he's not posted that bail? >> that's right. his attorney said that because the arraignment wasn't until 3:00 today, that he probably wasn't going to be able to get $250,000 cash or in the form of a bail bondsman ortega-hernandez in the form of property posted so he would be spending night in jail. his attorney wasn't happy about it. he said if jerry sandusky was going to flee, he would have done it a long time ago. he's known he's been under investigation since late 2008 and he's been cooperative. es he offered to turn himself in. he did turn himself back in november when charges were accidentally posted to the state court website and everyone found out he was going to be charged before they planned it. the prosecutors asked for $1 million, they didn't get it psh it was a happy medium. >> the second wave of charges, a case that affects not only jerry sandusky but the penn state community, the college is in a way under investigation. what's the impact in the community of the second wave here? >> well, you know, that's unclear. we just came back from court, however, you know, everyone was talking about how jerry sandusky was wearing a penn state wrestling track suit to court and that kind of just shows you how much -- how intertwined that case and this scandal is and how people are feeling right now on campus, they can't seem to get away from it, as much as they talk about how this should be about one man or a few men's actions that they feel like this has encompassed the entire university. >> sara, thank you for your time. also a big development in another big investigation, this into bernie fine. remember, he's the former syracuse university basketball coach also accused of sexual misconduct with minors. a district attorney in new york said that although the allegations are credible he cannot bring charges against fine because the statute of limitations has expired. the d.a. will revisit the case if necessary. >> i can't bring bernie fine to justice for what he did to bobby davis and mike lang and if there's other victims, certainly pursue them to the fullest extent of the law. >> a federal investigation into one allegation. bernie fine says all are false. let's discuss this with a supervisor for the sex crimes unit in broward county florida. let's start with jerry sandusky. the judge, again, granted him bail. is this typical in a case like this that you would have a second wave of allegations and as a prosecutor, would you try to keep him behind bars? >> well, absolutely. i mean i don't think a lot of people are shocked. this is what happens, john in a lot of the high-profile, big pedophile cases. victims initially don't come forward until they hear other victims come forward. i'm sure prosecutors thinking and asking for $1 million bond, it would be tantamount to no bond because it's so high they want this person behind bars because, i bet you there's more to come. these type of allegations could stretch out for a very long time and as more victims hear other people aren't afraid to come forward, they might come forward. don't be surprised if new allegations surface within the next couple of weeks. >> stacey, shifting to the burny fine case, the d.a. says statute of limitations expired but the charges are credible. do the feds have greater flexibility? >> yeah. lots times that does happen. if the state investigation deceased and the federal investigation might take ov you might have more leverage. legislators are looking to change when allegations come out about sesxual abuse they come back to haunt people later in life. so the legislators are changing the statute of limitations. here the d.a. says it's not credible, let's turn it over to the feds and see if they have anything they can do. >> stacey honowitz, thanks. politics, iowa votes first in 27 days but the competition shifted here to washington for several hours. six candidates spoke to the republican jewish coalition promising to be better friends to israel, and more. >> we're in a deep funk as people. we are dispirit rited, dejected, we find ourselves in an economic hole with no leadership and no confidence. >> i'm tell you, they don't want me up here. this city is not ready for me. >> an incumbent rarely turns out of the white house and he will resort to anything. as you know, class warfare and demagoguery are powerful, political weapons. >> also in politics, new cnn/time/orc polling shows dramatic gain business newt gingrich. in the first four nominating contests, gingrich big leads in south carolina, iowa, florida and cut deeply into mitt romney's lead in the state of new hampshire. >> i think people are coming to decide that they like substance and they like somebody who actually has balances the budget, reformed welfare, cut taxes, gotten it done for real. so i think there's probably more resilience in my support than in some of the earlier folks who made a run at this. >> more on those new number and other big campaign news in a few moments. overseas a flab ghasting statement by the syrian president. he says he did not order the bloody crackdown of the nine-month uprising that has left thousands dead. listen to what president assad tells abc's barbara walters. >> we don't kill our people, nobody kill, no government in the world, kill its people unless it's led by crazy person. i became president because of the public support. it's impossible for anyone in this state to give order to kill. >> do you feel guilty? >> i did my best to protect the people, i cannot feel guilty when you do your best. >> cnn's ivan watson reports, assad's words are met be bluntly by the community. >> reporter: departmesyrian opp activists used terms like delusional, insane, assad is amad man in denial of the situation in syria, all in reaction to his performance in that abc news interview when he denied ever ordering syrian security forces to punish anti-government demonstrators in which he claimed loss enjoy much of the support of the syrian population and in which he also claimed that syrian loyalists to the government were making up the bulk of the more than 40,000 people that have been killed since anti-government protests began last march. now, amid this chorus of criticism and the growing number of former syrian allies, the arab league, turkey, here, former close political allies that have now imposed sanctions against the syrian government, there is a strong show of support this week from the powerful lebanese shiite movement, hezbollah, where its leader, stood strongly by bashar al assad in a speech he gave in beirut tuesday. meanwhile the bloodletting has not stopped inside syria. fighting raging along the turkish/syrian border according to news sources, the syrian state news agency, and the anti-government militia known as the free syrian army. back to you, john. >> ivan wasson. we turn to cnn national security contributor fran townsend in new york and here in washington, mohammed al abdullah. i want to play more of the interview. first, barbara walters sitting down with president assad, denying he's the president of the country, he's the strongman who succeeded his father, but ask him about the troops in the military, he says, not my problem. >> do you think that your forces cracked down too hard? >> they are not my forces. they are forces that belong to the government. i don't own them. i'm president. i don't own the country, so they're not my forces. >> but you have to give the order. >> no, no, no. >> not by your command? >> no, no, no. nobody -- no one's command. there was no dmooncommand to ki to be brutal. >> no command given to kill or be brutal. stand by for one more second. back in time, we've been at this for months, he said they're not his troop no command to be given to kill or be brutal. how do they explain this? we can go back through the videos posted by activists in syria, you clearly see troops, protesters gather, shot upon, mohammed, this is your country. when president assad says, not me, wouldn't do it, i don't control the troops, must make your blood boil. >> he's lying about it. healy he's responsible. constitutionally he's the commander of the armed forces and he's in charge and his brother is in charge and leader of the republican guard taking charge, unit of the army making most of the crackdown in the country. he's in charge of this. he met his own definition of crazy when he lied. that's scary me, he's copying gadhafi interview when christiane amanpour. >> there's denial and delusion. what is the end game for al assad? can he lie his way and everybody will turn their attention elsewhere? >> no, john, i think the statement is despicable and untrue but it's manipulative. this is classic assad. it's crumbling around him. his arab allies abandoned him. it's beginning to become unglued for him. this is his ability to distance himself from his troops. he saw the discussion unfold, regards libya and holding gadhafi and his son accountable and the international criminal court. as he sees his own control crumbling he doesn't want to be held accountable. i think the statement is dissdee and cowardice. >> happy to add despicable and cowardice to the list that includes lying, reprehensible and more. 4,000 people, at least, killed, the united nations say, some think the number's higher. fran, you make the point about assad looking around the region and seeing regimes crumble and listen here, he thinks i still have much popular support. >> i don't have problem. both public support, the most important thing. when i feel the public support decline, i won't be here. if they ask or not i shouldn't be here if there's no public support. that's conclusive. >> that's conclusiconclusive. we've seen people for months putting lives at risk, protesting in the stroets. if it happens once or twice you don't know the depth. happens for months and months and people are being tortured, can he say i have the support of the majority of syrians? >> he never had the support. he didn't get elected as he claimed in interview. it's scaring me more, he's adding united nations that partner in the plot and the conspiracy against syria, and that's a new tone in the syrian government propaganda. none of them think the syrian government responded to the report. he denying that they received the report ever. he's lying. >> he's lying. we could say that without a doubt. thanks for coming? is your justice department and your tax dollars, are they part of operations designed to crack down on drug trade in mexico that in the end are helping the smugglers? to supply affordable, cleaner energy, while protecting our environment. across america, these technologies protect air - by monitoring air quality and reducing emissions... ...protect water - through conservation and self-contained recycling systems... ... and protect land - by reducing our footprint and respecting wildlife. america's natural gas... domestic, abundant, clean energy to power our lives... that's smarter power today. borrowed technology from ferrari to develop its suspension system? or what if we told you that ferrari borrowed technology from cadillac to develop its suspension system? magnetic ride control -- pioneered by cadillac, perfected in the 556-horsepower cts-v. we don't just make luxury cars. we make cadillacs. is an agency of the united states government using its power and your money to help mexican drug cartels launder millions in profits? that allegation being made against the drug enforcement administration as part of its program to track and crack the drug money trail. it's similar how it operates to how the bureau of alcohol, tobacco and firearms permitted the operation through fast and furious, designed to learn more about cart operations. congress is investigating fast and furious. the man leading that investigation is congressman daryl issa. mr. chairman, thank you for your time tonight. you sent this scathing letter to the attorney general asking questions about this program. he was supposed to brief your committee tonight and he's to testify tomorrow. have they sent any materials up to you on this day that calms you down a bit and answers some questions? >> not yet at all. as a matter of fact, "the new york times" report, which is very disturb, seems to be following the same pattern as senator grassley discovered a year ago, that's a denial and delay. they're saying there's nothing to brief and refusing to brief us. as you noted, tomorrow we'll have the attorney general back, primarily to explain how he gave less than factual information, some would say false, or he lie but clearly told us he didn't know about the program when he did. he described weeks when in fact it was months that he knew about fast and furious and did nothing to really bring that to congress' proper oversight. >> let me read from your letter. the existence of a program again calls your leadership into question. the managerial structure you have implemented lacks appropriate operational safeguards to prevent implementation of dangerous schemes. consequences have been disastrous. i want to, mr. chairman, address your answer to a democrat out there who says, here's a republican on a witch hunt trying to gett eric holder. why he's not competent to be the top law enforcement officer. >> as you might know, i have not called for his resignation, i've raised concerns about eric holder, lanny brewer, burke who did step down, wine stein, a number of other, hoover, a number of other individual that we've found knew about the program and failed to stop it. we're not looking for politic al pointes or career professionals we're looking for many points in which a program destined to fail was put together and continued on for a long time, leading to the death of brian terry and clearly in the neighborhood of 200 people in mexico have died with the weapons, and more will die. it's the safeguards. it's the management. is eric holder ultimately accountable? yes. do i have confidence in him? no. understand there's other safeguards that failed and our responsibility to the democrats, as you said, is to make sure the justice department fixes these, not for this administration, but for any administration. there should have been career professionals who put a stop to this, not just political appointees. >> talk about the money laundering case. a yes or no question. in theory, it's a good idea for our justice department, our cops, to be trying to learn as much as they can about what the bad guys are doing and potentially getting involved in things like this, yes or no? >> yes. >> in those case, what do you think went wrong? i want to read you from "the new york times" article. a former dea agent says, you're trying to do this with a small amount of money as you can but they tell you to bring $250,000 and they bring you $1 million, what's the agent to do then? tell them, no? they'll kill him. you're trying to use a small amount but it takes more, in my language, to play, is that okay? >> the real question is not how many dollars, it's how long do you let. >> go on? when do you roll up the intermediaries and use them, flip them if you will, to on your operatives. those techniques are known by law enforcement. the answer is you try to make sure no money new york guns, no drugs leave your control and, more importantly, you use people that you have credible indictable evidence against to turn them to help you go up the complain because ultimately you need insiders, people who have flipped. that process, we have oversight on judiciary and make sure it works. when you have an out of control program like fast and furious, 2000 weapons went walking with no trace ability waiting to be found at scene of murders, that shows they didn't use good law enforcement techniques and nobody put a stop to it. is there a fine line of when do you use some of these things and track them? of course. we don't want to tie the hands of law enforcement. but when you see these kinds of abuses and then a coverup, the american people have to ask, where are the safeguards, both with career professionals and politic al pointes. that's our responsibility to do and we're hoping the attorney general begins to cooperate where up until now justice has been delaying and denying. >> you have a lot of questions about niece programs and you've uncovered a lot of things that are wrong about the programs. set the ska scales in terms of fast and furious and now this money laundering program, designed to track and learn about the cartels, on balance has the united states gained l valuable information and hurt the cartels or are the tax dollars going the way in which the drug lords are benefiting? >> the weapons represented a net gain, huge amount, one straw buyer bought 700 that passed into the hands of the cartel far more than one would say you need to prove a case. the problem is, on balance, we are no better off in the war on drugs than we were at the start of this and there have been no big wrap-ups of major cartels as a result of either of the programs. having said that, again, we don't want to tie the hands of law enforcement. we want these safeguards to be in place and when attorney general eric holder say his wasn't informed, we have to ask, why is it all of his lieutenants close around him, number one, two, three, lieutenant loots were actively involved? eric holder say his didn't know and there's not so much one e-mail going from any individuals turned over to the torng th attorney general that we've been provided, it looks like he's out of touch, and that's an important distinction. >> we'll track the questioning tomorrow. appreciate your time tonight. >> thank you. >> when we come back, if you go back to the spring, michele bachmann was the rising star of the republican race. but she has sputtered since. the question, is iowa prepares to vote, can she survive? [ tires squeal ] an accident doesn't have to slow you down. with better car replacement, available only from liberty mutual insurance, if your car's totaled, we give you the money to buy a car that's one model-year newer with 15,000 fewer miles on it. there's no other auto insurance product like it. better car replacement, available only from liberty mutual. it's a better policy that gets you a better car. call... or visit one of our local offices today, and we'll provide the coverage you need at the right price. liberty mutual auto insurance -- responsibility. what's your policy? michele bachmann riding strong performances in the early debates into a top tier spot in the poll but was she has faded since. look at this, new cnn/time/iowa poll, in fifth place with support from 7% of likely caucusgoers. new numbers from the first four states on the republican calendar reinforce her recent struggles. fifth in iowa, fifth in new hampshire, fourth in south carolina, with 6% in support, and fourth in florida but with 3% of the likely republican vote. can the conservative and tea party favorite turn things around? congresswoman bachmann nice enough to be with us tonight. good to see you. a fundamental question. we're less than four weeks from iowa voting. if you come in fifth place in iowa, that is the end? >> well, in every race i've ever had, people have always said she's never going to do it, and i've won. they've all been nightmare races but i've ended up winning. people said i couldn't win the iowa straw poll, i won. we'll be surprised january 3rd. this has been a political wall street where you see one candidate up and then down. we think we're perfectly poised to be in the top spot by january 3rd. >> you believe you can win eye? >> i think we can. that's what we're intending to do. >> where is your line if you don't? top three continue or fourth or fifth is that the end? >> we are concerned with winning. so we're focused on the slift and the deck reshuffle this weekend on saturday with herman cain and now seeing