-- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com good morning our "starting point" today, tropical storm beryl washing away holiday plans in northern florida and georgia. it made landfall overnight with drenching rains and driving winds. the hurricane force winds have died down a bit but the beryl will be a super soaker as they call it. rob marciano is tracking the storm at the severe weather center, good morning. >> not usual to have one but two tropical storms into the month of may, not even into the beginning of hurricane season yesterday. 70-mile-an-hour winds last night at one point, this close to being a hurricane. there's the radar picture showing you the center distinctly 50 miles to the west of jacksonville florida and all the rain and thunderstorms rotating off the ocean so this will be slow to weaken and it will weaken as far as the winds are concerned but the rainfall becomes the bigger player through time. they could use the rain but don't want it all at one point. this is certainly a drought-stricken area. look at some of the winds last night, 73-mile-an-hour gusts at buckeye land, kings bay base, 65-mile-an-hour gusts, a strong tropical storm, wind gusts almost to hurricane strength. we've got power out in lots of areas, southeast georgia and northeastern parts of florida because of that. here's your forecast track, we bring it in and weaken it of course and curve it back out to sea eventually. it will take its sweet time doing that eventually getting to theopen banks. certainly not a beach day from savannah, charleston to daytona beach but the rainfall as well. even though this area is in extreme drought, when you get all this rain coming at one time it potentially four to eight inches of it, over a very, very dry hard-packed ground you'll sigh a lot of that runoff so we have the threat for seeing some flash flooding in this area today so be afl what you wish for, these folks are getting some relief in the drought but it's causing problems as well. >> mother nature at her finest, thanks. rob marciano. we're also following a developing story overseas, syrian regime insisting al qaeda-linked terrorists are behind a bloody massacre in hula. this video is believed to show a mass burial of some of the 108 people killed on friday. that death toll includes 34 women and 49 children under the age of 10. as outragenged syrians pour int the straits the u.n. security council hold a rare closed door session. >> all violence in all its forms by all parties must cease. those responsible for acts of violence must be held accountable. >> syrian president bashar al assad and his spokesman insist they should not be held accountable. >> i would like here to condemn also on behalf of my government the tsunami of lies that were said a few minutes ago by some members of the council who try to mislead you by saying that their way of leveling accusations against my government is based on what they said evidences. they are wrong, and they are misleading you. >> steven cook is a middle eastern studys senior fellow with the council on foreign relations. horrific weekend in syria. there's a cease-fire in effect. does this show us the cease-fire and "360" point peace plan have been completely failed? >> there's been a cease-fire in effect since april 12th but that has not stopped the syrian government from attacking protesters, people demanding to live in a more open and democratic society. it is essentially a dead letter. the international condemnations and sanctions have clearly not worked. there is a hope as a result of this horrific incident it will turn the international community particularly the russians and the chinese who have not openly supported the damascus regime, then certainly the russians who have, from active support to pressure on assad to stand down, if not leave office. >> you mention the russians and the china's. sergey lavrov just spoke about the conflict, let's listen to what he said. >> translator: we do not support the syrian government. we are supporting the kofi annan plan that addresses both the syrian government and the armed opposition. you know, it takes two to dance. it takes two to tango. even though in the current situation in syria, what we have is not the real tango with having a disco party. >> okay, metafores and analogies aside, are the russians moving more in the u.s. direction on this, in the international community's direction on the issue with syria? >> lavrov's statement that moscow doesn't support the syrian government say new formulation, however, he's still insisting it takes two to tango whereas i think the entire international community and objective observers understand the predominant, the violence has been committed by the syrian government for the most part against unarmed syrian civilians. to be sure there is this free syrian army but hardly has the same capacity as the syrian armed forces. >> what is so shock being this weekend's events, friday's events, gunshots, u.n. observers are saying some children were killed by gunshot winds and mortars as well. this looks like a chaotic house-to-house kind of situation. this went on for 12 hours. how can the international community not respond forcefully? how can russia not respond forcefully to something like this? >> this could potentially put pressure on the russians and international community at large. there is an ongoing debate here in the united states. there are some who oppose military reaction, believe a more robust international response will make matter s wore if that is possible and those who believe the international community have a moral and strategic interest in bringing the assad regime down and bringing this civil war to a close sooner rather than later. doing nothing might no long this. intervening might end it. nobody has been able to make a credible argument either way and the obama administration is left with a country that does not really have a stomach for another international intervention, and international parties who don't want to intervene and they're left with diplomacy. >> senator john mccain called for military action in syria. yesterday on fox news sunday he talked about the obama administration's response and criticized them. i want to listen to that sound. >> horrible things are happening in syria. this administration has a feckless foreign policy which abandons american leadership. i know, because i visit with these people, that they are ready to help these people and they are already helping them some, but it cries out for american leadership, american leadership is not there. >> the focus now on forceful diplomacy with the chinese and the russians in particular. at any point can the u.s. get involved militarily? is that even possible? >> it's certainly possible for the united states to get involved militarily but the obama administration is determined to see the diplomacy through. it has a number of steps in mind that it would like to take before it has to take military action. it is not an easy prospect to engage in the military operation in syria. there are a number of obstacles. there is a syrian military likely to fight back. >> even if it's in a no fly zone it would be difficult, you have urban areas, air defenses in neighborhoods, israel, iran, turkey, all of the neighbors around. it's every kind of military option even the most limited including no fly zone is fraught with peril. >> of course, there's a risk to everything but indeed, unlike libya, there is more of a risk of escalation of instability spilling out across borders and more difficult for u.s. and allied air crews to get after and destroy syrian air defenses. >> really interesting. steven cook, middle eastern studies senior fellow at the council on foreign relations, thank you. >> thank you. let's get to zoraida sambolin for the rest of the top stories. >> former prime minister tony blair getting grilled in the uk's phone hacking scandal. blair testified about his ties to rupert murdoch saying "it is inevitable and essential for politicians to have relationships with journalists" but he admitted those relationships could be unhealthy. murdoch's paper's famously switched support to blair's political party right before he was elected. "news of the world" is accused of hacking the phones of several high-profile people. an international murder mystery is unfolding right now in japan. two american men are being held by tokyo police in connection with the strangling of an irish exchange student. police say the suspects met the female victim at a nicki menage concert in tokyo last week. she's identified as 21 neither nicola furlong. police say she was found unconscious in a hotel room early thursday morning. no word on how the two american men may be involved there. president obama will be laying a wreath at the tomb of the unknowns in arlington national cemetery. this is a live picture from here he kicks off a 13-year project to honor veterans of the vietnam war today. the president will peek at the wall and honor those who served starting now and going through 2025, the 50-year anniversary of the last u.s. troops pulling out of saigon. reports of $5 a gallon gasoline by memorial day greatly exaggerated. we've seen a decline for 12 days. the national average $3.64 a gallon, about 30 cents a gallon less than this time last year. good news for an estimated 31 million americans driving more than 50 miles this memorial day weekend. and will smith now taking down superheroes, "men in black 3" knocked "the avengers" off the top spot at the box office this holiday weekend earning $55 million in its debut. "avengers" fell to second place. a couple in portland, oregon, raising the bar for marriage videos. isaac lamb enlisted more than 60 friends and friends to help him propose to amy franco. everyone is lip sinking to bruno mars "marry you" while franco is driven down the street listening to the song. she never imagined it was a proposal, as of this morning, the video has gotten more than 3 million views. she said yes. wouldn't you? >> that is awesome. that takes it to the next level. >> there are men around the country going oh, he ruined it for me, now i got to up my game. thanks. >> you're welcome. ahead on "starting point," hundreds of the pope's personal letters leaked to the media. did the butler really do it and in today's "get real" a 17-year-old honors student working two jobs to support her siblings thrown in jail and a panel is heading in to talk about it, ryan lizza, john fugelsang and will cain, good morning. dollars bp committed has helped fund economic and environmental recovery. long-term, bp's made a five hundred million dollar commitment to support scientists studying the environment. and 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. we're still committed to seeing this through. made with only milk... cream... a touch of sugar... and pure natural flavors. coffee-mate natural bliss. from nestle. add your flavor naturally. the butler did it, taken on new meaning at the vatican this morning. the catholic church is trying to find out who leaked confidential documents belonging to pope benedict. police arrest d the pontiff's butler, paolo gabriele. barbara news chief for "the daily beast" explain to me the drama here, the internal str struggle that these documents show? >> reporter: there's so many documents here, run the gamut from petty gossip to serious allegations of money laundering, corruption, where one cardinal is accusing another of hiding fitness of embezzlement, all sorts of serious allegations and for the first time ever we see a fracture in this secret city state. no w.h.o. knows, maybe the struggles have been going on for a long time but the fact we're seeing the documents is a very revealing bit of information. >> looks like these are legitimate documents. >> reporter: exactly. the veteran has not denied the authenticity of the documents. they say the publication of them in a book last week was criminal and a breach of privacy of the pope's privacy and the privacy of his sovereign nation but the journalist italian and the vatican does not have jurisdiction outside of its simplicity state so that's why they have jurisdiction over the butler and not over the journalist. >> the butler is part of an inner circle of seven laypeople who have, who work in the pope's apartments, maybe they're not all laypeople but seven people who are close to the pope at all times, 26 years. what do we know about him and his motives? >> he's a 46-year-old man, he's got a wife and three children. he is one of the few non-clerical members of the vat ran staff who live inside the vatican city state. he also has vatican citizenship, he has italian and vatican passports. he's one of a small number of people the pope has around him at all times from the moment he wakes up in the morning to the moment he goes to bed. the other people are two secretaries, two clerical secretaries, two ordained priests, four nuns and the butler, they have the most access to this man. what we don't know is if the butler acted alone, if he acted at all and we don't know what would have been his motivation. the journalist who published these documents says he didn't pay anyone for any information, didn't pay any of his sources so if that's true, money couldn't have been a motivation. whether or not there was a high-ranking cardinal or someone in the background maybe that's the direction the case is taking. >> was it a whistle-blower who saw things he didn't like and wanted to shed some light or a conspiracy behind the conspiracy? there's speculation that he couldn't have acted alone and it was part of a bigger conspiracy. vat ran historian said it's always been a strategy of tension, an orgy of vendettas and preemptive vendettas that has now spun out of control of those who thought they could orchestrate it." oh my goodness. >> reporter: as the pope gets older and you know, his health fails him a little bit you see people sort of vying for power positions with an eye to who will be the next pope and that's probably what's going on behind the scenes right now. >> certainly this book is a runaway best seller in italy as people are sort of peering -- there's always intrigue but to have it so public is what is so rare. >> reporter: that's right, this book is number one in all of the italian book sellers right now and it is not negative against the pope. it's got a lot of background information that we've never seen. there's a lot of gossip, talk about how a white truffle worth 100,000 euros ended up in a soup kitchen in rome, notes from celebrities, italian celebrities giving a major donation to the church and putting p.s. what about that private audience, a lot of that gossip especially in rome that is interesting to people here and the allegations of money crimes and things like that are especially troubles, one aspect has been noted in the italian press, the veteran doesn't pay property tax on its possessions of property within the italian state. italy is in an economic crisis. people are wondering what's going on behind the scenes here. there's also evidence of private meetings between the president of italy and the pope and what was going on. really shows you how much of a player the vatican is in italian politics and that translates to european politics as well in this context. >> bar dee daneau, thank you so much. you have the vatican trying to get control of their renegade feminist nuns in the united states, i'm exaggerating of course but when you look at how the vat ran is trying to be a moral authority for the rest of the world, when you see this lack of cohesion there how hard is it to tell someone else what to do? >> still one of the inpenetrable institution. every institution seems to have been penetrated. >> as a child of an ex-nun and ex-franciscan fryer, we hear how they're cracking down on nuns but not talking about abortion or gay marriage enough, two things jesus never mentioned but it's all about a power struggle and a lot of vatican insiders believe the butler is a complete fall guy, that this is all about who the next pope is going to be, there's no man this would be, his own confessor says he loves the vatican. he's one of the few families that lives behind the wall. i know it sounds shocking they're blaming the wrong guy but he's devoted to the pope and this is all about who the next pope will be. >> we'll talk more with john allen who is an expert on these things, too, in the next hour. ahead an honors high school student who works two jobs on top of going to school, thrown in jail, don't miss our "get real" next. a human traffic jam on mt. everest blamed for increased deaths and more dangerous conditions. hear from a man who just climbed the world's tallest mountain, coming up. what we achieved here. what we learned here. and what we pioneered here. all goes here. the one. the accord. smarter thinking from honda. now it's time to get real. she's an 11th grade honors student at willis high school in willis, texas, since her parents divorced and left her and her two siblings she's been the sole bread winner. she works a full time job and a part-time job and trying to support a brother at college at te texas a&m. she's missed entire days, sometimes late, she's an honors school. local authorities decided to use her case to crack down on truancy. texas law says students can have no more than three absences in one month. the local judge landy moriarty ordered her to pay a fine and spend 24 hours in jail as a lesson. wow. okay so this poor kid first of all her parents have failed her, period, right? this girl works at a dry cleaners, lives with one of her employers' families. it's really incredible how hard this kid is working and sometimes the alarm goes off in the morning and she just can't get up, she's worked all night long. >> did the parents separately abandon the family and she's going to jail. >> what's the judge's defense here? did he know the back story to this poor girl? >> the judge told khou he didn't know her situation at sentencing and may consider erasing the arrest from her record but doesn't want to appear soft. >> only in texas. >> "a little stay in the jail for one night is not a death sentence." >> can they put her on death row for this? >> no, john. there's a good gray area between those two sentences although this one is obviously unfairly harsh. come on, the girl is doing all she can to get by for herself and her family and as we've made clear she's know at the one failing. >> she should figure out how to get a ged and get herself into college as quickly as possible. it's sad someone has to work so hard so young. >> why aren't the parents held in court? >> where in the world the deadbeat parents went. ahead on "starting point" a human traffic jam on the world's highest mountain. despite four recent deaths, hear from a man who just reached the summit. paying tribute to the nation's fallen hawarriors on ts memorial day. martin dempsey, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff joins us next. el greasy ultra sheer® is clean and dry. it's the best for your skin. ultra sheer®. neutrogena®. with new chef's picks from lean cuisine. new dishes on the culinary cutting edge like mushroom mezzaluna ravioli and chile lime chicken. ♪ new chef's picks from lean cuisine. president obama is headed to arlington national cemetery in a few hours to lay a wreath at the tomb of the unknowns, a live look. the commander in chief will thank the men and women who have given their lives to service this country. more than 4,600 killed in iraq and afghanistan alone in the past 11 years ago. joining me is chairman of the joint chiefs of staff martin dempse