Transcripts For CNN Starting Point 20120504

sanjay gupta, studying the topic for years. this morning we hear that seau's ex-wife and friends, even though he was not well-known as someone who had a number of concussions they are saying we had concussions. >> and also saying something we heard a lot talking to nfl players, he probably wasn't vocal about him, even tried to hide them under this culture of look i'm going to play hurt and not only that but if i tell people about the fact i'm hurt they may keep me out of the game. >> his ex-wife used the word he's a warrior. it's not ballet, go back in the game. >> i got a ding to my brain, minimizes the injury. i hurt my acl, people pray for you in the stands. brain injury, you'll be back in the next play, no big deal. >> the family will donate the brain. what does that mean will happen to his brain? >> i've seen this in laboratory called the sports legacy institute. what we're talking about is still relatively new skinz but they'll examine the brain and i've seen what they're looking for specifically the plaques and tangles. you've heard those words associated with alzheimer's disease. that's the same sort of thing they're looking for, they stain the brain, they look specifically for the changes in certain areas of the brain, parts of the brain responsible for memory, depression, and anger, and those are the symptoms. >> so you cannot tell if someone has cte until they're dead, you're able to examine the brain. >> you can't say for sure, but the symptoms which are classic triad, memory loss, depression, anger. now they're vague and a lot of people can have those things and not have cte but those are in conjunction with being a football player and conjunction with taking hits to the head, you put it together. >> when we heard from the medical examiner's office that it was a suicide, many people assumed that, they thought that but everybody wanted to hear is it cte. how long before we know now that the family cleared the way to examine the brain? >> it's pretty fast. dr. mckee, the pathologist at the institute, i spent time with her, she probably a few days before they'd be able to know, they may want to verify so we may not hear for some time after that but it doesn't take that long to make a diagnosis. >> there was a soccer player, soccer analyst for espn and taylor twellman, he said he had been talking to seau about headaches after his own concussion that he got playing soccer and he said seau said to him he had headaches as well. >> it's one of the earlier signs of not just concussions but what people refer to as the sub concussive hits. gets up, doesn't seem to have anything of it but they accumulate over time. it's not just one and another one. they build up and the same thing in soccer players as well, heading the ball, as part of our documentary, 20 gs of force every time you head the ball and they do this over and over again especially in practice. >> if you're a parent who has an 8-year-old who is think being playing soccer off' got to start rethinking this. seau is probably one of the more famous well-known players to potentially have cte. >> it's interesting, and you and i are solutions oriented people. i thought about the same issue. when it comes to football and soccer, if you dissect a season and say where are the vast majority of the hits to the head coming you find they come during practice, drills, over and over again, ramming your head into some immobile object so you see coaches and parents as well how many times does my kid have to do that? maybe we can do helmetless practices, learn how to tackle with shoulders and body pads, use the two-point stance as opposed to three-point, where you use your head as a battering ram to body tackle instead. you see changes in football leading to fewer football blows to the head. >> we talk a lot of it with football players and soccer players but if you were to examine your average person's brain because people get hit all the time or fall off of things. >> it's a great question. i don't think we know the answer. dr. mckee, this doctor who is at the forefront of all of this says it appears to be from multiple blows to the head, not necessarily concussive blows but multiple blows to the head, boxers, soccer players, football players, volleyball players, no sport is immune. >> a tranl difor his family and friends. it seemed as such a surprise to everybody. >> we'll get the answer when we get the results back. a "starting point" exclusive, junior seau's last television interview conducted at a charity golf tournament 36 hours before he took his life, we'll talk to the man who conducted the interview as well as one of seau's friends, dave bieber, right here on "starting point." christine has a look at some of the other stories making news today. >> good morning to you. brown bear, two spotted leopards and pair of monkeys will be returned to their ohio farm today. they were released into the public by their owner, terry thompson last fall right before he committed suicide. authorities do not have access to tranquillizer guns. most of the animals were shot and killed by law enforcement to protect the public. the animals are being returned to thompson's wife. no word on what she plans to do with them. a hang gliding instructor accused of eating evidence after a student plunged to her death. she slipped out and fell hundreds of feet into the woods. investigators say the instructor swallowed a memory card from a video camera on board and the x-rays confirm that. >> there have been a series of x-rays taken. we have confirm so we are in the wait progress cess here. we have confirmed that the memory card is still inside. >> investigators aren't sure whether the card will have video they can retrieve at this point. minding your business a lot of investors waiting out the all-important april jobs report. economists surveyeded by cnn money expect to see 160,000 jobs added last month, an improvement from march but the pace slow compared to jobs gains we witnessed in december, january and february and the unemployment rate is expected to remain unchanged at 8.2%. stock futures trading slightly higher ahead of the opening bell this morning, holding pattern waiting for the jobs report. mark zuckerberg is trying to sell facebook to big investors in its online road show. last night the company set a target range for its stock price, $28 to $35 a share, but when it begins trading publicly later this month that could value the company up to $98 billion. facebook has the option to tweak its stock price as it gets closer to going public. there's time to get a straw bonnet and prepare the mint jewel ens, the kentucky derby coming up tomorrow. they kicked things off with the 56th annual peg success parade. cyndi lauper served as grand marshal. the actual horse race at the kentucky derby is an afterthought. what they want to focus on is all the parties so we thought it would be nice to learn how to make the three famous drinks from the triple crown. we woke up our bar denner mixologist at the "w" hotel in atlanta, known for putting a modern twist on classic drinks and james conley will show us how to make the mint jewel en, the breakness's black-eyed susan and belmont breeze of the belmont. we're looking forward to your tips. carry on, will you do that and we'll continue telling you what's happening for the rest of the morning on "starting point." also dramatic surveillance video in a racially charged shooting an ailing elderly black whom and a white police officer. his son will join us in this cnn exclusive. plus new video of little isabel celis the 6-year-old girl who vanished from her bedroom in arizona. police are following leads to mexico. an effort to annoy. listen. you might be asking yourself why all the blaring and the bleeping and the screeching? we'll tell you. check out our live log at cnn.com/startingpoint or chat with us on twitte twitter @startingptcnn. this is christine's playlist, the dave matthews band "stay." back in a moment. not in this economy. we also have zero free time, and my dad moving in. so we went to fidelity. we looked at our family's goals and some ways to help us get there. they helped me fix my economy, the one in my house. now they're managing my investments for me. and with fidelity, getting back on track was easier than i thought. call or come in today to take control of your personal economy. get one-on-one help from america's retirement leader. a little bird told me about a band... ♪ an old man shared some fish stories... ♪ oooh, my turn. ♪ she was in paris, but we talked for hours... everyone else buzzed about the band. there's a wireless mind inside all of us. so, where to next? ♪ welcome back, everybody. this morning, a possible break in the high stakes diplomatic standoff in china. china saying today that blind activist chen guangchang could apply to study abroad. listen to secretary of state clinton clinton's remarks in the last hour as she prepares to leave china after two days of high level talks. >> we and you do not always see the same situation in the same way, but we are working to make sure that none of that misperception or difference of opinion is allowed to interfere with the complex and comprehensive relationship. >> we're also learning that u.s. officials just spoke by phone with mr. chen, they also met with his wife in person. now these developments could help get secretary of state hillary clinton out of a tough spot. mr. chen made a direct appeal to secretary clinton to take him back to the united states with her. mr. chen is still being held in a beijing hospital after his daring escape from house arrest under the cover of night. you'll remember he slipped past chinese guards back on april 22nd. he was then drifg ven to the u. embassy in beijing where he sought refuge until this past wednesday where he left for medical treatment at the hospital where he was reunited with his wife and two children. yesterday chen made it clear he regretted leaving the embassy saying he was concerned for both his and his family's safety. and he said he wanted to leave china with secretary clinton. at a state department press briefing yesterday, spokesman mark toner was asked by our state department producer about america's plan of action. >> we're not sure, in fact, what his intentions are, what his goals are, now that he's had a change of heart. >> i think there's no doubt what he wants, he wants to be on a plane back with secretary clinton. >> i'm not going to pre-judge conversations and not going to speculate from this podium in washington on any possible outcome. >> chen is making a direct appeal to members of congress. he spoke by speakerphone to lawmakers during a congressional hearing. >> translator: i want to meet with the secretary clinton. i hope i can get more help from her. i also want to thank her face to face. the thing i'm most concerned right now is the safety of my mother, my brothers, and i really want to know what's going on with them. >> jerome cohen is a friend of mr. chen's, advised him during the negotiations with china earlier in the week. he is also the co-director of nyu's school of law's u.s.-asia law institute. nice to see you, sir. thanks for your time. what do you make of this new turn of events and offer to apply for a study abroad for mr. chen? >> i think the way is now open to resolving this crisis. i think the chinese government has found a solution, and they say chen is entitled to the rights of all chinese citizens to apply to go abroad to study. his case will be processed in the usual way. this is a very quiet, low-key chinese solution to the problem, and i think now we can go ahead and resolve the problem in this whole unhappy 48-hour period of incrimination and criticism and self-criticism can be put behind us. now is the time for progress to be made, and i hope we'll see mr. chen and his family in the united states in the near future for study and rest. that's what he wants. >> it seemed like the dramatic turnaround happened at this hospital in beijing, where he went from wanting to leave the embassy of his own free will it seems to suddenly sounding very regretful about departing. what exactly happened? >> well what happened is the environment changed. you're dealing with a person who's enormously able, very sensitive. he's been isolated from society for seven years. he's a blind man to begin with. he needs all the comfort he can get, in re-entering society, and here he's thrust into this maelstrom, and i talked to him monday for about an hour, talked to him tuesday for about an hour and saw even within that time span understandably faced with very stark alternatives, he was showing some uncertainty, and his wife, who encouraged him to take this remarkable arrangement that has been worked out, she told him, of course there are uncertainties but we should go ahead, we should continue the struggle one step at a time. she's a remarkable person, too. i've known these people for almost a decade and we'll be proud to host them here in america, i'm sure, and they behaved in a totally understandable way. when he got to the hospital, all of a sudden all of the wonderful support he got from his american friends left him. they went home. they were exhausted. they'd been being around the clock for days in negotiations trying to take advantage of the chinese desire to end the matter before the strategic economic dialogue began. they went home, the doctors went home, and he was left with his doubts and lots of chinese police, all around, some of them apparently the people who tortured him and his wife from their hometown, and then the chinese allowed him to communicate with his human rights friends in the community, and based on their terrible, harsh experiences of recent years while he was locked up, they told him, "don't take this deal. it's too unsafe." that fanned chen's original fears. last monday he said "i feel very unsafe if i go out there, it will be very unsafe." i said "then don't take the deal. you're not up to it. but then by the next day he was feel better." >> you're sounding much more hopeful the offer to allow him to study abroad. gentlemen home cohen, thank you, we appreciate it. still ahead on "starting point," it could be the end, yankee fans, with their heads in their hands after their legendary closer was carted off the field and the word is he may not come back. and could it be any more annoying? listen. that's a concert hall but that's not music you're listening to. also our panel heading in to talk about that and much more. erick erickson, editor-in-chief of redstate.com, deshawn snow, former cast mate of "the real housewives of atlanta" and former mayor shirley franklin. welcome, everybody. nice to see you. this is off of kelly clarkson's "stronger" shirley franklin's playlist. hi, i just switched jobs, and i want to roll over my old 401(k) into a fidelity ira. man: okay, no problem. it's easy to get started; i can help you with the paperwork. um...this green line just appeared on my floor. yeah, that's fidelity helping you reach your financial goals. could you hold on a second? it's your money. roll over your old 401(k) into a fidelity ira and take control of your personal economy. this is going to be helpful. call or come in today. fidelity investments. turn here. [ man announcing ] what we created here. what we achieved here. what we learned here. and what we pioneered here. all goes here. the one. the accord. smarter thinking from honda. made with only milk... cream... a touch of sugar... and pure natural flavors. coffee-mate natural bliss. from nestle. add your flavor naturally. coffee-mate natural bliss. from nestle. kiwi. soy milk. impulse buy. gift horse. king crab. rhubarb pie. lettuce shower. made by bees. toucan sam. that's not cheese. grass fed. curry. gingersnaps. soup can tower. 5% cash back. right now, get 5% cash back at grocery stores. it pays to discover. you're listening and looking at the secretary of state hillary clinton, who is speaking right now, talking about chen guangchang, the chinese activist able to escape from house arrest. listen to what she's able to say. >> -- in world affairs, and our countries and our peoples gain far more from cooperation than from competition, so we are committed to pursuing a positive, cooperative, comprehensive relationship, and i want to underscore the importance of events like this annual strategic and economic dialogue, we use it to maximize mutual understanding and areas of cooperation, while also speaking frankly to one another about those areas about which we have disagreements. given all that we are doing together bilaterally, regionally and globally, we need this kind of open, regular mechanism for strengthening our partnership, and managing those areas where there are tensions and differences. i said something earlier today that i would repeat for you, because together, the united states with china, are trying to do something that is historically unprecedented, to write a new answer to the age-old question of what happens when an established power and a rising power meet, and for the united states, we see this as an opportunity, not a threat. we look at the future with great optimism, and we believe that neither of us can afford to keep looking at the world through old lenses, whether it's the legacy of imperialism, the cold war, or balance of power politics. zero sum thinking will lead to negative sum results. and so instead, what we are trying to do is to build a resilient relationship that allows both of our nations to thrive without unhealthy competition, rivalry or conflict, while meeting our national regional and global responsibilities. >> just to add two examples -- >> you're listening to the secretary of state hillary clinton as she talks about the old lenses and the new lens are needed now to view the relationship between china and the united states. they're wrapping up the two-day conference for the strategic and economic dialogue, all of this framed over the last several days when the chinese activist, chen guangchang decided to escape from house arrest, putting into a bit of a mini crisis that was trying to be resolved at the same time these talks were under way. we're hearing from the chinese he will be allowed to apply for study abroad and that is being viewed by his supporters, mr. chen's supporters here in the united states as good news of possible face saving measure, a possible win/win, bringing to an end what had been potentially a conflict that looked like there was no points of solution as mr. chen getting medical care in beijing repeatedly said he wanted to get on clinton clinton's plane and tried to leave china for the united states after leaving the american embassy. we are going to continue to obviously cover the story about what's happening with mr. chen today. u.s. officials have not been able to get in to see him physically in his hospital room. however, they have spoken to him by phone. we have to take a short break. still ahead on "starting point" we'll talk to you about an officer who has been cleared in a controversial shooting, we've got the videotape, also shots taken at a space center, but who's behind the bullets? it's just one day 'til the derby so we thought we'd drink in honor of that, so early and yet so not. how to prep your mint jewel eul this morning. anita baker singing "giving you the best that i got." welcome back to "starting point." controversial shooting taken on videotape. first a check with christine romans for other things happening today. >> this just released home video of missing tucson 6-year-old isabel celis. police reportedly expanding their search to mexico. officials are checking hotels, bus terminals and businesses, isabel's father says he put her to bed on the night of april 20th. when he went to wake her up she was gone, the window was open and the screen removed. isabel's father pleading desperately for her return. >> just please, please, to the person or persons who have isabel, tell us your demands, tell us what you want. we will do anything for her. >> tucson's police chief confirms both parents have taken a lie detector test. he has not revealed the results and says everyone is a suspect. the philadelphia archbishop is announcing the fate of 27 catholic priests suspended for child sexual abuse allegations, later today, the archbishop is expected to release the findings from the church's latest year-long investigation. previous findings were called into question by a grand jury last year. former top aide at the archdiocese is charged with child endangerment for his handling of abuse complaints. a person who decided to fire off rounds at the u.s. space and rocket center could be facing federal charges. at least one hit a saturn v rocket on display, a shell casing was found. police aren't saying what type of weapon was used in thursday's shooting. several school groups were visiting the museum at the time. luckily no injuries reported, only some paint damage. the first day on the job for the new sanford, florida, police chief richard myers. he'll hold a news conference at 11:00 a.m. the department under fire after george zimmerman killed trayvon martin. devastating news for the new york yankees, legendary closer mariano rivera may miss the rest of the season after injury his knee, shattering fly balls during batting practice in kansas city, when part of his pregame ritual for more than a can he dade. rivera reportedly tearing his acl. he is 42 years old and the all-time major league saves leader. this could be his final year in the big leagues and it may just have come to a screeching halt. we wish the best for him. finally concert promoters in san francisco using a different kind of loud noise to keep homeless residents away. a large influx of homeless people gathering outside the bill graham civic auditorium prompted another plan tote try to use noise pollution to clear the area. >> chainsaws, jackhammers, sirens, motorcycle revving. >> they hear noise all night long, crank it up eight to nine hours at a time. soledad? >> that's just crazy, and how about for the people who live around there, too? >> it's irritating. >> i'm not sure that's the solution to the homeless problem in san francisco is recordings of jackhammers but, you know, i guess -- it's about to get ugly, not about what's happening in san francisco but i'm talking about the 2012 general election, hasn't even officially been kicked off and already president obama and the former governor mitt romney are slinging mud, no shocker there. according to a new study the wesleyan media project reveals 70% of campaign ads between 20111 and april 22nd of this year have been negative. here is the latest attack ad from president obama which slams governor romney for his swiss bank accounts. >> as governor he outsourced jobs to a company in india. he's shipping overseas, just what you'd expect from a guy who had a swiss bank account. >> wait there's more, there's governor romney's ad which hits president obama for gas prices, listen. >> obama tax machine has started spending millions to sling mud for oil at mitt romney. why? because in the five states where obama is attacking romney, gas prices have ruffle doubled. >> new study claims there are more negative ads airing now than this time in 2008. our presidential race is getting nasty face or is this what it takes to win? eric i'll let you start? >> i think the study included the primary season so of course a lot of those ads will skew the study because they were going off each other in the republican primary. >> that was a nasty primary. >> apparently if you're a white southern male you've got a great career in voiceover negative ads for the romney and obama campaign. >> rake in the cash between now and november. >> if this is going to be a negative campaign season i don't think either wants to lock themselves into policy decisions. either side will try not to be pinned down by the other side and if that works we may be on the verge of seeing a complete change in american politics from where in the past you had to run on definable policy positions and now everybody's like i don't want to get pinned down. >> to what degree is it superpack money? >> i think it's superpack money but during the republican primaries there were attacks on obama and the president so some of the balance is coming back now from the president's campaign. superpack money is something that we're all concerned about. we don't know the sources, they don't have the sane regulations so there is some concern about that and state parties are losing their position in terms of influencing selections as a result of that. >> deshawn, you're home, you're not an elected official, not a political commentator, you, like me, we stay home and click through stuff. when i see a negative ad it turns me off and makes me not like the person who did the ad, not like the voice who is reading the ad, just the whole thing makes me not want to run out and vote. what's your reaction when you see the negative ads? >> i feel the exact same way. lot of times people are drawn to the negativity and we're bombarded with it all over the air waves. with this and even in the programming, i turn it off. >> isn't there a risk this adds to a year in which i think it's fair to say it's going to be a problem? >> that's the point. i hate to be crass about it but both sides are deciding is this a '92 election or 2004 election where you want to turn out your base? your base is going to turn out in the face of negative ads. it's the independents who aren't decided who may sit down and that probably benefits the obama campaign. when you turn off independent voters right now even the gallup poll that came out the other day shows the democrats have a slight advantage in size of base so we can expect a negative season as people are trying to drive out the base. >> i said it was negative and he says it's going to get worse. eight-time grammy award winner anita baker is back going on tour and joining us and her fans have said it's been way too long. a racially charged shooting video. >> a white officer has been cleared in the killing of an ailing black veteran in his own apartment. his son will join us in a cnn exclusive. you're watching "starting point." we're back in just a moment. ♪ [ man ] when i went to get my first new car, my dad said to get a subaru because they last. ♪ he drives a legacy, but i'm nothing like him. i got the new impreza. maybe i should have picked a different color... 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[ female announcer ] get the travelocity guarantee anywhere when you book with our new app. you'll never roam alone. ♪ ♪ you bring me joy, don't go oh, i love this song. anita baker is a singer who is known for her distinctive style. fans say they get caught up in the rapture of her voice and you listen to her performing like on this track, the donahue show in the late 1980s, she sounds amazing. ♪ oh, when should we be bright >> she took off time to raise a family and now she's an empty nester. nice to have you. sorry i'm not in new york. let me ask you a question, ms. baker, longevity in your business is a rare, rare thing and yet there are clips that i can show people over the years that show your many, many hits. what do you think has made you successful over all that time? >> well, you know, i wish i had an answer. first i just want to say good morning to you, young lady. it's so great to be here and thanks for the invitation. you know, music is not really work for me, and i'm just always trying to create something, and you know, you look up, and ten years has gone by. you look up and today is my youngest son's 18th birthday. happy birthday, eddie! and you look up and your oldest son is, you know, coming into town from boston university, you know, and -- >> goes by that fast, huh? >> it's gone, but you know, it's just for the love of the music. any day that i'm singing is a day that i'm not working. it's not a job for me. >> you have had though some pretty incredible struggles, what i've read about your fights at times with record labels because you were trying to get ownership of the creative process, was it ultimately when you look back at your career all worth it? >> you know, it was all worth it. i was brought into the industry by guys like bob krasnow and the erdogan brothers and bruce lundvall and those guys taught me things, taught me how to get in control of my catalogue and own my master so i can have something to hand over to my children when i'm gone. it doesn't mean you don't have to fight for it but they were very, very instrumental in giving me the energy and the direction to know which way to go with it. >> you've won eight grammy awards, had four platinum albums, two golden albums, a new album in the fall, at radio city, not far from where you are right now. tell me about the new album. i know you dipped in to trying different genres like jazz. what is the new album like? >> the new record is, it basically is very organic and so many people are showing up, we started off with the genius of harvey mason jr., who is a contemporary producer for people like jennifer hudson, and a very 21st century peer group. we went back to my old friend, nathan east, legendary bassist for eric clapton and everyone else in the world, he maintained the integrity of my standard style of music, and then don wuzz has come on board to provide a cohesiveness for, snoop dogg has come to give us dialogue on a love song, you know, the tact that tyrese has come to duet with us and it's a very big undertaking. it's a big mix, and it's taken a lot of coffee, basically. i need my coffee. >> yeah, your twitter kickoff every morning is coffee cup's up. i'm surprised you're a prolific tweeter. does it get you into a new and different audience then sort of maybe the audience that you had 20 years ago? >> well, you know what? what happened is i took last year off because both my sons were heading off to college and it was a time of transition, so i took the entire year off. i had a lot of time to spend with my fan base, to get to know them, you know, getting to know me in a different way, and to just come outside of my box, you know. it's the 21st century, and i want to be here. >> we like that. i'm one of them who said come on now, get the album out, we're ready. nice to see you. >> thank you. >> nice to spend a little time with you, even if remote. i have permission to sing along with you out loud in the shower. >> all the time, all the time. >> thank you, thank you. i appreciate that. >> thank you. >> that's anita baker. so moving on to our drinking segment which is what we've been talking about all morning, tomorrow is the first day, first saturday of may, tomorrow is the kentucky derby. anybody who knows anything knows you're not enjoying the race unless you're holding a mint julep in your hand. 20,000 will be served this weekend. we brought in mixologist james connolly to show us how they're made. there's a classic and a twist on the classic. mint julep 101, how do you make it? >> first of all thank you for having me. >> pleasure. >> you start off with a mint, the most important part. >> fresh mint. >> definitely fresh leaves and here i pre-picked about 10 to 15 leaves and you coat the bottom of a tin, this is just the bottom of a bar tin but i but a official cup. this is a better, i guess, value for the customer. but you start off with 10o 15 leaves and then you do about one ounce of simple syrup, which is just half sugar, half water. you can make it a little sweeter if you like. but everybody talks about muddling between mojitos and mint julips so it's important to press it and get it mixed in with the sugar three or four times. once you have that base at the bottom, one of the essential things about the mint julip is using crushed ice. a lot of people have crushed ice machines. i actually use this gigantic mallet. >> i'll tell folks what's expected ahead. some new developments to talk about as you update you with the blind activist who was in the middle of that diplomatic firestorm between the u.s. and china. we'll tell you what seven-day forecast hillary clinton had to say this morning. also we're all over that big jobs report for april. we're expecting it 8:30 a.m. eastern. which candidate will help politically? is it going to put a dent in the unemployment rate? and the very last interview done with junior seau looking for warning signs in the days before he shot himself in the chest. did you know it's international star wars day? we'll tell you why it's today. you might want to think about it, maybe you'll figure it out. back in just a moment. but we gained the knowledge that priceline has thousands and thousands of hotels on sale everyday so i can choose the perfect one for me without bidding. ooh, my. this one has an infinity pool. i love those. they just...and then drop off... ...kind of like the negotiator. narrator: save right now on thousands and thousands of hotels during the spring sale at priceline. we're following breaking news this morning. there appears to be a possible break in that high-stakes diplomatic standoff between the united states and china over the activist chen guangcheng. china saying today that mr. chen will be able to apply to study abroad and that appears to be an opening for both sides to save face. listen to secretary of state hillary clinton's update on mr. chen. it happened just a few minutes ago as she is preparing to leave beijing after two days of high-level talks. >> from the beginning, all of our efforts with mr. chen have been guided by his choices and our values. and i am pleased that today our ambassador has spoken with him again. our embassy staff and our doctor had a chance to meet with him. and he confirms that he and his family now want to go to the united states so he can pursue his studies. in that regard, we are also encouraged by the official statement issued today by the chinese government confirming that he can apply to travel abroad for this purpose. >> as the secretary of state points out, u.s. officials have spoken to mr. chen by telephone and met face to face with him and face to face with his wife. it's interesting, i don't know if the right word is diplomatic crisis, diplomatic kerfuffle, for a moment it seemed like the timing was going to derail these talks, which clearly it did not do. >> i think it had a lot to do with the relationships that have been developed over the last two or three years with the obama administration and also with secretary clinton. her ability to manage through this, and obviously the chinese officials were willing to have those discussions with her. >> it might be premature to say that, it hasn't actually been resolved yet. >> you know, it's striking, we're in the 21st century and dealing with a growing country, a world power who is keeping a guy under house arrest because he opposes their one child policy. it's just striking. we're in the 21st century and have these problems with a major power. >> we do have different points of view and i think the secretary did a great job in her statement of explaining that we do have differences of opinion. >> it will be interesting to see if the statement translates into mr. chen coming to the united states. >> a guy under house arrest for political reasons, crazy. still ahead this morning on "starting point," the last interview with junior seau just 36 hours before he shot himself in the chest. and new questions about whether those hard hits on the field is what led him down the path to suicide. plus the father who wired his young son to expose the bullying teachers has been threatening the school with more damning tapes. he'll join us and talk about that. and a kid asks governor christie for a favor. >> i kind of need a note for school. >> you need a note for school? >> that would make it an official absence, wouldn't it? well, did the governor say yes or no? we'll let you know. here's eric's play list. you're watching "starting point." we're back in a moment. [ female announcer ] introducing coffee-mate natural bliss. made with only milk... cream... a touch of sugar... and pure natural flavors. coffee-mate natural bliss. from nestle. add your flavor naturally. coffee-mate natural bliss. from nestle. if you made a list of countries from around the world... ...with the best math scores. ...the united states would be on that list. in 25th place. let's raise academic standards across the nation. let's get back to the head of the class. let's solve this. good morning. welcome from atlanta this morning. junior seau's final interview on tape, were there warning signs? listen. >> you know, it's fun to be in a position that we're in. kids look up to us. >> this morning his family is speaking out about possible concussions and also making a tough decision that could help the next generation of players. plus the dad who wired his son to prove that teachers were bullying special needs children. he says there are more tapes, but he's not releasing them. he'll tell us more when he joins us live. and we're 30 minutes away from the big april jobs report. it could move the polls, could move the markets. could it move the unemployment numbers? christine romans will join us with that straight ahead. and yahoo! under fire for fudging the ceo's resume. it's friday, may 4th. "starting point" begins right now. a little bit of a tough turn, wasn't it, from whatever that starting point heavy duty metal music was to one of the women i love the most, gladys knight and the pips, "midnight train to georgia." it's nice to have you joining our panel, we appreciate it. really i'm joining you in your fair city. also with us is deshawn snow, also former cast mate of "the real housewives of atlanta." we have so much to dish about that because i want to know real, sort of real, completely fake. come on. also joining us, eric ericsson, nice to have you with us. it's weird because i feel like this is not our home. >> atlanta is everybody's home. >> yes, it is. lots to get to this morning, including some new details about the shocking suicide of junior seau. the "l.a. times" says his family has decided to donate his brain. this morning we have an exclusive look at one of the last interviews he ever gave. he made one of his last public appearances at a charity golf tournament where he was signing autographs and talked with him fans. he spoke about how he felt privileged to be a role model, listen. >> you know, it's fun to be in a position that we're in, for kids that look up to us and for us to be able to give so much back. >> that was on monday, just 36 hours later seau would be dead. the san diego county medical office last night released the preliminary autopsy findings and they say that the 43-year-old died in his home of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chest. the manner of death has been classified a suicide. many of his friends this morning are asking why? joining us in a cnn exclusive is dave biber, a friend of seau's involved in that charity. also tim able, the man who did what we believe is the last interview with seau. my condolences to both of you because i know you were both friendly with him. tim, i'm going to start with you. tell me about the circumstances around the interview. clearly it's a charity event but talk to me about the day and that particular interview. >> david asked me to interview -- do some interviews at the golf event. it was the tim brown and kathy ireland 911 for kids event. we were interviewing some of the celebrities that were there, a lot of the football stars, and junior seau was on one of his final holes and he stopped to eat some of dave's pig, he made a full pig and junior loved that. so he was over there smoking a cigar, having some pig. i asked him for an interview, he came over. he was signing autographs, signing footballs and just the happiest guy in the world. we talked a bit before he went on camera and just said how much he loved kids and being a role model. then we started doing the interview, it was about a minute long, i believe. we talked a bit about what it was like for him to be a role model for kids. he talked about the junior seau foundation and how much it meant to him to be a role model to all these kids. >> let me play a little clip of that interview, because of course now -- you're right, that interview is very brief but i think people go back and look at that last interview. 36 hours later he would take his own life, so look for clues. let's play a little bit. >> whatever you give yourself, there are a lot of kids out there that need help. >> besides interviewing, you spent the day around him. was he -- what was he like? how would you describe his demeanor? did he seem unhappy in any way? >> i found out that he had died and i was -- i was totally shocked. i told my friends that he was -- he was bigger than life on the gridiron and talking to him on the field, he's an imposing guy, a big guy. but he just had -- he was so jovial and happy and kids loved him and everybody was getting pictures with him. i have to say that he was probably the most dynamic individual out there that i saw and that i talked to that entire day. he was over there with david talking about -- david is in about 17 different events with him and they had a much more personal relationship than i did but i thought the guy showed no indication that he would do what he did 36 hours later. >> how about you, david, did you see any clues to depression or unhappiness or any kind of problems? >> we were at the 12th hole and the only complaint that i heard that day was no booties. he was signing autographs surrounded by people. a flurry of activity has always followed junior. he's bigger than life, even in real life. bigger than life on camera, bigger than life on the field and bigger than life in person, which you probably got from the fact there was one guy in the golf cart. >> that's true. let me ask you a question for both of you. the family, as you know, has now said they will allow his brain to be studied so they can analyze to see in fact if he had cte. do you think that that's a possibility? is it something that he's ever, dave, talked about or that you would have experience with? >> not something that i'm that familiar with. however, tim is a veteran and very familiar head injuries, so i would prefer to have him speak to that. i'm a barbecue guy. >> well, i guess for me, you know, the quickness and the surprise of him killing himself is not too far off from a lot of the young kids that i've worked with coming back from iraq and afghanistan that have traumatic brain injuries and ptsd and depression and sleeplessness. it's very similar to that. we have guys who i've worked with and talked with and a month later, two days later, you find out that he's suicidal or they have killed themselves. it's just amazing. it's amazing the similarities. >> tim, david, thank you, gentlemen. those similarities really chilling. i appreciate your time. there are other stories making news. let's get right to christine romans. former illinois police sergeant drew peterson faces a court hearing today for allegedly killing his third wife in 2004. he is also being investigated for the 2007 disappearance of his fourth wife. last month an illinois appellate court ruled prosecutors can use incriminating statements made by both women before they died or went missing. yahoo! getting pretty ugly this morning. yahoo!'s board of directors is now reviewing ceo scott thompson's resume after a hedge fund investor, third point, claimed he lied about having a degree in computer science. third point owns nearly 6% of yahoo!'s shares and is battling to gain seats on the firm's board. probably the most important report in the economy and politics to be released at 8:30 a.m. this morning, the april jobs report. economists surveyed expect to see 160,000 jobs added last month, an improvement for march, but that pace could still be slower compared to gains we witnessed in december, january and february. checking markets, u.s. stock futures hovering around break even this morning. investors really in a holding pattern waiting for that big jobs report out in just about 20 minutes. nerds around the world are celebrating star wars day. >> hey, luke, may the force be with you. >> why today? may the 4th be with you. and that silly pun is reason enough to celebrate. if you think that pun is bad, it could be worse. nobody here in the cnn newsroom got dressed up but look at how our colleagues at australia's network 10 is celebrating. darth vader himself made an appearance on the news desk. new jersey governor chris christie getting an unusual request at a town hall meeting last night from a sixth grader named peter schwartz. >> i kind of need a note for school. >> you need a note for school? peter, it just says please excuse peter from school today, he was with me, all right? >> signed governor chris christie. that is one official excuse for missing class, soledad. >> also it's on youtube if you don't believe me. that's very funny. all right, christine, thanks. tomorrow, as we've been mentioning all morning, is the kentucky derby and here at "starting point" we thought it would be nice to toast the race by learning how to make the different drinks of the triple crown. we showed you the classic mint julep and now we're going to show you the black-eyed susan. james connelly is the mixologist at the w hotel here in atlanta. the black-eyed susan, tell me about that. >> it's the preaknesses answer to the mint julep of the kentucky derby. it consists of rye whiskey, vodka, sour juice. i've got these already in the shaker. you want to give it a good shake and then just fill up a collins glass with regular ice. it has the name because of the state flower of maryland, which is the black-eyed susan. that's what they cover the horse in after they win the race. >> is it as good as the mint julep? >> it's very interesting. >> that's either a yes or a no. >> it's not quite as much of a classic but it is a very delicious drink at the same time. >> i'll try that on the commercial break. still ahead on "starting point," the fat police or the fun police. more schools are saying keep those homemade cupcakes at home. plus the father who wired his son to expose bullying teachers is making a new threat. listen. >> any time i feel the district is not following through in a responsible manner, then i reserve the right to release further information to the media. >> he's threatening the school with more damning tapes. he'll join us live to talk about what he's got on tape. plus an exclusive surveillance video. an elderly black veteran gunned down in his own apartment and the man behind the trigger is a white police officer. we'll tell you how it all went down and what a grand jury said about it when his son joins us coming up. plus the big april jobs report is just a few minutes away. we'll have a look at the numbers and a look at where those jobs are right now. here's christine romans' play list, the theme from "star wars." we're back in just a moment. i love cash back. with the bankamericard cash rewards credit card, we earn more cash back for the things we buy most. 1% cash back everywhere, every time. 2% on groceries. 3% on gas. automatically. no hoops to jump through. no annual fee. that's 1% back on... wow! 2% on my homemade lasagna. 3% back on [ friends ] road trip!!!!!!!!!!!! [ male announcer ] get 1-2-3 percent cash back. apply online or at a bank of america near you. ♪ i'm michael bazinet, president of creative digital imaging of bangor, maine. we have customers all over the united states. we rely on the postal service for everything that we do. the eastern maine processing facility is vital to our operation and our success. if we lose this processing facility we could lose clientele because of increased mailing times. we would have to consider layoffs as a result of that. closure of this plant will affect all of us. ♪ welcome back, everybody. a threat this morning from that new jersey father who secretly recorded his son's teachers bullying his son in the classroom. he announced yesterday that the school has assured him that a full investigation is under way. he says he's going to hold off on releasing more of the tapes, but with a catch. >> however, and this is critical, if at any time i feel the district is not following through in a responsible manner, then i reserve the right to release further information to the media. i doubt anyone who has seen my video would think i would do otherwise. >> it was back in february when he bugged his 10-year-old son with a small recording device. pretty shocking contents of the tape made national headlines. >> oh, boy. knock it off. go ahead and scream because guess what? you're going to get nothing, until your mouth is shut. >> wow, stuart joins us this morning. nice to see you. i've seen that clip now many, many times and it's still very horrible to hear. it must just break your heart every single time you hear it. you planned to release more of the tapes and then decided not to. why? >> well, first of all, it does hurt every time i hear that, and it probably always will. i had planned to go forward and then the school district reached out to me a couple of days ago and we had a pretty in-depth conversation and i really walked away feeling they were serious about that. i was only seeking an apology because that's all that i thought i could get. and the thought that there could actually be some justice for the first time in a long time, i felt like this hand, which had been clutching my heart for all these months, was starting to open up and i realized that's what i needed. you know, i needed a sense that there was some justice. that was more important to me than airing this out in the public media. but as i said, you know, i'm not -- i'm no one's fool in this situation. i want them -- i'm going to give them the space. i'm not part of the investigation. but, you know, if anything i just don't think is happening in the correct way, i can always come back for round two. >> let me bring in my panel because between us we have 26,000 children. i think what his issue was is appear issue every parent has had. how do you put yourself inside the school to figure out what's happening to your kid. in his case his son is autistic, meaning he couldn't come home and tell his dad exactly what's happening. now he's saying i'm going to hold on to this threatening material until i get the answers that i want. what do you think of this strategy? >> i think that the fact that the school district has reached out and they have had an extensive conversation, that's a really positive sign and i applaud him for giving them an opportunity to do a full investigation and then make some corrective action. >> you have three boys roughly his age. >> yes. and actually my younger son has adhd and so he's on the lower end of the spectrum. and it can be challenging at times but you definitely, when you send them off to school, you're hoping that they're going to take good care of them and not treat them that way. >> at the same time, it feels very odd to have to hold a school hostage. you need to do these things, otherwise -- that's very unusual. >> it is unusual, but you've got to have that level of accountability, especially with what's already transpired. being a parent myself, i understand where he's coming from. you want to make this as smooth as possible, especially move it forward to resolution. but i do understand his points. >> here's what the school district said. we're continuing to diligently pursue this investigation. the district is designing a comprehensive training program for all educational assistants with specialized training for those who work in self-contained classrooms. that sounds like it's enough for you, but give me a sense if it is not, at what point do you say this is not enough and you reveal what else is on that tape? and i'd love to know an insight into what that might be, if you're willing to tell us. >> well, it's not so harsh as that. and by the way, i am grateful and i should also mention that a new jersey state legislator, senator diane allen, is going to introduce legislation to help deal with this. so there are many positive things moving forward. and i want to help, you know, make that go forward so that no other parent has this. to me it's more of an issue of what happened in that classroom. i just want to make sure that there's justice done. i don't know what's going to happen. you know, the tenure process is a very long, complicated process. and i just want to -- as i said, the thought that there's actually some justice, i can actually think of this issue and smile for the first time in a long time because i didn't even realize how much i wanted that until it was on the table. so i'm going to let -- even if -- whatever happens, i can't control the situation, i'm no part of it. but the fact that it is being so seriously looked at to me is a vindication and a victory. >> stuart, thanks for your time. appreciate it. >> thank you, i appreciate it. >> you bet. ahead on "starting point" an elderly black veteran gunned down in his own apartment by a white police officer. what exactly happened? is it a case of excessive police force? the victim's son will join us live in a cnn exclusive. plus we're minutes away from the big monthly jobs report. it could affect your money and your 401(k) whether you have a job or not. plus we're live in atlanta. we'll check in with "the real housewives of atlanta" candy burress as well. surprising everybody with a blowout. but that's reality tv. if you're headed to work, check us out on our live blog or check with us on twitter. we're back in just a moment. so, ah, your seat good? got the mirrors all adjusted? you can see everything ok? just stay off the freeways, all right? i don't want you going out on those yet. mmm-hmm. and just leave your phone in your purse. i don't want you texting, all right? daddy...ok! ok, here you go. be careful. thanks dad. call me -- but not while you're driving. ♪ [ dad ] we knew this day was coming. that's why we bought a subaru. ♪ is engineered for comfort. like parts that create your perfect temperature and humidity or the parts that purify the air. together these parts can cut your heating and cooling bills in half. which is quite comforting. and here's the best part... call now to get up to 1,375 dollars in rebates. or zero percent financing for 18 months on select lennox home comfort systems. offer ends june 15th. plus download our free lennox mobile app with an energy-savings calculator to show how much you'll save with a lennox system. if your current system is 10 years or older, start planning now. and take advantage of special financing. so call now to get up to 1,375 dollars in rebates. or zero percent financing for 18 months on select lennox home comfort systems. offer ends june 15th. and download our lennox mobil app -- free. ♪ lennox. innovation never felt so good. still ahead on "starting point" this morning, a cnn exclusive dramatic surveillance video in a racially charged shooting. an elderly black veteran gunned down in his own apartment. the man behind the trigger, a white police officer. we'll tell you how it all went down and what the grand jury said when his son joins us up next. and we're waiting the breaking news on the latest job numbers. is anybody hiring right now? the april jobs report is just a few minutes away. we'll tell you how the economy is doing now. and put on your bow tie, don your biggest straw hat. the kentucky derby kicks off tomorrow. we're going to get the drink ing started early. i'll show you how to make a belmont breeze, which is the official drink of the belmont stakes. this is deshawn's playlist, bruno mars. you're watching "starting point." we're back in a moment. what is that? it's you! it's me? alright emma, i know it's not your favorite but it's time for your medicine, okay? you ready? one, two, three. 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[ male announcer ] get 1-2-3 percent cash back. apply online or at a bank of america near you. ♪ the family of a 68-year-old veteran who was killed by a police officer say that they're going to send lettering today demanding a federal investigation into the case. the officer who shot kenneth chamberlin was cleared by a grand jury in white plains, new york. it all started when the former marine triggered his medical alert pendant. an ambulance responded, the police too. there was a confrontation that lasted more than an hour and he got more and moorare agitated. police broke down the door, tasered him first but eventually shot and killed him. >> the alarm rang in on a cold morning. a 68-year-old vietnam vet with a severe heart condition had set off his medical alert device. instead of an ambulance, police arrived at kenneth chamberlin's apartment. neighbors saw guns drawn, a riot shield. >> they stated that if he didn't open the door, they was going to knock it down. >> reporter: his niece who lived upstairs told police at the scene he set it off accidentally. >> i just kept hearing my uncle respond, please leave me alone, go away, i didn't call you, i don't need your help. >> reporter: chamberlin and the police were being recorded by the alert device. >> i'm okay. >> i need to see that you're okay and then we'll go. >> no, you leave. >> can't leave. >> you leave. >> you called us. i can't leave. >> you leave. >> you hear one officer use an expletive and that's when he said he didn't give an f, used the n word. >> reporter: there's more. the district attorney showed the family two videos in their custody. one from a hallway security camera, another recorded by a camera on a taser gun. >> shoot me. go on. shoot me. shoot me. go on. shoot me. shoot me. >> reporter: police say chamberlain threatened them with knives. >> we're obligated as a police department never to walk away from an emergency. and we're not going to. >> reporter: so then they fired two real bullets. >> there were civilian witnesses, there were police witnesses, there were expert witnesses, 100 exhibits went before that jury and in this case most of this event was captured on audio or videotape. all of that information was before the people who made the determination in this case. after due deliberation on the evidence presented in this matter, the grand jury found that there was no reasonable cause to vote an indictment. >> the district attorney said they will fully review the use of force against emotionally disturbed people by the police. the city is also going to conduct its own independent review. mr. chamberlin's son, kenneth chamberlin jr. joins us this morning. our condolences. we should also mention that your attorney is with you as well this morning. it's nice to see both you gentlemen. let's begin with you, ken, if i may. you told me yesterday that you were saddened but you were not surprised. why were you not surprised? >> well, i'm not surprised because if you look at the history in westchester county, there have been a number of questionable police shootings, and all of them have come back cleared. i'm speaking about the detective ridley case as well as the college student, d.j. henry, and now this situation with my father. and i've stated from the beginning that i thought it would be a conflict of interest, especially when the westchester county d.a.'s office works very closely with the white plains police department, and janet difiore herself is a member of the chiefs association. so why would i think that she had would indict a police officer? >> when you listen to the tapes, it sounds like your father is getting more and more agitated and the cops are, i guess the word i'd use, are pushing him a bit. the district attorney confirmed for us that in fact the "n" word was on these tapes. here's what the d.a. said. >> the police officer was at a rear window and he was attempting to distract mr. chamberl chamberlin. at that time he uttered a racial epithet and that was caught on audio tape. >> so when you hear, i guess, the mocking and the "n" word that a police officer is using towards your dad, that's just got to break your heart. >> it does, and it's very hard for me to look at the video again, to listen to the audio and for them to use the "n" word and they don't deny using it and there's been no disciplinary action. i mean it makes you wonder. i would like to see their policy and procedure that says that it's okay to use the "n" word on an individual before shooting and killing him. >> mr. mcglocklin, as the attorney in the case, the officers say they removed a knife from mr. chairmanlain sr. and all the while we can hear him on tape saying shoot me, shoot me, and he's cursing. talk to me about his mental state. >> after an hour to an hour and a half of these officers abusing him, calling him names, threatening him, mocking him, he becomes agitated. and there is some indication, though it's not clear on the video and not clear on the audio that there was some metal object here. here's the bottom line, at no time during this entire incident, when the door was down, when the door was up did mr. chairmmberlain leave his ap and threaten anyone. this was a tragedy caused by the white plains police department, their lack of professionalism. the fact that an officer is using the "n" word, there's absolutely no excuse for that behavior. >> ultimately as the commissioner said this the piece that we ran, he said the police are obligated to not walk away from an emergency, but not walking away versus killing the person who called for help in the emergency seems like an absolute compounded tragedy. i want to thank you both for joining us. again, our condolences to you and thanks for being with us this morning. >> thank you. we've got some breaking news coming into cnn. the unemployment rate is dropping. christine romans will join us with the april jobs report number straight ahead. >> hi there. yes, 8.1% is the unemployment rate, soledad and you had 115,000 jobs created in the month of april. so 115,000 jobs compares with an estimate of 160 so we're a little light on how many jobs were created but it's good news that the unemployment rate ticked down. another unemployment rate that ticked down as well, black unemployment fell a full percentage point to 13%. that compares to 7.4% for white -- the white demographic, but still that was a move lower there. men and women are about the same, 7.5% for men and 7.4% for women. a couple of things to tell you about. we noticed job creation had been slowing down but we do know february and march were revised upward so we had better job creation, 50,000 more jobs created in these two months than we had thought. you saw professional business services hiring, retail hiring again, manufacturing, transportation and warehousing is where we lost some jobs. no real explanation overall about why. i want to show you politically why this is so important too. this is what the story will be on the campaign trail because mitt romney has been saying that we've had record 8% unemployment for 38 months. that's true. the president has been saying we have 4.1 million jobs created over the past 25 months. that's true as well. both of those statements are true but now it becomes a big political game about how we're doing since this big jobs drought. how we are doing in creating jobs. we really had 115,000 jobs created right here. again, all of this is a weak recovery post-recession recovery. you want to see more job growths than this but it has been slow and steady and it continues. >> that's a graphic that's particularly impressive, especially in an election year. christine, thank you very much. we've been talking about the triple crown of horse racing known for its three jewels and the three drinks that go along with those three jewels. this morning we're learning how to make the original drinks for each race. we've done the mint julep for the kentucky derby, the black-eyed susan for the preakness and now the belmont breeze. james connelly is back, a mixologist. the breeze, what's in it? >> it's a mix of rye whis knee, cranberry juice, lemon juice. this is a perfect one to prebatch for a party. it serves around five to six. serve it over half crushed ice and half regular ice. a very light drink, great for the summertime. go ahead and garnish that with a wheel of lemon. get that on there right. throw a fresh strawberry in there. and in honor of mint julep, the original trip crown cocktail, get a nice, big sprig of mint and throw it in there. >> i like it. we'll see how it tastes on the commercial break. still ahead on "starting point," can't a kid have a cupcake anymore? the very latest thing to go in the battle over child obesity. and candy bruce will join us. don't call her sugar mama. we're back in just a moment. great! tyler here will show you everything. check out our new mobile app. now you can use your phone to scan your car's 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[ male announcer ] for our families... our neighbors... and our communities... america's beverage companies have created a wide range of new choices. developing smaller portion sizes and more low- & no-calorie beverages... adding clear calorie labels so you know exactly what you're choosing... and in schools, replacing full-calorie soft drinks with lower-calorie options. with more choices and fewer calories, america's beverage companies are delivering. ifif y youou'r're e lolookokinio angeget t totogegethther, yoyou u cacameme t to o ththe. bebecacaususe e heherere a at, wewe'r're e ononlyly a abob. fifindndining g yoyou u ththe e isis a allll w we e do. wewelclcomome e toto h hot. welcome back. that's off of deshawn's playlist. there is no way to sugar coat it this morning. a growing nufl schools are doing away with bake sales. no more selling homemade goodies. rules and regulations are supposed to help curb childhood obesity. in fact according to bloomberg, eight states have regulations aimed at limiting bake sales. for example, california. nutrition guidelines strictly limit the fat, sugar and total calories of any food that's sold on a school campus. in colorado, a house committee approved a transfat ban that would nix after school bake sales and concession stand treats. and in new york city there's a complete ban on bake sales, so parent groups like the pta are exempted and can hold one bake sale once a month. stephanie armor is a reporter from bloomberg news. her story appears in bloomberg magazine. elizabeth is the mother of a first grader in new york city. she protested the city's bake sale ban. nice to see boat th of you this morning. let's begin with you, stephanie. is there a sense that bake sales are responsible for the childhood obesity problem now? >> there is actually some real concern that there are so many bake sales that are going on that when you add this together with other food that's sold on campus like vending machines, that it's really one of the reasons that the obesity rate for children has tripled since 1980 so there are some real concerns here that's driving this. >> elizabeth, tell me about your experience. you have a first grader, i have a couple of first graders. i feel like every couple of weeks in order to raise some money for trips you want to do or things you want to buy, you want to have a bake sale. are you finding limitations on that in new york city? >> absolutely. now we're only allowed to have one bake sale a month in the schools. with the budget cuts we've been experiencing, parents -- students are desperate to raise money for their schools and bake sales are a lucrative way to do that. in a large high school, it can raise anywhere between $500 to $700 for an extracurricular club or a sport. >> let me turn to my panel for a second. good thing or bad thing. obesity clearly a problem. on the other hand, schools are having their resources cut back. >> to me, this is one of the big issues that we're having. i personally think the bake sales, the things cooked at home are probably better than what we're going to have at school but i want to control the whole entire thing because most of the time what happens now, students have these accounts at these schools, i know my kids, stop, don't do it out. my kids work mine out. what are you eating every day? >> isn't it better to tell your children to learn to control their eating versus saying what we're going to do is put all the baked sale goodies under lock and key? >> i think so. but at the same time when i'm trying to control the way i eat, i just don't have certain things around me. i think that's probably what we're looking at the situation. >> i'll bring it back to stephanie for a moment. stephanie, in your reporting, i've got to imagine a lot of people you're talking to are annoyed by the big brother aspect of it even more than talking about calorie counting or what foods are available to the kids. it's sort of like what right is there to start controlling what my kids have access to? >> i think annoyed is almost putting it mildly. i talk to some people who rarely are fairly outraged. they said this is nanny state politics. they say this is taking away significant funding for schools, that some activity groups have disbanded because without the bake sale money they can't really do anything. so it's really, i think, for some parents a very significant and concerning issue. >> elizabeth, are you outraged? are you an outraged mom? >> oh, absolutely. >> the mother of a first grader is outraged all the time. >> as a mom, we all know that we occasionally give our child a sweet and not all of our children are obese. i think what we really need to be examining are the vending machines that are in the schools that are making junk food available to our children every single day. those extra calories i believe are really contributing to the obesity rates that we see and not the occasional cupcake or even muffin. these bans on bake sales ban anything from cupcakes to coffee cake to muffins to a quiche. it's all home-cooked foods basically. >> stephanie armor and elizabeth pachini joining us this morning. i'm with you, bring on the cupcakes. come on, please. still ahead on "starting point," she's one of the most popular of the real housewives. she's going to join us this morning. kandi burruss joins us straight ahead. welcome. we're listening to shirley's playlist. you're watching "starting point." we're back in just a moment. instead we had someone go ahead of him and win fifty thousand dollars. congratulations you are our one millionth customer. people don't like to miss out on money that should have been theirs. that's why at ally we have the raise your rate 2-year cd. you can get a one-time rate increase if our two-year rate goes up. if your bank makes you miss out, you need an ally. ally bank. no nonsense. just people sense. i'm trying to say something crazy but now you want to come at me? you don't know [ bleep ]. you don't know [ bleep ] about my do. >> oh, yeah. oh, yeah. i love when i'm showing clips and i have to bleep, bleep, bleep, bleep. this is the woman who's described as the calmest and most sean of the cast members of "the real housewives of atlanta." during the reunion special, kandi burruss got a little heated referring to a cast mate's claims that she's a sugar mama. >> i did not know that was the clip we were going to see. >> reunion host andy cohen was tweeting all the while, i didn't see this fight between marlo and kandi coming, did you? she joins us now, kandi burruss. and of course we have another former cast mate who's been with us, deshawn snow joining us as well. you were also the calm one. so here's what i want to know. reality tv, really real or fakely real? >> i'd say that it's -- >> i can tell fakely real, that's way too long of an answer. >> the reason i say that. >> that's a yes, no. >> we don't read a script. but like say, for instance, we may not hang together if it wasn't for the show. >> so they set up scenarios? >> they say, okay, you all are going to eat here but they know these people do not necessarily get along. >> alcohol involved? do they serve everybody a couple of drinks? yes, i can tell. >> i'm not a drinker so i never, ever drink but a lot of the ladies do get a little extra with the drinks. >> when you were on the first season, and one of the slams on you, which i think is a great testament, was that you were very normal. like you were a nice, regular, calm woman, which i guess on reality tv would work against you a little bit. >> yeah. i guess people want the drama. but i was who i was during the -- when they were interviewing me, during the taping and after, so they knew what they were getting. >> do you feel sometimes you have to play it up because you know there's a great opportunity, that's who you are? >> no. i'm very just laid back. i like to have fun. i think on the show i come off as, oh, that's the girl i want to hang out with because i want to have a good time. i love my business. i love to talk about business and making money and that's my thing. it's very rare people get under my skin. >> i know, i know, i know, everybody was a little bit surprised. do you look at the models of people who have been successful in terms of business? do you get into a real housewives type show and say what i'm really trying to do is build a brand. what i'm really trying to do is build a business, five, ten years down the road. >> that's how i feel you should do. i feel like it's really stupid to have that type of platform and not make the most of it. why let people talk about you every day and make you look crazy every day if you are not going to benefit in the long run. >> you have kids, you both have kids, you have a daughter and you had three kids. do you worry about cameras and your house and the kids? my kids would say -- this is why i would never be on reality tv. my kids would say all kinds of inappropriate things. i'd have to be bribing, you can't put that on tv. >> you worry at first but then you kind of get used to it. >> i kind of forget that they're there sometimes. and plus we don't have the cameras 24/7 like some people think. >> yeah, i thought that. >> the camera crew may be there at your house for like three hours and that's it. then they're going to the next person's house. it's not like they're just there all the time and you can't get undressed. >> i know how popular the show is now. i was on one little clip one time and i still get people, you were on housewives. i was like that was three years ago, man. >> i had no idea the reaction people do when they watch that show, but it's really just like a living soap opera. >> with the clip that we showed, i think people were so surprised because you're so mild mannered and have so many other things going on. >> not in that clip. >> i think it was a rare moment where you kind of like kandi has had it, you know what i mean. you have the singing and your other business. >> that's the part of reality that the people see all sides of you. >> exactly. i think that's a good thing that people get to see all sides. i mean, because, it's -- every day if i followed you every day, you're not going to be so together every day. >> why, yes, i would. >> you know, out of the four or five months of them taping, of course they have got to keep the things that are going to be interesting to make people tube in every week. if i'm nice and boring every day, they're like people aren't going to watch. >> and sanity. nice and boring and sane. i like that. thanks for being with us, kandi. lots of businesses coming up that you're kicking up. >> yes, i'm very excited from my new show that i have kandi factory, which is about music and not drama and then i have bedroom kandi, my store tags. >> leveraging it. >> which show did i do? one of your radio shows. >> kandi coated nights. >> kandi is a business. she's a business. kandi is a business. >> "starting point" is up next for our panel. we'll give you the recipe for the drinks we've been showing you all morning as well. we're back in just a moment. 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[ female announcer ] three uses will help remove odor-causing residues and leave your washer clean and fresh. to help maintain your he washer, use tide washing machine cleaner once a month and always wash with tide he detergent, specially formulated for proper he performance. tide washing machine cleaner. clean laundry starts with a clean washer. made with only milk... cream... a touch of sugar... and pure natural flavors. coffee-mate natural bliss. from nestle. add your flavor naturally. oh, i did love listening to anita baker this morning, absolutely adore her. she's at radio city. the drinks we've been making, the recipes are on the website. deshawn, what do you think is the big takeaway. >> i think the big takeaway is with junior seau and just to -- during your grief to make sure that you always think of other people and let someone else heal through your pain. >> that's good advice. >> i think when you have a father that's really hurt by what happened to his son but is willing to give the school system a chance to correct and the school system is willing to do the training. i mean that's a good story. that's the way we need to live our lives. >> you get our final word this morning. >> junior seau most definitely, and bringing a heightened concern on the safety of nfl players, former players, great players like that. it's so unfortunate what we're learning and what has transpired with junior and putting the emphasis on trying to control the stuff and make football safer but more fun. these are guys who love the sport, who care a lot about the sport. and i think we've got to make it as safe as possible. >> genuine tragedy if the fact cte had something to do with his suicide. i want to remind everybody on monday, we've got a sneak peek at a new exhibit with graceland artifacts. 35 years since the king has passed away. that is it for us. have a great weekend, everybody. i'll see you back here on monday

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