exploding blaze this morning. two states under the gun. could be the $100 million tax dodged. did facebook's co-founder give up u.s. citizenship to escape paying his taxes? he's now in singapore driving a bentley and living it up appearing in high society magazines. why did he unfriend america? block the press. reporters at a mitt romney event blockeded from asking the candidate question. cnn the only network getting the moment on tape. "newsroom" begins right now. good morning to you. i'm carol costello. this morning police are escorting some school buses in metro atlanta after a terrifying scene unfolded for several students on their way to school. a gunman took aim at the children while they boarded a school bus. it happened in clayton county south of atlanta's airport where police have now found the rifle, ammunition and a note with school bus numbers and pickup and arrival times. here's what one witness told tom jones of our affiliate wsb. >> he is shooting at that school bus at them kids. >> reporter: this 20 year old told me that's what his uncle yelled when he saw a man aiming a rifle with a scope on it at children getting on a school bus. the sniper was in his neighbor's backyard. that's when brewer said the sniper dropped the rifle and jumped the fence and took off. he ran after him. >> i was running trying to catch him. stop. stop. he just kept going. >> reporter: brewer says all of a sudden -- >> boom. all i heard was the gunshot. he says the gunman fired a shot at him. >> it was loud. >> reporter: luckily it missed. he showed me where police marked where the bullet hit. the gunman got away and the search is on to find him. brewer wants to be a police officer but he says police gave him a valuable piece of advice. >> the police officer told me that i need to wait and not chase him down like that. >> that was wsb's tom jones reporting. local police are searching for that gunman. so far more than 60 officers have gone door to door asking residents for help in the neighborhood where that incident took place. let's turn to the latest tragic chapter of camelot and the kennedy family that fascinated generations of americans today an autopsy is scheduled for the 52-year-old estranged wife of robert kennedy, jr. mary kennedy was found dead in her suburban new york home. her life, like that of her in-laws, was filled with achievement and darkness. alina cho is in new york to tell us more. >> you mentioned that autopsy. westchester county medical examiner will begin the autopsy on mary kennedy's body in the next half hour beginning at 9:30 eastern time. the autopsy will take an hour to complete. we could hear about a cause of death as early as later today. for now, however, police are keeping a tight lid on what might have happened. they will not say how mary kennedy died and they're not providing many details about what they found at her home in bedford, new york, other than her body, which was discovered in what they described as an out building on the property. one thing we do know, carol, the last few years were not kind at all to mary kennedy. >> she did battle a lot of demons, didn't she? >> she did. she did. the real problems began in may of 2010. that's when we publicly heard about them at least. that's when her husband, robert kennedy, jr., the nephew of president john f. kennedy, filed for divorce. the couple has four children. all under the age of 18. that is what is so heartbreaking about this. the divorce was never finalized. at the time of death, they were still officially married. now, not long after robert kennedy, jr., announced plans to leave her, mary kennedy was arrested for driving under the influence twice in 2010. once for alcohol and once for prescription drugs. won charge was reduced. the other was thrown out. nonetheless, it did happen. there was also a domestic incident the night after robert kennedy filed for divorce during which he told authorities that his wife was intoxicated. kennedy biographer spoke to erin burnett last night and the demons that they battled. >> her husband or soon to be ex-husband was a heroin addict. he came out of that and became one of america's great environmental leaders. she said it used to be a bunch of drunks at thanksgiving dinner and now an aa meeting. >> you hear so much about the kennedy curse and i have to say when i heard about this last night, i thought here we go again. how heartbreaking and terrible for the kennedy family. >> how is the kennedy family reacting? >> well, you know, there are two statements that were put out last night. mary kennedy's family put out a statement through their attorney saying our heart goes out to her children and robert kennedy, jr., released a statement saying mary inspired our family with kindless, love, gentle soul and generous spirit. >> alina cho reporting from new york for us this morning. remember that deadly string of anthrax filled envelopes that terrified the nation after the 9/11 aattacks, someone is trying to rekindle that fear. one person sent 20 powder filled envelopes to schools and businesses in the dallas area last week and that person may be to blame for some 380 such letters sent since 2008. the powder is harmless but authorities say this hoax needs to be taken seriously. >> although the sender has focused on government agencies, he or she has began to target our nation's schools and this necessa requires a serious response from authorities over concern for our children, our teachers and first responders. >> officials say the hoax is extremely expensive to taxpayers and the intended targets. a reward of $150,000 is being offered for information that leads to an arrest. in alabama, protesters are challenging lawmakers latest measure against illegal immigration. police arrested seven demonstrators at the state house. the governor is launching a full review of the bill. supporters say it improves current law which is considered the toughest in the country. opponents and protesters say it makes the law even more abusive and illegal. closing arguments under way in the corruption trial of former presidential candidate john edwards. his defense team rested their case after just two days and after deciding not to have edwards or his former mistress testify. edwards faces 30 years in prison that he funneled campaign money to rielle hunter. joe johns is at the courthouse in greensboro, north carolina. >> reporter: closing arguments today in the john edwards' campaign finance trial in greensbo greensboro, north carolina. each side gets two hours to make their final points before the jury. the prosecution will go first. then the defense and then the prosecution will get the last word because it has the burden of proving each and every element of the six-count indictment against john edwards. the wrap-up of this trial was a bit of a surprise for how fast it came. the defense had suggested it might throw in the kitchen sink at the end. john edwards, rielle hunter, his former mistress. but in the end they didn't even call edwards' daughter, cate, to the stand. the defense might have decided they're better off leaving well enough alone after giving the jury a simple and clear position on the legal issues at play in the case. for example, that the hush money in the edwards case wasn't intended to be a campaign contribution and that somebody else got the money, not john edwards. the jury is expected to start its deliberations in the edwards case on friday morning. in greensboro, i'm joe johns. in central texas, the military is looking into why a training missile accidentally fell from a military chopper and landed smack in the middle of a neighborhood. about 100 homes were evacuated. the object six feet long doesn't contain any explosives. a disposal team arrived and took the missile away. no one was hurt. police are seeking the car jackers who robbed gospel music legend marvin winans. a man approached him at a gas station chatting about music on his radio and then a few more men walked up and things got ugly. >> i was on the ground and then they went to kicking me and trying to get the money out of my pocket and tore my pants up and then when i stood up, i called on jesus. they started running. i got up and my car was gone. >> detroit police don't think the attackers knew winans was a recording artist and well known pastor. the latest of wildfires in arizona had as tripled in size. four homes have been destroyed near crown queen. firefighters are not getting a break from the wind and dealing with poisonous snakes and unmarked abandoned mines and winds are fuelling a wildfire in northern colorado. 1,000 acres have already burned. someone likely started that fire. attention verizon wireless customers. your unlimited data plan is about to get the boot. alison kosik is at the new york stock exchange. customers will not be happy. >> adios unlimited plan. verizon slowly has been chipping away at this unlimited plan. verizon dropped unlimited for new customers coming in. now it's planning to ditch the unlimited for all customers that come in. verizon cfo announced this at a wireless conference yesterday. verizon is in the process of updating from its 3g network to 4g network that is faster and for the company it costs the company more so we'll consume more data so carriers are upgrading to these faster wireless networks and they're trying to cover the cost of these upgraded wireless networks by generating more revenue from us. >> so i guess the idea is to provide a limited bucket of data that can be shared in a plan of some sort? >> right. exactly. it's not just a family share but also for individuals and it can be shared meaning data plan can be shared among different devices. let's say you have a smartphone and you also have a tablet. you can put both of these things on the same data plan or if everyone in your family has a smartphone, everyone can share in this kind of bucket of data but keep in mind this is going to be a limited bucket of data. >> coming up, aides for mitt romney physically blocked reporters from asking questions at a campaign event. we have the exclusive video for you. 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[ female announcer ] neosporin® plus pain relief starts relieving pain faster and kills more types of infectious bacteria. neosporin® plus pain relief. for a two dollar coupon, visit neosporin.com. 15 minutes past the hour. police in an atlanta suburb are escorting school buses after a gunman aimed a rifle at children getting onboard a bus. wsb tv reports police are using a note dropped at the scene to search for the suspect. more than 60 officers have gone door to door asking residents in the neighborhood for help. closing arguments begin this morning in the john edwards corruption trial. the defense rested without calling edwards, his former mistress or his daughter. if found guilty of all charges, the former presidential candidate faces up to 30 years in prison. a fan makes an extra effort at last night's red sox/rays game in st. pete. you see it there. he falls over the short wall. does a face plant. he did get that foul ball. even though he went on the field, security let him slide and he got to keep the ball. ouch. could we be on the way of a repeat of last year's debt ceiling cliff-hanger? washington is in gridlock already. the president hosted congressional leaders in a meeting described as cardiordiat no breakthroughs. >> are we headed again to one of these debackacldebacles? >> you have to ask the speaker of the house on whether he believes it's right to play chicken. >> at only way to enforce it now is to take away one thing that every member of congress really wants and that's their paycheck at the beginning of the month. let's take it away until they get their job done and then you will see all of a sudden bipartisan work and we'll all get something done. >> the atmosphere was good. no kumbaya but it was a good meeting. it was productive. we had candor. we had friendship. we had an understanding of where we need to go for our country and as always with meetings like that, on all sides, great love for our country. >> the president favors a deficit reduction deal that has a mix of spending cuts and tax increases. in the meantime on the campaign trail, the dustups aren't over the budget but who gets access to the candidates. at mitt romney's stump in st. petersburg's, members of his staff physically prevented reporters from asking questions. one of those reporters was our jim acosta. >> thank you. >> reporter: standing in front of a mini national debt clock, mitt romney left no doubt about his message of the day. >> we'll get on track to get a balanced budget. >> reporter: after the event was over as romney was shaking hands with supporters along the rope line, aides to the gop contender made sure the candidate stayed on topic. this press aide physically stood in the path of reporters trying to make their way to romney to ask questions. the campaign even brought in a lone secret service agent to keep the press away from romney contrary to the agency's policy. a secret service spokesman says they don't restrict movement of press within general public areas or their movement within these areas. hours later the romney campaign admitted its mistake saying this was an error on part of campaign staff and volunteers. we allowed them press is allowed on the rope line to record interaction with voters. the altercation came just hours before joe biden blasted the gop contender for his time at the private investment firm bain capital. >> he thinks that experience is going to help our economy? let's take a look. >> the obama re-election team tried to focus on the firm. >> like a vampire. came in and sucked the life out of us. >> reporter: the romney campaign released its own web video showing a camp prospering after bain's help. but romney has said little about the company. he didn't answer a shouted question from cnn on the subject. last week at a speech in michigan, romney did not mention bain by name but he did say he wanted to translate his private sector experience there to the oval office. >> finding solutions and opportunities in an environment of change and turbulence is what i learned during my career. it's something i want desperately to bring to the presidency. >> the romney campaign says the president is just playing politics of envy. a line that biden said in ohio he took personally. >> my mother and father dreamed as much as any rich guy dreams. they don't get us. they don't get who we are. >> reporter: the romney campaign later admitted its mistake and even romney came back on a press charter to tell reporters the rope line incident was not his idea. >> we were getting kicked off the rope line today. that wasn't your doing, right? >> reporter: romney has one public event in florida but mostly he'll be at private fundraisers where press access to the gop contender will be limited. jim acosta, cnn, st. petersburg a florida. watch and listen as a huge landslide roars down the side of this mountain. all of that is heading right for a village. ♪ [ engine turns over ] [ male announcer ] we began with the rx. [ tires squeal ] then we turned the page, creating the rx hybrid. ♪ now we've turned the page again with the all-new rx f sport. ♪ this is the next chapter for the rx and the next chapter for lexus. see your lexus dealer. you're about to see part of a mountain crumble to bits. take a look. this huge rock slide was headed for a village in switzerland. this went on for hours. some rocks did make their way to the valley floor but the roar. listen to it. i wouldn't want to hear that coming at me. luckily none of the buildings were damaged on the valley floor but the roads around the village were closed. officials say the area as you might expect is very dangerous right now. today david beckham will help take the olympic torch from greece to the u.k. people are getting ready for the london olympics. the opening ceremony is a little more than two months away. zain verjee is in london. you're so lucky. >> i am. it's really exciting here. the big flame hand over ceremony is going to happen at a stadium in athens. there will be a big choreography as they hand over the flame to princess ann who will be there for the ceremony of the united kingdom and then david beckham and then they will bring it by plane to the u.k. how are they going to bring a torch, you wonder, a lit torch by plane. they transfer it to a lamp. it will travel, one flame, 8,000 miles to different cities across this country. the interesting thing here is that there are a few backup flames. it looks like there's just one. actually, there are two or three in different locations just in case they need that actual flame. i don't know. we may want to call it a bailout flame from greece. i don't know. just in case. it's also going to be in a secret location every night that it is in a different city and there's a torch security team that has been created. they also have a bunch of runners. when you see everyone running with the torch, you have kind of these outliarsoutliers. >> it happened in beijing. >> zain verjee live in london for us this morning. now is your chance to talk back on one of the big stories of the day. the question for you this morning. can racial politics be effective in 2012? you heard some of this during the republican primary. herman cain saying african-americans were brainwashed into voting for democrats. newt gingrich calling president obama a food stamp president. get ready for racial politics on steroids. according to "the new york times," a republican super pac has a $10 million campaign against the president. the goal is to portray mr. obama as having misled the nation by presenting himself as a metro sexual black abe lincoln. the plan which is not yet approved include attacks ads linking the president to his former pastor, the reverend jeremiah wright, jr., known for blasting america. >> not god bless america. damn america. it's in the bible. killing innocent people. >> in 2008, mr. obama denounced wright's statements and john mccain said the subject was off-limits during the campaign. why is this coming back now? one reason perhaps, republicans can't seem to beat the obama likability factor. despite concerns over his handling of the economy, most americans say they like the president. a recent cnn/orc poll shows 56% find mr. obama more likable than mitt romney. the talk back question for you this morning, can racial politics be effective in 2012? facebook.com/carolcnn. i'll read your comments later this hour. don't forget if you are heading out the door, you can take us with you. watch us any time on your mobile or computer. head to cnn.com/tv. 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you hear roland martin back there laughing already. he's our cnn contributor. and also will cain. >> they got me sitting way over here. i'm in the same studio with carol. i rather be sitting by her. >> if you were sitting by me and will can't because he's in new york. >> we don't care about mansome will cain. i'm a black man in the vain of miles davis. >> let's get serious here. does bringing up jeremiah wright again -- is that effective strategy? will, let's start with you. >> is it effective strategy? that's a question for political strategists if i ever heard one. i don't know that's me, carol. i will say this, no. i think no. i think that obviously most effective message in this election cycle is economy and how well or poorly that is doing. i want to say this. questions about jeremiah wright shouldn't be off limits. the question in that ad, it has barack hussein obama, what are you trying to reinforce? something that john mccain said shouldn't be part of the conversation. however, if you are asking are the things that jeremiah wright preaches, are those acceptable and how much did barack obama embrace those and what's his vision of america at a fundamental level and how does it compare to mine? those are legitimate issues to debate and question. >> didn't we do that in 2008, roland? >> it's why it's so stupid. listen up to your billionaire money and you've been the chicago cubs owner, you're an idiot if you think you'll pursue this line. it didn't work in 2008. it won't work in 2012. give it up. you can try all day to drudge up sermons of reverend jeremiah wright. it's not going to happen. if the gop want to do that, then guess what? you're now putting mormonism on the table. you're now putting on the table how african-americans were treated by the mormon religion. i don't think mitt romney really wants to have that conversation considering he was an elder and his dad was an elder and they really did not embrace african-americans. it's a ridiculous conversation. it didn't work last year. focus on the economy. that's what you really ought to pay attention to not old sermons. that's ridiculous. >> the billionaire is behind this super pac and development. he's the one that is presenting this plan. his family owns the chicago cubs. he doesn't directly own it. i could be wrong about that. he's connected to the chicago cubs. by bringing up jeremiah wright again, won't that reenergize african-americans to the polls when republicans think african-americans are not so energized because of the same-sex issue. >> i think it's too vague. i don't think how this is racial politics. roland is right. if you put this on the table, mitt romney's mormonism deserves to be on the table as well. that's a logical consistency. when we talk about reverend wright and what we talked about four years ago putting it back on the table, i said i don't think it's smart to use reverend wright as a bullet point again. i don't think we debated four years ago what is barack obama's vision of america. i don't think we asked when he said i am for hope and change, i don't think we asked, change from what to what? >> come on, will, seriously? he won. he got 69 million votes. 365 electoral college votes. he won. so if you want to have the same debate, fine. guess what? the gop lost. my suggestion would be for you to look at housing plan, economic plan, things along those lines but trying to have the same -- >> those are hand in hand, roland. >> will, to have a losing debate a second time means you are going to lose again. it's a ridiculous debate. >> when you ask what barack obama's fundamental vision of america is, you are also having an economic debate. you are talking about stimulus and national health care. you're talking about things executed that could have been projected four years ago. >> you are talking about extending bush tax cuts. bottom line is if you want to use reverend wright, the gop will look like idiots. if you want to waste money, send it my way. i'll spend it in a great way for you. if you want to waste money. >> can i make a suggestion of how you should spend that money? >> not ridiculous ads bringing up reverend wright. >> kill that thing in your pocket. >> you are upset that i can grow a real beard versus that thing that's on your face. >> i think we should end our conversation right here. >> trust me. think about it. viewers at home are going look at roland. look at clean. look at will with a boring white shirt. you can't win this conversation, baby. >> they do know who the metro sexual is. >> they know who the grown man is. >> we have to fly. thank you for the spirited conversation this morning. all right. mourning the godfather of go-go. a look at the life and legacy of the late great chuck brown. ♪ [ engine turns over ] [ male announcer ] we began with the rx. 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[ male announcer ] get 1-2-3 percent cash back. apply online or at a bank of america near you. ♪ apply online or at a bank of america near you. i've been a superintendent for 30 some years at many different park service units across the united states. the only time i've ever had a break is when i was on maternity leave. i have retired from doing this one thing that i loved. now, i'm going to be able to have the time to explore something different. it's like another chapter. more than 50 times a day? so brighten your smile a healthy way with listerine® whitening plus restoring rinse. it's the only rinse that makes your teeth two shades whiter and two times stronger. ♪ listerine® whitening... power to your mouth. ♪ >> the music world is mourning the death of chuck brown. ♪ >> i like to listen. brown was known as godfather of go-go. played gigs around the world but the most loyal fan base was in washington d.c. his fans kicked off concerts with "wind me up chuck" and engaged them in a response during shows. he died of multiple organ failure. he was 75 years old. golden girl betty white is still going strong at 90 years young. she has not one but two hit shows and she was the woman of honor last night at the fryers club roast. a.j. hammer is in new york with more. she was roasted but not really, right? >> it is betty white, carol. on the red carpet she said there was panic going on not prepared for what necessarily would be said about her. "showbiz tonight" was right there. even though it was a roast at the fryers club, this woman is so beloved everyone that went in was paying her compliments more than making her a punch line. it was a midday roast. free of good shots but most i can't repeat here. let's just say betty's age and her sex life were the target of a lot of those punch lines. that's standard operating procedure at these roasts. here are a few repeatable lines. larry king warned her at her age it's a fine line between a roast and cremation and said she's so old she thinks i'm jail bait. the event was organized as a lunch because we didn't think she would make it to dinner. "the new york times" said a target old are than the jokes at her roast. at the end of the roast, betty's response was full of backhanded compliments telling roasters i really deeply had a good time and i didn't expect to. always, always humble betty white. we asked her on the red carpet if there was even one thing left for her to accomplish in her very long life. here's what she told us. >> i usually answer that question with robert redford. i think i've been lucky enough to do so much that if i start complaining about anything under the sun, throw me out of the business. >> i don't think she'll every be thrown out of the business. she'll probably still outlast us all. >> i was enjoying your delivery of those punch lines, a.j. >> i had a chance to work on my lines. >> that was fantastic. a.j. hammer, thank you. just watch as this scientist tries to capture a 300-pound gator. why, you ask? why. we'll tell you next. look at the car! my dad's gonna kill me dude... 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(female announcer) most life insurance companies look at you and just see a policy. at aviva, we do things differently. we're bringing humanity back to life insurance. that's why only aviva rewards you with savings for getting a check-up. it's our wellness for life program, with online access to mayo clinic. see the difference at avivausa.com. more than 50 times a day? so brighten your smile a healthy way with listerine® whitening plus restoring rinse. it's the only rinse that makes your teeth two shades whiter and two times stronger. ♪ listerine® whitening... power to your mouth. 47 minutes past the hour. a $150,000 reward is being offered to whoever finds the person mailing powered filled envelopes to schools and businesses mostly in texas. it costs a lot of money to examine. it happened 20 times in the last week and more than 380 times in the last three years. a biologist is bitten while trying to wrangle a 300-pound alligator in north carolina. neighbors called for help after seeing this big gator working in the ditch and this guy is a biologist who works at a nearby aquarium so he decided to come help firefighters. the firefighters actually had to rescue him. the alligator is under lock and key now. the skiecientist is okay. autopsy scheduled today for mary kennedy, estranged wife of rfk, jr. a divorce filed two years ago but not yet completed. she has been arrested twice for driving under the influence. police are asking the public to help find a killer who shoots drivers on mississippi highways. so far two people have been killed. the murders happened 55 miles from each other and police fear the killer may be posing as a police officer. here's mary snow with more. >> reporter: 74-year-old tom was the first victim found dead in his car shot multiple times on a remote stretch of highway in mississippi. wei his family says his wallet was missing when he was found and there was no indication of any problem when he spoke to his daughter by phone just hours before his death. >> it's hard to imagine your father in that situation. >> this is a violent end to a very kind man's life. >> tom was found may 8th at 1:30 in the morning. three days later authorities found a second victim found dead outside her car at 2:15 in the morning, 55 miles from the first murder scene. she is identified as 48-year-old lori ann carswell on her way home from a job at a casino. >> the common denominator is we believe denominator from both instances is we believe both vehicles were on the side of the road. >> reporter: that is why authorities believe the killer may be posing as a police officer. they say nothing was wrong with the victims' cars. they are comparing shell casings from both locations. mississippi drivers are told to be on alert. if they are suspicious of a police car pulling them over, they are advised to put on their hazard lights and dial 911 to verify it's legitimate or wait to pull over in a well lit crowded place. as one law enforcement analyst points out, the possibility of someone posing as a fake officer is just one theory. >> there is no vehicle description. there is no description of anyone involved in this. so could it be someone who was pulled over to the side of the road and the victims were good samaritans and pulled over to help this person? that's also another scenario that has to be looked at by law enforcement. >> u.s. marshals and atf working with law enforcement in mississippi. in addition to providing forensic experts, atf says it's working with fbi profilers to find the killer. mary snow cnn, new york. the question this morning, can racial politics be effective in 2012? your spokens coming up. welcome to idaho, where they grow america's favorite potatoes. everyone knows idaho potatoes taste great. but did you know they're good for you too? they're high in vitamins and potassium. and idaho potatoes are now certified to carry the heart checkmark from the american heart association for foods low in saturated fat and cholesterol. so they're good for my family, and for yours. heart smart idaho potatoes. always look for the grown in idaho seal. we ask you to talk back on one of the big stories of the day. the question, can racial politics be effective in 2012. from dog, "i hate to say this, but in some ways i think racial division has become worse since obama's election. believe me, i'm not happy about this. is this a trick question? i know a few lifelong democrats that voted republican when obama was on the ballot. those were the group of democrats who could not get themselves to vote for a guy with dark skin. this from paula. democrats have been using racism. according to them, anyone who doesn't agree with obama is a racist. we've never really gotten beyond race, have we? this from linda, i want them to do it so we can roll out commercials on troubling mormon religion and romney was a bishop of the church, not just a member. keep the conversation going. facebook.com/carolcnn. franciscan university drops student health insurance. they say it violates catholic values. but what will students without insurance do when they get sick? i'll ask the vice president in 20 minutes. are with. like a pretty cushy gig. chief medical correspondent dr. sanjay gupta and seven lucky viewers are there for a reason. they are there to train for a triathlon. they enlisted the help of a woman who is no stranger to swimming in open water. >> carol, we're here in cokona training for the triathlon with the lucky seven. one of the trickyest part is swimming in open war. we've asked our coach to join us, give us some tips. for men and women alike, you've probably heard this, this is what they are scared of. >> the biggest thing is stay calm in the water, don't panic. >> staying straight, i have a problem. what do you recommend? >> if you extend your arms straight from the water, if you enter the water this way with your hands, you'll swim in a straight line. >> what about just breathing? people have a hard time certainly breathing both sigh. >> breathing both sides or bilateral breathing encourages a balance stroke, which is also going to help with the straight line. you'll swim less in the race, the triathlon. it makes a big difference. >> try not to get kicked. >> do your best. >> carol, the lucky seven are doing amazingly well. these are firstime tri-athletes never done this before. checking on their progress this week. >> i loved her father. thank you, sanjay. if you want to get in shape with me, every thursday i'll have a tip how you can get there, part of the 2012 fit nation triathlon challenge with dr. sanjay gupta right here every thursday. the next hour of "cnn newsroom" begins right now. good morning to you. i'm carol costello. just ahead in the newsroom, unfriending the united states. a facebook co-founder renowns his u.s. citizenship just months before the company goes public meaning he could save an estimated $100 million in capital gains taxes. and that has caught the attention now of two u.s. senators. the fbi trying to track down the man who sent almost 400 letters filled with a white powdery substance. his latest targets, buildings with a lot of children. agents hope a new report and a specific profile will help them catch the suspect. the battle for the white house heats up. new reports of a 54-page gop plan in development that targets barack obama's images and former pastor. facebook stock goes public tomorrow morning. one of its founders stands to make a lot of money. up like other investors he won't have to pay taxes on that cash. this morning two senators have called a noose conference to address that big tax loophole. he gave up his u.s. citizenship a few months ago. because of that he'll reportedly save an estimated $100 million in taxes. mary snow takes a closer look. >> reporter: had he not renounced his u.s. citizenship before facebook's ipo you might not hear about him. for some his role in facebook only came to light in the movie "the social network." after harvard his role in facebook sputtered. he eventually sued for a stake in the country. david kirk patrick, author of the facebook affect says he owns about 7%. he says it could be worth, get this, $4 billion. >> the book the movie was based on was called the accidental billionaires. there was only one accidental billionaire that's eduardo. >> reporter: with as much as $4 billion at stake, it's safe to say he could save hundreds of millions of dollars in u.s. taxes. a spokesman says he's expatriation happened months ago and is no way tied to the ipo. the brazilian born saverin became a citizen. he moved three years ago. his decision was not about taxes. has he strong ties to brazil and is extremely passionate about not only his homeland but the u.s. eduardo found it to be more practical to become a resident of singapore since he plans to live there for an indefinite period of time. profiter at columbia law school is skeptical taxes didn't play a role in the decision. >> >> citizenship for him really did mean he would be subject to taxes on his worldwide income, no matter where he lived. it's very hard to believe that taxes did not enter into his calculation at all given his timing. >> giving up your citizenship isn't free. if you do announce u.s. citizenship you're hit with an exit tax from cnn. mary snow, cnn, new york of i think he can probably afford it. two senators will announce a plan to reimpose taxes on ex pats like saverin. dana on capitol hill. they say they are taking a tough stance. is there anything they can do? >> senators think the answer is yet. i'll show you some examples and the information bo out what is in this legislation which they will formally propose in just about an hour. first of all, it would reimpose taxes on an ex pat if their network is at least $2 million or their average taxable income is $148,000 and they would be hit with a penalty. they would pay 30% capital gains on future earnings and also be banned from the u.s. until the taxes are paid. until then they must apply for a visa like any other foreign citizen. this is something -- one of the questions i got from one of your producers, which is a good one is, can this really be done retroactively if they pass this. this is already happening. the ipo is happening tomorrow. the answer is the way they are trying to structure this legislation is about future earnings. so yes, he could gain the system. as soon as the ipo happens, he could sell his billions and billions of dollars worth of stock. but it's really unlikely that he would be able to do that. >> i'm just wondering how many people actually renounce their citizenship every year to escape u.s. taxes. there are people who do it for other reasons. >> i'm not sure of the exact numbers but there certainly are reports more and more people are doing it for this reason because taxes are just better for people very wealthy in places other than the united states. one other question that i had is what about people who renounce their citizenship and are not doing it to escape taxes. there will be a provision in this law that tells the irs that they can make exceptions. one quick example. the ambassador from israel to the united states, he was a u.s. citizen. he was born in new jersey. he to renounce his citizenship because that was the rule of israel. someone like him, he would not get these penalties. >> dana bash reporting live from capitol hill. federal agents have an annoying mystery on their hands. who keeps accepteding letters filled with white powder. yes, the powder is harmless so far but the chaos these letters create is not. it started in 2008 in north texas. someone sent letter after letter to government offices. since then it has grown to 380 letters and the target has changed. in the past two weeks the individual has sent more than 20 letters to elementary schools and daycare centers. the fbi is offering a $150,000 reward. tom fuentes is a former assistant fbi director. morning, tom. >> morning, carol. >> why is the fbi so concerned about this powder, it's been harmless so far. >> so far. if you receive one of these letters and open your envelope and white powder comes pouring out of it and the message says you're doomed, you might be doomed. that's what happened in 2001 when people opened letters containing anthrax and died later. so in this case you don't know it's safe until it's been turned over to the authorities, sent to a crime lab, the contents examined and identified and, okay, by the way, it's harmless. you spend days or weeks wondering if you're going to die. it's not completely harmless in that sense if you get one of these. the fbi and postal inspector has responded to 113 incidents related to this. they have opened 500 separate investigations and actually 380 letters turned out to have some form of powder in it. this has also cost the taxpayers millions of dollars in the cost of the investigations including the forensic examinations at the various crime labs and diversion of resources from other ongoing cases to be involved in trying to rule out that this material is hazardous. >> let's talk about why someone would do this. the fbi has come up with a profile of who they believe is sending letters to north texas and beyond. they believe the individual is male, 30 years of age or older. he may be considered by others to be odd or eccentric. he may have some experience with mental health facilities according to a reward poster prepared by authorities. just in looking at this profile, this could fit, frankly, many people. >> that's the problem. when you offer a large reward and you put out a description like that, you do have the risk that you're going to receive thousands of false claims. in some cases people call in to try to get their former spouse or boyfriend or girlfriend in trouble and have the authorities go to their residence and look into their background. so you're going to get probably a lot of false claims and false indications. you're right. you just think in your own circle of family, friends, and colleagues, you'll probably identify a couple of weird people in that group. we all will. >> tom fuentes, many thanks. >> thank you, carol. >> it's almost over. closing arguments in the john edwards trial are today. we will not be hearing from the two stars at the center of the case, john edwards and his mistress rielle hunter. after just two days the edwards defense team rested. edwards faces up to 30 years in prison on charges he funneled campaign money to hunter, the mother of his illegitimate child. reverend wright, remember him? he could be back in the headlines if this ad campaign from a republican strategist is approved. "the new york times" is reporting the controversial pastor is the focus of the proposed ad campaign called, "the defeat of barack hussain obama." from the "new york times," welcome. >> good morning. >> so you write in the article the plan is still in development. how far along is it? >> well, this plan was actually pretty far in development. there was a very specific rollout of what would begin with a five-minute film at the democratic convention in early september in charlotte. it was commissioned by joe rickets, founder of ameritrade, a wealthn conservative donor, who is beginning to put more of his fortune into politics. what he did, he went out and commissioned a work of some top republican strategists for how he could get involved in this campaign. so this was presented to associates of mr. ricketts in chicago, a full plan of what they would do if approved of it's awaiting approval, haven't decided if they would go this route. it's interesting how something like this could come about. like getting a look at the swift boat ads from 2004 before it happened. >> going back to the ads, i know it includes reverend wright but what else does this plan include? >> it really includes a lot of reverend wright. it begins with that, then it goes into i'm really trying to persuade american voters they were essentially sold a bill of goods with president obama. and the team of republican strategists who were involved in this concept, proposal, are many of the people who worked on senator mccain's campaign four years ago, beginning with fred davis, the admaker who wanted to do an ad for senator clinton mccain about reverend wright. at the time mccain didn't want that to be part of his campaign. fred davis is proposing trying to revive that, because they believe that reverend wright could still ab potent figure in sort of explaining the character of president obama. >> as they launch this plan, what do they hope to accomplish? >> i think one of the things they would hope to accomplish if they launch this plan is really sort of reminding people where president obama came from, reminding him of some of these associations with reverend wright. remember, that was a very challenging time in the campaign for then senator obama when his association with the reverend wright was unfolding, just about four years ago right now. he had to disassociate himself from reverend wright. the obama campaign is not eager to necessarily go through this again but they believe something like this would really rally independents to their side if something like this happened. interestingly the romney campaign is saying, look, the campaign is about the economy. matt rhodes, campaign manager said, looks the campaign should be about the economy. we repudiate efforts to do anything like this. it's kind of a warning to republican super pacs to stay focused on the economy and president obama's record. >> jeff zeleny from the "new york times," thank you for joining us. >> thank you. a college dropped student health insurance rather than following a federal contraception mandate. we'll talk about that. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] the jeep grand cherokee has won more than just respect. ♪ [ technician ] are you busy? management just sent over these new technical manuals. they need you to translate them into portuguese. by tomorrow. [ male announcer ] ducati knows it's better for xerox to manage their global publications. so they can focus on building amazing bikes. with xerox, you're ready for real business. hour. checking top stories. police in atlanta are escorting school buses after a gunman aimed a rifle at children getting on board a bus. police are using a note dropped at the scene searching for the suspect. they believe they found a gun ditched in a yard. more than 60 officers are going door to door asking people for help. investigators are offering $150,000 for clues about who is mailing powder filled envelopes to schools and businesses. it's happened 20 times in texas of the powder is harmless but stressful and expensive to investigate. police believe the same man has sent 380 envelopes since 2008. in alabama people protested at the state house after lawmakers passed a new bill aimed at improving the state's controversial immigration law. police arrested at least seven demonstrators. the governor launching a full review of the bill. a small catholic university has reportedly become the first college to drop student health insurance over a controversial government mandate, one that requires health plans to cover contraception. franciscan university in steubenville, ohio. they say it would violate teachings of their church. vice president of the franciscan university. thanks for joining us today. >> carol, it's a pleasure to be with you. >> this sounds like a very emotional issue for you. >> it is. i never would have imagined this day and age where the federal government would be forcing us, a catholic institution, a religious institution, to go against our deeply held religious beliefs. they are forcing us to choose between health care and our faith. >> other catholic universities have filed suit to fight this part of the president's health care plan. why have you decided to act now? >> well, there are two parts of this that forced our hand. one, we have been publicly fighting and advocating for religious liberty from the very beginning that this law became public. but in march, we were made aware by our health insurance provider that our students' health plan would debl in cost for this coming year. when looking at we as the university requiring them to have this health insurance, we didn't think we could in good conscious pass on double the cost in these tough economic times. it's both a moral and economic issue for us that forced our hand today. >> i'm just curious, how many students get their insurance through your university. >> the vast majority get it from their parents. it's not affecting a huge number of students. less than 10% of our 2500 students are actually buying into this plan. so it's a small number of students, but we still require them to have the insurance. we said, you know, they have already come out as students and protested the mandate from the obama administration regarding abortion inducing drugs as well as contraceptives. our students are already there and support that role and we couldn't hoist another burden on them in these tough economic times. >> what message do you hope to send by doing this? >> we're hoping other people will stand up and say enough is enough. our religious liberties matter. this is too important an issue to be silent on. this affects catholic and christian institutions and others of conscious but really affects all of americans. we really need to stand up with one voice and send a message that this is our first freedoms are more important than anything else in this country. >> does it matter that the majority of catholic women support contraception, the use of contraceptives? >> if the majority of americans supported murder, it would be still be wrong. just because the catholic church believes something doesn't mean everybody follows it. really, we're in a position as a catholic university we're passionately catholic. we're actually the first catholic university to take the oath of fidelity saying we're only teach what the catholic church teaches. if you polled our students, you'd get a very different perspective on what catholic women actually support and believe in. and that's something that we stand for. it's part of the integrity of who we are. we're not forcing anyone to do anything. we're simply saying we're catholic and we're proud of it and please don't force us to change our opinions and our beliefs for your accommodations. >> michael herndon, thanks for joining us this morning. >> thank you, carol. god bless you. have a great day. it's the latest tragedy in one family's legacy. just ahead the death of mary kennedy, the estranged wife of rfk, jr. waandndaa sysykkees:s: ggaainin apappplle e mmaano isis iinsnspipireredd byby alalll yoyouu wn whwhoo hihitt ththee dadr aannd d sshhakakee wht yoyouurr m moommmamass ga. anandd bebecacaususee apao tatanngogo ssmemelllls s s, i'm one of six children that my mother raised by herself, and so college was a dream when i was a kid. i didn't know how i was gonna to do it, but i knew i was gonna get that opportunity one day, and that's what happened with university of phoenix. nothing can stop me now. i feel like the sky's the limit with what i can do and what i can accomplish. my name is naphtali bryant and i am a phoenix. visit phoenix.edu to find the program that's right for you. enroll now. 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. ♪ now let's turn to the latest tragic chapter of camelot, the kennedy family that fascinated for generations. today an autopsy scheduled for the 52-year-old estranged wife of robert kennedy, jr. mary kennedy found dead in her suburban new york home. her life, like that of her in-laws had been filled with achievement and darkness. elana cho is in new york to tell us more. good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you, carol. there have been widespread reports suicide may have been the cause. cnn is actively and aggressively chase thanksgiving theory. we have not been able to confirm that. nonetheless we can tell you "new york times" cited two unnamed authorities saying mary kennedy found hanging in the back of the house in the barn, she left a note. authorities did try to cut her down and revive her. obviously they were unsuccessful. as you mentioned at this hour the autopsy is under way. we could actually hear about a cause of death as early as later today. for now, however, police are remaining pretty tight-lipped about this. they are not saying at all how mary kennedy died. they are not releasing any details about her home other than her body was found in an outbuilding on the property. one thing we do know the last few years were not at all kind to mary kennedy. >> i know she had several dui arrests, she was astrangd frest her husband. what is the kennedy family saying? >> the kennedy family released two statements. first mary kennedy's family put out a statement through her attorney, our heart goes out to her children who she loved without reservation. they had four children together all under the age of 18. robert kennedy, jr. for his part released a statement saying mary inspired our family with her kindness, her love, her gentle soul and generous spirit. carol, a little bit about mary kennedy. i did not she was an accomplished architect who championed a green design. her firm at one point worked on the vice president's residence. she also founded a charity called the food allergy initiative which has quite a strong presence here in new york. carol. >> alina cho reporting in new york for us this morning. now is your chance to talk back on one of the big stories. the question, can racial politics be effective in 2012. you heard some stories in the republican primary, cain saying african-americans were brainwashed and newt gingrich calling obama a food stamp president. get ready for steroids. a super pac in development plans a $10 million campaign against the president. the goal, to portray mr. obama as having misled the nation as having presented himself as a metrosexual black abe lincoln. the plan, still not approved, includes linking the attack ads to reverend wright, known for his incendiary sermons blasting white america. >> god bless america. no, no, no. not god bless america, god -- america for killing innocent people. >> in 2008 obama denounced wright's statements and john mccain said the subject was off limits during the campaign. why is this coming back now? one reason perhaps republicans can't seem to beat the obama likability factor. despite concerns over his handling of the economy, most americans say they like the president. a recent cnn poll shows 56% find mr. obama more likable than mitt romney. so the question for you, can racial politics be effective in 2012? facebook.com/carolcnn, facebook.com/carolcnn. i'll read your responses later this hour. how do we get congress to be more effective? one representative has a plan. what about taking away their paychecks until they get something done. we'll ask our political buzz panel if that would get things moving in washington. great shot. how did the nba become the hottest league on the planet? by building on the cisco intelligent network they're able to serve up live video, and instant replays, creating fans from berlin to beijing. what can we help you build? nice shot kid. the nba around the world built by the only company that could. cisco. sfx: sounds of marching band and crowd cheering sfx: sounds of marching band and crowd cheering so, i'm walking down the street, x: sounds of marching band and crowd cheering just you know walking, sfx: sounds of marching bandnd and crowd cheering and i found myself in the middle of this paradeeet, x: sounds of marching band and crowd cheering honoring america's troops. sfx: sounds of marching bandnd and crowd cheering which is actually in tquite fitting becauseadeeet, x: sounds of marching band and crowd cheering geico has been serving e military for over 75 years. aawh no, look, i know this is about the troops and not about me. right, but i don't look like that. who can i write a letter to about this? 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[ male announcer ] you're at the age where you don't get thrown by curveballs. ♪ this is the age of knowing how to get things done. so, why let erectile dysfunction get in your way? talk to your doctor about viagra. 20 million men already have. ask your doctor if your heart is healthy enough for sex. do not take viagra if you take nitrates for chest pain; it may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. side effects include headache, flushing, upset stomach, and abnormal vision. to avoid long-term injury, seek immediate medical help for an erection lasting more than four hours. stop taking viagra and call your doctor right away if you experience a sudden decrease or loss in vision or hearing. this is the age of taking action. viagra. talk to your doctor. a bit of breaking news to share with you now, yet more suspicious white poud hawder han found in texas, according to dallas affiliate. frank crowley courts building, a packaging center in plano. this is an envelope containing white powder. there's already a $150,000 reward on any information on whose been mailing nfl's with white powder. the envelopes have been sent to schools and businesses mostly in texas. it's happened 20 times in the last week and more than 380 times in the last few years. we'll keep you posted. closing arguments in the john edwards trial today. we will not be hearing from two stars at the center of the case, john edwards himself and his mistress rielle hunter. after two days the edwards defense team rested. edwards faces up to 30 years in prison on charges he funneled campaign money to hunter, the mother of his child. for the first time less than half of babies born in the united states are white. hispanics are now the biggest and fastest growing minority group. this is information from the u.s. census bureau. u.s. is still mostly white but minorities make up 36% of the population. that went up half a percent from 2010 and 2011. political buzz, rapid-fire look at political topics of the day. 30 seconds. pete dominick host of stand up with pete dominick, leans left. cnn contributor will cain leans right. first question for both of you. one of the facebook founders eduardo saverin renounced his american citizenship just before facebook goes public. that means saverin could avoid about $100 million in american taxes. democratic lawmakers are now working on a way to reimpose taxes on expatriates like saverin. question, is it a waste of time or clever way to trim the deficit? will? >> waste of time. we're not talking about anything meaningful as far as trimming the deficit. we're talking about the moral principle of taxation. i'm sure saverin says he isn't moving to avoid taxes. come on. you're moving to sipping poor. i'm sure it's to avoid taxes. people move, make physical moves based on their self-interest. people move from california to texas to go for lower taxes. it's happening right now. remember that when you talk about things like the buffett rule and want to impose taxes on wealthy people. they will leave you. >> pete. >> will is right, it is behavioral psychology. what it's not is patriotic. you know, carol, my mom raised me not to call people names but i told her about this eduardo saverin and this stunt he's pulling and my mom called him a parasitic leech. that's what he is, a dirt bag. asked how many did that, she didn't know. in 2008 about 238 people renounced citizenship to maybe avoid taxes. in 2010, 1,534, millions of americans died to protect the right for citizenship. thousands more died trying to coin. it's not a business transaction. he got educated here. he made his money here. he should pay taxes here. he's a dirt bag. >> oh, second feel. >> how do you feel? >> wow. >> how do i feel? i hope when he comes back into the country customs slips a bag of cocaine in his suitcase. that's how i feel. >> okay. enough of that. second question, joe biden passionate about the middle class. listen. >> i resent the fact they think we're talking about envy, job envy, wealth envy, that we don't dream. my mother and father dreamed as much as any rich guy dreams. they don't get us. they don't get who we are. >> okay. translation. you richer than god man, mitt romney, you don't understand me, the little guy. effective, pete? >> yeah. listen, mitt romney never had a dream about being rich. he was born rich. good for him. the guy probably bought a suit the same day he got his first job. this whole idea that mitt romney can somehow relate to the american people, he can't. the guy has never had to worry about a paycheck, worry about putting food in his kids' mouth or his mouth. he's never had to worry about paying bills or going bankrupt because of medical bankruptcy. the guy can't relate. i don't know if the american people care about that. he's a governor millionaire ceo. if people think that's good, he'll get the job down, vote for him. >> i can match joe biden and do we think it's about envy? yes. that's not mutually exclusive about dreaming. what you dream about is other people's money. every policy you embrace is meant to redistribute that money. you can dream but dream about your own future and how you make it yourself. don't talk to me about how to redistrict from a buffett rule tax. this is not a society based on need. this is a society based on merit. >> time for buzzer beater. twenty seconds each. let's all say this together fast. representative reed ribble. >> that is tough. >> good aliteration, isn't it? anyway he's come up with something to make the do nothing congress do something, take away their paycheck. >> let's take it away until they get their job done. then you will see all of a sudden miraculously bipartisan work and we'll all get something done. >> okay. so is he onto something? will. >> no, he's not onto something. here is why. i reject the premise we have a problem with do nothing congress. weshtd adopt the policy and say don't just do nothing, stand there. do something called business, the cliche we kick around. what we have are people interested in getting re-elected. in that vein, don't withhold their paychecks, pay them a lot. pay them so much they don't need anybody to contribute to their re-election. they may not need to run. how about term limits. >> i think the majority of millionaires. i don't know if that would work. >> i think you might be right. >> carol, you stole my answer. 49% of them are millionaires. about 250 congress members are millionaires. so their incentive is not to get their paycheck. there's more incentive to prevent them from going home for christmas. if they don't do anything january 1st we'll balance the budget overnight, cut the deficit dramatically more than anybody's proposals will, taxes go up, huge cuts in spending. don't do anything. it will be painful but you'll get your deficit cut. >> you're right their motivation is not to get paid to stay elected. >> it's power, a revolving door. as soon as they leave congress they go to work for the lobbyists paying them their election campaigns. >> you guys will have to discuss later but thank you for the interesting discussion. thanks for playing today. will cain, pete dominick. is jennifer lopez leaving "american idol"? 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[ male announcer ] get 1-2-3 percent cash back. apply online or at a bank of america near you. ♪ jennifer lopez, tops celebrity 100 list. much of her comeback can be credited to "american idol." there is growing buzz she might be on her way out. "showbiz tonight" a.j. hammer is in new york. any truth to the rumor? >> carol, j. lo is not confirming. e! news broke the story. she wants to spend more time with her kids. we can understand that. we did reach out to lopez and fox. nobody willing to make any comments at this point. i have to tell you, i'm sure fox would want to keep her on the show. replacing her not an easy task if it comes to that. adding lopez and steven tyler to the judges' table reinvigorated "american idol." after her two seasons on the show, carol, it would rough on them to shake up their new stability. but if she does decide to leave she's doing it in a really good place, going out on top, so to speak. there are those who suggest this is a bigger ploy for a bigger payday. carol, if that's the case, i believe it will work. >> me, too. more power to her. a.j. hammer, thank you. breaking in the entertainment world a.j. has it tonight on "showbiz tonight," 11:00 p.m. eastern on hln. firefighters struggle to contain a raging wildfire in arizona that's threatening a town. we'll take you there. ♪ [ engine turns over ] [ male announcer ] we began with the rx. [ tires squeal ] then we turned the page, creating the rx hybrid. ♪ now we've turned the page again with the all-new rx f sport. ♪ this is the next chapter for the rx and the next chapter for lexus. see your lexus dealer. ♪ [music plays] ♪ [music plays] breaking news now. two more letters filled with white powder show up today. police are offering $150,000 reward for a clue to find the person mailing these envelopes. it's happened 20 times. the powder has turned out to be harmless. police believe the same man filled envelopes since 2008. police escorts this morning after gunmen aimed a rifle at children getting on board the bus. wusb reports a note dropped at the scene might help them figure out who the gunman is. a rifle was ditched in a nearby yard. more than 0 officers going door to door asking for help. lawmakers passed a new bill aimed at improving the state's immigration law. they arrested demonstrators. a huge wildfire in arizona is roaring out of control, doubling in size. we learned the fire isn't the only threat crews are dealing with as they try to extinguish this fire. tess joins me from ktvt. we hear rattle snakes in abandoned mines. firefighters have to deal with these things, too. >> reporter: exactly, that's what's been so tough about this fire since it broke out, carol. some 5500 acres burned. this is happening in the bradshaw mountains right behind me. crown king is in the middle of all that crown king in a mining town. firefighters are dealing with steep, rugged terrain, wildlife rattle snakes. mine shafts, no one knows who they are but they could suddenly have drops. firefighters have to be careful, also preventing them, fighting this fire. they are, of course, getting battle support from up in the air with about a dozen water dropping helicopters and planes. that's been a big force in fighting this fire. right now it is only 5% contained. it has doubled in size in a 24-hour period. now along with those elements we've got bad weather coming in. it's already warm and dry here and now we're going to be getting red flag conditions over the next 48 hours. as for the 350 people evacuated from crown king, they are not happy to hear that the closest flames to their homes now about an eighth of a mile. we're watching this one closely for everyone. thanks, tess. arizona not the only state dealing with wildfires. colorado is, too, rob marciano is here to tell us about that. >> this is the second of the season. this has grope dramatically overnight. it grew from 900 acres to 5,000 acres overnight. let's get to it and talk about these two fires. the weather is not going to get any better. as a matter of fact look for the winds to begin to increase over the next couple of days here both in arizona and in colorado. unfortunately when the two -- four fires burning in arizona, two big ones and we'll go over them. they are both 50 to 100 miles north of phoenix itself. here is the gladiator fire, the area near crown king, grown to over 5,000 acres and doubling in size just last night. that's where the populated area is. obviously in some fairly rugged terrain. you heard the reporter speak of mine shaft they have to deal with along with wildlife. this is sunflower fire, larger, slightly remote area in the forest, 12,000 acres. two big fires burning. next several days, temperatures very, very hot, well over 100 in some spots. yesterday the winds were calm. that was a time to get a handle on this. unfortunately in both colorado and arizona they didn't. those fires grew dramatically. now the winds will begin to kick up as we go through today, tonight, tomorrow and really right through the beginning part of saturday. look at the expanse of red flag warnings and critical fire danger. it expands towards reno and down across parts of phoenix. this is what firefighters will be dealing with, no rain. temperatures will be a little cooler. winds will drive the flame here. next couple of days will be a cuff go on the weather department and wildlife as well. arizona and parts of the front range of colorado. firefighters will have their hands full. carol. >> thanks, rob. google is taking a self-driving car on tour in washington, d.c. it's not just a showoff. google could be trying to convince lawmakers to legalize it. [ woman on radio, indistinct ] ♪ bum-bum ♪ bum-bum, bum-bum, bum-bum ♪ - ♪ ai, ai, ai - ♪ bum-bum - ♪ bum-bum, bum-bum - ♪ [ ice rattles rhythmically ] ♪ bum-bum, bum-bum, bum-bum ♪ ♪ [ imitates guitar noise ] ♪ [ vocalizing up-tempo heavy metal song ] ♪ [ vocalizing continues ] ♪ [ all singing ] the redesigned, 8-passenger pilot. smarter thinking. from honda. okay. let's head to washington, d.c. because this is kind of a cool story. you've heard about this car, google has made a driverless car, car that drives itself. there you see this is d street in washington, d.c., northwest. brian todd is in the google car, which is hidden behind that audi. come on, brian, brian todd. anyway, there's a reason google is testing out its car in washington, d.c. brian todd, i guess you're behind the wheel but you don't actually drive the car, huh? >> that's right. it's a self-driving car, carol. it's called oscar. this is google's prototype self-driving car. they started developing that in 2008. it's designed so you can program your route, get in the car and the car does pretty much everything until you grab the wheel. once you do that, it's almost like cruise control over the program. i'm going to get in here with dave and cam, two google program managers. we're in the car now. as soon as this light changes, carol, we're going to be cruising across the street towards you. dave will show he has no hands on the vehicle. what we can do is talk about this technology while we're waiting for the light to turn here. you know, this car operates essentially computer operated, sensors all over the car. this thing on topes called a laser scanner. it's there to sense just anything in the environment of the car. the other cars around it, other sensors, cameras, radars, all do that. they sense other cars around it. they work to anticipate what other cars are doing. there is a separate kind of software google is developing to anticipate and judge pedestrian behavior as well. that is all going to figure into the technology of this. the d.c. light, coming toward you. if you can get a good shot into dave, has he no hands on the vehicle now. this stopped automatically. guys, why did it stop automatically? there was a taxi kind of cutting us off there a little bit. we're pulling up for parking enforcement. jpeg, whatever they call those things. i'm going to get out. we're going to go over some of the quick features of the car here. this the laser scanner. these are gps devices. it's got a camera just behind the windshield here. this is a radar sensor. they have radar sensors in the front, all designed to anticipate and photograph and process the environment all around the car, kind of anticipate what other cars are doing. that's essentially how it works. once you grab the wheel of the car, all of that is disabled and you're driving. right now designed for someone to sit behind the wheels of the car even if you don't have hands on. >> i wish we could talk to you more, we're out of time. you'll have more on "the situation room." it's good they didn't run over the parking environment guy. i know many people -- i won't say it. it parallel parked like that that was amazing. you'll have more on "the situation room". thanks, todd. in your daily dose of health news the study suggests the link between the popular ant box, z-pack, 14-year trial conducted by researchers at vanderbilt university, a higher risk of heart disease death in the first five days of taking that drug compared to other antibiotics. the cause of the disease is unknown and the risk is rare. [ male announcer ] if you have yet to master the quiet sneeze... [ sneezes ] [ male announcer ] you may be an allergy muddler. try zyrtec® for powerful allergy relief. and zyrtec® is different than claritin® because it starts working faster on the first day you take it. zyrtec®. love the air. [ sneezes ] my high school science teacher made me what i am today. our science teacher helped us build it. ♪ now i'm a geologist at chevron, and i get to help science teachers. it has four servo motors and a wireless microcontroller. over the last three years we've put nearly 100 million dollars into american education. that's thousands of kids learning to love science. ♪ isn't that cool? and that's pretty cool. ♪ we asked you to talk back on one of the big stories of the day. the talkback question for you, can racial politics be effective in 2012. anyone who keeps talking about racial politics is basically calling voters ignorant. any informed and intelligent voter can and will make