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Starting Point with Soledad O'Brien

What Led To Movie Theater Massacre; Holmes Sent Package To Psychiatrist; NYPD Tracks Down Twitter Threat Suspect; Doctor Accused Of "Waterboarding" Daughter; Bomb Under Guard Desk For Three Weeks; Battle For Syrian Neighborhood; Antarctic Medical Drama; Hair Lose Drug Linked To Depression; "The Moment Of Most Pressure"; Heartbroken Superfan

Aired August 09, 2012 - 07:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. I am John Berman.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. I am Brooke Baldwin. Soledad off this week.

Our STARTING POINT this morning, sticker shock: How a fire is sending gas prices climbing, possibly 13 cents here, in one week alone, and no signs of slowing down.

BERMAN: A shakeup at the top: The president and founder of Susan G. Komen for the Cure are both stepping down after the ruckus over funding Planned Parenthood. The question is, why now?

BALDWIN: Also this morning, we're talking more about campaign attacks. Mitt Romney ripping President Obama's stance on birth control in a brand new ad out today. But the president says Romney wants to take women's health care back to the 1950s. We are doing our fact checking.

BERMAN: We have a packed show ahead.

Republican Congressman Marsha Blackburn, former U.S. ambassador to India, Tim Roemer, Olympic swimmer Rebecca Soni, and if that's not enough, gymnast Jordyn Wieber.

BALDWIN: We're excited. It is Thursday, August 9th. STARTING POINT beginning right now.

BERMAN: Our STARTING POINT this morning, gas prices heading higher. They're up another 1.5 cents over night for national average of $3.66 a gallon, and a fire in California is about to make things worse.

BALDWIN: Here is why. You see these pictures? You see the flames? This is Chevron's Richmond, California, oil refinery. This is a devastating fire. It happened Monday. Look at the smoke. It's partially shutting down the facility, dramatically cutting production at one of the region's biggest fuel suppliers. It is expected to send gas prices sky rockets, not just in California, folks, across the country.

BERMAN: Ed Lavandera is joining us live from Dallas, Texas. Ed, we have a couple of things going on here. Obviously health concerns over the people in Richmond, California, near that refinery fire, plus the financial hit we're all going to take if gas prices spike make above $4 a gallon.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It has been going on for several weeks now. You blinked and it seems like you missed it. Over the course of the last month or so gas prices have gone up about 30 cents, the national average now $3.66 a gallon, up about 30 cents and in the last month.

And the fire in Richmond is just one of the problems. Obviously there is a great deal of global issues and concerns that go into gas prices, but what we have seen over the last few months is a disruption in service and flow of gas at refineries across the country from the Midwest down to Oklahoma where we have seen problems with pipelines and other issues and the infrastructure. And this fire in California this week highlighted an even bigger problem where now because of this fire many analysts are predicting gas prices to go well above $4 a gallon along the west coast. But for those residents who live near that refinery in the San Francisco Bay Area, this has been a very scary time as well.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You put this poison out here killing us.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do I have to look forward to having cancer? Does my grandchild have to look forward to having cancer?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My people ain't for sale. These nickels and dimes that you pay us around here are no good for none.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: John, Chevron says that they're monitoring the air quality around that refinery and so far they have found no problems because of the fire that has been going on for several days and they continue to monitor the air. But the big question is how long will gas prices continue to go up? Analysts say we will continue to see this for several more days if not several more weeks. The good news, perhaps the bright ling here, is over the course as we head into the fall, that they expect demand to start tailing off a little bit and then we see prices start to come back down.

BERMAN: We'll be watching those pumps closely and nervously. Thanks a lot, Ed, in Dallas, Texas.

BALDWIN: Here we are talking to the secretary of agriculture yesterday about the droughts and the grocery store and the food prices going up, and now we're talking gas.

All right, the rest of the stories here we're watching on Thursday morning and a stunning shakeup at the nation's largest breast cancer foundation, the Susan G. Komen Foundation. President Liz Thompson and founder Nancy Brinker both stepping down. Thompson will leave the organization next month. Brinker will surrender her CEO title to focus on fundraising, focus on planning, and this is the latest fallout from Komen's decision earlier this year, a couple months ago, to stop funding Planned Parenthood, a decision reversed after quite a bit of backlash and in a couple minutes we'll talk politics behind today's shakeup with Laura Bassett, the "Huffington Post" reporter that broke the story.

BERMAN: We can soon find out the mindset of the man police say killed 12 people and hurt 58 others in the shooting rampage in a Colorado theater. James Holmes is due in court this afternoon. They want investigators to hand over documents and a package that Holmes sent to his psychiatrist at the University of Colorado. The package was seized by authorities under a search warrant last week, but the defense says it is privileged doctor-patient communication.

Also, new developments in the Sikh temple massacre, the final shot went into his own head. FBI says the surveillance video confirms page committed suicide after being wounded by a police last Sunday. Page killed six people and wounded others before taking his own life. And it turns out more people may have been killed if not for the quick thinking of two young children. An 11-year-old and his nine-year-old sister were sitting outside the temple when a gunman walks up and this is two kids talking about this whole story with Anderson Cooper last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ABHAY SINGH, WARNED OTHERS ABOUT GUNMAN: For a second me and my sister thought maybe he needed directions or needed help. When me and my sister looked at him we noticed he was shooting people. Then we ran as fast as we could inside to warn everybody in the kitchen and everybody else just to warn everybody there is a man outside with a gun.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: How about that? We also learn, side note here, the 11- year-old's name means fearless.

BERMAN: Understatement to say the least.

BALDWIN: Totally.

BERMAN: NYPD is searching a Manhattan basement to look for clues in the Etan Patz case, the six-year-old boy that vanished in 1979 on his way to school and also the first child to appear on a milk carton. Investigators have been to the site at least three times since April. They removed at least five large paper bags and tools including a shovel from the basement. They won't say what they're looking for. In may police arrested a New Jersey man Pedro Hernandez who allegedly confessed to killing Patz.

BALDWIN: The Martian crater looks a lot like earth. Look at the pictures. A California scientist is comparing the early photos of the crater, the Gale crater, to the Mojave Desert. Minnesota said to have mountains and lingering haze and so we'll space geek out again. We have all kinds of cool information and we'll translate the pictures here with the head scientist for NASA, Michael Meyer.

BERMAN: Overseas, just another historic day at the beach. The U.S. is on top in the medal count with 81 thanks in part to the beach volleyball do you owe, winning their third, their third gold defeating Jennifer Casey and April Ross yesterday. It was their last match together. Team USA's track and field won seven medals yesterday and one of the big winners was Allyson Felix who finally won her first individual gold in the women's 200 meters.

And don't miss the rest of the show. In 30 minutes we talk to swimmer Rebecca Soni and in the next hour gold medal winning gymnast Jordyn Wieber.

BALDWIN: Politics, here we go. President Obama continues his campaign through Colorado today as Mitt Romney swings through New York, New Jersey. And this morning Romney's campaign is unleashing a new tough attack against the president in this new ad. What it does is accusing him of trampling on religious freedoms with the birth control mandate. Roll the clip.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: President Obama used his health care plan to declare war on religion, forcing religious institutions to go against their faith. Mitt Romney believes that's wrong. When religious freedom is threatened, who do you want to stand with?

MITT ROMNEY, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I am Mitt Romney and I approve this message.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: That ad slams the president for requiring insurance companies to cover birth control even for employees of religious institutions and Republican Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn is a Romney supporter out and about in Virginia campaigning today and also a member of the women for Mitt coalition. Congresswoman Blackburn, welcome and good morning to you.

REP. MARSHA BLACKBURN (R), VIRGINIA, ROMNEY CAMPAIGN SURROGATE: Good morning to you. Good to be with you.

BALDWIN: Good to have you with us. Let's begin as we started with that ad, the news of the day, and so this ad that's out today really hinges on this headline in this "San Antonio" newspaper, so I will read the headline for you from the "San Antonio" express news, the headline is Obama insurance decision declares war on religion. I have to point out two things here. One, this article is an opinion piece. It is an op-ed and, number two, it came out actually before the president made this compromise back in February when he compromised putting birth control mandates on insurance companies and not on religious employers, right, so given those two we'll call them caveats, do you find this ad misleading, congresswoman?

BLACKBURN: Well, no. I think that when you look at what is transpired through HHS and the secretary, and the steps that they have taken progressively through the Obamacare debate -- and let's go back to '09 and look at the conversations that were taking place around that bill. What they were trying to do was give more power to HHS and take it away from the states and from congress, the elected representatives of the people.

BALDWIN: But, Congresswoman, we're talking --

BLACKBURN: They came up -- no, no, no, let me give you -- establish the predicate. Let's establish the predicate on this. What you have is over 2,400 new mandates that are found in the Obamacare bill. One of these, and it was the subject of debate in health care subcommittee, in energy and commerce committee, both where I sit and I hold a seat on those committees. This was the subject of debate, great discussion. This was not going to trample on any. You were supposed to be able to keep the insurance that you liked.

BALDWIN: I know, but we're talking 2012 and about this compromise and the ad out today, today, this was an opinion piece.

BLACKBURN: I understand. But in order to look at the ad, you have to go back and look what transpired through the process and the fact that this has all been, you know, just like so many other things, whether it is cost of insurance going up over $2,300, whether it's cramping the access to health care, whether it is forcing religious institutions -- what you've got is the federal government and the Obamacare bill trying to limit your freedoms. It is going to increase your taxes. The Supreme Court even says it.

BALDWIN: Let me jump in. I hear you and what you're saying is misleading, but I only have so much time and I want to get to another ad all talked about really and hashed out on the network and cable news and I know you know what I am talking about this Priorities USA, the pro Obama super PAC. You have this laid off steel worker blaming Mitt Romney for the death of his wife. I know you are calling on president Obama to ask this super PAC to yank the ad, but you know as well as I do, right, with the FCC rules you can't have a candidate, you can't have the campaign directly coordinating, talking to these super PACs, so how exactly do you propose asking this of the president?

BLACKBURN: Well, I think that when you -- I have heard some of the transcript where Stephanie Cutter was involved in a telephone call, a press call with this individual. And this is such a sad ad to me that this family would be pulled into this and this issue. There are so much -- you know what, this just needs to come off. I think the president could indeed call that super PAC and say let's get this thing down. This is disrespectful to the deceased, sad for the family, has no place in this debate.

BALDWIN: We'll be talking to a Democrat next hour and I will be posing the same question about possibly pulling this ad. So just to be fair, we'll be asking that. I do want to talk to really the crux of this ad is, congresswoman, about health care and how because this man was laid off, right, from this -- as a steel worker, he lost his insurance. He filed for bankruptcy, lost his insurance ergo down the road his wife ends up dying. And in the whole dot, dot, dot here we find out later it was really six years later and she actually did have insurance. But we're not going to hash through that. What I do want to ask you is Romney spokesperson, Andrea Saul, getting on TV and provided a unique rebuttal to this. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDREA SAUL, ROMNEY CAMPAIGN PRESS SECRETARY: To that point, you know, if people had been in Massachusetts under Governor Romney's health care plan they would have had health care. There are a lot of people losing their jobs and losing health care in President Obama's economy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Reacting to that, congresswoman, I want to read a tweet from conservative Erick Erickson, "OMG, this might just be the moment Mitt Romney lost the election." Do you think Andrea Saul just stuck her foot in her mouth?

BLACKBURN: I didn't hear the full interview, and I haven't seen the tweet. I can tell you what I know about the Obamacare plan. I know that it is already doubled in cost. This is in year one. Those are not my numbers. Those are the CBO numbers.

BALDWIN: She is bringing up the fact that --

BLACKBURN: You have the historic -- no.

BALDWIN: But she's bringing up the fact they could have gone to Massachusetts and she brings up Romneycare.

BLACKBURN: President Obama's plan is going to limit access to health care delivery.

BALDWIN: We're talking about Mitt Romney here.

BLACKBURN: It is going to increase the cost of health care insurance for individuals. You know, you have got all of these different states with different plans.

BALDWIN: We're talking -- with all due respect, Congresswoman Blackburn, we're talking about Mitt Romney. We're talking about a Mitt Romney spokesperson and specifically asking you to react to her comment and we played the sound bite where she is saying had this man gone to Massachusetts where he would have had health care perhaps that would have prevented his wife's death. It is nothing to do with Obamacare.

BLACKBURN: Though the point remains Obamacare is what is on the table. That is what is going to affect Americans. It is what has increased the cost of insurance for all of our small business employers. I hear from people every single day that complain about the cost of insurance going up and the amount that it is going up every single day.

BALDWIN: Congresswoman, if I may, if I may -- BLACKBURN: That's the issue.

BALDWIN: If I may, I want to move on and ask you about one other thing. As we talk about so many of these ads here, elections are a couple months away and it is getting interesting. I want to talk about a Romney ad, not a super PAC ad, President Obama gutting the work restrictions when it comes to welfare and we know the former speaker of the House Newt Gingrich is very much so supportive here of Mitt Romney and he spoke with Anderson Cooper last night. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: You do think the actual wording under Obama's plan, you wouldn't have to work, you wouldn't have to train for a job, they just send you a welfare check and that is not factually correct.

NEWT GINGRICH, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We have no proof today, but I would say to you under Obama's ideology is absolutely true.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Two words I want to point out, "no proof," Newt Gingrich doing fact-checking. How do you defend that?

BLACKBURN: I think what you look at the executive order that came out. Why did President Obama ask the question? Why did he feel like it was necessary to get rid of the work mandate and diminish that?

BALDWIN: The question actually that I have is how do you defend that when you have Newt Gingrich saying no proof?

BLACKBURN: I think that what I am doing is looking at the reason for this executive order and when you tell those states that you do not have to have this in place, then the states, and I was a state legislator. I was a state senator in Tennessee. One of the things that helped with us our Families First program was being able to look at those work requirements and incentivize work. That is how the states have been able to remove and to diminish and to help individuals move to productivity and jobs and work and have these success stories that they tell. It is a way that they have been able to certainly get the cost of welfare and assistance and appropriately placed assistance and to really do some good.

BALDWIN: We all want some good done.

BLACKBURN: The first program in Tennessee was very successful because of that.

BALDWIN: OK. Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn --

BLACKBURN: I think you have to ask the question.

BALDWIN: Thank you so much. We appreciate the conversation.

BLACKBURN: Good to be with you.

BALDWIN: We'll keep going joining me live from Virginia this morning. As I mentioned a moment ago from team Obama Tim Roemer will join us, former congressman and former ambassador to India.

BERMAN: Also ahead, the shakeup in the world's biggest cancer charity months after mixed up in abortion politics. The question is why now? The reporter that broke the story in February is next. You're watching STARTING POINT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: Welcome back to STARTING POINT everyone. A major shakeup at Susan G. Komen for the Cure, America's largest breast cancer research foundation. President Liz Thompson will resign next month and founder Nancy Brinker will leave her CEO role to focus on fundraising.

BALDWIN: Now all of these changes we're talking about come after a controversial decision by Komen earlier this year to stop funding Planned Parenthood. It was a policy that was eventually reversed. Cecile Richards, the president of Planned Parenthood did respond to this shakeup. "The Komen=funded Planned Parenthood programs have helped thousands of women in rural and underserved communities get breast health education screenings and referrals for mammograms. We are proud to continue this work together."

Laura Bassett broke the story in February. She is a political reporter with the "Huffington Post," and the question we're asking is this whole scandal was January, February, it is now August. Why are we seeing this movement now?

LAURA BASSETT, POLITICAL REPORTER, "HUFFINGTON POST": I think they were trying to figure out the best with a I to go about it. I know they did hire consulting firm. They sent around surveys to people asking, what is the best way we can get in your good prices to the donors and should we apologize? Do we need to fire more people? Do people need to resign? Do we need to change something about the mission? This is what they came up. People just wanted a shakeup in the leadership and particularly the heads of Komen affiliates in different states. They were pressuring the leadership team to just shake things up because they really screwed up and this was the only way they could really apologize.

BALDWIN: When I think of Susan G. Komen you think of the race for the cure and it is so integral in the fundraising and we been doing digging this morning and in terms of numbers the registration in some of the races is down by as much as some 30 percent, and I am just curious because we know Nancy Brinker, she is sticking around. It was her sister who was Susan Komen that passed away of breast cancer. She is leaving the CEO role to focus on fundraising and strategic planning, so can you just do me a favor and clarify what it is she will be doing. And talking about dollars and cents, is this really about money, these moves? BASSETT: She is moving into a role that I think is more of a figure head role than a power role. From what I understand she is going to be focusing more on the global Komen brand than the U.S. Komen brand. I think they just wanted to get her as far away from this Planned Parenthood thing as possible and whether it is about money, I think maybe it is not so much about money as it is just trying desperately to repair their reputation in America.

BALDWIN: You don't think they're worried about fundraising?

BASSETT: I think the participation in the races has been down. Fundraising has been more spotty, and some places it is up and some places down. It hasn't hurt them as badly as you might expect. I am sure some aspect is about the bottom line, but I think it is more about their reputation in the long-term.

BERMAN: Let's talk about the reputation. We see these races in every city, Central Park all the time, long lines. Do you think they have a sterling, up until this point, a sterling reputation. Do you think it is damaged in a way that can't be repaired?

BASSETT: I do. I think the brand is damaged and just judging from the e-mails that I get on a daily basis, I know that Komen is still having to scrub comments off of their Facebook page and I think that a women's health advocacy organization going after another women's health organization like this just really didn't sit well with people and I don't think people will forget any time soon.

BERMAN: Last question. Do you think cancer research has been affected by this?

BASSETT: You know, I am not the best person to answer that question. I haven't really looked into it. I hope not.

BERMAN: Laura Bassett, "Huffington Post," thank you so much for being with us.

BALDWIN: STARTING POINT back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: We have much more to come this morning on STARTING POINT. Listen up, guys, new concerns about a popular hair loss drug being linked to serious medical problems even after patients stop using it.

BALDWIN: Yikes. Plus, they are supposed to be keeping us safe, but you won't believe what was left under a security guard's desk in a federal government building for three weeks.

BERMAN: And new information about warning signs that may have been missed in the Aurora movie theater massacre, what we could learn from a court hearing today. You're watching STARTING POINT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Welcome back to STARTING POINT on this Thursday. Keep me in check for a minute. I am Brooke Baldwin.

BERMAN: Thursday, false, no, mostly true. Totally true, it is Thursday. I am John Berman. Soledad is off this week. We want to get right to this morning's top stories.

BALDWIN: All right, first up here, we are likely to hear actually a lot more today about the weeks, the months leading up to that Colorado movie theatre massacre.

BERMAN: The suspect, James Holmes, is due back in court this afternoon for a hearing on lifting parts of the gag order in this case.

Kyung Lah is following today's hearing. Kyung, today is mostly focusing on unsealing documents, right?

KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You're absolutely right about that. It is access to these court case filings, John, whether or not the public has a right to look at these criminal proceedings. It is something we normally do see in about 99 percent of criminal proceedings.

But in this case, the judge has taken the move to seal these documents. He's also taken the unusual move of sealing all the documents related to James Holmes when it comes to the University of Colorado.

So there has been an entire shroud of secrecy when it comes to all of these documents. So what today is about is making that information, moving it into the public sphere, so the judge could decide to release all of these documents.

He could decide to release only some of the documents or he could decide to release none of them. That is something we're looking for today. We're also looking to see whether or not James Holmes actually does appear.

Remember, that first court hearing he had that unusual colored hair. He looked very out of it. The second time he appeared where there is no video of him, he looked a little more lucid. But, you know, John, he is still certainly seemed not completely there.

BALDWIN: Kyung, it's Brooke. I just want to ask you a question about those documents that perhaps will be released, you know, as you mentioned into the public sphere. If and when that happens, what do you think they will tell us?

LAH: Well, something that we're really looking for, Brooke, is this notebook, this document that was a notebook that James Holmes sent to his psychiatrist. It was a package -- a university psychiatrist that received this package and the contents of it is what people really want to see.

What did he write in there? Was there an elaborate plan? Did he sketch it out? Did he send this notification to his university psychiatrist?

We're also looking to see whether or not the psychiatrist, you know, there have been media leaks about this, but whether or not the psychiatrist did call the university's threat assessment team.

So these are some of the things that the media is hoping to learn, that the public frankly is hoping to learn about James Holmes.

BERMAN: Some really interesting legal questions today in Colorado. All right, Kyung Lah in Colorado, thanks very much for being here.

BALDWIN: Now look at the rest of your day's headlines. Really, police in New York say they have tracked down the Twitter user who threatened to attack a Broadway show.

Police say the suspect is not in New York City, but they will interview this individual soon. Police had to issue a subpoena in order to get information about the suspect because the web site Twitter initially refused to cooperate with investigators.

BERMAN: A Delaware pediatrician and his wife arrested for, get this, allegedly waterboarding their 11-year-old daughter. Dr. Melvin Morris who is a noted researcher in near death experience and his wife, Pauline, face reckless endangerment charges.

The couple's daughter telling police her father held her face under the faucet for at least -- at least four times in the last two years while her mother stood by and watched.

BALDWIN: Think about this one this morning. How in the world did a bomb in a bag sit in a federal building for three weeks before someone found it?

This new report out citing poor judgment, sloppy training, bad hiring according, this is to Homeland Security. The bag with an IED inside of it was found outside the McNamara Building. This is Detroit.

This is back in February of 2011 found by a security guard and chucked it under his desk and at least two employees x-rayed it and failed to identify it.

A federal inspector also overlooked it during four separate checks. Eventually, two guards grew suspicious. They called in federal agents, the bomb was detonated harmlessly and three guards have been fired.

The fourth resigned and five others were suspended. A Michigan man was later caught and charged with placing the device outside the building.

BERMAN: Military fighter jets, choppers and tanks unleashing intensive bombardment on a virtually deserted city of Aleppo.

The Syrian government and the opposition are offering different accounts about who controls the neighborhood. A Syrian opposition network says at least 167 people were killed across Syria yesterday.

BALDWIN: Right now, a sick American being evacuated from Antarctica. An Australian medical team has picked up the patient. They're now on their way to New Zealand.

The patient picked up from McMurdo Research Station that's where the temperature is below -- 30 degrees below zero Fahrenheit. There you go. We are at least told this morning he is in stable condition.

BERMAN: That's good news. This is not so much. Reversing hair loss at a cost. A new study says 64 percent of young men who took the hair loss drug, Propecia, and experienced sexual side effects showed signs of moderate or severe depression.

Forty percent reported suicidal thoughts, low libido and erectile dysfunction have been reported in men taking Propecia. This is study from George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences.

BALDWIN: You're a basketball fan.

BERMAN: I am.

BALDWIN: So you know, people are in basketball and then people are into basketball, i.e., a 5-year-old boy.

Still to come this morning in STARTING POINT, when Jeremy Lin left the New York Knicks, this 5-year-old fan didn't exactly take the news so well. How the Houston bound hoop star made this little guy's day. He will join us live along with his dad.

BERMAN: And if you ever wondered what it would be like to win an Olympic gold medal, we'll ask a woman that won six of them. USA swimmer, Rebecca Soni live from London next. It is going to be good. STARTING POINT back right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Aiming for the gold this morning, just three days left here of the summer Olympics today, the women swam in the 10-kilometer marathon. So far Team USA has won 30 medals here in swimming events and 16 of them gold.

BERMAN: And three of those medals belong to Rebecca Soni. She had silver in the 100-meter breast stroke, gold in the 4x100 individual medley and gold in the 200-meter breast stroke becoming the first woman to defend her title in that race.

And she also broke her second world record swimming faster than 2:20. She is the first woman ever to break that mark.

BALDWIN: Overall, Rebecca is a six-time Olympic gold medalist. She joins me live this morning from London. Rebecca, it is so nice to meet you and talk to you.

And beyond the crazy records and the medals, I just want to know what in the world it felt like when you look up and see that clock and you always wanted to beat 2:20. And finally you see what was it, 2:19:59. What was the moment like?

REBECCA SONI, USA SWIMMING GOLD MEDALIST: It was so exciting. I just touched the wall and I remember I was afraid to look up and I knew I had won, and I was already so excited.

And I had been chasing that 2:19 and the 2:20 barrier for so long that as soon as I turned around and looked, I just felt this like rush of emotion. And was just so happy I felt like I had achieved something I had been striving for, for so long.

BERMAN: You won three medals in Beijing as well, and you actually thought about quitting after 2008, but you kept on going and one of the things you did was in a way back off your training.

Taking one of your training swims every day in the ocean. Why did you do that? Is there a lesson for all of us that we all need to back up a little bit?

SONI: Well, after Beijing I had one more year of college and wasn't ready to jump right back into hard training. So I took two years of swimming only once a day and really just enjoying it and not pushing it too much.

Ad not really doing like too much training as I had been lately and training for the Olympics and so it really helped me to build some stuff out of the water and to enjoy things. I live near the beach so I was able to go swim in the ocean here and there and enjoy a lot of other things and take my mind out of the pool for a while.

And got back into heavy training about a year out from this London games and it has been a really fun time to kind of play with what it is like to race after training once a day versus twice a day. And it is fun to kind of learn different things and hopefully take that onto the future.

BALDWIN: Speaking of taking things onward, I feel like there is a big asterisk, sort of addendum, you know, to your story, which I don't know how many people really know by now.

It's the fact that you had minor heart surgery. You experienced heart irregularities for a number of years. You're in the pool. Your heart is pounding fast. You eventually had this surgery before Beijing. How did you overcome that? Clearly you have.

SONI: You know, it was a fairly minor procedure when I got it done in 2006, and definitely it was a big problem when I was training before hand. So it was really great to after the procedure I was completely healthy and to be able to put even more effort into the pool without worrying about my heart having problems.

BERMAN: So it looks like you have been having some fun over there in London. It is a pretty fun city. You have been going around to all the other events and snapping pictures here and there.

BALDWIN: Your Twitter feed is so fun to read.

BERMAN: It's fantastic. What is your favorite stuff to do? What's your favorite stuff to watch over there outside the pool?

SONI: It has been so fun to after I finished swimming to be able to explore London a little bit, do some touristy stuff and also get to other events.

I got to see the gymnastics venue the other night and I also beach volleyball last night and it was great to be able to actually support my teammates there, Kerri Walsh, she did amazing and it was so fun to watch and see in person.

BALDWIN: All right, Rebecca, final question. Pressure is on. We watched you in Beijing. We watched you in London. Do we have a Rio happening in the future?

SONI: You know, I am not sure. I am just really thrilled to be here and to be able to share my story and you can check out my story at kellogg's.com/teamusa and no decisions about the future yet, just enjoying the moment and celebrating London 2012.

BALDWIN: We'll be watching you whether it is smoking your colleagues in the pool or beyond, Rebecca Soni, thank you so much.

BERMAN: All right, moving on now, New York Knicks star Jeremy Lin left for Houston, one super fan was completely, totally devastated. A 5-year-old boy named Naim.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: It is so sad.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They didn't trade him. They just didn't sign him.

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: Why didn't they sign him?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Devastation. This little man and his dad, they're live in the studio. Nice. I like that. They have a pretty cool update thanks to Jeremy Lin himself. You're watching STARTING POINT. Welcome.

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BALDWIN: OK, so a lot of New York Knicks fans are still trying to recover from the loss that was Linsanity. Point guard Jeremy Lin is taking his talents, sorry for some people, to the Houston Rockets.

BERMAN: And some fans are taking it somewhat worse than others. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: They traded Jeremy Lin. I'm so sad.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look, they didn't trade him. They just didn't sign him.

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: But why didn't they sign him?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know. I don't know.

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: Maybe they don't like Chinese men.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, maybe. I don't know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: You're looking at him right now. It's 5-year-old super fan Naim. That was a YouTube video his dad made. It's gone viral now. Among the people who have seen it. Among the people who have seen this viral video is Jeremy Lin himself.

BALDWIN: And when he saw this, he contacted you guys personally. So we're going to get to that. Little man, you look still frustrated that he's not playing for the Knicks? Yes. Silent. I know it's early.

BERMAN: It's tough.

BALDWIN: I see a little pouted happen. Dad, walk me back to, you know, when the news first broke that Lin was headed to Houston. So it didn't really, you know, I guess, click for Naim until the next day.

HUSEIN SHABAZZ, NAIM'S DAD: Yes. The next day, he saw this little foam finger thing on the floor of his room and he had a meltdown.

BALDWIN: Meltdown city.

HUSEIN SHABAZZ: He came over to mom and dad's room and just had a complete meltdown. And I told myself, I have to record this. I'm like, you know, of course, parents, we like to torture our kids. So I had to record it.

BERMAN: What was going through your head as you were watching it?

HUSEIN SHABAZZ: As I was watching him just have this meltdown, I was trying to not to laugh honestly and also trying not to hug him, because I was recording.

You know, I felt bad, but at the same time it was really funny to me as a dad, I guess. But, yes, it was tough, you know, from just watching him just go through it all. BERMAN: We have been showing this video all morning, and every time we show it, everyone in the studio goes, poor guy. And I'm like, no, no, it's got a happy ending. It's got a really happy ending. So what happened?

HUSEIN SHABAZZ: Awesome happy ending. Basically, Lin's people, Patricia Sun, his business manager, reached out to us on YouTube after the video started going so crazy. And she offered to cheer Naim up.

She showed the video to Jeremy. And they thought it would be cool if they sent him like a jersey and all this cool stuff. And I said, sure, that would be awesome. We were really excited.

She called me the next day to kind of go over details, and she said maybe they could talk over the phone. And I said, listen, he's five. He's not going to believe me if I say, Jeremy Lin is on the phone.

BALDWIN: He's too smart for that. You need more than a phone call, didn't you? You need to see the man. Do you remember that day? Let's roll the tape. This is the follow-up.

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HUSSEIN SHABAZZ: He said he was going to miss you watching -- he was going to miss watching you play for the Knicks.

JEREMY LIN: I appreciate that. I'm going to miss the Knicks too playing in New York. But you need to still root for them because they are going to be a great team with or without me, all right?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Naim, do you remember what that was like when you saw Jeremy Lin talking to you? Why do you like him so much?

NAIM SHABAZZ, GOT SPECIAL FACETIME CALL FROM JEREMY LIN: Because he is the greatest player on the Knicks.

BALDWIN: You're not a Stoudemire guy?

NAIM SHABAZZ: I am.

BALDWIN: You are.

BERMAN: Jeremy Lin told you that you should keep on rooting for the Knicks. Are you going to keep rooting for the Knicks, Naim?

BALDWI: Or are you going to move to Houston? Sorry dad.

HUSSEIN SHABAZZ: No. Honestly, literally, the day after we spoke to Jeremy, because before then he was still like Knicks, you know, get out of here. He wanted to turn on the video game, and I had to pick the Knicks and he had to pick the Houston Rockets and he had to kick my butt. And that's kind of how it had to go, until the day after Jeremy said you should keep rooting. And he came up to me and said, you know, dad, I think I'll just like the Knicks again. And I said, OK, sure.

BALDWIN: Naim, can I ask you one more question? If Jeremy Lin is watching right now, what do you want him to know? Are you still his number one fan? Yes?

BERMAN: Are you going to keep on rooting -- how do you think he's going to play this year in Houston?

NAIM SHABAZZ: Good.

BERMAN: From an expert analyst to say the least.

BALDWIN: All right, Hussein Shabazz and Naim Shabazz. Thank you so much.

HUSSEIN SHABAZZ: Thank you, Brooke.

BERMAN: Naim, you're number one, man. Hold it up so we can all see it again. Yes. That's it.

BALDWIN: Back in just a moment.

BERMAN: We'll be right back.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: They traded Jeremy Lin. I'm so sad.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look, they didn't trade him. They just didn't sign him.

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: But why didn't they sign him?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know. I don't know.

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: Maybe they don't like Chinese men.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, maybe. I don't know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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