good political battle. they are flying as the fact checkers work overtime. and a top united nations official now says syria is in a full-scale civil war, even as a u.n. report accuses the damascus regime of torturing children and using them as human shields. i m wolf blitzer. you re in the situation room. you don t often see a cabinet member subjected to such a harsh grilling. the attorney general eric holder on the hot seat facing republicans furious over a litany of complaints. he held his ground against calls for his resignation. dana watched it all unfold. a botched gun-running designation known as fast and furious to a republican call for an independent investigation into leaks classified leaks, i should say, eric holder knew this wasn t just going to be a regular oversight hearing. he knows he s in congress cross hairs. but what happened was a political food fight. most republicans were tough on the attorney general, but nothing compared to this. there has be
new developments overnight in the case involving secretary of commerce john bryson. and his two car crashes. he went back to work yesterday but not today. find out why, coming up in this hour of cnn. welcome to early start, i m zoraida sambolin. i m ashleigh banfield. we re bringing you the news from a to z. it is 5:00 on the dot in the east. let s start with this, shall we? victim number one ready to take the stand today in jerry sandusky child abuse sex trial. today s witness was just 11 or 12 years old when he first met the penn state assistant football coach. it was his accusations that triggered this criminal investigation leading to jerry sandusky s arrest. susan candiotti is live in bellefonte, pennsylvania this morning, she s been covering this case. incredible stories coming out in court. i don t know if it can get any worse. his story is set to come out in court today. what is the story of victim number one following yesterday s story of victim number four?
the obama campaign was phers mer kreurbg merciless. the difference of course is john mccain is a republican. the media ran with that, and helped with that storyline. it remains to be seen whether or not that is going to happen with obama s gaffe. martha: kristen, reach, thank you very much. we ll talk to you more about this. bill: breaking news on one of our top stories now. john bricen cited for felony hit-and-run following two car accidents over the weekend. late saturday afternoon in los angeles. we are getting a report from the associationed press that he suffered a seizure in connection with that incident. that is coming from his office in washington that word.
secretary insists he had a seizure, they did not say what kind of seizure or whether he has had seizures in the past or whether he has restrictions on his driver s license or whether he makes meditation for seizures. he was taken to the hospital for examination and remained for observation. he has return toad washington. the investigation is ongoing. while police officers at the scene cited the secretary for felony hit-and-run, it will be turned over to the l.a. district attorney s office for possible formal charges. a witness says he seemed confused. i guess we better pull over and exchange information. he apparently rear-ended the car
avenue. internal investigation. i can tell you that this administration i mean this white house under the guidance of the president takes very seriously the need to protect classified and sensitive information. veteran of the bush justice department the attorney general seems to follow well established procedure. but i think one slight twist it s unusual in that he is having a u.s. attorney from the district of columbia investigate conduct that apparently occurred in the district of columbia. in addition to fast and furious, the attorney general could expect aggressive questioning from lawmakers tuesday on the scope and the independence of the leak investigation. holder s aperience on capitol hill is the first since the two u.s. attorneys were appointed. pick this up with the panel as well. thank you. commerce secretary bryson is back in washington after being cited for felony hit-and-run tied to two traffic accidents in los angeles. the administration says he suffered