hated woman in america. and he helped her walk. we're talking to casey anthony's former attorney, jose baez. we're getting inside one of the most watch and talked about trials of our time. "starting point" begins right now. ♪ >> that's from my playlist, a news junkie. welcome, good morning, with us on the panel. we have marsha blackburn, republican from tennessee, jose baez also has his new book out "presumed guilty" and the senior adviser to president clinton and writer for new yorker.com. welcome to all of you. a busy monday morning and we're starting this morning with the president and his plans to resurrect this discussion over the bush tax cuts. the president will be surrounded by working class americans later

today when he speaks in the white house rose garden. he's going to be calling for an extension of tax cuts only for people earning $250,000 a year or less. >> so the president is totally committed to getting rid of the tax cut for those making $250,000 or above. >> let's make progress on our spending by doing away with tax cuts for people that quite frankly don't need them and that haven't worked and have them pay their fair share? >> that a yes or no. the president is completed committed to this. >> 100% committed to this. >> i heard this before. dan lothian is here. a couple of years ago we were having the same discussion, the president did extend tax cuts for the wealthiest americans, sounds like this is going to be a high priority for this campaign/white house right now. >> the campaign is launching a major push in key battle ground states in new hampshire there

will be a press conference with middle class families and other events in colorado, florida, and nevada involving small business owners as well as state and local officials. the president over the last few weeks or so has really been ramping up this message of providing help for the middle class families. as we heard last week during his bus tour in ohio and pennsylvania, not only those in the middle class but those trying to get into the middle class. and what you're seeing here appears to be a shift away from the negative job numbers that we saw last week in a shift towards tax cuts, these tax extensions rather, this will benefit the president. at least that's what the campaign believes because he's able to draw contrast between his message and message of the gop and message specifically of his opponent mitt romney. the president can say, i'm fighting for those who need the most help and that other guy is fighting for the wealthy. christine. >> dan lothian, i want to talk

more about the president's tax plans now. marsha black burn of tennessee is here with us. our "starting point" team is here as well. you're the republican deputy whip. tell me, are you going to accept this line in the sand of $250,000 or is it all or nothing? >> what the american people tell us regularly is, look, just extend this. one of the biggest problems we have and i'm sure richard hears this, uncertainty about regulation, uncertainty about taxation. >> the republicans are vowing more uncertainty about health care reform too, not putting that uncertainty to bed. >> i would differ there. i think that there's a way to bring some certainty to this. but the uncertainty that is penetrating the environment in washington, d.c. is so difficult. i think that senator mcconnell had it about right yesterday when he said, let's take it as it is and extend everything, do it for -- >> let's listen to what he said, what senator mcconnell said

yesterday. oh, darn it, we don't have it. sorry. she did a night bce buttoning i. >> the thing is, if you say okay, as they are, the o 103 cuts, let's extend them for another year and get to presencive tax reform. we're going to hear from congressman brady about that. >> comprehensive tax reform would be so nice if anything thought people in washington could get it done. >> we won't get it done this year. but i think next year you're going to see it on the table. >> when marsha says it, it sounds so reasonable. but -- >> because it is. >> the truth is is that we need to have this debate in this country about whether or not we're going to continue providing tax cuts for the super rich -- >> what is super rich? can we agree what is super rich? >> i certainly over a million,

if you have $100 million i.r.a., you're super rich. >> some democrats are saying maybe $1 million should be the line. >> i think $250,000 is a reasonable number and the number that makes sense. i think we're going to have this debate in the context of the election. you said president obama talked about this before and then agreed to lower -- to continue the tax cuts for everybody. the truth is he did that evenly because he needed to do it to make a deal. now in the context of this election, we'll have a debate about where the line should be. >> jose, let me ask you, outside of this bermuda triangle of new york, boston and washington, d.c., what do people in the rest of the country? what is rich? >> you know -- >> a florida jury, do they think a million is rich, $250,000 is rich? >> when you look at other places in the united states, $250,000 sounds like a lot of money to a lot of people. but when you go into the more urban areas, it doesn't seem that -- like it's a whole lot of

money. what i don't understand is what are we talking about when you say, marsha, about the uncertainty? what exactly does that mean? >> regulatory uncertainty, last year 80,000 pages were added to the federal register. over 4400 new regulations. and when you are a business owner -- let's take one agency for instance, epa. and you're trying to deal with rules and regulations, if you're a small business manufacturer in my district in tennessee, say you're a just in time supplier for the auto industry, the uncertainty that is there. if you are a community bank, we have a very strong state charter bank system in tennessee and you've got fdic regulators that don't really know the banking industry who are coming in to regulate you. that is a level of uncertainty that is there. if you're looking at the tax code and the irs is, you know, you don't know what the tax code

is going to be this year and congress is late in passing the extensions, we do that extenders bill every year, it provides a level of uncertainty. what people want to know is what they are looking at so they can develop a business plan. >> i need to move on and we'll talk more about this when we come back. on top of this uncertainty is the fact that the economy is not doing well. >> that's right. >> that is the real problem here. it's demand for small businesses. they are not seeing the demand they like to see and can't quite figure out what is the magic ee lix ir that will fix this. we will talk more with marcy captor about all of this, the bush tax cuts, she's from ohio and she'll join this conversation. let's get to ali for the rest of the day's top stories. >> i'm not wearing my cheap business correspondent cap so i'm not going to do that right now. i didn't say anybody say the fdic is a problem regulator because this is the best regulator -- >> here we go. >> that's not my job.

many people waking up in the dark with their computers dark. a crippling internet virus may be affecting hundreds of thousands of computers this morning. at midnight eastern time the fbi shut down servers that had been protecting as much as as 300,000 pcs from the internet doomsday virus that will knock you entirely offline, including those with macs and ipads. now it's past the deadline and if you don't have the internet, you'll have to call your internet service provider and they'll instruct you as to how to get back online. not much relief from a brief cold front that moved through the northeast this week because it brought with it a fresh round of storms slowing down recovery efforts in virginia, causing more damage in hard hit areas. more than 160,000 customers

still without power this morning. some of those people have not had electricity for more than a week. well, now that needed rain has fallen and temperatures have cooled down a bit. colorado's governor has lifted a statewide ban on fires. the waldo canyon blaze which we've been covering, blackened 18,000 acres and destroyed 346 homes in colorado springs. the most destructive fire in the state's history and it is however, 98% contained this morning. let's check on the weather. alexandra steele is in for rob. good morning. >> good morning to you, ali. we are going to see heat relief in the mid-atlantic and northeast and the east. but at the penalty of severe weather. it is coming with a price. today the firing line, norfolk, raleigh durham, raleigh yesterday, 105 degrees. washington 102. these were the high temperatures yesterday. there goes the cold front. today washington how nice, 88 degrees. and you'll see that can move

down farther south with the cooler air coming in behind it, 90 in columbus, but temperatures mid week, the 80s to about 90 degrees. temperatures much more comfortable than they've been. we are seeing the heat once again, a new heat wave will get its act together from vegas to phoenix. temperatures between 110 and 120. that heat will push eastward and make its way toward the southeast coming up. >> thanks very much. >> on the security watch, police in britain are arresting a terror suspect who may have been scoping out the olympic park in east london according to the sunday telegraph. the would be suicide bomber with ties to al qaeda traveled near olympic park on five separate occasions. security officials are on high alert with the games expected to begin later this month. a presidential power play in egypt. the parliament will reconvene, 12:30 local time after mohamed

morsi's defiant protest of the militaries. they have called a emergency meeting and that's it for me, i'll see you in a little while. >> thanks, ali. a banker goes missing and so does $17 million. authorities saying his own suicide was just his latest scam. $44 million, not bad for a day's work. it will make the 99%'s blood boil. inside the casey anthony trial, her former attorney is out with a new book, making the case for her innocence. you're watching "starting point."

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welcome back, i'mal velshi. second quarter earnings, i call it the report card for wall street. alcoa always the first big name to report. that happens today. already 42 public companies have lowered their earnings expectations, among them, ford a texas instruments, most blaming the slowdown from europe. markets are down worldwide after that disappointing jobs report on friday here in the united states. and a georgia banker has gone missing, so has $17 million.

aubry lee price is accused of defrauding more than 100 investors. he disappeared and left what appears to be a rambling suicide note. but atlanta journal constitution says federal investigators believe that price is still alive and possibly in south america. $44 million, not bad for a day's work for a few hours this week, william johnson was the ceo of duke energy. the former ceo of progress energy, where he worked, signed a three-year contract to head up duke once the two companies merged. he assumed the position on july 2nd. the next day by so-called mutual agreement, he was out, replaced by duke's former chief executive. johnson leaves with a severance package worth $44 million. christine, we've got to do a little digging to see how he earned the $44 million. it sounds a little odd to get $44 million for a day's worth of work. >> mutual agreement isn't always

mutual agreement, that could mean the board kicked him out and had to pay him out for the three years or the fact he was going to work there. >> i'm going to look into it. >> thanks. >> it's been a year since the whole country watched as casey anthony was acquitted of murdering her two-year-old daughter caylee. since the controversial verdict, we know she's been serving probation in an undisclosed location in florida. we don't know much else about casey's life after the trial until now. jose baez was her criminal defense attorney and has a new book called "presumed guilty." welcome to the program. >> thank you for having me. i'm excited to be here. >> a lot of buzz in the newsroom. everyone has a lot of questions. fire away. >> let me ask you first, it's so interesting and the very beginning you thank casey anthony forgiving you permission to tell this story. are you still in contact with her? do you still talk to her? she is aware of the book. >> yes. you know, i talked to her about as frequently as i do other former clients. casey was -- because i

represented her for so long and the trial lasted so long, she's somewhat special. we've spoken a little bit more frequently. but i've moved on to other cases and she's trying to get on with her life. writing the book provided me with an opportunity to get it all out there and be done with it. >> let's get it all out there. you see when caylee was report d missing, she led them on this wild goose chase and the police quickly made up their minds and arrested her. you call that a crucial moment in the investigation and horrible decision. this is what you write, you say they should have stopped and realized, wait a minute, we're not here dealing with someone who's playing with a full deck, rather than thinking this is a guilty person, why wouldn't they consider this is a person who has built some kind of fantasy world and lives within mythical reality? does she need mental -- is this

a mental situation do you think? >> i think that there's a lot there. there's a lot there that has yet to be pursued. when law enforcement initially started investigating this case, the red flags were everywhere. she's walking them down to universal studios with purpose, to use their words, turning left in a building then going right, my office is over here. knowing that there's no office there. and all of a sudden stops when she reach az dead end and says, okay, i don't work here. the police already knew then that there was a fictitious nanny, that the nanny didn't exist and the apartment had been vacant for almost half a year. and every single thing she was talking about and every single thing that her family was talking about, just wasn't right. and rather than rush and arrest her, without any evidence, they should have taken a step back. >> you have a missing baby and a

woman lying, lying. >> what are you going to do? water board her? no, i think the right thing to do at that point is take a step back and say, okay, let's see if we can get somebody in here to talk to her. there might be mental health issues. the police know that a majority of the people who commit crimes do it because they either have a drug problem or mental health issues. very few people actually commit crimes knowing right from wrong and do so. i think that given the circumstances, the gravity of the situation, that this was a child that was missing, could have been alive and was either in the hands or not in the hands of someone who is all there should have -- >> we know she wasn't alive. >> correct. >> we now know this child is gone, i think there was a spokeswoman for the department of corrections, called her one of the most hated women in america. she is the most hated woman in america. i couldn't think of anybody who got -- you called it presumed

guilty, the title of your book. does she still live in a fantasy world? is she trying to rebuild a life? >> i haven't spoken to her about children and things like that. we usually spoke about her case. and in investigating her case, the fact she had so many imagery friends, i put up a big board in closing arguments with every single person. there was once where her and her mother waited in a parking lot for a person who didn't exist, waited an hour and a half. she didn't exist. these are the types of things -- >> the real most important person in her life was dead and buried and she was lying about it. >> quite say tra mattic event that spiraled out of control. >> these guys have a lot of questions. the book is called "presumed

guilty." the federal government complains there's a lack of money. maybe it should stop playing unemployment to people who aren't eligible like people in prisons. wait until you hear who's getting it pretty easily? you can watch cnn live, head to cnn.com/tv. mine was earned off vietnam in 1968. over the south pacific in 1943. i got mine in iraq, 2003. usaa auto insurance is often handed down from generation to generation. because it offers a superior level of protection, and because usaa's commitment to serve the military, veterans and their families is without equal. begin your legacy, get an auto insurance quote. usaa. we know what it means to serve.

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welcome back, i'm ali velshi. a woman who witnessed the assassination of robert f. kennedy has agreed to testify on behalf of the man convicted of killing him. nina roeds hughes says she's

been contacted by the lawyers fort upcoming legal challenge. she says she told fbi investigators that there was a second gunman. tragic news for usher's family. the singer's 7-year-old stepson has been declared brain dead following a boating accident. he was riding in an intertube when he was struck by a jet ski on georgia's lake lanier. ernest borgnine being remembered. he starred in mchale's navy then won an academy award for his film "marty." he was 95 years old. >> and a tremendous talent. tremendous talent. thanks, ali. time to get real. be careful before you cash that unemployment check. the government is trying to get back unemployment benefits it paid out to people who weren't eligible, billions in benefits,

labor department and states paid $14 billion in fiscal year 2011. how much is that? that's about 11% of all jobless benefits paid out. let me say that again, 11% of all jobless benefits paid out last year were paid out to people who weren't supposed to get them. most benefits do go the right people but there are three types of people who get the wrong benefits. they go to the people not actively searching for a job and those people fired or quit. those who still file claims even though they returned to work. that happens a lot. sometimes it's because of government error. it's an employer or the worker or sometimes all three, sometimes this is because of fraud schemes, this is really interesting. people set up fake companies and people in prison who somehow manage to get benefits. there was one case somebody, i thnk he had $30,000 waiting in a los angeles county jail for a murder conviction. illegal immigrants, a lot of other categories of people who apply for benefits and get the

benefits. what really surprised me about this, 11% of all benefits paid out last year made out to people who weren't supposed to be getting the money. we're already living in a country that is living beyond its means and people are legitimate people are seeing their benefits run out while people who should not be getting them are getting them. >> it is outrageous, when you're out talking with constituents, sometimes people will come up and say, marsha, where can i report someone who i know who they know is defrauding the system? and they want to make certain those individuals get turned in because if you're playing by the rules, if you're working hard and if you're searching for a job and working three or four jobs and see somebody getting benefits they are not entitled to. it really does cause people to get a little bit up in arms. >> even in good times this has been a problem. i can remember inspector general reports for the past ten years a survey of prison population, how many people are getting them. this is -- the government presumably, jose, can go in and

try to get -- claw these backs. if you don't have money, they are not getting money from you. >> most of the people who are actually committing these frauds don't have a lot of money to begin with and it goes and disappears. but being a small business owner, one of the things i noticed, i've had people quit and before i get a notice that they are collecting unemployment benefits, they are already collecting a paycheck. and. >> isn't the hon os on you to say, no, they can't? you have to do the paperwork to say you can't get the unemployment benefits. >> but you don't get it until they are already receiving checks. a lot of things can happen. this gets put on the bottom file, doesn't get done. >> i can't really get to that at the moment, i have a casey anthony murder trial right now. >> i have to get back to you later, or you end up sending it in and the person ends up having to pay money back. good luck in collecting your money. >> that's the get real. ahead on "starting point," i

want to turn to syria where the dictator, blaming the u.s. and terrorists, blaming everyone but himself for the carnage in his country. can there be peace with sim him still in the picture? setting up an election year war with republicans, president obama wants to renew the fight over the bush tax cuts with four months until election day, marcy kaptor joins us. congressman barney frank ties the knot and blazes a trail. you're watching "starting point." [ man ] ever year, sophia and i use the points we earn with our citi thankyou card for a relaxing vacation. ♪ sometimes, we go for a ride in the park. maybe do a little sightseeing. or, get some fresh air. but this summer, we used our thank youpoints

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the latest on our breaking news from the white house this morning. president obama restarting the fight over the so-called bush tax cuts as a fragile economy tretens his re-election chances. he'll hold a news conference in a few hours.

former u.n. secretary general kofi annan met with bashar al assad as a last ditch effort to salvage his peace plan for the region. he's calling his talks candid and constructive and says they agreed on an approach to peace that he'll now share with opposition forces in syria. his visit follows secretary of state hillary clinton's warning that demise to his regime is a bloody inevitability. >> it should be abundantly clear to those who support the assad regime, the days are numbered. >> arwa damon is monitoring the situation in syria and live from beirut. it's almost shocking, a lot of people are saying, the syrian leader blaming the u.s. for destabilizing syria and for the bloodshed within his own country. what is he saying?

>> reporter: he is, christine, although it's not exactly the first time we've heard him leveling blame against the united states other western and arab nations too. the government from the onset of this uprising is effectively blamed the violence on these foreign backed terrorist gangs refusing to take on any measure of responsibility for what's happening inside the country. we heard from the syrian president in an interview with a german broadcaster as defiant as ever. and just listen to what he said about america's role in the uprising. >> it's part of the conflict. they give the umbrella and political support to those gangs to create destability, to destabilize syria. >> so president assad effectively blaming the united states for politically backing the opposition. he was also pointing the finger of blame to saudi arabia

accusing two governments of providing weapons to the armed rebels but sted he had no concrete evidence to that effect. we're seeing the syrian president blaming just about everyone, except for himself. christine? >> meantime, 15, 16 months bloodshed continues and opposition groups reporting 60 people killed in syria just yesterday. kofi annan wrapped up his meeting with al assad. are they any closer to a peace plan here? >> we >> reporter: kofi annan was calling the talks constructive and said he had the approach that the syrian president agreed to and he was going to present it to the armed opposition. but there's still a lot of question marks. this new readvised peace plan that the united nations security council agreed to on june 30th calls not only for a cease fire but for a transition to some sort of national unity government. now the syrian president again

in this interview with the german broadcaster said there's no need for a national unity government because from his perspective one already exists in the country. the opposition for its part has said it will absolutely not sit down at the negotiating table unless the president himself steps aside. this new kofi annan proposal does not in fact call for that. it most certainly seems as if there's a lot of dialogue going on but no concrete plan that both sides are going to agree to and perhaps more importantly, stick to. >> a lot of dialogue back and forth. arwa damon, thanks so much. when he says something like this, al assad, he has blamed the u.s. before, puts us -- what is the u.s. supposed to do it here, the appropriate reaction of the united states? >> i think that one of the things that we have to do is to make certain that we send the point once again, no, this is not our fault. the entire region concerns us.

when you look at what is happening in lebanon, when you look at what's happening in syria, the situations in egypt. all of it is of concern. we're a stabilizer. we are not a destabilizer. and it is almost one of these situations where something begins to run off the rails and who are they going to blame. they look at us and try to blame us. most the countries around there, if you ask them, do you want the u.s. here or do you want them gone? they want us and want our presence that is there and repeatedly has been in and out of that region. that is one of the things that i see. they say they don't want us but they sure are glad we're here. >> he's suggesting for legitimacy and blaming the u.s. as an easy get. >> we've been pretty aggressive there, right and secretary clinton, i mean that was -- she said your days are numbered. that's pretty aggressive. >> true. >> that is very aggressive, but there again, richard, if given

the choice of having the u.s. around or the u.s. out, people want us and neighboring countries want us there. >> let's get to aly velshi. george zimmerman is waking up in a safe house somewhere in seminole county florida. he left jail on friday after posting $85,000 in bail, it came from the legal defense fund set up by his supporters. his lawyers say he'll need additional donations to pay for his defense against second degree murder charges he's facing. barney frank has become the first to marry someone of the same sex while in office. tieing the knot with his long time companion, jim reedy, the certificate known was o fishiated by the governor patrick. they have pledged to love each other in sickness and health and under democrats or republicans. want to see a bunch of pro-baseball players run for

their lives, look. >> wow. that knocked -- the players are coming off the field whether they want them to or not. >> that was nuts. a crazy thunder clap sent players and umps running at the texas rangers game in arlington last night when a bolt of lightning struck just outside the stadium. josh willingham, the runner at first dropped to his knees, twins center fielder said that's the loudest noise i've ever heard. i thought jesus was coming. during the 46 minute delay that followed, everybody is okay. >> baseball is a religious experience so -- >> it was one last night. >> especially in texas. back it our top story, president obama changing the subject of the campaign this morning to taxes. in just a few hours, he'll hold an event to announce to extend the bush era tax cuts for one year for people earning less than $250,000 a year.

robert gibbs says this is a priority for the president. >> so the president is totally committed to getting rid of the tax cut for those making $250,000 or above? >> let's make progress on our spending by doing away with tax cuts for people that quite frankly don't need them. tax cuts that haven't worked and have them pay their fair share. >> that a yes or no? the president is completely committed to this, won't allow it to happen. >> 100% committed to it. >> the president's move will set up a new fight with republicans. they have a vote planned to extend tax cuts for all americans and are expected to block his proposal unless extensions apply to those making more than $250,000 a year as well. congressman marcy kaptor, a member of the budget committee. good morning. a couple of years ago, the president said i'm committed to tax cuts, extending tax cuts for 250 and less and in the end he extended them for everyone. some budget hawks called them

dericively the bush obama tax cuts. do you think time he'll just pass them for the 250 and under? >> the president just made a sweep through northern ohio and talked about his desire to keep the tax burden on the middle class light. and he didn't mention this new dimension that has been referenced this morning. but i think initially he had to give fuel to the economy to get it going trying to get consumer spending up. now we face a little bit of a different situation. the economy has been growing. it has been -- every month we've been creating jobs -- >> not enough though, not enough. >> well, not enough, you know when gas prices went up and with the european debt crisis, there have been some pretty tough hurdles here that we had to get over.

nonetheless, the economy continues to produce jobs and in the part of america that i represent, we see in the manufacturing sector and in the automotive sector, continuing job growth and even contributing to our added exports. >> do you think the president is trying to change -- >> we have to keep that going. >> do you think the president is trying to change the page -- the job growth is not enough. in some parts -- it just isn't enough. 80,000 jobs created last month. is he trying to change the page and pumt the middle class people behind him, we'll see at this event later on today at the rose garden, and try to say, one thing i can try to control is your tax bill because i can work with congress on that? >> yes, and you know the president has helped the middle class if you look at the payroll tax cut, middle class americans have been experiencing, that has contributed to the job growth that we see to the car sales, to additional consumer spending.

so he's right smack dab right in the middle of the middle class. he talked about that in ohio at every stop, whether it was in parma or sandusky, toledo, he was very clear on that. >> let me ask you about this. other leaders like nancy pelosi have said, maybe extend the cuts for everyone who earns up to a million dollars. i guess setting up a definition of who is rich, how much money to be rich in america. are democrats not on the same page? that a potential problem here? >> well, at least we know that we want to protect the middle class. i think where you put that line, whether it's million and above, $250,000 and above, that's to be worked out. but i think it's clear that we want to keep the economy growing. we want jobs continuing to be created. and that tax cuts on the middle class can help. >> i mean, i really don't think this is part of an effort to change the subject, i think this

has been the subject all along. and you know, mitt romney's main plan for the economy is to cut taxes on the wealthy. i think this is the president framing this issue at $250,000 and below. i wouldn't really say it's an effort to chae the subject. i think this proposal today is an effort by him to frame very important issue that's going to be before the ee llectoraelecto >> i think framing is still a message. congresswoman ckaptur, gas prics are going down and system have the europe problem and people who have jobs are talkinging to people concerned about jobs. how can the president at this point and democratic party i guess more broadly, into november show, look, we can help people get jobs? whether it's putting more money in their pocket and allowing jobs to grow down the road?

that's what going to decide this election, isn't it? >> it sure will in places like ohio. when the president said last week that he was issuing a trade complaint against china and its practices in terms of trade, that helps in regions like ours where we're trying to move product into countries like china. they continue to do some very unwise, take very unwise steps in terms of allowing our products in and making it difficult for our automotive sector to compete. he's taking steps and just signed the bill on transportation, my goodness, we've been waiting for that one for months for the republicans in congress to clear. that's a job creator, assuming contracts can be let. i think he's playing piano on all keys not just one. >> we have to leave it there. we'll talk to marsha blackburn more throughout the hour as

well. nice to see you this morning, have a great monday morning. ahead on "starting point," congress getting back to work after a fourth of july break. why the first thing house republicans plan to do cannot possibly succeed. and a baby golden eagle, inspiring millions after surviving being burned alive. an amazing story here, incredible pictures. i promise we're going to make you feel good coming up. this is richard's playlist, legend's "take me away."

i can't lie, clever. clever clever, jose baez. >> congress is back to work this morning after a fourth of july recess. in two days, house republicans plan to call a vote to repeal the president's health care overhaul law. but it's mostly symbolic because any repeal effort would likely die in the democratic controlled senate. and of course the supreme court has ruled on this, it is the law of the land, health care reform, yet republicans want to fight it to the bitter end.

and i'm wondering, should congress people be spending more time helping constituents comply with the law rather than continuing all of this uncertainty? >> well, when you have 2300 new regulations and 158 new federal bureaucracy that is are created by this law, then the's a lot of uncertainty and a lot of we don't know exactly how it's going to be. >> do you have people in the back office answering the phone calls saying if you have fewer than 50, don't worry, it doesn't apply to those who have fewer than 50 workers? >> we have information on our website, facebook. >> helping people comply? >> yes. it's the law of the land. >> we're going to make this not come true, not here is how we're going to help you get your business -- >> our goal -- our goal is going to be to get this all through the books. here is what we want to do -- >> this is like a piece of thread, all right. this is not going to get through the senate. >> let me tell you this is not a

piece of theater. >> you're just doing it to make a point. >> no. it is not a piece of theater because what the american people want to hear congress say is that obama care was a mistake. >> so you're making a statement. >> it gives us -- >> political theater in an election year. >> not at all. it gives us the opportunity to start fresh with a clean slate. there are five things that people want -- >> you don't think this is going to be repealed, right? the senate is not -- the senate is controlled by the president's party, the president's signature legislation. >> don't get started -- >> well, you are making a point. that's my only point, you are making a point. you'll agree you're making a point. you're not doing this to repeal it. >> i'm doing it to repeal it and get rid of it. it is the worst thing -- >> but you are only going to make a point. >> this is why you put me between them. >> the thing is this, the most important step of any journey is the first step. >> that's good. >> we are once again going to go back and repeal this bill. it's terrible -- and we're going

to do it again. >> how many times? >> we're going to do it again. >> how many times? >> i wish we could do it every day. >> every day. we're going to do it every day. you heard it here, the republicans leadership, we're going to vote to repeal health care every day instead of working to put america back to work. i think that's a great -- listen, i'll take it. >> well, look at one of the things that is prohibiting jobs growth. number one issue, jobs, the economy, health care, our national security. we're talking about all of these this morning. and when you talk about an inhibtors to getting people hired, the obama care -- >> but wait. one point. i just have a real question -- not that your question wasn't real but i'm just saying -- strike that from the record, counselor. but isn't it creating more uncertainty? is. >> not at all. >> when i talk to small business people they think this is going to crush them and i say, wait a minute, you have fewer than 50 employees, but they're hearing -- >> but it does affect them. >> they're hearing their

represe representatives say -- give me an example. >> a constituent last week, they have six employees in their company. their health insurance went up 54% this current year. next year it is going to go up another 56%. they had to let one employee go. >> health care costs and premiums have already been going up. >> and -- >> with or without health care reform when they talk to their insurance provider, the insurance provider says because of the new regulation that is are going to be contained in obama care, this is what is happening to your insurance costs. >> so how did you counsel them? >> i do not counsel them. that is not -- when they contact us to get provisions or information, we give that to them. but there are five things they want to us do, to get rid of this and put in its place. >> we'll talk about those when we come back. speaking of paying the bills, right to a commercial break. thank you, congresswoman. utah's miracle baby.

we're going to tell you about a golden eagle rising from the ashes of a wildfire. and this is congressman blackburn's play list, the oak ridge boys. "american made." matters. pioneers in outsourcing us jobs supports tax breaks overseas. insourcing. industry and favors bring jobs home. it matters.

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a phoenix rising from the ashes. this baby golden eagle is recovering at a wildlife rehabilitation center in utah after he was burned alive by a wildfire that consumed his nest. he was found among the ashes of his charred home a few weeks ago with singed feathers and burns to his feet and his beak. a volunteer went looking to collect a tagging band that he had placed on this little one just a few weeks before. he assumed this eaglet was dead but the resistance has earned him the name phoenix for the mythical bird that rises from the ashes. but a board chair of the wildlife rehabilitation center where the bird is recovering. welcome to the program. you first saw this phoenix on july 4th. how did he look? were you surprised he was still alive? >> yes. based on the conditions that we

saw him in, we were quite surprised that he lived through it. >> we're going to show some pictures of the nest before and the nest after it was burned. it was initially found 25 feet below the nest by that volunteer who placed the identification band on him. look at that. look at the before after. unbelievable. eagles usually start flying, what 75 to 80 days. we think maybe phoenix's days might be younger, not quite old enough to fly. how do you think your he survived the fire? >> you know, we're assuming that the fire start ed from the bottm and as it engulfed the nest that he eventually jumped out onto the area that had already been in flames and was no longer in flame. >> how is he doing now? >> he's doing pretty well. we're still guarded about his

condition but we're hopeful. >> you're not handling him too much, right? he's an angry little bird. >> he is and that'sed good. we want to show fight and he's showing us a lot of fight. he wants human hands away from him unless they have food and then he's a pretty eager eater. >> you don't want him damaging his it talons if he gets angry and fighting back. we wish you the best of luck. keep us posted, will you please, on phoenix and his rise from the ashes. i know you are guarded about his condition but we want to be hopeful about him. thank you, sir. >> thank you. all right. ahead on "starting point" missed him by that much. a fisherman comes face-to-face with a huge shark while kayaking. almost becomes shark bait. plus, releach at last for millions of americans sweltering in triple digit heat. it won't last for too long. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

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welcome in. the battle lines over tax cuts. a news conference in the rose garden in a few hours as republicans point fingers at the white house for the poor jobs numbers. we'll talk to key players on both sides of this fight. plus, racist or fair to all? the texas voter i.d. law tested in court today. and the place where american dreams were launched, long

island. now a new hbo documentary looks at how the dream is on life support. the director of "hard times lost on long island" joins us. "starting point" begins right now. ♪ they want to get my on the ceiling ♪ ♪ it's just a matter of time >> that's from my play list, the black keys, "gold on the ceiling." marsha blackburn, jose baez, who represented casey anthony, the author of a new book about it called "presumed guilty" and richard, former senior adviser to president clinton and a writer for new yorker.com. happy monday. our starting point this morning president obama just a few hours away from making an announcement about extending the bush-era tax cuts and republicans are accusing him of waging, here it is, class warfare before election day.

the president will surround himself with working class americans when he holds an event in the white house rose garden today. he'll be calling for an extension of the bush tax cuts only for families earning $250,000 a year or less. >> so the president's totally committed to getting rid of the tax cut for those making $250,000 and above? >> let's make progress on our spending by doing away with tax cuts for people that, quite frankly, don't need them. tax cuts that haven't worked. and have them pay their fair share. >> so is that a yes or a no? the president is committed to this, he won't allow it to happen. >> he is 100% committed to it. >> 100% committed. dan, sounds like the bush tax cuts and who gets them will be a priority issue for this campaign. >> reporter: it really is going to be a priority issue. the president has been talking about the wealthy paying more. he sees this as a way to cut into the federal deficit but there's more than the official reason the white house puts out

for this. there's a politics behind this. on the campaign trail the president has been pushing for assistance for the middle class and those trying to get into the middle class. in addition, the president can draw a con rast between what he believes, which is, he says, pushing for those who need help the most, those mitt romney is supporting and those are the wealthy. and so you see the president and other is yosurrogates will be o there trying to amplify this message, at least accord iing t the campaign this week in key battleground states like new hampshire, florida, kcolorado ad nevada. you will hear from middle class families, from local and state officials as well. but there will be push back from republicans who continue to insist this is not the economic environment to be raising taxes on any americans but there's disagreement from some democrats who believe that it should be those -- the threshold should be at a million dollars not

$250,000. so this is not a clean message here from the democrats, from the president, but the president very much believing this is a strong campaign message especially coming on the heels of those disappointing jobs numbers last week, christine. the president came out and said he wanted to extend tax cuts for those making $250,000 or less but he had to extend for everybody to get it done. >> reporter: that's right. and it was to get the deal done at the time. so now the president is trying to sort of go back at this again saying that the middle class families are the ones who need help not the wealthy americans, and that's why we expect them to hold to this line. you never know what happens when it comes time to negotiate a deal like this. but that's what the president is pushing for. >> you say it with a smile on your face. you never know what's happening. thanks, dap. republican congressman marsha blackburn is the republican deputy whip. we want to talk more about the plan as well with the republican

congressman kevin brady of texas, the vice chair of the joint economic committee so we have a couple of players here to talk about. let me start with you first, congressman brady. your reaction to this decision to extend the bush tax cuts just for people making $250,000 or less. will that fly with you guys? >> no. it's more bad politics and more bad news for the economy. i think we've had 300 economists, independent economists indicate doing that would harm the economy even further and the president -- >> why would it harm it? it would harm it if you don't extend it to everyone, you mean? >> absolutely. as you know the president is really struggling these days. the june jobs report was a bit of a milestone. and now out of ten recovery since world war ii president obama's recovery ranks dead last, tenth in both jobs and economic growth. in fact, if he was just an average president, i mean, just middle of the road on the economy 4 million more americans would be going to work. i think he's looking for anything to cover up just a horrible economic record.

>> congressman, i think one of the things that many americans don't understand is why do millionaires and people making over a million dollars need tax cuts? why is that? >> well, actually -- actually i think if you look at the economy here are the people -- the two tax brackets, the one to create the most jobs, many small businesses file taxes as individuals like you and me not as corporations so they get hit hard and, secondly, these also are the consumers within our economy. here you have small businesses begging for more consumers to come through the door. these are the ones doing it. in terms of the economy makes no sense. >> let me interject because we've had tax cuts for the wealthiest americans for ten years now. ten years now and it hasn't create this had boom of jobs that we keep saying don't tax the rich but do we know that lower taxes -- >> so you are raising taxes is positive for the economy?

i just want to understand the philosophy here because i'm just not seeing that in any economic data anywhere where taxing people more will jump-start the economy especially on main stre street. it doesn't happen. >> at the rate they're spending, in fact, the president has already raised more than $600 billion of taxes. guess how much went to the deficit? zero. not a dollar. >> this president has been cutting taxes, right? the middle payroll tax holiday -- >> spending as a result of more government revenue. >> let me ask you -- >> if he really wanted to tackle the deficit he'd put the energy workers back to work because we can create a lot of jobs and revenue that is government by giving our industry. >> there's the shout out for texas. let me ask you quickly about -- one of the things here can we -- what if if nothing gets done? what if nothing gets done because of the gridlock we're seeing between the white house

and house republicans and you face this where you have taxes rising for everyone? can we get bi-papartisanship bee that happens? >> absolutely. house republicans will pass the tax relief and fundamental reform elements that are critical. at the end of the day i think the president will understand he's in a bad economic position. he will cave and these tax -- we will not see the tax increases he hopes for. >> i want to switch gears a bit and talk about what's happening in texas with the voter rights act. this is an interesting development. will have been more talk in the last couple of years. we've seen in the 40 years since -- in the 40 years prior. let me ask you about this, about what is happening in texas. the justice department says that this law, this voter fraud issue that they're talking about in texas where they want people to come to the polls with an i.d.

the justice department says the law addresses a problem that doesn't exist. according to politifach 26 were specified as cop vixs and just two were guilty pleas resulting in a conviction. 60% of those weren't convictions at all. they're talking 28 convictions and tens of millions of potential votes. can you explain to me the -- what's happening here with the voter rights act and whether it's really just something to keep people from going and voting for president obama? >> sure. sure, it's not. as you know, i think there's more politics. 31 states have voter i.d. laws in place. the supreme court has already ruled constitutional other states that have done this. we know the outcome. this is more politics. i think back to 2008 where gloria guidry, a pastor's wife, a mother of four, a grand moerp of 11, had died in 2007 yet

somehow managed to vote in the democratic primary in 2008. i think the 121 voters all registered at a mon nonexistent addre address, probably by acorn. those in one county who were listed in social security as having been deceased for a number of years, yes, there is voter fraud and i think protecting the integrity of the ballot is a real voting rights here. >> 11% -- so the ny school of law estimates that 11% of u.s. citizens do not have a government issued photo identification. 21 million americans do not have is a government issued photo identification. the obama administration blocked the law because they say it's unfair to voters who say it's more unlikely not to have an identification. that's a significant number of people. >> i just don't think that's the case. i don't think those numbers are accurate. there's a real question about whether the justice department

is relying upon democrats -- >> so you think the department of justice is just making that up? >> i think they're cherry picking the numbers in the political groups they want to it use for that data and they will realize that. what we really want are people who are eligible to vote. we want as many as possible to get to the polls and register to vote. we don't want people who are dead. >> of course not. no one wants that. >> we want actual real ballots from real people and this law does that. >> you want to make sure you are not shutting anyone out at the same time. there's a balance between making sure you are not shutting people out because the overriding issue here has to be that someone who is an american and is eligible to vote is allowed to vote. you don't want to put any barriers that way. >> and the good news is -- and the good news is i agree. georgia, for example, has seen an increase in minority voting after their voting i.d. laws. i don't think we have a concern there. i wish the white house would

spend less time on this and more on the economy. >> thank you, congressman kevin brady from texas. nice to see you. now for the rest of the top stories. >> i didn't want to get away from that spirited conversation. >> i saw you hopping around over there. you are all fired up about taxes, raising taxes, creating jobs. i am. if you couldn't get onis line to get the news you are not alone because a crippling internet virus may be affecting hundreds of thousands had morning. at midnight the fbi shut down servers protecting as many as 300,000 pcs from the internet doomsday virus which will knock you entirely off. online security companies, facebook, the fbi they were all offering free checks for users whose computers may have been affected. i bet you i gnored them. now you will have to call to find out how to get back online. not much from a cold front that moved through. it brought a fresh round of storms with it slowing down recovery efforts in the virginias, even causing more

damage in hard had hit areas. more than 160,000 customers in nine states and d.c. are without power this morning. some of those people have not had electricity for over a week and more hot weather could be on the way. well, after desperately needed rain and slightly cooler temperatures, colorado's governor has lifted a statewide ban on fires. the waldo canyon blaze is 98% contained this morning. it is the most destructive fire in colorado's history that began on june 23rd. it's destroyed 346 homes in colorado springs. christine? >> thank you, ali. ahead, a close encount wer a great wlhite. a shark sinking his teeth into a kayak. if the predators are coming closer to our shores. and today's tough call, a father sentenced to jail for hosting a bible discussion in his own home. is the city code out of step with the constitution? and this is from ali velshi's play list.

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that is so creepy. imagine kayaking on the ocean when you feel a bump from below, tosses you overboard and then you see a great white shark take a bite out of your kayak while you float helpless in the water. this happened saturday to a fisherman near pleasure point, a popular surfing spot in california. the 52-year-old man spotted a shark up to 18 feet long. the kayak suffered bite marks. the fisherman was unharmed and

pulled to safety by a nearby boater. there have been 103 great white shark attacks in california, 12 fatalities. the executive director of the shark research center. is it palagic? >> anything 0 other than nomadic. >> you examined the kayak just minutes after this attack and, first of all, tell me what happened here. was he mistaken for a seal or this is a very -- i don't know, adventurous great white wanting to get a taste? what happened here, do you think? >> just speculation, the easy part is these guys were out fishing in kay yax outside the kelp beds and a big shark swam by, took an interest and put his teeth on the bow section of that kayak leaving these distinctive

cuts and scratches. >> were there teeth left in there? so the guy, the fisherman, he's tossed out of there. what did he do, swam over to another boat? swam quickly to another boat. >> it was quiet, a still morn g morning. a group of kayakers in a relatively small area and a boater nearby was able it to hear and then see the contact between the big shark and the kayaker and automatically responded, kind of gathered up, recovered the guy, the equipment, the kayak and towed it in to a nearby harbor at the pier and marina. i got a call from ed borell, you have to come down and look at this kayak. it was bit. i was in a hurry trying to get to carmel bay to look for sharks that have a lot of teeth but are very small, don't bite things. so i was distracted but it wasn't far away. i went down, met with mel who is the kayaker, and very experienced. they're well organized. and he was okay. had his wits about him still.

shaken up. >> he was a little shaken up? >> yeah. you know, not freaked out but you could tell he had an interesting morning. >> did he see it? could he see it in the water after it knocked him out? could he see this humongous shark? >> as it was described to me the shark came up more or less vertically and took it in its mouth and so he got a good look at the eye and the head and the mouth and all of that stuff. >> oh, man. that's something. all right. well, look, thanks for telling us the story. shark attack, great white, kayak, not just your average day at the office. sean, thanks so much. nice to see you. >> thank you. ahead on "starting point" a man was hosting a bible study in his own home. now he faces jail time. the city says he broke the rules, but should they apply to religion? that's coming up. don't forget you can watch cnn live on your computer and mobile phone while at work. [ lane ] your anti-wrinkle cream is gone.

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our tough call is about a phoenix man who may start serving a 60-day jail sentence today. he's refusing to stop holding bible study in his own home. the city says michael salmon is violating building code laws, 67 violations in all. he is an ordained pastor. he and his wife have been holding bible studies since 2005, about 15 people attend. the neighbor have is been complaining about the traffic. now in 2007 he received a letter from the city telling them that holding bible studies in their living room was not allowed. it violated construction code. 2009 they got a permit to build a 2,000-square-foot building. it was for converting a garage into a game room.

they moved the bible study into this building. the city shows up with a search warrant and says you are violating the permit. it can't be used for assembly or church. they are not running a church. there's a pulpit and a cross, seating for 40 people. they said, no, you are holding an assembly. this has gone past what the building code should allow. so tough call. is this his right to, you know, have a bible study in his home or a guy trying to run a church out of his house? what do you think? >> i think it's a tough call. i think that's why we call it a tough call. >> should ge to jail for it? >> i don't know. i think that -- >> it's insane. >> okay. jose baez, what? >> get me a jury trial. how are you going to convict someone who are holding bible study in their own home. you can do what you want, granted provided it's not illegal. how do you get a search warrant based on traffic? >> what about a building permit? >> you got a building permit to

convert it to a game room. >> if it's your home -- >> he has six children, you know, and i'm certain that if you have a multipurpose room, sometimes you may use it for bible study, sometimes you may use it for games, sometimes you may use it for bible study games. >> they thought he was running a church, right, because the traffic congestion outside of his house was so bad that they were alerted to something other than bible study for your family. >> anybody who has children and those children have friends and you have a lot of come and go, anybody that's got that kind of extended family -- >> there's a great solution here to this tough call this guy ought to get you to represent him and you could get him off for free. you could get him off because you can get anybody off. you even got that woman off. >> that woman, what was that story again? >> we're going to talk more are about that, are right? >> he's a great lawyer.

if i were in trouble, i'd hire him. >> i've heard. thanks, guys. we'll find out if he had to go to jail today. a mysterious disease has claimed dozens of lives. we'll talk to dr. sanjay gupta joining us live on this from cambodia after the break. and hard times on long island. a documentary looks at people struggling to make enters meet amid a backdrop of suburban paradise. "working class hero." there you go. smenen? in here, every powerful collaboration is backed by an equally powerful and secure cloud. that cloud is in the network, so it can deliver all the power of the network itself. bringing people together to develop the best ideas -- and providing the apps and computing power to make new ideas real. it's the cloud from at&t. with new ways to work together, business works better. ♪

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figure out what caused the mysterious deaths of 64 children in cambodia. s samples found more than half of them positive for enterovirus type 71 a common cause of hand, foot and mouth disease that can be responsible for several neurological complications especially in children. cnn's chief medical correspondent dr. sanjay gupta live in cambodia this morning. where do things stand right now with this illness? >> reporter: well, as you point out, finding that enterovirus 71 was a pretty important discovery overall. it was only in 54 of sample studied. 66 patients have had this sort of mysterious, a lot of questions remain. let me point out something i think is interesting. within 24 hours of these patients, these children being admitted to the hospital, they're dying. that's very sudden. obviously for any sort of virus, certainly enterovirus causing

hand, foot and mouth decembisea something people know about, it is a big change. people come in with a mild fever, many of them develop encephalitis which is an inflammation of the brain. what is most striking about this is almost complete destruction of the lungs according to the doctor who has been taking care of these patients. here in phnom penh. that virus has been isolated. >> is it contagious, sanjay? >> reporter: well, that's one of the missing parts of the puzzle here. if you think of enterovirus, they are contagious. if a child, for example, has it in their home, then a sibling would be more likely to get it, even a parent, for example. that's called clustering. it can cluster in communities and enterovirus to behave. we haven't seen that. they haven't seen that here in cambodia. sporadic cases in several

different provinces around phnom penh but it's not behaving the way you would expect it to behave and that's why researchers are still trying to 0 study this. >> all right. still a mystery there. sanction, sanjay. sanjay gupta in cambodia. hi, ali. former u.n. secretary-general kofi annan said they had constructive talks with assad this morning in damascus. they agreed on an approach to peace that he will now share with opposition forgss in seyri. annan's visit follows secretary of state hillary clinton warning to assad and his backers that the demise of his regime is, quote, bloody inevitability. >> the future, to me, should be abundantly clear to those who support the assad regime. the days are numbered. >> meantime, assad recently

blamed the u.s. for the carnage in his country. new concerns about security in london. a terror suspect with links to al qaeda was arrest ed after breaching an exclusion zone surrounding the olympic park on five separate occasions. officials say the suspect never got into the park. he is charged with violating anti-terrorism restrictions. and it looks like the race for the white house may be going down to the wire. take a look at the latest "usa today" survey. if the election were held today the president holds a two-point lead over romney in 12 critical swing states. that is, however, within the poll's margin of error and that lead expands to four points for the president when all of the states are counted. democrats are demanding mitt romney explain his offshore bank accounts and release more of his tax returns. the timing is no coincidence. he was busy picking up about $3 million in campaign contributions this weekend from the rich and powerful in new

york's hamptons. his appearance sparked protests. some 200 people gathering near the residents of a billionaire while he held a private fund-raiser for mitt romney at his house in southampton. the protesters holding signs reading our elections aren't for sale. and taking cover in the dugout. listen to this. >> wow. that knocked -- the players are coming off the field whether they want them to or not. >> that was nuts. a crazy thunderclap sent players and the umps running at the texas rangers game in arlington last night. a bolt of lightning struck just outside the stadium. josh willingham, the runner at first, dropped to his knees. twins center fielder spann tweeted, that's the loudest noise i've ever heard. i thought jesus was coming. during the 46-minute delay that followed, christine. that was loud. >> many of us do find jesus in baseball, too. that's very true. thanks, ali. later this morning president

obama plans to call on congress to extend tax cuts only for people making less than $250,000 a year. the people who would most be affected by this extension are those in the middle class still struggling from the recession. a new hbo documentary takes a hard look at people dealing with serious financial pressures called "hard times: lost on long island" following four families over nine months following the affects of unemployment. >> i've been working since i was 15. i never used those benefits. i worked hard for those benefits. now i'm 50 years old and i can't get them. i'm broke. i'm done. >> the producer and director of "hard times: lost on long island." it premieres tonight on hbo. thanks for being here. it's interesting. this is a profile of four

families, long-term unemployed. we in this country have defined ourselves by work and for the first time in a lot of people's lives we don't have enough of what defines us. it's very hard on families. >> absolutely. i'm going to take this out. >> sure, go for it. >> when you have a financial disaster or earthquake, a hurricane, you can see people's liv lives. this is a disaster. though the houses look beautiful, the cars still look nice, the neighborhood still looks nice. inside you see people's psyche disintegrating. levittown become the new post war ysuburbia and if you worked hard, were a responsible

citizen, you could give your kids a better life. we started it in 2010 when there was optimism it was going to be recovery, the summer of recovery, and at the end of 2010 after the republicans had won congress and the tea party had risen. and this isn't just two years we're going to be back. >> we see it everywhere. and i think that people are very distrustful of the federal government and i think that the tea party, people have gravitated to that because they want information. many times we say it is almost impossible to give our constituents too much information right now.

they want the facts on things. they don't like what they see happening to the american dream and they want the ability to say washington bureaucrats, get out of my way. just let me do my job. let me get back to work. >> well, you know, it's interesting. we have made a conscious effort to kind of strip this film of po politics. you can imagine there were quite passionate debates. >> that's admirable that did you that. >> there was one couple where the husband went to tea party events. the wife went to occupy wall street. what was kind of scary they were silent. they felt as if they almost disappeared, that their voices didn't matter anymore. >> that's interesting. >> there was incredible shame, a sense of suffering. >> you define yourself by work. so many people have for so many years and when you've been two years out of work -- i have a hard time finding people who want to tell their story. did you have a hard time finding

people? >> very, very hard. >> it attacks the very essence of who they are. i haven't been working for two years. suddenly one of the big qualifiers of who you are is gone. >> exactly. we had a lot of people we talked to off camera. once we turned the camera on, it was a different situation. people said i can't go on camera because my family doesn't know or my neighbors don't know. two children, two sons, and their sons saw their mom go to a food pantry and it was the first time they learned their mom was going to a food pantry to get them food for the family. >> did you meet anybody? did you talk to anybody who had found an alternative way of finding some faith. they often turn to spirituality to get relief to them. >> that's interesting that you say that.

yes. stories really like job, why do bad things happen to good people. this guy survived six or seven near death experiences including people in the world trade center on 9/11. >> what about alcoholism or drugs? >> i didn't see that but certainly medication. antidepressants. and the health risks when you are so stressed out and you lose the sense of self-worth. >> any found jobs in the two years since? >> yes. >> that's what i wanted to hear. i wanted you to see the show premieres tonight on hbo at 9:00 p.m. mark levin, thank you. thank you for bringing that to us. ahead on "starting point" inside the casey anthony trial. her former attorney jose baez starting the "starting point"

team and the behind-the-scenes details. "presumed guilty: casey anthony the inside story" next. i know you have a lot of questions still. on a desolate highway in your jeep grand cherokee. and when you do, you'll be grateful for the adaptive cruise control that automatically adjusts your speed when approaching slower traffic. and for the blind spot monitoring that helps remind you that the highway might not be as desolate... ...as you thought. ♪ would you mind if to be i go ahead of you?omer. instead we had someone go ahead of him and win fifty thousand dollars. congratulations you are our one millionth customer. people don't like to miss out on money that should have been theirs. that's why at ally we have the raise your rate 2-year cd. you can get a one-time rate increase if our two-year rate goes up. if your bank makes you miss out, you need an ally.

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♪ what started as a whisper every day, millions of people choose to do the right thing. there's an insurance company that does that, too. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy? it's been a year since casey anthony was found not guilty of murdering her 2-year-old daughter caylee. she is at an undisclosed location in florida and so many other details have been kept in the dark until now. jose baez has a new book

"presumed guilty: casey anthony the inside story. wegs we know so much about this time. people knew what was happening in this trial, the most hated woman in america. her daughter was dead. she gets off. you become famous in the process, too. i mean, how did did this change your life? >> incredibly. there were times that people couldn't draw between the legal professional and the accused. i had helicopters over my house. we had to keep the baby confidential and when we went into the hospital, all kinds of craziness going on. when you heard about the case, i'm of the opinion you have it. >> what do we not know about the case? >> there's so much more. for example, how mythical some of the stories are such as the chloroform. chloroform was never an issue in

the case. there are dozens and dozens of pieces of evidence. hair samples, in what world do you see that? >> what is the relationship now with her parents? i read she talks to her mother every day but does not have a relationship with her dad? her relationship with her father and accusations about her father was something that you brought up for reasonable doubt. >> well, you know, i've -- she allowed me permission to write the book and to tell the story, the entire story from beginning to end. unfortunately, it ends after she gets out of prison. and anything beyond that i think i would be crossing the line as to my agreement with her. >> i'm interested aside from the obvious that these facts were sensational, now that you've had some time to reflect, what do you think it was about our culture, our bigger culture that

made this so fascinating to everybody on a day-to-day basis? >> i think because she was young, pretty and white. >> a little crazy, too. it wasn't because she was young, pretty and white, there was a beautiful child gone and running around, are here is my office at universal studios, all this fantasy world. >> absolutely but if you do this business long enough you will see crazier stories, crazier cases. >> everybody is crazy. >> not necessarily everybody is crazy but you're going to see some outrageous bea haf yor across-the-board of what brought it in, what gave this case legs is that who casey is, her family, couple that with the odd facts and you have a regular thr three-ring circus. to the point where i want to try to explain in the book, get the facts. let everybody make their determination from the facts. after you're done reading the book if you think she is

innocent, great. if you think she's still guilty, that is your option as well. but without people knowing the true story, the facts, the inside story because i was the only person from the first day to the very last day to be on the case and have access. >> you think most good criminal lawyers could have gotten her off or you got her off because it was you. >> there were bad facts and there were times in the case i felt this case is horrible. there were times we thought to ourselves, uh-oh. i need to talk to her about a plea. as we look to the headlines, there's no room for the facts in the headlines. once you start looking beyond that, you could start seeing -- >> did you think you were -- when that jury came in, did you think you were going to win? >> i felt very strong about our case. i felt throughout the entire trial we were making headway and i could look across the courtroom and see the jury nodding their heads in agreement with some of our points. >> you had a feeling. jose baez, the book is called "presumed guilty."

the name of the book. ahead on "starting point" separating the boys from the girls. more schools are going for single sex classrooms. is it better for students? is it even legal? he's next. 's true. how is this possible? proper tire inflation, by using proper grades of oil, your car runs more efficiently, saves gas. you could be doing this right now? yes i could, mike. i'm slowing you down? yes you are. my bad. the works fuel saver package. just $29.95 or less after rebate. only at your ford dealer. so, to sum up, you take care of that, you take care of these, you save a bunch of this. that works. delivering mail, medicine and packages. yet the house is considering a bill to close thousands of offices, slash service and layoff over 100,000 workers. the postal service is recording financial losses, but not for reasons you might think. the problem ? a burden no other agency or company bears. a 2006 law that drains $5 billion a year from post office revenue while the postal service is forced to overpay billions more into federal accounts.

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public schools separating students by sex. all boy and all girl classes began popping up back in 2006 after the u.s. department of education relaxed some restrictions. to put it in perspective only did about a dozen schools separating the sexes and now there are 500. the schools say it improves students' learning the aclu and other critics worry, hey, this is promoting gender stereotypes. steve perry's cnn contributor. mixed classrooms. >> reporter: that was the goal was to make it an all boys black and latino male school but we are not that. we are mixed gender or co-ed school that is multicultural. >> tell me about single sex classrooms. do they help or hurt student

learning? >> reporter: i think the greater question is one of choice. each parent should be put in a position where they get the opportunity to choose the school they want to that works best for their child. in some settings i do think the single gender setting is best for a child. parents have to know their kids and give an option for that. we consider schools like mt. holyoke or smith which are women's colleges, they turn out every year hundreds of graduates who go on to make amazing impact or moore house that's a black and male college. if it works and has worked for so many generations, then we can't look past the facts. do i know if it is inherently better? i do not. i do support it as an opportunity as a method of education. >> that's interesting the choice part. they can taylor the curriculum, improve girls' can haonfidence particular and get girls more immersed in science, technology, engineering and math without boys. they can really get their can

have dense up and for boys they can tailor the curriculum to get their graduation rates up and to give them the skills they need. that's what it's about essentially. >> right. boys and girls are different. boys are maligned for being boys in the primary school grades. something wrong, one of the reasons they are labelled, especially boys of color. in many cases those teaching them are women and because of the divide and the way in which we interpret children's behavior even as professionals we think that boys' behavior is malicious and needs to be corrected. the boys themselves are being boys. when we look at girls, girls are put in positions where they're not encouraged to pursue the hard sciences but when you look at them again at a college setting where there's a large percentage, they are often found

to consider a woman's college because we found that when our girls go off to a woman's college they actually have a greater sense of self-efficacy. >> middle school or something, steve, where the distractions like flirting, bullying, all these other things, maybe there are some benefits there, too. okay, thanks, steve perry. not that i'm against flirting. i have nothing against flirting. we have a lot of work to do in the american public schools. thanks, guys. great shot. how did the nba become the hottest league on the planet? by building on the cisco intelligent network they're able to serve up live video, and instant replays, creating fans from berlin to beijing. what can we help you build?

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time for our "end point." >> i would draw everybody's attention to the op-ed in "the new york times" which talks about governor romney and his refusal to release his tax returns, his swiss bank account, money he has invested in the cayman islands. it will get nasty and a lot is about mitt romney's finances. >> jose? >> the shameless book plug and say that you can pick up my book on