0 as long as 200 years to fully reveal what they have. it's an amazing discovery, and it shows maybe there is an atlantis out there. but there is also the reason we have to continue to travel, investigate and explore. i love visiting ruins like the city of pom pay, and i know you don't always find things as amazing as a lost city, but if keep searching you find something no one else has seen before. "ac 360" starts now. a little girl's battle for a life-saving lung transplant got some help not from a doctor but a judge. also tonight, only on cnn, exclusive video showing the first lady handling a heckler. the question is, how well did she handle the heckler? what exactly happened, the white house gave her high marks. watch and decide for yourself. later, the moment that you helped make possible. a hero reunited with a woman whose life she saved after the boston bombing. we begin with breaking news. a story cnn has been following closely, a 10-year-old's battle to win. her name is sarah american ahan. doctors say she will die possibly within weeks. sarah has been waiting for more than 18 months for donor lungs from another child. it's a fact that pediatric lungs are scarce, scarcer than lungs from adult donors. here is another hard fact. children younger than 12, including sara, no matter how sick they are, face a steep hurdle when it comes to getting adult lungs. the current transplant rules prevent them from being prioritized from being on the waiting list for adult lungs. sarah's parents filed a lawsuit. and a judge signed a court order removing that hurdle for sarah for the next ten days. here is exclusive video of sarah reacting to the news. >> woo! woo! woo! woo. >> she's a very strong little girl. jason carol joins me now. what does this ruling mean? is this the last roadblock for her to get a new lung? >> it may be the last legal hurdle for sarah. but certainly she has a lot of challenges still ahead of her. first, it's this legal challenge, and now that this judge has lifted that and said, you know what, children like sarah should be put on this adult list, they should have access to adult donors, as well. in fact, let me read you part of the order here, because i think it spells out. it says, "to immediately cease application of the under12 rule as to sarah murnaghan so that she can be considered for receipt of donated lungs lungs from adults based on the medical severity of her condition". so anderson, a huge emotional victory for the family. although the secretary of the health and human services department points out that there are still 40 other adults who are very sick in the region. this is a six-state region, approximately, that sarah has to now compete with, with other sick adults, other sick children. approximately three children who are also sick who may also need a lung transplant. but at least when it comes to this legal hurdle, at least for this next ten days, she has crossed that hurdle. now the problem is, trying to find a match in time. >> but this only -- this exemption for kids only applies to her. so other kids who are in need of transplants, they're not able to get adult lungs. >> but potentially, when you listen to what her team is saying, what her family is saying, what her attorneys are saying, the implications here are very grand. because if a good rules in this way, in this situation, it could quite possibly open the door for other children who are in a similar, desperate, critical situation, as well. you talked about the health and human services secretary, kathleen sebelius. her parents had asked her to intervene yesterday. she essentially said her hands were tied in this case. now, any response from her? >> well, we tried reaching out to secretary sebelius several times throughout the day. yesterday was interesting. she attended a budget hearing in washington, d.c., and, of course, all the questions turned to poor sarah murnihan, her situation, what was being done. from the secretary's point of view, she feels as though the guidelines are in some ways -- she feels her hands are tied, basically. she says, and i'm going read you part of a quote of what she said yesterday. she said, "i suggest that rules are there because the worst of all worlds is if some individual picks who lives and who dies." sebelius also pointed out she feels for the murnaghan family, but feels as though rather than doing something right away without proper checks and balances, that might hurt people who are also sick, and who are also on a list. so what she did was, she ordered a policy review, but murnaghan's family basically saying we don't have time for a policy review. something needed to be done now, and legally, at least for now, that's what they got. >> obviously this story has generated a lot of public support. a lot of people are rooting for sarah tonight. her father, fran, joins me and her aunt. fran, how is sarah doing today? how are you all doing? >> we're doing well. sarah has declined slightly in the last two days. but we're very excited with the news today. that she will have the opportunity to be equally judged and have the opportunity to receive lungs. >> so what does today actually mean for sarah? you say she has the opportunity to be equally judged. what exactly does that mean? >> so from the very beginning, and anyone who is on the lung transplant list has to have allocated to them a lung allocation score. so her score today is actually 78. so what the judge is allowing to happen today is allowing her to be on equal grounds with the other folks, the adults. so her score would actually be taken into account. so we have never, ever asked that sarah get special attention or be placed in front of anyone more severe than her. so if there is -- if there is another adult who is more severe, who has a higher lung allocation score, they will still get their lungs first. it's just now sarah will have an opportunity to not have to wait for every adult, no matter what their score is, to pass the lung and then it be offered to the pediatric patients. >> do you have any sense of what her chances of getting a donation are in the next ten days? >> at the -- that's a tricky question. because obviously for sarah to get the opportunity to have the gift of life here, another family has to go through what would be probably their worst day in their life. so it's impossible to really tell. what we do know is, over the last 18 months, we've gotten to know a lot of individuals across the nation who have had lung transplants. and we do know most of them, the majority of them, when they received their lung transplants, their lung allocation scores were actually in the mid 40s. so her score being 78 is extremely high. >> she's at the top of the list or very close to the top of the list so it's highly likely she'll get lungs in the next ten days. >> have you heard -- has anyone in your family heard from secretary sebelius since today's ruling or at any point, really, during this process? >> actually, my wife janice spoke to the secretary last thursday. and she had a short conversation with her. and at the time, she did seem quite compassionate. and then on friday, when she gave her ruling, we did receive an e-mail through someone at her office. we did request to speak to her, but we were told she was busy and she could not speak to us. and then yesterday we were actually scheduled to speak to her at 1:30 eastern time, but then her office had cancelled that, and rescheduled for 3:30, which was then cancelled and rescheduled for 5:30, which was then cancelled and they said that they would see if she could speak to us today. but we did not have the time for that. every day is critical for us. and other children, too. we do not have the time to wait. so that's when we moved forward with the suit. >> i've talked to medical ethicists about this. and a number of them i've talked to said they don't really understand why kids wouldn't get priority, actually, for lungs. because kids have their whole lives ahead of them, and really can benefit hugely from being on equal par with adults. >> yeah, unfortunately, the kids are put at the back of the line. so not only don't get let preference, they don't get equality. we were stunned when we learned it and can't believe it. and it's just not right. and that's why we fought for sarah and for other kids. so the ruling today applies for sara, but it's -- really, there is another child -- it will apply to very quickly. and we think that on monday, the optn is having an emergency meeting to discuss the under 12 rule and hopefully decide to set it aside, we hope. so we're hopeful this will impact all children. that this is a first movement that they're making, and that it will impact all children. >> and fran, we saw sarah's reaction to hearing this ruling today. obviously, she is excited about it. what has this whole process been like for her? i cannot imagine the strength she must have had, and still have right now to endure all this. >> she's always -- i mean, she's always been a role model for me. i mean, she has had cystic fibrosis her whole life, she has struggled her whole life. and she always does it -- she's so more mature than her age. she knows that we've been just talking to the government and the media. she is not fully aware of all of the conversations we've had. so she understands that there has been a ruling that will help her, hopefully get her lungs sooner rather than later. but she has always been -- i mean, she is so strong. it's amazing when you get to speak to her how strong and positive she is. >> well -- >> she's a fighter. >> yeah, she's a fighter, no doubt about it and will continue to be. fran, i know your wife is by your side right now, i know you will be right after this is done. i appreciate you being on tonight, sharon, as well. and we wish sarah the best and all of the other kids out there and all the folks out there who need some sort of transplant. thanks for being with us. let me know what you think about this on twitte twittetwitter @andersoncooper. next we take you to the flood zone, live pictures. two of america's mightest rivers doing an awful lot of damage in alton, illinois. and ""360" investigates a recall for jeeps they say can be deadly and the car maker can say no, thanks, we're not going to do that. nearly 3 million jeeps, many bought especially to be family-safe. ♪ [ male announcer ] pain not sitting too well? 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>> i have friends in alton. i've been there many times, actually. >> reporter: that's really fun. well, it's an historical town, but nothing more important to the people here than the mississippi river. an economic engine and scared of froods here and a big one right now. >> and a lot of beautiful antique shops right near where you are that i hope -- you know, i hope the businesses there aren't flooded as well. how much longer is it going to be before the waters are below the flood stage, do we know? >> reporter: yeah, we're doing a mathematical interpretation here, and it looks like it will be between eight and ten days before it's below the 21-foot level. what's really important, it's at its highest point right now. it's not expected to get higher than this. there is some damage, but nothing like it was 20 years ago. >> all right. well, we wish everyone the best. gary, appreciate it. if you drive, we hope you pay attention to this next story. not just if you're a driver of one of the 2.7 million jeeps, the federal safety officials today said were unsafe. but any driver, because the particular danger, those officials say that the jeeps present. it's pretty scary stuff. but comes with a twist. namely that chrysler completely disagrees with the findings and says they have no plans to change or recall the vehicles. here's drew griffin. >> reporter: this, federal regulators say, is not an isolated incident. a jeep grand cherokee hit from behind catches fire. a 60-year-old man killed. it's also happening to jeep liberties, hit from behind and catching fire. this 13-page letter sent to chrysler from the national highway traffic safety administration, states that 1993 through 2004 grand cherokees and 2002 through 2007 jeep liberties contain defects related to motor vehicle safety, and that the government is asking chrysler to initiate a safety recall of these vehicles. the danger? fires. letters detail an extensive investigation by the government with graphic pictures and according to nhtsa, the government able see, the result has been tragic. there have been at least 32 fatal rear impact crashes involving grand cherokees, the government writes chrysler, resulting in 44 deaths. and at least five fatal rear impact crashes involving the liberty that have resulted in seven deaths. nhtsa tells chrysler, the grand cherokee and liberty are poor performers. nhtsa says the chrysler vehicles are twice as likely to burst into flames when compared to other vehicles in their same peer group. the problem, according to the government, is the integrity of the fuel tank system, which when hit from behind, rupture, leak and lead to an eruption in flames. clarence ditlow with the center for safety has repeatedly reported to chrysler on horrific accidents, where especially small children in the back seats of these vehicles are vulnerable. >> we have never seen a fire defect like this where children in child seats are being burned to death because the parents can't get them out of the vehicle fast enough after the rear impact that causes the fire. i mean, it's a horrible death. and if for no other reason alone, chrysler should do a recall to save the kids. >> reporter: countrihryslechryse to the recall request? in a word, no. in a rare move, the car company is basically denying all the research that has been done by the federal safety experts, releasing this white paper in response. stating the grand cherokee and jeep liberty "meet or exceed all applicable, federal motor safety standards. the vehicles do not have any fuel tank design defects. and on the conclusion that the grand cherokee and jeep liberty have a higher frequency of fires than other vehicles in its peer group, chrysler says the government got its peer group wrong." chrysler group believes nhtsa used an incomplete and unrepresentative group of comparison vehicles to determine its peer group. and, no, chrysler says, it will not recall the vehicles. >> what it is is really a corporate ego here. they have drawn a line in the sand, and they said we're not going to do a recall. and unfortunately for chrysler and the public, people are going to die in the meantime. but chrysler's image is going to be damaged. people are going to stop buying chrysler, because they'll think they're an ill responsible company. >> so drew, what happens now? the government says these vehicles are dangerous, wants them fixed and chrysler just says no? >> that's what happened. the next move is with nhtsa now, could hold public hearings, make the findings public and actually label these particular vehicles as defective, somewhat damning label for chrysler. i don't know what chrysler is doing, quite frankly. when this has been tried in the past, the car companies, anderson, never win. >> but what about -- i mean, there's 2.7 million people driving these grand cherokees and jeep liberties right now. what are they supposed to do? >> that i don't know. i'm glad i don't have one. you can either believe the government that says your vehicle is in danger of potentially fatal fires if struck from behind and then decide to keep driving that or not driving that, or you could believe chrysler, which is telling you, hey, nothing to worry about here. it's a very odd situation. and we don't have any resolution for the people who are driving these. >> it's incredible. drew, we'll continue to follow this one. thanks very much. for more on the story, go to cnn.com. just ahead right now, the heckler and the first lady. who got the best of this awkward moment? we're going to show you exclusive video, actually, of what happened. also tonight, an amazing story. you've got to stick around for this. a hero meets a survivor. erica brannock, helped locate aman amanda nord, she helped save erica's life. be heard even in stupid loud places. to prove it, we set up our call center right here... 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