in america, how do you think he'll rate? >> i think that he's done incredible things. and i mean, things that people dream of doing and he's accomplished so much that i was not aware of when i was younger. >> i certainly would second that. it's been a great pleasure to interview you. >> my pleasure poise good luck with the wedding. cooper, good luck with your duties on the day. duties on the day. >> thank you very much. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com from cnn's world headquarters, bringing you news and analysis from across the nation and around the globe, live from studio 7, this is cnn sunday morning with t.j. holmes. good morning. for years, wherever bruce springsteen played, clarence clemons was at his side. and now bruce springsteen is mourning the death of his famous sidekick. also this morning, 500,000 acres of arizona scorched. firefighters say they don't know

what started all of these fires but long-time senator john mccain says he knows how some of them started in his state. illegal immigrants are responsible, he says. also, we'll try to make a father's day a little bit brighter for at least one dad fighting in afghanistan. you'll want to stick around for this. good morning to you all, from the cnn center in atlanta, georgia, this is your cnn sunday morning for june 19. >>. happy father's day to you all. i'm t.j. holmes. we want to say a special good morning to our armed forces. thank you for being with us. clarence clemons has died. clemons and his saxophone were the backbone of bruce springsteen's e street band. ♪ "born to run" for you.

clemons was by springsteen's side for 40 years. he was the sax of choice for twisted sister, and others, even lady gaga. he was in palm beach florida when he died. bruce springsteen posted this, and i quote, he was my great friend, my partner and with clarence at my side, my band and i were able to tell a story far duper than those simply contained in our mewesing. his life, his memory and his love will live on in that story and in our band. clarence clemons was 9 years old. we turn to arizona and what we have been watch are for the past several weeks now. firefighters are saying it just can't get any worse. that's coming from one fire official dealing with the fires in arizona. the so-called monument fire has burned 20,000 acres.

the head of the u.s. forest service says that fire is the number one priority. this fire is near the mexican border. even though firefighters are saying they don't exactly know what the cause of these fires are, arizona senator john mccain gave his insights. listen to this. >> we are concerned about particularly areas down on the border where there is substantial evidence that some of these fires are caused by people who have crossed our border illegally. they have set fires because they want to signal others. they have set fires to keep warm. and they have set fires in order to divert law enforcement agents and agencies from them. >> mccain did not go on to elaborate and tell exactly what that evidence is that illegal immigrants are the cause of some of the fires right now. at least one civil rights

activist is calling the statements careless and reckless. they are still investigating how the fire started. another one to tell you about that's burned 225,000 achers in southeast georgia. firefighters were able to get a break at least with rain this weekend as much as an inch fell in parts of the area. fire officials say the rain wasn't enough to put all the fires out, bring in a tropical storm, maybe that will do the trick. take a look at this falling tree. we had a lot of severe thunderstorms. look at this guy's house. tree fell on his house. this is a suburb of atlanta and not just a tree falling on his house, another tree fell and took out his two cars. but nobody in the family was hurt. so that's something. reynolds wolf here with me now. kind of a rough night. >> you can replace the other stuff. people weren't hurt.

the rough weather has been the top story we have at this moment. we mention the fires. we have a couple of tornado watches in effect. usual suspects in places near st. louis and along the eastern seaboard. the heaviest weather is moving to the east and southeast -- and the wind coming in behind it, bowing out if you will. we can expect possibly straight line winds that could cause damage. i'd say the biggest damage culprit is going to be a straight line wind. the tornado watch will remain in effect for parts of illinois, indiana as well. meenl while, again, back to the fires. let's talk about those for a moment. the conditions in parts of georgia, a little bit better because of the rainfall yesterday. no relief whatsoever for parts of the desert southwest.

critical conditions, low humidity, strong winds around the area of low pressure. in terms of the dry conditions and red flag warnings and watches. they extend through seven states at this point and now back up through kansas and as far south as parts of texas along the rio grande valley. big ben national park, having some issue there's. along i-35, if there are fires that are going to set, they will burn the foliage, it's very dry. you could have more of the fires developing in parts of arizona and even into colorado at this point. it is definitely a mess. could be a mess later on today. we have a whole different variety. we're talking about a moderate risk of severe storm into the northern plains. all the components are there. we have a lifting mechanism. the gulf of mexico is wide open, just a conveyer belt bringing in moisture. that combined with that frontal boundary and daytime heating

could make for a very unstable air mass over the central plains. if you happen to see lincoln, nebraska, maybe into the dakotas, by late afternoon there will be a chance of tornadoes, large hail, damaging winds, even flash flooding and heavy rain from time to time. your temperatures are ridiculous in parts of texas. 102 in dallas, 98 in houston, definitely is going to be fairly warm. with the high humidity, it feels warmer, as we wrap things up, 63 in billings, 64 in seattle, 72 in san francisco. back out to the east coast we go, a string of 80s from new york and washington. 72349 boston and 95 in atlanta. t.j., that's a look the your forecast. pitch it right back to you. >> reynolds, we appreciate it as always, buddy. we turn now to politics and another candidate who is officially about to join the

hopefuls. >> reporter: john huntsman, formally declares his candidacy for presidency this week. >> this is not just a time to choose new leaders, this is the hour we choose our future. >> reporter: the former utah governor and former ambassador to china announces with the statue of liberty as his backdrop. he kicks off a swing through the early voting states in new hampshire where he appears to be concentrating his firepower. huntsman says he's ready to roll. >> we've gone from 0 to 60 about as fast as any campaign we've ever seen. >> ron paul, herman cain, they speak at the right to life conference in florida. behind the scenes all the candidates concentrate this week on raising campaign cash with the second quarter fund-raising coming to a close at the end of the month. t.j.?

>> thanks as always. we have a winner the straw poll taken at that republican leadership conference in new orleans. we were telling you about this conference yesterday. voters there shold rchose ron pa fairly significant margin. john huntsman finished second and he wasn't even at the conference and michele bachmann came in third. many of the country's mayors are gathering in baltimore for the u.s. conference on mayors. they're weighing in on foreign policy. the group offered up a resolution calling for a quick withdrawal. they want them currekru going o. the first lady, michelle obama is headed to africa. it's part of her trip there she's going to be meeting with leaders there, also taking the kids on safari. her first stop will be in south africa. she'll meet with president jacob zum ma a

zuma. she'll later head to botswana and then it's off to safari with her daughters, her mother, a niece and nephew as well. coming up on this father's day, we're going to try a little something this morning. there's a young man in massachusetts but his dad is in kabul, afghanistan. and his dad is in colorado. we're going to bring them all together on this father's day right here. you'll want to stick around for that on this cnn sunday morning. >> i'm sergeant benjamin canaday. love you, mom, dad, miss you. hopefully you see in a couple weeks. of awould deliverile our next generation mobile broadband experience to 55 million more americans, many in small towns and rural communities, giving them a new choice. we'll deliver better service, with thousands of new cell sites...

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a shoddy upautopsy. that's what one forensic witness said. he argued that the actual cause of death cannot be determined because the medical examiner never cut open little caylee anthony's skull. he used a prop skull to make his point. >> to not open the head, i think is a failure. a failure of the autopsy. i'll tell you another thing that if an autopsy was done in corresponding to what every forensic pathologist will tell you, where the head is not opened, that tells me about a shoddy autopsy. excuse me the expression but you provoked it. a shoddy autopsy because if the head is not opened, what else wasn't examined? >> casey anthony, accused of

killing her 2-year-old daughter caylee. the judge accused the attorney of playing games with their witnesses. he also said he may find the lead defense attorney in contempt of court when the trial finally wraps up. we turn to italy where five prison inmates testified yesterday in the appeal hearing of american student amanda knox. two of the inmates testified knox was not involved in the killing of her roommate but they gave different versions of who the actual killers are. knox was sentenced last year to 26 years in prison for killing her british roommate in 2007. she's appealing that conviction. same-sex marriage bill being pushed by new york governor andrew cuomo could come up for a vote tomorrow. the legislation needs one vote to pass. a recent poll indicates 58% of new yorkers favor same-sex marriage. if approved, new york could become the sixth state to approve same-sex marriages.

dads. look at this. these are always great scenes. the timing is pretty good here. they've been fighting in afghanistan for the past year and yet coming up on father's day now, it can't get any better than this. >> it was great. i was hoping we'd make it home in time for father's day. that was kind of the nervous part. i really wanted to spend father's day with my son. >> some of those troops are making it back just in time for their very first father's day. also our loved ones welcoming back sailors on the carrier that burr rid osama bin laden at sea. >> daddy! she's pretty excited. come on, dad, get over here. more than 5,000 crew members of the "uss carl vincent" returned

after six months at sea. a lot of people were eager to get all those guys home. small businesses, certainly got slammed in the economic downturn. now a new report suggests many are still struggling and will not be hiring any time soon. that is next. >> i'm major jeremy fischman. i want to say happy father's day to my dad. we could've gone a more traditional route... ... but it wouldn't have been nearly as memorable. ♪

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nervous investors will be keeping an eye on the federal reserves. a key confirmation hearing on capitol hill and a potential showdown over libya. >> reporter: i'm kate bolduan on capitol hill. there could be questions on afghanistan, the size and tame table of the planned u.s. pullout this summer of u.s. forces there. petraeus is currently the commander of the war in afghanistan and the house, the house could be headed for a showdown with the white house over u.s. involvement in military operations in libya. speaker john boehner and other lawmakers were not satisfied with the white house's response to questions and growing concern

here, that the president can d not adequately consult with the congress on libya. i'm in new york. a critical week ahead for wall street with the federal reserve set to meet. no major changes are expected on interest rates but investors are waiting to hear how the feds plan to tackle the challenges of the slowing economic recovery. since the central bank's last meeting, job growth has slowed, stocks have stumbled and prices have rizs. so a lot of ahead for the market today. jeff will cover it all on "cnn money." >> that's something else we'll be keeping a close eye on this week on the economic front, the debt crisis in greece that has the potential to van impact here in the u.s. and a lot of places

around the world. meanwhile, small businesses have been hit hard by the economic downturn. experts say a sign we're digging ourselves out of economic hard times is when they start hiring again. but a new report suggests that's not going to be happening in the next few months. here now are sandra indo. >> reporter: strategy is key. >> profit margins are down because of the economy. we have to do more sales, more pro-moes. >> reporter: with millions of americans out of work, owner shelley jennings wishes she could hire more employees to help run her three shops. with sluggish sales, hiring workers are just too expensive, especially for small businesses. >> you have to be competitive. there is a minimum wage but you can't offer minimum wage because nobody wants to work for that. you also have to pay -- match

the social security that the employee has taken out of theirs, you have to do unemployment taxes. you have to pay federal insurance and all that other stuff. it adds up to be quite a hefty sum. >> reporter: which is one reason the 9.1% national unemployment rate isn't getting better. the latest monthly report from the national federation of independent business shows the worst hiring prospects in eight months. and a continuing decline in optimism. >> we look at hiring. we look at sales. we look at desire to expand. and it wasn't good news on any those fronts. sales have been a challenge for small businesses for some time now. they are reluctant to hire at best. when it comes to expansion, nope, they're station put. >> reporter: for now, jennings hoping to just ride out these tough times. >> thank you very much. have a great weekend. bye-bye. >> have mercy on the small retailer because we're trying to do the best we can.

>> we have stats out there that show some small businesses are making 30% to 50% less than they did just a few years ago. have you been seeing what this young irishman is doing at the u.s. open? he is making it look easy. and he has guys who are much older than he is, been playing a lot longer than he has, standing up and applauding him. we'll tell you the extraordinary story of rory mcilroy, coming up. and the dress no one can forget from the marilyn monroe movie, "the seven-year itch." it sells at a beverly hills auction. what's the best advice you've gotten from your dad over the years? here's one, there are two things in the world no one can ever take away from you, your knowledge and integrity. another reader got this, money won't buy you happiness, it just

gives you options. that's pretty good. if you have advice you'd like to share with us oob i'll be posting this question as a reminder. also just telling you right now, send the answers and advice to cnn.com/tj. you know where to find me on facebook @tjholmescnn and twitter it's simply @tjholmes. i got mine in iraq, 2003. u.s.a.a. auto insurance is often handed down from generation to generation, because it offers a superior level of protection and because u.s.a.a.'s commitment to serve the military, veterans, and their families is without equal. begin your legacy. get an auto insurance quote. u.s.a.a. we know what it means to serve. [ male announcer ] breathe, socket. just breathe.

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25 minutes past the hour. have you seen what this young man is doing at the u.s. open right now? if you don't know the name and the face yet, you will soon. rory mcilroy is his name. he's a 22-year-old irishman. now he has set the record after three rounds. the best three rounds ever at this tournament. he's built up an eight-shot lead heading into today's final round. still, a lot of people will remember at the mast he had a pretty good lead going into the final round and he just imploded there, blew that lead, ended up losing that tournament. he's well out front today. it would take something monumental for him to break down. this would be his first major title. people are talking about him now

as being the guy, not tiger woods, to challenge jack nicklaus in winning the most majors of all time. also, football, are we going to have nfl football or not? we're just a couple months away from what is supposed to be the start of the nfl preseason at least. still, the lockout is in place. no deal between the owners and the players. now according to espn they're saying a handful of nfl owners are hess tan the to accept the deal being negotiated right now with players. they say it doesn't address the issues raised in the 2006 collective bargaining agreement. wimbledon kicks off tomorrow and we've got the sisters back. the williams sisters. venus and serena will be making a comeback. they had to take some time off with injuries. and roger federer is there. he also has to go through nadal

and novak djokovic. everybody wanted a piece of marilyn monroe. take a look. this is the iconic subway dress you'll remember, the one she made famous in the movie "seven year itch." it sold at auction, listen to this, 4.6 million. several other items sold as well. all these items were accumulated by actress and singer debby reynolds over the last 50 years. she decided to sell them after it became too expensive to keep them. on this father's day, something we always get a kick out of doing on father's day, mother's day, holidays, is linking up soldiers serving abroad with their families here at home. we've got a doozy for you.

it's coming up next. stay with us on this cnn sunday morning. >> steven strikeler, i wanted to say hey to my dad. i'm in guantanamo bay, cuba. i'll be home soon. hoenix made it doable. a lot of my instructors were principals in my district. i wouldn't be where i am without that degree. my name is dr. carrie buck. i helped turn an at risk school into an award winning school, and i am a phoenix. [ male announcer ] find your program at phoenix.edu. twenty-five thousand mornings, give or take, is all we humans get. we spend them on treadmills. we spend them in traffic. and if we get lucky, really lucky, it dawns on us to go spend them in a world where a simple sunrise can still be magic.

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bottom of the hour here on this cnn sunday morning on this father's day. i'm t.j. holmes. thank you all for being here. take a look at some of the stories making headlines. the new york state senate could vote as early as tomorrow on legalizing same-sex marriage. legislation needs only one more republican vote to pass. but with lawmakers set to break for summer recess on monday, it's not clear he'll even be allowed to come up for a vote. if the bill is approved, govrner andrew cuomo says he will sign it. ron paul, the winner a straw poll taken at the republican leadership conference this weekend. the three-day event wrapped up yesterday, finishing first with 612 votes. john huntsman who will declare his candidacy this week finished second with 382 votes. he also didn't even attend the

conference. also, coming in third is michele bachmann. and it just can't get any worse. this is the so-called monument fire. the head of the u.s. forest service says the fire is the number one priority. there are more than 700 firefighters working to control that fire right now. the u.s. has thousands of military dads serving in every branch of the armed service. and today, on father's day as we know, many of them are deployed overseas. one of them, lieutenant nick bennish. that's a great picture. he joins me from kabul. there he is, sir, thank you for spending time with us. i know the wind is kicking up there. we'll deal with it. hope you can hear me all right. tell me first all on a father's day, how is this different from

other holidays when you have to be away? a lot of people are away for thanksgiving and christmas and other holidays. how is this one different and more difficult to be away? >> it's definitely much more difficult to ab way from home and to ab way from my son and wife. i was fortunate enough to be home last month on r & r, so i got to see them. we celebrated a little bit early. usually when i'm away for holidays it's with them and this is -- you know, this is especially celebrating parenthood. it's hard to be away from family then. >> how long have you been away on this latest deployment? and how long do you anticipate still being away? how long before you actually get to come home? >> i've been gone for almost ten months now. again, i was home last month for a brief visit and then i'll go

home in two months. i'm really looking forward to that. >> all right. i know you're looking forward to as well. i know you get to talk to her a bit but still you'll get to talk to her now, your wife maureen and your son and joining us live from newton, massachusetts. let me bring you two in. there's ian as well. good morning to you. >> good morning. >> let me ask you as well, having dad away, your husband away for other holidays, how does this one feel a little different that he's gone on father's day? >> well, father's day is to celebrate specifically the dad and it's hard to not have him here. mother's day was sad for me but i know this is sad for him as well. we wish he was home with us. >> all right. maureen, i will give you a chance, step out for a second. i'll let you be the cnn news anchor for a moment and you conduct the interview. you go ahead. there's a little bit of a delay. but go ahead and talk to your

husband and legality your son get a couple words out. >> okay. >> talk to dad on father's day. >> great. >> i had, honey. >> hi, maureen, how are you i don't? >> hi. happy father's day. we miss you. can you say hi to daddy, honey? >> i miss you. >> we miss you. can you say hi to daddy? >> let's show daddy our sign. he drew a sign with a lost suns on it. it says, i miss you, daddy, happy father's day. and he's showing you his note pad, too. >> thank you so much. that's really nice. >> he drew a lot of suns just now when he was nervous. happy father's day. >> maureen, let me ask you, how aware is ian?

ian is 2 years old. help us understand, how aware is ian of how dad has been gone over the past? he's just 2 and dad has been gone for a while during his young life. >> right. well, they bonded really well, ian's first year. they spent a lot of time together. when nick left ian was already talking about his dad and -- it's okay, sweetie. you can see yourself on the video. yeah. he was already talking about his dad and he talks about him every day. he'll say mama, where's daddy? i say he went on a plane on a long trip. he'll be back soon. and he talks about him a lot. it's really sweet. they talk on the phone sometimes. >> lieutenant benes, stick around. don't go anywhere. we've got a little something else for lieutenant benes right after the break. we'll also try to get ian to

calm down a little bit there. quick break on this father's day and i'm right back with something else for lieutenant benes this morning. to work in s. nothing works faster. ♪ tum tum tum tum tums [ female announcer ] wake up to sweetness with honey nut cheerios cereal. kissed with real honey. and the 100% natural whole grain oats can help lower your cholesterol. you are so sweet to me. bee happy. bee healthy. you know that comes with a private island. really? no. it comes with a hat. you see, airline credit cards promise flights for 25,000 miles, but... [ man ] there's never any seats for 25,000 miles. frustrating, isn't it? but that won't happen with the capital one venture card. you can book any airline anytime. hey, i just said that. after all, isn't traveling hard enough? ow. [ male announcer ] to get the flights you want, sign up for a venture card at capitalone.com. what's in your wallet? uh, it's okay. i've played a pilot before.

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just say, show me the carfax. 39 minutes past this hour on this cnn sunday morning this father's day. before the break we sat back and watched the conversation between

lieutenant nick benes, serving in afghanistan, kecked him with his wife and son back home in massachusetts. nick benes and his wife and son are still with us. maureen and ian. but nick didn't know we're going to throw something else into this mix. we actually will have a big old family reunion now. we have your dad. we woke him up in colorado this morning because he wanted to be here, and then there he goes. we just lost the signal. stay with me. as soon as we brought you up with your dad he actually lost the signal there. we're going to try to get that back. technology is beautiful, ain't it, folks? nick, you stand by. is maureen still with me? his wife and son are gone as well. stay with me for a second. we'll get that back up. but you tell me, you are a dad now and you deal with your issues of trying to parent from a distance. but i guess, still, i understand

you're pretty close with your father as well. what kind of advice does he give you or what is your relationship now that you have to be away from him in such a way? >> it's definitely strange being away from everybody. and it was good to be back. last month i got to see my father as well that was nice. when he does get back on, happy father's day to him. i got to talk to him yesterday. it's just good to have somebody to talk with in addition to maureen and to talk to ian and see him on skype every once in a while. it's good to be able to talk to my parents with my dad and mom and my brother, too. he'll probably be a father one of these days, too. he just got married. >> it's been helpful. >> lieutenant benes, help me

understand, what are the conversations like on bases on a day like this over in afghanistan with a lot of members of the military who are fathers, of course. i guess what is this day like for all of you all and the conversations you have amongst yourselves? >> it's definitely strange. father's day and mother's day were probably two of the strangest. for other holidays we're all celebrating together. we're kind of sharing it but father's day and mother's day, everybody that were celebrating, the relationships that we're celebrating are back home. so it makes it a little bit different. we try to pull together as much as we can. we had a barbecue today. and had some cards and stuff that people put together. it was just a really good celebration or at least as good as it can be out here away from home. >> what is the advice or counsel you still get to this day from your dad?

>> he gives me a lot of good advice. what are some of the things? some of the things that come to mind at first, computer thing. i've been doing a lot of computer work. everything i learned about that is basically from him. all the work around the house and work on the cars, things like that, i give him a call pretty often when i'm back home. i've had to carry some of that stuff over here as well, because everything -- not everything but there are things that fall apart every once in a while so we have to patch them back together. >> lieutenant benes, we had your family, we had your wife and son there for a minute. we had your dad up for a quick second and then the satellite signal disappeared. not sure what happened there. we're trying to get that worked

out. i want to thank you for taking the time out this morning. i know you get a chance to talk to your wife and family often. but still it's nice for us to be able to allow our viewers to see you and your family and to hear about some of the struggles and what you all are dealing with, which has been a trying few years for members of our military. thank you so much for taking the time out. >> thank you, t.j. >> all right. we are about a quarter to the top of the hour here on this cnn sunday morning. quick break. we're coming right back.

we have our morning passport. we just had in may, some people were predicting the end of the world. a lot did happen. a lot of people are looking ahead to the apocalypse, they say december of next year. >> december 21st, 2012. some people believe that the end of the world is coming. >> i want to survive it. what do i need to do? >> there are some stories you just can't make this up. according to certain esoterics, there's a belief that a place in southwest france, this is going to be the place that will stay through the apocalypse. what you're seeing now is what they call the sacred mountain. it's believed in this mountain there are aliens, some believe, that are going to save you. >> aliens are in the mountain right now? >> some people believe that, t.j. let's look at this mountain. usually you'd have older rock at the bottom and newer on the top. in this mountain you have a

complete inversion. it's a scientific anomaly. this has been of grave concern to the mayor of the town. people go to hike, to see the views, to find beautiful orchids. he's concerned that you'll get 2,000, 3,000 people converging on this little town. >> are they starting to do this? >> they're booking parts and bed and breakfast to come in for this period. some residents report there are people walking up the mountain, some in white robes, some naked. a government agency sent us an alert this week, warning people about sects. one of the thing they've warned people is people who have cancer, people who ill, they may be susceptible to these cults. that's the concern here. >> how seriously do people -- is this another one of these

things, are reasonable people starting to come in or is it -- >> it is questionable. if you look on the internet, the concern by the french government agency is how prolific it is, how many people actually believe this. >> they're taking it seriously enough to act if you will. >> the mayer is going i don't want my town to be known for lunatics and fanatics and apocalypse and people who are seeking or are concerned about the end of the world. it's been quite controversial. interesting enough, this is the place spielberg spoke about in encounters of the third kind. there may be a group of people taking this far too seriously and who may influence others to take it seriously. >> is beautiful.

aliens inside the mountain. >> inside the sacred mountain la peak de bugarach. >> thank you, as always. they are deciding on a drawdown plan for afghanistan. general petraeus lays out the options for president obama. more on those discussions, next. i'm chief katherine biondini. happy birthday, dad, 79, you're awesome. you're my hero and my example. i just love you, wish all my friends a hello. thanks for supporting me and god bless you all. of at&t and t-mobile would deliver our next generation mobile broadband experience

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52 minutes paragraph the hour now. nato, keeping the pressure on libyan leader moammar gadhafi. u.s. embassy personnel keeping an eye on developments there and offering advice when they can. they aren't in libya. they're actually at the state department in washington. the u.s. embassy in tripoli was evacuated february. we'll be speaking with a nato spokesperson about the tensions in libya, coming up at the top of the hour. president obama had special meetings last week looking at drawdown ideas. chris lawrence has more on these discussions. >> reporter: here's something every soldier, marine, airman and soldier involved in the war will probably want to pay attention to. how fast will they be coming home from afghanistan? we know a withdrawal is coming. general david petraeus was in washington over the past few dadz. he met with president barack obama.

he laid out several options for the president in terms of how many troops to bring home and how quickly to do so. initially we heard this might be a token withdraw, 3,000 to 4,000 troops at most. the pressure has been building after the killing of osama bin laden to make this a more significant reduction, perhaps 7,000, 8,000, 9,000, 10,000 troops or more. we'll get an answer very, very soon. when you look at the affect the war has taken on troops, nothing brings it home quite like this latest statistic from the army. may was the worst month from suicides and potential suicides in the active duty arm in a year. 21 potential cases. one has been confirmed. 20 they're still investigating. i have to tell you, most of the time when they investigate and look at these, they turn out to be suicide. you know, an army official says, a spike doesn't necessarily indicate a trend but it's

something that the pentagon is very, very concerned about. t.j.? >> all right. thanks to our chris lawrence as always at the pent gorin. coming up, a love story you won't believe. they say young people are meeting each other on these days. nope. a 90-year-old woman just met her beau. how mollie met eddie, that's next. mine was earned over the south pacific in 1943. vietnam, 1967. i got mine in iraq, 2003. u.s.a.a. auto insurance is often handed down from generation to generation, because it offers a superior level of protection and because u.s.a.a.'s commitment to serve the military, veterans, and their families is without equal. begin your legacy. get an auto insurance quote. u.s.a.a. we know what it means to serve.

we're coming up and the top of the hour now. a feel-good story for krogh.

the story about love and maybe how it's never too late, especially in the digital age, right? but you wouldn't expect a 90-year-old to be trolling on match.com looking for her beau. well, it's happened. >> reporter: meet 90-year-old mollie holder and her groom, 82-year-old ed nisbet. this whirlwind romance started on match.com. >> i don't know why i did it. it was an impulse sort of thing. >> a picture she had on match.com really didn't do her justice. >> isn't he sweet. >> reporter: in january, the two love birds met in person for the first time. >> i'll be sitting in the lobby with a yellow rose. >> reporter: from there, sparks flew. >> we both love poetry. he's just an incurable romantic.

he's so sweet. >> not too often you find a lady who likes scotch. >> reporter: and by valentine's day they were engaged. >> he sat real close, you know, and he said, i want to moorery you. i said, well, that's nice, because i want to marry you. i should have say if you want to marry me, get down on your knee and ask me. >> my knees are not what they used to be. at our age you don't want to waste time. >> top of the hour here now. good morning to you all. a million achers in arizona scorched. firefighters say they don't know what started manufacture these blazes but senator john mccain claims he knows how some started. he's blaming illegal immigrants. also, for years, wherever bruce springsteen played, clarence clemons was at his side. and now springsteen is mourning

the death of his famous sidekick. from the cnn center, this is your cnn sunday morning on june 19th. happy father's day out there, folks. i'm t.j. holmes. we start with accusations of a nato air strike on a residential neighborhood in tripoli. libyan state television reporting at least three people have been killed. joining us on the phone, from naples, italy, we get the nato side of this. mike bracken, commander, is on the line with us. we appreciate you taking the time. have you been able to confirm, how much of what the libyan government is saying about this nato strike is true? >> nato is looking into this matter. we take this sort of reporting very seriously indeed. we heard a lot of propaganda and accusations from the gadhafi regime over the last few weeks. on this occasion we are carefully looking at this matter

and we have to look carefully because nato were operating in tripoli last night. we were operating northern tripoli. we identify ied what was being used and, therefore, we have to take them out. it was putting huge risk on the civilians in the area and threatening the forces themselves. >> commander bracken, i know, many of us know, will have to be careful about the information that the government of libya is putting out, but still it sounds like they are checking this out and they did have operations in this area. it is possible a mistake was made. >> you know, at the end of the day, our pilots are very well trained. we use sophisticated precision-guided weapons to avoid civilian casualty. you can reduce risk in every way possible but never make them zero in a military campaign. i can give an example last week where we had a miss until the

air aimed at the target. the crew were able to divert that because a number of people had stepped in front of the target area and, therefore, the crew at the last minute took that weapon away from the site and put it into a piece of clear ground away from the target. >> commander bracken, like you said, in cases like this, you can never make sure that the casualty number is zero. you try to avoid civilian casualty as much as you can. i know mistakes have been made, some cases, on opposition forces have mistakenly been hit. how many mistakes has nato made in this campaign and that has led to how many casualties? >> we do not have people on the ground. nato doesn't have people on the ground in libya or tripoli. it will take us time to review these matters.

another issue, a column of military vehicles that were hit on friday by a nato strike. that's a completely complex scenario. we've seen gadhafi forces operating in the area and fighting has been going on. and what later came to our knowledge was that the column of vehicles were in fact part of an opposition patrol. that is regretful and the loss and injuries caused by that is unfortunate. we do strive to operate at all times with precision and care to avoid civilian casualties. >> commander bracken, can you tell me, you said you had nato, at least back to the ince dprent last evening where at least the government is claiming this a residential area was hit, civilians were killed, what were the targets? can you tell us that? if this mistake was made, you don't know for sure yet, what

would be the targets that you were going after? >> the target in the area was say surface-to-air missile. it cowl be launched at civilians by releasing it into the air and letting it fall on residential or whatever or it could have been used against the nato forces as in the nato aircraft in the area in there. we are trying to organize the facts. we've been open for the last three months with the operation we've carried out. asked you to look at our record of accuracy over the last three months. the use of the precision weapons has been carefully planned. we've been duconducting 11,500 sorties during that time. we had logistical targets during this operation. >> commander, last thing, you said there, and talked about some of the targets you're going after. as you know, there has been back

and forth an certainly from the libyan government as well, that you are specifically targeting individuals with the government or even in gadhafi's family. is that still not the case and won't be the case that you will not be and will not be going after directly trying to target moammar gadhafi? >> we have not targeted individuals during this campaign. as you said, this is the last opportunity. nato deeply regrets loss of civilian life during this operation. we are sorry that it concludes that this was a fanato weapon. >> thank you so much for your time. >> t.j., thank you very much. six minutes past the hour. we turn back to what's happening in this country. they're saying it can't get any worse out in arizona.

fire official this so-called monument fire, this is the number one priority. we have 700 firefighters working to control this thing and this fire is near the mexican border. that is something that arizona senator john mccain wanted to emphasize when he stepped to the microphone and gave what he thought might be the cause of some of these fires. >> we are concerned particularly about areas down on the border where there is substantial evidence that some of these fires were caused by people who have crossed our border illegally. they have set fires because they want to signal others. they have set fires to keep warm. and they have set fires in order to divert law enforcement agents and agencies from them. >> at least one civil rights activist now calling mccain's comments careless and reckless.

head of the forest service says they know when and where the fire start but are still investigating how. we say good morning to reynolds wolf keeping an eye on all things weather related. weather has been a bibig part of the fires in arizona and georgia as well. >> we did have rain yesterday, some places around an inch, which helps. out to the west, there is nothing working in the favor of the firefighters. it's been brutal, low humidity. strong winds are pushing those flames everywhere. one fire ripped away some 500,000 acres. 20,000 acres, up in smoke. it is a nightmare scenario. we have moderate ris frk from t

storm prediction center. as you look at radar, east of st. louis yesterday morning, st. louis was hammered by strong storms. another system driving eastward, just to the east of evansville at this point. we have one tornado warning currently in effect. this reddish area, that is your tornado watch that will be in effect for a good part of the morning. something else you'll be seeing as the line comes through. it's almost like an inverted backwards "c" shape if you will. that's an indication of the straight line winds developing behind this system. there's a potential of not only tornadoes but large hail, damaging winds, just a mess. that will extend through the eastern seaboard and into the carolinas and outer banks before the day is unite. what an amazing contrast we're seeing in the four corners, the dry and breezy conditions. chance of showers, out west a mix of sunshine and clouds. for much of the northeast, new york and boston, a beautiful morning tore you. high temperatures will rise into the 70s and 80s.

79 in boston, 83 in new york, 83 in chicago, 85 in atlanta, 96 in new orleans. back to albuquerque and el paso, mainly 90s and 100s. 102 in dallas. the heat is relentless in t lel. 63 for our friends in billings. >> appreciate you as always. thanks so much. ten minutes past the hour now. sad news for a lot of music fans out there. clarence clemons has died. clemons and his saxophone were the back phone of bruce springsteen's e street band. ♪ clemons was by springsteen's side by nearly 0 years. he was also the sax of choice for aretha franklin, twisted sister and lady gaga among them.

clemons suffered a stroke last week. he was surrounded by family members when he died. clarence clemons was 69 years old. also on this father's day, taking a look at a new film encouraging fathers in the african-american community. from fatherless to fatherhood. that's after the break. >> lance corporal robert williamson. located in afghanistan. i want to say happy father's day to larry wigginton. happy father's day. can't wait to see you. any in sms and rural communities, giving them a new choice. we'll deliver better service, with thousands of new cell sites... for greater access to all the things you want, whenever you want them. it's the at&t network... and what's possible in here is almost impossible to say.

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quarter past the hour on this cnn sunday morning and on this father's day. i want to tell you about a new film getting attention. it evaluates fatherhood in the african-american community. take a look. >> protect his family, provider and gives lots of love and wisdom and knowledge. especially about god. that's what a father means to me. >> reporter: the new documentary from fatherless to fatherhood explores the role of fathers in the african-american community. >> the purpose of this documentary is really to ignite discussion throughout the

african-american community about the importance of fatherhood. to let people understand that, especially young people understand, that in a lot of cases their situation is not unique, that their lives are not determined by the absence of their faith, that they can move beyond that and succeed nonetheless. >> reporter: producer kobe brown started this project two years ago and gained insight from the many men and women he met. >> we're bombarded with stories and images of african-american fathers. there are positive stories out there. >> reporter: this is one of those fathers. he's byzy with a full-time job, runs a small business with his wife but still, he makes it a priority to spend quality time with his three active sons, ages 4, 5 and 6. >> it's a juggling act. that's the bottom line. do i a lot of multitasking. i'm motivated to be a good example for my children, an example of a good husband, a strong worker and example of a

good father. i want them to know and see that work equals reward. >> reporter: he says his faith and his wife, dawn, both play a pivotal role in his relationship with his sons, especially because his wife is more of the disciplinarian. >> there's no us without her. we have a great balance with our sons that allow us to, i believe, do an effective job. >> i am probably more of the father that's a friend than a disciplinaria disciplinarian. i look at my sons an i see the best in them. one of the challenges is i have to know and realize bringing out that best in them often requires discipline, not necessarily just friendship. >> reporter: he's hopeful his presence in their lives now will better prepare them for the future. >> all right. and coming up next, a story made us feel good this weekend. a school principal in philadelphia, facing tough budget choices like so many othera administrators.

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21 minutes past the hour now. you don't hear this too often. somebody in this economy giving up a high-paying job. well, this man had a good reason for it. he's doing it so co-workers could stay employed. this is the story of a philadelphia principal, his name is dr. angelo militia. he decided to take retirement from his $180,000 a year job so two of his teachers wouldn't lose their job. i got a chance to talk to him

about his. >> i game to the budget table at a difficult time in philadelphia and probably all over the nation with educational budgets. and i had figured out a budget. i had made a mistake and when i walked away from the budget table, i had lost half i my music staff, at least two of them for sure. very devastating situation. i gave it some thought over the spring vacation and thought to myself maybe it's time for me to go. what could do i creatively with this? i made a proposal to my assistant principal about taking over for me if i could make that happen. because we're two guys that share the same vision. and what i proposed to him was that if he took my place, there would be no assistant principal. >> the teachers were shocked, just by the fact that i was leaving.

when they heard what was happening, they really did think that was imagimagnanimous. i don't want people getting the impression that the place could be run without two administrators. will be a rough road next year. >> the $180,000 would go to specifically saving the jobs of those two teachers and wouldn't just go to some other budget need. coming up, we've been telling you about the republican leadership conference taking place in new orleans this weekend. a lot of people there, including the gop hopefuls, all criticizing the president. but that guy, his criticism was so great, it got him pulled off the stage. we'll tell you what this obama impersonator said to get his routine cut short. to make a difference in peoples' lives. [ carrie ] you're studying how to be an effective leader. [ cherie ] you're dealing with professionals,

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you heard so much about the golf summit. it's happened, without any fist acuffs. they teamed up, played together. they had a little sitdown afterward. brianna keilar has more on yesterday's match. >> reporter: president obama and speaker boehner teemd up against vice president biden and ohio governor john casic. according to the white house and the speaker's office, the winner was the presidentant speaker and they won on the 18th hole. it was a bit of a cliff-hanger. sparing some of the players from embarrassment, they didn't play stroke play. we done the have numeric scores.

they played match play. for each hole won by a team they'd get one point. as we understand it, the priz and t and the speaker walked off the course with a whopping $2 each. a tiny wager there. there are very serious issues that congress and the white house are dealing with right now. this was a round that lasted about four hours, giving the president and speaker a chance to communicate about the debt ceiling negotiations, if they wanted, that are going on on capitol hill. also the issue of libya, quite a thorny issue where the speaker and joined by a number of republicans and democrats, is saying that president obama needs to get congressional authorization to have american troops committed to this operation in libya or else he's breaking the law. of course, the white house

doesn't see it that way. so this coming at a very opportune time, when there's significant economic and national security issues for the president and the speaker and the vice president to discuss. >> thanks to our brianna keilar. just how tough was the criticism of barack obama in front of a group of republicans? so tough that they even want the person who was criticizing the president pulled offstage. what you're seeing here is an obama impersonator, brought in at the republican leadership conference this weekend. his name is reggie brown. part of his routine had jokes about the president's birth certificate. he had other topics he hit on. also had more racially tinged remarks as well. let me let you listen to a bit of this. >> the state of our union is not good. the debt is rapidly growing. unemployment is quickly rising. and people are being forced from their homes. i