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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Facebook's Price Tag; Flesh-Eating Bacteria Strikes Second Victim; Closing Arguments Today in Edwards Trial; The Cost of Looking "Mansome"
Aired May 17, 2012 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ZORAIDA SAMBOLIN, CNN ANCHOR: Good Thursday morning to you, and welcome to EARLY START. I'm Zoraida Sambolin.
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Ali Velshi. Ashleigh Banfield is on assignment. It's 6:00 a.m. in the east, so let's kick it off. First, what do you want to talk about today? What's going on in the news?
SAMBOLIN: Facebook, perhaps?
(LAUGHTER)
VELSHI: Facebook. Today, we find out exactly how much it will cost the big guys to get a piece of the social network. After the close of the market, well find out -- still doesn't mean we'll know how much it's going to cost you when it goes public on NASDAQ tomorrow. It's expected to create a thousand new millionaires and maybe a bunch of billionaires.
SAMBOLIN: Good gracious.
VELSHI: Is price going to be right for you to get a piece of the action, though, Christine?
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Think of that, a thousand more millionaires. And you think -- I think 3,500 people in California are going to have to pay on average a million dollars in taxes.
(CROSSTALK)
ROMANS: Oh, yes. I mean, what this is going to do for Jerry Brown's budget is going to be unbelievable. But what is it going to do for your budget? That's the big question. Are you going to be able to get -- first, let's talk about what this -- this is why you're so obsessed with Facebook, because you know what it does.
And you know that it's really changed the world. Look at the connections. These are the connections between users worldwide through Facebook. Nine hundred million people are using Facebook.
526 million of them are what we call active users, meaning they're logging on all the time and making connections around the world. Why can somebody make money from that? Well, because they can try to sell you things. They can find out what your patterns of behavior are -- VELSHI: Because you tell them. You tell them everything about yourself.
ROMANS: You buy apps. There's a way to get people. You have this captive audience. And when you look at 20 minutes on Facebook, folks, a million links are shared every 20 minutes on Facebook -- 1.9 million friend requests are accepted every 20 minutes on Facebook, 2.7 million photos uploaded, almost 2 million status updates and 10,000 comments made.
VELSHI: She sounds so enthused, you would think that she would be telling people to get involved in the stock. But we know that she's not telling people that.
SAMBOLIN: I know, I know. You all need to calm down I think at the end of the day you're both saying this is a fantastic company.
ROMANS: Yes.
SAMBOLIN: But the question is, is it a good investment?
ROMANS: We don't know yet. IPOs are risky. This is the beginning of the company phase for Facebook. We're going to look under the hood. We're going to learn more about how they're going to make money. They've got a lot to prove, of course.
We know that the business concept is amazing. The business model, will it deliver returns for investors? That's what we're about to find out.
VELSHI: We're going to have a fun day, you and me.
ROMANS: I know.
SAMBOLIN: You know what's interesting, one more question for you guys, you know, when you talk about Apple and all the people who missed out on Apple but how it did make so many millionaires. I think a lot of people are looking at this and comparing --
ROMANS: But you know what? It's interesting. Apple went sideways for years and almost went out of business. So, Apple has been very successful of late.
VELSHI: That is a good point.
ROMANS: Google is a good analogy. I was cautious around -- I admit, I was cautious at Google. I said IPOs are risky, blah, blah, blah, all the early investors.
VELSHI: A hundred bucks on day one. I thought that was way too high that early.
ROMANS: I don't know what's close on Google yesterday, but it's been a stock that has done very, very well.
But just so you know, folks, I'm the brakes, Ali is the accelerator on all things business. That's how we address this.
VELSHI: Vroom, vroom.
SAMBOLIN: All right. Thank you, Christine.
VELSHI: They get the right story.
SAMBOLIN: Little bit of everything. You see where your risk is, right, and where you're comfortable?
VELSHI: Yes, that's right.
SAMBOLIN: Thank you.
All right. Two minutes past the hour here. Under attack from six air tankers and 500 freighters in the so-called Gladiator Wildfire in the Bradshaw Mountains of Arizona has still doubled in size.
Take a look at your screen. It's destroyed three homes so far. The fire is devouring 9 square miles and only 5 percent contained. Four separate fires have burned 18,000 acres in Arizona so far.
VELSHI: Closing arguments get under way this morning in the corruption trial of John Edwards. The jury could begin deliberating by tomorrow. The defense rested yesterday, calling only seven of the 65 people on their witness list.
Edwards and his daughter, Cate, were not called. Neither was Rielle Hunter, Edwards former mistress. Edwards could get 30 years behind bars, for allegedly using nearly a million in illegal campaign contributions to cover up his extramarital affair with hunter.
SAMBOLIN: And "New York Times" report on how police in Sanford Florida handled the Trayvon Martin shooting. Investigation reveals a series of missteps. We'll put them on the screen for you.
Among the findings, that they took just one photo of George Zimmerman's injuries at the scene. Zimmerman's vehicle was not secured as part of the crime scene. Police did not properly cover the crime scene and critical blood evidence may have been washed away with rain. They failed to test Zimmerman for alcohol or drug use.
And George Zimmerman is charged, as you know, with second-degree murder. He claims he shot the teenager in self defense. Martin's family claims he was profiled by Zimmerman and the shooting was racially motivated.
VELSHI: An autopsy will be performed later this morning on Mary Kennedy, the estranged wife of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. She was found dead in her New York home yesterday. The Westchester County medical examiner expects to announce a cause of death later today.
Mary Kennedy struggled very publicly after her husband announced he was filing for divorce in 2010. She was arrested twice for dui that same year. Mary Kennedy leaves behind four children. She was 52 years old. SAMBOLIN: And welcome to the debt ceiling debacle, part two. The White House warning Republicans not to hijack the U.S. economy after the president's high-profile economic yesterday lunch with Senate and House leaders. The Congress will have to raise the debt ceiling again at the end of this year and Republicans, as you know, are vowing to block the move if it's not offset by spending cuts.
Vice President Biden and House Speaker Boehner ushering in the stalemate.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R-OH), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: Where is the president's plan to tackle our looming debt crisis? It's time for us to deal with the big issues that are affecting our country and our society. We've spent enough time playing small ball.
JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: My mother and father dreamed as much as any rich guy dreams! They don't get us. They don't get who we are.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAMBOLIN: The president and GOP leaders did agree on one thing during yesterday's White House lunch, the need to reach agreement on a bill to prevent the student loan interest rate from doubling in July.
VELSHI: Protesters converge on the Alabama state house where lawmakers were revising the state's controversial and strong immigration law. Critics say the changes make the nation's toughest immigration law even worse. Final rests with the governor who is said to be reviewing the legislation.
SAMBOLIN: And the percentage of minorities in the U.S. population is on the rise. According to the Census Bureau, it went up half of 1 percent between 2010 and 2011. And that means 36.6 percent of the population falls into that minority category. That's 114 million people.
The Census Bureau defining minority as anyone who does not identify themselves as white and non-Hispanic.
You know what they say about karma. Police say a bike thief's crime was caught on camera. We've got it for you. That's not all you're going to get to see. Watch as what goes around comes around.
Coming up on EARLY START. Six minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SAMBOLIN: It is nine minutes past the hour. Welcome back to EARLY START. Let's get you up-to-date.
In a few hours, we will know Facebook's price tag. The company is setting its stock price today. The social network going public on the NASDAQ tomorrow. The price range is expected to be $38 a share. VELSHI: The FBI now says one man is responsible for mailing over 380 letters laced with white powder. The mysterious letters have been sent to addresses in 48 states. Officials believe they are all coming from one man in north Texas.
Tests show that the powder is not dangerous, but officials believe the mystery mailer is now targeting daycare centers and schools. The FBI is offering up to $150,000 for information that leads to an arrest.
A collision at sea between an 844-foot U.S. Navy assault ship and a refueling tanker. It happened yesterday in the Pacific, 120 miles off the coast of southern California. A Navy spokesman says the USS Essex was approaching the tanker to refuel when it apparently lost its steering. Both ships were damaged. No one was hurt.
VELSHI: Some worry this morning for the well-being of a young actor, 32-year-old actor Nick Stahl, who starred alongside Arnold in "Terminator 3", has been missing a week now.
According to TMZ, his wife reported him missing last Wednesday and she fears he may have gotten caught up in, quote, "bad stuff," in downtown L.A.'s infamous Skid Row. Possibly drugs.
SAMBOLIN: Take a look at these remarkable pictures from the air. It is a giant landslide. It's in Switzerland. You can see the entire side of an alp literally slipping away.
It's happening in the industrial village of Preonzo. Roads have been closed. Evacuations have been ordered in that area. Oh, my goodness. So far, no reports of damage or injuries. Hopefully, they'll get everybody out of there.
VELSHI: Remarkable. It must not be a very heavily populated area or everybody got a chance to get out. You see the land sort of strip ago away there.
SAMBOLIN: It looks like a big giant waterfall from the other angle that we were showing.
VELSHI: I thought it was water when I first saw it.
SAMBOLIN: It's amazing you can get pictures of this, right?
VELSHI: Yes. OK. Get ready to be inspired.
SAMBOLIN: OK.
VELSHI: That was Caleb Roach (ph), who are looking there yesterday, at Pickett Elementary School's talent show. What makes his talent so extraordinary is that this was Caleb nine months ago.
He was injured in a crash. He lost the use of his legs. Shortly afterwards, began some advanced therapy and learned to use leg braces, by the way attending the whole time.
He's a 6-year-old kid, decided not to give in to his injuries, surprised his friends and teachers by walking into his school's gymnasium. His family is hopeful that Caleb will one day be able to regain the use of his legs without braces. That must have been a incredible moment.
SAMBOLIN: Yes, he will. Right?
VELSHI: Yes.
SAMBOLIN: What a strong constitution of that little boy. Good for you. And he teaches a lesson to all the other kids in his class as well.
VELSHI: That's right.
SAMBOLIN: OK, folks, 12 minutes past the hour.
It is a rare solar eclipse this weekend. Rob Marciano is going to tell us all about that.
I bet you're super excited about this.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I am. I had it on my calendar to fly out to Albuquerque and see this thing. That's one of the spots you'll be able to see t the moon is passing between us and the sun. It happens during the daylight hours. That's what make it is a solar eclipse.
Here is the deal, though. Because it's a new moon -- because it's a little bit farther away from the earth than it typically would be, it won't be a complete one. You'll actually be able to se this ring of fire around it.
The best viewing is in Eastern Asia and also the western U.S., including places like Albuquerque, maybe just north of Vegas and through northern California Sunday late in the day, as the sun sets. And then maybe the extreme Aleutian Islands as well.
All right. So, there's your solar eclipse if you're going to get involved again. Head out to Albuquerque by Saturday night and enjoy it Sunday.
But in phoenix, in just place just north of the fire zone. We got issues today in the next couple of days. Windy conditions on top of the heat and the dry conditions that they've been enduring. So, those fires will be tougher to handle. Same deal across parts of Colorado.
Across the northeast, you've got this front is pushing across the Northeast. The Southeast is kind of dragging its feet a little bit. You're still seeing showers and thunderstorms across the Carolinas. Heavy rain last night. That will continue across the low country today and parts of Florida, but across the Northeast.
We're looking at pretty decent weather. Drier conditions and certainly temperatures that will be more pleasant. Seventy-two in Chicago, 73 in New York and 82 degrees expected in Atlanta.
There you go. Head west, young man and lady, if you want to see that solar eclipse.
SAMBOLIN: Are you going? You've had it on your calendar for months.
MARCIANO: I did. I didn't pull the trigger I got busy. I forgot to buy the ticket.
SAMBOLIN: Oh, no.
MARCIANO: I'll bring my daughter to another one some time in her early lifetime.
VELSHI: Nice.
SAMBOLIN: All right. Thanks for telling us about it. We appreciate it.
MARCIANO: You got it.
SAMBOLIN: It is 14 minutes past the hour. This morning, police are searching for the men who robbed and carjacked prominent Pastor Marvin Winans at a gas station in Detroit. Cops say 54-year-old Winans was filling up his SUV when he was attacked by three or four young men. They took his $15,000 Rolex, his wallet with $200 cash in it and then took off in his brand new Infinity SUV.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARVIN WINANS, PASTOR, PERFECTING CHURCH: I was on the ground and then they went to kicking me and trying to get the money out of my pocket and tore my pants up. And then when I stood up, I called on Jesus. I said Jesus, and they started running. I got up and my car was gone.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAMBOLIN: Winans is a pastor of Perfecting Church in Detroit. He gave the eulogy at Whitney Houston's funeral. You know Bebe and Cece. He's a member of that family.
I don't know if he sings, but he probably does.
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: Probably.
SAMBOLIN: His latest recording is number one in Billboard gospel chart.
There you go, he sings.
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: Karma caught on tape. Listen to this, a bike thief caught on a security cam doing an epic face plant during a get away. He had just ripped off a $500 bicycle from a store in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
SAMBOLIN: He ruined the bicycle. Probably, right?
VELSHI: Honestly, man. Ride a bike if you want to steal a bike. Stupid criminals, man. Is that a segment we could do every morning?
SAMBOLIN: I suggested that a couple of weeks ago and said we've got to have that file. Everybody would be accessing it. Like, you know, the guy who gets stuck in a chimney when he's trying to rob a house.
VELSHI: I don't know what he did. He's down on the ground. He struggles to get the thing back up and walk away, man. Walk away.
SAMBOLIN: He's trying to get over the sidewalk, I think, his bike got into trouble there. You're right. Learn how to ride a bike if you're going to steal one.
Sixteen minutes past the hour. It is estimated that the average American throws away four pounds of trash a day. Only about a third of that is recycled, sending the rest to landfill. A new idea is heating up, turning garbage into something useful. It is today's solutions.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Marty!
SAMBOLIN (voice-over): The movie "Back to the Future" showed us a world where cars are fueled by trash.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I need fuel.
SAMBOLIN: At this landfill in Arlington, Oregon, the future is closer than you think.
JEFF SURMA, INENTEC: This technology is reality today. It takes what the world doesn't want and transforms that material into what the world does want.
SAMBOLIN: Jeff Surma and his company, InEnTec, are turning trash into energy. Garbage from Portland brought to this plant shredded and treated, then broken down, using a brand new technique, plasma converting.
SURMA: What a plasma in this case is a controlled bolt of lightning, allowing us to break down this waste material and reform those elements into this hydrogen-rich gas.
SAMBOLIN: The plasma heats to temperatures exceeding 18,000 degrees Fahrenheit, allowing even unrecyclable materials once it would stay in landfills for decades to be turned into reusable resources.
SURMA: Ultimately, a technology like this could basically eliminate most of landfill. You could take 90 percent of all that material and convert it into clean energy products.
SAMBOLIN: A dirty problem that could soon provide energy for your home and your car.
(END VIDEOTAPE) VELSHI: Well, it's frightening to think about flesh-eating bacteria, but we've had to talk about this all week. There's word of a second victim today. It's something we need to -- is it something we need to worry about?
The symptoms you need to watch for. Two people who seem to have flesh-eating disease in the U.S. We'll tell you about that with Elizabeth Cohen.
SAMBOLIN: That's the latest one right there, a woman who had twins recently.
VELSHI: Yes.
SAMBOLIN: Yes. But, first, if you're leaving the house right now, fret not. Take us with you on your desktop, your mobile phone. Just go to CNN.com/TV.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SAMBOLIN: Welcome back to EARLY START.
A second chilling diagnosis. A new mother in South Carolina, 36-year- old Lana Kuykendall, contracted the rare flesh-eating bacteria, shortly after giving birth to twins. It comes on the heels of Georgia grad student, 24-year-old Aimee Copeland fighting for her life as well.
Our senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is in Atlanta.
Elizabeth, what happened in this new case?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: This woman's name is Lana Kuykendall. As you said, she's a new mom. She gave birth to wins on May 7th. Four days later, she and her husband noticed a bruise on the back of her leg that just kept growing and growing. They said you could actually watch it grow. They became very concerned. They brought her to the hospital in Greenville, South Carolina. They pretty quickly or quite quickly diagnosed her with necrotizing fasciitis, which is the scientific name for flesh-eating bacteria.
She's had three surgeries, and she's still in critical condition. She's still on a ventilator, but she appears to be OK. Certainly, it hasn't been as life-threatening as the case we've been talking about for several days here in Georgia -- Zoraida.
SAMBOLIN: And how did she get this?
COHEN: You know, we really don't know. But there is this hint, this bruise. She doesn't appear, from what we've heard and from what the husband has told us, to have had an open wound. So, it may be that what happened here is that she had what doctors will call blunt trauma. She just -- somehow her leg got hit and that formed a bruise and blood came to that area. And it may have been that the bacteria, the strep bacteria that caused the infection was in her body any how, which is very, very common and somehow it slipped into the blood stream as a reaction or part of the reaction to this wound.
I know it sounds crazy, because we all get bruises and it almost never becomes necrotizing fasciitis. But it is a phenomenon. It does happen. It's extremely rare, but it does happen.
SAMBOLIN: We're kind of worried about this, because we have the two stories back to back, right? The other was zip ling and she actually had a gash and contracted it that way.
Do you have to have a compromised immune system for this to go further? Is that the deal here?
COHEN: No, you don't. As far as we know these two women were completely healthy before this happened. This happens to completely healthy people.
So, let me take a step back for a minute. We're hearing about the two cases, one after the other. The fact of the matter is that hundreds of people have this happen to them, if not thousands of people every year. It just so happens that we're hearing about these two for reasons that -- who knows why. We happen to be hearing about these two. But this does happen.
I think people shouldn't freak out for several reasons. One of them is that you can be an empowered patient and really be vigilant about your own health and your own body. So, for example, if you see a bruise that is growing and growing and growing, don't just sort of say, look at that bruise. It's growing. I can watch it grow.
Do something about it. Go to the doctor and talk to them. If you have a cut that is really red and oozing and it really, really hurts, do something about it. Let's actually throw up a couple of things on screen here that will tell you when you should be concerned.
If you have disproportionate pain to, just say, a cut or bruise -- if it really, really hurts, that's a sign that perhaps you have a bacteria inside that's doing damage. Fever, weakness or swelling around the area or black marks, as we saw in this case, or a bruise. That can also be a problem. It doesn't mean you should be convinced you're going to die. It's a sign that you should go to a doctor and say is this strange?
If you go to CNN.com/EmpoweredPatient, you can get more information.
SAMBOLIN: And, Elizabeth, time is of the essence, right?
COHEN: Time is of the essence. You don't want to let these things around. I mean, my daughter when she was about 18 months old, had a cut on her arm. My husband and I put her down for a nap. When we woke up, the cut look different than we did when we put her down for the nap. In the course of a two-hour nap it looked different.
And we went to a pediatrician right away. It was a Sunday. We had to get him to come into the office. But we did it.
In fact, it was a really tough infection. She had to have four or five different antibiotics to get rid of it. But it was really tough. But you want to act sooner, not later.
SAMBOLIN: That's great advice.
VELSHI: Yes.
SAMBOLIN: Elizabeth Cohen live for us in Washington, D.C. -- thank you for that.
COHEN: Thanks.
VELSHI: All right. The attacker had a gun. The victim, armed only with his morning cup of coffee. How that turned out to be the difference maker. You are going to love this story, coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Ali Velshi.
SAMBOLIN: He barely made it back.
VELSHI: I barely made it back, yes.
SAMBOLIN: I'm Zoraida Sambolin. We'll find out in a couple of hours how much it is going to cost you to own a piece of Facebook. The company setting its stock price today. It is expected to be as high as $38 a share.
VELSHI: For the big guns who are buying it, not for you. We'll talk about that, too.
Yes, doubling in size and putting more homes in danger, 500 firefighters try to stop the so-called gladiator wildfire in the Bradshaw Mountains of Arizona. Fire officials says a shift in the winds have now placed 10 homes are in danger and they could burn in the next three days. Three homes have been burned so far.
SAMBOLIN: Closing arguments get underway this morning in the corruption trial of John Edwards, the defense rested yesterday. The former senator and his daughter, Cate, were not called to testify. Neither was Rielle Hunter, Edwards' former mistress.
Edwards faces up to 30 years behind bars for allegedly using nearly $1 million in illegal campaign contributions to cover up an extramarital affair with Hunter.
VELSHI: All right. The big story this morning, Facebook IPO about 27 hours away, could create 1,000 new millionaires. These are people with stock options or early stock. You have to own the stock first. How do you get in on it?
Well, for regular folks, it's actually easier than you think.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VELSHI (voice-over): Don't worry about the IPO. For your purposes, Facebook shares start trading on the NASDAQ on day one. MATT MCCALL, PENN FINANCIAL GROUP: It's probably going to be a frenzy of many individual investors buying five shares, 20 shares, 100 shares with their online account paying nine dollars to do that. So, yes, the first day, everybody watching can sit in front of the computer and be an owner of Facebook.
VELSHI: Still interested. First thing you need is a brokerage account.
(on camera): Once you decide you want to buy the stock, it's easy as long as you live in a country that allows you to trade U.S. stocks. You just go to the site of an online broker. I happen to use TD Ameritrade. But they all work the same way.
You click on trade, stocks and ETFS. Buy, let's say, 50 shares of Facebook. FB is the ticker. I want it to be a market order, which means it doesn't matter what the price is, I want 50 shares.
I review my order. If it all looks right, I click on this. Place the order. Then I'm an owner of Facebook stock.
(voice-over): Now the only good reason for you to buy Facebook stock or any stock, for that matter, is that one day, you'll sell it for more than you paid for it.
ROBERT PECK: You're getting a very strong return when you compare that to any other returns you have out there.
VELSHI: Robert Peck specializes in Internet and tech stocks. He says don't worry so much about day one, week one or month one. He believes Facebook could double in three year's time based on the fundamentals of its growth prospects.
PECK: That's one of the reasons, when you're holding a stock for the longer term, either the near-term gyrations settle in, let the supply and demand curve settle out. If you get the opportunity to buy, with the idea of holding for a longer term, you can get a good compound return on your annual money.
VELSHI: I know you. All you just heard Peck say is that it could double and you probably ignored the part about gyrations. Groupon and Zynga are examples of recent IPOs where the stock surged initially before settling below the IPO price.
The stock could be volatile, and if you're a newbie, consider placing a limit order for the stock, meaning you'll pay up to a certain amount for it and no more. Like an option bid.
With a limit order, maybe you'll get the stock, maybe you won't.
Either way, you might already be investing in Facebook without knowing it. Many retirement accounts which invest in broad-based growth or technology stocks may already be early buyers of Facebook. And unlike you, the managers of those funds will get in at the IPO price.
PECK: We think that's a great thing because we think they'll get exposure to stock at a lower price than where they could get it on the first ticker when it starts trading. We'll give them exposure to it, wherever the price settles out.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VELSHI: All right. So, here is a couple of things. One is, don't buy it because you like the company. If you want to be part of history -- this is probably pretty historic in the stock world, there's another option. When you buy those shares online, you don't get the certificates anymore. Some people just want a certificate.
You can go on the Web sites and buy a Facebook certificate and frame it like this. You don't have to have a brokerage account for it. And you don't really employ much risk, you're buying one stock. You know, that may be the way to go.
SAMBOLIN: I think it's a great idea.
VELSHI: Don't buy stock, don't be pressured into buying stock. Don't think you're missing the wagon.
SAMBOLIN: But I think a lot of people are feeling that way, right, if they don't get in on it --
VELSHI: And by the way, when you do buy stock, no single stock should represent more than 5 percent of your portfolio ever. Should I cash this out and back up the truck? No. If you are going to buy it, a little bit of it.
SAMBOLIN: I think that's a very good advice.
VELSHI: Now, there are a lot of questions, if you got them, tweet Christine Romans, tweet Ali Velshi. Today at noon, we do a show on CNN.com/live where we will answer your questions. It can be about Facebook, it can be about Greece, it can be about JPMorgan, any money questions you have, we will answer them today.
Please, if you're thinking of making your first stock purchase ever, tweet us and let's talk about it first.
SAMBOLIN: All right. Thank you about that. It's nice to be able to have someone to talk to before you make those decisions.
VELSHI: Right.
SAMBOLIN: Thirty-four minutes past the hour.
Joe justice, a police say a man stopped two thieves by tossing hot coffee in their faces.
VELSHI: Nice.
SAMBOLIN: He picked up a coffee at 7-Eleven right across the street and was walking to work.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I saw the gun and reacted fast on instinct. If I didn't have that coffee things probably would have went differently.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAMBOLIN: So, he says the suspects started shooting at him as he ran. The gunmen did get away, but without cash -- 7-Eleven gave the guy a new cup on the house. He should have a new cup --
VELSHI: Every day of the year.
SAMBOLIN: Yes.
VELSHI: All right. It's the beginning of the end of the John Edwards corruption trial today. More on the high-profile witnesses who will not be on the stand, coming up.
SAMBOLIN: First, a quick check of today's weather. Here is Rob Marciano.
Good morning.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning again, guys. We are looking at a beautiful day across much of the Northeast, including the Great Lakes. That slow-moving front finally offshore, lingering across the Carolinas. Heavy there and also in spots of Florida.
The heat continues out in the Desert Southwest. Winds will pick up as well, exacerbating the fire situation. Here's your rain across south Florida, if you're heading to Miami, be aware of hat. That front will linger.
But here's the good stuff: low levels of humidity and nice sunshine in Chicago, 72. Frosty conditions in the morning, but rising to 73 degrees in the Big Apple.
Thirty-six minutes after the hour. You're up-to-date, weather-wise. EARLY START is coming right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SAMBOLIN: Welcome back. Thirty-nine minutes past the hour.
Closing arguments begin this morning in the corruption trial of former North Carolina senator, John Edwards. The defense rested yesterday, calling only seven of the 65 people on their witness list.
John Edwards, and his daughter, Kate, and his former mistress, Rielle Hunter, never taking the stand.
Joe Johns is live in Greensboro this morning.
I guess a lot of people were not surprised that Edwards and Rielle Hunter were not called as witnesses, but a lot of people were expecting his daughter to take the stand. JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: I think that's right, Zoraida. And talking to some of the legal observers who have been in the courtroom and other people, everybody has an opinion on why. The best one I've heard so far is that Cate Edwards, the daughter, if she had gotten on the stand, the Edwards defense was going to have to be all in, not just Cate but also John Edwards and perhaps Rielle hunter, too.
The reason why is because Cate Edwards couldn't look like window dressing to this jury. That's very important. The notion that John Edwards might have been hiding behind his daughter and letting her get up on the stand and take a bunch of cross examination while he, himself, wasn't willing to get on the stand also.
So, a real strategy question, I think there for the defense as they move into the point where the jury is actually going to start deliberating, Zoraida.
A lot of people were riveted by the salacious details that came out. What can we expect next?
JOHNS: Well, we're going to see closing arguments today, probably around 9:30 Eastern. The way this works is the prosecution and the defense both get two hours to make their final arguments to the jury. The prosecution will go first, probably about an hour and 15 minutes. A break from the defense does it closing argument and the prosecution gets to come back because they're the people who have the burden of proving each and every element of the six-count indictment against John Edwards.
The jury is expected to actually start deliberating some time tomorrow, Zoraida.
SAMBOLIN: All right. Joe Johns live in Greensboro, North Carolina, for -- with us this morning. Thank you.
VELSHI: All right. It's 42 minutes after the hour. Let's get you up-to-date. Here is Christine Romans.
Good morning, Christine.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Hi there you guys. I'm sorry, I'm not able to hear you right now. I'm going to toss back. I'm not hearing or seeing. You get to do it.
VELSHI: I thought maybe she could read my lips.
All right. What Christine was going to talk to you about, I'm quite sure, because she has talked to us about it every time she's been here, Facebook. Will the price be right for you?
Facebook is announcing how much it's going to cost to own a share today before going public. Only a select few get access to that price. It's expected to be somewhere around $38 a share.
SAMBOLIN: And cops in Arizona on the hunt right now for an inmate who literally walked out the front door of jail. Maricopa County sheriff's office says he stole another inmate's ID who was about to be released. Rocky Marquez, considered armed and dangerous. He was in jail on charges of perjury, forgery, witness tampering and weapons charges.
VELSHI: Protest outside the Alabama statehouse as lawmakers approved a new bill to revive the state's controversial immigration. Critics say the new measure would make the nation's toughest immigration law even tougher.
Final approval sets with the governor, who is said to be reviewing the legislation.
SAMBOLIN: All right. Brooke Baldwin has been getting up nice and early all week, filling in for Soledad.
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, 2:30 am. Hello! Good morning to you all. Good morning to you.
Here's what we got coming up on "STARTING POINT" here: another nasty showdown. Dare we do this again? Talking about the debt ceiling.
Republican and Democratic leaders clashing again over raising the debt limit and potential spending cuts. We're going to get both sides for you, of course, this morning, talking to Maryland congressman and ranking member of the House Budget Committee. Chris Van Hollen joins us at 7:00 a.m.; 8:00 am, we're going to talk to Texas Republican Congressman Jeb Hensarling and get his take on this clash again.
And then for more than 20 years, legendary filmmaker George Lucas, do you realize he's been trying to convince his wealthy neighbors to let him a movie studio? This whole, it has created bitterness and anger in Marin County. Now, George Lucas is striking back. You won't believe his new plan.
Also, hero Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger stops by live this morning with some inspiring tips about learning from failure. He's got another book out. Of course, we know him from the miracle on the Hudson.
Don't forget, you can watch CNN live on your computer, your mobile phone, while you're at work, wherever you are, head to CNN.com/live at the top of the hour.
VELSHI: Ladies man coming in. Look at who is coming in here, Morgan Spurlock.
BALDWIN: Good morning.
VELSHI: That is one handsome man.
BALDIWN: Man-some. Good to see you again.
VELSHI: We're talking about grooming. Male grooming.
BALDWIN: We've heard all about you this morning. VELSHI: Five bucks a month is what I'm spending.
BALDWIN: Oh, brother.
VELSHI: We're going to talk about it when we come back. You're watching EARLY START.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SAMBOLIN: I'm going to love this conversation. You may, as well. Chest hair trimming, beard shaving, waxing your back, man-scaping it's called. And I've had my suspicions that Ali has been doing a little extra man-scaping lately. Check out that well-groomed man. Look at him.
(LAUGHTER)
SAMBOLIN: He's always well-put together. Apparently, he's not alone. The market research firm, NPD Group, who looks at buying trends, says one in four men now use some sort of facial skin care product like face wash, or perhaps, a moisturizer. I believe that Ali uses one with Retin-A.
And last year, department stores sold $84.7 million worth of male skin care. That's up 13 percent from the year before, all in an effort for men to look good. And it's all in a new documentary, "Mansome." Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're not supposed to look like we spent any appreciable time or energy on our appearance. We have to have that kind of casual, unaffected look. On the other hand, we have to be perfect.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAMBOLIN: Really? OK. So, joining me now to talk about "Mansome" is the film's director, Morgan Spurlock, who looks pretty good, himself. I thought I was going to have you stand up and twirl around because you look so good. So, you've been doing some man-scaping, right? A lot of people talk about it now.
MORGAN SPURLOCK, PRODUCER AND DIRECTOR, "MANSOME": Yes. I've been shaving around ridiculous mustache for eight years or so.
SAMBOLIN: But why a film about man's effort to look good?
SPURLOCK: Well, because I think that it finally is become a part of the conversation, you know, where in this like post metro sexual (ph) world where, you know, now men are putting this out in the dialogue. You know, men are actually not afraid to talk about it.
And I think this idea of how we represent ourselves and how people see us in society is one that a lot of people care about. SAMBOLIN: You know, I found that fascinating, because this morning, my producer is a male, a young male actually. And he said that he likes to look good for his wife.
SPURLOCK: You've got to take care. You've got to take care for your ladies.
SAMBOLIN: But do you really think that there's an expectation?
SPURLOCK: I think there is now. I mean, I think we live in this time where we've created the ideal man. If you look at the ideal man, what they think the perfect guy is, it is, Isaiah Mustafa (ph), the old spice guy.
SAMBOLIN: Do we have a picture of him, by the way?
SPURLOCK: he is a man-to-man. Isaiah Mustafa (ph) is, you know, it's Brad Pitt, it's George Clooney. And so, to live up to those expectations as a guy, you can't just, you know, wash and get out the door. Oh, there he is.
SAMBOLIN: Yes, there is Mr. Mustafa.
SPURLOCK: He is a mansome man.
SAMBOLIN: Yes.
(LAUGHTER)
SAMBOLIN: So, anyway, you talk to a lot of guys about this.
SPURLOCK: Yes.
SAMBOLIN: Do a lot of guys feel the same way? I know that there are some folks that we see all the time that are celebrities, but the average guy, how does he feel about this?
SPURLOCK: I think what you're seeing is the average guy now is suddenly realizing that he can't just, you know, not pay attention to it. You know, if he walk on a magazine rack, this is the best place to look now, and if you look at like the cosmos or the women's dailies, like these magazines, which for years have told women about their imperfections, and then, you start looking at like men's health, details.
And it's like, men, you're to fat. Get rid of those wrinkles. And so, suddenly, like men are being thrust upon them the exact same type of insecurities that women had for decades.
SAMBOLIN: Well, there's one guy that you interviewed and talked about a line in the sand. I want to play this, and then, I want to talk about it.
SPURLOCK: OK.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: More and more guys have begun to groom. And women have a mixed reaction. There are some types of grooming that they're OK with and even want, and there's some where it crosses a line.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAMBOLIN: What is -- I thought it was a man that you talked to. It's a woman.
SPURLOCK: For me, that line is right here.
SAMBOLIN: Really?
(LAUGHTER)
SPURLOCK: That's where the line stops for me.
SAMBOLIN: Well, what about for most men? Do you think it does?
SPURLOCK: Oh no, there's a lot of men who like really have to take care of what's south of the border. I am so not one of those guys.
(LAUGHTER)
VELSHI: You didn't just say that on TV.
SAMBOLIN: Yes, he did say that. So, here's my question. How many men did you find that was really important to them?
SPURLOCK: A lot. No, there's a lot of guys like there will be guys who will -- like, you know, have to do quite a bit of shaving and trimming. Yes.
SAMBOLIN: OK. So, here is where I draw the line, I say. You know, there are a lot of guys who pluck their eyebrows to the point that they almost look like women. Did you have that conversation --
SPURLOCK: We have a guy in the film who literally from the minute he wakes up and leaves the house is a two-hour plus process of getting ready to leave. And he goes and he gets his eyebrows threaded and get his eyebrows plucked. And, like, he is trying to find this perfect version of himself. It's like perfect ideal. And, you know, he's still looking, is on that quest.
SAMBOLIN: Well, I asked this morning. I wanted to know how much guys typically spent on grooming, and, you know, it varied. There was one guy on Facebook that he says he spends about $300 a month because he gets braids. What's your routine?
SPURLOCK: I mean, I probably get a haircut, you know? So, you figure a haircut plus -- I don't know, maybe some cream, 50 bucks. I don't know. Maybe $50 I spend if -- yes. I know big spender. High roller.
SAMBOLIN: Yes. I know.
SPURLOCK: Yes.
(LAUGHTER)
SAMBOLIN: You get out of the door, you say, in 20 minutes?
SPURLOCK: From the time I wake up until I walk out of the house, 20 minutes.
SAMBOLIN: All right --
SPURLOCK: There's not much you can do with this face. I can only do what I can.
SAMBOLIN: Well, but you clearly spend in other places as well.
(LAUGHTER)
SPURLOCK: That's right.
SAMBOLIN: All right. So, the movie is "Mansome." Thank you so much for joining us. It's kind of fun to get into the mind of a guy. I really enjoyed that, Ali.
SPURLOCK: It's dark in there.
(LAUGHTER)
VELSHI: It's dark in there. Morgan, good to see you.
OK. How about this for a change? Five-year-old students giving out grades for their teachers. If they fail, the teachers could get fired. Find out where this is happening and why after the break.
And if you're leaving the house right now, you can watch us anytime on your desktop, your mobile phone, just go to CNN.com/TV.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SAMBOLIN: No kidding. Still talking about the man grooming.
VELSHI: Yes. Yes. With the guys on the floor. Hey, it's 57 minutes after the hour. Time for "Early Reads." Kindergartners in Georgia may soon help decide whether their teachers get raises or get fired. "The Washington Post" reporting on a new pilot program where kids from kindergarten through high school evaluate their teachers.
Their feedback that influence teacher job ratings. Critics worry that kids as young as five are too immature to evaluate teachers. I'm with the critics on this one. Kindergartners would respond to questions like, "my teacher knows a lot about what he or she teaches me," because the five-year-old is going to know.
"And my teacher gives me help when I needed by circling a smiley face, a neutral face, or frowny face."
SAMBOLIN: Yes. Imagine all that they could learn from that. I think that that's --
VELSHI: If kids are that smart, why don't they (INAUDIBLE) themselves?
(LAUGHTER)
VELSHI: Just saying.
SAMBOLIN: To go on forever. Students in Florida are failing their state's writing exam. The Florida school board called an emergency meeting after, listen to this, nearly 75 percent of students failed the writing portion of the state's FCAT exam. Last year, more than 80 percent of the students passed it.
But this year, the school board raised the standard, increasing the score required to pass. The board had now decided to lower the bar back to the 2011 levels. The writing exam is regarded as the easiest of the FCAT tests. Officials are now bracing for the release of the reading and the math scores there. That's a tough one.
VELSHI: That's it for us. We're done.
SAMBOLIN: Yes.
VELSHI: All right. That's it for EARLY START. I'm Ali Velshi.
SAMBOLIN: And I'm Zoraida Sambolin. "STARTING POINT" with Brooke Baldwin in for Soledad O'Brien starts right now.
