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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
France's New Era; JPMorgan Chase Hearings Coming; New Evidence Revealed In Trayvon Martin Case; Fake Cop May Be Killing Drivers; Edwards Trial Enters Fourth Week; Newark Airport Security Supervisor Arrested; Wildfire Spreads, Residents Warned; Facebook Raises IPO Price Range; Pardoned Felon Faces New Charges; Michael Jackson Costumes For Sale; JPMorgan Chase Shareholder Meeting Today; Rebekah Brooks Facing Criminal Charges; Commencement Address or Political Speech?; FAMU Pres.: Band Suspension Will Remain In Place
Aired May 15, 2012 - 05:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ZORAIDA SAMBOLIN, CNN HOST: Top of the morning to you. We are glad you're with us. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm Zoraida Sambolin.
ALI VELSHI, CNN HOST: And I'm Ali Velshi in for Ashleigh Banfield. It is 6:00 a.m. in the east. Let's kick it off. We begin this hour with breaking news.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI (voice-over): Former "News International" CEO, Rebekah Brooks, will face criminal charges for her role in the U.K. phone hacking scandal. She is accused of conspiracy to pervert the courts of justice in the investigation into Rupert Murdoch's media empire. Her husband, Charlie Brooks (ph), has also been charged.
The couple released a statement a short time ago. It reads, quote, "We deplore this weak and unjust decision. After the further unprecedented posturing of the CPS, we will respond later today after our return from the police station."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAMBOLIN: Oh, excuse me. I'm sorry. Also happening right now, France ushering a brand new era with the swearing in of new president, Francois Hollande. We just showed you a pictures -- ah, there are live pictures again that we're showing you. He is expected to push for new ways to deal with Europe's economic crisis.
Holland has blasted the austerity measures that have defined Europe's response to the crisis for the past two years. Holland is France's first socialist president since 1995. It's quite a bit of pomp and circumstance. I have no idea if it's typical.
VELSHI: Maybe -- the Arch Detriumph, what better place to use it during a presidential election. But it's got a royal wedding-y feel to it and a lot of rain and they're still coming out there.
ZORAIDA: The spectators were lined up watching this morning.
VELSHI: Big event for those of you in France today you're having a good time.
We're expecting some new developments this morning in the $2 plus billion trading disaster at JPMorgan Chase. JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon stands before his shareholders in Tampa today.
This was a scheduled event. He needs to explain how the massive losses went down. Now those same shareholders will be voting on Dimon's $23 million pay package, something that was likely certain to go through prior to this development.
The Senate Banking Committee now confirms it will schedule hearings in the next few weeks.
SAMBOLIN: New developments also in the Trayvon Martin case. We're getting a preview of never before seen evidence. Prosecutors have filed an eight-page document. It's listing potential state witnesses.
The document also details new evidence including crime scene photos of the defendant, George Zimmerman, Trayvon Martin's autopsy report and video from the night of the shooting, including the convenience store. which prosecutors believe Trayvon went that night.
VELSHI: Terror on the highway in Mississippi, this story is unbelievable. Authorities are on the hunt right now for a killer who they say may be posing as a police officer, pulling cars over and then shooting the drivers dead.
They are asking for the public's help after two deadly shootings over the past week that took place about 50 miles apart. Police in the state are actually telling people don't pull over if you see flashing lights.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHERIFF BILL RASCO, DESOTO COUNTY, MISSISSIPPI: The things that we want people to realize, if they feel like they're going to be pulled over, the first thing to do is turn on your flashers and dial 911.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: Martin Savidge is live in Atlanta with more on the story. Quite incredible, Martin, what do we know so far?
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Ali. Yes, some very interesting advice coming from authorities there in North Western Mississippi, which is essentially this.
If you're driving on the highway in the middle of the night and a police officer is pulling you over, call the police. The reason for this is, as you point out, there have been two deadly shootings that took place last week.
The first was on a Tuesday. It was about 1:15 in the morning, 74-year-old man driving from Nebraska gets apparently pulled over. They're not quite sure what's going on because there are no witnesses.
But they fear there may be a fake police officer that is pulling these people over. The second shooting took place three days later, another remote highway, north western Mississippi, this time a female driver found dead just outside of her vehicle.
Authorities are putting two and two together and don't like the way it adds up. Listen to what they said in the news conference yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm not saying a man in a police car. We're putting credence into is that a common denominator we have between both incidents is that we believe both vehicles were on the side of the road. And you tend to look at how vehicles got to the side of the road and that's one of the things that we're certainly looking at.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAVIDGE: You see these vehicles were not apparently broke be down, which is the quandary police have. Why did the vehicles get to the side of the road? That's where they're thinking it might be someone pretending to be a police officer who then kills.
The relationship between these two murders, they were 50- some miles apart, there were shootings in both cases. Authorities won't go into any other details besides that, but that's why they're alerting the public. Turn on your flashers, call the police, go to a well-lit populated area.
VELSHI: What a remarkable thing, Martin, because, look, I don't like getting pulled over just like the next person, but that's certainly not the thing that comes to mind. So I supposed whether you're in Mississippi or otherwise it's useful to know that is an option.
That if you're getting pulled over before you do anything, I'd be worried that police want me to roll down my window and do whatever it is they're asking and one worries about reaching for a phone and what the police might think that involves if you're legitimately getting pulled over.
But if you're not certain about it, take that extra step and call 911 and say you've just been pulled over.
SAVIDGE: Yes, good advice anywhere especially when you're traveling late at night by yourself.
VELSHI: Yes, just be careful about not reaching down under seats and glove compartments and things like that. This is not the way it's supposed to go. Martin, good to see you as always. Thank you, my friend.
SAVIDGE: Thanks, Ali. VELSHI: John Edwards' daughter, Cate could be called in to testify today as the former senator's defense team tries to convince jurors that nearly $1 million used to cover up Edwards' extra marital affair constituted gifts and not campaign contributions.
Laura Haggard, former chief financial officer for the Edwards' presidential campaign in 2008 testified yesterday that she never considered the money to be campaign contributions.
Edwards' consultant Harrison Hickman also testified that he had spoken to one of the wealthy benefactors who gave Edwards money and that he insisted it was a gift and not a campaign contribution and that is what the case hinges on.
SAMBOLIN: It's five minutes past the hour. A security supervisor at Newark Liberty International Airport is accused of being an illegal immigrant who stole the identity of a man who was killed 20 years ago.
Officials say 54-year-old Bimbo Oual was using the identity of a man named Jerry Thomas and was supervising more than 30 private security guards at the airport and had access to all sorts of secured areas. It's not clear how he passed numerous background checks with the New Jersey state police and with border patrol.
VELSHI: A wildfire burning out of control right now outside Fort Collins, Colorado. Sixty firefighters working through the night staying on the scene to guard some nearby homes, but officials say they aren't in any immediate danger. 911 calls went out to residents warning they may have to get out.
SAMBOLIN: Put down your coffee and look at this, a massive sink hole in Florida and that thing is actually growing bigger. It's forcing at least the one family who lives in that home to leave.
The sink hole first appeared Friday in a backyard in Jonesville. That's just right outside of Gainesville. The hole is now 80 by 40 feet. It swallowed a barbecue grill and you can it is inching toward a shed. The property has been condemned and the family has moved out.
VELSHI: All right, Facebook is raising the price range for its highly anticipated. IPO shares are expected to go to institutional investors for between $34 and $38 each, up from the previous $28 to $35.
That means when the social networking firm finally goes public on Friday morning the value could top $100 billion and also means if you are not one of these experienced high net worth traders, you're not getting anywhere close to that price.
SAMBOLIN: And is that the definition of an institutional investor? VELSHI: Institutional are mutual fund managers and hedge fund people, companies that buy the shares. Regular investors buy it when it comes on to the market at whatever price and I've had any guess from $50 to $90 is what regular people pay for it.
SAMBOLIN: Are you trying to get in?
VELSHI: I'm going to buy one share as part of my story of talking about how we buy the share. I'll be curious what I pay for it and I'll let you know.
SAMBOLIN: I love that. All right, up next, Ron Paul not ending his campaign for the White House. He will do the next best thing though. We're going to explain that to you. You're watching EARLY START.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: It is 10.4 minutes after the hour. I've never really been good at this time thing. All of you watching us have clocks. If you're depending on me to tell you the time --
SAMBOLIN: This is part of our job.
VELSHI: I see, I'm sorry, it's 11 minutes after the hour.
SAMBOLIN: And it's on the bottom left-hand side of your screen just in case.
VELSHI: Just in case you forget. Christine Romans, we don't expect you to have the news so Christine brings that to you.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: That's right. I do have the news for you. This is what we've got working on for you everybody.
Former News International CEO Rebekah Brooks will face criminal charges for her role in the U.K. phone hacking scandal. She is accused of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice in the investigation of Rupert Murdoch's media empire. Her husband, Charlie Brooks has also been charged.
More than a dozen students and their driver have been recovering from injuries this morning after their school bus slammed into the back of a truck near Springfield, Illinois. The bus fell full of sixth graders were returning from a field trip yesterday afternoon when it rammed the truck in a construction zone.
One of the convicted felon pardoned by former Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour is now facing new charges in a deadly drunk driving accident. Harry Bostik is accused of causing a wreck that killed an 18-year-old woman back in October.
If convicted he could face at least 30 years in prison. This isn't his first brush with the law. He's been convicted in three drunk driving cases. He was pardoned after his third conviction, one of nearly 200 people to receive that pardon from Hayley Barbour.
Ron Paul is not officially suspending his campaign for the White House, but he won't be spending any more money on it. Instead of trying to compete in the remaining primary contest, the Texas congressman plans to collect as many delegates as he can at state conventions so he can have more of a voice at the national GOP convention in Tampa in August.
All right, who didn't rock the one glove look back in the '80s? I know you guys did, after Michael Jackson made it famous. Imagine Ali Velshi in the one glove. Now you can actually own the crystal glove Jackson wore.
It's up for auction along with the other clothing and costumes worn by Jackson. The items will first go on a traveling exhibit this summer in South America, Europe and Asia. The bidding starts in December.
If you're leaving the house right now, you can watch us anytime on your desktop or mobile phone, just go to cnn.com/tv. Did you do it? Come on.
SAMBOLIN: No, I did not, but Ali said that he's going to auction his off on Facebook today.
VELSHI: It's really not convenient to have one glove. I don't get anything out of it. By the way, Zoraida and I are discussing, Christine, whether or not the validity of this time thing.
SAMBOLIN: So I say people are running around to the house, trying to get your kids ready for school. You're trying to get yourself ready and you remind folks what time it is.
VESLHI: And the one day we don't do it because I'm subing on the show, half of America is late for work. The bald guy didn't tell me the time.
ROMANS: I think people who are up at this hour know exactly what time it is. They maybe aren't been on the treadmill and already out the door.
VELSHI: There you go.
SAMBOLIN: All right, well, differing opinions. I'm going to continue telling you the time.
VELSHI: The time battle continues.
SAMBOLIN: As a matter of fact it's 13 minutes past the hour here.
VELSHI: Closer to 14 actually, but whatever, I don't want to be picky. Wait a few seconds it will actually be 14 minutes after the hour.
SAMBOLIN: Moving on, the hot dry conditions out west, wet, damn conditions up north, so we're done with the weather, right, Rob?
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, exactly and for the record, there's not one clock in my house that's accurate. So I appreciate someone telling me the time.
SAMBOLIN: Thank you, Rob.
VELSHI: That's why we tell you the time.
MARCIANO: And the more time we take off my weathercast --
VELSHI: It's all yours.
MARCIANO: -- rainfall across parts of the northeast to D.C. This will fill in throughout the day and will continue to fill in as we go through the next really two days. A 48-hour forecast couple of inches of rainfall in some parts here, but we'll take the rain.
You can use it. Bad news is New York metros and Philadelphia, even D.C. and Chicago get into the act as far as airport delays today. Another front coming across the northern tier and the heat continues to build across parts of the southwest.
Near record-breaking although not quite, 106 degrees in Phoenix, just north and east of Phoenix are four wildfires burning there. Here's a video of the sunflower fire, about 3,000 acres burned so far and some evacuations under way.
No real improvement expected today as far as weather is concerned, maybe a little bit of a switch from the wind taking some of that smoke elsewhere. But firefighters continue to have their hands full because it will be hot and dry.
Hurricane season, today is the first day of the Pacific hurricane season and right on time, we've got a tropical storm. Name is Aletta, about 600 miles south of Manzanita (ph), heading off to the west, no problem. But today is the first day of the eastern Pacific season, June 1 is the first day of the Atlantic season so that's just two weeks away.
It is 15 minutes after the hour.
VELSHI: Of course it is.
MARCIANO: Ali and Zoraida, back to you.
VELSHI: Pleasure to see you, Rob.
Hey, U.S. astronauts launching into space this morning, joining a Russian crew on a journey to the International Space Station. The team took off from Kazakhstan on the Russian Soyuz spacecraft. That's how Americans have to get up there now.
The crew is joining up with three colleagues already at the space station. NASA has to rely on Russia's space agency to transport U.S. astronauts after it grounded the U.S. shuttle fleet.
SAMBOLIN: And flight delays and cancellations seem inevitable when you travel these days.
So, what can you do when you are stuck in the airport?
Christine Romans has all sorts of answers for us.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: You can exercise, you burn calories, right? "Road Warriors" this morning, everybody. Instead of sitting in a bar, that's so much fun, though, now you can workout at the airports around the country.
San Francisco International opened a yoga room in January. There's a mile-plus walking path in the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport. You can do tai chi or meditate at Los Angeles International.
Some airport hotels have opened the doors to their fitness center. You can, stow your carry-on bags in lockers. You can buy workout clothes, if you left yours at home. You can grab a shower before catching a flight.
Some exercise options are a short ride or a cab ride from your terminal. Now, airportgyms.com offers free listings of workout locations in 37 states and the easiest way to stay fit may be just to walk through the terminals, avoid those moving walkways, take the stairs, use your carry-ones as weight, you don't want to check them for $35 and you have no excuse for blowing off your workouts when you're at the airport.
That's your road warrior for the day.
VELSHI: I'm Pilatesing for the first time today.
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: I haven't seen my core in years.
ROMANS: You'll know about your core tomorrow.
SAMBOLIN: Oh my goodness.
VELSHI: I might be late for work tomorrow.
SAMBOLIN: A little update.
VELSHI: And this is my year for yoga.
SAMBOLIN: I love yoga. I did it religiously when I was pregnant and occasionally.
ROMANS: I'm not a yoga fan. I don't like the other people breathing.
SAMBOLIN: The hot yoga should be incredible.
VELSHI: All right. I'm going to try that when I get pregnant.
Billions down the drain. High dramas as the boss of JPMorgan Chase gets ready to explain to shareholders how that trading disaster went down. A live look at what's coming his way today after the break.
It's just almost 18 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SAMBOLIN: Twenty-one minutes pa the hour.
Ali said, wasn't she just on? She is on again. We're going to be minding your business.
VELSHI: I mean that in the most loving way. You can't get enough of Christine.
ROMANS: You can't shake me.
SAMBOLIN: Between these two, it's a rough start.
VELSHI: It's been 10 years. We're not going to shake each other.
ROMANS: Oh, man.
SAMBOLIN: The Dow, NASDAQ and S&P 500 all lost a percent yesterday even though they're celebrating and clapping as they usually do.
Let's bring Ms. Christine Romans to talk about the big story in the U.S., JPMorgan.
ROMANS: That's right. And Jamie Dimon will be facing investors, the people who really matter are the people who are investors in the bank, some of them probably angry that the stock is down 14 percent over the past five sessions, that annual shareholder's meeting is in Tampa, Florida.
And Poppy Harlow is there.
Good morning, Poppy.
He's expected to face some blowback I expect at this meeting. Is there any chance they could separate his job a little bit? You know, he's the chairman and CEO. Could there be a move to put in somebody else as chairman?
POPPY HARLOW, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: It's a good question. Good morning, Christine.
There are going to be people calling for that. There are three big things we're likely going to hear from the shareholders down here today. Let's go through those.
The first one is really who knew what, when, when it came to the $2 billion loss. Does Jamie Dimon at the helm of this bank have control over what is happening.
You'll recall back in April, media reports arose about this potential $2 billion loss, potential at the time, actual now, he called it a tempest in a teapot. He has since said he was dead wrong but did he have a grasp?
The second thing is what about pay for him and the top lieutenants at JPMorgan. What is their executive pay package going to look at? Shareholders now get to vote on that. They get a say on pay.
And that key question, should Jamie Dimon hold both of the top spots at the bank, CEO and chairman, he'd held them respectively since 2005-2006, is that too much control over America's biggest bank with $2 trillion in assets. Those are going to be the questions.
And this couldn't come at a worse time for JPMorgan, this loss being announced late last week and then this once a year shareholder's meeting coming today, Christine.
ROMANS: You know, so there's this question about does Jamie Dimon have too much power and the corporate governance experts -- they don't like it when someone's chairman and CEO at the same time.
You need to have that balance but does it show maybe the banks are so big and too big and to complicated? I mean, should they be simpler? Will those questions come up?
HARLOW: I think they will. You heard Elizabeth Warren who is running obviously for the Senate in Massachusetts, calling for that. You said banks should be boring. I want boring, simpler banking.
You also had the question of regulators. And Ali had that very good conversation with Sheila Bair, who basically said, you know, regulators have such a hard time keeping a handle on this complex financial engineering.
So, what do you even when you have regulators inside, physically inside these banks, looking at things, you have a bigger capital cushion. You have more money to fall back on, she thinks that needs to increase. But again, so interesting, Christine, Jamie Dimon has been outspoken against parts of Wall Street reform, not all of it.
But one of the parts he's been very against is the Volcker Rule, banks betting with their money making a direct mark to profit. He has said interestingly that this would have been allowed even under the Volcker Rule because of that economic hedging, basically offsetting risk, Christine.
So we're going to hear a lot about al of that definitely in the meeting today.
ROMANS: OK. Thanks, Poppy.
You know guys, it's interesting, if Jamie Dimon didn't know about the loss, how could regulators know about the loss, that's talking about a simpler bank, when did Jamie Dimon know something is going wrong. And if this is happening under his nose --
VELSHI: Yes. So, there are two possibilities here and they're both terrible. One is Jamie Dimon knew, in which case it feeds into what everybody thinks about the banks and greed and the one he said he didn't know, and if he didn't know that's scary, too.
ROMANS: If you're a shareholder you're mad about both possibilities.
VELSHI: It's one thing ordering a bad batch of milk for your store. It's quite another when you lose $200 billion or $2 billion. So this is the trick that people have to get their heads around.
ROMANS: If you lost $200 billion.
VELSHI: I'm sorry. Yes, it was $2.3 billion. You just lost track of these numbers.
SAMBOLIN: I just think it's remarkable that you can lose that kind of money and be OK.
VELSHI: Right.
SAMBOLIN: All right. Thank you so much, Christine. We appreciate it.
Twenty-five minutes past the hour.
So, you see graduates. What do they see? Hundreds of registered voters.
Coming up: whether President Obama and Mitt Romney gave commencement addresses or campaign speeches to college grads.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ZAMBOLIN: Good morning to you and welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Zoraida Sambolin.
Here what he's happening at half past the hour here.
VELSHI: Some big developments in the U.K. phone hacking scandal. Criminal charges have been filed against former News International CEO Rebekah Brooks, seen here. She and her husband Charlie accused of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice in the investigation of Rupert Murdoch's media empire.
The couple released a statement a short time ago that reads, quote, "We deplore this weak and unjust decision after the further unprecedented posturing of the CPS, we will respond later today after our return from the police station," end quote.
SAMBOLIN: A manhunt on right now in Mississippi. Police say a killer may be posing as a fake cop, pulling people over and then shooting them dead.
Police are urging drivers to keep going, actually keep driving, if you see flashing lights behind you, but you're also urged to call 911 at the same time.
VELSHI: John Edwards' defense team is trying to convince jurors that nearly $1 million used to cover up Edwards' extramarital affair constituted gifts and not illegal campaign contributions. Edwards' daughter, Cate, could be called to the stand. It's not clear what she might know about her father's attempt to cover up his relationship with Rielle Hunter.
SAMBOLIN: Political speech or commencement address. In the case of Mitt Romney and President Obama, it's been a little bit of both this week. The president eager to court women voters delivered the commencement address at Barnard College yesterday, while Romney desperate to bring evangelicals aboard spoke to graduates at Liberty College on Saturday.
Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Justice for the persecuted, compassion for the needy and the sick, or mercy for the child waiting to be born. There is no greater force for good in the nation than Christian conscience in action.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: After decades of slow, steady, extraordinary progress, you are now poised to make this the century where women shape not only their own destiny, but the destiny of this nation and of this world.
(END VIDEO CLIPS)
SAMBOLIN: So let's go live to Washington, D.C., and we are joined this morning by CNN White House correspondent Dan Lothian and CNN political editor Paul Steinhauser. Nice to see you both, gentlemen.
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good to se you.
SAMBOLIN: I'm going to start with you, Dan. Not surprising, right, that they would be giving commencement speeches and stomping at the same time?
LOTHIAN: That's right. I mean, they all are trying to focus on their key base audiences who could be crucial -- and for Obama, women in particular could be crucial for his relocation hopes.
You know, we looked at the recent polling here, we've seen Mitt Romney tick ahead of the president just ever so slightly in support among women. This is a group that the president won in 2008 in his victory over Senator John McCain. And so, while we saw yesterday a traditional commencement address, it was focused at the women not only in the audience but at that larger female audience across the country.
You heard the president talking about equal pay, fighting for a seat at the table, taking control of your own health care decisions. And again, the president repeated a theme that we've heard time and time again out there on the campaign trail in particular, in those battleground states where the president talks about the influence of strong women in his own life, his wife, his mother, his grandmother.
And this is a theme that you'll continue to hear the president focusing on. Today again, he'll be sitting down on "The View," a popular TV show that has a large female audience. He recorded it yesterday. It will air today, focusing on some hard issues but also some fun topics as well as the president tries to make female voters very comfortable with giving him a second chance in November.
SAMBOLIN: But, Dan, it's not just the female voters, right, it's the young vote that they also need.
LOTHIAN: That's right. They really do need the young vote. Also the African-American vote -- we've been talking a lot about that as well.
Young voters were the base of the president's victory in 2008. Remember they were the grassroots effort. They went out there. They were very enthusiastic for the president.
Many of them, though, have felt like -- well, you know, maybe they're grown up and not as enthusiastic, or there's this younger group that's come along that really hasn't been able to get fired up, because now he's no longer the new guy, right? He has a record. He is the old guy who has been in office already.
And so, this is an audience the president is trying to keep captive, perhaps not the glory he had in 2008 but certainly trying to get excited.
SAMBOLIN: Trying to fire them up.
All right. Thank you.
Paul, I'm going to switch over to you now. We're always talking numbers with you. We know Mitt Romney has problems with the conservative vote. Are there any new numbers out there?
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: Specifically on the conservative vote nothing brand new to share with you this morning. But, you know, Zoraida, why did he go to Liberty University to give the commencement address? As you mentioned he struggled during the battle for the Republican nomination to win the social conservative vote, a lot of them going for other candidates such as Rick Santorum and maybe part of that was his Mormon faith.
That's probably why you saw him give the address at an evangelical school founded by the late Jerry Falwell. And maybe it was part of his objective to get social conservatives firmly in his camp as he now takes on the president in the general election. That's why you heard him talked a lot about faith and values and the importance of family.
You know, coming just days after the president's announcement on supporting legal same-sex marriage. That's why you heard Mitt Romney mentioned he firmly believes that marriage should be between one man and one woman. But he only mentioned it once.
And, Zoraida, here's the key -- he also used the speech to talk about the economy and that's really Mitt Romney's wheelhouse. That's where he's most comfortable and what he wants to talk about, jobs, the economy. Today, in Iowa, he's going to be talking about the federal debt and government spending, that's where Mitt Romney wants his campaign to be, Zoraida.
SAMBOLIN: All right. Paul Steinhauser, Dan Lothian, thank you so much for joining us this morning.
VELSHI: All right. Would you recognize this Nobel Peace Prize winner if you saw him? I have to show you him first. There we go.
Yes, I'd probably recognize him. But somebody at the TSA may not have.
More about Henry Kissinger's airport experience coming up.
SAMBOLIN: Oh, no.
VELSHI: Yes.
SAMBOLIN: All right. But first, we're going to take a quick check of your travel forecast with Mr. Rob Marciano. It's 36 minutes past the hour.
MARCIANO: Good morning again, guys.
East Coast a little bit of rainfall there so keep the umbrella handy. Stalled frontal boundary is now moving across much of the Appalachians. So, just be aware of that not only today, but I think tomorrow as well. Radar fill in from Boston back through D.C. At some point, it will be heavy at times especially northern parts of New England and Upstate New York, they can kind of use the rain. It will slow down travel if you're traveling through the big airports.
Also, the threat for severe weather across Chicago, and down across parts of the Carolinas, daytime highs will be seasonable in New York City, but toasty across parts of the Southwest.
Thirty-six minutes after the hour. That's a quick check on weather. EARLY START is coming right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: All right. Man versus miners. This is disturbing video. It surfaced online this morning. It's about a one-sided attack that has a suspect in some serious trouble.
Alina has been following this.
What a strange story. Tell us about it.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And it's unbelievable because this is -- if you think about it, this is the world we're living in, a YouTube led police to an arrest.
VELSHI: Right.
CHO: Good morning, Ali.
Good morning, everybody.
You know, it all started with a sucker punch -- a brutal neighborhood beat-down posted online on YouTube for everyone to see. We want to warn you that the video you're about to see is disturbing. It begins with a group of men approaching three teenagers on the street.
The teens are just hanging out, having a conversation, one of the men winds up and punches one of the teens in the face. Listen.
(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)
CHO: Well, some expletives thrown around and more punches and kicks are thrown as well. The whole attack lasts for about a minute. The victims don't appear to be able to fight back at all. Police say after viewing the video, they were actually able to identify the man you're about to see there, 19-year-old Barron Ewing (ph) as one of the attackers. He was arrested and booked into the orange county jail on a child abuse charge because the victims were minors.
VELSHI: Right.
CHO: He has since posted bail and has been released.
Now, Ewing actually admitted to the beating. He told police it was in retaliation for being jumped by one of the teens a couple of days earlier. We don't know yet if the other man, the other attacker in the video was arrested, because we don't know his identity, and police aren't talking about it.
VELSHI: How do they find the video and who shot it?
CHO: It's interesting. We know how They found it, it was an anonymous tip from a woman who, quote, "wanted to intervene for the two victims." So she called it in to police after a quick YouTube search, authorities were able to find the victims -- find the video rather and that's how they were able to identify this man and arrest him.
VELSHI: Were they able to identify the kids and talk to them in.
CHO: Well, they were. They did identify the kids and did speak to them. None of the victims thankfully were seriously hurt but they're not identifying them of course because they are minors.
Our affiliate WFTV actually was able to track down and speak to the father of one of the victims. He would not reveal his identity but did go on camera and this is what he had to say.
Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was horrible. I mean, when I saw it, I just, I just come unglued. I mean I couldn't believe what I was looking at.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: Pretty understandable reaction there. The father obviously says he hopes that these attackers are convicted, that they're sent to prison and that this won't happen again. But imagine as a parent, having to sit through and watch that, and thousands have seen it because it's all on YouTube for everyone to see.
VELSHI: That's incredible. All right, Alina, thanks.
CHO: You bet.
VELSH: Zoraida?
SAMBOLIN: Thank you so much.
Forty-two minutes past the hour. Let's get you up to date, here's Christine Romans.
ROMANS: Hi there again.
Former News International CEO Rebekah Brooks will face criminal charges in connection with the U.K. phone hacking scandal. She's accused of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice in the investigation of Rupert Murdoch's media empire. Her husband, Charlie Brooks, has also been charged.
The couple releasing a statement a short time ago that reads, "We deplore this weak and unjust decision. After the further unprecedented posturing of the cps, we will respond later today after our return from the police station."
A manhunt is on right now in Mississippi. Police say a killer may be posing as a fake cop, pulling people over and shooting them. There were two fatal shootings just 50 miles apart in the past week. The victims, a 74-year-old man and a 48-year-old woman, both found dead in their cars on the side of the road.
And seems no one is of limits from the TSA pat-down, the latest high-profile search, Nobel Peace Prize winner and former secretary of state, Henry Kissinger. A freelance reporter recognized Kissinger on Friday at LaGuardia Airport in New York. Matthew Cole (ph) told the "Washington Post" Kissinger was in a wheel chair and got, quote, "the full monty" even after saying his name and passing through scanner.
Here's something you don't hear often, zero unemployment -- that means that everyone has a job, and people who majored in astrophysics, geophysics, pharmacology and actuarial science did that in 2010. Anyone who majored in those subjects last year ago jobs after college. Zero percent unemployment. This is according to data from Georgetown University -- something to think about picking your major or helping your kid decide on what school to focus on.
All right. Today's advice comes from model Christy Turlington Burns, also the founder of Every Mother Counts.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTY TURLINGTON BURNS, MODEL: The best advice I received was really from my mom, which was to see as much of the world as I possibly could. And I would give the advice back to my children and to anyone.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: See as much of the world as you can. Good advice.
SAMBOLIN: I love that. And how often do they say the best advice came from mom?
ROMANS: It right up at 80 percent now.
(LAUGHTER)
SAMBOLIN: Fantastic.
ROMANS: About eight out of ten tell us that it's their mom.
SAMBOLIN: All right. Thank you very much, Christine.
ROMANS: You're welcome.
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN GUEST HOST, "STARTING POINT": As they should.
SAMBOLIN: Yes, as they should. Right. Brooke Baldwin, as you're listening to, is in for Soledad O'Brien. And yes, most of the good advice, right? Do you have good advice from your mom?
BALDWIN: Oh, love my mother. She was with me all weekend. I was ready to see her off, but I love my mother, nevertheless.
(LAUGHTER)
BALDWIN: Zoraida, good morning. Good morning to all of you. Got a lot coming up here in the next two hours at STARTING POINT.
First up, we're talking more JPMorgan. The problems are getting bigger this morning. Investors, they're getting their first crack at the CEO today after that massive trading mistake cost the company at least $2 billion, and now, we're hearing possibly much more. The question is really how high will that go? We're all over that.
Plus, a window into never before seen evidence this morning in the case against George Zimmerman. I'm talking 911 calls, photos, videos from that 7-11 store all going now into evidence. What does this do here to the case against the neighborhood watchman? We're actually talking to Zimmerman's attorney, Mark O'Mara, live. We're going to ask him if he has any surprises in this evidence at all.
Also, parents, listen to this one, no hand holding, no kissing, or perhaps, that's really all that is allowed here. I'm talking Tennessee, this new law bans sex ed instructors from condoning any contact and I'm going to quote here which is considered "gateway sexual activity."
What does that entail? Oh, yes. We're going to go there. Congressman John DeBerry is a supporter of that law. He's going to explain why, so pay attention.
Also, don't forget, you can watch CNN live on your computer or your mobile phone while you're at work, just go to cnn.com/live and that's it.
SAMBOLIN: Quite a variety.
BALDWIN: Quite a variety. We'll see you soon.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SAMBOLIN: Welcome back. Fifty minutes past the hour.
The Florida A&M University marching band will remain suspended through the 2012-2013 academic year. FAMU's president telling the school's board of trustees the band must be completely restructured before it will allow to get back together. The death of drum major, Robert Champion, exposed the band's culture of hazing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was heavily influenced by the need to be respectful of Robert Champion's family as well as other alleged victims. A young man lost his life.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAMBOLIN: George Howell joins us now live from Atlanta, and I know that they want to be respectful of this young man and that the parents are happy about this decision, but there are a lot of students at this that are band on scholarship, and band is a big part of this school.
GEORGE HOWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That means a lot of students who are in high school say Southwest DeKalb High School here in Atlanta, a big draw to FAMU, those students may not get those scholarships going to that school. And it is a big draw, Zoraida, as you mentioned. This school was -- rather, the band was set up in 1892, it's got a long history. This is the same band that has performed at Super Bowls. They played at presidential inaugurations, taken top honors with countless competitions. So, it will be a big deal for many of the fans who expect to see this band on the field not there for this next year.
SAMBOLIN: Now, they are absolutely spectacular to watch. So, tell us about this suspension and what it will actually take to get the band cleared in order to be able to play again?
HOWELL: Well, the suspension will remain through the 2012-2013 school year, and basically, the president said he wants to see this culture of hazing rooted out. That will mean obviously finding new ways to supervise these students when they take trips. Also, restructuring the management, the staff there who oversee the band.
He wants to see new leadership in place. Obviously, the current band director, Julian White, recently retired, so the band is without a band director. That will, obviously, have to change. The president will have to find a new person to lead that band.
SAMBOLIN: And I understand that this may be some lost revenues for the school as well?
HOWELL: Could very well be, and President Amons (ph) spoke about that on the conference call just yesterday. He talked about the fact that ticket sales at two big games that the school attends will likely take a hit. So, they are looking at alternative forms of entertainment, but from many fans, it will not be the same.
The president, though, still said that he hopes fans will understand that he's doing this so that he can make the band better moving forward.
SAMBOLIN: Yes. So, they can revamp it there. George Howell joining us live from Atlanta, thank you for that.
VELSHI: The story to be reporting, a nuclear reactor that no one's ever heard of before. Don't feel bad because people living right next door to it didn't know about it. We're going to tell you about a big American company that kept nuclear secrets from everybody around them.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SAMBOLIN: Fifty-six minutes past the hour.
VELSHI: Oh! I was just going to ask you what time it was.
(LAUGHTER)
SAMBOLIN: All right. So, the Democrat in chronicle in Rochester, New York, revealing shocking new details about Kodak's headquarters. Kodak Company is best known, you know, for its photographic film. They captured those Kodak moments, but from 1978 to 2006, Kodak was hiding a secret nuclear reactor on its basement.
VELSHI: A what?
SAMBOLIN: Uh-huh. And that reactor was enriched with uranium. It's the same stuff that is used in atomic warheads. This is what Kodak says, how they explain it. The reactor was used for research and testing to check materials for impurities.
VELSHI: That's good. I didn't want impurity in my film.
SAMBOLIN: The company dismantled that reactor back in 2006, so, no need to worry now.
(LAUGHTER)
VELSHI: I hope they got rid of it well.
A new study reveals sleep walking is much more common that experts have previously believed with 30 percent of people admitting to a history of sleepwalking. WebMD reports the study polled 16,000 adults. Some of them said they sleepwalked as a child. In a similar study conducted last year, only 3.6 percent of adults said they ever sleepwalked.
Experts say sleepwalking is more common in childhood, and scientists also believe that certain medications such as anti- depressants and some sleeping medications can increase the likelihood of sleep walking.
SAMBOLIN: Are you awake yet?
VELSHI: Yes. Now, I'm awake. Now, I'm really walking.
SAMBOLIN: A Virginia man drops 100 pounds after he's told he is too fat to ride a roller coaster.
VELSHI: Whatever it takes.
SAMBOLIN: Affiliate, WTBR, has this story. Nat Ambrose (ph) weighed over 300 pounds. This was nine months ago. Back then, workers at Kings Dominion Theme Park said he couldn't ride his favorite roller coaster because the safety harness would not fit him. That was it for him. That was his wake-up call.
He started dieting and exercising, lost 100 pounds. And guess what, he can ride that roller coaster --they should let him ride that roller coaster for free --
VELSHI: That is excellent.
SAMBOLIN: Forever.
VELSHI: Whatever it takes to motivate you.
SAMBOLIN: Wow!
VELSHI: Are we out of time?
SAMBOLIN: We're out of time.
VELSHI: Oh, man. That was a fun show. This is EARLY START, the news from "A" to "Z." I'm Ali Velshi.
SAMBOLIN: And I'm Zoraida Sambolin. "STARTING POINT" with Brooke Baldwin starts right now.
