homeless veterans. so guess who we found sleeping outside? fighter girls. would you do this for practically nothing? this single mother does. but why? chicks, inc. forget the music, forget the makeup. this may be the smartest band in the history of rock 'n' roll. >> can you put a dollar sign on the kiss empire. >> $500 million, $750 million. a billion dollars. >> the genius of kiss, inc. revealing investigations. fascinating characters. stories with impact. this is "cnn presents" with your host tonight soledad o'brien and son jay gupta. >> good evening. we begin with a murder in mississippi. ray brutal killing allegedly fueled by race and rage. >> we broking this shocking story right here on cnn. a young white teenager accused of killing a black man just because of the color of his skin. >> over our four-month investigation we found more disturbing details uncovering how the teenager and some of his friends had this history of violence and racist incidents. >> and raising questions whether authorities turned a blind eye. drew griffin has been digging into the story from the very beginning. >> june 26th in mississippi would bring temperatures and humidity into the 90s. a breeze out of the southwest would the barely move the state flag enough to see that confederate battle symbol. still displayed in its upper left corner. at 4:00 a.m. on this sunday morning, most of mississippi was still asleep. but for a group of teenagers, white teenagers barreling west on interstate 20, a mission was already under way. they were headed to jackson because in their segregated world, jacksoning is where the black people live. >> they were looking for black people. they were looking for a black person to assault. >> reporter: mississippi's heinz keep the district attorney robert schuller smith says evidence shows those white mississippi teens had just one thing in mind. >> they discussed let's go get -- let's be honest here, let's go get a nigger, right. >> that's exactly what it will show. >> reporter: it was still dark when james craig anderson walked out of a motel towards his car in a parking lot off jackson's ellis avenue. smith says that's when the white teenagers saw him. james, a black man, alone. it is hard to imagine what happened next without using the term hate. the teenagers were mostly white rankin county were being led by an 18-year-old named darrell dead man according to police. he had a history of harassing teens at his high school by several accounts from parents and students who knew him, he hated blacks, hated white people who had black friends. he hated anyone he thought was gay. and on this sunday morning, after a night of drinking, he and his friends witnesses have told police, were out to the act on that hate. some of the teens there that night would tell police the teenagers attacked that lone black man without any provocation repeatedly beating anderson, yelling white power. then one of the vehicles drives off. >> darrell deadman apparently wasn't through. he had two girls in his truck as he was leaving this parking lot, a big f-250 pickup truck. james craig anderson, the man who was beaten almost to a pulp, was stumbling down this curb. that's when police say darrell deadman hit the gas. jumped the curb and ran right over his victim. smashing him. but what he didn't know was the entire episode was being caught on a surveillance camera on the corner of this hotel. this is what was caught on that tape. obtained exclusively by cnn and we warn you, it is disturbing. james craig anderson first comes into view in the lower right corner of the screen after he was beaten according to police. he staggers into the headlights of mr. deadman's truck. his white shirt easily visible. then the truck backs up, surges forward, the headlights glowing brightly on anderson's shirt before he and that shirt disappear underneath it. the truck runs right over the defenseless man. >> after he does that, he drives to a mcdonald's, he picks up the phone, apparently calls a buddy and says what? >> according to testimony, i ran that nigger over. >> witnesses say he almost was bragging about it. that he was laughing about it really. >> that's what we plan to present. >> darrell deadman has pled not guilty. his attorney has refused to answer cnn's many calls for comment. though during one court appearance that attorney said he didn't see any evidence racism was involved. the district attorney says nothing else was involved. he has classified this as capital murder and a hate crime. you would think it would be a wake-up call for any town where that kind of hate could fester. but this is brandon, mississippi. think again. >> it's an unfortunate incident. it happened, but you know, once it happened, we haven't gone into you know, code red oh, my god, we've got a major problem. let's stop traffic and everybody feeds to go home and lock their doors and you know, we just kind of just keep going, doing what we do. >> here where a confederate war memorial stands at the center of town, the police say there were no warning signs. but we found the police are wrong. cnn has learned investigators are now looking into algations darrell deadman and his friends had a pattern of racism and violence. what's it going to do to the planet? natural gas is the cleanest conventional fuel there is. we've got to be smart about this. it's a smart way to go. ♪ your doctor will say get smart about your weight. i tried weight loss plans... but their shakes aren't always made for people with diabetes. that's why there's new glucerna hunger smart shakes. they have carb steady, with carbs that digest slowly to help minimize blood sugar spikes. and they have 6 grams of sugars. with 15 grams of protein to help manage hunger... look who's getting smart about her weight. [ male announcer ] new glucerna hunger smart. a smart way to help manage hunger and diabetes. i got it, i'm sorry. these people, huh? you know i've found that anger is the enemy of instruction. you don't know the egos that i have to deal with. you're probably right. thank you! whoever you are. i'm pretty sure that was phil jackson. he's quite famous... million championships... triangle offense innovator... [ male announcer ] the audi a8. named best large luxury sedan. nice wheels zen master. thank you...todd. ♪ [ cellphone rings ] cut! [ monica ] i have a small part in a big movie. i thought we'd be on location for 3 days, it's been 3 weeks. so, i used my citi simplicity card to pick up a few things. and i don't have to worry about a late fee. which is good... no! bigger! bigger! [ monica ] ...because i don't think we're going anywhere for a while. [ male announcer ] write your story with the new citi simplicity card. no late fees. no penalty rate. no worries. get started at citisimplicity.com. consumers er wanchai ferry orange chicken... over p.f. chang's home menu orange chicken women men and uh pandas... elbows mmm [ male announcer ] wanchai ferry, try it yourself. >> you have to drive east to get to brandon. across the pearl river, the invisible line that seems to separate black mississippi from white. and while in jackson, anderson's killing has prompted marches and a call for healing. in brandon, the reaction has been mostly silent. brandon police wouldn't even return cnn's phone calls. >> is the chief in? >> it was an assistant police chief who finally came out to say, there was no story here. >> are you concerned that a lot of these kids are from rankin county. >> not just one or two but seven who took part in this. >> you're right. you're going to have a couple of bad seeds. one guy ran over the individual. not all six. so you know, i can't -- i hate that it happened. i wish to god it didn't happen. here or anywhere, but as far as it being you know, we have a national problem, we don't have any more problem than any other city. >> it's just an isolated incident and you can quote me on that. >> but it didn't take us long to find out it wasn't an isolated incident. daryl dedmon has a criminal history. arrested and convicted of harassment earlier this year. two years ago this local pastor says he had to call police when his son was being harassed. >> and i had told jordan for a year and a half, that daryl dedmon will kill you. >> he had a look of no conscience. he was blank stare. daryl always i think just carried around this backpack of hatred. >> other students also told us they were bullied or beaten by deadman and his friends who called people nigger lovers if they befriended blacks. we were told school administrators mostly looked the other way as bullying and racial hatred festered. school officials declined our interview requests but a spokesperson told cnn they take bullying seriously and that they had no record of any trouble from daryl dedmon. students told us dead man and his friends were a problem. u using racial slurs, calling blacks and even president obama the "n" word. ken johnson use to the manage a gas station where deadman and his friends used to hang out. >> every word that came out of their mouth was the "n" word. and that they're taking over. as if it was some kind of war. >> dedman's family has refused to talk to cn. so has his attorney. this man did. once close to dedman and his friends, he now fears them. >> i believe that every one of these kids that occurred in the incident are dangerous and they're capable of many things, and i just don't want my image to be seen because i'm really worried about it. >> this man told us there were other violent and racial incidents with dedman and other friends of his. >> did they ever go looking for black people? ing. >> hunting literally? >> yes, they're known as the like i said, they're also known as the racist kids. the white group. >> cnn has learned federal investigators from the department of justice have uncovered two other possible incidents where groups of white ranken county teens, including dedmon have south out and attacked a black person. >> have you guys been concerned about these guys? not at all. >> nope. >> this man says racism is behind brandon, mississippi's silence. >> do you believe there's a lot of people in brandon, mississippi, that may feel the same way about the killing of a black man? >> yes. yes. i've even heard it out of some of the police officers' mouths that this is their statement. well daryl is a good kid. he just made one bad mistake. >> drew griffin joins us now. we talked about teenagers. what happened to the teenagers involved? >> five other teenagers involved have been very cooperative with this investigation. i think it's fair to say without their cooperation, a lot of the details would not have come out. that being said, this investigation both federal and state is ongoing. i'm told more charges may be filed. >> how much more is going on here do you think? this one teenager and one community. do they talk about, is this a symptom of a larger problem? >> many people are saying this is a wake-up call for mississippi and maybe even for the rest of the nation. these are teenagers as you said, soledad. they didn't grow up in a vacuum. parents, aunts, uncles, siblings, teachers, even they go to church. these kids go to church. and what pastor richardson is saying look, we can't allow this, we can't all go to church and pray for mankind on sunday and then allow our kids to go and use the "n" word on monday. so this is a wake-up call he would like to bring to the attention of. so far it's not being heard. >> drew, thank you very much. i know you'll continue to follow the story as it goes to the courts. up next, a story that i've been investigating for several months now. think of it as another form of injustice. veterans from iraq and afghanistan back home and living on the streets. >> a contract, i'm going to serve my country but then my country's going to serve me. [ male announcer ] imagine facing the day with less chronic low back pain. imagine living your life with less chronic osteoarthritis pain. imagine you, with less pain. cymbalta can help. cymbalta is a non-narcotic treatment that's fda-approved to manage chronic musculoskeletal pain. one pill a day, every day, can help reduce this pain. tell your doctor right away if your mood worsens, you have unusual changes in mood or behavior or thoughts of suicide. antidepressants can increase these in children, teens, and young adults. cymbalta is not approved for children under 18. people taking maois or thioridazine or with uncontrolled glaucoma should not take cymbalta. taking it with nsaid pain relievers, aspirin, or blood thinners may increase bleeding risk. severe liver problems, some fatal, were reported. signs include abdominal pain and yellowing of the skin or eyes. talk with your doctor about your medicines, including those for migraine, or if you have high fever, confusion and stiff muscles, to address a possible life-threatening condition. tell your doctor about alcohol use, liver disease, and before you reduce or stop taking cymbalta. dizziness or fainting may occur upon standing. side effects include nausea, dry mouth, and constipation. [ male announcer ] ask your doctor about cymbalta. imagine you, with less pain. cymbalta can help. go to cymbalta.com to learn about a free trial offer. cwill be giving away passafree copies of the alcoholism & addiction cure. to get yours, go to ssagesmalibubook.com. >> for far too many americans the street is their home. it's a life bad enough for anyone but unforgivable when the struggling men and women have already risked their lives for their country. i was stunned to find out that more than 8,000 homeless veterans live in los angeles alone. what surprised me even more, there's a lot of land there, nearly 400 acres that was donated for free just to build a home for vets. it would have been a life saber for a vet i met in los angeles. >> you're young. how old are you? >> i'm 22, almost 23. >> almost 23, and are you from this area originally? >> san fernando valley, just up over the hill. >> fresh out of high school, robert risman signed up to fight for his country. >> what makes an 18-year-old join the army? >> i wanted to go to college and make something of myself. and the army said they'd pay for it. >> a little bit of a contract, i'm going to serve my country but then my corrupt's going to serve me. >> that's kinds of what i was hoping for, yeah. >> where did it fall part? it began to fall part in iraq. you saw things that i know you don't want to talk about. >> no, don't. >> you probably never want to talk about. >> no. >> you see robert was in a rapid response unit. he saw action. night after night. >> i got back from iraq and i was having a lot of psychological issues. i guess you could say. >> post traumatic stress. >> post traumatic stress disorder. >> back home at fort carson in colorado, he starred feeling like people were out to get him. a few months later, someone discovered robert's illegal sawed off shotgun hidden in his barracks. according to army papers, robert told investigators he was suicidal. at one point, he spent a full day drinking. then sat on the side of the bed with the end of the gun in his mouth. >> i wish sometimes that i had died in iraq. so that my life would have meant something. you know? >> forced to quit the army, robert ended up homeless. >> i went lieu some pretty bad times when i first got out. i was doing a lot of methamphetamines, my drug of choice. i was smoking a lot of dope and i was getting in with some rough crowds. >> and many of those rough crowds were made up of people just like robert. returning veterans. as many as one in three soldiers returning from iraq or afghanistan suffers from traumatic brain injury, severe depression, substance abuse, or ptsd. >> i was dealing with other people that weren't so nice and -- >> is that weird for you to hear. >> yeah, that's uncomfortable actually. >> what happens when you hear a noise like that? >> it startles me a little bit but i know it's a truck. >> you see it everywhere you look. ex-soldiers like robert are desperate for steady care and for stable housing. so i was stunned to hear about a piece of property in west los angeles set aside for this very purpose. for veterans, for long-term housing, and it's literally across the street from the va hospital. the story here actually dates back all the way to the 1880s. back then the government wanted to treat facilities for aging veterans of the civil war. so former senator john p. jones and his friend who was a glamorous hairess decided to donate all of this land. back then, it was mostly ranch land. but today, just a few miles from the pacific ocean, it is some of the most valuable real estate in all of north america. >> it was solely an act of good will, an act of trying to take care of the veterans that they had from the spanish american war and the civil war. >> carolina barry is descended from the hairess who made this gift and she's part of a lawsuit against the va filed by the american civil liberties union. the original deed includes a condition. that the land be used to establish and maintain a branch of a national home for disabled vets. and a permanent home for thousands is exactly what it was. >> they had their post office. they had a trolley system that went all the way down san vicente to the beach. everything was provided for them. they had a special uniform. it was a marvelous place to live and the grounds were gorgeous. i mean they were just gorgeous. >> mark rosenbaum is the lead attorney for the aclu. >> at one point, this campus housed as many as 4,000 veterans but beginning with the street nam war era, vets were kicked out, they were literally kicked out. >> around 200 veterans live on the property today. but none of them in permanent housing. alongside them empty buildings. a public golf course. a variety of private businesses. like a theater. and a bus depot. >> this land has been utilized for enterprise rent a car, for marriott hotels, for ucla baseball, for exclusive private schools. they know what this land's about. >> with veterans sleeping on l.a. streets, i decided to head to the va to see why this land isn't used for their housing. >> people have said look, that property is not being used for that purpose. is that a legitimate beef? ♪ [ gasp ] [ mom ] my husband -- he thinks it's a 3-sheeter. i say 1-sheeter. bounty can clean the mess with less. [ female announcer ] in this lab demo, 1 sheet of bounty leaves this surface as clean as 2 sheets of the bargain brand. ♪ dance cooking? bring it. super durable. super absorbent. super clean. bounty the 1-sheet clean picker-upper. and try bounty napkins. >> we've been investigating a story in los angeles. there are more than 8,000 veterans who don't have a home. >> you know, it's particularly surprising when you consider that there is land specifically set aside to house homeless vets. so why isn't that happening? i went to l.a. to find out. >> i wanted answers. from for men like robert rissman, a 22-year-old former soldier and now drug addict. he's in transitional housing with no idea what comes next. he's just trying to get back on his feet. >> i had to steal food at one point because i had too much pride to ask anyone. i still have that kind of pride. >> for vets like robert, the aclu filed suit to try and force the v.a. to build housing on 400 acres of land that it was given back if 1888. at first we called the head of the va and they said we can't comment on pending litigation. we called the department of justice whose lawyers are handling the case and they said they can't talk about it either. finally the va said their chief of staff wants talk to me to tell us what they're doing to help homeless vets. >> we've added 700 emergency housing and transitional housing beds. they have mental health programs, substance abuse rams and medical programs. >> they also have something else. they're known as rent vouchers. >> which enable us to put veterans in permanent housing. >> in los angeles, each voucher just for veterans is worth more than $1100 a month. this year, dr. norman says the los angeles va has given out 2,000. of course, that's 2,000 vouchers for more than 8,000 homeless veterans. >> doing the math, there's not enough of these vouchers obviously if they all called you the day after this airs. >> well, it would be shocking. it would be wonderful. and we will figure out a way to give them emergency and transitional housing. >> if they're hearing you right now, what would be their next step. >> the easiest thing is to show up. >> show up at the front door. >> and we have a variety of numbers. i'm afraid to give you my secretary's number but i will if you have any questions in los angeles, it's 310-268-3284. >> of course, i did wonder, how many of the homeless vets are in fact seeing this how many could even find a phone? >> there's been a lot made of this property that's just about a block away from here that i think is around 400 acres that was designed to for veterans to provide housing for veterans. people have said that property is not being used for that purpose. what of that? is that a legitimate beef? >> well, i'm speaking for the agency and you know that's under litigation right now so i can't even comment on that. >> the va will say that we are going to end homelessness by 2015. >> they've been saying that for decades. but the most interesting thing is that the lawyer for the va walked into a federal courtroom and said, we think this case should be thrown out of court. we don't think there's a basis for the va to have to provide housing. >> this is the lawyers on the va side. and they're the ones that are raising the flag saying look, we're not sure this is possible as a starting point. >> again, i can't comment on the litigation. i wish i could, but i can't. >> you think it's possible? >> i think we have the resources. with the community to end homelessness of veterans in los angeles. that we do. >> robert rissman who is not part of the lawsuit says he hopes it gets resolved before his housing placement runs out. and he's back out on the street. >> you want a new life? >> i want to get a degree. i want to graduate from college. i want to get a good paying job. buy a house. you know? the right things. >> the place that robert stays now is a group called volunteers of america. it's remarkable, like him, most of the people there have no other place to go. every one of them fought in iraq or afghanistan. that's how they're living now. >> that's amazing. a couple questions. first, what happens next for him legally speaking? >> well, you know, people would like this lawsuit thrown out, especially the government. the federal judge said that's not going to happen. i think they're pushing for some sort of mediation and specifically for him trying to get him his benefits back so he can get this counseling he's not getting. >> what happens for him next. >> i think he would like to stay at this halfway house which is what you call it voluntarily for the time being and he wants to go back to school. that's how this whole process started. but we're going to keep tabs on him, soledad. he's an interesting guy and emblematic of what's happening out there. >> i'd like to know what happens with him. coming up, women in the violent world of mixed martial arts. >> my mom would cringe and oh, god, you're so pretty. why are you doing this to yourself. >> well, that's exactly what we wanted to know, too. that's up next on "cnn presents." so you earn 50% more . according to research, everybody likes more cash. well, almost everybody... ♪ would you like 50% more cash? no! but it's more money. [ male announcer ] the new capital one cash rewards card. the card for people who want 50% more cash. what's in your wallet? woah! [ giggles ] is for more than dandruff. how it gives me a healthy scalp and great looking hair. but who used mine up? it was hines. seriously? you lying fool. [ male announcer ] head & shoulders: seven benefits, every bottle. your doctor will say get smart about your weight. i tried weight loss plans... but their shakes aren't always made for people with diabetes. that's why there's new glucerna hunger smart shakes. they have carb steady, with carbs that digest slowly to help minimize blood sugar spikes. and they have 6 grams of sugars. with 15 grams of protein to help manage hunger... look who's getting smart about her weight. [ male announcer ] new glucerna hunger smart. a smart way to help manage hunger and diabetes. [ male announcer ] new glucerna hunger smart. mathis team of guinea pigs to ty boanso to save some y, d inea pig: row...row. they genatectry, wch le me rf t. guinea pig: row...row.took one, 8 months to get the guin: ..row.ow...row. they genatectry, wch le me rf t. lile cbby one to yell row! guineaig: ro's kof strange. guinig: row...row. such a simple word... row. anncr: t an easierayof strange. save. get online. go to geico.com. get a quote. e u 15% or more on car insurance. it's brutal. sometimes bloody. and wildly popular. it's mixed martial arts, mma for short. it can be very lucrative if you're a man. >> but if you're a woman, not so much. it's a very different story. why would any woman climb into the octagon into the cage for all-out combat for what amounts to almost nothing. >> amber lyon follows a young single mother who wanted to find the answer to that question. warning, some of the images are pretty graphic. >> oh! >> they're tough. skilled. and not afraid to be sexy. in an exploding sport dominated by men, these female fighters fight for much more than a win. they want respect. >> why do you fight? >> it's very empowering. it's the hardest sport out there. there's nothing that you can do to test your limes more than mma. >> michele gutierrez is a pro mma fighter. that's mixed martial arts. a full combat sport. we're talking two fighters in a cage, no pads. once banned across much of the usa, today it's one of the fastest growing sports among men and women. how are you? >> welcome to throwdown. >> thank you. >> so this is your home away from home? >> this is. this is my house. >> a house michele spends up to 40 hours a week in. pumping iron, training, from boxing and various forms of martial arts. >> i'm about to get my ass kicked. >> to wrestling. >> this is called the triangle. foot over. hook this. >> oh, geez, yeah, i feel that. >> and then squeeze my leg. >> so you're going this is to choke me? >> i want you to pass out and i just kind of pull that way and you're choking and tap. there we go. >> okay. >> but when michele isn't spending 40 hours a week practicing take-downs, she's spending another 40 hour pouring drinks because the sport she loves doesn't pay anywhere near enough to support this single mother. >> do you make more money bartending or fighting? >> bar tending. >> bartending. wow. >> as slow as it is in here right now, i make more money in two days than i walked home with from my last fight when i was split open like a watermelon. >> and michele isn't kidding. by some accounts her last fight was one of the bladiest in women's mma history. >> she grabbed my braid. i had my hair braided like i always do and she grabbed it and needed me in the face and cut me open right here and she hit an artery so it was bleeding all over the place. they had to stop it due to blood. >> doctor. >> when i see it, it makes me sick a little bit but in other ways it's beautiful. almost like a warrior shot. you know, that's me. i thought, i would have continued on fighting if the referee would have let me. i wouldn't have been like i'm bleeding. i would have continued on. i thought that was kind of a beautiful picture. >> some people would say that it's. >> some people were repulsed by it. >> it is hard to watch at times, which begs the question, why would you do this for nothing? >> even michele's late mother didn't understand at first. >> my mom she would cringe and oh, god, you're so pretty. why are you doing this to yourself. >> but michele's mother did eventually come around. >> she started to accept it a little bit. and was giving me kind of like her approval. you know, like you're the only person in the family that has a dream. and i want you to do it. i feel like when she died, a little flip switched in my head and i just went all mma. >> five, six, this it is unreal. >> it is this raw brutality that may pose one of the greatest hurdles to women's mma. according to insiders like fighter kim coure. >> there's a lot of guys we come across ta just don't like it. they don't want to see it. it's hard for them to watch. >> is it repulse or exposure that's really keeping these women from the big pay dates? the ultimate fighting championship or ufc, is the world's biggest mixed martial arts league. it's got the largest crowds, purses and sponsors. but it's a boy's club. no women. dana white is the founder of the ufc and he has been criticized for his decision to exclude women. especially after this tmz video went viable last year. >> when will we going to see women in the ufc, man? >> never. >> dana declined our request for an interview on this story but he did recently speak with cnn about fee pail fighters and he defended his refusal to include women in the ufc this way. >> the problem is right now about girls fighting in the ufc, there aren't enough good women to create an entire division. >> but michele and other female fighters we spoke with aren't buying that argument. >> every promoter almost other than the ufc has at least one fee pail fight on the card. so that goes to show a lot scenario so almost everyone but the ufc. >> like every card on undercard, there's a girl on the fight. there's a lot of girls in the main event. >> to be fair, michele's point isn't completely lost on the president of the ufc. >> as the port continues to grow in popularity and more and more people start taking martial arts you know, it's inevitable. you'll see a lot of women competing. >> but for now for michele, it's still a question of slinging drinks, scraping by, and fighting for nothing more than respect. living on that dream that some day soon, she'll punch her way to the top tier of the mma and what that would mean for her and fighter girls everywhere. >> it would mean not having to work at a bar. it would mean just being able to train and be a true professional athlete. it would be huge. it would mean everything to us girls. >> you know this next story we have is also one of per 70s. >> many coming up kiss irng, how kiss the band is making tons of money from kiss the brand. >> i think every step you take should be on kiss ground and every breath you take should be kiss air. it should be planet kiss. i'm sorry, we already trademarked that. it was not until the university of phoenix that i was able to work full-time, be a mom, and go to school. the opportunits that i had at the university of phoenix, dealing wh profesonals teaching things that they were doing every day, got me to where i am today. i'm mayor cherie wood, i'm responsible for the largest urban renewal project in utah, and i am a phoenix. [ male announcer ] find your program at phoenix.edu. and i am a phoenix. fore! no matter what small business you are in, managing expenses seems to... get in the way. not anymore. ink, the small business card from chase introduces jot an on-the-go expense app made exclusively for ink customers. custom categorize your expenses anywhere. save time and get back to what you love. the latest innovation. only for ink customers. learn more at chase.com/ink but for some of us with overactive bladder, our pipes just don't work as well as they should. sometimes, i worry my pipes might leak. but i learned there's something more i can do. now, i take care with vesicare. once-daily vesicare can help control your bladder muscle and is proven to treat overactive bladder with symptoms of frequent urges and leaks day and night. if you have certain stomach or glaucoma problems, or trouble emptying your bladder, do not take vesicare. vesicare may cause allergic reactions that may be serious. if you experience swelling of the face, lips, throat or tongue, stop taking vesicare and get emergency help. tell your doctor right away if you have severe abdominal pain, or become constipated for three or more days. vesicare may cause blurred vision, so use caution while driving or doing unsafe tasks. common side effects are dry mouth, constipation, and indigestion. so why wait ? ask your doctor today... ... about taking care with vesicare. [ chuckles ] you think that is some information i would have liked to know? i like tacos. you invited eric? i thought eric gave you the creeps. [ phone buzzes ] oh. [ chuckles ] yeah. hey. [ male announcer ] don't be left behind. get it faster with 4g. at&t. ♪ what makes some bands seemingly stick around forever? it's hard to predict, especially if you had said we're going to wear flamboyant makeup, spit blood, have smoking guitars and plan on rocking after 40 years. >> you look at a band like kiss where they've been brilliant, they've managed to amaze a fortune with that over the top image cnn's poppy harlow who usually reports on high finance is going to cover this for us. >> the hottest band in the world. kiss! ♪ >> isn't the '70s. it's 2011 and kiss is selling out concerts across the planet. >> 38 years ago, we put together the band that we never saw on stage but wanted to. ♪ >> we were not marketing gurus. we didn't know the sense of what marketing meant. we just gave the fans what we knew as a band they wanted. >> this is dr. love. >> but it's the kiss brand that may be worth even more than the music. >> the fundamentals of how kiss is run are the fundamentals that make for a successful business. >> should we head in? >> turns out gene's got quite a collection of kiss merchandise in his lfl a. home and we got a rare look inside. this is what we heard about, the kiss shrine, right. >> come on in. you'll see what i mean. >> oh, my goodness. from kiss coffins. >> look at the quality. they also double as coolers. >> to kiss comics, the group has played the marketing game perhaps better than any band in history. even baby clothes. >> and now boasts some 3,000 different pieces of merchandise. >> we have kiss lotteries, scratch but you don't sniff, kiss mr. potato heads, the kiss boots. you know, you kind of go like that. and, of course, the kiss condoms. and it's my face. it's all funneled through kiss catalog. a holding company for everything kiss. including the trademark to their famous pained faces. >> can you put a dollar sign on the kiss empire? >> we make a living. >> $500 million? >> $750 million. >> oh. >> a billion foo give me a cookie. >> a billion dollars. >> anywhere from one to five. >> kiss items sold to live nation merchandise have raked in more than half a billion dollars over the last 15 years. >> the kiss brand is on what, about 3,000 different pieces of merchandise now? >> right now, there are approximately 3,000 branded pieces of kiss merchandise. only because it's things that the fans want. >> the reason there are so many great things associated with kiss is because you know, the characters and the larger than life imaging, can you name another band that this, would so well with in the first place? >> but when it comes to protecting the brand, they only rust each other. >> it shouldn't be we're the music and then the corporate heads are the business. we work too damn hard to let somebody else steal the glory or the money. >> we've been working in the studio and gene's on his computer going through ebay. i'm like what are you doing? i'm looking for bootleggers. nobody better to watch your house than you. >> gene simmons and paul stanley have equal say in all things kiss. but gene's the one you'll find in the spotlight. >> you've said ta gene is sort of more about the flash and the image of kiss. do you ever worry, paul, about oversaturating the market? >> that's part of my job. my job is to say let's slow down. >> do you tell gene to slow down sometimes? >> sure. >> we got to see how kiss operates when we went on tour with the band. destination, oshkosh, wisconsin of all places where there are plenty of rock and heavy metal fans. >> ballpark, what could you guys walk away from this one show tonight with? >> a million? >> a million bucks. not bad. >> that's why it's good to be me. >> all right. we made it. oshkosh, wisconsin. ♪ >> dinner and a meeting with doc mcgee, the band's manager and a huge part of this business. >> we'll check in about $180,000 worth of t-shirts out there. >> doc's even known for delaying shows to sell more merchandise. >> whoo. >> welcome to a rock festival. >> tonight they've got a meeting with execs from hello kitty. >> my little daughter loves hello kitty. >> for what could be the band's biggest deal yet. >> hello kitty. hello kissy. >> then into the inner sanctum. >> look at you guys. what a transformation. look at these heels. look at these heels. >> how many people can say that they have done gene simmons makeup? >> you know, i would say none. >> not bad, huh. >> like a true woman. >> and now the fun begins. >> kiss! ♪ i want to rock and roll all night and party every day ♪ ♪ i want to rock 'n' roll all night and party every day ♪ >> and when it's over, a trademark reminder that there is only one kiss. and that's it for tonight's show. but we leave you with a preview of some of the stories you'll see on the next cnn presents. >> creditors in plain sight. priested accused of sex abuse kicked out of the church. >> here we are on the block where molester priest lives. do you think these neighbors know about it. >> i'm certain they do not. >> an alarming investigation, how they could be living in your neighborhood. an all-star cast, a controversial play. how a 30-year-old playwright is challenging the way we remember the last day of dr. martin luther king's life. tomorrow on cnn presents". >> i'm don lemon. here are your headlines this hour. polices in riot gear confronted occupy protesters are mace and pepper balls saturday outside the state capitol in the denver from our affiliate kusa. denver police say they took the aggressive action when protesters wanted to get inside the capital. 20 people were arrested. snow is falling across the northeast knocking out power and snarling air traffic across the region. state of emergency declared in massachusetts, connecticut and new jersey. three people have died as a result of the storm so far. americans are believed to be among the casualties of a bloody suicide attack in kabul, afghanis