in washington a reality. i looked at the numbers, anderson. 68% of all house republican freshmen voted for this boehner-obama compromise agreement. only 50% of the democrats did. so what we really have here is a group that came to washington to make big change, but they're also going about it in what i think is a pretty reasonable way, more reasonable than if you if you look at the numbers the democrats wanted to even agree with their own president on this one. but house republican freshmen were more willing to do so. so i think they deserve it. and i also just have to remind everybody that the debt limit always was increased with nothing attached to it until this year. this is really a change in washington. that's why i think when senator mcconnell says this is a new way gooeing to do business we'll never again raise a debt limit without spending cuts it's what we need. the other reason we need it is because even under all best circumstances, assuming no further recessions, under the budget the president proposed to the congress this year, the debt goes up to $20 trillion by 2020. so because of the aging baby boomers and because of all the spending we have, we still have huge debt problems we have yet to face. and it's going to take a lot of strong medicine to help us all, both parties, face those problems. >> paul, ari mentioned mitch mcconnell. i want to play something he said similar to what ari said. let's just play that for our viewers. >> what we have done, larry, is set a new template. in the future any president, this one or another one, when they request us to raise the debt ceiling it will not be clean anymore. >> paul, moving forward, for debates in the future, now that this bill has been signed, kind of the drama of it has kind of worn down, what's the takeaway from this? what does this mean moving forward for debates in the future for the tenor of debates in the future and for the president? >> well, and for tactics in these showdowns, i think senator mcconnell told the truth. i think ari is right. i disagree with him, i think it's monstrous. because the full faith and credit of the united of america has been preserved even through the civil war, even through the great depression. there should be some things that are taboo, that are off-limits. and there was one tiny correction in historical record. gramm rudman hollings was tagged onto a debt limit increase under ronald reagan. i looked it up today. it was $2 billion. now we just raised it $2 trillion. but once in a very, very blue moon, only one other time in history that i saw has the debt limit been used. even then nobody was threatening to renege, to default on the full faith and credit of the united states. i think this is a recipe for mischief. it will continue to work until it doesn't, in other words until finally somebody pushes us into default and that's going to tax every single american and be catastrophic. >> i've been very public about saying anybody who want to default this nation is making a big mistake, they're wrong to think we can do that and it won't have terrible consequences. it will. but people are also wrong to think we should just keep raising the debt limit and keep on spending. that's why we keep on having to raise a debt limit. so if a limit is going to actually have any meaning and be a limit, you have to take it seriously. you don't just keep raising it every time it comes up. that's what's gotten us into the big hole that we're. in that's why i think as messy as this system was to get to where we are, it achieved a good result. we stopped raising the debt limit willy nilly. now there's a price to be paid. cuts have to be made. that's the only way debt limits get increased further. it would be nice to go back to the days where we didn't have to do it by putting together more agreements, democrats and republicans. the president is going to have to show leadership. to take on entitlement spending. still ahead, disturbing new reports out of syria tonight. incredibly disturbing. new signs the violence may be spiralling out of control. we're going to talk to a human rights activist, a woman on the ground risking her life to tell us what she has seen also ahead, crime and punishment tonight, the jury in warren jeffs sexual assault trial, the polygamist prophet, they hear audio tapes, the jurors heard audio tapes today of jeffs allegedly instructing female followers, one of them reportedly a minor, how to basically have sex with him. disturbing stuff ahead. you name it. i've tried it. but nothing's helped me beat my back pain. then i tried this. it's salonpas. this is the relief i've been looking for. salonpas has 2 powerful pain fighting ingredients that work for up to 12 hours. and my pharmacist told me it's the only otc pain patch approved for sale using the same rigorous clinical testing that's required for prescription pain medications. proven. powerful. safe. salonpas. it's the cleanest, clearest water. we find the best, sweetest crab for red lobster we can find. yeah! 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[ female announcer ] yoplait greek. it is so good. it's pretty good! tonight's seep for state department officials say the white house is on the verge of imposing new sanctions on syria where the death toll from the government's crackdown is spiralling. overnight at least 24 people were killed after ramadan prayers and dozens were wounded according to one human rights group. the u.n. high commissioner for human rights says at least 145 people have been killed across the country since friday. cnn can't vary fight reports we're getting since we aren't aloud inside syria. we can only show you what we're hearing and seeing secondhand. like this video reportedly shot at hama purporting to show government security forces firing on civilians as they try to carry an injured man from the street. watch. [ screaming ] >> shooting people dead in the street then shooting at the people trying to bring back their bodies. one of the most disturbing videos emerged on youtube. if you need to turn away please do it now. we think it's important to show you this because it seems to reveal a new level of violence or certainly just the kind of brutality evidence perhaps that a dire situation may be spilling out of control, purportedly shot near hama and shows bloodied bodies being tossed into a river. >> incredibly disturbing obviously again cnn cannot independently verify this video's authenticity. the posting says the bodies are anti-government forces being dumped by thugs royal to president bashar al assad. syrian state television says the bodies are being dumped by anti-government protestors, a prominent anti-government activist told cnn the state report is actually correct, the bodies are those of secret syrian police killed by syrian fighters from iraq who joined the protest movement. again there's really no way for us to verify what exactly is happening in that video. the images certainly give you a sense of the brutality that is occurring. in washington today, secretary of state hillary clinton met with syrian democracy activists. earlier i spoke by tell thrown with a syrian activist. she wants us to use her name. she's inside syria and risking her life to get the story out. >> we've seen just some horrific videos lately out of hama of protestors being shot in the street as other people try to go to bring their bodies out, more shots being fired, more shots ringing out. what's the latest? how many people have been killed over the last several days? >> only today there five five people that got killed in hama. yesterday there were more than 20 people that got killed. the day before it was more than 100 people that got killed in hama. it is really a massacre daily. a huge number of people got killed there, tanks, armies, shellings, different areased in the city. the medical situation is very hard. the hospitals that need blood. there's not enough doctors, not enough medical treatment. >> why do you think they are cracking down more now than in previous weeks? >> it's clear that regime has decided to crack down the whole movement, the whole revolution, during the coming of ramadan because they knew that in ramadan every day will be like a friday. and that's what's going on right now. today and yesterday there was protests all day, afternoon, at evening, at morning, during -- around the country, everywhere huge numbers of people in the streets. the regime felt that if they use higher level of violence against people they will be able to calm down this movement, to crack down this movement. >> there has also been video that's posted on youtube. and there's controversy about what it actually shows. we see bodies of people who look like they've been beaten to death dumped off a bridge falling into a river while people are yelling god is great. state tv in syria says this is -- these are syrian government officials, security officials who have been thrown off a bridge by armed gangs, which is the term they use for protesters. others on youtube were saying these are anti-government protesters being thrown into the water. what have you heard? >> there is lots of different stories about this video actually. the most important thing, different active parties in the revolution condemn this video, condemn the violence no matter who's committed it. anyway, we don't note the truth right now. we know that a lot of violence is counted by the regime. the regime is trying to create lot of lies and stories to make -- try to convince the people that our revolution is violent and it's not. because everybody is condemn the violence and insisting that our revolution is peaceful. >> in any situation there's often violence on both sides. but overwhelmingly, obviously the violence is being perpetrated by the syrian government against overwhelmingly unarmed protesters who have been just trying to voice their opinion. just on a personal note, i know your husband was abducted months ago. you just now have been reunited. he was just released. how is he doing? >> he's doing great. his spirit is great. he's a bit tired, a bit sick because he spent the last 25 days in solitary. there was no medical treatment. but the most important thing that he is very brave and his spirit is very high. that's the most important thing. >> well, i'm so happy he's back with you. and i hope you both stay safe and continue being the voice for so many whose voices are silent in syria right now. thank you so much for being with us. >> thank you. >> incredibly brave lady. just ahead, a texas jury hears the most shocking evidence yet in warren jeffs sexual assault trial. audio tapes of jeffs allegedly instructing underage teenage girls, one of his so-called spiritual wives how to please him sexually. first isha sesay. >> reporter: drama outside the white house caught on cnn's cameras. a man jumped the white house fence and moment later secret service officers guns drawn apprehended him. it happened during john king usa with john standing nearby. >> the secret service has just rushed out of the white house moment ago, guns drawn is the part that's interesting. i covered this building for eight years. you see right there someone who has jumped the fence. you see him in the video there crawling on the fence. sometimes this happens unfortunately as a stunt. it has happened in the past something more serious. you see the person has been told by the secret service to lie on the ground there. >> the secret service says the suspect, a 41-year-old home also man, will be charged with unlawful entry and also contempt of court. he previously was ordered to stay away from the white house due to past incidents. >> reporter: the texas has uncovered a piece of history from the space shuttle. nasa said it's a tenth tank that provided power and water for the doomed mission. >> reporter: that leaves some 4,000 aviation workers fur load through the august recess. the expected cost to the government about $25 million a day in lost tax revenue. >> reporter: and in the weak economy the tooth fairy is cutting back according to a survey commissioned by visa, a lost tooth is fetching only $2.60, down from $3 last year. that's the national average. in the east the rate fell a whopping 38%. in and the west kids are getting about 4% more per tooth. >> we have to take a quick break. coming up, the serious stuff the trial of polygamist sect leader warren jeffs accused of two counts of sexual assault of a child. the jury hearing this incredible audio tape, tapes of jeffs' alleged sexual encounters with his female followers, one of them a mine no. gary tuchman was in the courtroom. we'll talk to also trying to get food to the starving so maul lease. what the united states has decided to do and how al qaeda plays into this story. [ kimberly ] when i was 19, i found myself alone with two children and no way to support them. people told me i wasn't going to do anything. and i just decided i have more to offer than that. i put myself through nursing school, and then i decided to go get a doctorate degree. university of phoenix gave me the knowledge to make a difference in people's lives. my name is dr. kimberly horton. i manage a network of over a thousand nurses, and i am a phoenix. [ male announcer ] find your program at phoenix.edu. and i am a phoenix. good night, frank. good night. desperate for nighttime heartburn relief? for many, nexium helps relieve heartburn symptoms caused by acid reflux disease. talk to your doctor about your risk for osteoporosis-related bone fractures if you take multiple daily doses of nexium for a long time. possible side effects include headache, diarrhea, and abdominal pain. other serious stomach conditions may still exist. talk to your doctor about nexium. if you can't afford your medication, astrazeneca may be able to help. crime and punishment segment tonight, the prosecution is expected to rest today in the child sexual assault trial of polygamist sect leader warren jeffs. he calls himself a prophet. court let out just a short time ago after the trial took a really bizarre turn today. the jury heard audio tapes of jeffs allegedly giving 12 of his female followers sexual instructions. at least one girl reportedly a minor, keep in mind. yesterday dna evidence came in showing that it's nearly 100% certain that jeffs fathered a child with a 15-year-old girl. jeffs fired his attorneys and has been representing himself, which is not going so well. only adding to another level of strangeness to the trial. gary tuchman has been in the courtroom as it all played lie. gary, the prosecution is expected to play even more disturbing audio tapes tomorrow. what did you hear today? >> reporter: you know, warren jeffs to his followers is a prophet, the closest man on toth god. but tonight he came off as an orgy ring master. that's what the prosecution wants the jury to believe. they played this audio tape in court that warren jeffs want recorded. on the tape jeffs refers to 12 women who are with him as his quorum of 12 ladies. he says these are heavenly sessions. what it sound like what the prosecution says to the jury is that sexist going on between warren jeffs and the 12 women. and between the women themselves. and it certainly sound that way in the tape. it's very creepy, suggestive, uncomfortable listening in the courtroom to what was going on in the tapes. we know at least one of 12 women whose voices what he heard was a 13-year-old girl at the time. what's so weird about, this surreal actually, is warren jeffs has been interrupting this trial many times. he started standing up while this audio tape was playing. he was giving a sermon. so we hear him out of our left ear giving a sermon lie. out of our right here through the speakers on these sex tapes. they're going on simultaneously. the jury wearing head phones but a weird scenario with jeffs talking live and sex tapes going on at the same time. >> the judge is basically saying you are in danger of being thrown out and not able to act as your own lawyer. i understand at one point jeffs even allegedly -- he went to the parents of this girl and basically said, i've decided i'm taking your daughter. >> reporter: well, that's absolutely right. and the parents, who revere this man, they consider it a great honor when warren jeffs marries one of their daughters. we believe jeffs is married to as many as 80 different women. and many of them were under the age of 18. but it's a really strange scened in there. warren jeffs has interrupted at least 30 or 35 times. he keeps delivering objections as his own attorney, anderson, but they're not just objections. they're ser mons. he keeps saying this is sack religious and there's no respect for the word of god. but this is a very important point. no matter what you say about your religion, you are not allowed to molest children. if you say that's your religion it's not aloud in the united states of america. and warren jeffs at nom one point in this trial so far has not said he wasn't molesting these girls. he may say that in closing arguments. but at this point all he's saying is you're vieting my religion. >> court went late tonight. i think they wrapped about 20 minutes ago. why did it go so late into the night? >> reporter: it's very unusual. usually court only goes into the night when there are jury deliberations. but this judge really wants to get this case over. it's been so strange and weird. what warren jeffs is trying to do, he wanted this trial to be postponed. it's not clear. why he wants it canceled for the time being. she doesn't want that to half. he's getting weird, interrupting witnesses, the jurors listening. but she doesn't want this trial to come to an end because of the antics. so she seems to be trying to rush it along. it does appear that tomorrow closing arguments will be delivered. it's not clear yet though if warren jeffs which is deliver his own closing arguments. anybody' guess what happens if he does. >> will he present any kind of an actual defense? if the prosecution is resting that's when the defense usually starts. >> reporter: right. he has not cross examined any of the prosecution witnesses. our understanding is he has no witnesses to call for a defense case. so we anticipate the prosecution will finish its case by playing one more sex tape tomorrow with an alleged 12-year-old victim. that's one of the charges against warren jeffs which could leave him life in prison if found guilty of sexual assaulting this 12-year-old girl. then it's expected the judge will say mr. jeffs time for your defense case. we don't believe he'll have a case then both sides will be permit today give closing arguments. >> gary, appreciate the reporting. we'll talk talk to you tomorrow. joining me live from san angelo, award-winning reporter mike watkiss and former church member flora jessop. was this the most shocking moment in trial? there's been a lot of shocking moments. was this kind of the most bizarre day? >> yeah. i think that it's difficult to think that they could rachet the drama up in this trial each and every day, but they seem to have done just that. this was certainly the most emotional moment listening to almost a mind-numbing hour-long sermon delivered by warren jeffs to a number of his young brides, basically telling them that they need to be -- if they don't qualify to be with him they are concubines. these are young girls. you hear the girls periodically. it really sounds like you're hearing very light voices. and it almost sound like you're hearing members of a third grade class. juxtapose today mr. jeffs sermonizing them. then at one point he tells them to take their clothes off then gives them instructions, very graphic instructions on how they're to shave their bodies. and telling them that when they come to him they should shower in advance provided that he might call them to service. so as gary alluded, it really is more of a sex tape than anything else. and i think it certainly had the most emotional impact today. >> and flora, for you the audio was really the clincher of the trial. why? how so? >> well, you know, it's so, so disturbing on so many levels. and what's really disturbing for me is now to think that there are these 12 girls that have been introduced to this perverse sexual deviant and think that this is what god has ordered. that their lives should be like. and my big worry right now is, what kind of help are these girls going to get? they're still trappeded in this cult. they aren't getting help. that's one of my big worries right now. >> flora, let me ask you because you wered in this and you saw it from from the inside. what's the power this guy has? i've heard him sing on tapes and talk on tapes. he doesn't seem particularly charismatic. what is the hold he has over people? >> you know, it's not a hold that was garnered overnight. this was set up. he carefully orchestrated his power base when his father was alive. but what's fascinating to me is, even coming from this and working with the abuse victims that i've worked with in the last 20 years, i came into this courtroom and didn't really understand that my foundation was based in this religion, this cult. and so for me, even 25 years out, warren jeffs was still in a lot of ways larger than life. and it's been kind of interesting to me to sit there and for the first time in 25 years hear his voice in person. >> right. >> and realize he is just such a sick, sick person. doing this to these kids. and i don't understand the women at all in this. >> mike watkiss appreciate is, flora jessop as well. a police officer getting out of his patrol car after setting up a road block hit by a driver from a stolen car. he's okay, though. want to point that out. it's amazing the officer did next. we have details on that coming up. and people who mess with matt damon, be warned. not only will he school you, you will end up on our ridiculist. every day, all around the world, energy is being produced to power our lives. while energy developement comes with some risk, north america's natural gas producers are committed to safely and responsibly providing decades of cleaner burning energy for our country, drilling thousands of feet below fresh water sources within self contained well systems and using state of the art monitoring technologies, rigorous practices help ensure our operations are safe and clean for our communities and the environment we are america's natural gas. oh, we call it the bundler. let's say you need home and auto insurance. you give us your information once, online... [ whirring and beeping ] [ ding! ] and we give you a discount on both. sort of like two in one. how did you guys think of that? it just came to us. what? bundling and saving made easy. now, that's progressive. call or click today. coming up on the ridiculist why you shouldn't mess with matt damon. the answer is on the ridiculist. first isha has 360 news and business bulletin. >> reporter: the u.s. is relaxing rules on aid to starving somalis. the obama administration says aid workers in the famine-stricken country won't violate u.s. laws if some of their food and other supplies end up in the hands of an al qaeda affiliated militant group. u.s. officials say the number one goal is to save lives, and humanitarian groups won't be prosecuted for good-faith efforts. americans chose to save not spend their cash last month. the commerce department says personal spending fell .2% from june. that's the biggest monthly decline since september 2009. and anderson, watch this. while my people's teeth may not be great in britain, check out our cops. a british cop sets up a road block and is hit by the driver of a stolen car. amazingly, the constable got this up. check this out. and then he chased down -- yes, he chased and tasered the thief who try this. ed to escape on foot. luckily the british bobbie only suffered bruises from the very nasty collision. >> that's got to be a good feeling to be able to arrest the person who knocked you over. >> reporter: and to have tasered him as well. i'm sure that added something. >> it does, i think. isha, time now for the ridiculist. tonight we're adding anyone -- and i mean anyone -- who messes with matt damon. just don't do it, people. don't mess with matt damon. as a big fan of matt damon, i know not to mess with him. not that i ever would even want. it but some folks, they haven't learned that. it's a lesson that a certain reporter and cameraman had to learn the hard way over the weekend. matt was in washington for a save our schools rally along with his mom who's a teacher. he spoke out against teacher's job security being based on students performance in standardized tests. afterward some reporter from i think a libertarian web site called reason.tv took him to task. watch this. >> in acting there isn't job security, right? there's an incentive to work hard and be a better actor because you want to have a job. so why isn't it like that for teachers? >> do you think job insecurity is what makes me work hard? >> see, right there, she just messed up. she just messed with matt damon. not a good idea. now she's about to get a well-reasoned highly intellectual smackdown, an smatt down. it is still awfully thrilling to watch. >> you haven in sen tiff to work harder. >> it's nottan in sen tiff. that's the thing. so you take this mba style thinking, right? it's the problem with ed policy right now, this intrinsically paternalistic view of problems that are much more complex than that. >> snap. holy dictionary, mattman. he just said intrins,ly paternalistic view. i think matt damon just proved once and for all his brain is a whole lot more "goodwill hunting" than it is "team america". >> matt damon. >> matt damon. >> matt damon. >> okay, yes, trey parker and matt stone messed with matt damon over and over again but they are brilliant so they get a pass. this reporter? we're talking about not so much. matt isn't quite done making his point. >> a teacher wants to teach. i mean, why else would you take a [ expletive ] salary and really long hours and do that job unless you really love to do it? >> she messed with matt damon and she is facing the dragon. now, people can debate all day about ed policy. that's the cool way to say education policy which i just learned from matt damon. but good teachers are highly dedicated and should be compensated appropriately. stand by, though. stand by. a cameraman is about to mess with matt damon. >> 10% of teacher are bad. >> where did you get that number? >> i don't know. 10% of any profession. >> well, okay. but i mean, maybe you're a [ expletive ] cameraman. >> oh, matt damon doesn't need special effects or stunt doubles or even hair to go all action adventure on someone. his words are his namchuks. don't mess with matt damon's mom, either. can we see that again? >> go matt damon's mom. i love how she just jumped in there. where did you get that number? i bet she's a great teacher, a great mom and really proud of her son. he's an oscar-winning screenwriter, a really good actor and he has great taste in the ladies. >> i'm [ expletive ] matt damon. >> she's [ expletive ] matt damon. >> i'm sorry but it's true. i'm [ expletive ] matt damon. >> she's [ expletive ] matt damon. >> i'm not managing it's you. >> i know it's old but i still think it's funny. let's bring it home. unless you're sayer sara silverman or matt stone or trey parker don't mess with matt damon. now get an incredible offer on the powerful c300 sport sedan. but hurry before this opportunity...disappears. the mercedes-benz summer event ends august 31st. in servicing clients that serve our country. my name is marjorie reyes. i'm a chief warrant officer. i am very grateful and appreciative that quicken loans can offer service members va loans. it was very important for me to be able to close and refinance my home quickly. i wanted to lower my mortgage payment. quicken loans guided me through every step of the process. the whole experience was amazing! 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