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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Mubarak in "Critical Condition"; Sandusky Prepared To Testify; Stopping Europe's Ripple Effects

Aired June 20, 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: Anger and confusion in Egypt. Protests overnight over the military's power grab in that country, and then conflicting reports about former President Hosni Mubarak's health.

ZORAIDA SAMBOLIN, CNN HOST: Change of course in the North Sea of a Russian ship thought to be carrying attack helicopters to Syria may have already turned around, and it is headed home.

BANFIELD: The Heat in the driver's seat of the NBA Finals. LeBron James now just one win away from his first championship. I'm very excited.

SAMBOLIN: LeBron James. The whole team, LeBron James.

BANFIELD: I know, but doesn't everyone just think LeBron James is the Heat? The Heat is on, folks.

Good morning, everyone. Nice to have you with us on this very, very EARLY START. I'm Ashleigh Banfield.

SAMBOLIN: And I'm Zoraida Sambolin. We're bringing you the news from A to Z. It's 5:00 a.m. here in the East.

Let's get --

BANFIELD: Yes, right?

SAMBOLIN: Yes, Ashleigh and Zoraida.

It's 5:00 a.m. in the East. Let's started here.

BANFIELD: It never gets old, never gets old.

SAMBOLIN: All right. So, let's start with the developing news this morning out of Egypt about the health of former President Hosni Mubarak.

We're getting conflicting reports about his actual condition. A state news agency is reporting the 84-year-old is clinically dead. But his lawyer says that he is in a coma. And the military says Mubarak's condition is critical. But that he is, indeed, still alive.

All this confusion coming at a very critical time for Egypt. Thousands gathering overnight in Cairo's Tahrir Square to protest the military leaders who were supposed to oversee the transition to democracy. Instead, they are grabbing more power.

Ivan Watson is live in Cairo.

Ivan, what is the latest on Mubarak's condition?

IVAN WATSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The latest is that his wife Suzanne, we're told, has been able to visit his bedside at the military prison that he was -- military hospital, rather, that he was transferred to. He appears to be on life support after suffering a heart attack, being revived, and also possibly suffering a stroke as well.

We're not getting much more information, though. No press conferences, nothing like that. And some of the Egyptians I'm talking to are expressing frustration about that. They're saying, Jesus, this guy may be on the verge of dying and no doctor coming out to give us more information just as one statement that's been disputed from the official news agency of Egypt, MENA, saying he's clinically dead.

A bit of frustration from Egyptians at the lack of information about their former president.

SAMBOLIN: So, do you think his death will have any impact there?

WATSON: You know, I'm sure that Egyptians will be fascinated and transfixed by images of a funeral of the man who governed their country for nearly 30 years. But I think that for the most part, they're very concerned about the hit the economy has taken over the past year and a half, about who's going to run this country next.

I mean, this news of Mubarak suffering a health emergency is coming as the entire country waits to find out who won the presidential elections last weekend, and also amid concerns about where the country's going. It doesn't even have a constitution right now. And the parliament was just dissolved last week.

So there's a constitutional and legislative vacuum right now while the country waits to find out who's the next president. They're not too worried right now about their former president who was ungraciously kicked out of power.

SAMBOLIN: So, let's talk about all of those protesters that showed up at Tahrir Square and what exactly it is that they are protesting and what it is that their expectation is.

WATSON: Well, for the most part, these people last night, and they were there until about 3:00 in the morning, thousands of them, were supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood's candidate for president. His name is Mohammed Morsi. His camp has claimed victory in the election with 52 percent of the vote, even though his opponent, Hosni Mubarak's former handpicked prime minister, Ahmed Shafik, is also claiming victory.

State media is reflecting Mohammed Morsi's numbers for a victory. These people were out there to celebrate what they think is their candidate's victory, but also to say no to military rule. Because it has been a power grab by the ruling military council in the past couple days, assuming wide ranging legislative and executive powers and also inserting itself in the process of writing a new constitution -- Zoraida.

COSTELLO: We see a repeat of the deadly clashes? Do you think that could potentially be the outcome here?

WATSON: I think there's concern about that, but also some of that energy, the street protests that have convulsed Egypt for more than a year and a half now, has dissipated some. A lot of those initial revolutionaries that we saw in January and February in Tahrir Square are deeply disillusioned and angry at the political process here -- angry at horse trading in the back rooms between the Muslim Brotherhood and the military, angry at the recent power grab by the military as well.

And I think some of them have conceded that street protests are not the only answer to Egypt. But there is a lot of concern that the power grab by the military council is killing the revolutionary fervor and enthusiasm of a year and a half ago.

SAMBOLIN: Ivan Watson live in Cairo for us -- thank you very much.

And coming up at 7:00 Eastern on "STARTING POINT," former ambassador to Egypt, Daniel Kurtzer, will weigh in on the possible death of a dictator, whether democracy there is in danger as Ivan Watson was alluding, and what failure could mean for the United States.

BANFIELD: It's five minutes now past 5:00.

And President Obama is back here in the U.S. and back in Washington this morning. This after the G-20 summit that was being held in Mexico. World leaders were meeting to discuss, what else, Europe's financial problems.

The president said that he is confident Europe can get back on track with the U.S. economy and his election hopes in mind.

Our foreign affairs correspondent Jill Dougherty has been following this summit. She joins me live now from Washington.

So no big consensus. The president holding this news conference last night live on TV. And not with anything terrific to report in terms of how the leaders came out of this.

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I think that's pretty accurate, unfortunately, Ashleigh. Not a lot of specifics. They talked generalities.

And essentially what they're saying is, you know, we're for European integration. That means some things that are good, namely, making a coordinated banking union. And also creating kind of an idea of creating an FDIC, the type we have here in the United States that's a guarantee for money you put into banks.

But, overall they were saying, look, we're not going to spend to help our economies unless things really go south.

Here's how President Obama explained it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: What I've encouraged them to do is to lay out a framework for where they want to go in increasing European integration, in resolving the financial pressures that are on sovereign countries. Even if they can't achieve all of it in one fell swoop, I think if people have a sense of where they're going, that can provide confidence and break the fever.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DOUGHERTY: Break the fever. That sounds pretty serious. It really is, because, you know, Ashleigh, there are different philosophies in Europe. You know, Germany's pretty tough. Other countries want more spending.

So at least you have an overall view, but not a lot of really nitty-gritty.

BANFIELD: Yes. And there's fame.

And you know, you listen to Ali Velshi, Christine Romans talking about the weakest links in the chain and how that chain stretches across the Atlantic to us, that the press corps was tough on the president last night. And they pushed him on the situation in the United States, particularly jobs. Every one of us probably has some kind of a Spanish bond in our 401(k) in some way.

But when it translates to this economy here and jobs here, what was his answer?

DOUGHERTY: Had to admit that there's a direct connection. You know, he was asked, would his election go down because of Europe? He didn't quite get there. But he did make that connection.

Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: Slower growth in Europe means slower growth in American jobs. If we take the right policy steps, if we're doing the right thing, then the politics will follow. And my mind hasn't changed on that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DOUGHERTY: You know, Ashleigh, really it's kind of the debate that's here, that's going on in Europe as well. Do you spend your way out of a big problem or do you get tough and look for austerity?

And that debate is there. It's here. And we'll see how they -- how they move forward.

BANFIELD: The world is flat. We were all having the same exact debate. There's no right answer if you ask.

Jill Dougherty, thank you. Good work.

SAMBOLIN: It is nine minutes past the hour. New information about a Russian ship reportedly carrying military helicopters to Syria. It appears to have turned back for home this morning.

But another ship loaded with weapons may be on the way. British officials reporting the original ship has changed course after word of its controversial cargo made international headlines. Russian officials are not commenting.

Pentagon officials have also told CNN that the Russians may be sending another ship carrying weapons, ammunition and a small number of Russian troops to Syria to help fortify its naval base there as the situation spirals out of control.

BANFIELD: CNN has learned that Jerry Sandusky is prepped and ready to go, ready to testify today in his child sex abuse trial. The defense is expected to rest its case this afternoon. But before that happens, the lawyers for the former Penn State assistant football coach have to make that big decision: do they or don't they put him on the stand?

Closing arguments could be heard as early as tomorrow. The case then going to the jury shortly after that.

SAMBOLIN: Attorney General Eric Holder could find himself on the business end of a contempt of Congress citation today. A meeting between Holder and the House Oversight Committee, the chairman there, Darrell Issa, failed to resolve a dispute over the botched Fast and Furious sting operation.

Issa says he asked for more documents related to Fast and Furious, which is linked to the death of a border patrol agent. But Holder did not deliver it. So they are going forward with the planned contempt vote.

BANFIELD: And this just in. Gas prices falling overnight -- don't you just love hearing that over and over again? This time a big fall, too. A full cent.

Right now, the national average for a gallon of unleaded regular, $3.49. It marks the eighth consecutive decrease. There were a whole bunch of decreases before that. We just had one increase split up the chunk.

So, the average is down about 63 cents. More than 15 percent from the high record in July '08, which was $4.11. So, that ain't half bad.

SAMBOLIN: Normally this time of year we're talking about much more expensive.

She claims she was groped at an airport check point. Coming up, how one woman's idea of turning the tables on the TSA gets her in big trouble with the law.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: Welcome back. It's 15 minutes now past the top of the hour.

We've got record heat that is set to scorch the Northeast today on the first official day of summer. Happy summer.

Sadly, highs will be in the mid-90s if you're in this area. Yesterday in Cleveland and across the Midwest, it was a baker. Dangerous blast of heat now heading for D.C., Philly, New York.

Rob Marciano who's no stranger to the heat because he is coming to us live from Atlanta.

It's fun how we always talk about these record heat waves and how we're going to freak out at 90 degrees plus. But you kind of deal with that a lot.

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: We do. But actually, Atlanta is going to be cooler than everybody across the Northeast. Everything is kind of moving around the South and the East. And it's going to be comfortable. So, come on down. I am inside the air-conditioned studio, which is always nice.

Here are the number of states that are under heat advisories for today. There's a bunch of them. Eight or nine of them that I can count from Maine all the way to the mid-Atlantic. And some dangerous heat expected in Philadelphia in some spots. Outside of New York City and Boston I think will set records. Actually high temperatures anywhere from 90 to 100 degree.

Remember, these are measured in the shade. We've got dew points there in the 60s. So, heat indices will feel like, more like 105, 110 at times today. So, that is definitely, especially for the first time of the season.

We haven't seen temperatures up over 90 in many cities. So, it's going to feel even hotter than that because your body is not used to it. Ninety-eight expected today in Boston. Tomorrow, 96. Not really cooling off. New York City, 96 -- 98 degrees in the next couple days. So, we'll have two solid days of 95-degree-plus heat in the big cities from Boston all the way back through D.C. won't really cool off until we get towards the weekend. Then it will be a gentle cool off.

Severe storms possible across parts of the upper Midwest. There you go. We're moving everything around the Southeast. The Heat pump is from the Great Lakes up towards the Northeast.

Want to cool off? Come on down to Hotlanta. Guys, back over to you.

BANFIELD: Hotlanta, Coolanta.

SAMBOLIN: Yes, cool.

BANFIELD: I'll take that invitation any day, my friend. Thank you.

MARCIANO: Come on. See you.

SAMBOLIN: Seventeen minutes past the hour here. Let's get you up to date.

Christine Romans with this morning's top stories.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, ladies.

Developing news out of Egypt this morning. Egyptians rallying for power as their former dictator lies on his death bed. We're waiting to hear whether Hosni Mubarak is dead or alive this morning.

A state news agency is reporting the 84-year-old is on life support after having a stroke and being declared clinically dead. This comes as thousands gathered in Tahrir Square to tell the military to hand over power.

A former TSA worker is facing battery charges for allegedly groping a supervisor at a Florida airport after she was subjected to a long pat-down. It's all caught on tape. That's Carol Price (ph) being patted down for two minutes last April at Southwest Florida International Airport.

She was so upset by the treatment from her former colleagues, she went to a TSA supervisor to complain and appears to grope him to show her displeasure. Price is also facing charges for resisting an officer and is due in court on July 3rd.

A man in northeastern Ohio was arrested for allegedly making meth inside a Wal-Mart. Store security says it spotted 37-year-old James Richardson, there he is, placing meth ingredients in his shopping cart and then combining them in a salt shaker he pulled off a shelf, then shaking the container. It's a method known as shake and bake, apparently. And he was arrested as he tried to leave the store.

And the Miami Heat now just one win away from an NBA championship. They beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 104-98 to take a commanding 3-1 series lead. LeBron James led the way with 26 points, 12 assists, 9 rebounds. The Heat can wrap it up with game five tomorrow night at home.

History is on their side. No team has ever come back from a 3-1 deficit in the NBA finals. Hey, but there's a first time -- Oklahoma City fans, there's a first time for everything.

SAMBOLIN: Yes, there is, Christine.

BANFIELD: Keep hope alive.

SAMBOLIN: Thank you.

ROMANS: You're welcome.

SAMBOLIN: Eighteen minutes past the hour.

We're getting an early read on the local news that is making national headlines.

First, out of WCCO in Minneapolis, a man in intensive care at a hospital after a Minneapolis SWAT team officer allegedly sucker punched him in the face. Take a look at that picture. A friend of the victim says Sergeant David Clifford attacked the man because he was talking too loudly on his cell phone on a bar patio.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE ARCHAMBAULT, VICTIM'S FRIEND: He got a 15-step running, leaping, super man punch and hollered something on the way in to get him to turn around.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAMBOLIN: That victim has undergone two brain surgeries, remains in intensive care. Clifford eventually turned himself in and he is facing assault charges.

BANFIELD: I want to bring you to L.A. now. One of these stories that you always shake your head.

Octomom and her 14 kids apparently close to homeless now. Nadya Suleman's home was placed in foreclosure after no bids were put on the house in L.A. when it was put up for auction yesterday. She shot a porn video last month. Despite that, she still couldn't make the mortgage payments on the property. And the home was officially given back to the bank.

SAMBOLIN: And from boston.com, it's like they're already cooked. Six rare orange lobsters turned up in a shipment to a deli in Mansfield, Massachusetts. While the crew was unloading, a single 100- pound shipment, the guy thought someone put cooked lobsters in a shipment with the alive ones. But they were all very much alive.

A spokesman for the New England Aquarium says the odds of finding a single orange lobster are in the ballpark of one in 10 million.

BANFIELD: That's freaky to see them moving. Because when you see a lobster like that, it is usually on your plate, and it is not moving.

SAMBOLIN: Ready to eat.

BANFIELD: So that it's moving is creepy.

For an extended look at all of our top stories head to our blog. It's easy. It's CNN.com/EarlyStart.

Wall Street listening closely to one man today. Will Fed chairman Ben Bernanke announce new steps to boost the economy? Christine Romans with a look ahead. That's coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: Look at that beautiful shot over New York City. That's the southwest corner of Central Park. Nothing like it. Even when it's a wee bit cloudy.

That's going to burn off more than likely today. We're going up to something like 92.

SAMBOLIN: It will be hot. A nice scorcher for you all this morning.

BANFIELD: With the heat index something like 100 degrees in Manhattan.

ROMANS: Check on your elderly neighbors.

SAMBOLIN: That's a great idea. What's the name of this song, Christine?

ROMANS: "Waiting on a Friend." Mick Jagger is "Waiting on the Fed".

SAMBOLIN: OK. You know why we're playing that because everyone's waiting on the Fed this morning. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will hold a news conference this afternoon at 2:15 p.m. Eastern in Washington.

BANFIELD: Christine Romans chose that song. Is the Fed your friend at this point?

ROMANS: Well, I'm telling you, the Fed's the only game in town many say. You've got governments paralyzed by politics around the world. And you've got the focus on growth and people want more growth.

Look, let's talk a little bit about the Fed today. Ben Bernanke, today, Fed meeting. Later today he will give a press conference.

And he'll be answering questions about what the Fed is doing and what the Fed can do to keep the economy humming along or at least keep it from sputtering.

There are a few things the fed still has on its tool box. Something called Operation Twist, we're doing it right now. That is something expires maybe June 30th. A lot of people are expecting the Fed will extend Operation Twist, basically more stimulus in the system.

QE3, QE2, QE1, these were all more stimulus into the system. Some would say when you look at how low interest rates are and still, still we are having an economy that's kind of having trouble getting off the mat, you know, we need another -- we need more quantitative easing. That's what the QE stands for, quantitative easing.

But most people are telling me they think it's unlikely there'll be a QE3.

BANFIELD: What's the difference between quantitative easing and Operation Twist?

ROMANS: A different way of doing it. Operation Twist doesn't add to the Fed's balance sheet. Politically more palatable. Then they could change their interest rate forecast, which some people say unlikely. So, we'll be watching very closely.

And tomorrow, I'll parse for you what happened, I want to parse for you also the G-20 statement. I took the G-20 communique, G-20 group of leaders down in Los Cabos, Mexico. We put it through something that's called a word cloud. This one is from Wordle.

So, we're trying to boil down what it all means, and there's one word popped out to me here really important from the g-20 communique. The word is "growth." look there on the left of your screen -- growth.

This is what every leader in the world wants. They want to figure out how to grow. When you grow, you have jobs.

The G-20 very concerned about how slowly Europe is growing, how slowly the U.S. is growing, because we are so -- wow. Europe is so important to the U.S. for our exports. The president has said it. I've said it for weeks now.

If you have slow growth in Europe, you have slow jobs growth in the United States. Growth is the number one word.

When you look at those very, you know, diplomatically worded G- 20 communiques, growth is the most important thing in there.

BANFIELD: When I look at that word cloud all I can see is growth. I'll take your word for it.

SAMBOLIN: Thank you, Christine.

BANFIELD: All right. Christine, thanks.

Mitt Romney is talking loud after a report claiming that Florida Senator Marco Rubio was not on the candidate's short list for being vetted for vice president. Then, all of the sudden, no, that's not true. No way, no how.

How did we get such a switcharoo? Why did it take so long? Hear from both men after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SAMBOLIN: Ready to testify. Jerry Sandusky's lawyers could have him take the stand in his own defense today.

BANFIELD: A desperate call for help. The 911 tape from the time that Rodney King was found dead in a backyard swimming pool.

SAMBOLIN: Case closed. A grand jury refuses to indict a Texas father who killed another man while trying to protect his daughter.

Welcome back to EARLY START. We're happy to have you with us. I'm Zoraida Sambolin.

BANFIELD: Good morning, everyone. Thirty-one minutes past the hour. I'm Ashleigh Banfield. Let's start with this. Will he or won't he testify? All eyes are going to be on that courtroom in the Jerry Sandusky case today, because CNN has learned that that former Penn State assistant football coach has been prepped and is ready to go, ready to take the stand.

Now, whether or not he actually does that isn't going to be decided until the very last moment when the defense is expected to make the decision and then wrap up the defense case. Yesterday, though, his wife of 45 years, Dottie Sandusky, did take the stand, and she faced up to 45 minutes of questioning.

She told the jurors that many of the accusers had been to their home over the years, and that she had never witnessed any inappropriate contact between the accusers and her husband. CNN's national correspondent, Susan Candiotti, is live from Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, this morning.

So, Susan, talk to me a little bit about this possibility of Jerry Sandusky taking the stand, because clearly the jury has a lot of questions after hearing two different sides of this story.

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: They sure do, Ashleigh. Good morning. Well, I can tell you this. His attorneys have worked with him. They have prepared him. They've given him questions. So, he's ready to go. But, as usual, attorneys never make that decision until the very last second.

And that's what they're going to have to do today on the fly. You know, the question is, can he hold up to a tough cross- examination? So, one of the things I'd want to know is, somehow, can they control him? Can they limit him to certain questions? Is that even possible? Because as we've seen in the past, when he's done interviews, he's had some troubles to say the least.

But, the defense did have a very strong day yesterday as they tried to attack, for example, investigators in the case, accusing them of trying to coach the young men, the accusers who had come forward.

And they also put on, the defense did, a slew of character witnesses who all called Jerry Sandusky a wonderful man, including one woman who said that she heard nothing during the trial testimony that would change her mind. Here's what she told Anderson Cooper.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Is there any explanation for -- in your mind why Jerry Sandusky would be naked showering with a little boy and soaped up with a little boy?

JOYCE PORTER, FRIEND OF JERRY SANDUSKY: I think a lot of guys are working out. They were playing basketball. Then they go take a shower. Where is this little boy that mike McQueary supposedly saw? Why hasn't he come forward if there's even a witness to say that this happened?

COOPER: So, you see no possible reasons why somebody doesn't come forward and talk about sexual abuse that occurred to them as a child?

PORTER: I -- I don't know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CANDIOTTI: Now, this woman, when she got off the stand yesterday, she tapped Jerry Sandusky on the shoulder as she walked past him -- Ashleigh.

BANFIELD: Wow. And I understand from, you know, in courtroom reporting that Jerry's wife, Dottie, winked at him before she began her testimony from the stand. That's a real tough line of questioning. You know, once the defense gets through with their questioning, which is the easy part, the prosecutors have to come back.

And this is a woman who's been married to him for 45 years. She is not, in any way, at this point, accused legally of anything, any kind of collusion. What was that like? And how did the prosecutors try to mitigate what she said to the defense?

CANDIOTTI: Well, I would say that they were fairly gentle with her. I mean, you can only go so far. As you've just said, it's a fine line if you start attacking the wife. However, they did try to ask her as many pointed questions as they could. She was very cool and composed throughout.

She staunchly defended her husband of more than 45 years. She insisted that she never saw any inappropriate conduct. She said that she never heard any yelling coming from the basement. She said that -- acknowledged that her husband did put the boys to bed. Well, at least she said he -- he said good night to them.

And she also had a different story about what happened after one young man had testified that -- that Dottie Sandusky had interrupted him and her husband as he was about to sexually attack him in a hotel room. She said that when she came into the room and said what's going on, that her husband was yelling at the boy because he was refusing to go to an expensive lunch.

And that's what that was about. And she also said that she -- that she also accused one of the other young men of being conniving, one of those youngsters that stayed over at their house.

BANFIELD: Susan, you know, sometimes, less is more. A prosecutor that just leaves it at that and says what else is she going to say? I mean, that's -- you can leave a deafening silence and it's just as impactful as well. Susan Candiotti live for us in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania. Thank you.

SAMBOLIN: Developing news out of Egypt. Conflicting reports about ousted president, Hosni Mubarak, who was given a life sentence two weeks ago. A state news agency is reporting that the 84-year-old former dictator shown here at his trial is on life support after having a stroke and being declared clinically dead.

This comes at thousands gathered in Tahrir Square to tell the military to hand over power.

BANFIELD: President Obama makes his case for stopping the ripple effects of Europe's debt crisis. The G-20 summit last night, he encouraged European Union leaders to focus on a long-term vision for the Euro while making short-term economic fixes.

President Obama also brought it back to the basics, explaining why troubles in Europe mean troubles in the U.S.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Europe as a whole is our largest trading partner. And, if fewer folks are buying stuff in Paris or Berlin, that means that we're selling less stuff made in Pittsburgh or Cleveland.

All these issues, economic issues, will potentially have some impact on the election. But that's not my biggest concern right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: It is the season for summits, because EU leaders plan to have their own summit coming up next week.

SAMBOLIN: Frantic and anguished. Rodney King's fiancee, Cynthia Kelly (ph), clearly distraught and clearly suffering. She made a desperate call to 911 this past Sunday when she discovered King unresponsive at the bottom of his pool. During the 5 1/2 minute call, Kelly told the dispatcher that she tried to revive King by throwing a shovel into the water.

She also said she couldn't pull him out herself because she did not know how to swim.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How old is he?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Rodney King, the guy that got beat by the police!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. How old is he?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's 47 years old. He's at the bottom of the swimming pool. I don't know how to swim.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is he out of the pool or is he still in the pool?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. I was asleep and I heard something fall off the table. And then, I looked over and then I went to find him, and he was at the bottom of the swimming pool.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAMBOLIN: In the call, Kelly repeatedly pleads with the dispatcher to hurry. She says, quote, "Oh my God," over and over again, and says, she needs to get off the call in order to call her mom. The call ends with fire and rescue arriving on the scene.

BANFIELD: A Texas father will not be charged after killing a 47- year-old man who he caught sexually assaulting his five-year-old daughter. The father is not being named in order to protect the young victim's identity.

Police say when he walked into a barn on his ranch on June 9th, he witnessed a man on top of his screaming little five-year-old girl and then beat that man to death. Here's the district attorney who investigated the case.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HEATHER MCMINN, DISTRICT ATTORNEY: Deadly force is authorized and justified in order to stop an aggravated sexual assault or a sexual assault. All the evidence that was presented by the sheriff's department and by the Texas Rangers indicated that that was, in fact, what was occurring when the victim's father arrived at the scene.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Details in the case are critical. The little girl was examined in the hospital after the alleged incident. And then, authorities said the forensic evidence collected at the hospital, that collected with the witness accounts was a corroboration of the father's story.

SAMBOLIN: And despite a report to the contrary, Mitt Romney insists Florida senator, Marco Rubio, is being vetted as a possible running mate in November. There sure was a lot of buzz after ABC News reported yesterday Rubio was not being vetted. The popular senator looked uncomfortable discussing it last night on Fox News after Romney moved quickly to shoot down that story.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The story was entirely false. Marco Rubio is being thoroughly vetted as part of our process.

SEN. MARCO RUBIO, (R) FLORIDA: It's an interesting day, yes. You know, look, I don't want to talk about the process. I haven't up to this point. It's Governor Romney's process. And, I want to be respectful of that. I think all of us should be, all of us involved in politics should be respectful of this process.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAMBOLIN: ABC News report cited knowledgeable sources and said Rubio has not -- or had not been asked to turn over any financial documents that are typically required of a vice presidential candidate to be vetted.

BANFIELD: Speaking of presidential politics, do not expect an end to the heckling wars on the campaign trail, because Mitt Romney's camp is refusing to tell staffers to stop interrupting President Obama during his campaign stops. All of this even though the president's top strategist is condemning hecklers who drown out Romney during his bus tour last weekend.

Romney says it would be nice to do away with the heckling, but he's, quote, "not sure it's possible."

SAMBOLIN: And Mitt Romney sending in his sons. And Conan O'Brien is going to need a bigger couch, because all five Romney boys, Tad, Matt, Josh, Ben, and Craig will appear together on Conan. That's going to happen tonight.

BANFIELD: They're supposed to answer to a higher authority, but instead, the people behind Hebrew National Hot Dogs are going to be answering to the judge. There's a lawsuit, folks. Find out why.

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SAMBOLIN: Good morning, Boston. There's a beautiful shot. Trying to figure out what the weather is going to be for you today. Hot. Scorching, probably.

BANFIELD: And dark. Very dark.

(LAUGHTER)

SAMBOLIN: Sorry about that. Rob Marciano, are you standing by to tell us what the weather is like? No?

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, I am.

SAMBOLIN: There you are. MARCIANO: Hot, hot. It's going to be smoking hot, as a matter of fact. As you guys mentioned earlier, Zoraida, summer arrives this evening for all of us. So, the longest day of the year for most. And it's going to be the hottest as well for a lot of folks. The heat out west is now beginning to make a move.

McCook, Nebraska, 109 yesterday. That's second day in a row they've touched 109. In Pueblo, Colorado, 104, Detroit, Michigan, seeing 95 degrees. That was a record high. The heat pump is bringing everything from the Gulf of Mexico. With that comes some humidity. And now, it's kind of making the right turn into the mid-Atlantic and the northeast states.

These are the forecast highs for today. Ninety-four expected in Boston, 96 in Central Park, potentially touching 100 in D.C. and Philly. And that, of course, doesn't include humidity. And these temperatures measured in the shade. And we're not going to see much of a relief tomorrow. I don't think we'll see much relief till the weekend.

Ninety expected again in New York City tomorrow and 92 degrees in Philadelphia. With the humidity, obviously, it takes a toll on your body. That coupled with the fact that this is the first real heat wave for the northeast for this time of year, for the season. And that's going to put an even tougher toll on your body.

So, heat advisories and heat warnings have been posted for eight or nine states from Maine all the way down through the mid-Atlantic. So, it's going to be a tough go here. There is a little cool front, but it's a weak one, and it's trying to push through the upper Midwest.

But again, it won't get towards the northeast until the weekend. Next two days are going to be, in some cases, dangerously hot.

BANFIELD: McCook? 109 in Nebraska?

MARCIANO: How about that? Yes.

BANFIELD: How is that possible? Nebraska.

MARCIANO: Nebraska gets hot. They have some tough summers there.

BANFIELD: 109, though. Mercy.

SAMBOLIN: Yes. Stay hydrated. And, you know, Christine was saying earlier, check on the elderly, and that's really good advice.

MARCIANO: Yes.

SAMBOLIN: Thank you. Thanks, Rob.

Forty-seven minutes now past 5:00 on the east coast. Speaking of Christine, she's been working very hard, very well hydrated this morning, getting the top stories of the day. Hello, there. CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. And a lot going on overnight.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS (voice-over): A dying dictator and a struggling democracy. Conflicting reports out of Egypt this morning about ousted president, Hosni Mubarak. A state news agency is reporting that the 84-year-old former dictator shown here at his trial, he's on life support after having a stroke and being declared clinically dead.

This comes as thousands gathered in Tahrir Square to tell the military to hand over power.

An Ohio mother is behind bars this morning accused of prostituting her pre-teen daughter. Police in Akron say the girl, who's now 16, was 11 when she was allegedly forced into having sex with men for money and drugs. The mother's facing felony prostitution charges. She's being held on $100,000 bond.

They're supposed to answer to a higher authority, but a lawsuit claims Hebrew National's Hotdogs and other meat products fail to meet the proper kosher standards. The class action suit accuses Conagra Foods which owns the Hebrew National brand of consumer fraud. The company rejects the claim.

To Cape Canaveral where the Atlas 5 Rocket is on the launch pad, and it's just a few hours from liftoff. It'll carry a classified payload into orbit on behalf of the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office. Its Monday launch was delayed because of a faulty environmental control system duct, I'm happy to report, has been replaced, ladies.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BANFIELD: Atlas 5. That's the name of my dog. Atlas.

ROMANS: Really?

BANFIELD: I'm not kidding. Would I kid you, Christine? You figure it out. Thank you, my friend.

Forty-nine minutes now past 5:00 on the east coast. First day of summer, so, there's that this morning. And we, apparently, are a whole lot closer to the end of the world. Oh, my gosh. What a report to wake up to. If you believe those sorts of things. We're going to explain, coming up.

SAMBOLIN: And if you're leaving the house right now, you can watch us any time on your desktop or on your mobile phone. Just go to CNN.com/TV.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: Hi there. It is 52 minutes now past 5:00. Time to take a look at what's trending on the interweb, and you better use your roll over minutes because there's only six months left until the end of the world, supposedly.

Apparently, the summer solstice arriving today marks the six month mark until the winter solstice, December 21st. And according to some people's reading of the mind calendar, that's when the world will be destroyed. Well, don't worry.

If you're freaking out scientists and archaeologists have debunked the doomsday theory. That it remains alive and well, keeping up on the web and on insurance commercials.

SAMBOLIN: That surprises me. It's been around for so long that the Mayan calendar is not right.

More anger mismanagement for Alec Baldwin. He was caught putting the smackdown on a "New York Daily News" photographer outside the city's marriage license bureau. Did you miss it? Here we have it. We don't have it. The paper says he had just received a marriage license with his fiancee.

Baldwin tweeted that the photographer assaulted him and almost hit him in the face with his camera. He put that under the hash tag, "all paparazzi should be waterboard." He also referenced the Trayvon Martin case to make a point in another tweet, saying, quote, "I suppose if the offending paparazzi was wearing a hoodie and I shot him, it would all blow over."

BANFIELD: I don't think that's a good tweet. I'm a big Alec Baldwin fan, but I don't think that's appropriate. Sorry, Alec.

No legs? No excuses. Spencer West (ph), remember that name, folks. He's a double amputee, lost both of his legs at the age of five, and that man has conquered Kilimanjaro.

SAMBOLIN: Wow!

BANFIELD: Tallest mountain in Africa. So, you think you've got problems? You listen up. These pictures are from the personal blog. West made most of this 19,000-foot climb with no help, just using his hands. His friends did give him a hand every so often carrying him just a small fraction.

SAMBOLIN: Oh, my goodness, is that remarkable.

BANFIELD: Spencer West (ph), you are my hero.

SAMBOLIN: Good gracious.

BANFIELD: Incredible.

SAMBOLIN: All right. The casting of President Obama's debate prep partner getting some analysis from Stephen Colbert and Jay Leno.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAY LENO, HOST, "THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO": With the presidential debates right around the corner, just a couple of months they'll start, John Kerry is going to play Mitt Romney to help the president prepare for the debates. Huh? That's kind of a stretch. A rich white guy from Massachusetts playing a rich white guy from Massachusetts.

(LAUGHTER)

LENO: How does that make John Kerry feel? Hey, John, we need a guy that's kind of stiff, out of touch and a flip-flopper. You'd be perfect. Just be yourself! Just be yourself!

STEPHEN COLBERT, HOST, "THE COLBERT REPORT": Now that I know John Kerry will be debating President Obama, I have no choice but to throw my full support behind John Kerry.

(LAUGHTER)

COLBERT: Ladies and gentlemen, this is the man America needs to defeat Barack Obama. Who better to face America's challenges than a man with so much face?

(LAUGHTER)

COLBERT: What's more, John Kerry is a war hero. Meanwhile, Obama avoided the Vietnam draft with a letter from his family doctor diagnosing him as medically eight.

(LAUGHTER)

COLBERT: For shame, sir. For shame.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BANFIELD: Medically eight.

(LAUGHTER)

BANFIELD: Stephen Colbert, another hero.

Justice department making some news. Botched "Fast and Furious" gun operation is coming to a head today because Attorney General Eric Holder has got to face the contempt of Congress hearing in just a matter of hours. Find out what's at stake, coming up.

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