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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Facebook Fiasco; Egyptian Go To Polls; "Body Bomb" Scare On Flight; Pastor: Put Gays In Electric Fence; Egyptians Vote in Historic Election; The Race of the White House; Where The Germs Are; U.S. Nuns Resist Vatican Rebuke
Aired May 23, 2012 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Let the finger pointing begin. The Facebook stock dropping. Morgan Stanley is accused of wrongdoing, and the investment firm is now fighting back.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): And he wants gay people rounded up and place inside an electrified fence until they die. Extreme words from a pastor. A pastor. A pastor, in North Carolina. We're going to play the tape for you this hour on CNN.
BANFIELD: Was it a pastor?
ROMANS: I'm sorry, I couldn't stop saying it.
BANFIELD: Unbelievable.
Live pictures on your screen. It's live on your screen right now. History in the making in the Middle East, everybody, in Cairo, in Egypt, for the first time in 5,000 years, the people of that country are being allowed to pick their very own president.
ROMANS: That's what you call history.
BANFIELD: That is really history, right? And we quip about our elections all the time. How about 5,000 years?
Good morning, everybody. Good to have you here. It's EARLY START. I'm Ashleigh Banfield.
ROMANS: And I'm Christine Romans. Zoraida Sambolin is on assignment this morning. It's 6:00 a.m. in the east. Get off the treadmill.
BANFIELD: Get out of bed!
ROMANS: Or have a bare claw.
Up first, the Facebook IPO fiasco and the big question this morning, what did Morgan Stanley know, when did it know it, and who did it tell. Reuters reporting the state of Massachusetts has subpoenaed the financial giant, the lead underwriter for the Facebook offering.
It's been reported Facebook executives advised underwriters to reduce revenue and earnings forecasts for the company before it went public. But it appears not everyone got the word on this.
CNN's Felicia Taylor is minding your business this morning. Reporting from Reuters has reverberated to a very messy IPO story.
FELICIA TAYLOR, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, I mean, this is the problem. You can't tell some people some of the information and not everybody the same kind of information. Everybody should have access to whether it's individuals or institutional investors if there's different guidance about the stock about to be issued.
But do you know what's really interesting about this story is that for the Nasdaq there's a big problem here because 80 million shares were traded at the open and they weren't able to has handle the cancellations and corrections and orders in terms of the volume.
So a lot of those orders didn't get filled. So if you were a seller, you may not be so happy. If you were a buyer at $42 and you got filled at $38, you're doing fine.
ROMANS: Listen, if I'm upset and I put in an order -- for instance, you did some testing on this, right?
TAYLOR: So I put in a test order, I wanted to know how e-trade was going to work, just a test for journalistic purposes that's going to be interesting to put on my account, by the way.
BANFIELD: Can we cover that?
ROMANS: Who knows? I'm about to find out. But, you know, there was no word on whether there was an order placed. It was very unclear and all of a sudden --
BANFIELD: You weren't alone.
ROMANS: -- and all of a sudden there was a fill at $38.01. And other people who were also doing the same kind of test were filled at $42 --
TAYLOR: At the very same time?
ROMANS: At the very same time. But no one knew for hours, it was really a mess. Can she get her money back? Say I don't want the trade?
TAYLOR: Her trade was confirmed on the day of the IPO. So, no, you don't have any recourse. Evidently, if you don't still have a confirmation, you have some kind of recourse. And this is where the Nasdaq has a major, major problem.
We don't know how much it's going to cost them. They have said that they about $13 million in reserves to handle this problem. Frankly, that's nothing.
I mean, going forward, if they can't handle what I was talking about, you know, the sort of cancellations and corrections in trade, I mean, obviously the stock was going down the day of.
The other thing that compounded this was the number of day traders that were in there literally hammering the stock all day long and pushing it down. But they should be able to handle those cancellations and confirmations and re-trades, absolutely on an open like that.
They should have been prepared for that. So, when we talk about going back to, you know, the problem with Morgan Stanley and what kind of information they did or did not disseminate, Morgan Stanley has come out with a statement saying that Facebook released a revised S-1 filing on May 9th providing additional guidance with respect to business trends.
A copy of the amendment was forwarded to all of MS' institutional and retail investors. So they are standing by they did guidance properly. The question is will regulators agree with them.
ROMANS: There could still be people today who are trying to figure out what their trades are, right?
TAYLOR: I think they are. I mean, confirmations haven't all come in yet.
BANFIELD: I heard the story about kids that launched their life savings and went in and bought these and lost their shirts.
ROMANS: IPOs are risky. A kid or one of the little neighborhood groups, the investment groups, have no business messing around with this IPO. That's why we say IPOs are risky.
TAYLOR: Individual investors need to wait, but that's not why the stock is going down. It's not the Nasdaq's problem as to why Facebook shares are not trading higher.
BANFIELD: This was the one who told us all along, if you have no business doing it, you should pay down your student loan instead. Thank you, mom.
TAYLOR: You're welcome.
ROMANS: Boring, boring, boring.
BANFIELD: It's 4 minutes now past 6:00 in the morning on the east coast, great news for you, sort of.
Egypt and the future of Egypt is being closely watched this morning by U.S. and Israel, because look at those live pictures. Egyptians heading to the polls to select their first president since the fall of Hosni Mubarak a year ago, which ended 30 years of his dictatorship and 5,000 years of them not being able to choose their own president.
And if all goes as planned, the selection should end the military transitional period that's been in effect since Mubarak stepped out of office. But there's this concern that one downtick at the end of what seems like a pretty good story, there could be a lot more bloodshed if the military does not like the result of this vote.
ROMANS: So, not much mystery remaining, but Mitt Romney picked up two more primary wins last night and he's in position to officially clinch the Republican nomination next week.
Romney taking Kentucky with 57 percent of the vote and Arkansas with 68 percent, a total of 75 delegates up for grabs between two states. Romney now less than 100 delegates from the total number he needs to clinch it, 1,144.
BANFIELD: A woman undergoing a mental evaluation this morning after causing a body bomb scare on an international flight. A woman was on board this U.S Airways' flight from Paris to North Carolina.
It didn't get to North Carolina, though, because she claimed to have a surgically implanted device in her body. Fighter jets had to be scrambled and the flight had to be diverted to Bangor, Maine, where it landed and she was taken off the plane.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We were down within minutes. I mean, I've are flying my whole life. I've never been from that altitude to landing that quickly.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was just weird. No one really knew what was going on. We thought it was a medical emergency. Then they told us that they were low on fuel because there were strong headwinds. Then as we were landing, you could see all the ambulances.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Yes, a bit of a scare for the 179 people on board and nine crew members as they were all ushered off the plane. Federal officials say that doctors on board actually had a chance to check this woman out and found she had no scars. Again, she said she had a surgically implanted device. No scars and ultimately they determined she did not pose a threat.
ROMANS: All right, strong winds are fueling a wildfire in Northern Nevada. It's already destroyed several homes. Officials say that TRE fire has grown to nearly 3,500 acres there. Hundreds of homes and other structures, utility lines are being threatened right now.
BANFIELD: A North Carolina pastor says that he has a plan for gays and lesbians. You will not believe it. You have to hear it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Build a great big, large fence, 100 -- 50 or 100-mile long, put all the lesbians in there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Yes, well, he doesn't stop there. The plan continues and it is morbid. Find out why this sermon may be getting him in some serious trouble with the federal government coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BANFIELD: A church in North Carolina could lose its tax exemption status because its pastor is accused of mixing politics with religion in a fiery anti-gay sermon.
Pastor Charles Worley at the Province Road Baptist Church in Ketava Valley, which is outside of Charlotte advocated locking up gay and lesbian people and letting them die.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHARLES L. WORLEY, PASTOR, PROVIDENCE ROAD BAPTIST CHURCH: Build a great big, large fence, 100 -- 50 or 100-mile long. Put all the lesbians in there. Fly over and drop some food. Do the same thing with the queers and the homosexuals and have that fence electrified so they can't get out. Feed them and you know what, in a few years they'll die out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Again, that's Pastor Worley weighing in on what he thinks should happen with gay and lesbian people, but he also decided to weigh in on voting as well. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WORLEY: I tell you right now, somebody said who you going to vote for? I'm not going to vote for a baby killer and a homosexual lover!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: You can probably hear members of the congregation many of them are supporting his sermon and they spoke with CNN's Gary Tuchman, have a listen.
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Ashleigh, on Tuesday night here at the Providence Road Baptist Church, a special meeting was held, a prayer meeting. Scores of members of the church showed up supportive of the pastor, supportive of the church, praying for the best of their church and for their pastor.
As far as Pastor Worley goes, we don't know if he participated because he kept a low profile since this all happened and we're not allowed on church property. Church security and sheriff's deputies have told us we cannot step foot on the property.
We did want to talk to him, though, we went to his house earlier in the day. Members of his family were standing outside his house. We parked our car and they ran in the house so quickly that one them left a lighted cigarette on the windowsill.
And then sheriff deputies came there and they ordered us off that property also. Maiden, North Carolina is a small town, but there are many people here who are not affiliated with this church are embarrassed and aghast about what this pastor has said. But among the pastor's friends and among his congregants, he has a lot of support.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JANIE BEARD, WORLEY'S NEIGHBOR: He would give you the shirt off his back. He would do anything he could for you.
TUCHMAN: I mean, he said in church that he wanted to put gay people behind electric fences and have them al die out, what do you think about that?
BEARD: That's not really what he said, yes, he said some of that, but he was going to feed them and everything else and --
TUCHMAN: But you're saying it's OK if you feed them.
BEARD: Well, I'm not saying it's OK one way or the other. What I'm saying that is his opinion.
JOE HEFFNER, CHURCH MEMBER: Probably the most compassionate man I've ever known. I don't know. He's just got a big heart for people. Takes a real firm stand on the bible and what it says about different things. Whether I like it or not or whether anybody else likes it or not, I mean, he stands for the bible.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Being gay and lesbian or whatever, homosexual is wrong according to the bible. It's wrong.
TUCHMAN: Well, even if you believe that, though, his words that they should be put in an electrified fence, don't you think it's a little dramatic and a little rude --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, because his point and reason was to see if they reproduce. Like it is, Adam and Eve --
TUCHMAN: There are a lot of heterosexual couples that don't reproduce.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That was what in the beginning, now, Adam and Steve --
TUCHMAN: It's just mean and it's not what the bible or God wants for man to be mean to their fellow man.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's not saying it to be mean.
TUCHMAN: If that's not mean what is it, though?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We love the people, hate the sin, OK? Point- blank, you need to lay off my pastor.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TUCHMAN: Pastor Worley is more than aware, he's done it for years, that his sermons go on the worldwide web, so we expected he'd talk to us and defend what he had to say.
But we can see two reasons, two possible reasons for him not talking to us. One, he doesn't have the guts to talk to us, or, two, he doesn't really care what we think -- Ashleigh.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BANFIELD: Gary Tuchman, thank you for that.
Also want to let you know that an advocate for separation of church and state is now planning to file a complaint against Pastor Worley and that man's name is Reverend Barry Lynn. And he told "A.C. 360" that Pastor Worley crossed the line and his church should lose its tax exemption status.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REV. BARRY LYNN, AMERICANS UNITED FOR SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE: There's nobody would mistaken that for an endorsement of Barack Obama. These are so far over the line, there's nothing nuanced about it and there's no guarantee under the first amendment that you can say anything you want and keep your tax exemption.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Now, local activists are planning a protest outside of Worley's church set for this Sunday.
The reality, though, you covered a lot of stories on tax exemption status.
ROMANS: Every election year it comes up. Usually a Baptist Church is talking about abortion and that's -- where they stand on the pulpit and they talk about who you should vote for if you are against abortion and that's what usually comes up. And the IRS in my reporting, the IRS is careful about picking which churches to proceed against for electioneering from the pulpit, because you have free speech issues -- there's a whole host of legal precedent here as well.
But in general it's a very tricky separation between the IRS and the tax exempt status and these churches, and sometimes ministers are careful not to say, here is your slate of candidates. I'm going to send it home to you on a piece of paper and you go home and vote for these. They're careful not to go that far.
BANFIELD: Is it also really difficult to figure out when they are making an endorsement and when they're not making an endorsement?
ROMANS: And when they are saying based on my belief and the Bible, and what it tells me -- when it comes to social issues, you know, the ministers believe they have a right to tell their congregation what social issues they should be inspired by when they get into the voting booth, but the connection from the pulpit to the voting booth is tricky thing legally and free speech-wise.
BANFIELD: It really makes you wonder, that Pastor Worley's speech was on tape, how many do you think every Sunday not on tape?
ROMANS: There are thousands of churches around the country where there are ministers telling their small, medium, and large congregations -- that's what ministers do, they talk about current events and the Bible and what it means for your life and that's when it starts to get tricky, in an election.
BANFIELD: In an election year, particularly.
Seventeen minutes now past 6:00. Top stories --
ROMANS: Yes, cars that drive themselves are not just found in sci-fi movies. The technology is out there and companies are testing it behind the wheel.
EARLY START's Zoraida Sambolin has this "Technovations".
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ZORAIDA SAMBOLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The 1980s TV show "Knight Rider" featured KITT, the self-driving car.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I drove around the truck and it steered itself.
SAMBOLIN: Driverless cars are no longer just on TV or the movies, the technology is closer than you think.
Google has the first driverless car approved to be tested on state roads. It can literally drive itself. The car sees what's around it using GPS, a spinning laser scanning and radar sensors.
Continental Automotive is designing another car to drive on its own.
But drivers may turn and change lanes themselves.
CHRISTIAN SCHUMACHER, CONTINENTAL AUTOMOTIVE: You are much more relaxed when you are driving this car, you are still monitoring but you're not working on the driving task itself.
SAMBOLIN: This car steers, accelerates and brakes on its own using radar sensors and cameras that give it humanlike vision.
SCHUMACHER: You are looking up the street with two eyes, in this case, two cameras, so it's very similar to what your brain is doing.
SAMBOLIN: Self-driving cars could be on the market in five years. They're designed to make roads safer and decrease the number of accidents.
SCHUMACHER: When you are in a traffic jam people get distracted, but we strongly believe adding the computer vision, radar sensing that supports the driver and makes the car safer.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BANFIELD: All right.
ROMANS: All right. To see more "Technovations", head to our blog CNN.com/EarlyStart.
BANFIELD: Hstoric day in the Middle East, if you haven't seen this yet, it's fantastic. More high stakes going on right now especially for the United States -- Egyptians, live pictures, voting in their first free election in 5,000 years. I'm not kidding, 5,000 years. We're going to take you live to Cairo and tell you why this is significant to you. And it is.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BANFIELD: A tragic end to the search for a missing Harvard business school student. The body of 31-year-old Nathan Bihlmaier was found yesterday in Portland, Maine. Police divers recovered him from a Portland harbor not far from where he'd been celebrating his upcoming graduation with friends.
Here's what's odd. They said there was no sign of foul play and they plan to do an autopsy to determine the cause of death was.
Also making news -- the suspect in the disappearance and presumed death of a traveling companion in Aruba has been arrested in Annapolis, Maryland, on a charge of indecent exposure. Police say they found Gary Giordano naked in his car in a parking lot on Friday and he wasn't alone. That woman was with him allegedly.
Aruban authorities detained Giordano you might remember back in August for the disappearance of this woman, her name is Robyn Gardner, and Giordano was released because of the lack of evidence in that country. He does claim, though, Gardner was swept out to sea while they were snorkeling together, but Robyn Gardner's body has never been found.
Thousands of the world's most elite athletes will make their way to London for the Summer Games to go for the gold. One U.S. athlete hoping to make the trip, Keelin Godsey a two-time national hammer champion, 16 all-American track and field and also a transgendered athlete. He was born Kelly, a female, but identifies as a male. Keelin will join Soledad live at 7:40 Eastern on STARTING POINT.
ROMANS: All right. It is election day in Egypt. A day that could begin a new era in Middle Eastern politics, what era that is we still don't know quite yet.
Millions going to the polls for a historic vote, their first chance to cast a free vote for a leader in 5,000 years of existence. This is what they fought for in Tahrir Square, when they toppled dictator Hosni Mubarak.
There are still so many unknowns. Will women win more freedom? Will Egypt go Islamists? Will its attitude toward the U.S. and Israel change?
One of the contenders backed by a terrorist group and there's fear there could be more bloodshed if the military leaders in power in Egypt don't respect the result of this vote.
Ben Wedeman is live on the phone in Cairo.
Ben, this is -- when we talk about making history, this is making history. What's the status there right now?
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): The status here is that voting is going ahead and largely without any major disturbances. There has been sort of a steady number of people coming. This vote goes on for two whole days from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
So, by and large, turnout has been good, but not heavy at this point. Government employees have been given a day off to vote. Tomorrow, of course, is the last day of the working week in Egypt, so many people are going to take tomorrow off, vote, and then go for a three-day weekend.
But by and large, no complaints. When speaking to voters some say they're going to be voting for the Muslim Brotherhood, others for the candidate who are affiliated with the old regime of Hosni Mubarak -- but much enthusiasm, not too much trouble.
ROMANS: You know what? The ramifications for the U.S., you can't really overstate it. This is a country that gets a billion and a half dollars of aid from the U.S. It's long been a partner and ally in the Middle East and we are ushering in a new era of Middle Eastern politics, quite frankly.
What are the ramifications for the U.S. here?
Well, I will read nothing into the click on the end of the line, at the end of my question. That's just a lost connection, no worries there. But that was Ben Wedeman, of course, on a very historic day.
Just last year people were watching the pictures of Tahrir Square and now comes the messy beginnings of real democracy in the region and then it's fascinating to watch. Fascinating.
BANFIELD: And it's fascinating because the four leading candidates out of the 13, the former Arab league chief, Mubarak's last prime minister, one of the old guard, a candidate from the Muslim Brotherhood that Ben was talking about and then a Muslim but a moderate Islamist also leading those candidates, and also women's rights are a huge issue.
ROMANS: Absolutely, absolutely. A lot of people want to see if there's a new era for women in politics and women in society. So, you know, all bears watching and it means something for everyone who is interested in democracy and freedom.
BANFIELD: We'll see if we can reconnect Ben Wedeman to get another live update but we're continuing to watch the live pictures.
In the meantime what do you think Mitt Romney has in common with a plumber? Tax returns? No.
We'll let the always quotable Joe Biden fill you in on exactly what he meant when he put those two thoughts together, the vice president in his own fabulous words, coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BANFIELD: Vice President Joe Biden saying Mitt Romney has no more qualifications to run this country than does a plumber. Find out what Joe the plumber has to say about Joe the vice president.
ROMANS: And the terrifying situation -- a woman in the middle of an emergency situation with her husband, calls 911 only to hear the operator snoring. We'll show you what happened next coming up.
BANFIELD: If you're just waking up and getting ready for work. Guess what? The bacteria in the break room at the office -- yes, there's a problem. We've got a new study that shows you that your break room and your desk are a little bit funkier than the bathroom at work.
ROMANS: Oh!
BANFIELD: I kid you not.
Sorry about that breakfast announcement.
ROMANS: Did you bring the hand sanitizer?
BANFIELD: I know, right?
Thirty-one minutes now past the hour. Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Ashleigh Banfield.
ROMANS: I'm Christine Romans.
It's 31 -- almost 32 minutes past the hour.
BANFIELD: Let's get you started on the top stories today. While the White House and Mitt Romney battle over Bain, the race for the White House actually couldn't get tighter because the polls are showing it like it is.
A brand-new CNN poll of polls averages three major national polls released within the last 24 hours and here's what it shows that the president is clinging to a two-point lead over Mitt Romney.
And this just in: a new Quinnipiac University poll shows Mitt Romney six points ahead of President Obama in Florida.
That state is so critical. Think 2000, folks. Think elections in election 2000.
CNN's political editor Paul Steinhauser is live in Washington, D.C.
So, there's so much to talk about -- the numbers, the polls and then there's Joe Biden who starts talking about plumbers and Mitt Romney and how the Bain issue factors into Mitt Romney's ability to be president. Can you sort this out for me?
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: Sure. Let's take a stab at this.
All right. So Mitt Romney running for president, his big argument is "I can do a better job creating jobs than President Barack Obama" and he points to his time in the business world, especially Bain Capital. That's the private equity firm that he co-founded.
The Obama administration, the Obama campaign, I should say, has really been fighting back over the last week. If you've not been watching over the last week, there have been a lot of ads, videos attacking Romney for his time at Bain, saying that that private equity actually destroyed a lot of businesses, not created them.
The president says this is a very legitimate part of the campaign. He mentioned that earlier this week.
The vice president campaigning yesterday in New Hampshire battleground state backed him up. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Your job as president is to promote the common good. That doesn't mean the private equity guys are bad guys, they're not. But that no more qualifies you to be president than being a plumber. It doesn't -- and, by the way, there are a lot of awful smart plumbers.
All kidding aside. It's not the same job requirement. So, it's totally legitimate for the president to point this out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEINHAUSER: Now, vice president almost getting in trouble there with plumbers but I think he made a joke and hopefully got out of it. We'll see.
One of the thing, Ashleigh, listen, every poll indicates the economy is the top issue in the mind of the voters and what's the top economic issue -- jobs, jobs, jobs.
BANFIELD: What is Ed Gillespie saying about this, the top Republican strategist?
STEINHAUSER: Yes. And the former Republican National Committee chairman, he's a big Romney backer and he's saying that the president also has it wrong on Romney when the president says Mitt Romney doesn't want to talk about his years in Massachusetts.
Here's Gillespie on "THE SITUATION ROOM."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ED GILLESPIE, ROMNEY CAMPAIGN SENIOR ADVISOR: The president was also wrong, by the way, Governor Romney loves to talk about his record in Massachusetts where he balanced the budget, where he took office when unemployment was nearly 6 percent and by the time he left unemployment was below -- at 4.7 percent.
That's in sharp contrast to 39 months of 8 percent or higher unemployment that we've seen under President Obama.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEINHAUSER: Let's go back, Ashleigh, for one second to that Quinnipiac poll you just mentioned. It's brand-new, out of Florida the registered voters. You can see right there, a six-point advantage for Romney.
Remember, their last survey was conducted about three weeks ago and guess what? It was pretty much dead even. Florida, you said it, that and Ohio pretty much the granddaddies of battleground states, a lot of electoral votes at stake. You're going to see both candidates spending a lot of time in Florida, Ashleigh.
BANFIELD: Ohio and Florida -- what about Pennsylvania? I remember Pennsylvania being one of the most critical states like that. Now I don't hear about it as much. Is it much of an issue this time around?
STEINHAUSER: It wasn't a battleground state last time around, and Romney would love to put it in play this time around. But neither candidates actually are in any of those states -- the president in Colorado. He's got the commencement address at the Air Force Academy, but then he does some campaigning. He does some fund-raising in Colorado and California.
And Mitt Romney, right here in Washington, D.C. today. Ashleigh, he's giving a speech to a Latino group. Of course, he's trying to maybe repair relations with Latino voters that he may have offended during the primaries when he had a pretty stuff stance on illegal immigration -- Ashleigh.
BANFIELD: I want to end in a math note. Ten seconds in primary math because we had two wins last night.
STEINHAUSER: Yes, we did. Romney, Obama. Both won, but not spectacular wins in Kentucky and Arkansas. Primaries are over. Let's move to the general.
BANFIELD: I'm with you. All right, Paul Steinhauser, good to see you as always. Thank you, sir.
STEINHAUSER: Thank you.
ROMANS: All right, a panicked woman calls 911 after her husband collapses and she hears this --
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
CALL TAKER: Hold on a second, ma'am, let me try to get him on the line again.
CALLER: OK.
(SNORE)
(END AUDIO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Wow. A sleepy dispatcher snoring as this woman was trying to get help for her husband who was turning blue.
Another operator took over, but the snoring one stayed on the line and caused all kinds of confusion. The second dispatcher asked if the victim was the one making all this noise. Listen.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
CALLER: I don't know what to do.
(SNORE)
DISPATCHER: All right. Is that him I hear in the background?
CALLER: Excuse me?
DISPATCHER: Is that him I hear in the background?
CALLER: Yes.
DISPATCHER: How old is he?
CALLER: Forty-three.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
ROMANS: The man eventually woke up and asked for the caller's address unaware that the caller had been on this line for six minutes. He was placed on administrative leave. The patient was hospitalized and the fire department said he did not suffer any, quote, "adverse effects" as a result of the call.
BANFIELD: Thank God for that.
All right, you got to see this video. It's from China. The little speck on the circle on your screen is a little 3-year-old boy driving a little toy motorcycle in the middle of the traffic. Unbelievable. Buzzed by, buses and cars.
Amazingly the little boy was OK. Police apparently spotted him. They were able to rescue him. Of course, the question is how did it happen? Police say the grandfather was watching the 3-year-old but had to go to the bathroom.
When he came out of the bathroom, he noticed the boy had driven off on his toy bike right into the busy intersection.
ROMANS: The man's daughter came home from work and said, dad, what are you doing?
BANFIELD: You are done.
ROMANS: I can't trust you!
BANFIELD: Or, do you know, they kept her away from all television, she has no idea this went on.
ROMANS: Don't tell his mother.
When it comes to germs at work, there's only one place worse than the bathroom, the break room, that's right, where you eat!
BANFIELD: Nice.
ROMANS: We'll tell you what is lurking there.
BANFIELD: But, first, we have a weather update with Rob Marciano, standing by live at the weather center.
Hello, sir.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hi, good morning again guys.
Heading to south Florida, rainfall yesterday, record-shattering stuff. Miami saw over 9 inches of it. The old record was 3 inches. They need some of this across the northern part of the state where it's in a severe drought. We'll get more showers from Miami to Key West today, maybe as far north and west as Naples -- all part of a system falling apart across the Northeast.
This will keep the threat for showers in the forecast for the next couple days across the Northeast. Severe weather in the Northern Plains and the fire threat continues with windy conditions across the Southwest.
Eighty-eight, warming up, in Kansas City. Also getting toasty in Chicago, 80 degrees, 72 degrees and a threat for showers in New York.
You're up-to-date on weather-wise. Thirty-eight minutes past the hour. EARLY START comes right back.
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ROMANS: Forty-two minutes past the hour. Time to get you caught up to speed here.
Massachusetts serving up a subpoena to Morgan Stanley after it was reported by "Reuters" the lead underwriter for the Facebook IPO cut its earnings and revenue forecast for the company in the days before the offering, but may have told only some institutional investors -- at least that's what they're investigating.
The one thing you need to know today about your money, the housing market is showing more signs of life.
BANFIELD: Yay!
ROMANS: Mortgage rates are super low. The latest housing numbers showed home values are up sharply from a year ago and home affordability is at record levels.
And if jobs -- here's the key, if jobs can truly pick up a recovery in housing will be under way. The one thing you need to know about your money today.
BANFIELD: That's a really big thing.
Here's something else you need to know, Egyptians heading to the polls right now to elect their first president since the fall of Hosni Mubarak and 30 years of his dictatorship, if all this goes as planned, the election will end the military transitional period that's been in placed for the last year.
Egypt's future is being very closely watched not only by this country, but also by Israel to their north.
ROMANS: U.S. investigators are part of a global effort to bring down a disturbing child porn ring. Fifty-five people have been arrested in 20 different countries, including the U.S., and 12 abused children have been rescued. Some of them babies.
This investigation began back in 2010 when authorities in New Zealand discovered numerous images of child sex abuse being exchanged on Facebook and other Web sites. Officials say Facebook helped in this investigation.
BANFIELD: This morning, this is not good news and this is something Christine will probably be reporting on. Tech company Hewlett-Packard announcing plans for massive layoffs cutting about 25,000 jobs. Most of the cuts expected to come from HP's printing unit. HP says the cuts will help streamline its computer and tech services business.
I always wonder if that will show up in the jobs report at the month.
ROMANS: A big black snake on the loose in Columbia, South Carolina.
BANFIELD: Come on.
ROMANS: Fifteen to 20-footer spotted slithering around the tree.
BANFIELD: It looks like a tree.
ROMANS: It was in a tree in Andrew Bilson's backyard. Yesterday they saw this. its' believe to be rattlesnake, but Bilson thinks it's a python. Whatever it is, it's really icky. I would be living in a hotel room --
BANFIELD: Big difference between a rat snake and a python. It truly does look like part of the tree. I don't think I would have noticed walking by.
Well, Andrew Bilson, good luck with that.
Hello, sailors! It's the first week of Fleet Week in New York City, the parade of ships, sailing up the Hudson River beginning at 9:00 a.m. Eastern. So squint, look out your windows if you are in Manhattan and stay tuned to CNN if you're not.
But later, we'll have a camera trained on the "The Intrepid" sea, air, and space museum to bring you the sight throughout the day, and there is something to be hold. It's a great time to be in Manhattan, too. And remember, if you see a sailor out there, don't just buy him a drink, say thank you. Thank you for the service, honestly.
ROMANS: All right. Soledad O'Brien joins us now to look at what's ahead on "Starting Point." Good morning.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: How do you do that thank you sailor?
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(CROSSTALK)
(LAUGHTER)
ROMANS: Hello, sailor.
(LAUGHTER)
O'BRIEN: All right. Ahead this morning at the top of the hour on "Starting Point," we're going to be talking --
ROMANS: Sorry.
O'BRIEN: That's OK. I'm going to make it through. We're going to talk about Mitt Romney's time at Bain Capital. Of course, it's the hot topic on the campaign trail. Ed Canard (ph) is a former Bain Capital employee. Mitt Romney was his boss. He's the managing director, ran the New York office.
He's got a new book out. It's called "Unintended Consequences: Why Everything You've Been Told About The Economy Is Wrong."
ROMANS: Oh, no.
O'BRIEN: We're going to talk about that straight ahead this morning. Plus, the transgendered athlete now fighting for a spot on the U.S. Olympic team. His name is Keelin Godsey, born a female, identifies as male in the hammer throw. Godsey's going to compete alongside women. Writers of the news, "Sports Illustrated," profile on Godsey. We're going to talk about that article and Godsey straight ahead.
And, she's sort of the woman in black, isn't she? Actress, Alice Eve, will stop by with a preview of the new "Men in Black III" movie. That and much more coming up right at the top of the hour.
BANFIELD: I can't wait for the movie. I can't wait.
O'BRIEN: You know what, the trailers look really, really good for it.
BANFIELD: I know. I know. (INAUDIBLE).
O'BRIEN: Yes.
ROMANS: That's one thing on it, but I love that.
O'BRIEN: It looks really good. See you at the top of the hour.
BANFIELD: We'll do.
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BANFIELD: OK. Are you sitting down? Because I have some news for you you may not want to hear. If you think your office restroom is the dirtiest place in the building, think again. Alina Cho breaks down a brand-new report that tells us where the real germs are lurking.
First of all, Alina, tell me you are not in our break room.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, I am. Oh, yes, I am.
BANFIELD: The one we use every morning?
CHO: That's right. The one right outside the studio.
BANFIELD: You're about to tell me exactly what I don't want to hear --
(CROSSTALK)
CHO: I just was going to say, just as all of you were waking up, just know that this is cringe worthy news that you're about to hear. Good morning. You know, that mouse you use every day in your office or the phone, if you think that's dirty, think again. You haven't looked closely at the break room. Everybody has these here at their workplace.
You know, this is the place, remember, that when you don't have time to go out to lunch, you take your lunch out of the fridge, you put it in the microwave, you take it back to your office. Get this, according to a new report, the break room is crawling with contaminants so much so, listen to this, it's actually safer to eat your lunch off the toilet seat.
BANFIELD: Oh, come on!
CHO: That's right, that's right. Now, if you think about it, you know, here in this room, there's a lot of traffic. A lot of people touching the same small spaces over and over again, and those germs can be transferred up to six times. So, the company Kimberly- Clark which makes Kleenex and other household products, they took 5,000 samples from company break rooms, and here's what they found.
Just get ready for this. High levels of contaminants in 75 percent of sink faucet handles. Right? Ever use this here? Seventy- five percent. Forty-eight percent of microwave door handles. So, that's this right here, you know? Right there. And 26 percent of refrigerator doors. Ever take your lunch out of the freezer, take it out there, and nuke it in the microwave. Just imagine --
BANFIELD: Did you have the hand sanitizer with you as you do the story?
CHO: What's that?
BANFIELD: Did you have the hand sanitizer with you as you do the story?
CHO: I'm going to go right there and wash my hands. We're going to get to that in just a minute and what you have to do to not get sick. But just remember, Ashleigh, these are germs that can make you sick. We're talking about colds, the flu, something called norovirus which can result in stomach pain and vomiting or MRSA, which listen to this, causes skin infection.
This is the cringe worthy part. Now, it's important to know that CNN also talked to independent experts who backed up the study's findings. And, remember, nobody is suggesting that if you come here and use the sink and use one of these contaminated surfaces that you're going to automatically get sick.
But keep in mind, that, yes, if you use this, you do have the potential of getting sick. So --
BANFIELD: So, Alina, there's a difference, though, between big companies and small companies, because big companies actually have, you know, staff that go through several times during the day and clean things up and maybe little companies expect you to follow the sign that --
ROMANS: Your mother doesn't work here, so clean up after yourself.
CHO: Yes, yes. That's right, that's right. But, I mean, listen, I think it's safe to say that there's not much you can do when you're talking about so much traffic and so many people coming through this. You can try to keep it clean, but it's hard. So, the big question is then how do you protect yourself?
Well, the best thing that you can do is wash your hands a lot. Thankfully, this is something I don't have a problem with, but this is something you may not know. You know, after you take your food from the fridge or the microwave, wash your hands before you take it back to your desk. This I did not know.
Now, if you don't have access to soap and water, of course, as you mentioned, Ashleigh and Christine --
BANFIELD: The hand sanitizer, right?
CHO: Hand sanitizer is the trick. Finally, if you come in contact with one of these spaces, try not to touch your eyes, your nose, your mouth right away, that is the easiest way for germs to get into your body and make you sick. Make sure you wash your hands first, and then, go back to your desk and enjoy your lunch.
ROMANS: All right. Thank you so much. We just showed these pictures of little kids. You know, we spend all the time say don't put your mouth on the water fountain, but it's the button on the water fountain that's the danger, not the part where your mouth goes.
BANFIELD: Although, (INAUDIBLE) sometimes, if we just introduce these into our systems will become resistant and we should be OK.
ROMANS: I would like to not introduce MRSA into my system and test it.
(LAUGHTER)
ROMANS: Thank you very much, Alina Cho.
If you're leaving the house right now, you can watch us anytime on your desktop or your mobile phone, just go to CNN.com/TV.
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BANFIELD: It is 57 minutes now past six o'clock.
American catholic nuns are being criticized by the Vatican, yes, I did say criticized. Apparently, for spending too much time helping the poor and the sick and not fighting same-sex marriage and birth control. Yes, politics. Not playing politics. Nuns of New York City holding a prayer vigil and protest last night.
"USA Today" said that a new Vatican report slams the 80 percent of U.S. nuns who belong to catholic groups dedicated to helping the poor and performing missionary work. Vatican calling the sisters, quote, "radical feminists who spend too much energy on social justice and not enough time promoting the church's teachings on reproductive issues and the right to life." Saw the signs.
ROMANS: There you go.
"Starting Point" less than a minute away. We wrap it up every day with "Best Advice." Here's Bobcat Goldthwait.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The best advice anyone ever gave me was not to listen to other people. Can I do it and apply it to what you're saying? Weird.
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ROMANS: So, the best advice, does listen to other people. So, I'm not supposed to listen -- to not listening to other people. It could go on forever.
BANFIELD: Very confusing.
(LAUGHTER)
BANFIELD: You know, I remember, many, many moons ago getting into this business, and someone gave it by similar to that, but a little tempered saying, as you try to struggle through this career, there will be a lot of haters out there, et cetera. Listen to half of the good people say about you and half of the bad that people say about you.
ROMANS: Oh, that's good advice.
BANFIELD: Yes.
ROMANS: Can I pick the half?
(LAUGHTER)
BANFIELD: It would be nice when you cherry-pick it.
(LAUGHTER)
BANFIELD: I think that defeats the purpose.
ROMANS: I think so, too.
BANFIELD: Hey, that is -- nice to have you here.
(CROSSTALK)
ROMANS: Thank you. I think I'm subbing in on Friday, too.
BANFIELD: All right. We'll do it all again on Friday, but for now, with just about a minute to go, that is the news from "A" to "Z," but "A" to "C" today.
ROMANS: ""A" to "Z" via "C."
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BANFIELD: There you go. I'm Ashleigh Banfield.
ROMANS: I'm Christine Romans. "Starting Point" with Soledad starts right now.
