peppers, "californication" i love that. i like it, i like it. joining us is will cain, mark lamont hill, professor at columbia university and john fugelsang, political comedian. i love watching the shuttle take off going into retirement after 39 different flights. >> even when it's taking off on top of a jumbo jet? >> yes, will cain. >> it's amazing, look at how huge that is. >> i watched it many times from my parents' yard in florida. >> 39 times, more than any other shuttle. it's a piece of history. they'll take the enterprise, which is at the smithsonian now, and was a test model in the 1970s and bring that enterprise to new york, the intrepid museum right near where i live and they'll swap and the "discovery" will go into the smithsonian so it's a win/win. >> both enjoy their retirement and hear my jimmy buffett song. >> papers filed and waiting to hear if the judge in the trayvon martin will remove herself from the case. george zimmerman's defense saying judge jessica rickseidler has a conflict of interest because her husband is a partner with mark nejame. mark o'mara represents zimmerman. mark nejame, thanks for being with us. >> good morning, everybody. >> are you surprised at the request to have the judge removed from the case? >> no, actually i would expect it. i think it's appropriate. lawyer has to do what a lawyer has to do in the best interests of the client and the biggest issue is not whether she has a conflict of interest but whether there's an appearance that she may. so the public is safeguarded and they look at the legal system in the best possible light which is a challenge and these are the reasons these are done to make it so the system maintains integrity. >> were you surprised she waited to be asked versus immediately when it was clear that you're a partner with her husband which a lot of people thinkment hmm, this is going to be a problem, she didn't offer? >> i don't think it's going to be an issue. she could have done it one of two ways and i think a lot of people would suggest she did it the right way, she waited for the lawyers who are really the parties in the action to file the appropriate paperwork so that the record would be clear and she would be doing the right thing based on the motions filed. so either way it could have been done but i think this is rather routine taken will happen very fast. she routinely recuses herself from any cases we're involved with. this is a twist. i'm in this position as a cnn legal analyst and her husband happens to run the personal injury division of our law firm so it's not the normal swigs. i don't think she did anything out of the ordinary for this extraordinary situation. >> mark, will cain. i don't understand, how is it your firm's relationship to the run judge and your relationship with cnn creates a conflict. can you explain how that works? >> it's an appearance of a conflict or appearance of impropriety. you read the blogs and many people have a conspiracy theory but could i be speaking to my partner to get word to her about the way she's acting on the bench if she was presiding over a case, could she be talking to him at home and him say something to me and that would affect what i would say which would affect the case or the impression. those are the types of things that wouldn't happen, didn't happen but some suggest could happen so to avoid all that, to avoid the suggestion that anybody's acting with prejudice or bias you avoid the impropriety or appearance of, by leaving and allowing a fresh start to occur. >> let's talk about the other judges, the honorable john galluzzo, the honorable kenneth lester and the honorable debra steinberg nelson. can you tell me about the judges? >> every one of them has a lot of experience. they've been around, i don't know of any significant controversies surrounding any of them. i think that a fair trial will, with mr. zimmerman with any of the judges i don't think anybody has a negative thing to say. they're all going to be under the public eye. i'm not sure any of them have had a case of massive publicity the way this has but they're mature on the bench and they'll act appropriately and do the case proud as it relates to rulings. >> mark nejame, we appreciate your time this morning. >> my pleasure. thank you all. good morning. >> a thousand more times as this case is followed. zoraida sambolin has a look at the headlines. >> breaking news, five more victims who died in the wreck annual of the "costa concordia" cruise ship have been identified. the bodies were found last month. they include two germans, an italian and the two americans who have been identified as barbara and gerald heil of minnesota. 30 people died in the disaster and two others remain missing. the prostitution scandal shaking up the secret service is wid widening. 11 members of the agency have had their security clearance yanked for allegedly bringing prostitutes back to their hotel rooms in colombia two days before the president arrived for a summit there. the chairman of the house committee telling cnn's wolf blitzer this is the worst possible transgression. >> no matter what the ultimate penalty is, this is a serious, serious violation of everything the secret service stands for. what these 11 agents did put the potentially puts any president at risk or themselves at risk, leaves themselves open to blackmail and to threats. obviously finding out who those 11 women are and exactly what their backgrounds are, what their connections and associations are is vital to the investigation. >> ten members of the u.s. military are also being investigated for possible involvement in the prostitution scandal. in an attempt to hike taxes on the richest americans not going anywhere in the senate. senate republicans voted down a plan to move ahead on a so-called buffett rule which would require millionaires to pay a minimum 30% tax. the president responding to the vote blaming republicans for $choosing once again to protect tax breaks for the wealthiest few americans at the expense of the middle class." the gop argued it would hurt small businesses and wouldn't make a dent in the deficit. the treasury says it would only hit 1% of them. new poll shows an overwhelming amount of americans support the buffett rule, 72% in favor of the tax hike, only 27% oppose it. minding your business on wall street, stocks are set for modestly higher open, dow, nasdaq, s&p 500 futures up about half a percent which follows a rally overseas. investors are pleased to see the report on confidence came in higher than expected, noteworthy because it comes against the backdrop of the continuing debt crisis in europe. earnings from goldman sachs, coke coloo and john john&johnson are due out before the bell. a mega mystery solved, we're finally going to find out which lucky person owns that final winning ticket in the $656 million mega millions jackpot. the winner will be revealed at a ceremony today in red bud, illinois. ever heard of it? that's where the ticket was purchased. the lucky person is accepting a $218.66 million check. illinois requires its winners to go public. the others are none muss. >> i feel badly for that person imagine if you really don't want people to know you won millions. >> i was wondering why you feel badly for that person. >> not for the money, really happy for that person for the money but they'll lose their privacy. >> would you sell your privacy for $250 million? >> in a hot second. i sell my privacy every day on the show. exactly. the space shuttle "discovery" now in its final voyage to a retirement home, aka, a museum in washington, d.c. just moments ago the shuttle took off on the back of a 747 jumbo jet making the trip from florida up the eastern seaboard to be on permanent display at the smithsonian air and space museum in washington, d.c. john zarrella joins us live watching us from kennedy space center. good morning, john. >> hey, soledad. just absolutely spectacular, "discovery" headed down the beach now, we're expecting it to turn around and come back over us one more time here at the kennedy space center and make it up to washington, d.c. flying over several landmarks before landing at dulles. "discovery" the oldest of the three remaining orbiters, threw 39 missions, 148 plus million miles and it's tough here because so many people have lost their jobs with the end of the space shuttle program, so many people wished the shuttles were still flying and so many think they could still have been flying if not for politics, they basically decided nasa was going to go in a new direction and they were going to retire the shuttle fleet and go back to expendable rockets and capsules. lot of things changing here in florida, and not the least of which is the retirement of these magnificent wing flying vehicles that in our life times we will likely never see again anything like this. soledad? >> that's such a beautiful shot as people watching as the sun is rising and seeing that takeoff. john zarrella thanks for updating us. ahead on "starting point" another day, another hearing on the gsa, today the whistle-blower who blew the lid off the $800,000 conference scandal. we'll talk to the republican chair what they expect the whistle-blower to say. maybe it is a metaphor, she this, shattered, oops. crystal, not handled carefully, awkward as my daughter would say. check out our live blog at our website cnn.com/startingpoint. john zarrella has a playlist, listens to ozzy osbourne, who knew? "mama i'm coming home." is ♪ i could listen to lauryn hill all morning, that's off of john's list. for the first time since the gsa spending scandal broke, how long have we been talking about the gd sarks? >> two weeks? >> two and a half i think. the woman who blew the whistle on the lavish conference which cost taxpayers more than $800,000, in a few hours the house transportation and infrastructure committee will be holding the second of four congressional hearings looking into the matter. on monday the house oversight committee held its hearing on the matter, one of the tough es was between jason chaffetz. >> why were you giving out bonuses when the president said there was a pay freeze. >> i don't think the pay freeze affected the bonuses. >> would the gentleman yield for one question? >> as long as it doesn't take my time. >> the gentlelady seemed to say entitled. i thought it was there were possibly going to be granted. entitlement seems to be something the gentleman may want to follow up on. >> there are a lot of good federal employees that are frugal with their money but when you see this widespread abuse of money and you as the former administrator say well they were entitled to it, that's where there's frustration steaming out of our ears. it is totally unacceptable and for the president of the united states to look at the american people in the eye and say we got a pay freeze in place while you're getting bonuses and going on trips is totally unacceptable. >> joining us this morning the man who will chair today's hearing, republican representative john micah, republican of florida, head of the transportation and inf infrastructure committee. thanks for talking with us. why four committee hearings? why do we need four? >> well they have different jurisdictions. i serve on the house oversight committee and that committee has very broad jurisdiction. they went in to some of the questions about what the white house knew, when they knew it and did nothing about it. our committee is a little bit different. we do have public buildings. we oversee gsa in a legislative authorization manner so we're more responsible for a lot of the operations and legislation for gsa and i think what we're seeing here, too, is just the tip of the iceberg of an agency that's out of control. >> and maybe an agency that had been out of control for quite a while if you believe ms. johnson, doing her testimony yesterday, susan brita will be testifying today, the whistle-blower and it was interesting to hear her role in the hearings yesterday. what do you expect to hear in your testimony? >> first of all, she worked for our committee, and she's an outstanding public servant. as soon as she heard about this, she blew the whistle and rightfully so while others tried to cover up the outrageous expenditure of taxpayer monies. really, this is just the tip of the iceberg because this agency is losing billions of dollars sitting on incredible public assets. we did a report that was entitled "the federal government must stop sitting on its assets" and highlighted gsa, that's online. people can look at it. this is more than two years ago when we held our first hearing just a couple blocks from the white house in a property vacant for 15 years, we dragged the bureaucrats in there in 38 degree weather. some of the people will be on the panel today, we've been after them and they've stonewalled us so now we're going to get answers. >> you mentioned coverup and i didn't really get a sense of that in the testimony yesterday. who do you think was responsible for the coverup? >> we'll look at the sequence of when things happened. looks like susan brita did go. as soon as she heard about it, she went to the inspector general and proper authorities. people from the white house knew about it, did nothing, kept it quiet until just a few days ago when a statement was released by the president condemning the act but we think that again they've held this information, we've been asking for information on their -- >> forgive me sir, i just want to understand, are you alleging a white house coverup in this? >> again we want to find out exactly the sequence of who knew what and when, and who went forward. it also appears the bureaucrats within gsa tried to deep as quiet and sweep it under the rug as much as possible. >> who specifically? reading that testimony yesterday i didn't see that. who specifically at the white house would you say had a coverup and who specifically would the bureaucrats try to sweep it under the rug when you read miss johnson's testimony sounds like she was slow and wanted to wait for a full report. >> we have hundreds of pages of testimony and some of that will come out in today's hearing, and in fact, people did let the white house know, and the white house did not choose to intervene or to take action early on. nothing happened until just a few days ago and thank goodness for people like susan brita and also for the inspector general, who got, who blew the whistle and got the information and made it public, but again this is small dollar amounts, when they're wasting billions of dollars, we have 14,000 buildings and properties they oversee that are partially vacant or vacant sitting around for years wasting taxpayer dollars so this is an agency in need of some serious reform. >> it was fascinating to watch yesterday and very rarely do i tell people to look up a transcript but it's really an interesting read so i would recommend that, and also obviously to watch what you're hearing in the transportation and infrastructure committee is going to be doing today, congressman john mica joining us, republican of florida. thank you for your time. >> thank you, good to be with you. bye now. still ahead and joining us the man who led the panel in grilling gsa official democratic official elijah cummings, the ranking member oversight committee chairman, he was on fire, some of the details are fascinating, we've been following the story for a while. interesting to continue. still ahead our "get real" this beautiful crystal trophy cost $30,000. it's a trophy for college football's national championship. someone dropped it. wait until i tell you how, so sad. also doctors are blaming facetime and skype for an explosion of one kind of plastic surgery. is it because you look so bad in skype you need to get work done to look good? here's mark's playlist. >> that's music right there. ♪ green grocery. there's a little green for your grocery. thank you. absolutely. and as part of my saving stimulus package from progressive -- this can go in my wallet. that can go in your wallet. 30 bucks. whoo! ♪ all right, that's rolling stones "shattered." >> your audience is in tatters. >> it is. >> if i were taking bets it would have gone john, will, and then it's close between you two. >> listen, that's my song and i have to say it's kind of my husband's song, we got married, it was my collection and his musical collection which was the rolling stones and grateful dead but 17 years later we're working it out. most embarrassing thing -- >> anything you want to talk about -- >> just musically. worst thing you've ever done in front of a large group of people that would make it to the news? anybody, most embarrassing thing. i'll share a horribly embarrassing thing. >> i offered a hot gay sex show to -- >> how was the next? >> hey, hey, hey, my children watching the show, they haven't gone to school yet. anybody else want to jump in? >> i can't think of anything. tell us yours. i'll be thinking. >> you cannot beat this. alabama, football player's father accidentally tripped and knocked over the $30,000 trophy from the display, smashing it. now the zafrt is working to get it replaced the bcs trophy is hand made, sculpted in ireland, made of waterford krisial. >> not easy to fix? >> after trying to glue gun it together the crystal doesn't work like that. not the first time the covet the trophy is destroyed. the captain of the spokane chiefs. >> that was great. >> sad. broke the memorial club after winning the hockey club tournament and last year they're holding the trophy, watch clo closely. re reale madrid dropping the trophy and it was run over by the bus. >> $30,000, much less expensive. a british lawmaker accused of putting a bounty on president obama's head doesn't go over very well. an exclusive interview with the man accused of gunning down five african americans, killing three. she'll tell us why he's not a racist. joins us with a prison interview, she's incarcerated. you're watching "starting point." we're back in a moment. what we achieved here. what we learned here. and what we pioneered here. all goes here. the one. the accord. smarter thinking from honda. [ 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. ♪ >> got to love zoraida's play list. good morning to you. let's get headlines. >> good morning, that's gotten me through a lot of workouts. on to the news now. great britain's laib party has been suspended for the bounty of president obama's head. he has criticized the united states for offering a $10 million award for information leading to the arrest of a founder of ai pakistani militant group who is accused of attacks in media. british newspaper accused ahmed using words to that effect. anders breivik took the stand a day after pleading not guilty to the charges. he's a self-described right wing extremist. one of the five judges has been dismissed for saying the death penalty was the proper punishment for bay vick. tough cleanup getting under way after deadly twisters across the south and the midwest. six people recall killed after a a tornado barrelled over woodward. one woman found her wedding ring, left it on a bathroom counter and searched all day with a metal detector. rob marciano talked to her as she went through the remains of her home. >> so what went through your head when they said they found it, when you got word finally? >> oh my goodness. really? i mean -- right now i'm justover whelmed. i'm so excited but i couldn't believe it, in all this wadness that one of the ladies searching is the mother of one of my students that i teach and she was bound and determined she was going to find it today and sure enough, they did. >> that's incredible. that's not all, they found a neighbor also picked up the family dog that they were forced to leave behind. here's the coolest thing you will see, nasa cameras capturing a fireball erupting, it was accompanied by a solar flare. the eruption was not aimed at earth. no countdown, no fiery launch just the space shuttle "discovery" riding off into the sunrise, on the back of a 747 jumbo jet. the shuttle will be on display at the smithsonian for all the world to see. new trend alert. the fastest growing plastic surgery procedure right now believe it or not, chin implants. the number of americans getting chin implants jumped 7% between 2010 and 2011. every 25 minutes in the united states some get a chin implants. some doctors say it's so much media say it's makingis insecure about our chinz. americans are seeing more photos and live images of their faces and some see room for improvement. >> a chin implant? >> i have someone in my family that could use one i have to say. >> wow, and they're watching right now, zoraida. >> oops. >> there you have it. >> chin implant. honestly in skype you need better lighting. >> most of us want fewer chinz, no the a big ironnot a bigger o. >> you just look bad in skype. our next story involves this case out in tulsa, oklahoma, the attorney for a man who is accused of being involved in that hate crime shooting of five african americans, three were killed now trying to paint a different portrait of his controversial client, jake england and says jake is not a racist. yesterday a judge entered not guilty for the two, who killed three, wounding two others in a rampage aimed at innocent victims. now england's attorney is giving a more personal look including a seven minute long interview done from jail as well as a letter from england's mother who is herself serving an 18-year prison center for first-degree arson and writes "i am desperate to help my son any way i can. i believe the media, the justice system and the wounded african-american community will be so eager to make an example out of jake that his humanitity, youth and core of essential gooden will be forgot be. please help my son." she wrote this letter to clark brewster, the mother, teri al sander is supposed to be joining us from the correctional center in oklahoma, we are trying to get that connection. were you surprised you got that letter? >> i had never met the family before so the letter came out of the blue, but we from time to time do get letters from people incarcerated requesting help for themselves or their family. when i read the letter it was so compelling and poignant it really did speak to this young man. >> it was an emotional letter. what was her reaction? was it the letter said okay i'm going to take on his case? >> no, it was the letter that caused us to go and speak with this young man. we spent parts of three days speaking with him before we made a very careful decision to accept his representation. >> as you know, he and his partner are facing three counts of first-degree murder, two counts of intent to kill and five counts of malicious harassment, which in the state of oklahoma, i don't need to tell you this, equivalent to a hate crime charge. the big issue here is, is your client racist? did he go out and target african americans and try and shoot and kill them? seems like you've been saying no. why? >> first of all, i think that the letter gives us a little bit of history as to where this young man came from and what he was about, and what he went through in life, and as this case was progressing nationally, with the theme or premise that this was a hate crime, when we met the young man and understood more about him we realized that was a complete mispremise. he grew up in north tulsa, predominantly african-american, that's where his home was. most of the people that he counts among his friends, close friends are african-american. his neighbors are african-american. nobody's ever really that knew him ever claimed that he was a racist, and i think the circumstances of this case given all the evidence will show that he did not have that motivation whatsoever. >> so he posted to his facebook account this about his father, he said he was shot by a curse word, "n" word and a lot of people are saying you can have black friends and grow up in a black neighborhood and have african-americ african-american neighborhood and still inherently be a racist. >> i don't know if that's correct, the fact he uses that term and comfortable using that term in describing in a derogatory fashion one person does not make him a racist. that term is used frequently by people that live in this area, black and white, and it is a very derogatory term and he used the most derogatory term he could to describe the person he witnessed shoot his dad in the heart. >> i want to bring in teri alexander, jake's mom, joining us from the mabel basset correctional center in oklahoma. i appreciate you calling us. you wrote this letter to mr. brewster. what were you hoping to accomplish? >> i heard he was one of the top assist lawyers in tulsa and because of all of the publicity and everything my son needed somebody that is the best. >> your letter is very personal. it's very emotional. you walk through a lot of the difficulties and challenges and tough times you've had. i'll read a little bit and ask you a question on the other side. you wrote "we divorced when they were young," talking about you and your husband, "carl raised the kids on his own, loving parent but overwhelmed at times. i had a severe drug problem that culminated me going to prison for arson." your son could face a lot of time, if not the death penalty in this case. >> jake was probably about 6 when me and his dad separated, and he was really close to his dad. he worked with him all the time. he was a very good kid. >> what went wrong? you ultimately three people were killed, two other people were injured, black people, apparently and his friend drove into a black neighborhood and started shooting at people. what do you think, where did the transition go from being a good kid to what he's been charged with today? >> i really can't even imagine that jake did that. i'm still devastating from the news, and i just, i can't wrap my head around that. >> i'm going to give the final word to mr. brewster. i know did you an interview with jake in prison and it's an interview as a journalist i'd like to redo and ask him questions as well. you talked a lot about, questions about his girlfriend's suicide. would you give me context on that, sir? >> this man at age 17, virtually after his father's death was left in raising his family and that was his sister and he met this young woman, shiran wild, his girlfriend, they had a child together and he's only 18 at this point and she was coming to grips with a lot of issues and had a little baby that was 2 months old in january of 2012 and in front of jake in a fit of depression, shot herself. it was a devastating thing to jake. he loved her thoroughly and she loved him, and it was just one more thing in his life of a cascade of events that just took him to the lowest point. >> is your argument going to be that he didn't do it, or that he did it but not a racist. >> i think i'll save that for the courtroom. >> thanks for joining us and teri thank you for talking with us. we appreciate your time this morning. still ahead on "starting point," we're talking politics, two new polls, one shows president obama up, the other shows it's governor romney up. plus the buffett rule dead on arrival in the senate, going to be a talking point on the trail for both parties, we break it down with congressman deb n hens hensarling straight ahead. and taking the hoe low gram on the road. e first and only onp support a healthy metabolism. three smart ways to sweeten. same great taste. splenda® essentials™. ♪ where the sun never goes out ♪ ♪ and the sky is deep and blue ♪ ♪ won't you take me american flight 280 to miami is now ready for boarding. ♪ there with you fly without putting your life on pause. be yourself. nonstop. american airlines. hey, it's sandra -- from accounting. peter. i can see that you're busy... but you were gonna help us crunch the numbers for accounts receivable today. i mean i know that this is important. well, both are important. let's be clear. they are but this is important too. [ man ] the receivables. [ 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. ♪ that's "vertigo." democrats insisting they're not giving up after republicans blocked debate on the buffett rule, calls for millionaires and billionaires to pay a minimum 30% tax on a sliding zal. both parties will make it a campaign issue as the nation heads toward the election which is tipping toward obama according to a new cnn/orc poll. the president leads mitt romney 52% to 43%. different picture looking at the the gallup poll, governor romney is winning within the margin of error 47% to 45%. congressman jeb hensarling, we love your choice of music. >> i like it, too. >> appreciate it. the ones in the polls are contradictory. how do you explain that? give me analysis on that. >> it's early in the process. november is a long time away. people are focusing, the president has an opportunity to use a basketball analogy to dribble up and down the court and do lay-ups as the republican primary works through. i'm confident the president is not going abable to run on his record, one of the reasons he's turned to the politics of the vision and envy. people will ask themselves are they better off than they were four years ago and for working americans the answer is no. >> if those very people ask themselves do i like the buffett rule the answer would be a resounding yes. new statistics in a cnn poll and another poll as well, this one says 72% in favor, oops, that's not my poll. the buffett rule poll says 72% favor for 30% tax rate for people that make more than $1 million a year. it's broken by party, democrats overwhelmingly support it at 90%, independents 69% and republicans are split on it, to the direction of approving t2, , 53%. >> this is more about politics than policy. first as a policy the president said this would stabilize our debt but if you look at the budget he submitted to congress which by the way got zero votes in the house of representatives, the buffett rule isn't 1% of what he plans to spend. it's 0.01%. it doesn't do anything to the deficit. number two, when people focus on it, in this economy why would you want to raise taxes on anybody? when it comes to fairness, fairness is not found in taxing some people more. it's about subsidizing them less. when they focus on the fact that republicans want a tax code that is fair,flatter, simpler, more competitive, it's what we put in our budget, a two tiered tax plat system that americans can fill out on the back of a postcard when they focus, that's the true system they want. ultimately americans, you know, they want their children to have a better life than they've had. the politics of division and envy maybe you get a short-term bump in the polls. ultimately that's not what america is all about. >> jon wants to ask you a question. >> thank you for joining us. do you believe that individuals who don't work for their income, that is individuals who live off investments and interest, deserve to pay a lower percentage of taxes than individuals who work for their income? >> i think a lot of those people are paying taxes twice because of the corporate income tax rate. >> a lower percent? >> corporations don't pay taxes. people pay taxes. so if you would get rid of the corporate income tax, then i think a very good case can be made about equalizing the two. again, if you look at the facts, the top 1% of all americans are paying 38% of the income tax. we can debate whether that is fair or not. according to irs data, those who pay between 50 and 100,000 in income are paying an average of 9%. millionaires pay an average of 24%. we can have a debate about what's fair but we should have a debate about what are the facts. the president wants to single out loopholes in the tax code. republicans want to throw it in the nearest trash can and start over again with something that's fair, flatter, and simpler for all americans and not trying to have politics and division and envy which the president is trying to have. >> that's yes. thank you. >> you can get rid of corporate income tax otherwise you are paying twice. a lot of times dividends and capital gains is taxed and then to the individual for a second go-around. it's another 15%. it is a higher tax rate. >> nice to see you, sir. thank you for your time this morning. appreciate it. still ahead this morning on "starting point," is the future of life entertainment dead or maybe people who have been deceased? new details about the hologram. if you are about to head to work, you don't have to miss the rest of our program. go to our live blog at cnn.com/startingpoint. you're watching "starting point." 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( announcer ) fly without putting your life on pause. be yourself nonstop. american airlines. >> welcome back, everybody. told you about the story yesterday. the rapper tupac killed more than 15 years ago. there was a concert involving a hologram. kind of creepy but kind of cool. take a look. there's a "wall street journal" report now that representatives are thinking about a virtual tour with tupac or that version. he tweets this. get ready for my new album. all eyes through me. >> that's funny. >> so many digital haters can now judge me. only tron can judge me. >> as amazed as i was, i thought this was old footage they made into a hologram show. >> it's a whole new thing. >> don't let paul and ringo know about this. >> it's a company that digital domain media group. they say this is not old performance captured on film that they are reflecting up on the stage. not old and repurposed. this is an illusion. not archival footage. they create image on a computer and they sort of recreate the motion and then he's able to actually create something new. >> snoop dog and tupac can interact. >> it's creepy. >> would you see it? >> of course. i'll talk about how creepy it was. >> it keeps the music alive. i can guarantee you somebody at graceland is already making a phone call about this. it's going to bring it new people. he died 16 years ago. it's creepy. a whole generation of young people that didn't know his music or lame white people not into it when it mattered, can get the experience. >> you can listen. do you watch to watch him on stage? >> i believe it was said correctly it's creepy and we're all -- what? >> i tell you what. >> got to go. "starting point" ahead. a scientist tells a police officer your entire theory is faulty. basic physics and four-page paper to beat a ticket. another grilling set for today after nearly wasting a million dollars in vegas. the inspector general investigating now pop bribes and kickbacks. we'll talk to elijah comummings straight ahead. interviewer: you had several species of endangered animals on that bus. but the priceline negotiator saved them all. animal handler:except for joffrey. but he did save me a ton of money. interviewer: how's that? animal handler: that was the day he told us all about priceline... ...it has thousands and thousands of hotels on sale every day. so i can choose the perfect one without bidding. joffrey would have loved this. wouldn't you joffrey? tle emotional here? aren't you getting a little industrial? okay, there's enough energy right here in america. yeah, over 100 years worth. okay, so you mean you just ignore the environment. actually, it's cleaner. and, it provides jobs. and it helps our economy. okay, i'm listening. 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"starting point" this morning. outrage in washington. >> it's pathetic. i can't tell you how disappointed i am. >> working for the government is a sacred trust which you have alone. >> gsa officials are embracing for another beating today. now there's talk of possible bribes, kickback scandals on top of that wasted cash. we'll talk to the man who led the charge yesterday. mitt romney telling president obama to start packing. one poll shows that maybe governor romney has lots of catching up to do if he wants to win the white house. another poll claiming exactly the opposite. we'll analyze both polls. don't blame the band in that tragic stage collapse. who was responsible for getting the fans out of there when deadly weather was hitting? it's tuesday, april 17th. "starting point" begins right now. ♪ >> welcome back, everybody. that's my playlist. that's mary j. blige. i would play that every morning when i fed my kids breakfast. everybody, take it down a notch. lots to get to this morning. mark lamont hill joins us this morning. no more drama, mark. >> jon fugelsang is with us. will cain. two weeks and every day almost there's more information about what comes you the of that gsa scandal. now you hear testimony yesterday that talked about maybe kickbacks and bribes. >> it just gets worse and worse. how many more do we know and how representative of it that is going on in other government agencies? >> posturing frustrates me. i get this is a major scandal and to do something about it. to watch interactions and hear the outrage of excess as if they haven't let it happen for this 0.01% of the money halliburton stole. we were ripped out by these guys and this outrage was not there. >> that's a flawed argument. this outrage is not as much as the other outrage. >> halliburton had good taste not to film it. the fact these government clerks filmed it is what will make it a scandal. >> there are now four congressional hearings this week alone looking into the agency's lavish spending. the man at the center of the scandal repeatedly yesterday refused to testify. took the fifth. former and current staffers took a beating from lawmakers. take a look. >> we are here today to get answers to questions that should have been asked and answered long, long, long time ago. >> disregarded one of the most basic tenants of government service. it's not your money. it's the taxpayers' money. >> it's pathetic. i can't tell you how disappointed i am. >> working for the government is a sacred trust which you have blown. so instead of a team building exercise, you might want to investigate a trust building exercise. because you have lost it. >> people were mad. joining us this morning congressman elijah cummings. i should say you were really, really mad yesterday. i want to play you a little bit of jeff neely who is at the center of all of this anger and this conversation yesterday. what he had to say when he was brought in testify. >> i decline to testify and i respectfully decline to answer based on my fifth amendment constitutional privilege. i decline to answer based on fifth amendment -- >> it went on like that over and over again. no real surprise there. what did you want to hear from jeff neely, sir? >> i wanted to know why it is that he was going around planning conferences costing almost a million dollars. why he had his wife involved in that process and why he violated so many rules and regulations of the gsa. i also wanted to know why it was that he was going around threatening people if they dared be a whistle-blower. a lot of questions need to be answered. i respect also as a lawyer his right to take the fifth. >> some of that information of course came out in the testimony yesterday where people described him as a bully and there would be a price to pay if you crossed jeff neely in some capacity. you want to ask a question? >> that's new to me by the way. i didn't know he was so threatening to these various people that threatened to whistle blow. >> you know what's interesting -- >> go ahead. >> there was testimony with regard to that. a number of witnesses said that they were afraid of mr. neely. as a matter of fact, he had to make one lady a confidential informant because she was so fearful. that's part of the reason why the actions were allowed to go on as long as they did. >> there was testimony that is going to be talked about today that indicates there was a coverup that extends all of the way to the white house. is that something you got out of yesterday's hearing, sir? >> i didn't get that. i didn't hear any evidence and i look for those kind of things as a lawyer. i didn't hear anything like that. i think sometimes we have a tendency, republicans do, to come out with these headlines and inflame situations and then when the testimony comes in, it shows that it is not accurate. i told mr. issa that i want our committee, that's the government reform committee, to listen to evidence and come to a conclusion based upon that evidence. >> where does the buck stop? does it stop with mr. neely or was there another level where someone should have seen this going on and stopped mr. neely? the question is where does the oversight begin and end? >> great question. the oversight should have ended and began in the administrator's office. what happened was all of the testimony showed this was a decentralized system where by the folks putting together this western conference basically had autonomy to deal the way they wanted to. this has been going on for many, many years throughout many administrations. so basically the new temporary administrator is coming in. he has to clean up all of this mess and he will. >> congressman elijah cummings joining us this morning. it looks like it may look like an investigation into possible kickbacks and possible bribes as well. >> no doubt about it. no doubt about it. i know so. >> interesting. we'll follow that as well. appreciate your time this morning. let's get to zoraida with headlines. >> the florida lawyer representing george zimmerman says he's confident his request to have the judge in the trayvon martin case recused will be granted. mark o'mara filed that motion after she revealed that her husband is an attorney that refused to take the case. he says the situation is not unusual. >> she routinely recuses herself from any cases that we are involved with. this is a little bit of a twist because i'm in this position as a cnn legal analyst and her husband happens to run the personal injury division of our law firm. it's not the normal situation. i don't think she did anything that would be out of the ordinary for this extraordinary situation. >> george zimmerman is being held on a second-degree murder charge in the trayvon martin shooting. a bail hearing is scheduled for friday. and now that rick santorum is just a memory, america's 2012 choice, obama versus rommney is taking shape. a new poll of registered voters shows president obama with a near double digit lead overall. 52% to romney's 43%. the margin among women 16 points. still, romney is convinced the race is his to win and he has a message for the president. >> start packing. that's what i would like to say. we have a very different view. the president i'm sure wants another four years. the first years didn't go so well and added trillions of dollars of debt because he doesn't understand the economy and what it takes to get jobs for the american people. >> a new poll shows him in a statistical heat and ann romney weighed in saying it's our time now. the retired orbiter making the final flight from kennedy space center to the capitol. it will be on display in the sm smithsonian. when will i need this in real life? a scientist in the university of california got out of a ticket with a four-page paper he drafted in his own defense on the laws of physics. he said the police officer thought he ran a stop sign because he was looking at the velocity. >> i didn't use any knowledge beyond the physics and mathematics. the angle of speeds he was observing were indistinguishable. >> totally makes sense. the scientific approach worked and the judge dismissed the ticket. >> my dad did that once. he's a scientist too. he had to prove he wasn't speeding on his motorcycle. >> did he win? >> anybody who just brings any kind of drama into the courtroom, clerks are like, got it. dismissed. can't take it. all right. thanks. still ahead this morning, live from russia. it's julian assange. his first guest could be more controversial than he is. sugarland's lead singer says don't blame the band for the deadly stage collapse. we have new details about that collapse that have been revealed and we'll tell you why the stage fell apart a moment before the concert started. you're watching "starting point." back to mark's playlist. it's amy winehouse. >> great song. i love cash back. with the bankamericard cash rewards credit card, we earn more cash back for the things we buy most. 1% cash back everywhere, every time. 2% on groceries. 3% on gas. automatically. no hoops to jump through. no annual fee. that's 1% back on... wow! 2% on my homemade lasagna. 3% back on [ friends ] road trip!!!!!!!!!!!! [ male announcer ] get 1-2-3 percent cash back. apply online or at a bank of america near you. ♪ not in this economy. we also have zero free time, and my dad moving in. so we went to fidelity. we looked at our family's goals and some ways to help us get there. they helped me fix my economy, the one in my house. now they're managing my investments for me. and with fidelity, getting back on track was easier than i thought. call or come in today to take control of your personal economy. get one-on-one help from america's retirement leader. welcome back. new testimony revealing the chaos and confusion that led up to the stage collapse at the indiana state fair last year. several families and victims from the august incident have filed a lawsuit against the country band contending it was negligent. the victims' attorney released footage from the band's lead singer. >> i don't feel it's my responsibility or my management's responsibility to evacuate the fans in the case of danger. do i care about their safety? absolutely. >> more testimony today in the battle over who is responsible for delaying or canceling a show when there is a threat of severe weather. let's bring in jacqui jeras. take us back to that night. what was it weatherwise like? >> it was a rough night and severe weather was expected. they knew that there was a risk that was involved. severe thunderstorm watch was issued about three or four hours before the storms ever came through. it was kind of -- there was a line approaching from the west producing small hail and a lot of lightning. it wasn't at severe limits. it was a tricky situation. this map behind me shows you the strongest of winds developed well ahead of the main line of thunderstorms and only a trained meteorologist would see this. this is a gust front. it the was producing winds around 60 to 70 miles an hour. the main line of storms were way back here and this was what we were expecting the impact to be initially. not this. there's very little warning when a system like that begins to develop. >> i want to play an emergency call that came in. let's listen to that. >> all units, all units. severe thunderstorm warning until 9:45. use your best judgment and find shelter when needed. >> have they released fans from the grand stands yet? >> no information on that. i will check and advise. >> it's so terrible of course because had they released fans from the grandstand in a way it's like fans were the afterthought even this they didn't recognize that those gusty winds were what was going to be the big problem. no one really thought about, my goodness, people are at a concert. >> what we're talking about today is who's responsible and who's to blame. this is why you see a deposition tape. jacqui says this was a hard thing to protect regardless of who is to blame. this wind front gust is not something they expected to be so serious. >> even if the storms aren't severe, there are risks talking about lightning and hail with people in an exposed open area. steps were taken ahead of time that were done correctly. there were conversations between state fair officials and the national weather service more than three hours in advance and those calls were made on president hour each hour almost up until that point. the problem here is that the public was warned about it. they were told how to evacuate about ten minutes before the stage collapsed. nobody ever pulled the trigger. nobody ever said actually to evacuate. >> everybody was waiting for somebody else to take the responsibility. the band members saying we're the band. it's not necessarily our -- >> were promotes are of the state fair not insured? >> i think it's beyond the insurance question at this point. it's a responsibility question. regardless if you're insured or not, they are being sued by the victims' families. that's a question. i heard that they were insured. jacqui, thank you. appreciate it. what a tragedy. i remember seeing that. of course now in retrospect you think high winds. go inside. don't do the concert. it seems like everybody wouldn't make the call. >> i don't see how you can blame the artist. >> they have no responsibility in this in general. >> we'll see. it's gone to court. they're doing a deposition. still ahead on "starting point," secret service sex scandal getting bigger and more embarrassing. coming up, we'll talk to a former secret service agent about how often does this really happen? is this just the tip of the iceberg. also, he's got hot dog tongs and he's not afraid to use them to knock off this deli. attempted robbery where the victims were laughing. about to head to work? check out our live blog at cnn.com/startingpoint. i know. we leave you with will cain's playlist. it's waylon jennings. it's very important to understand how math and science kind of makes the world work. in high school, i had a physics teacher by the name of mr. davies. he made physics more than theoretical, he made it real for me. we built a guitar, we did things with electronics and mother boards. that's where the interest in engineering came from. so now, as an engineer, i have a career that speaks to that passion. thank you, mr. davies. 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. >> that's drake. "take care." welcome back to "starting point." our chief medical correspondent dr. sanjay gupta talks to 40 in today's "human factor." >> noah doesn't miss a beat. or a chance to perform. his life in showbiz began on tv as a child actor. >> told you she had a capped tooth. >> it was music that proved to be noah's true calling. >> everyone in the studio would fall asleep and wake up in the morning and i would still be sitting in the computer. they started calling me 40 days and 40 nights because i didn't sleep. >> as a go-to sound engineer in toronto, 40 soon attracted the attention of drake. now a grammy nominated recording artist. >> we work together for a couple days in the studio i think. i charged him a little bit of money and by the third day we agreed that we would take over the world together. >> and then a monumental setback. 40 found him celebrating his 22nd birthday in the hospital. >> i woke up one day and all of the temperature in my body was difficul distorted. the sense of hot and cold and what it meant to my brain was confusing. >> two years later another setback for the family. noah mom was diagnosed with m.s. which is not directly inherited. >> i got this disease. i'm going to live with it. i'll win with it. th my story will be that much better when i get there. still ahead on "starting point," riding off into the sunset. "discovery's" final voyage hitching a ride to washington d.c. we'll tell you that breathtaking takeoff this morning. the secret service prostitution scandal is growing going up the ladder. we'll talk to a former agent about how it could be more than an embarrassment. so who ordered the cereal that can help lower cholesterol and who ordered the yummy cereal? yummy. [ woman ] lower cholesterol. [ man 2 ] yummy. i got that wrong didn't i? [ male announcer ] want great taste and whole grain oats that can help lower cholesterol? honey nut cheerios. welcome back. that's off zoraida's playlist. that's marc anthony. i need to know. she has a look at the headlines for us. >> australian troops will pull out of afghanistan ahead of schedule. some of the 1,500 australian soldiers now stationed in afghanistan could come home within a few months. all of them could be out by the end of next year. that's 12 months earlier than originally planned. andrews bvievik taking the stand. he called it the most spectacular attack in europe since world war ii and necessary to save the country from multiculturalism. julian assange launches a new career today, tv host. it's called "the world tomorrow." it debuts today on russian television. the first interview will feature a range of guests who are stamping their mark on the future including politicians, revolutionaries, artists and visionaries. assange is living in england while awaiting extradition to sweden on sexual assault charges. sara ganim has been awarded a pulitzer prize for her coverage of the penn state sex abuse scandal. ga ganim broke the newts that jerry sandusky was under investigation for alleged child sexual abuse. sandusky faces more than 52 counts of sexual acts with boys. the space shuttle "discovery" airborne one last time. this time the retired orbiter is along for the ride heading for its place in history on the back of a specially made jumbo jet. it will be on display at the smithsonian's hangar outside washington d.c. we have to show you one more. call it assault with a really goofy weapon. a man was arrested after attempting to hold up a convenience store in arkansas with a pair of tongs that he grabbed from the hot dog tank. you can see him right there on surveillance camera chasing customers around with them. someone called 911. >> he's trying to stab us in we don't give him money. he has a silver tong thing. >> attempted to rob the place but nobody took him serious enough to give him money because of his state of intoxication. >> police say the man dropped the weapon and was waiting right there outside for police when they arrived. police say he will be charged with two counts of attempted aggravated robbery despite an apology note that he scribbled to them. >> he said he was fighting with his wife and that he wanted to be taken to jail because that would maybe show everybody because they would miss him. >> how did that work for him? >> that's a hot mess. that's the hot mess story of the morning. didn't work out so well. >> they'll love him in g block. this morning 11 secret service agent have had their security clearances yanked after allegations they brought prostitutes back to their hotel in colombia last week one day before president obama was arriving for the summit of americas. the rendezvous which involved ten military personnel went sour when it seems like an agent refused to pay one of the women. according to "the washington post," secret service agents allegedly paid $60 for the prostitutes at the strip club and the dispute came over an additional $170 fee. it's considered to be a breach of the agency's code of conduct. peter king was talking to wolf blitzer and said this is a very dangerous offense. >> this is a serious, serious violation of everything the secret service stands for. what these 11 agents did put the potentially puts any president at risk, puts themselves at risk and leaves themselves open to blackmail and threats. >> a former secret service agency serving under three presidential administrations, which is more stressful being a secret service agent or running for the u.s. senate? >> this has been terrible for me personally, professionally. i have very close relationships, very close, with almost everyone involved in this. it's just devastating. >> what do you think happened? is this one of those things when secret service agents go on the road, they frequent prostitutes and in this particular case they got caught? >> i had been on 27 foreign trips with the president. three of them i was the lead advance agent. the one in charge. i never, ever, dealt with a problem like this. ever. >> dan, we were joking about this earlier. this was a group purchase. often 11 guys don't sit around and go i have an idea and everybody jumps in here. this is indicative of something that's happened before. >> i can't say that it hasn't happened. nobody has been caught or been stupid to be as open as they were. i can tell you it's not indicative of the behavior i saw in the secret service. that's not the company line. i don't own the secret service anything. they didn't ask me to come here. i left a year ago. i'm proud of what i did. i'm proud of men of the secret service. i would have taken a bullet for any president of any political persuasion for any reason because i believed in what i was doing and so do men and women there right now. it's disgraceful that these guys have ruined it for everyone. you are right. i can't say this has never happened. i don't think anybody can. >> you know them personally. tell us a little bit. i'm assuming you won't name names but if you want to go ahead. tell me about them. >> a lot of them are married. i know some of their wives and fathers. parents are devastated. he hasn't eaten in two days. he can't eat. he's embarrassed. you are proud of your son or daughter, not in this case daughters but secret service agent. proud, noble career. you have pictures up all over the office. then everyone comes in and says did you hear about that scandal is your kid involved? it's devastating. they took down everyone with them. >> is it tip of iceberg kind of problem? number of trips an a that in fact this was not this one particular time with 11 guys who just happened to get together and decide to go frequent a bunch of hookers? >> i hope not. i can't vouch for every single trip. the ones i was on we had incidents why guys drank too much in a bar. they were dealt with harshly. they have their own investigative division. >> is there an internal affairs? >> it's actually an interesting point. the secret service is not subject to oig, office of inspector general, which everyone else is. they have their own office of professional responsibility. that puts extra pressure on them not to be extra harsh but to be extra thorough. when you get involved in an incident, anything close to this with the secret service, they don't want to lose that privilege. they are very, very thorough. those guys were shipped home immediately. i don't think they slept. they went right to headquarters. >> explain the military connection. there were five military officers working in coordination with the secret service and now that number is now up to ten. what would the coordination be in terms of what job they were doing? >> on any advance it's not just the secret service that coordinates the security. we call it the white house military office and white house communication agency is responsible for the president's communication to any military liaison on the road. the white house staff a large contingent of white house staff goes out. you have the trifecta. it's large components to each. >> i want to do something unorthodox and look at the positive of this. when you think of screwups that could have happened with the secret service, no casualties and no injuries is benign. it's a disgrace and embarrassment. is the positive side of this that we can expect to never hear any kind of scandal ever happening again with the secret service? >> i think you can be pretty confident. thank you for saying that. we have to keep it in perspective. the 150-year history of the secret service. they're not called the secret service for nothing. you never see them in the paper. you have seen scandals with other federal law enforcement agencies over and over. if this is the worst thing that happens in 150-year history absent the loss of a president, you know what? hats off to these guys. not the guys involved in this trip. if this is the worst thing that happens, keep it in perspective. >> given how you handle discipline, it's possible other things have happened that the public doesn't know about. >> if the office was accused of hiding anything, they wouldn't want that. >> how many nights are you out of the year? >> worst year i had was 300. >> 300 out of 365 days. >> my dad said are you allowed to sleep her? it was confused. she's young. >> i think this is crazy. is there it's a very stressful job type rationale that these guys are now going back to their wives in some cases and parents in some cases and saying you don't understand this gig is hard? >> good question. i'm not excusing their behavior at all. this job is the most stressful job in law enforcement. the life of the president of the united states, that's real, it's in your hands. if i told you the conference calls you were on where the questions were being asked about what is the capacity of the generator on the roof of the hotel? when's the last time it was inspected? these are a list of questions as an advance agent you are expected to have like that off the top of your head. >> would the fact that this group of security agents went to a strip club in the first place be a breach of conduct? >> there's ongoing training about this stuff all the time you have to sign off on. >> fascinating. good luck in your senate race. >> thank you very much. >> we'll be happy to have you back. hopefully the secret service will stay out of the news for a while. i'm sure an investigation is fo forth coming. we'll talk about tupac, the hologram. not the actual rapper who is deceased. about to go on a concert tour. the hologram. we'll talk about technology behind it. also, a man with one of the most inspirational stories i have ever heard. jim abbott born without a fully formed right hand ended up pitching a no-hitter for the yankees. he's written a new book. it's fabulous. it's called "imperfect in inpromable life." we'll leave you with jon's playli playlist. you're watching "starting point." [ male announcer ] this was how my day began. a little bird told me about a band... ♪ an old man shared some fish stories... ♪ oooh, my turn. ♪ she was in paris, but we talked for hours... everyone else buzzed about the band. there's a wireless mind inside all of us. so, where to next? ♪ but proven technologies allow natural gas producers to supply affordable, cleaner energy, while protecting our environment. across america, these technologies protect air - by monitoring air quality and reducing emissions... ...protect water - through conservation and self-contained recycling systems... ... and protect land - by reducing our footprint and respecting wildlife. america's natural gas... domestic, abundant, clean energy to power our lives... that's smarter power today. >> that's tupac. the rapper was killed more than 15 years ago. he performed over the weekend via hologram. it was kind of weird. take a look. ♪ >> the folks who created this digital domain say it's a synthetic human being that this was not old footage captured and then repurposed and not sound footage or archival footage. an illusion created with a screen that's reflected out of a projector and they are able to digitally create his moves. it's a whole new experience. >> fascinating. we've been debating every commercial break who you would like to see. i'll offer this one. jimi hendrix. >> sure. it would be great. sinatra. it will turn a lot of people on to music that they haven't heard. it's a way of keeping music alive. >> part of what makes this work is that tupac is somebody that people love in a way like elvis. we don't want to believe that he's dead. people have tupac sightings and elvis sightings. >> you want other people on the stage interacting. what's interesting is there are other people on the stage who are dancing with him or having that response kind of thing which is interesting. otherwise it could just be a movie about someone performing. i think it's fascinating. >> i think the whole thing is creepy. i could see where this is going. >> guess how much this costs? it took four months to go. give me a number. >> $500. >> seven figures. >> $400,000. nothing cost $500 anymore. >> couldn't get a microphone for that. >> i think it's fascinating but creepy. still ahead on "starting point," when he fielded the ball it looked like a magic trick. major league pitcher jim abbott was born without a right hand and has written a new book called imperfect. it is fascinating. he joins us now. here's his playlist. 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"racing in the street." jim abbott's book is right here. as you can see from the cover picture, he was born without a right hand. he dreamed as a kid of becoming a great athlete and he did just that. named the nation's best amateur athlete while he was at the university of michigan. he pitched for the 1988 almost baseball team. won a gold medal there. in 1993, he threw an historic no-hitter for the new york yankees. it is a remarkable story told in a remarkable book which is called "imperfect and improbable life." jim abbott is with us. so great to have you. thanks for being with us. you tell the story of your 5-year-old daughter who asks you a question about your hand. she says, dad, did you like your little hand. tell us about your little hand and how you answered that question from a little girl. >> it took me by surprise. i was in a preschool career day with great little group of kids there. the questions are coming at me from all angles. do you have a dog. nothing about a career. and out of nowhere comes my daughter's question in front of all her friends and her teacher, dad, do you like your little hand. >> you were born without a fully formed hand. >> i was born missing my hand. i always wondered how my kids would look at me and how they would see me in those environments. i told her that i like my hand. it was me. i like the places that it took me. when i walked out of that classroom, i kept thinking about that question and whether i had fully answered. in a lot of ways that was motivation for writing this book. did i like the little hand. >> how did the parents raise you? it would be easy to coddle a child and say you should not play sports. you definitely should not be a pitcher. you do not have a right hand. >> right. my mom and dad are my heros. they had me at a very early age there was a lot of uncertainty in their life and yet they raised me and didn't shield me away from the experience of the playground and experience of sports. they encouraged me to get out there. when they did come back disheartened or down or kids said negative things, they encouraged me to get back out there. the greatest gift my parents gave me was the idea that my hand was something to be lived up to. it was a responsibility almost. i was special enough to live up to this. >> i was going to ask you this. i'm a sports fan. used to seeing you pitch and pitch well against my team i like as well. how much resistance did you get in baseball? you had to switch the glove hand from the small glahand to field hand. you won't be able to do what we need you to do? >> the opposite was true. it was amazing. it was amazing how much support i had along the way. how many people -- there were a lot of times i doubted myself. there were times i felt like an outsider looking in. i wanted to prove myself and be on a team. i can't tell you how many times coaches or teachers pulled me into the game saying we'll find a way to do this. when i got for the major leagues, it was the same way. my first manager pulled me into the game and said you can do this. >> jim, i'm a mets fan which is why i'm dressed like a paul bearer. is it true the boss gave you a hard time for spending too much time with children's groups? >> you talk to kids who were disabled who started hunting you down and hanging out because parents wanted to have kids by you. did he come down on you for it? >> he was disappointed for the way i was pitching. i had just done an event up in harlem with challenge your little league which is a fantastic program. he didn't understand everything that was going on. he was the boss. he wanted me to pitch. i agree with that. i was there to pitch. i was there to be the best possible pitcher i could be. >> for parents they saw you as an inspiration. i was telling you earlier i want him to sign a book to my son who is hearing disabled because kids like that at seven are looking for a role model who has done something they're not sure they can do. it will be a big deal to see a professional athlete has done something. how do you manage to find all of those stories so inspiring when some of them you talk about are heartbreaking, those kids. >> it is. part of the motivation for the book was i still get cards and letters and e-mails from all over the country from parents who have young children facing incredible challenges to kids to little boys and little girls. and i would always write the letter out. i always send one page letter and a photo. again i would send that out and feel somewhat inadequate. am i saying enough? am i conveying the experiences i have. >> now you can send the book. >> the book is my answer. this is what i went through. these are people that lifted me up. this is what i believe. >> can i read a bit? at one point you do a run through of what it was like to pitch a no-hitter which is amazing. you say, yeah, baby was the reaction. you say all of the aftermath of that was this. the vice president of pr for the angels, every time you succeeded after he left he would say i want to say outloud, look at what jimmy abbott did today. all of you naysayers, for all of the individual accomplishments i was privileged to be around and i wasn't around for that, i may have felt as happy for jim abbott doing that as for any athlete. he did it. was there a sense of vindication after the no-hitter? i showed you people who didn't believe i could do it that i could do it, ever? >> no. i felt great joy. i was given so much. i was blessed. my dad used to say what's taken away once is given back twice, jim. i was given a great left arm. i had ability. my inspiration was to make the most of what i had been given. that night in new york after that no-hitter, i wish everybody in the world could have one night like that where you walk around and walk down the streets and people rush up with early edition of the paper and you sign it and it was an incredible moment. >> jim abbott, the book is called "imperfect and improbable life." we'll ask you for the last word of our show up next. 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[ male announcer ] it's a network of possibilities -- helping you do what you do... even better. ♪ i worked at the colorado springs mail processing plant for 22 years. we processed on a given day about a million pieces of mail. checks, newspapers, bills. a lot of people get their medications only through the mail. small businesses depend on this processing plant. they want to shut down 3000 post offices, cut 100,000 jobs. they're gonna be putting people out of work everywhere. the american people depend on the postal service. it's time for end point this morning. we asked jim abbott to stick around because his book is so inspirational and we want to use our final 30 seconds to get your inspirational story. what's the big take away we should move forward with? >> i hope people like the baseball side of this book. it's a baseball story. i hope they are inspired.