bachmann and john huntsman are in the single digits. bachmann is still trying to rally support. tonight doing it without the support of two high-ranking members of her team. bachmann's iowa campaign chairman, a man named state senator ken sorenson has jumped ship, going to ron paul's campaign. bachmann says sorenson is a quote sellout and said he was paid to go to the paul campaign. >> i had a conversation with kent sorenson and in the direct conversation that i had with him, he told me that he was offered money, he was offered a lot of money by the ron paul campaign to go and associate with the ron paul campaign. no one else knows about that conversation other than kent sorenson and myself. and i know what he said to me about that. >> sorenson says he went to the paul camp simply because ron paul has the best chance of beating mitt romney and president obama in his opinion. in a statement sorenson says quote as for the ridiculous allegations that congresswoman bachmann and her surrogates have made, i was never offered money from the ron paul campaign and would never accept money. >> was money offered to you by anybody from the ron paul camp to jump ship? >> absolutely not. the fact of the matter is that i did not accept any money from the ron paul campaign. i was never offered a nickel from the ron paul campaign. >> or anybody associated with it? >> never offered a nickel. >> we don't know what conversation if any a took place between bachmann and sorenson. but tonight there's another he said/she said conflict. sorenson's decision was no no way financially motivated. wes enos former iowa political director. bachmann campaign. who said i cannot watch kent sorenson be attacked as a sell-out. when he made that statement, enos may have planned to stay with bachmann, but tonight he, too, is gone. enos told nbc news quote it was a mutual thing, i knew when i undermined bachmann's statement last night that i was effectively tendering my resignation. you can decide who is most credible in this scenario. but bachmann's other claim is less debatable. >> we had kent sorenson's former campaign manager who told me that kent is getting money. we saw incredible momentum, including the fact that last night we had 150 new people calling us, saying they want to stand up for me in the caucuses, we had thousands over the last ten days and that caused the ron paul campaign to be very nervous, because they saw the momentum shifting here in iowa to my campaign. so then they came up with this plan apparently to offer a lot of money to kent sorenson. >> paul has 22% of the vote in the latest poll. that's up 5% from the start of the month. let's get into the raw politics in des moines iowa. candy crowley, host of cnn's state of the union. and democratic strategist for president obama's re-election campaign and also a pollster for the president's 2008 campaign. cornell, bachmann says ron paul is losing steam in iowa, is he? >> i don't think he's losing steam at all and i quite frankly don't understand why bachmann is pushing the story. because this is a story that gets in the way of everything she wants to do. so we're spending all this time talking about people leaving her campaign as opposed to her being on message. it's bad campaigning going on. if you look at paul and santorum, they have a lot of momentum going in the closing. and as any campaign professional will tell you, you want your candidate hitting his or her stride and gaining momentum at the end here. i wouldn't be at all surprised to see an torm or ron paul win. i think both of them have a better chance of winning than romney. >> you think ron paul or santorum have a better chance of winning than romney? >> i think they absolutely have a better chance in iowa. the caucusgoers, you're talking less than 11% of eligible voters voting in a caucus. if you look at the history of iowa, it's a special electorate. on the republican side, tell me which candidate is garnering the first or second choice of the most conservative voter and/or the voter who is in church the most frequently. mitt romney is not the first or second choice of either one of those voters and those voters have a disproportionate impact on the iowa caucuses. just as we saw last time he going in neck and neck with huckabee and finishing second to huckabee. >> iowa has a lot of volunteers coming into that state to try to get to the caucuses. >> these are the people who do the door-knocking and it is such a small group of people who actually end up going to these caucuses, that every door-knock counts. so he can count on reliable, younger people who are caught up in his campaign. whether it's the anti-war message, or the legalization of certain drugs, marijuana included. whether it's his small government message. whatever it is, he has attracted a good number of young people. let me just briefly say that also here on the ground, in iowa, what you hear from a lot of people is a little off from what cornell just said. they believe when you poll the evangelic evangelicals, while it is still very important to them, the matter of abortion, stem-cell research, that kind of thing, that also key and ranking higher to them in terms of importance, are matters of the economy. and something that the mitt romney campaign will point out to you. i don't know who has the better chance at this point. we know that mitt romney is barely leading in the polls and he is here and playing very big at the end. >> rich, what do you make of michele bachmann saying that the paul campaign is paying off people or paying you know this member of her staff to jump ship. does that make any sense to you? >> it doesn't make any sense. but neither did sorenson's reason saying that ron paul was the most conservative person that could win this. i think any, most people would say that would probably go to santorum. but you know, you get involved in these things and that kind of stuff happens. you know representative bachmann is grasping at straws. i agree with cornell. this is certainly not the conversation you want to be having at the pizza plaza, wherever she goes in the last week of the campaign. wauth to be on your message, not message. going back to something else, another polling data point. in contrast to something that cornell was just saying, is that generally speaking, that even, even the most evan jellically conservative iowa caucusgoers may not want romney as their first choice. but they certainly want barack obama as their last choice. and for a lot of these folks, going to the, going to their precinct tuesday night, that will be in their mind. i think they recognize that neither santorum nor paul has a great chance of beating president obama. but romney could get them there. >> and to my good friend this is exactly the sort of thinking that's sort of upsetting the grassroots. because you have the washington establishment pushing their candidate. and listen to what the guy who jumped ship said. he said he was jumping ship to fight for someone who was a conservative, who had a chance to win, there's a grassroots sort of effort and movement out there against romney, against the washington insider establishment candidate. >> and the obama campaign would love to run against ron paul or rick santorum. >> we love, we'll take on any of the field. >> let me ask you, cornell, there's been a lot of focus on rick santorum's surge in iowa. he's still polling third place. toor a guy who has been living in iowa for the past year, he's spent a huge amount of time, his whole campaign has been focused on iowa, is third place enough to do anything? does he have life beyond iowa? >> if he comes in third place, which i'm by the way saying he's going to do better than what the polling is showing right now. from sort of his momentum and who his makeup of the caucus. if he does third in iowa, santorum is done. he's put everything, he went all in in iowa. the same wane that huntsman is going all an in in new hampshire. if he finish as distant third in iowa, time for him to go back to pennsylvania. >> rich, do you agree? >> no, i think, what he and gingrich both will do is to sort of wave at new hampshire by participating in the debates. but head for south carolina, see if either one can stay alive through that. newt certainly can, he's got enough money. santorum can live off the land and i think whoever beats the other in south carolina, the loser goes home. >> i love your remark, living off the land. candy, cmag which tracks campaign data, released a breakdown of what political spots aired in iowa this month. they found will have half of the ads were attack ads aimed directly at newt gingrich. is this clearly textbook evidence that negative ads work? his numbers have dropped significantly there. >> absolutely. there's a reason people do negative ads, they work and they sink in. and that's why i think you have to be a little bit cautious about rick santorum's rise, he's been in all 99 counts, he's worked very hard. he's got precinct captains in most places. the real reason at this point behind rick santorum's rise, is a, he's the only guy left who hasn't had his time for attention and b, newt gingrich fell. and we've seen this pattern throughout this year. you know, michele bachmann goes up and she goes down, rick perry comes up and then herman cain, so it follows the natural rhythm of this year. newt gingrich fell down and the limelight and support went to rick santorum. >> the one thing is that yet, all this keeps going up and down, but it never goes to romney. they're looking toor a candidate other than romney to land on. and right now, santorum is at the right place at the right moment. >> rich? >> the reason that gossip, that negative campaigns work is because like it or not, human beings love gossip and a 30-second negative ad is nothing more than highly distilled gossip. that's why it sinks in and sticks, people pay attention to it. everybody wishes it were different, but it's not different. >> rich, do you think it was malpractice for the gingrich folks not to sort of defend themselves immediately to that? it boggles my mind why they would not. >> he didn't have any money. if they had any money they would have gone up with some kind retaliatory ads, there's no question in my mind. but the old saying, if the facts are against you, argue the facts. if the law are against you, argue the facts. if you have neither one, call the other guy names. >> thank you very much. the iowa caucuses five days away, we'll be covering it all. tune in at 7:00 p.m. eastern when our coverage begins. join us on facebook. follow us on twitter at @andersoncooper. coming up, a website that's been linked to sex crimes in the past, even child prostitution. is now a common thread, say authorities, in at least three murders in detroit. the website is called backpage.com. they're not backing out about the content on its website. we'll talk to someone from the website. later, our exclusive look at the battle in homs, syria. holding soldiers at bay in one neighborhood in homs. we'll hear from the defectors themselves. lose one more by blocking some of the fat you eat. let's fight fat with alli. ♪ your new progresso rich & hearty steak burger soup. 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[ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. in crime and punishment, a disturbing twist in a story we've been following for a year. tonight police are investigating a link between escort adds placed on a website called backpage.com and three murders in detroit. police suspect a killer may be targeting escorts who have advertised online with that website. backpage.com reportedly takes in tens of millions of dollars each career for its online ads for adult service and some of those ads have been linked to sex crimes, including child prostitution. officials at the website told us they are vigilant about monitoring the ads and promptly report potential abuses to the national center for missing and exploited children. law enforsment says criminals use these websites to target their victims a as tool to take a look. four women found dead in less than a week. their bodies stuffed in the trunks of cars. detroit police won't say it's the work of a serial killer. but they're alarmed by another pattern they've discovered. detroit police chief say three of the victims had posted escort ads on backpage.com. >> with the vast increase on the utilization of social media. we have to be vigilant about identifying websites. the first two victims were found in a car. at this abandoned house on december 19th. two more bodies were found on christmas morning. backpage.com said it reached out to the detroit police when it heard about the deaths and are cooperating with the authorities. in a statement, the company says backpage has provided law enforcement authorities with computer, forensic or other evidence that shows that at least 70 different third-party ads or postings on 22 different websites appear to be or are potentially related to this investigation. we're not aware of any evidence that would indicate which of these 22 websites may have been used by the subject which established contact with his victims. police decline to say if they were looking into other postings. >> we felt it was imperative to alert the public that deciding to meet unknown persons via the internet can be extremely dangerous. we implore people to be careful. >> it's not the first time that backpage.com has been caught up in controversy. it's a classified ad service operated by village voice media. owner of a national chain of alternative newspapers. last year under intense pressure, craigslist stopped taking ads for adult services. a firm that tracks online classified, the a.i.m. group said backpage.com generated $2.1 million from escort ads and body rub listings. the site earned more than $23.9 million from adult services ads according to a.i.m. critics say backpage.com is profiting from illegal activity and exploitation. >> we're frying to remove the adult section from backpage.com because it's a breeding ground for human trafficking. >> earlier this month, julian tarver pled guilty to raping and extorting sex from two 15-year-old girls he found on backpage.com. a man was convicted of of pimping out two underage girls. and yerler cnn spoke with a 13-year-old who said she was repeatedly sold for $300 an hour. >> the guys that call you, how old are they? >> you don't know until they walk through the door. they could sound like they were like 21. you walk in and they're like old and disgusting. >> and at this point, how many guys were you seeing a day? >> at that point, like five, four. >> the national association of of more than 50 cases in 22 states involving trafficking of minors on backpage.com in a letter signed by 51rned quote as a practicalt to trafficking onge.com's adult servicesurpose seems to be to advertibackpage.com sa y the first amendmen their listings, they ha nudity andads. theybackpage.com shares the enf the community. best to provide a safe and through aggressive content soph content fil say critics, they want theaway with complete >> there's a backpage.com that is predators . for to stop. it's that terms these ads us adultar codes that authoriti say crimal adviser. mr. mcnally if adult s see peop advertising that? >> well, it's really nt a question of compliance with t t website that yoha in an extraor, specially when it's but you're communications decency actt' use on your quote, held liable any ad for productsof which is lso said that your company is committedo quote pre ses. isn't prostitution an focused o society who areosfilters, most of our enforcement efforts arenti traffickin most vulnerable, which is ch how dyoactivity, your site, it would beyour site said site, we're protte you're not hosting ilga how do you define illegal pros that there's someone o which of detroit free lawful or not lawful, i >> i went on the site person wi signon your site, i'ml ctivity on your site. unwillg would seem to be >> the founded by normal maile services in their ads and earner businesses and the government and they're ot again, i'm not mo according to figures i've$22 min last year.alone. it's obviously very profibl but i don't understand,tif on one hand you're saying we site. and we're not activity. and yet, that seems to be the adult services section. >> my colleague at the bar,is own views.earest example of the problem you're tates congress, democrats andity have three times in the to ban content that would b internet. and eachconservative pro suprem amendment country aonstitutiona muster. for every internet service provider. the core issue hereinesses do, torica's internet >> absolutely, of course.ld agr >> marketed on your concerned about? or is that the business ery we nderson -- that markets what. >> backpage and theilunapologete for 50 years, there he predator befoere newspapers, these are and criminalsil services, commo the roads ofcrimes. >> how do you enforcement is pa attorneys general in manyta cas ki. how do you filter >> wan industry leadern in two proactive at working with law c that front line, the defending our children in our m backpage. >>o a number of policehalf and provided to your as here's wh enforcement officials allgle oue as acng don't. for am gets posted has22,000 word tests of misspelled words, before they i think we're the onlyn the cou monitoring that looks oncnally, me couple of minutes longer, you on our websitebsites like accountable for any crimes. even though critics say the a s attorney gen are clearly adt say yes, we're profit model is? >> iarrassed, i think it's as simple as doing. the over the telephone, youcompany. but a neu think about that? designed to protect illegalacti. and the congressional reliancea think is ai come back a internet is like th i think that with a concerned about ebsites, that inevitably, attention back to that >> but attorney general, mr. of letters from law the country wonding to a subpoe ur involvement in stopping enforcement who doesn'tlar onli a, not quitertainly useful too crime as well,totitution, inclu prostitution of with childprost more monitoring that than adult there's a big business moral an aspect between prostu tolerated most big model of backge their money. but they - why on this then y user rules to post any a servicesibited by law. >> true. prostitution is ase endorsing, . however, as far as i can tell, childckenna, you agree with that? childprostitution?actually show they've been as been. theye which we have we're not satisfied that they'r important point is as long as prostitution, which they do, they tolerate when they met w t ea for adult prostitutes but the other point is know, th human trafficking research, it's that most adult prostitutes are trafficking victims. in fact about 90% of prostitutes who have been reached through academic research have indicated they want out of the prostitution life. >> attorney general mckenna, let me just push back a bit. there's a counterargument to this which says isn't it better to have the ads on a site that does monitor to some degree? >> it's not better because the internet facilities and has facilitated the expansion of prostitution and has directly contributed to the growing rise of child prostitutes being marketed. >> thank you both. interesting discussion, let us know what you think on twitter @andersoncooper. the arab league is under pressure with one activist calling the oppression a mockery. are observers being shielded from the violence? or are they just not looking? or what's going on. plus, north koreans fall silent to honor their dead leader. scenes from a second day of national mourning, stunning scenes. hey, let's look at other stories we're following. a