Return to Transcripts main page
Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Debby: Slow-Moving Killer Storm; New Face of Egypt; Debby Spawns Deadly Twister; Supreme Decision On Healthcare
Aired June 25, 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: Fierce wind, pounding waves. Look at the pictures. Tropical storm Debby turning deadly and she's not going away any time soon.
ZORAIDA SAMBOLIN, CNN HOST: It is the worst wildfire in a decade. Parts of Colorado turned into a ghost town. Everyone evacuated as the fires continue to rage on.
BANFIELD: Alex Trebek in jeopardy. The health scare that put the game show host in the hospital.
Good morning, everyone. Good Monday morning. Welcome to 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. So, let's get started.
Up first, it's a super soaker. Tropical storm Debby hammering Florida with extreme weather. And she is in no hurry apparently. The slow-moving storm just sitting off the coast of Alabama and the Florida Panhandle.
The outer bands whipping up some dangerous surf and triggering this huge water spout off Juneau Beach. Look at that. Debby also spawning a deadly tornado in Florida as it drenches the coast.
Officials say a woman was found dead in a home in Venus. That's located in the middle of the state between Port St. Lucie and Sarasota. A child in one of the damaged homes was also injured and taken to the hospital. People say they were blind-sided by the twisters.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I got my wife and my dog, put them in a hallway there and said it's coming. About that time it started blowing real hard.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It all happened real fast, in a matter of 30 seconds. We just saw a bunch of wind pick up. We were shoved into the bathroom. Scared half to death, scared half to death. It was pretty traumatic.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAMBOLIN: Meteorologist Alexandra Steele is tracking the storm for us.
Slow and fierce.
ALEXANDRA STEELE, AMS METEOROLOGIST: You know, those two girls made a really good point. Tornadoes and flooding really may be the calling card of this thing, but the tornadoes, as is a land-falling tropical storm, the landfall in tropical storm, they are quick to spin up and they are quick to dissipate. So, it is hard to even warn them.
We had myriad tornado warnings yesterday in Florida. Every little one that spins up because they're so quick -- you heard her say it, it came out of nowhere. That's one thing to be mindful of in zone, really ion south-southwestern Florida and even to northern Florida.
That was video from Sarasota, Clearwater, flooding. Major flooding with this thing. Here is a couple of reasons why. It is large and expansive. Also very slow moving, been stationary all through the night, maybe moving three miles per hour. Stationary now and not a lot of movement in the next couple of days we're talking about.
So, soaking northwest Florida and now the axis of interest getting into southeast Georgia. The track with this has been so uncertain, continues to be uncertain. The reason is, the steering currents are very weak. So, there's not one steering current taking it west or one taking it east.
This is what we call the spaghetti models. You see each different color, a different computer model, looking where they think the track will be, and disparate nature -- take a look -- some taking it west, some taking it east. National Hurricane Center, their official track had it going into Louisiana, changed yesterday afternoon, now moving north toward Panama City. So, you see that.
So, the foot of rain we're expecting was around Appalachia bay, now farther eastward. Biggest threat is flooding from storm surge and heavy rain. We could see 10 to 15 inches, even 24 inches in isolated spots, gusty wind and tornadoes.
And, of course, here is where that axis of heavy raven is.
Look at southeast Georgia between I-75 and 95, that Valdosta corridor, Savannah, that's who really could get soaked with this.
We'll have more, of course, on this tropical storm in a little bit.
SAMBOLIN: All right. Thank you, Alexandra.
BANFIELD: And Alexandra is probably going to be a busy girl today, because out West, we have the big other extreme that's developing, the hot dry conditions that are providing perfect fuel for fire. Thousands of people -- thousands more people have been told to get out as the wildfires are burning across that state. About 11,000 people have now been evacuated in and around Colorado Springs. This after the Waldo Canyon fire began there just on Saturday.
The entire nearby city of Manitou Springs is a virtual ghost town. Everyone, every single person told to leave ahead of that fire.
But the biggest problem they continue to face is that pesky High Park Fire. It's going into its third week now and still burning strong. It has now destroyed close to 250 homes. It's only 45 percent contained.
Governor of Colorado saying now close to half of the nation's airborne firefighting force is on this fire. It's already the most destructive wildfire in the state's history.
SAMBOLIN: It is four minutes past the hour.
Three people are presumed dead this morning after two freight trains in Oklahoma collided head on and exploded into flames. This happened yesterday evening in the town of Goodwell., that's near the Texas border. Oh my goodness. Take a look at those images.
"Reuters" Vis reporting the two trains were traveling toward one another on the same track. About 50 firefighters from five nearby towns helped to put out several small fires there.
BANFIELD: The waiting is almost over. Supreme Court almost certain to announce a decision on President Obama's health care law this week, maybe as early, in fact, as today. Four months to go until Election Day.
So the centerpiece of President Obama's domestic agenda which would extend insurance to at least 30 million Americans is on the line here because the Supreme Court could uphold the law, sometimes referred to as Obamacare. They could also just toss part of it, the individual mandate, that part, which requires almost every American to have health insurance or pay a penalty.
And the Supreme Court could decide to throw the whole thing out altogether.
SAMBOLIN: Another decision coming that could add a lot of heat to the campaign. The high court is poised to rule on Arizona's controversial immigration law as well. Many states and cities have already adopted laws like it, giving police new powers to demand that people show proof of U.S. citizenship. Critics say the part requiring people to show their papers amounts to racial profiling and harassment.
BANFIELD: The host of "Jeopardy", Alex Trebek, is recovering in a Los Angeles hospital this morning after suffering a mild heart attack over the weekend. The 71-year-old Trebek is undergoing a few more tests but he is expected to make a full recovery and he's also expected to return just in time for the new season of the show, which begins shooting next month.
"Jeopardy," by the way, was named the best game show at the Daytime Emmy Awards on HLN just this last Saturday night.
SAMBOLIN: And this morning, the director of national intelligence, James Clapper, is expected to unveil measures aimed at ending leaks of classified information. A series of recent incidents involved a U.S. operation against al Qaeda in Yemen, a classified drone program and cyber warfare targeting an Iranian nuclear facility.
The source telling CNN that Clapper believes the leaks span multiple federal agencies and branches of government.
BANFIELD: All right. This just in -- the good news we like to give you in the morning. The average price for a gallon of gas is down to $3.41 per gallon of unleaded. That's a drop of 9 .9 cents. That news just breaking within the last few minutes.
SAMBOLIN: Well, one for all, and all for Egypt. That is the message of national unity from Mohamed Morsi, Egypt's first democratically elected president. Masses of crowds have packed Cairo's Tahrir Square to celebrate the historic victory for the Muslim Brotherhood candidate.
President Obama called and congratulated Morsi, assuring him the U.S. will continue to support Egypt's transition to democracy.
CNN's Ian Lee is live in Cairo.
And, Ian, let's start with reaction there on the ground, because it was a very small margin of victory for him.
IAN LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's exactly right, Zoraida. It came down to only a few percentage points that he actually won by. So, there's a really large chunk of Egyptian society that's waking up today not very happy. But I was in Tahrir Square when the announcement was made. People were jubilant, jumping up and down, hugging each other, crying, a loot of emotion there.
This is what a lot of people had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) could over come this regime and the all people, all Egyptian people should be happy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We all love Mohamed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mohamed Morsi just named president. (INAUDIBLE).
(END VIDEO CLIPS)
LEE: While Mohamed Morsi is part of the Muslim Brotherhood, I think it's important to note not everyone in Tahrir Square celebrating were members of the Muslim Brotherhood. There were a lot of revolutionary forces there who weren't really supporting Morsi but really against Ahmed Shafik, who was a member of the former regime -- Zoraida.
SAMBOLIN: Morsi has got a look of work ahead of him. The military maintains much control over the country. Will Morsi's victory make a big difference? What he'll actually be able to do?
LEE: Symbolically, this is a big moment for Egypt. This is the first time they've elected a democratically -- well, a democratically elected president, but also someone who isn't with the military. But if you look at it, what his powers are, he's somewhat of a figurehead. The military still holds on to a lot of power, they hold legislative power, they control the budget. They control what members are -- who is running the military. They control essentially all things that deal with the military.
Another thing is that they still have a bit of martial law where they can arrest anyone for any reason at any time. So they still will be working to come together to move Egypt forward, Zoraida.
SAMBOLIN: A lot of work ahead. Thank you very much, Ian Lee, live from Cairo.
And the final beam is being installed this morning at the first building to open at the World Trade Center. Developer Larry Silverstein will join construction workers at a ceremony at 4 World Trade Center in just a few hours from now. Silverstein's company also owns the already completed 7 World Trade Center. The site's anchor building, 1 World Trade, already has beamed erected to the 104 floor.
BANFIELD: Streets of Miami are set to sizzle, shall we say this morning, sizzle for the Heat. The victory celebrations are getting ready to forge ahead. But rain from tropical storm Debby literally could dampen this parade, rain on the parade -- a chance of showers, about 50 percent today.
The 2012 NBA champs say they plan to postpone the parade and all the partying if there's any thunder and lightning. Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to come out and congratulate LeBron James and the rest of the Heat.
I guess there are other players on that team, other than LeBron.
SAMBOLIN: I'll finally say congratulations to the Miami Heat. I suspect they're going to celebrate regardless.
BANFIELD: Could be some soggy ticker tape. I hope the weather will cooperate for them. But it doesn't look good. There is a nasty storm in the gulf churning away and it doesn't seem to have moved either. So, the coastal areas of Alabama and Florida are getting hammered.
SAMBOLIN: Yes. We're going to continue to monitor that for you.
Signs of life amid disaster. Coming up, why rescue crews at the scene of a deadly parking garage collapse believe someone is alive buried in the rubble and actually trying to call for help.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BANFIELD: Top story this morning: a killer storm unleashing real soaking rains. Tropical storm at this point named Debby really barely moving, just sticking around and dumping on everything below it.
Right now, it's off of Florida's coast. It's kicking up really dangerous surf and some deadly tornadoes, too. Swimmers are being told, come on, stay out of the water for crying out loud.
And drivers are also being told to stay off a lot of the roads because they're really worried about surge and flooding there.
Trevor Pettiford from affiliate Bay News 9 is live in Tierra Verde, Florida.
So, Trevor, it looks like one of those things that doesn't have a lot of track right now. But, hopefully, they're going to start figuring out exactly where it's going to go and what time it's going to hit.
TREVOR PETTIFORD, BAY NEWS 9: Yes, you know, this storm has a mind of its own, it seems. It couldn't tell which way it was going to go. But now it seems to be tracking along the Tampa Bay area. I'm right now in Tierra Verde, which is right at the mouth of Tampa Bay as it comes into the gulf.
The seas here have been up 12 to 15 feet high. We've seen a lot of flooding around the area, some tornadic activity, a couple of small tornadoes throughout the area, causing some damage. We had some fatality coming from that.
So it's been -- it's just a tough, tough weekend. A lot of flooding and a lot of the areas here, from St. Petersburg to Tampa itself. Bayshore Boulevard is completely washed out and even an area I live in over in St. Pete, we've got roads there that have been turned into rivers. A lot of situations with a lot of drivers in the area here because a lot of the roads go up against canals and the canals and streets have combined and a lot of people have fallen over into those canals. So bad situation here.
We're in a dry spell right now but more rain yet to come. So, still, the problem isn't over with here with Debby.
BANFIELD: Boy, I hear, you know, 600 or so rigs out in the gulf, too. They're starting to evacuate them. This is serious stuff.
Be safe out there, young man. It's a dangerous place to be as the water gets higher.
PETTIFORD: All right.
BANFIELD: We'll talk to you soon. Thanks Trevor.
PETTIFORD: Oh, yes.
SAMBOLIN: It is 17 minutes past the hour. Let's get you up-to- date. Here is Christine Romans with this morning's top stories.
Good morning.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, ladies.
Half o the U.S. firefighting force is now in Colorado battling triple digit temperatures and bone dry conditions. Wildfires force more than 11,000 people from their homes. Official say the two-week- old High Park Fire has now destroyed close to 250 homes. This fire is nowhere near contained.
Emergency crews in Canada will resume searching for victims today at a mall where a rooftop garage collapsed over the weekend. At least one person is believed to be trapped inside the rubble right now. But the search had to be scaled back because the structure is unstable.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL NEEDLES, TORONTO FIRE DEPARTMENT: It's very unstable and unsafe for the crew to go in there. So we have to do a very slow and tedious but safe entry.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Rescuers will go back in as soon as the area is deemed safe. One person is feared dead, 22 others were hurt when the garage floor suddenly gave way, toppling onto a food court in that mall.
Some victims of the Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme will get $400 million. The New York state attorney general announcing Sunday that the money will be divided among clients of a hedge fund that lost money. Those clients include New York Law School, Bard College and a number of charitable organizations.
For the first time ever, Saudi Arabia is allowing women in the Olympics. Saudi Arabia was the last country banning female athletes from the game. Much of public life there remains gender segregated. Officials there didn't want women competing in front of a mixed gender crowd. Qatar and Brunei reversing course. They will allow women in the Olympics for the first time.
BANFIELD: Oh, isn't that nice? Isn't that nice and big of them to do that. Maybe we'll be allowed to drive there next. What do you think?
ROMANS: Don't get me started.
BANFIELD: Do I sound a little bitter, bitter Betty this morning? Well, OK, progress. We'll call it progress. Thanks, Christine.
SAMBOLIN: Nineteen minutes past the hour.
We're getting an early read on local news making national headlines.
The city of Stockton, California, is set to declare bankruptcy this week, making it one of the largest U.S. cities to ever declare chapter 9. Stockton has a debt load of $700 million. Its mediation with creditors expires today. The Stockton record says the city council has given the city manager power to enter bankruptcy proceedings.
BANFIELD: Dallas police have arrested a 26-year-old mother because they say she tried to sell her baby, her own baby for $4,000 in a classified ad. They say they were tipped off by a woman who wanted to buy the baby but then got cold feet.
That baby is four months old. By the time they found the child, the child was alone in his crib at home. And then the mom decided to show up, return home a short time later. That's when they say, "Cuffs on, you're coming with us." She's been charged with child abandonment.
SAMBOLIN: Good gracious.
BANFIELD: So, yes, while we just ruminate over that one, you can check our blog, for an extended look at all of our top stories, just go to CNN.com/EarlyStart.
SAMBOLIN: It might be a rough week for your 401(k). Coming up, Christine Romans here to talk about why and what you should actually do about it as well.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BANFIELD: Hello! Twenty-four minutes past 5:00 on the East Coast, which means it's really early and it's Monday. Get up. Going to be a lovely day, maybe, depending on where you are.
We're minding your business this morning.
U.S. futures down, sorry to say, European markets down, sorry to say it.
SAMBOLIN: Yes, it could be a rough week in the markets. Christine Romans is here to tell us why and what we're actually expecting.
ROMANS: Well, we're in a dangerous moment in the world economy. And I've said it before and I say it again. We're in a dangerous moment in the world economy. You got Europe slowing. You've got 12 of the European economies are near or in recession.
You've got borrowing costs rising for Spain and Spain asking, formally asking the eurozone for some help for its banks. So, this is what we're all watching this morning and it's very jittery. You're going to hear again how there's another make-or-break E.U. summit this week. There have been so many make-or-break summits. I feel like I'm a broken record with the make-or-break summit. But we really do need to see some political progress in Europe fixing its problem. So, we're watching that.
You know, Spain is the fifth largest European economy. Its borrowing costs are rising. So, it's really important that Spain and Italy and you can contain any kinds of the problems -- Germany, of course, is the biggest economy. U.K. is the second. So, that's what we're watching there.
And in this country, looking close to home. We're watching this big fight. I've been waiting for this to happen. The Achilles' heel for Mitt Romney, many say, is outsourcing in Bain Capital, and the years that Mitt Romney was working at Bain Capital, how much investment did they do in companies that were outsourcing jobs, call centers and the like. "Washington Post" has a really big exhaustive story saying -- essentially saying his firm was a pioneer in outsourcing American jobs, something that the Obama administration jumped right on. Over and over again the president saying he was a pioneer in outsourcing American jobs, even as he's here talking about how to make sure American companies keep jobs here.
No surprise that Mitt Romney spokesperson to Candy Crowley denouncing this report and saying it's total hogwash.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ED GILLESPIE, ROMNEY CAMPAIGN SENIOR ADVISER: This was incredible shoddy journalism. The fact is this was a breathless headline over a baseless story. I would encourage you to have the reporter on your show. I hope he goes on a lot of shows and ask him to demonstrate one of the companies cited in that article that moved American jobs overseas while Mitt Romney was at Bain Capital, that Bain Capital invested in. And I don't believe you'll find he can cite any. So it's just factually inaccurate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: So this has long been from people who follow private equity, people who follow this company and this industry say this could be an Achilles' heel for Mitt Romney, because during the period Romney was rising at Bain Capital and Bain Capital is getting more and more profitable, that was a time when American economy more and more jobs, more and more companies were trying to figure out how they could outsource or offshore and put operations overseas to make more money here.
BANFIELD: This has been a regular Democratic attack where they say look what happened at Bain and they forget to say after Mitt Romney left. They say he put the policies in place and then left and that doesn't leave.
ROMANS: Private equities have a lot of these deals, that's kind of it's hard in the aftermath to go through and pick through. What this newspaper report does is it looks through SEC filings. I'll tweet it and you can read it for yourself.
SAMBOLIN: It's a great idea.
ROMANS: Yes, I'll tweet it so people can read it for themselves. But that's the political story about jobs today and this weekend, outsourcing and Bain.
BANFIELD: Attagirl.
SAMBOLIN: Thank you so much, Christine.
Twenty-seven minutes past the hour. We could hear from the Supreme Court today on health care reform. With so much riding on the historic ruling, we look at how both sides plan to act when it comes down. That's coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SAMBOLIN: Tropical storm Debby already deadly this morning. The storm spawns a fatal tornado in Florida.
BANFIELD: The Supreme Court could rule today on healthcare reform in this country. Both parties poised to act the moment that decision comes down.
SAMBOLIN: And a race that is literally too close to call. With Olympic dreams on the line, the question now is, who goes to London and who goes home? Wow.
Welcome back to EARLY START. We're happy you're with us this morning. I'm Zoraida Sombolin.
BANFIELD: It's a lovely Monday morning. I'm Ashleigh Banfield. It's 31 minutes now past 5:00 on the east coast, and let me get you the top story right away, and that's an extreme rainmaker.
Tropical storm Debby drenching Florida as it just sits there in one spot dumping on one area off the coast. The storm is spawning a water spout. Take a look at the video on your screen. That's what you call ominous. A couple of tornadoes, too, one that actually killed a woman and injured a child, too. The water is surging into the streets.
It's tossing boats around in Sarasota. The forecasters are saying that Debby could dump two feet, two feet of rain on Florida before she is finished her wrath and her path. Our meteorologist, Alexandra Steele, has been tracking the storm. So, I don't know a lot about what you do for a living, but I do know this. It is unusual to have three named storms all before July 1st.
ALEXANDRA STEELE, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, actually this is the fourth named tropical storm in the Atlantic basin, and that is record setting. We have never had a fourth named tropical storm this early. It's actually about a month ahead of schedule. So, now, does that portend a very exuberant hurricane season?
Well, not necessarily so, but we're certainly off to a very robust start. That's for sure. All right. So, here are the details. You know, we heard them talk about two tornado fatalities. One of those tornado fatalities was actually inland. So, this is not just a coastal affair. This is an inland affair as well.
So, it is a large, large storm, very slow moving. It's been stationary. So, that means it's just not just going to hit-and-run. That means we've already had record rainfall yesterday in Tampa and Apalachicola, six and seven inches. So, 25 inches of rain certainly not out of the question when this thing, center of circulation, not even expected to come ashore until Wednesday or Thursday.
So, it is a very slow mover. These are the forecast models. We call this the spaghetti models. Each of them showing you the different computer models in the track (ph) they think that tropical storm Debby will take. And you can see how disparate it is. Really, no consensus, although, National Hurricane Center now, their official track takes it north.
So, we'll talk about how much rain we could actually see and the timeline. So, certainly a lot left with this, guys. And you know, really flooding, up to 25 inches, and tornadoes could be two of the biggest factors with this, and maybe the calling card in the end with Debby.
BANFIELD: That's 25 inches of rain on top of the storm surge, right?
STEELE: That's right. And it's the storm surge and the heavy rain. So, the combination of the two and the pounding and the onshore flow of the winds kind of piling that water on. So, we'll talk all about that throughout the morning.
BANFIELD: All right. Alexandra Steele, thanks very much for keeping an eye on that for us. And we're not done with weather yet from too much water to not enough water and way too much heat. Half of the United States firefighting force is now in Colorado, and they're battling triple digit temperatures to do their work there.
The temperatures, the conditions are bone dry. Wildfires forcing more than 11,000 people now from their homes. The officials there say the almost now were going into the third week for the high park fire has now destroyed close to 250 homes, and it is nowhere near contained.
SAMBOLIN: Thirty-five minutes past the hour. In Vice President Biden's words, it's a big, well, deal. As early as 10:00 a.m. today, the Supreme Court could hand down their ruling on the constitutionality of healthcare reform, the president's signature piece of legislation. The core question for the court, whether or not the government can force individuals to purchase health insurance.
Both sides have multiple responses prepped depending on how the court rules. And joining me now from Washington, CNN's political director, Mark Preston. Good morning to you, Mark. So, I was reading that there are some organizations that have eight different press releases ready to go depending on how it is that the court rules here. Can we actually predict how they will rule? MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: No, we can't, but we should let our viewers know that, in fact, the justices have already ruled on this case, but they haven't yet released that opinion. The Supreme Court is one of these last vestiges here in the United States where you can actually keep a secret, and we're all waiting the see if, in fact, the ruling will be made today or if the ruling will be made later this week.
Now, the court can do one of three things today. They can rule that the entire healthcare law is unconstitutional and throw it out. They could rule that the individual mandate, which you had just mentioned is, in fact, unconstitutional and just throw out that part or they could rule, in fact, that everything is fine with the healthcare law.
And by doing so, what the administration would hope is that the justices look at what is being described as the individual mandate and really look at it as a tax upon the people in order to keep healthcare. So, that's the three things we're looking at today, Zoraida.
SAMBOLIN: Mark, when the president and his advisors were drafting this law, they did not think there would be any legal questions. Were they prepared for this fight?
PRESTON: I think they're shocked at we're just less than five months now before Election Day. And in fact, we are fighting over healthcare which has been something they've been fighting ever since President Obama took office. I tell you what though, the American public is very much split, and in some ways, is not very happy with the healthcare law.
Let's take a quick look at these polls from CNN/ORC which we released just a few weeks ago. And in fact, it shows that more than half of Americans do not like the healthcare law, but we should point out, though -- let's show the next poll that it isn't that most people are angry at the healthcare law because that they think it's too liberal.
But one in six Americans don't think it's liberal enough. So, in fact, as you can see, this is such a politicized issue right now, Zoraida.
SAMBOLIN: Well, it's not the only politicized issue, right? We have immigration also.
PRESTON: We do. And in fact, we're waiting to see what happens today with immigration if the Supreme Court will back the Obama administration and strike down a law that was passed by the Arizona legislature which requires police officers if they think somebody that they've detained or arrested is an illegal immigrant to ask for papers to prove that, in fact, they're a citizen.
You know, the people who don't like this law, the critics of it, say it is racial profiling. So, that is another politically charged issue that if it is not ruled on today, we will know later this week, Zoraida.
SAMBOLIN: All right. A big deal, indeed. Mark Preston live in Washington for us, thank you.
PRESTON: Thanks.
BANFIELD: All right. So, another really big deal. Thirty-eight minutes now past 5:00. The House this week could make a historic vote, a vote that could actually hold our attorney general, Eric Holder, in contempt of Congress. The Oversight Committee recommended the vote after Eric Holder refused to hand over certain documents concerning the botched "Fast and Furious" gun running sting.
The Department of Justice did overturn roughly 7,000 or so documents. But, President Obama decided to assert executive privilege over those remaining documents that the committee had requested. The White House is calling the Republican-led investigation politically motivated.
SAMBOLIN: An anonymous donor is offering to pay the cost of extra security for President Obama's visit to a New Hampshire college town today. The small town of Durham caused a ruckus this weekend when it asked the Obama campaign to cover up to $30,000 in police over time costs for the president's visit to Oyster River High School.
The campaign refused. Local officials say the town is honored to be hosting the president and the issue was not political.
BANFIELD: And this just in to CNN. Turkey's state-run media is reporting 33 members of the Syrian military have defected from President Bashar al-Assad's forces and is now decided to skip over the northern border into Turkey. The authorities say that they crossed into Turkey overnight and they brought with them their families.
We're being told that they're on their way to a refugee camp. There are many refugee camps on that northern border now. Right now, things are very tense between those two countries, of course, after Syria downed a Turkish plane just before the weekend.
SAMBOLIN: Thirty-nine minutes past the hour. It's the grand daddy of them all. Wimbledon kicks off today across the pond (ph). The men's defending champion, Novak Djokovic, will open play on center court. So, be followed by fellow number one, Maria Sharapova.
And it will be a busy summer on the grass. The tennis portion of the London summer games will also be played at the All England Club. Did I get that name wrong? Somebody is looking at me over here. I did. Djokovic. There we go.
(LAUGHTER)
BANFIELD: Djokovic.
SAMBOLIN: Not my game. Not my game. BANFIELD: I got a couple of names for you. You might not want to forget these two names, Allyson Felix and Jeneba Tarmoh. Are you ready? An incredible photo finish at the women's --
SAMBOLIN: Oh my -- I didn't know their names. I saw the pictures.
BANFIELD: The Olympic trials. Watch this. Look at that picture. Look really, really closely because after looking at the camera shot at 3,000 frames per second, they are in dead heat. It was determined that these two runners were absolutely finishing at the same time. Both of them finishing in third place, crossing the finish line at 11.068 seconds.
And now, here is the problem. The officials have to figure out what to do because only the top three can make the Olympic team. They're in a dead heat for third. So, it turns out the first ever run-off might just take place to figure out who between Allyson Felix and Jeneba Tarmoh are going to -- who's going to go, who's going to end up staying home. The talk about drama right before the games.
SAMBOLIN: Oh, my gosh. That's awful.
BANFIELD: Amazing.
SAMBOLIN: All right. Forty-one minutes past the hour. A man with a gun breaks into a house and finds something he did not expect, a teenage babysitter also armed with a gun. Find out what happened next coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SAMBOLIN: Oh, 45 minutes past the hour. Come over to your TV set. This is New York City. It is a lovely shot, 73 degrees right now. Only going to go up to 76 degrees. We're going to get some scattered showers as well. Good morning to you, New York.
Aaron Sorkin's brand new HBO drama "The Newsroom" debuted last night. The show's creator calls it a valentine to the cable news industry. Sorkin says he did most of his research for the series here at CNN. In fact, one of the main characters is inspired by our very own Christine Romans.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here to explain what I just said, Sloan Sabbith. How did that happen?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: By spending roughly 30 years being (INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you have any human knowledge?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've been told I am not (ph).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think that a lot of what's going on in the world has to do with the economy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You may be on to something.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's not like I need to know everything.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You'll be in no danger of that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SAMBOLIN: Well, that character, Sloan Sabbith (ph), is played by Olivia Munn. Sorkin says, quote, "I've always been a fan of Christine Romans' broadcast and I try to understand what she's saying. I'm illiterate when it comes to finance and the economy." CNN and HBO are both owned by Time Warner. Congratulations, Christine.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: I didn't know you guys are going to do that. Thanks.
SAMBOLIN: That's very cool.
BANFIELD: I don't know if it's a valentine for (ph) the cable news industry. I got to be honest, I think we got smacked around a lot.
SAMBOLIN: Well, maybe it's a valentine for you, Christine.
ROMANS: I'm actually a little nervous that that character is going to turn out to be crazy or something.
(LAUGHTER)
BANFIELD: No. She won't, trust me. Like she needs any introduction, but it's 46 minutes past 5:00 which means it's time to go to Sloan Sabbith for our top story. Oh, wait, no, it's Christine Romans. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
ROMANS: Thank you. Thank you. Let me --
BANFIELD: Top stories with Christine Romans.
ROMANS: Let me start with tropical storm Debby, ladies.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS (voice-over): It's just sitting off the coast of Florida, drenching the state with record setting rain, spawning a deadly tornado. Police say one woman was killed and a child hospitalized. The storm already deadly even though it's not expected to make landfall for another two or three days.
Half of the U.S. firefighting force is now in Colorado battling triple digit temperatures and bone dry conditions as wildfires force more than 11,000 people from their homes. Everyone in the city of Manitou Springs has now been ordered to get out ahead of the flames. A 14-year-old boy in Arizona who was babysitting his younger siblings shoots and kills -- nearly kills, rather, an intruder. Police in Phoenix say the boy told them he got scared when a woman he didn't know began knocking on the door Friday afternoon. He took the younger children ages eight to 12 upstairs with him and he retrieved a handgun.
He shot and critically injured a 37-year-old man who broke into the house and pointed a rifle at them.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Probably done the same thing. So, it's unfortunate, and he's 14.
ROMANS: The suspect is expected to survive his injuries. Police are still searching for the woman who was knocking on the door.
Former Minnesota governor, Tim Pawlenty, once a candidate for the Republican nomination, now he said to be on Mitt Romney's short list for a running mate. But on CBS "Face the Nation," Pawlenty seemed to throw cold water on the idea.
TIM PAWLENTY, (R) FMR MINNESOTA GOVERNOR: I have indicated that I think I could best serve Governor Romney in other ways, in particular, as a volunteer and surrogate speaker in places where he can't go. I've encouraged people to ask this questions in the campaign to look at other prospects. But obviously, anybody who would be asked to serve in a position like that would be honored to be asked.
ROMANS: Pawlenty was among the supporters attending a Romney donor retreat in utah this weekend.
And graduation is always special occasion, but this weekend was extra special for a family in New York State. High school senior, Mike Allen, picked up his diploma right alongside his 67-year-old grandfather.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Russell William Leigh, local diploma.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
VOICE OF RUSSELL LEIGH, GRADUATING GRANDFATHER: I think it's going to go right in there with days that I'll remember for a long time.
MIKE ALLEN, GRADUATING WITH GRANDFATHER: It's an opportunity that not many people get. It's one of those once-in-a-lifetime things that you'll never really understand until after the fact.
ROMANS: Russell Leigh dropped out of high school in 1961 to join the navy. He was able to join his grandson for commencement under a program that gives vets with high school equivalency a chance to receive their diplomas.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SAMBOLIN: Is he wearing shorts?
(LAUGHTER)
SAMBOLIN: Did you see his legs? I think he was wearing shorts for the graduation.
BANFIELD: That is such a great story and especially a program that gives vets that opportunity.
ROMANS (on-camera): Oh, I agree.
BANFIELD: God love him. That's awesome. Well, congratulations to both of them. Hey, I'm going to call you Olivia Munn, but we've got a bear story for you because I know you like bears.
ROMANS: I do love the bears.
BANFIELD: You love the bears --
(LAUGHTER)
BANFIELD: Apparently, the animal instincts were taking over when a bear cub got stuck in a sticky wicket. Take a look at this little guy.
(LAUGHTER)
BANFIELD: Oh, he's so cute. We're going to let you know how this one turned out.
(LAUGHTER)
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.
BANFIELD: Go bears.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SAMBOLIN: Welcome back. It is 53 minutes past the hour. It's time to take a look at what is trending. Mamma bear to the rescue. Someone posted a video on YouTube of a bear cub that was stuck in his garage. The terrified little cubby climbing around looking for a way out when mom --
(LAUGHTER)
SAMBOLIN: -- actually lifts the garage door open.
BANFIELD: And each time the garage door hits him, he freaks out and moves further --
SAMBOLIN: All right. So, the baby bear climbs down a ladder and back into the wild. People online amazed by the instincts and craftiness of the animal. (LAUGHTER)
SAMBOLIN: Sweet. Look at that.
BANFIELD: There's a bear in that garage. How adorable is that? Oh, look at him. That's a big cub, by the way. That's no baby cub. I'm going on a good solid 175, maybe 200 pounds. Ouch! Scared like you have no idea. Not sure who is more scared, the person taking the video or the cub.
SAMBOLIN: That is a pretty brave person taking the video, because look at mamma.
BANFIELD: Yes.
SAMBOLIN: And she can get pretty angry there.
BANFIELD: And there's a dog, too, which also makes things a little more tense. Usually, they don't come around when dogs are barking. Usually, bears are not fond of barking dogs. I know. I'm a bear expert. I grew up with those things all around me. I had to like hit pots and pans if I wanted to walk to the neighbors. Do I sound like a total hick (ph)?
(LAUGHTER)
BANFIELD: Because I was. All right. So, 90-year-old Rosebud Guard (ph) finally crossing the last thing off that bucket list leaping off an airplane. Take a look at her. Why is this such a big deal, you ask? Because as her friends and family were watching this Missouri woman, this little 90-year-old daredevil did this for her birthday.
SAMBOLIN: Oh, my goodness.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That was wonderful.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right. That's what we like to hear.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Oh, Rosebud, way to go. She says the list isn't even complete yet. She says she's looking for a few more adventures, because you know what, (INAUDIBLE) the 91, right? Ninety-one is coming. You got to have something great for that. Another trip for skydive (ph).
SAMBOLIN: Still plenty of time left.
BANFIELD: Way to go, Rosebud.
SAMBOLIN: Fifty-five minutes past the hour. Debby wearing out her welcome in Florida. The tropical storm moving slowly, but it's already deadly. We're going to have a live report coming up. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
