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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Gunman Kills Seven On Oakland Campus; Tale Of The Tape; Martin Family Demands Justice Department Probe; Wildcats Win!; Three GOP Primary Races Today; Eighty-Year-Old Makes Emergency Landing
Aired April 03, 2012 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning and welcome to EARLY START. I'm Ashleigh Banfield.
ZORAIDA SAMBOLIN, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Zoraida Sambolin. We're bringing you the news from A to Z. It is 6:00 a.m. in the east so let's get started here for you.
What set him off? We are learning more about the man accused of shooting seven innocent people at a Christian college in California yesterday and his possible motive.
He is a former student there. The Oakland police chief telling CNN moments ago, he did have a target in mind when he entered the school.
BANFIELD: And also we're getting a closer look, enhanced video of George Zimmerman just minutes after he shot and killed Trayvon Martin showing a possible head wound, something that may support his side of the story.
SAMBOLIN: Two injured sailors back on land this morning after a wave smashed their yacht 400 miles off the California coast in a race around the world.>
BANFIELD: A win for the wildcats. Kentucky beating Kansas for their eighth national title capping off one of the most dominant runs in NCAA history.
But reports of more violence in Lexington really ruining this celebration overnight. Carlos Diaz live with the highlights and the party, a little bit later on this hour.
SAMBOLIN: But up first, we have brand new developments this morning in the deadly shooting spree that rocked a quiet Christian college in Oakland.
Oakland Police Chief Howard Jordan telling us a short time ago the suspected gunman, 43-year-old One Goh came into the school, took a receptionist hostage, lined up his victims execution style and shot them. Police say he was looking for someone specific.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHIEF HOWARD JORDAN, OAKLAND POLICE DEPARTMENT (via telephone): He lined up all the victims and began shooting at them, and left for a short period of time, came back, went through other parts of the school, just shooting what we call a shooting rampage throughout the school and casually walked out and left in one of the victim's vehicles.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAMBOLIN: Thelma Gutierrez is live in Oakland. What details can you share with us, Thelma?
THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you heard the police chief say that he took one of the victim's cars and then fled. He actually drove to a Safeway store about five miles away from Oikos College, where I'm standing right now.
He went to that Safeway store and the authorities showed up. He surrendered to police. There was no incident at that point. But today, of course, now we're starting to learn a little bit more about the motive.
The police chief said that One Goh was apparently very upset with school administrators, who had dismissed him from this school just earlier this year, and he was coming back after one school administrator.
They have not named that person, but we know that she is a female. So they believe that that is exactly what set him off, the fact that he was dismissed from this school. He was very angry about that.
SAMBOLIN: Now do we know anything about that administrator? I know that we have not identified her. We know that it is a female. Do we know whether or not she was in the school at the time and whether or not she knows at this stage of the game whether she was an intended target?
GUTIERREZ: We don't know that, Zoraida. In fact, the police chief said that he was disclosing details about her. We don't know whether she was in the school at the time of that rampage, but we do know that seven people were killed and three now are in the hospital suffering from injuries from those gunshot wounds.
SAMBOLIN: Do we know the conditions of the ones that are in the hospital at this hour?
GUTIERREZ: Well, Zoraida, there was a woman who was shot yesterday, in fact, we showed some of the videotape of her earlier. She was shot in the arm. She had come through the school.
Many people trying to help her. She was treated and released, but the others are still in the hospital now and we're going to get updates on their conditions as well.
SAMBOLIN: And do we know anything else about the shooter, One Goh, any more details about him and his life? GUTIERREZ: We know that he's 43 years old. He was born in Virginia, and then moved out here to Oakland, California. He was reportedly having difficulties, money problems, and had been to the school.
And then in the midst of some kind of a problem he had with the school, he was dismissed and that's what we're focusing on now, exactly what kind of issue he had here with this school.
SAMBOLIN: All right, Thelma Gutierrez live in Oakland for us. I know you're working on the late-breaking details, thank you.
BANFIELD: It's now 4 minutes past 6:00. We take you now to the tale of the tape in the Trayvon Martin shooting. We have got some enhanced police surveillance video, a video that actually might support George Zimmerman's claim that he was attacked by Trayvon Martin.
Enhanced shot in self defense, you can see it highlighted on your screen. It is enhanced by CNN's experts and it more clearly shows a possible injury to the back of George Zimmerman's head.
In the meantime a Florida prosecutor is lashing out at the Martin's family attorney for claims that that attorney made that the prosecutor and the police chief overruled a request for George Zimmerman's arrest.
The family had asked the Justice Department to investigate these claims. The state attorney, for his part, is calling the account, quote, "outright lies." Martin's family lawyer, Benjamin Crump responded to all of this on CNN's "AC 360" last night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BENJAMIN CRUMP, MARTIN FAMILY ATTORNEY: Nobody is saying that he can't make a self defense claim in a court of law. All we're saying is he should have been arrested.
If that was Trayvon Martin who was accused of pulling the trigger, he would have been arrested right there on the spot. We only want equal justice and fair and impartial to be applied across the board.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: CNN's Martin Savidge is following the developments. He's live for us in Sanford, Florida. Martin, you heard Benjamin Crump saying it's all about the arrest.
Of course, when it comes to an arrest in Florida and in most states, you got to have the probable cause. So this affidavit that Benjamin Crump is alleging exists about a detective who suggested that George Zimmerman needed to be arrested, it's critical that it exists, but yet we're not clear if it does.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right. Correct. We haven't seen that, and that is a key piece of evidence here. This all goes back to, of course, the night of the shooting, February 26th and the lead investigator at that particular time apparently wanted to charge George Zimmerman with either manslaughter or negligent homicide.
But was overruled, as a result of someone from the state attorney's office saying no, you cannot go forward and do that. There was this letter, of course, that's been sent by the attorneys that represent Trayvon Martin's family.
And they are asking the Department of Justice to investigate that specific night and the fact of how it got overruled, and they're implying there was some sort of face-to-face meeting that took place between the chief of police of Sanford and Norm Wolfinger who is the state attorney here in this particular area.
And they seem to be implying that as a result of that meeting some sort of collusion happened and that's why charges weren't filed. Well, we got the response very quickly from Norm Wolfinger who immediately fired back.
And said "I'm outraged by the outright lies contained in the letter of Benjamin Crump to Deputy Assistant Attorney General Roy Austin dated April 2nd, 2012. I encourage the Justice Department to investigate and document that no such meeting occurred.
So he denies that there was any kind of meeting like that and certainly says there was no kind of collusion. So that's where it stands on the war of words right now.
Meanwhile, we talk about the video and this is interesting. This is, of course, the video that came from the jail last week. When we first all saw this video, we saw George Zimmerman. It was like, don't see the injuries that he talks about he sustained as a result of the life and death struggle.
But enhance it as CNN has, take a closer look, freeze it and there you begin to see that there does look like an injury on the back of his head and that would seem to support his claim that Trayvon Martin attacked him -- Ashleigh.
BANFIELD: Well, every minute detail is being voraciously consumed. Martin Savidge in Sanford, Florida. Thank you.
SAMBOLIN: It is 8 minutes past the hour. Two injured crew members from a yacht racing around the world are recovering in a San Francisco hospital this morning.
They were rescued by a coast guard cutter, some 250 miles off the California coast. Huge waves have slammed the 13-member crew and disabled the boat. This was all over the weekend. Officials say it was a delicate rescue operation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAPTAIN TOM CRABBS, USCG: Our biggest concern was with the sailboat rocking up and down and us trying to come alongside, we didn't want to sandwich them in between the two boats.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAMBOLIN: The crew plans to fix the yacht and finish the 40,000 mile race. Wow, that's determination.
BANFIELD: No kidding.
It's eight minutes now past 6:00 and still ahead, a small plane sputtering and crashing into a supermarket in Florida. Several people were hurt who were just out getting their groceries. We'll explain this one.
SAMBOLIN: The Obama administration, big wig out for throwing a party that included $7,000 in sushi. What else was on the taxpayers' tab? We're going to share all of the details with you, when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BANFIELD: It's 12 minutes now past 6:00. Here's something you don't see every year, the best team actually made it out of March Madness alive.
SAMBOLIN: Kentucky beating Kansas for its 8th Mens basketball title and celebrating in the big easy. Carlos Diaz is live in New Orleans. Quite a celebration we understand, Carlos. Are you not there? There you are.
CARLOS DIAZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We just drove by Bourbon Street and the celebration is still going on Zoraida and Ashleigh. It is unbelievable the fans have been waiting 14 years in Lexington for this and now they've got their first national championship in 14 years.
It is head coach John Calipari's first national championship as head coach and after they won regionals in Atlanta he refused to cut down the nets.
Well, last night John Calipari and the rest of the Wildcats cut down the nets as they got the title. It was an eight-point victory, the same margin of victory they enjoyed against Louisville and the Kentucky Wildcats are back on top of the basketball kingdom -- guys.
SAMBOLIN: Was it out of control the celebration because we heard that there were some problems again.
DIAZ: Yes, there were some problems in Lexington. It's kind of weird to say that 30 fires are less than the 50 fires that were started in Lexington on Saturday night.
BANFIELD: Thirty?
DIAZ: But there were 30 fires and dozens of arrests, even one shooting last night. The person that was shot sustained non-life- threatening injuries from what we understand, and there even was a Twitter phenomena that went on last night. There was a Twitter topic called Lexington police scanner, which allowed people to hear some of the quotes being said on the police scanner in Lexington, some quotes were "no, let them let off fireworks as long as they're not lighting them off at each other."
And one other quote from the police scanner, "we have a partially nude male with a propane tank," some of the things that were allegedly heard from the police scanner last night in Lexington.
SAMBOLIN: Yesterday, you were telling us about --
DIAZ: But you can see thousands of fans emptied into the streets.
SAMBOLIN: Yesterday, you were telling us about the tarot card reader who actually got it wrong. How did you do on your brackets? Did you do any better?
DIAZ: Right. You know, Zoraida this shows how small of a person you are that you would bring this up. My bracket challenge was pathetic. I picked Baylor because, and I quote myself, "They have pretty uniforms," and Baylor did not make it into the Final Four.
But this is a great segue about Zoraida bragging about herself.
SAMBOLIN: Yes. Yes.
DIAZ: For anyone who doesn't know out there, Zoraida won the CNN bracket challenge. She is on top of everyone there. And, by the way, I'm sorry, I'm getting some breaking news right now, there is a Senate subcommittee hearing on the cheating that Zoraida did in order to make this --
SAMBOLIN: How dare you call me a cheater!
DIAZ: I just want to do one thing, Bruce and everyone in the control room do not get into her ear, what are the names of the Kentucky players? What's the mascot for Kentucky? Answer that question?
SAMBOLIN: I have no idea.
DIAZ: Come on.
SAMBOLIN: The boy and the man in my life saved me on this one.
Listen, I am going to give credit where credit is due.
DIAZ: I rest my case.
SAMBOLIN: I know. But you know what? I did much better than you and that's really all that the matters, right, Carlos?
BANFIELD,: And I think I may have come in last.
DIAZ: You were breaking up with that last one, Zoraida. I'm sorry.
BANFIELD: Of course, we were breaking up, Carlos. Of course, we were breaking up when we were asking you how you did.
(LAUGHTER)
BANFIELD: Thank you, Carlos.
DIAZ: You know, guys, we are breaking up in more ways than you can imagine. I'm out of here.
BANFIELD: I hear you.
SAMBOLIN: See you later.
BANFIELD: It wouldn't be the first time but thanks anyway.
Now, it's 16 minutes past 6:00. I think I did come in last.
SAMBOLIN: I think you did, sorry. But first and last.
BANFIELD: I'm going to be honest, I don't know who I chose to win. I really don't even know if I chose Kentucky or not.
All right. We want to get back to what we've been up to all morning long, we have a couple of things, cooking at 16 after and Christine Romans is watching our top stories for us.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, ladies.
Let's start with that university shooting. A possible motive is emerging for the deadly shooting spree that left seven people dead yesterday on an Oakland college campus. Oakland police chief telling CNN this morning, One Goh lined up his victims and gunned them down execution-style and he was looking for one particular school administrator because he'd been removed from the school.
Police in Florida are investigating a small plane crash near Orlando. It crashed into the roof of a public supermarket. Police say there were multiple injuries. Witnesses say the twin engine plane was sputtering before it went down right into that grocery store. Customers and employees were safely evacuated.
Former NFL quarterback Ryan Leaf has been arrested again. He allegedly broke into a home in Montana on Sunday, made off with three bottles of prescription drugs. Police say data from the GPS in Leaf's pickup truck shows he was in the driveway of that home that he's accused of burglarizing. Leaf just posted bail Friday on similar charges, breaking into a home and stealing prescription medication.
Martha Johnson, head of the General Services Administration, she has resigned. Two of her deputies, top deputies have been fired after reports of lavish spending at a staff conference in Las Vegas. Four managers of the GSA have been placed on leave. The conference cost more than $800,000 and featured a mind reader and a clown. The government spending cap for the conference was $75,000 per day, and ladies, in an era of cutting budgets and scrubbing out waste, fraud and abuse, it' certainly is an embarrassment dealt with quickly.
BANFIELD: Mindboggling. You think the mind reader would have let them know this was coming. I'm just saying.
ROMANS: Right. I guess they could get a refund for the mind reader perhaps.
BANFIELD: They should, because it was over $3,000. Christine, thanks very much.
Eighteen minutes past now 6:00.
And still ahead minding your business -- all comes back to issue number one, doesn't it? How the political war over your money is about to heat up.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FRED ARMISEN: Hi, I'm Fred Armisen.
CARRIE BROWNSTEIN: And I'm Carrie Brownstein.
ARMISEN: We're from "Portlandia."
BROWNSTEIN: It's a TV show.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sorry to interrupt. But I'm also not sorry to interrupt.
BROWNSTEIN: It's a little absurd.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm not going to go until you go.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, you go.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You go.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You go.
Oh, Yugo.
BROWNSTEIN: We play pretty much all the characters. Do you have another show (INAUDIBLE) in.
ARMISEN: Bits and pieces here and there. There have been other shows that have taken their show on the road. We thought it would be a good idea as well.
Of all the people I know, you are one of them. The show that we do is kind of just us talking, we show some videos, we play some music, we have special guests all the time.
BROWNSTEIN: Being on the road is to actually have a connection, interact with the audience. It really feels like a tour when you're on a bus or a van.
I think "Portlandia" is not only the romanticized version of Portland, but the romanticized any city. It was sunny all the time, and you eat the best food and you meet the best people. And it just left this indelible impression on you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: It is 23 minutes now past 6:00. We're minding your business this morning.
And President Obama is expected to go after the GOP budget plan that was proposed by Representative Paul Ryan and others. And Vice President Joe Biden has been on a swing state tour, talking about autos, Medicare, Social Security, manufacturing, you name it.
SAMBOLIN: And let's bring in Christine Romans now.
Christine, you see the battle lines are being drawn over the economy.
ROMANS: This week, they're really drawing these lines and I think you're seeing a general election theme here that's going to be coming in sharp, sharp focus.
And here's what the two arguments are: that the president is presiding over a recovery and he is making things better for you, that the economy is healing, that he's going to push the Buffett Rule, you got to tax the rich, they got to pay their fair share. He's going to criticize the GOP budget plan and say that the Republicans want to end Medicare as we know it and they want to hurt seniors.
And you've got this other narrative that's coming from the right that says this is the worst recovery in history and this president is making it worse. And it's a battle over the middle class and your kitchen table economics. And whoever wins the message is going to win in November.
I want to bring up something that's in the "Wall Street Journal" this morning, "The worst economic recovery in history." It's from an economist named Ed Lazear. And I'm going to tell you what it says in there.
It says that the president's "policies have failed and they focused on short run changes and gimmicks. Remember, cash for clunkers, first time home buyer credits, rather than on creating conditions that are favorable to the investment that raise productivity and wages."
This particularly line of thinking is something I've heard more poignantly over the past few weeks. They're saying that the regulatory horizon is not very clear, the tax horizon is not very clear, that the president hasn't been able to make it a confident kind of environment for companies. That's why they're sitting on trillions of dollars in cash and not hiring people.
So you have these two different world views about the recovery and who is responsible for it, and how strong it is, and what people with the middle class believes will probably decide the election in November. And it's all kind of coming into focus right now.
BANFIELD: We've heard the administration tout the recovery. So, now, if this is going to be the retort from the Republicans, how will the Democrats come back as we move into the clear cycle over the summer to say, this is why it's at this pace?
ROMANS: It's interesting because the White House is focusing a lot on this whole income and equality and the rich. The rich need to pay their fair share.
You know, there's another group Carlyle group, luminary, who's out today saying, you know, look, this isn't about paying our fair share. We pay what the law says we're supposed to pay. So, the president should fix the law and not blame rich people.
And that's part of this narrative you're going to see. It's going to be -- does the president have the political clout to fix the big issues. The White House was saying, we've got big structural things we're trying to do and you've got a Republican "no" Congress that won't let us fix the things we want to fix.
So, what middle class voters believe I think is going to decide the election in November.
SAMBOLIN: Very interesting conversation at your dinner table and how it affects you personally.
ROMANS: And what you think go your money, and who is helping you save it, spend it and earn it in a responsible way. I mean, really --
BANFIELD: Did you think you were going to get summer vacation? Christine Romans?
ROMANS: No.
BANFIELD: It's over. It's over, sister. That's going to be the crux of the campaign.
ROMANS: You thought it was gas prices. There's a lot of things going on with your money.
BANFIELD: No days off until November 15th.
SAMBOLIN: Nice to have you. Constantly reminding us what the arguments are. We appreciate it.
Twenty-six minutes past the hour.
Coming up on EARLY START: a motive is emerging for the deadly campus shooting in Oakland. We have seven people are dead. What we know about the suspect and his motive.
BANFIELD: And Rick Santorum says he is staying in the race, even if he gets swept out of the three primaries that are on tap for tonight. He says he's got a May strategy, that would be May, as in April, May -- and then there may be a June and July. We're back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SAMBOLIN: It is 30 minutes past the hour. Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Zoraida Sambolin.
BANFIELD: Hi, everyone. I'm Ashleigh Banfield.
Time to check the news making top stories this morning.
And we've got new details about a shooting rampage at a small Christian college in northern California. Police are now telling CNN the gunman was trying to find a school administrator.
SAMBOLIN: An 80-year-old woman taking control of a small plane, after the pilot died in the cockpit. How she was able to pull off an emergency landing.
BANFIELD: Incredible video of an 18 wheeler bursting through a divider, going over a snowy cliff, rolling down the hill, and then it taking the tow truck with it. The driver narrowly escaped. That's the man behind the wheel, injured but alive.
SAMBOLIN: And a new family restaurant with a touch of KISS. Recognize this guy? Gene Simmons opening a place where it's all about the beer and the music and he is here to talk about it later.
BANFIELD: And it's 31 minutes now past 6:00.
A former student who had a beef with the school administrator after being kicked out of class is in custody this morning after a shooting rampage at a small private Christian college in east Oakland that left seven people dead. The scene was chaotic as it unraveled yesterday morning at Oikos University.
The suspect who allegedly opened fire on classmates has been identified as 43-year-old One Goh of Oakland. Police say he lined up his victims, execution-style, and shot them.
I spoke with Oakland's police chief, Howard Jordan, last hour, about how and why this rampage happened.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHIEF HOWARD JORDAN, OAKLAND POLICE DEPARTMENT (via telephone): He just felt a certain urge to inflict pain on them. He gave us no exact reason why he did that. He just wanted to get back at the administration for dismissing him earlier in the year.
He entered the building and he took one of the receptionists hostage, entered the room, was looking for one person in particular and I can't reveal that person's name because that person, we don't want to jeopardize her safety, and he lined up all the victims and began shooting at them, and left for a short period of time, came back, went to other parts of the school, just shooting what we call a shooting rampage.
BANFIELD: Chief Jordan, do you know if anyone in that classroom had time or even the inclination to try to stop him? Did anyone leap at him, try to wrestle the gun away?
JORDAN: Not to our knowledge. We don't believe the victims had any opportunity to resist, any opportunity to surrender. This was a calculated, cold-blooded execution in a classroom that led to the victims, seven of the 10 of them deceased at this point.
BANFIELD: He had a .45 millimeter handgun as I understand. Did he have a chance to reload or just empty what he had and leave?
JORDAN: We're told he had an opportunity to reload, then came back in, and fired multiple rounds again.
BANFIELD: And if you would, please, take me outside of the classroom, once he had lined up the students and shot them and left the classroom -- what happened in the interim before he came back? And did he continue the carnage inside that classroom a second time?
JORDAN: Yes, he came back into the classroom after he left, went to another location and began shooting again, because he realized that there were other students hiding in adjacent classrooms so he began shooting into that classroom again.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Chief Jordan also added they have not been able to locate the murder weapon but they apparently learned a lot of these details of the shooting after the suspect talked to them overnight while in custody.
SAMBOLIN: Just incredible detail there is.
Thirty-three minutes past the hour.
Still ahead, incredible video of a big rig going over a cliff. Take a look at that. It takes the tow truck with it. The driver is inside as it rolls over again and again. We're going to show you where it ended up.
BANFIELD: First, though, Alexandra Steele standing by live with a check of our travel weather.
Hi there.
ALEXANDRA STEELE, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hi. Good morning.
We are going to see snow in the U.S. In Denver, 80 degrees over the weekend, 30s today, three to five inches of snow.
Severe storms potentially -- Illinois, Indiana, Ohio today. Also Oklahoma City, down toward Dallas and Houston. Showers in the south but it is the heat, temperatures continue to be about 20 degrees above average. You can see the axis of this heat from Washington to New York to Memphis, the warmth continues, as does EARLY START continues right after the break.
We'll be back after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SAMBOLIN: Welcome back to EARLY START. It's 38 minutes past the hour.
Polls open at the top of the hour in Maryland and Washington, D.C., and in less than 90 minutes in Wisconsin, with nearly 100 delegates on the line in three key GOP primaries. Wisconsin is the big prize here: 42 winner-take-all delegates. Romney is ahead in the polls in all three contests.
But Rick Santorum is not backing down. He is vowing to press on even if he gets swept by Romney in all three primaries today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICK SANTORUM (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: May is rich with delegates and are strong states for us -- states like Texas and Arkansas and Kentucky and Indiana, West Virginia, North Carolina. Those are the states that we know we can get this back, right back to where it is right now, which is a lot closer than what Mitt Romney and the pundits are spinning is a very close race. And by the end of May, we expect this race to be very close to even.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAMBOLIN: Well, Romney doesn't see it that way. He says a win in Wisconsin would mean the campaign is effectively over for his Republican rivals.
CNN political editor Paul Steinhauser live in Washington.
Apparently, it's not just the pundits speaking. I was reading "The Wall Street Journal" today, that Romney is going to begin raising money jointly with the Republican National Committee and that is for the general election fight. Apparently, nobody told Santorum.
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: We've confirmed that as well. I spoke to RNC officials last night. But that offer for Romney also goes to Santorum, Gingrich and Paul. So, they're not there yet.
But, listen, let's be honest. Wisconsin is probably, Zoraida, one of the last opportunities for Rick Santorum to try to change this conversation in the battle for the Republican nomination and that conversation really kind of says that Mitt Romney is the inevitable nominee.
Santorum is running out of opportunities. Wisconsin we're focusing on it more than the other two because it's the closest of the states when it comes to the polls. If he can't win there, Zoraida, three more weeks until more primaries. So, it's going to be very tough for Santorum really to carry on.
And three weeks later, all of the states look favorable to Romney except for Pennsylvania, Santorum's home state. But the polls are getting close there.
SAMBOLIN: Yes.
STEINHAUSER: You heard him, though. He says he's going on to May when the calendar looks better. He says he's not dropping out until Romney gets the delegates needed, 1,144. Here is where the delegate count stands right now.
Take a look at this. Romney has a more than 2:1 lead in our estimate, but he's got a long way to go to those 1,144 delegates, Zoraida.
SAMBOLIN: You're kind of on a roll here. Yesterday, we were exchanging e-mails and I said give me the magic date where Romney potentially takes the delegates. What are you coming up with?
STEINHAUSER: It could be late May, it depends if Santorum drops out, which doesn't sound like he is. Could be late May, maybe Texas, could be early June, a lot of primaries on June 5th.
Santorum is hoping Romney doesn't get that at all, doesn't clinch at all and then it maybe goes all the way to the convention.
SAMBOLIN: You know I'm going to ask you about your best guess but not right now. I want to know about a new ad campaign that President Obama has out and what's different about it?
STEINHAUSER: Yes, brand new commercial. It's the second from the Obama campaign. Both of them concentrating on energy.
Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NARRATOR: He's raising mileage standards and doubling renewable energy. In all of these fights, Mitt Romney stood with big oil for their tax breaks, attacking higher mileage --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEINHAUSER: You know, it's interesting. It almost sounds like you heard Mitt Romney's name, right? So, it's almost like the general election has begun between Obama and Romney. It's really that the Obama campaign put Romney in there.
The commercial pushes back at an energy alliance commercial that came out last week that criticized President Obama for those high gas prices -- Zoraida.
SAMBOLIN: Paul Steinhauser, live for us this morning, thank you very much.
BANFIELD: Forty-one minutes now past 6:00.
Soledad O'Brien joining us now with what's ahead on "STARTING POINT."
Hey there.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN HOST, "STARTING POINT": Good morning to both of you.
Randy Jackson is going to join us this morning. He is the only original judge remaining since "American Idol" kicked off. We're going to talk all things "Idol." And also talk about the physical and emotional battle that he has had with diabetes ever since he got diagnosed with it, we'll talk about that this morning.
Plus, Morgan Spurlock. The documentary filmmaker has a new film out. It's all about Comic-Con, and how it's expanded beyond comic books, become a major pop culture event with as many as 160,000 people attending last year.
And for many kids it's the sound of summer, the ice cream truck. We'll tell you how one person (ph) here in New York would like to get rid of those trucks, why, because parents don't know how to say no.
That's all ahead this morning. We'll see you at the start of the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SAMBOLIN: Forty-five minutes past the hour. Time to check stories that are making news this morning. Here is Christine Romans. Good morning.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, ladies. We've got new information for you about the suspected gunman who killed seven people and wounded three others on a college campus in California.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS (voice-over): Police say 43-year-old One Goh, a former nursing student at Oikos University, took a receptionist hostage, then lined up his former classmates and shot them execution style. He was apparently angry at one particular school administrator after being dismissed from school.
An 80-year-old woman is forced to land a plane after her 81-year- old husband falls dead while flying that aircraft. This happened in Door County, Wisconsin. The woman was not a pilot. She managed to radio rescue personnel as one of the engines shut down and ran out of fuel. A trained pilot went up in another aircraft to help this woman. The pilot gave her a midair flying lesson to help her land safely.
A tow gone terribly bad. Amazing video of an 18-wheeler, whooh, busting through a divider, going over a snowy cliff, rolling down the hill. And the tow truck trying to rescue it goes down with it. This happened in Norway. Police say the driver went down with the rig. He survived but has several broken bones. The tow truck driver bailed out in time. Wow.
Kentucky cutting down the Nets after beating Kansas 67-59 in the national championship game. It's Kentucky's eighth national title, second only to UCLA. It's Coach John Calipari's first.
And more violence marked (ph) celebrations back home in Lexington. Lexington police say a man was wounded in a shooting as thousands of people were celebrating.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BANFIELD: Bummer.
ROMANS (on-camera): That's really --
BANFIELD: Why, why, why? Especially since we had the same story yesterday about violent breaking out (ph).
ROMANS: It's that mob mentality thing, you know? You got college kids, they're so happy or so sad or so something. I don't know.
SAMBOLIN: I want to focus on Calipari's first. Congratulations.
ROMANS: I like it. Yes, congratulations.
BANFIELD: Thank you, Christine.
ROMANS: You're welcome.
BANFIELD: This guy may have the most famous tongue in histories.
(LAUGHTER)
BANFIELD: You know who I'm talking about, right?
SAMBOLIN: I do. I mean, just look at it.
BANFIELD: I got to say. Just looking at these pictures just brings me back. Gene Simmons is going to will join us live to talk about his new family rock 'n' roll restaurant. Sounds pretty cool, but first off, how on earth does this guy do all the things he does? You're not going to believe the list of things he's in charge of. You're watching EARLY START.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BANFIELD: So, you might recognize the faces, especially the legendary tongue-wagging front man for the band "Kiss," but would you recognize Gene Simmons if he didn't have his makeup on? You probably would if you watched his reality show. I just have to listen to this song. It's just take me back -- oh, man. I'm like 13 all over again.
(LAUGHTER)
BANFIELD: Gene Simmons has been a really busy guy since co- founding "Kiss" 38 years ago, folks. Thirty-eight. He's got an impressive list of accomplishments in the business field. His latest venture is a restaurant in El Segundo, California. It's called Rock and Brews. Gene Simmons is live now in our L.A. bureau.
Hey, Gene, thanks for getting up early, and when I say early, it's like, what, almost four o'clock in the morning for you.
GENE SIMMONS, CO-FOUNDER, "KISS": It's zero o'clock, and I'm going to find out where you live for getting me up at this time. By the way, to fix something.
BANFIELD: Yes.
SIMMONS: It's not a local restaurant. We're already global.
BANFIELD: Well, good to hear.
SIMMONS: Rock and Brews is opening in El Segundo, Maui, Tokyo, at the LAX Airport.
BANFIELD: So, here's what I don't get about you.
SIMMONS: Yes.
BANFIELD: Here's what I don't get -- what don't you do?
SIMMONS: What do I do?
BANFIELD: No. What don't you do?
(LAUGHTER)
BANFIELD: I got this in front of me, Gene, I swear to God, I was talking to my producers this morning, you sure this is Gene Simmons bio, because let me just go quickly over a few things. You co-founded "Kiss" 38 years ago, when what, you're about 19 years old by my guess. You got to --
SIMMONS: Let me stop you for one second. "Kiss" is about to embark on a two-year-long tour with Motley Crue.
BANFIELD: I'm getting to that!
SIMMONS: The tour is mostly sold out. Get your tickets now. My mom wants another house. Go ahead. BANFIELD: This is why I'm asking you this, because you are the consummate businessman. In fact, by the way, speaking of business, you even wrote a blurb in Ali and Christine's "How to Speak Money," because listen to the list here.
You got "Kiss" coffee house, "Kiss" 18-minute golf course, cool springs like the wealth management company, Simmons Records, Simmons Books, Simmons Audio Visual, Ortsbo.com, a language translation company. Gene --
SIMMONS: The world's largest language translation.
BANFIELD: And that's just -- those are just your business creds. Now, we'll get into TV, "Family Jewels," "Rock School," "My Dad's A Rock Star," "Mr. Romance." Do you sleep?
SIMMONS: Well, look, I don't want to -- methinks he doth protest too much. I'm a very lucky guy. But Ashleigh, I'm glad you asked me. Today is the grand opening of Rock and Brews. It's in El Segundo. All the media is going to be there. I'm sure CNN is going to be there as well. All the big rockers are going to be there, but this is a family restaurant that America has been waiting for.
You can bring your kids. It's pet friendly. You can bring your dogs, but it's surrounded by video screens that show the greatest rockers of all-time, because this is intrinsically America, America not only invented flight, but they also invented rock 'n' roll and blues and all that, and we have produced the royalty of the world, rock stars.
In fact, it has now become synonymous with a fighter pilot who's great. He's a rock star. A politician, if he's really fantastic, he's a rock star. You --
(CROSSTALK)
BANFIELD: I like the idea that the restaurant has these 20 large screen TVs that continuously loop these favorite concerts to the best concerts of all-time. So, my question for you, what is your favorite rock concert and rock group of all-time and you can't say "Kiss."
(LAUGHTER)
SIMMONS: You're leading the witness, your honor.
BANFIELD: Yes.
SIMMONS: You can't do that.
BANFIELD: Yes, I can. My show.
(LAUGHTER)
SIMMONS: It's my show and I'll cry if I want to.
(LAUGHTER) BANFIELD: What is it? I really want to hear.
SIMMONS: Well, the most spectacular shows of all-time are obviously "Kiss," but I'll play with you.
BANFIELD: OK.
SIMMONS: The most impressive live performers as far as I was concerned that I've seen in my lifetime was Elvis Presley.
BANFIELD: Oh, nice.
SIMMONS: Because he understood the nature that his body, his physical presence on stage is his art, besides acoustics, here's my next song. So, there a lot of performers who sing great, a lot of them in Vegas and touring all over the place. The ladies understand this more.
When they get up on stage, they know what to do. And you'll be able to watch all of that on Rock and Brews when you come down to any one of our sites.
BANFIELD: You know, I love that you mentioned Elvis, because you are right up there in the stratosphere with Elvis, you know, you and "Kiss" selling more than 100 million CDs and DVDs. And that's right up there --
SIMMONS: But we actually outsell the Beatles and Elvis in licensing and merchandising. We just opened the "Kiss" golf course in Las Vegas across from the Hard Rock. This is planet "Kiss." You're just walking on it. And by the way, we already own the trademark.
BANFIELD: Well, I'm thrilled to be here. I like to be walking through your world. Just quickly, only have a couple of seconds left, but you mentioned really quickly you're going to go on tour with Motley Crue. I know you're clean as a whistle, never touched a drug, but Tommy Lee ain't. That's going to be fun, isn't it?
SIMMONS: You know, if you're lucky and you live in America, life gives you a menu, and you're allowed to pick from it what you'd like, and everybody's allowed to lead life as they like it. I would never break my mother's heart. I'm an only child, and my mother spent all her life raising a good boy. I would never break her heart getting drunk, high and all that stuff.
You know, at the end of the day, when all these idiots come up for air, they go, what an idiot I was. It reminds me of the story of the guy that banged his head against the wall. Somebody asked him, why are you doing that? And the genius said, it feels so good when I stop.
(LAUGHTER)
(CROSSTALK)
BANFIELD: Just going to say, you had me at hello, Gene Simmons and Zoraida, too, by the way. So, we want our personal invitation to a tour of Rock and Brews when we come out to California. Will you take us?
SIMMONS: Yes, ma'am.
BANFIELD: Oh, lovely.
SAMBOLIN: Love that.
BANFIELD: Thanks, Gene. It's good to see you. Good luck with the venture, and by all means, you're invited back when you start the next one in, I think, two months. That's usually your pace.
SAMBOLIN: Boys out there, that's what you want to do, make mommy happy.
BANFIELD: I love him. Thank you, Gene Simmons.
SAMBOLIN: All right. It's 2012. Where is my flying car, Ashleigh?
BANFIELD: Dude.
(LAUGHTER)
SAMBOLIN: We're getting a little closer to a flying car. Can you believe it?
BANFIELD: Oh, good.
SAMBOLIN: A Massachusetts company is showing off its flying car at the New York International Auto Show this week. I was just talking to my kids about this. It's a plane that is street legal. Seriously, it is called the transition. Its first test flight was a success last month.
It flew at 1,400 feet for eight minutes. It has foldable wings, four wheels and turn signals. It seats two people. Orders are being taken. Got the money? $279,000.
BANFIELD: You know what, I hate to say this because it's going to sound so elitist and snobby, but that's actually pretty cheap if you think about the price of a plane. There are very few planes you can get out there for $279,000.
SAMBOLIN: But you have to have a pilot's license, all right, because you can't fly around without that.
BANFIELD: There is that.
SAMBOLIN: Yes.
(LAUGHTER)
BANFIELD: What a nice way to get to work if you're commuting to New York City, particularly. I just don't know where you land? Where would you land in --
SAMBOLIN: On top of a building. Over at Trump Tower.
(LAUGHTER)
BANFIELD: Even Trump can (INAUDIBLE).
Hey, great of you to be with us. We've had a really busy morning, but that is EARLY START, the news from A to Z. I'm Ashleigh Banfield.
SAMBOLIN: And I'm Zoraida Sambolin. "STARTING POINT" with Soledad O'Brien starts right now.
O'BRIEN: Thank you, ladies.
