to earle i start. and i'm zoraida sambolin. >> let's get started. the. the fallout from tropical storm beryl. it is a tropical depression. guess what, building steam again and it's expected to be a tropical storm before we know it again. the storm is dumping as much as ten inches of rain in northern florida and southern georgia. it's also knocking out power to tens of thousands of people right across that region. now beryl has its eyes on the carolinas. cnn's rob marciano has been tracking the storm from the weather center. cnn's george howell is live in georgia. i'm assuming that things are only just starting to get bad out there, george? >> reporter: ashlee , we are expecting to be to be a real soaker. this is going to be the center of the storm. it will move towards the savannah area. just a few days ago the story here was the wind event. a strong wind event that knocked down trees, knocked down power lines. today we are expecting that sustained rain over this area could possibly cause some problems. also, so that you're aware, the beaches here. people are allowed on the beaches but they are not allowed into the water. the concern there, these rip currents. these powerful currents that can pull you into the water. people say, the life guards say, if you're caught in a rip current, best to swim parallel to the shore to get out of the current and get back to shore. no one is allowed in the water at this time, ashleigh. >> what about the people, is anybody being told to get out, hunker down, are they boarding things up? >> reporter: given that this area has been i78 pacted twice with this storm, people are prepared for it. yesterday tourism was down in this area. not nearly as many people as you would expect over the memorial day weekend. people are you could say hunkered down and ride through this storm. a lot of rain expected today and some flash flood watches have already been issued through the area. >> you know how some of those surfers are. despite all the warnings, they still go out there. was there any evidence of that as it was starting to get dark? i know it's about to get light. >> reporter: well, we saw life guards. they are all along these beaches. they're making sure that no one gets in the water. that concern about these rip currents is a serious concern. we caught them looking out for people, watching people preve preventing them from getting in the ocean. >> george howell, be careful out there. obviously keep an eye on things for us if you would. i appreciate that. now to rob marciano, also tracking the storm. what can you tell us, rob? >> well, it's moving very, very slowly. so we know that about this thing. what's impressive about it, it's really held its structure very well. held together inland over 24 hours now. and it will probably hold its designation as a tropical depression for the next 24. the center of it is just to the east of tallahassee. most of the rainful is to the east of the center which is fairly typical. it's tapping moisture from the atlantic ocean. jacksonville saw the brunt of the storm. now the rain bands are going up towards savannah. likely won't get all the way to atlanta. this is where the bulk of the rain will be. this is where we saw the bulk of the rain yesterday and saw some intermittent flooding and street flooding. from jacksonville to brunswick is where the action will be for really the next 60 hours. look at these impression sieve rainfall totals. we haven't seen devastating flooding because it's been so dry in these areas. 6 inches in branford. arlington 6 inches. down in gainesville and jacksonville they saw in some cases record-breaking flooding. here's the forecast for the next 48 hours. look at the red on the map. it will go right over savannah. pretty much right over charleston. it will intensify a little bit off the coast line of north carolina and accelerate with its winds. by the time it gets to charleston tomorrow morning and tomorrow afternoon it will really start to pick up steam and then head out to sea fairly rapidly. we're looking at flash flood watches that have been posted. all the way up to the outer banks of north carolina. >> rob marciano, watching it for us. five minutes past 5:00. 15 hours worth of a standoff just coming to an end now. a suspect falling to his death off of a construction crane. he was a robbery suspect. he climbed atop a crane on the campus of smu, southern methodist university in dallas, texas. he claimed to have a weapon. he refused to leave the cab. they say that that suspect eventually got sick because the crane doesn't have air conditioning. just minutes ago they say the suspect fell from that crane. that is 150 feet from where that picture is to the ground. radioactive tuna found in u.s. waters. scientists say small amounts of radioactive substances have been detected in 15 pacific blue fins caught last august off the california coast. 6,000 miles from japan. the blue fin tuna commonly migrate from japan across the pacific, and they were born about a year ago. though higher than normal, researchers say the amount found in the fish is not dangerous for human consumption. new york city police are turning to the sanitation department in an effort to corroborate the story of this man, pedro hernandez. his confession in the death of a little boy etan patz 33 years ago. he said he killed that 6-year-old boy and disposed of his body in a garbage back. they're looking for records dating back to 1979. hernandez is being held on murder charges and is being kept on suicide watch now at a new york hospital. today's texas primary could be the one for mitt romney making the presumptive gop nominee official. texas has 155 delegates at steak. he's already won 1066 and needs 78 delegates to hit the magic number of 1144 needed to ensure the republican party nomination for president. trail blazers, war heroes, music legends. the people who will receive the presidential medal of freedom happening today. president obama will present the nation's highest civilian honor to 13 people, including the first woman to serve as secretary of state. that's madeline al bright on your screen. also, former senator john glen, the third american in space and the first to on bit the earth. nobel prize winning novel list tony morrison will get the prize as well. bob dylan, the poet of our times. a plot to assassinate american diplomats with snipers and car bombs. find out who was reportedly behind it after this quick break. use our strength & stability to open new opportunities. to lend, and lift ...every business...every dream... to new heights of prosperity. good things are happening. just look up. with u.s. bank. there are a lot of warning lights and sounds vying for your attention. so we invented a warning.. you can feel. introducing the all new cadillac xts, available with the patented safety alert seat. when there is danger you might not see, you're warned by a pulse in the seat. it's technology you won't find in a mercedes e-class. the all new cadillac xts has arrived. and it's bringing the future forward. but what about your wrinkles. neutrogena® rapid wrinkle repair. it has the fastest retinol formula available. it's clinically proven to visibly reduce wrinkles in just one week. 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[ male announcer ] it's a network of possibilities -- helping you do what you do... even better. ♪ helping you do what you do... even better. 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. welcome back to "early start." it's 11 minutes past the hour. they're trying to get to the bottom of an intricate plot to assassinate american diplomats. it traced back to iran. among the targets of the alleged plot, u.s. embassy staff and family members in azerbaijan. that's iran's neighbor to the north. according to the post, the plot was hatched over the past few months. rez assay yeah is live in islamabad, pakistan. what can you tell us? >> reporter: zoraida, we have to be careful with the allegations from the washington post. this is an article that makes allegations about an assassination plot, about a terror plot that's linked to iran. never clearly explains what those links are. it's so lacking in facts, so convoluted that any sensible reader would be saying, what did i just read? what does this mean to me as an american citizen? briefly, let's tell you about the article. it alleges that citizens of azerbaijan was working with operatives inside iran to smuggle weapons to azerbaijan and go after u.s. and foreign diplomats. the article also claims that this plot is linked to other plots tied to iran. here's what the article does do. it doesn't give us an iota of clear evidence that ties the plot to the iranian government. it doesn't name a single iranian that's implicated in the plot. it doesn't tell us clearly who orders the plot. it even acknowledges the obama administration hasn't even tied the plot to the government. all of this is coming from, who, unnamed sources. we can't divulge our name because the information is too sensitive, zoraida. we go back to journalism school where a good student would ask, why can't i see the evidence? why can't i have the sources? if it's so serious, why doesn't the justice department come out? >> those are all very good question that hopefully we'll get some answers to here in the near future. reza sayah, i'm sorry -- we're going to find him back on the phone this time so we can bring you the latest details. >> re-establish that link. that is a fascinating story. i couldn't get any of that, i'm sorry, reza. we'll work to re-establish that. >> 13 minutes past 5:00. christine romans is handling stories for us. >> memorial day was awash for people in florida and georgia thanks to tropical storm beryl. it dropped 10 inches of rain. it caused flooding and widespread power outages. it will bring more rain to parts of georgia. two small planes crash into each other in midair. it happened in virginia. this is about 50 miles from washington, d.c. officials, they don't know what caused this crash. one of the planes burst into flames. the other pilot was taken to the hospital. two accused murder suspects loose this morning after they used a hacksaw to escape an arkansas jail on monday. police say cortez cooper and quincy stewart sliced through metal bars covering a cell window. then they squeezed through and landed on two mattresses they pushed through the window. they don't know how the two managed to hop the ten foot bashed wire fence. after a long weekend the jurors in the john edwards trial return to deliberate. edwards denies any wrongdoing. and fidel castro's niece is traveling to new york today. she's scheduled to speak about international rights for gays and lesbians. she's the daughter of the current cuban president, raoul castro, fidel cast throw's brother. she's an activist for gays and lesbians. time for early reads. a florida teens gets in trouble for standing up to bullies. the school says she went too far. the daily commercial has this incredible story. 18-year-old stormy rich says she reported a group of girls bullying a special needs student on the bus. she says school officials never took action so she told the girls, quote, if they didn't stop and the school didn't do anything, i would have to handle it. the school said those remarks displayed bullying so it band rich from the bus. >> i feel like i'm missing something. >> yeah logic. >> fighting bullying with bullying. maybe i am missing something. here's something you don't want to miss. be very careful of what you post on facebook. i know we say that all the time. in australia a 17-year-old girl found out the hard way. she posted pictures of a big, fat wad of cash. the daily telegraph says she was helping her grandmother count the money. it was savings. bad guys saw the pictures, figured out where she lived. >> you kind of knew how this was going to go. >> i know. busted in and stole it all. apparently they had knives, a club. these two were robbed. nobody was hurt in the end, but the good news is police have arrested two people in connection with this. >> hopefully recovered the money as well. >> don't have the answer to that one, but you would hope that was something they could resolve. >> zoos across the country are having to decide which endangered species to save and which to let die out. some days the burden feels less like know a building an arc and more like schindler building a list. the eastern black rhino, they're hoping outside conservation groups can help the southern black rhino, otherwise, they will become engs tingt. >> for an extent the look at all of our stories you can look at our blog. cnn.com/start. we've seen the signs. could the housing market finally turn the corner? 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[ major nutrition ] ensure high protein... ensure! nutrition in charge! ♪ ♪ ♪ and we dream up ♪ all the best stuff ♪ and we can make it up ♪ cause we were made for each other ♪ ♪ for always ♪ oh oh ♪ for always [ female announcer ] weak, damaged hair needs new aveeno nourish+ strengthen. active naturals wheat formulas restore strength for up to 90% less breakage in three washes. for strong, healthy hair with life, new aveeno nourish+ strengthen. there are a lot of warning lights and sounds vying for your attention. so we invented a warning.. you can feel. introducing the all new cadillac xts, available with the patented safety alert seat. when there is danger you might not see, you're warned by a pulse in the seat. it's technology you won't find in a mercedes e-class. the all new cadillac xts has arrived. and it's bringing the future forward. welcome back to "early start." more now on our top story. u.s. investigators are trying to get to the bottom of a plot to assassinate american diplomats. according to the washington post u.s. embassy staff and family members are the targets of a plot. reza sayah joins us on the phone. can you start at the top again with what is going on here? we had some problems with communication earlier. >> yes, zoraida. we've been told there are so many allegations so many times that have been raised about iraq. it didn't match reality. i think we need to ask tough questions when we see articles like this. an article in the washington post that made some scary allegations. it falls short on providing clear evidence. it's very lacking of facts and verified information so convoluted that i any any sensible reader in the end would ask, what did i just read and what does this mean to me as a u.s. citizen? briefly the article alleges that a man from azerbaijan was working with -- inside azerbaijan and go after u.s. and foreign diplomats. it also alleges that this alleged plot is linked to other plots tied to iran. here's what the article doesn't do, it doesn't show us an iota of clear evidence linking this plot to the iranian government, any groups tied to the iranian government. it doesn't name a single iranian that's been implicated. it doesn't say who ordered this plot. and it even acknowledges that the obama administration itself hasn't even tied the plot to the iranian government. all this information in this article coming from unnamed sources, use that old excuse that we can't give you our names because this information is too sensitive. another in a long line of scary articles about iran that unfortunately is very short on evidence and verified information. >> how did the u.s. find out this information? >> well, this, according to a foreign spy agency, was a plot that was divulged to them. again, because of the lack of information, the unnamed sources, they're not going to tell us how they found out. all they do is they name a foreign spy agency that found out about this plot, informed the u.s. embassy. there was an alleged target. iranian government, as it often does, it denies the allegation and that's where we stand at this point. >> reza, if this proves to be true, how is this going to affect the relationship between the u.s. and iran with these ongoing negotiations over its nuclear program? >> i don't think it's going to impact u.s./iran relations much. i think the fact that the obama administration hasn't behind this up is an indication of that. the issue is the controversial nuclear program that will continue to be the main issue. there are some in the administration, some in washington who are hawkish about iran, conservative republicans, some in the israeli governments who want to portray iran as a threat to the west. they're going to like seeing reports like this in the washington post no matter how much it is lacking of evidence and verified information. >> all right. reza sayah, in pakistan. thank you for communicating with us via telephone. 25 minutes past 5:00. is the housing market finally on the mend? very telling housing numbers will be out in a couple of hours. >> we are looking forward to that. christine romans is here with a little bit of a preview. >> futures is up more than 100 points. we'll get a consumer confidence number plus the case-shiller housing number. that will show more of a recovery in the housing market. it has been beaten down so badly. many of you are saying don't say housing is getting better. my house is not up in value. you might be right. we're seeing the first spring selling season start to perc up since the crash. stocks are higher in europe over positive economic news out of japan and hopes that china will embark on a stimulus. may has been a terrible month for your 401 k. i hate to be the bearer of bad news but since may 1st it's been a down market. only four days higher for stocks in the whole month of may. that hasn't happened for a month since 1903 that you've only had four higher days. i know. some are saying that the next few days as you close out the month you could see stocks doing better. the dow is down 6% so far this year. it's been a stuff start to the year. feels a lot like last year. we had this sell in may go away feeling. if you were right last year and you are right this year. >> is the year okay? >> down 6%. >> the year is down 6%? >> 6%. >> we sat here saying we've never had a better start to the year. >> yeah. it was a very good start to the year, you're right. it fizzled out. we'll keep watching. oil prices are down below $90 a barrel. gas prices continue to decline. all those really scary head lines about $5 memorial day gas didn't turn out to be true. peak hit early. it's probably as good as it gets for gas prices. >> check every day. >> we'll take what we can take of good news, christine. 26 minutes past 5:00. senator john mccain knows a thing or two about how to handle a heckler. see how he took care of one person with a single word coming up. of single mile credit cards. battle speech right? may i? 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[ male announcer ] with wells fargo advisor's envision plan, you always know where you stand. in fact, 93 percent of envision plan holders say they will retire on their own terms. get started on the plan you need today -- wells fargo advisors. together we'll go far. he says he wants guysand lesbians locked up behind an electric fence until they die. plus, danger reins from the sky. debris thought to be from a passenger jet falls on to parked cars in front of stunned witnesses. steve jobs back in the days with atari. the apple master really early in his career. welcome back to "early start." i'm zoraida sambolin, i'm ashleigh banfield. the north carolina pastor calling for all gays and lesbians to be locked up behind an electric fence. he was greeted by a standing ovation. >> outside the providence road baptist church a different kind of standing ovation. there it is on your screen. hundreds of people from across north carolina and the country gathering to protest pastor charles worley's message. so far the pastor has refused to speak to reporters. cnn's gary tuchman went to north carolina to ask him if he still stands behind that sermon. >> reporter: ever since pastor charles worley made his infamous speech and it went viral, we wanted to get a chance to talk to him to see if he was sorry for what he said and the tone. he dodged the press. we made an effort to find 4i78 and we did. we haven't seen nor heard from pastor worley since his antigay sermon went viral until now. pastor, would you like to take back anything you said? pastor, i want to give you a chance to take anything back if you care to. pastor worley had plenty of opportunity to answer either question. he chose not to. instead, he was on his way to his church for a sunday service. on the same day that hundreds of people from north carolina and other parts of the country protested the pastor's now infamous sermon. >> build a great, big large fence, 150 or 100 mile long, put all the lesbians in there. fly over and drop some food. do the same thing with the queers and the homosexuals. >> i felt that he was preaching bigotry. my god is a loving god. my god loves everybody. >> this is not a preacher. this is a bigot. >> reporter: the protesters demonstrated several miles away from the church. >> the nature is against the very nature. >> reporter: they encount tikoc opposition. >> we must appear free because we have broken god's laws. >> reporter: they carried signs that many felt were nasty and an tag gee nis sticks, as well as not necessarily accurate. >> let me ask you, where does it talk about aids in romans 1 cln cln 27. >> it doesn't. >> why do you have that here? >> well, it's just a phrase that we put on there. >> reporter: there's been all kinds of opportunity for confrontation here. people are marching on the sidewalk. people on the other side of the issue are yelling back at them. so far there's been no problems. >> i'm glad i'm a proud member of providence road baptist church in north carolina. my past who are is brother charles worley. >> reporter: for the most part worley supporters were ignored. >> i think it's absolutely antichristian which is why i wrote this message. would jesus really do this? >> reporter: many protesters brought their children. >> i just want to teach my kids to love everyone. i don't want them 120 see black or white, guy or straight. i want them to love everybody. >> nobody was arrest the. >> i'm telling you the reason heterosexuals go to heaven is because they recanted their sins. your driver's license. >> this pro worley supporter got a citation for using a bull horn which was banned. >> we're not issuing any comments or statements. >> can i talk to the pastor? >> no, sir. >> reporter: there would be no talking to charles worley, at least on this day. pastor, any comments at all? he's either not ready or not interested to publicly defend his sermon, but as far as defending him, his family and supporters seem ready to step up. five men walked out of the house when we asked our questions. notably, one of the men appeared to have a gun in his waistband. two church services were held this past sunday here in worley's chur ch. reporters were not allowed inside. one newspaper reporter with the hickory daily record did go inside. he tells us worley got a standing ovation. he says he appreciates the support and he also added, i've been preaching for 53 years and, quote, do you think i'm going to bail out on this now? this is gary tuchman for "early start." >> our thanks to gary for that. a family stranded on a steep and snowy side of a mountain for hours after their small plane crash landed in idaho. it took rescuers hours to reach a california firefighter, his wife and daughter to reach them. they kound land on the six foot high snow drift and 60 degree slopes. it was their daughter who called 911 for help. >> 911. what is your emergency? >> hi. i'm in an airplane and i crashed and i'm in the mountains. >> where are you at, hon? >> in the 29 miles east west of mountain home, idaho. i need you to send a search party please. >> that young lady was very composed. they spent the entire night in freezing, white out conditions before choppers were eventually able to pull them up. they are all recovering together in the hospital. debris apparently from an air canada jet falling from the sky in toronto. one of the planes engines failed just after takeoff. small pieces struck cars on the ground and the witnesses were stunned. >> a lot of damage. especially compared to other people. i think there was only one car glass smashed through. it was strange. not something i expected to happen today, have airplane debris fall through my windshield. >> luckily no one injured in all of this. the air canada jet was headed for tokyo. it had to make an emergency landing. the airline says it is voegting what happened. war hero. senator john mccain was not having it on memorial day. he fired back at a heckler. take a look. >> relatives of -- >> you should -- >> down. sit down. >> boo. >> jerk. >> few words there, huh? mccain was speaking to an audience of about 5,000 veterans. mitt romney seemed to get a little chuckle out of that as well. a neon lamp that was turned on during the great depression was found behind a wall at a california eatery and, guess what, it was still burning bright. the "l.a. times" says the light is believed to have been installed back in 1935 and was discovered during a renovation in a women's bathroom at clifton's cafeteria. the building owner is thrilled by the discovery. >> and the fact that one single bulb continued to shine i thought was absolutely staggering. and it's just a remarkable thing to find. i think definitely a fitting legacy for clifton's keeping the lights on. >> remarkable, indeed. according to the experts, the light has been burning for all of these years because it was indoors and it was away from any human touch which gave it the staying power. >> now we learned something. 39 minutes past the hour here. what if your facebook photos could tag themselves? 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[ male announcer ] glucerna hunger smart. a smart way to help manage hunger and diabetes. do you really think brushing is enough to keep it clean? while brushing misses germs in 75% of your mouth, listerine cleans virtually your entire mouth. so take your oral health to a whole new level. listerine... power to your mouth. so take your oral health to a whole new level. now's the time to move from to where you want to go. look up. with u.s. bank let's get the wheels turning. use our strength & stability to open new opportunities. to lend, and lift ...every business...every dream... to new heights of prosperity. good things are happening. just look up. with u.s. bank. top of the morning to you. washington, d.c. thanks for being with us this morning. it is 75 degrees right now for you. a little later it's going to be pretty hot. 91 degrees and balmy. you have thunderstorms headed your way. it is a big day for mitt romney. the presumptive republican candidate can finally seal the deal in texas's primary. it can put him over the top and assure the party's nomination. romney won't be in texas. he'll be fundraising in las vegas. he'll be with a former rivalries, newt gingrich. romney is not backing away from trump's continued questioning of president obama's birth place. so let's talk about that with cnn political editor paul steinhauser. he is live in washington for us. is trump going to hurt him, do you think? >> you know, trump brings a few pluses. he brings a lot of minuses. you never want to overshadow the top guy. that's kind of what happens with donald trump. he loves the limelight and controversy. that may not always be a good thing for mitt romney when he's getting trump's support. that was back in february. trump thought about running for the white house on the republican side. he endorsed romney back in february in las vegas. they'll both be there later today for that fundraiser for mitt romney. you know, zoraida, we've been talking about this for a couple of days. donald trump, he brought up the question whether the president was born in the united states. it has continued on into this year with some tweets and some comments as well. mitt romney has been asked about this and his campaign has been asked about this. romney reacting on the campaign plane flight out to colorado. take a listen to what he said. >> you know, i don't agree with all the people that support me. i guess they don't agree with everything i believe in. i need to get 50.1% or more. i'm appreciative to have the help of a lot of good people. >> for himself romney says of course i believe that president obama was born in the united states. he says it should not be part of the campaign. the obama campaign is saying, wait a minute, john mccain pushed back, why are you not pushing back? we are talking about that right now. it is a distraction. >> my mom has an expression. she says tell me who you walk with and i will tell you who you are. you never know how people feel like that. let's talk about clinching the gop nomination tonight. i was trying to find the tape when you predicted when this would happen. i think you said june, maybe not. maybe you meant today. >> yeah. >> right before june. >> did i say may 29th? that was it. >> i think you did. >> i can't remember anymore. exactly. the texas primary today. a lot of delegates at stake. over 150. mitt romney at 1066 according to the cnn estimate. he needs 1144. remember that magic number we talked about it so much. he needs 78 delegates. he's expected to pick those up tonight and that would mean he would officially clinch the republican nomination. what does it mean? pretty much nothing right now. remember how much we talked about this. listen, a mere formality. he has been the presumptive favorite since rick santorum dropped out. he's been the nominee for a while. we are in a general election campaign now, zoraida. >> paul steinhauser live for us in washington. thank you. i feel like we've been in that general election campaign for a while. 45 minutes now past 5:00. let's get you up to date on the rest of the top stories. christine romans. >> good morning. thank you, ashleigh. people along the florida and georgia coast cleaning up. up to 10 inches of rain falling across the region. the storm has been downgraded to a tropical depression. it still brings the rain as it heads slowly towards the carolinas. 13 children have been killed in a fire. most of them died at the mall's day care center. witnesses say the fire didn't set off any loud alarms or sprinklers. officials are now investigating there. a wild fire in michigan's upper peninsula has burned more than 22,000 acres, destroyed 97 structures including 34 homes. despite the recent rains the fire is still going strong because of dry conditions in the upper peninsula. high temperatures, winds, lack of roads. thankfully the fire is halfway contained. after a string of worker sooids and reports of sweatshop conditions, apple supplier foxconn is doubling the pay of workers in china. they're reporting that the changes will take place at the end of next year. the people who make your ipads and iphones will now make at the end of next year $650 a month up from $350. soon your facebook photos will tag themselves on your cell phone. facebook could be buying face.com. it's valued at 80 to $100 million. it could help facebook in the mobile market. >> that worries me because auto correct makes enough mistakes to embarrass me. imagine what that recognition technology will tag your picture as. >> who knows what our phone will be able to do in the next three or four years. >> i'm not a fan of that technology. thanks, christine. >> you're welcome. 47 minutes past 5:00. you would have to have a passion for the king of rock and role to own this latest piece of memorabilia. you would have to have a lot, a lot of money. tell you all about that in a moment ♪ i'm all shook up if you are leaving the house right now you can watch us on your desktop. take us with you. go to cnn.com/tv ♪ i can't seem to stand on my own two feet ♪ ♪ who do you think when you have such luck, i'm in love. i'm all shook up ♪ to affect what happens in a major city. if you want to make a difference, you have to have the right education. university of phoenix opened the door. my name is james craig, i am committed to making a difference, and i am a phoenix. visit phoenix.edu to find the program that's right for you. enroll now. there are a lot of warning lights and sounds vying for your attention. so we invented a warning.. you can feel. introducing the all new cadillac xts, available with the patented safety alert seat. when there is danger you might not see, you're warned by a pulse in the seat. it's technology you won't find in a mercedes e-class. the all new cadillac xts has arrived. and it's bringing the future forward. ♪ ♪ ♪ and we dream up ♪ all the best stuff ♪ and we can make it up ♪ cause we were made for each other ♪ ♪ for always ♪ oh oh ♪ for always welcome back. it is 51 minutes past the hour. what's trending on the web. the ultimate piece of elvis memorabilia. the crypt of the king. i am not kidding. it's really for sale. you can lay your head for all eternity in the same place the king of rock and roll did. the bidding starts at 100 g's. they're auctioning off the site where elvis presley was entombed while awaiting burial. he isn't there. don't think for a minute they're going to move him out and move you in. he moved out long ago. >> i hope they're not going to move you in. >> well, it is your choice, right? if you want it. if you're a long hp term planner or short-term planner. by the way, the bidder doesn't just get the crypt, you get the small chapel as well. all you need, are you ready, is money, honey. thank you very much. >> every time i see elvis presley i think of rob blagojevich. >> do you think he's listening in the jail house rock? >> no, i don't. madonna here, the material girl was rehearsing for her upcoming show when she was caught on tape merging her hit "express yourself "with lady gaga's song ♪ >> oh, no. listen to this. many critics on line have accused gaga of totally ripping off madonna. not only with this song, but with her entire act. it is not clear whether the "born this way" mashup will make it into the set for the show, however. >> i would buy the ticket to that concert just to see that. i have to be honest. every time that song comes on and i'm in the car i sing "express yourself" instead of "born this way." >> apparently a lot of people feel this way. >> gaga. so before the ipad, the iphone, the imac there was atari. remember the days? >> i do. >> one of a kind. steve jobs memorabilia is coming up for auction. this handwritten note, take a close look, it's from the late apple co-founder dave. when he was with atari. it's suggesting ways to improve the company's world cup soccer arcade game. he designed the paddles for the game in the early days of atari. he began working at that company when he was just 19 years old after he first dropped out of college. it's tricky to make it out. if you can read it or not, it's going to be expensive. they're expecting it to sell for around $15,000. >> i suspect it will go beyond that. that's cool. >> i expected facebook to do better. >> well. >> who am i? >> auctions, they start and then they blow out. you think, gosh, i can't believe that went for that much money. >> there was "the scream." atari. >> little different. little different. 54 minutes past the hour. we have more evidence today that radiation from japan's fukushima disaster can be traced all the way to the waters off the shores of the united states. details straight ahead. >> and also we've got some breaking news out of italy. several people dead killed in an earthquake. we're pulling information together as soon as we speak. we will get you the latest after this quick break. 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nice huh ooh, yeah book it! oh boy call me... this summer, we're finding you the perfect place - plus giving you up to $100 at hotels.com she ruined memorial day for many and she is not done yet. beryl gaining strength again. the carolinas could be the storm's next target. mitt romney hoping to meet the magic number in texas while he hangs out with donald trump. plus he held police at bay for 15 hours from the top of a crane and this morning the tense standoff in texas is finally over. good morning, everyone. welcome to "early start." 5:58. >> i'm zoraida sambolin. we're bringing you the news from a-z. >> let's bring you breaking news. as i said, i want to take you to rome where we've been given notification that there's been another earthquake in northern italy. this is the same area that was affected last week. we're told now that at least three people have been killed. you'll remember there were also deaths last week in a quake that damaged a number of buildings as well. this one we're told is centered in the province of modana near bologna. this is what we're bringing you, raw video. you can see some of the people who have exited these buildings. police officials on location as well. if you know this area at all, the towns that were closest to this epi center where the damage took place. we also know that some of the w nearest to the center and some of the buildings damaged in last week's earthquake were affected again by what's been happening today. don't have a magnitude for y su because officials are concerned about the damage to tracks there. bologna to milan high speed trains are slowing down. no trains stuck at this point but three aftershocks already have been ordered after this earthquake. rob marciano is standing by in the weather center. weather is one thing he does best and the other thing he does best is issues surrounding earthquakes. >> it's near the area, it's almost as strong as the one that happened last week. it's another shallow earthquake, near parma, about 40 miles to the east of it. it happened about three hours ago and we're starting to get the damage reports and video in. there have been several aftershocks with regard to this one. six miles in depth, it's 40 miles to the northwest of bologna, and 36 miles to the east of parma, 43 miles to the south of verona, italy, a populated area. italy is not like california where if you get a 5.8 or a 6.0 it's going to rock some things and not do much damage. here more damage, schools and homes not built to code like in japan or the west coast. that's why we're seeing unfortunately the fatalities. we'll monitor the situation as we get nmore video and reports and give you an update on beryl in a couple of minutes. >> just to reiterate, three people have been confirmed dead and they're also saying they haven't been able to confirm the total number of dead so this is the breaking situation where they haven't been able to get to all those buildings yet. if you remember when we reported this nine days ago when the last quake struck in this region there were seven people killed in that quake as well so we'll continue to watch, if you would do that for us as well, rob, we'll touch base as we know more details. he needs to stand by because it's been downgraded to a tropical depression butber sill a major rainmaker, remnants of the storm dumps as much as ten inches of rain in northern florida and southeastern georgia, more than a foot in some areas. beryl creating dangerous surf conditions including rip currents as it slowly moves to the carolinas. cnn's george howell is live in taibee, jrnl. >> reporter: you can see the sunlight and it's a little darker, that is moving into savannah area. the concern is flash flooding with the slow-moving storm but again that is what we are expecting today. just a few days ago it was a wind event in this area, strong winds that knocked over trees and power lines. today the concern is flash flooding and also here on the beach people are allowed on the beach but not the water, the concern is the strong rip currents we talked to life guards about yesterday. here's what they had to say. i see the white caps out there. is that safe for a person to get in the water? >> no, it is not. the thing is with closing water completely, you let people go knee deep they'll go waist deep, if you let them go waist deep they'll swim in. >> reporter: what is a rip current in. >> it's a channel of water pulls out to sea, too much water close to the shore, rip current will pull you out to sea, 20 to 150 yards at eight to ten miles an hour. >> reporter: the life guards plan to come together at 9:00 a.m. to make the decision whether the beach will be open and whether people can get back into the ocean. we're expecting this to be a real soaker, a lot of rain in this area, a slow moving system and there is a real concern today for flooding. >> george howell, thank you so much, reporting live. let's go over to rob marciano, tracking the storm for us as well. >> absolutely, and like george mentioned, the rains will be moving into the area. the eastern half of the system is still holding up together very, very well especially in the form of rainfall. it's still a tropical depression, winds of 35 miles an hour, drifting to the north. the center of it is just to the east of tallahassee and up towards valdostvaldosta, georgi spreading east and north to savannah, they're about to get hit with heavy rain. the area could use rain although the bulk of the severe drought is to the north and west. we saw a tremendous amount yesterday, not a lot of devastating flooding even though they got six plus inches of rain in some spots because the ground is so dry and the rivers have been so low. they had spotty flooding and isolated counties that have flash flooding happening this morning with the rain that continues to fall. it's taken time for the soil to get a little more moist. with the track in the system it will be beyond the move in the northeast toward the next day and a half, spreading the rainfall through savannah, charleston, myrtle beach, wilmington, to the outer banks and delmarva, we have flash flood watches posted for the coastal counties, three six inches of rainfall as it slowly moves off to the east. you may remember last year's hurricane season, irene and lee was a tropical storm causing devastating flooding. we're not looking at devastating flooding but enough to cause issues to fill up the reservoirs. it will gain strength as it comes off of the outer banks. it will get kicked out by this front which will bring a threat for severe weather through the plains and the northeast dealing with the hot, steamy air. >> talk about the water and why there is a shark concern. >> brevard county actually closed the beaches not only because of rip currents yesterday but because with the big surf and the waves from the storm, actually pushing bait fish for sharks closer to shore so they had a rash of shark sightings and they got nervous, surfers were reporting bumping into sharks as they were surfing in so brevard county beaches were shut down with the sharks they think pulled closer to shore with the storm. just one more danger with tropical systems. >> are you a surfer, rob? >> i have done it but it's not pretty. especially with sharks around. >> but you're not one of those guys who chases these storms because the waves are good like our producer, steven? >> no, i would drown for sure. >> a note to our producer there, there are shark concerns as well as rip currents. keep an eye on that and we'll touch base with you later. >> sounds good. a 15-hour police standoff has come to an end after the suspect that was keeping them at bay fell 150 feet from a construction crane and died. robbery suspect climbed the crane on the campus of smu, southern methodist university in dallas, texas. he refused to leave the crane's cab. local cnn affiliates say the suspect eventually got sick because the crane is not air conditioned. police say he was hanging to the side of the crane when he finally fell off. university officials say the campus will be over today. radioactive tuna found in u.s. waters. small amount of cesium from the fukushima nuclear disaster have been deteblgted in 15 bluefin tuna caught last august off the coast 6,000 miles from japan. the bluefin tuna were born about a year ago and migrate off the pacific. the cesium is not dangerous for human consumption. we'll talk to one of the researchers who tested the fish. voters in the lone star state expected to help mitt romney cross the finish line and clinch that gop nomination that he's been chasing for months. it's primary day today in texas and there are 155 delegates at stake. here is the math. romney's already won 1,066 d delegates but needs another 78 to get the magic number of 1,144 to ensure the republican nomination for president. people will receive the presidential medal of freedom, president obama presenting the highest civilian honor to 13 people today, including the first woman to serve as secretary of state, madelyn al light and former center john glenn, the first american in space, toni morrison, novelist, and bob dylan, the poet of our times just finished his 35th album. it's nine minutes past 6:00 on the east coast. we're keeping an eye on northern italy where a deadly quake claimed three people's lives. don't forget the buildings have already been shaken by another deadly quake. we're going to go live to rome in just a moment. i want healthy skin for life. 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>> reporter: we have unconfirmed deaths at ten right now. this measured 5.9 earthquake happened about 9:00 in the morning local time in italy, people were going to work, at work, factories collapsed, causing most of the victims at this point. you have people still living in tent camps after the may 20th earthquake. there's a sense of panic and fear in this area as people were just thinking about going back to a normal life so you've got sort of this double whammy here, and the people are really afraid, and they've had about 40 aftershocks in the last two hours since this big earthquake took place. the epicenter is different from the one that's happened on may 20 so it's going to be obviously some investigation into what's happening, a new fault line, what the geologists are looking at now, supposed to have caused a new fracture, this is a new seismic area is basically what they're talking about right now. >> so the death toll you said stands at ten right now and potentially rising? >> reporter: that's right. there are unconfirmed reports on the italian wire services that there are ten victims, and a number of people who are still missing, and these are mostly people who were working in the factories. this is the industrial heartland of italy. this is where many of the luxury car parts are made, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, a lot of the products come from here, ceramic tile. people were in the factories working and many factories that didn't collapse last week were heavily damaged so they were vulnerable to collapse. people in one of the buildings that collapsed this morning, they were under construction basically trying to pull it up after last week's damage. because it happened at 9:00 in the morning you had people at work, people not in their beds. the first earthquake happened at 4:00 a.m. so there were more people in their homes in that instance, an entirely different dynamic. >> barbie nadeau reporting live from italy, thank you very much for that. we'll follow this story and the latest developments for you. in the meantime over to ashleigh. he was the first boy to ever appear on a milk carton as a missing child and now new york city police are combing trash records or at least hoping to, to perhaps try to solve a 19 the disappearance and crime of the murder of etan patz. pedro hernandez last week saying he choked the 6-year-old and threw his body away in a trash bag. could trash logs actually help police determine whether to search new york city landfills in order to try to find the boy's remains, this long after the fact? joining me is retired nassau county police officer lou palumbo. lou when i first heard this story the first thing that came to mind was, there are so many different landfills and so much trash in the last 33 years, is this at all possible? >> i think it's highly problematic but i want to say this first. the sanitation department has predetermined locations after they do pickups so there is a way for them to account for where they may have discarded trash, picked up in a certain zone in new york city. we're talking about hundreds of millions of tons of garbage over a 33-year period and the hope that the sanitation department will give them a focal point they can randomly pick through the garbage because technology is not going to support them on this. >> just for an example, the three major landfills in new york, fresh kills, fountain avenue and ganzabor, this is fresh kills, if you need to know the size, let's see row in on the next picture which should give scope what the project would be like. the little white dots i hope you can make it out, if you can't, see if we can zero in, teenie, white dots, those are cars and although it's a little hard to determine scope and depth, the mounds are about 90 to 220 feet high so we're not just talking about flat space, we're talking about enormous amounts of surface area to get there. in the five burroughs every day today in new york city we produce 12,000 tons of trash, multiply that by 365 days, multiply that by 33 years. records or not, could they actually get to a point where they could put a grid over top of these particular areas and do, i think we have one handy, could they do a grid search and search a grid and check them off and say we've thoroughly gotten through all of the trashes? >> here is the operative word you used called thoroughly and in my opinion i don't think they thoroughly can because of the volume of garbage. there's one thing i want to say people are not mindful of. this could turn to a case that happened at the beach, we went looking for one prostitute and found ten. we're going in looking for etan patz and i have a really strange suspicion that other bodies have been discarded in this landfill the same way they were at the beach. we'll find bodies we're not looking for here so it could be problematic in that capacity but i think overall this makes looking for a needle in a hay stack like an easy undertaking. >> that's the notion i had, a needle in a hay stack. we're talking about a 6-year-old boy if this allegation of this confession is true this child was put in a garbage bag, put inside a box and may have been hauled away by a private contractors. do we know where the private contractors would have taken trash? are there any records? >> they all have records. in other words i don't think they randomly pick up garbage in the city or any community and arbitrarily dump it. there has to be a plan of distribution of the garbage in a sense so i'm confident there are records that exist. i don't know if they go back 33 years, if there's been a need by anybody who is a contractor of the city sanitation to maintain these records but they do know where they're dumping things. the problem is not just the volume of garbage but the decomposed state of the body. i don't think with the most highly trained and sophisticated cadaver dogs are they going to reap any fruition and look at the amount of resources we're pouring into this thing and start the question why. >> when they closed this thing in 2001, they actually capped two of the major four mounds with something that's thick and impermeable so there's a whole other issue there as well just trying to get through there to find that child. they've done cases before without a body so maybe that's not the most necessary part of this crime. lou, thank you so much. >> my pleasure. >> zoraida? >> thank you very much. we've seen the signs. could the housing market finally be turning the corner? we get the latest number today. christine romans with the most affordable place to buy a house right now, that's coming up. urs, it's like, ah, it's part of me. it's me again. now that i'm retiring they all have plans for me. i'm excited. a living, breathing intelligence helping business, do more business. in here, opportunities are created and protected. gonna need more wool! demand is instantly recognized and securely acted on across the company. around the world. turning a new trend, into a global phenomenon. it's the at&t network -- securing a world of new opportunities. ♪ we are minding your business this morning. the most affordable places to buy a home in the united states. >> yes. >> christine romans here with the latest. >> good morning. we've been talking about the housing market and home affordability, the best in some 40 years, you have home prices up 10% in april and home sales up as well and realtors saying with the spring selling season doing better, they've been saying this for five years but this time they're actually right and so i want to look at a cnn money gallery out this morning about the most affordable places to buy a home in the country, based on median income, home prices and mortgage rates in the ten cities. indianapolis, health care, pharmaceutical, retail industries doing better, home prices are down a lot, dayton, ohio is number two. lakeland, florida, on interstate highway between tampa and orlando, a lot of people passing through but if you decide to stay, home affordability is good. modesto, california, the poster child for ground zero, using two different metaphors of the housing bubble in california. you need a working member of the family, you could do very well in home prices but they're 17% unemployment. that's why it's more affordable. grand rapids is number five. also buffalo, original den, utah, syracuse, new york, akron, ohio, and cincinnati, these are rounding out the top ten. i'll tweet this and put it on my facebook page. thes most important thing is a job and you can't afford a house if you have a job. the one thing i've been saying about the housing recovery, this mending in the housing market we've been seeing all depends on the job market doing better and consistently doing better. you've heard me say people are starting to move again for retirement, to move for a new job, go to a different part of the country for whatever reason people are moving again and that's really, really important. we need the jobs market to really get healthy so we can sustain it. >> christine romans, thank you. >> you're welcome. 26 minutes past the hour. radioactive tuna caught off the u.s. coast after a 6,000-mile migration from japan. the big question, is it safe to eat? we'll ask the man who made the discovery, coming up next. 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[ male announcer ] michelin knows it's better for xerox to help manage their finance processing. so they can focus on keeping the world moving. with xerox, you're ready for real business. mine was earned off vietnam in 1968. over the south pacific in 1943. i got mine in iraq, 2003. usaa auto insurance is often handed down from generation to generation. because it offers a superior level of protection, and because usaa's commitment to serve the military, veterans and their families is without equal. begin your legacy, get an auto insurance quote. usaa. we know what it means to serve. breaking news a deadly earthquake strikes italy again. it is the latest in two series of earthquakes. we have details ahead. danger rains from the sky. debris thought to be from a passenger jet falls onto parked cars in front of stunned witnesses. plus more evidence that radiation from japan's fukushima disaster could be traced all the way to the waters off the shores of the united states. welcome back to "early start," everyone. nice to have you with us. i'm ashleigh banfield. >> and i'm zoraida sambolin. it's 31 minutes past the hour. >> breaking news in italy, the town of miran dola, epicenter of a second deadly quake to hit the region in nine days. this morning's quake claiming the lives of eight people but officials say that number is expected to grow higher as they continue to search out the buildings. the pictures on the screen are fresh in to cnn this morning. number of stunned onlookers wondering how this could happen in a week. the one nine days ago claiming the lives of seven people. if you know this area in the province of modena near bologna. mirandola and caveza were the closest to the quake. trains have been suspended in a number of areas and the high speed trains between bologna, milan and florence have slowed down because of concern of what might be damage on the tracks. there have been three aftershocks so far that we can account for since the quake happened this morning. it is the heart of the country's manufacturing industry so we'll continue to batch this and find out any further details and bring them to you right away. scientists are reporting nuclear radiation in bluefin tuna off the coast of california, only low levels but also say it's definitely the result of japan's tsunami damaged fukushima power plant. professor nicholas fisher is one of the researchers who reported the findings, a professor at the school of marine and atmospheric sciences at stonybrook university, joins us this morning. thank you, we appreciate your time. >> good to be here. >> i told you that i was doing a lot of studying up on this because it fascinates me the level that you found. >> yes. >> you are saying it is ten times higher than the amount measured in tuna off the california coast in previous years. >> yes. >> this is called cesium. >> yes. >> what is it, and is it dangerous? >> well at high concentrations it can be dangerous like almost any other substance. we found two radio isotopes of cesium, cesium 134 and cesium 137. these are radioactive waste products from the nuclear fuel cycle. they were released into the pacific ocean from the fukushima nuclear reactor in japan, and it appears they were accumulated by diverse marine organisms, including bluefin tuna, which spawn in waters in the western pacific including around japan and they actually swim all the way across the pacific ocean, they make it to waters off california and mexico. we caught 15 bluefin tuna off san diego in august 2011, and dissected them and analyzed their muscle ticle tissue for radioactive cesium knowing the isotopes were released from fukushima and we were quite surprised to find the bluefine carried both radio isotopes, cesium 134 and cesium 137, to waters off california. >> surprised, but are you concerned? >> from a public health perspective, not particularly. i say that because at least for these particular fish that we analyzed, the radioactivity was only about 3% above the natural radiation background. lot of people are not aware that the oceans have always been radioactive with naturally occurring radio nucleides, most prominent potassium 40, been on the earth way before people set foot on the planet. >> you hear ten times the amount that was in the fish prior to this, then it's cause for concern and here is another thing i read that concerned me, pacific bluefin tuna can be ten feet and weigh more than 1,000 pounds. what surprised scientists, bigger fish can metabolize and shed radioactive substances quicker, yet this one did not. i wonder if there are smaller fish trailing that migratory pattern, are we concerned about that? >> i don't think the small fish travel all the way across the pacific ocean. the bluefin are remarkable tuna and they swim basically the entire width of the pacific. yes, there's ten times higher levels than prior to the accident, but let's put that into perspective with regard to the natural radiation background. i mention that because it's only the two radioactive cesium isotopes were only 3% of the natural radiation background so we're only increasing the radioactivity by 3% above the background level, at least in the tuna caught off san diego. but when they left japan we calculate that they had maybe 50% or 45% to 50% of the natural radiation background, still low, still below safety levels but nevertheless higher when they were in waters off japan. >> i know this fish is expensive, very popular for a lot of people. i hear it's yummy as well. the bottom line is would you eat it and would you recommend that americans eat this fish? >> well, i would -- i personally would not hesitate to eat the tuna that were caught off california, but i don't make recommendations for other people. lot of people are very anxious about radioactivity. >> understandably so. >> understandably, absolutely, but it's important to recognize that a lot of the foods we eat are radioactive. >> i think that's a valid point, professor, thank you for joining thus morning, clearing up a little bit of this. professor nicholas fisher at the school of marine and atmospheric sciences at stony brook university. >> my pleasure. it's 37 minutes past 6:00. have you ever seen senator john mccain when he comes face-to-face with a heckler in the crowd? oh, yeah, see how he takes care of one with just a single word, that's coming up. first we want to check your travel weather with our weather specialist, that's a new title. >> i like it. couple of areas of concern by tropical storm beryl, which is actually a tropical depression, from savannah to orlando, gainesville and tampa, where you'll see rainfall today, some heavy at times and might see minor flooding. severe weather potentially across ohio and through indiana, and back through upstate new york, this is going to be the problem spot later on, strong front pushing against some steamy air which you've been enduring the past couple of days. and cooler and dryer air behind it, 84 degrees, less humid in chicago. you're up to date weather wise. 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[ male announcer ] glucerna hunger smart. a smart way to help manage hunger and diabetes. ♪ ♪ ♪ and we dream up ♪ all the best stuff ♪ and we can make it up ♪ cause we were made for each other ♪ ♪ for always ♪ oh oh ♪ for always [ male announcer ] we began with the rx. ♪ 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. this is the next chapter for lexus. this is the pursuit of perfection. so why exactly should that be of any interest to you? well, in that time there've been some good days. and some difficult ones. but, through it all, we've persevered, supporting some of the biggest ideas in modern history. like the transatlantic cable that connected continents. and the panama canal that made our world a smaller place. we supported the marshall plan that helped europe regain its strength. and pioneered the atm, so you can get cash when you want it. it's been our privilege to back ideas like these, and the leaders behind them. so why should our anniversary matter to you? because for 200 years, we've been helping people and their ideas move from ambition to achievement. and the next great idea could be yours. ♪ 41 minutes past the hour. let's get you up to date with the top stories of the day. christine romans has been working that for us. >> good morning, it's been downgraded to a tropical depression butber sill a super soaker expected to bring more rain to parts of georgia along with dangerous surf conditions after swamping the florida/georgia border with up to ten inches of rain. just in to cnn police in italy arrested a sergeant in the u.s. military on pedophilia charges. the sergeant is from a u.s. military base in camp darby near the tuscan city of pisa. a wildfire in the upper michigan peninsula has burned more than 22,000 acres, destroyed 94 structures including 4 homes. despite recent rain the fire is going strong because of dry conditions, high temperature, wind, a lack of roads up there. thankfully the fire is about half way contained. debris apparently from an air canada jet falling from the sky in toronto when one of the engines fails after takeoff. small pieces of the boeing 777 struck cars on the ground. witnesses were stunned and luckily no people were injured. the air canada jet bound for tokyo made an emergency landing back at the toronto airport. the airline is investigating the incident. senator john mccain was not having it on memorial day, fired back at a heckler at a speech alongside mitt romney in san diego yesterday. look. >> a relative of -- >> what about the "uss liberty" -- >> settle down! [ booing ]. >> jerk. >> mccain was speaking to an audience of about 5,000 veterans. mitt romney seemed to get a little chuckle out of that as well. usually you hear someone say this is what we fight for the first amendment but there you go. >> i hope it wasn't a veteran who he was calling. >> i'm not sure who the person was but clearly it was one voice in a sea of 5,000 people who were booing him for his heckling. >> indeed. 43 minutes past the hour. soledad o'brien joins with us a look at what is ahead on "starting point." >> so much ahead. we'll take a closer look at this plot to assassinate american diplomats, is being linked by some to iran, this morning the questions are who ordered the hits and exactly what actions to take in the wake of finding this information. also governor mitt romney set to officially clinch the republican nomination today, his campaign is gearing up with a showdown with president obama, the press secretary will join us to preview the fall strategy, talking jobs, jocks, jobs, jobs, jobs. trying to track the curse, the five guys and their goat, the goat's name is wrigley, they've walked 1,300 miles from arizona to chicago, trying to lift the nearly 70-year-old world series curse that was put on the chicago cubs. we'll see if they are able to make it successful. this is not the first attempt but -- >> are we staring at the goat? >> not funny, kind of. at "starting point" we start at the top of the hour. i got you, girl. i've been crisscrossing the gulf for the past two years now. i can tell you, down here, people measure commitment by what's getting done. i'm mike utsler, and it's my job to make sure we keep making progress in the gulf. the twenty billion dollars bp committed has helped fund economic and environmental recovery. another fourteen billion dollars has been spent on response and cleanup. long-term, bp's made a five hundred million dollar commitment to the gulf of mexico research initiative... to support ten years of independent scientific research on the environment. results will continue to be shared with the public. and we're making sure people know that the gulf is open for business - the beaches are beautiful, the seafood is delicious. last year, many areas even reported record tourism seasons. the progress continues, but that doesn't mean our job is done. bp's still here, and we're still committed to seeing this through. welcome back to "early start." it's 48 minutes past the hour. mitt romney says he's looking forward to clinching the gop nomination in tonight's texas he won't be present to enjoy the big win. he's hitting two battleground states instead, colorado and nevada. the highlight, a las vegas fund-raiser with newt gingrich and donald trump, who may be testing his spot in the romney campaign by keeping that obama birther question alive. of course the birther question being the veracity of the president of the united states' birth certificate. cnn's political editor paul steinhauser live in washington he's also questioning whether the world is round as well, breaking news. >> that's breaking news as well. >> the reason i jest is because most people, including mitt romney, have decided that this is foolish. >> yeah, and this is the trouble for mitt romney and his presidential bid, what are we talking about right now, ashleigh, not talking about trump officially clinching, not even talking about trump's stance on the issues, his theme that the president is bad for -- romney is saying the president is bad for the economy, he's bad and hurting job creators. what we are talking about is donald trump and his continued bringing up the the birther issue. he brought it up last year flirting with his own bid for the presidential nomination on the republican side, then could you see from the video here, back in february, trump officially endorsed romney. now he continues to talk about the birther issue and mitt romney's asked about this. here's what he said about the campaign plane last night. take a listen, ashleigh. >> you know, i don't agree with all the people who support me. i guess they don't agree with everything i believe in but i need to get 50.1% or more and i'm appreciative to have the help of a lot of good people. >> while he in the past has said yes, i believe that the president was born in the united states and this should not be a campaign issue he did not say it in the plane ride and i'm sure he'll be asked about it again. this is a distraction. you never as a surrogate want to overshadow the top guy. donald trump invites controversy. >> it's been met with something. the obama campaign is answering to this. >> they put out a new video in the last half hour and it looks back to 2008, when john mccain was the republican nominee and says listen, he pushed back against this stuff, how come president obama isn't? take a listen. >> i have read about him. he's an arab. >> nom, nom, he's a decent family man citizen that i just happen to have disagreements with. >> why doesn't he show his birth certificate? he doesn't have a birth certificate. he may have one but there's something on that birth certificate, maybe religion, maybe it says he's a muslim. >> the obama campaign capitalizing on this birther controversy, ashleigh, until romney says something clear again that the president has been born in the united states, as he has in the past. this is going to continue for a little bit. >> maybe donald trump will take a big trip somewhere to see if he falls off the edge of the earth. met with dead silence. >> i'm going to leave it at that. >> thank you very much, paul steinhauser. here's something every globe hopper wants to know, what is the best way to protect your wallet when traveling? it may to be think like a thief. bob arneault, inside the mind of a pick pocket in today's "road warriors." >> pick-pocketing is about distraction. >> you took my purse. >> most people if they pay attention aren't going to be a victim. the way this was done is that i came, i spoke to you for ten seconds, i put my finger here, lift it up, hid it behind and walk away. reduce the options for the thief. carry your money in your tightest pocket. people are saying if you put it in your hip pocket they can steal it. the opposite is true. in the front pocket it's extremely quick, a brash grabbing it and move away. the hip pocket at least has a button. lay it down sideways, it will watch on the corner. you can't get it out. you can also go out and buy on the internet all kinds of little travel pouches of different sizes, shove them down simply like this. of course there's a look and through the loop goes your belt. simply apply common sense when you get squeezed and pushed and shoved, and if someone starts to talk to you, just say to yourself, is this the beginning of a con or a scam. >> great information. coming up after the break, we'll go live to rob marciano with updated information on the breaking news out of northern italy, where yet another earthquake has claimed lives. more in a moment. 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[ 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. but what about your wrinkles? neutrogena® rapid wrinkle repair. its retinol formula visibly reduces wrinkles in one week. why wait if you don't have to. neutrogena®. we want to get you live to rob marciano who is tracking the recent earthquake. >> people felt this as far south as san marino, and well over the switzerland border. the strongest shaking in the yellow area, about 60,000 people in the area that really likely saw some damage. by the way, the quake that happened just over a week ago in campo santo, about four miles from the epicenter which happened about four and a half, five hours, 5.8. this is technically an aftershock but nearly as strong as the quake this rocked this part of italy just over a week ago. we've also already had at least two aftershocks in regards to this one of about 4.7, so very tumultuous area and the damage continues to come in with at least eight fatalities at the moment. we'll update the story throughout the morning. "starting point" is less than a minute away. we wrap up as always with best advice. here's christine with that. >> this one is from our very good friend and guiding light of politics at cnn, wolf blitzer, listen. >> i got a lot of great advice from my father but among other things he always used to say you know what? you may be smart but remember two heads are better than one. listen to what other folks are saying they may be a little bit smarter than you. >> that's good advice talking about politics and journalism, two heads are better than one. >> i personally think three heads are better than one in the morning. thank you so much for being with us. that's "early start" "the news from a to z." i'm ashleigh banfield. >> and ai'm zoraida sambolin. "starting point" starts right now. welcome, everybody, the super soaker, trees are down, power is out, high waves, torrential rain. ber sill not finished yet. a plot to assassinate american diplomats and families, some are linking it to iran, is it a plot in iran? cracking the curse, we'll meet five guys and this air goat who walked more than 1,000 miles in the hopes of sending the last placed cubs back to the world series. it's tuesday, may 29th and "starting point" begins right now.