these beaches had been closed for people to get into the water, and we talked to a life guard just the other day about the strong rip currents that they are concerned about. take a listen. so i see the white caps out there. is that safe for a person to get into the water? >> no. it is not. the thing is with closing water completely, you let somebody knee deep they want to get waist deep. you let them waist deep they want to go in. >> reporter: what is a rip current? >> it's a channel of water pulls out to sea, too much water close to the shore, rip current will pull you out to sea, it's gravity. rip current will pull you out 20 to 150 yards at eight to ten miles an hour. >> reporter: we saw a lot of people out on the beach yesterday, no one was allowed in the water. the life guards made sure no one got in with the concern about rip currents. >> george howell for us this morning, thank you. we'll continue to check in with you throughout the morning to get updates. let's go tote rob marciano tracking all of this from the weather center. >> good morning, soledad, we're looking at this thing holding together fairly well, 30-mile-an-hour winds, the radar is showing rainfall that is just about to get to george, mostly on the east side of this thing. the center is just, pretty much over valdosta, georgia, the rain shield from savannah to daytona beach. we saw heavy rain yesterday, about six inches in spots, not a tremendous amount of intense flooding but certainly some pockets of flash flooding, this is an area that could use the rain, they don't want it all at one time but they're getting it. we're going to get rain across georgia and up through the carolinas as this tracks to the north and east so the low country will be filling up with water, three to six inches with this system and we have qualified watches that are posted as far north as north carolina. here's the forecast track from this system, it will intensify once it gets over water but that won't be until during the daytime tomorrow and by then it will accelerate and move out to sea, push out to sea by this strong cold front which is going to bring some relief incidentally to the northeast which has been rather steamy the past couple of days. >> yes it has, rob. let's talk about this earthquake in italy, if we can. we know that eight people have been killed. it's a 5.8 magnitude quake, kind of the same region in northern italy where another quake hit nine days ago and that quake killed seven people, centered near bologna, felt as far away as milan. rob, what can you tell us about that? >> very close, it was actually four or five miles away from the epicenter from the one that hit nine days ago. you see the damage there. you have to remember why this is different from california or japan, where the building codes are much, much stronger. these are a little bit more old world buildings in an industrial part of italy so they come down rather easily. 5.8 magnitude quake. the shaded area that's all the people that felt it, likely over 1 million people from venice to the swiss border to the italian riviera. the orange area which is zoomed in, the epicenter from about nine days ago, about five miles from this epicenter, very close there, about over 60,000 people felt strong shaking in the area that is seeing damage right now, we're seeing some of that coming into the cnn newsroom. this is technically an aftershock from the one that hit nine days ago. >> i was going to ask you if it was a new earthquake or an aftershock. how do they determine that? >> pretty much if it's smaller than the one that was previous to it and close enough, it's an aftershock. if it's bigger, then it's a whole new earthquake. at this point it's so close it doesn't matter, a 6.0 and 5.8 within two weeks of each other and within ten miles of each other. it's a devastating event. >> it's so terrifying for people. our hearts go out to them. rob i appreciate the update. christine has the day's top stories. good morning. >> good morning to you, soledad. an emergency effort is on to save a peace plan in syria. today u.n. envoy kofi annan is meeting with syria's president bashar al assad. kofi annan says his goal is to end suffering and convince the government to cooperate with his plan. global outrage has exploded following a bloody weekend massacre that left over 100 people dead including almost 50 children. u.s. officials warn if atrocities continue military intervention is on the table. new york city police have turned to the sanitation department for help as they try to corroborate a confession in the 33-year-old disappearance of etan patz. 51-year-old pedro hernandez told police he choked the 6-year-old boy to death and disposed of his body in a trash bag. police asked sanitation for trash pickup and dumping records dating back to 1979 when patz went missing. hernandez is held on a murder charge and kept on suicide watch. a 15-hour stand yourself comes to an end as the suspect falls 150 feet to his death after falling off the crane. police say he claimed to have a weapon and refused to leave the crane's cab. witnesses say he eventually got sick because the cab doesn't have air conditioning. look out below, pieces from what's believed to be an air canada jet raining down on people in the toronto suburb, metal chunks damaged several cars including one that smashed right through a windshield. luckily no one on the ground was injured. the air canada flight bound for tokyo when the boeing 777 lost an engine. the plane with 318 passengers on board doubled back and landed safely at toronto's pierce airport. mitt romney set to clinch the gop nomination today. he'll be in las vegas for a fund raise ear longside donald trump, who continues to question president obama's birth place. romney didn't concerned about trump's association with the birthers hurting him politically. >> you know, i don't agree with all the people who support me and i guess they don't all agree with everything i believe in, but i need to get 50.1% or more and i'm appreciative to have the help of a lot of good people. >> the obama administration criticizing romney for not distancing himself from trump's comments. we get reaction later this hour when soledad talks to andrea saul, the press secretary for the rohment know campaign. kids her age are learning how to read while this pint-sized girl is spelling her way to fame, the youngest to compete in the scripps national spelling bee. >> i'm not really excited like ah! i'm more like it's fun. i want to be an astro biologist because i like astronomy and biology and i'm aiming to be in the swimming part of the olympics. >> lori anne's qualifying word, vacaro, meaning cowboy which she spelled correctly to win the prince william county, virginia, spelling bee. >> you got to love a girl with no ambitions. i want to be in the swimming part of the olympics and also want to be an astro biologist because i'm 6 and everybody else wants to be a firefighter. >> wide range of options. >> yes she does. still ahead on "starting point" we'll talk about this assassination plot that's targeting american diplomats. some are linking it to iran and u.s. officials fear could be part of a broader campaign to kill foreign diplomats. we have details on the plot and what officials are trying to do to stop it. trying to crack the curse, we'll introduce to you five men and their goat named wrigley, walking more than 1,000 miles trying to break a curse that's brought nearly 70 years of bad luck for the cubs. our "starting point" team, margaret mover, alicia me mendez and will cain. good morning, good morning, good morning. >> good morning! >> i didn't get the memo about cerulean blue. we're back after the break. 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[ male announcer ] it's a network of possibilities -- helping you do what you do... even better. ♪ helping you do what you do... even better. we love theme parks but with four kids, it can just be too expensive. yeah, so to save money we just de our own. oh no! what could be worse than ninety-foot swells?! typhoon! first prize! it's a cheese grater. wooooo... this isn't scary. are you kidding me? look at that picture of your mom's hair from the '80s. there's an easier way to save. wooohooo... geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. a plot to assassinate americans is being linked to iran. u.s. investigators are trying to get to the bottom of what is a pretty intricate plan to try to take out american diplomats and their families. according to "the washington post" the plot involves snipers with silencer equipped rifles and a car bomb. among the targets, u.s. embassy staff, and family members in ayzerbajan. joining us is fran townsend. good morning, nice to see you. "the washington post" headline says it is an assassination plot. what do you think is the odds it's iran? >> i think it's pretty good. here's what we know about iran's sort of modus operandi. we've seen them behind attacks against diplomats in india, in georgia, in thailand. you remember the magnetic attachable bombs using c4. iran does not want a full-on military conflict with the united states. what they prefer are these small scale one-off attacks. we saw, frankly, the most egregious up to this report was the plot to assassinate the saudi ambassador here in the united states. so we do see the iranians using these sorts of tactics, these methods as provocation without going so far as to launch a military attack. >> but why target the diplomats in eyazerbajan. >> i think the iranians are anticipating real effect of the increase in sanctions particularly those targeting the oil sector, the fact they pulled back on that makes sense. we're feeling heat from the american sections and the u.s. alliance with israel. certainly americans are not immune. we've seen in the 1980s the barracks bombing. this wouldn't be the first time, it's the most recent attack. >> you said last night if this is true this would constitute an act of war. what would that mean effectively? >> this came up with an attack on a diplomat on u.s. soil. this is frankly an extension of the debate that started then so any attack against an american official whether it's in the u.s. or someplace around the world really does constitute an act of war. when all that really means is, what then, which tools does the united states choose to use to retaliate against it? does it use military force? probably not because it would be a single attack, but it could, and frankly, that only goes to the fact of what are the tools that become available for the united states to use in retaliation. >> so if in fact it is considered to be an act of war, what do you think are the rules of engagement could then potentially change? >> that's right. the question becomes does the u.s. use this event in particular if they feel that there is sufficient intelligence and evidence to link the iranian government, that the iranian government was truly behind this plot, do they choose to use an overt and military response or we've seen this sort of cat and mouse game that's going on. we've got to believe that there's covert action being used by the united states and its allies against the iranians. the iranians have used these one-off attacks so you've got this low level, low intensity conflict going on. >> fran, what is the historical parallel for this? it's not just one way by the way. we see iranian scientists being bombed inside of iran. it essentially amounts to what seems like a shadow war of the tit for tat. is there a historical provocation anything in the past to look at and say how does this play out? >> it's interesting, these shadow wars go hot and cold. there will be a period where it's sort of intense, you mentioned the iranian nuclear scientists, i mentioned the ones around in georgia, india and thailand and all of a sudden it goes cold where you have some parallel process in place so the negotiations are ongoing. if the negotiations begin to fall apart will we see, right, exactly right, and i think we have to expect that, and there's no sort of you don't see any path to it suddenly just evaporating unless there's some resolution to the ongoing conflict. >> correspondent r enent reza ss there is a conflict. let's play a little bit of what he said earlier today. >> reporter: here's it doesn't tie the plot to the iranian government or groups tied to the iranian government, doesn't name a single iranian implicated in the plot, doesn't tell us who ordered the plot and acknowledges the obama administration hasn't tied the plot to the government. >> so he's saying there are many, many holes, there are lots of we do not knows at this point in the article. do you find it unusual? >> the reporter of "the washington post" is a well-known, well respected and very credible reporter on national security and intelligence matters, first. second, this is how you write a national security and intelligence story because many of the sources, much of what he's written is probably still classified. he refers to a six-page memo that one of his sources is seeing, which would be highly classified and so of course these people, it would be a crime for them to have spoken to him and released the information. they have to be anonymous sources so i frankly, and third, what he's reported is consistent with what we know about iranian activity in the past, and in the recent past, including the saudi plot which i've mentioned. for all three reasons i find the article to be incredibly useful, inciteful and credible. >> of iran targeting diplomats overseas. nice to see you. today's "get real" takes us to the ball field, the greatest moment from memorial day tributes. watch "cnn live" on your computer or cell phone at cnn.com/live. we're america's natural gas and here's what we did today: supported nearly 3 million steady jobs across our country... ... scientists, technicians, engineers, machinists... ... adding nearly 400 billion dollars to our economy... we're at work providing power to almost a quarter of our homes and businesses... ... and giving us cleaner rides to work and school... and tomorrow, we could do even more. cleaner, domestic, abundant and creating jobs now. we're america's natural gas. the smarter power, today. learn more at anga.us. and waiting in line. i don't have to leave my desk and get up and go to the post office anymore. 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[ male announcer ] get a 4-week trial plus $100 in extras including postage and a digital scale. go to stamps.com/tv and never go to the post office again. ♪ good job. >> margaret hoover is becoming will cain. there's a banjo in that song, that's the gourds "gin and juice." check out on the website at cnn.com/startingpoint and follow me on twitter @soledad obrien. alex and annie bush, target field, twins were playing the tigers. take a look. >> taking part in our race around the bases, and they're off, little stutter step there, putting on their shoes, the first one to cross home plate will be our winner. folks, what you're seeing right now is a reunion, master sergeant robert bush is returning from his sixth deployment overseas. he landed in minnesota from afghanistan about an hour ago. the girls had no idea their dad would be here at home plate waiting for them. master sergeant, there's not a lot we can do to add to this moment for you, but as twins fans, we want to say god bless you for your service! >> oh my gosh. i cried through the whole thing. i loved that so much. he was deployed for five months. his sixth deployment in afghanistan. he's, he serves with the minnesota national guard. his girls all smiles, they actually were great and happy and the father said he was an emotional wreck and could barely keep it together. >> the part about that i loved we to kill three hours that morning before the game that he couldn't even see them or go there or connect. he just had to walk around town. >> holding teddy bears and flowers. love those stories. >> i almost cried reading this story to be honest and now you see the video. round third base and see their dad. >> so cute, so cute. i love that. that was our "get real" this morning. ahead on "starting point," mitt romney said to unveil his trump card so to speak later today, wondering if teaming up with the donald could cost him some votes, brings us back to the birther issue. and five men and a goat walk into a bar -- i'm kidding. five men and a goat walk from california to chicago, to crack the curse for 70 years and they're bringing their goat, too, to "starting point." >> three months together walking together. these guys hate each other. we're going to ask them. >> will you stop? >> i'm excited there's going to be a goat on set. really, a goat? >> i don't know if it's going to be on set. they're in chicago. there he is. straight ahead. stay with us. [ male announcer ] great tasting tap water can come from any faucet anywhere. the brita bottle with the filter inside. there are a lot of warning lights and sounds vying for your attention. so we invented a warning.. you can feel. introducing the all new cadillac xts, available with the patented safety alert seat. when there is danger you might not see, you're warned by a pulse in the seat. it's technology you won't find in a mercedes e-class. the all new cadillac xts has arrived. and it's bringing the future forward. welcome back to "starting point," everybody. let's get to headlines. christine romans has that for us. good morning. >> thank you. police in italy arrested a sergeant in the u.s. military on pedophilia charges. we're told the sergeant is from a u.s. military base in camp darby near pisa. we'll bring you more details as they come in. we're hearing the 911 calls for the if, time after a family became stranded on a steep and snowy side of a mountain for hours when their small plane crash landed. it took rescue crews hours to reach a california firefighter and his wife and daughter after their cessna went down in idaho. choppers eventually found them but couldn't land because of six-foot-high snow drifts and 60-degrees slopes. it was their daughter who called 911 for help. >> owyhee county 911, what is your emergency? >> i'm on an airplane and i crashed in the mountains. >> where are you at, hon? >> in the 29 miles east of -- west of mountain home, idaho. i need to you send a search party, please. >> the family spent the entire night in freezing whiteout conditions before choppers eventualitily pulled them up. the family is recovering in the hospital. trailblazers, war heroes and music legends, highlights the list of people who will receive the presidential medal of free doll. president obama presenting the honor to 13 people, including its first woman to serve as secretary of state, madeleine albright, former senator john glenn, will also receive a medal along with nobel winning novelest toni morrison and bob dylan who just finished his 35th album if you're counting. in this morning's hk hk take aspirin for persistent headaches you may be fighting skin cancer. people who took other anti-inflammatories at high doses for years at a time may have a reduced risk of skin cancer. the pills inhibit some of the same cell enzyme inflammation found in skin cancer patients. before you run to your local drugstore, the study in 2008 found no connection. all you ladies working the night shift, a study who shows women who work nights and describe themselves as morning people are four times more likely to develop breast cancer as those who work during the day. the reason for the connection is unclear. sleep deprivation weakening the immune system is listed as a possible factor. >> i believe it. all that cortisol you don't get when you're sleep deprived, as someone who is completely sleep deprived. dr. o'brien who calls sanjay gupta all the time who says get more sleep. today to officially be the day mitt romney officially claim the gop's nomination. he has 100066 d1,066 delegatese, just 78 delegates shy of grabbing the nomination. he's campaigning in both colorado and las vegas, nevada today. he has speeches planned focusing on the economy and jobs, and also a cameo from donald trump and newt gingrich in the state of nevada so joining us to talk about all this is andrea saul, press secretary for the rohment know campaign. nice to see you. thanks for talking with us as always. >> good to see you. >> let's talk jobs the focus for the week sounds like it's been jobs and going to be jobs. governor romney says president obama has not created any jobs. what is the governor's message today? >> what you're going to see today and the rest of this week foe using on how president obama is hostile to business. you can't be hostile to job creators and for jobs, and so we have put out a new web video talks about how president obama thinks political appointees can make better decisions about where our taxpayer money is spent than free enterprise can and he's rewarded his donors with taxpayer dollars for failed projects like solyndra, so this week we'll continue to focus on the fact that you can't be for jobs and against job creators. >> sounds like he's been touting his own record with jobs not only at bain capital but governor of the state of massachusetts so let's start with bain capital. back in 1994, the governor said this, that he had helped create 10,000 jobs. he said "i'm always careful to use the word helped create or mitt romney helped create over 10,000 jobs." that was back in 1994. "i don't take credit for the jobs at staples. i helped create the job at staples" that was "the boston globe" in 1994 and eric fenstrom said this when he was being interviewed. >> when you create value, add value as they did in trying to improve companies you also add employment and a rough back of the envelope estimate of how many jobs they created is well in excess of 100,000. >> can you do the math for me that 10,000 in '49 to today, that in '94 to today, 10,000 to 90 tmpblt 90,000? >> staples, sports authority, bright horizons, they created over 100,000 jobs. with a startup company those likely wouldn't have existed had it not been for the help of bain capital, so those are the jobs he's talking about. what we can see is governor romney has 25 years of experience as a businessman and entrepreneur creating jobs. the only thing president obama has managed is his own narrative. governor romney has the experience, he's learned from his successes and failures and he created more jobs at bain capital or helped create more jobs at bain capital than president obama has in the entire nation as president. >> what are some of the failures he's learned from? >> look, in business, any entrepreneur knows that things don't always work out the way you want. the goal was always to grow companies, to make them better, but it's not always going to work out. there are outside factors he's learned about and for instance a lot of things he's going to take to the white house for instance, free trade, he wants to re reinvigorate free trade agreements, doesn't think it's fair china's sending this much goods to us and we're only sending this much to them so let's even it out, that way we can create more jobs at home, get more goods out of the country. he also understands that regulations are a burden on companies. >> let me stop you for a second, you said he learned from his failures and i was asking what specific failures and what specifically did he learn? >> right, no, that's what i'm telling you, not every business is successful, so he had successes. he had failures. i don't have any specific examples to pass on, but they're going to be ups and downs in anybody in the private sector understands that. president obama doesn't seem to understand that. he's been picking winners and losers, like solyndra and rewarding campaign donors with taxpayer dollars and it's taxpayers that suffer from that instead of private investors. >> what's the governor's message when he looks at his record as governor of massachusetts, what's he telling folks about that? >> you know, look, if you look at his time in massachusetts, the unemployment rate came down and jobs were created. i think that any governor would be proud of that record. if you take governor romney left massachusetts with a 4.6 unemployment rate and that's as opposed to president obama who promised with the passage of the stimulus that at this point today the unemployment rate would be at 6% or lower. it's not at 6% or lower so we'll take governor romney's solid record of job creation and bringing the unemployment rate down and compare it to president obama's any day. >> mayor rudy giuliani didn't seem to consider it a solid record of job creation when he was interviewed by candy crowley over the weekend. i'll play a chunk of what he told her. listen. >> i had massive reduction in unemployment. we a reduction in unemployment of about 8%, 10%, i think it was 15%. i had a reduction of unemployment of 50%. they had a growth of jobs of about 40,000. we had a growth of jobs of 500,000 so i was comparing what i thought was my far superior record to his otherwise decent record, but the numbers aren't as great. >> if you compare it and i'm sure you've looked a million times to other states, the numbers massachusetts job creation, 0.9%, so just under 1%, new york was 2.7%, california 4.7, carolina 7.the, national average overall up 5%. do you think that's going to be a, basically what giuliani says like enh, the numbers were not so great? >> you know, what's interesting is when governor romney came into massachusetts, it was, the state was facing a similar situation as the united states was when president obama took office, which was the state was in a recession, jobs were declining, the unemployment rate was up, and so when governor romney came in there, he -- >> i don't think that's true actually. i think the state in 2003 was in an economic upswing, wasn't it in 2003 in massachusetts? >> no, when he took over the state was losing jobs and he turned that around. if you look, i'm happy to send it to you when i'm back at my desk later but the state, how it's facing economic troubles, there was a $3 billion budget deficit, he turned that into a $2 billion rainy day fund and again, he lowered unemployment rate and created jobs which was a reversal of what had been happening. >> before i let you go i want to take one moment to talk about syria, governor romney's been critical of president obama on syria. what would the governor do right now in syria? >> the governor would work to our allies to arm the syrian opposition so they can defend themselves against the syrian government. what we've seen with president obama is paralysis. there have been 10,000 people that have been killed and so governor romney would make sure to work with our allies to help arm the syrian opposition, so that they can defend themselves, and ultimately the goal would have to be there would be a new government in syria. >> the syrian opposition is very diverse and one of the reasons people have advised against arming the syrian opposition is sometimes they're worried the equipment and weapon also get into the hands of al qaeda and they'd start fighting each other. would he believe you just arm, should the united states be arming the opposition in syria? >> i said that they should, yes. >> we should arm the opposition in syria? >> work with our allies to do so. >> all right, andrea saul, we're out of time. thanks for joining us as always. appreciate it. >> thanks for having me. still ahead on "starting point" a tv anchor being attacked because he said this, "i feel uncomfortable calling fallen soldiers heroes," that was on memorial day weekend. did he cross the line? we'll talk about that. cracking the curse of the billy goat. how this goat, that little goat right there and the five men who are walking that goat more than 1,000 miles across the country, are trying to help snap a decade's long curse. you're watching "starting point." we're back in just a moment. s ! where ? where ? it's getting away ! where is it ? it's gone. we'll find it. any day can be an adventure. that's why we got a subaru. love wherever the road takes you. wow, there it is. i have a great fit with my dentures. i love kiwis. i've always had that issue with the seeds getting under my denture. super poligrip free -- it creates a seal of the dentures in my mouth. even well-fitting dentures let in food particles. super poligrip is zinc free. with just a few dabs, it's clinically proven to seal out more food particles so you're more comfortable and confident while you eat. super poligrip free made the kiwi an enjoyable experience. [ charlie ] try zinc free super poligrip. ♪ ♪ they're singing go, cubs, go, go, cubs go ♪ ♪ hey, chicago, what do you say, the cubs are gonna win today ♪ ♪ go, go, go >> come on, come on, please, cubs s what cubs fans are saying. five guys and a goat walk into a bar, doesn't it sound like it's going to be an awful joke? in fact five guys and a goat finished a 1,300-mile trek across the country, trying to overturn the curse in 1945 when a chicago owner was kicked out of a world series game after a goat he brought with them was stinky. "them cubs aren't going to win no more." they haven't won, haven't played in a single world series game let alone win one. so this morning we're joined by matt, p.j., philip, blake and kyle and their goat, wrigley. it's a 1,300-mile hike. the cubs will play the padres. will wrigley be allowed in thus reversing the curse, that is the $64,000 question. >> we're not so sure about that but i think whether he goes in or not the curse will be lifted and total mileage is about 2,000 miles that we walked because we went a roundabout path. we think the curse will be lifted once we hit wrigley stadium. >> you're not bringing wrigley in, i'm sure he's not a stinky goat like the goat back in 1945. don't you have to bring the goat in? >> well the main focus of our hike is the curse of cancer, and we know the cubs are donating to that. if he watches the game grrr outside i think it will still be lifted. >> we have our fingers crossed for that. how has it been hiking with a goat which i have to say i've never done? >> a lot of patience. they're a goat, they're stubborn and he's our buddy. raised over $20,000 for cancer research. >> congratulations. i don't know where to go with this. do you stay in hotels with the goat, a camp site, do people babysit the goat? >> camp on the side of the road, stayed in a couple hotels, few houses. wrigley has been in a couple of hotels and houses but we tried to get our 25 miles, find a spot to camp and right off the side of the road, a couple hundred yards off the road. >> my name is margaret, you can't see me through your satellite but i am supporting the billy goat tavern hat which was the owner of the tavern that had this goat who was kicked out of the world series game in 1945 and i just a lot of loyalty, a lot of respect for you guys for sticking in with the cubs for this long, and i just have to ask, why are you so sure hiking 1,300 miles with a goat is going to reverse your curse? >> it's about respecting the goat and the hike is about 2,000 miles but raising money for cancer research and letting the goat see all the different parts of the country, like route 66. the goat's helped us raise over $20,000, probably close to $25,000 now and the cubs are going to make a donation today so to me that's respecting the goat and i think that was part of the curse, not respecting the goat. >> i love that. >> when we went through st. louis, when we went through st. louis the cubs were playing there and we watched the game and wrigley went outside and didn't go in the stadium there and the cubs won, so he's a good luck charm no matter what. >> i like that. i got to ask you a question what happens to wrigley when the walk is done, nearly 2,000 miles. i know you had a little pack, cart for wrigley. where does wrigley go post hike? >> wrigley is zgoing to go to kyle's farm in michigan and he'll go there and retire and live a good goat life. >> a good goat life. >> i go to the ask you real quick, you've been with each other every day for three months walking 2,000 miles, sleeping outside and caretaking a goat. how tired are you guys of each other? >> i think that's bond building. >> i think at this point it's come full circle. once we start seeing the finish line, everything kind of started smoothing out. we all got along pretty good, a couple rough patches but that's expected when you spend 24 hours a day together. >> it's your turn pushing the goat, take turn pushing the goat in the cart, is that right? >> yes, every five. >> we'd each do about five miles and take a break and someone else would get their turn pushing him. >> wow. good luck. >> everyone pushes the goat. >> i hope that you're able to reverse the curse. i can't wait to see wrigley retiring on a farm, having now seen much of america, that's exciting and also i know matt gregory's mom was treated at the hutchinson cancer research center, he lost his mom so the dual mission of raising money for cancer is fantastic as well. thank you, gentlemen. we'll be rooting today only for the cubs here. nice to see you guys. still ahead on "starting point" we'll talk about the msnbc anchor chris hayes, he said he feels uncomfortable calling dead american soldiers heroes. did he cross the line? and radioactive tuna caught off the coast after a 6. mi6,000 mile migration from japan. we're back in just a moment. 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[ whirring and beeping ] it's the at&t network -- doing more with data to help business do more for customers. ♪ ♪ >> very nice. i like that. that's off will cain's playlist. let's talk about what happened over the weekend with chris hayes. an msnbc anchor. he's apologizing for saying he is uncomfortable to use the word hero to describe soldiers killed in action. >> i feel uncomfortable with the word hero because it seems to me that it is so proximate to justifications for more war. i don't want to obviously disrespect memory of anyone that's fallen and obviously there are individual circumstances in which there is tremendous heroism, rescue a fellow soldier and things like that. it seems to me that this is problematic. maybe i'm wrong about that. >> he might have been wrong about that because he had to apologize. a lot of backlash. he said i don't think i lived up to the standard of rigor and respect and empathy for those affected by the issues that we discuss that i've set for myself. i am deeply sorry for that. it is easy for me to opine about people who fight our wars having never dodged a bullet or guarded a post or walked a mile in their boots. what i found unsettling about it is people can decide and define what's a hero. why do we think -- >> chris was doing it inside of that statement. inside of that clip that we just saw. in other words, he qualified one guy in a hail of gunfire saves soldiers as heroism and others that serve as not heroism. he threw a -- >> it's not that black and white about it. i think that if you risk your life in the service of your country then you are a hero. i think his job is to ask difficult questions and he posed a difficult question even saying that he himself had some ambiguity around it. >> chris was trying to have a conversation about the word hero and how it's used with justification for war and how that is used politically. the problem is inside of that statement he's imposing his own subjective determinations of heroism. >> write this down. will cain and i agree. it's inappropriate to define the word hero. i run around the country covering stories. people do heroic things in tiny microways that would be inappropriate to say is that heroic or not? someone that holds their hand while they die is a hero. people do heroic actions all the time. >> it's a man or woman of distinguished courage or ability admired for brave deeds and noble qualities. all of us here on the panel agree that every single man or woman who voluntarily puts their line in the military which is all volunteer and defends our country is a hero. >> it's noble and brave. >> and a lot of people are heros as well. i would say don't try to define it for people. that's my feeling. ahead, the united states army g i giving drones. a plane fall ace part in mid air. that would be a plane's part. what called the jet's engine to fall from the sky. you're watching "starting point." ses germs in 75% of your mouth, listerine® cleans virtually your entire mouth. so take your oral health to a whole new level. listerine®... power to your mouth™. your doctor will say get smart about your weight. i tried weight loss plans... but their shakes aren't always made for people with diabetes. that's why there's glucerna hunger smart shakes. they have carb steady, with carbs that digest slowly to help minimize blood sugar spikes. and they have six grams of sugars. with fifteen grams of protein to help manage hunger... look who's getting smart about her weight. 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"starting point" begins right now. ♪ i love this modern day new york. you are driving downtown manhattan. >> this replaces sinatra's? >> you are inciting violence. why would you say that? >> a simple question. >> empire state building. >> our panel this morning is margaret hoover, cnn contributor also an author of "america individual" and alicia mendendez and will cain, cnn contributor and columnist for blaze.com. our "starting point" this morning is the weather. beryl is dumping a foot of rain in some areas this morning looming across florida and georgia. some of those areas believe it or not are thankful for the rain. a long stretch of drought. beryl is creating dangerous surf conditions including rip tide moving toward the carolinas. george howell is live in georgia. how is it looking? >> reporter: soledad, good morning. don't let the sunlight fool you. a few miles that way there's a lot of rain happening in savannah. we are right on the edge of this storm. this very slow moving system. that's expected to dump a lot of rain on this area. just a year ago this area was in a drought condition. a lot of people will be happy to have the rain but there is a concern about flash flooding and in fact some flash flood watches have been issued for the area. there's also concern on the beaches. i want to pan out and show you here. you see white caps out there indicating a lot of wind. the big concern is the rip currents out here. now lifeguards have been preventing people from getting in the water. they have been doing that for the last two days and they may continue today. take a listen to what a lifeguard had to say to us just yesterday. what is a rip current and what's the concern about rip currents out here? >> basically a rip current is a body of water that pulls out to sea when there's too much water close to the store and it's back filling. rip current will pull you out to sea from 20 to 150 yards, eight to ten miles an hour. >> can you swim against a rip current? how do you get out of it? >> you have trouble operating a jet ski against a rip current. >> that strong? >> it's that strong. to get out you can either ride it out, if you're a strong swimmer, swim straight back in when it is over with or swimming parallel to shore is the best bet. >> reporter: a live picture on the beaches and you can see a few people out here. we saw a lot more out here yesterday and we doubt that we'll see that today because again we're expecting a lot of rain out here and it is still to be determined whether people will be allowed into the ocean. very likely not from what i've been told by lifeguards as they watch this system move in. >> george, thank you for the update. we'll keep checking with you to see how it's going to folks. appreciate it. here's rob marciano. tracking it from the weather center. >> this storm holding itself together well this morning. satellite image showing a bit of moisture but radar really showing it. the center of it is there. everything to the east is still wet as far south as orlando and as far north as savannah, georgia. this will continue to rotate throughout the day today and make its way up off the coastline of savannah and charleston later tonight. may intensify there. the damage is rainfall. over a foot of rain reported at a station in midway, florida. that's near tallahassee. six to eight inches in other spots. they desperately need rain. there's been pockets of obviously isolated flash flooding. a couple warnings still out this morning. here's where the rain is going to spread over the next 48 hours all of the way up into the carolinas. flash flood watches posted from outer banks back through jacksonville and as far south and west as tampa. these systems can dump a lot of rain and that's what we get. in most cases they can use it. forecast track brings it offshore of charleston later tonight and intensifying off the banks of carolinas and then it will pick up speed and head out to sea. all of this is pushed by in front squeezing some of that stifling air that northeast has been enduring the past couple days and cooler and drier behind it it threat for thunderstorms could be severe from texas, oklahoma, all of the way up through western pennsylvania and upstate new york. soledad, back to you. >> rob marciano keeping us up to date on that. christine romans has a look at the headlines. good morning. >> new this morning, another deadly earthquake rocks northern italy. ten people killed in the latest quake. 5.8 magnitude following another quake in the same region nine days ago that killed seven people. rob marciano says this morning's quake may have been felt by a million people across the country. two powerful aftershocks were reported both aftershock greated than 5.0. emergency effort is on to save a peace plan in syria. today kofi annan is meeting with syria's president bashar al assad saying his goal is to end suffering and convince the government to cooperate with his plan. global outrage has simply exploded following a bloody weekend massacre that left more than 100 people dead including 50 children. u.s. officials warn if these atrocities continue, military intervention could be likely. the united states is reportedly planning to sell armored drone aircraft to italy. "the wall street journal" says the drones will be outfitted with missiles and laser guided bombs. u.s. officials say italy plans to deploy them in afghanistan. some lawmakers say the sale could make it harder for the u.s. to deny weaponized drones to other allies but supporters say the sales will enable trusted allies to conduct their own military missions. congress is expected to approve the plan. new york city police hoping the sanitation department can help corroborate a confession in the 33-year-old disappearance of etan patz. 51 yearly pedro hernandez told police he choked the 6-year-old boy to death and then disposed of his body in a trash bag. police asked sanitation officials for trash pickup and dumping records back to 1979 when patz went missing. hernandez is being held on a murder charge and kept on suicide watch. air canada investigating an incident in which pieces of what's believed to be a boeing 777 were raining down on people in a toronto suburb. the metal chunks damaged several cars including one that smashed through a windshield. luckily no one on the ground was injured. the air canada flight had just taken off bound for tokyo when the jet lost an engine. the plane with 318 passengers on board doubled back and landed safely at toronto's airport. baseball and memorial day go together. this was an amazing moment on the diamond. a u.s. airman surprising his family at the braves/cardinals game in atlanta. dave simms recorded a special message for his wife and kids. he been away six months stationed with the air force in afghanistan. his family got to come down on the field during the fifth inning. simms said i love you and can't wait to see you again. watching the message and they didn't have to wait because he shocked his family walking out on the field to greet them. this makes me want to cry. they got to watch the rest of the game in the owners box and every time something like that happens -- >> you could just do these on loop. i love it when mom or dad walks into the kids' classroom and child's face is just one of absolutely being stunned. we should do that. >> all of us at the panel here, thank you. still ahead this morning on "starting point," we're going to talk about that radioactive waste from japan that's been showing up on the coast of california. and this morning potential warning about fish from those waters that could end up in our grocery store and cnn tracks down that anti-gay pastor from north carolina. he's the guy that called for gays and lesbians who wants electric pens. senator john mccain knows how to handle a heckler. call them a jerk. made with only milk... cream... a touch of sugar... and pure natural flavors. coffee-mate natural bliss. from nestle. add your flavor naturally. throughout our entire lives. ♪ one a day women's 50+ is a complete multi-vitamin designed for women's health concerns as we age. ♪ it has more of seven antioxidants to support cell health. that's one a day women's 50+ healthy advantage. to support cell health. to get people to try on these new depend silhouette briefs, and today we are rocking the red carpet. look it's lisa rinna! lisa hiii,i know you don't need one but will you try on these new depend silhouette briefs for charity and prove just how great the fit is even under a fantastic dress? are you serious? i am serious... sure why not! she's doing it! the best protection now looks, fits and feels just like underwear. hey lisa, who ya wearing? she's wearing the new depend silhouette. 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[ whirring and beeping ] it's the at&t network -- doing more with data to help business do more for customers. ♪ [ male announcer ] for our families... our neighbors... and our communities... america's beverage companies have created a wide range of new choices. developing smaller portion sizes and more low- & no-calorie beverages... adding clear calorie labels so you know exactly what you're choosing... and in schools, replacing full-calorie soft drinks with lower-calorie options. with more choices and fewer calories, america's beverage companies are delivering. scientists say they found low levels of radiation in bluefin tuna off the united states coast. professor nicholas fischer is one who reported the findings. nice to see you, sir. let's talk about the percentages and now they trace them to these bluefin tuna. >> these were fish caught off san diego in august 2011. we dissected fish and analyzed the muscle tissue for radioactivity and we found two with cesium. >> that's the link to fukushima. what was the percentage of cesium inside the tuna? >> we don't measure in terms of percentage. the radio activity of the two combined was ten becquerels per kilogram. that isn't very meaningful. it's not terrible. it means a disper second. it is attributable to potassium 40 and had these fish had about 350 becquerels per kilogram of potassium 40 compared to ten of the artificial cesium. so the total radioactivity was 10% by the time the fish arrived in california. >> not very much. >> that's the thing. we hear radiation and go into a tizzy. we're going to get cancer. but actually, we're all exposed every day of our life to certain amounts of radiation that don't actually harm us. is the amount of radiation in this tuna harmful or not? >> darn it. margaret wants to know. can i eat the tuna? >> i would personally -- if i hesitated to eat those tuna it would not be because of radio activity. it would be muramericmercury. >> if we had a sushi plate of that tuna, you would not worry about the radioactivity. >> i would not. if i may add -- >> that scared me when he said that. >> we calculated what the radio activity would have been when the fish left japan. they migrate to the waters off california and mexico. we estimate it takes about three to four months for them to do that. when they left japan, they were more radioactive. instead of 3% of the ground they were probably 45% attributable to cesium. >> is this safe for sale on the market? this fish can be sold? >> these are well below safety limits set by all of the countries of the world including japan and the united states. >> isn't the bigger picture how much radioactive waste has floated its way to california and we're just measuring those. >> it's interesting you mention that. >> it scares me when you say that. >> i'll try to put your mind at ease. we also measured yellowfin tuna caught at the same place at the same time off san diego in august. and yellowfin tuna tend to be more residential. they don't transit the entire pacific. they had no radio activity attributable to cesium which meant that the radioactivity that we found in the bluefin tuna were actually transported by the fish from japan all of the way to california. it's not that the cesium was carried by currents all of the way to california and picked up by local fish. >> i guess that's better news for california and terrible news for the folks who live around fukushima. >> we don't know what the story will be this year. that was last year. >> appreciate it. i covered that story. as we would drive by the main highway not very far past fukushima plant and we never were really aware because of course you never were getting actual real accurate statistics about the amount of radiation being released into the environment and kept widening the area in which you should not be. mitt romney is teaming up with the donald despite mr. trump's controversial birther comments. we'll talk about that and say why romney thinks that he needs the donald to help him win come november. you can catch us live on your computer or cell phone. head to wcnn.com/live. from my playlist, this is stevie wonder. let's ring you up. mary? 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take a look. >> i don't agree with all the people that support me and i need to get 50.1% or more and i'm appreciative to have the help of a lot of good people. >> let's chat about this. he just said i don't agree with all of the people who support me and i guess that they don't all agree with everything i believe in. do you think that mitt romney is a mistake to embrace donald trump because he's not some random supporter. they are doing fund-raising events together. he introduces him at events and has. >> there are two things here. first, donald trump is doing a fund-raiser for mitt romney. he's not going on the stump for him or advocating his position on behalf of mitt romney. he's not a surrogate. i sort of agree with george will and his column which called donald trump and what are they thinking going in such high profile public events with donald trump. 24% of americans apparently still believe this birther stuff. the secretary of state of arizona just this week had asked the secretary of state of hawaii to see the certificate and long form certificate that president obama released. asked if it was real. said done. case closed. again the case is closed. and then it continues to percolate to the surface. >> 53% of nonhispanic whites feel anxious about how quickly america is changing and about our huge demographic change. they think it will change the values of our country and this plays right into that. you delve into those numbers. there are people mitt romney needs to turn out in a primary. >> primary is over. >> it sounds like you are saying that this is an intentional move by governor romney to support someone who is a birther. he supports birthers without supporting birthers technically. >> with all of the baggage that trump brings, he brings voters to the table and they know they need those voters to limp over the finish line. >> will cain is doing this when he starts rubbing his chin. i can see him thinking. >> i think that there has to be a caveat. you are not responsible for all of the views of your surrogate. we don't want to start that game. we don't want to analyze views of every celebrity that endorses president obama. that being said, don't align yourself -- >> this is going both ways. >> don't align yourself with donald trump. >> this is different. it's a conversation we've had for much too long. he's not just a celebrity. he's someone who actually said he wanted to run for president. he's someone who some people take seriously as a political figure in america. with that comes greater risk. >> you open yourself up to this criticism. >> this could also be resolved. mitt romney could say donald trump stop saying it. he's not -- he's not kenyan. he doesn't have a kenyan birth certificate. the birther issue is over. >> mitt romney had certainly said he doesn't buy into the birther issue and that president obama is an american. >> he hasn't said -- he has said that. he hasn't said donald shut it on that issue. >> telling donald to shut it really works. how many times have they told donald to shut it and he obeyed? >> if you have a person throwing fundraisers for you at a higher level than the average person that supports you. donald trump is not just random joe who supports mitt romney. donald trump is in a special category. he's not a surrogate. i'll give you that. if someone was running around saying i'm will cain. i believe in will cain and spouting something that you knew not to be true -- >> i wouldn't say shut it. i would say don't hang out with me anymore. i don't think mitt romney should hang out with donald trump. i would say don't hang out with me. he's made a mistake because of people like alicia, it leaves you wide open to criticism. >> at what point does the romney campaign think this is beneficial? they get texas today. are you absentee voting in your home state? >> i take a driver's license with me everywhere i go. >> they don't need those votes anymore. if this was a plate at the base play for the primary, fine. the primary is long over. at which point does the romney campaign think this fund-raiser is done in las vegas and we move on from trump. >> is there a strategy in keeping donald trump on your side and happy because donald trump angry can take to the airwaves like that and take you out. >> especially given the dearth of celebrities on the republican side. >> does it matter? >> i think it does matter. when you have sara jessica parker which feels like a flash back to 1995 sending e-mails out for obama, you hope on the gop side have someone that can bring you attention. >> maybe we have kiss. maybe we have a lot of rockers. republican rockers for romney. >> ted nugent. >> all right. still ahead this morning on "starting point," is iran trying to assassinate americans? a new report with u.s. officials on the hit list. preaching hate, cnn tracks down that controversial pastor who wants to lockup gays inside an electric fence. see what he said. you're watching "starting point." back in a moment. i've been a superintendent for 30 some years at many different park service units ross the united states. the only time i've ever had a break is when i was on maternity leave. i have retired from doing this one thing that i loved. now, i'm going to be able to have the time to explore something different. it's like another chapter. yoo-hoo. hello. it's water from the drinking fountain at the mall. [ male announcer ] great tasting tap water can come from any faucet anywhere. the brita bottle with the filter inside. welcome back. let's start with christine romans for a look at the day's headlines. good morning. >> good morning. u.s. investigators are trying to get to the bottom of a plot to assassinate american diplomats. according to "the washington post," this plot has been traced back to iran and involved snipers. among the targets of alleged plot, embassy staff and family members of azerbaijan. jurors going back to work after the long holiday weekend. john edwards is charged with using campaign contributions to coverup an affair with his mistress, rielle hunter. just into cnn, we learned that spain is expelling syria's ambassador and others syrian diplomats and italy declared syria's ambassador absent. they took similar measures in a coordinated action following a massacre in the syrian town of hula as kofi annan is meeting with syria's president and annan says his goal is to end suffering and convince the government to cooperate with his plan. global outrage has exploded following a bloody weekend massacre that left more than 100 people dead including almost 50 children. u.s. officials warn that if these sorts of atrocities continue, military intervention could be likely. war hero senator john mccain was not having it back on memorial day. he fired back at a heckler alongside mitt romney yesterday. >> a relative of -- jerk! >> mccain was speaking to an audience of about 5,000 veterans. president obama presenting the medal of freedom to 13 people today including the first woman to serve as secretary of state madeleine albright. former senator john glenn will also receive a medal along with tony morrison and bob dylan who finished his 35th album. stocks are up on positive news in greece and talk of a stimulus program in china. may has been a rough month for u.s. markets so far in case you feel it in in your portfolio. the dow only had four up days in the month of may. the last time it closed out a month with only four up days was september 1903. the nasdaq is down nearly 7% for the month. before the ipad, the iphone, there was atari. steve jobs memorabilia up for auction. the note suggesting ways to improve the company's world cup soccer arcade game in 1974 jobs began working at atari after dropping out of college. they expect it to sell for $15,000. >> thanks, christine. the north carolina pastor who called for gays and lesbians to be locked up behind an electric fence was back on the pulpit this weekend and according to one local newspapers he was greeted by his flock with a standing ovation but outside of the church, a different story. hundreds of people from across north carolina and the country gathered to protest pastor worely's message. he's refusing to speak to reporters so he went to north carolina to ask him if he stands by his sermon. >> reporter: ever since pastor charles worely made his speech, we wanted to talk to him to see if he was sorry for what he said, sorry for the tone, or if he defended it. he dodged the press. we made an effort to find him and we did. very haven't seen or heard from pastor worely since his anti-gay sermon went viral until now. pastor, would you like to take back anything you said? pastor, you have a chance to take anything back if you care to. pastor worely chose to not answer either question. he was on his way to his church for a sunday service on the same day that hundreds of people from north carolina and other parts of the country protested the pastor's new infamous sermon. >> build a great big large fence, hundred mile long and put all of the lesbians in there. fly over and drop some food. do the same thing with the queers and the homosexuals. >> i felt that he was preaching bigotry. my god is a loving god. my god loves everybody. >> this is not a preacher. this is bigot. >> reporter: the protesters demonstrated several miles from the church. where they encountered a small but large opposition. >> be saved by the grace of god. >> we must repent because we have broken a god's law. >> reporter: pastor worely supporters carried signs that many thought were nasty and not accurate. >> where does it talk about aids in romans 127? >> it doesn't. it's a phrase we put on there. >> reporter: there has been opportunity for confrontation here. people on one side of the issue march on the sidewalk. people on the other side of the sidewalk yell back at them but so far there's no problems. >> i'm a proud member of this church in maiden, north carolina. my pastor is brother charles worely. >> reporter: worely supporters were ignored and the focus was on the pastor's anti-gay sermon. >> it's anti-christian. >> reporter: many protesters brought children. >> i want my kids to love everyone. i don't want them to see black and white, guy or straight and love everybody. >> reporter: no one was arrested. >> i'm telling you the reason that heterosexuals go to heaven is because they repent their sins. >> i need your identification. >> reporter: this pro-worely supporter got a citation for using a bullhorn. >> we're not issuing any comments or statements. >> we can't talk to the pastor? >> no, sir. >> reporter: there would be no talking to charles worely at least on this day? pastor, any comment at all? the pastor is either not ready or not interested to publicly defend his sermon but as far as defending him, his family and supporters seem ready to step up. five men walked out the door of his house when we asked pastor his question. one of the men appeared to have a gun in his waistband. two church services were held here. reporters were not allowed inside. we're told we're not allowed to step on the grounds. one reporter who wasn't recognized tells us that worely got a standing ovation and says he appreciates all of the support and that he told the people in the congregation he's been preaching for 53 years and do you think i'm going to bail out on us now? we should tell you a few minutes ago here someone changed the sign and now says no worries, god's got it covered. soledad? >> gary tuchman reporting for us. this is such an interesting story in terms of how the internet has given us a glimpse into people's comments that i think otherwise would have flown under the radar. he has these followers and supporters clearly stepping up to support him but i don't know that we would have ten years ago, 15 years ago really heard about this pastor. today someone posts something and you can get that information immediately and i think now it can bring people across the nation to come and counterprotest in front of his church. >> counterprotest which is largely -- this is almost a joke. these kind of comments are so stupid and i don't know it can be pairrities any worse. >> i don't think they think it's a joke. >> what's amazing is north carolina wrote a ban on all relationship recognition. that's civil unions, marriage and any sort of civil partnerships. this kind of event in north carolina may be an event to get people talking about the issue and kind of thing that can help change hearts and minds around this issue. so what i would be curious to know is how people were at the counterprotest and is this beginning a dialogue about relevance and importance and the ban on same-sex marriage and relationship recognition that happened in north carolina? >> i find it fascinating. at some point this pastor will talk. at some point they'll put a sermon back online because that's what they do. fascinating. >> iphone and sermon is all it takes to see what he comes up with next. >> is it magic or science? may be one of the same. a look inside the world science festival is up next. you're watching "starting point." back in just a moment. a improves skin's health in one day, with significant improvement in 2 weeks. i found a moisturizer for life. 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[ female announcer ] the sun powers life. ♪ and now it powers our latest innovation. ♪ introducing the world's only solar-powered home energy system, which can cut your heating and cooling bills in half. call now to get up to 1,375 dollars in rebates. or zero percent financing for 18 months on select lennox home comfort systems. offer ends june 15th. plus download our free lennox mobile app with an energy-savings calculator to show how much you'll save with a lennox system. if your current system is 10 years or older, start planning now and take advantage of special financing. so call now to get up to 1,375 dollars in rebates. or zero percent financing for 18 months on select lennox home comfort systems. offer ends june 15th. and download our lennox mobile app -- free. lennox. innovation never felt so good. >> "weird science" it was once said it would be indistinguishable from magic. that will be on display. doing magic tricks will be dr. brian green. his message shows us how far reality has come. he's the co-founder of the festival. what's the big message behind the festival? >> the big message is science a story of adventure but kids in the classroom get a sense that science is boring or aloof or something not relevant. this festival shows it's the kind of material that makes your heart pound and that's what we want kids to leave this festival with. >> two prong approach, one to entertain and one to excite people at the festival but change education so seventh graders don't look at science with dread? >> that's what it is all about. when you go to an event we have one up town tomorrow, a boy that goes to the edge of a black hole and it's real science. but with an animated film and kids learn about general level by watching a clip of it. >> let's play the clip. >> his father over the address system. all hands to stations. race for emergency course diversion. we're navigating to avoid unchartered black hole. a black hole? cool. instead of strapping himself in, he dashed to the ship's bridge. son, cried the commander, get to your console. >> you do a lot bringing in artists and performers and i think that's a really different way to look at science and people think of science dry and boring and sort of straightforward. why do you bring in the artistic community in a big way in what you do? >> our goal is to shift the place of science in culture. we want to shift it to the cultural center and want it to be seen the way we look at music and art and theater as something that's indesenispensable to a f and rich life. if someone says you don't really need to know that much about science we think that's okay. it's not okay. it's our future. >> seems to me you need to make science inteentertaining. give me some examples. >> your description of magic is the right way to think about it. there are features that we'll have on display at brooklyn bridge park where you see an experiment where particles do something that seems insane by every day standards but it's real. it's not made up. it's not magic. it's the way our world actually works but we're just not familiar with it because we live in a big every day environment. if i made each one of you tiny, you would know about everything that i'm talking about. we're not that small. we need to use power of thought and calculation to figure out how the world works and it's thrilling when you do make the leap and understand the nature of reality. >> you've been doing it for five years. do you feel people are getting your message or now we have more conversations about stem but it's never really about the excitement. sometimes it's about, listen, if you want a good job in this economy, you have to study computer science or engineering. >> we have a mountain to climb before science is seen as something which is really wondrous and exciting. step by step we get e-mails and responses from people who come to the festival that say you have given science back to me. when i was in school, the teacher made it so boring i didn't want anything to do with it. now 20, 30 years later adults say, wow, this is what science is. >> i would love my fifth grader to be interested and excited about science as opposed to feeling like she prefer to go for a tooth extraction because that's how it is sometimes. >> i met with hundreds of new york city school teachers over the last two weeks to teach them science behind what we're doing. they learn science and come to the performance and it becomes alive. experiences like that can really be formative. >> i support that. great. thank you for being with us. nice to see you. still ahead on "starting point," forget barbie's blonde hair. this doll is bald and beautiful and lots of controversy before they got that doll on store shelves. we'll tell you what happened. you're watching "starting point." at bank of america, we're lending and investing in communities across the country. from helping to revitalize a neighborhood in brooklyn... financing industries that are creating jobs in boston... providing funding for the expansion of a local business serving a diverse seattle community... and lending to ensure a north texas hospital continues to deliver quality care. because the more we can do in local neighborhoods and communities, the more we can help make opportunity possible. 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. fiber one. uh, forgot jack's cereal. 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[ male announcer ] half a day's worth of fiber. fiber e. barbie has competition these days. the dolls on your shelves at a local toy store may look different thanks in part to a new jersey mom. a cancer patient lobbied major companies to create dolls that look just like her. take a look. >> reporter: jane bounced between doctors for more than a year before being diagnosed with an incurable type of lymphoma. >> they say this cancer is always there. it's in your immune system. >> for five years doctors kept the cancer in check with therapy and that stopped working and doctors told her she would have to start chemotherapy. only then did her daughter realize that her mom was sick. >> she was four when i was diagnosed. she turned nine when i had chemotherapy and lost my hair. >> her hair loss became a defining moment for her and her young daughter. >> she knew me as long blonde hair. she said numerous times that she missed my hair. she wished i didn't have to lose my hair. that was her big focus was the hair. >> her daughter's experience prompted bingham to petition toy companies to consider manufacturing a bald doll. companies are listening. mj entertainment created bratz dolls and mattel will produce bald friends of barbie. >> it's important to focus energies outward instead of just inward on yourself. >> i love that. i love that. that's so nice. our end point is next with our panelist. we're back right after this short break. 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[ 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. end point, margaret do you want to start? >> this question about pastor worely has me going back. the movement over the last decade lost every time the issue of marriage or civil unions has been put to the ballot box but this year in november there are four states with marriage on the ballot, maine, washington, maryland and minnesota all of them in their own right may very well win. the reason they'll win and the reason it could be different this time is because a lot of effort has gone into engaging the populous on this issue and having real conversations about gays and lesbians as equal members of our society and what i wonder is with pastor worely is the kind of sort of event that you need to codify and begin that kind of conversation in states like north carolina. >> how much of that do you think is because president obama came out in support of gay marriage? >> i think him coming out certainly helps in these states. the trend was going in that direction. i don't think president obama is the decisive element. the country is moving that direction on this issue. >> i think it's a hopeful vision but i'm afraid it lives in the world of obscurity. >> the pastor is absurd and not my hope for it. >> in that list of medal of freedom nominees one who is easy to forget. where immigrants are in this country right now, where immigrant workers are, we have so much to thank her for. in addition to organizing the wonderful strike, she had 11 children. can you imagine going through those fields and having 11 kids? >> i can't imagine doing nothing but having 11 children. that sounds overwhelming. >> i'm going to talk about our friends that arrived at wrigley field with their pet miniature goat. they walked 2,000 miles across the country sleeping on the side of the road and taking care of little wrigley. you think there was no bickering about who pushes wrigley in the cart next. fascinating experience in friendship and human relationships. i can guarantee you there were rough times. good cause. >> you can have the hat. >> this is mine? >> my story of the day. >> it's a little small. >> my end point is this. it's tweeted by mario. he says judging by my manage e commute managers will soon have a talk about proper office attire. i agree with that. >> no mesh shirts on sta"starti point." >> we'll talk to erin brockovich about details uncovering biggest crime and justice movies straight ahead. "cnn newsroom" with carol costello brings right now. >> happening now, mitt romney not backing away from donald trump's birther accusas.