colombia, it just got bigger. now it's spreading to the dea. the drug enforcement agency. what would you do if you got smacked with a $93,000 bill and what if that bill wasn't even for you? we'll talk to one man who is on the hook for his mother's nursing home bill and the obscure law that's being used to make sure families pay up. beam me up scotty. the first private space launch is in history books with some very special cargo. she's taking over. >> you are a man. you might as well stand up like a man. >> she knows how to jump-start a failing business and today tabatha takes over "newsroom." we begin this morning on a launch pad at cape canaveral. remember scottie from "star tre trek"? right now on his way to a final fro frontier. >> three, two, one, zero. and launch of the space x falcon 9 rocket as nasa turns to the private sector to resupply the international space station. >> so cool. john zarrella is in florida. he's been watching this thing all morning. good morning, john. >> reporter: yeah, you know, it's two-fold interesting today because this is the first real test of nasa's new philosophy turning over to the private sector flying cargo and eventually astronauts in three or four years to the international space station allowing nasa to free up its moneys to go ahead and fly to the deep space hopefully develop a rocket that can take humans onto an asteroid or even onto mars and we also did hear as we mention the fact that in the second stage of that rocket that the company was carrying in that second stage a canister which remains of hundreds of people including scottie from "star trek." something the company does on a regular basis contracting out with rocket companies to do this kind of thing for a price and after the launch today, the ceo of space x talked about just what a thrill this was for everybody in this company and how this is a huge first step. >> every bit of adrenaline in my body released at that point. it worked perfectly. i was glad to see that. and then the second stage worked really well. we've never actually had solar rays. first time we've done solar rays and anything could have gone wrong and everything went right fortunately. i feel very lucky. >> reporter: this was just the first step in a real process. another major milestone is coming up in a couple of days. thursday and friday when they rendezvous with the international space station and then if all goes well on that rendezvous when the dragon capsule is birth to the space station it will be -- there are only four nations in the world that have this capability to do that and now space x is about to become hopefully the first commercial company to do that. we've been trying to reach them all morning to get confirmation on who has been flown up on that falcon rocket. no luck so far. >> you mean scottie from "star trek." his ashes are on board along with hundreds of other people. according to the website, it cost 1,000 bucks to blast your ashes into space if you want to go into deep space it cost $3,000. >> if it's just a ride up and back, it's $1,000. $3,000 to go into orbit and $10,000 to the moon and 13 to deep space. there are all kinds of plans we can buy for the future. >> i guess that's a way to finance the trip into space. i was shocked at how much people wanted their ashes scattered in space and i'm not sure you can actually do that. it's just fascinating. >> i think there's a long list of people who want this to be the case with their remains. i think the creator of "star trek" and his wife, their ashes were supposedly also on a flight coming up in the next month or two. perhaps on the same flight with scottie. >> i get why they would do it. i get while scottie from "star trek" would do it. i just don't get why somebody not connected to the space program would want to do that. there's a lot of space geeks as you know. john zarrella, because you are one. >> exactly. also in the news today, more u.s. federal agents are accused of hiring prostitutes in the south american country of colombia. the newest scandal involves three agents with the drug enforcement administration and it too is based in colombia. republican senator susan collins briefed on the matter says this new investigation suggests a seedy underculture that festers in more than one law enforcement agency. mitt romney is bringing up the big campaign guns today. governor chris christie will help drum up support and cash at a fund-raiser in new york. romney's national finance chairman believes today's events along with a few others this week will bring in at least $10 million. president obama is fresh off a trip to joplin, missouri. one year ago an epic tornado there killed 161 people and destroyed thousands of homes and businesses. the president praised the city's resilience. >> together you decided this city wasn't about to spend the next year arguing over every detail of the recovery effort. at the very first meeting, first town meeting, every citizen was handed a post-it note and asked to write down their goals and hopes for joplin's future. more than 1,000 notes covered an entire wall and became the blueprint that architects are following to this day. i'm thinking about trying this with congress. >> volunteers from all over the country are headed to joplin to help with continued rebuild efforts. also this morning, in north carolina, jurors begin the third day of deliberations in the trial of john edwards. yesterday the jury asked to review documents on what wealthy donors gave and when. edwards is accused of illegally funneling campaign money to his mistress. he could face 30 years in prison. there is an environmental crisis bearing down on the west coast of north america. the same wall of water that southwest over coastal japan and wiped away entire communities also flushed mountains of debris into the ocean. now the first waves of the wreckage from the japanese tsunami are washing ashore creating a crisis for both the environment and for taxpayers in the united states. cnn's casey wian is in alaska. >> reporter: good morning. i'm standing on the banks 20 miles outside of a small fishing village. across the channel you can see a sand bar that's called the black sand sped. we were over there the other day. i want to show you what we were able to gather that's washed up on the shore of that pacific ocean facing beach. look at all of this material. just an example of some of the things that alaskans are seeing wash up on their shore. debris washes up on these beaches often and has been for years but what they are saying is they are seeing things that they've never seen before in quantities that they've never seen before. stuff like this which is spray insulation that goes into the interior walls of a building used in construction. they believe that's from buildings in japan. this is a giant buoy that is used in the oyster fishing industry in japan. this is a piece of a styrofoam buoy. they have never seen things likes this before and also bottles with japanese writing. now, just the other day we went across that channel by boat with a member of the salmon board here in yakutat and let's look at what we're seeing. >> more foam and buoys and giant white cylinders of styrofoam. some construction grade insulating foam. that sort of thing. >> what makes you suspect that a lot of this stuff is debris from the tsunami? >> well, it started showing up with 55-gallon drums with japanese writing on it. >> what do we have over here? >> this is an example of one of the large buoys that was our understanding were used to anchor lines or baskets of oysters. >> the fact that there is english lettering on it doesn't mean that it's not from japan, right? >> no. >> now the immediate issue is how do they get this stuff cleaned up off the beach. they have group of volunteers going out trying to do that. the problem is these areas are so remote and many of them you can only get to by boat or helicopter. cleaning it up is a big difficult task and then what do you do with all of this debris once you have got it cleaned up? they're trying to figure that out and the big concern, there's more coming and they don't know what is in all of that debris that's still coming in way over the next several months. carol? >> so who is paying for this? the cleanup, i mean. >> we all might be because the locals here say that they need federal help to clean this up. there is so much debris. they are willing to do their part in terms of collecting it but we're in an area where the town is only 650 people. there are people coming from all over to help clean this up. what they're saying is they need federal help in terms of tax money and state help as well to get it cleaned up and figure out what to do with it and mitigate in advance as much as they can the damage from what may be more toxic substances that are on their way. >> casey wian in the far reaches of alaska this morning. thank you. some confusing news for men. they are now being told not to bother with the prostate cancer screening test. that was considered almost routine for years. what's up with it now? we'll tell you. plus, stephen colbert's super pac idea to get kids involved in the political process. it's taken off. >> i want every college across this great nation to have their own my super pac. >> yeah. may sound like a joke but dozens of young people have jumped up and taken him up on his offer. we'll talk to one later. especially in this economy. but with three kids, being home more really helped. man: so we went to fidelity. we talked about where we were and what we could do. we changed our plan and did something about our economy. now we know where to go for help if things change again. call or come in today to take control of your personal economy. get free one-on-one help from america's retirement leader. like a ramen noodle- every-night budget. she thought allstate car insurance was out of her reach. until she heard about the value plan. dollar for dollar, nobody protects you like allstate. now to news about your health and it's confusing. for years prostate cancer screening was considered almost routine but not anymore. a task force studying the issue is advising men to skip the test all together. alina cho is in new york. this is confusing. it's tough to know what to do to protect yourself. >> it is. it's really confusing. i've looked at the research many, many times, carol. one thing is for sure. this is something that affects a whole lot of men. we're talking about at least 44 million men. it's important to listen to this. and it's something that is really counterintuitive. for many people incomprehensible. why wouldn't you get tested for prostate cancer? the united states preventive services task force is now recommending against what's commonly referred to as the psa test. it's a simple blood test really. the task force is saying that at best psa screening may help just 1 in 1,000 men avoid death from prostate cancer. the recommendation is that the test may actually do harm because most prostate cancers found by screening are slow growing, not life threatening and will not cause a man any harm during his lifetime. that's the important part. now what can is the treatment. most men who are in the words of some doctors overdiagnosed will suffer serious side effects from treatment they may not need. side effects like impotence, incontinence and possibly even early death. >> i know it's not the first time the panel weighed in on something controversial, right? >> that's right. the last time was a story that we paid attention to very closely, carol. remember this is the same panel that made waves a while back when it recommended that women in their 40s should skip routine mammograms. you remember that story. now as for the psa test, while the american cancer society has not recommended routine psa screenings since the late 1990s, the american you aurological wan to get baseline levels. the benefits of the psa test do not outweigh the risks. that's the take away. >> if my husband goes to the doctor, what's his doctor likely to say? >> you know, the interesting part about the reaction about all of this is that the american urological association condemned the findings. it is inappropriate and irresponsible to issue a blanket statement against psa testing particularly for at-risk populations. they go on to say that what could happen as a result is that many men will no longer get tested because they are listening to this news thinking they don't need to because they have now been told and they fear that prostate cancer that a psa test could have caught may go unnoticed until it is too late. carol? >> confusing. alina cho, thank you so much. >> you bet. some critics called him a turn coat for endorsing president obama in 2008 but will colin powell, republican, endorse obama in 2012? his answer next. [ female announcer ] did you know the average person smiles more than 50 times a day? so brighten your smile a healthy way with listerine® whitening plus restoring rinse. it's the only rinse that makes your teeth two shades whiter and two times stronger. ♪ listerine® whitening... power to your mouth. now is your chance to talk back on one of the big stories of the day. the question for you this morning, are 30 days in prison enough for a hate crime? neither insiside is happy with decision to sentence dharun ravi to 30 days in prison plus a fine and community service. he used a webcam to record his roommate, tyler clementi, having sex with man and tweeted his friends about it the case renewed discussion about anti-bulling on the internet. tyler's mom talked about her son's pain. >> i had no idea about the despair and torment tyler must have been feeling and i thought i knew him. tyler and i had been very connected. so much so i felt like a piece of me died in september of 2010. >> yet ravi never apologized to the clementis or the court for what he did. new york daily news says 30 days is what you get for petty larceny or spray painting graffiti but he posted the news on the internet and he got 30 days and that was not enough. >> ravi was convicted of bias intimidation, what most people think of as a hate crime. the judge said he didn't believe ravi hated tyler clementi. the ravi case is an example of how civil rights laws are being stretched to go after teenagers who acted meanly but not violently. still, if ravi's actions don't constitute a hate crime, then what does? if they don't, why convict him of hate crime? so the talk back question for you today, are 30 days in prison enough for a height criate crim. facebook.com/carolcnn. i'll read your comments later this hour. colin powell, a republican, who took a lot of heat for endorsing barack obama for president in 2008 is not ready to do it again. back in the day, the former secretary of state called mr. obama a transformational figure and was upset at republican attacks on obama's character. this time around powell says he's not ready to endorse obama. listen to what he said on the "today" show. >> i always keep my powder dry as we say in the military. i feel as a private citizen i ought to listen to what the president says and what the president has been doing but i have to listen to what the other fellow is saying. i have known mitt romney for many years. good man. it's not just a matter of whether you support obama or romney, it's who they have coming in with them. >> so the president may not get colin powell's endorsement but another ally throwing obama into defensive mode. booker said political attacks made him nauseous. that was a reference to mitt romney's bain capital experience. a punching bag for the obama campaign. republicans seized on the remarks in an e-mail to supporters and booker filed back on msnbc last night. >> i'm upset. i've been taken out of context. i've been used to support a cynicism. if there's any honor in what they were saying, mitt romney would have said like obama did, citizens united decision will hurt our democracy. he would have come out and said the negativity on our side, i'll talk about us, has got to stop. if he wanted to come out and stand with me, he would say i stand with corey booker. let's stop the super pac money and negative campaigning and talk about the issues. >> so let's bring in mark prest preston, our political director. hi, mark. >> good morning. >> so booker can backtrack all he wants but he said it. he set the stage for republicans. >> he did. look, what is really damaging for the obama campaign is that corey booker is very good out there on the stump for president obama. he was an early supporter. when you hear criticism from corey booker about the system that we're currently in, a system that president obama's campaign is engaging in, that's why it's so damaging and that's why we're seeing republicans seize upon it, carol. >> also president obama was asked about it yesterday in chicago. he doubled down on the issue saying bain ought to be on the table. let's listen. >> when you're president opposed to a private equity firm, then your job is not simply to maximize profits. your job is to figure out how everybody in the country has a fair shot. >> the problem though big businesses, private equity firms, are job creators and also they donate lots of money to campaigns. is the president's strategy risky? >> it is risky in the sense that he's walking a very fine line right now. what president obama is doing is trying to really make this a fight between the middle class, the people who are hurting, and the 1% which is something that we talk about or have been talking about for the past year right now. the very, very wealthy. middle class are the ones who are hurting. what is certainly problematic for president obama and what some democrats are concerned about, carol, is that when you have president obama out there attacking business as a whole as a big blanket statement, democrats are fearful because there are a lot of districts here all across the country where they are not necessarily very liberal. not like massachusetts or new york city. they tend to be conservative. you have conservative democrats who are concerned that president obama would go directly at business that way. we should note as well that big business is also going to play a big role in this campaign. not only are they donating to president obama but they are also donating to mitt romney. we just saw yesterday that the u.s. chamber of commerce said they'll spend more than $50 million alone on this election and i can tell you that money will not be spent on trying to help elect president obama. >> u.s. chamber of commerce a big lobbyist for big business. that $50 million will go to mitt romney's side. >> no question about that. it will be more than $50 million is what they say now. >> mark preston, thanks. stephen colbert's idea to getting college students involved in politics sounded like a joke. >> i want every college across this great nation to have their own my super pac. >> coming up, we'll talk to one recent college graduate who took colbert up on his super pac starter kit. he started cats for a better tomorrow tomorrow. [ engine turn] [ male announcer ] we began with the rx. [ tires squeal ] then we turned the page, creating the rx hybrid. ♪ now we've turned the page again with the all-new rx f sport. ♪ this is the next chapter for the rx and the next chapter for lexus. see your lexus dealer. mary? what are you doing here? it's megan. i'm getting new insurance. marjorie, you've had a policy with us for three years. it's been five years. five years. well, progressive gives megan discounts that you guys didn't. paperless, safe driver, and i get great service. meredith, what's shakin', bacon? they'll figure it out. getting you the discounts you deserve. now, that's progressive. call or click today. 31 minutes past the