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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Nigeria Plane Crash Pilot is American; All World Markets Down; Obama Vs. Romney; New Poll; Stakes High In Wisconsin Recall Election; Panetta In Vietnam
Aired June 04, 2012 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN HOST: Breaking news this morning. We have just learned that the pilot in the Nigerian plane crash is American. The details coming up.
ZORAIDA SAMBOLIN, CNN HOST: Plus, your money may take a hit today. It's going to be a rough day for the stock market. Pre-market trading is down, not as much as we expected. The world market is down overnight. We're live with the details straight ahead.
BANFIELD: Brand new polls out this morning pitting President Obama against Mitt Romney. We're going to reveal those numbers for you in just a moment.
And we now have a new Miss USA, the highlights and the newly crowned winner this hour on CNN.
Good morning to you and welcome to EARLY START. I'm Zoraida Sambolin.
BANFIELD: Good morning, everyone. I'm Ashleigh Banfield. Nice to have you with us.
We're bringing you the news from A to Z. And it's 5:00 a.m. in the East.
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.
SAMBOLIN: We begin this morning with breaking news. We're just learning brand new information on that Nigerian plane that crashed into a residential neighborhood in Lagos. The airline's director of flight operations confirming the pilot was American. There is no release of the name yet. We have no idea how long that pilot worked for the airline either.
Nigeria's president declaring three days of national mourning and ordering a full investigation. All 153 people on board were killed in yesterday's disaster, and at least 10 people on the ground died as well.
Firefighters and police struggled to put out all of the flames. There wasn't any water left more than three hours after that crash. Residents helped carry fire hoses and plastic buckets of water to the burning wreckage.
BANFIELD: It is going to be a rough day pretty much in the financial markets after the dismal jobs report came out on Friday. Stock futures for the Dow, NASDAQ, S&P 500 all trading sharply lower this morning, indicating that markets are expected to open down as well here. A lot of volatility, uncertainty in the air in the markets around the world today already. This very early hour.
Alison Kosik is in for Christine Romans today.
So, break it down. I think we have a lot of things on the menu for why this is happening.
ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: One of the things that is sort of dictating how we're going to see trading are the Asian markets which are down quite a lot right now. But we did see our futures recover just a bit.
Here is what I want to tell you about. Remember the Dow, 13,000? Remember the big rallies we were talking about? Guess what? The Dow erased all its gains for the year. You see that chart, you see that line going all the way down? That's where we are now.
A lot of what we lost, interestingly enough was just within the past month. There's a lot weighing on the markets. Investors are worried about a lot of things, a slowdown in Europe and China, not to mention right here in the U.S. after that dismal jobs report that showed in May we only had 69,000 jobs added to the workforce.
So, the thing is, the economy is growing, but it's not growing fast enough because you se other indications, too. Manufacturing slowed down. Consumer spending was actually up in April. But it's rising faster than incomes. That's not what you want to see.
You know, there's also another thing weighing on the economy, here what's known as the fiscal cliff. That's when you're going to see these tax cuts expire, meaning higher rates are going to go into effect.
More than $100 billion in automatic spending cuts. They're going to go into effect as well. You're going to Lots of cuts at the Pentagon.
The problem with this is you'll see all this stuff happening all at once. What the Congressional Budget Office says is this will take $50 billion out of the economy. They're predicting if this fiscal cliff happens all at once by early next year, you're going to see the economy going into a recession. This is from the CBO. This is what they're predicting.
OK. So, that's the bad stuff. There are a few bright spots I want to end on. Look, gas prices are falling. You're seeing that happen because oil prices are also tumbling, right now below $82 a barrel right now. That's good news for our pocketbooks obviously, obviously not for the right reasons, because the reason you're seeing oil prices fall is because the expectation that demand will be less as we see the economy here slow down and the economies overseas slow down.
But if history is our guide, we've seen this for a couple of years now where we start off really strong in the year and it slows down and we have a really rough summer and then we have recovery. The problem is we're seeing this over and over for the past two to three years and you're seeing politicians really seize on this, like Mitt Romney's senior campaign adviser. Listen to what he said over the weekend.
(BEGIN VIDEO LCIP)
ERIC FEHRNSTROM, ROMNEY CAMPAIGN SENIOR ADVISER: It's not just the devastatingly weak jobs report we got on Friday. It was also the revision in GDP downward for the first quarter. It's a drop in consumer confidence. There was an increase in unemployment claims.
It's not that we don't think this president is trying. I think he is. It's just that his policies are not working.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOSIK: So it's an election year. No surprise you're seeing Romney's campaign seize on the moment.
But there's one more bright spot that I didn't mention, mortgage rates. Mortgage rates are really low. We're also seeing the housing market may have hit bottom, at least prices. So, maybe we'll se a little recovery there. You have to hope that will bring up the economy.
If you're trying to glean the bright spots out, I tried to do that this morning.
BANFIELD: The mortgage rates we're hearing could go even lower this summer.
KOSIK: Exactly. And that could be good news for the housing market --
BANFIELD: If you can qualify.
SAMBOLIN: That's the big if.
KOSIK: If you can get a mortgage.
SAMBOLIN: Alison Kosik, thank you very much.
It is five minutes past the hour here. George Zimmerman back behind bars in Florida. The neighborhood watch volunteer charged with murdering Trayvon Martin turned himself in last night, just before a deadline that was set by the judge. He was forced out of hiding after the judge revoked his bail, saying Zimmerman misled the court about his finances.
His attorney says Zimmerman is living in fear.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARK O'MARA, GEORGE ZIMMERMAN'S ATTORNEY: He's worried about himself. He's worried about his wife. He's worried about his family. He's worried about everybody who has to be in hiding because of the enormous anger and frustration and hatred that has spurred from this case.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAMBOLIN: Attorney Mark O'Mara plans to file for another bond hearing today.
BANFIELD: Investigators are trying to figure out what caused an air tanker to crash while fighting a wildfire along if Nevada-Utah border. Two pilots were killed in the accident. They were dropping fire retardant on the flames when their tanker went down yesterday afternoon.
That tanker was on its second run of the day ands was loaded with 160 gallon offense fuel and 2,000 gallons of water and fire retardant. The 5,000 acre white rock fire began burning Friday night after a lightning strike in eastern Nevada.
And new this morning, a rehab center in central Mexico under attack. According to a blog that publishes information about the Mexican drug war, armed men entered the center in Torreon, which is really near Durango, late last night and fired at patients, killing eight people and injuring eight others.
The attack is the latest in a bunch of gruesome incidents. Just last month, if you recall, authorities found the decapitated and dismembered bodies of 49 people along a highway.
BANFIELD: Hot off the presses, a just-released CNN/ORC poll showing President Obama outperforming Mitt Romney on the favorability scale. With five months to go before the election, let's take a look at the numbers. The president with a favorable rating of 56 percent among voters. Mitt Romney, eight points back at 48 percent.
SAMBOLIN: A member of a doomsday cult responsible for a 1995 nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subway has been taken into custody after 17 years on the run. There's a picture there.
A tip led police to 40-year-old Naoko Kikuchi, excuse me. She admits helping make the sarin gas that killed 13 people and sickened more than 5,000 commuters. But she claimed she didn't know how it would be used.
BANFIELD: And fresh from its Wall Street debut, Facebook is expected to offer up millions of new shares. In just a few months, early investors and select insiders will be free to sell of stock. You should see Alison Kosik's face right now.
Some experts believe it could water down the stock that's already a stinker. Facebook stock is down abou8t 26 percent from its initial public offering price of $38.
SAMBOLIN: Eight minutes past the hour. Say hello to the new Miss USA.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: Miss USA 2012 -- Rhode Island!
(CHEERS)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAMBOLIN: Twenty-year-old Olivia Culpo of Rhode Island was crowned last night. She'll be representing the United States at the Miss Universe pageant. Culpo was asked to weigh in on the recent controversy over transgender pageant contestants. She says she thinks it would be fair for a transgender contestant to compete.
They said that was the toughest question of the night.
BANFIELD: But I wonder how many people have maps and what they think about Iraq and such. That kind of thing.
SAMBOLIN: You know, this girl is a very smart cookie.
BANFIELD: I'll take your word for it. I don't watch those pageants.
SAMBOLIN: I did. And I read up on her. I just want you to know, she's a very smart cookie.
BANFIELD: All right. We got panic in the streets, thanks to somebody's idea of a prank. Wait until you see who ends up getting punked in the end. It's all coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BANFIELD: Good morning. We've got breaking news for you this morning.
It turns the pilot of that Nigerian plane crash that crashed killed all 153 people on board was an American. So far his identity has not yet been released. We can tell you at least 10 people on the ground were also killed in this plane crash.
Nigeria's president is declaring three days of national mourning and is ordering a full investigation into the crash. Firefighters and police struggled to put out the planes. There are very few fire trucks stationed in Lagos and couldn't carry enough water to the wreckage. The residents had to carry buckets of water to try to help put out the flames.
SAMBOLIN: Global markets in full retreat this morning. European and Asian stocks tumbling on concerns of the debt crisis deepening and China's economy is slowing. But most are reacting to the disappointing report on the jobs market in the U.S. on Friday.
U.S. stock futures are down right now which means stocks here are expected to open lower this morning.
In just a few hours, a jury in Philadelphia is set to resume deliberations in a priest sex abuse trial. Monsignor William Lynn is accused of transferring priests to other parishes. His co-defendant James Brennan is accused in the attempted rape of a 14-year-old boy.
SAMBOLIN: Jury selection set to begin in the trial of Jerry Sandusky. The 68-year-old former Penn State coach is accused of sexually abusing ten boys over a 14-year period. The judge last week denied a request by Sandusky's lawyers for a delay in the case.
BANFIELD: California are investigating San Francisco Giant Pablo Sandoval in an alleged sexual assault. Authorities say the incident occurred Friday at a resort in northern California. Sandoval is said to be cooperating fully with the investigation. That all-star third baseman is currently on the disabled list and recovering from a hand injury.
SAMBOLIN: An international manhunt heating up for a self- proclaimed porn star accused of killing and hacking up a student in Canada. Police in Paris, France, are investigating several reported sightings of murder suspect Luka Magnotta. The 29-year-old Magnotta is accused of killing and disremembering a university student in Montreal, and then mailing the body parts to the headquarters of two Canadian political parties.
BANFIELD: The tables are turned on a so-called zombie prankster in Miami. Take a look at the video. The city has been on edge ever since a homeless man's face was mostly chewed off in a bizarre attack last night. This shows a young man dressed up running and scaring people. At the end of the clip things change decidedly when a group of teenagers decides to chase him down himself and one of them appears to be holding a gun.
In Seattle, a sanitation worker turns hero. Jeff Blackburn was driving a garbage truck when he noticed a woman jogging with a baby stroller, and the stroller getting away from her. The quick thinking driver started honking his horn, blocked the intersection with on coming traffic and jumped out to save the baby. The modest driver says he was just in the right place at the right time. Amazing video.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Who is fairest of them all?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You are the fairest.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Now, that is one dark take on a classic fairytale. But "Snow White and the Huntsman" was still the fairest at the box office, taking in $56 million in its opening weekend.
SAMBOLIN: Oh my gosh.
BANFIELD: Man, that looks spooky.
"Snow White" was able to knock "Men in Black III" from the top. "MBI 3" was second with $29 million, and "The Avengers" hanging in there, going strong in fact, third with $20 million, the third highest grossing film of all time.
SAMBOLIN: Well, it's a gloomy start to the week in the Northeast.
Rob Marciano has all of the gloomy details for us this morning, Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes. I guess it's good weather to go take in a movie. Hit the theaters or do it that way. Exactly.
Got a mess, check out the weather map across the eastern half of the country, actually western half not too great either. But the Northeast for sure kind of maybe a little sympathy for what the queen had to endure yesterday, a nod in New England to gloomy weather. Temperatures will hover in the 50s, on-and-off showers, a little bit of damp skies.
Across the Southeast, just northern Georgia through Chattanooga, looking at showers and thunderstorms. Some are pretty rough. The most severe storms are rolling through Memphis. These have winds of about 70 miles per hour. They're moving southeast at 70 miles per hour. Destructive winds there moving through Graceland just south and east of Tulsa, also. That severe thunderstorm watch is in effect until 7:00 a.m. local time.
Out west, this storm coming through very strong this time of year. It's going to get all the way down through San Francisco. It's going to kick up the winds in the fire zones of Nevada, through New Mexico as well.
So, 50-mile-an-hour-plus winds expected there and some rain from San Francisco as far north as Seattle. The heat is going to will continue across parts of the southwest as well. Seventy-four, not a bad day actually in Chicago, but the 60s and 50s will hold across the Northeast today.
You might not need the umbrella. I don't think it's going to pour down rain. You may have to be late light on your feet to dodge some of the raindrops.
Guys, back up to you.
BANFIELD: How about that Thames picture though? What a mess this weekend, right?
MARCIANO: They stood strong and barreled right through it.
BANFIELD: Those are the British, the good old British.
MARCIANO: They get it this time of year.
BANFIELD: I just felt like what a bummer, they could have had sunshine for such a big party.
MARCIANO: She still looked good, going strong.
BANFIELD: She looked great. Thanks, Rob. See you soon.
MARCIANO: All right.
BANFIELD: It's 18 minutes past 5:00. And we're getting an "Early Read" on newspaper stories not off the presses yet, but they're making national headlines.
This one from "The Wall Street Journal." Apparently Facebook lifting the ban, getting ready to lift the ban on kids under the age of 13. That social media site according to the journal is developing special features for kids' pages. That technology would allow parents to control their kids' friends and what applications they can use as well.
A lot of kids already use Facebook. They just lie in order to get access. Facebook says, sorry, if you're under 13, no go.
SAMBOLIN: That's what my kid did. He lied.
BANFIELD: How did you find out?
SAMBOLIN: The hard way. I caught him on it.
BANFIELD: You friended him?
SAMBOLIN: No, I did not friend him. I just removed him.
(LAUGHTER)
SAMBOLIN: That's what you'll do, too. I love, of course, they have this, you know? You have a way to monitor I more closely.
BANFIELD: I worry they're going to mine the details from the 13-year-olds. That's what the biggest issue is, is getting this kind of data. You can't do that for kids under 13. So, now, Facebook is trying to figure out a way -- that's a huge section.
SAMBOLIN: Hopefully mommy and daddy will police it pretty well.
BANFIELD: Don't put the computer in the bedroom.
SAMBOLIN: I don't. Those iPads.
For the first time ever, hundreds of Latter Day Saints church members marched in Utah's gay pride parade.
BANFIELD: Wow.
SAMBOLIN: (INAUDIBLE) says more than 300 participated in Sunday's parade in Salt Lake City. The LDS church often clashed with gay rights activists over its opposition to same sex marriage.
The LDS church says it is against, quote, "any kind of hostility towards gays and lesbians".
BANFIELD: That's terrific.
SAMBOLIN: For an expanded look at all of our top stories, head to our blog, CNN.com/EarlyStart.
BANFIELD: And George Zimmerman's lawyers right now are vowing to take action today. With their client back behind bars, what's going to be next for Trayvon Martin's shooter in this saga that doesn't seem to end? That and more coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BANFIELD: Welcome back to EARLY START.
Out of hiding and back in jail. George Zimmerman, the man charged with murdering Trayvon Martin, has surrendered to authorities in Florida. It comes after a judge revoked his bail, saying that Zimmerman and his wife weren't particularly truthful about their finances when his original bail was set. Zimmerman has been out and in hiding for the past six weeks.
CNN's Martin Savidge is following the developments and is live in Sanford, Florida.
So where did this new sort of revelation of truthiness actually end upcoming out?
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Zoraida. Well, it came out actually on Friday. And that is when the state actually made a motion to revoke the bond asking for the bond to be revoked for George Zimmerman, saying that he had not been fully honest and the family had not been fully in their disclosure of how much money they had. That goes back to the original bond.
They said they were broke, it turns out they had over $135,000 in a bank account as a result of donations that had been made online to George's defense fund. And because they had that reveal, the judge was pretty angry to hear or read transcripts of George Zimmerman speaking to his wife from jail, apparently talking about that money. Yet, in court he didn't even say they had that money.
But let's talk about yesterday. George Zimmerman shows up at 1:45, about 45 minutes before his deadline imposed by the judge. It was a rather clandestine way that he turned himself in, at the side of the road, in a parking lot.
Here is the sheriff describing the scene.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHERIFF DONALD ESLINGER, SEMINOLE COUNTY, FLORIDA: George Zimmerman met two members of the sheriff's office in the area of Lake Mary at I-4, was placed into custody, transported to the correctional facility. He is being booked and processed as per Judge Lester's order. He'll be held on a no-bond status.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAVIDGE: Now, one of the issues that has come up, of course, is credibility here because if George Zimmerman man was lying about the money, as the state maintains, what else could he be lying about?
His attorney, Mark O'Mara knows that's a problem. He spoke about that yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARK O'MARA, GEORGE ZIMMERMAN'S ATTORNEY: There's a credibility question that now needs to be sort of rehabilitated by explaining away what they were thinking when they did what they did, if that's what happened. And we'll address it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAVIDGE: Mark O'Mara says he's going to ask for a new bond hearing today. When that hearing will actually take place remains to be seen -- Ashleigh.
BANFIELD: All right, Marty. So, just quickly, clearly, we're going to be in court again and real soon. But do we expect anything else to come out in court other than the information that we're talking about, the money? Any other kind of evidence that might end upcoming out in discovery?
SAVIDGE: Yes, two things. One, we expect to hear those jailhouse recordings made from George Zimmerman and his wife. It's going to be released by authorities we're told today. Later in the week we anticipate there's going to be another, quote-unquote, document dump, that is discovery that is going to be released not only to the defense but also come to the public.
So, we may learn more about what the state has against George Zimmerman.
BANFIELD: Well, every discovery dump, as we call it, has been fascinating today. They don't expect to be any less, though.
Martin Savidge, thank you.
SAVIDGE: You bet.
SAMBOLIN: Twenty-six minutes past the hour.
This week, Wisconsin is the center of the political universe. Voters there could recall Governor Scott Walker. How this vote could resonate all the way to November's presidential election. We'll explain that coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BANFIELD: It's being called a litmus test for November's presidential race. Today is the last day of campaigning in the Wisconsin recall election. We're going to go live to badger state straight ahead.
SAMBOLIN: Plus, the proof is in the picture. Coming up, find out how this image seems to prove the need for sunscreen.
BANFIELD: And tiger woods tying a big golf record over the weekend. That story in the absolutely unreal winning shot, coming up this hour on CNN.
BANFIELD: Good morning. It's nice to have you with us. Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Ashleigh Banfield.
SAMBOLIN: And I'm Zoraida Sambolin. It is 31 minutes past the hour.
Voters in Wisconsin are gearing up a critical recall election that could force the Republican governor out of office after just 18 months. Scott Walker, a Tea Party favorite, who cracked down on public unions facing a high stakes challenge from Milwaukee's Democratic mayor, Tom Barrett. And what happens to Walker tomorrow could set the tone for the national election in November.
CNN political editor, Paul Steinhauser, joining us now live from Washington with more on the Wisconsin contest. But first, we are going to start out with some brand new CNN polling on the presidential race. What can you tell us about that?
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: Good morning, Zoraida. Yes. You know, the presidential race is a lot more than a popularity contest, but a favorable opinion does matter. And take a look at this. These are favorable and unfavorables from CNN/ORC, national poll. Take a look at Mitt Romney. This is dramatic.
Remember back in the primaries how divisive it was? Well, that will bring somebody's candidate's favor ratings (ph) down, but look at Romney's numbers rise as the primaries have kind of faded away, and now, we're in a general election campaign, from 34 percent in February to 48 percent now.
But, how does he compare to President Barack Obama? He's doing well, but Barack Obama, at least our poll, indicates is more popular, a 56 percent favorable rating, 42 percent unfavorable. And the president's favorable numbers have been pretty steady over the last couple months.
The president does not do as well as Romney among independents, but does do better among younger voters. Put it all this together, Zoraida, and check this out. This is our overall number, the horse race number, the most important number, I guess, you can say, 49 percent for the president, 46 for Romney.
A three-point advantage, but you know what, that's within a sampling error. So yes, a dead heat.
SAMBOLIN: I'd say overall that's pretty good news for Romney, wouldn't you say? STEINHAUSER: Yes. His numbers have definitely rebounded from the primaries when there was such divisiveness going on again within his own party.
SAMBOLIN: All right. I want to go back to Wisconsin, because I was doing a little research here, and I guess we don't have governors recalled that often. This is the third one, right, in U.S. history?
STEINHAUSER: Yes. Only two -- actually, this is the third time and only two have been recalled. The last being Gray Davis out in California back about nine years ago. And as you mentioned, though, Zoraida, a couple of minutes ago, yes, this is Wisconsin story. No doubt about it.
We remember what happened a little over a year ago when the Republican governor and Republican lawmakers pushed through a bill that would limit collective bargaining for union workers. There were protests --
SAMBOLIN: Oh, it's a huge mess. It was a huge mess.
STEINHAUSER: Huge mess. And that is how we've got here today. But, this is much more than a Wisconsin story, and that's why you're seeing some top high profile surrogates like Bill Clinton, the former president, who was with the Democratic candidate, the Milwaukee mayor there, Tom Barrett.
And you're seeing a lot of top surrogates in the Republican side, some of the biggest names in the Republican Party all there. Why? Why? Because this has become a national story. It's almost like a dry run for the race for the White House. This is so rare that we have a statewide contest with just five months to go before a presidential contest.
You're seeing both sides, independent groups, Tea Party groups, progressive groups, unions, flooding the zone with money. Everybody is taking a look at this as a dry run for November.
SAMBOLIN: And it's kind of a dead heat there, right, between these two candidates, between Barrett and Walker?
STEINHAUSER: Most of the non-partisan polls put Walker, the Republican governor up, but only by single digits. So, yes, it is very, very close with one day to go until the election.
SAMBOLIN: And the lieutenant governors are also in this race, right? So, we may end up with a Republican governor and a Democratic lieutenant governor. That's possible, right?
STEINHAUSER: It is very possible. She is also facing a recall. She's a Republican and four other republicans, state lawmakers as well. All this, as we said, going back to a little over a year ago. So, stay tuned for this tomorrow. A very exciting --
SAMBOLIN: I remember when they went out to hide, the senators in Illinois, it was quite a major mess. I'm looking forward to this finally getting buttoned up. Thank you so much, Paul Steinhauser live for us in Washington, D.C.
BANFIELD: It's 34 minutes now past 5:00. And something pretty unusual happened on the Sunday morning talk shows this weekend. Now, think about not too many days ago, President Clinton was actually saying that Mitt Romney's record with Bain more than qualifies him to be president. That was unusual.
And in case you missed this, a Republican is now praising President Obama. What a campaign. This happened on CNN's "State of the Union." Virginia's Republican governor, Bob McDonnell, was talking about his state's economic turn-around, at first, criticizing the president's policies until our Candy Crowley got tough and decided to press the Mitt Romney surrogate.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. BOB MCDONNELL, (R) VIRGINIA: Did it help us in the short run with healthcare and education spending, did it balance the budget? Sure. Does it help us in the long-term to really cut the unemployment rate? I say no.
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: So, just a tiny bit of credit to the president.
MCDONNELL: Well, sure. I think there's national policies that have had some impact.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: And that makes the sound bite. McDonnell went on, though, to take most of the credit for Virginia's low unemployment rate claiming that his state would be even better off if not for the president's, quote, "overburden some regulation." So, you give some and you take some back.
SAMBOLIN: Thirty-six minutes past the hour. A new campaign video for President Obama debuting last night during the MTV Movie Awards. It features "Sex and the City" star, Sarah Jessica Parker. She is taking a page out of the George Clooney fundraising book.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SARAH JESSICA PARKER, ACTRESS: President Obama and Michelle are coming to my house for dinner on June 14th, and I want you to be there, too, but you have to go to --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAMBOLIN: Parker is hosting the fundraiser at her New York home. Supporters can buy lottery tickets online for $3.00 for a chance to attend. A fundraiser last month at actor, George Clooney's, Hollywood home took in $15 million in donations for the president.
BANFIELD: Defense secretary, Leon Panetta, is in Vietnam this morning, part of a trip aimed at strengthening military ties in Asia. Panetta visited a former U.S. navy base at Cam Ranh Bay yesterday where he explained the shift in military strategy going forward.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEON PANETTA, DEFENSE SECRETARY: It's a defense strategy where, yes, we're going to have a smaller and leaner force, but it's going to be agile. It's going to be deployable. It's going to be flexible, and it's going to be on the edge of new technologies. In addition to that, we are going to refocus.
We're going to refocus on the pacific because this is an area where we confront many challenges, and we'll also maintain a significant focus in the Middle East as well.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Panetta is the first American defense secretary to visit the base since that war ended.
SAMBOLIN: Vice President Biden's daughter tied the knot over the weekend. How lovely she looked. Ashley Biden marrying Philadelphia plastic surgeon, Howard Krein (ph) in front of about 200 guests. This is Wilmington, Delaware. The couple was introduced in 2010 by Delaware's attorney general, Biden's son, Beau.
BANFIELD: Doctors are pretty excited about a brand new breast cancer drug that they say knocks out cancer cells in a whole new way. It's called TDM-1, and it combines two drugs, one that treats cancer and another that used in chemotherapy. Scientists say TDM-1 appears to be superior in fighting an advanced form of cancer called HER-2 positive.
About 25 percent of breast cancer patients have that. TDM-1 is expected to be submitted to the FDA for approval this year.
SAMBOLIN: So, you can breathe easy. The CDC has now come out and confirmed there is no zombie apocalypse. A zombie craze has erupted over recent flesh-eating cases. Last week, police in Miami gunned down a man eating the face of a homeless victim. And Maryland police have arrested a man who admitted to killing his roommate and eating his organs.
The CDC says, quote, "It does not know of a virus or condition that would reanimate the dead or one that would present zombie-like symptoms."
BANFIELD: Did we really need the CDC for that?
SAMBOLIN: That's so disgusting at this hour of the morning.
BANFIELD: Yes, it is.
SAMBOLIN: Sorry about that.
BANFIELD: Those stories, in general, have been pretty repulsive.
Here's a better one for you. The geek alert, folks. A couple of space shuttles on the move this morning. The prototype, "Enterprise," is on the barge and is making its way to its permanent home here in New York at the Intrepid Sea Air and Space Museum.
That's on Manhattan's west side. In case you're deciding on a visit. It's scheduled to arrive tomorrow. We'll be all over this, by the way.
And not only that, but a space shuttle replica called "Explorer" has arrived at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. It was previously on display in Florida, the Kennedy Space Center visitor complex. A lot of places for you to go and get your space on.
SAMBOLIN: That's very exciting. All right. And talk about geekiness. I was listening to Piers Morgan. Oh, my gosh! Was he out of control with excitement? Huge celebrations in England this weekend as Queen Elizabeth celebrates 60 years on the throne.
He was covering this. Tens of thousands of people took part in the diamond jubilee festivities. On Sunday, the royal family led a flotilla of a thousand boats down the Thames River for a spectacular river pageant.
The celebrations continue today with a party and a concert at Buckingham Palace. I hope the weather cooperates for them.
BANFIELD: I know. I think the tents actually went up an inch with all the rain yesterday.
SAMBOLIN: Oh.
BANFIELD: Couldn't tell, though --
SAMBOLIN: But it was still fantastic, right?
BANFIELD: Millions were lining that river. It was such a great flotilla. A thousand boats, first time that's happened since the 1600s.
So, vintage Tiger at Jack's place. Tiger Woods tying Jack Nicklaus for second place on the all-time win list by winning Jack's own tournament in Ohio yesterday. Woods captured his 73rd PGA Tour victory and his fifth Memorial title with a shot for the ages.
SAMBOLIN: Very excited there.
BANFIELD: Check it out. Holding on a mind blowing 50-foot flop shot, that's what they call it, a 50-foot from the deep rough on the 16th poll, and afterwards, a light moment between Tiger and the golden bear. Take a look. Drink it in, folks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TIGER WOODS, PROFESSIONAL GOLFER: It's awfully special for me to be here with you right now, Mr. Nicklaus.
JACK NICKLAUS, PROFESSIONAL GOLFER: I had to rub it in my face right here, didn't he?
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: You love that he said Mr. Nicklaus. It's adorable, isn't it, Mr. Nicklaus? Who wouldn't call him Mr. Nicklaus? Tiger still trails Jack for the all-time wins in major tournaments, but he's going to try to close that gap in the U.S. open at Olympic Club in San Francisco, gets underway in 11 days. So, stay tuned. Mr. Woods, Mr. Nicklaus.
All right. He's a real life Doogie Howser. A one-time child prodigy who just graduated from medical school at the age of 21. Oh, yes, very musically inclined, too. More on this stories coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SAMBOLIN: We are following breaking news this morning. The pilot of a Nigerian plane that crashed into a residential neighborhood in Lagos killing all 153 people on board was an American. His identity has not been released yet. At least ten people on the ground were also killed.
Nigeria's president declaring three days of national mourning and ordering a full investigation. The wreckage burning more than three hours after the crash, and fire trucks just could not carry enough water to the site.
BANFIELD: It is now 45 minutes past 5:00. Some other top stories we're following this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BANFIELD (voice-over): Global markets in full retreat this morning. The European and Asian stocks are tumbling on the concerns that that debt crisis is deepening, but not only that, China's economy is slowing. Most of the markets, though, are reacting to those disappointing numbers that came out on Friday, the jobs numbers in the U.S.
U.S. stock futures are down right now which means the stocks here are expected to open lower this morning.
SAMBOLIN (voice-over): The latest twist in the Trayvon Martin shooting case has George Zimmerman back in jail this morning. He surrendered to authorities yesterday in Sanford, Florida, two days after a judge revoked his bail, saying Zimmerman and his wife lied to the court about how much money they had.
Zimmerman is charged with murdering Trayvon Martin. His attorney says they'll ask the judge for a new bond hearing.
BANFIELD: Investigators still don't know what caused an air tanker to crash while fighting a wildfire along the Nevada-Utah border. Two pilots were in the plane were killed yesterday. They were dropping fire retardant on the flames when that tanker went down. The 5,000-acre white rock fire has been burning since Friday night after a lightning strike in Eastern Nevada.
SAMBOLIN: A very close call for another firefighting air tanker. A landing gear malfunctioned forcing pilots to execute an emergency landing at the Minden Tahoe Airport. The pilot circled for 90 minutes to burn off fuel before skidding of the runway during a dramatic belly landing. You're watching it there. The plane was badly damaged, but both crew members escaped unhurt.
A gruesome discovery in the Arizona desert. Five bodies inside a burned up SUV in near the border with Mexico this weekend. It's believed to be the same vehicle spotted hours earlier by border patrol agents. Authorities are investigating whether the deaths are linked to Mexican drug cartels. They say this area is a hot bed of drug smuggling and human smuggling.
A teenage mother is under arrest this morning in Phoenix. Nineteen-year-old Catalina Clouser (ph) had her five-week-old baby in hi car seat, but -- this is a real big but -- police say the infant wasn't in the car, he was on the roof of the car.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She put the baby on top of the car evidently to get in it. She didn't realize that she hadn't put the baby inside and she drove off. I cannot believe that I've got another parent out there anywhere that would put their child in this situation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAMBOLIN: Wow. I've left a coffee cup, a newspaper, but a baby? The baby was found in the middle of an intersection miraculously still in the car seat and not injured. The mother was arrested and charged with child abuse and driving under the influence of marijuana. The baby is now in the custody of child protective services.
BANFIELD: Federal health officials say a fifth person has now contracted the flesh-eating bacteria in the southern U.S. The latest victim is an elderly woman in South Carolina. She's recovering after emergency surgery where doctors removed a part of her leg. Four other victims diagnosed with necrotizing fasciitis are from Georgia.
SAMBOLIN: Richard Dawson (ph) claimed to have kissed some 20,000 female contestants as host of "The Family Feud." Dawson died yesterday after battle with cancer. He was 79 years old. Richard Dawson was also an actor appearing in films, and most notably the TV series, Hogan's Heroes." But, he was famous for the feud, and he made "survey says" a national catch phrase.
BANFIELD: Well, here's some sad news. Silver medalist and former world champ gymnast, Shawn Johnson (ph) is retiring. The 20- year-old American announced yesterday that her left knee injury is going to make competing at the 2012 London summer games impossible. Johnson won four medals back in Beijing. SAMBOLIN: All right. That is one fat cat. Garfield tipping the scale at a whopping 40 pounds. The North Shore Animal League rescued the big guy after his caregiver in Brooklyn, New York, passed away. The league is accepting applications for his adoption. It says Garfield just needs to lose about 20 pounds --
BANFIELD: Oh, my gosh!
SAMBOLIN: Otherwise, he is healthy and in great spirits. And he's cute,
BANFIELD: Don't we all just need to lose about 20 pounds. I mean, really?
(LAUGHTER)
SAMBOLIN: I'd take ten and I'd be very happy.
BANFIELD: Garfield. It's all that lasagna. Layoff.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BANFIELD (on-camera): OK. So, with a real life Doogie Howser for you. Twenty-one year-old Sho Yano becomes a doctor. Dr. Sho Yano this week. Take a peek. He's a pediatric neurologist who started collegiate age nine. Let me repeat that. Who started collegiate age nine and happens to be the youngest medical school graduate in the history of the University of Chicago.
Sho was reading by the time he was two, writing by the age of three, and then, you know, composing music at the age of five. Pretty remarkable kiddo. He says you ain't seen nothing yet.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. SHO YANO, YOUNGEST M.D. IN UNIV. OF CHICAGO HISTORY: Feels like a nice little accomplishment. I want to go on and do something bigger.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: A nice little accomplishment. Sho is a genius. We can't tell you his IQ because it's just too high to be accurately measured. His IQ is too high to be measured. He's also an accomplished pianist. So, there are the pictures there. And as if that weren't enough, he's a black belt in taekwondo.
SAMBOLIN: Oh, can't wait to see what he does with his life.
BANFIELD: Wow. Something else, isn't it?
SAMBOLIN: All right. A note from mom probably would have been enough, but a Minnesota fifth grader managed to come up with something much better than that after missing school on Friday. Look at that! We're going to share the details of that story.
BANFIELD: That's a happy kid.
(LAUGHTER)
SAMBOLIN: Everybody say cheese.
BANFIELD: If you're leaving the house right now, you can watch us any time on your desk top, your mobile phone, take us with you anywhere you want to go, just go to CNN.com/TV and all the info you need is right there.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SAMBOLIN: It's a shocking visual reminder to always wear sunscreen. Take a look at this. A medical journal publishing this photo of a 69-year-old truck driver, folks. Please come to the TV. This is what his face looks like after 28 years on the road. The left side shows significant aging from UVA sun rays transmitted through the window glass.
Scientists say chronic UVA exposure can lead to thickening and wrinkling of the skin. And of course, it can lead to skin cancer as well. Oh, my goodness!
BANFIELD: The 28 years on the road and you think about all the truck drivers who have spent that long at their job in that driver's seat and how that's affected us, and the rest of us, too, driving, all that through the window.
SAMBOLIN: Imagine taking the top down. I put a little bit of sunscreen on, but this may be the (INAUDIBLE) to put a higher.
BANFIELD: Get the makeup with the sunscreen in it already. Always a good idea.
So, how about this for a Minnesota kid. The best excuse ever for cutting class. "Sorry, teach, but I was busy hanging out with the prez."
SAMBOLIN: Love this kid.
BANFIELD: Not of the school, of the country. There he is. Peak over Obama shoulder, and you can see -- the president wrote an absent letter for 11-year-old Tyler Sullivan (ph), making it simple, to a smiling kid.
SAMBOLIN: Look at his face as he looks at the president. That cool.
BANFIELD: It says, "Mr. Ackerman," that would be the teacher, "Mr. Ackerman, please excuse Tyler. He was with me." Tyler skipped class to attend the president's speaking event at the Honeywell Plant near Minneapolis. He did so along with his dad. Figured it was for a pretty good reason. And let's see.
(LAUGHTER)
BANFIELD: he's pretty thrilled, right?
SAMBOLIN: What are you writing, what are you writing?
(LAUGHTER)
BANFIELD: Imagine that moment. I hope they had their cell phone cameras going as well, but you know what --
SAMBOLIN: I think the president's people probably took some great photos, and he's got a nice little copy.
BANFIELD: We thought this was such a great picture. We called them, we got a hold of, them, and at 6:45, Tyler and his fifth grade teacher are going to join us live right here on the show. So, make sure you stick around, because it's going to great to hear just how that went over.
SAMBOLIN: Yes. How he enjoyed that very spectacular moment.
And still to come, actor, Johnny Depp, wowing the crowd at last night's MTV Movie Awards. Look at that.
BANFIELD: Who knew, right?
SAMBOLIN: Yes. That's with the black keys. Depp was honored last night when the MTV Generation Award or with the MTV Generation Award. They have other big winners. The "Twilight" saga, "Breaking Dawn," won Movie of the Year. And "The Hunger Games" picked up Best Male and Female performances.
BANFIELD: He still looks like Captain Jack Sparrow no matter what he dresses in.
(LAUGHTER)
SAMBOLIN: That's true.
BANFIELD: Hey, these are really anxious times for investors, so we're keeping a really close eye on the markets overseas this morning. Yes. Friday, not so good, big tumble here, and guess what? Overnight futures not looking great either. So, we'll have a live update coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
